Feature Category: Features

As an EU member, the island state of Malta offers special conditions for the establishment of entrepreneurial companies and branches. This is particularly appreciated by online casinos and sports betting providers. Malta is also part of a legal grey area with regard to authorisations and licences for sports betting providers. The question of the legality of online sports betting providers depends not only on the company’s headquarters, but also on the service and reliability of these companies.

What do interested parties pay attention to when selecting sports betting providers?

The first thing interested parties see in the offer of sports betting providers is the active advertising of companies with their range of services and usually a bonus. These are experiences where potential customers are looking for an online gaming provider. This is where companies outbid each other, and there are more and more suppliers offering the same product. Interested parties who need to be encouraged to play and bet also need good odds and that is what future players and sports betting enthusiasts look for when choosing a bookmaker. Payment methods and some payment services also determine the choice of the online bookmaker, so that the layman can quickly see what seriousness is required. But also comparison portals, which have created a ranking of good sports betting providers and thus recommend high-quality and reputable sports betting providers, can confidently turn to any interested party. That is the practice, and it also shows that a lot of money is at stake when looking at suppliers.

Betting providers and their most popular headquarters

Let’s take a look at the headquarters of sports betting companies and here at the online casinos and online sports betting of many companies based in Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Gibraltar and Malta. On the one hand, it depends on the right conditions for company forms, because most suppliers have their registered office here as limited liability companies. This is an advantage for companies and, above all, it is advantageous to have such a head office in Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta as the companies have a favourable taxation regime. It is also in itself an advantage for customers who would otherwise receive less profit if they were taxed unfavourably. For this reason, online sports betting operators prefer these EU countries when setting up a new business. The entry as an online sports betting provider is therefore easy, because even with the company law it is much easier to found such a sports betting company.

Why is Malta less well known than other betting companies?

The seriousness of sports betting is recognized by the customer in the reliability of companies. The virtual world of sports betting consists of websites that place sports bets with their functions. The betting account, which is offered almost free of charge by the sports betting provider, must be simple and secure. Winnings from bets must be immediately credited to these accounts. These are just a few of the factors that create safety, reliability and seriousness in a player. In addition, the software should work well when it comes to live betting, for example, and those would be the features if you were looking for a good online sports betting provider on the Internet. Let us now come to the company’s headquarters in Malta, where it is repeatedly shown that there is a grey zone or grey market for betting providers. This has a negative effect and in itself companies with headquarters are just as serious as German companies. The grey area, which is always described by Internet betting providers, has licenses that do not correspond to German law and therefore it comes to this designation.

How can interested parties find the best sports betting provider?

How do comparison portals rate Internet service providers in sports betting and online casinos? This is what stakeholders will really ask themselves when they are looking for a high quality and reputable sports betting portal. Comparison portals of this type evaluate customer ratings and then compare the ratings and profit shares that companies pay to customers, and these portals also compare the service. These facts ultimately lead to a vote and generate recommendations for interested parties. Of course, the licensing of betting providers and regulation also play an important role. For example, it does not seem important for a company to be established on the island of Malta. Whether it is fraud or other problems when companies are based here in Malta, it is up to other institutions to judge.

Malta is serious and popular with sports betting providers.

Malta is as serious as Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Gibraltar when it comes to the headquarters of sports betting companies and online casinos. For this reason, or rather for many reasons, these companies are based in these EU countries. Many EU countries prohibit gambling and many other countries have such complex legal regulations that online companies are still looking for the best solution in this sector, for example by taking advantage of Malta’s opportunities. This is undoubtedly and more convenient, because the customers of online sports bettors also benefit from this practice. It appears that these countries, such as Malta, which have few sources of income, are closing these companies. Experts always discuss the concept of a grey market, which usually leads to a discussion about envy. Players and customers of online casinos and sports betting providers quickly recognize when these companies are acting in a frivolous manner. This makes the Internet rounds very fast and there is even a kind of self-control on the Internet. Companies based in Malta are considered serious until proven otherwise, and if all goes well, nobody doubts the seriousness of these companies.

