Its been a week of ups and downs and turn-arounds in New Jersey, the first coming with an update on the PokerStars and Atlantic City Club legal battles. After each filed suit against the other the decision was finally handed down and it looks like the it was not in the cards for PokerStars parent the Rational Group.

After the Rational Group failed to meet the deadline in the proposed agreement set by Colony Capital, the owner of the Atlantic Club Casino, both parties decided to get down and dirty with restraining orders and civil lawsuits.

All this “tit for tat” came about when PokerStars missed the deadline, Stars called foul and felt they were being taken advantage of with an $15 million investment going down the tubes.

Colony Capital played the ignorance card claiming they knew nothing of PokerStars involvement with “serious criminal activities more extensive and unresolved than previously disclosed,” this pertains to Black Friday and the involvement of

All this back and forth tug of war ended with PokerStars on their butts in the mud with hopes of attaining a foothold into New Jersey’s newly regulated online gaming market squashed, however temporarily.

But if you read a very detailed and convincing argument to PokerStars benefit, “PokerStars raised two primary arguments in its initial Complaint and Motion for TRO:  a) Breach of Contract—claiming that the contract termination date was void pursuant to gaming laws requiring a 120-day window between submission of a gaming license application and the closing date for a casino purchase agreement, and b) Promissory Estoppel / Unjust Enrichment—claiming that the Atlantic Club knew the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) would not rule on PokerStars gaming license application prior to the contract’s termination date, and yet the Atlantic Club nonetheless improperly misled PokerStars into believing the Atlantic Club had agreed to extend the deadline for PokerStars to obtain its license.“

In other online gambling news, Atlantic City gaming regulators released a draft of proposed regulations where it states that casinos are required to apply to the Division for an Internet Gaming Permit Application. This permit allows the casino ttto offer all types of casino gaming through an Internet casino site, as well as mobile gaming within their casino property and simulcast live-table gaming over the Internet.

Players 21 and older, this includes residents and non residents, must be registered and can only play within New Jersey with an authorized and verified password protected log in.

Deposits to player accounts can be funded through the onsite casino cage by cash, check, money transfer or with online deposits using a debit, credit or prepaid card, or a transfer from the player’s casino deposit account. Withdrawals must be first done as a credit to any credit or debit card used to deposit, up to the amount deposited.

The casino must hold all player account balances in a New Jersey bank account “independent from all other operating accounts of the licensee.” Casinos must pay the Governor Christie imposed 15% taxes on gross revenue (rake, fees, etc.). They also pay a permit fee of “not less than” $400,000 the first year and “not less than” $250,000 yearly thereafter, as well as a Responsible Internet Gaming Fee of $250,000 per year.

For poker players, W2-G reports currently are only required for tournament net winnings which exceed $5000. There is also a player protection and gambling awareness set of rules implemented that help to protect players.

And to round things up well turn all this over to J. Todd where he weighs in on “the drama in New Jersey between PokerStars and the Atlantic Club Casino drags on. Meanwhile in Nevada, Ultimate Poker hits its first snag.”

This past week has been history making to say the least for the Ultimate Gaming website that launch offering real money poker to participants in the the state of Nevada.

This also sets in motion the wave on online gambling across the US since the go ahead to offer state to state gambling has been given the okay just as long as sports betting is not included.

What it has also done is raise many controversial discussions as to the cause and effect internet gaming will have on problem gambling and on the financial outlook for brick and mortar casinos.

Many are under the opinion jobs will suffer, cocktail waitresses will be serving less drinks because of a lack of in house gamblers, less shows will be seen and overall the talk of cities like Las Vegas and New Jersey will quite possibly become ghost towns. Okay that latter part is a bit dramatic, but believe it or not there are a fair amount of discussions that things will become just that dire.

Headlines across the week read like a wave of panic, “Casinos Brace for Internet Gambling”, Internet Gambling Will Cause Threat to B&B Casino’s”, “Trump to Buy the Internet, Desperate to Save Trump Entertainment Resorts,” that last headline was one I had overheard on the metro bus the other morning, so I doubt it’s validity!

