This Week in Gambling

iGaming Business – UK bookmaker Ladbrokes has successfully launched the full range of products from online gaming software supplier Playtech across its digital platform. Ladbrokes said that the move to Playtech was part of a “wider revamping” of the Ladbrokes digital business to give customers a better experience on mobile or desktop for its sportsbook and casino services. The successful launch has led to the withdrawal of the existing casino software and games portfolio from the Ladbrokes.com and Ladbrokes.dk domains. Ladbrokes said that as well as adding the Playtech products, it has also made improvements to the ‘Vegas’ tab by…

Macau casinos in the city on the southeast coast of China are the Asian version of Venice, complete with a Grand Canal and a Rialto Bridge. Soon, it will get a taste of France, with an Eiffel Tower and a giant resort modeled on the Palace of Versailles, as part of a building boom that has brought dozens of cranes to a stretch of reclaimed land here. Macau has grown explosively over the last decade, and another burst of expansion is in full swing as some of the world’s biggest casino operators step up their bet on China’s love for…

Would there be any support for a Houston casino? Horse racing is already legal there, but neighboring states are offering higher purses, and horse breeders are leaving Texas at a fervent pace. And in an effort to combat this, the horse racing industry is prepared to fight for the legalization casino gambling. According to the Memorial Examiner breeders registered just 300 foals eligible for horse racing in 2013. The peak for the state was more than 4,000. Concurrently, Oklahoma’s racing industry is booming, raking in $3.6 billion for the state in 2012. The Texas Racing Commission reported that in 2011,…

Capitol Hill conservatives are bracing for a fight they do not want to fight: An online gambling ban, being pushed by Las Vegas mogul Sheldon Adelson. The fight begins as soon as companion bills are filed in each chamber before the end of the week by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R.-S.C.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R.-Utah). The bills were written by the staff of the Coalition to Stop Online Gambling, the advocacy group funded by Adelson, who has pledged to “spend whatever it takes” to see the legislation passed. What gives this fight the “#awkward” is the huge give and…

iGaming Business – Online payments provider Optimal Payments has entered into a partnership with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in New Jersey provide its NETELLER service to the operator’s online gambling customers. Under the deal, the NETELLER service will be available to customers of the BorgataCasino.com, BorgataPoker.com and nj.partypoker.com websites. Users will be able to access their funds through their NETELLER and NET+ Card account, which Optimal Payments said can be used worldwide both online and at point-of-sale. “With Optimal Payments’ NETELLER service, we can increase conversions while delivering an enhanced customer experience, securely and confidently,” Borgata Hotel Casino…

Russian authorities have updated the country’s Internet blacklist nearly 600 different websites, including online poker sites, in an operation that some consider to be the first step of a major crackdown on online gambling. With a standard procedure that is usually adopted for censoring websites promoting child pornography and illegal drugs, on March 21, Russia’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) blocked access to a large number of online gambling sites including international giants like PokerStars, partypoker, Unibet and Titan Poker. “The request came straight from the prosecutor office,” said Maxim Ksenzov, the deputy head of Russia’s federal telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor, when…