THE AMERICAS
Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar made bail on Monday, a day that also brought a flurry of motions to dismiss civil charges against PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker; a San Antonio payment processor forfeited $6m of online poker cash to the feds; Paddy Power and Shuffle Master had a good day in front of Nevada gaming regulators; Ultimate Gaming exec says regulated online poker is “going to happen in 2013”; Californians like the idea of legal sports betting but remain on the fence about online poker; casino business was off in both Nevada and Atlantic City, but the poor performance of AC’s Revel is particularly worrisome.
EUROPE
Paddy Power made a big showing in Italy and on reality TV shows; 888 Holdings had an advert banned in the UK but its stock soared after it predicted it would beat analysts’ expectations with a mighty big revenue stick; Betable offered social gaming companies a way to offer real-money gambling but William Hill CEO Ralph Topping wants social gaming more closely regulated; Juniper Research made a predictable prediction by saying mobile betting will play a bigger role in online gambling, so PokerStars decided to launch its Android app in Spain; Betfair expressed its displeasure at Cyprus’ decision to ban betting exchanges and the head of OPAP’s Cyprus operation had his flash cars torched; FIFA launched an investigation into match fixing claims; French outfit PMU may be the only betting company in France making money; French regulator ARJEL inked an MOU with their UK counterparts and Bet-At-Home launched a legal challenge of the Belgian online gambling blacklist.
ASIA
Universal’s Kazuo Okada may have found a partner for his Manila Bay casino project while Melco Crown’s partnership with Belle Corp will delay the Belle Grande casino opening until Q4 2013; Russia revealed big plans for its Vladivostok casino zone; analysts downgraded Genting stock even before it was suggested that Singapore regulators are reportedly investigating Resorts World Sentosa for reimbursing casino entry fees; Philippine regulator/operator Pagcor set some ambitious revenue targets for 2012; Las Vegas Sands asked Macau regulators for more time to start work on its newest casinos and LVS boss Sheldon Adelson said he doesn’t believe in prostitution (just like we don’t believe in leprechauns).
