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Pushing past recent its historical declines in revenues, the internet gambling enclave of Macau off the coast of China reported very positive October 2009 revenues of US$ 1.59 billion this week.

The Dow Jones news agency said that analysts attributed the strong results to the growing momentum of the Chinese economic recovery and an unusually long National Day holiday during the month under review.

Gambling revenue rose 42 percent higher in October from a year earlier, and was 17.6 percent higher than September’s MOP10.8 billion, various monitoring agency and research reports said. The Macau government only publishes gaming data once every quarter, and it doesn’t comment on monthly statistics reported by the press and analysts.

For October, SJM Holdings Ltd. continued to have the biggest market share of 30.9 percent among the six Macau internet casino operators, helped in part by the opening of a new casino in September. The casino company saw a 12.4 percent year- on-year rise in net gaming revenue to MOP 3.89 billion.

The Swedish online gambling group Betsson has delivered another solid quarterly result, posting Q3 2009 numbers that show a 17 percent rise in pre-tax income to SEK 79.6 million (Q3 2008: SEK 68.2 million).

The casino company, which offers online poker, casino and sportsbetting services reported an impressive overall increase of 26 percent in third quarter revenues compared to the same period in 2008: SEK 316.7 million vs (2008 Q3) SEK 252 million.

CEO Pontus Lindwall noted that gross turnover in sportsbook operations continued at a high level, and that online casino numbers had developed well, thanks largely to partnership deals.

Lindwall reported that during the quarter Betsson had launched live streaming and mobile betting in a bid to further boost sportsbetting performance.

Betsson’s year-to-date performance remains encouraging, with pre-tax income now reflecting a 20 percent increase to SEK 224.6 million over 2008 numbers.

The group’s third-quarter performance took pre-tax income for the 2009 year to date to SEK224.6m, a 20 percent on that achieved by this time last year. YTD revenues have soared 28 percent and were at SEK 916.8 million at the end of September, well up on the same period in 2008 when SEK 716.7 million was achieved.

Tarquin Henderson, who was formerly VP for 888 Europe, Middle East and Africa marketing online gambling activities, has left the Gibraltar-based group after four years to join the rapidly expanding Mangas Gaming group.

Henderson’s new appointment is as chief marketing officer for Mangas, which numbers Betclic, Bet-at-home AG and Expekt among its online gambling subsidiaries. Helmed by Isabelle Parise, Mangas Gaming is co-owned by Financiere Lov, Stephane Courbit’s patrimonial holding company, and Societe des Bains de Mer (SBM), a major Monaco online casino and hotel owner.

Prior to his 888.com service Henderson held management positions at mobile phone network T-Mobile and at food group Nestle.

Mr.J, an online gambler at VC Gaming’s Casino Club internet casino has already started spending a major windfall of Euro 309 000 he won last week on the Roman Empire slot; the excited player nipped out to buy a BMW and plans some house renovating in the near future, the company revealed this week.

Good fortune came to Mr.J’s door in the last week of October, when he fired up his computer and started playing the ancient Rome-themed online slot. Shortly after his session started he was surprised and not a little pleased to see win notifications that he was Euro 309 000 wealthier.

Betfair’s U.S. based subsidiary TVG has scored a second major US horserace betting coup, signing a online casinos deal with the New York Racing Association (NYRA) to allow common-pool pari-mutuel wagering on its races to Betfair customers outside the United States.

Betfair signed a major common pools agreement with the US Breeder’s Cup just last gambling news week.

The British betting exchange will now have access to NYRA’s Aqueduct racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course pools, with betting open to punters at the 39-day Aqueduct Fall race meeting, which offers live racing five days a week from now until the end of 2009.

Betfair’s head of horse racing development Steven Johnson said: “Following the acquisition of TVG, Betfair has been looking to enhance its US racing product offering. We have entered into agreements with a number of US racetracks, and introduced US Tote betting onto our casinos site last month.”

Other major deals clinched by Betfair recently include its $5.5 million investment in the US-based firm Watercooler in a bid to access the booming social networking sector.

Justice Department authorities in New York announced this week that 30 people have been indicted in a half-billion-dollar top online casinos gambling operation allegedly based in the city and involved with organised crime, reports NY1 News.

Some of the suspects allegedly belong to the Gambino crime family, including Joseph Fafone, who was arrested Tuesday at an airport in Rochester, N.Y. while boarding a plane to Panama with $23 000 in cash on his person.

The alleged gambling ring made about $23 million a month on sportsbetting websites including BetAllSportsHere.com, BetMSG.com and BetOnline.com. While the ring was run in the city, the websites’ computer servers were based in Panama.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly revealed that investigations into the ring had taken over three years to complete, and that all but three of those involved were arrested in “Operation Betting It All”. Presently, more than $3 million in cash has been seized. The 131-count indictment was filed in Queens County Supreme Court.

According to the indictment, between September 2006 and January 2009, the defendants conspired to make money illegally through the operation of an unlawful gambling enterprise that accepted bets on sporting events ranging from as little as $5 to as much as $20 000 on a single game.

“The principal in this case, Gambino associate Joseph J. Fafone, personally delivered $553 000 in winnings to one of the gamblers,” said Kelly. “Most proceeds were seized soon thereafter [in Long Island] when the [gambler] was stopped by the police for driving while using a cell phone.”

About 8 000 people placed bets on the websites.

“In this case, I believe that we will make a significant dent in the illegal gambling nationwide,” said Brown.

Of the three suspects at large, two are believed to be in Panama.

All 30 suspects face up to 25 years in prison for enterprise corruption. A corporation titled JJF Consulting Services, Inc., was allegedly used as a “money launder” to funnel and obscure the illegal gambling proceeds, and is allegedly owned by Fafone and operated out of his personal residence.

In addition to the criminal charges, twenty of the defendants are being sued civilly and have been named as respondents in a $125 million civil forfeiture action filed in Queens Supreme Court by the District Attorney’s Special Proceedings Bureau which alleges that they engaged in a criminal enterprise that promoted illegal gambling activities and generated illegal wages.