Online Gambling: A Press Release from Gibraltar

I had to laugh today while browsing news releases. I came across this one from Belle Rock Entertainment’s Online Casinos, which operates out of Gibraltar. Recall that the US bans online gambling, even if the site is offshore, and this peeves European casinos. So much so, they and some Caribbean nations have filed suit with the World Trade Organization against the US and the offending legislation. I’m not a fan of gambling, and I don’t condone it. But, I’m interested in research on the human element surrounding the risk of personal money with online gaming.

Reading the press release from Belle Rock, I’m struck with the similarities to mainstream MMORPGs. Here is a sample quote:

Gladiator is an online video slot of truly epic proportions set in Ancient Rome and features a massive 50 pay-lines. Its hero is a robust but romantic gladiator and when the sparks fly between him and his Roman Maiden, players score all the way with a Mixed Pay reward.

A gladiator’s battles resulting in rewards? Sounds a lot like World of Warcraft only with real money at stake. Take a look at this paragraph:

For those who prefer the snowy winterscapes of colder climates, Snow Honeys, is a feature rich, 5 reel 20 pay-line, entertainment-packed video slot. It has uber-cool mountain ski resort graphics, complete with bronzed ski instructors, Mounties, hibernating bears and snow Bunnies. The easy-on-the-eye ski-girls who show the way to a generous mix of Free Spins, Scatters, multipliers and a major Bonus feature, will delight any slot player. Adjacent Ice Castles could deliver up to 100 x multipliers and also enable the player to open up the second screen Hide and Seek bonus selection of 5 out of 12 winning windows in the castle. When the Ski Resort Scatter symbols combine, the player can score up to 30 Free Spins with a 5x multiplier and five of these adjacent will result in a massive 100x multiplier booster. Snow Honeys offer high energy slot action and has brilliant audio effects. Wagers from as little as 0.01 up to 0.5 coins can be made, making wins of up to 20 000 coins in the base game, 100 000 coins on the Free Spins and 10 000 coins on the bonus game possible.

It’s a neat press release, and it makes me hope that researchers concerned with online gambling will investigate the ramifications of combining elements of online gaming and social networks with the free spending nature of offshore wagering sites.