The world known and world famous online gambling website, William Hill, has seen its domain name banned and added to the Belgium’s government black list of companies. Their website literally became outlawed in Belgium and it is illegal to play on their website. The Belgium gaming commission claim that they do not have the proper gaming licenses to operate within their boundaries.
The Belgian Gaming Commission has recently released an expanded list of operators who continuously offer their services to the Belgian market which has caused them to get outlawed and blacklisted. Belgium’s government has introduced earlier this year a new license-based system that will allow a certain limited amount of online casinos and operators to offer online poker.
Only once that license will be acquired by the operators will they be able to operate within the borders of Belgium. Once that number caps out, no more licenses will be given out.
Belgium is known for its infamous blacklist of online casino operators. the blacklist has now reached 30 blacklisted online casinos and they contain some of the biggest names in the industry such as: Expekt, Stan James, Betsson, Betclic, Betfair, 888, Chilipoker, Titan, and of course, William Hill. The list still has a lot of place on it and they do not count on being lenient for any online casino operator.
What will happen if a Belgium citizen decides to play at any of the blacklisted online gambling operators? Well unlike the UIGEA the United-States has inaugurated which prohibits any and every online gambling operators from accepting payments from US citizens, this outlaw targets players and prohibits them from playing at any of the blacklisted online casinos.
If a player is caught playing at any of the online casinos, he can face a heavy fine that can reach up to $25,000. If the player continues to play, the opreators might face heavy fines themselves as well as having access to their websites closed permanently by Belgium’s internet providers.
If all the blacklisted online gambling operators wish to be able to operate in Belgium, they would have to bring some changes on how they operate and the way they manage things. Basically, they would have to fulfill the gaming rules and regulation that Belgium has established before being able to be removed from the blacklist and be fully operational.
]]>The leading online gambling software developers, Playtech Limited, have recently announced that they have reached a record high growth. For the first 6 months of 2023, they have a seen a growth increase of 101% for a total of almost $200 million. This is the biggest growth that they have ever seen.
The first-half brought in a total income of $229 million which represents a 86% growth year-on-year. Adjusted earnings saw a rise of 64% if compared to the same period last year for a total of $118 million. Playtech’s net profit of the last 6 months period was of $109 million. This represents an increase of 67% year-on-year even though the tax profits saw a drop of a little over 30% if compared to the beginning of last year’s initial half.
Playtech have declared that they have made a very strong start for the 3rd quarter of this year. They said that they have a daily revenue increase of 25% compared to last year’s same time period. They are extremely happy with their performance and count on keeping it going up in a straight line. They are looking forward to see its’ full year results and seem to be confident that they will be very good. Even though the regulatory changes in Spain arose a little issue, they remain confident that it won’t affect their market shares by much.
After announcing these great news, Roger Withers, the Non-Executive Chairman for Playtech, shared the following words at a press release: “It has been an exciting six months for the company and I am delighted to report that Playtech continues to deliver impressive results,” said Roger Withers, Non-Executive Chairman for Playtech.
I am particularly pleased that the company completed its move to the main market in early-July. Playtech’s multi-channel approach strengthens its market-leading position allowing it to maximise the potential for growth in newly-regulating markets in addition to enhancing existing relationships with traditional operators.
In the first half of the year we recognised the growing importance of the social gaming sector and positioned ourselves to penetrate the market through innovative software licensing arrangements. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the future of European and United States regulation, the company is ideally positioned to take advantage of changes in the online gaming market through further expansion of its joint ventures and organic growth strategy.
Playtech is the supplier of choice for technology and services for the worldwide online gaming industry and we look forward with confidence to building on our positive momentum.”
]]>The world known online gambling agency, 888 Holdings, have recently announced that they have reached their highest ever 6 month revenue. This has been announced and confirmed by the company’s CEO, Brian Mattingley.
This was the first results received since he has took the job full time and have shown a total revenue increase of 21%. This digits behind that percentage are of $186.4 million which is a direct result of the B2C numbers. In the same perspective, the poker revenue has increased by 72% for a total of $41.3 million. The online casino has seen an increase in revenue of 20% of $83.1 million.
