Chinese Red PacketsBy Desmond Lam

The Year of the Water Dragon (2012) should be yet an-other exciting year for Macau. For foreign casino execu-tives working in Macau, the annual task of preparing red packets for their staff can be a nuisance. You have to first decide who want to give, then how much to allocate to each level of staff that you has, and finally prepare the red packets. The physical task of putting cash into red enve-lopes can be very time-consuming and tiring. Getting good looking red envelopes with special dragon character de-sign is often the easy part. The harder part is to find suffi-cient new and clean cash of the tens and hundreds to put into those small envelopes. For some executives, the tasks would possibly involve getting their wife and kids to help out. Whether one likes it or not, handing out red packets to Chinese employees during Chinese New Year is an essen-tial business in Macau and an important part of the Chi-nese custom. The business of Chinese red packets reflects many of the deep-rooted and enduring values adopted by the Chinese people like a belief and celebration of its glori-ous past, superstitious nature, respect for ones social hier-archical position, and constant giving/saving of face.

Also known as ang pow in Hokkien by the Chinese Singa-poreans, lei si in Cantonese by the Macanese and hong bao in Mandarin by the Mainland Chinese, a red packet is essentially an envelope enclosed with money in it. In ancient times, Chinese used to tie coins together with red strings and gave to their kids in order to fend off evil spirits. This has now evolved into red envelopes, which are often decorated with auspicious words, pictures or symbols like carps and zodiac signs (dragon for 2012).

Red packets are auspicious gifts that are handed out during Chinese New Year, and in weddings, birthdays and/or important days. The amount put into a red packet should sound good and often end with an even number. For example, MOP 28, MOP 68 and MOP 188 are all good amounts to put into red packets. MOP 24 is bad since it means easy to die. The business of Chinese red packets reflects an almost subtle and long-forgotten superstitious nature of the Chinese people - a belief in ancient ritual/ways and a constant celebration of the glory past that have now brought forward to modern Chinese society.

Confucius stipulated the hierarchical relationships be-tween a ruler and his subjects, a father and his son, a hus-band and his spouse, an older brother and his younger brother, and those between friends. These teachings have formed the foundation for todays Chinese values and are observed in the business of Chinese red packets. During Chinese New Year, red packets are handed out from the old to the young. Parents will give to their children. Grand-

parents will give to their grand kids. Uncles and aunts will give to their nieces and nephews. Anyone single (i.e. not married) is generally entitled to a red packet regardless of age. Once a Chinese is married, he or she has the respon-sibility to give to every unmarried individuals - a signal that one has reached adulthood. The business of Chinese red packets teaches social segmentation based on individu-als social positions.

In office, directors are expected to give to their staff. The amount that you give often reflects your corporate status/title and also the relative importance of the recipients to you. Generally, the higher ranking you are within the com-pany, the more you are expected to give. A director of table game, who gives less to his staff than the other di-rectors in a social gathering, will lose face. Hence, it is not uncommon for executives to come together prior to Chinese New Year to discuss how much to give per red packet to each employee. The business of Chinese red packets hence reflects the importance of face to the Chi-nese people.

The business of Chinese red packets introduces foreign casino executives to the Chinese culture and ways of life. To be successful, it demands that foreign executives pay respect to the history and culture of the Chinese people. It reveals many aspects of the Chinese culture and shows what it takes to be successful in Macau.

* Desmond Lam is an associate professor of marketing at the University of Macau. He can be contacted at Des-mondL@umac.mo.

Casino Employees Crave Bias-Free Rewards and IncentivesBy Martin R. Baird

Studies show that employees would rath-er get praise from their supervisors than money. It sounds hard to believe, but most casino employees are starving for at-tention from their bosses. As far as theyre concerned, a pat on the back would be a nice change.We all know that casinos are highly regu-lated and that they have too many rules to mention. Thats why its easy to get wrapped up in what people do wrong in-stead of what they do right. Casino staff-ers get tired of hearing about their mis-takes. They want to hear applause for a job well done.

Some companies do the typical employee of the month. They select one or a few em-ployees who did a great job the previous month and they recognize them. Thats better than nothing but, unfortunately, it misses the boat.

As I work with casinos, employees always talk about how they want an unbiased way of being recognized. They feel that the managers pet gets all the rewards while the hard-working people on grave-yard shift never even get noticed. That may not be fact, but thats the perception. Employees see recognition as a popularity contest thats not based on specific crite-ria. They want to know what they will be judged on so they can deliver it.

Your recognition system needs to be bias free. You should have a third party do the mystery shopping and base your findings on their interactions with staff members. By doing this, you remove the huge hor-nets nest that managers bring into the equation.Mystery shoppers have absolutely no vested interest in who gets the rewards and recognition. Theyre responsible for obtaining a certain number of interactions during a visit and sending in their findings.

This third-party approach also keeps man-agers out of the explanation corner. They dont have to justify why they selected one person over another. Theyre given the data and the selection is based purely on what the shoppers experienced over the

last month. Im doing this with a casino and after one of the shops, management was amazed that a particular staff mem-ber got very high scores. This person was a terrible employee from the managers perspective, but that staff member was well loved by the customer, the mystery shopper. Its important to note that shop-pers dont address issues that managers may have faced with specific employees.

You need your recognition program to revolve around what a guest thinks, not a manager. Before you rush out and add mystery shopping to your budget, its criti-cal that you think about what you want evaluated during a shop. Some compa-nies shop for standards. They want to know if the phone was answered within the right number of rings or that it only took one minute for a machine fill.You can have shoppers who look at their guest-service experience. You can have them shop for security and almost any other part of your casino operation. Its im-portant that you invest some time up front so you know what youre shopping for.

Once you have decided the context of a mystery shop, its important that you edu-cate your employees and give them the skills they need to do the job right. This is not like a pop quiz in school. You want your people to get high scores during a shop because that means theyre doing things right.

And when they do things right, your guests notice and appreciate it!

Speaking of appreciation, the next step is to design a program that shows your employees you appreciate that they are doing what you have asked them to do. Lets say you want to improve guest ser-vice and that youre encouraging employ-ees to smile and be proactive with help-ing guests. If the mystery shoppers find people who are doing that, you need to provide those employees with a reward as quickly as you can. Before you get your first reports with all the data on what hap-pened during the last shops, you should have a turnkey system designed so you

have rewards and recognition that are ready to go.

Martin R. Baird is chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a Boise, Idaho-based consulting firm to the global gaming industry that is dedicated to help-ing casinos improve their guest service so they can compete and generate fu-ture growth and profitability. Robinson & Associates is the world leader in casino guest experience measurement and im-provement. For more information, visit the companys Web sites at www.casino-customerservice.com and www.advocat-edevelopmentsystem.com or contact the company at 208-991-2037. Robinson & Associates is an associate member of the National Indian Gaming Association.

YES its 2012! Gaming Payments Directors are looking at where the pressure is coming from and where the oppor-tunities are likely to be this coming year.

I decided, therefore, to take out my crystal ball and see what the future might hold: top of my list would be to bring down costs, minimise risk and declines it was probably top last year as well! If I begin by looking closely at the trends presenting themselves in bricks and mortar retail outlets thats going to mean getting local and focusing on debit. (So what does this mean??) Maybe it means working with the marketing people to actively encourage/incentiv-ise bank transfer and debit use, highlighting to customers it is safe, endorsing the safety and security mechanisms inherent in the systems available to the company.

