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The UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported an increase in the average amount British households spent on gambling during 2012.

In its Family Spending Report, the ONS said that an average of £3.20 (€3.80/5.25) was spent on gambling each week in 2012, an increase of 50p on the previous year.

 The gambling figure was more than the average British household amount spent a week on going to the cinema, concerts, theme parks, museums and the theatre combined.

 The report revealed that all areas in the UK lost money on gambling, apart from the north west of England where each household won an average of £4 a week with an outlay of £3.50. The ONS put this down to a number of very large winners in the area.

Northern Ireland lost the most money gambling, with households having paid an £4.10 a week to win an average of just £1.50.

ONS said the highest spend was on housing, fuel and power, followed by recreation and culture.

Source IGaming Business

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United Bingo’s new online slots casino MoonGames.com has increased their trademark bonus incentives, following a successful site launch.

The “Space-Vegas casino” has thus far seen an impressive conversion rate since it was launched in February 2013. New features, games and bonus rewards are continually being added to the site, which has received enormous positive feedback from instant game players and affiliates alike.

Moon Games has gained popularity for their innovative bonus incentives, including a £1,500 welcome package and a unique “spin the wheel” bonus game which treats players to guaranteed bonuses of up to 1,000%.

Players can also earn bonus chips just for playing slots and instant games, and the Reward Booster feature gives players free bonus codes, bonus chips and other prizes as they progress through the site.

“The bonus program featured on Moon Games is unique, as we strive to offer attractive bonus incentives for our players not found on other online casinos,” said United Bingo CEO Adi Frum. “We hope that by continually adding new bonuses and site features, Moon Games will continue making steady progress as a leading casino site to watch.”

Bonus incentives figure heavily in the galaxy-themed site’s July promotions, which include a VIP membership raffle, free weekly bonus codes, and free spins on the guaranteed bonus wheel.

Moon Games has also just released their mobile platform, allowing players to enjoy their favourite instant games on-the-go.

Online gambling software specialist Playtech has announced the bolt-on acquisition of poker-dedicated website PokerStrategy.com for €38.3m ($49.8m) from etruvian Holdings. The takeover will be funded by Playtech’s existing cash reserves. Profit before tax last year at PokerStrategy.com, one of the largest online poker schools and player community, and some of the acquired subsidiaries, was €19.5m, and the group had gross assets of about €18.5m. PokerStrategy.com co-founders Dominik Kofert and Enrique Guzman will stay on at the acquired business on a consultancy basis. “The directors believe the acquisition is complementary to both Playtech’s PTTS marketing division and its overall poker offering, further strengthening Playtech's leading position in poker and providing a community-based model for player acquisition, which is attractive to both social and real-money players in existing and soon to be regulated markets,” Playtech said. “The acquisition will allow Playtech to further diversify its business by providing licensees with access to the world’s largest independent poker community with over six million members, thereby cementing existing relationships and creating incremental opportunities for both software and PTTS marketing. “Given the combination of cost and revenue synergies, the acquisition is earnings enhancing."

Source: iGaming Business 

Pool and tote sportsbetting supplier Sportech has announced that its eBet Technologies Incorporated subsidiary has partnered with American casino operator Saratoga Harness Racing Incorporated to launch an online, mobile and telephone advance deposit wagering service for the Empire City Casino in Yonkers.

Sportech revealed that eBet Technologies has provided Saratoga Harness Racing with technology that permits patrons at the New York land-based facility to utilise a single-registered account in order to wager via the EmpireCityBets.com domain in addition through mobile and telephone channels.

In addition, eBet Technologies and Saratoga Harness Racing are together providing Empire City Casino with a turnkey package that includes live operator telephone wagering, customer service, technical support, customer relationship management and marketing as well as complete operations, planning and implementation of the interactive wagering service.

“The process of bringing our new website, mobile wagering service and telephone wagering service to launch has been seamless and professional thanks to the combined efforts of Saratoga Harness Racing and eBet Technologies,” said Robert Galterio, Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer for Empire City Casino.

“We are confident that the technologies and services they provide will satisfy every level of EmpireCityBets.com player and will help Empire City Casino capitalise upon the synergies between the online and on track experiences.”

