When Frank Fahrenkopf, chief of the American Gaming Association, speaks at the annual Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, both the online and land branches of the gambling industry look for indicators on the health of the business and the direction it is taking.
A delighted New Jersey punter had more than his fair share of luck this week when a store clerk sold him the wrong type of scratchcard, but one that turned out to be a big winner.
Police in Hong Kong have arrested a 32-year-old man whom they believe is a key figure in an online gambling syndicate that earned some 10 million Hong Kong dollars (about US$1.2 million) in only six months. The identity of the suspect is currently being withheld.
The president of Loto Quebec, Alain Cousineau, revealed in a speech to the Montreal Board of Trade on Tuesday that his organisation is about to make a bold move into online gambling, at least as far as online poker and sportsbetting is concerned.
Following rapid expansion in the recently liberalised Italian market, skill gaming developer GameAccount has formally launched its French network and submitted an application for a licence in that country, which is due to open up its market next year.
Golden Casino.com has advised its players that it is to leave the US market with effect from December 1st, which is the date on which US banks must cease processing online gambling transactions as the UIGEA regulations comes into effect.
London advertising agency The Brooklyn Brothers has successfully competed against rival agency Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy to secure the GBP 5 million advertising account for UK bookmaking giant William Hill plc.
Dragonfish, the b2b division of online gambling group 888.com, branched out into other e-commerce sectors this week, inking a major e-Payments processing agreement with Linden Lab, the creator of the virtual world Second Life, thus diversifying its business beyond the gaming industry.
Seventy key online gambling personnel working at eCOGRA-accredited operations in four countries received responsible gambling training from the standards and player protection body this year, the fifth in which courses have been offered.
The sluggish progress of the South African government’s initiative to legalise and license online gambling in the country remains bogged down in legal and technical issues and is unlikely to be implemented in the immediate future, it appears.
The land of the free again failed to live up to its name this week as another online gambler was sent to jail for refusing to testify before a Grand Jury investigating online gambling in Kansas City.
Last week’s dismal warnings from German lottery company JAXX AG have been ameliorated this week by a set of positive YTD results from Hamburg-based Tipp24 AG.
The Cyprus-based online bingo software and network provider Interactive Playnet appears to be in trouble, advising players that it has been forced by processor problems to cease taking deposits and will have to restrict bingo pots.
Betfair’s ‘Right2Bet’ campaign for a more open European Union gambling market this week introduced a new service for online gamblers – a direct line of communication to Members of the European Parliament.
Webmaster Dave Sawyer and his team at Bathrock Media have been busy with launches and re-launches this week as the online gambling information company upgrades its offerings.
William Hill plc’s Virtual Horseracing, Virtual Greyhound Racing, Virtual Speedway and Virtual Motor Racing are now all accessible from the ‘Virtual World’ link in the menu at sports.williamhill.com.
A report commissioned by the state of Florida earlier this year has been presented to state officials, showing how the state could earn up to $90 million in tax revenues each year by legalising online poker.
The European-facing sportsbetting and i-gaming operator Offsidebet.com has enhanced its online gambling offering with a suite of CTXM casino and fixed odds games.
The Israeli authorities renewed efforts to clamp down hard on Internet gambling operations allegedly operating from within the Middle Eastern country this week, with the Jerusalem Post reporting that three hundred police officers and tax authority officials raided 37 homes across the country and arrested up to 30 suspects.
Ireland’s Sunday Independent newspaper lauded betting group Paddy Power’s deal with the former French gambling monopoly Pari Mutuel Urbain this week as a move that will further reduce the quoted bookmaker’s dependence on its Irish and UK retail betting shops.
Wednesday this week will see the Australian branch of online gambling giant Betfair in court again, this time fighting a 1.5 percent levy on its turnover attempted by Racing New South Wales.
A joint police action against electronic gambling in Greece and Cyprus has resulted in the arrest of a 44-year-old Athenian man and a continuing manhunt for a second accused, reports the Cyprus Mail newspaper.
Online gambling software developer Cryptologic experienced another tough third quarter this (2009) year, posting results which reflected a loss of $3.4 million as predicted in its earlier trading update.
Fresh from a similar deal with Tain, white label Internet sportsbook provider OddsMatrix Limited has entered into an agreement with Best Games Holdings Limited for the provision of a fully managed sports book.