Needless to say there are many concerns with the changes happening with online gambling, following Nevada will soon be New Jersey and Delaware as they prepare to legalized gambling by the end of this year.

The online gambling rush will indeed be a way for cash strapped states to make up for revenue, but will the sudden hysteria bring a down fall to the brick and mortar business? President of the American Gaming Association, Frank Fahrenkopf stated, “It’s no longer a question of if Internet gaming is coming; it’s a question of when.”

But is all this talk of what might happen just be filler to fuel panic or do you believe that the rise of online gambling will cause casinos in your town to seize and exist?

Keith S. Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, said “the Internet poses risks for problem gambling” and claims “Nevada is in some ways playing with fire.”

Just last year Ohio opened its first casinos and casino developers are waiting for permission to build three casinos in Massachusetts, and New York City’s new Resorts World Casino. Are these investors buying into fool’s gold?

Nevada’s Gaming Control Board back in January shared the data of casinos collecting $783million, down 11 percent of the same period last year and the Las Vegas strip’s revenue down 13 percent to $431.9m with the state taking home a lower than expected $46million in taxes from all the state’s casinos.

If you follow trends, predictions say go with Asia which has seen a huge success as 2013 first quarter figures show a 14.8% increase in gross gaming revenue to $10.66 billion compared to the same quarter in 2012.

American companies such as Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM Grand Paradise own casinos in Macau, the Las Vegas Sands owns its Macau properties through subsidiary company Sands China Ltd, and so far this year Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has seen its stock rise by more than 21% mostly due to exponential growth in Macau’s gambling market.

With all this in mind, it seems clear that there is always a back up plan; invest in casino abroad, approve online gambling on the US forefront and bases are covered, or are they?

Whatever the outcome, speculation is the one thing that is a sure bet and as we sit back and watch it all unfold the predictions see the US market exceeding $10 billion over the next several years.

Share your opinions and join in on the discussions below, we would love to hear your feedback!

Back in early February Delaware released a statement or invitation if you will, to interested vendors of their implementation of Internet gaming system and services solution.

The turnkey proposal would include services including games such as keno, bingo and poker alongside other table and video lottery games with a back-end technology platform

“The solution may at some point in the future integrate with the Delaware State Lottery’s future Internet lottery system and Internet sports wagering system, which does not currently exist and is not included in this request for proposal.”

The call was answered and 14 bids from groups interested in serving as the ‘primary vendor’ to the Delaware State were received with selected offers from Scientific Games Corporation, 888 Holdings and Williams Interactive LLC.

The next step is to finalize negotiation of contracts with the U.S. state which is due to launch online gaming, including poker, by the beginning of fall 2013.

In this mornings edition of The Gambler’s Report were taking a look at the latest online gambling approvals and the movers and shakers that are making noise within the industry.

First up, Ho Gaming, Asia’s leading provider of Live Casino platforms has been shown favor from Italy’s (Amministrazione Autonoma Monopoli di Stato) granting operators the opportunity to provide their players the developers suite on online casino games, which includes individually-branded suite of Live Dealer games, as well as the ability to stream Live Dealer games in Italian straight from their own casinos.

“It’s the perfect opportunity to show European operators that we’re serious when it comes to offering them opportunities that were previously exclusive to the top Asian providers. Our Live Casino is scrupulously fair and completely secure, and we’ve ensured that the range of games, the quality of the stream and the reliability of the platform are unmatched anywhere in the world,” said HoGaming’s CEO, Peter Kjaer.

Ho Gaming are promising that their services are top notch with “scrupulously fair and completely secure” range of games, and one of the most seamless experiences possible when it comes to player connectivity unrivalled by competitors.

Over in Nevada, the Shoshone Nation’s Chief William Bills and Gerry Ghionet founder of GEObet Network are set to launch E-Gaming Casino Worldwide with the signing of their partnership deal.

The partnership will see both parties working together to achieve online gaming licensing for the Shoshoni Tribes by the first part of May 2013, as both Gionet and Chief William Bills are looking to explore the “full play for money online Casino.”

