From Black Friday in the US to European regulation, we round up the key events that affected online gambling in 2011.
Black Friday is undoubtedly 2011’s biggest online gambling story. On April 15, the US Department of Justice seized the .com domains and bank accounts of global online poker rooms, Absolute Poker, Tilt Poker and PokerStars.
Black Friday caused many online gambling operators to stop using .com domain names, while software provider Vegas Technology closed down.
Playtech had an impressive year, acquiring software developer Ash Gaming and mobile specialist Mobenga and partnering PT Turnkey Services and Gala Coral. It also now has eight licensees in the recently regulated online gaming market in Italy.
However, Cryptologic had a poor year, with terrible quarterly results and few releases. In December Amaya Gaming offered to buy out the Irish firm.
Europe has had a busy 2011, with the regulation of online gambling in Italy, and a European Parliament ruling to act against state-owned monopolies. However, hope for a Europe-wide regulatory mechanism has been temporarily put aside.