Growing market for online gambling and sports betting

There is no doubt that the Internet sports betting market is booming. Every week, new companies appear on the Internet sky and offer their services and bets, with which the potential customer can increase his stakes. It quickly becomes clear to customers and prospective customers that there is a lack of service and that, for example, bets are not properly managed by these new companies. The question about the headquarters in Malta comes very late and is only one factor, among others, in the evaluation of these companies. There is no doubt that Malta is very popular with betting companies and there are many reasons for this. Interested people who are looking for a good sports betting provider on the virtual net are not surprised at home on the computer, where a provider has his server and where he pays his taxes. Malta is an EU country and this EU country must also comply with EU law.

Conclusion on Malta and the grey sports betting market

Fraud is a very strong term, and when it comes to online sports betting, all interested parties are reluctant to use this term together. Malta is serious and online sports betting providers based here are also among the well recommended companies that are recommended to prospective buyers of the offer in the comparison portals. Who wants to know more about it, should also research here and obtain the facts themselves. The result of seriousness considerations are many facts and potential customers should remember exactly who are looking for a good betting offer on the Internet. By the way, Malta is also a very popular holiday destination and it shows that this EU island has a great attraction for new companies, which says little about the seriousness with which these companies also work.

There are several things in horror movies that have become a common trope over the years: the cabin in the woods, the campers lost in the wilderness, infected zombies, you know the score. One film, Feral, has them all. That it’s still an enjoyable ride is admirable.

A group of six friends – all coupled up – head off looking for a remote lake that one of them used to visit when they were young. Realising they’re lost, they set up camp for the night. Five of the number are all medical students, while one, Jules (Olivia Luccardi) is somewhat an outsider, along for the ride as Alice’s new girlfriend. Or first girlfriend, come to mention it, as she’s yet to come out to her parents and has previously had a relationship with Jess (Brock Kelly). Scout Taylor-Compton, who found fame in the Rob Zombie Halloween films, plays Alice, who’s training as an epidemiologist and is as smart as they come, if lacking the backbone to assert herself properly. This causes some ructions later on, which we’ll come to.

Before the group heads to their tents for some well-earned shut eye, talk turns to what might be out there in the woods. Surprisingly (if not shockingly), some of them hadn’t realised that there might be wild animals roaming in their natural habitat (we’re guessing medical students don’t think about thing other than the human body…). Little do they know there are some very wild things out there. Once in their tent, Matt (George Finn) proposes to Brienne (Renee Olstead). Well, in a fashion; he whips out a ring and says very little else except that he needs to go to pee. Now normally in this sort of movie, there would be some act of coupling that will foreshadow a grisly demise. Not so here, in a remarkable bucking of cliché, it’s this romantic gesture that is the death knell. He’s set upon post-slash by a creature that we don’t quite get a look at. It’s savage and tears at Matt leaving him a bloody mess. Considering how earlier he’d been saying how he was planning on becoming a urologist, it’s amazing they didn’t have the creature cut off Matt mid-flow, so to speak. Brienne, clearly not having the best hearing as she’s missed Matt’s haunting screams, leaves the tent to see where he is. In a way, it’s a good job he wasn’t having a number two, but what she finds is just as horrifying. She, too, is attacked by the beast but is left standing with just a nasty gash on her face. The rest of the gang hear her, thankfully, and worriedly take her into their care. When they go back to find Matt’s body, however, it’s missing and they assume another animal has taken it or eaten him.

The next day, a loner who lives in a remote cabin comes across them and offers to help look after Brienne while some of the others go to get help. You know there’s going to be no mobile reception (it’s hard enough getting a decent signal in some parts of England, so you’re certainly going to be out of luck here!) and Talbot (played by another Halloween alumni Lew Temple) conveniently doesn’t have a phone.

You probably don’t have to have seen a hundred horror movies to begin to figure out what’s going on, but Feral does spring a few surprises to the formula. Of course, Talbot knows more about what’s going on than he initially lets on – and the prologue at the start of the movie shows a bloke shooting a screaming woman chained to a spring bedstead so it’s pretty heavily telegraphed – but the real story is actually more outlandish than anyone could have guessed.

