Online Casino News & Free Casino Online » Irish Casino News

Its all good news for our online casino companies

admin — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 09:43:41 +0000

As our regular readers will know, we like to keep abreast of any Irish casino news which we think may interest you, but in the absence of any new information relating specifically to our Irish online casinos, we will turn our attention to what is happening generally to the share prices of our main online casino operators. We have already commented on the recent boost to online casino share prices resulting from the possibility of an imminent relaxation of American online gambling laws, but last week also saw a significant increase in the stock market value of Playtech, the online casino software supplier. Stock market observers who take a specific interest in the fortunes of online gaming companies will know that Playtech have been involved in a joint venture with William Hill, which has not been particularly amicable of late, but Teddy Sagi the original founder of Playtech has now apparently increased his stake in the company to over 46% with the result that shares in Playtech rose by more than 5% last week. Clearly the stock market is looking to Mr Sagi to resume overall control of the company in the near future, so watch this space. It has also been reported that Bwin-party Digital Entertainment, another major player in the online casino business, is planning to float its payment division CQR in the near future. Bwin-party is a FTSE 250 quoted company, and its payments division is believed to process more than 2 billion euros a year. CQR also employs approximately 150 staff based in Britain and Austria, and any floatation is expected to be well received. Online gamblers who enjoy playing casino games with these online casinos may well also like to watch their share prices in what appears to be a bull market at present.

Should we teach children the basics of gambling

admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:24:29 +0000

Playing casino games at an online casino is of course gambling, but because it is extremely difficult for an online casino to identify the age of their online customers there is always the possibility that children and young people could access these sites, just as they can access other adult oriented web sites. Clearly the online casino industry has always been aware of the dangers of what is termed problem gambling, and provides financial backing to organisations such as Gamcare, which runs a helpline to support problem gamblers, but can the gaming industry alone discourage children from gambling. This week’s Irish casino news includes reports of an attempt by Gamcare to raise this issue with a UK Government education review body, by suggesting that children be taught the basics of gambling and the odds of winning. The theory is that by teaching the rudiments of gambling alongside other aspects of the Personal, Social and Health Education programme currently in existence in UK schools, the dangers of gambling addiction amongst children would be reduced. There are many people in Ireland who would also like to see this issue given full Government consideration, because although gambling addiction amongst children is not currently considered to be a major problem, it is estimated that as many as 2% of children could already be addicted to slot machine gambling in High Street arcades The availability of many more slot machine games at our online casinos, some of which are based on popular films or television programmes, could present a danger that more children will get access to these casino games and perhaps not fully understand odds of winning. As adults we hopefully understand that playing casino games at an online casino, or even slot machines in our local pub or club, can and often does cost us money, but as with many other adult activities our children also need to be taught that gambling can become more than just fun. We will watch progress on this piece of casino news with interest.

Online casino operator takes a gamble

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:53:41 +0000

With very little of consequence to report in our regular Irish casino news feature, we thought our readers might be interested in the news that a major online casino operator is itself taking a gamble. In the wake of the high profile prosecution of three cricketers for match fixing, generally blamed on the fact that gambling is illegal in many countries, gambling laws are being reviewed in many counties including the US. In 2006 America passed legislation banning online gaming, with the result that the major online casino operators, including Bwin Party the world’s biggest online gaming company, immediately withdrew from the American market. Last week however, Bwin Party announced plans to tie up with two American casino operators in anticipation of the US finally lifting their ban, enabling the new group Federal NewCo to apply for a gaming licence from the Nevada Gaming Control Board. We are told that the new company would operate under Bwin’s World Poker Tour and Party Poker brands, and that a separate deal has also been done under which the two American casino operators, MGM and Boyd Gaming, would use Bwin Party’s online poker technology under their own brands. Some may argue that for most of us this side of the Atlantic who enjoy playing our casino games at our favourite online casinos, such news is irrelevant, but we believe that it is in everyone’s interest that these online casino operators continue to become strong financially so that they can invest in new technology and provide us with even more exciting and well presented online casino gambling options. On the same topic, 888 Holdings also reported their third quarter results last week, with a massive 42% growth in sales to £54 million equating to an equally impressive 26% growth in sales for the nine months to date. With most of this increase coming from a steep rise in the number of new active customer accounts, 888 Holdings also appear to be an online casino operator with a strong future.

