EGR Snapshot: Gala Coral nears £540m debt deal; Full Tilt faces law suit; legislators seek UIGEA delay; Hills; Micro... 05/10/2009

Gala Coral is understood to be in talks on a financial restructuring that will see lenders write off £540m of loans in exchange for a major stake in the business. Gala Coral owns Britain’s biggest bingo site, GalaBingo.co.uk, as well as a string of bingo halls and casinos and the bookie chain Coral,

Full Tilt has been hit with a lawsuit from two of its customers, who accuse it of being run from within the US and using robots to control games and boost revenues, as well as levelling charges of fraud, libel, slander and false advertising...

A bipartisan group of US legislators has sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke requesting they extend the deadline for compliance with the final regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) by a year. The letter, also signed by 13 members of the Financial Services Committee, described the regulations, which are due to take effect on 1 December 2009 as an “unreasonable burden on regulators and the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis.”

The International Olympic Committee is to establish a system to monitor suspicious betting on Olympic competitions, according to the Associated Press. The IOC’s monitoring will be undertaken by a new Swiss company, International Sports Monitoring, and will be in place for the 2010 Vancouver winter games.

William Hill Online is now using payments service provider SafeCharge International.

WagerWorks is now supplying Alderney-based online sports book and casino operator Entergaming with games, via the Orbis Fixed Odds Gaming Framework (FOGF). 

Software company Microgaming has published new slots Kung Fu Monkey, Texas Hold’em Bonus Poker, the Pure Platinum video slot and Ice Age-themed Wooly World. 

Feature: the eGaming Review Power 50. The regulatory tide that swept some countries over the last 12 months is reflected in the 2009 Power 50 ranking of the industry's leading operators, as monopolies and media companies make their way on to the list... 

Need to know: Fight and the Power. Champagne corks were flying at Bwin this week after we confirmed the Austrian bookmaker is number one in the Power 50 ranking of the industry’s leading operators. But while toasts were raised in Austria, in the US and elsewhere some readers were left scratching their heads. The reason? The absence of Full Tilt and PokerStars... 

Registration is now open for EGR Live, the free two-day event for operators. And don’t forget to enter this year’s EGR Awards for your company’s chance to be officially recognised as a leading operator at a gala dinner at London’s Old Billingsgate Market. 

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Posted: 05/10/2009