Without descending into spoilers too much, there’s someone roaming the woods who’s infected with what Talbot calls the ‘feral virus’; once scratched or bitten by an infected person, the victim will die a horrifically painful death (and lose their hair, which is almost just a bad!) but then become resurrected as a mindless, rage-filled killing machine. So naturally, that means Matt must already be up and about and Brienne hasn’t got much longer until she joins him.

Feral is ably directed and co-written (along with Adam Frazier) by Mark Young, and surprisingly, it’s the journeyman nature of the film that makes it enjoyable. Sure, the dialogue’s hackneyed and the scenario predictable, but within that familiarity there’s some strong acting and Young delivers the shocks with some successful jump scares and several genuinely creepy moments.

Despite some clichés, there are ways in which Feral bucks the trends usually followed by low budget horror films that may have been overlooked by others quick to dismiss it. Where some might have a bigger name star on the bill (as Scout Taylor-Compton is here), they are usually used as cinematic click bait and more often dispatched early in the proceedings or relegated to a brief, inconsequential cameo. There are obviously budgetary reasons for this, but in Feral, Taylor-Compton (admittedly not a major name, but certainly a cult actor) is a strong presence throughout and whose character also bucks another trope: in that the ‘final girl’ this time is gay. The relationship is handled well, too, with Taylor-Compton’s Alice voicing concerns about how her sexuality will be accepted by her father, who’s devoutly religious. This puts a natural strain on the way her partner feels; the pair go from completely secure to almost at loggerheads. That she’s also slept with one of the guys on the trip doesn’t help either. Jesse has even more issues with it, even though he’s come along with Gina (Landry Allbright, best known as Nicolas Cage’s daughter in Con Air, but all grown up now), his heart – or at least ‘little head’ – is still firmly attracted to Alice. So much so that when he has to go to get help with Jules in tow, he takes the opportunity to speak his bigoted mind. Telling her that Alice is just “going through some crazy dyke phase” tips her over the edge, and she pushes him to the ground – right onto a bear trap. Unfortunately, we can’t revel in schadenfreude for too long as he was their best shot at getting out of their predicament and since Jules can’t help get the trap open and off his foot, she has to leave him to go back to the cabin and get help.

Given that the males are despatched pretty quick in Feral gives it a more positive gender bias for a change, something that can’t be overlooked. The effects, too, are refreshingly practical and suitably icky. Early on, we’re only given fleeting glimpses of the creatures, which adds to the atmosphere and but doesn’t shy away from the gory details of the attacks and their aftermath. When we do get a good look at them, they are very impressive – a cross between Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead zombies and the rage infected from Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later.

As mentioned, Feral won’t win any awards for originality, but it shows that director Mark Young is a talent to watch out for and is well worth checking out. His next film – Limbo, starring James Purefoy, Chad Lindberg, and Veronica Cartwright – is set to be released later this year.

FERAL screens on Horror Channel. Sky 317 Virgin 149 Freeview 70 Freesat 138.

There are a few well-worn paths between the video game industry and the movie industry.

Influence flows both ways, with movie adaptations of video games like Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed, Rampage and Angry Birds making their way to big screens.

Similarly, we’ve seen countless video games released based on films, from the doomed ET (so bad they buried copies of it in the desert) all the way to John Wick’s appearance in Fortnite. There’s even the world of movie-based slots games, with top and new casino sites in the United Kingdom competing against one another, not only in sign-up bonuses, but to adapt movies like Rocky, The Dark Night, Forrest Gump and Bridesmaids – yes, Bridesmaids – into slot games.

The success of films based on video games has been mixed, to say the least, because for every Rampage (surprisingly fun!) there’s a Mortal Kombat (hot mess!), but that’s not slowing the industry down.

This month saw the release of the Detective Pikachu movie, which has powered itself to a box office total more than twice its initial budget, and the release of the much-maligned trailer for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie.

But whilst those movies might make some logical sense for cinematic adaptation, there are plenty of titles in development which fall firmly into the ‘Wait, how?’ category. Let’s take a look at some of them now, shall we?

Tetris

To our minds, Tetris is the best video game of all time. It’s mechanical perfection and the peak of pick-up-and-play gameplay. It’s so good that it works as well on a Gameboy as it does on a PS4. It is, however, about arranging blocks into rows. Back in 2016, Larry Kasanoff declared his intention to bring the game to big screens with a sci-fi trilogy. Frankly, I can’t wait to see it.

