THE AMERICAS
Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal closed but not everyone believes it’s down for the count; the Golden Nugget’s casino-only site was New Jersey’s top online earner in September; GameCo got the nod to launch skill-based games in Atlantic City casinos; Canadians think online gambling is more harmful that it actually is; VGambling Inc. launched a bid to turn an Antiguan casino into a live eSports venue; Illinois police seized a drug dealer’s $50k lottery jackpot; and industry notables Victor Rocha and Jeff Ifrah reminisced on the 10th anniversary of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
EUROPE
William Hill’s largest shareholder said the Amaya merger talk “didn’t pass the smell test;” Sky Betting & Gaming announced plans to expand into Germany and Italy in 2017; Marathonbet launched a Manchester United-themed online casino; Dutch regulators convinced Apple to purge gambling apps from the App Store; the new non-criminal Betuniq prepped its return to Italy’s online market; the Republic of Georgia went looking for someone to manage its lottery; Olympic Entertainment Group revenue rose one-fifth thanks to its new Estonian casino; Betgenius’ Moritz Mauer discussed the difficulties of offering in-play eSports wagers; and Ed Pownall wondered why that nice William Hill bloke can’t find a dance partner.
ASIA and AUSTRALIA
The Philippines announced it had received 76 applications for its new ‘offshore’ online gambling licenses; the man who stole $1.3b in junket investor funds was detained in Cambodia after two years on the run; Chinese authorities arrested 18 Crown Resorts staffers for unknown reasons; Taiwan’s Penghu County rejected the latest casino push; New South Wales did an about-face on its greyhound racing ban; Macau welcomed 8% more visitors during this year’s Golden Week holiday; News Corp Australia bought racing affiliate Punters.com.au and the Star Entertainment Group got the official okay on its Queen’s Wharf Brisbane casino project.
