Online Casinos Directory

One major change in the market of gambling has been the huge growth of online poker play. If you look at where the market was just ten years ago as opposed to where it is now, it’s clear to see how much has happened. Poker tournaments that paid out a few thousands in the past, are now paying out hundreds-of-thousands. Not to mention the huge tournament growth- for example, the WSOP began humbly with a few players and now thousands of players from all over the world are joining in on the poker tournaments in the industry. This public interest is what is causing the game to move forward and to bring new players into the market.

For a while the novice poker players have had a hard time keeping up. It has been difficult for them to continue gaming against more seasoned players and their only hope was to continue playing, and losing, against professional players. Now that is all about to change. The website PokerTIme.com is introducing a new product into the market. The new product is set in the market to help amateur players work on their gaming skill. The MyPokerLab software is a form of analysis that is proving to be a huge asset for gamers who can use it. The new product is part of the MicroGaming suite of products in the market and it offers real-time analysis of gamers past and present performance as poker players. The product is a teaching service that helps to train new players. Basically, every time you log in to play a game of poker the software tracks their plays and then tells them what to do to improve their games on later games. Of course the software isn’t there to give tips, but rather to help analyze a player’s performance. Overall it is a great tool for gamers to have because it helps them to directly work on their gaming by looking at their older activities. Though it still will take time, it is a great product for gamers to enjoy. If you are a fan of poker but aren’t yet performing as well as you would like, then look to this type of software to help you move your own skill as a poker player along.

In the mean time, Ohio voted this month to approve gambling, but gambling opponents have threatened to file lawsuits to try to overturn the election results. The American Gaming Association polled subscribers to the AGA Smart Brief, a daily online gaming industry news source that posed five questions about the state of the gaming industry. Forty-four percent of those polled said that the industry’s current business environment is getting better. Thirty-one percent thought conditions are still lagging, but not better or worse. Forty-four percent believe it will take up to three or four years before the industry can fully recover and return to what it was pre-recession. “Without a doubt, the gaming industry is facing a long road to recovery,” Fahrenkopf said. “However, I consider these results a sign that there is optimism within our industry that we are turning a corner.”

Fahrenkopf said most of the growth projected is fueled towards the online gambling industry. He believes that that will be the true direction gambling will take and the market should take off quickly. In the group’s survey, 39 percent of the respondents thought the legalization and regulation of Internet gaming would dominate the industry news. Currently there are two bills awaiting review by Congress that center on legalization and regulation of online gambling. They are focused on changing the UIGEA of 2006, a law that has proven to be ineffective when it comes to monitoring online gambling.  The UIGEA has too many holes in it and defines little in terms of what “gambling” really is and what activities fall under the umbrella term. Rather the UIGEA focused on putting the responsibility of flagging and banning transactions related to gambling into the hands of financial institutions. Banks were left to decide what transactions are legal and which ones weren’t.  The AGA has taken a neutral stance on internet gaming because its members have different views. Fahrenkopf thought the issue would probably be addressed at the association’s board meeting in December of this year. What the outcome is has yet to be found, but the AGA most likely will have no choice but to get on board with the profound rise in internet gaming.

Industry insiders are analyzing the gaming industry and giving a realistic projection of what is going to happen for the coming months. Though the recession is over and the casino industry is showing nascent signs of recovery, it may take three to four years total before casinos are back to normal.  For the past 18 years the casino industry has been suffering greatly as a result of the overall economy and shown little to no sign of a turnaround.  At the annual Global Gaming Expo, the American Gaming Association President Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. said he discounts comments from economists who say the recession is over.  Fahrenkopf says that he is “waiting for more proof.”

For the beginning of 2009 casinos have brought in total revenues of $7.8 billion dollars and that’s a 5.5% decrease from last year.  Fahrenkopf said, “The news is better.  We’re seeing some signs of a recovery and some have said we hit bottom. It’s still challenging.” The Global Gaming Expo, which is the gaming industry’s leading trade show and convention, was hosted at the Las Vegas Convention Center and it was where Fahrenkopf and other industry insiders voiced their opinions and projections of the gaming industry as a whole.

The American Gaming Association is co-producer of the G2E event, along with Reed Exhibitions. Fahrenkopf said, “That’s actually in line with what the tradeshow industry is experiencing. We lost some of the smaller exhibitors, but the large gaming companies are still here.” During his speaking portion of the show Fahrenkopf said that there are good signs that the casino industry is turning around. In Colorado, Missouri and Indiana numbers are up and are mostly due to more “liberalized gaming regulations.” New casinos have opened in Pennsylvania, and the state is looking at adding table games to the slot machine-only market. “I expect the governor to sign a bill authorizing table games in the next two months,” Fahrenkopf said.

Though there are signs that the overall economy is growing, there are other portions of the economy that are stagnant. Atlantic City, for example, has been suffering for a long time and is showing no signs of recovery. The gambling Mecca has lost a large chunk of its customer base to the neighboring state.

Part two coming next.