Per Eriksson, president and chief executive of Net Entertainment (NetEnt), has revealed that the company was able to achieve ‘strong’ year-on-year growth in the three months to June 30, with the firm now significantly better off than it was this time last year. Revenue in the second quarter of this year amounted to SEK271.2 million (€28.9 million/$32.1 million), up 32.3% on the SEK205 million that the firm posted in the corresponding period last year. Operating profit in the second quarter also grew 63.3% on a year-on-year basis to SEK92.7 million, with operating margin improving from 27.7% last year to 34.2%…

Isle of Man gaming software giant Microgaming is tapping into the Spanish market following news that the regulated market has opened up there for business. Big name gambling firm bet365 has signed a deal with Prima Networks for the delivery of Microgaming online slot games in the regulated Spanish market. The operator is taking 60 desktop and 24 HTML5 mobile games live in Spain. Microgaming classics such as Thunderstruck II, Avalon and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider are now available to players in Spain. Christian Bogstrand from bet365, said: ‘We are proud to have gone live with an extensive selection of…

Australia’s main online gambling licensing body has effectively washed its hands of the controversy over its licensees’ efforts to circumvent the nationwide ban on online in-play wagering. Australia’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 restricts in-play wagering to telephone or in-person bets at retail venues. But recent months have seen a trio of online gambling companies licensed by Australia’s Northern Territory Racing Commission (NTRC) release mobile apps designed to get around these restrictions. The apps – William Hill’s Click to Call, Ladbrokes’ Quickcall and Bet365’s betCall – work by using a mobile device’s voice recognition technology to confirm online in-play wagers without…

Washington politicians are reportedly hatching a plan to impose a moratorium on further expansion of intrastate online gambling. GamblingCompliance scribe Chris Krafcik recently reported that US federal politicians were discussing plans to introduce legislation that would call for a study of the pros and cons of online gambling. While this study was being conducted, legislators would seek a moratorium on any states joining Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey in passing intrastate online gambling legislation. The plan is reportedly seen as a more viable alternative to the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), the Sheldon Adelson-backed legislation that would make most…

bwin party has confirmed reception of GVC’s acquisition offer this morning, the latter also stated it had approached bwin party with an offer at 110p per share, valuing the business at around €900m (€1.3bn/$1.4bn). bwin party’s announcement confirms media reports published earlier in the week, both groups said they would now work together to secure “acceptance of its (the) proposal and, in turn, making an offer to bwin.party shareholders”. GVC submitted the offer in partnership with Amaya Gaming, which it earlier confirmed it had been working with in order to complete a reverse takeover of bwin.party, although rival operator 888 is also said to…

The politics of prohibition reared its ugly head again last month when legislation was introduced to ban all Internet gambling, including the fledgling intrastate web poker industry that exists in Nevada. The bill from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is a clear play to boost the chances of his long-shot presidential campaign. Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, a Republican Party mega-donor, happens to oppose Internet gambling, including poker. Web poker was played all over the country, for real money, before sites were shut down in 2011 by the Justice Department under a flawed interpretation of the Wire Act….