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…

iGaming Business – Elliptic Vault, a facility that claims to be the “first in the world” to offer insurance to owners of the Bitcoin virtual currency, has been launched in the UK. According to the BBC, the Bitcoin storage service insures deposits of the digital currency against theft and loss. The service uses a ‘deep cold storage’ in which private encrypted keys to Bitcoins are stored on offline servers in a secure location. Multiple copies of the Bitcoin keys are protected by layers of cryptographic and physical security, with such copies only accessible via a quorum of the company’s directors. Online…

iGaming Business – International trade group the Gaming Standards Association (GSA) has announced the addition of nine new members from around the world. Appolonia of France, Austrian firm DRGT Systems and Inspired Gaming Group from the UK have all joined as Silver Members. Australian company Maxgaming, Ortiz Machine Company from Spain and Finland’s RAY have also joined the GSA as Silver Members. In addition, China Lottery Online, US company Gamblit Gaming and Taiwan’s Jumbo Technology have also signed up as GSA Bronze Members. Peter DeRaedt, GSA’s president, said the trade group was ‘excited’ to welcome the new members from across…

The Guardian – As MPs debate the impact of fixed-odds betting machines, we look at the data to find out which forms of gambling are the most popular in which parts of the country – and what has changed. Labour is to press the coalition on their gambling policy on Wednesday during an opposition day debate. Ed Miliband has said Labour would give councils the power to ban high-stakes roulette machines from bookmakers’ shops, and the party wants the government to adopt similar plans. The gambling industry has been accused of focusing these roulette machines (known as fixed-odds betting terminals, or…