A court case that started in 2015, when PokerStars was ordered to pay $290 million to the state of Kentucky, has finally come to an end. Flutter Entertainment, parent company to PokerStars, agreed to pay a $200 million settlement to the Commonwealth, and also forfeit $100 million that was placed in bond.
In 2015, Judge Thomas Wingate ordered the online poker room to pay the massive fine, after he found the site guilty of providing unlawful online gambling services to state residents between 2006 and 2011. When the case was reinstated in 2018, the Supreme Court increased the fine to $870 million. The Court of Appeals ruled in PokerStars’ favor in 2019 and waived the fine, although that decision was appealed by the state and the fine was reinstated once more.
In the meantime, Flutter Entertainment purchased The Stars Group in May 2020.
After years of going back and forth, and after it was raised to the Supreme Court this month, the state’s legal team and Flutter Entertainment agreed that it would be wiser to settle the case out of court.
According to a statement by Flutter, it was said that the group believes that this settlement agreement was in the best interests of its shareholders, and that it now considered the matter closed.
Online slot games based on the famous Lewis Carroll book, Alice in Wonderland, are not something new, but it’s always exciting to read about a new release. This month, Microgaming partnered with SpinPlay Games to launch Alice in WildLand slot.
This is a crazy mash-up of wild and flamboyant online casino entertainment meeting a classic tale from 1860. Microgaming has allowed SpinPlay Games’ creative team to go wild in terms of imagination, and the result Is astounding.
The game is played on 2 5 x 3 reels sets that are presented one on top of the other on the screen. Images on the screen include a rather nutty-looking pink Cheshire Cat, Alice, Rabbit and Caterpillar.
The Wild Cheshire plays an important role in the game. When you land an entire reel of wild symbols on a single reel set, this stack is copied over the other reel set and the rewards are great.
Watch out for the Gold Pocket Watch which acts as the scatter symbol in this game. 3, 4, 5 or 6 of them pay out 10, 15, 25 or 50 free spins.
When the free games are in lay, any wild symbols that land nudge to fill the whole reel.
All in all, this is a fun and bonus-enriched new slot by Microgaming that has the potential to pay out well.
When the new regulated online gambling industry opens in the Netherlands next month, unlicensed operators should beware. The gambling authority, De Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), outlined a series of penalties and rules that it plans apply to these operators, promising also an “intensification of enforcement.”
In 2019, KSA introduced basic fines of €200,000, but the authority said that this time around, numbers would be even higher. KSA said that it would be targeting unlicensed operators which attracted the most Dutch players. If it found that the turnover generated from Dutch players exceeded €15 million at illegal sites, the operators would be fined 4% of their turnover – or a minimum of €600,000.
KSA also threatened that it may even push the fines higher if there were aggravating circumstances involved, such as if the operator targeted vulnerable or minor players.
Other issues that it intends to examine include the types of games offered by the illegal operator, consumer protection measures and prevention of crime.
The chairman of KSA, Rene Jansen said: “It must pay off to apply for a permit and to offer it legally instead of illegally. That also means that it must really hurt financially if an offer is made illegally.”
The authority said that the intention of the new gambling law was to “channel players from illegal to legal providers.”
Maryland’s gambling authorities have invited the public to comment and review the recently published sports betting rules in the state register as a step towards finally issuing sports betting licenses in the state. The Lottery and Gaming Control Commission said that the public has 30 days to review the more than 220 pages of rules.
In addition, the public has also been invited to attend an open hearing on sports betting in Maryland later this month.
After this step, Maryland will start awarding licenses to those who have applied for one to operate sportsbooks in the state. Once licenses have been issued, it is only a matter of time when in-person sports betting begins in Maryland.
Authorities say, however, that sports betting won’t launch in time for the NFL’s first week on September 9th.
In a recent interview, Governor Lawrence J. Hogan said: “They [the Lottery and Gaming Control Commission] said it’s just impossible to get it done by the start of the football season. I pressed them pretty hard about making sure we get it done at least by the end of football season when all the betting takes place, really – in the playoffs and the Super Bowl.”
However, a timeline hasn’t yet been confirmed by the gambling authorities.
Goodman online casino is hosting a fun online slots leaderboard promotion this week and you’re invited to join in the fun. If you’re among the top 350 players on the leaderboard, you’ll be in the running to win part of the $60,000 pool. All you need to do is play the featured games in this competition and you could be walking out with a prize this month.
The promotion is simple enough to enter. All you need to do is play any of the 15 featured Playson slot games between now and September 8th, and start spinning. For every $1 that you win during the promo period, you’ll get 10 points. Did you win $10? 100 points are yours on the leaderboard!
The top player will win a whopping $10,000! And the other players down the line won’t walk away empty handed either. Places 2, 3, 4 on the leaderboard will each win $5,000, $3,000 and $1,500 respectively and so forth until 350 players all win a cash prize.
Even if you don’t win a prize, you’ll still have a lot of fun entering this promotion since some of the best Playson games are part of the action.
Play great titles such as Book of Gold: Double Chance, Super Sunny Fruits: Hold & Win and Divine Dragon: Hold and Win.