Lighting up the US media Wednesday afternoon state-side were reports of enforcement actions originating in New York had resulted in the arrest of Cantor Gaming sports book director Mike Colbert (32) on a warrant by the Queens, New York, District Attorney’s office, alleging 8 counts of conspiracy, money laundering, and enterprise corruption. Colbert was taken …
Up in the Great White North, MP Joe Comartin’s proposed bill to legalise single-game betting in Canada appears to have encountered its first real potential opposition from Major League Baseball officials. Thus far private members Bill C-290 has enjoyed a remarkably easy if rather prolonged run through the parliamentary gauntlet of committees and readings. It …
The troubled San Francisco-based social gaming giant Zynga’s third quarter results released Wednesday turned out to be a little better than the market had expected, although hardly stellar. Nevertheless, the company’s shares experienced a much-needed up to 13 percent improvement as it outlined its plans for the future and presented financial statistics. At $316.637 million, …
Ever since Zynga CEO Mark Pincus’ statement earlier this year that his company intends entering the online gambling sector in the UK in 2013, industry observers have been waiting for the other shoe to drop…with which company would Zynga partner? The speculation ended Wednesday with Zynga’s Q3-2013 report, which included an announcement revealing that it …
WMS Industries’ operational website Jackpot Party Casino is set to launch another two new games to its portfolio this week. “Lancelot” is a five-reel, Camelot-themed slot that incorporates the well known characters and iconography of the time. A feature round is triggered by two symbols on consecutive reels, while landing Lancelot and Guinevere on all …
The regulatory auditing and testing agency eCOGRA is benefitting from commercial opportunities opening up for online gambling testing agencies with the expertise and resources to provide compliance and audit services to major international companies seeking national licensing. With the increasing number of governments opting for the regulation of internet gambling rather than banning this form …
The Dutch government, still bogged down by political wrangling on the road to online gambling legalisation is nevertheless persisting with its campaign asking online gambling companies to stop targeting Dutch residents…and a significant number of companies have apparently agree to cooperate. The publication Dutch News.nl reports that over 20 of the 40 online gambling firms …
Pervasive live data delivery over the web from Weswit will power bwin.party gaming platforms in an extended partnership announced this week. Weswit’s Lightstreamer technology will be progressively deployed in bwin.party Entertainment’s online poker, casino and bingo product verticals enabling the streaming of real-time gaming data and messaging across multiple channels and applications including HTML5, Android, …
The much debated and historically fraught UK Horserace Levy Scheme has been agreed between the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB) and the Bookmakers’ Committee who estimate a yield from the April 2013 to March 2014 period of GBP 72.9 Million. The estimation includes a voluntary contribution to British Racing, through the Levy Board, from online …
Fast Fold poker firm InstaDeal will provide its poker service to newcomer Falconbet. The InstaDeal service is available as a traditional download application for Windows and Mac as well as an HTML5 based mobile application. Although very little information exists on FalconBet according to InstaDeal it is “run by a team with more than twenty …
Eindhoven-based game developer Sheriff Gaming has followed up the recent launch of its “Cars & Cash” game with “Bugs“, a 3D graphic-rich progressive slot game. The game revolves around a garden-hunting little girl who explores to find special bugs and prizes. Colourful butterflies hide points or multipliers, while a praying mantis puts the player in …
The vacancy created on the Nevada Gaming Control Board by the resignation recently of Mark Lipparelli is to be filled by Terry Johnson, the director of the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. Nevada governor Brian Sandoval announced the appointment Tuesday, revealing that the new board member will serve out the remaining two months of …
Beleaguered online social gaming giant Zynga’s misfortunes continued this week with a further fall in share price and the news, confirmed by CEO Mark Pincus, that the company has cut 5 percent of its workforce of around 2,850 people and closed offices in the UK and Japan. The Reuters news agency published a copy of …
The release of the European Commission’s action plan for regulating the online gambling market Tuesday carried with it some interesting statistics on European internet gambling. The Commission found that the online gambling industry has an annual growth rate of about 15 percent, with a Euro 13 billion turnover predicted for 2015. There are an estimated …
Online gambling software provider Microgaming has announced that it has added operator Lucky247 to its online and mobile casino clientele list. Owned by To Play Central Ltd, a company regulated by the LGA in Malta, Lucky247 will have access to Microgaming’s suite of casino games alongside the software company’s diverse portfolio of mobile software, which …
The Irish online betting exchange company Betdaq has launched an NFL dedicated microsite that offers live streamed video match commentary direct from the USA each week. BetdaqNFL.com gives punters video previews on every NFL game as well as all the stats and news that they need to make their bets pre-match or in-running. The flagship …
Unidentified sources were active in leaking information from the European Commission’s much-awaited action plan on internet gambling Tuesday, pre-empting Commissioner Michel Barnier’s mid-afternoon press conference tabling the Commission’s proposals for the way forward titled ‘Towards a comprehensive European Framework for online gambling’. Quoting unidentified EU officials ahead of the press conference, the Bloomberg business news …
Perhaps as a preview of the European Commission’s release of its action report on online gambling scheduled for today, the Commission’s head, Michele Barnier published an article in The Times of Malta newspaper Tuesday. Titled “Make Online Gambling Safe,” the article explores regulatory issues in the internet gambling industry in Europe, which Barnier claims is …
The UK government’s plan to cut costs by reducing the number and expenses of public bodies reached the gambling industry last year with the decision to merge the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission, and this initiative has now moved into the consultative stage. Details of the phase can be found at http://www.culture.gov.uk/consultations/9255.aspx, which …
The Responsible Gambling Trust has appointed the respected academic Jonathan Parke as the charity’s Director of Commissioning. Many in the online gambling industry will remember Parke as the man commissioned in 2006 by player advocacy and standards body eCOGRA to conduct one of the largest studies of online gambling player behaviour at that time, presenting …
Swedish state-controlled gaming operator Svenska Spel has been named the official partner to the newly built National stadium called the Friends Arena. The agreement, which runs until the end of next year, is the second similar sponsorship undertaken by the Company following its partnership with the Råsunda Football Stadium. “We are sure that many great …
Online software provider Mahjong Logic has launched its World Championship of Online Mahjong (WCOOM), the inaugural event will take place from November 19 to December 9, 2012. The tournament will utilise Riichi and Hong Kong rule sets in two main events with a combined prize pool and players can qualify through online satellite tournaments or …
Live dealer gaming specialist Evolution Gaming will launch a new dedicated Live Casino area for UK bookmaker Ladbrokes. The dedicated Ladbrokes Live Casino, exclusively available to Ladbrokes’ customers via Ladbrokes.com, will initially offer three Live Blackjack tables reflecting the company’s distinctive red branding. Two of the the three tables will operate 24 hours a day, …
Singapore’s second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran, speaking at the opening of the International Association of Gaming Regulators 2012 (IAGR), said the Country’s Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) had entered into a co-operation agreement with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to strengthen collaboration with an emphasis on information …