iGaming Business – Dragonfish, the independent business-to-business arm of 888 Holdings, has signed a four-year extension to its supply agreement with Cashcade, the internet bingo subsidiary of online gaming operator bwin.party. Under the deal, bwin.party bingo brands such as Foxy Bingo and Cheeky Bingo will continue to run on the Dragonfish bingo platform. Yaniv Schwartz, senior vice-president, head of Dragonfish, said that the company was “delighted” to have extended the “long-standing” agreement. “This will allow bwin.party’s customers to continue to enjoy the Dragonfish bingo platform’s rich set of content, unmatched mobile proposition and entertaining features,” Schwartz said. Golan Shaked, director…

iGaming Business – Online gambling company Betfair has signed up to the internet cash transaction service of online cash payments provider Ukash. The arrangement will allow Betfair customers who pass verification processes to make cash deposits on their account using Ukash vouchers, with a reverse process also available to make cash withdrawals. Ukash vouchers, which are available at more than 50,000 sale points in the UK, feature a unique 19-digit code that can be used to make deposits on the Betfair website. Betfair customers can access the Ukash service via a desktop or various mobile devices. Ian Chuter, group operations…

Cards Chat – Charles Coppolani, the new president of ARJEL, the French online gambling regulator, has declared that online poker in France is a “fad” that is “over”. Speaking to Les Échos in his first interview since taking up the post, Coppolani stated bluntly: “The fad is over. Basically, the online poker market may be mature.” It’s a worrying attitude from the man in control of an online poker market that desperately needs to adopt liquidity sharing with other European nations in order to thrive. France chose to regulate and ring-fence online poker and online casino gambling in 2010, closing…

Game Spot – The eSports scene continues to grow. Major League Gaming announced plans this week to build the world’s first “MLG Arena,” a 15,000-seat stadium on Hengqin Island, which is off the coast of popular gambling hot-spot Macau. MLG announced the news Thursday, in partnership with Lai Fung Holdings Limited and eSun Holdings Limited. The new MLG Arena, located in what the company is calling the “V-Zone,” is planned as the centerpiece of an $18 billion “Creative Culture City” initiative for the Hengqin Island. In addition to operating as the site of the first-ever MLG Arena, the V-Zone is…

After the settlement approved by the US District Court of Northern California over privacy on Facebook, the company will have to pay $20 million for putting users’ names and faces in “Sponsored Story” ads without their permission and without paying them, the issue on the compliance with applicable privacy laws of other direct marketing practices on social media has become more and more prominent. In the case referred above, the US District court found that 150 million Facebook users had their names and/or likeness misappropriated to promote products and services through Facebook’s sponsored stories program. However, interestingly the court also…

Few events in the world of sports are as popular among mainstream fans as online Kentucky Derby betting. Among US based fans its exceeded only by the Super Bowl and March Madness. Since there are always a lot of newcomers to horse betting at this time of year it’s a good time to outline some of the differences and similarities between betting on sports and betting on horses. Despite the fact that betting on horses and betting on sports is inextricably linked in a lot of ways–for example, they usually occupy the same space in most Nevada casinos – there…