Monthly Archives: February 2015

Gala Coral denies talks with OpCapita; Karma Gaming confirms distribution deal with OpenBet

UK gambling operator Gala Coral Group rejected reports that it has held talks with private investment firm OpCapita for a possible sale of Gala Retail business.

Although Gala Coral confirms that the company is undertaking a process to explore the possible sale of Gala Retail and is having talks with number of interested parties, the UK operator denies press speculation suggesting that OpCapita has submitted a bid and there is a current discussion between the two companies.

Gala Coral Group also announced on the same press release that its property subsidiary, Propco Three Ltd. has completed its sale to M&G for £173.4m.

Gala Retail has also purchase five properties from Propco for £1.1m, following the purchase of the properties and the surrender of the leases, and rent is no longer payable and these clubs will make a positive contribution to EBITDA.

Meanwhile, Karma Gaming confirms a global distribution agreement with UK software provider in the gaming and betting industry OpenBet Ltd.

Karma Gaming said that the company is reinventing instant win games by merging the thrill of winning money with the fun of casual and mobile games. Under the deal, Karma will bring a number of titles— such as Haunted Hotel, El Lootchador, and Secrets of the Pyramids­—to new markets via the OpenBet platform.

“We analyze millions of game sessions across play-for-fun gaming and real-money gambling markets including iOS, Facebook social gaming, and lottery instant win games,” said Jay Aird, Chief Innovation Officer for Karma Gaming.

250 Strong Enquiries for Jersey at ICE Totally Gaming Conference

Jersey eGaming, a consortium of businesses and government agencies, exhibited for the first time at the global eGaming conference ICE Totally Gaming at Excel London 3rd – 5th February, with firm interest registered by industry. The event was deemed a success and there are several licences in the advanced stages of discussion as a result.

The conference saw Jersey receive over 250 strong enquiries, with the Jersey Gambling Commission currently in detailed conversations about licensing with both operators and platform providers as a consequence of the meetings held on the Jersey stand at ICE.

Jersey eGaming laid its groundwork before the conference to communicate the basis of Jersey’s offering as the latest jurisdiction for eGaming, including its provision of the most cost-effective licences, innovative gambling legislation, and, most importantly, the Island’s established reputation as a well-regulated international finance centre.

Andy Jarrett, Director at Digital Jersey, who were supporting the event, commented:

“ICE was a fantastic eye opener for us as to how successfully Jersey eGaming had put the message out to the whole industry about our offering. The type of interest we saw at ICE was

diverse; from new companies looking to set up, to existing, established organisations seeking an alternative, higher-quality jurisdiction. We were delighted to receive such an unprecedented amount of enquiries. Jersey’s regulatory standards stand us in great stead within the eGaming world, because the nature of that business sector requires rigorous standards of internal regulation in order to maintain their ability to trade. The ICE team did an excellent job and I look forward to Jersey taking the next steps with the operators and platform providers we met at ICE.”

 

SealsWithClubs Site Down for Several Days

The top Bitcoin-only site in the online poker industry, SealsWithClubs, has been off-line since the middle of last week.

According to the poker room’s Twitter account, a “hardware failure” on February 11 was the reason behind the TKO. SWC was up and running again on the same day for a brief period, but again went down for the count and has yet to come back online as of this writing.

Players needn’t worry about their account balances. The following message at the website let those loyal players know that access to their Bitcoin is just a few clicks and less than 24 hours away:

“While we are down, you can enter withdrawal requests using the form below. It will enter a cashout for the entirety of your balance and will be processed while we work on bringing everything back up.”

Senior Poker Tour Kicks Off 2nd Season Feb. 19

After a successful inaugural season in 2014, the Senior Poker Tour (SPT) gets ready for its first stop in 2015 – the Horseshoe Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi.

For players 50 years old and up, SPT action begins on Thursday, February 19 with two very affordable events at buy-ins of $175 and $125, the latter a Turbo Deepstack. Day 1A of the Main Event begins on Feb. 20, featuring a $550 entry fee.

