Can’t blame bwin.party for not doing their part in helping to make gambling Italy’s biggest industry as they seem to be throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it.

They were among the first operators to get their AAMS licenses to operate in Italy back in July 2011 …not for one but two casino properties – bwin.it and giocodigitale.it.  Soon after in December of that year they announced the addition of live dealers at Gioco Digitale. Now they have them at bwin.it as well.

Both are powered by Evolution Gaming. In effect Italian players will playing the same games (Venezia Roulette and Ventuno Blackjack) with the same Italian speaking dealers regardless of which property they play at.

Bwin are calling their new Italian live casino ‘Picadilly’ which sounds more English than Italian to me, but I’m sure they had good reasons for the name.

Related pages at Livedealer.org:

• Live dealer casinos for Italian players
• Unibet.it now live for Italians
• WilliamHill.it launces with live casino for Italian players
• 888 live casino now open to Italian players

With no access to the super slick games from the industry’s leading platform developers that have been adopted by the big EU based operators, their options are limited to games developed by much smaller outfits typically based in Costa Rica, which are licensed by much, much smaller operators…also usually based in Costa Rica.

Up until recently it was fair to say that the gap in product quality that existed between the two (ie the options they can’t access, and those they can) was vast. And by product quality I mean pretty much every aspect of game delivery…

• quality of the video stream;
• intuitiveness of the playing interface;
• functionality of the playing interface (chat, stats, customization etc);
• studio ambience;
• appearance & professionalism of dealers;
• game variations offered (eg European versus American roulette etc.)

…and in pretty much every aspect the likes of Playtech and Evolution Gaming were light-years ahead.

Having just played Global Gaming Labs’ (“GGL”) new live games I’m happy to report that the gap has now closed considerably.

They’re such an improvement on the previous games that it’s hard to believe they come from the developer. New studio, crystal clear full screen video, dealer chat (audio), and no more American roulette.  Yep…they’ve ditched that pesky double zero and now offer the much fairer European version of the game.

Below are a couple of snaps taken at 5 Dimes Casino which run GGL’s games and does welcome US players.

Traditional 7 seat blackjack paying 3 to 2…dealt from an 8 deck shoe…

Baccarat complete with a full set of roadmaps…

European Roulette…

Can you trust a Costa Rican based operator?

Great looking games are all well and good, but the issue for most US players considering playing with the likes of 5 Dimes Casino will probably be one trust. Cash deposited with a company like Ladbrokes is like cash in the bank. In fact probably a tad more secure if your bank is in Ireland, Iceland, Greece, Spain…or most of Europe. Hard to have the same confidence handing your hard earned over to a small, largely unregulated company based in Costa Rica without publicly available and audited accounts or any significant capital backing that you’re aware of. Until such time as UIGEA is repealed, it is what it is.

For what it’s worth I’ve been playing with these guys for almost 2 years now and have been pretty impressed with their service. Can’t say I’ve tried to cash out a hundred grand however.

Related pages at Livedealer.org:

• live dealer casinos for US players
• US I-gaming outlook
• Department of Justice changes online gambling stance

Since 2010 the UK’s two biggest bookmakers, Ladbrokes and William Hill, have offered punters odds on who will be the first country to exit the Eurozone.

Last week they both chose to close this market and not because of lack of interest from customers. The bets have been flowing in. Trouble is, they’re all flowing in for Greece and it’s hard to balance a book when all bets are on the same horse! The risk with this type of situation was pointed out by Graham Sharp from William Hill, in an interview with Marketplace.org’s Kai Ryssdal (Audio of interview above).

“Things can change quite quickly, and if you’re not aware of them, then you might be offering a particular betting price, which as far as you’re concerned, is quite reasonable. But as far as people who know a little bit more than you, it’s virtually the equivalent of giving away free money on Christmas Day.”

