Monthly Archives: February 2015

Tag Team Poker App Makes Poker a Team Sport

Tag Team Poker is hoping its new app will appeal to a larger audience through an original format that makes poker a team game. As you probably expect, the app puts players in two-person teams to compete against other duos. Players can connect with their friends through Facebook and Google Plus, or find a random […]

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Weekly Poll: Which gambling destination will benefit the most from Macau’s slowdown?

Take Our Poll

The world’s top gambling hub recorded its first annual decline in 2014 since Macau began releasing financial figures in 2002 and is expected to continue to post a year-on-year drop in the coming months, which is why we decided to ask our readers, “Which gambling destination will benefit from Macau’s slowdown?”

42% voted for “Singapore” while 31% said that it will be “Las Vegas.” 23% belived that it will be “Philippines” and 2% for “Korea.”

Singapore presents an attractive alternative for Chinese gamblers given its proximity and the common use of Putonghua—also known as Mandarin. However, Singapore is feeling the effects of the drop-off and analysts believe that the Philippines and South Korea may be the next best bets for Chinese gamblers.

Total casino revenue on the Las Vegas strip fell as high-rolling baccarat players from China stayed home fearing President Xi’s corruption drive.

Taj Future Bright After Trump Entertainment Reaches Deal With Unsecured Creditors

Trump Entertainment Resorts may actually make a run at emerging from bankruptcy. According to a report on Bloomberg.com on Thursday, the unsecured creditor’s panel has reached a deal with Trump Entertainment that will immediately resolve disputes over the company’s restructuring plan and will help the company to emerge from bankruptcy.

Originally, the unsecured creditors objected to the current reorganization plan in place by lenders because they were to only get a split of $1 million. This equaled less than one percent of total debts owed. In the new negotiation, the fund to pay those creditors has been increased to $3.5 million.

Creditors Will Stand Down from Litigation But Union Appeal Remains

According to Karen A. Giannelli, lawyer for the unsecured creditor’s committee, the settlement allowed them to support the restructuring plan in place. This plan will give primary debt holder Carl Icahn complete control of the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City. Icahn brokered a similar deal to take over the Tropicana Casino and subsequently turned them profitable.

Seals With Clubs Shuts Down

After suffering a “hardware failure” last week that forced a shutdown, the Bitcoin-only poker site Seals With Clubs (SWC) announced today that the poker room will remain down for good.

A posting on the website describes “operational security” as the reason behind the closure, citing several events that occurred on February 11 that indicate SWC “now operates in a perpetual state of jeopardy.” Precise details were not divulged, but may be forthcoming at a later date.

Q:All player funds and data remain intact and the issue was not software related,” said a posting intended for SWC’s loyal players. “We do not believe any of our Bitcoin wallets used in operations to be compromised or lost. However, this event has made the majority vote of the ownership and team agree that shutting down operations is the best move for safety and security purposes.”;

Players with account balances are urged to withdraw ASAP. There is no set time limit in which to do so.

Riviera Casino to be Demolished

The oldest operating casino on the Las Vegas Strip has been sold and will soon be scheduled for implosion. On Friday, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors agreed to purchase the Riviera Casino for $191 million.

The LVCVA plans to close the casino, implode it and use the property as part of the Las Vegas Global Business District. This project is considered more ambitious than the Tesla deal in upstate Nevada.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on the story Friday, revealing that the LVCVA paid $182.5 million for the property as well as $8.5 million in other acquisition fees. They also retained the services of Paragaon Gaming, the company that is currently managing the Riviera for Starwood Capital Group.