Monument Valley

Shooting to fame when it got a starring role in Netflix’s House of Cards adaptation, Monument Valley has cemented its place as one of the leading mobile games thanks to smart puzzle design and beautiful visuals. It follows a princess as she moves through optical illusions and impossible geometry on her quest for forgiveness. The film adaptation is due to be directed by Patrick Osborne (Big Hero 6).

Just Dance

Your little sisters very favourite game on the Wii, Just Dance, is getting turned into a movie. Announced in January of this year, Screen Gems picked up the motion-picture rights for the game in which you just dance. We’d expect it to be a Step-Up style dance-battle picture, but who knows? It might turn out to be a sci-fi trilogy.

Fruit Ninja

[Source: Myravery on Flickr]

Fruit Ninja, a game in which you slice fruit in half, was first announced in 2016 as a family-friendly animated comedy about “a team of misfits who are recruited to become Fruit Ninjas in order to save the world”, but the trail has since gone cold on this one.

Rabbids

Rabbids, the bunny-ish slapstick characters which have made Rayman’s life a living nightmare for over a decade, are getting their own film. First announced in 2015 as a collaboration between Ubisoft and Sony Pictures Entertainment, will Rabbids have what it takes to compete against the Minions, who totally ripped off their shtick? Only time will tell.

Main image source: Pixabay

Nowadays, we live in a busy world. As fulfilling as reading books may be, sometimes we simply don’t have the time or the energy needed to sit down and read one. Instead, we opt to consume the content in video form instead. Although purists might argue that nothing comes close to reading the original, the shows we’re about to mention are incredibly well made. Today, we’ll go over ten of them, and they are all worth your time:

1. Game of Thrones

Some might call it engrossing, while others may refer to it as thrilling and unpredictable. But one thing is for sure – it lets you explore a fantasy world full of plotting, backstabbing, and magic. If you think you can anticipate what’s going to happen next, well, think again.

2. Big Little Lies

Another gem for those who can’t get enough of plotting, jealousy, and – as the title itself suggests – little lies. One of its strongest sides is how addictive it is. Once it draws you in, the show won’t let you out that easily.

3. Sherlock

Who doesn’t love Sherlock Holmes? Placed amidst the busy London streets, he is tasked with resolving the mysterious crimes that no one else seems to know the answer to. Can he decipher the clues and get on the bad guys’ tail? A literary classic set in modern-day London is sure to catch your attention.

4. The Musketeers

Now here’s one for those who fancy a good amount of swordplay. Tune in to watch the three highly-trained swordsmen square off against their foes. While their primary mission is to protect the king, they also need to manage their personal lives at the same time. What might happen when love gets intertwined with their main mission?

5. You

This show tells a story of love turned into an obsession. A random encounter at the bookstore turns into a romance. But the fresh start quickly turns into something a bit more sinister when Joe, the main character, brings ill behavioral patterns into the mix, some of which include stalking, lying, etc. As they say, you can never truly know a person.

6. Zoo

Set in the near future, this show revolves around a pandemic which makes the animals incredibly aggressive. Whatever the reason for their behavior may be, it’s causing them to attack humans. Expect plenty of supernatural, with telepathic lions being only a small example of what’s packed inside.

7. Shrill

Tune in to watch the story of an obese girl turned into a powerful, beautiful, and independent feminist who’s full of clever remarks. But she’s no bully, as these jokes are never at someone else’s expense. The show explores some difficult social topics such as rape culture, racism, and the like.

8. Good Omens

There is an apocalypse that’s about to unfold, and humanity needs to prepare for it. Setting out to prevent the grim outcome, an angel and a demon form a team to make a stand against the inevitable.

9. His Dark Materials

First, there was the book. The film came later on, but it didn’t manage to impress the audience in a way the producers had hoped. But now, the TV show is finally underway, and it looks like we won’t be running out of entertainment any time soon. The stage is set in a parallel world, where Lyra, the main character, sets out to find more about Dust, a mysterious material, and save the world while she’s at it.

