Indian online poker has their first professional poker team after Adda52 unveiled Team Spades. A group of four players hired to spread the game as a professional sport both in India and internationally.

The ambiguity over whether online poker is legal in India doesn’t seem to be bothering Adda52. The site that claims to be the first to ever offer online cash games in the South Asian country, has set another record by creating the first-ever Indian professional poker team.

Amit Jain, Kunal Patni, Aditya Sushant and Muskan Sethi will now be collectively known as Team Spades. They will represent Adda52 both online and live. Part of their job description will be to promote the game as a professional sport, both in India and the rest of the world.

That job was made a little easier, a few days ago, after the Indian Supreme Court sided with printing firm Parksons Graphics, who were arguing that a 1% tax rate should be lopped off their bottom line because poker is a physical sport.

Whilst Chief Justice HL Dattu may believe holding cards in your hands creates physical exertion, the jury is still out over the debate that poker and gin rummy are games of skill. It seems Fifty Shades of Grey is not only a term used to define a really crap movie.

Team Spades have so far won $160k between them in live tournament earnings. Only Patni has a decent score to talk of after winning a side event at the Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) in Oct last year.

“Poker is truly a game of skill. It requires its players to have a highly calculative and methodical mind,” said Anuj Gupta from Adda52.

Germany’s lottery and betting association has asked the federal government to put the kibosh on Deutsche Telekom’s new online betting site.

On Monday, telecom giant Deutsche Telekom (DT) announced it had acquired a 64% stake in Deutsche Sportwetten (DSW), which operates Austrian-licensed online sports betting operator Tipp3. While DSW was one of the 20 lucky recipients of Germany’s federal sports betting licenses, those licenses haven’t been formally issued due to ongoing legal challenges. In the meantime, DT says it will begin targeting German punters using Tipp3’s Austrian license by the end of the current quarter.

Not so fast, say Deutsche Lotto and Totoblock (DLTB), an association of Germany’s lottery and pool betting operators, who say DT is attempting a “vile trick” to circumvent German regulations. The aggrieved operators say DT’s plan is “on par with providers of tax havens” in terms of illegality and DT’s Austrian license justification is “absurd and cannot be accepted.”

What really gets under DLTB’s skin is the fact that the German government owns a 14.3% stake in DT while the state development bank holds a 17.4% stake. DLTB believes this should be sufficient leverage for the government to compel DT to back off its plan and wait in the queue with everybody else.

DLTB says DT is far from the only company that “longs” for a resolution of the lengthy and convoluted German licensing process. But if DLTB has to “adhere to law and order,” it believes DT ought to be subject to the same restrictions.

DLTB also said it has written to the country’s Bundesliga football league to protest the “massive expansion of sponsorship activities of private gambling providers.” DLTB says the Bundesliga is providing “a platform for clearly illegal offers” from internationally licensed operators, including live betting and casino games, neither of which are permitted under the German federal state treaty on gambling.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo is being investigated over his administration’s handling of the casino selection process that awarded to licenses to bidders planning to develop casinos in the Catskills, Schenectady and the Finger Lakes region.

According to the New York Daily News, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is spearheading the investigation, which was initiated to “make sure that the process was fair and nothing illegal had occurred.” Granted, Schneiderman is within his rights to launch such a proceeding if he figured that it needed attention. But it’s also worth pointing out that when interviewed by investigators from Schneiderman’s office, even the losing bidders believed that the whole casino selection process was on the up-and-up.

Tioga Downs racetrack owner Jeff Gural, who unsuccessfully made a bid for one of the casino licenses told the Daily News that he met with investigators “at their request.”

“They said they were going to meet with all the bidders to make sure that the process was fair and that nothing illegal had occurred,” Gural added. “I told them I thought nothing illegal had occurred.

The state Gaming Commission, which managed the casino selections, responded to Schneiderman’s move to launch an investigation by defending the casino bidding process the state went through throughout the whole process. “The casino-siting process strictly followed the provisions of the Upstate New York Gaming Economic Development Act, which called for unprecedented transparency,” Gaming Commission spokesman Lee Park said, who also added that the commission has yet to be contacted by anybody from Schneiderman’s office.

