Monthly Archives: March 2017

Australia seeks national point of consumption online betting tax

Australia’s federal government wants to harmonize state-level online sports betting point-of-consumption taxes (POCT), potentially dealing a blow to the Northern Territory’s status as the country’s premier online licensing jurisdiction.

On Friday, Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison (pictured) held a meeting with his state and territory counterparts to discuss the upcoming 2017 federal budget. Following the meeting, Morrison told local media that agreement had been reached “to move forward to prepare a proposal for a nationally consistent approach to [a] point of consumption tax on online gaming.”

Morrison insisted that the idea for a uniform approach to online betting taxation was “not about raising revenue for revenue’s sake,” but more about ensuring harm minimization for both punters and national sporting bodies. To which we reply, sure it is.

South Australia was the first state to publicly call for the imposition of a POCT back in 2015, when state Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis declared that it was “important that online gambling operators pay taxes considering that they are generating profits based on betting activities of South Australians.” The state expects to reap A$9.2m per year from its 15% POCT on wagering revenue, which officially kicks in on July 1.

Bet365, William Hill latest to exit Poland’s online gambling market

A growing number of Polish-facing online gambling operators are racing for the border ahead of new regulatory restrictions that take effect on April 1.

Last December, Poland’s legislature approved the amended Polish Gambling Act, which imposes new domain- and payment-blocking measures on online operators who lack a Polish gaming license. The Act has been referred to the European Commission and the mandatory standstill period expires on March 31.

A number of online gambling operators have since announced that they would quit the Polish market rather than apply for a new Polish license. In February, Pinnacle said it would bid Poland adieu as of April 1, while this week saw Malta-licensed EnergyBet announce its exit from Poland’s “highly restrictive and hostile regulatory environment.”

EnergyBet’s ‘Dear Jan’ letter was followed by news that UK operators Bet365 and William Hill had informed their Polish players to withdraw their funds ahead of the April 1 cutoff, while the companies’ affiliate marketing partners were instructed to remove all banner ads and text links related to their Polish operations.

Roger Ver to trade up to 130K BTC for BTU ahead of possible ‘fork’

Roger Ver, the man people call as the “Bitcoin Jesus,” has an offer that he can’t refuse.

According to a Reddit post, a Bitcoin bagholder signed a message from a wallet that contains 40,000 BTC. In the message, the bagholder—who identified himself as “Loaded”—challenged Ver to a BTC/BTU trade in the event that the dreaded hard fork occurs.

“@RogerVer let’s make a deal, 1 for 1 trade. At least 60k, possibly up to 130k, my BTU for your BTC,” the message read.

If you recall, bitcoin developers are currently embroiled in a heated debate on whether the block chain size limit should be supported. One group wants to build a platform called Bitcoin Unlimited, which would not put any restriction on the size of blocks for processing transactions, but another faction wants to maintain the original version called Bitcoin Core.

Pokerography: it’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be #3

In this week’s episode of Pokerography Lee Davy takes his third and final look at the Paul Arden classic on creativity and excellence, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be, and pulls another four gems from its fertile soil.

Welcome back to the final instalment of Paul Arden’s classic on how to be a creative thinker, brand, or company – It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be and how we can use his wisdom at the poker tables.

1# It’s Not What You Know; It’s Who You Know

Ok, it’s hardly innovative advice, but I liked the way Arden put his little spin on this pearl of wisdom.

PokerStars React to Bryn Kenney & Jason Wheeler’s post-Panama criticism

PokerStars respond to criticism levelled at the company by Bryn Kenney and Jason Wheeler after a less than satisfactory Panamanian experience for the pair at the recent PokerStars Championships.

I had a dream.

I was a school teacher, and my pupils were 888Poker, Unibet, partypoker, and PokerStars. I was standing in front of a huge blackboard; the type that you see in movies full of complicated equations. And this one contained the most important equation of all – how to attract loyal customers.

But it was incomplete.

Sachar Gaming bags Nagaland’s first multi-game online license

The Indian state of Nagaland has issued its first license for multiple games.

Sachar Gaming Pvt. Ltd. is the first company to receive a “bouquet of games license” to operate multiple games, including poker, rummy, quizzes, auction, binary options, virtual team selection games and virtual sport fantasy league games, from the Nagaland government, Glaws.In reported.

Sachar Gaming operates rummy website khelplayrummy.com and poker website khelplay.com.

