THE AMERICAS
Scientific Games agreed to acquire WMS Industries for $1.5b; PokerStars revealed plans to build a data center in New Jersey while Gov. Christie was said to be considering a ‘conditional veto’ of the state’s online gambling legislation and the Department of Justice revealed its legal strategy for beating back New Jersey sports betting; Antigua got the green light from the WTO to proceed with sanctions against the US; we got financial report cards from Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, Penn National Gaming and Bally Technologies; Hawaii and Iowa revived old online gambling bills; Nevada-based online gaming platform provider Zen Entertainment filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and alleged shyster Jeremy Johnson claimed Harry Reid took $1m from Full Tilt Poker to change his mind on online poker legislation.
EUROPE
UK parliamentarians criticized online gambling firms’ efforts to lower their tax bill; William Hill said its 2012 operating profit would top £330m; Rank Group said its revenue rose 5% in the last half of 2012 and announced a deal with social gamers enteraction; BetClic Everest lost another CEO; Spain’s gaming regulator said he wasn’t concerned that a few firms dominate the country’s online gambling market; Betfred expanded the Tote offering with TotelFootball; Rank Interactive’s Ryan Murton examined how gambling firms should utilize social media; Rebecca Liggero talked how to conquer the globe with Betting Promotion’s Richard Hogg, profiled online gaming icon Melissa Blau and provided tips on how to survive the upcoming London Conference Week.
ASIA
Macau casino revenues rose in January; Galaxy Macau was awarded the last 50 gaming tables to be handed out in 2013; PAGCOR’s remittance to the Philippine gov’t topped Ph1b in 2012 while the Philippine senate cut online operators a break on financial reporting requirements; Singapore renewed Resorts World Sentosa’s casino license; Mervin Chan won the Aussie Millions main event; Crown’s James Packer was dubbed the third richest Aussie; Australia proposed tough new penalties for racing fixers and Kazuo Okada wants Wynn shareholders to investigate a $50m payment relating to the land on which Wynn’s Cotai property in Macau will be built.