Over in Atlantic City, it appears that the drawn-out saga involving the sale of Revel Casino Hotel appears to be coming to a long overdue conclusion after Florida developer Glenn Straub has agreed to and signed a deal to purchase the closed-down casino for $82 million, lower than the $95.4 million price tag that forced Straub to back out of the deal last week.

But bankruptcy Court Judge Gloria Burns never entered a final order terminating the sale, allowing representatives from both sides to continue with a final attempt at negotiating a deal, and against seemingly all odds, a deal was eventually struck in the 11th hour, paving the way for the transaction to finally happen.

The iGaming Asia Congress 2015, a 3-day conference and expo for interactive gaming and sports betting in Asia, will take place from 17-19 March at the Grand Hyatt at City of Dreams Macau.

Over 250+ of Asia’s leading sports betting, online casino, lottery, social and mobile gaming executives are expected to attend. iGA 2015 is a great place whether you’re looking to form new partnerships, learn about the Asia’s latest innovations, opportunities, strategies, and developments for interactive gaming and to network to discover new opportunities.

iGA gives you more networking opportunities by bringing back the “iGA Official Speed Networking” in addition to iGA 2015 After Party, Cocktail functions, Breakfast Briefings, and more.

iGA 2015 will be co-located with Mobile Gaming & Social Casino Asia—a conference that discusses the latest innovations and developments in Asia’s growing mobile and social gaming sector in depth.

This year, the conference will also give you expanded exhibition with more leading providers of iGaming solutions, services, and technology and latest developments and information on new forms of gambling and gaming on upcoming iGaming jurisdiction in.

Beacon’s gaming events are attended by the who’s who of gaming executives in Asia and internationally, with over 70% coming from the Asia Pacific region. Expect to meet CEOs, VPs, MDs and senior directors from different sectors including gaming regulators, software provider, online marketing consultants, legal advisors, and more.

For inquiries, please contact Beacon Events Hong Kong Office

The states of Nevada and Delaware could soon share online poker liquidity, after Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval told journalist Steve Tetreault that the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement could be launched within the next 4-6 weeks.

Online poker players in Delaware could soon be facing off against opponents living in Nevada.

One year has passed since Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, and Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, shook hands on a deal that would allow the two states to share online poker liquidity. Only tumbleweed has emerged since.

Is all that about to change?

It is, according to journalist Steve Tetreault.

After being tipped off by OnlinePokerReport’s Chris Grove, I learned that Tetreault was speaking to Gov. Sandoval about a homeland security bill when he confirmed that plans to share online poker liquidity with Delaware ‘should go live in four to six weeks.’ The delay appears to be at the feet of the Nevada gaming regulators with ‘technical glitches’ cited as the cause of delay.

In interview, NV @GovSandoval says shared #webpoker with Delaware could be up and running in 4-6 weeks. Coming soon #lvrj

German telecom firm Deutsche Telekom (DT) has taken a controlling interest in sports betting operator Deutsche Sportwetten (DSW) with an eye toward immediately becoming a player in the German online sports betting market.

On Monday, DT announced it had acquired a 64% stake in DSW, which operates the Tipp3.at sports betting site under an Austrian gaming license. Tipp3’s former majority owners Austrian Sportswetten – which is majority owned by Austrian Lotteries and Casinos Austria – will retain a minority stake in DSW. No information was released as to the value of the deal.

DT has expressed an interest in joining the German sports betting party since September 2013 when it announced it would seek one of the 20 online sports betting licenses the German federal government was preparing to issue. A year later, DT was announcing plans to acquire a chunk of DSW, which was one of the lucky recipients of the 20 federal betting licenses.

Those 20 licenses have yet to be formally issued due to legal challenges launched by betting firms that were left out in the cold. But DT told German media outlet Die Welt that it plans to begin accepting German wagers before the end of March, relying on its Austrian license to justify its activity. DSW says its new Tipp3.de site has no intention of ‘reinventing’ sports betting, but will focus – at least, initially – on a limited diet of football, basketball and Formula 1 racing.

