Well, it is not a new episode of Johnny Depp Pirates of the Caribbean - but Tejinder Randhawa, an analyst at Evolution Securities told onlinecasinocrawler that the industry was emerging with two, new niches: the European-listed companies, traded on the stock markets, and those looking to continue to market to the U.S., despite the ban. “There are huge opportunities, and all the private offshore operators are licking their lips,” said Randhawa.

The UIGEA seeks to make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to process payments to online casino firms. “But no doubt there will be operators that spring up to handle the payments,” Randhawa said. However, only 10 to 15 percent of the world’s 2,700 or so gaming websites will eventually block U.S. customers.

Privately-owned operators in and around the Caribbean moved there years ago to avoid these problems and now the islands are attracting even more business.

A new online has launched but this time we have to say that it is a very “different” experience. We are in fact talking about the world’s first gay online casino. This casino is licensed in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles and allows people to become the dealers, if they accumulate enough points as players first.

Dorothy’s Palace online casino is run by and for members of the gay community and their friends and is proud to give 10% of its profits to charity. The chosen charity is The Terence Higgins Trust - an excellent charity helping people affected by HIV and AIDS. To find out more - and to download their free software - visit http://www.dorothyspalace.com to… find out more!

At All Jackpots Casino are not dreaming of a white Christmas but of a rich one. All Jackpots Casino, one of the world’s biggest jackpot casinos, is offering triple loyalty points on the King Cashalot progressive slot game, which has passed the $1.5 million mark. When the jackpot hits, King Cashalot will have a new game record, as the previous record was in the $1.4 million range.

King Cashalot is one of the most popular progressive slots ever and it has already created 3 out of the 9 microgaming casino millionaires. The biggest winner so far was Amanda R from Plymouth in England, winning 1,427.369.74 dollars last April at Roxy Palace, still open to american players.

David Brickman, Spokesperson for the Jackpot Factory, said in a joint statement with All Jackpots Casino, “To have a player win a jackpot this size, around the holiday season nonetheless, would be tremendous. It is because of this, that we are giving our players, rookies and seasoned VIPs, triple points on this Medieval-themed game until the million dollar jackpot is won.” Try All Jackpot casino now for a chance of winning $1,5M, good luck!

A week since the announcement of the partnership between Las Vegas Sands, Inc., and British-based Cantor Gaming to start an online casino in the first quarter of 2007 - comments on gambling gossip sites have been less than enthusiastic about American expansion into foreign gaming markets.

According to The Register, the partnership does make sense. Cantor has only been in the gaming industry since 2005, and the Sands people have oodles of experience in the gaming side. The gaming gossips may fume about American expansion at the same time as they bash foreign attempts to penetrate its own gaming market, but the future of online gaming looks increasingly American.

Not that Americans will get to play, of course - as they are still trying to get the money from BetonSports - thanks to the goverment.

This week Bet365.com also announced a merger with Bowman’s, a well established British gaming company.

888 and Ladbrokes have been in talks for over a month and a source close to the situation said a deal worth £490M could be struck as early as next week. Aaron, Avi Shaked (the billionaire who has plans for peace in the Middle East) and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak still own about two-thirds of 888 - worth over £300m. At this point we are not sure whether they will sell all their shares to Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes set its sights on 888 after the sector was hammered by the US ban on online gambling. 888 managed to come out of the water much faster than most of its rivals due to the fact that only half of the revenues came from the States.

Once the deal is struck Ladbrokes will set its sights to the acquisition of Rank but the bookmaker will face the challenge of William Hill.

microgaming, has released a bigger than usual monthly package of new games to its over 70 licensees.

microgaming’s latest video slots are at the cutting edge of gaming technology with some of the sharpest online graphics yet developed. Twin Samurai is a 20 pay-line video slot. Players can gamble with a range that goes from a cent to the maximum bet of 100.00, and the returns can be extraordinary - up to 50 000.00 if lucky free spin rewards are taken into account.

Summertime is a a 5 reel, 9 pay-line video slot where players can win up to 50.000.00 - the base game jackpot. Glory of Rome is a slot dedicated to the Roman Empire with 5 reels and 20 paylines. The ultimate payouts in this game are exceptionally high. Try it yourself at Roxy Palace still accepting US players.

“The closure of our US-facing activity and the impact of that legislation on the listed company environment continues to be deeply felt. We believe it is in the best interests of all our shareholders to accept this offer for The Spin Palace Group and for the company to proceed along the lines announced” said Evan Hoff CEO of Fairground Gaming.

Fairground Gaming is the the first casualty of the online gaming ban in the Isle of Man.

It made its first acquisition of The Spin Palace Group, just six months ago, for $46m, but will dispose of it again to the original vendors, Seahouses Holdings, for just £11m - a heavy loss.

A press release said the US ruling (UIGEA) had reduced the income from Spin Palace operations by 70 per cent, and profits by more than that, due to fixed costs.

On OnlineGamblingBox we do not usually give investment ideas but this one off is due to Cryptologic. Over the years, the company’s Internet casino software has received numerous accolades from the likes of Gambling Online and Casino Player magazines. Most recently, CryptoLogic was named the iGaming Software Provider of the Year at this year’s UK Gambling Awards.

The Canada-based (but soon to be Ireland-based) e-gaming software developer, is Motley Fool’s favorite for the best international stock for 2007.

CryptoLogic regularly sports operating and free cash flow margins of approximately 20% and 30%, respectively. Add CryptoLogic’s small-cap size of $300 million — allowing plenty of room for growth — and you’ve got a solid foundation on which to build some booming returns. CryptoLogic provides one of the most trusted Internet gambling infrastructures available in a thriving international industry.

According to Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, the Internet gaming market is expected to grow from $12 billion in 2006 to $19.6 billion in 2010. To be fair, the new U.S. law banning Internet gambling will surely put a dent in those estimates, and only time will tell just how big the damage is. Either way, the data clearly shows that a worldwide demand to gamble online exists and that CryptoLogic will play a major role in meeting it — with or without the United States.

Eduardo Agami, Costa Rican Electronic Gambling Association’s president,wants to work hard to make the online casino industry regulated and accountable.

Agami is concerned about the consequences for online casinos based in Costa Rica due to the recent legislation in the United States. More than 200 online casinos are still in operation. They employ a total of 10,000 people in Costa Rica, where the online casino industry is unregulated.

“The case is between the Costa Rican government and the U.S. government. We believe that the industry could be productive for Costa Rica and should be allowed. Here they need to establish the limits”, Agami said.

Costa Rica might soon have a fully regulated industry to calm the fears of online casino employees, the clients and the government.

A total of 27 people including a former pro baseball scout and a high-stakes poker player in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Nevada were charged with enterprise corruption, money laundering, promoting gambling and other counts.

New York Police Department investigators used a search warrant to get into Giordano’s (a poker pro) hotel room while he was attending a wedding and they proceeded to quickly make a digital copy of his laptop’s hard drive. Police found a gambling web ring that saw more than $3.3 billion in sports wagers since 2004. The massive betting ring was run through a Web site called Playwithal.com, run by the poker player, James Giordano.

“This is the largest illegal gambling operation that this department has ever encountered,” said Kelly - Police Chief. “It rivals casinos for the amount of betting, $3.3 billion over the past 28 months alone.”

This operation has nothing to do with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or the arrests of David Carruthers and Peter Dicks.