THE AMERICAS
California made history after an Assembly committee approved an online poker bill; 888 Holdings inked an online gambling deal with Pennsylvania’s Mount Airy casino; Penn National Gaming bought the Tropicana Las Vegas; Nevada prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for SealswithClubs’ Bryan Micon; former Legends Sports CEO Luke King was found guilty of illegal sports betting; Amaya Gaming was rumored to be acquiring daily fantasy sports operator DraftDay; Kansas’ attorney general said fantasy sports weren’t illegal; social gaming was Churchill Downs Inc’s top money-maker in Q1; the Borgata’s online gambling operation posted its third consecutive quarterly profit; Nevada sportsbooks got a boost from March Madness; Sheldon Adelson said he despises his overseas executives; Jim Murren said MGM Resorts would survive an online gambling ban; a new study said problem gamblers see patterns where none exist; poker players did battle with artificial intelligence; Rafi Farber explained the deviousness of Caesars Entertainment’s shell game and Becky Liggero offered her top-five takeaways from the IGNA and GiGse 2015 events.
EUROPE
It took over a month, but 666Bet customers reported receiving payouts; Playtech’s Q1 revenue jumped nearly one-third, Net Entertainment’s Q1 profits jumped 61% and Unibet’s profits fell one-third; PokerStars retroactively altered its affiliate agreements and launched an appeal for Nepal earthquake relief; Portugal started the 60-day countdown to its new online gambling regime; the UK’s advertising watchdog admitted that gambling can be “a positive experience;” GoCoin’s Eric Benz explained why the Isle of Man rocks for Bitcoin-based businesses and Casino Kings’ Nathan Howles discussed the secrets of marketing a mobile casino.
ASIA
Steve Wynn warned that Macau would face street protests if the revenue situation didn’t improve; William Hill found an ingenious workaround to Australia’s ban on online in-play betting; Tabcorp launched an eSports betting platform with Unikrn; Resorts World Sentosa tightened its credit policy as bad debts soared; Tatts Group officially launched its new UBET betting brand; PAGCOR’s Q1 revenue fell on competition from Entertainment City casinos; Japanese lawmakers decided to give casino legislation one more try and Criz Hombrebueno revealed what’s new at G2E Asia 2015.
