Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

august-13-new-weekly-recapTHE AMERICAS
Amaya Gaming officially parted ways with CEO David Baazov; New Jersey’s latest sports betting bid was rejected by a federal appeals court; New Jersey set a new online gambling revenue record and the Golden Nugget launched America’s first online live dealer casino; Betfair claimed not to be worried by the slow start of its New Jersey exchange wagering site while the New York Racing Association launched a new interstate wagering site; Brazil legislators offered further tweaks to proposed gambling laws; Ignition Casino acquired Bovada’s US-facing poker business; Loto-Quebec branched out into eSports betting; Nevada bookies reported only slight interest in Olympic wagering and Scientific Games gave investors a fright by appointing a gambling neophyte to replace CEO Gavin Isaacs.

EUROPE
William Hill rejected the £3.2b takeover bid by Rank Group and 888 Holdings; the UK Gambling Commission sought input on Bitcoin, eSports and social gaming while denying any licensing relationship with Smart Live Gaming’s Betowen.com; Russia warned banks and payment processors to cut their gambling ties; Amaya hired ex-Mybet CEO Zeno Ossko to run its BetStars sports division; GameMiles CEO Gonzalo R. De Los Rios sought to marry the loyalty and gaming industries; Blockex’s Adam Leonard offered a regulator-friendly digital asset exchange platform to financial institutions; Asylum Labs’ Jason Kaehler explained why Wild Party Bingo is the world’s most social game; GreenZorro’s Michael Gill offered online gamblers a way to invest net gambling losses in a management investment portfolio and Global Daily Fantasy Sports’ Darcy Krogh talked up the potential for disruption in European DFS markets.

ASIA and AUSTRALIA
PhilWeb’s owner announced he would sell his stake in the company to spare it further regulatory crackdowns while PAGCOR said CEZA-licensed online operators could be next on Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s shitlist; Wynn Resorts learned it would receive only 150 new tables at Wynn Palace while MGM Resorts said its new Cotai casino would open with no VIP tables; SJM Holdings reported mass market revenue exceeding VIP for the first time; Philippine casinos learned their two-year tax holiday was coming to an end; Australia’s Northern Territory issued its second in-play betting shutdown notice to operators while South Australia banned eSports gambling; Macau junket operator Neptune Group warned investors to expect “significant” losses; SkyCity Entertainment posted a record profit thanks to VIP gains; NagaCorp reported a surge in VIP gaming activity; sources said China’s Baidu search engine knew about illegal online gambling ads but the county’s official internet watchdog gave the company a slap on the wrist; Cambodia busted another Chinese-led online gambling ring and IT services provider HatchAsia made its pitch for more Asian-facing online clients.