This Week in Gambling

The gambling industry in the state of New Jersey has seen better days. Lawmakers of the state have been trying to come up with ways to give the industry a boost, especially after a referendum to allow two casinos in the northern portion of the state was shot down by voters in November. Now, it seems that lawmakers have created a bill to try and expand the online gambling industry in efforts to bring in much-needed revenues. The new bill would allow casino operators of the state to partner with the Meadowlands Racing & Entertainment venue as well as the…

Apparently, skill gaming is the border dividing casino gambling and video games lies somewhere between a nightclub and a sports book — at least that’s where Hakkasan Group will open a space named Level Up in MGM Grand later this month. Level Up — which Hakkasan describes as a social lounge — will sit between Hakkasan and the sports book and will be roughly divided into two areas. One is a new arena with stadium seating where 40 gamblers at a time can play social versions of table games, such as blackjack, poker, keno and roulette. At craps, roulette or…

Formerly the world’s No. 1 professional tennis player and six-time major singles winner, Boris Becker is the latest stellar name to sign with partypoker as a brand ambassador. The online poker site has been busy recruiting ambassadors and sponsored professionals of late as it looks to expand its reach into countries around the world. This year alone, partypoker has signed Patrick Leonard, Roberto Romanello, Sam Trickett, Natalia Breviglieri, Jackie Glazier, Beata Jambrik and Joao Simao as ambassadors or sponsored pros, joining the legendary Mike Sexton, Tony Dunst and four-time world champion boxer Carl Froch on partypoker’s books. Becker, who was…

Representatives of the state’s casinos will meet on January 3 to discuss the gambling law. Senator Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland, announced that she set up a meeting with representatives of the state’s 12 casinos on the same day that lawmakers are supposed to discuss the new legislative session. The closed-door meeting will take place in the Capitol on January 3. According to the American Gaming Association, Pennsylvania’s casino industry is the number one in tax revenue, and a recent measure that says that the casino host fee is unconstitutional is jeopardising the relationship between the state casinos and the communities. The…

Finnish company RAY and Austria’s win2day have agreed a deal to share cross-border poker liquidity on Playtech’s online poker-powered network. Under the agreement, which Playtech described as an industry-first, the two firms will launch a joint network using liquidity from both player bases, with customers of each brand able to access omni-channel poker products on the Playtech network. Playtech said the deal represents the first time that two regulated entities have joined forces to share cross-border poker liquidity. The Finnish Ministry of Interior has approved the liquidity sharing agreement, with RAY previously limited to offering its online poker service to…

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has announced his intention to outlaw online gambling in the Southeast Asian country. Duterte revealed the plans while presenting a budget for 2017, but did not place a timescale on when the ban would come into effect. According to local media outlet Inquirer, Duterte said online gaming companies “have no use” in the Philippines. “I am ordering the closure of all online gaming (firms); all of them,” Duterte said. The declaration comes after Duterte in August cancelled an operator’s 13-year monopoly on gambling in licensed cafes, citing the fact that the country has no proper way…