THE AMERICAS
Intertain Group said it was finalizing a potential $1b acquisition; Nevada casino gaming revenue fell in 2014 despite record sports betting; Sen. John McCain said he’d like to hold congressional hearings on legal sports betting; a judge approved Illinois as the proper venue to consider Caesars Entertainment’s bankruptcy; social gaming was the lone bright spot of IGT’s fiscal Q1; Minnesota pols aimed their guns at the state lottery’s online operations; Sheldon Adelson said jump and Lindsey Graham said how high; federal authorities busted an illegal online betting and marijuana operation in Oregon; Delaware’s regulated online poker revenue fell 77% in 2014; Scientific Games picked Las Vegas for its new corporate HQ; the World Series of Poker kicked PokerNews off its live reporting team; a SWAT team broke up a poker game in Virginia; Cloudbet’s Dennis Laudrup explained why Bitcoin is the best SuperBowl betting option and the online marketing chief for Atlantic City’s Tropicana casino explained why no piece of customer data goes uncollected.
EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST
Rank chose Bede Gaming as its new core online platform provider; France’s regulated online gambling market was saved by sports betting; Dutch regulators fined ComeOn Europe €180k for targeting Dutch punters; Russia announced it was scrapping one of its designated gambling zones; Cherry AB took a 51% stake in affiliate Game Lounge; Bwin.party warned it would take a €15m hit this year from new EU VAT rules; a Turkish political party was accused of being a front for gambling operations; a new study determined spot-betting was no great threat to match integrity; Beirut’s Casino du Liban was the target of an aborted car-bombing plot; Wink Bingo’s Eltan Gorodetsky discussed the art of rebranding; Betsson’s Simon Lidzen discussed the personalization of mobile apps; Inspired Publishing’s Tiz Corta offered insights into effective affiliate marketing; t2Marketing International’s Stephen Padveen listed 20 criteria for building a social media player archetype and Rebecca Liggero offered her picks for the top six sessions to attend at the London Affiliate Conference.
ASIA
Macau casinos lost 34 junket operators in 2014 and Macau officials proposed a full smoking ban in casinos; Las Vegas Sands’ mass market strength helped it ride out Macau’s downturn; Donaco International acquired the Star Vegas casino in Poipet; Sri Lanka’s new gov’t officially scrapped plans for new resort casinos; Bloomberry Resorts acquired land in South Korea with an eye toward international expansion; a call center working for Ole777.com was raided by the Philippines’ Bureau of Immigration; Singapore’s Remote Gambling Act readied its starter’s gun and a China Welfare Lottery cockup sparked allegations that the fix was in.