iGaming Business – Irish independent bookmaker Boylesports has been announced as the title sponsor of the 2014 Irish Grand National annual horseracing event. Under the deal, the 2014 steeplechase race will be known as the Boylesports Irish Grand National. The 2014 event will take place at Ireland’s Fairyhouse Racecourse on April 21. “It’s fantastic for us to welcome such a prestigious brand as Boylesports, who already have a great relationship with Irish racing, as the new sponsor of the Irish Grand National,” Fairyhouse Racecourse general manager Peter Roe said. John Boyle, founder, owner and chief executive officer of Boylesports, added:…

The Guardian – New South Wales is second only to Nevada as the most gambling machine-packed state in the world, according to a new report. The World Count of Gaming Machines report, released by Australia’s poker-machine lobby group, the Gaming Technologies Association (GTA), has found the total number of gambling machines in Australia increased slightly in 2013 to 198,418. More than 95,000 of those “pokies” are in NSW, a state total beaten only by Nevada, which operated 181,109 gambling machines in 2014. Australia has the sixth highest number of gambling machines in the world, the report shows, with Australian pubs,…

iGaming Business – The Gaming Technologies Association has revealed that Japan is well ahead of any other country in the world in terms of the number of legal gaming machines installed throughout the nation. The association’s ‘The World Count of Gaming Machines 2013’ report found that 4,592,036 legal gambling machines are installed throughout Japan. The second-placed US was some way off with 889,070 machines, while Italy was third in the list with 412,252. Spain rose to fifth in the worldwide rankings while Australia, Germany and the UK were also included in the top 10. Japan also led the way in…

The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday signed off on a $500,000 fine against Mandalay Bay but also used the penalty to send a warning to the rest of the casino industry. Representatives of the company (MGM Resorts International operates the resort) did not contest the findings of a five-count complaint that employees of the House of Blues Foundation Room provided illegal narcotics and prostitutes to undercover officers four times during a two-month period. In addition to the fine, Mandalay Bay agreed to a $17,000 reimbursement of investigative expenses. The commission unanimously approved the settlement after a hearing that lasted more…

Pew States – Many Internet cafes that have popped up in suburban strip malls and gas stations offer something more than coffee and access to the Web and email. Known as Internet sweepstakes cafes, they sell time on computers that can have the look, sound and feel of slot and video poker machines, sometimes with cash payouts for winners. State and local authorities say the operations are illegal gambling, but shutting them down hasn’t been easy. More than $10 billion in revenue a year is the incentive to stay in business for these storefronts, numbering in the thousands. For some…

The Cato Institute and the Pacific Legal Foundation this week filed an amicus brief which supports the New Jersey sports gambling appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court regarding online sports betting. In February, Chris Christie’s administration filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, stating the federal ban on sports gambling in all but 4 states (the PAPSA law) is unconstitutional. The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank located in Washington D.C. The think tank was founded in 1974 by Charles Koch. It is considered one of the leading think tanks in the world, sitting at 6th best among American…