THE AMERICAS
New Jersey’s quest for legal sports betting was served with another temporary restraining order; Amaya Gaming announced it was looking for ways to ditch its Cadillac Jack gaming device operation; Zynga took a page out of Coca-Cola’s book by announcing the launch of Zynga Poker Classic; the Trump Taj Mahal’s owners said the joint would stay open through November but debt-holder Carl Icahn said the casino “will almost certainly close” by year’s end; further evidence of pathological gambling’s genetic component was released; daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings inked a deal with the New England Patriots; Rafi Farber worried about the scale of Las Vegas Sands’ share repurchasing scheme; Breakout Gaming announced the ‘initial coin offering’ for their proprietary Breakout Coin cryptocurrency; Daniel Negreanu and former tournament director Jack McClelland became the latest inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame.
EUROPE
William Hill said its boffo Q3 numbers meant full-year numbers would be at the top end of expectations; Ladbrokes’ earnings EKG finally showed signs of life; Playtech enjoyed its own record-breaking third quarter; Italy eased restrictions on some forms of in-play online sports wagers while Italian poker players won a landmark tax case at the CJEU; Betsson Q3 profits rose more than a third while Net Entertainment reported profit up two-thirds; Spain announced it would re-open its online gambling licensing window to new operators; Gibraltar filed yet another Hail Mary legal attempt to block the UK’s new gambling regime; Tipp24 decided to rebrand as the Zeal Network; Full Tilt officially broke with its pro player past; Sochi braced for the arrival of Russian Gaming Week attendees; Alexander Dreyfus told Lee Davy of his plans to ‘sportify’ poker and Rebecca Liggero’s video team did double-duty in covering the bejeezus out of the Excellence In Gaming conference in Berlin and the Barcelona Affiliate Conference.
ASIA
Macau’s Q3 numbers showed the lowest VIP gaming revenue market share numbers to date and expectations are the current slump will last until mid-2015; Caesars Entertainment offered to build a $1b casino in the Philippines; Japan’s casino legislation progress hit fresh bumps as PM Shinzo Abe dealt with some cabinet resignations; Asian media accused the China Jockey Club of being an elaborate hoax; yet another company promised to build a mega-resort on the island of Tinian; Myanmar moved closer to authorizing foreigners-only casinos in border towns; changes to a South Korean airport’s status has doubled Chinese visitation at the Kangwon Land casino; tornadoes in Malaysia were deemed the result of gambling, dog-petting and big-breasted barmaids; Bill Beatty interviewed MMA fighter Brandon Vera on his signing with the One Fighting Championship and CalvinAyre.com’s cameras captured the mayhem at the WPT Philippines players’ party.
