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Essentially, South Africa is enacting measures similar to what is in place in the USA: the Reserve Chairman will ask banks to cease processing transactions to any gaming site. Next, the government will outlaw online gaming businesses in the country. Finally, to add some teeth to the new measure, a Rand $10 million fine will be imposed on any bank, gaming company, or advertiser that breaks these new rules. This raises an interesting question, similar to the conundrum facing USA banks: is it really feasible to monitor and prohibit transactions to all gaming operations? And, even if it is, will it really stop gamblers from accessing gaming sites?

One major South African online gaming business already took the national gambling board to court, and they were immediately rebuffed. The court stood by the new legislation, and affirmed the national gambling board’s decision to outlaw online gaming. Edward Lalumbe, Gauteng Gambling Board’s chief operating officer, said: “Part of the reason we have been fighting online operators is because we cannot guarantee that a gambler will win. If they do, we cannot guarantee that they will be paid their winnings.”

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Is this really a reasonable argument? Can’t gamblers face similar situations in land based casinos? Furthermore, are concerns about problem gambling at online gaming sites truly different from those at preexisting brick and mortar casino operations? In one instance, the Addiction Action Campaign offered an example of a male gambler leaving a physical casino establishment nearly broke, only to use his wife’s credit card later that night at an online casino.

Are such attempts at using ill-gotten gains limited to online casinos? In reality, this sort of thing happens all the time at regular casinos: instead of using someone else’s credit cards, compulsive gambler might be using cash from their child’s college fund. The only difference is that it is next to impossible to track where the cash came from, opposed to online gaming transactions that are 100% traceable. It is this irony that troubles South African facing online gaming operations.

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As with any other nation considering the legality of online gaming, South Africa surely had strong opposition from land based casinos, and likewise, anti-online gaming government lobbies were certainly financially supported by land based gaming industry groups. It always comes down to who has more money, and in this case, South African land based casinos won over the fledgling South African online gaming industry, which could never muster as much power behind its own appeals against the new anti-online gambling legislation.

So where does this leave South African online gambling companies and online gamblers? If you’re a company, you’re now officially out of business - there’s no two ways about it. If you’re a citizen looking to gamble online, you’re now up against strict new banking laws that will erect barriers in the way of any attempt to process transactions going to local or international online gaming companies. Ultimately, it’s likely offshore South African gambling companies will setup third party processing programs similar to those found in the USA offshore gaming industry, but are such solutions really worth it?

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Only time will tell. Interestingly enough, as South Africa banned gambling, the pro-online gambling bill created by Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, passed the House Banking Committee’s vote, with bipartisan support. Canada has taken things a step further: www.playnow.com is the nation’s first legal online casino, with all proceeds going to government coffers. Plans for expanded online gaming and sports betting are already in the works in Canada, some of which will equal the “fully legal” status many UK online gaming companies enjoy. Surely, if things bode well for online gambling in Canada, the good will will percolate downwards to the USA?

Only time will tell. For now, we recommend the following top online casinos, accepting players from the USA and around the world.

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One major blow to the industry was the loss of MasterCard as a deposit method, which wreaked havoc on a number of gaming businesses. Essentially, MasterCard pulled the plug on all “uncoded” transactions to known offshore gambling operations. Uncoded transactions are the only way deposits can be processed, because they don’t specify the exact nature of what the money is for. As a result, using uncoded transactions means the credit card companies only see a purchase for goods and services, but there is no actual designation for what these goods/services are.

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The loss of MasterCard apparently occurred when one casino operation coded their transactions improperly, tipping off company officials that chip purchases from USA customers were being processed below the radar. MasterCard also discovered that USA sportsbook and racebook customers were also slipping through the cracks. As a result, in order to comply with UIGEA and preserve its reputation as a leader in the credit card industry, MasterCard shut down all transactions to offshore gaming companies completely, coded or uncoded. In the ensuing weeks, both casinos and sportsbooks were scrambling to find alternatives, and many were left with no other option than to hand out as many e-wallet invitations as possible, since transactions to these services were generally unaffected.

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All of this hubbub was a major inconvenience to players, and while the gaming companies were playing duck and cover with MasterCard, players were doing a dance of their own to find the nearest casino or sportsbook that would take their MasterCard deposit. Needless to say, this created a ton of confusion and rumors, most of which only served to make the situation more complicated than it really was.

