Better Casino and Poker of Desmoines

Top gaming site Jackpotjoy.com have arranged for their Queen of Bingo to phone some of their lucky members with a cash prize to cheer them up on Blue Monday – the most depressing day of the year…

The last Monday in January is officially recognised as the most depressing day of the year. It’s cold, it’s wet and it’s been ages since anyone was paid, but this year the members of top gaming site Jackpotjoy.com can not only play and enjoy a their favourite roulette, online bingo or slot games but also receive a surprise call from the Queen of Bingo!

“January is a bit like a month of Mondays,” explains Jackpotjoy Managing Director Michael Saunders. “So we wanted to do a little something to lighten the load.”

The site are currently collecting numbers on their promotions page, with a random selection of those numbers getting a call from the Queen of Bingo – comic legend Barbara Windsor – on Monday 23rd January 2012.

“It’s going to be an amazing day,” Michael Saunders assures us. “The Queen will be in our offices – in full Royal regalia – calling members with a cash prize for each of them. And if they answer the phone with Jackpotjoy’s iconic call of ‘Oi Oi Oi’ we’ll add an extra bonus to boot.”

The site are supporting the day with activity on their Facebook page, including the chance to ask the Queen questions and win cash prizes.

“Facebook is perfect for events like this,” Michael explains. “Social Media is all about immediacy and this event is going to be taking place live onsite and on Facebook.

The Royal Ring Around takes place today at Blue Monday (Monday 23th January). To qualify for a call from the Queen you must have registered your number at Jackpotjoy.com beforehand.

GAMESYS

The Gamesys Group was founded in April 2001 by Noel Hayden and a small team of developers. Since then their flagship site, Jackpotjoy.com, has become the UKs leading online gaming destination for online casino games, online bingo games and slots.

For more information on Gamesys, please visit: http://www.gamesyscorporate.com . Or follow events at Jackpotjoy on: • View the special Queen of Bingo site of Jackpotjoy! • Check Lottery results provided by Jackpotjoy • View the latest Bingo offerings from Gamesys in Spain.

Federal Cabinet is expected to formally abandon a deadline to introduce mandatory pre-commitment technology for poker machines at a meeting this morning.

Labor had a deal with independent MP Andrew Wilkie to form government, which involved changing poker machine laws by May 8.

But the Government cannot find enough parliamentary support for the changes, and Prime Minister Julia Gillard last night met Mr Wilkie for talks on the issue.

Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin, who joined in on the meeting, would not be drawn on the outcome of the talks. But she did announce that she has met with Clubs ACT to propose a 12-month trial of mandatory pre-commitment technology on poker machines.

“The vast majority of members of the Parliament would like to see a proper trial of mandatory pre-commit so I certainly hope it will proceed,” she said.

“We want to get proper evidence. The Government does believe that mandatory pre-commitment is a useful tool for problem gamblers.

“But of course we want to take an evidence-based approach. We want to work with clubs in the ACT, with the ACT Government, to properly trial mandatory pre-commitment.”

She told Saturday AM the discussions are in an early stage but financial support will be offered to clubs.

But Clubs ACT chief executive Officer Jeff House expects the trial will show the technology does not work.

“My view is that it probably won’t be as effective as it needs to be and nor do I believe it’ll be as cost effective as it needs to be to justify rolling it out through the rest of the country, but I’m prepared to have a trial to see whether that’s the case,” he said.
A dead deal?

Yesterday, Federal independent MP Tony Windsor weighed into the poker machine plan debate, saying he believed the deal was dead.

The Member for New England has been a vocal opponent of Mr Wilkie’s pre-commitment technology, but he admits something does need to be done to address problem gambling.

“If there are other ways of addressing the issue, well let’s have a look at them,” he said.

He has backed Ms Gillard’s assessment on the pokies plan being pushed through Parliament.

“If I was a betting man, I’d say the reform as far as mandatory pre-commitment are probably dead,” he said.

Mr Windsor’s suggested Mr Wilkie take another look at his options and find another way to tackle the gambling addiction.

During the gaming industry’s early years in New Jersey, Atlantic City officials established local zoning guidelines for casino property along the Boardwalk to maintain activity and minimize “dead zones.”

“The code set a percentage of Boardwalk frontage that should be entrances, or stores, or whatever. By and large, the casinos went along with that,” said Jay Fiedler, former Atlantic City planning director and land use administrator.

Planning professionals, however, did not apply the same principle to Pacific Avenue, where casino developers put entrances, customer drop-off and parking areas and loading docks, Fiedler said.

The burgeoning gaming industry also would have been loathe to create even more interactivity with the outside back then, given the gaming industry’s traditional practice of shielding gamblers in atmospheres where clocks, natural light, cell phone reception and other reminders of reality are scarce.

“Back then, we really wanted to get the industry up and operating in Atlantic City while respecting the Boardwalk, beaches and respecting everything we have there. They’re our greatest asset,” Fiedler said recently from his retirement home in Tuscon, Ariz.

They also figured the Boardwalk’s attributes would be more likely to entice visitors to return than Pacific Avenue. While the main strip at that time, it was less unique than the waves, dunes and elevated walkway overlooking them, he said.

“(Pacific Avenue) really wasn’t on the radar screen at that time. There was no reason to have a push,” Fielder said.

Without that push, however, many parts of Pacific Avenue lost the bustle that once made it the city’s main drag. Adding retail could revive the strip, said Paul Mas, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle. The international real estate development corporation heads the consulting team working on the Atlantic City Tourism District Master Plan.

“They just have to convince (casinos) that it would be in the best interests of the city to make Atlantic City work. If they can pull it off and get more activity along Pacific, that’s a great idea,” Fiedler said. “The last thing you want is a grim gauntlet of granite and glazed glass.”

Mas said he and his team are “very much aware” that the industry has tended toward keeping guests inside.

“But you’re not going to stabilize areas that have problems without having people on the street,” he said.

To get people on the street, they first need a reason to be there — and retail in convertible space within the first level of parking garages and other areas would do that, Mas said.

The industry stands to be more easily convinced than in the past, said Kevin DeSanctis, CEO of Revel Entertainment Group.

“I think there are a lot of thoughts that used to be prevalent in the gaming industry that are no longer relevant. If it makes sense for the situation, I’d do it, regardless of the old thought process that you want them walking through the casino (to get to retail and dining outlets),” DeSanctis said. “(One) goal of the master plan is to make (the city) more pedestrian-friendly. It’s not easily accomplished, but it’s one we should all get behind and we ought to be thinking about it.”