Tragedies often bring out the best, but also regrettably the worst in humanity, and the latter surfaced this week with reports in the Sydney Morning Herald that fake condolence websites set up for the Malaysian Airlines tragedy in Ukraine exposed site visitors to pop-ups advertising online gambling, porn and get-rich-quick websites. The newspaper reports that …
Britain’s Responsible Gambling Trust has confirmed in its latest survey that there is wide consensus among online and land gambling operators on the priorities for self- exclusion as a harm minimisation tool. The study identified specific elements in self-exclusion which are already familiar to most online operators, namely: * Self-exclusion applications should be irrevocable during …
Higher interest rate costs are blamed for a decline in operating profit at Asian internet cafe provider Philweb in Q2-2014, despite higher revenues. The company revealed Friday that its profit in the three months through June suffered a small decline, although operating revenue rose. Profit attributable to parent equity holder of 211.84 million pesos ($4.9 …
When Australian gambling giant Tabcorp’s exclusive four-year sponsorship deal with the nation’s AFL football organisation ends this year, there could be radical changes to the sponsorship scene as online bookmaking companies vie for a share in the market, conservatively estimated to be worth around A350 million a year. The Australian newspaper The Age reported over …
Richard Schuetz, head of the California Gambling Control Commission, has repeated his call for regulatory harmony in United States internet gambling, bemoaning the apparent inability of Congress to agree on a federal solution and describing “multitudinous” regulatory entities for a sector that is both national and international as an outdated concept. However, Schuetz acknowledges that …
Former San Francisco mayor and spokesman for Sheldon Adelson’s Coaltion to Stop Internet Gambling, Willie Brown certainly caught the attention of delegates at the GIGSE conference in San Francisco this week, despite rolling out the now rather tired Adelson scare arguments that online gambling is addictive, dangerous, vulnerable to money laundering and presents underage gambling …
Betfred 30-year management veteran and former managing director John Haddock has been appointed chief executive officer of the UK betting group, filling a void left by the departure of Trevor Beaumont two years ago. Haddock has been widely credited for much of Betfred’s significant expansion as a company in recent years, and says the digital …
The International Police Association (Interpol) has joined police forces around the world in reporting on the number of illegal gambling busts during the World Cup football tournament. The Agence France Presse news agency reports that an Interpol statement detailed more than 1,400 arrests and almost $12 million seized in an Interpol-led clampdown on illegal World …
The Gibraltar-based online casino white label supplier, Nektan, has released details of three new contracts it has inked with a diversity of owners. Red8Casino belongs to gambling technology aggregator Oak Media; Winzino will form part of social games and competitions provider Ludos Media; and GoWin Casino has been commissioned by bingo distributor Spotlight On Gaming. …
The Swedish online gambling group Betsson has posted another strong set of quarterly results, reporting that in Q2-2014 revenues soared 30 percent to SEK 752.3 million (Euro 81.5 million) through organic growth and the success of recent online casino acquisitions Oranje and Kroon. The company said that sportsbetting had also experienced strong growth, due mainly …
Registered as a London-based company just five months ago, the latest turnkey online gambling supplier, London Gaming Company, is headed by industry veteran Joe Coughlin, who has lined up an impressive roll call of content partners that includes Rival Gaming, Leander Games, money game developer Air Dice, live dealer supplier Ezugi and general online gambling …
Akamon Entertaiment, a social casino company focused on Southern Europe and Latin America, claims that a new SuperData study has found that the Latin regional markets are now producing revenues of around $95.83 million. Akamon is on track to reach $20 million in gross revenue this year, Management claims, leading it to surmise that it …
A recent tweet from Ralph Reed, the controversial leader of the US religious group Faith & Freedom Coalition, has created confusion regarding the alleged involvement of the FFC with Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online gambling initiative, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling. Using Twitter, Reed wrote that neither he nor the national FFC are affiliated or involved …
Claims by US officials that the Asia-facing online sportsbook SBObet was used by an illegal betting ring busted in Las Vegas last weekend (see previous reports) are false, the operator said in a statement Thursday. The well-known internet and live tournament high stakes poker player Paul Phua and seven associates, all of Asian origin, were …
Metric Gaming’s latest product, SuperLive Golf, will make its international debut this week in time for the PGA British Open, and Redbet, a sports betting site belonging to the Bonnier gambling group, will be the first carry it. The new product follows the success of Metric’s SuperLive Football, which enjoyed a surge of interest during …
The Scandinavian online casino operator ComeOn! has announced a sponsorship agreement with famous British football club Liverpool FC that will run to the end of the 2015 – 2016 season. CO-Gaming’s Norwegian spokesperson Paul Myklebust said this week: “This unique agreement will give ComeOn! exclusive rights that no other betting partner in Scandinavia will have. …
Malta-licensed online casino operator Vera&John has announced the start of a new three year partnership with Swedish online gambling games developer Thunderkick, with the first games scheduled for launch this week. The initial launch will comprise Thunderkick’s full portfolio of eight games, with Esqueleto Explosive and Toki Time being the first to go live. Kristel …
Online casino games provider BetOnSoft has announced that it has rebranded to Saucify as part of a fresh corporate identity initiative. A company spokesman said the new branding represented the addition of spice to a dish to make it more exciting and flavoursome, reflecting the company’s efforts over the past eight years in the international …
Former Utah Attorney Generals John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff have been arrested on 23 charges of corruption, according to a report in the usually reliable US poker information site Flushdraw. Respected industry investigative journalist Haley Hintze reports that the charges include bribery, unreported income and destruction of evidence, and are connected with the defendants’ association …
Despite a surprising lack of official communication with players, it appears that several major online casino groups operating a slew of well-known brands – Digimedia, Vegas Partner Lounge and the Palace Group have been specifically named by puzzled punters – may be preparing to consolidate their British players on UK-oriented brands that will presumably be …
Perhaps in part motivated by the need for a more cohesive approach in reacting to the public furore over Fixed Odds Betting Machines this year (see previous reports), two industry veterans have formed a new retail betting business interest body. Former BACTA National President Nick Harding and experienced industry exec Peter Hannibal are the men …
Tom Waterhouse, the highly experienced chief executive and part-owner of online bookmaking group Tom Waterhouse.com prior to its acquisition by William Hill plc in 2012, has been appointed by the UK gambling group to head up its Australian interests, which includes subsidiaries Sportingbet, Centrebet and Tom Waterhouse.com. The appointment sees Waterhouse taking over from James …
Belarus, a relatively small nation that was once a part of the old USSR, is reportedly mulling the regulation, licensing and taxation of online gambling. The tax ministry has drafted a proposal for parliamentarians to debate that envisages a government online gambling portal that would provide users with access to licensed and regulated online operators …
The online operations of the Betfred betting group saw the departure of two top executives this week when digital m.d. Chris Sheffield and head of online marketing Adele Lawton said adieu. The reasons for their departure are not clear, but Betfred has engaged an executive search company to recruit replacements, and is restructuring its online …