Riviera’s Immediate Future

Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

THE AMERICAS

Sportsbooks got a second Super Bowl after Mayweather v. Pacquiao was confirmed for May 2 in Las Vegas; Bitcoin poker site SealsWithClubs shut down after Nevada gaming regulators put Bryan Micon in handcuffs; Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino soft-launched its real-money gambling site; someone took a controlling interest in Pinnacle Sports; Betfair TVG bought the HRTV network from the Stronach Group; California got more online poker bills and Caesars explained why it’s now BFF with PokerStars; attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch thinks the Wire Act is fine as it is but Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online bill got a date with a House subcommittee; MGM Resorts’s Nevada properties had their best year since 2007; the Michigan Lottery paid out its first $1m online scratch prize; Nevada got closer to taking bets on Olympic events; Mexico proposed building casinos in tourist resorts; a bankruptcy judge put Revel back on the auction block; New Jersey learned which judges will decide its sports betting fate while another judge was asked what evidence would be allowed against accused bookie Paul Phua; Vegas braced for the first ever fantasy sports combine and Lee Davy offered a primer on getting banned from the 2+2 forums.

EUROPE and AFRICA

888 Holdings rebuffed William Hill’s advances while Bwin.party shares rebounded on word that it was still talking acquisition with Amaya; Playtech acquired casual gaming outfit YoYo Games; bookies were faked out by another ‘phantom’ football match in Belarus; Sweden put the brakes on its online gambling re-regulation plans; Dutch authorities broke up a “professional large scale” betting ring; South African casinos urged citizens to turn in illegal online gambling operators; Bwin.party shuffled its board of directors; Anna Casino’s Mikael Strunge offered advice on picking up women (customers); Georgia welcomed the WPT while the EPT walked away from Deauville; Manchester United launched a social poker site; Rio Ferdinand and John Barnes discussed the life of a brand ambassador and Net Entertainment’s Per Eriksson revealed that his favorite Guns N’ Roses track is You’re Crazy.

ASIA

PAGCOR won a Supreme Court fight with the Philippines’ taxman; Crown Resorts’ domestic casinos outperformed Macau; Tatts Group’s digital division outperformed retail betting; Indian’s Sikkim state issued its second online gambling license; Mongolia wants casinos to target Chinese, Russian and Japanese gamblers; Australia’s greyhound racing industry erupted in turmoil after animal cruelty footage emerges and Rafi Farber analyzed China’s role in Macau’s year of the suck.

Swedish E-Slotica: Sofia Hallqvist livens up Cherry, Mr Green and Net Ent earnings

Sweden intends to delay its promised revamp of its online gambling market, despite having been called to account by the Court of Justice for the European Union.

Ardalan Shekarabi, minister for public administration, said plans for a national consultation on how best to end the online gambling monopoly of state-owned Svenska Spel will have to wait until the government finds the money to pay for it. This could come as early as April, when the next budget is due to be fixed, although the actual implementation of any new plan could be years away.

In the meantime, we’ve got three Swedish online gambling operators’ earnings reports to consider, which we’ll try to relate with a minimum of tedium. To help the fiscal medicine go down, we’ve littered this page with images of the lovely Sofia Hallqvist, a lads’ mag model who’s set to marry Sweden’s Prince Carl Philip after living in sin together for the past four years.

Way back in 2005, Sofia swapped spit with porn star Jenna Jameson during a trip to Las Vegas. (Top that, Kate Middleton!) Sofia claimed to not have known who Jameson was when the two crossed paths at a party and Jameson reportedly told Sofia she was the cutest girl she’d ever seen. No kidding…

CHERRY AB

Swedish gaming operator Cherry AB addressed the country’s gaming market in its Q4 results statement. New CEO Fredrik Burvall said Sweden had been “quite rightly” taken to the European Court for having “too long, delayed a re-regulation.” Burvall called for a “new order” and a “modernized legislation” that allowed companies like Cherry to “compete on equal terms.”

Cherry saw revenue rise by one-third in Q4 while setting records across all its verticals. Revenue in the three months ending Dec. 31 hit SEK 100.2m (US $12m) while operating losses narrowed to SEK 6.5m from 10.7m in Q4 2013. The quarter contained an SEK 4m cost related to the change at Cherry’s CEO position.