Shock US news for Irish online poker gamblers

admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:25:02 +0000

Whilst not specifically Irish casino news, the recent headlines concerning the world’s second biggest online poker operator, Full Tilt, serves as an important reminder to every online casino games player in the world that their choice of online casino site is paramount. Full Tilt was set up in 2004 during the online poker boom, along with publicly listed companies Party Gaming and 888, both well known and respected over here. All these sites were massively successful because they allowed online poker players to test their prowess against the best poker players in the world, but as we all know, in October 2006 the US government banned internet poker and in doing so effectively removed their biggest source of income. Party Gaming and 888 immediately stopped allowing US citizens from playing on their sites, but it appears that many of the privately owned online poker sites, including Full Tilt, continued to operate in spite of the ban and managed to hide their financial transactions behind front companies. Two weeks ago prosecutors in New York launched a civil claim against Full Tilt, and accused the company of paying huge dividends to its owners, whilst owing its customers as much as $390m and only having $60m in the bank. It now appears that many online poker gamblers all over the world have not been able to claim their winnings from this online casino operator, including customers on this side of the Atlantic, so at onlinecasino.ie we felt it was necessary to inform our readers of what could turn out to be the worst casino news for Ireland since online casinos were established. We fervently hope that none of our readers have been victims of this alleged scandal, but it does stress the importance of taking advice when choosing an online casino and we hope that our continuous audits of the main online casino sites available to Irish gamblers will provide a useful pointer.

The Tipperary Venue would be good news

admin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:45:58 +0000

In spite of the current austere financial climate, plans for a new casino complex in Tipperary appear to be still on-going. In fact a recent statement from Richard Quirke who is the driving force behind this proposed development, indicated that he felt that the project would have been more difficult three or four years ago because of the full employment in the building industry. This piece of Irish casino news will be very welcome to many tradesmen who are suffering from the collapse of housing market in Ireland, and in spite of a certain amount of local opposition to the scheme on various grounds, An Bord Pleanala has granted planning permission for the site, although plans to include a 15,000 seat entertainment centre were rejected. Nevertheless the site which will be known as the Tipperary Venue will include a 500 bed hotel, a 6000 square meter casino, a race track, greyhound track, and a heliport. Assuming the architect’s plans are approved by Tipperary North County Council, it is hoped that this new Irish casino development will create up to 1000 jobs in the area. Whilst this is primarily Irish casino news relating to a new land based casino, online casino operators will also welcome a development of this kind outside Dublin, because it has the potential to introduce more people to the pleasure of playing casino games, and of course any new investment which creates jobs in an area will have a knock on effect in that area, improving the feel good factor and consumer confidence.

Irish casino news

admin — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 10:13:39 +0000

The Irish Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, is reported to have raised the question of increased taxes on online gambling operators during a recent after dinner speech. Ireland has been talking about changing its outdated gambling laws for a long time, but the decline of the horse racing industry and the current financial problems facing the country have brought the issue back on the agenda. It is a matter of opinion whether increased regulation and higher taxes would resolve these problems, but it is not good news for Irish casinos. Online casino operators employ a great many people in Ireland, but they will obviously be concerned about this particular suggestion and may well consider following William Hill and Ladbrokes who responded to similar legislation in the UK by relocating abroad. We are all aware that Ireland needs to reduce its debt, and that one way of doing this is to increase tax revenue, but we’re not sure that singling out one particular industry for increased taxes under the banner of reforming gambling laws is the best approach, particularly in this modern world where online businesses can operate from anywhere in the world. Online casino operators currently based in Ireland will be listening very carefully for any further moves in this direction and will be hoping that Mr. Cowen will reconsider his proposals. Ireland’s gambling laws do need reforming, but maybe increased taxes should not necessarily be part of those reforms.