It’d be interesting to know how much of the late money for Greece came from members of the Parliament or their connections who do in fact know a little bit more and are looking to squeeze one more pay day from the rubble. Either way, for mine this is a telling sign on the likelihood of Greece’s exit from the EU. More telling than any commentary from the so-called experts. More telling than public comments from the politicians.

The bookies are more often than not closer to the mark.

Cotai Central along side its (little) sister the Venetian Macau

I remember thinking during a trip to Macau in March that, ‘this place could really do with another big casino‘.

Turns out they didn’t have to wait long because on April 11, the Sands Cotai Central officially opened its doors amid much fanfare and the traditional Chinese dragon dance.

Cotai Central is the latest and greatest offering from Sands China/LV Sands Corp and at a development cost of $4.4 billion, it would comfortably make the top 5 list of the most expensive integrated casino resorts ever built. It takes Sands China’s total investment in Macau thus far to an extraordinary $8 billion.

Do the math on this and you arrive at the even more extraordinary conclusion that Cotai Central cost more to build than The Venetian Macau, The Sands Macau and the Four Seasons/Plaza Macau combined!  And these aren’t small casinos…the Venetian still houses the largest (by area) gaming floor  in the world and an indoor canal that you can take a gondola ride on.

So what do you get for $4.4 billion?

For a start there’s a 2,500 kg bronze and gold God of Fortune statue in one of the property’s many lobbies. As to whether the God of Fortune is looking after the interests of players or Sheldon Adelson and LV Sands Corp shareholders…I’ll let you be the judge.

There are 2 casinos, 40 private VIP gaming rooms, 3 hotels with total of 5,800 suites (Sheraton, Conrad and the world’s largest Holiday Inn), 100 retail stores and more restaurants than you can poke a chop stick at. The theme is ‘Himalayan Mountains’ with imagery of snow capped peaks on the casino’s ceiling and replica boulders strewn throughout the retail areas. If you get tired of the Himalayas and want a taste of faux-Italy you can take a stroll over the footbridge bridge that leads you into the Venetian.

If you want to gamble (why else would you be there?) you’ll only have 550 tables to choose from – less than the originally planned 670 due to a government imposed table game cap. But you should be able to find a seat and if not, there are another 800 over the bridge at the Venetian!

Sheldon Adelson proclaimed in a press release for his new casino’s opening that, ”there were few believers in my vision for the Cotai Strip when the site was basically under water” – a reference to the fact that before being reclaimed for development, Cotai was low-lying swampland connecting Macau’s Coloane and Taipa islands.

I wonder if the next mega casino to open it’s doors in Cotai will go with a theme that is true to it’s origins…swamp, or brackish sea water?

We won’t know until 2015 at the earliest because the next round of land concessions haven’t yet been granted.

I learned 2 things about Anna during this quick game of live blackjack at Party Casino.

1. She’s single.  Thanks for asking Mr_Black.
2. She likes tradition. She called it tradition. I’d call it generosity.

The tradition she was speaking of was fact that she was busting with unusual regularity.  Something I was very happy about at $50 a hand!

Would have made more money if I wasn’t wasting time time taking screen shots. But then I thought you guys might appreciate at least a couple of pics.

Don’t normally post about FDB’s…summary details on what’s offered where can be found at or promos page.  But this new offer from Titan Casino does warrant a special mention.

New players there can now get up to £/€ 5,000 in bonus funds credited to their playing account.

Big number, but I know what you’re thinking. It’s probably one of those multiple deposit deals where you get a bit here, a bit there, and need to make 15 deposits over 3 months to get the cash, then turn it over 60 or more times before you can withdraw it (not that there’ll be any left then!)

Actually not the case. You get the whole lot when you make your first deposit – 50% of your deposited amount up to a maximum (bonus amount) of £/€ 5,000.  And wager terms are a pretty generous 15 times.

