AMERICAS
Nevada made history by approving its first two online poker licensees and the sportsbook acquisitions of William Hill, plus the first of the state’s independent testing labs; online gambling bills in Delaware and New Jersey each took a step closer to reality, as did California’s sports betting bill; Fertitta Interactive launched its social gaming site; Intertops stopped accepting new US players; Lock Poker took some heat over its treatment of an affiliate; Phil Ivey signed up for the $1m Big One for One Drop at the World Series of Poker; Elaine Wynn filed suit against her ex-hubby Steve to lift restrictions on selling her Wynn Resorts stock while Vince Martin graded gaming stocks from the perspective of someone who doesn’t have an Elaine Wynn-worthy bankroll to invest.
EUROPE
Playtech set a date for the long-rumored split of its iPoker network into two separate liquidity pools and unveiled its fast-fold poker Speed Hold’em product; Germany’s federal states ratified their new Interstate Gaming Treaty; PokerStars inked tennis pro Rafael Nadal as its new celebrity brand ambassador; Italy merged its gaming regulator with another state agency; former Microgaming skin 5050Poker announced its intention to liquidate; OPAP betting shops in Cyprus are under siege and South Africa’s casino business fears a proposed new tax regime.
ASIA
Despite Philippine gaming operator/regulator Pagcor posting its 11th straight month of record gross revenues, some politicians are determined to privatize its gaming operations; Genting boosted its stock in Echo Entertainment to match rival Crown Ltd.; Wynn Resorts won a legal skirmish in its longstanding war against Kazuo Okada, but Las Vegas Sands lost its bid to quash a suit brought by its former Macau partner; Silver Goose 8’s Aris McKay Lacuna discussed online agencies/junkets with Angelia Ong; Cantor Gaming announced it was seeking a Macau gaming license; analysts suggested the Macau gaming table cap is a myth; Asia drove the growth of worldwide lottery sales and, coincidentally, the number of new millionaires; and the Anti-Euro 2012 police tournament is off to a roaring start.
