Poker Fuse – Chico Network brand, Action Poker, has been traded once again, this time it becomes part of the Equity Poker Network (EPN), the “cooperative” style network which aims to reduce competition between skins to maximize mutual profitability. In October 2011, Play Safe Holding AS sold the Chico Network to Julian International Holdings but kept the Action Poker brand. Since then Chico has been restored to growth and cash out problems have been resolved. Now, Action Poker returns to its former CEO, Clive Archer, the founder of the EPN. According to EPN, the “transition to EPN will be swift…

iGaming Business – Location-as-a-service company Locaid has been selected to provide geolocation services for the new multi-state online poker service between the US states of Delaware and Nevada. The appointment will make Locaid the first company to provide a geolocation service that is compliant with state regulatory requirements under the Multi-State Internet Gaming Agreement. As reported by iGaming Business, Governor Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Governor Jack Markell of Delaware signed the landmark liquidity sharing agreement last month to lawfully allow online gaming websites in each state to begin sharing player pools, primarily for poker. . WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH…

iGaming Business – The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has order Irish bookmaker Paddy Power to withdraw an advert that offered betting odds on the outcome of the ongoing murder trial of Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius. The decision comes after the ASA said it had received an “unprecedented” number of complaints, an amount widely reported as 5,200 individual complaints. Following the large amount of complaints, ASA chairman Lord Smith has taken the unusual step of demanding that the advertiser withdraw the advert from circulation pending the outcome of the investigation. In exceptional circumstances, ASA procedures under the Advertising Code enable…

Gaming Intelligence – Paddy Power is preparing to roll out a revamped version of its real-money sportsbook offering on Facebook, with a new version of the product set to go live in April. The Paddy Power In-Play! app first launched in August last year, making it the first sports betting app to go live on the social network. However, the operator’s managing director for online Peter O’Donovan explained that uptake of the product has been “limited” so far. “It was the first of its kind, and we continue to refine the overall product proposition to make sure it resonates with…

Irish Times – Strong growth in bookmaker Paddy Power’s Australian business compensated for a tougher time nearer home and played a key role in increasing its profits by 1 per cent to a record €141 million last year. Paddy Power yesterday reported an increase in net revenue in 2013 to €745 million from €663 million the previous year and said that pretax profit was up 1 per cent at €141 million from €139.2 million. Operating profit grew at a similar rate to €137.4 million in 2013 from €136 million in 2012. However, “adverse results”, including a large number of fancied…

iGaming Business – Online payments provider Optimal Payments has announced the launch of its NETELLER online payment processing service in the US. The NETELLER service and Net Plus Card will allow US consumers to take advantage of a service that is already available to customers in other regions outside of the US. Optimal Payments said that the new service would allow US customers to “safely and conveniently” pay and receive funds for both products and services online. The company will work through a federally-issued US financial institution sponsor to bring the services to the US market. Joel Leonoff, president and…