Author: Daniel Williams

Intralot-owned sports betting operators Totolotek has become the first one to launch a virtual sports betting service on the territory of Poland. The release has been carried out in collaboration with Betradar, after Totolek has joined forces with the global leader in sports data and digital content provision in a partnership agreement. The simulations which would first be available for local players include virtual football clubs, dog races and horse races. The next simulations to become available in May 2017 are the simulations of games played by national teams. Virtual…

Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), a non-ministerial department of the UK Government that is responsible for taxes collection, regulatory regimes administration and state support payments, has updated its online guidance on Betting and Gaming duties. The section where the above-mentioned duties could be found is called Gambling Duties, and the updated section, respectively, is called General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty and Remote Gaming Duty. These rules were first published in August 2014, with some additional information about off-course bets added at the end of August 2015. Under the…

A few days ago, the Winford Hotel & Casino had their official grand opening ceremony in the Philippines. The property, owned by MJC Investment Corp., had its soft opening at the beginning of 2016, when the ceremonial opening of the grown floor of the project was officially made. The venue is situated within the San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park in Manila and is the newest gaming and entertainment centre addition of the much bigger renovation process of the area called the “greater Chinatown”. The district of Binondo has been…

The Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee has passed the Sports Betting Bill that would make sports betting legal on the territory of the state and would as well regulate it. Unfortunately, despite the fact this was a positive step for the issue, no one could predict if the Bill, called HB 519, would actually make it to the end of the legislative process. Currently, sports betting operations are prohibited in all US states, except for a few ones, under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). Actually, it is…

The European Commission has approved the UK laws related to the reforms for foreign horseracing operators in the local market. Yesterday, the Commission informed the international sports betting operators about the horseracing industry amendments which it had approved earlier. Under the provisions of the new financial reforms, the UK authorities would be able to impose a 10% tax levy on horseracing operators that offer their services in the British market. The European Commission has found that the amendment is in line with the laws of the European Union. The new…

The main sponsor of Florida’s Senate Bill – Senator Bill Galvano – has commented that the ruling of the State Supreme Court for constitutional gambling amendments created a necessity for quick actions on a reaching a gaming deal. Last week, the Florida Supreme Court gave a permission for a proposed constitutional amendment of gambling legislation. Under the amendment, an exclusive right to decide the fate of casino gambling in the state would be given to local voters. Under the court’s ruling, the supporters of the gambling amendment would be required…

As revealed by Cyprus’ Tourist Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis at the opening of the 20th travel and tourism exhibition Taxidi 2017, the consideration and evaluation process for the new Melco-Hard Rock consortium operated casino has been brought to an end. Now, the last step of the process – the authorisation – is expected to come to an end. With it being finalised, the Government of Cyprus is to finally allow the casino construction. A ratification from the Cabinet needs to be received in order for the construction work of the casino…

With the upcoming general election that has been recently announced by the UK Prime Minister Theresa May, could actually delay the review of the long-commented stakes and prizes of the fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs). The local industry has been calling for such a review for some time, since the FOBTs have been considered as a grave danger for players, and especially more vulnerable individuals predisposed to gambling addictions and problem gambling behaviour. Now, with the general elections scheduled for June 8th, the timings of the gaming-machine stakes review that is…

There was a time when the state of Iowa was considered as a possible destination for the expansion of the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) in the US, especially with Iowa becoming one of the five states in the country which were headed to implementing DFS bills. However, at this point, it seems very unlikely for the DFS industry to set foot in the state. The current session of the state’s legislature body is soon to come to an end, but at this time, the matters of making daily fantasy sports…

The 11th edition of one of the largest gaming conferences in a global scale – the Russian Gaming Week 2017 – is set to kick off in a couple of months. The conference, which is currently organised by the exhibition company Smile-Expo, is considered as the largest iGaming event held on the territory of Russia, with the conference having a reputation of an event that brings together some of the most successful players in the contemporary online gambling industry arena. What is more, the Russian Gaming Week is to provide…