Data Hub -- WINNERonline.com took a look yesterday at the top ten icons and logos that online casinos post on their sites. Not surprisingly, the Visa and MasterCard logos were numbers one and two on the list. Next on the list were FirePay and NETeller, followed by PrePaid ATM. Number six was the Interactive Gaming Council logo. Citadel, 900Pay, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and awards logos of any kind brought up the end of the list.
US Tidbit -- California has collected $50 million since last October from 28 Native American tribes as part of the tribes' agreement to give money to the state to help it deal with problem gambling issues. Yet so far, none of the money has been spent, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last Sunday. The money is reportedly awaiting action from the state legislature. Nikki Symington, a spokeswoman for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, which operates one of California's most profitable casinos, said her tribe worked hard to see that money to go help gambling addiction. "We fought for some of this money to go to local government and problem gambling -- and not a penny has gone to that," she said.
Making Deals -- Spanish gaming group Codere said today that it is working with Digital Orchid, an American company, to develop live gambling games for cell phones. Codere said the games will be targeted at Latin American and European customers.
New Stuff -- Trident Entertainment Group relaunched www.vegasusa.com yesterday. Trident, which operates online casinos including King Neptune's and Trident Lounge, took over the site last year and since then has revamped it with a new look and 51 Microgaming-produced games. Scott Gaines, spokesman for Trident, said his company has invested substantially in VegasUSA to bring it up to the standards of the group's other casinos. "Our business approach is to under promise and over deliver, and we hope that online players will see evidence of that in the near future," Gaines said.