On Tuesday, France opened up its online gambling market to foreign companies. Previously they banned online casinos from overseas and only allowed domestic casinos to get business from French customers. This, however, was in violation of European Union rules, which set up free trade agreements between EU member nations. After defying the rules, this week France gave in.

Operating an online casino in the French market isn’t easy, though. Their new online gambling laws are very strict and have rules for licensing that many call excessive and some even call “Draconian.” So far, approximately 35 online casino operators have applied for the licensed in France, with the French issuing 17 licenses to the 11 operators. The other 24 online casinos are still waiting for word from the French.

The new French online gambling legislation established a regulatory authority called the ARJEL, which is an acronym that makes sense in France. ARJEL can only give out 30 licenses and a separate license needs to be given for each type of gambling operation, which is why some online casino have more than one. With 17 of the 30 licenses already given out, there are only 13 still up for grabs.

There are a few big-name online gambling companies still waiting for licenses, such as Microgaming, PartyGaming and PokerStars. Other online gambling companies have pulled out of the French market entirely, meaning they will no longer accept bets from French customers. Some big names in that group include Betfair, Spin Palace and Ladbrokes. Those companies say that the rules and restrictions by the French government make it an unsuitable market for turning a profit.

Once the French decided to open the online gambling market, they hurried to get licenses handed out in time for the World Cup, which is the most popular sporting event in the world. Billions of dollars will be bet on the Cup over the next month, so the French want in on the money.

Platinum Play Casino is one of the leading online casinos in the industry. They have made a name for themselves for providing great games designed by Microgaming. They also have the benefit of being named after a precious metal, which have become increasingly popular among investors since the stock market, the U.S. dollar and Euros continue to go to hell. Laugh if you want, by I assure you that Google searches for gold, silver and platinum have increased drastically within the last year. What does that mean? Nothing, except that it could conceivably draw more traffic to Platinum Play Casino. What should really draw more traffic to their casino is the release of new games, though, and that is exactly what’s happening.

In June, the popular online casino will release three new games from Microgaming: Soccer Safari, Voila and High Speed Poker. Soccer Safari is an online slot that combines soccer (or football if you’re not American) with an African theme. You may have heard that the World Cup is played in Africa this year. This online slot features elephants, giraffes, leopards and more playing soccer. It is a 5-reel, 30-payline online slot that I think will be a big hit as it is launched just in time for the World Cup.

Voila is a game with a French theme. It is an online slot that features symbols of the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc Triomphe and other things associated with France, including their food, which looks good but I’ve heard tastes terrible. The Voila slot should thrill people from other places who have always wanted to visit France, though.

The third new game coming to Platinum Play Casino is High Speed Poker. This is a poker game that, as the name implies, it meant to be played quickly. The poker game is 3-card draw using a single hand. This game should be popular among people who like the strategy of poker but don’t like how slow the game moves at times.

To play any of the new games, visit Platinum Play Casino.

Hooray!  Another cartoony online slot by Microgaming.  I was raised on Saturday morning cartoons, the Disney afternoon and Nickelodeon so it’s been ingrained in my psyche to enjoy and find comfort in colorful, silly cartoon type-things.  That’s why my face lights up every time I come across a new light-hearted, cartoony online slot.  That doesn’t mean that I’m not a fan of hard-core movie action slots like Rambo or Terminator, but I have to say that the kid in me enjoys the fun slots just a little bit more.

The latest online slot that tickles my fancy (don’t judge) is The Great Galaxy Grab from the geniuses at Microgaming.  Looking like a mix between Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Disney’s Treasure Planet, ‘Galaxy Grab’ is a 5 reel, 25 pay-line slot featuring a space-pirate theme.  The awesome 3D graphics in this online slot are brightly colored and great fun to watch as you rocket across the galaxy with Captain Bronzebeard and his band of robots.

The Great Galaxy Grab features an innovative bonus trail comprised of six separate opportunities to plunder some wins.  Steel Scarlett uses her powers to create scatter combos that lead to the “space odyssey.”  There, you hop back and forth from your choice of six bonus games.  The quirky symbols and characters featured in this online slot are the main attraction for me.  There are zany robots, floating cogs, space burger joints, malls, saloons, and much more.

Bets for The Great Galaxy Grab go from 0.01 up to 0.25 with a max bet of 125 coins meaning you could win as much as 36,350 coins in the base game alone.  Add on to p of that the 11,000 coins in available bonuses and 109,050 in free spins.

The Great Galaxy Grab is available at All Jackpots Casino, All Slots Casino, River Belle Casino, and Lucky Nugget Casino among others.

If you are like me, combining the words “Kung Fu” with anything immediately transforms something ordinary into something that is awesome. Go ahead and try it: Kung Fu Hair Drier. Kung Fu Wet Nurse. Kung Fu Accountant. See? That goes double when you combine cool animals and online slots with Kung Fu…which is probably the marketing strategy going on over at Microgaming these days.

