Marvel Enterprises Inc. and WagerLogic Ltd. Have reached a new deal, resolving a dispute dating back to 2008. In the new deal, WagerLogic lost some benefits but gained others. It is said that both parties are happy about the resolution.

WagerLogic, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CryptoLogic, has had a license with Marvel since 2005 to carry online slots with a marvel theme. As part of their contract, which was set to expire in 2013, WagerLogic and CryptoLogic had exclusive rights to the characters, names and comic book titles. That meant only online casinos carrying their software could offer online slots featuring Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk and more.

The problem came in 2008, when Marvel Enterprises signed another deal with Playtech, giving them rights to the Marvel brand and characters as well. Casinos carrying the Playtech software began offering Marvel-themed slots the same year. Each company had a different take on the material. WagerLogic released slots based on the classic comic books, with comic-style art. The Playtech games were based on the recent movie adaptations, featuring the actors and scenes from the movies.

As you might expect, WagerLogic felt that their contract had been breached by Marvel. It took until now for the dispute to be settled, but the result is a new contract between WagerLogic and Marvel that extends until 2014.  WagerLogic now has non-exclusive licensing of the Marvel characters. To make up for losing their exclusivity, though, the cost has been reduced, new games will be added, and an expanded platform will allow WagerLogic to offer Marvel slots for mobile phones and in hotel rooms.

Among the new Marvel games to be added to WagerLogic’s suite is an Avengers slot. There is currently a lot of buzz around the Avengers franchise, thanks to an upcoming film directed by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Scarlett Johansson, among others.

Microgaming is one of the leading software developers for the online gambling industry. In operation since 2004, they have developed a reputation for excellent graphics and presentations, unique themes and good security. Casinos utilizing the Microgaming software are among the most respected in the industry. Still, sometimes they need to combine their forces to become bigger and more profitable. Two Microgaming casinos are now doing just that.

Diamond Bet and Tell Gaming have announced a merger that will have both companies operating under the Diamond Bet brand. Both online gambling operators run online casinos, poker rooms and sports betting services in the Swedish market.

Diamond Bet CEO Alexander Stevendahl spoke of the merger with excitement and stated that by combining the two companies, they will be able to offer players more games, bigger tournaments and larger jackpots. It will also allow players to find a larger variety of services on the same website. Tell Gaming was best known for its Liga Football sports betting service. Liga Gaming is like fantasy football (or soccer, whatever you want to call it), where players create an 11-man dream team of players from the English Premier League and then win money based on the success of those players.

Diamond Bet, on the other hand, is best known for their Diamond Academy online poker school. Tell Gaming members will benefit from the instructional course that is designed to turn average poker players into great poker players.

Other online casino games and promotions that are common for Microgaming casinos will still be available at Diamond Bet as well. That includes hot games like The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring online slot.

If you’re like me, then you search the internet for online casino promotions, tournaments and other good deals. You are also sick of hearing about the Lord of the Rings slot right now, because every casino that carries the slot is holding a special promotion for it and at times, it can seem like that is the only promotion available. It’s not. One of the best upcoming promotions is the International Casino Games, where you can win big money, a cruise and more.

The International Casino Games begin on October 1 at Platinum Play Casino and during a 19-week period, a number of tournaments and other promotions will take place. The promotion boasts a total prize pool of $200,000 in casino credits, plus other prizes. The grand prize is a pair of tickets aboard a luxury cruise liner.

Every week, Platinum Play members will be able to participate in a variety of events, including live tournaments, contests that reward those who wager the most, random lucky drawings and exclusive events that you can attend by invitation only.

To enter the International Casino Games, all you have to do is register for a real-money account at Platinum Play Casino. Then check your email or the promotions page of the website for details on the weekly games.

I mentioned the money, but what makes this promotion exciting for me is the cruise. It will be a Caribbean cruise on a luxury cruise liner and in addition to getting the cruise for free, the grand-prize winner will also get an extra $50,000 onboard the cruise. Three runners up will also win $25,000 each on the cruise. In total, 50 pairs of cruise tickets will be awarded.

To take part in the International Casino Games promotion and have a chance to win the trip of a lifetime, visit Platinum Play Casino.

Online gambling proponents in the United States, you might want to sit down, because I have more bad news. Things just aren’t going well for you. I know a lot of you got excited about Barney Frank’s online gambling bill, especially when it passed the House Financial Services Committee, and optimism is a good thing, but there are too many reasons to think that UIGEA will survive 2010.

The biggest obstacle is simply time. As I mentioned before, Congress has a limited time to pass the law. Any bill that isn’t signed into law when the new Congress takes over in 2011 will be killed. Congress then has to start the process over from the beginning. Even if they took the same exact bill, they would still need to get support from the new members of Congress, get new markups from those members, clear committee, have the bill reach the floor for debate, be voted on, passed and signed into law.

Congress recesses on October 8 and from then on is going to be in full-on campaign mode until after the mid-term elections on November 2. Before October 8, few bills will be passed and certainly nothing of a controversial nature, giving ammunition to the opposition.

