THE AMERICAS
Amaya Gaming acquired daily fantasy sports operator Victiv; Brazil’s president vetoed her country’s sports betting plans; the FBI launched a new Internet Sports Books Initiative; the Augur project previewed its forthcoming blockchain-based prediction market while California sweepstakes cafés began using proprietary ‘alt’ currency; New Jersey’s online poker market continued to shrink; Intertain’s Q2 losses spiked almost as much as its revenue; GameAccount Network inked an online free-play casino deal with California’s San Manuel Band; Antigua and the US made progress on resolving their WTO dispute; IGT enjoyed double-digit revenue growth in Q2; Major League Baseball set a new record as all 15 home teams won on a single day; PokerStars Team Pro wrapped up its California tour; Rafi Farber put Yahoo’s new daily fantasy sports site under the microscope and Tatjana Pasalic checked out the DraftKings Lounge with Jonathan Aguiar.
EUROPE
Ladbrokes H1 profit slumped on new taxes and poor sporting results; Sportech confirmed receiving a takeover bid from Contagious Gaming; Playtech scrapped its two-tiered poker network experiment while Full Tilt’s tweaks produced a minor blip in cash game traffic; Betsafe’s ‘no bullshit betting’ campaign raised eyebrows; Spain’s online gambling market shrunk despite its slots launch; Mr Green’s Q2 outperformed the European market; Bet-at-home’s H1 earnings jumped 81%; NYX Gaming Group acquired eGaming Consulting; Germany’s taxman gave fair warning to Malta-licensed online gambling operators; Coral added its second English Premier League betting partnership, Betfair inked its fifth EPL deal and Smarkets inked its very first; Stephanie Racquel explained all you need to know about mobile advertising and Akiva Ben-Ezra explained why iGaming affiliates need to embrace their inner Spielberg.
ASIA
James Packer resigned as Crown Resorts chairman after a “mixed” fiscal year but rival Echo Entertainment’s profits jumped; Japan’s politicians gave up on their casino legislation (again); accused online gambling operator Wang Bo was deported to China and Dafabet felt the need to distance itself from its former employee; SJM Holdings’ H1 profit fell by half; India’s Supreme Court said a lower court’s ruling that rummy was gambling didn’t apply to the online game; Genting Singapore’s Q2 profit fell 91%; Bloomberry Resorts posted a net loss in H1 after expenses rose; NagaCorp’s H1 revenue spiked along with Cambodia’s tourism; SkyCity’s Asian VIP business rose 42% last year; Melco Crown revealed its gaming table contingency plan for Studio City while cutting staff at City of Dreams Manila; Tabcorp credited its digital division for boosting 2015’s profits; South Korea’s MERS outbreak sickened Grand Korea Leisure’s profits; Nepal’s casinos looked to India to replace Chinese gamblers; Ladbrokes Australia intro’d its new ‘cash-in’ feature; lottery and games operator AGTech Holdings’ H1 profit rose by half while China LotSynergy inked two new lottery technology deals; PAGCOR predicted great things for 2016 while denying its Manila Army & Navy Club casino plans were illegal and Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey revealed why 6-Plus Hold’em is sweeping Asian poker.
