Playtech is set to add the brand of Cowboys & Aliens to their laundry list of games. Thanks to an agreement with Platinum Studios, Inc., Playtech now has a licensing agreement in place that allows them to create a branded Cowboys & Aliens game.

Platinum Studios, Inc. is a huge company, and they hold rights to over 5,000 comic book characters. This is Playtech’s and Platinum Studios, Inc.’s first time working together, but it likely won’t be the last. Of course, it’s going to be hard to top the characters from a New York Times best-selling graphic novel.

Playtech is a well known online gaming software provider, and when it comes to offering branded slot games, no one beats Playtech at it. Playtech has managed to tap into a niche market, and since they started, they’ve acquired quite a few popular brand names.

The first of Playtech’s branded slot games started with the Marvel Movies super heroes. After that, a deal was made with MGM, and Rocky came, and then the Pink Panther. A deal with Universal Studios was made, and Kong joined the rest of the cast.

Many players are awaiting the unveiling of the new Cowboys & Aliens game, and in the meantime, they’ll just have to enjoy Playtech’s other branded slot games. What will Playtech’s next branded game be after Cowboys & Aliens?

April 15, 2011 sounds like any other day, but it was not. This was the day the online gambling industry was shook to its core, and is now referred to as Black Friday. Black Friday was the day the U.S. Department of Justice cracked down on online poker sites that were illegally operating in the country. One of these poker sites just happened to be Full Tilt Poker. Besides illegal operations, the U.S. Department of Justice also came down on poker sites for other criminal activities, including money laundering, and bank fraud.

Since Black Friday, Full Tilt Poker has suffered blow after blow, and it is surprising that they have even made it this far, considering everything they have had to go through. From their site being seized, to losing their licenses, to being in some serious financial problems, to multiple lawsuits from players, Full Tilt Poker has been through the wringer. To add to their problems, they searched for an investor for months, but there was very little interest, after all, they were a train wreck still in motion.

It looks like the dust has finally settled on Full Tilt Poker, and French investors have come to an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice. With just a little over four months before the one year anniversary of Black Friday, will Full Tilt Poker be up and running properly before then, or will there be more delays?

At this point, anything is possible!

The United Kingdom’s got plans to change remote gambling industry laws, and William Hill has spoken out about this, expressing their opposition.

As one of the United Kingdom’s oldest bookmakers, William Hill entered into the online gambling industry in its early stages. The reason why William Hill opposes these new plans from the United Kingdom to change remote gambling industry laws is because they believe that these new law changes are going to drive away players onto online casino websites that are not regulated.

William Hill feels so strongly about this that they’ve even hired representation from Deloitte to fight on their behalf. One spokesperson compared this asking the government if they should introduce a policy which distorts markets.

Worth an estimated $1.7 billion, the gambling market is huge. The Treasury is reviewing things, and will finish their review soon. What this means is that the Treasury could also be approving some of the proposed law changes that could mean a bigger tax take for the United Kingdom.

There’s a real possibility that because of new tax law changes, legitimate gambling firms will pull out of the United Kingdom’s market. As a result of this, many online gamblers will likely gamble offshore, on illegal websites.

Even though Christmas is a month away, that’s not stopping Cryptologic from giving players a special holiday treat early. The software developing giant has released three new slot games for players at InterCasino to enjoy, and the classic baccarat game has undergone a makeover, making it even better!

Regis Pissot, the Head of Casino at InterCasino talked about the company being a premium brand when it comes to online slots. Talking about the games, he had this to say: “All three of these games are quirky, funny, and very rewarding to play. Arcade style bonus rounds, voodoo themed slots, and games where the Gods battle – who else offers their players such fantastic entertainment.”

The games Regis Pissot is referring to are Juju Jack, Battle for Olympus, and Horns and Halos. If a voodoo magic themed game isn’t interesting enough to players, then there’s always the Greek mythology theme, and if that still isn’t enough to get players going, then there’s always the battle between Heaven and Hell.

The new Baccarat is still the same great game players know and love, but it’s a been updated. Players can enjoy a bet limits from as low as 1, to as high as 5,000.

Commenting on the new version of Baccarat, Regis Pissot said “We are also thrilled to be able to offer Baccarat fans a much wider range of bet levels. Seasoned players will enjoy our bigger limits while new players can try their luck at this classic game without breaking the bank.”

Some awesome news today for European web surfers. Web surfers can access pirate sites now, because ISPs can not be forced to monitor or block users! Internet freedom organizations are extremely delighted by this news.

This awesome news is thanks to the European Court of Justice, which ruled today that content owners can no longer instruct user’s broadband companies to track or block them. The ruling from the European Court of Justice is as follows: “EU law precludes the imposition of an injunction by a national court which requires an Internet service provider to install a filtering system with a view to preventing the illegal downloading of files.”

For those that don’t get quite how significant this actually is, here’s the best way to understand. Sometimes, when a web user downloads something, they get half way, and then somehow, they get cut off from the web. In this case, that is likely to be an ISP that has been monitoring what you’ve been up to online. If ISPs spot web users downloading or illegally downloading copyrighted material, there’s a chance they’ll kick you off the Internet.

