The Q1 results announced on 25 November showed growth of 26 percent in online gambling gaming revenue year-on-year and a 56 percent increase in the group’s core European sports betting revenues.

Dicks said that sports betting now accounted for 69 percent of revenue and was expected to be the key driver of growth for the rest of online casino games the year.

“The achievements of the past financial year have demonstrated the success of the restructuring of the group during 2007 and 2008,” the chairman reported to investors. “The group’s operational bases are now well bedded down and are performing strongly.

“In addition, the group continues to invest in its personnel, in its infrastructure and particularly in its IT capabilities. This investment is leading to a greater range of products being offered to our customers which is driving further growth in turnover.

“To support these initiatives further investment is continuing to be made in the group’s sales and marketing resource.”

For every 50 credits deposited and wagered on any specified game at All Slots online casino the player will be given one spin on the Christmas Spin game. This game is specially devised for the promotion and players cannot have direct access to it. The points earned during each spin on Christmas Spin will be accumulated in the week and will decide the player’s position on the leader board. Players must keep in mind that wagering in live slots and blackjack tournaments does not count towards getting a spin on Christmas Spin. At the end of each week’s promotional period the top 150 players on the leader board will share the 10,000 credits prize pool as follows. The player in the 1st place wins 1,000 credits; the players in the 2nd and 3rd places win 500 credits each; the players in the 4th to 9th places win 200 credits each; the players in the 10th to 39th places win 100 credits each; the players in the 40th to 80th places win 50 credits each and the players in the 81st to 150th places win 25 credits each.

The credits won in the Christmas Spin promotion will be treated as bonuses and must be played through thirty times before making a withdrawal. VIP players at All Slots online casino must play through their bonuses fifteen times. The Microgaming ClearPlay Bonus System applies to the wagering requirements. If the wagering requirements are not completed within 30 days of the credits being awarded, the credits will be deemed to have expired and will be removed.

In the Christmas Spin promotion the leader board will be updated every 30 minutes so that players continuously know where the stand and how much more they need to wager in order to break into the prize pool. In the first week promotion Steven B is currently leading with 384,600 points. In second place is Elizabeth B with 238,900 points. The first week promotion runs till December 14 and therefore this position is likely to change.

Two menus are offered to the players. In menu A the player can make a deposit of $100 and received a bonus of $75. Therefore he gets a total playing amount of $175. In menu B the player can make a deposit of $200 and received a casino bonus of $150. Therefore he gets a total playing amount of $350. In both cases the deposit and the bonus must be wagered 25 times before a withdrawal is permitted. The wagering requirements can only be met on the online slot games offered at Club World online casino.

Club World online casino has organized an interesting competition based on the A La Carte Slots bonuses. Players need to select one of the two menus and then play their favorite online slot game between Friday and Sunday. Top ten players who have wagered the most will share the prize pool. The first place winner will get $300, the second place winner will get $200 and the players in the 3rd to the 10th places will get $50 each.

Club World online casino recommends the online slot game Rudolph’s Revenge for this competition. In this slot game Rudolph is out for revenge for all the teasing that he has had to endure. However players at Club World online casino can choose any other slot game that they prefer. Two new Christmas themed slot games have been recently introduced. These are Santa Strikes Back and Naughty or Nice.

There is much more on offer by way of bonuses over this weekend. Apart from the A La Carte Slots bonuses players can avail of bonuses worth $40,000. There are 20 coupons that offer 50% match bonuses up to $1,000 each. These bonuses can be wagered on Slots, Keno, Video Slots and Scratch Cards. The deposit and the bonus must be wagered 25 times before a withdrawal is permitted. There are another 20 coupons that offer 40% match bonuses up to $1,000 each. These bonuses can be wagered on Blackjack, Video Poker and all Table Games. The deposit and the bonus must be wagered 50 times before a withdrawal is permitted.

The main awards are for Best Affiliate Program. In this category separate awards will be given for bingo, internet casino, poker, sports book and overall affiliate program. Another important award is for Best iGaming Software. The subcategories are bingo, casino and poker. There is also an award for Best Payment System for Affiliates. Managing affiliates requires greater personal interaction than managing online casinos. Therefore the iGB Affiliate Awards honor individual affiliate managers in the Best Affiliate Manager award. This award is given in the bingo, casino, poker, sports book and overall categories. Awards are also given to the Best Affiliate in the same subcategories.

