THE AMERICAS
American poker players finally got a glimpse at Sen. Harry Reid’s online poker bill, which is guaranteed to please Nevada and piss off the other 49 states; Nevada issued three more online poker licenses and the state’s first licensed affiliate says Nevada needs more affiiliates; New Jersey got punished by the NCAA for announcing it will issue sports betting licenses in January, but the state will get to depose the sports league bosses over their sports betting opinions; the global online poker market posted its first gains in two years; Churchill Downs launched its female-focused online race betting site Luckity; Jim Harbaugh gave one finger to 49ers bettors by taking two points off the scoreboard; Jason Kirk profiled this year’s inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame; Joe Falchetti took a look back at six years of the UIGEA and we looked back at Mitt Romney’s first term as president.
EUROPE
William Hill posted boffo Q3 profits while Sportingbet finally agreed to be acquired by the Hills/GVC combo; 888 Holdings saw revenue up 7% in Q3; Ladbrokes posted modest Q3 profits and severed ties with its US affiliates; Betfair suspended activity with its German affiliates; Rank Group’s fiscal Q1 looked positive French operator PMU had an okay Q3; PokerStars won’t be paying Full Tilt Poker’s former affiliates a dime but it will be paying FTP’s new ambassadors Tom Dwan and Viktor Blom; Las Vegas Sands plans to break ground on EuroVegas in 2013; Stanleybet filed a protest over the Belgian lottery’s sports betting favoritism and Rebecca Liggero took in the sights and sounds at the European iGaming Expo.
ASIA
MGM China got its long-awaited go-ahead to build a casino on Macau’s Cotai Strip, and SJM Holdings got their own nod 24 hours later; Macau VIP revenue slipped in Q3 but analysts aren’t overly concerned; Solaire Manila is on track for a March 2013 opening; Philippine authorities busted yet another Korean-run illegal online betting site while Thailand shut down some Cambodian-based sites; TLC88.com joined the Bodog Poker Network and inked a betting partner deal with Premier Leaguers Sunderland FC; Tabcorp’s revenue rose in its fiscal Q1; Singapore unveiled its amended Casino Control Act while Resorts World Sentosa’s treatment of Flipper’s friends pissed off some nature lovers.