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Now, things have *somewhat* returned to normal, although credit card processing for MasterCard is spotty at best. Most all online sportsbooks do not accept MasterCard unless you use an intermediary e-wallet like Click2Pay, EwalletXpress, or UseMyWallet. Things are slightly better on the casino side: a few companies were able to muster new payment processing alternatives that re-opened the flow of MasterCard deposits, but it’s important to note that while it is possible to attempt a MasterCard deposit, it’s not likely to clear. As a result, you may find that casinos continue to offer MasterCard in their banking section as a payment alternative even though the likelihood of a successful transaction is almost nil. If possible, it’s better to go with Visa, which still allows uncoded transactions to offshore gaming companies.

So, what USA casinos are accepting MasterCard? Caveat Emptor: They may accept MasterCard but that doesn’t mean it will go through! The following is a brief list composed by the JaxCasinos.com editorial team, current as of the date of this blog, for your consideration.

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So what’s the new site and most of all, is it really legal in Canada? The answer to those questions: www.playnow.com and YES, it is indeed legal for Canadian citizens to enjoy casino games at this site. Caveat Emptor: This is the ONLY site sanctioned by the Canadian government. All other internet casinos, poker rooms, and sportsbooks located elsewhere are still illegal. Deposit options are currently limited, with only Mastercard and Visa being accepted. All the same, this is a momentous step for people in North America who have long patronized online casinos, hoping that eventually either the USA or Canada would legalize online gaming for good. One’s in the bag, and now it’s up to the USA to deliberate more closely about online casinos, sportsbooks, and poker rooms.

With www.playnow.com in action, a few other issues have come to light, especially with respect to social responsibility and gambling. Some opponents cite studies which concluded that online gaming is more addictive than offline gaming, with 10% of players online getting hooked, versus 5% offline in real casinos. It should be noted, however, that this study is older and not necessarily current. Additionally, it was conducted in the UK, which has traditionally had much more open laws in terms of online gaming. The prudent thing for Canada would be to commission its own study, running parallel to the operation of the new online casino.

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Another complaint is that a government sanctioned operation might lull customers into trusting the casino “too much”. In essence, players might feel more comfortable about blowing through their credit card limits knowing that the casino is supported by law, opposed to offshore casinos which typically peg first time casino players to a low velocity limit, in order to keep their credit card processors functioning.

The formal opening of www.playnow.com also came with new higher limit action, allowing players to deposit up to $9,999 a week, an enormous increase above what was initially proposed. Although the average Canadian may not have this kind of money on hand, higher limits do suggest that all but the most well off could easily stretch their credit limits in one week of compulsive gambling. As a result, the government may have to adopt procedures similar to offshore operations to make sure people play responsibly.

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Does this mean offshore operations will go out of business? Well, suffice to say, while there are probably a large number of players lining up to play at www.playnow.com, there are probably an equal or greater number who will continue to patronize existing online casinos. The Canadian government is completely new to online gambling, and it lacks the experience, customer retention programs, and bonus incentives thrown at players by offshore gaming shops. Therefore, the most likely scenario will be a new healthy competition between legal and illegal online casinos, with the legal casinos slowly attracting larger player numbers should the government decide to clamp down on “out-of-town” internet gaming.

Ultimately, Canada concludes that responsible gaming starts with the individual player. The new casino website has plenty of links to problem gambling resources, making it clear that the government wants to operate a fair, transparent, and most importantly safe operation for its citizens. This is essentially a new “tax”, on top of any existing income and sales taxes collected by government. Therefore, the government must be sure to cover its rear end, so that levying new taxes vis a vi online gaming doesn’t take advantage of people.

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The weather has also entombed those with adequate AC inside their houses, and left many at a loss for what to do with their time. One can only watch so many hours of daytime TV before the experience gets stale. That means it’s time to hit the computer and kill time at an online casino without having to leave the comforts of a chilled home.

Traditionally, the summer months in the USA are actually very quiet in terms of online gambling. School is out, people go on vacation, and the warm sunshine beckons many to go outside and enjoy fresh air. What’s more, the NFL, NBA, and NHL are officially out of season. As a result, many online casinos and sportsbooks see a sharp decline in visitors. This time period is known throughout the industry as the “quiet season”. Throw the UIGEA into the mix, and many online casinos are finding it hard to get people through the door, let alone deposit money and play for real cash.

Not anymore. It seems mother nature and global warming have collided to produce something like a an “opposite summer” where people stay in because walking around outside would result in dramatic fluid loss and potentially heatstroke. So now, just for a little while, online casinos are getting a little more action from those that would otherwise be outside.

