Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

april-25-new-weekly-recapTHE AMERICAS
Yahoo! announced it would enter the daily fantasy sports market; Lock Poker’s ponzi scheme appeared to have run its course; Wynn Resorts rejected Elaine Wynn’s quest for a board seat; Tropicana Entertainment inked a social casino deal with Ruby Seven Studios; Delaware’s regulated online poker market got a boost from interstate liquidity; Amaya Gaming’s insider trading probe was linked to a Hell’s Angels boss; the American Gaming Association asked the new US Attorney General to help fight illegal online gambling; Caesars Interactive boss Mitch Garber was named chairman of Cirque du Soleil; Rafi Farber took issue with reports that ‘vice’ spending is falling and Rebecca Liggero recapped the goings-on at Days One, Two and Three of the GIGse 2015 confab.

EUROPE
William Hill saw its Q1 numbers undone by winning punters and higher taxes; Ladbrokes had a similarly sucky Q1 and announced the restructuring of its struggling Irish retail business; Deutsche Telekom launched its German-facing sports betting site; gambling operators rushed to release new Apple Watch apps and Sweden dropped its jihad against gambling apps in the App Store; Italy considered a ban on television gambling ads before midnight; NYX Gaming Group’s revenue surged 46% in 2014; PokerStars launched its new Safecharge-powered StarsCard, expanded its casino options and parted ways with Jonathan Duhamel; Playtech went on a hiring binge; Inspired Gaming inked a VLT deal with OPAP; Germany’s online sports betting licensing plan continued to stumble; marketing maven Justin Brookfield revealed how UK sportsbooks can adjust to the market’s grim advertising costs and Raising For Effective Giving’s Louie Helm examined poker’s impact on society.

ASIA
Macau VIP revenue fell 42% in Q1; Sheldon Adelson poured cold water on rumors of a Macau visitor cap and Sands China was rumored to be converting Sands Macao to a non-gaming facility; China’s lottery sales fell for the first time in two years after the suspension of online sales; Macau junket operator Iao Kun Group inked a deal with Australia’s Crown Resorts; Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun confirmed its interest in a $5b South Korean casino project; Taiwanese authorities revealed their role in a Chinese online gambling bust; Chinese authorities launched a criminal investigation into the cancelled APPT Nanjing Millions tournament; South Australia confirmed it would press ahead with its online point of consumption tax plans; the Philippines Court of Appeals sided with Kazuo Okada against Century Properties Group and Coinpoint CEO Oron Barber revealed why now is the time to become a Bitcoin gambling affiliate.