Not only is the social web changing the way we connect and interact online, but it turns out that the internet itself can change the way we think. Recently, we post an interview with Victor Palmer, founder of CentSports.com, a social sportsbook that Mr. Palmer described as Advergambling based.

Granted, CentSports is a completely new approach to online sportsbooking, but many other areas of online gambling have always had a rather social user-base. If you consider, however, how most games are social in nature, it follows that most online gaming should go social.

Well, Akoha has taken it a step further: not only does it feature a hyper-social dynamic, but it transcends the digital divide into the real world. That is, it gets users to actually play out the game in their real lives, and it’s precisely in that manner that it intends to change the world for the better.

In the video interview, Akoha founder Austin Hill discusses (1) how Akoha works, (2) how it can make the world a better place, (3) what inspired it, and (4) the revenue models that they are considering.

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With a presidential election underway in the US, there’s been a lot of speculation about what this means for the future of online gambling, especially poker. Of course, behind the scenes, things largely remain business as usual. For example, on Tuesday, the US House Financial Services Committee Chairman, Barney Frank, pushed through the Payments System Protection Act (HR 6870).

In fact, in this interview with Joe Brennan of iMEGA, Brennan explains how (1) a change of administration wouldn’t directly effect the UIGEA because of (2) the way in which the US judicial system works. That’s why iMEGA has levied a lawsuit against the UIGEA: as sympathetic as a new administration could be to online gambling in the US, it won’t necessarily be a priority for them, and any reform effort could easily fall to the wayside in light of, say, trying to pull the US out of a controversial war or economic tailspin.

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If you’re more interested in the ins-and-outs of the iMEGA’s case, however, you should check out iGaming News’ interview with Joe Brennan. There, Mr. Brennan goes into more detail about the specific fight that iMEGA’s has ahead of it.

Before the UIGEA was passed, Canada was a significant part of the US-facing online gaming industry. For instance, the GIGSE conference used to be held in Montreal. Of course, many operators are still hosted at facilities such as MIT in Kahnawake.

The point is that the Canadian climate hasn’t been as cold towards online gaming as it’s US counterpart. Just consider how outspoken Maggie McGee is against government gaming monopolies — and she works for one as VP of Business Innovation at the Nova Scotia Gaming Commission.

This doesn’t, of course, mean that there are still not a lot of challenges for the gaming industry in Canada. After all, their largest trading partner is still against it. That’s why there are organization such as the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA).

Here’s an interview with the Vice President of the CGA, Paul Burns. Originally published on the iGaming News Blog, IGN caught up with Mr. Burns at the Next Generation in Gambling conference in Montreal last month (I guess the industry still has hopes for that city, after all).

Here, the Chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, former New York Senator (R) Alfonse D’Amato offers some insight into how the UIGEA came to be law. As with so many other laws, D’Amato explains, the UIGEA was politically motivated.

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This video is an excerpt of Mr. D’Amato’s opening keynote at the Next Generation in Gambling conference in Montreal. If you’re interested in a more in-depth explanation of all the political positioning that went into drafting and legislating the UIGEA, iGaming News has a more lengthy video of Mr. D’Amato discussing the issue.

Maggie McGee is the Vice President of Business Innovation at the Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation. Here, she’s speaking on a panel on the Future of Gaming in Canada at the Next Generation in Gambling conference in Montreal. Despite being an employee of a government gambling monopoly, Ms. Fox’s perspective is both refreshing and incredibly progressive. Hopefully her ethos catches on in France, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

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