Nevada, which is reviewing almost 30 applicants for gambling licenses, is the first state to adopt a statute allowing interactive gaming and the first state to adopt regulations for online gaming of any kind.
A move by Nevada gaming regulators to have independent testing laboratories certify gambling equipment could result in new technology reaching casino floors more quickly.
It also could mean the state's move into Internet poker might happen on a faster pace.
Last week, slot machine makers Bally Technologies and International Game Technology were licensed by the Nevada Gaming Commission to supply potential Internet casino operators with the systems to conduct, manage and monitor online gambling.
Read More: Gaming labs ready as Net poker nears - Business - ReviewJournal-com
Soon visitors at Las Vegas casino resorts will be able to try interactive games before playing for real.
As online gambling news report, the Las Vegas strip is going for interactive gaming at its land-based casino resorts to revitalize the business. In the recent past, the traditional casino industry became increasingly worried about the threats coming from the Internet-based gambling.
Read More: Las Vegas Strip Going For Interactive Gambling | | Blackjack ChampBlackjack Champ
The stakes just got higher. Nevada officials last week approved the nation's first two interactive gambling licenses — a step that clears the way for online poker within state lines, even while a federal interstate gambling ban remains in place. Members of the Nevada Gaming Commission signed off on licenses Thursday for rival slot machine manufacturers Interna tional Game Technology and Bally Technologies Inc., the first two companies to get the certification since officials approved online gambling regulations in January.
Nevada, which is reviewing almost 30 applicants for gambling licenses, is the first state to adopt a statute allowing interactive gaming and the first state to adopt regulations for online gaming of any kind.
“I'm determined that Nevada maintain its position as leader of gaming in the world,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said.
Read More: Nevada ripe for online gambling | LahontanValleyNews-com
The state Senate is poised to vote on a bill authorizing online betting in Delaware and more venues for sports wagering and other gambling.
The bill, which passed the House two weeks ago, was scheduled for a Senate vote Tuesday.
In addition to online slots and table games, the proposal by Gov. Jack Markell expands keno beyond Delaware's three existing casinos to at least 100 sites and betting on NFL games to at least 20 non-casino sites.
Read More: Online gambling bill faces Senate vote in Delaware - SFGate
Ahead of the European Commission’s event on Jun. 27, which is set to discuss the regulation of online gambling as part of its Communication and Action Plan, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) (representing private online gambling operators in the European Union) has announced its hopes and expectations for the event.
Sigrid Ligné, Secretary General of EGBA, said, “European demand for online gambling services continues to grow. As with other areas of eCommerce, European consumers have been voting with a mouse-click. If there is no legal framework to permit popular products to come to market, consumers can be expected to turn to unlicensed and unregulated operators, with all the associated risks. Greater coordination between member states is therefore vital to ensure effective regulation and protection for consumers."
Read More: High Expectations For European Online Gambling Meeting - European Poker News
Good detailed article from the Nevada Appeal on the statewide move towards online gambling. There currently are as many as 30 applicants and last week two were approved.
“Senator Heller continues to support legalizing Internet poker and has been working closely with both Senator Reid and Senator (Jon) Kyl on legislation to achieve this goal.”
“I'm determined that Nevada maintain its position as leader of gaming in the world,” Gov. Brian Sandoval said.
Comments: Nevada posed to take the online gambling world by storm
Gambling styled games on social media targeted at children are dodging federal government regulation and the loophole should be closed, independent senator Nick Xenophon says.
In a submission to the Department of Communication the anti-gambling campaigner urged the government to "address a glaring loophole in the current Act that allows children to access gambling-style games on their phones and on social media sites".
The department released an interim report into the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 in late May.
Read More: Close gambling game loopholes: Xenophon
Presidential campaigns feature a lot of pandering to certain demographics and in this increasing diverse world, they have to be able to cater to certain people. This can make the difference between a winning and losing campaign, and the current United States President is doing what he can to ensure that he has the Latino vote.
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Recent polls have emerged to show that President Barack Obama has a massive lead over Republican candidate Mitt Romney in terms of the Latino population to the tune of 66% to 25%. The Latino vote is important as it is the quickest-growing population in the United States and the President had a huge approval rating with Latinos when he was elected in 2008. He recently just stated that his administration would block the deportation of up to 800,000 illegal Latino citizens, which was a huge power move for the President and put Romney, who has a hardline stance on illegal immigrants. Now Romney’s approval among Latinos is the lowest among any candidate in the last 16 years.
