1st US Online Casino

The French newspaper Les Echos reports that hotel and casino operator Lucien Barriere and the former state gambling monopoly La Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) will soon announce a partnership with Caesars Interactive Entertainment, the online subsidiary of the famous Las Vegas gambling group Caesars Entertainment.

It is believed that the partnership will centre on the French online poker sector, and that Lucien Barriere’s CEO Dominique Desseigne and Mitch Garber, head of CIE, will unveil the details of the cooperation Wednesday.

FdeJ and Lucien Barriere operate Barriere Poker.fr, and unidentified sources claim that the collaboration will involve major poker tournament action; CIE’s parent company in the US owns the World Series of Poker brand – the world’s most prestigious live championship, known to be expanding internationally.

The deal follows a similar WSOP-based agreement that Caesars Entertainment signed with the giant Microgame company in Italy recently.

Conservative estimates that the British government’s sale of the Tote gambling group will realise around £100 million in net profit will see the British horseracing industry benefitting by £50 million, according to reports in the UK media as the week ended.

The cash bonanza would flow from the government’s undertaking to donate half the net profits of such a sale to the industry, a promise confirmed in a recent official statement that read: “in the event that the Tote is sold on the open market, it (the government) will honour the commitment of the previous government to share 50% of the net cash proceeds of sale with racing.”

The British Horseracing Authority has greeted the confirmation with enthusiasm, with chairman Paul Roy telling media this week: “Racing welcomes the Government’s latest steps in resolving the future of the Tote, and particularly that Racing interests are central to a successful outcome.

(Read the full post about ‘British racing to benefit from Tote sale’…)

The Hard Rock really knows how to party! According to Nevada regulators, though, they are a little too eager to help customers party, even if it involves something illegal.

On Wednesday, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino agreed to pay the Nevada Gaming Control Board $650,000 to settle a casino involving the supplying of drugs to casino customers. The settlement includes a $500,000 fine and $150,000 to pay for the cost of the investigation.

According to the complaint raised by state regulators, who have the power to strip the Hard Rock of their casino license, VIP hosts and security staff supplied drugs to undercover agents at the Body English nightclub, which is now closed, and the Vanity nightclub, which is located in the Vegas casino’s HRH Tower.

According to the complaint, undercover police offers and regulators were able to buy cocaine, marijuana and ecstasy and use the drugs in their bathroom. T

(Read the full post about ‘Hard Rock Casino settles with regulators in drug case’…)

Realm Entertainment, a Malta-based company, has signed a £1.6 million deal with Swedish online gambling firm Betsson which secures the Betsson Turkish database, along with a five year business-to-business deal providing a complete online gambling operation.

Realm has applied for a Malta (LGA) online gambling licence to operate the enterprise, which will be offered in Turkish and several European languages and is to feature poker, casino and sports betting services.

The agreement sees Betsson bow out of the difficult Turkish market as an operator, although it will remain, in the words of a senior company executive, ‘active on the technical side of things’ in supporting its client.

The agreement represents the first client to sign up for the new platform developed by Betsson b2b subsidiary Business Solutions .

Commenting that the agreement with Realm laid the foundations for expanded business with other clients, Pontus Lindwall , Betsson CEO said: “Once we get this up and running it will be a good showcase for other markets.”

The combative Swedish operator has had a busy week, again facing the wrath of the Swedish Gaming Board by re-opening its Shoppsen betting shop in the latest episode of an ongoing argument with the authorities. L

(Read the full post about ‘Betsson sells Turkish business to Realm Entertainment’…)

Sloto’ Cash Casino recently released ‘Crazy Jewelry’, one of the first Rival Gaming slots in the relatively new category of 3D Slots, with amazingly sharp movie-like animations.

Introduction Movie
Crazy Jewelry starts with an animated introduction movie with very sharp 3D graphics, showing Italy’s finest jeweler driving to his store by car. The gua

(Read the full post about ‘‘Crazy Jewelry’ – New 3D Slot at Sloto’ Cash Casino’…)

Senator Ray Lesniak’s S490 bill seeking to legalise intrastate online gambling will go before the Budget Appropriations Committees in the New Jersey legislature on Thursday this week to formalise minor changes in the financial provisions before the bill goes to the Assembly floor and a hopefully positive vote.

The Senator has said that he hopes to have the bill approved on or around January 6, and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has ruled that the Assembly will not return for Monday votes as the Christmas break approaches.

“The Assembly moved three gaming and horse racing bills through the Budget Committee today and plans to continue working on this issue into early January to be sure we get it right,” she said, referring to a series of bills designed to improve the fortunes of the ailing Atlantic City, which include online gambling legalisation at Atlantic City casinos.

The chief exec of the Poker Players Alliance, John Pappas, never one to mince his words, has characterised one aspect of the Reid proposal to federally legalise online poker in the United States as “absurd,” but believes the long term benefits of the bill make it more palatable.

Pappas took exception to the proposed 15 month “blackout period”, writing in an update to his 2 million or more members: “Let me assure you that we have heard and strongly considered the concerns a number of our online poker playing members have raised, specifically regarding the 15 month “blackout period” contained in the draft bills that have circulated in recent days.

“The blackout period means that upon enactment of the proposed internet poker law there would be fifteen months where no licensed Internet poker would be available to U.S.

(Read the full post about ‘PPA describes Reid poker bill blackout period as absurd’…)

The Irish gambling industry in general is closely watching moves by the cash-strapped government that could see gambling tax doubled during the budget presentation this week.

The Irish Times reports that the troubled Irish horseracing sector is hoping that Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan will provide more support through an increase in betting tax to 2%, and that the government will bring telephone and off-shore internet betting into the tax net. The latter is a course fraught with peril, with major internet gaming companies warning that they may be required to develop new business strategies in order to remain competitive, at the cost of jobs and tax revenues.

“Clearly it is a huge Budget for the country and major issues have to be addressed,” Horse Racing Ireland chief executive Brian Kavanagh said yesterday.

(Read the full post about ‘Spectre of Irish gambling tax hike resurfaces’…)

One small consolation for people who have the unfortunate circumstance to live in France is that they now have another good option for online poker. Titan Poker has launched a new online poker room tailored to the French market.

Many online gambling operators are unhappy with the French government’s regulations, with a BetClic chairman even calling them the “worst online gambling laws in Europe.” Due to government rules that are both restrictive, high taxing and bad for the players (an 85% cap on rate of return), it’s difficult for gambling websites to make money in France. Despite

(Read the full post about ‘Titan Poker launches French site’…)

Recently online gamblers in the Canadian province of Quebec experienced a landmark day. It was the grand opening of the province’s first government-licensed online gambling website, espacejeux.com. The online casino is run by the province’s lottery monopoly, Loto-Quebec.

The local news has reported that hundreds of players visited the casino website during its first day of operation. That number actually sounds low to me, but the media may have underreported the number (they have been known to do that when they oppose something).

To coincide with the launch of the new online casino, Loto-Quebec offered some enticing deals. Or

(Read the full post about ‘Quebec online casino enjoys first day’…)