The new Kung Fu Monkey online slot sounds like a winner on all accounts. Kung Fu Monkey Goes To Chinatown (that’s the full title), is a 5 reel, 15 pay-line video slot new from Microgaming. This brand new online slot is set in China where evil ninja monkeys guard the road to reward. Only Kung Fu Monkey (and you) can take them down. With a Wild, two Scatters, Multipliers, Free Spins and an innovative 3 level, second screen bonus feature, there is surely no bigger and more exciting online slot featuring the martial arts and primates available anywhere online.

Fighting alongside the Kung Fu Monkey, it is your job to take down Kung Fu Baboons, Monkey Ninjas and big, scary and mean looking Big Bad Boss gorilla. By defeating enemies, Kung Fu Monkey wins rewards, rescues hostages and has a lot of fun.

The slot features symbols like Chinese gongs, crazy looking monkeys, wise older monkeys, the Kung Fu Monkey himself (that’s the wild symbol) and a hot girl monkey who is hot in that “bugs bunny dressed like a girl” way. Don’t judge me.

Bottom line, the game play is exciting, the colors are brilliant and the sound effects are funny and engaging. What can I say? I love zany online slots and this one fits the bill. I am bananas for Kung Fu Monkey. Sorry. I had to. (Bows)

Microgaming continues its reign as the world’s largest online gaming software provider with the release of three new feature-heavy video slots. The new online slots, Scoop the Cash, Jewels of the Orient and Lumber Cats, are the latest to be added to Microgaming’s library of over 350 online casino games.

Scoop the Cash is a game-show themed slot is a five reel, 25 payline, multi-feature slot that looks kind of like Monopoly on steroids. According to the press release, “Scoop the Cash is a colorful slot machine with images of cash, money, safes, dice and more.” Scoop also doles out plenty of free spins that offer double prizes.

Jewels of the Orient invites players to fly a magic carpet and experience the “secrets of the exotic East.” This five reel, nine payline video slot takes players on a rollicking journey from the plains of India to the mountains of Japan. It promises beautiful scenic graphics and exotic characters.

Last but not least is Lumber Cats. Boy oh boy am I excited about Lumber Cats. Not only does this online slot have a name reminiscent of my favorite ’80s cartoon, but I am a huge fan of quirky ideas. Lumber Cats online video slot is about big cats that cut down trees. The brightly colored online slot features three quirky axe-wielding cats, tractors, logs and offers “prizes and free re-spins galore.”

Microgaming’s software powers more than 160 online casinos including Alljackpots.com, Allslots.com and Jackpotcity.com.

I remember the first time I was in a restaurant that had the soda fountain where the soda fountain wasn’t behind the counter. It was a Burger King a few towns over from me that had just been remodeled. I walked in and there was an entire row of different sodas to choose from and I could have as much as I wanted of any of them! So the first thing I did was to fill my cup with a little bit of each flavor. Sure, it probably tasted like puke, but to me there was nothing better. I get the same sort of feeling from Microgaming’s new “make your own” online slot machines.

There is an incredible variety of online slots out there, too many to name. While online slots have changed very little in terms of game play, the looks, themes, and sound effects have made choosing a favorite online slot all but impossible. But now instead of coming up with a new online slot and hoping it appeals to a certain demographic, Microgaming is introducing online slots that players can customize to their own tastes, MySlot.

The new “make your own” slot machine is available at all Microgaming powered online casinos and allows players the freedom to customize every aspect of their game play experience. Every aspect of these online slots can be customized from the music to the colors to the sound effects.

Roger Raatgever, CEO of Microgaming says that players have been requesting a customizable online slot for years and that this will let online slot players “sit in the designer driving seat and be the creator of their own slot destiny.”

Are you one of those people who are always on the go and don’t have time to sit down at a computer for online gambling? Good news! Now you can visit an online casino by using your cell phone and bet to your heart’s content wherever you are.

Spin3, a software designer that creates games for mobile phones, has partnered with Microgaming, one of the leading designers of online gambling software. As a result of the deal, Spin3 will provide a mobile version of All Slots Casino via the iPhone.

This is great news for anyone who has ever been stranded in an elevator and thought, If only I could play some roulette in here this wouldn’t be so bad. Stuck in a board meeting? Just take our your phone and play some online blackjack. Try not to do a victory dance when you beat the dealer, though. The other people in the meeting will stare. If you want, you can even go on Twitter at the same time. You can play online blackjack and then tweet “playing online blackjack in a board meeting” so everyone will know. Just don’t do that if someone else in the meeting is subscribed to your tweets.