10. Poldark

Ross Poldark, the hero of the story, comes back to his home country to see everything be laid amiss. Not only is his father’s house in ruins, Elizabeth, his former love, is now seeing his cousin Francis. As if this weren’t enough, there’s a whole set of problems he has to manage, including his finances. Although he soon manages to find new love, some of his feelings are still pulling him back to Elizabeth. Drama is bound to follow!

Conclusion

As good of a watch as these series are, unfortunately, they are not available in certain regions due to geographic restrictions. But the good news is that there is no need to relocate to another country just for the sake of being able to tune in. It’s much easier to install a VPN and bypass them. Since your real IP address and location are both hidden when you’re connected through one of these, it will look like you are connecting from another country. A VPN will not mess with your connection speed, so you’ll be able to watch all your favorite shows no matter where you live.

For a period of about five years, Gossip Girl managed to rule the TV world. The show quickly gained massive popularity among drama fans and became a favorite of many across the whole world. Its finale in 2012 reignited interest in the series, as many people tuned in to see the conclusion to the story. And today, seven years after the finale, many fans are craving for something similar to fill the gap left in their hearts.

And while nothing has come close enough to matching the unique style of Gossip Girl, over the years, various successful productions have had something in common with it. Some of those that can be recommended even came before Gossip Girl itself, which can lead to speculating that they may have inspired the TV hit.

Dynasty

Dynasty is relatively new, but it’s already quite popular. If the name sounds familiar to some of you, don’t be surprised. It’s actually a reboot of a show with the same name that originally aired several decades ago. It revolves around the relationships between several rich families and their constant struggle for power and reputation.

It’s produced in the same spirit as its original predecessor, although some parts of the basic premise have been altered to give it a more modern tone. If you loved the constant machinations and backstabbing in Gossip Girl, this might be right up your alley, too.

The O.C.

A classic in the genre, The O.C. aired from 2003 to 2007, but is still fondly remembered by many of its original fans. The story is more teenage-oriented and doesn’t feature many plot lines involving adults. That said, the style of its drama is rarely matched, and it’s a solid competitor to “Gossip Girl” in many aspects. That’s even despite the fact that the latter had plenty of time to take notes before airing its first episode.

One of the most notable things about The O.C. is its atmosphere, particularly the soundtrack used throughout the whole series. It’s clear that every single track has been carefully curated to match the tone of its corresponding scenes.

90210

Named after the Beverly Hills zip code, 90210 is another show that brings teenagers to the forefront. This one is more closely focused on school drama, particularly at a high-end institution attended by children of the wealthy. Or rather, that’s the main focus of the first seasons. Later on, the show transitions into a more adult-oriented drama, following the lives of the former kids as they each start to deal with the issues of living out in the big world.

Many fans of 90210 have drawn comparisons to Gossip Girl throughout the show’s run, with some even accusing the former of ripping off the latter in some regards. In any case, its style is sufficiently unique to allow it to stand out on its own.

Pretty Little Liars

Another relatively new production, Pretty Little Liars still enjoys immense following even two years after its last season ended. Like Gossip Girl, this one also focuses on the relationships of several young girls, although the show has a darker and more mysterious vibe. Manipulation and lies are at the forefront – as the name implies – and there’s no shortage of plot twists throughout every season. Make sure you don’t look up any discussions about the episodes you still haven’t watched, as there are spoilers around every corner!

Stay Safe!

No, that’s not a show. It’s a friendly reminder that streaming videos online is something that should be done with care and attention. Always use a VPN to secure your connection, as you never know what kinds of websites you might have to visit. If the show you’re looking for isn’t available at your favorite streaming services, you’ll have to use more niche ones, which come with some risks attached. And if it is available, using a VPN will help you ensure that you have access to it regardless of your current country.

Be wary of torrent-based streaming sites as well. These can draw the attention of authorities if you live somewhere with strict copyright laws. A VPN can be quite useful in this case, too, and it can also help improve your connection speeds in some unique cases.

And if you happen to come across anything less popular that seems like it would be a good fit for Gossip Girl fans, don’t keep it all to yourself!

When the classic Bond film Dr No. was released in 1962, it properly introduced James Bond to movie goers all over the world. The novels of Ian Fleming had created a character that was suave, classy and debonair and it seemed only natural that the big screen would want a piece of the action.

