iGaming Business – Spanish regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has cited the popularity of sports betting in the country as the main reason behind a year-on-year jump in online gaming revenue during the first quarter of 2014. The regulatory body reported gross gaming revenue of €67.9 million ($92.4 million) during the quarter, an increase of 9.2% on the amount generated during the corresponding period last year. Spanish punters wagered a total of €1.6 billion during the period, which is a year-on-year increase of 16.1%. The DGOJ also reported that January proved to be a record month in…

Calvin Ayre – At long last, Spain looks like it will launch its new regulated slots and exchange betting markets by January 2015. Last week, the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) informed Spanish-licensed operators that it expects to receive the European Commission’s blessing on its new slots and exchange betting regulations by June 19. Assuming all goes well, the DGOJ would then submit the final text of the regulations to the government for rubberstamping and publication. DLA Piper reported that the DGOJ is currently finishing up the technical guidelines for the new products so that operators won’t be…

iGaming Business – Online gaming operator bwin.party has announced that its bwin.es Spanish division has launched the Ruleta En Vivo live roulette service from live dealer specialist Evolution Gaming. Ruleta En Vivo will stream live from the Evolution studio at Casino Rincon de Pepe in Murcia, Spain. Players will be able to play on a low limit, standard or high limit table. To mark the launch, bwin.es will offer live roulette players the chance to earn points and collect eight cash bonuses worth over €1,000 ($1,378). Golan Shaked, director of games at bwin.party, said: “Bwin is fully committed to delivering…

Poker News – Spain’s average poker player is male, under 34 years old, and well educated. Spanish online poker players also appear to be at a lower risk of problem gambling when compared to any other form of online gambling. These are the results of the third online gaming industry study by Spain’s Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) published on the DGOJ website earlier this month. The DGOJ’s study combined interviews from 1,027 Spanish residents who have gambled online at least once in the past year. The study does not focus exclusively on online poker, but includes a…

iGaming Business – Spanish media giant Marca has utilised its partnership with social sports betting technology provider Oddslife to enter into the social gaming market. Marca has used the Oddslife platform to launch ‘Marca El Guru’, a customised social sportsbook platform that enables users to engage and compete with each other using their knowledge of sport. As part of the arrangement, Oddslife has added a number of new devices and features to help motivate users and increase engagement. Additional features include missions, profile badges, virtual trophies and memorable sports moments. Users can use a single sign-on to access the platform…