In an industry that, like most industries that don’t have a dollar menu, is struggling, online casinos are looking for new ways to increase revenue. Going mobile increases access to All Slots Casino, which should pay big dividends. Do not be surprised if many other online casinos jump on this trend. There will, of course, be people who think it’s distasteful for the iPhone to allow gambling, but it shouldn’t hurt business any. Apple was able to survive the backlash from their baby-shaking application and injuring babies, at least after they have been born, is frowned upon by probably everyone on the planet. Online gambling isn’t nearly as controversial.

If you don’t have an iPhone (and not all of us are cool enough to), don’t worry. You can still gamble on All Slots Casino via your computer.

Microgaming, one of the leading names in online game software designers, has released a new online slot, Wealth Spa. It is the only spa that results in you making money rather than spending it. The online slot is based on the experience of visiting a health spa, with coin collecting — which, to my knowledge, has nothing to do with a spa — taking place throughout. I would love to go to a spa where there are coins laying around waiting to be collected. Then again, I would just love to go to a spa. Alas, Gambling Review’s salary leaves a little to be desired, so I will continue to live my spa experiences out vicariously through Microgaming’s online slots. If your paycheck barely covers the expense of driving to work, you should do the same.

Wealth Spa is a 5-reel, 20-payline online slot with 5 bonus rounds. With bonuses, players can earn up to 25 free spins and extra-large jackpots. The bonus games are Smoothie Bonus, Bath Oil Bonus, Hot Stone Bonus, Massage Bonus and Body Wax Bonus. The latter I find intriguing, because they have essentially named a bonus round after a procedure many regard as torture. Certainly a body wax is more unpleasant than waterboarding. The Massage Bonus is particularly enjoyable, and if it leads to a jackpot you can be certain of a happy ending.

Mummy’s Gold online casino has been running competitive tournaments all month long, but with some of their tournaments over, players who have not joined in may feel like they have lost out. Don’t worry. There is still plenty of exciting tournament action to be had.

The Multi-Play Poker contest will run from August 17 to August 23. The contest features the Party Poker muti-hand video poker games designed by Microgaming. The tournament has a total prize pool of $1,000 and can be joined in 10 Play or 100 Play formats.

For those who think poker is too complicated, having to remember all of those suits and different terms like “full house” and “flush,” don’t worry. Mummy’s Gold online casino also offers tournaments in games that require little to no skill. Yes, folks, I’m talking about roulette and slots, games where a chimpanzee and a human would have an equal opportunity of winning. Now, that I’m on the subject, if a chimp hits the jackpot, does it have to file a tax return?…

Roulette Rally is the popular Mummy’s Gold online roulette tournament that began August 3 and runs until August 23. The roulette tournament features four Microgaming titles: American Roulette, European Roulette, French Roulette and Roulette Royale, which is a progressive jackpot game. French Roulette for a brief time was known as Freedom Roulette, but the name was changed back to French Roulette after the election of Nicolas Sarkozy.

For people, or chimpanzees, who feel that picking a number and color is too complicated, there is an even easier way to gamble available. Mummy’s Gold online casino is also offering the Bonus Slots Bonanza, which runs from August 24 to August 30. The online slot tournament features several of Microgaming’s popular slots, including Chocolate Factory, which is sure to satisfy your inner Oompa-Loompa, and Porky Payout, which, to my knowledge, has nothing to do with the Obama administration’s “stimulus” bill.

All in all, there are plenty of options out there for fans of online casino tournaments, whether you’re a human, chimpanzee, or Vermicious Knid. Oh, and I don’t mean to denigrate anyone who enjoys playing online slots or roulette by implying that they would have no strategic advantage over a chimp. I enjoy both games myself. Also, chimps are pretty smart animals.

The Tour de France is the most popular and most grueling cycling race in the world. In fact, it’s probably the only cycling race that your average person, especially Americans, know about. And if not for Lance Armstrong, we probably wouldn’t know about that race, either. Online gambling software developer Microgaming is taking advantage of that popularity and released a new online slot based on the Tour de France.

The game, called Pedal Power, is a 5-reel online slot with 15 paylines. Coin denominations are from a penny to ten cents and the maximum payout is $4,000. The online slot has many cycling-themed symbols, such as a cyclist who looks a lot like Armstrong triumphantly crossing the finish line, a trophy, bikes, water bottles, and a map of the Tour de France. The trophy is the wild symbol and a watch is the scatter symbol, which unlocks a free-spin round. The game can be found at any of Microgaming’s affiliated online casinos.

Microgaming’s Pedal Power should be a fun experience for anyone who has watched the Tour de France or anyone who has ever gotten an uncomfortable chafing after a long ride. For added enjoyment, you can always squeeze into some bike shorts, speak in an obnoxious French accent while you play the slots and then throw a fit when an American wins the race. That’s what I would do. Since it’s online slots, you don’t have to worry about getting kicked out of the casino for being annoying, so go for it.