The gambling week that was, broken down by geography:
THE AMERICAS
International Game Technology said ‘in your face, Zynga!’ by splashing out $500m to acquire social game developer Double Down Interactive; New Jersey approved its sports betting legislation; Atlantic City had its first positive revenue month in over three years; Black Friday defendant Chad Elie replaced his lawyers; the province of Ontario ponders launching a casino in Canada’s largest city; Pinnacle Entertainment may be acquiring the Epic Poker League and Cantor Gaming decides to go public.
EUROPE
Parliamentarians in the UK heard from ‘white list’ regulators regarding proposed changes to the Gambling Act 2005; a German court said internet service providers weren’t required to block online gambling sites; a UK court agreed to extradite a university student to the US to face copyright violation charges; Portugal told Bwin.party to get its filthy gambling paws off the country’s sports franchises; PokerStars’ rake changes prompted a mass protest sit-out at its tables; Victor Chandler rebranded its online operation as BetVictor; Betfair agreed to (a) help the International Olympic Committee monitor for suspicious betting activity and (b) partially compensate those victimized in the Christmas Hurdle cockup; Intralot made a move into South Africa, while Ladbrokes flirted with Betdaq, warned of massive job cuts in Ireland and had a mixed day in the Danish courts.
ASIA
Macau set yet another record, this one for number of visitors; South Korea wants to build a resort casino that can compete with Sinagapore and Macau; construction of Cambodia’s latest casino is on schedule; Philippines’ state-owned operator PAGCOR had a record 2011; Wynn Resorts’ largest shareholder Kazuo Okada has questions about a $135m donation made to the University of Macau; the Indian gaming market could be one spicy samosa, while the whole gaming world appears to be sliding eastward.