The parties are looking to bring the tribe into a commercial business online to avoid investing into something that does not make money and is not proven.

In case you missed our previous report, Zynga has taken the step into real money gambling with ZyngaPlusPoker and ZyngaPlusCasino now live for players in the UK. Both sites are in development with bwin.party. Zynga has been interested in the online gambling market for some time now, even being rumored as to wanting to purchase bwin’s Ongame poker network.

Betfair confirmed that the UK online bookmaker had acquired certain assets of online sportsbook operator Blue Square Bet from Rank Group. Confirmation of the acquisition came from a spokeperson who stated, “strategy of growing its sportsbook and gaming operations alongside its core exchange product”.

Betfair hopes with its acquasition of Blue square will further Betfair’s focus in regulated markets, as CEO Breon Corcoran has made significant changes to Betfair including removing the company from grey markets that include, Greece, Germany and Cyprus.

If supporters of Senate Bill SB1739 can get it right with its recent proposal, then the third time will definitely be a charm for online gambling in Illinois. There are many amendments to the Chicago Casino Development bill, in particular the amendment pertaining to,”Establishing the Division of Internet Gaming within the Department of the Lottery for the purpose of administering, regulating, and enforcing a system of Internet gaming” which will allow the residents in the state freedom to access gambling from home PC’s and mobile devices.

The latest proposal, yet to be approved by Gov. Pat Quinn has seen two previous rejections and the ideas behind adding additional casinos, slot machines as well as online gambling will have to uphold under the strict ethical guidelines and regulation which were the causes to the bills previous failed attempts.

Gov. Quinn has been considering a possibility of the bill if standards can be adhered to; the governor wants the state gaming board to have a strong authority over Chicago casinos, he would like an appointed inspector general to monitor gaming and a ban on online gambling political contributions.

It seems that advocates of the internet gambling bill are willing to meet the requirements in order to see the bill come to fruition as supporter Sen. Terry Link, said “The stars are probably lining up better than they’ve ever lined up, we’re doing a lot of the things that the governor wanted.”

Chicago’s could make history once again as it did when it became the first state to to sell lottery tickets online last year if the bill gets the approval it needs. The revenue generated from legalizing online gambling will help aid in the states projected $100 billion pension debt with a possibility of  $400 million to $1 billion that will come from the new casinos and regulation of online gambling.

Online Gaming

In June 2009, Gibraltar based 32Red signed a sponsorship deal with Swansea. In what is a termination based on amicable terms, the resolution of the partnership, 32Red has agreed to end its shirt sponsorship deal with English Premier League football club Swansea City following the conclusion of the current season in May.

“It’s been a fantastic relationship with the Swans,” said Ed Ware, Chief Executive Officer for 32Red. “Our association has coincided with Swansea City’s most successful period ever so far. We will look back on the partnership fondly and wish the club the very best of luck for the future.”

Gambling Law

Canada – Researchers from the University of Montreal and Concordia recently polled nearly 12,000 participants with concluding results that suggest well over 70% of Canada’s population of legal gamblers partake in activities such as lotteries, slot machines, video lottery terminals and poker.

The great debate continues in Toronto as The New Democrats say the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp’s plans to build new casinos are “in shambles and must be halted.” Many citizens are up in arms and questions the use of revenue to build brick and mortar casinos.

John Collier Torono, “The future of casino gambling is online. What is the point of spending hundreds of millions, years of construction and huge operating costs on a bricks casino when a clicks one can be had for less than $1.5 million, two months of setup and much lower operating costs.”

However, Premier Kathleen Wynne says OLG wants to build new casinos because the ones close to the U.S. border aren’t bringing in as much money as they did a decade ago. Finance Minister Charles Sousa said border casinos have had “some tough times” in recent years.

“The strategy then is to find ways to minimize the degree of cannibalization that occurs in those communities, so we can maximize the value of those casinos,” he said outside the legislative chamber.”And with some of the restructuring and some of the attention being given to them, to also attract more members from the U.S. as well to come … to those respective markets.”

