The London Affiliate Conference is coming up. Run along side the International Gaming Expo, the LAC is a much anticipated event where online casino companies get to show off, introduce, and promote their affiliate programs. It is also an expo for affiliate companies and affiliate management companies. All in all it is set up to help promote valuable networking in the global online gambling and casino industry.

One of the most highly regarded companies attending the London Affiliate Conference is Income Access. Income Access is a name known to online casinos, software providers and affiliate companies. It is most likely on speed dial for all affiliate managers. Income Access brings their special insight of the online gambling and casino industry and provides gaming companies “…the most comprehensive reports and robust tracking in the industry,” according to their website. What they offer is a way to help companies track their affiliates and customer bases so that accurate readings can be made and resources can be allocated to the right places. Their software is customizable and brandable allowing its users to have complete control.

There reputation alone will bring many over to booths 82 and 83. Casino affiliate managers and executives will want to know what Income Access has in store for the upcoming year. Their software updates and upgrades will be a hotly sought after topic. However, that won’t be the only reason delegates will stop by the Income Access booth. They have recently announced that they will be distributing prizes through out the conference to lucky winners. Most of the prizes come from (appropriately enough) their affiliates and include netbooks, a voucher to Amazon.com, a Blackberry Bold 9700, several bottles of champagne, a voucher to Firebox, portable speakers for an iPod, an iPod Touch, a $1,000 voucher to expeida.com and a trip for two to Mallorca.

Entries can be submitted by iGaming affiliates, by dropping their business card off at the Income Access booth. The drawing will take place on Sunday. Income Access is excited abut handing out the prizes, but the feel this is only the icing on the cake. They feel they have a lot to offer the online gambling and casino industry and want to prove their stance at the London Affiliate Conference.

The casino business is not only an entertainment industry, but it is also heavily based in customer service. Think about an business like electronic sales. When shopping a consumer wants to not only buy the best product at a competitive price, but wants the assurance of knowing their purchasing experience will be enjoyable. They also want the peace of mind that if something should go wrong after the product is taken home it can be fixed. How often do we see commercials where a store brand will offer to install, fix, replace or return a product. Casinos and casino resorts are the same way. With all of that money rolling around players want to know that if something should go wrong with a slot machine or a money changer, a qualified person in a nice suit and a name tag will be able to solve all the problems and answer all the questions so the fun can resume.

Online casinos are no different. In fact, online gambling can bring up even more questions. For some it is more difficult to understand things they can not actually see, not to mention all the problems inherent with online identity and monetary transactions. It is just as important for online casinos to promote their customer service as their newest games or tournaments. Online casinos are offering their customers support twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Let’s take one online casino as an example. Royal Vegas Online Casino has just put out a press release regarding their customer service offerings. According to the press release they have found, “…the perfect way to curb fears about online casino gambling through a highly trained casino call center support service…” Of course, this service is available every hour of everyday as the internet and its users never take a break. There are several ways to contact the service center. There are emails for queries and queries on queries. There are also twenty-four, toll free phone numbers that cover every market and language Royal Vegas plays to. These are all easily found with a simple click of the mouse on their website. Winning may be the result players want when visiting an online casino, but casino operators know customer service is the name of the game.

Poker players have gone beyond just playing in living rooms and basements with a few friends, pizza, and beer. The casual poker game has become a serious online phenomenon where players can compete on online casinos and poker sites for prizes and prize money against other players all around the world. As if that was not enough, online casinos and poker sites offer tournaments. Some of these tournaments have large cash jackpots and can give the unknown, average Joe poker player a seat at a big time televised event like the World Series of Poker. Popular online poker site Full Tilt Poker is doubling is normal poker tournament jackpots, in a promotion called $25 Million Double Guarantees Week.

As the name would suggest, $25 Million Double Guarantees Week runs for one week from January 25 to 31. During this week Full Tilt Poker’s normal Weekly Guarantees Tournaments’ prize guarantees will be doubled. Prize amounts are dependent upon the player’s buy in amount and the tournaments played. For example, the weekly NLH tournament has a buy in of $10 plus $1 and the prize is $6,000. During Double Guarantees Week that prize will jump to $6,000. According to their website, there are eight online Weekly Guarantee tournaments.