The voting for the awards takes place online. It has already begun and will close on January 8, 2010. Eligible voters can access the iGB Affiliate Awards website and vote from there. The software tracks the IP addresses of the computers and allows each IP address only one vote. Therefore voters should check out the categories and the nominees and decide their votes beforehand. They will not be given a second opportunity to cast their votes.

The iGB Affiliate Awards were earlier known as the CAP Awards. The winners in the various online casino subcategories for 2009 were as follows. The Best Casino Affiliate Program award went to EuroPartners that manages online casinos like Casino Tropez and Casino Del Rio. The Best iGaming Casino Software award went to Microgaming.

The nominees for the current awards were proposed by individuals and organizations and a shortlist was prepared by a panel of judges. The voters will have to select from this shortlist. The nominees for the Best Casino Affiliate Program include 32Red, Bet365, Betfair, Bodog, EuroPartners, Roxy Affiliates, Sloto’ Cash and St. Miniver Affiliates.

The industry grapevine is backing Sloto’ Cash for this award. One of the reasons for this is the immense growth in the player base in recent years. This is because of the innovative marketing tools and incentives introduced by the affiliate program. One such promotion is the laptop give away, which ends next week. This year Connie Burstin joined the Sloto’ Cash Affiliate Program as Manager and is responsible for its outstanding performance. Therefore Connie has been nominated for the Best Overall Affiliate Manager award.

Last month when Cryptologic had launched Batman and Wonder Woman, it had promised that Superman would hit the reels in December and that promise has been made good. Superman is by far the most popular super hero and a product of DC Comics. The introductory clip displays the hallmark scene of Superman smashing an asteroid and thus saving the earth. As in the earlier DC Comics branded slots, Superman features the Bonus Bet that activates the Save The World feature. A regular free spins feature with expanding wilds and random multipliers is also offered.

Another equally exciting slot game is Braveheart featuring the legendary Scottish warrior of the same name. One of the highlights of this slot game is the war movie clips shown in the introduction and in the free spins round. The Battle Free Games Feature has an ongoing battle between Braveheart and Longshanks and if Braveheart wins the player gets bonus credits. Braveheart also feature a five level progressive jackpot that is randomly triggered. The jackpot is named Hollywood Jackpots and the five levels are Smash, Epic, Classic, Acclaimed and Blockbuster.

Forrest Gump is the other Hollywood movie based online slot game. This too is networked to the Hollywood Jackpots. The symbols on the reels feature memorabilia from the Forrest Gump movie. There are two bonus games in this online slot. One is the Box of Chocolates Feature and the other is the Run Forrest Run Feature. The Run Forrest Run Feature simulates Gump’s dash through the football field. Players have to manipulate Gump so that he dodges opponents and makes a touchdown.

Just Vegas is an All Pays slot game, the second one from Cryptologic. All wins pay in any position from left to right on adjacent reels, beginning with the left most one. The symbols and animations depict the glitter of Las Vegas. In the free spins feature the player has to choose from three casinos, Asian, Egyptian and Roman. Each casino offers a different package of free spins and the choice is not an easy one.

Chicagoland has become one of the WSOP Circuit’s most popular destinations for online poker players. The 13-event tournament series at the Horseshoe Casino is being held October 16th through 25th, which kicks off the sixth season of WSOP Circuits, which officially began play in 2005. This year, 11 Harrah’s properties will host WSOP Circuit events. This marks the Horseshoe Casino’s second year as part of the WSOP Circuit.

The Horseshoe Casino, which underwent a $500 million renovation last year, is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. The huge luxury casino offers panoramic views of the downtown Chicago skyline, just 16 miles away. The Horseshoe Casino is actually located in Hammond, Indiana, a few minutes from the Illinois state line. Downtown Chicago can be reached by car or shuttle within just 20 minutes.

The Horseshoe Casino holds the largest poker room in the Midwest, with 34 tables. WSOP Circuit attendance boosted the poker facility to a whopping 112 tables, most of which are located inside “The Venue,” which is a state-of-the-art special events center attracting many of the biggest names in music and entertainment.

