SPAIN – (PRESS RELEASE) --Speaking from the European Interactive Gaming 2004 conference in Barcelona, Spain, the directors of eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance (eCOGRA) have announced the award of its Seal to five more quality Internet casinos.
All powered by Microgaming, the casinos underwent extensive independent testing and inspection by professional teams from international audit group PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure compliance with the stringent requirements of the organisation regarding operational efficiency, fair gaming and player protection.
The latest casinos awarded the seal are: All Jackpots.com (http://www.alljackpots.com ) All Slots.com (http://www.allslots.com ) Casino UK.com (http://www.casinouk.com ) First Web Casino (http://www.firstwebcasino.com ) Wild Jack.com (http://www.wildjack.com ) eCOGRA CEO Andrew Beveridge says that other operations are currently under consideration, and that the eCOGRA initiative to present the online gambling community with a wide range of safe, honest and efficient online casino venues continues to gather momentum.
"The latest seal awards bring to 49 the top-class casinos that have committed to genuine and enforced regulation", he said.
"Further online gambling operators are currently being considered, and interest in the eCOGRA standards is growing from players, casinos, leading poker rooms and software providers alike".
eCOGRA requires that member casinos are financially stable and have adequate reserves to cover wagers. The probity of casino management is scrutinised, together with player protection measures, payout times and financial facilities, games fairness, responsive Support and general operational efficiency. Policies have to be in place for communicating with clients and dealing with player complaints, and satisfactory technical capabilities and anti money-laundering systems are critical.
"We anticipate that players will continue to seek out Seal casinos due to the obvious advantages of playing at regulated venues, and the availability of independent disputes processes through our Fair Gaming Advocate," said Beveridge. The eGAP requirements, inspection and monitoring and the award of Seals are the responsibility of independent directors on the eCOGRA Board, all of whom are well known and highly respected gambling industry personalities.
For full details please visit http://www.ecogra.org. Issued by: Andrew Beveridge, CEO Date: 9 November 2004 Telephone: +44 20 7887 1480 Email: pr@ecogra.org Note for Editors: eCOGRA is a non-profit, non-partisan body with a full time staff in London, England.
Founded by major online software and casino operator groups in 2002, the organisation spent some time researching the concept of regulation with experts throughout the world before formulating a practical set of requirements essential to fair and efficient gambling operations, together with an independent inspection and monitoring system for enforcement.
The first online casinos were accredited in early 2004, and since then a steady stream of online casinos has committed to the eCOGRA ideals and achieved Seal status. Specialised eGAPs have recently been constructed for the booming poker industry, and it is anticipated that leading poker networks will soon join the eCOGRA initiative, too. Approved casinos are identified by a seal, and commit to a set of professional operational practices which are independently enforced through inspection and monitoring by major international business groups. The infrastructure includes a Fair Gaming Advocate for any player disputes that cannot be resolved at casino level.