Latest Gambling News – Is EU Really Planning to Reign in Offshore Online Gambling Sites
This is the latest gambling news as published June 28, 2012 during the Noon EST hour includes a plan by the EU to crush online gambling businesses...or maybe not. Please follow us on Twitter here for up-to-the-minute breaking news.
The EU Wants to Reign in Illegal Online Gambling Websites
After years of thumping their chest and demanding that individual nations stop attempting to clamp down on Internet gambling sites operating from such places as Central America and the Caribbean, the European Union appears to have finally thrown in the towel.
From Bloomberg News:
The European Union will publish an action plan later this year to rein in illegal and “unregulated” online gambling.
The paper will include measures to clamp down “on the many illegal websites, often hosted in offshore havens,” that offer gambling services, Michel Barnier, the EU internal market chief, said in a speech in Brussels today.
The European Commission, the 27-nation EU’s executive arm, will also propose measures to “effectively regulate and supervise” legal gaming sites, Barnier said. The action plan will be published “in the autumn,” he said.
There is another interpretation of what the EU is attempting to do which might actual gel with their original intentions.
One member of the TwoPlusTwo.com posting forum offered this perspective:
They're trying to harmonise the rules across the EU, so countries can't just make up their own rules and impose protectionist measures that interfere with free trade and competition across internal borders.
Also, there is a large amount of consumer protection in there - making sure sites behave appropriately (preventing underrage gambling, being open and honest, not ripping people off, etc)
What they're proposing is essentially an EU version of the UK's Gambling Act.
Top Macau Casino Magnate Bludgeoned
(UPI) - A top casino magnate was bludgeoned by six men in his own casino in Macau, China, an attack police say is reminiscent of Macau's violent history.
Casino hotel investor Ng Man-sun was dining in the restaurant of the New Century Hotel Saturday with a female guest when six men rushed in and beat them with hammers and sticks. The New York Times reported Ng's legs and arms were badly injured; however, the assailants avoided striking him in the head.
Both were treated at an area hospital. The woman suffered minor injuries and was released Saturday while Ng remains in treatment.
Individual Mandate Upheld: Only 10 Percent of Gamblers Got it Right
Very few believed the healthcare individual mandate would stand in the US, including gamblers. But boy were they wrong!
Dave Mason of BetOnline was one happy camper Thursday morning.
Dave Mason @DaveMasonBOL
Congrats to the 10% of bettors that thought the US Supreme Court would uphold the individual mandate.
Denmark Blocking Online Gambling Sites
From CasinoChoice.uk:
Playtech-powered Titan Poker and Winner are among the three highest profile dot.com gambling websites on a list sent to the ISP that also includes BetClic Everest-owned Bet-At-Home. The other soon-to-be-blocked domains are Playtech-powered casinos CasinoRedVegas, CasinoTropez, Casino Del Rio, Casino Bellini and Europa Casino. Microgaming-powered poker room Cool Hand Poker also appears on the list, alongwith three casinos running on CGTV software, Casinomel, Casino-Alhambra and AmazingVideoPoker.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
