THE AMERICAS
The New York DA indicted Cantor Gaming’s sportsbook director and 24 others in an online sports betting crackdown, prompting Nevada regulators to investigate Cantor’s role and us to ask why America doesn’t get it; must-pass cybersecurity legislation may serve as the vehicle for Harry Reid’s online poker bill while big money flooded Nevada to keep Dean Heller in the Senate; for the second year in a row, a hurricane shut down Atlantic City casinos; Canada’s sports betting bill was blindsided by Major League Baseball; Wynn Resorts had a good time in Vegas; Churchill Downs challenged Texas racing law; the California Online Poker Association folded; Facebook posted surprising mobile revenues but denied shaking down gambling fans; Merge Gaming ended P2P transfers; DoubleDown Casino hooked up with another 15 B&M gaming joints; Jason Kirk began his profiles of the World Series of Poker October Nine, Becky Liggero talked online poker legislation with the American Gaming Association’s Frank Fahrenkopf and the online gambling world lost Russ ‘The Major’ Hawkins in a plane crash.
EUROPE
Bwin.party signed Zynga as a UK-facing real-money poker skin; the European Commission offered guidance but no legislation to harmonize the continent’s online gambling laws; UK racing and bookies agreed on a new Levy deal; Ladbrokes launched a branded live dealer offering; Probability had a good Q2; Full Tilt Poker made French players smile; Mike O’Donnell examined the merging of online and offline operations involving PokerStars, Microgaming and London’s Hippodrome Casino; bwin established a land-based presence in Spain and the greatest horse ever earned a long post-racing career getting a leg up on comely mares.
ASIA
After receiving opposition Labor support, Crown Ltd.’s bid for a second Sydney casino license cleared its first government hurdle; Galaxy Entertainment made more money; hoteliers in Vietnam took issue with the country’s draft gaming law; Global Gaming Asset Management upped its stake in Solaire Manila; Singapore gaming regulators inked an MOU with their counterparts in Alderney; Betsson cast a covetous glance at China and Kazuo Okada lost another $200m thanks to Steve Wynn.