Day 1B of the Main Event gets underway on Saturday, Feb. 21, with a champion crowned on Day 2 the following day, Sunday the 22nd. Highlights for Sunday include a special $125 LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) event, and a $175 Tag Team Event. All tournaments throughout the four-day festival allow for re-entries until the 4th level.

Back to the beginning

Comparing America's 3 Largest Casino Resort Companies

The Resorts & Casinos industry is expected to outperform the S&P broader market astronomically in this and the next quarters, and significantly in 2015 and beyond. Mean and high targets for the 3 largest U.S. casino resort companies – Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International – range from 6% to 66% above current * All data are as of the close of Friday, February 13, 2015.

Mahoning Valley to Increase Overnight Purses

“We are pleased by the continued positive response our racing product has received, both locally and nationwide,” said Mark Loewe, vice president of Ohio racing for track owner Penn National Gaming Inc. “This, along with steady revenue from the video lottery terminal part of our operation, allows us the opportunity to implement this increase.” Loewe said purses will average about $76,000 per program when the hike takes effect.

Three Reasons Why the 2015 WSOP Will Be the Best Ever

The 2015 World Series of Poker promises to be one of the best in history. Thanks to key changes and additions to the schedule, this year’s WSOP will shatter records and help to grow the game of poker as a whole.

There are years that I look at the upcoming WSOP schedule and find it difficult to build excitement. This is not one of those years. Poker players of all skill levels and disciplines will find something to get excited about on this schedule. Below are three reasons why the 2015 WSOP will be the best ever.

Here a Gimmick, There a Gimmick

I never thought I’d be an advocate for “gimmick” poker tournaments but I’ll give credit where it’s due. This year’s schedule has several tournaments that are a bit gimmicky but are perfect to draw in players of all skill levels.

How Guns and Online Gambling Give Me a Headache

My son played football on the weekend. Before the match I took him to one side and gave him some fatherly advice. After the game I praised him, gave him some feedback and a big hug.

“I’m proud of you son.”

And I was.

In the evening I watched American Sniper. The controversial biography of Chris Kyle. A former U.S. Navy Seal. The most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. He had 160 confirmed kills.

NBPA exec Michele Roberts wants sports gambling discussion

National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Michele Roberts is jumping in on discussions surrounding legalized sports gambling, echoing the thoughts of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on the possibility of expanding the scope of legal sports betting on more US states.

In an interview with ESPN’s “Mike & Mike” earlier this week, Roberts made it clear that while she and the player’s association have no stance on the issue at this time, it’s come to the point that there should at least be some kind of discussion happening on how the players and team owners can reap the financial benefits of an industry that’s estimated to be in the billions.

“Everyone has known for years that there is a ton of money being made that’s not being enjoyed, frankly, by the people who are creating the games, both the owners and the players,” Roberts told Mike & Mike. For her part, Roberts also told the radio show that she’s already had some discussions with NBA players about the possibility of seeing an expanded legalized sports betting environment.

It’s an admittedly brave to stance to take, especially since Roberts is representing the affairs of the players themselves and not necessarily the league and the team owners. Given how both players and team owners could stand to benefit from a legalized sports betting environment, it’s incumbent upon Roberts to encourage some kind of discussion on the issue because of the potential financial windfall the industry could have on the sport and its participants.

“I know all the negatives that up to today have kept gambling outside of the realm of what is appropriate in terms of sports,” Roberts added. “But let’s not ignore the big elephant in the room. There’s a lot of money being made.”

Her stance, or at least a part of it, is similar to what NBA Commissioner has said numerous times in recent months. Like the NBPA exec director, the commissioner also pointed out how the industry today has the potential to make more money from a legalized sports gambling structure given how much money is already being exchanged – reported to be close to $400 billion a year – in underground betting markets in the US alone.

Roberts added that she and Silver have yet to sit down and talk about the issue, but with the NBA’s next collective bargaining session on the horizon, it’s safe to say that the topic of legalized sports betting will be broached at one point or another.

Per Eriksson of NetEnt on Guns N’ Roses and Innovation

Rebecca Liggero talks to Per Eriksson, CEO of NetEnt as they revealed their latest slot brand innovation, Guns ‘N Roses.

