February 7th, 2011 / No Comments » / by admin
Creating something of a stir Tuesday, the Bloomberg business news agency reported that the merger between Party Gaming plc and Bwin Interactive could result in the online poker network and software developer Ongame being sold off.
The report was later confirmed by an unnamed Bwin spokesperson, who said that the respected online poker company may be sold either lock, stock and barrel or offered to strategic partners, as it could be regarded as a ‘surplus asset’ once the poker platforms of the merger principals were rationalised.
The spokesperson stressed that there was no immediate urgency for such a sale.
Ongame was acquired by Bwin in 2005 for €475 million, but the acquisition was followed by the drastic impact in late 2006 of the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which resulted in many top internet gambling companies – Bwin among them – exiting the US.
The merger partners could play a waiting game, given the possibility of a higher sales price if the US market continues to show promise for legalisation initiatives,
“We understand that the American gaming industry wants online poker regulated, as they want access to that revenue stream,” the spokesperson noted. “Regulatory developments in the US would raise interest in these assets. But we haven’t yet established any firm deadline, and will look at all options.”
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February 5th, 2011 / No Comments » / by admin
The European Gaming and Betting Association, a trade body representing most of Europe’s major online gambling companies, has released a progress report on new self-regulatory measures aimed at providing a high level of consumer protection and ensuring that remote gambling operators behave responsibly.
The measures are currently awaiting publication by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).
EGBA quotes John Ketchell, Innovation Director at CEN, who reports that CEN’s “Responsible Remote Gambling Measures” covers a list of attributes considered as best practice for companies offering remote gaming services.
Amongst the topics covered are the protection of vulnerable consumers, including prevention of underage gambling, protection of customer privacy and safeguarding of information, commitment to ethical and responsible marketing, to customer satisfaction and support, safe and secure IT environments, and zero tolerance of fraudulent and criminal behaviour.
CEN is one of three European standardisation organisations officially recognised by the European Union, and currently publishes some 1,500 documents annually, all drawn up by experts from industry, governments, consumers, academia, and others in open consensus.
Most CEN publications are formal European Standards, and can take up to three years to develop. CEN Workshops, on the other hand, offer a faster and less formal process, providing an open platform, not simply limited to representatives of national delegations or even to European interests, thus encouraging global participation.
Drawn up on an open basis and with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, standards help ensure a level playing field for industry to market competitive products, to foster innovation and to support consumer requirements for transparency.
These voluntary activities provide an important tool for industry self-regulation. They avoid undue complexity in legal requirements and, since they are drawn up by the expert stakeholders themselves, they are reliable and cost-effective. They can be updated relatively easily compared with the length of time often required for regulatory processes.
The “Responsible Remote Gambling Measures” initiative commenced in May 2010 with 25 registered participating entities, and the draft was based on inputs (over 600 specific contributions were made), with account taken of existing documents, such as voluntary codes of conduct.
CEN then submitted the document to public comment between July and September 2010.
The CEN Workshop participants have now approved the final document, and CEN expects to publish the agreement in February 2011.
“This may only be a first step, in the sense that the CEN community will be ready to consider additional activities when the stakeholders are ready and willing, for example to work towards the creation of a full European Standard in due time,” says Ketchell.
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January 1st, 2011 / No Comments » / by admin
December 31 – Go Casino and its sister casinos will be ringing in the New Year with the New Year’s $12011 48-Hour Celebration.
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December 24th, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
The government of Cyprus, which had hoped to introduce a ban on internet gambling on the Mediterranean island before 2010 ended, has had to push back its plans by three months following delays in the bureaucratic machinery of the European Commission and its feedback from member states and the EU executive.
Reporting on the hiatus, the Reuters news agency quoted a finance ministry spokesman as recalling that the island government sent its proposed legislation to the European Commission for approval, hoping for its imprimtaur before the year ended.
However, it has now been advised that feedback from the EU executive and member states will not be ready until March 2011, rather than mid-December.
The Communist-led government wants to retain online sports betting but ban all other forms of internet gambling on grounds that it seeks to protect its citizens from harm. It has used the European Court of Justice decision for Portugal as a model for its attempt to be exempted from EU principles.
Posted in: Casino News
December 21st, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
The big news coming out of Italy right now is that the World Series of Poker is coming to town. The popular poker tournament, which is owned by Caesars Interactive Entertainment (formerly called Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment), has partnered with Microgame.