Brian Mattingley, the CEO of 888 Holdings, has announced the following to the local media: “This has been an excellent first half of the year. The tremendous increase in customer numbers caused by the improvements in our product offering has led to these record results, with the highest revenues in the history of 888. On the back of this performance, the Board has decided to reinstate the interim dividend, while we retain the cash necessary to continue growing the company.”
Ever since they have relocated their business outside of the United-States, they have seen only rise in revenue. They exited the US back in 2006 when the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed into effect. Most online casinos and online gambling websites thought it would be the end of the industry. However, ever since this bill passed, only good things have happened for 888 Holdings.
Their mobile presence has seen a great increase of 17% since sports-book bets can now be placed via their mobile devices. They have big plans for the upcoming months and will be improving their market shares of the Spanish and Italian market, even though they already own a good chunk of it, 24% to be more specific.
After having announced their future expansion plans, 888 Holding’s CEO, Brian Mattingley, said the following: “The second half of the year will see increased investment in Spain, where we will attempt to build on our impressive market share, and also in the United States where we are preparing for regulatory changes. We will also continue to invest in our technological platform, the cornerstone of our offer, and make improvements to our mobile channel.”
888 Holdings stock market shares have seen a great increase and possibly one of the biggest ever. The trading update that has recently been put out shows a 4.75% increase of 86.50p. This is the highest price that they have ever reached in the past years.
]]>After vetoing the last online poker bill that appear in the legislation of last year, Chris Christie, New Jersey’s state governor seems to stand firmly grounded on his decision to fight against any and every party that wishes to abolish the legalization of online sports-betting.
It appears that the whole state of New Jersey is heading straight-forward for a battle with the 5 most influential major sports leagues in the United-States. The NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, and NCAA have all joined forces and filed a federal lawsuit against the whole state to prevent them from legalizing any type of online sports-betting. Their main reason for this lawsuit is the fear of forced fixed sports results in order to win big amounts of money.
The lawsuit seems pretty solid since the state is going against the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) law. This act prohibited any type of gambling on both college and professional sport events in 4 American states, Oregon, Nevada, Delaware, and Montana.
Just like almost any legal lawsuits, resolving this lawsuit might take a few months, see even a few years before they can come to a final conclusion. About 3 years ago, back in 2009, the same 5 major sports leagues sued the state of Delaware for trying to offer single-game-sports-betting. The outcomes was very successful on behalf of the sports leagues. Their lawyers successfully rejected the legalizing law of Delaware. They were able to discuss another alternative by offering parlay wagers only and that 3 winners must be chosen.
In a recent hearing, New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie, has shared the following words with the local media and press: “I don’t believe that the federal government has the right to decide that only certain states can have sports gambling.”
]]>Quebec’s leading provincial lottery operators, Loto-Quebec, will soon start to sell lottery tickets online. It has been anticipated and long awaited by most of Quebec’s population. This plan should be put into action as of the end of this month.
After their recent launch of their online sports-betting website, the Loto-Quebec online gambling website is seeing a quick and efficient expansion. As of the 27th of August, the residents of the Canadian province of Quebec will see themselves granted the right to purchase lottery tickets online ranging from a whole line of products.
Purchasing tickets is very easy, all one needs to do is register for a free account or signing in to his existing account. Once inside, he will be able to choose from a wide selection of different lottery products they have to offer. Simply select the one you wish to play with, select the amount of tickets, choose your numbers, and your ready to go.
Some of the uppers of this whole situation is that gamblers won’t have to worry about keeping track of their tickets since they are all electronically handled. As well, lottery ticket buyers won’t have to worry about going to check their tickets as that will also be done for them. Last but not least, there are no more chances of you losing your lottery ticket whatsoever.
The downer is that this is prone to create more gamblers since it is so easily accessible. The fact of having to get in your vehicle and drive to the local lottery ticket dispenser might turn you down. Now that you can do that straight from the comfort of home, it is definite that they will see a dramatic increase in both sales and new gamblers.
