THE AMERICAS
Zynga hired a former 888 Poker exec to help steer its real-money gambling ship while Facebook is having “discussions” with 888 about boosting its online gambling offering; nine domains seized by the DoJ on Blue Monday have been put on the auction block; New Jersey armed itself with top-notch lawyers to fight the US sports leagues but promised not to issue any sports betting licenses before Dec. 1; Amaya Gaming’s Q2 revenues nearly tripled on strength of Cryptologic acquisition; the Republican National Committee’s call for an online gambling prohibition caught the Poker Players Alliance off guard; former Full Tilt Poker director Howard Lederer and US Attorney Preet Bharara engaged in a spirited back and forth over Howard’s Black Friday civil charges and Nichola Stott provided more tips on social media strategies for online gambling affiliates.
EUROPE
PokerStars suggested it’s prepping for a move into online casino and sports betting, which is bad news for Bwin.party, whose most recent financial update indicated that those profitable channels are keeping the struggling company afloat; meanwhile, Paddy Power posted healthy H1 profits, 888 posted its highest ever revenues and even OPAP found itself in the black; Betfair closed rival operators accounts in an apparent bid to boost data license sales; Playtech launched mobile bingo; the German state of Schleswig-Holstein issued more sports betting licenses and Rebecca Liggero pondered the fate of UK-facing online gambling affiliates.
ASIA
Galaxy Entertainments H1 profits blew the analysts away but Permira Advisers decided to sell its 6.7% stake while the stock was riding high; the popularity of Asian poker got a boost as Stanley Choi won Macau’s biggest ever poker tournament while Bruno Tadebois won the Asian Poker Tour’s first trip to Mauritius; SJM Holdings bought a stake in the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf redevelopment project; Australian football betting will double by 2017 but only if the leagues don’t get greedy; Sands China owns the Cotai walk-up business; Vietnam busted an ambitious online gambling affiliate and the Success Universe Group’s Hoffman Ma says junkets aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
