THE AMERICAS
New Jersey’s Monmouth Park formed a sports betting operator association and William Hill US’ boss said his New Jersey sportsbook is ready to go if a federal judge gives the word; Canada’s sports betting legislation became the victim of parliamentary procedure while Saskatchewan’s first tribal online gambling site shut its virtual doors; TD Bank stopped processing online gambling transactions in New Jersey; a bankruptcy court approved the sale of Atlantic City’s Revel to Brookfield Asset Management; Canada’s Intertain Group struck a deal to acquire Vera&John online casino; creditors hit Caesars Entertainment with a fresh notice of default; Maryland Live’s monthly earnings fell for the first time after new competition opened; Alex Dreyfus discussed ways to raise poker’s profile in America and Tom Galanis pondered the sights, sounds and smells of Sin City.
EUROPE
The UK’s new online gambling regime survived Gibraltar’s legal challenge; poker pro Phil Ivey lost his £7.7m edge-sorting lawsuit against London’s Crockfords casino; a German court kept federal sports betting licenses on ice; Ladbrokes exited three more grey markets; Norway warned online gambling operators to stop their illegal marketing; RAY cancelled plans to build a Russian border casino; Bet365’s Italian sportsbook got off to a flying start; Latvia and Bulgaria updated their online gambling blacklists; PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg won the UKIPT high roller event; Win CEO Barak Rabinowitz explained the appeal of social sports betting to Rebecca Liggero while Lee Davy explained how PokerStars and the Global Poker Index intends to transform Malta and why Vanessa Selbst is indispensable to PokerStars.
ASIA
Macau casino revenue fell for the fourth straight month and worse may be on the way now that the smoking ban has taken effect; Singapore’s online gambling bill passed its second reading, leaving operators like PokerStars wondering how soon to get out; Japanese legislators scared the bejeezus out of casino operators but then reassured them that locals will be allowed in casinos; a Malaysian illegal online gambling operator was the target of a grenade attack in Kuala Lumpur; PAGCOR promised to fine Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment if it doesn’t open his Manila casino on time; NagaCorp said rumors of the death of its Phnom Penh casino monopoly were greatly exaggerated and Sam Razavi told Angelia Ong the secrets of playing poker in Asia.
