Gambling news - page 684

Row over Australian Open gambling ads

17 Jan 2016

This year’s Australian Open tennis championship will for the first time feature electronic advertising boards paid for by gambling companies that include William Hill when the action starts Monday. The boards will be used in the three main arenas at Melbourne Park, named after Rod Laver, Margaret Court and the Hisense company and will present …

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Another DFS company closes down

16 Jan 2016

Daily fantasy sports operator FantasyUp has closed its virtual doors, advising players by email: “FantasyUp no longer has the capital to fund even minimal operations. As of January 14th, 2016, the Company has ceased operations and legally dissolved the business. Our sincere apologies that we cannot process withdrawals, as the Company does not have the …

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Nevada governor reconvenes gambling policy committee

16 Jan 2016

Nevada governor Brian Sandoval announced Friday that he is reconvening the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee to look into ongoing issues in the gaming industry, including daily fantasy sports, skill-based games, the state’s interactive gaming agreement and other matters. The 12 member committee is comprised of politicians, regulators, a tribal representative, stakeholders from the Nevada gaming …

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Betfred online punter gambled with stolen money

16 Jan 2016

The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that 30-year-old accountant Matthew Stevens has been jailed for three years and four months for stealing GBP 850,000 from his employer and gambling it away with online gambling provider Betfred. The accused pleaded guilty to two charges. Prosecutor Martin Robertshaw said that Stevens plundered his firm’s accounts over a 13-month …

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Responsible Gambling Trust chairman steps down

16 Jan 2016

The Guardian newspaper in the UK reported Friday that Neil Goulden, chairman of the Responsible Gambling Trust, has announced his retirement from the problem gambling organisation. The announcement follows conflict of interest questions regarding Goulden’s dual role of lobbying for UK bookmaking companies, the Guardian notes. Earlier this month, the Guardian revealed that Goulden had …

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Online player advocate achieves ADR approval

16 Jan 2016

ThePogg, an online gambling information site that has been active in helping aggrieved players achieve resolutions in online casino disputes for the past three years, has been recognised as an acceptable dispute resolution provider by the UK Gambling Commission. Commenting on the company’s approval as an Alternative Dispute Resolution service, a spokesman said Friday: “We …

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New York online betting ring members charged

16 Jan 2016

Five California men accused of involvement in the operation of a $32 million US online sports betting ring (see previous reports) were charged with conspiracy and illegal gambling in a New York court this week following uncontested extraditions from Los Angeles. The alleged ring leader of the group, Cyrus Irani (39) was named in arraignment, …

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Trio of daily fantasy sports developments

16 Jan 2016

The legality issue on daily fantasy sports continues to occupy the thoughts of US lawmakers at state level, judging by reports from the United States Friday. In Maryland the state’s financial Comptroller has announced that an enquiry into the legality of DFS is to be conducted. The announcement follows the submission of a report by …

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Paddy Power-Betfair merger timetable released

15 Jan 2016

Paddy Power and Betfair have announced a timetable for the forthcoming merger of the two gambling groups, noting that the merger has been cleared by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, and commenting: “Subject to the Scheme being sanctioned by the Court on 1 February 2016, the company expects the merger to complete on 2 …

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Mondogoal and Intralot in Italian fantasy football partnership

15 Jan 2016

The Boston-based fantasy football platform provider Mondogoal is to partner with Intralot in order to expand into the Italian fantasy market, the company announced this week. Mondogoal is launching a new Italian-facing website in concert with the partnership deal, incorporating both freemium and real money gambling services. Shergul Arshad, founder and chief executive of Mondogoal, …

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First William Hill Accelerator winner announced

15 Jan 2016

William Hill Labs’ “accelerator” initiative aimed at encouraging and supporting start-ups with innovative technological ideas has named its first winner, a Manchester start-up branded BetGame which was founded by Doug Ward and Dave Carter. Betgame is leveraging the growing popularity of eSports by bridging the gap between mainstream console gaming and casual betting, with William …

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Two new managers for Mr Green online casino

15 Jan 2016

Bo Wänghammar, chief executive officer at the Mr.Green online casino group, has announced two important managerial appointments. After seven years in client account management at software provider NetEnt, Andrew Crosby has been appointed as head of casino at Mr. Green, and should fit in well after years of working with the company. “Andrew Crosby has …