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN LICENSES GET THEIR DAY IN COURT

Meanwhile, the fate of the rival licensing regime in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein (SH) is currently being decided by the country’s Federal Court of Justice, the Bundesgerichtshof.

Depending how the Bundesgerichtshof rules, operators holding SH licenses could win the right to legally offer services to gamblers in the other German states. The SH regime is far more expansive than the federal scheme, allowing not just sports betting but casino and poker verticals as well. The SH regime also offers a far more favorable tax system for operators: 20% of gross gaming revenue vs. 5% of betting turnover under the federal plan.

The ongoing casino debate in New Hampshire is far from finished, even after a bill to legalize casino gambling in the state fell by the wayside last year because of one vote. But supporters of legalizing casinos remain undeterred and are now doubling down efforts to put two casinos in the state to help boost the local economy.

Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, a strong supporter of the move to open casinos is leading the charge and has proposed a new legislation – Senate Bill 113 – that would call for the opening of two casinos within the state, with no restrictions on the locations. That part of the legislation is a revision from past versions, which required that at least one of the casinos would be located in the North Country.

“I think it’s the right thing for New Hampshire,” D’Allesandro told the Eagle Tribune late last week, adding that casinos in New Hampshire would be a boon for the state’s economy  and would prevent residents from gambling in other states, most notably Massachusetts. The argument, it seems, is grounded on the belief that if residents are going to gamble in casinos anyway, might as well do it within the state.

In addition to the cap of two casinos, SB113 also calls for one of the casinos to come with an $80 million licensing fee with the other casino getting a license fee of just $40 million. To reflect the disparate amount of the fees, the casino with the bigger fee will receive permission to have anywhere from 80 to 160 gambling tables to go with 2,000 to 3,500 slot machines. Meanwhile, the casino with the smaller license fee will be permitted to have 25 to 60 gambling tables and 700 to 1,500 slot machines. Part of the new bill also touches on 3% cut that the host community will receive from casino revenues while abutting towns would share in 1% of the revenue and the host county getting another 1%.

The proposed bill appears to be far more ironed out than past versions, but actually getting lawmakers to agree on approving it is still easier said than done. After all, the state has rejected one casino bill after another since the 70s, and the recent trend  hasn’t been a good one for those pushing to legalize these establishments. Fortunately for D’Allesandro and the rest of his pro-casino posse, they have a strong supporter in Governor Maggie Hassan, who has already gone on record saying that a casino in the state, albeit a highly regulated one, has a lot of potential to become a strong source of revenue for the state’s economy. It’s still unclear whether Hassan will support a bill that’s proposing two casinos instead of one, but supporters of the bill can take comfort knowing that that she, in her own words, would be “responsive to constructive dialogue” with regards to the issue.

But not everyone is still on board with that idea. Significant pockets of the population remain steadfast on their belief that allowing casino gambling in the state wouldn’t solve its economic woes. Among these groups include the League of Women Voters, Casino Free NH, and the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling. Among other arguments, these groups believe that whatever economic benefits casinos would have on the state will likely be more detrimental to the it’s economy in the long run.

The Poarch Creek Indians told Governor Rick Scott that if Florida refused to allow the tribe to expand their casinos, they will have no choice but to start growing and distributing marijuana on the land designated for their gambling expansion.

The tribe stakes its claim to negotiate a far-reaching gambling deal on a one-acre tract of land it owns in Escambia County, few miles from a casino operated by the tribe near the state line in Atmore, Alabama. Tribal officials contend that the land has been in tribal ownership long enough to trigger rights guaranteed by federal law.

If the state rejects the deal, the tribe is within its rights to use the land to grow marijuana, as Department of Justice stated in December that tribes can grow and distribute marijuana on their sovereign land — even if the state in which that land is situated has not legalized marijuana.

“We are entitled to negotiate a compact with the state,” said Poarch Tribal Council Chairwoman Stephanie Bryan. “We have 642 tribal members living throughout the state of Florida. We are asking Gov. Scott to acknowledge we are a federally recognized tribe.”

The tribe started building a warehouse on the land but so far, the actions have garnered a shrug from the Scott administration. Although the governor’s office met twice with tribal officials last year, a spokesman for Scott said recently the governor will not negotiate with the tribe.