Not to be confused with software developer Microgaming, this company is a Montreal-based software developer that specializes in online poker. Their poker platform is the largest in the new Italian online gambling market. As a result of the long-term deal, the World Series of Poker will be advertised and marketed extensively in Italy with online tournaments and poker tournaments in brick and mortar casinos.
For online poker players already excited about the newly liberalized market in Italy, news of the World Series of Poker coming to the Boot is particularly exciting. The WSOP is the most recognized poker tournament in the world, partly because of co-opts the “World Series” name from the popular Major League Baseball postseason tournament. I heard of the WSOP before I even began following poker, partly because it plays such as pivotal role in the movie Rounders.
Mitch Garber, CEO of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, is excited about the partnership, calling the deal “a logical step in our European and global expansion strategy.” He referred to Microgame as the “clear leader in Italy” and the obvious choice for growing the World Series of Poker brand in the Italian market.
As part of the deal, Microgame will have exclusive rights to provide the World Series of Poker in Italy. They will hold WSOP tournaments for Italian players and will also have exclusive booking rights for pre-registering Italian players for the Main Event of the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
Tags: Italy online gambling, online poker, World Series of Poker
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December 18th, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
With possible intrastate online gambling legalisation bills under consideration in New Jersey, California and Florida, there was speculation in West Virginia this week that the growing competitive pressure that could develop may cause a rethink on the state’s present antipathy to internet gambling.
The Charleston Gazette reported that the consensus remained against the concept, quoting John Melton, lead legal counsel for the West Virginia Lottery Commission. Nevertheless, Melton acknowledged that there was a strong argument for the proposition that the internet was the next major frontier in gambling.
Melton said lawmakers in West Virginia have not yet addressed the issue, adding: “If everybody else does it, we’d probably do it as well.” He warned, however, that the idea of betting over the Internet has certain problems for state officials looking to enforce gambling laws. Any legislation put in place would have to include safeguards to make sure underage bettors aren’t gambling.
Eric Schippers, vice president of public affairs for Penn National Gaming, which owns Charles Town Races and its accompanying casino in Charles Town, predicted: “More and more states are going to be exploring this issue.”
He pointed out that officials would have to make sure the gaming system remains in-state, so that someone placing online bets in Morgantown wouldn’t see their Internet signal pass through Pennsylvania before arriving in Charleston.
Schippers said Internet gaming probably will require federal regulation before all is said and done, and might end up in court as competing interests battle for and against the concept.
“I think there’s going to be some legal action against it,” Schippers told the newspaper. “I think we’re going to be a passive observer of how this plays out in New Jersey before we look at other states.”
Dan Adkins, vice president of Florida-based Hartman & Tyner Inc., which owns Mardi Gras Casino & Resort in Nitro, told the Charleston Gazette that he probably would take advantage of Internet gaming at the casino if West Virginia lawmakers approved the idea.
However, he had reservations about the technology, saying: “I don’t think the technology is there, despite what people say, to make it safe. I’m not too sure it’s a good idea.
“I’m not too sure the country — let alone West Virginia — is ready for it yet.”
Posted in: Casino News
December 11th, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
The latest (October) performance statistics for land casinos in Nevada, released Thursday, have given the industry cause for cautious optimism according to widespread US media reports.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board reported that during October casinos in the gambling state won $888.6 million, an 11% increase over October 2009. The state collected slightly more than $60 million in taxes based on casino gambling revenues, an increase of 22%, the regulator advised.
On the key Las Vegas Strip, which usually provides up to half of statewide gambling revenues, casino winnings jumped 16%. Strip resorts won $494.8 million in October, up from $426.3 million a year earlier, according to an Associated Press report. Winnings at casinos in downtown Las Vegas rose 10.3%.
Gaming Control Board analyst Mike Lawton told Associated Press that the October results mark the third consecutive month of rising casino winnings. The last truly positive result was April-June 2007, immediately before the global recession started to bite.
Lawton revealed that statewide win was up even without baccarat, a high-roller game favoured by Asian players that has been a saviour for many casinos in recent months. Excluding baccarat, the statewide win was still up 8.5%, he said.
Gamblers in general wagered $11.7 billion at table games and slot machines, with the $2.4 billion wagered at table games up 1.3%, while the $9.28 billion wagered on slots rose 0.3% – the first gain in slot wagering since October 2007.
