Brits Gambling Online -- A study released today show that 60 percent of the U.K. population participates in one form of gambling or another, with online gambling increasing 46 percent over last year. The research, which was conducted by ORC, also shows that 95 percent of Brits who gamble take part in the National Lottery, which is played by more than half of all U.K. adults.
Dealing in Skills -- GameAccount announced today that it will create s skill-based gaming site for Fortune Lounge Group. The site, Royal Vegas Games, will be part of RoyalVegas.com and will feature GameAccount's full range of games, including backgammon, gin rummy, pool and others. . . . SkillJam Technologies Corporation, a subsidiary of FUN Technologies, announced today that it will provide its pay-to-play skill games suite to Sportingbet plc. SkillJam will develop, host and manage a private-label, pay-for-play, customized skill-gaming platform for Sportingbet.
Poker Guide -- The ever-increasing number of televised poker tournaments and other poker related programming has made it difficult for viewers to keep track of their favorite players or events, but that might be a thing of the past with the launch of Poker TV Guide. The new site, www.pokertvguide.com, provides listings of poker programming on television in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden. It will also provide RSS feeds free of charge to Web site operators wishing to offer poker-related TV listings.
Problem Gambling Awareness -- eCOGRA has unveiled a "scientifically developed questionnaire" for poker and casino sites with hopes of cutting down on problem gambling. The survey, which is designed to show whether users have a gambling problem, is part of an attempt to self-regulate the growing number of Web sites offering poker and casino games. Andrew Beveridge, chief executive of eCOGRA, said that filling in the questions would be voluntary and that no one would be banned from the sites. "You can't just go out and tell someone they have a gambling problem," Beveridge said. "The person has to recognize that themselves."