2012 US Presidential Election - Winning Party
Democrats -155
Republicans +125
Of course, the Republicans are doing their best to put a spin on this, saying that the Obama administration is doing this to take the attention away from the poor economy, which continues to flounder. However, Romney has to do something to raise his approval among Latinos, especially second-generation Latinos that the Obama bill is helping out by letting them stay in the country. While the economy is an important issue, immigration is a platform that can really assist the President in securing the votes he needs to stay in the White House so he can have enough four years to work on the economy, so Romney and company will have to pull out all the stops in the trail to the November election.
A Senate vote on the Markell administration’s measure to legalize online gambling was delayed on Tuesday amid concerns that Democratic leaders did not have enough votes to pass the bill.
House Bill 333, which also authorizes the online sale of Delaware lottery tickets and expands gambling outside of Delaware’s three casinos, is the last major piece of Markell-backed legislation yet to pass in the current legislative session.
Senators said it will be the first item on today’s agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Patricia Blevins, D-Elsmere, said support for the gambling expansion was “slipping back and forth” and Democratic leaders “wanted to be certain where we stood.”
Are you excited by the recent push for online gambling? Isn't it awesome that our government is working diligently to provide us with more personal freedoms? Sorry, that was our weak attempt at sarcasm. Everyone knows Big Brother sees online gambling as a form of revenue and to a certain degree, that's OK – so long as we have easier ways to bet online, right? But there seems to be some overestimation when it comes to the financial impact it will have on states if and when this all goes down. Yes, it’ll be a decent chunk of change – as much as $81 billion if somehow it were legal in all 50 states – but in the grand scheme of things, online gambling isn't going to miraculously solve the financial woes of those states strapped for cash.
The Nevada Gaming Commission approved licenses for two software firms to provide the systems needed for online gaming sites on Thursday last week. International Game Technology (IGT) and Bally Technologies, two rival firms based in Reno, will be providing the software.
Neither firms will be running the actual websites, and will have to wait for the state of Nevada to allow casino operators to provide online gaming to Nevada residents.
Douglas Walker, economics professor at the college of Charleston, hinted that the "main political motivation for legalisation of online gambling is tax revenues and employment."
Speaking to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, both Mendres and Bally CEO Richard Haddrill stated that the firms would be ready to go as soon as an online casino operator is approved as both firms already have poker software being used in Europe. Bally purchased the Chili Gaming platform and IGT now owns the Entraction network.
An Amaya Gaming Group company and a leading developer of online betting games, announces that it has signed a new two-year agreement to license its suite of Internet casino games to Betsson Malta Ltd (Betsson), a leading European e-gaming operator listed on OMX Stockholm.
The agreement expands on an existing relationship between the two companies. Under the new deal, Betsson, which has a total active player base of more than 400,000 players across 10 gaming websites, will have access to a portfolio of more than 100 of CryptoLogic's most popular casino games through CryptoLogic's Instant Click platform. These games include award-winning branded and unbranded video slots and full complement of table games such as European Blackjack, European Roulette and Video Poker. Betsson will also have the right to launch any new content released by CryptoLogic going forward.
Read More: CryptoLogic Extends Agreement to License Casino Games to Betsson - MarketWatch
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is a trade body representing the major online gambling operators of Europe. The European Parliament is meeting on June 27 to discuss online gambling regulation. Just ahead of that the EGBA has released a wish list detailing the action required by the European Parliament on this contentious issue.
At the outset the EGBA secretary general Sigrid Ligne thanked the European Parliament for positive steps taken. She lauded European Commission (EC) chief Michael Barnier for reigniting debate on online gambling through his Green Paper consultation and the launch of expert workshops on problem gambling. She also appreciated that the European Parliament has adopted the Creutzmann report, which acknowledged that national stand-alone solutions are not suitable for tackling the cross-border dimension of online gambling and urged the European Commission to pursue infringement proceedings against protectionist regimes.
Ligne pointed out that despite the above steps the situation had worsened. Some nations had even introduced criminal sanctions against online gambling operators and consumers based on legislation that violated EU law. Ligne said, “Without Commission action now, certain member states will continue to consider that they have carte blanche to do as they please.”
Read More: EGBA Provides Online Gambling Wish List
Delaware's legislature on Wednesday passed a law that could make the state the first to open its population to a full range of legal online gambling, including Internet blackjack, poker and slot games.
