Las Vegas-based casino equipment maker Shuffle Master has agreed to buy online poker software provider Ongame Network for €19.5 million, with up to €10 million in additional payments depending on whether or not online poker is legalized in the US in the next five years. Shuffle Master is purchasing Ongame from bwin.party, as bwin acquired Ongame back in late 2005 for nearly $600 million and the poker network operator was considered a surplus asset after bwin and PartyGaming merged in 2011. The deal is slated to close no later than nine months from the annoucement, with CEO Gavin Isaacs of [ Read More ]
U.S. gambling laws have gotten a lot of attention lately. Some in Congress want to repeal UIGEA. Some want to strengthen it. Online poker companies were seized and indicted late last year on Black Friday. Last week, it was Bodog, which will likely lead to jail time for founder Calvin Ayre and three others. There have been the multiple efforts to regulate online gambling at the state level. There was the Washington, D.C. regulation that quickly came and went. There was the Department of Justice finally admitting what the courts decided long ago: that the Wire Act bans only online [ Read More ]
Some of the women busted in Cyprus during a gambling raid two years ago are finally being hauled into court, including a 98 year-old woman as well as forty other women in total. most of the women are in their 70s and would gather once a week for an afternoon of poker and bridge for very small stakes. The raid occurred in November 2009 but the women are just now being required to appear in court; unfortunately two of the women have since died with several others now in a nurse home, according to the daughter of the 98 year-old [ Read More ]
It seems that everyone is one Facebook now. Heck, even Gambling Review is on Facebook (so look us up). It’s gotten to the point that someone saying they’re not on Facebook is the new someone saying that they don’t own a TV. You don’t believe them and think they’re a jerk for trying to sound superior. The online gambling industry was admittedly a little slow to jump on the Facebook bandwagon. The industry seemed to be waiting out, seeing if it was a fad that would soon end, like most social networking websites. With over 750 million users and counting, [ Read More ]
GamblingPlanet visitors will have the chance to cash in on an exclusive slots tournament running at Europa Casino from January 23-26, with €1,000 in free prizes handed out to the top finishers. Competing in the contest couldn’t be easier, as you simply have to sign up and deposit at Europa and then play any of its hundreds of slots games — including the Beach Life slots progressive with a jackpot of $7.2 million — and you’ll accumulate leaderboard points based on your play for the tournament standings. Leaderboard standings will be published and updated so you can see exactly where [ Read More ]
Social games developer Zynga has made an about-face in regards to moving into the real money online gambling market, announcing last week that it was in fact seeking out partners to offer online poker or casino games for real money. As recently as a few months ago the company had stated that it had no plans whatsoever to dabble in the real money gambling market, content to use its tried-and-true business model of monetizing its games by selling advertising and offering players the chance to buy additional add-ons and items within its games. The company released the following statement about [ Read More ]
Connecticut is the latest state to eye the possibility of offering online gambling for state residents, with the Mohegan Tribe (which operates the states two brick-and-mortar casinos) exploring the possibility of offering online casino and poker sites. State officials and casino executives in the state are monitoring developments in other US states as interest has been renewed in online gambling in the wake of a US Department of Justice ruling that narrowed the scope of the Wire Act. The Wire Act became law in 1961 and was originally designed to target illegal sportsbets made over the telephone but in recent [ Read More ]
Social games developer Zynga has made an about-face in regards to moving into the real money online gambling market, announcing last week that it was in fact seeking out partners to offer online poker or casino games for real money. As recently as a few months ago the company had stated that it had no plans whatsoever to dabble in the real money gambling market, content to use its tried-and-true business model of monetizing its games by selling advertising and offering players the chance to buy additional add-ons and items within its games. The company released the following statement about [ Read More ]
Casino revenues in November continued to slide for Atlantic City casinos, down 6% to continue a slump that goes back over 3 years for the 11 casinos in Atlantic City. Total revenue for November came in at $245 million, off 6% from what was taken in a year ago in November 2010. Only four of the 11 casinos reported a monthly increase versus last year, with Trump Plaza the biggest loser, off 32% as compared to 2010. Slot machine revenue (which is typically responsible for the bulk of revenues and profits for brick-and-mortar and online casinos alike) was down about [ Read More ]
Rumors continue to swirl that Facebook is in advanced talks with several potential partners about a deal to start offering real money poker games to Facebook users in the UK. Millions of Facebook users play casino and poker games on the site every week but the games are for play money online, without any real money gambled or at stake. That coud change in the very near future, with Facebook reportedly in talks with 888 and other potential partners to offer real money poker games to users in the UK. Any real money games from Facebook would be offered on [ Read More ]