Net Ent revealed its latest slot brand innovation, the globally recognized rock band Guns ‘N Roses. The best part about this reveal was the celebration taking place at the Net Ent booth with Guns ‘N Roses music blaring, memorabilia on display such as an electric guitar signed by Slash and the distribution of GNR Greatest Hits CDs and branded iPhone cases to everyone in the crowd.

When asked what are the thoughts that went behind giving this on-board with Net Ent technology, Eriksson said, “Well, we have launched branded games with films titles in the past and we thought we need to make something different. We’re always ahead and we want to have innovations and with this brand; it’s an iconic brand. What can I say this is perfect for us and I’m so happy to have this iconic brand for Net Ent.”

“Internally, we have something called “The Innovation Week” so direct after ICE [2015], we have our innovation week where we have the whole company involve in that. And we live, breath innovation the whole week. Of course we do it the whole year round but this particular week we have a lot of things going on in the office and we have at the end of the week, we have a Net Ent’s den where me and the board members are meeting up with new ideas and the winner gets a trip to Las Vegas and the funny thing is that every year, we just come out with crazy ideas. And it does not to do only with new games it could be for example, new ways of taking care of customers coming in to the office.”

Eriksson confirmed this is the first time the Guns ‘N Roses brand has been licensed out in this fashion and he is incredibly proud of his team for securing the rights to such a powerful, globally recognized brand.

Playtech acquires GameMaker creator Yoyo Games for £10m

Gaming technology and services supplier Playtech has acquire GameMaker creator YoYo Games for £10.65m ($16.4m), with an additional £3.4m ($5.3m) depending on performance as part of an earn-out clause in the deal.

Under the deal acquisition terms, Playtech is set to offer 30% of the deal value under an escrow for a period of up to 36 months. An additional $5.3 million earn-out clause had been added to the acquisition deal, which will be triggered dependent on Yoyo Games performance under Playtech operations.

Yoyo Games has developed GameMaker technology, which enables casual game developers to develop a game using a single code, and run it on a variety of platforms: Windows 8, Apple, Xbox, HTML5, Computers’ iOS, Ubuntu, Google’s Playstation and others.

The platform has secured more than 750,000 registered games developers who currently use the platform on a free basis with chargeable add-ons. In total, the GameMaker suite of products have been downloaded over five million times.

Playtech said that Yoyo Games acquisition is part of a three-pronged strategy to penetrate the sector, combining Plamee’s proprietary games with publishing of both in-house and third party games and YoYo’s casual gaming technology.

“Playtech’s directors believe that the continued development of the GMS technology within the company will enable it to extend beyond the current games developers base, and will fit well with its in-house casual team, extending its expertise and know-how in the development of casual games, marketing systems and related infrastructure,” the company said in a statement. “This acquisition will enable the company to further diversify its business, benefiting from a combined B2B/B2C offering focused on a strong and growing segment of the wider gaming market.”

YoYo Games CEO Sandy Duncan has also stepped down following the acquisition and is now working as consultant at Ferno Technology.

American Gaming Association unveils a national initiative for 2016 presidential election

The American Gaming Association (AGA) announced a first-time unified campaign for political support called “Gaming votes” with eyes toward lobbying 2016 presidential candidates.

Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International and Chairman of the American Gaming Association Jim Murren discussed key points, during the launch, of a national voting initiative in key presidential election states at Aristocrat Technologies on Feb. 12.

One of the initiative’s main goals is to ensure that presidential candidates understand gaming’s positive “We’re going to call on presidential candidates to become more educated about this industry, to replace myths with facts, and to let these candidates know the gaming industry is a gateway to middle-class jobs,” said AGA President Geoff Freeman.

“When they’re talking about issues like putting Americans back to work, reforming the regulatory burdens in this country, tax reform, infrastructure — they’re talking about issues important to the gaming industry,” Freeman added.

The gaming association also hopes to make casinos a focus in battleground states— including Nevada, Iowa, Colorado, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—by using the magic word: jobs.

The AGA, which represents the interests of commercial casinos, Native American tribes and gambling machine manufacturers, pushed 1.7 million jobs in the industry that span more than 200 different types of careers, and 62,000 casino-related jobs are expected to be added this year.

