May
William Eats Stanley's Arm
May 4 - Indiana becomes the latest U.S. state to enact a law prohibiting gambling over the Internet.
May 16 - A proposed $935 million cash acquisition of Stanley Leisure's British betting shops would make William Hill the largest bookmaker in the United Kingdom. The deal awaits approval from shareholders and competition authorities.
May 17 - Leading horsemen in New York testify at a joint legislative hearing in favor of amending state laws to allow online race wagering.
May 27 - Nevada takes a big step toward becoming the first U.S. state to regulate mobile gambling at its casinos.
May 30 - Yahoo! says it will enter the Internet bingo space through a partnership among Parlay Entertainment Inc., St. Minver and Yahoo UK & Ireland.
June
Here Come the IPOs
June 8 - The attorneys general from 29 U.S. states submit a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman to stress their concerns over the impact the WTO Antigua/United States ruling could have on state sovereignty.
June 15 - PartyGaming publishes its 200-page prospectus revealing, among other things, that the company will seek a market valuation of between $8 billion and 9.2 billion (£4.4 billion and £5.1 billion).
June 21 - Empire Online Limited raises more than $222 million through a float on the London Stock Exchange.
June 29 - Dutch state-owned Holland Casino receives approval for a two-year license to test games of chance via the Internet.
June 30 - The World Poker Tour launches an online poker room. U.S. players are not welcome.
July
Doyle, You Can't Be Serious
July 6 - ARGO and iGGBA merge to create the Remote Gaming Association providing a single voice representing industry interests.
July 11 - Doyle Brunson's $700 million bid to purchase WPT Enterprises comes and goes.
July 14 - European bookmakers celebrate favorable verdicts in separate IP court cases.
July 18 - The U.S. Department of Justice attempts to have Casino City's appeal dismissed.
July 19 - Online poker rooms once again play an integral part in the World Series of Poker, the game's biggest event.
July 27 - Citing a desire to increase delivery channels for its products, International Game Technology (IGT) announces that it has struck a deal to buy WagerWorks, Inc.
August
Advertising Conflicts Abound
August 8 - A host of Nevada-based radio stations pull ad spots for PartyPoker.com.
August 10 - Gibraltar engages in a legal battle with the European Commission regarding its right to offer a corporate tax regime that is more favorable to businesses than that of the United Kingdom.
August 11 - The Australian Racing Board says it will not exclude Tasmania from interstate betting pools if Betfair is given a license there.
August 19 - Canadian authorities crack down on I-gaming advertisers.
August 22 - A WTO-appointed arbitrator rules that the United States has until April 2006 to comply with a ruling made in April 2005 regarding U.S. restrictions on cross-border Internet gambling services.
August 24 - In a significant shift in policy, the World Poker Tour and Travel Channel decide to allow participants in WPT events to wear sponsor logos during tournaments.
August 24 - Three search engines catering to Australian consumers appear to be in hot water for running I-gaming advertisements, but none of them acknowledge doing so purposefully.
August 29 - Betandwin inks a deal to sponsor the Portuguese Soccer League, and Portugal's gambling interests aren't too thrilled about it.
August 30 - CryptoLogic confirms that it will part ways with Betfair, its biggest licensee.
August 30 - Ladbrokes suffers another defeat in its legal battle to offer remote gaming services to residents of the Netherlands, as one of the country's courts issues a primary proceedings judgment stating that Dutch laws are consistent with their goals of limiting gambling-related fraud and addiction. The European Commission, however, has warned the Netherlands that its gambling laws prohibiting foreign operators from targeting Dutch residents are not necessarily in compliance with EU policy.
January - April
September - December