What are the best online casino sites for cooling down during this hot spell? We’re glad you asked, because that’s a question Jaxcasinos.com can answer quite easily.

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Rushmore Casino was Jaxcasinos.com’s top casino for 2009, and they continue to impress us to this day. Featuring a fantastic selection of RTG casino games, Rushmore teams excellent customer service and carefree deposit options together to provide one of the best online gaming experiences the web has to offer. Top games at Rushmore include blackjack, craps, roulette, and slots. There’s always some thing to do at this website, plus unbeatable summer deposit bonus offers!

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Stay out of the heat and enjoy casino games at Win Palace Casino, a solid RTG online casino that has a strong reputation with high rollers. Win Palace welcomes all USA players and others from around the world, providing a multi-lingual website in 5 different languages. Player favorites include progressive slots, baccarat, and video poker. Better yet, Win Palace has great deposit bonus offers, all of which are geared towards the serious online gambling aficionado. What do you have to lose? Play at Win Palace now!

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Want to get rich? Don’t want to go outside and mow the lawn in this steamy weather? That’s understandable: time to play casino games at Rich Casino, one of the flagship brands of the Top Game software brand. Although Rich Casino’s game selection is slightly smaller than the average RTG casino, you’ll still find a wealth of speedy casino games at your fingertips. Gone are the days of slow graphics and excessive game load times. If there’s one thing Top Game is good at, it’s providing a fast, action packed gaming experience that doesn’t waste your time. Stop by Rich Casino today.

That’s it for now. Stay out of the heat and drink plenty of water. Take care of any physically demanding tasks in the morning and evening hours, when the sun isn’t as strong as midday. One final tidbit: the record temperature in New York City for the past 10 years was 101, set in 2001. Just yesterday, that record was shattered, with the mercury rising to 103 degrees. Take it easy and take a rain check on the beach for a couple days. Instead, have some indoor, cool weather fun at online casinos.

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Has UIGEA actually stemmed the flow of USA players flocking to online casinos? In our opinion, it has slightly affected traffic, but not to the extent lawmakers intended. There are still many offshore credit card processing agencies that can sneak transactions through, and the minute one goes down there is almost always another that pops up in its place. For the most part, it’s business as usual for online casinos, even with the beginning of summer in the USA, a time that usually means slower business.

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So who is actually in the USA online casinos market still? The major software providers with multiple casinos cater to the USA include Real Time Gaming, Top Game, Rival Gaming, and Vegas Technologies. There are also a few smaller proprietary gaming software companies that operate on a much smaller scale, with no more than one or two casino brands. For the most part, USA law enforcement tolerates these companies, hoping that financial pressures from the UIGEA and banks will eventually put them out of business.

If you’re from Europe, however, things are still the status quo. Big name software provider Microgaming is still the top dog in the show, offering well over 100 casino games. Additionally, many Microgaming casinos accept a wide variety of European banking alternatives, in addition to standard credit card and bank transfer transactions. Companies like Microgaming have successfully reinvented themselves in Europe, after formally leaving the USA market a few years ago - that is, until now.

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Earlier this month, Jaxcasinos.com received email from two major Microgaming operations, Belle Rock Gaming and Casino Rewards, ostensibly announcing the re-entry of Microgaming into the USA facing online casino market, through what was described as a “different platform with equivalent games to the standard Microgaming software offerings”. Many of the finer details are still in the works, including whether or not players who had accounts before Microgaming’s exodus from the USA will be moved over and re-opened. Also, this potentially has a big impact on long standing online casinos affiliates that had USA players blocked from their affiliate stats: now, these dormant player accounts might once again produce income for affiliates that have stuck it out over the past five years.

Essentially, Microgaming’s USA “clone” (as we call it) is creeping in through the back door, hoping to partake in the lucrative USA online gaming market; while not necessarily operating under their prestigious brand name that remains highly regarded and most importantly fully legal in Europe. The actual name of this cloned platform is not officially known at this time, although a few industry insiders have been advised that it is due to launch “very soon”.

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What does this mean for USA casino customers and other USA facing online casinos? Well, they’ve got some new, serious competition for business. Microgaming is easily the world’s gold standard for gaming software, offering enormous progressive slots jackpots, a plethora of table games, and tons of other amusements that most smaller software brands can not afford to maintain. Furthermore, both casino players and affiliate webmasters trust Microgaming infinitely, holding the company in high regard. Payout percentages are closely monitored by third party auditing firms, and individual casino brands are fully vetted and constantly monitored by Microgaming in order to keep a high level of quality and integrity. In other words, players are treated very well and don’t get gypped, while affiliate webmasters can count on regular payments and outstanding support services.

