Poker Update – A bill in the United Kingdom that would require offshore gaming companies with UK customers to hold licences and pay taxes has passed its third reading in one of the two houses of parliament. The UK Gaming (Licensing and Advertising) Bill found favor in the House of Commons earlier this week with no opposition from any political parties. That means that the bill will now be sent to the UK’s other house of parliament, the House of Lords, where it will face further scrutiny. Should the bill get the OK in that House, as is expected, it…

Wall Street Journal – Singapore’s government is looking to restrict online gambling and plans to seek public feedback on ways it can regulate the practice as it gains in popularity among citizens and tourists and draws increasingly large amounts of taxable income. According to Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs, the restrictions would include “blocking of remote gambling websites, blocking of payments to remove gambling operators as well as prohibiting advertisements that promote remote gambling.” The full list of measures will be determined during a public consultation that will last until Jan. 10, it said. Remote gambling refers to the use…

Macau Business Daily – Japanese pachinko hall operator Dynam Japan Holdings Co Ltd said in a new Hong Kong filing it has ambitions to work with a partner to produce online gaming in Macau, provided that such games comply with all applicable laws and regulations of Macau”. A Macau bylaw gazetted in November 2012 foresaw the possibility of mobile gaming inside some of the city’s bricks and mortar gambling premises.
The particular bylaw was mainly concerned with conventional slot machines and slot parlors. It also mentioned the possibility of mobile gambling using wireless networks, but “only inside gambling areas especially authorized”…

The Diplomat – The Singaporean government is taking steps to ban all forms of remote gambling, which includes placing wagers over the Internet using a PC or mobile device, by blocking access to gambling websites. The proposed measures will also inhibit payments to online gambling operators and make remote gambling-related advertisements illegal. S Iswaran, Singapore’s Second Minister for Home Affairs, announced the proposal at yesterday’s Symposium on Casino Regulations and Crime. “Remote gambling gives us cause for concern [because] is ubiquitously and easily accessible through the Internet and mobile applications, especially by a younger and more tech-savvy generation,” said Iswaran….

Earlier this summer, Sheldon Adelson told those nasty little Internet gambling punks to get off his lawn. Now, he thinks they egged his house. As payback, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corporation says he’ll put online gaming out of business forever in the United States. Adelson, 80, who is ranked 11th on the Forbes 400 with a net worth of $28.5 billion, is opening his wallet to fight what he once dubbed “a toxin all good people should resist.” He’s forming an advocacy group, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling. He’s hiring Washington, D.C., lobbyists and public…

iGaming Business – Prepaid payment provider paysafecard group has announced its launch in the Bulgarian market as part of a move to expand its international operations. The use of paysafecard in Bulgaria will be linked to online payment account, my paysafecard, a system that will allow customers to manage all of their purchased PINs and remaining credit from one single account. The group also said the payment process is simple and secure and does not require a bank account or credit card to use. In addition, paysafecard has also partnered with licensed payment institute Easypay to enable the purchase of…