Thanks to the European Court of Justice, ISPs can no longer do this! Rejoice! No more download interruptions, no more getting kicked off the Internet, and no more worrying about ISPs.

Members of the European Parlament have approved a non-binding resolution that calls for greater cooperation between European Union member states on online gambling. The resolution was lead by German MEP Jürgen Creutzmann, and is the follow up to the European Commission’s March 2011 Online Gambling Green Paper. The resolution by German MEP Jürgen Creutzmann was approved by a show of hands, and asked the European Council to end unnecessary licensing duplication, administrative burdens, and take action against European Union treaty violations. Many MEP’s want the European Council to conduct a study on creating an operator blacklist as well as blocking transactions between financial institutions and blacklisted operators.

One MEP voiced her opinion on the resolution, and expressed she was less than impressed, because she felt that the resolution was for the most part, a vote to maintain gambling monopolies that are currently in place in member states. These gambling monopolies are very lucrative, so that also is a factor in why Ashley Fox, MEP for South West England and Gibraltar wasn’t impressed. Ashley Fox referred to online gambling as “a reality that will not stop at national boundaries,” and labeled the resolution “a missed opportunity … Protectionism has won over common sense.”

After facing many obstacles with them, Playtech has finally parted way with their broker, Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank resigned its position as Playtech’s broker, and because of this, Playtech will be unable to join London’s main stock market.

As a result of this move, Playtech’s stock took a big hit, and knocked down to 13p at 239p. While Playtech tries to regain their bearings, they have released a statement that says “with immediate effect Collins Stewart Europe Limited is the Company’s sole broker and NOMAD.” It looks like Playtech is trying to send out the message that they are in control, and they aren’t lost without their former broker.

Roger Withers, Chairman at Deutsche Bank, said there was no fight, and the big issue was that Playtech and Deutsche Bank grew apart. This was likely due to the fact that when Mumtaz Naseem left in the summer, relations went south.

Despite this setback, Playtech is still in top form, and has regularly been releasing new games, making deals, creating partnerships, and making games that online casino operators and players love. Players can still enjoy Playtech’s great games, and they will soon be out with new games for players to enjoy for the next little while.

Gaming software giant, Microgaming has struck a big software deal with Ladbrokes, and they will now be providing their casinos and poker software to Ladbroke’s Danish and Spanish markets.

Ladbrokes is one of the largest gaming groups in the gambling industry, and offer players a variety of games, as well sports betting services. They have online operations in Gibraltar, and other operations in the United Kingdom.

Andy Clucas, Head of Business Development at Microgaming, commented about the deal, saying “We have had a long and successful relationship with Ladbrokes and are delighted to be entering these two exciting markets with them. Once granted a licence, Ladbrokes will be able to offer the most competitive range of products.”

Ladbrokes Spanish site, as well as Danish site is expected to go live with the new Microgaming software by January 2012, once licensing has been granted for both markets. Microgaming has over hundreds of games under their umbrella, and the sites will have Flash and download games available to Ladbrokes players.

Microgaming is known for their excellent poker software, and Ladbrokes expects that Spanish and Danish players will really enjoy the opportunity to play poker in games and tournaments when the time comes.

This past September, a woman won $43,800 playing Hulk Ultimate Revenge for the Marvel Jackpot at InterCasino. After a win like that, most people don’t think that they will ever get that lucky again.

Well, in this one very rare occasion, the same woman won another jackpot last week. This time, she won an astounding $935,100! On a $10 wager no less! This time, the lucky mother of two was playing the Millionaires Club III Progressive Slot.

That makes her total winnings close to a million dollars, and within a 3 month period!

Regis Pissot, the Head of InterCasino commented that this player has been a loyal InterCasino regular for the past five years. The team at InterCasino was really thrilled for her to win, afterall, it’s what everyone waits for and wants.

InterCasino has been entertaining and paying thousands of players around the globe for the past 15 years, and have awarded out over $10 billion to gamers. With Cryptologic supplying their gaming software, InterCasino has been able to stay fresh and current with technology, giving players what they want and then some.

InterCasino’s current promotion is November Reign. Players can battle it out for great cash prizes, and a chance to win the title of King of Queen at the end of the promotion. Check out InterCasino today!

It seemed like the perfect match. The big European gambling website, and the giant gambling software supplier. William Hill and Playtech. They probably thought the same thing too, back in 2008 when they formed a partnership.

At the time, it made sense to make this deal. William Hill is a gambling website that needs gambling software, and Playtech develops gambling software. Besides the financial benefit, there was also the partnership that must have appealed to both the companies at the time. In exchange for gaming software, William Hill gave Playtech a 29 percent share of the company.

The first two years were blissful, but then somehow in the third year, things have just gotten worse. The latest bump in the road is the William Hill and Probability deal that was supposed to go down. William hill was looking to expand into the mobile gambling arena, and Probability was there way to do that. Playtech was having none of that, and since they have a 29 percent share, they actually get a say. Unfortunately, it looks like William Hill has missed out on a great business venture, and Playtech has just made things even more unbearable for William Hill. At this point, to say the relationship is souring is being nice. Judging by all of the actions taken against one another, it looks more like the relationship has soured considerably. It’ll take a miracle to fix the mess these two great companies are in.