Online Casino Edition – Casino News News about online casinos and gambling

For those who may be wondering if the online betting community is making any money, the answer is yes. Yes, if you are talking about Betfair which is the largest online gambling community to date. Revenues are up, even though its customer base is down by more than two percent. In a management statement that was recently released for fiscal year 2013, first quarter, the revenues were impressive.

It was reported in the statement that revenues had increased by some 13 percent which represents over 91.5 pounds. It was also reported that most of this growth had come from the company’s sports betting which had its own increase of 21 percent. Growth in the UK alone was up by 23 percent. In addition, the growth in mobile betting for the UK and Ireland was up in volume by a whooping 114 percent and resulted in a 98 percent rise in revenues.

It was not all good news, though. Changes in regulatory rules in Spain, Cyprus, and Italy caused revenues to fall by 4 to 7 percent. Suspicions that Germany may soon follow with tougher regulations is also a concern.

In related news it was reported that the chief financial officer for Betfair, Stephen Morana, plans to step down as soon as a suitable replacement can be found for his job. Back in August, a new CEO, Breon Corcoran, came onboard. His main goal it appears is to get the stock price of Betfair back up to where it once was. With revenues being generated as reported recently this may not take too long.

Of concern, however, to all European online gaming establishments are those new regulations that may be taking effect in several countries. As specific details are lacking in this area, caution is the current watchword. Even so, there is a lot of interest and buzz going around concerning some new casino deals that may be taking shape in Madrid, Spain. Also, it has been reported that certain international regions, such as Macau, are doing just fine in terms of growth and revenues. How this all shakes out will depend on large part to how the EU handles its current debt problems in both the short term and the long term.

It may be of interest to some to know that Sands Casinos Corp has already decided to build its massive new EuroVegas complex in Madrid, Spain. Barcelona was also a top pick for the location of the new casino, but lost out to Madrid as was recently announced by the Sands CEO.

For now, however, it seems as if mobile betting is being used as a good hedge for many of the better known companies. That trend is expected to continue for at least the time being. Another well known company that is moving toward the booming mobile gaming market is Playtech which is said to be aggressively pursuing new innovations for its move into the mobile gaming industry. A recent license to do business in Gibraltar is being seen as a huge step forward as the company plans to move into European markets at some time in the future.

Steve Wynn, the well-known casino mogul, was awarded some $20 million in his slander suit that was brought against Joe Francis, the creator of Girls Gone Wild. This award is said to be ten times the amount of gambling debt that started this altercation in the first place.

An LA County Superior Court jury determined that Joe Francis had indeed made statements that were false when he informed various reporters that Steve Wynn had threatened to have him (Francis) murdered because of a gambling debt that Francis owed to Wynn. The gambling debt was reported to be more than $2 million and was incurred back in 2007.

Wynn’s legal team had asked for $12 million. The actual total now owed by Francis to Wynn, including past defamation judgments and the original debt, is now estimated to be about $30 million. Wynn has been reported as saying that he will give whatever monies he collects above his legal fees to charity.

The latest trial took only four days of testimony and neither Wynn nor Francis was present in the courtroom when the jury came back with their verdict. National and international news agencies were all over the story as the decision was finally released to the public and to the press. Both men are known internationally.

The genesis of all of this began back in 2008 when Wynn personnel began filing suit against Francis to pay his gambling bill. Francis stated that he had been seduced into the prolonged gambling binge by prostitutes provided by Wynn’s associates. That statement caused Wynn to file the original defamation suit in Las Vegas court.

Then, in 2010, during a hearing in Los Angles, Francis stated that Wynn had made written statements in emails threatening his life. These emails were reportedly sent to music producer Quincy Jones and contained details of how the body of Francis would be hidden in the desert. Francis then repeated the same to media outlet TMZ. The TMZ announcement lead to yet another defamation suit that was subsequently brought by Wynn against Francis. Quincy Jones stated in court that he had not sent on any threats as stated by Francis.

As if this were not enough, Francis then went on the Good Morning America show and repeated the allegations. The presiding judge in the most recent hearing added that statement to the slander claim as well. This additional charge cost Francis $11 million alone. Francis has stated that he intends to appeal the decision. Further details concerning Francis’ plan to appeal have not yet been released.

While it may appear that this case is finally over, chances are good that it is not. As mentioned above, Francis plans to appeal the decision, and has yet to pay any substantial amount of money to Wynn to date. Whether or not Wynn will actually see any of the money that the courts says he is entitled to is yet to be seen. No information is available as to how Francis would be able to come with this settlement.

Las Vegas is one that has been hit hard since the 2008 financial collapse. The city as a whole relies very heavily on their gaming industry particularly the industry in Las Vegas in order to create tax revenue for the state. Although things have been looking up as of late, in June, Nevada saw huge revenue declines. It was reported that Nevada saw a 6% decline in gaming revenues in June when compared to the previous year, with the strip being down 4.5% when compared to the previous year as well.

These figures were released on August 7th by the Gaming Control Board of Nevada. In total, the casinos were able to collect more than $832.5 million from gamblers throughout June. That number was up to $885 million in June of 2011. This drop is a significant one, leaving many in the casino industry nervous about what they thought was a recovery in the making. A number of casinos throughout other areas of Las Vegas and Nevada, were hit even harder.

Washoe County’s casinos were some of the only casinos that fared well, up 7% over the previous year, mostly thanks to a number of large events that were held throughout the region.

Other regions throughout Nevada also fared well, but most counties saw significant losses in their revenue. Casinos in Clark County account for 85% of the total casino revenue generated throughout the state. Specifically, the Las Vegas strip saw huge revenue dipped this year. In June of last year, the Las Vegas strip is able to bring in a total of $506.7 million, but this year was only able to bring in $483.7 million. Although many of the casinos on the strip expected their losses to be more noticeable, these large dips in overall revenue serve as a bid of a scare to many individuals… the area would continue to climb.

A number of events in the Las Vegas strip also helped with various individual games. For instance the Pacquiao – Bradley championship fight brought in thousands of baccarat players, which increase the revenues of that particular game on the Las Vegas strip.

It will be interesting to see if the casinos are able to turn around this slow June, and turn it into a more fruitful August bowl for the casinos themselves, and for Las Vegas as a whole.