The company is the sixth operator to receive a license from the state government, but all the other companies were granted a permit to offer a single game—poker—only.

To pay or not to pay? Seneca tribe, New York State differ over casino payments

Saying that their financial obligation to the state has ended, the Seneca Indian Nation will cease to pay its casino revenue with the New York State at the end of the month.

The western New York tribe, which has already turned over US$1.4 billion over the last 14 years, and they think they’ve already paid the state enough for its financial obligations as outlined in the 2002 compact.

The 2002 contract provides that the state will give the tribe exclusive rights to operate three casinos in western New York in exchange for up to 25 percent of slot machine revenues. New York splits the revenue with Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Salamanca, the host communities responsible for providing municipal services to the casinos.

Seneca Tribe pointed out that it is still willing to make payments to the three cities where its casinos are located in exchange for services – but not its financial obligations to the whole state.

Silver Heritage allots additional $13.8 million for Nepal casino project

Australia-listed Silver Heritage Group has set aside an additional AUD$18 million ($13.8 million) to fund the construction of its multi-million dollar integrated resort in Nepal, which has already been plagued by delays.

The additional budget jacks the price tag of Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa to a total of AUD$70.3 million (US$53.5 million). The original cost had been estimated at $52.3 million (US$39.8 million).

In a filing before the Australian Stock Exchange, Silver Heritage that the company needs an additional US$13.8 million as it implements new project management measures that will ensure the opening of Tiger Palace.

The company has since appointed a new team of experienced Asia executives, led by Adam Titus, who most recently worked with MGM Resorts in Macau and Okada Manila.

Bloomberry swings to US$46M profit in 2016

Higher gaming revenue and improved hotel occupancy has helped Philippine-listed casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. claw its way back to profitability, raking a Php2.32 billion (US$46.07 million) net profit in 2016.

Bloomberry’s 2016 profit was a sharp turnaround from the P3.37-billion (US$66.92 million) net loss it registered in 2015.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Enrique Razon-led casino operator pointed out that strong volumes on all its gaming segments pushed its gross revenue up 19.1 percent to P40.9 billion in 2016, from P34.2 billion in 2015. The firm’s gaming revenues accounting for 94.2% of total revenues.

Bloomberry was also able to erase the retained losses in its balance sheet as it booked P87 million (US$1.7 million) in retained earnings by the end of 2016.

Lovable Chibeasties return in another Yggdrasil slot adventure

March 2017 – The adorable Chibeasties are back as Yggdrasil Gaming celebrates the launch of its latest slot, Chibeasties 2.

Following on from the success of the original Chibeasties game, Chibeasties 2 sees the adorable creatures once again return to the magical forest.

The game features four different game modes in four different realms – Expanding Realm, Spreading Realm, Teleporting Realm and Mirroring Realm – each with a unique wild feature.

The stand-out feature of the game is the wild mutation. Once a wild has carried out its feature, it has a chance to mutate into another wild and play out a second feature. In free spins this will happen for every single wild landing. These wild combinations cause the game’s biggest wins.

Vantiv Entertainment Solutions confirmed as GiGse headline sponsor

Entire leadership team to support North America’s pre-eminent education and learning event  

Cincinnati-based Vantiv Entertainment Solutions has been confirmed as the headline sponsor of the 2017 edition of GiGse, which is being held for the first time at San Diego’s Marriot Marquis Marina (26 – 28 April). The company’s entire leadership team, comprising Joe Pappano, SVP & Managing Director, Brian Cottengim, VP, Technology Innovation, T.J. Sharkey, VP, Sales and Operations and Joe Feldkamp, VP, Strategic Market Development will be joining the event whose attendance is dominated by C-Level delegates drawn from across the entire US facing gaming landscape.

Explaining the importance of GiGse and what Vantiv hopes to achieve from its involvement with the brand, Joe Pappano said: “Vantiv places a premium on educating the Gaming and Entertainment markets about payments; and education has been among our top priorities since our inception. GiGse, as a brand event, absolutely mirrors this same approach. From the beginning, GiGse has remained focused on education as the hallmark of the event.  The conference agenda is topical and forward leaning in its content.”

He continued: “We view GiGse as an opportunity for our team to educate as well as to learn from other attendees. GiGse provides us with a unique opportunity to spend time with companies across the gaming spectrum and better understand their needs. What once was primarily an iGaming show has evolved to include digital gaming, social gaming, bricks-and-mortar casinos – all of whom will be represented at the event.”