“With the Bodog Poker Open IV, Bodog is giving online poker players of all levels a chance to strike it rich and gain major exposure as the next Bodog Poker Open Champion,” says Bodog Poker Pro David Williams. “It takes a great deal of patience and skill to run deep in this tournament, and any poker player who can take down the Championship Event deserves not only the huge cash prize, but also the recognition that comes along with it.”

The Bodog Poker Open IV Championship Series kicks off Sunday, Nov. 1 at 4pm EST with the first of seven events. The series culminates on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 4pm EST with the Championship Event, featuring $25,000 in added prize money. The last player standing will not only walk away with the top cash prize and the title of Bodog Poker Open IV Champion, but will also be prominently featured in an international poker publication and on Bodog.

Buy-ins for the seven events of the Championship Series range from $50+$5 (rebuy) to $470+$30 for the Championship Event. Bodog is adding additional prize money to all events, giving players exceptional value for their tournament dollars.

The Bodog Poker Open IV Contender Series runs during the same time period and features all the action of the Championship Series but with smaller buy-ins. The winner of each Contender Series tournament receives a seat to the Bodog Poker Open IV Championship Event (T$500), while the remaining eight final table players get a seat to the Contender Series Championship Event (T$50) on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 5pm EST. Bodog is adding $2,500 in cash to the prize pool of the Contender Series Championship Event.

“With the chance to rise through the ranks, from contender to Bodog Poker Open IV Champion, the Bodog Poker Open IV promises to be one of the biggest and best poker tournament series in Bodog 15-year history,” says Bodog Poker Pro David Williams.

ChicagoJoe clearly had plenty of steam left, continuing for a further 470 hands before ending the session at 21 hours.

The young American set himself a sterner test than the original record, promising Sunday: “Will be starting this prop bet tomorrow morning between 10-12AM eastern and hope to play 50k+ hands in a 24 hour period and show a profit. I am putting up about 13k of my own money in hopes of winning 30k! I will be playing all hands at NL25 on PokerStars and am very confident in my chances here.

“I feel like I have a good game plan going into all of this and should be able to be victorious. I will post daily updates on my blog and in 2+2 thread tomorrow and hopefully set a new world record for most hands come Tuesday Morning.”

He followed this up during the event by webcamming the record breaking attempt as it took place.

Good to his word, he did all of this, turning a profit of $850.35 on the play, and more from those who bet against him.

ChicagoJoe’s new record now stands at 50 470 hands over 21 hours. How long will it last?

Fans of this sort of endurance record are predicting that ‘Chiren’, who once played a million hands over the course of a month could be about to come forward with a new challenge, and there’s always the possibility that ‘innerpsy’ will try to reclaim the record.

The Bodog Network is launching internationally with a keen focus on servicing the online casino poker gambling sites operating within the European Union. The EU’s internet gambling market is absolutely extensive and the Bodog brand name now has enough international brand recognition and respect to safely enter this gambling market and expect to gain a decent portion of the online poker gambling activity. Although the concept of the Bodog Network has just launched, the Ongame Poker Network has already signed a licensing deal for the internet casino poker gambling brands that operate on the Bodog Network.

The online casino poker network is just forming and as a part of the launch of the Bodog Network Bodog plans to launch additional poker domains and gambling rooms that will all develop on this newly launching platform. The business is still in the development process and as the stages of develop progress CEO of the Ongame Poker Network, Patrik Selin, will continue developing strategic partnerships and other alliances with other prominent internet poker brands and sites.

The conference traditionally takes place at the end of September and this year’s event was no exception. With numerous fantastic European cities to choose from every year deciding the next city and venue takes a lot of work. Copenhagen was chosen this year to host the event and high level executives from the online casinos and industry analysts descended on Denmark’s capital for several days. The event kicked off to a really positive start on day one which meant that the energy was really ramped up for day two as seven online casino industry CEOs and executives were featured speakers for the day.

A lot of the focus at this year’s expo covered ways for the online casinos to stay lucrative during the recessive global economy in addition to a lot of talk about new developments in the European internet gambling industry that still has several gambling monopolies in place.