Regulation round-up 12 August 2014
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (6 August to 12 August 2014)
California poker bill dead for another year
Senator Lou Correa has pulled SB 1366 citing lack of time to refine the bill before the end of the current legislative session
Hopes of a regulated internet poker market in California this year have suffered a huge blow after one of two bills seeking to license the activity in the state was pulled by its sponsor Senator Lou Correa last Wednesday.
A second bill “ AB 2291 “ sponsored by Senator Reggie Jones-Sawyer still remains in play, however it has not moved through the committee process and no hearing date has been set. With the Senate bill dead it seems unlikely the Assembly bill will progress any further.
Correa, sponsor of SB 1366 and chairman of the Senate Governmental Organization Committee which oversees all gambling measures in the state, said there was not enough time to refine the bill in the current legislative session, which closes on 31 August. Any changes to the bill would have to be made by 22 August at the latest.
“Internet poker is an important public policy. We need to make sure it’s done right,” Correa told the Los Angeles Times.
GB regulator warns over late licence applications
Great Britain’s regulator has issued a warning to operators and suppliers over the 16 September deadline for the country’s new licensing regime with the first tranche of suppliers already issued with their Remote Gambling Software Operating Licences.
The new Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act is expected to come into force in October and both operators and suppliers will need to obtain a licence under the new framework, with suppliers given until January 2015 to comply.
On Friday the Gambling Commission issued another reminder to operators that all licence applications must be submitted online by 16 September.
Seven days in regulation:
Sporting Index ad caused “serious offence”, ASA says
Sporting Index has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for causing “serious offence” with an advert it ran during the World Cup featuring Christ the Redeemer statue and a bikini-clad woman.
The print advert, which ran in City AM and the Racing Post, depicted a digitally enhanced version of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro with its right arm around a bikini-clad woman and a bottle of champagne in its left hand.
Text on the advert stated “There is a more exciting side to Brazil” and “World Cup excitement guaranteed”.
Analysis: What derailed California’s online poker dream?
European operators and suppliers planning to cash in on what would be North America’s largest online poker market will have to wait at least another year. Last Wednesday, California Senator Lou Correa withdrew online poker bill SB 1366 with just weeks left of the state’s legislative session, claiming there was simply not enough time to refine the bill and get it across the line before the August 31 deadline.
Correa’s decision will be a huge blow to the likes of bwin.party, 888 and indeed PokerStars, who all have lucrative deals in place to supply California tribes and card rooms with an poker platform. For many, California going live would finally allow them to see a return on the millions of dollars invested in launching across the pond in Nevada and New Jersey, where revenues have been mediocre to date.
On the face of it momentum had been moving in the right direction in recent months, however beneath the surface trouble was brewing. Some felt the bill’s language and proposed licence fees were a ploy by the larger, richer, operators to limit competition and claim the market for themselves.
Danish market posts “strongest quarter since liberalisation”
Danish regulator Spillemyndigheden says the country’s online gaming market enjoyed its strongest quarter since re-regulation in 2012 as the World Cup pushed sports betting revenues up by almost a third.
During the three months ended 30 June total sports betting GGR in the country reached DK445m (£47.5m), up 32% year-on-year and 7% sequentially, a rise the regulator attributed to temporary high betting activity.
The country’s online casino market also reported encouraging growth, rising 6% sequentially and 8% year-on-year to DK270m (£28.9m), however online poker GGR in the country fell 20% year-on-year to DK40m (£4.3m).
Holland Casino sale raises questions over online future
The future of online gaming operations from Holland Casino has been thrown into doubt after plans to break up the group as part of privatisation plans were confirmed.
Under the Dutch government’s privatisation scheme, ten of the 14 Holland Casino properties will be grouped together and sold to an independent party, while the remaining four are to be sold off individually.
And while eGaming Review understands the likelihood is that the Holland Casino brand will be allocated to the buyer of the group of 10 land-based properties, officials have yet to confirm the move.
Unibet CEO casts doubt on Svenska Spel casino plans
Unibet CEO Henrik Tjärnström said he doubted Svenska Spel’s will receive permission to launch online casino launch from the Swedish authorities and any approval would be an “extremely strange” decision.
The Swedish monopoly revealed it had requested permission to launch an online casino last month, however Tjärnström said that any approval would be at odds with the current infringement proceedings Svenska Spel is facing over its online poker and sportsbook products.
“To then add on [casino] would seem to be putting fuel on the fire to me, so I doubt it,” Tjärnström said.
Poll: Is the US still an attractive market with California off the cards?
Last week California Senator Lou Correa announced he had withdrawn online poker bill SB1366, dashing for another year the hopes of operators and suppliers looking to cash in on what would be North America’s largest regulated online poker market.
With just a couple of weeks left in the current legislative session, Correa said there simply wasn’t enough time to reach a compromise with the racetracks who want in on the action, and for all parties to agree on language over so-called ‘bad actors’ and, in particular, whether PokerStars should be able to enter the fray.
Correa’s decision to pull his bill at the last minute means no new US states will have gone live with regulated egaming this year, with just Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey up and running so far. While bills are in place in Pennsylvania and New York, no action is expected until 2015.