Another key thought are the lessons learned from any business will, in general, point to the fact that the smaller the supply chain the easier the costs are to manage and minimise. Working on the basis of looking for the smallest supply chain I need to be looking at moving my customers to payments options that move funds from their bank ac-counts to a local bank account that our business has ac-cess to. Bank account loading is not only very secure but also potentially one of my cheapest forms of loading and pay-out. Again, note to self, talk to the marketing folks on how we can encourage this behaviour!

Also localised debit card products need to be considered. These products generally have the lowest available inter-change rates, but are also likely to require local acquirers.

Card usage overall can benefit from working with local ac-quirers, not only does this minimise the interchange there-fore merchant fees, it also helps to minimise declines at transaction level, for numerous reasons that can include cross border movement of money and foreign exchange.

From a risk point of view all of the above is good news. In general terms bank transfers and local debit products form a much lower risk than international credit products.

In truth I can hear the technology team yelling at me how many integrations are we doing?! In particular individual integrations wont be time or cost effective. So I am going to be reviewing my PSPs to see what they are doing to work with the local approach I want to take.

The obvious question is what are we are doing about al-ternative payment options, wallets and mobile for exam-ple. To a certain extent the local approach applies, each of the alternative payment options is going to be looking at the same options to get value into and out of their wal-

lets. I know that, in comparison, each of these alternative solutions is going to be more expensive given the amount of mouths to feed in the supply chain; there is little option for them to be otherwise. Whilst we want our customers to have options we are still going to be encouraging the more direct less expensive routes, whilst keeping our op-tions and relationships open.

The key issue many of the marketing managers will be looking at is what payments are going to offer in new ter-ritories. The most interesting challenge is going to come from the opportunity presented if, or should I say when, the US opens its doors again!

Given the policy of simply supply chain and local options, its back to the books on working with ACH, which works well with the expected need careful, but secure KYC, for both age and location verification. Historically ACH has never been a low risk option for funding, particularly for P2P play options such as Poker.

The fraud systems are going to need to be sophisticated and layered with options to view pay-in and pay-out. Ex-tensive access to KYC checks that dont require consum-ers to complete pages and pages of details.

The US will be greatly concerned with the aspects that are put in place to deal with problem gambling, from a pay-ments point of view it is recognised that it makes good financial sense to protect the player environment from the abuse that invariably comes from that area. Workshop ses-sions between marketing, customer services, payments and risk need to be planned to understand and discuss the elements and risks that come from protecting both playing environment and the players from problem gambling. The key protections have to be gauged so the protections are in place and the options for help available without intrusive judgements being made by the company.

So, overall my Crystal Ball strategy for 2012 tells me to look local, be cost effective, minimise risk and maximise rev-enue!

Crystal Ball Gazing, a 2012 Insight.Sarah FrancisPayments AdvisorProductive Payments

Chinese remedies Make 2012 a happy, healthy year

STRESS and anxiety is a daily obstacle that most of us face on a daily basis. However, it doesnt have to drag us un-der. Chinese medicine offers a number of approaches to manage stress. Dr Tracey-Ann Brown highlights some of the natural remedies which can be applied to ensure a happy 2012; whether you are torn be-tween family, friends, work stress or eco-nomical dismay. This stress may manifest with feelings of anxiety, insomnia/sleep-lessness, headaches, moodiness, and in some cases low energy.

In Chinese medicine, several herbs are usually combined to calm and settle the shen/spirit, in order to restore healthy sleep patterns, clear thoughts and reduce anxiety, irritability and restlessness. A wide variety of herbs are available. Primary herbs include:

Suan Zao Ren (Sour Jujube Seed)Mu Li (Oyster Shell)Zhen Zhu Mu (Mother of Pearl)

In preparing herbal prescriptions, herbs may also be added to address other ac-companying or underlying health issues in order to achieve optimal healing.

ACUPUNCTUREAcupuncture also offers an additional course of treatment for relief, whether alongside herbal remedies or on its own. Acupuncture points are selected from more than 1,000 points on the body and gently stimulated. This in turn stimulates the central nervous system which assists the body in restoring its self-regulating systems.

TAI CHITai Chi is a Chinese martial art that is pri-marily practised for its health benefits. Tai Chi emphasises complete relaxation and is essentially a form of meditation in mo-tion. It is characterised by soft, slow, flow-ing movements.

LIFESTYLE RECOMMENDATIONS

Daily practices that calm and nurture the spirit such as prayer, meditation, silent contemplation, mantras, chanting and various relaxed and mindful processes that promote self-reflection and quiet. Your physical, as well as emotional en-vironment, is another key factor. Try to avoid excessive pollution or noise, harm-ful speech and relationships that are more a burden than a joy.

Chinese New Year 2012: Year of the DragonThe Dragon brings wealth and happiness but DONT SWEEP!

WELCOME wealth, prosperity and longevity in the Chinese New Year 2012. It falls on January 23 and is the start of the Year of the Dragon. It is a very symbolic celebration for many around the world which has many important dos and donts during the first of 15 days of celebrations.

In Chinese tradition, each year is dedicated to a specific animal. The Dragon, Horse, Monkey, Rat, Boar, Rabbit, Dog, Rooster, Ox, Tiger, Snake, and Ram are the twelve animals that are part of this tradition. In 2012, the Dragon is welcomed back after the 2011 year of the Rabbit. Each of these animals are thought to bestow their characteristics to the people born in their year.

The Dragons PersonalityPeople born under the Dragon are passionate, brave and self-assured. At their best they are pioneering spirits; at their worst, they epitomize the old adage: Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Dragons are generous with their resources, a tendency that at its most negative can reflect a foolhardy attitude towards money. But Dragons in general are blessed with good fortune. They are smart, enterprising and have a wicked sense of humor. They have a natural flair for fashion and are the people to consult if you want to catch up on the latest trends.

This Chinese New Year 2012 ushers in the Water Dragon. Wa-ter exerts a calming influence on the Dragons innate fire. Water Dragons are more open to other peoples opinions than other Dragons which gives them the ability to channel their personal charisma into real leadership qualities. Famous celebrities born in under the Dragon include John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Al Pacino, Marlene Dietrich and Matt Dillon. The Dragons lucky color is yel-low.

The Dragon and LoveDragons are passionate. They fall in love quickly and out of love just as quickly. Their charisma and charm is an immense draw to people of the opposite sex whose attention and admiration they crave. Though they have a tendency to treat love like a game, they can settle down when they meet the right partner, some-one whos strong enough not to be bowled over by the Dragons flamboyant, independent and stubborn personality. The Dragons ideal partners are the Rat, the Monkey, and the Rooster.

The Dragon and WealthDragon years are lucky for anyone thinking of starting a business or initiating a new project of any sort because money is easier to come by for everyone, whether its earned, borrowed or received as a gift. Consequently we can expect the economic downturn to ease up a bit in the coming year. Fortunes can be made but they can also be lost: Keep in mind like all good things, the Year of the Dragon will come to an end and you will be held accountable for unreasonable extravagances.

Dragons do well in professions that give them the ability to func-tion somewhat autonomously. They make excellent sales peo-ple, publicists, political campaigners, lawyers, real estate brokers, actors and politicians.

Top three Chinese New Year superstitions:

1. Dirty DoingsPut your feet up and relax. Certainly the most enjoyable of the Chinese New Year superstitions, sweeping and cleaning is strict-ly forbidden. The Chinese believe cleaning means youll sweep all of your good luck out the front door.