By estimates of OLG officials, between $400 – $500 million is spent annually on gambling at off-shore web sites by Ontario citizens and that money is leaving Canada.

Others do not believe however that the estimated spending would remain in Canada otherwise stating, “there is a large discrepancy between how much gamers spend online and how much of that money the government ultimately receives.”

With New Jersey recent signature on a bill to legalize internet gaming, the OLG’s initiative will allow the use of mobile, PC’s and tablet gaming for Ontarian’s as they look ahead on bringin that revenue back into Canada.

State Lottery

Illinois – Sometimes you have to keep your predictions of success humble as with the case of the NorthStar Lottery Group. The Illinois State Lottery is penalizing the group with a $20 million fine, as the groups joint venture with Scientific Games Corporation and GTECH Corporation which was established in August of 2010, the first of its kind, before being awarded a ten-year private management contract for the operation of the Illinois Lottery.

According to lottery superintendent Michael Jones, “Northstar won the private manager contract by projecting a net income of $851.2 million in FY12, but failed to reach this goal, consequently triggering a $20 million net income shortfall to the state. Northstar missed their initial net income commitment by $94 million. Our agreement requires Northstar to be held accountable for this shortfall.”

Jones is still however very optimistic and expects better days ahead for the enterprise as new management moves into place. Earlier this month Illinois state legislature considered a bill that would regulate online gambling and online poker, Illinois population of nearly 13 million is more than the three other states that have legalized online gambling—New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware—combined.

Casino’ s Online

Athens based gaming supplier Intralot announced its US subsidiary has premiered the new DeepStackCasino.net free-play gaming website in anticipation of the developments in the United States market. Intralot stated they are prepared to offer the platform on a business-to-business basis to clients who want to premiere real-money online gaming within regulated American jurisdictions.

DeepStackCasino.net offers players a mix of head-to-head casino-style online poker games including Texas hold‘em, stud and Omaha in addition to a range of multi-table and sit-and-go tournaments offering cash prizes. The new domain also comes complete with blackjack, a variety of video poker titles and bingo.

Mobile Gambling

London, UK – Independent gaming software provider EveryMatrix, which offers high quality solutions to the igaming industry, announced the introduction of the Mobile360 native app for iOS and Android phones and tablets, in addition to its existing mobile browser solution.

Available through Play or iTunes for download, was developed with a large range of features such as player registration, payments, casino games from more than five different providers as well as the OddsMatrix sports betting product, all in one single App.

BetOnSoft, the global gaming providers of casino software and turnkey solutions to the online gaming industry, announced the release of its updated version of Mobile Web Client 1.2, for Android, iOS and Windows Phone.

The update is a major platform increment to the HTML 5 client and accompanies the addition of seven new slot games, bringing the total number of mobile games offered by BetOnSoft to 19.

In this week’s edition of The Gambler’s Report, UK’s largest bookmaker William Hill and GVC  finalised the completion of their takeover of Sportingbet’s Australian operations with a £459 million take over and an option on Sportingbet’s Spanish arm.

This strategic move is designed to develop Hill’s online business over a wider gambling market obtaining local licences in those markets and growing its field of operations.

Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill, said: “This acquisition is part of our core strategy to expand selectively into international markets and to grow online revenues. “Australia is one of the largest licensed betting markets in the world where, up until now, William Hill has not had a footprint.”

In other takeovers earlier this month, one of the world’s largest leading online gaming and interactive betting services, Ladbrokes completed its takeover of Global Betting Exchange Alderney Ltd., the operator of Betdaq. Ladbrokes paid 30 million euros for Betdaq from Financier Dermot Desmond, a shareholder in Castlebeck.

“The Betdaq exchange is a well-regarded and well-invested business and a close strategic fit for Ladbrokes,” said Mr Glynn. He added that while the main focus of Ladbrokes’ digital growth strategy continues to “progress well”, the acquisition of Betdaq would enable it to grow its share of the bet spend through the creation of a “differentiated and comprehensive sports betting proposition”.

