Inside Asian Gaming

June 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 95 Briefs In contrast, total handle at US racetracks in 2010 dropped 7.3%, according to the Jockey Club—the fourth straight year of declines. Luck of the Irish William Hill Sportsbook & Racebook, one of the world’s leading sports betting and gaming providers, has launched a new website for the Irish market. The firm spent over a year developing their Irish site, with the aim of competing with their rivals for a slice of the estimated €1 billion Irish online betting and gaming market. William Hill Online will offer Irish punters over 500,000 betting opportunities every week on a range of events including Gaelic Athletic Association sports (such as gaelic football and hurling), soccer, horse racing, rugby, golf, motor sports, US sports and a wide range of Irish novelty markets. The site will also supply Irish players with bingo, poker, casino games, live casino games, Las Vegas and slot games. William Hill Online will also offer Irish customers a new financial site called ‘Day Trader’. The company—which runs 52 conventional betting shops in the Republic of Ireland—additionally has four different cell phone ‘apps’—Mobile sportsbook, Racing App (Racing Post/WilliamHill), Shake-A-Bet and Match predictor. 888 gains first online gaming certification from Italian regulator 888, one of the world’s most popular online gaming providers, has announced that it has passed its first certification process with the Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS), the Italian regulatory authority. This certificate will enable 888 and its independent business-to-business division, Dragonfish, to offer services in the booming Italian market in the coming months. Dragonfish’s Total Gaming Services offers partners a ‘turnkey’ gaming operation, as well as the CasinoFlex product. CasinoFlex enables Dragonfish partners to enjoy its casino gaming suite, together with complimentary marketing tools, whilst using their own back office and wallet. Dragonfish has already engaged with leading Italian partners such as Microgame, Gioco Digitale / bwin. it and King.com, for the deployment of its CasinoFlex, with several more deals imminent. Nevada passes Internet poker bill Abilltoestablishprovisionsgoverningthelicensingandoperation of Internet poker in Nevada has been unanimously approved by the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee. “The genie is out of the bottle in terms of online gambling. There is a great need for regulation,” Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, and sponsor of Assembly Bill 258, told the committee during a hearing in Carson City. “Nobody is going to do it better than Nevada.” The bill authorises the Nevada Gaming Commission to adopt regulations and to grant licences to casinos to be ready to offer online poker if the United States’ Congress passes an Internet gambling bill or if the US Department of Justice says online gaming is allowed under federal law. Offering Internet poker for money is legal in many jurisdictions outside the United States and is “generating billions of dollars worldwide,” said Mr Horne, adding that federal law does not bar a state from legalising online poker within its own borders. In 2006, a federal law prohibited banks and other financial companies from processing gambling transactions across state lines. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act also established the framework for legalising intrastate gambling by declaring that online intrastate wagering does not constitute “unlawful Internet gambling” if expressly permitted by state law. The committee accepted an amendment proposed by Peter Ernaut of the Nevada Resort Association to prevent both the state and federal government from taxing the industry. Ernaut said the amendment means that if the federal government levies a tax, the state would be prohibited from imposing its 6.75% gross gaming tax. District attorney in Baltimore seizes ten more gambling domains Another 10 Internet domains related to online gambling have been seized by a US District Attorney in Baltimore, along with 11 bank accounts. The move brings back memories of ‘Black Friday’ in April when the US Justice Department seized the Internet domains of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. The latest action, however, involves non-poker sites. The latest indictments—of a Costa Rican and two Canadians— stem from a Homeland Security Investigations sting. The agency created a payment-processing firm and used it to make personal contact with top managers of online gaming companies. The indictments in Maryland name ThrillX Systems Ltd and BMX Entertainment, and individuals Darren Wright, David Parchomchuk and Ann Marie Puig. The seized sites included DoylesRoom.com, Bookmaker.com, 2Betsdi.com, FunTimeBingo. com, GoldenArchCasino.com, TruePoker.com, BetMaker.com, BetGrandeSports.com, Betehorse.com and Beted.com. Nevada’s Capitol Building in Carson City