Monthly Archives: April 2017

Judge sides with state in dispute over Pojoaque Pueblo’s gaming compact

Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration scored a win against the Pojoaque Pueblo after a federal appeals court junked the tribe’s appeal to negotiate a gambling compact with the U.S. Interior Department instead of the state government.

The tribe and the state of New Mexico failed to negotiate a new compact before the previous one expired in 2015, prompting the Pojoaque Pueblo to turn to the U.S. Interior Department for a new compact. Gov. Susana Martinez’s administration, however, challenged that move in a separate lawsuit, which was heard in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

Last week, the federal appeals court issued a 58-page decision that affirmed a U.S. District Court judge’s decision that blocked the Interior Department from taking any action in the case. The appeals court also sided with the state in its efforts to go after vendors who continue to do business with the tribe’s casinos.

Despite not having a compact, the tribe’s gambling operations—such as the Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino, Cities of Gold Casino as well as a sports bar and gas stations—continue to do business with vendors. U.S. Attorney Damon Martinez allowed that Pojoaque Pueblo back in June 2015 to continue operating its casinos even though the compact has already expired as long as the tribe pays the fees normally guaranteed to the state into an escrow amount until the compact is decided.

Lack of AML regulation blocks bitcoin from achieving legal status in China

After weeks of keeping mum regarding digital currencies like bitcoin, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is back in the headlines—to give more grim news about the legal status of cryptocurrency in China.

Huang Yusong, a staff member of the Chinese central bank, was quoted by several media outlets saying that there’s no chance—for now—that bitcoin will gain legal status in the country. The reason? The lack of anti-money laundering and know-your-customer regulations in place.

The news isn’t surprising, given that the Chinese financial officials have spent the better part of the first months of the year cracking down on digital currency-related companies in the country. This, if you recall, has caused many platforms including the so-called ‘Big 3’—Huobi, OKCoin and BTCC—to halt digital currency withdrawals while they performed an upgrade to fight “money laundering, exchange, pyramid schemes and other illegal activities.”

In March, the PBoC announced that it will subject domestic bitcoin exchanges to current banking and anti-money laundering laws, prompting the exchanges to immediately introduce new guidelines. Huobi, in particular, now wants its users to identify where they got their funds, provide bank transfer records of moving funds from a legitimate bank to Huobi and also provide an extensive explanation not only on the transfer, but also where the money is transferred to and how the customer intends to use the digital currency.

Goa casinos refuse to hike entry fees despite jacked up licensing costs

Casinos in Goa will not raise their entry fees despite the government’s decision to jack up the costs of operating gambling establishments—both offshore and onshore—in the Indian state.

The state home department announced recently that it is doubling the license transfer fee for land-based casinos in five-hotels—from INR5 crore (US$735,328) to INR10 crore (US$1.47 million)—while license transfer fees for casino vessels will be raised from INR5 crore (US$735,328) to INR20 crore (US$2.94 million).

The government has also increased the annual recurring fee by INR50 lakh (US$73,532) for both land-based and floating casinos. With the jacked up prices, onshore casinos are now expected to pay between INR4 crore (US$588,252) and INR8.5 crore (US$1.25 million) depending on the location, while casino vessels will pay between INR10 crore (US$1.47 million) and INR12 crore (US$1.76 million) depending on the ship’s passenger capacity.

Goa, one of the three states that allow live casinos to operate within its borders, is home to 11 land-based gaming venues and six floating casinos, and the state government expects to pocket over INR8 crore (US$1.18 million) in revenues from the increased fees.

Pokerography: The four horseman of the apocalypse

Pokerography: The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse

In this week’s Pokerography series, Lee Davy takes a look at John Gottman’s classic: The Seven Principles of Making a Marriage Work relating it to improving your poker game.

I didn’t knock the English teacher out. If I did, it would have been the only punch I landed in the fight. But there she was, lying unconscious on the floor with a Mars bar on her cheek, and I didn’t throw that either.

That was the aftermath of my fight with Byron Dillon. It was a mess. He was a big lad; I wasn’t. I didn’t want to fight, but he kept pestering me, and I had this vision that I could take him.

Recent updates from the upcoming Prague Gaming Summit 2017

Friday – 28th of April, 2017 – Prague – The organizers of Prague Gaming Summit have released some  new press release about the new developments of the upcoming inaugural event. EEGEvents is planning to improve the experience delegates receive during seminar type events, thus will soon reveal some of the unique networking opportunities they are planning for the event.

