THE AMERICAS
Harry Reid broke his silence on his online poker bill, which Sen. Dean Heller says will pass this year or not at all; the World Series of Poker final table will be an almost entirely all-American affair; Churchill Downs Inc. applied for a Nevada online poker license; Georgia will be the second state to sell lottery tickets online; Vegas sportsbooks can’t take Olympic wagers; WMS Industries launched an online/mobile subsidiary; Wynn Resorts saw revenues fall and Caesars Entertainment was fined $100k for letting minors party on; US federal attorneys called Kentucky’s attempt to claim online poker domains “unconstitutional;” BetED’s Darren Wright got probation and a fine for his Blue Monday indictment and Tatjana Pasalic profiled Phil Ivey.
EUROPE
Ireland published its new online betting license guidelines but it may be too late to save the country’s ailing horseracing industry; William Hill closed its German sportsbook and lost its war with Betfair at the Horserace Betting Levy Board; Intralot struck deals in Italy and Germany; Bwin replaced Betfair as Man United’s official betting partner; Probability acquired Playyoo; PartyPoker killed off its high-stakes games; PKR released new software and iPoker clarified the penalties for not being fish-friendly.
ASIA
Noted US investigative news outfit Pro Publica took a closer look at Las Vegas Sands dealings’ with key figures in Macau and Beijing, while Sands got an extension on when it has to start moving earth for its latest Cotai project; mass-market gaming in Macau is growing faster than the VIP segment; PhilWeb profits rose in H1; Andrew Tan’s partnership with Kazuo Okada involves more than just a Manila casino and Bloomberry Resorts is poaching Filipino casino workers from Macau to work at its Entertainment City Manila facility.
