Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

The week that was…

weekly-news-recap-march-24THE AMERICAS
Former Aussie payment processor Daniel Tzvetkoff will testify against Black Friday defendants John Campos and Chad Elie at their criminal trial in April; Kentucky won the latest round in its nearly four-year-old domain seizure case; Illinois becomes the first US state to sell individual lottery tickets online; Amaya Gaming Group had a very good 2011; Rebecca Liggero talked payment processing in Latin America with Ukash’s Tiago Coimbra and the South American market with Sportingbet’s Andrew McIver; Cantor Gaming let its Las Vegas customers wager with plastic; Churchill Downs top online exec quit; Nevada approved regulations to outsource testing of gaming gear to independent labs; Beneficial Holdings is the latest to apply for a Nevada online poker license and a study found online poker had no negative effect on land-based casino revenues.

EUROPE & AFRICA
The UK introduced a budget featuring a point of consumption tax, leaving online bookies in a tizzy; the European Commission frowned on the new German state gambling treaty; WorldSpreads’ “financial irregularities” led it to announce insolvency proceedings, which prompted the Financial Services Authority to call the police; bookies and sports bodies teamed up to combat match fixing at London’s Summer Olympics; Alderney issued its 100th gaming license (one for every 24 of the island’s residents); Fortuna boosted its Polish presence; South Africa blocked Phumelela’s takeover of Gold Circle’s Western Cape operations; Snai’s 2011 revenues fell slightly, while OPAP’s fell sharply and Everest Poker dragged down GigaMedia’s numbers.

ASIA
Singapore issued its first junket operator licenses; Japanese politicians were briefed on the government’s casino plans; sports betting is the fastest growing form of betting in Australia; questions linger as to how many gaming tables will be allowed when Sands Cotai Central opens on April 11; the Manila Jockey Club entered into a joint venture with GMA New Media; Laos shut down a casino on the Cambodian border; Elray Resources announced it will acquire Macau’s Golden Match; Vietnam told Sheldon Adelson to obey the law and China passed the US in new smartphone activations.