Over the past decade, any discussion on the legalisation of internet gambling in the US would have been incomplete without some mention of the Republican senator from Arizona, Jon Kyl.

The wiley veteran politician has been at the centre of much of the opposition to legalisation, and is widely accused of being part of the political alliance that rammed the UIGEA through a late night session of a Congress that was about to break for elections back in 2006.

The Washington newspaper Politico reported Thursday that Senator Kyl will no longer be a thorn in the side of the industry after 2012, as he has announced that he will not be standing for re-election to the Senate next year.

This senior politician is unlikely to be missed by the industry, but there’s perhaps an element of “better the devil you know” when the voting record of Kyl’s home state is reviewed – the last time an Arizona Democrat was elected to the Senate was in 1988!

In a move that bound to cause a few ripples in the online poker industry, Bodog Poker has announced that it intends implementing a series of blocking systems to stop poker information portals from scraping listings from its site which “mainly serve professional players” in a bid to attract more recreational players.

Patrik Selin , Bodog Europe said: “These poker operator information portals are another example of how online poker is assisting in its own demise. I have commented previously on how the operators are doing this to themselves with hand histories, HUDs and rake back, all of which we will be cutting out.

The next tier in the process is the operator information sites. Nobody who is playing poker for fun visits these sites, or, probably even knows they exist. They primarily exist to serve the needs of the professional players and therefore we will be implementing online protection against these sites to further aid the crucial leisure poker player.”

In related news, Bodog announced the release of a new poker lobby with a more user-friendly interface making navigation easier.

Swedish online gaming firm Betsson AB has entered into a business relationship with a local company in China. The deal will see a joint venture with an unidentified Chinese state-owned company in the sports lottery related industry.

China has the largest internet population in the world and is expected to issue internet lottery reseller licenses in the future.

“It is an important part of our strategy to be present through our B2B-unit in the world’s major markets” says Pontus Lindwall, CEO of Betsson AB. “Betsson has invested in Asia for more than three years since we believe that the Asian markets have a great potential in the long term. I believe that this joint venture will provide a solid platform for us in China and I am very excited over this opportunity”.

The long anticipated Italian online gambling regulations were released Thursday by Italian regulator AAMS and authorise operators to offer cash poker and casino games and multi-level tournaments.

The new regulations, already authorised by the European Commission , include:

• Buy-in’s for skill games, including online poker can not exceed €250.
• The initial stake for participation in a poker or casino game session may not exceed €1000.
• A return-to-player of at least 90%.
• Cash poker and casino games will be subject to a 20% gross profits tax.

Industry analysts have estimated that the introduction of the additional genres could double revenues in the Italian market by 2012.

Full detail on the regulations can be accessed here (pdf).

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