The bill is expected to be signed by the state's governor and comes in the wake of a Justice Department legal interpretation last year that allowed states to authorize Internet gambling within their borders.
Delaware's move marks a significant step in the long-running debate between the U.S. government, states and gambling companies over whether and how online gambling will become legal in the U.S. It is also likely to help spur legislatures and lotteries in other states to legalize or implement Internet gambling, a long-predicted change that is taking more time to materialize than some observers expected.
The Middle Atlantic region has become a hotbed of gambling competition, and Delaware's move could create a domino effect there, experts said. Earlier this year, nearby Maryland's legislature passed a budget that included $2 million from expected online lottery sales.
Despite the imminent legalization of online gaming in several states, Shuffle Master (SHFL) said it's dropped its planned purchase of online poker company Ongame Network.
Shuffle Master, a maker of casino gaming systems, cited Europe's debt crisis and uncertainty on timing of online poker legalization.
CEO Gavin Isaacs said things have changed a lot in the four months since the company agreed to buy Ongame Network from U.K.-based BWin Party Digital for $26 million.
"Business conditions in Europe have deteriorated since February," Isaacs said, "and as a result, it has become evident to us that Ongame's operations post-acquisition will not achieve the near-term results we initially expected."
Shuffle Master, whose games include Blackjack Switch, Four Card Poker and Texas Hold 'em, fell 6.5% to 12.48 in afternoon trading.
Read More: Shuffle Master Says Stakes Too High So It's Dropping Bid For Online Gamer Ongame Network SHFL - Investors-com
German unemployment figures have prompted the move. Although the number of jobless in Europe's economic engine has fallen to a new record low of 2.8 million, the non-seasonally adjusted drop of 46,200 in June is the weakest increase in the month for 10 years.
Seasonally adjusted the jobless figure rose slightly, although the rate of unemployment was unchanged at 6.8%.
Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING Bank, said:
'At first glance, today’s numbers illustrate the strength of domestic demand, at least partly cushioning the German economy against the negative impact from the debt crisis. At second glance, however, signs are increasing that the resilience of the German labour market is slowly cracking up. The German labour market is losing momentum. This might not be a cause for concern for the German economy, yet, but definitely for the rest of the eurozone.'
Read More: FTSE falls as German jobs data revive eurozone fears - Citywire Money
EU internal market services commissioner Michel Barnier has warned member states face possible infringement proceedings over breaches of EU online gambling rules.
He told parliament the executive will write to several unnamed member states asking them to comply with the regulations.
Failure to do so, he told a meeting on online gambling, will result in infringement action.
Barnier told the packed hearing, "If blatant infringements persist, I will not hesitate to propose that the appropriate measures be taken."
The French official, who was in parliament to outline commission plans to regulate the online gambling market, said, "The development of a more proactive policy must be matched by a firm determination to enforce common rules."
It was the first time he had appeared in parliament to discuss the issue since last November.
Read More: Member states face possible court action over online gambling rules: theparliament-com
TA 'XBIEX, Malta, Jun 28, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Australia and Asia are experiencing dramatic growth in both their online and offline gaming sectors, announce Gaming Club. In a report issued by the long-established online gaming site and IBIS, Australia is estimated to see a 3.3% gambling profit spurt in 2012 alone, with online poker and sports betting continuing to drive revenue.
In a country where sports betting is legal, and sports are a much-loved national pastime, sports betting has contributed substantially to the growth of the online gaming sector over the past decade, with revenue growing to more than $400 million. However, poker and online poker retain their leading share of gambling revenues in the country, with 60% of total Australian gaming revenue expected to come from poker in 2012.
Read More: Despite Economic Gloom, Online and Offline Gaming is Booming in Asia-Pacific, reports GamingClub - MarketWatch
The state Senate has delayed a vote on a bill authorizing online betting in Delaware and more venues for sports wagering and other gambling.
The bill was scheduled for a vote Tuesday, but the absence of one Democratic lawmaker raised concerns about whether supporters had enough firm votes for passage.
The Markell administration and lawmakers also were working to avoid possible amendments to the bill amid complaints by the state's harnessing racing industry that it wouldn't get a fair share of the new revenue. Officials plan to continue talking with the industry over the coming months.
In addition to online slots and table games, the bill would expand keno beyond Delaware's three existing casinos to at least 100 sites and betting on NFL games to at least 20 non-casino sites.
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