Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill Plc., used his personal blog to call for online social gaming to be regulated. Topping said the London-based firm has adopted a "watching brief" stance when it comes to social gaming. "Social gaming is no longer the next big thing for gambling, it is already a very big thing," Topping wrote. "Over one billion dollars has already been spent by 'traditional' gambling companies alone in mergers and acquisitions and hundred of millions of dollars in revenue is already being generated."

888 Casino has recently celebrated great success with the launch of its roulette application for Android devices and is seeking to replicate this success with the release of its roulette application for the iPad. The launch of these two applications signifies the introduction of 888 into the mobile casino realm.

"Social game developers have all the ingredients that the gambling guys are missing," Mr Griffin said. "They have good user experiences. They have a huge install base of a billion players, but they don't have access to monetisation." Betable has not announced any specific contracts, but said the platform could be used by the popular Facebook or social games like Zynga's Farmville.

There are hundreds of virtual slot machine and poker games on Facebook and other sites that are almost identical to adult gambling games.

With literally thousands of online casinos on the internet, it can sometimes become very confusing as to which ones are safe and reputable, and which casinos are not. So many of them are beautifully designed, look very professional and offer great signup bonuses, so how does one go about choosing the "reputable" online casinos while avoiding the "dodgy" ones?

PARLIAMENT yesterday unanimously voted through a controversial bill regulating gaming, which includes a ban on online casinos and exchange betting. Betting exchange is where players bet among themselves with the mediation of a company, which receives a commission from the transactions. The provision had been removed in committee but was resubmitted and pushed through by a respectable margin

When California State Senator Roderick Wright attempted to legalize online poker with SB 1463, he sold it as a way to help patch up California's busted budget , which is indeed in dire trouble. Surprisingly, the strongest resistance came not from the ever-more-irrelevant anti-gambling moralists, but from powerful pro-gaming special interests clinging to lucrative state-granted privilege.   "There's no way that we can do something that might be the death knell for our industry," says David Quintana, lobbyist for the California Tribal Business Alliance, which opposes any form of online poker legalization on the grounds that it could negatively affect the economic activity of California's Indian tribes. 

CLUBS should be the sole operator of online casino games if they are legalised, with the community-benefit model of pokies revenue flowing to local clubs to be applied, the pokies lobby says. Online casino games, including poker, are at present illegal, but a recent interim review of interactive gambling laws recommends a liberalisation of online gambling, with online poker hosted by Australian companies to be trialled over five years. Other casino-style games would remain banned. Conservative estimates show at least 130,000 are playing online poker on overseas websites despite the current law.

NEARLY 130,000 Australians are playing illegal internet poker games, with US operators raking in $68 million in one year, according to new research. Online casino games, including poker, are illegal in Australia but in May the federal government released an interim review of interactive gaming laws that recommended legalising internet poker as part of overall liberalising of the industry. Other casino games would remain banned.

Nearly 130,000 Australians are playing illegal internet poker games, with United States operators raking in $68 million in one year, according to new research. Online casino games, including poker, are currently illegal in Australia. But in May the federal government released an interim review of interactive gaming laws that recommended legalising internet poker games, as part of overall liberalising of industry. Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/illegal-online-poker-is-costing-australians-68m-20120705-21kdg.html#ixzz1znVbSn89

The penny slot that began appearing in casinos two weeks ago gives players the sensation of riding a magic carpet. A moving seat sways and bobs as a virtual carpet flies through a castle. Players collect treasures and try to save a princess in the game based on the "1001 Nights" fable.

However, Poker continues to be a bright spot for Zynga, which may be one reason the San Francisco-based game giant has recently revisited its roots by developing traditional casino games like Bingo and Slots.

Former Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson is the new face of an online poker website. The Blonde and Blonder star is the ambassador of BamPoker, a new virtual gambling site available through Facebook.com.

888, one of the world's most popular online gaming entertainment and solutions providers, has today announced, as part of its online US strategy, an alliance with WMS Gaming Inc., a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of games, gaming content and gaming machines in the United States.

Full Tilt Poker CEO Raymond Bitar says he will do "whatever is required" to return millions of dollars to online poker players who lost access to their cash after the site was closed down by the government. Bitar, 40, was arrested on Monday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara. Bitar was charged last year with gambling, bank fraud and money laundering in connection with the operation of Full Tilt Poker.

Operators traditionally associated with online casino sites, including Europe's largest operator, Bwin.Party, as well as leading casino software developer Playtech, have expressed an interest in expanding into the social media arena. Conversely, leading lights of social gaming, Zynga, who created Farmville and Cityville, are looking to expand into the gambling sector. Zynga recently appointed two lobbyists to their ranks, Justin McCarthy and Jeffrey Peck, known for their support of the legalisation and regulation of online casino gaming in the United States

Gaming Club Claims Online Gaming is Next for the 3D Treatment Posted on July 2, 2012 The recent re-emergence of 3D has taken the entertainment industry by storm, transforming the film, television and gaming sectors, and 3D casinos are the next step, announce Gaming Club. With 3D technology costs falling, and consumer acceptance of the new medium growing, the industry hopes that a three-dimensional future could significantly boost revenues.