In case you’re only now sobering up from an eggnog-furled lost weekend (or two), be sure to check out Calvin Ayre’s predictions for the year ahead.
THE AMERICAS
PokerStars vowed it would establish a US footprint in 2014, be it in New Jersey or elsewhere; an Oklahoma Indian tribe sued federal officials over their attempts to block the launch of the tribe’s international-facing online gambling site; Caesars Entertainment and Wynn Resorts got into a pissing match in Massachusetts, where licenses will be handed out in May; Zynga added Bitcoin to its list of payment options; UK National Lottery operator Camelot lost a lot after Pennsylvania canceled plans to privatize the state lottery; Nevada casino revenue rose thanks to a serious uptick in baccarat and football betting; Jessica Lange signed on to appear in the remake of the 1974 flick The Gambler while Robert De Niro was rumored to be playing the lead in the film adaptation of Gary Green’s The Gambling Man; Rebecca Liggero caught some Latin American online gambling flavor via reports from the SAGSE and BGC confabs and got Kelly Shaw to talk up Aristocrat’s plans to conquer the regulated US market.
EUROPE & AFRICA
Boylesports announced plans to boost its presence in the UK market; Media Skunk Works’ Paul Reilly explained the need for affiliates to purchase links as well as the need to purchase them wisely; punters in Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal enjoyed expanded online sports betting options; Jason Kirk offered his poker predictions for 2014; Lee Davy conducted annual reviews with Dusty Schmidt, Max Silver and Marvin Rettenmaier while confessing that poker can be rough on players’ families.
ASIA
Macau showed no sign of decline as its annual casino gaming revenue haul rose 18.6% to $45.2b in 2013; Taiwanese legislators put the kibosh on mainland casinos happening anytime soon, while Taiwanese and Chinese authorities took down a cross-border online gambling operation; a stalled Vietnam casino project in Quang Nam province was revived thanks to a mystery investor; the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. caught a tax break on its internet betting shops while South Korea’s celebrity sports bettors caught a break from a judge in Seoul and Macomber International’s Dean Macomber discussed why baccarat holds such appeal for Asian gamblers.
