THE AMERICAS
The Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling hired Trent Lott as a lobbyist; Brazil took steps to legalize online sports betting; Fanduel raised an additional $275m in funding and players said they’d keep playing daily fantasy sports even if real-money sports betting was legal; New Jersey’s regulated online poker market hit a new all-time low; MGM Resorts opposed Connecticut tribes’ plan to put a casino on the Massachusetts’ border; New Jersey’s plan to expand casinos outside Atlantic City will have to wait until next year; Loto-Quebec justified its IP-blocking plan as a public health issue; Rafi Farber wondered where the synergies from the Scientific Games-Bally Technologies merger had gone and the 2015 World Series of Poker wound down after finalizing the new November Nine.
EUROPE
888 Holdings’ £898m offer to buy Bwin.party beat out GVC/Amaya’s bid; the UK’s online gambling point of consumption tax was referred to Europe’s top court but Ireland said it wouldn’t alter its own POCT plans; the European Commission asked Germany to justify its online sports betting law; 32Red acquired Roxy Palace; Betfair exited the Portuguese market while CEO Breon Corcoran collected a £10m bonus; the UK government rejected a bid to reduce fixed-odds betting terminal stakes; the UK Gambling Commission found “no evidence” of a massive online gambling black market; the Greek half of Cyprus finally approved its casino legislation; PokerStars announced online poker’s priciest online tournament buy-in; Interwetten’s profit quadrupled thanks to marketing reductions; Gamesys appointed Lee Fenton as its new CEO; Plumbee’s social casino Mirrorball Slots topped $50m in lifetime revenue; NYX Gaming launched its open gaming system on Full Tilt; Roy Keane sued Paddy Power for putting his face on a billboard; Mansion Group inked a sponsorship deal with Crystal Palace FC while Betfair signed on with Sunderland AFC; Mediarez Sports & Entertainment raised nearly $5m to ‘sportify’ poker; Stephanie Racquel discussed methods of nurturing an engaged culture in your company and Rebecaa Liggero examined the threat ad blocking poses to the online gambling industry.