Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

THE AMERICAS

Amaya Gaming officially parted ways with CEO David Baazov; New Jersey’s latest sports betting bid was rejected by a federal appeals court; New Jersey set a new online gambling revenue record and the Golden Nugget launched America’s first online live dealer casino; Betfair claimed not to be worried by the slow start of its New Jersey exchange wagering site while the New York Racing Association launched a new interstate wagering site; Brazil legislators offered further tweaks to proposed gambling laws; Ignition Casino acquired Bovada’s US-facing poker business; Loto-Quebec branched out into eSports betting; Nevada bookies reported only slight interest in Olympic wagering and Scientific Games gave investors a fright by appointing a gambling neophyte to replace CEO Gavin Isaacs.

EUROPE

William Hill rejected the £3.2b takeover bid by Rank Group and 888 Holdings; the UK Gambling Commission sought input on Bitcoin, eSports and social gaming while denying any licensing relationship with Smart Live Gaming’s Betowen.com; Russia warned banks and payment processors to cut their gambling ties; Amaya hired ex-Mybet CEO Zeno Ossko to run its BetStars sports division; GameMiles CEO Gonzalo R. De Los Rios sought to marry the loyalty and gaming industries; Blockex’s Adam Leonard offered a regulator-friendly digital asset exchange platform to financial institutions; Asylum Labs’ Jason Kaehler explained why Wild Party Bingo is the world’s most social game; GreenZorro’s Michael Gill offered online gamblers a way to invest net gambling losses in a management investment portfolio and Global Daily Fantasy Sports’ Darcy Krogh talked up the potential for disruption in European DFS markets.