Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

weekly-recap-thumb-may-4THE AMERICAS
Fertitta Interactive offshoot Ultimate Poker became the first Nevada-licensed operator to offer real-money online poker in the US; the Atlantic Club declared the death of its acquisition deal with PokerStars’ parent company but the Rational Group wasn’t ready to admit defeat; a veteran congressman admitted he was prepping a new federal online poker bill; Delaware awarded its online gambling tech vendor contract to 888/SGMS; Amaya Gaming saw both revenues and expenses soar in 2012; backers of New Jersey sports betting filed briefs with the US Third Circuit Court; MGM Resorts posted a surprise profit in Q1; the Merge Gaming Network altered its rake system; Jason Kirk previewed five players to watch at this year’s World Series of Poker; Lee Davy talked to US ex-pats about playing online poker in Mexico; Caesars Entertainment had another crappy Q1 so Vince Martin analyzed Caesars’ “big, stupid” decision to spin off its interactive arm.

EUROPE
William Hill’s bid to force Betfair users to pay the UK horseracing levy was rejected by a UK appeals court; the Greek government sold its 33% stake in OPAP for below market value; Daniel Pidun won the main event at the European Poker Tour Berlin; Mike Linster won the World Poker Tour BestBet Open; Mike O’Donnell wondered how Playtech will spend its WHO windfall and examined Facebank’s high-tech fraud prevention efforts; Lee Davy recapped the HTML5 v. Native App debate at the mGaming Summit while Rebecca Liggero took her digital blotter to the Online Bingo Summit.

ASIA
Taiwan’s cabinet finally approved casino gambling draft legislation; record visits to its Cotai properties pushed Las Vegas Sands to record revenue in Q1 as Sands denied that its decision to part ways with its auditor after 25 years was connected to Macau money laundering investigations; Macau revenues rose 13% in April; Genting Singapore’s revenues took a hit from high-rollers; tax rate revisions had casino operators in the Philippines’ Entertainment City project crying foul; an Aussie punter challenged Sportsbet’s right to limit his wagering options; China appointed a new ‘tough cop’ to its Macau liaison office and Terry Fan won a record-breaking Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon main event.