Industry News Archive Page 4

A leading investment bank is touting the future of Malaysia-based Genting International Ltd., as the firm makes a foray into online gambling, a market expected to about $3.1 billion in the U.K. and its commonwealth countries alone, in the next two years.

A panel of impartial arbitrators has ruled that Antigua -- an island nation in the Caribbean -- may suspend its intellectual property obligations, including patents, trademarks and copyrights, to the U.S. in retaliation for the unlawful prohibition of Internet gambling.

Massachusetts is finally getting serious about casino gaming. But just who will open the state’s first major mega resort is still up in the air. Right now it looks like the odds on favorite is...

Banks are telling the U.S. Treasury that regulations proposed after last year's sweeping anti-gambling law will be "impossible" to comply with -- and that the laws must be changed.

The U.S. government said today it will "compensate" the European Union, Japan and Canada over losses stemming the ban on imposed on online gambling last fall. A spokesman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office (USTR) confirmed

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said today that it expects the World Trade Organization to delay the (WTO) decision on the amount of retaliation that Antigua and Barbuda can impose on the U.S. in an Internet gambling trade dispute.

A year after the U.S. government launched an assault on online gambling, Sportingbet.com, the Internet betting and gaming group, and proprietor of the Paradise brand, has revealed a 110% increase in profits, the company said today.

Support for legislation that will repeal the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act is growing. Potentially, the online gambling market is worth $100 billion a year, experts said.

The House Judiciary Committee last week took testimony from both supporters, and opponents, of legalized online gambling in the U.S.

Swedish-controlled online gambling company Unibet Group Plc announced on Monday that it will acquire Maria Holdings Ltd from the Swedish investment company Maria Invest AB. The purchase price is SEK705 million, or approximately $100 million, in cash.

The U.K.'s leading bookmaker Ladbrokes this week said it has started taking Internet bets from Italian gamblers, the latest step in its European expansion.

European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson said on Tuesday the U.S. should not compensate Europe for a move that closed online gaming markets to European companies, but rather "change its laws" to open the markets.

Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister, Baldwin Spencer, is "hopeful" that meetings last weekend with members of the U.S. Congress will help solve a trade battle with the U.S. over Internet gambling.

Two of the Florida's most reactionary Republican politicians are fighting Gov. Charlie Crist -- and federal officials -- over expanded gambling at casinos operated by the Seminole Tribe.

The European Union and France this week reopened talks in an effort to end a long-standing dispute over gambling. The EU is seeking to end state monopolies on gambling in several European countries --

House Speaker Michael Madigan (D) said he will call this week for a second vote on a measure that will finance road construction, and public transportation, through an expansion of gambling in Illinois.

The government in one of Australia's largest states, New South Wales, is moving forward with plans to legalize online gambling within the coming months, experts said.

The European Union has agreed to give the United States "more time" to complete negotiations for a package of trade concessions to compensate for U.S. restrictions on Internet gambling.

The government of the state of Delaware is considering expanding casino gambling -- and sports betting.

Casino gambling revenues in Macau rose in the third quarter by 46% to $2.55 billion, according to a report issued by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau on Thursday.

Inspired by the success of charitable gaming, legislators in the state of New Hampshire are considering a proposal to legalize table games and slot machines.

Seabrook's Yankee Greyhound is planning to add video gaming machines to its offerings, and the local government is supportive of the move.

A state legislator in Rhode Island -- in the northeastern U.S. -- is proposing to allow the state's two gambling facilities open around the clock, seven days a week.

A Goldman Sachs research report, released Wednesday, expressed optimism about opportunities for slot machines to grow, and projected that 2008 and 2009 earnings estimates for three companies will grow more than earlier expected.

In another sign of the international surge of interest in cyber-gaming, London-based Betfair, a leading Internet betting exchange, reported a 30 percent increase in year-to-years sales growth in the year to end April, bolstered by last year's World Cup, experts said.

A new plan to expand gambling in Illinois will provide funds for an array of projects, including more than $200 million in funds to finance public transportation in Chicago, experts said.

An official report released on Wednesday found that 3.5 million people are now regularly betting online in the U.K., a figure that represents a six-fold increase in mere five years.

Gambling revenues in Colorado are growing dramatically, as "gaming towns," including Central City, Cripple Creek and Black Hawk, reported $148 million in gaming revenue for the first two months of the 2007-2008 fiscal year,

Marvel Super heroes – including The Fantastic Four and Spider-man – are now coming to online casinos. Online gambling software developer CryptoLogic Ltd.,

U.S. government officials are saying that they will give the Florida-based Seminole Indian Tribe "expanded casino gambling," an attorney for the tribe said.

Gibraltar-based online gambling firm, 888.com this week reported positive results for the first six months of the year, indicating that the U.S. gaming laws are not harming revenues.

The new governor of Massachusetts, Democrat Deval Patrick, is mulling the legalization of casino gambling in Boston. Returning from summer vacation, Patrick,

MGM Mirage, the entertainment firm, has reached a deal with investors from Dubai World, giving the government-funded group a nearly 10 percent stake in the Las Vegas firm.

Online gaming company 888 Holdings this week posted a significant rise in profits, weathering the storm in American Internet gambling with panache.

Republican Congressman Ron Paul is running for president of the U.S. He's a favorite of the Internet crowd, particularly young people.