All of this action leas up to Big Money Sunday. On January 31 Full Tilt Poker will host its biggest Big Money Sunday in the history of the online poker site. On Big Money Sunday over $2.5 million will be up for grabs. The Sunday Brawl will have $800,000 in guaranteed prize money. Then players will be able to compete for the weekly $750,000 Guarantee. If you have been paying attention you know this means that particular prize will be doubled to a staggering $1.5 million. To put punctuation on Big Money Sunday, the Sunday Mulligan will put $400,000 at stake. Full Tilt Poker is pushing to make a full week of large prize winnings. They want to start off 2010 right by making it one of the largest weeks of winning in the history of online poker.

The economic situation in the United States, and in particular Las Vegas, has produced a revolving door of bankruptcy filings, take overs, and ownership and management changes. When the banks nearly collapsed a little over a year ago, casinos and prospective casinos lost much of their funding, as lenders had no more money to loan. Most notably, this affected casino and casino resort properties that were still under construction. One of the most reported of these properties was a casino resort being built on the north end of the famed Las Vegas Strip called the Fontainebleau. This casino resort was close to 70 percent complete when it lost almost $800 million in bank financing. Since then the 27 acre property has sat dormant waiting for someone to make the proper bid and the bankruptcy courts to settle on the legal details.

It looks as though that day is near and could be as close as the end of January, 2010. The successful bid looks to have been made by Carl Icahn. Mr. Icahn is a New York City based corporate raider, but is not a stranger to the casino and casino resort business or Las Vegas. He owns eight casinos, most of them being riverboat casinos, and has recently made a purchase of the Tropicana Atlantic City, and is now forming Tropicana Entertainment to run those properties. He was also, until recently, the owner of another Strip casino resort, the Stratosphere.

Icahn stated that his team worked very hard to make sure all the details were in order and the price was right for the property at stake. Last November he submitted a bid of $156.6 million to the Miami Bankruptcy judge overseeing the case. Other companies made bids, but Icahn’s met all the requirements. As of right now he has no real plans for the Fontainebleau. He feels that Las Vegas is overbuilt, but also states that the time will come when it’s not. Icahn is smart and likes the casino business, so you can bet it won’t take too long for construction on the casino resort to be finished and Carl Icahn will be making money again.

Sitting just over the executives for Betfair Online Casino’s affiliate program is their new Casino Affiliate Manager, Chris Brown. Mr Brown’s resume boasts five years in the affiliate marketing world. He is also familiar with the media having worked for a media agency. He has already managed affiliate programs for companies such as Maplin, the AA and Sky. Now he is bringing his experience to the online casino industry. He is no stranger, though, he has managed William Hill and Betfair with other affiliate type programs. This is all very impressive, but Chris might tell you that his greatest accomplishment may have been besting Alan Shearer in a shoot out competition and is keen to say that he is “better than Shearer!”

Betfair Online Casino is very pleased to announce their new Global Games Affiliate Manager, Igor Samardziski. Mr. Samardziski has multiple years of experience in the online casino industry. He has spent time directly working in customer acquisition and retention. His marketing skills in this area has vaulted him up the corporate ladder. He began as the head of Betsson’s Affiliate Lounge before making the switch to Betfair Online Casino. He began with Betfair as a member of their marketing team and then found his niche in the Casino Affiliate’s division. Of course, he is one of the “original three” at Betfair Online Casino and could not be more attuned to Betfair’s day to day operations. He has first hand knowledge of Betfair Online Casino and will be most valuable actively supporting Betfair’s current and new affiliates. Mr. Samardziski’s position will include managing Betfair’s Betfair Casino, Arcade and Exchange Games products.

Betfair Online Casino has already won two Queen’s Awards. Their customer base is already in the millions, is growing and shows no signs of slowing down. For their customers they offer fun, exciting and well paying games. For their affiliates and partners they have a top notch team assembled who are all experts in their field.