The Empire City Casino re-opened its doors in 2006 following an extensive renovation and offers over 5,300 slot machines alongside games of roulette, craps, sic-bo and baccarat. Located just north of New York City and next to Yonkers Raceway, the facility is reportedly the most lucrative casino in the state despite stiff competition from the rival Saratoga Casino and Raceway.

“We were enthusiastic to work with Empire City Casino to bring EmpireCityBets.com to life and to offer its fans the convenience of multiple interactive channels,” said Mark Gregory, Interactive Products and Services Managing Director for Sportech Incorporated.

“We are also delighted to be expanding our relationship with Saratoga Harness Racing, itself a long-term valued customer of Sportech. An arrangement like this one highlights the flexible nature of the eBet Technologies interactive offering and our ability to customise solutions to the specific needs of each licensed operator we serve.”

source : iGaming Business

British and Irish horseracing broadcaster GBI Racing Limited has signed a deal with Swedish monopoly AB Trav Och Galopp (ATG) that will see its coverage shown in over 2,000 retail betting outlets throughout the Scandinavian nation. GBI Racing is the joint venture between Racecourse Media Group and At The Races and provides live multi-camera coverage from every one of the 58 racecourses in the UK along with Ireland’s 26 tracks and has recently signed similar deals for Finland, Denmark, Russia and Canada. The agreement will see punters in Sweden able to place wagers on British and Irish horse races every Friday and also covers ‘showpiece meetings’ such as this year’s Royal Ascot, which is scheduled to begin from the world-famous Berkshire track tomorrow. “We are delighted to be launching in Sweden and extending the ties between the two racing territories,” said Nick Mills, Territory Director for GBI Racing. “There has long been a strong Swedish presence in the UK and Irish racing industries. We are very familiar with leading owner/breeder Erik Penser, trainer Hans Adielsson and jockey Nicole Nordblad, who have enjoyed considerable success here and we’re confident their exploits along with a fantastic upcoming summer of racing will resonate with Swedish punters.” GBI Racing declared that the deal will also see horseracing fans in Sweden able to place wagers using their mobile device and at any one of the nation’s 37 racecourses, of which 32 are classed as ‘trotting tracks’ followed by four thoroughbred venues and one dual-use course. “Sweden has a long and strong tradition with horseracing and betting on horses, mainly when it comes to trotting,” said Kent Ohlander, Sales and Marketing Manager for ATG. “Through this new co-operation with GBI Racing, we hope to broaden the interest for thoroughbred racing as well and what better way to kick things off than with prestigious Royal Ascot.” 

Source: iGaming Business

Dick Flink has resigned as Chairman of Holland Casino after almost six years in charge of the state-owned Dutch casino operator.

The announcement follows Holland Casino’s financial results for 2012 when it posted a net loss of €652,000.

Ath Schouwenaar, Supervisory Board Chairman for Holland Casino, said: “For six years, Dick Flink has energetically led our organisation through particularly challenging times. The casino concept is revitalised, a large number of branches have been rebuilt and modernised and preparations for an online casino have been started. Simultaneously, a comprehensive reform programme has been sorted. The latest results show, however, that we need profound and structural reforms and Dick feels that his governance profile does not correspond to these needs. The decision was therefore taken that he retires and that we look for a new Chief Executive Officer who will head the necessary reforms at Holland Casino.The Supervisory Board would like to thank Dick Flink for his ambition, inspiration and for all that he has put into his leadership in recent challenging and difficult years.”

Mr. Flink added: “My strength lies in the development and realisation of new concepts and formulas. The ambitions Holland Casino had on that plane, has been under pressure from economic and market conditions in recent years has given little scope for this. The prospects are such that, as in previous years, radical structural reforms must be introduced which is not where my values lie.”

In the United States, a Republican Congressman has introduced legislation that could soon see the federal government follow the examples of Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey in legalising online gambling nation-wide.

Peter King has been a member of the House of Representatives since 1993 and introduced his Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act 2013 on Thursday, which would establish a common federal regulatory regime for online gaming while creating the Office of Internet Gambling Oversight in the Treasury Department to set criteria for the licensing of operators by state and tribal governments.

