Microgaming confirms its Mega Moolah progressive slot has been hit at a mountainous €5,375,695.08!

The life-changing jackpot was won on 9th April 2015 by Royal Vegas player, Mark A, spinning on his mobile phone. The player will take home a total of €5,375,695.08, receiving a single cash payout in full rather than an annuity, so Mark A has become an instant millionaire.

John Quinn, Head of Casino at Microgaming, comments: "We’ve been watching the progressive ticker grow substantially over the last few weeks; anticipation was building as to when it was going to strike! Once again the jackpot was hit via a mobile device; it really is a sign of today’s industry and how prevalent mobile is! Congratulations to Mark A on becoming one of the biggest jackpot winners in Microgaming’s history."

Spokesperson for Royal Vegas, adds: "Mark A had only been a player with us for 7 days; I don’t think you could ask for a better start to playing at Royal Vegas! One of our senior VIP executive hosts had the pleasure of phoning Mark to confirm the win and to congratulate him; to say he was elated is an understatement. Everyone here at Royal Vegas would like to congratulate Mark on this mammoth and historic win."

Microgaming’s progressive jackpot network is the largest in the industry; to date it has paid out over €487 million.

Ben Affleck is not only famous for being a brilliant actor, and superbly playing and online poker site owner in the recent film Runner, Runner, he has also always been a bit of a card sharp. In 2004 Affleck was credited with winning California State Poker Championship, and he, and cousin – Matt Damon – host a celebrity poker challenge to raise money for an African Charity. But poker is not the only game that this actor is accredited at being a really good player.

Last week he was allegedly banned from the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, for simply being too good. At the time he was playing blackjack – where else – but at a high rollers table, when security believes they caught him counting the cards. Counting cards while not technically illegal, is frowned up as bad etiquette in all land based casinos. This is the act of knowing the cards so well that the counter is able to predict what the probability of the next hand will be. It is quite a feat in itself, in terms of the intelligence factor required.

Apparently he was told by security that he is “too good at the game,” but this is not new news to Las Vegas casinos. He is a regular high roller at many casinos, and makes many visits to these venues, often winning money in the millions. In fact in two separate visits to the Hard Rock, he walked away after winning nearly $1 million whilst also playing blackjack.

The New York Post recently reported that Affleck had won $140,000.00 in a single session, and that he was playing with Matt Damon at the time. It is also reported that he also used his winning to tip casino staff. In fact the totality of his Hard Rock winnings was given away in tips to waitresses, doormen and dealers, some of these tips were as much as $5000.00. We’ll bet that kind of action did not stand very well with management. A short time later it was reported that he won $800,000 while playing blackjack again. In fact during three simultaneous hands!

Hisprodigious poker playing proclivity is well-known, and as well as plying with Matt Damon, he hostson the felt at a Beverly Hills cigar bar, playing with Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio. Both of whom appear to have a penchant for the game.

Virtually every industry operating today has an online presence. If they did not, they would not be able to tap into the online shopping phenomenon. Online shopping is a trending phenomenon that has experienced exponential growth. Of every online business known to man, one of the industry’s that has been the most successful, has been the online gambling space.

We are able to gamble on anything online. Take a punt on a favourite team or horse, or even on virtual horses; play bingo, slots, casino table games, poker, buy lottery tickets. The lot! The online casino business has made the gamblers world so simple it is not even funny – the world quite literally has become their oyster.

People in all walks of like, from every race and culture imaginable, have throughout history, loved to take a gamble. It is inherent in human nature, and one of the ways adults play. Essentially gambling is done for fun, and although some people do get addicted, it pays to note that people are the problem, not online casinos, nor the games that are on offer. A mature, stable person knows when to stop, and understands the concept that winners know when to stop.

Gambling is fun. It is a form of entertainment that taps into both our winning, as well as gaming fantasies. Games – especially slots have been themed on just about every pop-culture archetype, and therefore offer something for everyone. There are Avenger, Thor, Hulk, Batman, and Lord of the Rings slots. We have yet to see Twighlight slots, but don’t believe that this theme is off the drawing board. Tons of vampire themed slots are on offer daily at hundreds of casinos.

Whatever theme titillates the player can be found online, with major software developers paying in the millions for licence agreements with movie studios. Universal for example, has recently agreed to a licensing deal for the Jurassic Park Trilogy. Microgaming managed to land that. They cash in on the most exciting ideas, so, that we can cash in on them too. Star Wars has made its appearance in the form of a slot form, and we have already mentioned Lord of The Rings, you don’t have to take my word for it. Simply get to your nearest online casino, and see for yourself.

