Online Poker Report – 888 Poker’s New Jersey-facing online poker platform has been hampered by what appear to be widespread disconnections since the site went live on November 26. The issues do not seem to be with one application in particular as I have personally been disconnected on Windows, iPhone and iPad. Of course, I am not alone. Below, I’ll detail some of the problems being chronicled by New Jersey players attempting to access – and stay connected to – 888 Poker. During a recent tournament that I played in, I chatted with a few other players who all expressed their frustration with…

Poker Fuse – The website for the World Poker Tour Amateur Poker League (WPTAPL) has been hacked according to a report by CyberWarNews. An online hacker using the Twitter account @smitt3nz posted 175,333 email addresses and plain text passwords to a web site on Friday. The site does not offer real money online gaming and no funds are thought to be at risk; however, users are encouraged to change their passwords on that site and any other site they may have used the same password. The leak includes unverified login details with a variety of government email suffixes including dhs.gov…

iGaming Business – PMU’s move away from offline pari mutuel and focus on online betting, poker and international business enabled it to make up for a 3% drop in the French group’s historic vertical as tough economic conditions continue to impact its traditional customer base across France in 2013. The group, which describes itself as France’s number one site overall for betting and gaming, recorded a 22,4% rise in online betting stakes to €199m thanks to strong interest in the country’s Ligue 1 football championship and a 10% rise in online poker stakes to €570m during 2013. Gross gaming revenues…

Online-Casinos.com – A recent article concerning cyber cafes in Malaysia has brought to light the problems in that jurisdiction that the law makers are facing. Since gaining independence from Britain in 1957, Malaysia has developed into one of the strongest economies in Southeast Asia. Gambling in the country is a complex problem with the majority of the population being of the Muslim persuasion which forbids gambling. The Betting Act of 1953, made ‘common betting houses’ illegal in Malaysia. Certain forms of gambling are considered legal in Malaysia one being the lottery which is upheld by the the Lotteries Act 1952…

Forbes – In November George Soros, John Paulson and Leon Cooperman, three of the most successful hedge fund managers ever, quietly participated in a rights offering and became major shareholders in Caesars Acquisition Co., a spinoff from casino company Caesars Entertainment CZR -1.94% that has ownership in Caesars’ online gambling assets. Their stakes–previously unreported–are all part of an unprecedented bet on the future of the $60 billion casino business in America, as states from New Jersey to Delaware and Nevada legalize a practice that the Department of Justice said was illegal just two years ago. They were joined by billionaire…

iGaming Business – The value of Bitcoin has again topped $1,000 (€743.4) after social gaming company Zynga announced it would start accepting the virtual currency as a payment option for gamers that buy tokens for virtual goods. According to the BBC, the move from Zynga comes shortly after Android-based video games console-maker Ouya began accepting Bitcoin payments last month. The Humble Bumble organisation that sells a changing selection of indie games also began accepting the virtual currency in 2013. The Zynga Bitcoin test will be available on the online versions of social games FarmVille 2, CastleVille, ChefVille, CoasterVille, Hidden Chronicles,…