The current direction in which Belgian law is moving is strongly reminiscent of the successful Italian approach, which requires licensees to be based in the country and subject to its laws and taxes, with restrictions on what type and where players can find poker action. This model has resulted in operators from other nations forming Italian partnerships and setting up dedicated Italian poker networks in order to satisfy local requirements and access a market that is burgeoning despite the restrictions imposed by Italian regulator AAMS.

The Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports that new regulations coming into force in 2010 will effectively “nationalise” the operations of online poker rooms and casinos by excluding outside operators from promoting to Belgians. Online poker rooms would have to set up a separate operation that would be licensed by the Belgian government and located within the country. And the availability of licenses would be kept to a minimum, favouring Belgian applicants.

Such an outcome would appear to fly in the face of a European Commission opinion in mid-2009 on the proposed Belgian law, in which the Commission advised that the restrictions envisaged by the Belgians on operators from fellow EU nations would conflict with EU principles on the free movement of goods and services.

However, with changes in the executive of the European Commission now imminent it is by no means certain that the principles will be upheld with equal vigour by the new EC management.

The trend by governments toward constraining online gambling within geographic national boundaries seeks to negate the cross-border and global nature of online gambling as it has developed so far, thanks to the powerful capabilities and global reach of the Internet. But such a political policy suits individual governments long frustrated by a system that transcends international and political boundaries - and taxation possibilities - in allowing players to compete at any time with their counterparts all over the world.

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The first stage is for MPs to consider a green paper, which will describe the possible changes in online gambling.

The tight timeline would mean making online gambling reform a priority over other economic and social issues, the report explained.

The Premier, Dr Ewart Brown, has pledged to leave politics in Oct 2010, the Royal Gazette report noted.

The casino gambling company was hit both by the recession and new competitors and chose to sell its online casinos and betting operation in February.

Large payouts to punters also affected the company revenue considerably…”

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The casinos promotions saw players given the chance to win the jackpot, which was guaranteed to go by the end of November, by simply having a go on any standard 90-ball bingo and poker game in its Dancing Queen room.

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Beginning from January 20, the fourth annual UBOC also features 16 mini online poker events and the chance for players to earn a share of over $4 million in combined tournament guarantees and competition prize money.

Ending on January 31 with the $1,050 buy-in one million dollar guaranteed no-limit hold ‘em championship hosted by Phil Hellmuth, highlights of the 2010 UBOC also include the $2,600 one million dollar guaranteed deepstack no-limit hold’em six-max event on January 24 overseen by Annie Duke.

“With UBOC heading into its fourth year and Aruba coming up to year nine, UB now has two amazing series,” said Duke.

“Whether you are a diehard poker player or a weekend warrior, UBOC and the mini-UBOC offer something to excite everyone. Just as Aruba awarded millions in tournament prize money, UBOC Four is about to break records again and this year you don’t even have to make a final table to cash big.”

UB revealed that players do not have to wait to qualify as it is already running satellites and STEP tournaments alongside four new competitions designed to reward competitors with more chances at extra freeroll entries, free tournament dollars and added cash prizes.

In addition, there is the Bubble Buster Contest, which will award a player with one million dollars if they can clock up at least eleven UBOC cash results.

Reuters news agency reported share online casino prize improvements in Sands China, the Macau unit of Las Vegas Sands; Wynn Macau; SJM Holdings; Galaxy Entertainment Group an Melco International Development.

The new tool is designed to help casino gamblers determine whether they are at risk of developing an unhealthy addiction and is the subject of extensive Nordic trialling through Finland’s Veikkaus, Svenska Spel, RAY, INL and Danske Spil.

The concept of presenting gamblers with a series of questions that will indicate whether there is a potential problem developing is not a new one, but the IRGO product has considerable depth and is based on Motivational interviewing (MI) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) precepts. Developed since 2004 by the Spelinstitutet and Malm? Mediastudio, with a re-design in 2006, the project was supported by the National Institute for Public Health in Sweden.

Spelinstitutet specialises in problem gambling research and education.

Once the player has voluntarily answered a series of questions, a communication platform provides feedback to the player based on his or her answers. The software includes an interface that makes it easy to deliver figures and facts to the operators who use the self test.

DSP will be available immediately in Sportingbet’s English language markets and will subsequently expand to reach all 23 languages.

DSP is part of Trebax’s ‘Damn Small Games’ platform - a collection of traditional gambling games that integrate into affiliate advertising networks in order to acquire, increase and retain new players for casino and gaming operators.

The DSG collection currently includes poker and bingo. Scheduled for release in 2010 are slots, blackjack and roulette. All games are multi-player based.

“We are extremely pleased that Sportingbet has decided to take on an innovative and leading-edge product such as DSP,” said Alex Wheldon, chief marketing officer for Trebax. “This new launch further demonstrates Sportingbet’s commitment to their affiliate base by providing the most current and intensive marketing tools available today.”