Wales Online – An ex-gambling executive has lifted the lid on how the betting industry has put controversial fixed odds terminals in every high street bookies. The games machines, which let punters stake £300 a minute or £18,000 an hour, have been dubbed “the crack cocaine of gambling”. Last year more than £60m vanished into fixed odds betting terminals in Wales. They are commonly used to play roulette and were introduced to Britain in 2001. “Everyone in the industry thought we would get all these casino high-rollers using these machines,” said Adrian Parkinson, a former regional manager for Tote who…

The Motley Fool – With gaming growth in Macau and hopes for Japan later this year, gamblers and investors alike are wondering which countries will also follow suit and ramp up their gaming industries. Because the country wants to support cultural development and it already has a head start with its leisure and gaming industry, South Korea might become yet another high-profit growth region for gaming in South East Asia. Since the South Korean government decided to allow large-scale casinos in the country two years ago, only one company has successfully won a bid to build there. Genting, the operator…

Jamaica Observer – Construction of the first licensed casino in Jamaica is scheduled to begin in a few months. Celebration Jamaica Development Limited, one of the companies, which applied for the first set of casino licences is looking at starting construction as early as summer once government gives approval. Founder of the company, Robert Trotta, said the project will be completed in three years once approval is granted. “We have a full brand new convention centre, right here in the middle of Rose Hall, we are ten minutes from the airport, there is no better place in the Caribbean to…

iGaming Business – German secondary research organisation yStats.com has reported that players are continuing to move away from traditional gaming methods towards online gaming on mobile and social networks. In a report entitled “EMEA Online Gaming Market 2014”, the organisation said that the move to mobile and social is most pronounced in emerging markets such as Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Turkish and Polish emerging markets were ahead of western European countries in terms of the share of online gamers on internet users in 2013. The Russian online gaming market grew by more than 20% in 2013…

Huffington Post – Sports betting is booming. Reuters estimates one trillion dollars is bet annually on sports worldwide. Yes, trillion with a T! It’s estimated that half of adult Americans bet something on this year’s Super Bowl. Betting on sports has been big business for a long time, but what’s different recently is the modern media’s acceptance of this reality. Lotteries, poker rooms, and casinos are everywhere these days — resulting in a general waning of the taboo associated with gambling. So it makes sense that the ever expanding national sports networks (television and radio) have embraced the Vegas perspective…

OnlineCasino.org – Gambling remains a contentious issue in certain parts of the world.  Casinos, poker rooms, lotteries, and slot entertainment facilities are popular across Canada, the US, and other liberal gambling markets.  But sportsbetting is another issue altogether, with many markets still reluctant to discuss legalization of the pastime. Sportsbetting is limited in the US to four primary markets, with Nevada sportsbooks by far the most popular destination to bet on professional matches.  In Canada, players can bet on three sports events at a time, but are legally prohibited from betting on single game matches under current sportsbetting laws. But…