iGaming Business – Online gambling testing and monitoring company eCOGRA has been accredited by the Bulgarian State Gambling Commission (SGC) as an acceptable testing laboratory for online casino, sportsbetting and poker operators looking to enter the country’s market. The approval comes after eCOGRA submitted to the SGC’s assessment and accreditation programme in order to meet the demand from operators keen on accessing the Bulgarian market. As reported by iGaming Business, the Bulgarian government’s decision to reduce taxation from 15% on turnover to 20% on gross gaming revenue has attracted a number of operators in recent times. SGC granted authorisation to…

iGaming Business – The Rational Group, PokerStars’ holding company, has selected gaming company Leander Games to provide a casino gaming platform and game content for the Full Tilt Poker brand. The companies have already begun the technical integration to leverage Leander’s LaGa gaming platform to launch games and a selection of games from Leander’s partners. Full Tilt Poker now plans to leverage the LaGa platform in order to launch third-party content from a range of boutique game developers. The website, which boasts more than 21 million registered players, is currently in the test phase of rolling out blackjack and roulette…

Gambling911 – In a shocking new development, the website CalvinAyre.com is reporting that the US Department of Justice will begin to take on a new approach in dealing with those online gambling operators who once took bets from US citizens.  The feds are reportedly now accepting corporate pleas and fines to resolve all outstanding charges. The CalvinAyre.com website focuses on the world’s largest online poker room, PokerStars, upon breaking this news, however, the new policy could ultimately apply to Bodog.  That company’s founder, Calvin Ayre, runs the eponymous news site reporting on this matter. From CalvinAyre.com: Sources have told CalvinAyre.com…

iGaming Business – Online affiliate and sportsbetting service Freebets.com has announced its first foray into major horseracing sponsorship as part of an effort to boost its presence in the industry. The firm will lend its name to the 1:50 Grade Three Freebets.com Trophy Chase at Cheltenham Racecourse this Saturday at the track’s Festival Trials Day event. Previously known as the Murphy Group Steeplechase, the race has a prize fund of £50,000 (€60,761/$83,116) and the winner is likely to return to The Festival at the racecourse in March. The race has attracted 19 runners at the provisional stage, with six previous…

iGaming Business – Online casino software supplier Playtech has become a platinum member of the Gaming Standards Association (GSA) international trade group. Playtech, which will become the organisation’s first platinum member whose business is primarily based in online gaming, will now join the GSA’s other member companies to oversee standards development for the gaming industry. Shay Segev, Playtech’s chief operating officer, said that the firm’s experience in the industry would allow it to contribute “tremendously” to the development of gaming standards. “The addition to GSA will also allow us to enhance our open platform functionality and ensure unification across providers’…

Las Vegas Review Journal – An anti-online gaming group is distributing a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that warns Internet wagering can be used by criminals to conduct money-laundering activities. The effort by the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, a Washington, D.C., grassroots organization funded by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is part of the group’s overall push to restore a federal ban on Internet gaming. Meanwhile, opponents of online gambling are promoting draft legislation that would reverse the U.S. Department of Justice’s 2011 determination that overturned the Federal Wire Act, allowing individual states to adopt…