A report released this week by online casino guide and directory CasinoCity shows that gaming revenue for North America for last year grew by over eight percent to USD 92.68 billion. The North American Gaming Almanac released by online casino guide and directory CasinoCity shows that casino and card room gaming accounted for 48 percent of total North American gaming revenues with lotteries accounting for 24 percent followed by tribal gaming at almost 22 percent.
Katalin Lukacs, general secretary of the Hungarian Gambling Association, has told the industry there that he is confident there will be no tax increase in 2007. "The facts and figures have justified the reasoned analysis and market forecasts of the association," he said. "The legislator and the organisations responsible for the state control of gambling have accepted that another restriction or tax increase could result in the regression of the market. That would in turn seriously risk the USD 227.1 million gaming tax that is almost certain to be paid in 2007," Lukacs added.
A US gaming lawyer and respected author has stated that online gambling in the nation is not dead despite the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) as there will be increased demand by individual states for involvement in the activity and the revenues it can raise. Martin Owens was speaking in Spain at a conference during the sixth annual European Interactive Gaming Congress And Expo (EiG) and ran over the “curious” nature of state versus Federal law in the United States.
St. John's - Antigua and Barbuda's finance minister on Friday defended his nation's bid to impose USD 3.4 billion in trade sanctions against the United States, which it accuses of ignoring a World Trade Organization ruling against a U.S. online betting ban. Finance Minister L. Errol Cort dismissed criticism of Antigua's plan to target U.S. trademarks with USD 3.4 billion in penalties every year, until the United States applies its online and offshore betting ban more uniformly or allows Americans to place bets with international gambling businesses.
Sports bodies fighting the betting industry over ways of protecting the integrity of sport received backing from the government yesterday. Problems in sport have been highlighted by the case of Kieren Fallon, the former champion jockey, who is currently on trial charged with attempting to defraud customers of a betting exchange. Tennis has also been hit by scandal and Betfair, the online betting company, voided all bets on a recent match after noticing suspicious betting patterns.
According to weekend reports in Gambling News Review, 4Flush and Launchpoker, the Norwegian government minister responsible for matters gambling is planning a Norwegian equivalent of the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The US law has caused so much grief in the industry by inhibiting financial transactions with online gambling companies. In an unsourced, but seemingly authoritative report, the portals claim that Norwegian culture Minister Trond Griske may be taking a page from the US legislation book on hamstringing online gambling in the Scandinavian country.
Gary Kaplan used to throw lavish parties in Costa Rica and plaster the name of his thriving online gambling company on New York City buses. Now, the 48-year-old founder of BetonSports PLC and the multibillion-dollar industry he helped spawn are in reduced circumstances -- the man on the run, the industry in disarray. Mr. Kaplan is a fugitive from a racketeering conspiracy and fraud indictment filed last year in a St. Louis federal court charging him with heading a criminal enterprise that illegally took in over USD 3.5 billion in wagers since 2001.
The referendum battle over a major expansion of Indian casino gambling in California already resembles the stretch run of a bruising political campaign -- despite the fact nothing has even qualified for the ballot. But with signature gatherers circulating petitions for Feb. 5 referendums seeking to stop four of the Golden State's richest tribes from adding up to 17,000 new slot machines, big campaign dollars are flowing and the political vitriol is in full bloom.
A gambling industry group argued in federal court Wednesday that a new federal law against transmitting online bets outside the United States violates people's right to gamble in the privacy of their own homes. The group's lawyers said that, because filtering technology already exists to make sure children and compulsive gamblers cannot access offshore betting sites, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act serves only to stifle gambling companies.
Europe and the United States are on the brink of a major trade dispute worth billions of pounds over Washington’s decision to renege on international trade commitments and protect its domestic gambling industry by preventing foreign companies from entering the lucrative market. The Remote Gambling Association (RGA), whose members include such household names as Labrokes, Skybet, William Hill and Paddy Power, said yesterday that the US action, if unchallenged, could lead to similar protectionist behaviour in other areas.
Wagers made through mobile phones will top USD 12 billion by 2010, according to a new study recently released by Juniper Research. The growth will be mainly pushed by the burgeoning availability of mobile payment processors and liberalization of gambling laws in key markets, such as the UK. The largest growth is expected in the area of mobile lotteries, with more than 380 million people worldwide expected to be playing lotteries through their mobile phone by 2010.
TPG Newbridge, one of the world's biggest private equity funds, seems set to emerge as SkyCity Entertainment Group's mystery suitor. TPG Newbridge consists of Texas Pacific Group and its Asia-Pacific affiliate Newbridge Capital. TPG is already busy building a major position in the international casino sector. With partner Apollo Management, it is set to complete the USD 27.8 billion (NZD 37.4 billion), or USD 90 a share, all-cash buyout of Harrah's Entertainment by the end of the year.