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Sky Betting a good place to work

15 Jan 2016

Staff at the Leeds, UK base of online gambling operator Sky Betting and Gaming received the encouraging news this week that they work for one of the most employee-friendly companies in Britain. The company has been acknowledged in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies lists as being among the best to work for; a …

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Bet365’s Romanian troubles continue

15 Jan 2016

The strange case of the Romanian regulator’s suspension of online gambling group Bet365’s licence continued to mystify observers this week, when the Court of Appeal in Bucharest turned down Bet365’s appeal against the suspension. It’s turning out to be an expensive affair; the UK gambling group has already had to cough up Euro 30 million …

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Blast from the past as World Sports Exchange returns to the USA

15 Jan 2016

The names World Sports Exchange and Jay Cohen evoked thoughts of a blast from the past among online gambling industry veterans this week as the news broke in the New York Times that Haden Ware, the indicted co-founder of the now long-shuttered online sportsbook World Sports Exchange, has returned to the United States after fourteen …

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Will fantasy sports be Tabcorp’s saviour?

15 Jan 2016

Morgan Stanley analyst Mark Goodridge said this week that the Australian gambling group Tabcorp may turn to an expanded fantasy sports offering to counter falling market share in the highly competitive online gambling sector. Under pressure from aggressive foreign-owned online gambling brands, the company’s market share of online wagering turnover is in decline from 30 …

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An interesting view on eSports potential

14 Jan 2016

Respected business and professional services analysts Deloitte Global has issued an interesting perspective on eSports, predicting that this increasingly important and popular genre will generate global revenues of $500 million in 2016, up 25 percent from about $400 million in 2015, and will likely have an audience of regular and occasional viewers of close to …

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NetplayTV extends airtime deal with ITV

14 Jan 2016

Interactive gambling group NetPlayTV, which recently walked away from acquisition talks with Sportech on a possible The Football Pools deal (see previous reports) has announced that its television airtime agreement with ITV has been extended and will run through 2019. The two companies have enjoyed a successful business relationship that dates back to 2010. The …

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Singapore eSports company shuts down

14 Jan 2016

One of the leading companies in the Asian eSports market, Singapore-based Titan has warned that it is about to shut down due to financial difficulties. Making the announcement on Titan’s website Wednesday, founder and CEO Damian Grust said that the company could not continue to pay its teams or staff, and named the genesis of …

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IOM head of gaming says online is “booming”

14 Jan 2016

In an interview with the newspaper IOM Today this week, the head of the island government’s e-gaming division, Mark Robson said the sector is booming and is expected to grow further in 2016. Robson revealed that the latest government statistics to hand (covering the period 2013 – 2014) show that the e-gaming sector generated 16.7 …

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Betdigital ups hiring to handle expansion

14 Jan 2016

The UK-based digital content developer Betdigital has revealed that it has had to hire an additional five professional specialists to handle an increased workload following the targeted release of more than thirty games planned for 2016. The new arrivals comprise four highly experienced HTML5 developers for the mobile team and an additional mathematician. Commenting on …

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French gambling group to invest Euro 100 million on modernisation

14 Jan 2016

French online and land gambling group Française des Jeux has big plans for the future that include investing Euro 100 million in its ambitious FDJ2020 plan to modernise the group and achieve sales of Euro 14 billion in the future. Chief executive Stéphane Pallez said in a corporate update this week: “By taking up scratch …

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William Hill maintains momentum in 2015

14 Jan 2016

Online and land gambling group William Hill plc has issued a trading update covering the twelve month period to end December 2015, reporting that revenue eased but the company will still make expectations. The update advised that: * Unaudited FY net revenue was GBP1.59 billion, a percentage point lower than the same period in 2014; …

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Online gambling champion in Pennsylvania to retire

14 Jan 2016

One of the foremost champions of legalised online gambling in Pennsylvania, Representative John Payne, has announced his intention to retire later this year, signalling a loss for the legalisation movement he has driven so effectively. Our readers will recall that last year as chairman of the House Gaming Oversight Committee Payne drove legalisation bill HB649 …

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