Have you ever found yourself caught up in the magic and suspense of that television game show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? If so, now, thanks to the fine folks at JPM Interactive are going to bring you all that wonderful excitement in the form of an online game. It will be available at the popular Internet casino and sportsbook Ladbrokes.com.

Using your cleverness and your keen intellectual prowess, you could win really big and have an incredible amount of fun at the same time. The game was developed using the existing SWP format that involves a player choosing their stakes and whatever they choose will change the amount possible to be won as the grand prize. Stakes start as low as one British pound for a possible prize of 20 pounds. From there, the stakes go all the way up to five pounds for the big prize of 100 pounds.

The online game works almost exactly like the famously thrilling television game with questions asked as the potential prize amount increases along with every answer the player is able to get right. And just like in the television game, the questions asked get progressively more difficult the higher up the ladder the player is able to rise.

If a player is able to correctly complete the Fastest Finger First round, they will get a chance to win the three lifelines at the beginning of the game. As they get more and more questions answered correctly, the more lifelines they will accrue. Getting questions wrong, however, will not be too bad because although they will not pick up a lifeline, they will still progress to the prize tree.

In October, Atlantic City’s casino revenue sunk by 9.9% down to $346.2 million from where it was less than a year ago. This is just another wave of financial strife that the current economic downturn has brought on the gambling industry. This decline from October came after a rough 15.1% drop during September that was the largest total decrease in gaming revenue in the entire 30-year existence of the popular New Jersey gambling mecca.

Revenue from the slot machines at Atlantic City’s eleven casinos was $235.9 million and the profits from table games were $110.3 million. While these numbers may not seem so dismal to the average layperson, these are a sharp departure from the success and consistency that Atlantic City is known for. Overall, revenue dipped down by 6.6% during the first ten months of 2008 as compared to the year prior. And revenue from slot machines has sunk 8.6%. Table game revenue lowered down by 2%.

The outlook is decidedly grim when one compares these numbers to October of 2005 when revenue came in historic high numbers reaching $427.9 million. This latest development in Atlantic City is right in line with the struggles that the rest of the gambling industry are dealing with. Many operations are facing extreme losses and even bankruptcy in some cases as casinos try to compensate for the drop in casino client spending.

Although October’s decline was less than that of September, representatives from a number of Atlantic City casinos said that they were not overly optimistic and that the slight upswing was a very minimal improvement.

While people everywhere all over the world are reeling from the financial situation here in America and abroad, the casino industry is by no means immune to these hard times. With the dramatic drop of the stock market, the foreclosure scares, skyrocketing unemployment, bank buyouts, bailouts and credit crunch, the gambling industry is definitely taking a hit. While in the past, most economic bumps in the road were met with vigor and ingenuity and promptly overcome, the current financial crisis has left many casino business owners shaking their head in dumbfounded uncertainty. Perhaps more than most other industries in the nation, casinos are feeling the stress and pressure of this unrelenting cash crunch.

One place where casino operators are really feeling the heat is the state of Indiana. Casinos in this state have worked diligently to create their own special offering to the casino market – to set themselves apart from the everyday selections. For their efforts, they have been routinely rewarded with good business and a devoted following among players. However, as the economy continues to worsen, revenue numbers for 2008 are down considerably from what they were this same time last year.

Industry insiders report that the overall loss in wealth of its faithful customer base is the main cause for this sharp downturn. While the situation has not reached the point where anyone is predicting that any of the casinos will shut down for loss of revenue, they are definitely going to have to make some drastic changes in order to stay afloat during these tough times. That will mean slicing through staff numbers and maintaining shorter hours of operation.

In many areas of the world, fancy lace-curtain massage parlors have often operated as a front for more scandalous activities such as prostitution. Now, however, in some places such as Malaysia, the thrills of illicit sexual activity are taking a back seat to other endeavors. One of the new trendy, yet illegal activities that is taking place behind closed doors in Malaysia’s massage parlors is, believe it or not, online casino gambling.

Is online gambling really more popular than sex? Apparently the resounding answer is yes in some neighborhoods of Kuantan, one of the biggest urban centers in Malaysia. Business owners have been quick to jump onto this new entrepreneurial bandwagon to take advantage of this intriguing new demand. The Kuantan city council has brought forth a number of threats that they will revoke the business licenses of these shady massage parlors if they are caught operating a brothel or offering online casino gambling in the back.

More and more, to meet a growing demand from an extensive clientele, local stores have been covertly running cybercafes that allow customers to engage in online casino gambling. Apparently people who flock to these risqué businesses are lured in by the tantalizing promise of a rousing game of online poker as much as they are drawn in for the purpose of buying sex. Even with the threat of licenses being cancels, many of these business owners say they will likely press on no matter what because the demand is there and if they don’t meet it, someone else will.