For all of those reasons, Barney Frank admitted to The Hill that his legislation, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act (H.R. 2267) is not likely to become law in 2010. Another problem is that the companion bill, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (H.R. 2268), is going nowhere. The bill, proposed by Jim McDermott, would set up the tax laws and structure for online gambling once it is legalized by Frank’s bill. Recently, McDermott admitted that he does not think the bill will be marked up before the Congressional recess, meaning the bill would never even make it to committee.

Even if Frank’s bill and McDermott’s bill somehow both got passed by the House, there’s another problem: the Senate. Senator Robert Menendez introduced the Internet Skill Game Licensing and Control Act (S 3616) and companion legislation last year, but it has little support and is drastically different from Frank’s bill. The bill has yet to be marked up and may not have enough support to clear committee. Even if it does, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, opposes the legislation. Reid, who represents Nevada, is looking out for the interests of the Las Vegas casinos. His office released a statement that said that he “does not support any of the existing bills and he would oppose any proposal that would put jobs in Nevada at risk.”

It’s hard to pass a bill in the Senate without support from the Majority Leader. Even if that happened along with the House passing both H.R. 2267 and H.R. 2268, the bills would be different, so they would have to go to conference committee until there is only one online gambling bill. Then it would have to be signed into law by President Obama before the new Congress takes over in January. Sure, that is possible, but I can tell you that the odds are worse than any game in Vegas.

When it comes to grabbing your attention, few online casinos do it as well as Aladdin’s Gold Casino. Their Flash-based casino has some of the best graphics and animation in the business, complete with Aladdin, the genie and the princess. The background is of well-animated Arabian architecture. Still, though the presentation on the website is good, that’s not as important as the other thing that grabs your attention: their promotions.

Every week, Aladdin’s Gold offers different weekly promotions. This week, there are two different offers. The first is called the Aladdin’s Gold 500. That promotion actually has three different deals. The first is a deposit bonus where if you deposit $150, the casino with give you $500 to play on slots. The coupon code for that bonus is ALADDINSGOLD500.

There is another match bonus for slot players as well – this one a match percentage. The casino offers a 60% match bonus on your deposit, with the bonus up to $1,000. The bonus money can be used on online slots, keno and scratch cards. The coupon code is 10SLOTS60 and it can be redeemed up to 30 times.

The other bonus that is part of this promotion is for players of blackjack and video poker. Aladdin’s Gold is offering a 45% match on your deposit, with a maximum bonus amount of $1,000. That bonus can be redeemed up to 30 times. The coupon code is 10BJVP45.

The other promotion this week is called the Cash Grab Week. In this promotion, the casino is offering a 60% match bonus, with a maximum amount of $1,000, for players of slots, keno and scratch cards. The coupon code is HOTCHA and it can be redeemed an unlimited number of times. The other bonus is a 45% match for deposits to play blackjack, video poker and other table games. The coupon code is BRAVO and it can also be redeemed an unlimited number of times. If you redeem either of those coupons at least five times, you are eligible for a free $25 bonus.

To take advantage of any of these weekly bonuses, visit Aladdin’s Gold Casino.

Since last year, Spain has been moving toward legalizing and regulating online gambling. As is often the case with government, the process has been very slow. Still, this week there has been some progress, with a draft of gambling legislation being approved by the Council of Ministers.

This week, the Council of Ministers approved a draft of the Gambling Act, which would regulate all forms on gambling, with a special emphasis on online gambling, mobile gambling and gambling via interactive television. The main concern of the new bill is safety, primarily making sure underage people cannot gamble, protecting problem gamblers from themselves, and protecting everyone from unscrupulous gambling operators.

Included in the legislation is a plan to license operators, including online casinos. The operators would have to be inspected and certified as safe and fair in order to receive and retain their licenses and the licenses would last for five years at a time. And of course, since we’re talking about government regulation, taxation is a big part of the new bill.

There are questions as to who should do the regulating, though. Spain has a number of autonomous communities and has a government that is not very centralized and over time, unlike other countries, has become even more decentralized. Those autonomous communities govern themselves, with little influence from the central federal government. The Gambling Act, however, calls for a federal regulation of gambling, including in the autonomous communities. Elena Salgado, the Second Vice President and Minster of Economy and Finance supports a federal regulatory structure. In return for agreeing to be subject to the federal law and regulations, much of the tax revenue would be put back into the autonomous communities.

That could be a sticking point, but it’s possible that the autonomous communities would accept that compromise. Only time will tell and, as slowly as this process has been so far in Spain, it will probably take a lot of time to tell.

The last phase of the Slottery tournament is now underway at Super Slots Casino. For those not in the know, the Slottery tournament is a month-long tournament that began on August 29 and ends on October 3. Okay, so that’s actually a little longer than one month. In any case, the slot tournament occurs in five parts, each one week long. The fifth and final part started yesterday.

The final phase of the Slottery tournament began on Sunday, September 26 and ends on Sunday, October 3. Like the other four parts, this phase has an entry fee of $5 and players compete for a share of the pot. Since the tournament is always popular, that pot tends to get pretty large.

