The latest British government report on live bingo makes for dismal reading, indicating that in contrast to a booming online business, the live sector is struggling.
In Victoria, Australia a gambling corruption case originally flagged for the authorites as suspicious by the Betfair online gambling group, moved into a new phase this week as Racing Victoria officials issued two charges against jockey Danny Nikolic.
GeorgiosA, a 28-year-old Greek player at the Net Entertainment-powered Bet-at-home.com online casino, is a happy man this week, having won Euro 3 015 906 and change for a stake of Euro 2.50 whilst playing the Mega Fortune Jackpot progressive.
Friction appears to be building between the land casino industry in Nevada and state legislators scrambling to find a solution to the state’s yawning $900 million budget gap…and this time an economically struggling industry is reluctant to bail the state out.
The former chief of the UK Responsibility in Gambling Trust, Malcolm Bruce, has found a new home in the Betfair group management as Head of Sustainable Gambling.
The Hawaii legislature’s Committee on Finance has sealed the fate of a proposal to introduce casino gambling on the islands, at least as far as the current sessions are concerned.
William Hill Online, the Internet gambling wing of major British betting group William Hill plc, was a bright spot in an otherwise lacklustre set of results released this week that showed a 9 percent decline in the group’s full year 2009 pre-tax profit to GBP 197.5 million (2008 FY GBP 216.1 million).
Legislation drafted to open up the French online gambling market moved forward another step this week, passing through the French Senate on a first reading with a positive vote of 181 to 140.
Full year 2009 results from the Rank Group showed small improvements, although the online gambling division was one of those that underperformed last year. Nevertheless, investors will be pleased to hear that a small dividend is in prospect after some tough times with the UK gambling group.
The giant Austrian online gambling group Bwin released its latest results this week, posting a small increase in net gaming revenues of 2.3 percent year-on-year to Euro 373 million (US$ 503.7 million) in 2009.
The political cancellation of a proposed lottery in Thailand continues to generate expensive fall-out among the companies involved. In the latest development, a company that sued the government to recover its losses has failed in its action.
South Dakota legislators have drafted an amendment designed to close a loophole which has complicated debt repayment obligations in the state. The change follows a court case where a local man avoided repaying a $33 000 debt on the grounds that he once lost $1 500 to the lender in a card game.
Spokesmen for the Serbian police in Belgrade told local media Wednesday that two men are being held in custody following a major Internet gambling bust. The two suspects were not named, and the allegedly unauthorised sports betting website was not identified.
The recently appointed head of the European Commission, Michel Barnier, appears to have hit the right note in his recent address to the European Parliament on free movement of goods and services across member nations and the need for harmonised regulation.
The latest Chinese multi-ministry crackdown on illegal gambling began early February and up to February 20th has already netted 918 suspects allegedly involved in 210 online gambling crimes, the China Daily reported this week, quoting officials in the Ministry of Public Security.
Police raids last August on Internet cafe premises operated by the Allied Veterans of the World Inc. & Affiliates and offering sweepstake action are currently under judicial examination, reports the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.
The advantages of the recent Playtech – Virtue Fusion deal have started to become apparent, with Titan Poker sibling Titan Bingo.com launching this week.
The Asian-facing and Isle of Man-based online gambling firm 188Bet has signed its first rugby sponsorship agreement – a one-year deal with rugby league football club Wigan Warriors, becoming the team’s official betting partner for the 2010 season.
McGill University’s International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High Risk Behaviours has released a new survey on parental concerns titled Parents as Partners and partly funded by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation.
Agence France Presse reports the heartbreaking Brazilian gambling story of a 40-strong lottery syndicate that rejoiced over winning $30 million, only to discover that the seller had not entered the numbers in the draw.
The Poker Players Alliance appears to think that there has been a change of heart for the good in the attitude of veteran Nevada Democrat Senator Harry Reid, a powerful and influential politician in both his home state and in Washington DC.
The Dragonfish b2b agreement to provide online poker, casino and bingo facilities to Tsogo Sun Gaming could be about to get a major boost from the South African land gambling group’s imminent $2.7 billion merger with competitor Gold Reef City.
eMoney News reports that the added security of contactless smart card payments make this facility a better bet for punters, and that it is already making inroads into the market in Las Vegas.
Dalton McGuinty, the Premier of the Ontario province in Canada, has followed up on comments earlier this week by the chairman of Ontario Lottery and Gaming that consideration should be given to the province’s involvement in online gambling .