Sportsbet, Australia’s largest provider for online sports betting, undertook a rather unique and effective advertising promotion this week. While it is customary for most online betting companies to find unique ways to promote their brand it is not common that they paid their brand logo on a farmer’s field.

The field in question happens to be in line with the landing strip for Melbourne Airport and thus allows those arriving to the Australia to get familiar with the joys of Australian sportsbetting. Sportsbetis owned by Paddy Power and was meant to show support for its parent company and ultimately its support for the Australian Wallabies Rugby team. This same team just so happens to have a scheduled game against the Lions of Britain this coming week.

The advertisement has not been well received by local political members and other people who failed to notice the humor behind it. The fact that the Aussie wallaby was show on top of a lion failed to impress those a little stuffy and lacked the appreciation of the intended jab.

Belgium has again added to its growing list of banned online betting sites in order to control those operating illegally within the country. This latest move saw Cityclubcasino.com, BetVictor.com, Monacasino.com, Casinograndluxe.com and Royalcasino added to the blacklist.

The blacklist forces Belgium internet providers to block these websites from being accessed within the country. This list is growing at a rapid pace, which didn’t start until the 2013 calendar year but now includes over 70 sites.

The point of the blacklist tis to protect Belgium’s ability to tax winnings within the country and earn much needed revenue from licensing fees that is now applies to those who obtain a license. Any betting site that gets caught around the blacklist could see €100,000 fines applied for each day they are found to be in contempt. It also can apply a €25,000 against those caught to be gambling under any of the blacklisted sites.

To date the efforts of the Belgium Government has seen only limited success as only 50% of those offering internet services in the country are applying the bans.

Coral Group, this past week, released its latest quarter results. The report showed satisfactory results based on revenue generated during the first quarter. Gala Group is one of the world’s largest internet betting groups and employs over 18,000 people across the world. They operate bingo, casino and a retail chain of betting shops in Italy.

Some of the highlights to the report show that overall revenue was up by 9% at £311.3 million. This resulted in a gross profit of £234 million, which is a 6% gain over the same time period last year. The report also showed that the overall traffic and player acquisition had grown by 3%

 The CEO of Coral, Carl Leaver stated “Our interactive business saw strong growth this quarter. Also Eurobet continues to grow within the Italian market both with the betting shops and online. The acquisitions of five hundred new betting shop licenses will us to further grow our operation within Italy”

The new licenses are expected to increase overall profits in 2014. 2013 may not see added profit due to expenditures to establish the new betting shops. Overall the first quester shows excellent results with expectations for the second quarter to be high.

William Hill, one of U.K’s most successful betting firm, has agreed to a deal with Fifth Street Gaming. This deal will see William Hill providing sportsbetting to the newly built Grand Casino in Las Vegas Nevada. This is the first deal of its kind for William Hill and it is hopeful that additional interest will follow should this prove to be a successful partnership.

The casino will be opening in September of this year and the sportsbetting package that will be provided by William Hill will be up and running for the opening. The casino will have self-serve booths located throughout the casino and will also offer mobile sportsbook apps which will be compatible with all the various mobile devices that are offered.

William Hill is excited to be part of the changes that are occurring in Las Vegas and the Grand Casino is just one of the many opportunities that exist for companies like William Hill. William Hill offers an array of different online betting sites that cater to sportsbetting, casino, bingo and poker. They own and operate hundreds of betting shops in the U.K and Ireland and are a publicly traded company.

The State of Massachusetts has moved one step closer to seeing online betting being legal in the state. This is due to the Massachusetts Bill being voted on and the results showing the yea’s being 122 against the nay’s being only 29.

The bill will see licensing for interested online betting sites and the regulation of the market within the state. Currently it will only allow for three licenses to be issued for online poker. In order to be granted a license all operators will be required to pay a $1 million licensing fee for a period of 10 years upfront.

The bill has revisions that only allow players over the age of 21 to participate. Proof of identity will be required and those licensed will be required to provide proof of those identities if requested to the state. Only people residing in the state will be able to play at those who eventually get licensed if passed at the senate level.

This is good news for those in Massachusetts who enjoy poker and want choices as to where and how they can play.

Pennsylvania politicians have created a bill to permit gambling online within the state. Bill HB1235 was drafted by Rep Tina Davis and would see online gambling become legal in the state. However it is unlikely, even if approved, that many operators will chose to do business within the state due to the outlandish licensing fees being proposed, which currently is $5 million plus a tax of 28%. These numbers have actually been reduced from the initial proposal of $16.4 million plus 45% tax.

