Reason – Did you fill out a March Madness bracket this year? In many states, if you put money in a pool, that’s illegal. The NCAA website warns, “Fans should enjoy … filling out a bracket just for the fun of it, not … the amount of money they could possibly win.” Give me a break. Americans bet more money on March Madness this year than on the Super Bowl. Politicians can’t quite make up their minds about gambling: They approve certain casinos and promote state lotteries but crack down on sports bets and some charity poker games. It seems…

At 550 feet, it’s the highest point on the tallest Ferris Wheel in the world, Tony Anouvongs takes a selfie and sends it to his 16-year-old daughter. “My daughter requested it,” he says of the High Roller wheel. “She seemed so excited to have me ride it and take a selfie for her.” Everyone around him is snapping Smartphone photos of the 360-degree view of the sun setting over Vegas and the mountains surrounding it. One woman is Face Timing with her mother. Once the sun sets, the High Roller’s 2,000 LED lights turn on, and the tallest Ferris Wheel,…

Bloomberg – Roughly 100 percent of lottery tickets are currently sold by retailers—gas stations, supermarkets, or convenience stores—that do little more than print tickets with numbers. It was only a matter of time before someone made apps for that process. Shoutz, an Austin (Tex.)-based startup, announced an agreement Tuesday with the Mega Millions lottery that will bring the game to its LotteryHUB mobile app, which launched in September with the rival Powerball lottery game. Now the two largest forces in the $78 billion per year U.S. lottery industry will share a mobile platform that covers the vast majority of the country,…

The Guardian – In the budget, George Osborne reduced the tax burden on land based bingo halls and raised it for betting shop fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs). Two gambling sectors treated very differently. The basis of this tax hike on FOBTs, as Osborne put it, was to “bring their profitability more in line with other gaming machines on the high street.” The chancellor has underestimated the disparity between FOBTs and other gaming machines. It is far bigger than a 5% tax adjustment can address. In 2013 FOBTs – or “B2” gaming machines as they are categorised – generated more…

Poker News – Last month, a quintet of the main trade associations representing the various facets of the UK gambling industry unveiled the creation of the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG). As well as establishing the best practice on consumer protection across the sector, the IGRG will undertake a “stock-take” of current responsible gambling initiatives and identify where standards can be improved. The inaugural chairman, Clive Hawkswood, told PokerNews that despite the perception that problem gambling is widespread across the British Isles, the current rate is at a “historic low” — 0.5% of the adult population. However, he admitted…

iGaming Business – Gaming content supplier Realistic Games has launched two new five-reel slots in the form of ‘Riverboat Gambler’ and ‘Snapshot’. Delivered by the firm’s in-house ReGaL server, the new titles will be available to both new and existing customers on mobile, tablet and desktop. Riverboat Gambler offers players the chance to win a top prize of 2,000 times the total stake while the 20-line Snapshot title features a jackpot of 500 times the total stake. In addition to the new launches, Realistic Games has also announced that its ‘Wild Safari’ slot title has been tailored for mobile and…