Weekly Roundup December 25 2015
Betfair Leaving Canadian Market
Betfair announced this week that it would leave the Canada online gaming market. The last day of operation for players in Canada is January 14, 2016. There are still a few iPoker Network skins that accept Canadian players. William Hill is one of the better known ones. Sports bettors in Canada will miss access to the betting exchange.
Merge Gaming Payout Times Improve
Merge Gaming is finally resolving its cashout issues. Players have been reporting cashout speeds are now under one month. Virtually all of the pending late cashouts have now been paid.
Merge Gaming payouts slowed drastically after the Super Bowl in February. This led to widespread speculation that Merge Gaming lost big when the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. It took until Week 16 of the following NFL season for it to finally catch up on payments. The Merge Gaming cashier services Carbon Poker, SuperBook, Sportsbook.ag and PlayersOnly.
Illinois Attorney General Declares Daily Fantasy Sports Illegal
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan declared daily fantasy sports to be illegal in the state. Madigan stated that the contests are not protected by the state’s skill game statute. “In light of the opinion, we expect that both FanDuel and DraftKings will amend their Terms of Use to include Illinois as an additional state whose residents are not eligible,” according to the opinion.
FanDuel and DraftKings refused to leave the Illinois market. Both sites fought back by filing separate challenges to the rulings in different state court districts.
Illinois became the third state where an attorney general declared the games to be illegal. Nevada and New York are the other two. All sites left Nevada without a fight. A legal battle continues in New York.
PokerStars Ordered to Pay $870 Million
In one of the oddest court rulings pertaining to the gaming industry, a Kentucky state judge ruled that PokerStars must pay the state $870 million. The case involved an attempt to recover losses by Kentucky residents at PokerStars when the site operated in the state without a license. Amaya Gaming plans to appeal this ruling based on action involving its previous ownership.