2. Lady in RedChinese New Year is packed with colors, and while all the colors of the rainbow bring good luck, its the color red that is consid-ered the ultimate luck bringer.

3. Read Between the LinesBe sure to stock up on reading materials before Chinese New Year, as Hong Kongs bookshops will be padlocked tight. In Can-tonese, book is a homonym for lose.

THE International Gaming Awards 2012 is rapidly approaching; finalists are preparing their thank you speech-es and all eyes are on the starry acco-lades up for grabs. 2012s prestigious and glittering gala event will be the fifth annual Oscars of the landbased and online gaming industry. Profes-sional insiders from all over the globe will unite as the debonair Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, on the 23rd January 2012. Prominent executives and es-tablished operators will gather under one glamourous roof from gaming havens such as Macau, London, Asia, Australia, Europe and Las Vegas.

The competition is tough this year, with previous winners in the line-up hoping to be awarded again. The win-ners league table can be found on the official International Gaming Awards site under the WINNERS and then HOW MANY tab at www.gaming-awards.com.

Sitting proudly at the top of the win-ners league table is Melco Crown Entertainment; it owns and operates casino gaming and entertainment re-sort facilities. Their string of achieve-ments stem back to 2008, when they walked away with an award for the best Casino Interior Design. 2009 saw them scoop the Operator Australasia of the year, 2010 again saw them grab another well deserved award for best Casino Operator Australasia. Not stopping there, 2011 was a particu-larly lucky year for Melco as they took home THREE awards for the best Ca-sino Interior Design, Casino Operator Of The Year Australia/Asia & Casino VIP Room. Melco Crown Entertain-ment are in the shimmering finalists list again, for best Casino/Integrated Resort of the Year and Customer Ex-perience of the Year.

Its been a prominent year for Melco, with Hong Kong securities regulator

approving the listing proposal of Mel-co Crown Entertainment in shares. Speculation and insiders claiming that Asia is set to overtake the USA as the worlds largest gaming market also boosts Melco as potentially tak-ing home another star to add to their collection.

Not far behind is Bally Technologies. Their gloriously gaming accolades also stretches back to 2008. They took two awards home for 2 in 2008 (Slot Manufacturer & Casino Equipment Supplier) 1 in 2009 (Customer Sup-port/Service) 1 in 2010 (iView Display Manager) and 1 in 2011 (Slot Manu-facturer). With a history dating back to 1932, Las Vegas-based Bally Technol-ogies designs, manufactures, oper-ates, and distributes advanced gam-ing devices, systems and technology solutions worldwide. Riding on the success of their awards, Bally Tech-nologies are in the running to possi-bly continue their winning streak. For 2012, the firm is in the finalist list for Slot Manufacturer/Provider Online or Land Based.

Cammegh, Holland Casinos and Ca-sinos Austria International have all won four awards each since 2008 when the IGAs made its spectacu-lar debut. Four is the magic number for Cammegh it seems; taking home four awards from 2008-2011. Can they strike again?

Cammegh made waves in 2012 when it shed light on their innovative, glam and exciting Mercury 360 Aurora Rou-lette Wheel. Cammegh stated that they have developed the most excit-ing and innovative manual roulette wheel for 200 years. We interviewed Cammegh back in October as they told us about its ever-changing co-lours and its co-ordination of being a game-changer. Cammegh is set to catch more than the gamers eyes. Will

they walk away starry eyed?

Its been a spectacular 2011 for all the finalists, overcoming legislative and socially responsible hurdles through-out the year. The IGAs strive towards recognising and awarding the very best of the best from across the land-based and online gaming globe.

No matter how any awards are scooped on the night, whether its one or five, the exquisite IGA award is an accolade to cherish with pride. Previous winners have ranged from Ladbrokes, Novomatic, Harrahs En-tertainment, Betfair, Ventian Macau, Playtech, IGT, The Ritz Casino UK, Red Planet Gaming, Continent8, Aristocrat, Gala Bingo Group to Mecca Bingo. The full glittering league table can be found on www.gaming-awards.com.

And the winner isBy Harvy M.The International Gaming Awards 2012 speculates winners

WITH the completely redeveloped SL, Mercedes-Benz continues a tradition that began 60 years ago. The letters SL have ever since been synonymous with a symbiosis of sportiness, style and comfort and with groundbreaking innovations. The new SL has been produced for the first time almost entirely from aluminum and weighs up to 140 kilograms less than its predecessor. Its highly rigid all-alu-minum body-shell provides the basis for agile, sporty han-dling that has been taken to an entirely new level, coupled with exemplary roll characteristics and ride comfort. Even better driving dynamics come courtesy of the new Blue-DIRECT engines; they are more powerful yet at the same time up to 29 per cent more economical than the engines in the outgoing generation. Other new features include the unique FrontBass system, which turns the luxury sports car into a concert hall regardless of whether the top is open or closed, and the highly efficient adaptive windscreen wipe/wash system MAGIC VISION CONTROL; it supplies water from the wiper blade as required and depending on the direction of wipe.

Compared with its successful predecessor, the new Mer-cedes-Benz SL offers considerably more comfort and

sportiness, setting new standards in the luxury roadster class. Added to which is uncompromising day-to-day suit-ability, which turns the SL into an incomparable all-round-er among sports cars. In short, anyone that talks about the new SL is bound to be talking about the ultimate in pas-sionate, refined motoring.

Dr Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars: There are around 900 million cars in the world and thousands of models. But there are only a handful of automotive icons. Our SL is one of them: it has class, it has style, it is the ul-timate in comfort and luxury. But it combines all that with incredible sportiness and dynamism. You would struggle to find a car that embodies Gottlieb Daimlers aspiration more perfectly than our new SL: the best or nothing.

Stylishly Sporty Mercedez-Benz debut

Lotus Five year plan on track

LOTUS seems to be taking their five-year, five model plan very seriously and the new generation Esprit set to be re-leased at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show will be the model to set that plan in motion.

New details about the future supercar revealed that the Esprit will, in fact, be offered in two versions. A base model will combine a 100 HP electric motor to a normally aspirated V8 engine and a more powerful version will drop the hybrid system and focus on weight-saving measures.

There will be no hybrid system, the engine will have more power, but the major performance gains will come from los-ing weight, said Bahar. The Racing versions of each model will always be pure, drivers cars. There will be never be anything unnecessary on them, and we will use materials such as carbon fiber.Sales for the new Lotus Esprit will begin in Europe in Summer 2013.

EXCLUSIVE with

PokerStarsINFINITY GAMING MAGAZINE exclusively spoke to Paul Telford, General Counsel for Pokerstars about why 2011 was such a challenging year and how 2012 is set to focus on aiming to be first-in-line in every market that offers a license for online poker. Paul also revealed why there is no one size fits all when it comes to gambling addic-tions and how online and land based global gaming operators should work together to gain recognition in a sometimes rocky environment. He also talks to us about how Pokerstars is planning to stay ahead of the game as European mar-kets gradually open their cyber-gates to foreign operators.

Q: Much has happened in 2011 for Poker-Stars, but the company has come out of it very positively. How does the company view the events of 2011 and moving forward into the New Year?