]]>After signing the legislation into law that will grant the right to place bets on sports, Chris Christie, New Jersey’s governor is being sued by the 4 biggest sports leagues in North America. The National Hockey League (NHL), the National Basketball League (NBA), the Major League Baseball (MLB), and the National Football League (NFL) have all filed a lawsuit against Chris Christie. They have recently been joined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The major sports leagues sued the New Jersey governor because he allegedly followed a course of action that would allow casinos and race tracks to start gambling operations on both amateur and professional sports in about 2 months.
On the lawsuit, it is clearly written that “This is an action challenging New Jersey’s plan to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license and authorise gambling on amateur and professional sports, in clear and flagrant violation of federal law. Gambling on amateur and professional sports threatens the integrity of those sports and is fundamentally at odds with the principle that the outcomes of collegiate and professional athletic contests must be determined solely on the basis of honest athletic competition.”
Back in May, the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie has announced that regulations authorizing sports-betting would soon be established in the state after he signed the legislation to be in direct opposition with the Professional & Amateur Sports Promotion Act (PASPA) of 1992, which has banned the activity in every single American state besides Oregon, Nevada, Montana, and Delaware.
About 3 years ago, the state of Delaware failed to legalize the right to offer more than simply parlay betting at all of its race track casinos. This attempt failed due to a similar lawsuit filed by the same 4 major sports leagues along with the NCAA. Despite all of these previous lawsuits, New Jersey’s governor seems quite positive that they will be able to countermand the PASPA bill.
Even the lawsuit not being in his favor, Chris Christie remains confident that he has chances of winning this case. He even shared these few words with a local media: “I think we’re going to win. I don’t believe it’s up to the federal government to decide what happens within the borders of a state on this issue especially when they permit other states to do it.”
]]>The world known Nevada gaming industry has seen a drop in revenues for the second consecutive month. This is the 3rd time it has happened in the last 4 months. During the month of June, Casinos have gathered a total of $832.5 million from all punters which represents a drop of 6% if compared to last years income. There is no better news on the Las Vegas strip where casinos have collected a minor $483.7 million during the month of June. If compared to last year, it is a decrease of 4.5%.
The whole gaming industry of the state of Nevada saw some shocking drops in profits. The Clark County had a drop of 7.9%, North Las Vegas saw a drop of 26%, the Boulder Strip decreased its sales by 22.8%, Laughlin dropped by 20.3%, and Downtown Nevada saw a drastic drop of 12.75%.
Not all casinos dropped dramatically. In fact, Reno and other markets that are located in the north of Nevada had an increase in revenues. Casinos of North Lake Tahoe had an increase of 29.3% and Reno climbing up by 9%. Washoe Country got a revenue of up to 7.3%. Being that the revenue digits for the month of June were shockingly low, the tax collection for the month of July dropped by 27.5%.
Even though this months figures were very disappointing and very low, there is always still hope to increase its performance by next month. If compared to last year’s results, it isn’t too bad since last year they say a decrease of 10%. Afterall, Las Vegas cannot die, it is the gambling city of all gambling cities.
]]>After long months of discussion and contemplation, Facebook has finally taken the decision to release their first real money gambling app which they have named “Bingo Slots & Friendzy”. Players will be able to take advantage of 90 different slots and bingo games. This app will only be available to the residents of the United-Kingdom who are of legal gambling age.
This real money gambling app was developed by Gamesys who are the operators of Jackpotjoy.com, a very popular online bingo website in the UK. They worked in collaboration with Facebook to develop a highly advanced geo-targeting feature that will prevent any non-UK resident to play and also any under age from being able to place bets.
Since the United-Kingdom is one of the only country to have very solid gambling regulations, seem to be very well established, and have a huge market for social gambling games such as bingo, there is no doubt that they would be of first choice for the initial launch. Another good thing about the UK is that it is not part of the European Union which frees it from various layers of bureaucracy.
There is no real future plan of expansion for this real money gambling app. The reason being is that almost all of the countries of the world either do not have proper gambling regulations or simply declared it unlawful.
But there are great things to expect since the Facebook stock has had a very disappointing performance and the need of new income and resources is being felt. Online gambling is a true gold mine and Facebook has the resources and funds to be able to take a big portion of the market.