There is a lot of exciting news coming out of the online casino, betfair.com. Betfair holds online gambling licenses from the United Kingdom and Australian markets. Most recently they have launched a new download casino platform. The new platform is powered by Playtech, and will feature Playtech’s progressive jackpots for the first time in Betfair’s history.

One of the features that makes the Betfair Online Casino so attractive is their Zero Lounge. The Zero Lounge offers all the games one would expect from an online casino. They have roulette, poker, blackjack, and slots. The difference is Betfair’s Zero Lounge offers, in theory, a 100 percent return to player. Betfair is currently the only casino to offer the 0 percent house margin. Needless to say, this is a very powerful marketing tool, and draws in lots of new customers.

However, it is the new online casino launch that has Betfair excited. The new and updated technology offers around 50 slots, including some Marvel Comic Book slots; all the table games players expect, and over 20 card and poker games. These games also come with links to progressive jackpots that could average close to $250,000.

Not only is Betfair launching a new online casino but they have also announced they have an entirely new Casino Affiliate Team. In a recent press release that revealed the new team members. They are excited about the new names and are getting them known to the public and the online casino affiliate community as fast as possible.

Betfair’s has four new Casino Affiliate Executives. Ben Lee has spent the last seven years in the mortgage business. He has been known to say that you should never bet “the house” on red or black. This kind of common sense is attractive in is pursuit to earn affiliates high commissions. Ben is joined by Laura Bent who is no stranger to online, e-business. She has a passion for online marketing which is clearly the point of the affiliate program. Alex Corcoran is a recruitment specialist, and will be bringing his expertise in that field to Betfair. Finally, Stef Oates has is already familiar with Betfair having been working with the team providing content for sport blogs. She was also worked for the affiliate program at FantasyStakes.

G’day, mate. Hands down the most well known and comprehensive online sports betting site in Australia is LuxBet. They offer more fixed odds betting activities than any other site in the down under market. They are also a financially successful and stable company. They a partner of Australian betting network, Tabcorp which is consistently rated as a top 50 company on the Australian Stock Exchange. LuxBet offers a wide variety of sports including, American and Australian rules football, soccer, baseball, boxing, cricket, golf, boxing, and ice hockey. They can also boast the most horse and greyhound race track action.

Now they are offering an even greater incentive to visit the LuxBet online gambling site. How does one hundred dollars sound? LuxBet will give players $100 as a welcome bonus when they register to place their sports bet on their site. That’s a good way to start. They also have a promotion set up for the summer sports that could earn winners up to 40 percent more. It is a multi leg promotion. The more that is bet on the more a player wins. 4-legs can earn 10 percent more while 10-legs is a whopping 40 percent.

LuxBet also has two lucrative affiliate programs, that are known in the Australian online gambling market as being two of the best. They are called LuxDiv, and the appropriately named The Best of the Best. LuxBet is looking to increase their world wide visibility by attending the upcoming London Affiliate Conference and the International Gaming Expo. (How much would you love to see the Ausies party at the Fire and Ice Party?) They are taking the conferences seriously though. They want potential affiliates to know that they have an affiliate structure that could see up to a 30 percent revenue share. LuxBet uses the well know Income Access software which is a sure sign they are a top notch online spots gambling company.

One of the most anticipated events in the online casino industry is the annual International Gaming Expo held in Earls Court, London. This is the convention where online casinos, affiliates, and providers network and show off their products and new ideas. The most anticipated event of the International Gaming Expo is the Fire and Ice Party hosted by Lyceum Media. The party was specifically set up for the online casino industry. Industry insiders were tired of being snubbed at other casino events and decided they needed a gala all to themselves. They also set up to be the envy of the casino party world. Each year, the Fire and Ice party has grown. This year organizers are promising a night of “Bacchanalian Decadence.”

Over the past years Lyceum Media has had some help in the way of sponsorship for the party. This year is no different. Everyone wants to attend Fire and Ice and/or have their name attached to the night dedicated to the online casino industry. Recently Fire and Ice has added another name to the list of sponsors INTRALOT Interactive. INTRALOT Interactive is a subsidiary of INTRALOT Group and partner CyberArts. They will be hosting their first VIP event at the party. Lyceum Media is excited to add new companies to their event. It is, after all, all about the networking…and partying.

