Gala Coral Interactive has appointed former Ladbrokes digital financial director, James Bunn. Bunn, who will be based in Gibraltar, ended his three year stint at Ladbrokes in April 2015. Prior to Ladbrokes, Bunn served as Commercial Finance Director for British tourism group TUI UK as well as Finance Director – Thomson Airways at TUI Plc. …
The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission continues to study the issue of online gambling legalisation and the experiences of British Columbia, Ontario, Mantitoba and Quebec, which have already regulated and licensed the pastime. Judging by remarks this weekend by Joe Ceci, the provincial government’s new Finance Minister, the AGLC may be leaning toward regulation. Ceci …
The lively debate on internet gambling legalisation in Pennsylvania, and the legislative proposals currently on the table in that state, received the attention of two experienced industry executives over the weekend when Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas, and the CEO of the All American Poker Network, David Licht, spoke out in the publication …
The Australian row over whether online betting sites William Hill and Ladbrokes are circumventing the local law on in-play betting (see previous reports) widened Friday when The Australian newspaper claimed that Bet365’s betCall product was as culpable as William Hill’s Click to Call and Ladbrokes’ Quickcall offerings. “The Interactive Gambling Act 2001 prohibits the placing …
Oficiul National pentru Jocuri de Noroc (ONJN), the Romanian gambling authority, has announced the publication of a blacklist identifying 48 websites that have accessed Romanian online punters without the necessary licensing and have consequently been banned. The eastern European country’s tough new laws require operators to be licensed and regulated…and pay a stiff tax rate …
Online gambling software provider Microgaming has announced the imminent launch of its latest online slot, titled Hot as Hades. The new game is a 5 x 3 reel, 20 line slot, with a tongue-in-cheek theme based on Greek mythology. Hades, with his flaming hair and cheeky grin, takes centre stage as he embarks on an …
Online payments group Optimal Payments has provided a trading update covering the six months period to 30 June 2015 ahead of reporting its interim results on 26 August 2015. The company confirms that trading to the end of June remains strong and in line with market expectations. The completion of the acquisition of Skrill remains …
Paul Phua, the Malaysian high roller gambler and businessman who was arrested last year on charges of illegal sports betting whilst the World Cup football was in progress, is off the hook at last. Almost a year on, and after two court actions which federal prosecutors lost due to the tainted nature of the state’s …
According to a CNN Money report, Chicago has introduced a new 9 percent tax on city residents who use internet services such as Netflix, Spotify and online gaming. The city expects the change to generate an extra $12 million annually. The report reveals that last month Chicago’s finance department amended the established amusement tax to …
The long list of South Korean nationals busted in Thailand for running online gambling related sites targeting their home country continued to grow with four more arrests this week. Thai police officials from the Crime Suppression Division identified those detained as Lee Min-kyu, Kim Hong-in, Park Jung-gi and Son Suck-won following a raid on a …
Last month’s announcement that China’s National Audit Office had discovered that 16.9 billion yuan raised through China’s lotteries in November and December last year had been embezzled or misused (see previous report) has been followed by the launch of a five-month improvement campaign by the Welfare Lottery – the nation’s biggest. Launching the campaign, China’s …
Online and land gambling group Paddy Power’s “guerilla marketing” tactics paid off with plenty of publicity this week amid the political furore in UK politics over immigration. Tongue in cheek, the gambling company picked up on the strong opinions around a sensitive subject, and generated a promotion designed to attract attention and publicity. It certainly …
Media reports in Australia that the federal police are enquiring into the legality of William Hill and Ladbrokes in-play betting offers have been rejected by the Australian divisions of the two companies. Our readers will recall that local media reported that following a complaint, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) had referred the enquiry …
Gambling games developer Zeus Services’ partnership with Bet Logic has paid off with a contract to supply keno software content to betting shops managed by Nigerian sports betting operator Parkn Bet. Parkn Bet is a subsidiary of Champions Bookmakers Nigeria Limited and has more than 150 shops across the African nation. Anthony Zlatanos, chief executive …
The Swedish online gambling group Cherry AB announced Thursday that it has acquired 71 percent of the shares of the Malta-based company Almor Holding Limited, an online casino business specialising in German-speaking markets. The effective date of the acquisition is July 1 2015 and Cherry AB will consolidate Almor within its group accounts from July …
Two online gambling operators, Tipico and TLCBet, have confirmed football sponsorships with British and German clubs this week. Malta-based Tipico has entered a four-year partnership as official betting partner to Bayern Munich, boosting the operator’s Bundesliga presence (Tipico already sponsors Hamburger SV and FC Hoffenheim) TLCBet, which targets Asian markets where UK league football continues …
Online gambling group Bet365, whose owners, the Coates family, also own and sponsor the Stoke City football club in England (see previous reports) have agreed to the temporary removal of the casino logo from the club’s strip whilst the top team is playing in the 2015 Barclays Asia Trophy tournament in Singapore. The move is …
Details of a narrowly averted $32 million cheating attempt associated with a PR stunt to sell the most expensive cocktail in the world were exposed by insiders to the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper this week. The newspaper takes its readers back to 2013 when Crown Casino in Australia mounted a PR exercise based on a …
Sports betting in Canada has reportedly been shelved as the Canadian Senate adjourned for the summer without a third reading or vote on private member bill C-290 (see previous reports). The bill, which seeks to amend the criminal code to allow single-game sports betting, has been kept in protracted limbo in the Canadian Senate following …
Stockholm-headquartered entertainment firm Modern Times Group (MTG) has acquired a majority stake in German-based eSports company Turtle Entertainment who operates under its ESL brand. The acquisition expands MTG’s eSports interests, a market it is already present in with its Viagame platform along with sports coverage across its TV channels. MTG is acquiring the 74 percent …
Holland Casino’s interim chief executive officer Willem-Jan van den Dijssel will leave the company under a cloud for using his company credit card for personal expenses and making the repayments late. van den Dijssel admitted to the oversight saying due to his negligence he would step down as of August 1, 2015. Holland Casino’s Supervisory …
Bitcoin operator Cloudbet will acquire Curacao-licensed BetVIP’s customer base following the suspension of its operations earlier this month. Under the terms of the agreement, Cloudbet has committed to reimbursing BetVIP customers in full with immediate effect and without restriction. “Acquiring the BetVIP player base brings relief to BetVIP players who have been waiting several weeks …
The UK Gambling Commission has written to a number of unlicensed Bitcoin operators who are offering their services in the UK market. The authority clarified that it considers Bitcoin to fall under the category of “money’s worth” saying any operator offering the facility requires an operating licence and without which they are operating illegally.
Playtech’s chief operating officer, Shay Segev, has moved to the Gala Coral Group as chief strategy officer after a nine year career with Playtech which included a relatively brief spell as CEO of Retail operations. Reports in May this year on his appointment as the head of Playtech Retail revealed that the division relies on …