iGaming News all over the world 03.07.2010

03.07.2010, Five More Online Gambling Licenses Issued in France / U.K.Firm Launchs Build Your Own Online Casino Games / Philippines Signs Deal With Microgaming for Online Casino / Greece prepares the tender of licenses for machines and Internet betting

Five More Online Gambling Licenses Issued in France
The French online gambling market just became accessible to five more online gambling providers with the announcement from ARJEL, the online gambling regulator of France. It has been three weeks since the first round of licenses were issued just in time for betting action on the FIFA World cup in South Africa. This delay in issuing the second set of licenses was due to the objections launched by Malta on May 27th, 2010. The Maltese government said that the E.U. rules regarding online gambling were not being adhered to by the French, in particular the provision of French law that forces players to choose only an operator having a French license for online poker.

The new list includes FriendBet for a sports betting license through LIL Managers Limited, ChiliPoker for an online poker license through Gaming Iliad SAS and Partouche for an online poker license through Partouche Gaming France SAS. PokerStars was also given a license to offer it's services in France. PokerStars is the biggest poker room on the net and the lead sponsor of the European Poker Tour. The French jurisdiction will lend significant weight behind the already prosperous online poker operation. PartyGaming. PartyGaming has received five licenses for various brands from ARJEL. PartyBets and GameBookers have received sports betting licenses from the French regulator. Other licenses were given to LuckyJeux, an online poker room that has the AB Groupe for a partner. The AB Groupe is one of the largest television broadcasters in France. ACFPoker is also an online poker room that will operate in partnership with Aviation Club de France, the prestigious Paris casino. q q The sports betting licensees will commence operations immediately but the poker licensees, both old and new, will have to wait until the complaint by Malta to the European Commission about the definition of 'illegal' gambling is resolved.

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U.K.Firm Launchs Build Your Own Online Casino Games
The online gaming industry is always looking out for new ways to market it's products. One of the most interesting to come along so far is the advent of the create your own games programs. Meta Game Universal is one such company whose time may have come to provide such services. Meta Game Universal's Cargo system was recently launched in a beta version claiming that it allows platform providers and operators to create professional casino style games without any particular programming experience. The British company sees the future for the controversial product to be a good one because it is new and innovative. Online game developers feel the product has them on guard for patent infringements and copycats.

A spokesperson for the company explained that the system gives users everything one needs through a visual toolset, downloadable from the website. "By utilizing Cargo F, development timescales are reduced, costs lowered and differentiation in the market place becomes easy," "The online casino market is plagued with similar looking games; often to the point where players forget which website they are on. Developing good unique games has been an expensive and slow process, but CargoF changes that, and provides the ability to "Deep Rebrand" an existing game."

The spokesperson added, "It allows games to be produced which look and feel completely different, but which have the same game maths and underlying mechanics. This is radically different from the "shallow re-branding" available via standard re-skinning systems, where players can almost always tell that the game is a copy."

Meta Games Universal CEO, Owen Cullum, commented, "In today's casino marketplace everyone is struggling to differentiate themselves and game development difficulty is at the heart of this problem. Operators with the same content as everyone else will be inevitably involved in a classic case of a 'race to the bottom' and it's difficult to see how they will survive that process. CargoF will change things by enabling differentiation, faster time to market and reduced costs."

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Philippines Signs Deal With Microgaming for Online Casino
Microgaming has signed a new deal with the state controlled Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation. The Isle of Man based online gambling software developer will enter the partnership deal to provide online games content to PhilWeb Corp’s new online casino venture, Vibrant Vegas. The new offering will be launched through PhilWeb's e-Games café network. CEO, of PhilWeb Corp, Dennis Valdes, commented, "Our gaming operations are currently going from strength to strength and we are delighted to be delivering a new casino platform to market," He added, "We are currently undergoing rapid growth, and Microgaming is the obvious partner for us, due to its ability to deliver the highest quality tailored software at an unrivalled speed to market. We firmly believe that no other provider comes close when it comes to games content. We anticipate a long and successful partnership with Microgaming, and look forward to the company playing a significant part in our future growth ambitions."

PAGCOR regulates and operates all games of chance in the Republic of the Philippines where it has one hundred and seventy one e-Games cafés throughout the country operated by PhilWeb.

Averaging four new game releases a month Microgaming is the front runner in the online gambling software business powering over 120 casinos and 40 poker rooms. The partnership, will see PhilWeb, gaining access to Microgaming’s portfolio of over 450 online games, and the office services and account management that Microgaming is well known and respected for.

Fredrik Lonnqvist from Microgaming, explained, "The partnership with PhilWeb represents a real coup for Microgaming. We are proud to have been selected by such a dynamic company with such a strong reputation in its market. We believe that our software gives our operators a competitive edge when it comes to game variety, quality, and technical sophistication. We are committed to delivering the most exciting and rewarding online gaming experience, to Vibrant Vegas players."

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Greece prepares the tender of licenses for machines and Internet betting
The Greek government has already issued a document that gathers the conditions and requirements demanded to obtain operating licenses of video lottery terminals and online betting.

The norm envisages the tender of three licenses for 50,000 VLT that may be installed in places in which betting is already allowed. A fee of 10,000 Euros will be demanded per machine and the maximum jackpot is set in 2,000 Euros.

With regards to online betting, three or four licenses will be granted to offer Internet bets, but through a governmental website. However, no more details about these licenses have been specified.

Yogonet.com / Web del Juego (Spain)

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