There is no real role that affiliates will be playing for the Facebook real money gambling app since they already have their clientele. Facebook has about 1 billion subscribers which means that their market is already existent. There already are reward programs that are established for current players who bring new ones. However, the rewards are only given in virtual cash, not real money that can be withdrawn.
]]>One of the biggest online poker websites, Bodog Poker, has sent out a mass email to its customers in 20 different countries all asking them to withdraw all of their funds from their accounts. In the first few emails, details were very short. However, the follow-up emails stated that they had processing issues in those specific markets.
The emails that were sent went to all of Bodog’s Poker players that were active in the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
There has been various rumors going around of why this is happening but no certified truth has been released. Bodog has been keeping silence on all the major details but it is believed that this was caused in relation to the arrest of Bodog’s CEO and Founder, Calvin Ayre. One of Bodog’s spokesperson did give the following statement to one of the reporters of PokerNewsReport.com and shared the following:
“(Bodog is going to) concentrate on our strengths and where we can offer the best product. The Bodog brand is known for its high level of customer service and spreading ourselves too thinly to try and cover a huge amount of smaller markets was proving logistically difficult. Bodog.co.uk will concentrate on growing existing markets.”
The most popular theory that has yet to be confirmed by Bodog is that they are leaving the strictly regulated European market to head to the unregulated Asian market. Once more, this is simply a speculation that yet has to be approved by Bodog.
Bodog seems to be in very good financial shape but just like every big company, they are going through a few struggles recently. In the last couple of years, they have withdrawn from the French, Spanish, and Italian markets.
]]>Tuesday of this week, the American Department of Justice settled with the online poker sites, PokerStars & Full Tilt Poker, for a $731 million agreement to resolve the bank frauds and money laundering accusations. This also resolved all accusations against Full Tilt’s Ponzi scheme. They were believed to have used player’s funds worth up to $400 million to pay the owners and the board members.
An agreement in Tuesday’s settlement stated that Full Tilt Poker will forfeit almost all of their assets to the US government who will then sell it to PokerStars. PokerStars also took upon themselves the $184 million debt that Full Tilt has toward their foreign players. Any US victim of Full Tilt’s “Ponzi Scheme” will get reimbursed with the $547 million forfeited by PokerStars.
All this started during April of last year when the US government alleged PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker of bypassing federal laws against internet gambling. They were doing so by scamming banks and credit card issuers to process payments for US players. The poker sites then made sure that the money from the US gamblers would be camouflaged as payments to thousands of different non-existent online merchants for various types of merchandise.
All of the allegations against the online poker sites were dropped after they had payed the amount that they agreed on. The only thing that remains to complete the settlement would be for Absolute Poker to forfeit all its assets which they failed to have an immediate response to. Both sides, the US authorities and the poker sites, were pleased with the final decision and agreements that were put in place.
]]>Almost every gambling law in the UK has been labeled as being outdated and inadequate to deal with the many changes the industry has encountered over the years. For this reason, the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport in alliance with the Treasury want to impose a higher tax rate on remote gaming. They are presently consulting the whole UK gaming industry to settle for a appropriate tax rate.
During the consultation, online gambling was the central subject in which the whole industry agreed that the tax rate impose wasn’t inviting enough to keep all of the operators on UK soil. They agreed that a point of consumption tax should be implemented but that the Treasury should work with them and set the rate at an adequate level.
Another main motive that came out of the consultation was that all gambling regulations should be given to the local councils so they can see how it impacts the locals in each town of the UK. This has proved to work quite well since they have found that the restrictions on the amount of machines that are allowed per shop has caused that opening of many more shops simply to saturate the demand.
Thanks to that, the limit will be increased to 20 machines per punter for both shops and casinos which the local authorities will have control over. They will also have the right to decide whether or not a casino is of benefit to the local citizens of where it will be placed. This means that land-based casinos will be able to relocate themselves without having to go through the long process that currently exists.
John Whittingdale, the Chairman of the Committee, commented on this whole consultation and said: “The ‘reluctantly permissive’ tone of gambling legislation over the last 50 years now looks outdated. It is also inadequate to cope with the realities of the global market in online gambling, and even seems ill-equipped to cope with the realities on our high streets. Our general approach in this report has therefore been to support liberalisation of rules and delegation of decisions to those closest to the communities that will be affected.”
