Las Vegas Review Journal – An anti-online gaming group is distributing a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that warns Internet wagering can be used by criminals to conduct money-laundering activities. The effort by the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, a Washington, D.C., grassroots organization funded by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is part of the group’s overall push to restore a federal ban on Internet gaming. Meanwhile, opponents of online gambling are promoting draft legislation that would reverse the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2011 determination that overturned the Federal Wire Act, allowing individual states to adopt…

iGaming Business – Out-of-home advertising specialist VisionChina Media has entered into an exclusive strategic cooperation agreement with Baidu Games, the online gaming platform of Baidu, to promote the firm’s gaming brand and products across its digital television advertising networks in China. Under the deal, VisionChina will serve as the exclusive digital mobile television advertising partner of Baidu Games and provide the firm with brand promotion and advertising placement solutions throughout its national media networks on buses and subways. VisionChina said that its advertising solutions cover above-ground bus networks in 88 cities and underground subway networks in 14 cities. “We are…

Courier Mail – A protest group wanting to stop sports betting ads during broadcasts has threatened to launch a children’s gambling app unless laws to stop them are enforced. The dummy site Sim Bet  “Sports Betting Fun for the Whole Family” has been set up by a group calling itself SimBet to show how it would make good on its threat if the Federal Government did not act by a February deadline. But welfare workers and gambling academics have warned against the strategy because it could backfire and encourage gambling. The site features so-called endorsements from children such as “Me…

Philly.com – Jamie Kerstetter is in her pink slippers with the pom-poms. And why shouldn’t she be? It’s a Sunday morning, and she’s settling in to a long day during which she won’t leave the apartment. The cards are dealt, on the screen, four tables going at once, a far cry from the 20 poker games this former tax lawyer used to fire up on her computer screen in Mexico, where she would spend hour after twitchy hour playing online Texas hold ’em. “My boyfriend and I would sit all day and not talk to each other except when one…

iGaming Business – The UK’s HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is considering alternatives to the current 20% value added tax rate on purchases of Bitcoins due to fears that the virtual currency could be used for tax evasion and money laundering. According to the Financial Times newspaper, traders have complained that the VAT made their business uncompetitive on a global scale and was forcing them to look at moving to more favourable jurisdictions. The announcement comes as tax authorities around the world seek to capture more revenue from the virtual currency and lower the risk of tax avoidance and evasion….

UK bingo halls and their companies have been backed by a group of 54 MPs in their campaign to reduce the gambling tax imposed on bingo to be reduced from 20% to 15%. It looks as though the land-based bingo industry in the UK is reaching crisis point. On Friday last week, the Boost Bingo campaign was launched with the industry lobby group the Bingo Association asking the government to bring levies on the game of bingo in line with other forms of gambling in the UK. Currently bingo hall profits are taxed at 20% while there’s a 15% tax…

The Augusta Chronicle – Supporters of expanding legalized gambling to include betting on horse racing and casinos see signs their long odds could pay off after the election. The sponsor of pending legislation that would amend the constitution to allow it said Friday the timing is close but not yet ripe. “Tell them to hold their breath until next year,” said Rep. Harry Geisinger, R-Roswell. Most observers believe an election year in a conservative state is not the time to bring up a potentially controversial issue like expanded gambling. Gov. Nathan Deal is significantly ahead in the polls over his…

Poker News – The American Gaming Association (AGA) is already making headlines in the New Year. Earlier this week the nation’s leading casino trade association announced significant staff additions – including President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina – and that was followed by a blog from AGA President Geoff Freeman on The Hill advocating for regulation of online gambling. “The big news this week is the American Gaming Association’s recent escalation of its efforts for online poker legislation. This includes bringing on Jim Messina, President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, for this push,” Rich Muny, VP of Player Relations for…