THE AMERICAS
PokerStars filed suit to prevent the Atlantic Club from selling itself to any other buyer; secret audio recordings revealed the full extent of Russ Hamilton’s involvement in the Ultimate Bet cheating scandal; Lock Poker blamed its no-pay/slow-pay woes on dodgy plumbing; Nevada’s top gambling regulator doesn’t think ‘entity’ betting will pass federal inspection but he does think Rebecca Liggero gives good interview; William Hill struck a prospective sports betting deal with Monmouth Park; four US states filed a friend of the court brief supporting New Jersey’s legal challenge of the federal sports betting law; the Federal Bureau of Investigation copped to placing bets with Legends Sports; federal lobbying for online gambling fell hard after the Reid-Kyl bill’s failure; Kansas posted the biggest growth among US casino states in 2012; Atlantic City casino revenue fell 12% in April; Amit Babhkani won the WPT Canadian Spring Championships and Vince Martin revealed the surprise winner of the ‘most improved’ performer category in the online gambling stock awards.
EUROPE
The UK’s new gambling bill made its parliamentary debut in the Queen’s speech; Betfair stock hit its highest point in over a year after posting an upbeat trading update; Crockfords casino called Phil Ivey a card cheat after he sued to collect millions in baccarat winnings; Italy published its exchange betting regulations and declared 888 Holdings to be the first company to violate its new gambling advertising regulations; Turkey proposed heavy fines for online gamblers; Lottomatica confirmed it had taken a stake in the group that purchased a 33% stake in OPAP; H2 Gambling Capital mapped out the future of online gambling and Lee Davy talked mobile gambling with Paddy Power’s Jamie Reeve.
ASIA
Singapore announced it intends to take a tougher stand against online gambling; Australian bookie Tom Waterhouse was formally summoned to appear before a parliamentary committee investigating betting and sport; Taiwan’s navy called gambling sailors ‘scumbags’; gaming device maker Alfastreet announced it was skipping G2E Asia over rival LT Game’s patent protectionism; Melco Crown Entertainment’s profit fell on Studio City construction costs while SJM Holdings’ profit rose thanks to a boost in VIP business; Galaxy Gaming agreed to purchase Macau’s Grand Waldo Complex; Chinese sports lottery operator AGTech added a heavyweight investor; Jae Kyung Sim won the Asia Pacific Poker Tour Cebu main event and Asian Poker Tour CEO Jeff Mann discussed the growth of poker in Asia with Angelia Ong.
