Despite threats of prosecution, confiscation of funds and, no doubt, hellfire and damnation, the US ban on internet gambling introduced in 2006 has consistently proved itself to be an abject failure. It is estimated that around five million of the nation’s, otherwise law-abiding, citizens venture into cyberspace on a regular basis in a bid to seek their fortunes in foreign lands when placing their wagers offshore. The precise loss to US coffers is not accurately known but best-guess estimates confirm that it must amount to billions of dollars.

The United States was certainly not the first or even the last to ban online gaming for gain and its notorious Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is only one of many such harsh legislative moves taken by countries as diverse as the former Soviet Union, Germany and South Africa.

Following the institution of an all out ban on internet gambling in 2007, when Germany formulated the legislation primarily to protect the State’s monopoly on land-based gambling, analysts suggest that more than two million of the nation’s punters still continue to spend their  Euros at online casinos, sports books and poker rooms.

No doubt, should other countries find the will and the infrastructure to perform such surveys of their own, they will encounter like results that simply serve to confirm the futility of their attempts to repress rather than regulate one of the planet’s largest and most profitable new industries.

Interestingly, the two countries who have conducted studies on internet gambling behaviour are both now showing signs of an about-face with respect to their clearly controversial and proven ineffective policies. The next few months could see Germany lifting its ban in favour of regulatory policies similar to those adopted by many other countries of the European Union and drafted primarily by the United Kingdom.

With Senator Barney Frank having successfully won a six month delay in the implementation of the UIGEA, the chances of his receiving sufficient support for his regulatory proposals have increased dramatically. His stance is made even stronger by evidence that the current Barack administration may well view the act as contrary to the public interest and somewhat irrelevant to the Bush administration’s Safe Port Act of which it is a very minor component.

South Africa, we know, has passed a bill in favour of a regulated online gambling industry for the country but its Department of Trade and Industry appears to be excessively cautious in finalising the regulations that must precede implementation.

Whether in deference to sound financial reasoning, democratic ideals or to the simple fact that the “big brother” attitude doesn’t work, it’s time for all offending governments to re-examine their stance on this pleasurable and largely harmless activity.

Gibraltar-based Party Casino, powered by the PartyGaming Software platform, has recently announced the launch of its “Big One” progressive jackpot game that boasts the biggest ever seed amount of $1.5 million. This figure now represents the smallest amount that a punter will win when triggering the game’s top-tier progressive jackpot since, following such a win, this is the amount loaded by the operators to kick off the next progression.

The basis of this new blockbuster is a game called “Melon Madness”. In its most basic form it is a 30-payline, five reel slot but, following an upgrade, it now has the potential to bear considerably more fruit with the inclusion of a brand new five level progressive jackpot game aptly known as the “Big One”.

The revised game first came online during the December holiday and has already drawn a lot of attention. The launch occurred in the same month that Party Casino paid out its Mega Gold Jackpot of close to $5 million, a record for the site. Currently, the online casino’s real-time jackpot ticker is already showing just a whisker short of 3 million bucks and even more players are turning to “Melon Madness” with its “Big One” progressive as the best chance they have.

In order to pocket the big money, players will need to work their way through the four preliminary levels known as the “Blitz”, “Quick”, “Super” and “Mega” Cash Jackpots, picking up as much boodle as they can on the way, until finally attaining the top level, appropriately named as the “Colossal Cash Jackpot”.

There are scatters and free spins with a selection of multipliers to help players line their pockets. With three of the game’s Bell symbols visible, a player is then able to select one of them to expose the number of free spins earned and the multiplier that will be applied to winnings where appropriate.

No special combination of symbols is required to access the “Big One”, which triggers totally at random. Once on the Jackpot trail the best news is that all five of the tiers may be won regardless of the bet size although the value of the payout will be determined by the amount wagered. With up to 30 lines to cover, bets range from just 10 cents all the way up to 450 Dollars.