“A common federal standard will ensure strong protections for consumers, protect against problem and underage gambling and make it easier for businesses, players, lawmakers and regulators to navigate and freely participate,” said King.

King’s office stated that the proposed measure, which would only become law after being approved by the House of Representatives and Senate before being signed by the President, also includes an opt-out provision for any jurisdiction ‘that does not wish to participate in the federal interstate system...and prohibit online gambling or to operate intra-state gaming within its borders as authorised under state or tribal law’.

Numerous state officials and lotteries have long resisted federal legislation that would legalise online gambling as they feel this could possibly hurt existing operations. This was one of the reasons a proposed measure from Nevada Senator Harry Reid working in partnership with Arizona Republican Jon Kyl was ultimately defeated last year before it even had a chance to be introduced.

“We spent the last four years working very, very hard to get in a position to support such legislation if it was introduced,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, Chief Executive Officer for the American Gaming Association.

“So we're now left in a situation where Kyl, who was very important in the process, has retired and you've got a multitude of states starting to pass legislation. So we think the urgency is even more important now.”

Source : iGaming Business

Zynga Inc. (ZNGA), the biggest maker of online social games,said it will cut 520 jobs, or 18 percent of its staff, and close some officesamid disappointing results from its titles outside the “FarmVille” series.

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc.,talks about Zynga Inc.'s plan to cut 520 jobs and close some offices amiddisappointing results from online social game titles outside of the"Farmville" series. He speaks with Jon Erlichman on BloombergTelevision's "Bloomberg West."

The reductions will save about $70 million to $80 million inpretax expenses annually, the San Francisco-based company said in a statementyesterday. The cuts will be completed by August and will result inrestructuring charges of $24 million to $26 million in the second quarter and$2 million to $5 million in the third quarter.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Pincus is trimming costs asgame players shift from titles on Facebook Inc. (FB), Zynga’s core business, toapps played on mobile devices. While the cuts may help buoy profits, the moveputs pressure on Pincus to find new sources of growth, said Michael Pachter, ananalyst at Wedbush Securities Inc.

“You can’t save your way to prosperity,” Pachter said in aninterview. “They have to keep innovating.”

Zynga dropped 12 percent to $2.99 at yesterday’s close inNew York, the first time in almost four months the stock has fallen below $3.The shares have gained 27 percent this year, compared with a 15 percentincrease for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Along with the staff reductions, Zynga is closing itsoffices in New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, said a person familiar with thematter, who asked not to be identified because not all affected workers havebeen notified.

Source : Bloomberg

A new residence programme for foreigners (non-EU) was launched this morning, replacing the foreign residents' scheme which was controversially suspended in 2011.

Parliamentary Secretary Edward Zammit Lewis said the Global Residence Programme, as the new scheme is called, will allow people who buy high value property and pay taxes in Malta to benefit from a residence permit.

The previous scheme was suspended and initially replaced by the High Net Worth Individuals Scheme which did not prove popular because the minimum value of purchased property had been raised from €116,000 to €400,000.

Under the Global Residence Programme, the value of immovable property bought in Malta by foreigners has to be at least €275,000. However, when the property is in the south of Malta or in Gozo, the minimum value can be €220,000.

Dr Zammit Lewis said that whereas under the High Net Worth Individuals Scheme, applicants would also have been eligible if they rented a property for a minimum of €20,000 annually, that threshold has been lowered to €9,600 in Malta and €8750 in Gozo or the South of Malta.

In the past, third country nationals also needed to place a €500,000 bond with the government and an additional €150,000 per dependant. This provision has been removed.

The minimum tax to be paid in advance has been reduced from €25,000 plus €5,000 per dependant per year to a minimum of €15,000 on income derived in Malta, with further income charged at 15%.

With regard to abuses in the past by people who bought property here but then lived abroad and abuses by those who received health services which exceeded their contribution here, Dr Zammit Lewis said foreign residents under this programme, including their dependants, have to be covered by health insurance. They will not be entitled to free state health services.

The new regulations will be introduced by legal notice by the end of this month.

Source : Times of Malta