Scott’s legal office wrote to Bryan last fall, saying it was “premature” to begin negotiations and that the tribe needs additional recognition from federal officials.

The Poarch Band of Creek Indians operates the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore, just a few miles north of the Nokomis property, and Wind Creek casinos in Montgomery and Wetumpka, AL.

SJM Holdings Chief Executive Officer Ambrose So is making it public record that when the issue of adding more casino licenses in Macau is brought up, he is personally going to sit on the side that opposes it.

Speaking with reporters during a Chinese New Year dinner hosted by the casino operator, So was clear and blunt with his stance, saying that the prospect of more casino licenses in Macau will not contribute to a healthier development of the city’s gaming industry, which is already under siege from the Chinese government’s iron grip

So’s stance falls opposite of Macau Legend Development co-chairman and CEO David Chow Kam Fai, who earlier this month said that he’s wholly in favor of the Macau government to add new casino licenses for local companies. It’s worth noting that Macau Legend already operates two casinos in Macau, both of which use the gaming license of SJM Holdings.

The discussion on the possibility of adding more casino licenses in Macau to the six that already being used is expected to begin this year. That’s likely a big reason why a lot of these companies are coming out and expressing their opinions on the issue.

For those who are opposed to it, new casino licenses will only add more casino options to a market that’s believed to be on the cusp of becoming saturated. Conversely, those who are pining for new licenses are championing the cause in an attempt to get in on the game themselves. Strong points on both sides so it’ll be interesting to see how this shakes out.

Meanwhile, the government’s increased crackdown on illegal gambling took another turn when it was announced that it has removed close to 2000 illegal gambling advertisements in the first six weeks of 2015.

According to Macao Daily, these advertisements, which are largely comprised of ads touting online gambling, have become prevalent on walls, taxis, and buses throughout Macau, despite the fact that the posting of these ads flies against rules imposed by public officials.

THE AMERICAS

Sportsbooks got a second Super Bowl after Mayweather v. Pacquiao was confirmed for May 2 in Las Vegas; Bitcoin poker site SealsWithClubs shut down after Nevada gaming regulators put Bryan Micon in handcuffs; Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino soft-launched its real-money gambling site; someone took a controlling interest in Pinnacle Sports; Betfair TVG bought the HRTV network from the Stronach Group; California got more online poker bills and Caesars explained why it’s now BFF with PokerStars; attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch thinks the Wire Act is fine as it is but Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online bill got a date with a House subcommittee; MGM Resorts’s Nevada properties had their best year since 2007; the Michigan Lottery paid out its first $1m online scratch prize; Nevada got closer to taking bets on Olympic events; Mexico proposed building casinos in tourist resorts; a bankruptcy judge put Revel back on the auction block; New Jersey learned which judges will decide its sports betting fate while another judge was asked what evidence would be allowed against accused bookie Paul Phua; Vegas braced for the first ever fantasy sports combine and Lee Davy offered a primer on getting banned from the 2+2 forums.

EUROPE and AFRICA

888 Holdings rebuffed William Hill’s advances while Bwin.party shares rebounded on word that it was still talking acquisition with Amaya; Playtech acquired casual gaming outfit YoYo Games; bookies were faked out by another ‘phantom’ football match in Belarus; Sweden put the brakes on its online gambling re-regulation plans; Dutch authorities broke up a “professional large scale” betting ring; South African casinos urged citizens to turn in illegal online gambling operators; Bwin.party shuffled its board of directors; Anna Casino’s Mikael Strunge offered advice on picking up women (customers); Georgia welcomed the WPT while the EPT walked away from Deauville; Manchester United launched a social poker site; Rio Ferdinand and John Barnes discussed the life of a brand ambassador and Net Entertainment’s Per Eriksson revealed that his favorite Guns N’ Roses track is You’re Crazy.