In celebration of the newly launched progressive, Party Casino is also offering prizes to the value of $300K. By playing “Melon Madness” or any other of the site’s slots and progressives between the 6th and the 10th of January, punters will earn points on “The Big Race” leaderboard and the top 750 will land a share of $100K. The remaining $200K is reserved for VIP players who also have their own leaderboard.

Following a month of rigorous testing, during which several online casinos utilised a newly developed software package to relay live gaming that originated at actual gaming tables located at a land-based casino in the Dominican Republic, the experiment appears to have been a runaway success.

The Kenilworth Systems Corporation, who developed the clever new software, has recently announced that, after the first month in a testing programme that is planned to last a further five months, the results have lived up to the company’s highest expectations.

The testing phase is a preliminary aspect of a joint venture between Kenilworth Systems and the Caribbean Casino and Gaming Corporation (CCGC), who operate the Sousa Grand Casino in the Dominican Republic that was the site of the initial, month-long test period.

The new technology is believed by many to have the potential to redefine the future of internet gambling. In particular, it appears to both provide punters with a far more realistic playing experience as well as offering a viable alternative to those who, however irrationally, still remain wary of the random number generation technology employed by more conventional online casinos.

If, after the scheduled six month trial concludes, Kenilworth and the CCGC remain happy with the results, the software developer will be actively seeking to create similar joint ventures with other gaming authorities around the world who, between them, represent some 2 000 potential online casino venues.

During the first testing phase, thousands of players experienced the thrill of playing live roulette in the comfort of their own homes making use off the new Kenilworth Systems software. Their reaction has proved to be very favourable throughout the live-in-progress testing that has certainly demonstrated the total viability of relaying a live playing experience to online casinos.

One other potentially important and highly relevant spin-off, that may result from the new technology, lies in the fact that all gaming activity will now actually originate at legally licensed bricks and mortar casinos. For operators utilising the Kenilworth software, there should be no conflict with the restrictive regulations or bans that are currently applied to purely online operations in various countries. The main cause for concern by governments and regulatory bodies has always centred on fears of the potential for exposure to online fraud. Using the new software, this risk should now be eliminated, since the outcome of all wagers will now be determined by more traditional, offline means.

It all sounds absolutely terrific although I am not too sure that I would want someone, thousands of kilometres away, pulling the handle of my favourite slots game and promising to send me any winnings.

Themed games have already endeared themselves to huge numbers of online punters and now form a very important component of every successful internet casino’s gaming portfolio. Recently, three well known European casino sites have taken the bold step of exploring something brand new in the realm of themed games and plan to launch their innovative offerings in the near future,

The three online casinos concerned are all members of the Imperial E-Club Ltd. Group and operate on the tried and tested Playtech Platform. Casino Tropez and its two fellow affiliates, Titan Casino and Europa Casino will shortly become the stage for a debut for two radically different themed games that have only been identified as Roulette Royal and Club Roulette.

The innovative aspect of these new offerings lies in the fact that the two games will make use of streaming TV technology with the incorporation of a live presenter who will provide the punters with commentary in real time.

There may be some disappointment for speakers of certain languages at first since, although the sites normally offer support for 15 languages, the newly developed software will only be available in ten language versions initially. To kick off then, you will need a working knowledge of Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish or Russian but it is planned to add several more options soon.

Spokesman for the Euro Partners Group, Marc Kenigsberg admitted that one of their member casinos’ biggest draws has always been the regular introduction of new gaming formats especially those involving a greater proportion of player interaction. He stated that it is a practice to which they will remain dedicated in the future.

Kenigsberg, who is the group’s Marketing Vice President, went on to add that the addition of the new TV games has provided the group’s online casinos with a valuable supplement to their current offering.

Beyond the names and the brief outline of the technology to be utilised by the two new games, little information is available as yet and no official date for their launch at the three popular European casino sites has been released.

However, at least we know the venues for the planned debut so the best advice that we at Yellow Pages Casinos can offer to the curious is to check out these sites fairly often over the coming weeks for more up-to-date news. In the meantime, Casino Tropez is offering a $10 free bet with no need to make a deposit and up to $3 000 in Welcome Bonuses to its new real-money players.