]]>The world known online gambling operator, 888 Holdings, has earlier issued their trading update for the first half of the year 2023. It is stated that they expect, if everything keeps on going the same way, the full-year income to be way more bigger than all expectations.
888, which is based in Gibraltar, has announced during the month of April that the annual income of 2023 rose of 26%. This was an increase of $331 million which greatly helped increase their strong performance on their business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors.
888 has seen nothing but a very powerful rise in business and income. They stated that the powerful trading experience that they have had over the past second half of the year will be continuing during the whole year of 2023. This will only increase since they have a very good market share of the Spanish online gambling market. This will help give a significant boost to their revenues.
Here is what 888 had to share with the local media: “A confirmation of 888′s ability to build share in new markets, the poker offer is currently number-two in the Spanish market. The delay in the introduction of the new regulatory regime in Spain, introduced in June, resulted in a delay in marketing spend in the country originally planned for the first half. In Germany, the introduction of federal taxation on sportsbetting has had negligible effect given the size of the group’s sport business in the country.”
With the amount of good news that was brought to the attention of 888, they have plans that will help them increase their annual income by a lot. They even stated themselves that they have a “return to historical seasonal revenue patterns” during the whole 2nd quarter of 2023. They say that it is incomparable to the other months first 3 months of 2023.
Here is a statement given by 888 in a recent press release: “Given the strong trading, management expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the first half of 2023 to significantly exceed current expectations. Read the statement from 888. In the second half of the year, margins will be slightly impacted by investment in marketing in order to secure a leading position in Spain.
Investment in infrastructure ahead of delivering announced deals in the United States and the unknown impact of the Olympic Games in London. This means that, while the second half of 2023 is expected to show slightly lower margins than the strong first half, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the full-year will be materially ahead of current expectations.”
]]>The House of Representatives of Cyprus officially passed the legislation that prohibits any online casino games and exchange betting within its boundaries. This indirectly bans any online casino and online gambling to take place in Cyprus, what can online casinos possibly be without the games.
The only type of betting that is regulated is sports betting on which the government imposed a 10% tax on all of the operators.
The approval of the bill inaugurated a new Gambling Board which will be receiving all of the taxes and send them to the Cyprus Sports Federation. They will be receiving 3% of all the revenues that were made via taxes. Once it arrives at the CSF, they will be giving 1.5% of the total to the Cyprus Football Association. Another 0.5% will be going to other sports association in Cyprus. Whatever is left of all this will be going to foundations and programs that address helping players with gambling problems. All of this was contained in the bill and was passed by the House of Representative Legal Affairs Committee.
Once the legislation has passed, Yiannakis Omirou, the House of Representatives Speaker of the centre-left Movement For Social Democracy political party called out that the government should now seek to ban online sports betting. His exact description was that it is a “cancer” for society. This was first brought up last year but failed to make it far due to the struggle the lawmakers were encountering working out the final details.
Another delay was caused by the coalition government of the left-wing Progressive Party of Working People and the centrist Democratic Party. The nation is now keeping high hopes that this legislation will help regulate online games and help them make money before the end of the year.
The world renowned betting exchange operators known as Betfair will be defying the new law established in Cyprus. Betfair states that there are multiple flaws and that some of them are inconsistent with the European Union law. Here is a direct statement made by Betfair: “Betfair is working with advisors to understand the potential implications on its business and will be taking all necessary steps to reduce the impact on profitability through both legal action and cost management.” Last year, the Cypriot online gambling market grossed 4% of Betfair’s total revenues which represents about $14.5 million.
]]>After giving himself in to the American authorities of New York last week, Ray Bitar, the CEO of the world known online poker website, Full Tilt Poker, has been released after paying a $2.5 million bail. This is a bail price that he is not going to forget anytime soon.
Ray Bitar has seen himself accused of multiple counts that include violating the UIGEA, money laundering, and operating an illegal gambling business. With these charges pressed against him, he had no choice but to fly to New York from Dublin. Moments after arriving, he was detained by authorities and brought infront of the prosecutors representing the United-States District Court for judgement.
