The major item of the week was the UK’s announcement that it will require operators serving UK punters to obtain a UK-specific license from the Gambling Commission. While it’s clear that this move will effectively do away with the White List, the tax implications of such a change have yet to be detailed. Bodog demonstrated its ability to roll with the punches by announcing the licensing of Bodog UK mere hours after Minister Penrose’s announcement. Their quick out-of-the-blocks response must be due to the caffeine in all that coffee they drink.
Full Tilt in exclusive talks with mystery investor(s)
Turns out the Full Tilt Poker bailout deal first reported by the Los Angeles Times was actually just an agreement to give an unnamed investor an exclusive three-week window with which to negotiate the terms of such a bailout and to allow the investor to conduct due diligence. Amazingly, despite all FTP’s woes, a survey found that three-quarters of German poker players would return to the site if/when it came back online. People really do love that freaking software.
Mamma mia, that’s-a spicy meatball-a! William Hill preps Italian site launch
William Hill intends to launch its Italian-market site via an “imaginative marketing campaign.” We can only hope that it will revolve around a brand new game entitled Bunga Bunga Bingo.
Australian media targets online gambling sites
Reporters at The Australian chased betting exchange Betdaq out of the Aussie market, then turned their investigative attention on Bet365. Will the Stoke outfit prove as easy a pushover as Betdaq, and could you find anyone on Betdaq willing to make a wager on this question?
Nothing but bad news for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire
The fallout from the News of the World phone hacking scandal claimed more media victims this week, including News International chief exec Rebekah Brooks and Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton. Their ill-advised quest to provide a temporary boost to tabloid circulation has now scuttled Murdoch’s bSkyb bid and, if allegations of UK police bribery and 9/11 victims phone hacking prove true, may have further consequences for Murdoch’s American media properties, including cable powerhouse Fox News. Should be interesting to see how The Simpsons treat this scandal when the new season debuts this fall.
Nevada gaming industry not quite dead yet
Nevada’s total gambling win in May was up 16.2% over the same month last year, the largest monthly increase since Dec. 2006. So are things really booming in Vegas, or was May 2010 just a really sucky month?
12Bet, Bodog announce new Premier League sponsorship deals
It looked like Fashion Week in the Premier League as 12Bet announced a jersey sponsorship deal with Wigan Athletic, while Bodog signed on the dotted touch-line with West Bromwich Albion.
National Basketball Association lockout appears to be a lock
Negotiations to salvage the 2011-12 NBA season appear to be going nowhere. Maybe the roundballers could learn a thing or two from their zeppelin-shaped cousins at the National Football League, who (with just weeks before preseason games are supposed to start) are allegedly close to a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement.
Dr. Patrick Basham says health warnings on gambling ads misguided
The new patron saint of gambling believes government attempts to extend tobacco-style graphic health warnings to gambling ads will not accomplish what proponents hope to achieve, and may actually encourage non-gamblers to give gambling a second look. Um… thanks?
Poker rakeback war — what is it good for?
Bodog Network VP Jonas Ödman takes a look at the brewing rakeback war between Party Poker and Titan Poker and wonders… why can’t poker companies give peace a chance?
Speaking of poker, there’s a little thing called the World Series of Poker Main Event taking place.
VIDEO PICKS:
Rebecca Liggero takes a two-part look at licensing jurisdictions and their different approaches to regulation and taxation. Meanwhile, Dana Workman sits down with US presidential candidate (and poker fan) Gary Johnson.