ASIA

PAGCOR won a Supreme Court fight with the Philippines’ taxman; Crown Resorts’ domestic casinos outperformed Macau; Tatts Group’s digital division outperformed retail betting; Indian’s Sikkim state issued its second online gambling license; Mongolia wants casinos to target Chinese, Russian and Japanese gamblers; Australia’s greyhound racing industry erupted in turmoil after animal cruelty footage emerges and Rafi Farber analyzed China’s role in Macau’s year of the suck.

India’s Supreme Court has yet to rule on whether poker is a game predominantly based on skill or luck, but it has declared that playing cards is a “physical sport.”

On Friday, Mumbai-based commercial printing firm Parksons Graphics prevailed in its long legal quest to have card-playing deemed a sport. However, unlike similar lawsuits in Western countries, Parksons wasn’t overly concerned with the issue of whether card games were based more on skill than luck. Parksons’ concerns were entirely due to its desire to lessen its tax burden.

Under India’s tax codes, manufacturers of sporting goods have to pay 5% excise duty. Sporting goods deemed not to require physical exercise must pay an additional 1% duty. Since 2011, Parksons has been claiming that its playing cards are exempt from this extra 1% tax.

Challenged on this claim by India’s taxman, Parksons went to court. A Parksons attorney noted that if playing a card game was not deemed a sporting activity, then the game of chess was similarly barred from calling itself a sport. In 2014, a Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal sided with Parksons.

On Friday, India’s Supreme Court upheld the Tribunal’s ruling, rejecting arguments by the Attorney General that playing cards was “gambling” and therefore not an athletic pursuit. The Hindustan Times quoted Chief Justice HL Dattu saying: “When you play cards, you use your hands. It can be a physical sport. Why not?” Oh, if only ‘why not’ were a more frequent dictum in court cases of this nature…

The Supreme Court has yet to rule on a more traditional skill v. luck case involving games like poker and rummy. The Karnataka High Court has declared that such games are predominantly skill-based but rulings in other states have declared that luck is the primary factor in separating winners from losers.

The Supreme Court was supposed to issue a ruling in November but decided it needed more time to study the question. Should the Court uphold the Karnataka ruling, the Central government would be tasked with establishing a uniform set of rules that would apply to all states. This would undoubtedly open up the door for more states to consider offering online poker services.

South Africa’s online gambling hopes got a minor boost this week with the tabling of the latest version of the Remote Gambling Bill (PMB 3 – 2015).

The private member’s bill was tabled by Democratic Alliance MP Geordin Hill-Lewis, the shadow minister for trade and industry. Largely identical to Lewis’ previous efforts, the 2015 version seeks to expand South Africa’s online menu from the current sports-only betting regime to one that includes casino and poker verticals.

Also similar to Hill-Lewis’ previous efforts, the 2015 version is expected to die from neglect. Last month, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry emphatically declared that there is “no intention on the part of the government to propose the legislation of online gambling.” This stance was foreshadowed in November by PricewaterhouseCoopers, who said they “don’t see anything happening” for South Africa’s online gambling expansion “for quite a a period of time.”

While Hill-Lewis keeps up a stirring rendition of High Hopes, the Casino Association of South Africa (CASA) is blaming illegal online gambling for taking money out of the hands of South Africa’s legal casinos and the government’s tax coffers.

CASA CEO Themba Ngobese believes “aggressive” online gambling operators are partially responsible for South African casino revenue growth falling from 10% in the 2012-13 fiscal year to just 0.6% in 2013-14. Ngobese estimated that at least 5% of this revenue contraction was down to people choosing to gamble online rather than in CASA-approved gaming joints. Ngobese said this has cost the government R110m (US $9.5m) in tax revenue.

CASA recently launched a campaign to educate South Africans about “the consequences of illegal gambling.” The campaign will provide info on illegal online gambling across online, radio and print advertising as well as via social media. Chief among the consequences highlighted will be the possibility of R10m fines and 10-year prison sentences for South Africans caught operating or playing on illegal sites.

The campaign also seeks to alert property owners and landlords that their premises might be used for internet cafés that offer access to online gambling sites. CASA has even set up hotlines for concerned citizens to fink on suspected operators. Ngobese said the campaign has “already had some good reports to the provincial gambling boards” which are being “followed up by investigators in sting operations.”