A: 2011 was obviously a very challenging year for the industry, players and PokerStars. Were very proud of the way that our em-ployees and our players handled the events of April 15 and our withdrawal from the US market. At the same time, the actions of oth-ers have cast a shadow on the industry and left a negative perception of online poker among some people. We will work very hard to improve that perception and continue to act in ways that enhance the industry and the perception of poker around the world.

Q: Asia and Pokerstars, what is the potential in that market for the company?

A: Poker is relatively unknown in most Asian countries compared to the rest of the world. Certainly PokerStars recognises the potential for this market with the establish-ment of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour back in 2007 and our first live room, PokerStars Macau, which has numerous regional tour-naments attracting players from across Asia. Q: Are there any plans on the horizon to fur-ther expand the company on an international scale?

A: We are a global leader because we are constantly seeking opportunities to expand the poker market around the world. Thats why we aim to be first-in-line in every mar-ket that offers a license for online poker.

Q: Pokerstars is based in the Isle of Man. Is the companys long-term strategy to stay on the Isle or, like many other companies, move

to more tax-friendly locations?

A: We are committed to the Isle of Man, which is the gold standard for worldwide e-gaming regulation and is committed to a business-friendly environment. For us, the main attraction was the strict and rigorous licensing framework that exists here which is seen by many as the gold standard in the industry. We wanted to be associated with a jurisdiction that took its obligations seri-ously. In addition, the Isle of Man is highly respected internationally for the way that it tackles the issues of terrorist financing, money laundering and tax evasion. The is-land sits within an elite group of countries highlighted by organisations like the OECD and IMF for the way it treats these issues so seriously. When you add to that the good transport links to Europe, a well educated lo-cal workforce and excellent internet connec-tivity, the island really stands out as a place to be based.

Q: The online gaming market is expanding as European markets are gradually opening their cyber-gates to foreign operators, so how is Poker Stars staying ahead of the game in this competitive industry?

A: PokerStars promotes responsible and smart legislation/regulation that benefits players and the industry. We have received a license to operate in every country that offers such license: France, Italy, Belgium, Den-mark and Estonia. We work with regulators throughout Europe in our licensed markets and in markets considering regulation.

We are leading the industry efforts to pro-mote sound business practices, such as our recent work in France establishing a third-party trust to maintain player funds.

Q: How can online gaming firms such as yourselves emphasise responsible gaming? Can you tell us about any responsible gam-ing ethics in which you have implemented and your unique social responsibility proj-ects?

A: In the UK, PokerStars bases its policy on the GamCare model. There are three areas of the model that we focus on. They are:

1) Age verification. All first-time depositors have to go through an age/identity verifica-tion process. We use three different verifica-tion companies and we are very aggressive about this to ensure there are no underage players on PokerStars.

2) Self-exclusion. We have a Responsible Gaming option in the PokerStars client that enables players to self-exclude themselves from playing for a number of time periods. PokerStars goes far beyond the require-ments, adding in 12-hour and 24-hour cool-ing off periods, along with 7-day, 30-day, 60-day, 120-day and 180-day time outs. Many of these options were requested by players, so we take note of player input and demands and act to deliver what they want. We also believe we are the only poker site which has a designated Responsible Gaming Depart-ment that interacts with players 24/7, 365 days a year.

3) Deposit limit options. PokerStars gives players the ability to set their own limits, and once they tell us to place a restriction on their account, we wont change that, even if they then ask us to. We are also able to restrict table and tournament limits, which again has been requested by players and acted upon by us, which goes far beyond the requirements.

We are now working on game-specific re-strictions, like not being able to play a cer-tain type of game (e.g. pot-limit Omaha), or a certain type of tournament (e.g. hyper turbos).

Q: From your corporate perspective, what do you identify as obvious signs of gambling addictions and how do Pokerstars combat these signs in a corporate environment?

A: Unfortunately there is no one size fits all approach to identifying problem gam-bling. In particular, its hard to gauge just from someones play, deposit habits and wins/losses whether they have a gambling problem. For example, a multi-millionaire or high stakes pro may be happy to deposit large amounts, lose or win a large amount and not have an addiction problem.

That said, online operators are in a posi-tion to review detailed records of someones playing habits when a warning flag is raised. So if a customer contacts our support team with messages such as they cant afford to pay their mortgage or they lost their job or something similar, the PokerStars support team alerts the Responsible Gaming team. They will then review a customers habits and contact the individual player to make sure they are okay and provide them with support and counselling guidance if they need it.

In addition, all Support staff must do train-ing in responsible gaming, and annually take a personal perspective test, that they must pass. We also publish a range of different support websites and helpful resources on our website: www.pokerstars.co.uk/help/responsible-gaming.

Finally, we provide a range of self exclu-sion measures which players can activate to curb their real money poker playing. Once a player uses our tools to self exclude nei-ther they or we can undo the decision.

Q: In a bid to break negative stereotypical barriers within the gaming industry, how can land-based and online gaming compa-nies across the world emphasise responsible gaming?A: By working together. Online poker com-panies are naturally very competitive, but this is the one area where we should all sit down and agree to offer as much support and

help as possible and should not be competing with one another. There should be a global self-exclusion list. No matter what country you are from you should be able to exclude yourself from all sites internationally and all the poker sites should be able to see this and exclude you if you have put yourself on the list. We should be working towards this. We need support in every country and counsel-ling services for every player in every coun-try.

PokerStars has several support partners tactus in Netherlands, FEJAR in Spain, ADICTEL in France, GamCare in the UK, Gambling Therapy.org (worldwide) and were working on adding other partners in Denmark, Germany, Australia and Canada. In countries where we dont have a support partner, we will actively seek out a counsel-ling service for players in that country, who speak their language, and can provide them with help.

Q: How did Pokerstars celebrate its 10th prestigious anniversary?A: The 10th Anniversary Celebration saw PokerStars organise nearly two months worth of online tournaments and promo-tions. The following all comprised part of the celebration:

100 vacation/tournament packages to PokerStars Caribbean Adventure worth over $15,000 each were given away in fre-erolls.

A new Guinness World Record was set for Largest Online Tournament when 200,000 people registered for the $1 event on December 4. A special party was held for players and media at EPT Prague, with Team PokerStars Pros and Guinness World Record official in attendance.

A $10 million guaranteed Sunday Million special tournament on December 18 set another new record for largest on-line tournament prize pool, after 62,116 players combined to create a prize pool of $12,423,200.

There were other tournaments and promotions, including VIP store sales, reload bonuses and a special Sunday Storm tourna-ment, which saw 116,400 players buy in to the $11 event.

Another Milestone Hand was reached the 72 billionth which rewarded players to the tune of more than $750,000 in cash bonuses. Q: Does Pokerstars have an app for iPad yet and do you think this form of gambling will become even more popular in time?

A: Mobile platforms are of course increas-ingly popular with consumers and poker players are no exception. We introduced a play-money mobile app in the Italian mar-ket in 2011. Our emphasis will be ensuring that we can deliver a very stable, secure and high-quality experience, just as we do in our online client and live poker events.

Q: Just like mobile gaming has rocketed, do you have any predictions as to what may be the next big thing in the world of gaming?

A: We wouldnt want to divulge any pro-prietary or strategic information. What I can say is that innovation has been the stimulus for growth throughout our history and that will continue. We are also very focused on social innovation in poker. That will be an important area of work for PokerStars and the industry in 2012.

Q: What would you say are the key aspects of running a successful online gaming busi-ness, and how are you meeting customer requirements to maintain Pokerstars high profile?

