M ONT H I N M I NUT ES
RIGHT TO
MONTH IN
NUMB3RS
€1.4bn
Joe Brennan Jr
DIRECTOR OF THE INTERACTIVE
MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT AND
GAMING ASSOCIATION (IMEGA)
This is the problem with the
American Gaming Association
(AGA) protest over PokerStars’
New Jersey licensing application: if
seriously considered by regulators,
it has the potential to set off a civil
war in the egaming industry.
When you hold yourself up as
the moral arbiter for egaming, you
better make sure your own closet
is clear of skeletons. It took less
than 24 hours to ?nd that AGA
charter member Caesars, the lead
opponent of PokerStars’ US reentry, had tried to do its own deal
with Stars, essentially undercutting
its association’s stand. The lastminute inclusion of a “bad actor”
clause in Nevada’s hastily adopted
egaming law could also potentially
be looked on as retaliation for Stars
not accepting Caesars’ generous
offer of a decaying off-strip casino.
This will only be the start. When
one company is attacked, there is
ample ammunition for return ?re.
The other top ?rms in the egaming
industry have executives who have
been arrested, pleaded guilty to
federal crimes, been involved with
sites that cheated players and
processed payments for US-facing
betting sites, or once did business
in the US and never settled with the
Department of Justice.
This leads to the greater
problem: we cannot on the one
hand tell US lawmakers that the
egaming industry can be made safe
for consumers and make a positive
contribution to the gaming industry
and government budgets, and on
the other say that the industry is full
of rogues and scofflaws. It’s time
to move on. It would be best for all
concerned to let regulators do their
jobs, and leave the grandstanding in
the closet.
10
total turnover for
the fourth quarter
of 2012 in the
Spanish online
gaming market, a
24% increase on
the third quarter.
See news on p18
99.93%
of William Hill
shareholders
approved the
acquisition of
Playtech’s stake in
William Hill Online.
See news on p16
70%
of smartphone
users never leave
home without their
devices, according
to the Interactive
Advertising Bureau.
See column on p7
11
number of bingo
websites to be
launched by
UK-only 15
Network, an
increase from two
during 16 months.
See Q&A on p50
BETABLE
FAMILY
TREE
Since its launch last year, Betable
has spoke of its intent to disrupt the
online gambling sector by allowing
social developers to launch real-money
offerings on its platform.
www.egrmagazine.com