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2005 has been quite a year in the online casino world. The industry has grown at its usual extreme pace, then slowed down, the market boomed, then crashed, and now seems ready to go again. Winners have taken away millions of dollars in progressive slots wins. Poker rooms are still going strong and casinos are continuing with their steady growth. All in all it seems like it's been a pretty good year. Below are some of the highlights from 2005, in no particular order. 1. Online casinos show they know how to give. 2005 started off with a major tragedy, the tsunami in Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka which took so many lives on December 26th, 2004. Most of the big internet casinos and poker rooms reacted immediately. Golden Palace started raising money for the Red Cross and even created a site so that players can donate directly. Numerous other casinos did tournaments and other fundraising events to help the cause. Later on in the year the hurricane season destroyed so much of the southern United States and online casinos, internet poker rooms, and online sports books were there to help again. Bodog.com, Pokerstars.com, Nine.com gambling group, 777rock.com, Olympic sportsbook, Vegas Partner Lounge, and Absolute Poker all did something to help the victims of hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Even the site which is does good things in the weirdest of ways, Ultimatebet.com (the site that has benefitpoker.com "non-profit gambling site" which is actually for profit) did their part to raise money for the victims in need. We would like to thank everyone at these internet casinos, online poker rooms, and internet sports books for showing the world that the online gambling industry doesn't just have a pocket book, the industry has a heart as well. 2. The World Trade Organization steps in to straighten things up. This one of course, is still pending. It was started in March of 2003, when Antigua and Barbuda started the dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organization to challenge the United States' total prohibition of cross-border gambling services offered by Antiguan operators such as the World Sports Exchange to consumers in the United States. In the summer of 2005 the WTO told the United States government that they have until April 2006 to get their internet gambling laws in order. According to the WTO the United States is breaching the good will contract by making online gambling illegal and thus killing the potential for foreign competition. This law has nothing to do with protecting United States citizens from gambling, as gambling in some form is legal in 48 of the 50 states (Hawaii and Utah do not allow for any form of gambling within their states). Whether the US does anything regarding this suit is yet to be seen. As sanctions would hurt Antigua and Barbuda more than they would the United States my guess is the US will continue to ignore this issue. Which of course leads us to… 3. Republican Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona fails again! You have to be impressed with his perseverance. This man just will not give up. In 2005 he tried yet again to introduce a bill to destroy the internet gambling industry, making it illegal for any banking system to allow deposits into internet casinos, poker rooms, or sports books. Never mind that most credit card companies already have that ban, which is why Neteller is so popular (and based outside of the US, where it can not be touched). This was his eighth attempt to pass some sort of anti-online gambling bill and his eighth failing. It was vetoed by an anonymous Democrat. 4. North Dakotan Republican State Representative Jim Kasper fails again too. (Albeit not as many times as Jon Kyl has.) Jim Kasper is trying to make his state the first to legalize and regulate online poker rooms. He gave it his all in 2005 and even got the bill passed in the state house, but it didn't pass the state senate. However, he has yet another plan of by-passing the house and senate completely and bringing the law straight to the voters by getting it on the ballot through signature collecting. This one will be something to watch in 2006. 5. PartyGaming got the financial worlds attention. In June 2005 Partygaming took the financial market by storm by having the largest IPO in the past five years in London's Stock Exchange. This was the stock to watch for the second half of 2005. Then PartyGaming issued a profit warning in September which caused their stock to crash. They recouped, regrouped, and had a tussle with some of their skins. Empire Online, the largest PartyGaming skin, which had gone public right before PartyGaming is now suing them for breach of contract. No matter as their profits are back up, they are expanding their player horizons, and their stock is rising again. Even the nytimes.com has been writing about the financial viability of internet gambling and poker rooms. While no one is totally sure if it is legal for United States citizens to invest in off-shore illegal online casinos, they are still doing so. It will be interesting to see just how far this star will rise in 2006. 2005 has been a great year for the internet gambling industry. All of the major software manufacturers advanced the players gaming pleasure by releasing new and exciting games monthly. eCogra expanded their certified casinos by leaps and bounds and is working to expand the education of their potential customer even further. A few lucky people won over a million dollars from huge progressive slots wins and many more won thousands in tournaments, progressives, regular games, and drawings. The industry started to see the shake up begin, with the larger companies merging or buying or killing many of the smaller ones. This is the start of the consolidation and the beginning of the stability for the market as places without legitimacy are starting to fail. Gamblers have become more educated and will not stand for an internet casino that isn't fair, safe, or honest. Personally, I'm looking forward to 2006. Posted on: January 26, 2006
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