The Street – You may not know it but inside the U.K. Facebook (FB_) is in the online gambling business. Facebook added real money gambling a little over a year ago. Up until recently it was limited to bingo and online slots but now, through a partnership with Zynga (ZNGA_), Facebook users in the U.K. can play online poker for real money. None of the games are available in the U.S. yet. Legal hurdles including the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 have, until recently, kept almost all forms of online gambling outside of lottery ticket sales underground and…

iGaming Business – Online and land-based betting operator Gala Coral has reported a significant pre-tax loss despite generating record turnover in the 12 months through to September 28, 2013. According to the Thisismoney.co.uk website, the firm posted turnover of £1.1 billion (€1.3 billion/$1.8 billion) for the period, up from the previous record figure of £1.06 billion. Despite the growth, Gala Coral also suffered a pre-tax loss of £206 million for the previous year. The loss comes as a result of a £59 million VAT claim, interest payments on its £2.1 billion debt and a £60 million writedown on the sale…

Miami Herald – The Virgin Group is poised to launch its online casino gambling site in New Jersey. Gambling on virgincasino.com, one of 15 gambling websites approved last fall by New Jersey regulators, is due to begin Friday. But company officials said they chose to delay its launch while problems affecting numerous online sites involving login problems, payment issues and software glitches were worked out. Virgin is partnered with online game maker Gamesys, which also runs the Tropicana online casino site. “We’ve been rehearsing this moment for several years in the UK, including dealing with players who have bet more…

The thought of Bitcoin Las Vegas is getting one more novelty. Starting this week, patrons will be able to use the online currency Bitcoin to pay for rooms, food and drinks at two downtown casinos. The D casino and the city’s oldest casino, the Golden Gate, will accept bitcoins at hotel front desks beginning Wednesday. The Cyber currency will also be accepted at the D’s gift shop and two restaurants. U.S. dollars will remain the only currency accepted on the gambling floor. Derek Stevens, the co-owner of the two casinos, said he’s been intrigued by Bitcoin for years and had…

Poker News Daily – New Jersey State Senator Raymond Lesniak has re-introduced a bill that, if passed, would bring more players to the state’s online poker rooms. His bill, S980, allows for New Jersey’s online gaming sites to accept customers from both other states and other countries; to this point, only those within New Jersey’s borders have been able to play on its sites. The complete text of the bill has not been uploaded to the New Jersey Legislature’s website yet, but the overall idea is fairly simple. It will allow open New Jersey’s online gaming borders to people from…

iGaming Business – UK bookmaker Ladbrokes has issued a post-close trading update in which it said it expects operating profit for 2013 to be on target and in line with forecasts. The company said that operating profit would likely be “around the middle” of the current range of analysts’ forecasts of between £129.8 million (€155.8 million/$212.3 million) and £151 million. Ladbrokes also said that it remains on track to deliver against its key strategic priorities in the first half of the year. The company highlighted driving digital performance through to the second half of the year as one of the…