Online payment solutions provider Optimal Payments has further expanded its presence in the North American market after agreeing a five-year partnership with the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG). Under the agreement, Optimal Payments will provide its NETBANX payment service to OLG for its new online gambling service PlayOLG. The new service will offer regulated interactive lottery, casino and video poker games to Ontario residents. The NETBANX solution will support the new offering by providing payment options, as well as delivering real-time fraud and risk prevention and mitigation services. “PlayOLG will be the only regulated internet gaming option in Ontario,”…

Bloomberg – Dutch-themed amusement park along Japan’s southwestern coast is considering buying a deserted offshore island in an expansion to boost its appeal as a possible site for a casino resort. “We are planning to buy new land to offer more games at the Huis Ten Bosch theme park,” Hideo Sawada, chairman of the Tokyo-based travel agency and park operator, said in an interview April 18. “There are a lot of deserted islands nearby.” He said at least 100 billion yen ($974 million) is needed to fund a gambling resort at the park. Huis Ten Bosch and sites across Japan…

This Week in Gambling – Robert Smith, Treasurer of the CTBA Board and Chairman of the Pala Band of Luiseno Indians, will testify at the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization, during their informational hearing on Internet poker. The iPoker hearing is set for Wednesday, April 23 at 1:30 pm, in State Capitol, Room 4202. The hearing, was called by AGO Chair Isadore Hall, III, to promote a better understanding of the iPoker issue.  Two bills, AB 2291 (Jones-Sawyer) and SB 1366 (Correa), have been introduced this year that would legalize Internet poker in California.  CTBA member tribes are part of…

iGaming Business – Russian president Vladimir Putin has submitted a draft bill to parliament to designate the seceded Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea as a legal gambling zone. As reported by iGaming Business last month, Russian officials were reported to be considering a proposal to introduce a gambling zone with casinos and hotels to the region. According to the Wall Street Journal newspaper, Putin submitted the bill on Monday in the hope of pushing forward with these plans. Sergei Aksyonov, acting leader of Crimea, told the Itar-Tass news agency last week that if the bill does pass then the region plans…

Poker News – Right after the visit the European commissioner for competition and European Commission vice president Joakin Almunia paid to Athens, the Greek government decided to introduce significant amendments to its gaming law. This should finally put Greece’s legislation in line with European directives and calm fears of an upcoming monopoly. Greece’s reliance on the so-called “European trojka” — the unofficial group composed by the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund — pushed the country to change direction and remove from its gambling law some criticized bits that could have led to the creation of a…

Las Vegas Review Journal – A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank in New York wouldn’t discuss an Australian press report Monday that the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas could be sold to a company controlled by billionaire James Packer. Germany’s largest bank, which opened the 3,000-room Cosmopolitan in December 2010 after it foreclosed on the project’s original developer, is reportedly seeking a buyer for the resort. The Cosmopolitan has never turned a quarterly profit. The Brisbane Times reported that Crown Resorts, which is controlled by Packer, was planning to “lodge an expression of interest” for the Cosmopolitan by Tuesday. Bloomberg News recently…