The year 2013 was a volatile one for Zynga social gaming as the company went through a significant strategic and management transition and terminated some of its well known games. Revenues and profits continued to slide as the user base shrank. The only silver lining was that the company’s key franchises Farmville, Farmville 2 and Zynga Poker continued to lend support. Going forward, Zynga will primarily focus on mobile gaming and further development of its own gaming platform. Under the new leadership, the company is confident that it can reinvent itself and bounce back by bringing more stability and predictability…

Orlando Sentinel – About the only sure bet when it comes to gambling in Florida is this: Sooner or later, the issue will start an argument. For decades, legislators, activists and kitchen-table kingpins have debated whether more casinos should come to the state. But with gambling growing more popular nationwide, there’s a chance Congress eventually could clear the way for card sharks — and vulnerable minnows — to skip the casinos and wager from their computers. At least three bills to allow Internet betting were introduced in Congress this year, and the issue gained enough traction that House lawmakers held…

iGaming Business – Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has launched a new advertising campaign for what it claims is the world’s first ‘fully personalised’ sportsbetting app. According to the Marketing Week website, the bookmaker has launched the app as part of a wider plan to boost digital revenue through enhanced mobile gaming products. The new messenger app allows users to select the sports they wish to receive news and updates from in order to place the bets they want. The app boasts features such as live text commentary on football matches, account balance updates, live odds information and the option to…

WDDE – State lottery officials say they’re making progress on expanding internet gaming options. So far, about 3,800 people registered accounts for the service, which can be accessed through the websites of Delaware’s three casinos. Those bettors wagered $8.2 million since going live at the end of October. Comprehensive statistics won’t be available until mid-January, which could give an indication as to whether those casinos will see any profit from the venture this fiscal year. Legislation legalizing iGaming earmarked the first $3.75 million in revenue for the state, something lottery director Vernon Kirk says was just a preliminary number the…

NJ.com – More than 100,000 online gambling accounts have been created in New Jersey since internet betting became legal in the state four weeks ago, officials said today. The state Division of Gaming Enforcement said 109,946 accounts had been created by the end of Sunday. More than 18,000 were created in the last week. “We have seen a steady and continual increase in site traffic since Nov. 21 due to the outreach of the casino operators,” David Rebuck, the director of the division and the state’s top gaming official, said in a statement. “We are encouraged by their marketing efforts…

Poker Update – The French government has rejected a call by the country’s leading gaming regulator to allow French online poker player pools to join forces with gaming pools of fellow European countries in order to increase liquidity. ARJEL, the gaming regulator of France, put forward the idea after constant decreases in player numbers and overall gross revenues for French-based online poker and gaming operators. However, that idea was rejected outright by the country’s government, which contains a number of figures who are against online gambling. One of those figures is young rising star Razzy Hammadi, who holds an influential…