Online casino qualifier wins Irish Poker Open

admin — Thu, 12 May 2011 08:30:17 +0000

Here at onlinecasino.ie we occasionally like to report or comment on any Irish casino news which comes to our attention. This month we feel we must congratulate Niall Smyth on his recent success at the paddypowerpoker.com Irish Open. Not only did he scoop the Euro550,000 first prize by beating former World Poker Tour champion Sirinder Sunar, he also won a further EURO100,000 for being the paddypowerpoker.com Sole Survivor. Niall’s triumph is equally good news for the Irish casino Paddy Power, who sponsor this tournament and provide access to the event for qualifiers on their online casino site. A total of 160 online qualifiers were at the event at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin, out of a total of 615 players, and two of them made it to the final table. If any justification was needed for the online casino route into this major tournament, we think Niall’s success this year proves that Paddy Power are right to encourage their online poker enthusiasts to give it a go. Irishman Niall Smyth’s story is even more remarkable because we understand that his initial stake for the satellite in which he won his buy-in to the Open was the result of a winning bet with Paddy Power on the Grand National. Apparently he has managed to turn his initial EURO10 stake on the Grand National into a grand total of EURO650,000, and that is the sort of Irish casino news we all like to report on. So once again congratulations to Niall, and to the Irish based Paddy Power for making it possible.

Charities could run casinos in Ireland

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:58:52 +0000

The review of Irelands gambling laws continues to be lobbied and in the Irish casino news this time it is the Rehab Group which is a non governmental body providing training and employment for disabled people who are said to support the building of around 10 licensed casinos in the country. The Rehab Group is already into the gaming market through lottery and scratch card sales which provide valuable funding but has now shown interest in applying for a license for a casino. Irish casino news suggests that the Rehab Group has made a submission stating that ‘‘In order to provide high quality entertainment venues, Irish casinos should have about 30,000 square feet in floor space and have the capacity to generate gross annual gaming revenues in excess of €10 million”. The Chief Executive of Rehab is also co chair of a group of political and business leaders who have published a paper on Ireland’s recovery and in that paper it is suggested that Ireland extend its gaming activities not only by opening casinos in the country but also by tackling the issue of online casinos where Irish and UK operators are using overseas bases such as Malta and Gibraltar thus denying the Government income. As we have previously reported here in the Irish casino news section of onlinecasino.ie even a small market share of the online market would create thousands of jobs and millions of Euro in taxes. Also in the casino news is the fact that a developer has proposed a super casino in Dublin which would be in addition to the proposal for the super casino in Tipperary. None of this matters too much at the moment as the laws have not yet been changed but the case for modernisation seems to be gathering pace.

Ladbrokes and 888 still in discussions

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:59:04 +0000

When two of the largest groups in the online casino industry start to talk to each other in the irish casino news about a possible takeover you would expect a deal to be done quickly or for one of the parties to walk away but discussions between Ladbrokes and 888 Holdings have been going on for weeks, since December in fact when Ladbrokes offered something approaching €300 million as a takeover proposal. Discussions have been so slow to progress that now 888 Chief Executive Gigi Levy when announcing improved third quarter results has had to confirm that discussions are still ongoing. Mr Levy said “There is still interest on both sides in doing a deal. Every big deal has complexities, but there’s nothing which is a big sticking point”. Ladbrokes Chief Executive Richard Glynn has had nothing to say but speculators believe he should be in no rush as 888 might soon be in a difficult cash position making a better deal more likely. This stems from the fact that 888 bought Wink Bingo back in 2009 and part of the price to be paid depends on the subsequent performance which has been far better than expected thus pushing up the price which is to be paid in May. The share price of 888 rose slightly on the announcement of fourth quarter numbers but has fallen by more than 20% since the initial discussion were started suggesting again that Ladbrokes should be in no rush.

Irish online casinos hopeful of good December

admin — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 08:22:21 +0000

It seems there is not much in the Irish news these days except the state of the economy both here and in the rest of the Euro zone and who will require the next bail out but surprisingly enough the good Irish people are not forsaking their love of gambling. Irish online casino news suggests that business is brisk and they are all looking forward to an increase in business during December and into the new year; in fact only a couple of weeks ago Paddy Power, one of Irelands largest online casino operators talked of expansion and the creation of several hundred jobs in the industry. The Christmas and New Year holiday is of course always a busy period for online casinos probably because people have more time to browse and to try out their favourite casino games and then have a little flutter; the bad weather often experienced at this time of the year (certainly this year) also helps as race meetings and football matches often succumb so backers of sports often turn to the online casinos as a replacement. There is of course a vast choice of games in online casinos and for the ardent horse racing fan you can even have virtual horse racing. Punters often find that having tried online casinos they prefer them to sports betting; certainly the rewards can be much greater for a small outlay. So while the Irish news continues to publish doom and gloom the rest of us simply dive into our online casinos and have a bit of fun and entertainment and you never now maybe even win money to put a smile on our faces.