The still restrictive laws on offering online gambling to Italians could be in for a more enlightened remake, industry observers are speculating. And it could happen before the end of this (2009) year.

The reason behind the optimism is a recent slew of Italian “crisis legislation” proposals prompted by tough economic conditions and natural disasters this year, which have increased the need for additional tax revenues. However, anticipation should be moderated by the fact that the national regulator, the AAMS, has yet to make any formal announcements on what is and is not allowed, and when implementation might take place.

The speculation is that the Italians may be about to add cash games to lighten up the “tournaments only” regulations for online poker, and that online casino games will be added to the list of permissible online activities, along with new licences for scratchcard gaming.

The delay is reportedly not with the politicians, but with the regulator.

Poker Voters of America, a grassroots non-profit association of U.S. poker players who vote and support political leaders who will protect the right to play the game, is looking for a new president following the resignation this week of founder-president Jim Tabilio.

The well connected and widely experienced Tabilio was also a principal and senior vice president for San Francisco-based Winning Directions, one of America’s leading strategic political messaging and communications firms. He will now concentrate his efforts on lobbying in the private sector and consulting work on the discipline for major companies.

PVA chief executive officer Melanie Brenner will continue with the organisation, providing continuity for the next president.

The PVA has been particularly active in encouraging US states to legalise and regulate online poker.

UK based interactive television and online gambling firm Skybet says that improving its market share combined with strong branding and a successful year in online casino and sportsbetting operations has enabled the company to grow revenues despite a decline in interactive television betting.

Revenues increased to GBP 48 million (2008: GBP 44 million) in the year to end June 2009, with online casino and sportsbook operations the main revenue contributors. Pre-tax profits almost doubled at GBP 11 million.

Another new scratchcard game has been released by the Israeli-Malta firm NeoGames, this one called ‘Mister Joker’.

The concept of Mister Joker is to find the winning joker card amongst the three cards presented on the poker table. Once the card has been found, if in the midst of the three cards offered, the player wins. Its setting is a casino environment, giving all the players a feel of a real casino game.

The new game has been translated into 10 different languages to cater for global audiences, and has been localised and translated to cater for the needs of white label and licensee clients.

Socal networkers will soon have new casual games from Flash technology games developer BaddaMedia following a deal inked this week with the Vancouver, Canada-based social networking developer Ayogo Inc.

BaddaMedia’s experience in the online casino games marketplace enables it to produce the sort of appealing casual games favoured by social gamers, and under the agreement Ayogo will make BaddaMedia’s gaming content available on various social networks and smartphones using the company’s cross-channel social media framework. This will hopefully empower both parties to monetise the rapidly growing casual gaming market.

Ayogo and BaddaMedia will additionally co-develop future products tailored specifically to the social games marketplace.

Ayogo’s expertise in virtual currencies, monetisation, virality and traffic acquisition, makes for an ideal partnership between the two companies, and using Ayogo’s social games framework the two companies will be able to rapidly deploy games across social networks and mobile platforms.

Michael Fergusson, CEO of Ayogo commented: “This partnership allows Ayogo to deliver the most polished and proven games of chance currently available on social networks like Facebook, MySpace and Bebo, as well as on smartphones. It nicely rounds out our current social games portfolio.”

Meir Moses, president and co-founder of BaddaMedia said: “Ayogo is the perfect partner to explore and capture this proven channel. We share a mutual confidence in each other’s talent and technology that will ensure a total fit when it comes to delivering perfectly tailored ‘games as entertainment’ for the Facebook and iPhone generation and beyond.”