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    Ballyhoo and Reckoning: The Brave New World of Online Gambling
    Ballyhoo and Reckoning: The Brave New World of Online Gambling
    Ballyhoo and Reckoning: The Brave New World of Online Gambling
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    Ballyhoo and Reckoning: The Brave New World of Online Gambling

    By Mary Kitt-Neel

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    About this ebook

    Online gambling has taken the world by storm. If you want to play, you owe it to yourself to learn how online casinos work, how the various games are played, and which games have the smallest house edges. Learn about bonuses, play-through requirements, the legality of online gambling in the USA and elsewhere, and what to do if recreational gambling turns into problem gambling.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMary Kitt-Neel
    Release dateJan 16, 2011
    ISBN9781458105790
    Ballyhoo and Reckoning: The Brave New World of Online Gambling
    Author

    Mary Kitt-Neel

    I am a full-time freelance writer, writing website content and blogs for my clients. I also enjoy writing fiction, both novels and short stories. In addition to being a writer, I spent over a decade as an engineer at an Air Force facility, and I have also worked as a newspaper journalist.

    Read more from Mary Kitt Neel

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      Book preview

      Ballyhoo and Reckoning - Mary Kitt-Neel

      Ballyhoo and Reckoning: The Brave New World of Online Gambling

      Mary Kitt-Neel, Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2011, Mary Kitt-Neel

      License Notes

      Thank you for downloading this ebook. It is licensed for your enjoyment only. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

      Contents

      Chapter 1: Overview and History of Online Gambling

      Chapter 2: Management of Online Gambling

      Chapter 3: Slots and Online Tournaments

      Chapter 4: Games Ending in ‘O’

      Chapter 5: Craps

      Chapter 6: Roulette and Baccarat

      Chapter 7: Blackjack

      Chapter 8: Poker

      Chapter 9: Mobile Gaming and the Future of Online Gaming

      Chapter 10: Internet Gambling Laws in the USA

      Chapter 11: The Bad Side of Online Gambling

      Introduction

      I don’t gamble online. I thought I should get that out of the way right up front. For one thing, gambling with actual money doesn’t interest me, and for another, whenever I have any extra money (and my youngest child is about to go to college, so that rarely happens), there are other things I want to spend it on.

      However, in my career as the writer of web content, I have been assigned extensive work on online casinos, online games, and online gambling. While I don’t have any interest in joining a site and pulling a virtual slots lever, I do happen to be fascinated by the mathematics of probability, the making of odds, and how the house edge works. Before becoming a writer I worked as an engineer for over a decade, and some of the fascination with numbers stayed with me after I left.

      This book is a primer on online gambling: the good, the bad, the indifferent, and the ugly. If you’re going to try online gambling, you owe it to yourself to learn which games have the greatest and least house edge, which bets are just plain stupid to take, and how to find an online casino with a bonus structure, games, and payout percentages that work with your wagering and playing style.

      The world of online gambling is fascinating for many reasons. It had a quick and meteoric rise to worldwide popularity due to the internet, has suffered setbacks due to legislation in the United States and elsewhere, made accommodations and started thriving again, and is now branching out into the worlds of mobile handheld devices and social networking. So let’s get started exploring this amazing electronic universe.

      Chapter 1: Overview and History of Online Gambling

      How Internet Gambling Became a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry

      Online wagering got its start in the 1990s, but it didn't take long for it to turn into a multi-million dollar business. The catalyst for the explosive growth in online gaming came in 1994, when the government in Antigua Barbuda, an island nation in the Caribbean, passed legislation allowing internet casinos to operate from there.

      Naturally, plenty of people saw this as a huge opportunity, and two in particular, Andrew and Mark Rivkin, formed a company called Cryptologic to write the software platforms that enabled safe handling of finances for online wagering with till-then unsurpassed encryption practices. Another big internet gaming company was formed in 1994 too: Microgaming.

      Cryptologic and Microgaming were the two top companies as far as gaming technology. Cryptologic was the first to make a fully operational gaming software platform with electronic bankroll management. By the end of 1996, InterCasino was also up and operational on the web - one of the very first online betting sites. It wasn't long before online casinos became a multi-million dollar juggernaut. Not long after that it stepped up to being a multi-billion dollar industry.

      In 1997, Microgaming introduced Cash Splash, the first online progressive slots game. Back then, players from the US composed a large chunk of the online betting population, and this fact drew the particular attention of Senator John Kyl (R-AZ), who started drafting legislation to stop people from betting online. The first bill addressing the issue, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, did not pass, and Americans continued to enjoy their love affair with online gambling.

      Other world players that came on board the online casino train during the late 1990s included Argentina, and UK territories Gibralter and Isle of Man, which set up hugely popular online sports betting sites. By 2001, the British Channel Islands had legalized online betting, and later that same year, there was a push to legalize internet wagering in the entire UK.

      In 2005, the UK Gambling Act was made law, and it was a boon for the internet casino industry. The law created the UK Gambling Commission for oversight of all enforcement of regulations in licensing online casino sites, preventing underage gambling and ensuring software platform fairness accreditation and reporting of monthly payout percentages. The Commission also investigates and prosecutes illegal gambling activity and basically is a very comprehensive online gambling regulatory agency. The UK's internet wagering oversight is now considered a model for other countries that want to regulate online gambling.

      In October 2006, US legislators tried to legislate the end of betting online by American citizens, with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA. Then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), attached the bill to a must-pass bill on Port Security aimed at combating global terrorism, claiming that online wagering proceeds were used by offshore companies to fund terrorism. Congress wanted to go home before the midterm elections and passed the bill. But just before enforcement of this act was to go into place, new legislation was written allowing US citizens to participate in online gaming. Though it has passed from committee, there is no guess as to when or if it will be passed by the House and Senate. That means that as of late 2010, US online gamblers exist in a hazy area of the law, though public sentiment is strong behind full legalization of online gambling in the US.

      Online Casinos Take to the European Stock Market

      As of 2010, internet gambling already has a place on the London Stock Exchange, and this trend is set to continue strongly as worldwide acceptance of internet wagering increases. The UK online gambling site Betfair stormed onto the London Stock Exchange with a stock float of £1.5 billion on October 22, 2010. Founders Andrew Black and Ed Wray, who own 25% of the firm realized £375 million, and are likely to sell some of their holdings if the stock increases as expected after the offering.

      Another big financial step in the online gambling business is the upcoming merger between PartyGaming PLC and Bwin Interactive Entertainment. The merger will create the world's largest online betting empire, leading the worldwide market in casino games and sports betting. Shareholders of both the entities have approved of the merger, and the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2011. The resulting company will be traded on the London Stock Exchange.

      Before the merger, the companies combined had net gaming revenues in 2009 of 682 million Euros, and PartyGaming experienced an immediate 25% jump in its shares after the merger was publicly confirmed. PartyGaming is based in Gibralter, and Bwin is based in Austria. After the merger, Bwin's assets and liabilities will then transfer to PartyGaming, and the newly merged company will be based in Gibralter.

      The PartyGaming-Bwin merger is expected to prompt more mergers and acquisitions, particularly when coupled with a worldwide trend of relaxing gambling laws.

      Another trend that is likely to improve the finances of the internet gaming industry is the increase in the use of handheld mobile devices for online wagering. The

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