In the event this bill is passed into legislation it would fall into the hands of the state gaming board to administer and regulate as well as provide and approve licenses. Rep Davis is trying to garner support for this bill stating the amount it would generate in tax revenue for the state, allow Pennsylvania to remain competitive against other neighboring states and also the potential for job creation.

While it is hopeful the bill will pass it will not gain much offshore betting attention with the fees they wish to charge and will in effect close the door and see the state remain uncompetitive with those states that have more reasonable licensing fees.

BetVictor has undertaken a full re-launch of its Bad beat jackpot for it poker client. This has been well received by those who missed the jackpot while it was being re-designed.  The previous jackpot sat at over half a million in value and the new bad beat jackpot was launched with a jackpot of €921,000! That will catch many players attention and it is expected that play will be high as players want to pursue the jackpot.

The jackpot had been frozen at the beginning of March in order to allow BetVictor to makes the changes, which are positive changes making the winning of the jackpot that much easier. Players are now able to share in the jackpots with any four of a kind hand that is two’s or more. The jackpot is only offered on €.10c and €.20c tables as well making it that much more affordable for all. As an added plus all those who have opted into the jackpot hand will share 10% of the value.

These changes will see more people winning more often and will increase BetVictor’s presence as more players will be attracted to what they have to offer, not only with the poker games but with the opportunities the jackpot presents to them.

http://www.betvictor.com/sports/en

BetVictor has undertaken a full re-launch of its Bad beat jackpot for it poker client. This has been well received by those who missed the jackpot while it was being re-designed.  The previous jackpot sat at over half a million in value and the new bad beat jackpot was launched with a jackpot of €921,000! That will catch many players attention and it is expected that play will be high as players want to pursue the jackpot.

The jackpot had been frozen at the beginning of March in order to allow BetVictor to makes the changes, which are positive changes making the winning of the jackpot that much easier. Players are now able to share in the jackpots with any four of a kind hand that is two’s or more. The jackpot is only offered on €.10c and €.20c tables as well making it that much more affordable for all. As an added plus all those who have opted into the jackpot hand will share 10% of the value.

These changes will see more people winning more often and will increase BetVictor’s presence as more players will be attracted to what they have to offer, not only with the poker games but with the opportunities the jackpot presents to them.

Betclic, an online gaming site that offers Sport, Live betting, Poker, Casino, Live Casino, Games and a Mobile Casino have announced that it will be adding Sheriff Gaming’s popular The Amsterdam Master Plan video slot.

The Amsterdam Master Plan is one of Sheriff Gaming’s 3D slots that features incredibly rich graphics, animation and multiple slot features such as expanding wilds, a Wheel of Fortune bonus game, multiple free spins and more. The added animation and sounds only make this a top rated slot but when added with the available features you are presented with a 3D slot ready to delight all who enjoy slot.

Betclic’s James Watson stated “We are incredibly impressed by the 3D technology that is created at Sheriff Gaming and believe our players will as well. It is for this reason that we have chosen to partner with Sheriff for a number of 3D games which will be added to our library in the weeks ahead”

Bet-at-EU, a respected and known online gaming site has just opened a new mobile casino for its current players as well as new players to enjoy and access the games from. This will complement Bet-at-EU current operations that include a download casino.

The mobile casino app has been designed to be compatible with most mobile devices such as smartphones, iPads and android operating systems. The casino is being powered by the proven and reliable Microgaming mobile software and also includes games from Sheriff Gaming. The casino includes the full list of available games for the mobile platform with new games under development and expected to be released in the coming months ahead.

Those who wish to access the Bet-at-EU mobile casino will need to visit the website and follow the instructions.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has, as reported by Yahoo News,  vetoed the bill that would have legalized online gambling within the New Jersey jurisdiction. This is after it passed both state Senate and State House. The previous veto of the bill appeared to be outright however this time it seems to be a conditional veto. This decision comes as a huge disappointment for those who have worked on the bill and the people who live in New Jersey and want the right to gamble where they please.

This latest veto does not come as a big shock as it was somewhat expected. Governor Chris Christie had clearly said that he would veto the bill if it includes a ten year clause and higher tax limit against the casinos. Governor Christie wants to see a tax on all online winnings increased to 15% however at the same time believes the time is right to have New Jersey set the stage to allow and legalize online gambling within its borders. Revenue from Atlantic City has been dropping over the last few years and a loss of $2.2 billion in revenue will ultimately be the deciding factor of where this bill ends up.

Senator Raymond Lesniak has been instrumental in this bills success to date and could have challenged the veto but has since decide to re-work the bill in order to see its ultimate approval and eventually becoming law. Now it must be decided to amend the bill to satisfy the Governor and then re-submit the bill after amendments have been made but as the veto was conditional it will require new sponsors in order to considered.

Additional information and understanding of what is to come will follow next week.