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Online gambling takes to the air in the coming months, as British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Airlines start to offer their passengers a choice of mid-air games, including online bingo, as well as the much more traditional movies and audio entertainment.
Virgin has its own online games portal, so travelers on Virgin will be right to continue their online bingo games while flying. The other three airlines will access 888.com as their betting provider. Virgin has been allowing its passengers to play games for the past two years, but not to place bets.
The move follows the introduction of onboard Texas Hold ‘Em by US carrier Delta Airlines last year, though only on flights within the country. The game proved very popular with otherwise bored travellers. A much wider variety of games will be available under the new system, with passengers having a choice of bingo, roulette, poker, blackjack, slot games and craps, amongst other options.
As well as seasoned players, in-flight games will almost certainly attract many new players on permitted sectors, especially on long-haul flights.
Some players are sure to be well and truly bitten by the bingo bug, and continue playing either online or at their local bingo hall when they return home — especially if they are lucky enough to win some extra spending money for their holidays.
BA and Singapore Airlines will prevent the system’s use on flights into and out of America, to comply with US prohibitions against foreign gaming companies operating in the USA.
When are the Americans going to stop being such killjoys?
The US Department of Transportation conducted a study which suggested that United States carriers, operating behind the wall of protection that is UIGEA, could split an extra $300 million a year if gambling were to be permitted on outward and inward-bound overseas flights.
Though some concerns about such a move have been expressed by the Flight Attendants union, whose members are worried that onboard gambling might lead to unruly behavior amongst passengers. But you can rest safely, and not have to worry that your partner will arrive home minus his or her shirt under the new arrangements.
As while the exact amounts are not yet definite, BA and the other airlines will set low limits to prevent first-class passengers losing more than a couple of hundred pounds on a single flight. An even lower limit will apply to economy and business/club-class passengers.
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