A: We are passionate about poker and about delivering the highest level of customer ser-vice in the world. Through our online offer-ing, mobile apps and live events we provide the things that players are seeking most a safe and secure poker environment.

$920,000 Ivey Received $920,000 Per Month From Full Tilt Poker!

PHIL Ivey made more than $920,000 from Full Tilt Poker, it has been reported. Since his bitter divorce battle ended up in courts, its become public knowledge that Ivey appar-ently used to receive $35 per hour and 100% rakeback of earnings. FTP have always remained tight-lipped about these figures, until now.

Just before the Christmas break, it was widely reported that Ivey was saddled with $170,000 worth of credit card debt, $15,100,000 in gambling and other debt whilst his former wife whisked off with 40% of Iveys business interests, $1,000,000 in jewellery, a purse collection worth $1,200,000 and $180,000 a month in ali-mony.

Its no surprise that Ivey could afford to pay out $200,000 every month to his wife as taxable alimony from Phil Ivey between Jan-uary 2010 to April 2011 while Phil enjoyed the remaining approxi-mately $740,000, especially as he raked in around $11,040,000 annually. These payments stopped in April 2011 after Black Fri-day. So guess it was a black Friday for her too with her empty purse. Poker insiders have expressed their shock at the latest figures. Whilst Ivey received his staggering $11,040,000 per year for his passive interest in FTP, the financial deep hole in the company grew larger. Badly run?

Adelson rolls the diceBut named biggest loserBILLIONAIRE gambling mo-gul Sheldon Adelson has re-newed the registration of his faithful Beacon Hill lobbyist; which could indicate the Las Vegas mogul gearing up to roll the dice on his own turf. The renewal could increase their chances of getting one of Mas-sachusetts casino licences.The news was first published in the Boston Herald and also stated that he has secured the services of lobbyist Roger Donoghues firm, Donoghue Barrett & Singal. Records show that Adelsons Las Vegas Sands Corp. paid the firm $90,000 last year, $180,000 in 2010 and $112,000 in 2009 when gambling legislation was being crafted on Beacon Hill.In other billionaire related news, according to Forbes magazines Biggest Winners & Losers for 2011 segment, Sheldon took a big hit. His net worth fell nearly 10%, from $22.7 billion to $20.5 billion, according to Forbes. Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., was the second-biggest loser after Warren Buffett in Forbes top five. Adelsons After a stunning comeback in 2010, his chips are down as shares of Las Vegas Sands fell 11%, Forbes said.

Bursting at the seams 30% gaming revenue boost prediction

A 30% growth in gaming revenue within local Macau-based ca-sinos has been predicted for the first half of 2012. Union Gaming Research Macau forecast the sunny prediction in the New Year after news that Macaus gaming revenue rose 25% in December from a year earlier.

We continue to believe the VIP segment should remain strong through at least the early part of 2012, as our channel checks suggest VIP demand is growing, not shrinking (despite macro China fears) with junkets asking for additional tables at many/most properties, it said.

Galaxy Macau and Sands Cotai Central are predicted to be two of the main driving forces behind the ballooning profits.The eq-uity and research firm is also expecting a new gross gaming rev-enue record to be set by local casinos this month, as Chinese New Year festival kicks off on January 23. Insiders have said that this is almost inevitable.

We are expecting growth upwards of 50 percent in January based of gross gaming revenue in excess of MOP27 billion (US$3.4billion), Union Gaming said.

For the whole of 2012, the company is still forecasting 20 percent gross gaming revenue growth for Macau, to MOP321 billion.

According to S&P credit analyst Joe Poon, the analyst firms base-case forecast for the Macau gaming market is growth in gross gaming revenue of 10 per cent-15 per cent in 2012. 2012 could be the year where the amount collected solely in gaming taxes in Macau could be expected to be greater than Las Vegas combined gaming revenues.

First ever Fiji casinoFirst ever gaming license granted

A $290 MILLION 5 star luxury casino re-sort on Denarau Island is making its debut soon as the Fijian Government has grant-ed the nations first-ever exclusive gaming license to One Hundred Sands, Limited.

It is important with all new investment projects - both internal and international - that we protect the rights and interests of Fijians, and provide for the prosperity of our nation, stated Fijis Prime Minister Bainimarama at todays announcement ceremony.

The Prime Minister added, [This project] provides a malleable fusion between the Western ideals of casino gaming with the strong cultural virtues of tribal and com-munity life. This fusion is what we seek...considering our own national pride in, and respect for the value of the unique, yet united cultures present among all Fijians.

This undertaking is a union of both eco-nomic and cultural endeavors, shared Larry Claunch, Chairman of the Board of One Hundred Sands, Limited

Consistent with the Bainimarama Gov-ernments efforts to bring dynamic invest-ment to its quickly modernising nation, this exclusive gaming license will further invigorate the Fijian economy; produce upwards of 800 jobs for local residents; add another segment to successful tour-ism industry; and increase Fijis capacity to welcome guests to visit the country. The groundbreaking for the gaming facilities, new convention centre, and luxury hotel is tentatively set for March of next year.

Galaxy game changer20% market share

GALAXY Entertainment Group (GEG) has reported a soaring 20% market share re-cently; GEGs reported daily gross gaming revenue has gone from 55 million patacas (US$6.8 million) in April to 154 million pa-tacas in November.

Galaxy Macau surprised a lot of people, HSBC senior regional gaming and con-sumer analyst Sean Monaghan said to the atimes.com. Before this property opened, Galaxy as a company wasnt really taken seriously as a casino company compared to Wynn, Las Vegas Sands or MGM. But this project was a game changer for the company on many levels.

Galaxy is also a cool company, HSBCs Monaghan notes. Other casinos put Lam-borghinis on their floors but only Galaxy would put a Ferrari 458 and a Bugatti Vey-ron on its floor. It just goes the extra yard - at more than 400 kph for the Veyron.

For a change, the Macau family in the spotlight wasnt Stanley Ho Hung-sun and his former monopoly Sociedade de Jogos de Macau. Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) is controlled by the family of construction and property tycoon Lui Che-woo. The atimes.com said: Galaxy Macaus world class, Asian heart also applies to the groups business model. Its not a model that worked in Las Vegas thats trying to find roots in Macau, but a fresh approach from a company with no previous experience in casinos. Its a mod-el built on the fundamental global busi-ness principle of providing what the mar-ket wants and wasnt getting.

Genting gambles on family If its just about making money, I dont think we will kill ourselves to do it.

GENTING recently revealed that its Miami waterfront casino will NOT be the largest in the world. At a public forum recently, Genting dismissed past reports it wanted to build the largest casino in the world, revealing it only planned a gambling floor that would be one of the largest in the United States but would still be smaller than the massive casino resorts in Asia.

Lim Kok Thay, Gentings chairman and chief executive, is confident that their pro-jected revenue will still topple records, despite is reaching out to families too. He states that the word family is a better as-sociation than just a gambling den. It al-ready runs a $4.7 billion casino in Sentosa, and is flush with funds to spend in cash-strapped U.S. states that are looking for a way to bring down unemployment rates and close budget gaps.

If its just about making money, I dont think we will kill ourselves to do it, he says. The groups properties in Malaysia, Singa-pore and New York are centered around theme parks and holiday resorts, with the casino just another attraction.

Mr. Lim says even his organization is built like a family. He claims attrition rates are relatively low, partly due to worker-friendly conditions and competitive wages.

