Amaya-owned online gaming brand PokerStars has launched its new internet sports betting service in the UK market. Powered by the PokerStars 7 software, the new operation was open in time for customers to place bets on Saturday’s English FA Cup final between Arsenal and Aston Villa. The service is currently only accepting bets on football, tennis, basketball, ice hockey, rugby union, volleyball and handball, but adverts on the site suggest that this will be expanded to other sports in the near future. Customers are able to access the sports betting service through the PokerStars 7 client on desktop as well…

Churchill Downs has entered into an agreement with card rooms Oceans 11 and Crystal Casino to partner for online poker should a bill pass to legalize and regulate the activity in California, OPR has learned. Terms and details of the deal are not available. The news comes as momentum continues to build for a regulated online poker bill in California, even as the larger political picture remains murky. Churchill, home to one of the few truly iconic brands in gaming – the Kentucky Derby – currently operates one of the leading online horse racing wagering sites in TwinSpires.com. The company…

US fantasy sports company FanDuel has recruited 40 developers who previously worked for Zynga as part of a move to strengthen its operations in the country. FanDuel’s new offices in Orlando have been opened to support its established bases in New York and Los Angeles, as well as in the Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. As part of this US expansion strategy, the company has brought in a team of 40 developers who made up the Zynga Sports 365 division of social gaming outfit. Zynga opted to close the Orlando-based division earlier this month as part of a strategy…

Kansas State Governor Sam Brownback has signed a bill that will legalise fantasy sports gaming activities in the US state. Having received heavy support from the public and government figures, Bill HB 2155 was passed in the state senate by a vote of 37-1. Signed by Governor Brownback on Tuesday, the legislation will now allow for operators to begin offering fantasy sports services in the state. In addition to fantasy sports activities, the bill includes other pieces of legislature for charitable gaming, bingo, raffles and the lottery. Kansas will become the first state since Maryland in 2012 to legalise fantasy…

French operator France Pari has renewed its online sports betting and horse racing licences with national iGaming regulator Arjel. The new licences will run for five years, from June of this year to June 2020. France Pari was one of the first operators in the country to secure licences when France first legalised online gaming in June 2010. The two licences ran for an initial period of five years, with a renewal required in order for them to run for an additional five years. Arjel has now approved this renewal and France Pari will be able to continue offering its…

The Restoration of Americas Wire Act bill (known at RAWA) is in Congress and would ban Internet gambling. However, it could also inadvertently criminalize Nevada’s booming mobile sports wagering business, which has been credited with turning the Silver State’s sports books into a $3.9 billion-a-year industry. The measure, backed by Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson, is aimed at reversing changes made in 2011 to the 1961 Federal Wire Act. If approved, the RAWA bill would end most forms of online betting, including interactive poker in Nevada. Because the bill would stop transmission of gambling information through wire communications…

Police in Italy have arrested more than 50 people as part of an investigation into allegations of match-fixing in domestic football. According to the BBC, prosecutors said they have uncovered an alleged network between club presidents, coaches, players and some management members. Those detained by police include players and directors from approximately 30 clubs in the country’s third and fourth divisions, while over 70 people are also under investigation in the inquiry led by prosecutors in the southern town of Catanzaro. The police, who have suggested possible links to Mafia organisations, are in the process of studying suspicious results in…

A group of representatives in Pennsylvania has put forward a new bill that would allow casinos in the state to offer on-site daily fantasy sports contests. Headed up by Representative George Dunbar, House Bill 1197 was referred to the House of Committee on Gaming Oversight last week. Details of the bill include the requirement for casinos to hold a licence in order to operate tournaments, with the bill only covering daily fantasy sports contests in land-based facilities. The licensing fee would cost $50,000 (€43,900) while all tournament vendors that work with a licensee to provide contests would have to pay…