Middlesbrough F.C. take on the TLCBET Obstacle Course Challenge

Middlesbrough, March 2017 –  Players from Middlesbrough F.C. took on the TLCBET Obstacle Course Challenge, as they prepare for an important close to the Premier League season. TLCBET challenged the players to complete the course as quick as possible, testing their dribbling skills, ball control, and shooting accuracy.

See the video here.

Stewart Downing, Marten De Roon and George Friend all raced against the clock through a number of obstacles that included a ‘Mascot Gauntlet’, ‘Keepy Uppy Corridor’ and ‘Target Shooting’.

The Mascot Gauntlet pitted the players against the TLCBET mascot Dhazi, and Roary the Lion, with the players showcasing their skills and tricks to dribble past the mascot, featuring a cheeky nutmeg by Stewart Downing!

Aristocrat’s Fast Cash™ jackpot hits for $175,574.28 at Route 66 Casino Hotel

LAS VEGAS (March 2017) – A player has hit a Fast Cash™ jackpot for $175,574.28 at Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the largest Fast Cash jackpot to date. This is the second Fast Cash jackpot at Route 66 Casino. Just days after the game’s release, a player hit a jackpot for $23,692.29.

VIDEO: Watch the Fast Cash video on Aristocrat’s YouTube channel

“It’s fantastic to see one of our loyal Turbo Rewards members win the largest Fast Cash jackpot ever,” said Tim Perkins, Route 66 Casino Hotel General Manager. “We endeavor to provide our guests with the most entertaining gaming experience in New Mexico by offering the newest and most popular slots available anywhere.”

Aristocrat’s new Fast Cash slot game was recently named to Casino Journal’s list of the Top 20 Most Innovative Gaming Technology Products for 2016. It is the gaming industry’s first rapid-hit, wide area progressive, multi-game product, and delivers the fun of “Any Jackpot, Any Bet, Any Time!”

Cherry iGaming & ComeOn! will brand the new business area – ComeOn!

As part of the integration project between Cherry iGaming and ComeOn!, the Cherry business area will resume the brand ComeOn! moving forward, which will be fully utilised across the business from April 1st, 2017. Branding the company ComeOn! will re-emphasise its operational independence, aligning with other business areas owned and built up by Cherry.

“We are building a business area, merging Cherry iGaming and ComeOn !, with a number of brands within it and setting a new unified culture and actionable values. We therefore wanted to take this opportunity to have a really good think about what name mirrors this the best. After spending some time we weren’t able to point to any brand alternative being on par or better than ComeOn!. It’s simply a great name and perfectly summarises our cultural attitude,” says ComeOn! CEO Jonas Wåhlander

“By clearly branding this business area we are, just as with XCaliber, Game Lounge and Yggdrasil, being even more clear and specific about how we build shareholder value, while supporting and acknowledging the diverse needs of each of our business areas,” says Cherry AB CEO Anders Holmgren.

About ComeOn!

Why the DraftKings & FanDuel merger may not go ahead

This is a guest contribution by Yousif Al-Dujaili of Dribble. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you. 

In mid-November 2016 the two largest daily fantasy football companies, DraftKings & FanDuel, announced a merger of equals. The thinking was that instead of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into continuing to fight each other, they could fight legal and political battles together & continue to expand.

When the news broke, ReCode quoted “the merger still needs to pass regulatory approval, but it’s hard to imagine that will be a problem.”

So why haven’t we heard anything substantial since then? Why have almost four months gone by with no news of a confirmed merger?

Playtech BGT Sports reports record-breaking SSBT turnover during Cheltenham Festival

March 2017 –  Playtech BGT Sports (PBS), the leading supplier of omni-channel sports betting technology, has reported record-breaking shop SSBT performance during the Cheltenham Festival.

Turnover was up substantially on the previous weekly records during the Festival, as customers took advantage of new features including Best Odds Guaranteed and Lucky Bet Concessions.

It was the first Cheltenham Festival since PBS launched its innovative Racing Post product, which includes a full suite of integrated content appealing strongly to the low-mid staking recreational customer.

Betting during the festival also saw the share of bets on multiples such as Lucky 15s and Trebles grow as more customers adopted the wider functionality of the SSBT, migrating towards the higher margin, non-singles bet types.