Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem announced plans today for test runs for its slot machines, as well as information on the 15 local charities that will cash in from the proceeds.

The first test session will be from 2-8 p.m. May 18, and the second will be from noon to 8 p.m. May 20, according to Sands officials.

The test days are required by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to make sure the slot machines and systems are working properly for the May 22 public opening. All proceeds from the test days — once the state takes its 55 percent cut — must be donated to charity.

“The slot test days are a win-win scenario for all involved. We get to make sure that everything is running smoothly, the invited guests get a sneak-peek at our new casino and many local charities receive some sorely needed funds,” Robert J. DeSalvio, president of Sands Bethlehem, said in a written statement. “We are excited that the Sands has this chance to give to the community. The 15 local charities we have chosen serve a large cross section of needs throughout the area.”
Gambling during the test session is by invitation only by one of the charities that will benefit.

The charities that will share the proceeds are.

– Bethlehem Area Public Library - Room to Grow Capital Campaign

– Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley

– Trinity Episcopal Church Soup Kitchen

– ArtsQuest

– National Museum of Industrial History

– PBS 39 - WLVT

– South Bethlehem Neighborhood Center

– Illicks Mill Partnership

– Hispanic American Organization

– VIA Foundation

– ProJeCt Easton

– Northampton Community College Foundation

– Historic Bethlehem Partnership

– Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council

– Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley

– Reporting by Matt Assad, The Morning Call

In a recent article here at OCS, we brought light to the fact that after several top-shelf online casino software developers closed their doors to the U.S. market; i.e., Cryptologic, Playtech and the more recent closing of Microgaming, all of the U.S. traffic has begun to funnel to the only other reputable, offshore regulated software suppliers who are permitting their online casino licensees to continue taking bets from U.S. citizens.

In our last article, we discussed the ever-expanding family of Real Time Gaming powered online casinos. The other software developer taking in the lion’s share of U.S. traffic and steadily building up a prodigious progressive jackpot network is the popular Vegas Technology software platform (formerly known as Odds On back in the early days of online gambling).

Most recently, Vegas Technology was responsible for divvying out one of the larger jackpot wins to a single player. Worth over $225,000, this particular jackpot was hit at a very auspicious time - none other than Easter Sunday. There will certainly be some people who question the act of gambling on Easter Sunday, but for the lucky U.S. player who nabbed the jackpot, spinning the reels on Easter was the best decision they could have made.

It was Vegas Technology’s Mega Money Mine online slot that broke this weekend. The ever-so-fortunate player, Jackie, who goes by the screen name of DallasWorks, said she is still amazed, especially considering the size of her winnings. It’s more common to see $50,000 or $75,000 jackpots being won. A $225,000 jackpot is much less frequent - and to be on the receiving end makes it even more hard-to-believe.

Since the jackpot was hit on Vegas Technology’s wide area progressive jackpot network - meaning that several online casino contribute to the same jackpot - it isn’t known which licensee was home to the jackpot.

On March 26th, 2009, the Finance Ministry of the Czech Republic has decided to permit regulated online wagering in the country. The decision was great with great support from local wagering firms, but has led to a big decline in business at their wagering shops. The Finance Ministry’s decision gives Czech gaming companies more leverage in the competition with international online wagering organizations, which have long had uncontrolled access to the Czech gaming market.

Tipsport, which manages 1,020 shops in the Czech Republic, is feeling the effects after only three months. Company spokesperson Lubomir Jezek said that online casino gaming accounts for about thirty percent of Tipsport’s business and expects an even bigger interest in online gaming in the near future. The online gaming growth has led the organization to decide to shut down some of its outlets.

Jezek said that we see the World Wide Web as a new business opportunity rather than something to edge out land-based shops. Fortuna, which has as many as 650 land-based shops in the Czech Republic, stated that online based betting had improved considerably since the new law, accounting for twenty five percent of total business and causing a 5% drop in business in their betting outlets. Like Tipsport, Fortuna expects that online gaming will improve, resulting in the shutdown of some of Fortuna’s less profitable shops.

Fortuna spokesman Tomas Bahnik said that they will fully optimize their branch office system in the near future. He added that they will scale down the number of their shops to function effectively. Jezek said that Czechs enjoy wagering on sports outcomes, mostly in the game of soccer, which accounts for sixty percent of Tipsport’s business. Jezek said that business in their branches may be down but there is no sign that the gaming industry is losing its popularity with gamers. He added that they hope to improve both their online and land-based gaming interests.