Along with urging candidates to support issues to benefit the industry, the plan will also involve encouraging the industry’s workers in those states to go to the polls, however, an outright presidential endorsement isn’t expected.

Monday By the Numbers: An 80-foot snake, 110 flying arrows and more about – Ka'

Cirque du Soleil performers in “Ka” perform the final Epic Battle Scene during a media event Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, at MGM Grand. Today’s Monday By the Numbers focuses on the Cirque du Soleil spectacle “Ka” at MGM Grand celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.

Las Vegas’ NHL ticket drive gaining traction; casinos to pay tribute to Jerry Tarkanian

If first impressions are anything to go by, Las Vegas’ ticket drive to bring an NHL team to Sin City is off to a very good start.

The ownership group of a prospective NHL franchise in Las Vegas, by lead investor Bill Foley and backed by the Maloof brothers, announced that it had received 5,000 deposits for season tickets in the first 36 hours of the ticket drive. That’s significant for a number of reasons.

For one, it’s already halfway to the 10,000-season ticket commitment set by the ownership group to show the NHL that there’s a healthy market for a new franchise. It also paints a pretty picture that Las Vegas can actually sustain a healthy chunk of fans who are committed to paying season ticket prices for a team that technically doesn’t exist yet.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman even paid a visit to Las Vegas last week to check in on the campaign and leaving impressed with the attention the campaign was generating. He stopped short of promising a franchise to the city but Las Vegas certainly helped its cause with the enthusiastic response to the ticket drive.

If the league does award a franchise to Las Vegas, the potential ownership group has already earmarked a new arena being built on the Strip as its home ice. The arena, which is scheduled to open in April 2016, is under development, a partnership between MGM Resorts International and Anschutz Entertainment Group and could hold as much as 17,5000 fans in an ice hockey setting.

Meanwhile, a handful of casinos along the Las Vegas Strip are set to do something it rarely does later this week.

According to multiple reports, Caesars Entertainment Corp. and MGM Resorts properties, Cosmopolitan, Stratosphere, Tropicana, Venetian and Palazzo will dim their lights to pay tribute to former University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV) Coach Jerry Tarkanian who died on February 11, 2015.

Blowing snow on the waterfront in the East Boston neighborhood

Boston’s transit system slowly came back to life Monday as the city emerged from the latest in a series of crippling snowstorms. “Commuter rail is operating on a Saturday schedule, but with significant delays Boston shivers, digs out; Mid-Atlantic braces for storm Boston’s transit system slowly came back to life Monday as the city emerged from the latest in a series of crippling snowstorms.

Mayweather–Pacquiao not set yet; PacMan getting heavy action

You know how everyone seems to be waiting with baited breath for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Manny Pacquiao fight to finally happen? Well, it appears that we’re likely to run out of breath before that happens. That or this has been the longest slow-play in the history of sports.

Either way, the fight isn’t inked in stone yet. That’s what Mayweather said during the NBA All-Star Game, debunking an earlier report from the Guardian that the two sides had finally agreed to fight on May 2.

At this point, it’s become really confusing on who to believe anymore. One side says the fight’s close; the other side says there are still a lot of negotiations left. Whichever side you believe, one inexplicable truth has come out of this whole sage: it’s pretty exhausting waiting for the fight to happen.

Logic—or is it skepticism?—dictates that we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Not after seeing the same song and dance over and over again, only for talks to go up in flames. We’re like that child who keeps waiting on his separated parents to reconcile, only we’ve become disenchanted with them taking so long to smooth out their differences that we don’t even know if we want to see them together anymore.

That’s where I am right now, although I have to admit that there’s still a significant population that still cling to that silver thread of hope that the fight will somehow be made.

There are also those who haven’t paid enough attention to the negotiations that they’re already placing bets on the fight. Yup. Only the possibility of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will bettors actually line up to place bets on the fight even though said fight hasn’t been agreed to yet.

But turns out, a lot of bettors don’t care about that particularly important detail. Oddsmakers are on that same boat, having already released odds on the fight with Mayweather opening as the 1/4 favorite compared to Paquiao being the 5/2 underdog.