So do the other USA software brands stand a chance? Yes, at least for now. There’s one other 900 lb gorilla lurking in the room, and that’s land based casino companies chomping at the bit to get involved in USA online gaming. It’s well known that Harrah’s, the world’s largest casino group, is all but ready to begin providing customers with online casino gaming alternatives and poker, and is simply waiting for the UIGEA to be repealed along with other regulatory measures. Even though Microgaming and its USA “cloned” platform would represent a huge market share, there’s almost no doubt that high rolling companies like Harrah’s could destroy some gaming software companies overnight, storming into the USA market with billion dollar marketing budgets, top class software, and the trust of millions of players.

What remains to be seen is how Microgaming will negotiate the UIGEA and launch its new platform at the same time. Will they once again provide USA customers with the BEST online gaming experience, much like they did before 2005? The answer is likely a strong “YES”, and that means other companies better watch out even if USA law still remains prohibitive to offshore online casino companies.

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Click Here for WikiPedia’s “Online Casino” page, which currently ranks in Google’s top 10 results for keyword “online casinos”.

Once in a while, however, you might see an oddball search result, such as a Wikipedia entry for “online casino” or “blackjack”. These results don’t really help the avid gambler, since Wikipedia.org tends to serve as a reference guide for various subjects, opposed to an actual casino review site. As a result, when you’re searching for the perfect place to play roulette, your search results might have a couple Wikipedia entries for “roulette history” or even “types of roulette”. Such results are certainly informative, but are generally very out of place.

So, why does Wikipedia.org show up in the first place?

Search engines rely heavily on the reputation of a website when they score it for use in search results. Additionally, search engines like Google tend to score websites that have links from authoritative websites higher than sites that do not. A final factor to consider is the relative “competitiveness” of the search results, ie. how many other sites are competing to get placed under a certain keyword; and the value of being placed on page one. If you can place a website on Google’s first page for a major gambling related search like “online casino”, you stand to make a lot of money. The allure of quick cash and internet riches draws nearly any competent (or incompetent) web marketer in to create a website, if not hundreds, in order to harness the power of gambling web traffic.

Wikipedia is highly regarded by Google as a vast repository of information. Many consider Wikipedia equivalent to the multi-volume printed encyclopedias that families used to keep in their libraries before the dawn of the internet. Therefore, any given Wikipedia page is generally filled with useful information, and has links from hundreds (if not thousands) of websites citing it as a reference. It’s easy to see that such pages garner more trust and higher search scores than smaller websites that either have unreliable information, or engage in shadowy search engine marketing tactics. Google inherently trusts Wikipedia more than any other website, and this means that Wikipedia pages will land in all sorts of search results, whether or not they are relevant to the actual web user’s needs.

Another factor to consider is search engine spam. As a general rule, higher profit margin industries attract a higher volume of search engine spammers, and the online gambling vertical is no exception to this rule. Quite often, sketchy marketing companies will abuse guestbooks, blogs, and web forums as sources of links in order to get their website placed highly in Google results. Two things result from this phenomenon: 1) The website that engages in illicit marketing practices eventually gets banned (removed) from Google, and 2) Webmasters who are the victims of search engine spam get mad.

What does this madness produce? Aside from the usual hue and cry at major online marketing websites, individual webmasters look to get even with the spammers that gummed up their sites. This leads us to another way in which Wikipedia captures higher search scores for gaming related searches: disgruntled webmasters, bloggers, or forum owners will link to a gambling oriented Wikipedia entry out of spite in order to push regular online casino sites off the first page of Google’s results. The theory is simple: post enough links to “neutral” gaming pages that do not produce revenue for their owners, and eventually these pages will make their way up the ranks and land in the top 10 for major gambling related searches. Then, instead of seeing casino review sites, you get useless Wikipedia pages bolstered by pissed off webmasters that were the victims of spam attacks.

So, the next time you do a very general Google search for online gambling, such as “online casino”, “play blackjack”, or “sports betting”, scan through the results carefully, because you will almost certainly see a Wikipedia page listed. Google makes no apologies for posting Wikipedia pages higher than even the most reputable of casino review sites, simply because outside of gaming, Wikipedia, as a whole, is much more valuable to the internet than some johnny-come-lately casino review website.

Our advice: just ignore the Wikipedia page (unless you’re searching for reference information), and visit www.jaxcasinos.com for the best online casinos the web has to offer!