This is the largest of 4 FDB’s offered under the new arrangement.  All are credited to your account in full on making your first deposit, but the percentage differs depending on your deposit amount as follows:

Wager requirements (before you can withdraw the bonus) also differ…

• 10 times (deposit + bonus) for the low roller 50% bonus
• 20 times (deposit + bonus) for the 100% bonus
• 30 times (deposit + bonus) for the 125% bonus
• 15 times (deposit + bonus) for the high roller 50% bonus

Unfortunately I already have an account at Titan so this doesn’t do me much good, but if you’re looking for a live play option and aren’t already registered there this is definitely worth considering.

I guess the pic’s a bit of a giveaway…it’s William Hill (Vegas).

Their Evolution Gaming powered casino now includes a dedicated live casino room complete with full WH branding (even the carpet!), new uniforms for the dealers and VIP hosts walking the floor ready to address any and all player issues in English, Spanish or Cantonese as needed.

In March Unibet’s dedicated live room was launched.  A first for Unibet and Evolution Gaming, and a pretty impressive offering for players – especially those tired of not being able to get a seat at a blackjack table during peak times. William Hill have decided they need to ‘keep up with the Jones‘ and get a room of their own.  Question is, how does theirs stack up against Unibet’s?

Pretty well I reckon.

In terms of size, I suspect it’s a fraction bigger. With 7 blackjack tables (49 exclusive seats according to the WH Vegas home page) and a roulette table it out-sizes Unibet’s 4 blackjack and 1 roulette table. In terms of the look…subjective call but I think William Hill takes the chocolates here as well. The addition of the VIP hosts just adds icing to the cake.

A social service group in Italy (CeIS) recently released a study into gambling prevalence and if it’s at all accurate then you Italians sure do love to gamble!

I haven’t read the study, but news outlets reporting its finding are saying that according to CeIS, Gambling is Italy’s 3^rd largest industry! Forget tourism, fashion or cosmetics. Video poker and slots are now where it’s at…and it’s an industry growing fast. Mind you, those reports are also saying that gambling sits 3^rd in terms of revenues behind energy giant Eni, and auto maker Fiat.  These are companies not entire industries so it looks like apples are being compared with oranges.

Studies are typically skewed to suit the agenda of their creators (tobacco doesn’t cause cancer – just read all the studies commissioned by Philip Morris) and a study on gambling produced by an anti-gambling group may err on the side of overstating the numbers. Remembering also that this is an industry with significant grey and black markets which is therefore impossible to accurately quantify – the numbers are always going to be VERY rubbery.

Having said all this, if you take the numbers provided as gospel, they’re big! In 2008 gambling revenues were 47.5 billion euros. That’s only 10 billion euros less than Fiat Group revenues for the year. Since then revenues from gambling have grown substantially (23.2 billion euros in first 3 months of 2012). I suspect revenues at Fiat have not.

Online is still a tiny percentage of the overall gambling market…1.5 billion euros on 2011.  But it is the fastest growing.

No wonder all the big online operators are rushing to get their Italian live dealer games up and running!

Related pages from Livedealer.org

• Il miglior Casinò con live dealer per i giocatori italiani
• 888 live casino now open to Italian players
• WilliamHill.it launces with live casino for Italian players
• Evolution Gaming Launches Ventuno Live Blackjack for Italian Players
• Unibet.it adds live dealers for Italy
• Playtech’s Italian speaking live dealers

Most avid punters would by now be familiar with the concept of in-play betting. It’s taken off like wild fire in the EU/UK and offered by most of the major online bookies. For those that aren’t it’s simply (as the name suggests) bets offered on events or outcomes during a game.

Which team will kick the next goal? Which player will kick the next goal? Will the next goal come from a penalty? If a penalty is awarded, will it be converted? And of course game result odds are re-framed as the game progresses.

Theoretically, the number of bet opportunities in a given game are endless…limited only by the bookies imagination and their capacity to rapidly calculate odds and communicate them to the punters. Limitations that do exist in reality of course. But the leading bookmakers in this field…crowned the in-play betting kings in a recent Gambling Compliance study, manage to squeeze on around 50 in-play bet opportunities into sporting events they cover…and that’s their average.

