The Local, an English-language, Sweden-based online daily, reports the Culture Committee of Sweden's Moderate Party has called for the abolition of the government's gambling monopoly "in order to make way for new forms of cultural support." The paper says the committee's six members of Parliament argue that by allowing foreign competition, the government could generate enough revenue "to finance both athletics and culture" more equally than is presently done.
GoldBet Sportwetten, the Austria-based online operator, will in the second quarter join the Entraction Poker Network, operated by Entraction Holding, the Sweden-based software supplier. GoldBet, which operates GoldWinPoker.com, has also enlisted Entraction to develop an Italy-targeted variant of 32-card draw.
Following last week's remarks from Arizona Senator Jon Kyl in Las Vegas Review-Journal -- that the the Treasury and Federal Reserve make haste in drafting long-overdue regulations for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act -- Ken Illgen, Poker Players Alliance state director for Nevada, opined Monday that the rule-writers are not to blame.
"Frankly, the confusion regulators are dealing with as they develop the regulations to enforce the law is a direct result of how this act was written and sneaked into a must-pass port security bill," Mr. Illgen wrote in a letter to The Journal. "Let's not blame the regulators for struggling to enact his (Mr. Kyl's) flawed and ambiguous bill and start looking for workable solutions to truly regulate this growing online gambling industry."
Las Vegas Sands Corp., the land-based casino operator, last week revealed an $11.2 million first-quarter loss on dwindling tourism at home and increased competition abroad. Revenue at the company's Las Vegas properties rose 21 percent over the previous year to $351.6 million. In China, net revenue at the Sands Macau dropped 23 percent to $268.3 million, while the Venetian Macau, which opened in August, posted net revenue of $455.7 million. The company, chaired by billionaire Sheldon Adelson saw its shares fall nearly 9 percent in after-hours trading Wednesday on word of the quarterly loss, which equaled 3 cents per share, against a profit of $90.9 million, or 26 cents per share, a year earlier.
The company made no mention of its Internet ambitions, which include bringing its Venetian, Sands, Palazzo and Paiza brands online on software developed by Cantor Gaming. The venture was originally scheduled to go live in the second quarter of 2007.
The London Stock Exchange was closed Monday on bank holiday.
Chris Krafcik is the editor of IGamingNews. He lives in St. Louis, Mo.