Ladbrokes also defended against speculation that the bookmaker had made an offer for a share in the Australia-based online betting business owned by Tom Waterhouse one of Australia’s biggest bookie for racing and sports betting.

In the US state of Delaware, a legal jurisdiction for online gambling, fourteen online gambling applications for gaming contracts were received from operators that include PokerStars, Amaya Gaming, SHFL Entertainment, IGT, and 888.

Delaware’s Request for Proposals bid package called for the awarding of all contracts by early May. PokerStars has been making steps in Atlantic City and now Delaware in a strong bid to cash in on the lucrative market in the States.

Currently, PokerStars is in a current battle with the AGA, as the American Gaming Association continues to question PokerStars’ entry into the American gambling market.

Over in Italy, 32Red had a total revenue FY up 28% showing that net gaming revenues totaled £32.1 million, from £25.0 million which included a 45% hike in 32Red casino players to 57,338, with a player yield of £500. The number of new 32Red casino players was up 52% to 41,918.

CEO Ed Ware shared his thoughts,

“Not only have we delivered our third successive year of record results in 2012, but we have also successfully launched the 32Red brand in the newly regulated Italian market. Our strategy of increased investment in marketing is delivering strong levels of new player recruitment,” he said.
This year has started strongly and we are confident of further progress in 2013, both financially and operationally, as we continue to grow the 32Red brand in regulated markets.”

According to reports, Pinnacle Sports has surrendered a secondary license awarded by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), the online bookmaker licensed by the Government of Curacao was a part of the investigation conducted by AGCC after its domain was named in the indictment of former Cantor Gaming sportsbook director Mike Colbert.

In the early part of January the AGCC’s investigation was inconclusive at which time the regulator’s licence was surrendered. A spokesman for the regulator commented, “It happened during the course of our investigation – we had got to the point at which we needed some answers. “One thing we can say is that we were able to ensure Pinnacle’s Alderney site was taken down in an orderly manner.”

Sheriff Gaming and social games firm Playtika Limited which operates in five centers in three countries; Israel, Ukraine and Belarus and was acquired by Caesars Interactive Entertainment, have formed partnership to launch the spin-off Slotomania Adventures page on Facebook.

In October 2012 Slotomania reached a staggering 9 million fans on Facebook just shy of its third month launch.

“We are absolutely delighted that Playtika and the Slotomania brand have decided to add some of our most popular games to their portfolio,” said Eric Roskamp from Eindhoven-based Sheriff Gaming.

“We have created games with community and player engagement in mind and, therefore, knew that our games would cross over into the social games space and the confidence Playtika have shown in us confirms this. This also enables us to reach players that have been unable to play through our other channels to date.”

Slotomania Adventures features some of its most popular slot titles including Atlantis, Mr Good and Fortune Farm while additional games are to be launched ‘in the future’.

“Sheriff Gaming’s track record is impressive and we are excited to see how our loyal and passionate Slotomania gamers will react to Slotomania Adventures with this added content,” said Robert Antokol, Chief Executive Officer for Playtika.

“This marks our first spin-off game from Slotomania and we have high hopes that Slotomania Adventures will engage users and take the social casino space to another level.”

If you would like to join in and be a part of the discussion for our weekly edition of “The Gambler’s Report” makes sure you leave your comments below, we look forward to hearing your opinions.

In our latest edition of The Gambler’s Report, we take a look at US states Nevada and New Jersey as well as Pennsylvania and Illinois’ quest to legalize gambling within their own states, Australia and the IGA and the latest Playtech Partnership with Ladbrokes.

US – Nevada

Fox news recently aired an interview with SHFL Entertainment CEO Gavin Isaacs to discuss the future of “iGambling” and the Nevada companies plans for the future as more states are considering the move to legal online gambling.

One of the questions on the table asked of the Isaacs was, “How could the move to online gambling help casino revenue, but more importantly how their casino business portfolios would benefit in the long run.”

