Social Media has become a way of life and of doing business. It was therefore only obvious that social media and other online pursuits like online gambling and social gaming would converge at some point.

In recent months many large online gambling operators have announced substantial investments in social gaming with Bwin.Party, a listed company and largest online gambling operator in Europe at the forefront, followed by online casino software giant Playtech who has also expressed interest in expanding into the social gaming arena.

Likewise social gaming giants like Zynga is reportedly keen on merging social networking and gambling and has employed the services of well-known lobbyists Jeffrey Peck and Justin McCarthy to assist in influencing the legalisation and regulation of online casinos in the US.

In addition, leading social media platforms have also showed interest in diverging into offering both online gaming for money as well as online gambling offerings. So there is clearly interest from all parties concerned.

Given these new developments, the UK Gambling Commission is also paying attention to the subject and is monitoring the social media space in order to ascertain the impact that social gaming will have on gambling licensing. According to John Travers of the UK Gambling Commission, social gaming on social media platforms like Facebook is blurring the boundaries between gaming and gambling for real money and this is of concern to the UK government. Travers said that the organisation felt that social gaming has already crossed the line but stated that the key question was whether or not it could be defined as Gambling.

By definition, social gaming takes place with virtual money offered as prizes which bypasses the legal definition of gambling for real money, and has meant that it has avoided the attention of regulators both in the United States as well as the United Kingdom. The reality however is that players purchase the virtual currency with real money and can withdraw points in real life. There are also unconfirmed reports that through some channels players can trade virtual money for real money. What’s more is that because online gaming sites are not restricted by regulations like online gambling sites are, players as young as 13 years old are able to access and utilise these types of sites, often without their parents’ knowledge.

Only time will tell if online gaming for real money is re-classified as online gambling and will then become subject to the same regulatory rules and regulations governed by the UK Gambling commission.

What began as a simple husband and wife lottery win has become an embittered, drawn out and complicated legal battle between business partners which saw a British Columbia court refusing to make summary judgement and referring the case for a full trial.

Four years ago the Canadian lottery winner Maria Linsenmeier was given a $20 bill by her husband to purchase a lottery ticket in Surrey, BC. The ticket was a lucky one and won the couple a whopping $12.6 million Canadian dollars.

The substantial win attracted the attention of Maria Ganguin, Linsenmeier’s now former business partner at the time who claimed that when business was good they regularly purchased lottery tickets using company funds with the agreement that any winnings would be shared.

Under this agreement Ganguin purported that she was entitled to half of the massive win, a claim which Linsenmeier vehemently resisted, insisting that the buy-in came from her spouse rather than from any cash of the jointly owned organisation.

According to her claim Ganguin became suspicious when she read a newspaper article which reported that Linsenmeier had purchased the ticket at an outlet along her catering route.

The legal battle reached the British Columbia Supreme Court this week and saw Linsenmeier and her husband requesting a summary trial to resolve the case quickly based on sworn statements. However Justice Trevor Armstrong ruled that in spite of the lack of evidence to support Ganguin’s claim to half of the fortune, she should be allowed to test Linsenmeier’s credibility at a full trial.

The case is now awaiting its trial date in what will surely be a very interesting battle. We’ll keep you up-to-date on the developments.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will be celebrated in the United Kingdom from the 2nd until the 5th of June and marks 60 years of the Queen’s reign.

This occasion will be packed with festivities across the country and the bank holidays, celebrations and events are highly anticipated by most. As always the sports books like William Hill are getting in on the Royal action and offering novelty bets on a variety of events surrounding this occasion.

With a short visit to the sports book you’ll find the expected betting options like the colour of Kate’s Thames Pageant Dress and the colour of the Queen’s Epsom Derby hat, but what is quite disturbing though is that some of the betting options are not altogether savoury and even hold a slightly sinister feel. For example there are options to bet on many of the events being rained out or that the Queen will be unable to light the beacon on June 4th.

Call us old fashioned but these seem to be a little sinister and in our opinion do call into question the morality of sports books encouraging punters to bet on quite nasty events taking place, which will in turn have many of them holding thumbs for rain and some kind of malfunction to take place for the historic lighting of the beacon.

These types of bets may seem funny, but it does make one reflect on the notion of the type of society we have become, that we find some kind of sport and satisfaction in unfortunate events that would mar the proceedings of what are supposed to be honourable and joyous occasions?

While these types of bets will probably always be around, it does make one pause to think and hope that out of respect for the people involved that most avoid placing wagers on them and discourage book makers from offering these types of odds in future.