A recent press release report stated that with all of the charges pressed against Ray Bitar, he is facing a maximum sentence of 145 years in jail. This will be enough to get him locked up for the rest of his life. The Judge Paul Engelmayer complied with the CEO of Full Tilt Poker by granting him bail after he payed a total of $2.5 million. He did so because he considered the fact that Bitar is an American citizen and that he flew back in a manly gesture to face his judgement.
]]>For the past few months, Playtech has been all around the top headlines. From recently announcing their move to the London Stock Exchange to extending their doors to the unregulated Asian markets, they are simply everywhere.
Once more, they have made it to the top headline of this week’s online gambling news by announcing that their licensees are open for business in Spain. They will be launching their respective online casinos and online poker rooms which include Bet365 Casino, Bet365 Poker, William Hill Poker, and Poker 770.
Prior to even getting the green light from the Spanish government, Playtech already started preparing and modifying their software to cater to the Spanish market. Once they did receive the green light from the Spanish government, the Playtech licensees launched their online casinos and poker rooms almost instantly. This gave them a very big head-start on all of their competitors granting them the first exposure on the Spanish online gambling market.
After the Playtech’s licensees got opened for business in Spain, their CEO, Mor Weizer, shared the following words in a recent press release: ”We are excited to see our licensees launch in Spain. The Spanish market is important to Playtech and a benchmark within the European regulated environment.We are confident that our innovative and fully-compliant casino and poker products will set the standard for others to follow in Spain.”
This new business opportunity came with its conditions. Obviously, they will have to follow the Spanish gaming regulations which specify that new licensees are represented as existing online gambling operators enhancing or expanding their brands and products to greater extent. This includes land-based casino groups, new online gambling venues trying to start, and governmental sponsored betting venues such as lotteries.
Another condition that was established is that all of Playtech’s new online casinos and poker rooms must be part of the centered Spanish poker network, iPokerSpain.es. This granted the website with being the first multiple licensee poker network to be launched under the new Spanish online gambling regulations.
As of now, Playtech will be offering the Spanish gambling market with features that they have never seen yet. TV games and bingo are among some of the plans. They will numerous gambling features available for both mobiles phones and tablets. These features will include online casino, bingo, poker, live casino games, and TV gambling games.
]]>Sports betting world known organization and online casino operators, Betfair, has recently signed a landmark deal with the British Horseracing authority. They will see a minimum of $65 million that will be invested in the sport along the next 5 upcoming years.
The agreement between Betfair and the British Horseracing Authority as well as the Racecourse Association states that they will receive close to %11 of the revenues Betfair receive from the United-Kingdom horseracing industry. Along with that, Betfair stated that the agreement has considerable guaranteed minimum payments that will be given by both participants. This will ensure a constant and solid growth potential of the British horseracing industry. This will probably permanently replace the present annual Horserace Betting Levy. They have already paid $10.5 million towards this Levy.
The CEO of the Bristish Horseracing Association, Paul Bittar, who led the whole agreement with Betfair had the following words to share with the local media:
“We are delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement with Betfair, one which represents a landmark for both the racing and betting industries. It brings many benefits, including substantial and increased guaranteed funding as well as importantly providing certainty for the sport in relation to Betfair’s contribution. We hope that similar arrangements with other betting operators will follow.
We firmly believe both in the value of British Racing as a product and the need to work closely with the betting industry for our mutual benefit. Government has committed to bringing forward proposals to address the long-standing and damaging flaws in our current funding mechanism. We continue to engage fully in this process but in parallel British Racing also seeks long-term commercial deals such as this to assist in the transition to a wholly commercial future.”
After all the agreements and commitments have been met, Martin Cruddace, the Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer of Betfair said the following:
“This deal is a genuinely historic moment. For the first time, British Racing and Betfair have proved it is possible for us to work together on a truly commercial basis. Of course, it has not been easy but the end result completely justifies all the hard work. We hope that this marks a new era and call on other betting operators to adopt similar agreements to help ensure a strong, healthy and vibrant horseracing industry in this country.”
