Online Casino and Gambling News: March 2009

The value of Internet gambling operations to Irish bookie group Paddy Power was powerfully illustrated this week in the company's full year report for 2008 - the Internet division of the firm contributed 70 percent of operating profit over the last six months of the year.

The online poker chestnut 'pokerbots' surfaced in the UK press again over the weekend as The Times carried a short story in which a botmaster claimed to earn up to £50,000 a year deploying remote softwares on small stakes and multi-table games.

The Irish government is to begin regulating and licensing casino clubs in a first step towards a liberalisation of gambling laws in the country, reports the Irish Times. It appears as if earlier plans to set up a cross-party committee to plan the way forward have been abandoned because the politicians couldn't reach consensus on such a committee's mandate.

The European Commission's decision to push forward in its investigation into breaches of the EU Treaty by the Dutch and Greek governments has been applauded by the Remote Gaming Association, a trade body for major online gambling companies in Europe. The Reasoned Opinion published by the Commission focuses on the protectionist and state monopolistic policies of the two governments regarding online gambling, which interferes with the free passage of goods and services between EU member nations.