THE AMERICAS
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed the state’s sports betting legislation, setting up either yet another court showdown or bets at Monmouth Park by Oct. 26; New Jersey’s regulated online gambling revenue fell in September but the Division of Gaming Enforcement rolled out the welcome mat for skill-based game developers; Atlantic City’s surviving casinos fared a little better in September while a bankruptcy judge okayed the Trump Taj Mahal voiding its union workers’ contract; Amaya Gaming declared itself well pleased by the 2014 performance of PokerStars and Full Tilt; Imperus Technologies paid up to $100m to acquire social gamers Diwip; Caesars Entertainment strongly suggested it was planning a bankruptcy filing on Jan. 15; MGM Resorts was exposed as the force behind online poker lobbying in New York; British Columbia’s gambling regulators/operators drew fresh criticism over slapdash anti-money laundering processes; the city of Revere sued the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for allegedly favoring Wynn Resorts; the Borgata wants to use the Crockfords ruling in its own edge-sorting case against Phil Ivey while Gamblit Gaming CEO Eric Meyerhofer explained how to attract younger patrons to casinos online and off.
EUROPE and AFRICA
Bwin.party saw sports betting rise but poker revenues fell by a quarter and PartyPoker cut ties with Marvin Rettenmaier; Sweden’s online gambling laws got a date with the Court of Justice for the European Union; the Netherlands slapped €310k fines on unauthorized online gambling operators; Playtech’s Titanbet inked a partnership with The Sun newspaper; South Africa’s gambling board was suspended over an alleged taste for the finer things; Belgium’s new government plans to add two more brick-and-mortar/online casino tandems while the Czech Republic pondered opening its online market to international firms; PKR rolled out its biggest software update in four years while Bodog Poker cash games went mobile; Ladbrokes teamed with Betfect on a new social sports betting network and Jason Kirk examined Daniel Negreanu’s comments about the common sense behind the recreational poker model.
ASIA
After a week of contradictory reports, Japan reassured investors that its casinos won’t be foreigners-only; Macau’s Golden Week turned out to be less golden than hoped; Las Vegas Sands saw Asian VIP gambling revenue decline but profits rose regardless; online gambling operators began pulling out of Singapore; James Packer said high-rollers were running good in Crown Resorts casinos; Amax International Holdings launched a bizarre plan to offer online gambling to VIPs willing to fly to Vanuatu; the India state of Sikkim handed out its first online gambling license in five years; China announced it had spanked over 7k government officials for gambling offenses; PAGCOR said it was open to new casino applications and Rafi Farber warned Galaxy Entertainment investors that the company may be drowning, not waving.