Imagine big football finals that go into extra time and then a penalty shootout? Imagine how may in-play bet lines were offered during Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic’s epic six hour Australian Open final!

I’d always wondered about the logistics of offering this service. From the customer point of view its simple (always is)…login, expect a ream of bet lines to be offered along with a live stream of the game you’re betting on, and a fresh set of lines and odds every 5 minutes or so, or whenever something significant happens. From a bookmakers point of view offering this service must be a labour intensive, logistical nightmare.

There’s a great article in the Daily Mail, (you can read it here) that takes a look behind the scenes at one of the biggest in-play operations in the world – William Hill (yes as well as live dealer games they’e been known to dabble in sports betting…for the last century or so).

On any given Saturday in an office in Leeds, a floor full of young maths graduate types (traders they call them) supervised by more experienced bookies, frame the odds and accept or reject bets on around 70 football games, each with 120 or so markets (in-play bet opportunities).  It’s a 24/7 operation  requiring 20 or more traders during busier times.  Over at Ladbrokes it would be a similar story. As for bet365 who currently rank as the most prolific in-play service at the moment the operation is probably larger again.

So who are the maths geniuses assessing the probability of possibly outcomes, taking into account the flow of punter cash and framing dozens of markets every minute as well as keeping an eye on bet anomalies?

At William Hill it’s a combination of technology and old fashioned bookie smarts. Their R&D Department has built an algorithm that starts with prices set in the massive Asian betting market and adjusts these based on in-house  probabilities calculated from historical statistics to spit out the William Hill odds. It’s then the traders (and bookies)  job to make sure the machine hasn’t made any glaring errors…or more importantly, any prices producing large exposures that have been identified by smart punters quick to find good value. In this regard the MSF system helps out also.

Maximum Stake Factor is a bet maximum (not requiring authorization) assigned to every customer. If you’re a mug punter you’re assigned an enormous MSF and can bet up to £2 million without the bet requiring human approval.  Customers with a history of good form picking winners have their MSF lowered to £25,000, or even less in extreme cases. All in-play bets are then displayed on a real-time ticker board and colour coded according to MSF. Bets from the mug punters are displayed in green, those from the low MSF customers in orange. Red numbers are bets placed by customers assigned the lowest MSF’s.

This must be a big board.  William Hill took 24,417 in-play bets during the Cardiff v Liverpool Carling Cup final and there would have been plenty of other games happening at the same time!

An interesting footnote to all this is the question of whether William Hill’s traders/bookies themselves have a punt with other services. The answer is yes.  Andy Excell manages their in-play football operation and has accounts with a number of competing online bookmakers but he’s pretty sure his past bets would have him placed in the low MSF (or their equivalent of) category.

Received notification today from William Hill that effective immediately they’ll no longer be accepting new  player registrations  from Australia.  The policy applies to all of William Hill’s online gambling properties including their casino brands Eurogrand and 21 Nova.

Curiously the no Australian player policy only applies to new registrations. Existing Aussie players (that’s me!) are still welcome to play… for the time being anyway.

Curiously also is timing of the policy change and the stated reason…

“following certain changes in regulations, William Hill is modifying its policies regarding players who reside in Australia”

There has been absolutely no change in Australia’s online gambling laws or regulations recently, nor have William Hill announced that they are about to enter Australia’s licensed online sport betting market either by way of license application or local operator acquisition – a move which history tells us is usually preceded by a strict adherence to Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act. Maybe there’s another announcement to this effect on it’s way?

The downside for players down under who don’t already have an account at Hill’s is that you’re now denied the option of  playing with quality operator with great live games. William Hill is the only casino I’m aware of that runs both Playtech and Evolution Gaming’s live games (playable from a single account) which means players get the choice of 2 great platforms, hundreds of fantastic dealers, a limit range that allows bets as low 50 cents and as high at $80,000 and comprehensive support and banking options.

Related pages at Livedealer.org:

• bet365 casino closing to Australians
• Best live dealer casinos for Australian players