]]>The CEO of the very famous poker site, Full Tilt Poker, has been arrested by the FBI in New York City right when he landed at the JFK airport. Later on after his arrest, Ray Bitar has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges to were put against him in a recent Manhattan hearing.
Ray Bitar’s indictment began back in April 2023 where he was accused on 5 different counts which includes first and foremost, violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), operating an illegal gambling business, and money laundering.
In a recent indictment, Bitar and one of his associates, Nelson Burtnick, saw themselves facing 9 charges which included operating and running a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Nelson Burtnick had the Head of Payment Processing position at Full Tilt Poker. If Ray Bitar is guilty on all charges, he will face an estimated 145 years of jail time.
In a recent hearing that was held in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, the Manhattan US Attorney shared the following words with the local media: “With today’s arrest and the new charges brought against him, Raymond Bitar will now be held criminally responsible for the alleged multi-million fraud he perpetrated on his U.S. customers. The indictment alleges how Bitar bluffed his player-customers and fixed the game against them as part of an international Ponzi scheme that left players empty-handed.”
Later on, Janice K. Fedarcyk, the FBI Assistant Director-In-Charge, had his chance to speak his thought to the local media and said the following: “Bitar and Full Tilt Poker persisted in soliciting U.S. gamblers long after such conduct was outlawed. As alleged, Bitar has already been charged with defrauding banks to conceal the illegal gambling. Now he stands accused of defrauding Full Tilt’s customers by concealing its cash-poor condition and paying off early creditors with deposits from later customers. The on-line casino become an Internet Ponzi scheme.”
Before his return to the United-States to encounter his criminal charges, Ray Bitar sent an email to all of his Full Tilt Poker employees located in Dublin. It was pretty much a goodbye letter stating that he had to go back to NYC to deal with the legal and civil cases held up against him. He mentioned not to feel threatened and to keep on striving to make it an even bigger organization that it already is. Here are the exact words stated in the email:
“We have all worked hard over the last 15 months to preserve Full Tilt’s assets and potential in order to provide for the repayment of all players and that continues to be our top priority. It is as important as ever that we all do everything possible to make that happen and hopefully our deal with Poker Stars will very soon make our goal a reality. My return to the United States is part of this process.
I am particularly grateful to all of you here in Dublin for your hard work, patience and understanding during this difficult time. I believe that your hard work and dedication should not go unrecognised and we have made arrangements for Poker Stars to guarantee all July salaries. You should, therefore, have no concern about coming to work during this period. After that, we expect that your employment contracts will be assumed by the buyer of the company’s assets.”
]]>The United-Kingdom’s most famous online casino and gambling organisation has recently partnered up with Affinity Gaming LLC to help them operate and manage their American based sports-books in the state of Nevada.
This will include Affinity’s properties such as Terrible Casino, which is located in Las Vegas. Along with that, they will include 10 other land-based casino that are located throughout the state. With this partnership being active, William Hill will now control 55% of Nevada’s sports-books market.
The partnership agreement between the 2 gaming organizations will grant William Hill the right to operate each and every sports-book at all of Affinity’s land-based casinos. The partnership pushed William Hill to purchase 3 different bookmaking business which include Club Cal Neva, Brandywine Bookmaking LLC, and American Wagering Inc.
These 3 firms got purchased for a total of $55 million. By purchasing Brandywine Bookmaking LLC, they automatically purchased Lucky Race and Sports book-making business that were at some point operated by Affinity. This is the first partnership William Hill has received ever since they received their Nevada gaming license. This is also the first US American gaming exposure they receive in 76 years of existence.
William Hill had to withdraw its operation from Australia when a recent bill passed onto a law and pretty much caused their whole operation to become illegal. None of their iGaming operators got persecuted or penalized but they still had to move out of the country. Meanwhile, they were in the process of receiving their Nevada gaming license and when they did, the move officially went to the state of Nevada.
After the whole partnership was signed and brought to light, the US CEO of William Hill, Joe Asher, had the following words to share with the local media: “We have developed strong relationships with the Affinity Gaming team, providing a first-class betting product and collaborating on creative marketing programs, and we look forward to expanding the partnership.”