Do, do yourself a favour however and make sure your chosen casino is powered by Microgaming, Playtech, or the wonderful Net Entertainment. The world is your oyster in terms of game choices, and who knows what you might win.

It has only been a couple of years since casino type games went live on Facebook. At one stage this social networking site would not even allow casino game ads at their site. It appears that they have seen the error of their ways, and the effect of supply and demand now dictates what is popular or not.

In a recent list of the top twenty-three games played at this site, it seems that five of these are casino type games. Gaming in a social media type environment has grown in popularity, and grown exponentially for users at many of these sites. So, the 2013 top “Games of the Year” list was put together based on a selection of criteria. Facebook complied data from "user ratings, implementation, growth and overall quality."

The increase in mobile social media activity has also seen an increase in gaming, and gambling over this channel. This led to the fact that many in the top twenty-three can be enjoyed on both Internet and mobile platforms. Pundits are saying that approximately $12 million will be spent on mobile gambling this year (2014), so, the possibility exists that 2013 mobile growth may have contributed to the Facebook growth in gaming popularity. Hence the reason why five gambling games also made it into their favourites list.

Most online gambling operators are not surprised by the fact that despite the diversity of games available in this space – Hit it Rich Casino Slots, Double Down Casino, Slotmania, DoubleUCasino, and Heart of Vegas, made it to the top. Hit it Rich Casino was also dubbed the Best New Game of the Year. Consumer behaviour seems to be dictating that the Facebook space will soon be inundated with popular online gambling games.

We are not in the least bit surprised by this latest list. The online gambling industry has turned into a mainstream industry Globally, and looks set to grow even more with doors opening in the USA. There are still quite a few global market places that still remain untapped, and with the spread of high speed broadband into Southern American Countries, Africa and Asia, even more growth is bound to be the order of the day. Add to this the fact that mobile, and smartphone use is spreading across the world, and it appears as though the industry might be in for a nice growth surprise. In fact this growth has been speculated on, but could even turn out to be better than the industry is betting on.

The very first time we saw Net Entertainment (NetEnt)games and websites, it was hard not to believe that this online gambling, gaming developer was not going to do big things. They have since divested themselves of operations in this field, to concentrate on development as well as turnkey solution for the industry from a back office perspective. Dropping the gambling website business meant ridding themselves of “conflict of interest” issues, and they have gone from strength to strength since then. Every operator who is anybody should want NetEnt games on their websites.

Already an award winner, this prominent Swedish software provider for online casinos has landed a hat-trick at the recent EGR B2B Awards. Any player in this industry wants these prestigious awards in their trophy cabinet, and NetEnt took three! These awards are:

• Innovation in Slot Provision
• Innovation in Mobile
• Mobile Supplier of the Year

This company’s commitment in the development of a top-notch mobile platform has paid off, for sure. “Touch” (the mobile platform) is thought to be the best in the business, and the awards it has won contests to that. The online gambling audience is now more sophisticated than ever before, and amore players move to the convenience of mobile to play on the go, NetEnt products adapt to this growing demand. Players want quality mobile casino games, and quality is what they get.

The Award for innovation in slots provision is highly commendable too – if you have not seen their great games – do yourself a favour and check out: Jack and the Beanstalk, Gonzos Quest, BloodSuckers, Egg-o-matic, Zombies, Starburst, Evolution, Jack Hammer…there are just so many to choose from.

Per Eriksson – the President and CEO of Net Entertainment, was understandably thrilled to share this good news with the industry. He said that "Innovation is at the core of everything we do and these three prestigious industry awards are a product of all the team’s hard work." He also commented that their team had been focussing heavily on mobile development during the past eighteen months, and this focus had paid off.

Mobile is without any shadow of a doubt a high growth area, and being regarded so highly at the EGR B2B Awards will only stand the brand in good stead for a very good future. These awards recognise achievements across all e-gaming segments, including networks, payment solutions, IT and infrastructure, mobile gaming, software, and so on.

Whilst speaking of Net Entertainmednt, you might also be interested to know that another recent BIG win took place on Mega Fortune™. It paid out a handsome prized of €5.3 Million at BetVictor Casino during the May Bank Holiday weekend. This prize was the 4th biggest in their history.