Featured Articles Archive - Page 572

Draft UIGEA regulations under fire

The U.S. Treasury Department and Federal Reserve are still struggling to create and implement regulations to enforce the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act more than 16 months after the law's adoption. The UIGEA prohibits financial institutions from processing financial gambling to Internet gambling companies. But the regulations proposed by the Treasury Department and Fed last October have generated so much public comment that no regulations have been implemented yet. "This is an issue that there is so much interest in that we don't want to rush," Treasury Department spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli told Bloomberg News regulatory columnist Cindy Skrzycki this week...read more

Expert: Canada not likely to ban online gaming

The Canadian government announced this week it was considering a move to restrict banks and credit card companies from conducting financial transactions with Internet gaming operators in the country, much like what the U.S. attempted to accomplish with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that was introduced in October, 2006...read more

Playtech KPIs Exceed Expectations

Gambling software developer Playtech's financial report for its second full year of trading as a public company shows that all key performance indicators exceeded targets. Revenue grew to $103.6 million, net profits improved to $70 million, and some very impressive feats were accomplished in 2007. Chairman Roger Withers says business growth was driven by two key factors, "geographical presence in growing markets" and "ability to deliver comprehensive best of breed solutions for our licensees." "On a global scale, the online gaming market continues to grow across all major economic regions and as such still constitutes a young and growing marketplace," said Withers...read more

$3.3 Mill Spent Lobbying I-gaming Policy in US, 2nd Half '07

According to Congressional records, Internet gambling legislation attracted approximately $3.3 million in lobbying at the federal level during the second half of 2007. The grassroots Poker Players Alliance (PPA) was the largest spender, budgeting $1.2 million to federal lobbying efforts throughout the period...read more

'Bringing Down The House' goes Hollywood

A card-counting system that led to millions of dollars in winnings…A chance meeting between two men at a party in Boston...Two whirlwind months in Las Vegas…A best-selling book...An impromptu phone call from Kevin Spacey…The release of a Hollywood motion picture that has "blockbuster" written all over it. In its abbreviated form, that's the sequence of events that changed the lives of Ben Mezrich and Jeffrey Ma...read more

Top-10 celebrities who might be bad poker players

Last week, we covered the top ten celebrities who we thought might make good poker players. This week, we take a look at the top ten celebrities that might be really bad at poker -- complete with video clips illustrating our points. The list features people who don't talk, people who talk too much, and one person who's not really a person...read more

Nevadan at work: Exec sees diversity as tool

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Debra Nelson was overseeing media relations for the University of Alabama System in the early 1990s when auto giant Mercedes-Benz set up a production plant in Tuscaloosa County. The German automaker lured her away from higher education to help the startup operation adjust to its new environment. Nelson not only needed to help Mercedes-Benz adapt to an American system but also the lifestyle found in the South. She set up the company's corporate philanthropy program, managed community affairs and handled government relations...read more

Gaming sector caught in market skid

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Volatility continued to plague gaming industry stocks in February. Just two of the seven casino operators tracked for an index compiled by Las Vegas financial consulting firm Applied Analysis reported month-over-month increases in their average daily stock prices...read more

Quick-takes: The month's trends in a glance - February 2008

TAKE ONE The much touted buyout of Harrah's is finally done. It marks the largest and latest of the buyouts of public gaming companies by private equity firms; the other two announced in 2007 were Stations, which was finalized before the end of the year, and Penn National...read more

Bits and Pieces from Indian Country - February 2008

Twenty years into Indian gaming, many things have changed. Indian gaming is now big business, much larger than anyone would have imagined in 1988. In the beginning, just one state, Connecticut, saw a chance for the state to take advantage of Indian gaming and that awareness came only at the suggestion of the management of Foxwoods...read more