The gaming company Playtech, which supplies games for dozens of casinos around the world, has inked a deal with UK development company Masabi to enable players to play on the move. What Masabi allows Playtech to do is roll out a range of games including Black Jack, Poker and Roulette onto a wide range of handset types – not just those running Symbian or Windows Mobile 5.0. The engine encompasses low end handsets which can run basic Java apps, too.

Players access their accounts through the Masabi software, using the same style of interface that PlayTech provides on the desktop, and over any internet connection. This means the network operator is out of the loop - it may make some pennies from the data traffic, but otherwise it’s not involved.

Well done to Playtech for finding a way of going round the operator rather than deal with it.

Spin3 (www.spin3.com), the leading wireless casino system provider powered by microgaming, today announced the offering of a new and advanced service option for its clients – SpinSupport™ — optional 24/7 multi-lingual service center, with dedicated chat, email, phone and SMS support. This service will utilize a unique feature — the Call Back button, unique to Spin3 mobile casinos, which allows players to receive an immediate call back from a service representative within minutes. Spin3 clients who decide to take this service option will receive industry-leading customer support services, proven to provide enhanced customer satisfaction and improved business performance.

“This year we’ll see a different kind of growth experienced by the mobile gambling industry, as we seek to build greater confidence by offering service level benchmarks,” said Matti Zinder, CEO, Spin3. “Spin3’s collaboration with BrightMark for SpinSupport delivers the most comprehensive and timely support to ease the adoption of mobile gambling solutions around the world.”

Visitors at ICEi at Earl’s Court in London can experience Spin3’s mobile casino games and SpinSupport at the Spin3 booth (# 5715), from 23-25 January 2007. (marketwire)

According to Reuters, 888 “is in the final stages” of planting its services in the handsets of European operators. And 888 happens to be one of the companies rumored to be in talks with American gambling behemoth MGM-Mirage about a possible buy out.

Not only would that make MGM-Mirage a major player in the Asian and European online gaming world, but it could well be instrumental in bringing cell-based gambling a cheap flight away from American shores. MGM is not stopping here as there are speculations about them buying out Ladbrokes, dominant online sportsbook brand in Britain.

That’ s great news for american land based casino companies who can buy all the foreign ones on the cheap after the recent American anti-gambling legislation. Now, is that the real reson behind the law?

We are noticing how the more traditional side of the gambling industry is quickly taking advantage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. We saw requests for new casino licenses in Philadelphia, free drinks at Pennsylvania Casinos and the success of Interactive slots in Las Vegas.

Now combine the two of the most influential innovations of modern time: Internet e Mobile Phones. What do you get? A lucrative multi billion dollar market opportunity.

What are you talking about? We are talking about WagerPhone. Through the aggregation of leading technologies, WP creates a unique and robust convergence of multimedia positioned to provide Lotteries with extensible channels of sales and distribution. Yes they will be extending the reach from traditional / limited methods of play to fill the gap left by internet gambling.

Gamblers will have the ability to purchase lottery tickets, play scratch cards, enjoy casino games and even place a sports wager from the palm of their hand making regulated play more convenient and accessible than ever before.

Bottom line is that lotteries will sell more tickets, reach new demographics and decrease their operational costs while people will have the ability to play any game, any time, anywhere. But If I am not mistaken wasn’t it Frist and Leach’s aim to stop people from gambling any time anywhere? Well, thats fine as long as the goverment reaps the rewards and not some foreign bookmakers.

Casino chips embedded with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags were one interesting topic of discussion at last week’s Global Gaming Expo. The chips are aimed at tracking bets and dealer performance. Manufacturers of the high-tech systems predicted that the technology could be part of most casino systems in the U.S. in the next few years.

They are already helping some casinos nationwide to monitor table game performance, including the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. Some at the conference wondered whether the tags could also be used to keep tabs on employees who wear the devices. Funnily enough similar tags are already used by hospitals to track down doctors at a moment’s notice.

The technology is available — but it’s not going to happen, experts said. Personal privacy, it seems, is more valuable than management efficiency.

Another interesting topic was cyberterrorism. It seems that hackers are using laptops and antennae to detect unauthenticated wireless signals to snag such things as credit card information and hotel room numbers. Potential targets include wireless “hot spots” offered by casinos and PDAs used by employees to collect customer information and other sensitive data.

Golden Palace is not only one of the few online casino left to accept US customers but it is also on of the top product on the internet.

GoldenPalace.com has made a five-year license accord with Phantom Fiber Corporation - top supplier of secure wireless technology and mobile solutions - to offer wireless betting to its clients.

“We feel that wireless gaming is imperative in delivering a complete solution for our customers and will further serve to increase our market leadership in the industry. With many more phones, many wireless games, and a huge emphasis from carriers to promote data wireless connectivity, we strongly believe momentum is on our side.” said Richard Rowe, CEO of GoldenPalace.com

Spin3 (www.spin3.com), the wireless division of Spiral Solutions Ltd. and the leading wireless casino system provider powered by microgaming announced that it will be distributing the Ki-Bi card technology.

The card contains free mobile content including the networked Tomb Raider Video Slot linking players to an online competition. Players can view their results against other competitors via the online scoreboard. The player with the highest score at the end of 3GSM Asia (www.3gsmasia.com) will win an iPod nano.

Spin3 will make the product available to all existing and new customers, who can use Ki-Bi cards to easily distribute any mobile content including, mobile games, video, ringtones, wallpaper and music.

Using a mobile phone, consumers in possession of a card dial a number printed on the front of the card, follow the voice message, and then select the content they want by pressing a button on the card. The acoustic signals transmitted by the card transfer content immediately to the handset.

A new venture between Diamond I, Real Video Gaming, Inc. (RVG), Voyant Media Group, Inc. (VMG) and Ibis Networks will allow video, audio and betting information from real gaming devices to be transmitted without delays to the Internet, PDAs and mobile phones simultaneously anywhere in the world.

The Global Gaming Platform will transmit real-time video of actual gaming devices, such as craps, slots and roulette, from actual casinos to users who will, then, be able to interact with such devices, as if the user were present at the host casino.

This is an ambitious project, definitely an outside-the-box concept that we firmly believe will bring an exciting dimension to wireless gaming,” said David Loflin, Diamond I’s CEO.

According to a panel of 300 executives Spin3 are the “Best Gambling Company”.

Spin3 (www.spin3.com), is the leading wireless casino system provider powered by microgaming, the world’s largest online gaming software provider.

The first Mobile Entertainment Award recognized the pioneering work Spin3 has done in the mobile gambling arena by bringing popular casino games including unique progressive video slots and brands like Lara Croft™to wireless platforms.

“The ME Award is a great achievement and honour for Spin3 to be named the best in a niche industry that is witnessing phenomenal growth,” said Matti Zinder, CEO, Spin3. “The Award recognizes our drive to stay ahead in a dynamic market by continually diversifying our products, developing unique and innovative game offerings and providing customers a full service solution, not just a software package.”

Full press Release onmarketwire

Mobile phones are emerging as a new platform for the online casino industry, and are expected to be an $8.8 billion business during the next four years, according to a new research report by a leading IT consulting company.

A study by Juniper Research, based in Seoul, South Korea, indicates that mobile gambling is an offshoot of online gambling, and features not only casinos, but sports betting and lotteries as well. The business is worth approximately $966 million today, the report said.

The cellular phone market’s growth is just one factor, of many in the expected evolution of mobile phone gambling. There is the desire to gamble in many sectors of the global population, as well as the increased speed of mobile networks, and the production of new, mobile handset technology.