In an interview with the WSJ, Mr Lim said: Of course, it will be successful. You are not talking about Las Vegas where there are 30 other casinos. You are talking about Miami, a very cosmopolitan place. If you want to go to South America, [Miamis] the place to change a plane. You have Euro-peans coming to Miami for business and vacation. Its a hub. Whats missing is the Asian link. If you can add the Asian link to Miami, I think its the most exciting place to be.

Elephant in the room!Tremendous growth in online gaming, especially in poker.By Harvy Matharu

ONLINE gaming is set to grow from $34.4 billion to $79.3 billion in 2015; thats the latest revelation from PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Gaming Outlook report. The boom in gam-ing has of course led to the status of online gam-bling and whether it can or already has contributed to this staggering growth.

There is a strong argument that, since consumers will engage in illegal online gaming anyway, it is better to license and tax it than to allow the revenues to go to unlicensed operators says gaming analyst Jonathan Galaviz. Im sure a lot of poker players will agree with this statement. He added that there is tremendous growth in online gaming, especially in poker.

The report also dubbed online gambling as an elephant in the room. It stated: Online gaming is happening across the world, whether regional, national, and state regulators and lawmakers like it or not.

It particularly drew attention to the Asia Pacific region as the fast-est growing region in the world when it comes to online gaming. Casino Consultant and senior partner at Platform Asia Manage-ment Services, Mr. Felix Ling said that legalising online gambling will likely cause a significant social impact. He added that Once you allow online gambling, you are indirectly encouraging more people to flock there. After noting that regardless of the legality of online gaming in a country people continue to play in ever increasing numbers. An example of this is the fact that online gaming in Singapore, which is outlawed surged by 49.7% in 2010. According to Galaviz Its probably an appropriate time for governments to, at the mini-mum, seriously research the issue and get up to speed on the topic for thoughtful policy discussions.

Social networking will play a bigger role in expanding online gambling with the growth of mobile phones getting smarter: Go-ing forward, social networking will be an important driver of activ-ity and growth in online gaming worldwide. An early sign of this potential was the explosion in gaming on the Second Life social networking and virtual reality site, which for a while played host to hundreds of virtual casinos, lottery games, and other forms of gambling, using in-game currency that could be exchanged for real money.

The report concluded that online gambling will be going east and going digital.

By way of comparison, our projections in this study show that Asia Pacific will account for 43.4 percent of global spending on casino gaming in 2015.

Belgium leads the wayBelgium approves three sitesBELGIUM has approved three online poker sites allowing play-ers to wager real money. In light of this, the Belgium Gaming Commission stated that it will still block unauthorized domains who challenge the legislation. The three companies receiving the licenses were PokerStars, Partouche and Casino777, each of which will be able to open rooms and websites featuring the .be domain name.

PokerStars entered the Belgium market through online gambling operator Circus Groupe. Attracting the worlds largest poker site was made possible by the remarkable work of the Belgian Gam-ing Commission and the Wallonia Ministry of Finance, said Cir-cus Groupe CEO Emmanuel Mewissen.

Belgian has had its eye on Frances policies towards online gambling by instituting regulations that would allow for the gov-ernment to issue licenses to online gambling operators. These licenses would allow operators to design sites catered specifi-cally and exclusively for the Belgium market. Like similar sites in France and Italy, these poker rooms do not share players with international versions or versions from other countries.

The problem here is that do Belgium have enough poker players to justify online poker sites in the country?

Ladbrokes bets on Betdaq?LADBROKES is reportedly in talks with Irish billionaire Dermot Desmond, owner of Betdaq. The latest rumoured move is said to focus on revamping its online busi-ness, as the online gaming sector looks set to (hopefully) boom within 2012. Chief executive Richard Glynn is hoping to up the ante on its internet sector by allegedly seeking to buy in pricing and trading skills of a peer-to-peer betting exchange long seen as a main rival to traditional bookmakers.

Despite the reports circulating within the gaming bubble, Lad-brokes seem to deny the talks apparently taking place. As re-ported in The Telegraph a Ladbrokes spokesman denied the bookie might also be interested in buying Betdaq, which is val-ued at more than 100m. Its only a discussion about technology supply, he said. Exchanges have good up-to-the-minute pricing technology. He said any deal would come from 50m already set aside for investment in online gambling.

Desmond, a Ladbrokes shareholder, set up Betdaq in 2000 but has struggled to make it competitive in the face of industry leader Betfair. He has already approached and then stepped away from 888 and Sportingbet whilst having reportedly pulled out of the auction for Australias Centrebet and had a flirtation with Play-tech.

Kill BillCasinos await their fate

CASINOS in Florida are awaiting their fate, as Bill Bunkley has boldly stated that during his new legislative session, killing a bill allowing mega casinos in Florida will be his number one priority. He stated his aim to the Florida Baptist Witness, surveying legislation to be considered during the 60-day session that began Jan. 10.

He said he would be tracking arounf 500 bills but would be stamp-ing on the mega casino bill first. Beginning his 17th year represent-ing Florida Baptists before state government, Bunkley said while he will continue to monitor closely dozens of bills impacting fami-lies and moral concerns, legislation proposing so-called destina-tion resorts casinos will be his top concern, calling it a massive gambling expansion. The session, which began two months ear-lier than normal in order for the Legislature to handle its decennial redistricting responsibilities, will be dominated by fiscal concerns as legislators face the need to further trim state funding. Bunkley anticipates reviewing some 2,000 bills, with 500 being tagged for closer monitoring and possible action.

Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, has introduced the House version of the bill, HB 487. The bill has not been scheduled for consideration by any House committee to date. Defeating the destination casino expansion will be one of the greatest challenges I have ever faced here at the Capitol, Bunkley said. Tallahassee is awash with casino money used to buy pro-gam-bling influence at every conceivable level, he added, citing a re-port in the Witness that gambling interests had already spent $2.5 million on lobbying. Decades of building Floridas exclusive branding of being the fam-ily vacation destination of the world could be wiped out in just a few short years if these mega casinos invade our shores, he said. The rewrite did not change the heart of the bill: A new state gaming commission would be able to approve plans for up to three resort casinos that would be part of mixed-use developmentswith the resort owners required to sink at least $2 billion into each project. The proposal would have to be approved in the local county ref-erendum. If resort casinos start to operate, the rewrite also would reduce from 35 percent to 18 percent a tax on slot-machine rev-enues at pari-mutuel facilities. Casinos or pari-mutuels that offer the broader array of games, such as black jack and craps, would be taxed at a 10 percent rate.

Bunkley said he would be closely monitoring any legislation that would in any way diminish our precious religious liberties for both individuals and the church. I join many who believe that it is only a matter of time when the quiet and peaceful environment we now enjoy in our Christian ac-tivities will one day give way to those who would wish to place leg-islative obstacles designed to render our churches less effective in the sharing the Gospel and curtail individual witnessing, disciple-ship and maybe even assembly, as in the form home Bible study regulation, he said.

Lucky 888Ahead of current market expectations.888 is reportedly set to be the biggest beneficiary from the US online gambling status, according to broker Panmure Gordon. The news sent shares in 888, Bwin.party Digital En-tertainment and Playtech up sharply recently after the fes-tive break. Panmure Gordon also upped its target price for 888 from 60p to 63p. 888 Holdings has a particularly strong tie with Caesars Entertainment; the broker claimed that the DoJ de-cision is relevant given that Nevada passed online poker regula-tion last week. Licenses are set to be issued in Spring 2012.