Isaacs responded by stating that their proprietary table games are already established and readily available on servers where it is legal for players in those states to have access to them. Continuing, Isaacs stated the their financial numbers have grown favorably as they look ahead to additional states like Pennsylvania and Illinois coming on board with legal online gambling within their states as well as the large online market offshore.

In 2011, the revenue for U.S. casinos in Las Vegas was $6.069B and $3.318B in Atlantic City, SHFL however is looking forward to the next few months when they will actually make revenue from their online business.

When asked about the opportunity of opening their own online gambling site, Isaacs said they plan on keeping themselves purely a B2B supplier, providing casinos and online operators with their content, games and other products with no interest of competing in the B2C space.

US – Pennsylvania

State Rep. Tina Davis stated she might introduce the online gambling measure in Harrisburg as early as Wednesday which would see the Bucks County Democrat possibly approve a bill that would legalize Internet wagering in Pennsylvania.

“We wanted to get the conversation going,” she said. “We’re working on some changes” to the bill. “I got a lot of feedback from the different stakeholders, including the casinos.”

Davis’ bill will see a $10 million online-license-application fee, gross online gambling revenue tax of 20 percent and provisions that will deal with problem gambling.

US – Illinois

After Governor Pat Quinn’s vetoe of the bill to expand brick and mortar gambling, State Senator Terry Link has sponsored the Chicago Casino Development Authority Act bill that would expand brick and mortar gambling and legalize online gambling.

Senate Bill 1739 will see the expansion of brick and mortar gambling locations from 10 to 23, allows for online poker and online casino games, licenses would be issued for five years with five year renewals. A $250,000 application fee would be required for all companies and individuals wishing to receive an internet gaming license in Illinois.

Illinois horse racing industry may benefit as the allowance for the state’s racetracks to operate slot machines would raise $120-$200 million in licensing fees and $100-$300 each year in tax revenue.

Link further estimates revenue from online gambling may reach an annual $150 million, seeing projections for land-based adding $400 million to $1 billion to state coffers.

888 Hopes for Legalized US Gambling

British firm 888 has formed All American Poker Network with Avenue Capital Group. The new joint venture is set to launch as online gambling becomes legalized in the US.

“Working with a substantial financial partner provides the firepower that we need to take advantage of the significant opportunities that will be provided by a regulated U.S. gaming market,” CEO Brian Mattingley said in a statement.

“This is the perfect deal for 888, providing the ideal platform through which to launch our business-to-customer brands into the US market, once regulated,” said Brian Mattingley, chief executive, who added that the move “completed our online strategy”.

“The agreement sees a leading US financial institution backing one of the largest gaming platform operators in the world, joining forces to tackle a potentially huge market.”

Australia – Protection of its Consumers

In a recent review of the IGA’s services that provide consumer protection of Australian gambling communities a report published from the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, have found a need to provide revisions to the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 set of standard laws.

The report feels as though the aim of the IGA, which is to regulate interactive gambling services by placing restrictions on certain services being provided to customers in Australia with an aims to limit the harmful effects of gambling on the Australian community, has wavered and a suggested 32 recommendations have been set as more than AU$1bn is wagered on as many as 2,200 egaming sites available in the country.

“The IGA may, in fact, be exacerbating the risk of harm because of the high level of usage by Australians of prohibited services which may not have the same protections that Australian licensed online gambling providers could be required to have,” the report stated.

Online casino-style games are banned in Australia and a suggested five-year trial of online poker will not go ahead, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy says.
Nick Xenophon, a long-time gambling critic, labelled the report a ”copout” that could create a new wave of problem gamblers, “If the current legislation was actually strengthened and enforced, the Federal Government would not need to be expanding online gambling and its associated harms,” Senator Xenophon said.

Ladbrokes, “New Deal”

Ladbrokes has a new five-year deal with Playtech that is a close resemblance to one the software provider has had with Ladbrokes competitor William Hill. After a successful run with Playtech however, Will Hill has bought their way out the previous deal with Playtech which now opens the door for a new Ladbrokes partnership.