Elsewhere around the state, Washoe County, which includes Reno and Sparks, won $70 million, up 4.3%. In Elko County, casinos’ winnings totaled $23.6 million, up nearly 9%.
Casino winnings fell 4.5% at South Lake Tahoe and 5.6% in the Carson Valley area.
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December 6th, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
The much delayed introduction of a more open Danish online gambling market has been exacerbated by further complaints to the European Commission from local land casino operators and the local slot machine association, according to media reports surfacing over the weekend.
The main reason for complaint appears to be the proposed 20% tax rate which has been proposed by the government, considerably less than the 41% paid by land gambling licensees. The government remains confident that it can prevail, with a spokesman recently asserting that the proposals were in compliance with EU law.
Other complaints from the wider industry relate to the mandatory requirement in the new law that applicants cease all online gambling activity involving Danish players until such time as their licenses are issued; this has been widely perceived as giving selected Danish licensees an unfair head start in the liberalised market.
Opinions differ on how long the European Commission may take to give its view on the issue, but it seems likely that this could take months, perhaps going beyond the “before this summer” estimate suggested by some observers, and certainly longer than the previously hoped for date of January 1, 2011.
Posted in: Casino News
December 2nd, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
There has been a lot of talk in the online gambling industry lately about the U.S. Congress passing gambling legislation during the lame duck session. To be honest, I’ve never paid much attention to it because I thought there was no way it would happen.
Congress usually doesn’t pass anything major or anything controversial during the lame duck session. In addition, there are much bigger concerns for Congress right now, such as avoiding a January tax hike and funding the government. Yes, that’s right. Congress has not yet gotten around to passing a bill providing funding to the government. Without a stopgap funding bill, there would be no appropriations for the government – not that that’s important! With unemployment at almost 10% and underemployment at almost 18%, there are much bigger things for Congress to do by the end of the session than worry about online gambling.
I should have known, though, that this Congress doesn’t care about what is important; they have their own priorities (that’s why so many lost their jobs). So instead of worrying about keeping taxes at their current level (or better yet, lowering them), they are more concerned with passing an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants, repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, passing a weak START treaty and more. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise if they consider online gambling a priority, too.
I’m now paying attention to this scenario because it’s now being reported by legitimate sources. Yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Democrat Senators are being accused of a secretive deal attempting to pass online gambling legislation in the lame duck session. Three Republicans in the U.S. House are calling the process “closed-door” and “undemocratic.”
Those representatives are Spencer Bachus (who will be chairman of the Financial Services Committee), Dave Camp (who will be chairman of the Ways and Means Committee) and Lamar Smith (who will be chairman of the Judiciary Committee). All three committees would oversee online gambling legislation if conducted through a normal open Congress.
The three representatives believe that some Democrats plan to attach online gambling legislation to “must-pass” legislation, such as tax cuts, and have asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to abandon the secretive deals and conduct business out in the open.
In the letter they said that creating a new industry and “imposing an unprecedented new tax regime on such activity requires careful deliberation, not back-room deals.” They have a right to be angry, and this Democrat-controlled Congress has been one of the worst at history in terms of crooked back-room deals. Still, to be fair, UIGEA was passed as a sneaky add-on to a bill in 2006.
Many in the gambling industry applaud this move to pass online gambling legislation as an add-on, but is it a good idea? I want online gambling legalized in the United States, but can the Democrats who have ruined every industry they have gotten their hands on be trusted to regulate the industry in an efficient way? (The answer is no). Can they be trusted to tax the gambling industry in a fair and appropriate rate? (The answer is no).
I am 100% opposed to the tactic of conducting secretive back-room deals to push legislation through, but I support legalizing online gambling. Does the ends justify the means? To me, the answer is no, especially when I don’t trust the Democrats to regulate the industry in a way that allows the industry to thrive. However, passing gambling legislation would not be a priority for the next Congress and if they were to pass it at all, it would probably be a while. Maybe we should hope that the legislation passes now and that wise fiscal conservatives can amend the law later to make it more sensible. What do you think?
Tags: gambling legislation, recession, U.S. online gambling, UIGEA
Posted in: Casino News
November 30th, 2010 / No Comments » / by admin
December 2 – All Slots Mobile Casino has launched the legendary Thunderstruck video slot exclusively for the Apple iPhone mobile device. Thunderstruck joins ten other games on the platform, and is is available in instant play mode on the Iphone with no download necessary.
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