Ian Fleming passed away in 1964, at the age of just 58, so we can only imagine what new adventures he might have dreamed up for Bond. As it is, however, a number of other authors have written fully authorized Bond novels and the character has been adapted for comics and video games as well as for television and radio too.

Casino scenes feature in a few of the movies and in Dr No we get our first taste of Bond playing the classic game Baccarat. It’s a game that intrigues many people and here is the lowdown on the scenes in the film and the game itself.

Baccarat and Bond

The first scene in the first film shows Bond sitting at a casino table in Monte Carlo. Here we see Bond as the classy, debonair gentleman with a taste for Martini.

He’s also a top class spy, looking sharp in his suit, and is a man who has an eye for a beautiful lady. He’s known for his poker face and his killer stance in the casino. In Dr No, he’s playing a game called Baccarat – or more specifically a version of the game called Chemin-de-fer. As a player he is cool, calm and collected and it’s here we get our first proper introduction to the character we came to know and love over many decades.

As he plays, he is being watched by a lady. He coolly opens his cigarette case, looks into her eyes and we hear him utter the immortal line “Bond…James Bond”. Many believe that any actor that followed Sean Connery in the role would have a supremely tough act to follow and that his role in Dr No. was the prototype for everything that followed.

What is Chemin-de-fer?

It’s a classic game, sometimes referred to as Chemmy, and one that you might not find online or in any casino inland!

The game preceded Baccarat as we know it today and this version came from France. It’s played with six decks of cards and the player who ends with a total of eight or nine, wins.

Chemmy relies on the player dealing the cards themselves and they all must take turns to be the banker. It’s an intense game, but very exciting and really made famous by that opening scene in Dr No. It’s not a card game for someone who wants quiet refinement!

How is Baccarat played?

It’s a slightly different game that has varying rules to Chemmy. A complete guide to Baccarat will explain that it’s a card game that is dealt from a shoe that holding either six or eight decks of cards.

A couple of hands are dealt out by the house dealer and have two hands. The ‘Banker’ and the ‘Player’.

Bets that win on a banker or player are paid 1:1. However, a commission of %5 must be charged on bank bets which effectively makes the net odds, 0.95-1!

Depending on who you read, or where you get your information from, some will say tie bets are paid 8:1. Others claim that tie bets are paid 9:1 and this will all be dependent on the casino’s rules.

If there is a tie, any bets are returned. However, once a bet is placed no decisions can be revised. This results in final hands of two or three cards for each.

How a hand is valued is based on adding the values of the individual cards.

• Tens and face cards are valued at zero.
• All other cards are counted by how many pips there are on the card face.

Only the last digit of the total can be used, this means that all baccarat hands are valued between 0-9 inclusive. A hand with a higher value wins. If the hands have the same value, the net result is a tie.

• Player hand rules: If a player’s first two cards are worth six or more, the player has to stand without drawing a card. If the player’s first two cards are worth five or less, the player has to take one additional card.

Banker hand rules: If the banker’s first two cards are worth seven or higher, they must stand and not draw a card. If the total is zero, one or two then the banker has to draw one card. However, if they total three, four, five or six then it depends on whether the player drew as to whether the banker can draw.

In the new issue of STARBURST we celebrate the return of a real Monarch in Godzilla: King of the Monsters. As well as looking at the new movie, we run down our favourite other kaiju in a monstrous feature!

We have all the gossip from Star Wars Celebration from our man who was there, Tate Taylor, the director of the upcoming horror movie Ma talks to us, as does Linda Hayden, who recalls the making of terror classic The Blood on Satan’s Claw. We also go on the set of Avengement, the new film from UK martial arts superstar Scott Adkins and get the low-down on this blood-soaked East End revenge story.

The Toxic Avengers’ Melvin the Mop boy himself, Mark Torgl tells us all about the mockumentary Toxic Tutu and working with Troma.

And that’s not all, we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking classic The Matrix and get the inside info on upcoming games The Sinking City and The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth.

Plus Horror Obscura looks at the remake of the controversial shocker Straw Dogs.

Plus all your favourite COLUMNS, NEWS, REVIEWS and much MORE from the worlds of SCI-FI, HORROR and FANTASY!