The first four parts of the Slottery tournament were played on Rocking Robin, Solomon’s Mines, Lucky Lady and Naughty Ninjas. The final part is played on the Cash Caboose slot, an online slot with an old western theme, specifically about train robbers.

If you don’t want to pay the $5 entry fee, there is also a free slot tournament starting today. The freeroll tournament is played on the SuperMarket Slots game and it runs from Monday, September 27 to Monday, October 4. There is no entry fee for the tournament and players compete for a share of a $3,000 prize pool.

To take part in any of these tournaments, you only need to be a member of Super Slots Casino and log into them via the tournaments page. Be sure to read the terms and conditions of the tournaments and all promotions. That goes for any online casino.

I didn’t want to write about Kentucky again. I think it’s mostly a good state that gets a bad rap for a position on online gambling that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. So while other gambling writers are quick to beat down the Bluegrass State, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt. But then Kentucky’s NCAA football team was routed by the Florida Gators, the team I hate more than any other. So while this may be kicking them while they’re down, I’m mad at Kentucky at the moment, so here goes…

In the most recent decision in a Kentucky court case that dates back to 2008, the state Supreme Court refused to pass judgment and then kicked the case back down to the circuit court where the case had started. You may remember the case where the state of Kentucky seized domains for some online gambling websites, an action that is being fought by the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) and the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC).

Earlier this year, circuit court Judge Wingate ruled that the lawyers for iMEGA and IGC could not represent the domains and that the actual owners must be present. Since the owners were not present and a part of the proceedings, the case was dismissed. iMEGA and IGC then brought the case further up the ladder, where it eventually reached the state Supreme Court. There, they submitted affidavits from Pocket Kings and Yatahay Limited that affirmed they were the owners of the domain names Full Tilt Poker and TruePoker.com.

The Supreme Court then said that the new information had never been given to the circuit court, so they kicked it back down to them rather than making a ruling. While that might not necessarily be a bad thing, it’s clear that the Supreme Court is skeptical about the ownership of Pocket Kings and Yatahay Limited. In the order that passed the case back down to the circuit court, the Supreme Court stated that the lower court had “ruled correctly thus far in this case regarding standing issues.” They said that “until the circuit court determines that the domain owners or registrants are properly before the court, no one has established standing to proceed on a writ action.”

Only time will tell what will result from this decision. In all likelihood, this case will eventually go back to the state Supreme Court anyway.

This weekend there are some good tournaments at Millionaire Casino. The tournaments that will get the most attention are the Slots-tember tournament and the Slottery. The Slots-tember is the month-long tournament that ends on September 30. The buy-in is only $5 and players compete for a shot at a $100,000 prize.

The Slottery is a five-part tournament that has a fourth part ending on September 26. That is a $5 tournament where players compete for a share of the pot. While those tournaments are the big ones for this weekend, they aren’t the only tournaments available to Millionaire Casino members. For one thing, there are tournaments available for those who don’t even play slots.

For video poker players, the September 100-Hand tournament is still going strong and doesn’t end until September 30. That tournament has a $5 buy-in and players compete for the pot. There is also the Weekend Deuces Wild Face-Off, which runs from Friday to Sunday. The game is played on the Deuces Wild game and has a $5 entry fee, with players going after the pot.

For blackjack fans, this weekend is the Weekend Blackjack Classic. It is played on the US Blackjack game and runs from Friday to Sunday. The blackjack tournament has a $10 entry fee and players compete for a share of a $5,000 prize pool.

Lastly, roulette players aren’t left out of the action at this casino. TheWheel Deal tournament began yesterday and ends on September 30. It is played on the American Roulette game and has an entry fee of only $2. Players fight for a share of the pot.

To take part in any of these casino tournaments, visit Millionaire Casino.

According to Greece’s Finance Ministry, the online gambling market in the country is worth an estimated €2 billion. It seems that because Greeks don’t spend much time working – the few that do work – they have plenty of time for leisure activities, such as gambling.

George Christodoulakis (you’d think people as lazy as the Greeks would have easier names to pronounce), a senior official in the Finance Ministry, told the Agence France Presse that “the propensity for gaming in Greece is among the highest in Europe and the world.” He said that “has to do with our temperament and culture,” referring to lazy people who would rather try to make money playing a casino game than earn it with a hard day’s work.

With that in mind, Christodoulakis said that the only thing the government needs to do is set the rules for online gambling, which is currently illegal though the law is not really enforced. As a result, the Greek government is considering establishing a Gaming Commission to regulate and tax the online gambling industry.

Of course, being taxed by the government for something they are currently doing tax-free may cause more rioting in Greece, assuming that there are Greeks who have enough motivation to riot and are not already doing so. Then again, I’m not sure what the communist party’s opinion is of gambling, so I can’t be certain how those rioters would react.

Christodoulakis estimates that approximately €4 billion is spent on illegal gambling, with half of that being spent online. That makes it tempting for the government to regulate the industry, especially considering the Greek government is big on controlling industries. Once that starts affecting the wallet of the Greeks, though, all bets are off.