This years party, held at the Gilgamesh Bar, is a throwback to the mystic and wild festivals called the Bacchanalia. The Bacchanalia were in honor of the Roman god Bacchus who was the god of wine and revelry. He was the party god. This year his graces go out to the online casino industry. “We have pushed the boundaries this year and unleashed our wild side,” exclaimed Fire and Ice event producer, Jodie Thind. She went on to say to INTRALOT and other sponsors, “A huge thanks on behalf of everyone who will attend goes out to the sponsors.”

Fire and Ice is the party of the year. Hollywood may have its Oscar after parties, and Times Square has thousands of people on New Years Eve, but the online casino industry has Fire and Ice, which just may beat them all.

With the world filled with exciting online casinos and more popping up every year, how does one distinguish from another? What makes one online casino more fun or classier than its competition? Most of the time, it is the number of games, or activities. Some online casinos offer side games, social networking, or live streaming of sporting events. Still others have links to ultra high paying jackpots. However, these can be gimmicks, and how often does one really expect to win the big one? A new online casino has been launched. It was developed the way one would hope any small town business, mom and pop store, would be developed. It wasn’t done with a big corporate mentality, but the input from the foot soldiers on the ground, the employees.

The new Casino La Vida took stock in the opinions they collected from their employees and put it to good use. Each employee was asked what they would want to gain from their personal online casino experience and Casino La Vida listened. The word was lifestyle. Casino La Vida is all about living the good life to the point where there slogan is literally, “Live the good life.” Casino La Vida wants its customers to not just come to their online casino site to play games and win some money, but to take time out of the normal hustle and bustle and give themselves a little L and L, some leisure and luxury.

Casino La Vida will feature over 450 games provided by online casino industry leader Microgaming. There will be slots, video slots, and casino table games. The games Casino La Vida will offer have an emphasis on variation and distinction. After all, online casino operators know that variety is key when trying to keep players logged on to their particular casino site. Casino La Vida is also boasting they will have first rate, 24/7 customer service that will be available in Spanish, Italian, French, German, and English. Casino La Vida is wanting to make a huge splash, and employee are already saying they won’t sleep until every detail is finished and Casino La Vida is up and running.

A recent survey done by the online bingo site, Gala Bingo, confirmed that all casino goers are hoping that 2010 will bring better luck than 2009. That sounds very obvious, but with the events that took place in 2009 (especially economically) this is a fair statement. For some it is already happening. Casinos and online casinos are already handing out big jackpots, and not just to regular, seasoned gamblers. The Wild Horse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Oregon has already paid out a mega jackpot. They did so only 12 days into the new year.

It is the story that is so familiar with slot players. Someone will play at a machine for hours and not win. Then, a new player will come along, slip a twenty dollar bill into the bill accepter, and, bang, the credits start adding up. In this case the credits added up to the sum of $144,666. The winner wished to remain anonymous. However, she hails from Umatilla County and was visiting Pendleton on business when she and a coworker decided to hit the Wild Horse Resort and Casino for some fun. The game she played was one that is familiar to casino goers (and Las Vegas Airport travelers) everywhere, Wheel of Fortune. Of course this was not just a few symbols matched up on a payline. This was the MegaJackpot, that slot offers. In order to win the MegaJackpot a player must bet three quarters, and match up the right symbols.

The Wild Horse Resort and Casino is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. They have a unique system of progressive jackpots. They belong to a network of progressive jackpots that span across 300 Native American casinos in seventeen states. The network, provided by IGT, is linked and all the players have access to the progressive jackpots operating within the network. This adds competition but it also promises bug payouts. In March of last year a player over $1 million, and the highest jackpot was paid out in 1999 to the tune of $9.1 million. Ms. Business Traveler plans are taking most of her casino winnings to help pay for her daughter’s wedding this year. The rest will go to pay off some bills. Congratulations.