THE AMERICAS
Nevada regulators gave preliminary nods to two more online poker operators and the nation’s first ever licensed affiliate; New Jersey claimed the sports leagues trying to block its sports betting plans have no standing to do so; Antigua appears poised to up the ante in its trade war with the US; Fitch says Caesars Entertainment’s debt load will compel it to spin off its Interactive division; Quincy Jones denied Joe Francis’ claims about Steve Wynn being a homicidal maniac; Betfair announced the launch of a Canadian free-play casino that wasn’t actually ready; a new social sports betting app got a lot of ink; we wondered whether Bitcoin-only casinos were ready for primetime; LVH sportsbook director Jay Kornegay discussed US sports betting trends with Jamie Hinks and Jason Kirk says American poker players shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that neither Republicans nor Democrats give a shit about them.
EUROPE
Madrid got the nod to host Las Vegas Sands’ EuroVegas project; iPoker split into two liquidity pools and added Betclic Everest to its network(s); the Partouche Poker Tour committed suicide after being caught trying to weasel out of a guaranteed prize pool, but did the right thing in the end; Belgium added 10 more names to its blacklist; PokerStars denied it was planning to open casino and sports divisions (but we know better); two Française des Jeux subsidiaries won an Israeli sports betting contract; Merge Gaming Network’s CEO quit and Mike O’Donnel examined your options for wagering on the NFL in the UK.
ASIA
Macau bounced back in a major way in August with its second best revenue month ever; Melco Crown is still serious about its Entertainment City Manila project; Pagcor is expected to pay off handsomely in 2013; a Korean online gambling operator was accused of forcing people to work for him in Thailand; Cambodia proved no place to hide for a founder of file-sharing site the Pirate Bay and our own Bill Beatty felt like a right dick at his first ever cockfight.