The whole partnership includes that William Hill will start investing serious capital to greatly improve Affinity’s gaming race and sports books. The main focus of William Hill is to eventually run, manage, and operate all of their Nevada land-bases casinos under their worldwide known brand.
]]>This is definitely one very big change for the online gambling industry as Delaware becomes the first American state to legalize online gambling. The legislation that were proposed got signed and put into law right after it passed the Delaware Senate. The governor himself, Jack Markell, signed them right after they had passed the Delaware Senate. During 2023, the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act passed the Delaware House of Representatives with votes of 14 to 6 in the Delaware Senate.
Delaware’s citizens will be able to start gambling online and playing their favorite casino games online as of 2023 and will be under the strict supervision of the Delaware Lottery. This online gambling bill, which is also called House Bill 333, passed the Delaware House of Representatives with votes of 29 to 8. This also made the casino game keno expand way beyond the existing 3 land-based casinos in Delaware and reached over 100 different sites.
All this was made possible due to the legal interpretation that were put into action as of late last year by the US Department of Justice. This allowed all the American states to legalize online gambling within the limitations of their borders. This will help protect and promote the jobs and careers of the state’s casino industry. This was stated by Delaware’s Governor himself:
“The competitive landscape for this industry has changed dramatically over the years. We’re talking about a couple thousand of jobs being available,” said Jack Markell.
This will also allow Delaware’s residents to place wagers on sports such as the NFL. These bets will be able to be placed on website other than online casinos. This will help eliminate the $4 million slot machine fees that the land-based casinos need to pay.
Along with that it will also cut the table games duties by half bringing it from $6.75 million to about $3 million. However, the land-based casinos are asked to use the saved money to improve their capital, increase their marketing techniques, and reduce their debts.
The Delaware Lottery will start establishing a centralized online gambling system that will be run and operated by a third-party vendor. This also means that all bars and restaurants of the Delaware state will be able to sell instant lottery games and sell NFL parlay cards, which so far, have been available only to casinos. Delaware’s governor was particularly happy and shared the following words:
“I would like to personally thank the legislators in both houses for their works to make this industry more competitive and keep so many people working,” said Markell.
]]>One of the biggest land based casinos in the US is about to open. It is called Maryland Live!, even though it isn’t the first land based casino in the state of Maryland, it is making a lot of noise and is being anticipated by the whole country.
This casino will be located right next to the Arundel Mills Mall and will be covering over 12 acres of land. A press conference was held right after Maryland Live! officially received its gaming license. Stephen Martino, the director of Maryland Lottery, is the one who awarded this land-based casino with its license. The opening is scheduled to be today at 10pm EST.
During a press release, Stephen Martino, the director of the Maryland Lottery, expressed his enthusiasm on the long awaited opening of one of the largest land-based casinos in the country. Here are the words he shared with the public:
“We believe that the casino has done an outstanding job preparing itself to open to the public and believe no significant issues remain to be addressed. The public can go to Maryland Live! with confidence that the facility is safe and secure and the gaming is being conducted fairly.”
Once fully operational, Maryland Live! will be able to entertain about 15,000 people which includes over 1,500 employees. This land-based casino sits on 330,000 square feet of land of which 160,000 square feet will be the gambling grounds. This whole project costed the Cordish Company $500 million and is guaranteed to become hot-spot destination for all. Maryland Live! is the the biggest land-based casino in the state of Maryland and the third largest in the country.
At its opening, Maryland Live! will hold 3,200 slots machines, electronic blackjack machines as well as craps, baccarat, and Roulette. Live dealers won’t be available at this land-based casino since it is illegal by state law. Along with that, within the upcoming weeks, Maryland Live! will have 5 different restaurants which include a noodle bar, buffet restaurant, Phillips Seafood, Bobby’s Burger, and The Cheesecake Factory.
Once the venture will be fully completed, which is expected to happen by the end of the year, an additional 1,550 slots machines will be added as well as a high-end steakhouse called Prime Rib. Shows and music venues will also be available on the Rams Head Center Stage.
]]>