Gibraltar-based online gambling operator 32Red has reported a significant growth in net gaming revenue during the first half of 2015, ending June 30.

Net gaming revenue in H1 rose 22% to £18.6m compared to £15.2m posted over the same period last year, which is attributed to the increased number of new customers as well as more frequent activity by 62,000 current users.

The growth registered during the first half of the year seems set to continue in H2, as the company announced a jump of 35% in gross gaming revenue in the first three weeks of July.

The financial performance of 32Red’s Italian-facing site is also satisfactory, with revenue up 67% over the six-month period to £0.9 million.

Put yourself in Norbert Teufelberger’s shoes. Your company, bwin.party, has been shrinking ever since going public due to loss of grey market opportunities and heightened exposure to government regulation. You’re looking for a new home to help grow what’s left, and two companies approach you. The first is a pair, an odd duo (GVC/Amaya) consisting of a grey market specialist with another who made its fame through leveraged buyouts. The grey marketer wants to take whatever is left of your grey market business, and put all the debt in the hands of its already highly leveraged partner.

Another company approaches you (888), one with no debt whatsoever, who already knows and understands the pain and risk of operating in grey markets and then having to leave them, just like what happened to you. But they have grown out of it despite the tribulations. And you already do business with them, so you know how they operate and you understand the stability of their business plan.

Which do you go with?

Bwin.party is not stupid. Its top management does not want to make the same mistakes it did when Bwin and PartyGaming merged, thinking that grey market opportunities can survive for long when a company becomes too visible to the authorities.

Seniors have stopped playing euchre, after the Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) said that the center is breaking the state’s gambling law.

A 50-person euchre club gathers two or three days a week to play euchre at the Delaware County Senior Citizens Center, where players put in $2.50 and could win a can of peaches or a pack of cookies or toilet papers.

But because they pay a couple of bucks to play and take home prizes, they’re breaking Indiana law — and state officials have ordered an end to the illegal gambling.

Director of the Delaware County Senior Citizens Center Judy Elton said that IGC contacted her early last week, asking the center to stop offering prizes.

State Sen. James Whelan and Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo proposed a legislation that would remove land covenants on the former Showboat Casino site in Atlantic City on Monday.

According to the proposal, any covenants or deed restrictions on property held by public entities in the city’s tourism district violate the public interest, making them void and unenforceable, although it was not clear whether the legislation could accomplish that goal or if a judge would have to approve the plan.

Caesars Entertainment shut the still-profitable Showboat in August to reduce the competition in the struggling Atlantic City casino market. In December, it sold the property for $18m to Stockton, which planned to use it as a long-sought satellite city campus.

However, a 1988 land covenant involving Caesars mandates that the property can only be used as a first class casino and hotel, directly conflicting with the deed restriction placed by Caesars when Stockton bought the property that says the property can be used for anything but a casino.

Social Media has become the standout medium to showcase a brand by almost every business and the top choice for marketers to execute their strategies. It has become the go-to channel of brands, some still in the shadows, to crawl their way out into the world to be seen by millions. From its emergence and its ever-evolving advances, it is about time to take this platform to the next level and marry it with your brand!

It can be intimidating to think about creating your social brand but it is not rocket science. Here are some tips to consider to succeed in your future marketing campaigns:

Inspire sensible and meaningful conversations

‘Word of mouth’ is tried and tested; it can either make or break your brand. Of course, you want your audience to talk about you positively on these platforms. How? Don’t just create content, focus on what drives your audience’s contentment, and build your content around it. Your brand must always inspire conversations that matter to your audience. An increase in meaningful and sensible conversations fuel business conversions and builds brand equity. Through these conversations, SOCIAL EQUITY is born which consequently, reflects on and turns into brand equity.

The 15th annual international gaming trade show and conference Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is back and what is a better place to hold such premier event than Las Vegas?

Led by American Gaming Association (AGA) and Reed Exhibitions, G2E 2015 will be held from September 29 to October 1 at Sands Expo and Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is the perfect showground for gaming industry professionals to conduct business, connect with peers and learn cutting-edge ways to become a better gaming professional as it offers a 360-degree view of the industry from slots and table games to igaming and food, beverage, and hospitality.

This year, G2E will launch Integrated Resort Experience, broadening its scope to match the changing gaming-resort landscape and position its attendees for the future. This new effort will deliver a complete “end-to-end” solution to help casinos attract more guests, encourage them to stay and play longer, and increase revenue per visitor by presenting innovative non-gaming technology, products and services as guests would experience them in a gaming-resort setting.

The World Series of Poker Tournament Director Jack Effel has blocked Matt Glantz on Twitter after repeated attempts to try and convey a series of potential improvements for the WSOP, causing players to react in 140-character uproar.

Welcome to the night Mr. Jack Effel.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournament Director (TD) has blocked Matt Glantz on Twitter. It’s not exactly a news story dripping in starlight, but Glantz is no ordinary guy. This guy has an army of little playmates and they seem to be going all 140-character over WSOPTD ass at the moment.

It all began way back in June. The 46th WSOP was in its infancy and most people were happy little celestial beings: everyone that is except Matt Glantz. After 38 cashes spread over a period of 15-years, earning over $2.5m and a WSOP gold ring, he felt he should have been happier.

PokerStars announce that the 2015 World Championship of Online Poker will be the biggest ever with 70 events, $45m in guaranteed prize money and a $51,000 buy-in event. 

Do men or women run the largest organizations in the poker world?

It’s obvious.

There’s a clue in the design of the next ‘in’ thing.

PokerStars has announced plans for the Latin American Poker Tour Season 8 Grand Final to merge with the Brazilian Series of Poker Millions in what promises to be the most earth shattering poker series in Latin American History.

Zico might have been cool cos he curled free kicks into the top corner whilst scratching his cock. I didn’t care about that old nonsense. He was cool because he was called Zico.

Brazil was the first Subbuteo team I bought and I polished Zico’s spherical bottom with Pledge. I loved the languid couldn’t give a fuck style of Socrates, and the veins popping out of the arms of Falcao were like tributaries running down a map of a whole new world for me. A world where to be Brazil meant being the Daddy.

The Brazilians nearly broke the Rio Mothership during Thiago Nishijima’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet win, Ronaldo the Elder is a part of Team PokerStars, as is the little genius called Neymar Jr. If they keep going at this rate they will have to paint the spade yellow.