The frequently considered regulatory tactic of forcing Internet Service Providers to block (read censor) “unacceptable” online gambling sites suffered a setback Thursday when the European Court of Justice ruled that ISPs cannot be forced to collaborate in such an order. Although the ruling was made in a case involving music piracy, it is in principle …
Online betting group Betfair has announced the appointment of Matt Lambert as director of public affairs, taking up his responsibilities at the beginning of 2012. Lambert, who has 25 years of professional experience and is currently director or corporate affairs and citizenship with Microsoft in Britain, will be responsible for the strategy and implementation of …
Playtech’s GBP 100 million placing to raise funds for acquisitions has enabled its billionaire founder, Tedi Sagi, to increase his holding by as much as 49.9 percent, according to widespread reports in the UK business press Thursday. Following the company’s publication of the response to its offering of 46.5 million shares at 215p, it appeared …
The desperate economic climate in Spain has apparently not discouraged its citizens from buying a record number of tickets in the annual El Gordo (the Fat One) lottery, according to reports from the Reuters news agency. The lottery will disburse Euro 2.5 billion to over 1,202,490 cash prize winners this year, with the winner claiming …
The public wrestling match between online gambling software provider Topgame and affiliate management group Affactive over alleged DDoS attacks continued overnight on industry message boards, with Topgame asserting that it has compelling evidence pointing to the perpetrator. In the latest posts at the Gambling Portal Webmasters Association forum, an anonymous poster using the handle “macloud” …
The Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC) has reportedly entered into an agreement with internet service providers (ISP) and financial institutions that will effectively block access to and empower banks to refuse transactions for unlicenced online operators. The BGC will provide ISP’s and banks with a black list of unlicenced “illegal” operators from January 2012 reports Dutch …
An unnamed 41-year-old football punter from a small village in Malta will be ending his year Euro 683 739.88 richer after hitting it big on a less than Euro 1 accumulator bet placed online at William Hill.com. Liverpool Football Club player Glen Johnson’s late winning score against Chelsea landed record odds of 683 738/1 from …
The recent announcement that British bookmaker Victor Chandler had provided an alternative venue for Entraction Network-restricted players from Canada, Norway, Russia and Israel along with the launch of its Spanish language site earlier this year, both at BetVictor.com, seemingly indicates that the company has embarked on a rebranding strategy across the board. The complete re-brand …
Online gambling operator 32Red Plc has selected the services of GB Group to manage its online identification verification processes. The international identity management business provides its services to other well-know brands such as Virgin Games, PartyGaming, Betfair and Ladbrokes using proprietary technology that recognises and verifies elements of a players identity at each login. Pat …
OPAP, Europe’s biggest betting company in which the debt-burdened Greek government has a significant stake, has secured a loan of up to Euro 300 million with a consortium of Greek banks to expand its business, its chief executive said on Tuesday. The debt-free company needs the loan after it spent about Euro 475 million this …
The discussions on secondary licensing for offshore online gambling companies wishing to access the British market continued this week with 20 MPs participating in an adjournment debate arranged by member of parliament Matthew Hancock in Westminster Hall. During the debate an interesting new proposal emerged to bring about more tax revenues for the UK government …
One of the more interesting poker interviews this week was conducted by Poker News.com, which engaged with the general manager of social gaming phenomenon Zynga, Lo Toney. San Francisco-based Zynga has been around since mid-2007, and in that remarkably short timespan has become a major force in the social gaming sector with a variety of …
The ink had hardly dried on Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick’s signing into law of the new state land gambling bill this week when the first legal action against it was filed. The bill has had a protracted and tortuous progress through the state Legislature, with many amendments and serious political wrangling for over a year …
Isle of Man-based online mahjong software developer Mahjong Logic has announced that Kashbet.com is its latest licensee. The company is to include Mahjong Logic games to strengthen its efforts in Asia and Europe. “Kashbet.com has the experience and diversified online game audience to be really successful for online mahjong”, said Jonas Alm, Mahjong Logic CEO. …
The Asian licensee of the Bodog brand, Bodog88Casino, has announced that it has taken on board casino games from software developer CTXM. The addition is the latest step in a corporate strategy aimed at overhauling the whole online casino space stage by stage by introducing the latest technology and user-friendly interfaces. “The first stage was …
Two Scottsdale, Arizona men were sentenced Monday for their involvement in an Internet sports gambling conspiracy. Oscar Barden (37) was sentenced to three years’ probation and 150 hours of community service, and Richard Michael DiCapua (69) was handed two years’ probation and 100 hours of community service. The men admitted to their involvement from March …
Washington DC’s controversial (and unilateral) legalisation of intrastate online gambling appears to have survived a series of eight public consultation briefings rather well, according to reports this week in the Washington Post. The briefings were conducted across the city on the insistence of some factions within the council, who were unhappy with the manner in …
Some online casinos using TopGame software have been crippled for much of this week following a sustained DDoS attack on the software provider’s servers, according to company spokesmen posting on internet gambling message boards Tuesday night. The disruption caused bitter accusations, denials and predictably speculation on several major message boards, including the GPWA forum and …
Yazino, a developer of social internet games using real-time multiplayer technology has launched High Stakes, its newest slots offering available on Yazino.com and via Facebook. The game allows players to team up and compete as jewel thieves in a race to crack the code and steal the gems. “Slots games are the simplest and most …
Mr Green Casino has appointed Keld Knudsen, formerly the head of finance at Unibet, as chief financial officer (CFO). He will commence his duties in January next year, replacing the current incumbent, Carl-Johan Burstrom, who is departing the company for family reasons. “Mr Knudsen is a talented executive with broad experience and a comprehensive understanding …
Passoker, the provider of in-play betting technology which recently signed up Victor Chandler, has added Openbet to its client list, successfully integrating its product with the online software supplier’s Remote Gaming Interface. The integration means that Passoker can now offer its product to all OpenBet betting and gaming customers worldwide, enabling the operators to boost …
Management at the Minnesota State Lottery is taking flak over a year-long initiative to get more Minnesotans to play online which was launched without publicity or an official announcement, reports the StarTribune newspaper. The lottery is apparently trying to get more state residents to gamble online through a lottery subscription service, despite the state’s record …
The bitter legal tussle between Cantor Gaming and its former executive Joseph Asher reignited this week when Asher filed a counterclaim alleging that the Cantor litigation against his company Brandywine is designed to derail talks with William Hill on a $15.7 million takeover – something that would present Cantor with serious competition in Nevada. The …
The European holder of the Bodog brand franchise, Bodog Europe, has spelled out its European ambitions in an interview with the publication Marketing Week. The new marketing chief of the company, former Visa and Sony Ericsson marketing professional Dee Dutta revealed that the online gambling company is preparing to launch a slew of new services …