Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, a consistent campaigner in Congress for legalised and regulated online gambling in the United States, appears to be warming up the media ahead of his next attack – widely believed to be imminent – on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Gibraltar-based online casino and poker group 32Red plc has added 32Red Spreadbet, a platform for financial spread betting and contracts for difference, to its offering.
Joining the trend of online gambling corporates that seem to be successfully surviving the weak world economic conditions, Betting Promotions has announced a set of Q.1 2009 results that includes an impressive increase in net turnover after expenses of some 80 percent.
The land and online gambling group Leisure & Gaming plc has posted positive FY 2008 results that include gross profit up 70 percent, and operating profits back in the black.
The Scandinavian skill games developer and network pprovider Jadestone Networks is pleased with first quarter 2009 results just out, which show good progress for its DiceArena and GamArena networks, and a growing player base.
The latest quarterly newsletter from the player protection and standards organisation eCOGRA comes at a time when the subject of certification – for online gambling operations or affiliate programs – is a hot topic of conversation.
Many gamblers have commented on Internet message boards this year on the increasing “stinginess” of land casinos when it comes to “comps” – player incentives in the form of free meals, drinks, shows, hotel rooms and promos.
A police action in Ireland almost a year ago that saw the closure of a casino club in Clonmel, County Tipperary, culminated in a lost court case for the prosecution this week.
Tough times often bring about good deals, as the UK listed gambling group Rank plc found this week when it acquired a land casino in Coventry, England for GBP 650 000.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that online gambling group Betfair has suggested to the Australian Productivity Commission enquiring into gambling that strictly limited access to public records such as motor vehicle registries, births, deaths and marriages data and passport information could be an effective way for betting companies to verify ID on players.
In another public slanging match across several mainly affiliate-oriented message boards this week, an executive of the beleaguered Effective Media Group (EMG) claimed that a customer had not paid consulting fees due and had made off with the online casino, changing its name in the process!
Tex Rees, the Fair Gaming Advocate at the independent player protection and standards body eCOGRA, has released the organisation’s first quarter 2009 player disputes report.
Online bingo software developer Virtue Fusion Alderney, has been chosen by UK gambling group Talarius to provide bingo for its new Quick Silver Games.co.uk (formerly known as Cyberslotz) website.
The burgeoning Australian operations of online gambling group Betfair show no sign of slowing down, with a new horse racing sponsorship announced this week with the Strathalbyn Racing Club, which becomes the first regional South Australian race club to secure sponsorship with the betting group.
The European online e-cash processor Moneybookers has appointed Tero Pollanen as head of anti-fraud activities, one of a series of new hirings that has seen Moneybookers’ headcount double since the beginning of 2008.
Government claims that Australia would not fall into the world recession this year were proved wrong this week….all to the profit of economy-savvy gamblers who were not taken in by political opinions.
The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi tribe in Michigan, USA has ambitious plans for a land casino operation managed by Gaming Entertainment Michigan, but until that becomes a reality the venture is depending on a free Internet casino to build awareness and brand identity.
A federal court in Boston has found a local businessman reputed to have organised crime connections guilty of sports betting and loan shark ring racketeering that includes unspecified online operations.
Reports in the French daily newspaper Le Monde suggest that several well known industry companies, including Betclick, Unibet, and Bwin are already active with French associates in gearing up for the liberalisation of the French online and land gambling market, expected by most observers to occur in 2010.
Increases in the already heavy taxes on drinking, smoking and gambling were included in the British government’s latest budget proposals, although these were largely overshadowed by the boost in general tax rates for those earning over GBP 150 000 p.a., who have been hit with a 50 percent tax rate as the Chanellor continues to …
Optus, the second largest Internet Service Provider in Australia, has given the federal government’s controversial plan to filter Internet content a boost by agreeing to take part in a six week trial of the scheme.
The Justice Ministry in Switzerland has been tasked with drafting a proposal with the objective of licensing and regulating a small number of Internet gambling operations, reports Swissinfo this week.
The Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI), has been around long enough to make a sterling contribution to the debate on legalising online gambling in the United States, prompted by its goal of freedom for individuals to safely and legally gamble over the Internet.
The Canadian Internet gambling software developer and provider Chartwell Technology Inc., has announced that the major Vienna listed online gambling group Bwin International has renewed its software licence – the fourth time it has done so.