Online Casino and Gambling News: April 2010

Kentucky governor Steve Beshear's latest attempt to squeeze money out of the offshore Internet gambling industry will have little upside for Kentucky taxpaying gamblers, according to a report in ABC News this week.

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo's legislative attempt to introduce land casinos to the state is to be debated today (Tuesday) and has already attracted some 216 suggested amendments from House representatives, reports the Boston Globe newspaper.

The April 16th House Financial Services Committee hearings on two bills authored by Barney Frank has been postponed indefinitely, according to a spokesman for Frank's office. The spokesman said that the postponement was due to over-scheduling on the chairman's diary.

The former Australian cricket star Shane Warne, who since 2008 has represented 888's online poker interests at poker events around the world, has been criticised for using his Twitter page to promote online gambling.

The Malaysian authorities have joined those in Indonesia in threatening to monitor Internet betting on the run-up to the World Cup football championships in South Africa mid-year. Police spokesman Asst Comm Zainuddin Yaakob said a special task force has been set up to monitor syndicates offering online gambling.

Ioannis Spanoudakis, the chief executive of Greece's state gambling monopoly OPAP has online gambling in mind once regulators give their green light. Speaking at the presentation of the group's 2009 results, Spanoudakis said:

UK Wired News reports that offshore online gambling companies wishing to maintain access to the British online gambling market must expect to pay the price to do so. That price, according to the publication, will be 10% of gross profits paid into the UK horse racing levy.

Whilst most companies have been piling into Italy's burgeoning online gambling market, Ladbrokes was this week extricating itself by selling off its Italian retail betting and gaming business to an affiliate of Italian gaming group Cogetech for about €5.25 million in cash.

A spokesman for the Indonesian national police in Jakarta, Indonesia has warned that the Internet will be monitored in the run-up to the World Cup football championship in South Africa in order to guard against illegal Internet betting activity.

Using the now well known .net advertising strategy to get around domestic anti-online gambling laws in Australia, Full Tilt Poker is set to do some productive advertising in the sports market, according to widespread reports in local media.