The UK Gambling Act happens to be delayed by one month, as the Department of Culture, Media and Sport considers the legal challenge associated with Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA). The new act was scheduled to come into effect on October 1, but will now be pushed back again to November 1.

The GBGA issued the process in the tall Courts in an attempt to derail what it has called a misguided piece of legislation and a ‘wholly unjustified, disproportionate and discriminatory disturbance with the best to free movement of solutions.’

The act requires all online gambling operators to hold a UK license and spend a 15 percent tax on gross video gaming revenue if they desire to engage aided by the UK market. Previously such operators could be licensed in a quantity of jurisdictions around the world, one of which had been Gibraltar. These jurisdictions had been approved, or ‘white-listed’, by the national government in Westminster beneath the 2005 Gambling Act.

Legislation Unwanted?

The GBGA’s objections are twofold. Firstly, it believes that the 15 percent ‘point of usage tax’ will force operators to cut their bonuses and VIP programs, which will drive British gamblers towards the unlicensed black market, as the UK regulated web sites will not have the ability to compete, thus Continue reading British Gambling Act Delayed by Gibraltar Legal Challenge →

Residents of Massachusetts have selected to uphold the state’s three-year-old casino law, voting overwhelmingly in yesterday’s midterms in favor of maintaining the fledgling casino market, as the polls had predicted.

Somewhat confusingly, ‘no’ meant ‘yes’ for casinos on this ballot, as voters were asked perhaps the law should be repealed, with 59.5 % to 40.5 percent deciding that no, it will not be repealed, meaning that yes, they desired gambling enterprises.

Some commentators have recommended that the language used in posing the question was deliberately muddled and created to confuse.

Nonetheless, it is a victory for MGM and Wynn Resorts, who have had their respective projects provided the greenlight by regulators and who can now finally and definitely move forward with the licensing procedure, a privilege for which they will fork out $85 million a piece before a single cornerstone is set.

Not surprisingly, casino executives had been jubilant and anxious to emphasize exactly what the casinos will do for their communities that are future.

‘Voters across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts today voiced their support of the 10,000 job that is permanent and significant financial benefits supplied by the Gaming Act of 2011,’ said pleased MGM Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. Continue reading Massachusetts Pro-Casino Referendum Takes the Day →