Following the earthquake’s destruction in a country already struggling under the weight of crushing poverty, organizations have been scrambling to raise money, medicine, food and volunteers to help Haiti begin its long road to recovery c. So far, help has come pouring in from an unexpectedly diverse group of people and organizations from around the world. So, it should hardly come as a surprise that the online gaming community is getting involved in the relief effort as well.
One of the online gaming sites trying to raise the much needed money is Millionaire Casino. They have offered to help raise money for much needed repairs and medical supplies need in Haiti by donating to the Red Cross relief fund. The money is being donated from their VIP rewards fund and users can choose to donate more of their VIP points if they wish.
Seeing the potential for online gambling to make a contribution Bodog founder Calvin Eyre posted pleas on his blog for more companies and individuals in the online gambling industry to contribute to the relief effort. So far, he has personally donated 10, 000 pounds to UK charity Oxfam and in an effort to get others to make donations has promised that his foundation will match any and all donations from people within the industry up to $1, 000, 000.
Heeding the call the popular Casinomeister site managed to collect $20, 000 before closing their donations due to difficulties in paying through PayPal. Since Casinomeister hadn’t registered the charity collection with PayPal (this process can take weeks and this was an emergency relief collection) the site forced them to stop collecting money using the service.
However, it’s not only the online casinos that are busy collecting money though as the poker industry is hosting a number of tournaments and charity drives as well. The popular PokerStars site has set up a relief fund which will match all the donations players make and then donate it to the Red Cross fund. So far, the site has raised about $475, 000 for the relief effort thanks to the generous contributions of its players. PokerStars will make a matching donation to the Red Cross effectively doubling the amount raised. In terms of getting many things done efficiently, quickly, and relatively painlessly, your computer is the most extraordinary invention of all time… well, that is, until it decides to make your life miserable, at which point it degenerates into the most counterproductive, vile and despicable machine ever to defile this otherwise relatively peaceful planet. All computer users, with the exception of those technical geniuses and sadists, have endured this emotional rollercoaster. That is also why we have our heroic tech support staffs.
All legitimate (and also most illegitimate) online casinos usually have technical support pages. You should be able to find a direct link to tech support page from the index (or main) page of the online casino site. It could be labeled as “Questions” or “Help” or something to that nature. Always visit the tech support page first and do some snooping. Then, see how many phone numbers this site has and whether they serve the customers around the clock. Then try to find out if the casino operator has their own tech support department. If they don’t specify clearly, go to your preferred search engine, type the phone numbers of casino’s tech support and take a look at the results. If you find that the results page lists some online casinos, the site is probably using a single tech support service that is also shared with other online casinos. If you are feeling bold today, dial some toll-free number and try to throw some questions at them. Ask how much training they have had and how many are currently on the staff. Consider it an especially bad sign if you can’t find anyone who fluently speaks in a language that you understand.
You need to examine whether the online casino offers more help beyond technical support. In tech support page they may have multiple email addresses (techsupport, accounts, manager, and so forth), it is a good sign. But you have to go further, because it is conceivable that emails received by multiple email addresses can be funneled to one mailbox, where it is ignored or thrown away. Having people names attached to these email addresses can be an improvement, even though names can be added effortlessly. The perfect solution, again, is to rely on phone tests. See if a 24-hour tech support really means that they immediately help you with all aspects of the gambling experience, especially with money transactions and account inquiries. Also find out if the site supervisors are accessible by phone.