Bwin.party also has agreements with two Las Vegas operators, Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts. The DoJs change of stance followed requests from two US states, Illinois and New York, on whether they could use the internet to sell lottery tickets in their states.As one of the worlds leading gaming providers, 888 announced that trading remains very strong especially in casino and pok-er and added that its year-end results for 2011 are significantly ahead of market expectations, the statement said.

The outlook of 888 for the coming year is also looking good as the gaming provider expects 2012 to be a year of major opportu-nity for 888, with the opening of several newly-regulated markets across Europe. The company anticipates investing in the new markets and to build market share. The statement further noted that, similar to gains in 2011, the company expects results for the year ending 31st December 2012 to be slightly ahead of current market expectations.

Spain delay1st June extension

A DELAY in Spains new online regulatory system has disgrun-tled players with news that July 1 is the new date for regulatory restrictions to be lifted. The an-nouncement has seen the ex-tension of a 6 month period to online poker providers operat-ing in the country.

On Dec. 30, Spains Official State Gazette (BOE) announced that the new scheme would be delayed six months or until regulators issue their first license, whichever comes first.

It was reported that around fifty applications were made from Eu-ropean gambling companies; when an announcement failed to see the light, speculation was triggered about the potential hold-ups and delays.

Six more months of restrictions for poker players in Spain, what a great way to kick start 2012.

Seductive gamblingPROBLEM gambling has been yet again, highlighted by Mar-vin Steinberg as Connecticut raises its stakes for Internet gambling. Steinberg is well re-nowned for pushing forward the dangers of problem gam-bling to state policymakers. He has recently announced that he is resigning as execu-tive director of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling later this month. This has come at a time when state and national officials are going all-in with online poker and other digital games of chance.

Theres always a new twist, a new way to gamble, says Stein-berg, who recently turned 75. Its very seductive. When people are able to do this from their home, youre going to have an issue with problem gamblers and with people turning to this who dont normally gamble.

Steinberg, a Guilford resident, co-founded the council in 1980. It was the first state council in the country to affiliate with the National Council on Problem Gambling. Over the years he has tirelessly testified before the state General Assembly and forged collaborations with both Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resorts Casino to develop responsible gambling programs.

He also pushed for Connecticut to create a gambling treatment program of its own and set up one of the first problem gambling help lines in the country.

I would always reach out to Marvin to find out the possible nega-tive side to any expansion of gambling, says state Rep. Stephen D. Dargan, D-West Haven, co-chairman of the legislative com-mittee that oversees gambling. Marvin has educated me about the importance of being on the front lines of helping people get treatment. Mary Drexler, who will replace Steinberg as head of the council, says his secret is that he does not give up. People from all over the country look to him as an expert in this field.

Steinberg grew up in Manhattans Lower East Side, where book-ies and gambling were a routine part of street culture.

He took part in it as a kid, playing blackjack or poker to scare up spending money. I quit gambling totally when I was 18, he remembers.

Steinberg was working as a waiter in a Catskills resort that sum-mer, and got into a poker game with two other waiters. He began winning. As evening turned to night, and eventually morning, his opponents grew increasingly frustrated and wouldnt allow him to leave the game.

I took all their money and I never gambled again, he says.

Party in DenmarkOnline poker and casino games launched todayONLINE poker and casino games were launched in Danish Dan-ske Licens Spil (DLS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of former mo-nopoly Danske Spil A/S by Bwin.party.digital entertainment.

Commenting on the announcement, Jim Ryan & Norbert Teufel-berger, co-chief executive officers of Bwin.party said:

Building on our recent announcement regarding deals with both MGM & Boyd in the US market, this is another important milestone in the execution of our stated strategy that is focused on securing leadership positions in regulated & to-be-regulated markets. We are delighted that DLS has recognised our expertise & high standards of business practice & we look forward to build-ing a market-leading customer offer for the Danish consumer.

Jens Aalose, CEO at DLS, said: With some of the worlds leading products in online poker & casino as well as a large internation-al customer base, Bwin.party was the obvious choice for DLS. Combining this with Danske Spils unique & strong position in the Danish market I am confident that we will deliver a highly attrac-tive customer experience to players in Denmark.

The Dankse Spil Group is one of the largest betting & gaming or-ganisations in Europe. It boasted a turnover of DKK10.3 billion in 2010. Its owned by the Danish Government (80 percent), Sports Confederation of Denmark (10 percent) & Danish Gymnastics & Sports Associations (10 percent).

Offering a variety of gaming products in Denmark including the national lottery, numbers games, instant games as well as gam-bling on machines, Danske Spil has also established a large online gaming business & already has over 600,000 registered online customers.

Secondary license update Money will always find a way out.

AS MOMENTUM is building in the UK for a secondary licensing regime and taxes, William Hill has kick started 2012 with drawing attention to the independent survey it commissioned a while back. The Deloitte conducted survey found that the British governments proposals for a point consumption on tax could backfire. Punters may be led to unregulated sites with smaller operators being forced out.

Deloitte concluded that levying such a tax at 10 percent would seriously hurt the governments consumer protection policy objectives. It additionally found that as much as 27% of current revenues would disap-pear into the grey, or unregulated, market. And at 15 percent tax, that figure rises to 40 percent.

The survey found that the most marginal operators, accounting for up to 13 percent of UK online bets, could be expected to exit fol-lowing the introduction of a 5 percent tax.

In an update to the latest move, William Hill has submitted the report to the Treasury, which is reviewing a possible new tax regime for remote gambling.

Ralph Topping, chief executive at William Hill, told the Telegraph: Money will always find a way out. More people will go overseas or to fly-by-night, unregulated sites where the consumer is not protected. I hope the Government sees sense on this.

A Treasury spokesman said: Responses to the review are in and are being analysed.

The Telegraph newspaper, reporting on the Deloitte study, says that UK consumers currently spend about GBP 1.7 billion a year roughly 18 percent of total UK gambling revenues with online gambling companies. At present many companies including Wil-liam Hill plc escape the 15 percent gross profits tax levied in the UK by locating their internet operations in tax havens like Gibraltar, Malta, Alderney and the Isle of Man.

Bum scanCAR anti-theft measures have been taken to a whole new level by researchers at Japans Advanced Institute of Industrial Technol-ogy. They have developed a car seat that scans a drivers back-side to verify their identity. Forget the car alarm, its hoped that the latest zany development will be introduced into our precious cars by 2014.

While it might sound rather embarrassing, researchers insist the method is less intrusive and more convenient than current finger-print and iris scan technology. And drivers dont have to drop their pants for it to work.

The system embeds 360 incredibly precise sensors within the drivers seat, the foundation of a system that is 98 percent accu-rate, according to researchers.

File-sharing religionTHANK GOD FOR CTRL+C and CTRL+V

A FILE-SHARING religion re-cently won official recognition in Sweden. Its not really all that weird considering 15,000 Czechs now claim that Jedi is a religion in the most recent census. So maybe this is where the religious sphere is heading? Will we be seeing more man-made (and tech inspired) religious movements in generations to come?

It appropriately uses Control-C and Control-V (keyboard short-cuts for copy and paste) as sacred symbolsThe Church stated:

The missionary kopimistsamfundet is a religious group centered

in Sweden who believe that copying and the sharing of informa-tion is the best and most beautiful that is, says the information on its web site, which is presently unavailable due to overwhelming traffic load.

