THE AMERICAS
Zynga finally confessed it had no shot at becoming a gambling company; a mystery Asian investor fronted $330m to either buy or build an Atlantic City casino for a UK online gambling company; not long after New Jersey’s top gambling regulator said companies wishing to play in his state “should be preparing,” PokerStars challenged the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s claim to its .com domain; social gaming boosted IGT’s profit margins; a Hollywood producer pleaded guilty for his illegal California sportsbook while ‘poker madam’ Molly Bloom prepped a tell-all book on her celebrity poker pimping; tribal gaming revenue hit a new record in 2012; Station Casinos joined the Nevada mobile sports wagering party; Ultimate Poker braced for criticism after announcing a ‘winner take all’ rake method; Sportech boosted its US presence via a deal with Penn National Gaming; Full Tilt Poker’s former US players learned their reimbursements aren’t coming anytime soon; Facebook announced it had tamed the mobile shrew and Vince Martin crunched the numbers behind the Caesars Entertainment spin-off of its interactive division.
EUROPE
The first fruit of the Playtech/Ladbrokes relationship brought some Vegas to Lads’ online site; Svenska Spel’s CEO said he’s under siege (still) by nefarious unlicensed operators; Mike O’Donnell examined the growing ranks of mobile-specific operators; the addition of a new royal sprog did damage to UK bookies while David Cameron suggested other UK kids learn about porn the old fashioned way; PKR decided to retroactively alter its affiliate program; Bodog re-upped with Scottish 1st Division side Ayr United; Becky Liggero checked out the Bitcoin online poker community and Tatjana Pasalic pro-filed the UK’s Sam Trickett.
ASIA
Profit at Las Vegas Sands’ Asian operations more than doubled in Q1; a squabble over Sands’ Macau sub-concession prompted the government to post the casino contracts online; Universal Entertainment copped to having altered documents relating to its Philippine bribery allegations; Bet247 sued Tom Waterhouse for not sharing profits of former SportsAlive customers; Japanese election results smoothed the path for new casino legislation; Vietnam’s first integrated resort-casino finally opened its doors; LT Game announced it would appeal SHFL’s recent patent victory; Genting said it wanted a bigger slice of Echo Entertainment and Steve Jacobs accused Sheldon Adelson of considering himself above the law.
