THE AMERICAS
Delaware’s online gambling bill passed the House but California’s bill hit yet another snag; Bally Tech, Shuffle Master and the Ongame Network inked a three-way deal; Pinnacle Entertainment won the Federated Sports + Gaming asset auction; Nevada and Atlantic City revenues headed in opposite directions; Phil Hellmuth won a record 12th WSOP bracelet; Zynga shares nosedived but rallied slightly with the release of Zynga Slots; Cantor Gaming made its first casino deal in California; one of the indicted BetED figures was sentenced to probation but there’s still no sign of players’ deposits; Manny Pacquiao’s disgraceful treatment at the hand of Nevada boxing judges continues to make waves while Floyd Mayweather Jr. was told to grow a pair; Caesars Entertainment’s Jan Jones talked up the prospects of a US regulated online poker market while Vince Martin posed the question ‘just how big can US online gambling get?’
EUROPE
Bwin lost its legal bid to have its name scrubbed from Belgium’s online gambling blacklist; Playtech set a date for its move from the AIM to the main LSE market and provided a little more detail on its latest plan to put money in founder Teddy Sagi’s pocket; UK regulators clarified their stance on social gaming; Ireland will publish its gambling law amendments this summer; Ladbrokes extended its deal with Cryptologic; Microgaming changed its rake structure; our Anton Fabico summarized the Gaming In Holland conference; the International Stadiums Poker Tour claims to be on target for a 2013 launch and Jamie Hinks crowned Euro 2012’s best WAG.
ASIA
Crown’s James Packer and Genting’s Lim Kok Thay met to discuss the fate of Echo Entertainment; Mike O’Donnell examined Boylesports’ Asian expansion plans; Euro 2012 prompted anti-betting crackdowns across the region, including the bust of an SBObet call center; Pagcor continues to fight plans by some Philippine pols to strip it of its gaming operations; the average Macau gambler drops two grand per visit; Mahjong Logic saw its highest ever sign-up rate from the launch on Bodog88; Chinese mobile phone users will top 1b by 2014 and Kazuo Okada fired the latest legal shot across Wynn Resorts’ bow.
