iGaming Business – Bookmaker Ladbrokes has completed the acquisition of Australian private bookmaking business Betstar in a deal worth £12.4 million (€15 million/$20.7 million). Ladbrokes said the deal would allow it to add an existing and complementary client base, as well as accelerate the growth of its Australian business. Betstar has approximately 40,000 registered customers and generated gross win of A$12.9 million in A$214 million amounts staked during the year to March 31, 2014. The Betstar brand will be maintained under the terms of the deal. The acquisition is the latest attempt by Ladbrokes to strengthen its Australian business, following…

NJ.com – So many people I know are excited about “March Madness” and this weekend’s NCAA “Final Four” in college basketball. The tournament lends itself to wagering that results in big bucks for a place like Las Vegas. I read somewhere that their hotel occupancy rates are above 90 percent when this tournament is taking place. Recently, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, along with Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, spoke of the benefits of having legal sports betting in New Jersey. Atlantic City could see results similar to Las Vegas, with college basketball fans from up and down the East…

Daily Star – In 2004, FC Paderborn, team in the Bundesliga second division, came back from two goals down to win against Hamburger SV in the German cup knockout competition. By the final whistle, Paderborn had reversed the score of the match, which ended 4-2, after being awarded two penalties by referee Robert Hoyzer, who also sent off one of Hamburger’s players. Later investigations revealed that Hoyzer had taken money from Croatian gambling syndicates to fix the match, and he was sentenced in 2005 to two years and five months in jail. Hoyzer’s cooperation in investigations led to the indictment…

Gaming Intelligence – Belgium’s Loterie Nationale has been granted a new sports betting licence by the Belgian Gambling Commission which allows the national lottery to offer its SCOOORE! product through its e-lotto.be online platform. The new licence follows the decision last month by Belgium’s Council of State to cancel a royal decree concerning the provision of sports betting services by the state-owned Loterie Nationale.  This was a result of a legal challenge by private licensed operators. FULL ARTICLE (SUBSCRIPTION)

iGaming Business – The New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) experienced growth in betting and gaming turnover during the six months to January 31, 2014, despite having described the first half of the year as “challenging” The national bookmaker recorded turnover of NZ$1.1 billion (€654.2 million/$896.8 million) for the first-half of the year, an increase of 2% on the NZ$1 billion achieved in corresponding period last year. Total income also increased from NZ$157.8 million in the previous year to NZ$159.9 million in the latest period. However, the board did suffer a slight drop in net profit before distributions, which fell from…

iGaming Business – The National Crime Agency (NCA) has arrested seven professional footballers as part of an investigation into alleged match-fixing in the English game. The footballers, who are aged between 18 and 30, all play for Football League clubs in north-west England. The NCA said it has also re-arrested six other men that were originally arrested in December 2013 on suspicion of involvement in spot-fixing, before later being bailed. The six, who had been bailed to return on April 8 after their arrests last year, have now been re-arrested following new evidence. The original six suspects include former English…