Throughout history, various groups around the world have been persecuted by oppressors. It has since taken refuge in religion and wanted a peaceful coexistence. Without threats and harass-ment.In our belief, communication is sacred. Communication needs to be respected. It is a direct sin to monitor and eavesdrop on people. The absolute secrecy is holy in the church of kopi-mism. At the heart of the fresh religion is a 19-year-old philosophy stu-dent Isak Gerson, who founded the church back in 2012. Perhaps Thou shall not steal wouldnt make its version of the Ten Com-mandments? It has already attracted around 3,000and the num-bers are expected to riseas more people share the information about this new religion.

Google goggleGOOGLE is apparently working on a pair of specs which could display information on our surroundings. They have been likened to the Terminator style glasses and would tap into the -tech specs purportedly would tap into Googles cloud-based location services. The information would then be displayed in a 3D aug-mented reality computer display.

They are allegedly in the prototype stage, according to the news site 9to5Google. The actual display technology is unknown, but 9to5Google speculates that it may use a transparent LCD or AMO-LED screen. The site claims: They are in late prototype stages of wearable glasses that look similar to thick-rimmed glasses that normal people wear. However, these provide a display with a heads up computer interface. There are a few buttons on the arms of the glasses, but otherwise, they could be mistaken for normal glasses. Additionally, we are not sure of the technology being employed here, but it is likely a transparent LCD or AMO-LED display.

Sleeping in a lower-case fNetwork in comfortBEDROOM furniture has been taken to a whole new (nerdy) level with the unique FBed; a bed in the shape of the mega popular social network Face-book. The product of designer Tomislav Zvonari wanted to fuse together the comfort of the bedroom with the ever-increasing need to network, network and network. FBed combines a bed and desk.

According to Zvonari, FBed is a conceptual multi-practical bed design that would allow you always to be up to date and close to your online friends even when you sleep. The idea is that you may hop in front of your screen directly from your bed when you wake up and inverse when you get tired and want to go sleep.

Obama joins Instagram networkInstant popularity amongst young voters?

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has joined the Instagram so-cial network and posted his very first jazzed up photo. The photo sharing social network already boasts over 15 million users and seen more than 400 million photos uploaded. Im-pressive stats, considering it is yet to hit Android.

He is already networking through Twitter, Facebook and Flickr and has since

gained the cyber reputation of being media savvy. The president relied heavily on young voters in his first election effort and his campaign is no doubt trying to energize them once again with his ever-expanding social media presence. This was reflected in his connection and utilization of social networking site National Field.

Writes Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom in a blog post:Weve seen political coverage on Instagram increase as the 2012 US Presidential Election nears. News organizations such as NBC News, ABC World News and the Washington Post have been sharing behind-the-scenes photos at debates and town hall meetings across the country, offering us a unique look into the 2012 elections. As we get closer to election day in 2012, we look forward to seeing how campaigns, reporters and voters use Instagram to tell the story of the 2012 Presidential Election through photos.

He has joined Instagram as @BarackObama.

Overused buzzwordsLooking for new job in 2012? LINKEDIN, the online business card portal, released its official list for the 2011s most overused professional buzzwords. Coming in at number one is CREATIVE. LinkedIns connection director put it in a release: Use language that illustrates your unique profes-sional accomplishments and experiences. Give concrete exam-ples of results youve achieved whenever possible and reference attributes that are specific to you.

LinkedIns 10 most overused buzzwords for U.S. profiles:1. Creative2. Organizational3. Effective4. Extensive experience5. Track record6. Motivated7. Innovative8. Problem solving9. Communication skills10. Dynamic

Dynamic is at number 10. According to the Oxford English Dic-tionary, its primary meaning is of or pertaining to force produc-ing motion: often opposed to static. So by using this word, you have literally told your potential employer that you are adept at not being stationary. You are the type of person who does things and moves from place to place.

2012 Tech predictionsYouGov releases tech 2012 predictionsSMARTPHONES set to entice more of us gadget lovers in 2012. Research by YouGov states that 40% of people who currently own a smartphone is set to increase to 68% within the next up-grade cycle.

Smart watches will also be the must have gadget of 2012, ac-cording to the research and predictions. Tablets and digital read-ing devices will also do well in 2012, YouGov says. More than 24% say they use the web on a tablet while in bed, the poll claims, and that trend looks set to continue.

The decline of print media sales will only accelerate during 2012, said Russell Feldman, associate director of technology at YouGov. Tablets and apps will increase the digital cannibalisa-tion of paper copies as they erode more of those previously inac-cessible locations to digital devices.

Super rich gadgetKICKSTART 2012 off in style with a Gigantis smartphone-con-trolled safe. The super luxurious gadget features automatic watch winding, a cigar humidor, TV, stereo and bar. It costs a glossy $240,000 (150,000) and is available in wood, leather or carbon. Designed for the super-rich it is sure to secure and ex-pose beloved timepieces. The 60 illuminated individual watch-winding compartments and a large touch screen controls the speed of the timepieces.

The company Kudoe Schli and Matz have been inspired by stal-wart safe company Dottling who previously collaborated with Karl Lagerfeld to produce the Narcissus safe, a contraption de-scribed as breaking technological and aesthetic limits

Touchless smartphones and TVsGESTURES could be the way we control our smart gadgets in 2012; thats according to the Israeli firm XTR3D. The firm hopes to put an end to putting your greasy fingertips on sleek devices by allowing software to read hand movements.

The firm, based in Tel Aviv, has scooped $8m (5m) in investment - including cash from US electronics giant Texas Instruments - to further develop this touch-less technology. The first motion con-trolled smartphone is set to be released early 2012. It does sound similar to Microsofts Kinect but those intrigued by the futuristic concept have been assured that this will be the future of smart-phones. Reported in tech2.in.com, Tel Aviv, Roy Ramati, a XTR3D spokesperson said that XTR3Ds technology takes advantage of a 3D camera without any of the disadvantages, works in broad daylight, is cheaper and consumes less power. Moreover, it can be installed on any consumer electronics device and is said to be affordable for everyone. The newer devices will come embedded with the interface, while the older ones can download it from the app store.

Thats not to say Microsoft will be left behind. Its been reported

that Microsoft has big plans for expanding its Kinect technology beyond gaming, including partnerships with around 200 busi-nesses, including car maker Toyota and digital advertising firm Razorfish.

The Kinect can sense your entire body for interaction with the de-vice, and were only scratching the surface of what can be done because beyond computing theres a lot of scenarios where this kind of natural user interaction could be really powerful, a real paradigm shift, says Shahram Izadi, a researcher from the Mi-crosoft Research Centre in Cambridge, England.

Watch out for this in 2012Anyone got the time? THE WORLDS very first smartphone watch could be wrapping it-self around our wrists in 2012. The touchscreen im Watch boasts similar features to a smartphone and is being dubbed as the next big gadget in the world of tech-savvy devices. Weighing in at just 70g and costing around 249/$325, the device is capable of receiving phonecalls, text messages and checking Twitter and Facebook feeds on the 1.5 touchscreen. If youre an app-addict, Italian creator Blue Sky has additionally developed an Apple-style marketplace for consumers to download music and apps to the watchs 4GB hard drive. The smart device runs on the Android operating system and incorporates Bluetooth to connect to us-ers smartphones and tap into their messages and phone calls. Its battery life can last around two days between charges too.