The new deal is an inspired partnership with the hopes of boosting Ladbrokes online presence and will make use of Playtech’s digital marketing services. Ladbrokes is hoping to increase their online revenues, which is way behind that of competitors Will Hill, with the added benefits of Playtech’s portfolio of casino games on to a new “Vegas” gaming tab on its website.

Richard Glynn, Ladbrokes’ chief executive, said that in the gaming area, and in extending the lifetime value of customers, “we are not as strong as we need to be”. “This is not a joint venture, it is 100 per cent controlled by us,” he said. The goal was “to make sure we service our existing customers better”.

Ladbrokes’ shares rose to their highest level since May 2009, closing up 6.5 per cent at 239.8p, while Playtech was up 3.5 per cent to 571p.

bwin.de has received approval of an A+ gaming license and is now white-listed offering poker, casino games and sports betting, becoming the seventh awarded operator in Belgium. The awarded gaming license sees the operator and gaming regulator putting an end to legal disputes that circulated around the detainment of co-chief executive officer Norbert Teufelberger back in November.

In 2011 the amended Belgian gambling legislation was set in place which implies that offering online games of chance and wagers requires an online licence (licences A+, B+ or F1+). The number of available online licenses is limited to nine A+ licences (for casinos).

Operators are required to have a land based partnership in place and bwin successfully rectified this requirement by partnering with Groupe Partouche. In December 2012, bwin released a statement announcing an agreement with Belcasinos SA (‘Belcasinos’), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Groupe Partouche SA (‘Partouche’), the largest owner of land-based casinos in Belgium.

The WTO, granted sanctions on the United States Antigua and Barbuda this week in its long running dispute over online gambling. This ongoing dispute initially began in 2003 after the United States refused to engage in meaningful negotiations and “commenced the dispute resolution process of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) to challenge the United States’ total prohibition of cross-border gambling services offered by Antiguan operators.”

A few years later in March 2007, the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO ruled that the US had failed to comply with the 2005 ruling against prohibitions on Internet gambling. Later in the year, the WTO granted Antigua US$21 million in annual trade sanctions against the US as compensation for damages.

Just a few days ago, news sources revealed that Antigua was granted WTO authorization to suspend US copyrights giving Antigua the authority to provide materials such as software, music, movies, books, etc how they see fit without any compensation to the American entity who owns the materials.

This new allowance by the WTO to Antigua have many believing this could and will lead to a $21 million annual piracy booty as the initial outcome to this 10 year dispute.

“The economy of Antigua and Barbuda has been devastated by the United States government’s long campaign to prevent American consumers from gambling on-line with offshore gaming operators,” Antigua Finance Minister Harold Lovell said. “We once again ask our fellow sovereign nation and WTO member, the United States of America, to act in accordance with the WTO’s decisions in this matter, before we move forward with the implementation of the sanctions authorized this day by the WTO.”

Online gambling was Antigua’s second largest form of economic resources providing more billions of dollars to the Antiguan economy. From a maximum revenue of $2.392 billion and 59% of global online gambling in 2001 while employing 1,014 people, the Antiguan online gambling industry shrunk to an estimated $948 million in 2007 and a miserly 7% of global online gambling with just 333 people employed.

“Antigua has decided to utilize its right under international law to compel treaty compliance by the United States — this decision did not come easily,” said Colin Murdoch, trade ambassador for Antigua. “After countless proposals from our government have been more or less ignored by the Office of the [US Trade Representative] – numerous decisions by the WTO declaring the United States Government’s position illegal – and failure of the United States Government to provide meaningful proposals to end the dispute, the WTO provides this remedy not to encourage illicit behavior by nations; but rather to provide them with a way to secure their legal rights as sovereign nations.”

Will this latest stir in the pot finally get the US to adhere to the original WTO agreement that allowed cross-border gambling and betting services; or will Antigua and Barbuda continue in a “tit-for-tat” battle with the US as the little island getaway is now being dubbed the new “Pirates of the Caribbean.”

Antigua’s government says its goal remains a negotiated settlement.