Sold -- Entertainment company Las Vegas from Home.com (LVH) announced Thursday the sale of its Action Poker Network (APN) business to Playsafe Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of Norway-based public company Playsafe Holding AS. The APN business sold for a reported $2.5 million, with the transaction to be completed on or before Nov. 17, LVH said in a prepared statement. Playsafe has deposited a "break up fee" of $250,000 that, upon the sale's completion, will be applied against the purchase price. If the sale is not completed, the fee will be refunded to Playsafe or paid to LVH in accordance with the terms set out in the agreement.
Another Day, Another Victim -- PokerAffiliate.com announced today its decision to close its U.S.-facing operation. "As a result of the new law, we no longer accept real money deposits from any new U.S. players," the company said in a prepared statement. Beginning Nov. 6, the company will also implement technical measures to restrict U.S. customers from doing business with the site. "After that time players will still be able to login to the site, participate in play money games and withdraw funds from their account," it added.
Stars Soars, Party Hangs Tough -- According to PokerSiteScout.com, online poker room PokerStars.com has continued to build increased market share following its decision to continue offering services to U.S.-based customers. Yesterday, 10,604 cash players were recorded on the PokerStars Web site, four times the number playing on PartyPoker's dot-com site (2,595). Party, though, continues to feature among the top five online poker sites despite its decision to close down its U.S.-facing operation.
Demands -- According to Yogonet.com, the European Community (EC), an economic treaty organization of the European Union (EU), has demanded that France, Italy and Austria liberalize their sports book markets. The three EU member states have monopolies over their countries' sports books and their respective public administrations. The EC's demand was made on grounds that these and other monopolies were interfering with the free movement of services within the EU. The councils of Paris, Rome and Vienna have thus far been in non-compliance with the demand, citing "public health reasons." If France, Italy and Austria fail to comply, the EC could begin a process to impose sanctions, the report said.