As you may know, the seminar type conference will take place between June 8-9 at Andel’s by Vienna House Prague and promises to bring together regulators, operators, affiliates and software providers in order to discuss the options of the newly regulated online gambling market of the Czech Republic.

Beside the careful examination of the current legal framework’s positive and negative aspect, the organizers have set the agenda to also target the Scandinavian and Baltic regions.

The first edition of the yearly Summit will also give way for the delegates to network with regulators, gaming experts, operators, software providers and investors.

Pokerstars festival set to visit France, Romania and Ireland

PokerStars adds array of new stops to 2017 festival schedule

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – April 2017 – Following on from debut PokerStars Festivals in New Jersey, London, and Rozvadov, PokerStars, an Amaya Inc, (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand has announced additional stops in Lille and Bucharest in July and Dublin in September. With €2.2 million guaranteed across the three new festival stops, including guarantees on every Main Event, PokerStars sponsored live event action is relentless for the remainder of the year with a wide choice of destinations, flavours and formats on offer for every kind of poker lover.

The new schedules are now available on the official PokerStars Live website and come hot on the heels of the expansion of PokerStars’ new and extremely popularMEGASTACKS series.

PokerStars Festival Lille

LatestCasinoBonuses.com strengthens its family of websites with formidable gambling directory

LCB, the award-winning gambling portal and guide makes a formal purchase announcement adding yet another exceptional casino database to help an ever-growing community of players further worldwide. After recognizing the enormous potential of KeytoCasino.com and the value it can bring to our offering, we have decided to make this website a functional part of our traditional network. Our mission has always been to look after players by providing accurate information, resources and community where enthusiasts can find the support they need to thrive in the gambling environment. We firmly believe that practical features of KeyToCasino(K2C) fully support our mission – that is why we have made this $300,000 acquisition convinced it would serve as a valuable asset to our growing family of websites.

Accurate and Down to the Point

Founded upon the principles of integrity and honesty, K2C closely follows the same guidelines of service excellence as LCB does, albeit with a unique approach. Their meticulous handling of theoretical and practical gambling knowledge is precisely the aspect we felt will freshen up our portal.

Our latest addition’s main attractions are easy to use and highly functional search formula that makes browsing a breeze. ”Less text and more information” is the byword that summarizes what the team of KeyToCasino aims to achieve. By incorporating a simple, yet effective search and presentation scheme, the portal provides a quick and effortless insight into every relevant piece of information a gambler needs to stay safe, well-organized and proficient in their gaming pursuits.

Why the Betting on Football experience is more than just business

SBC Events has stacked up the unique networking features and competitions for next week’s Betting on Football at Stamford Bridge (3-5 May).

The conference already offers an extensive range of content, an impressive line-up of 140 world class speakers and a massive turnout of 800+ senior industry delegates.

However, there will also be networking opportunities aplenty at two high-level parties, in and around the exhibition floor and on stadium tours, as well as within a range of fun competitions.

Networking areas in and around the exhibition floor

CASEXE to participate in XI annual exhibition RGW 2017

The company CASEXE is going to participate in one of the major specialized exhibitions known as Russian Gaming Week 2017 hosted by the company Smile Expo in ¨Sokolniki¨ expo complex in Moscow on June 7-8.

CASEXE was appointed as an official media partner of the said event. All the relevant information about company’s business operations and activities will be exhibited on its exposition stands later on.

CASEXE´s representatives have announced about their willingness to establish more contacts with potential clients and strengthen ties with their actual partners. RGW is a good chance to learn more about the products offered by the company and to conclude more mutually rewarding contracts. You can already arrange a meeting with representatives of CASEXE by filling in a registration form on its official webpage.

Note, please: the said international forum calls upon the leading specialists of the iGaming industry such as iGaming software developers, owners of land-based and online casinos, as well as representatives of regulating authorities from all over the world.

Gaming debates the hot issues at GiGse and Unikrn announce acquisition

The role of the Launchpad initiative in helping to nurture new, fledgling businesses, was put into sharp focus on day 1 of GiGse, when news broke of the acquisition of former Launchpad finalist, LEET Gaming by Unikrn. Unikrn, CEO, Rahul Sood said the goal was to platformise the LEET brand so that casinos would be able to create localized eSports tournaments and, in the process, create an eSports ecosystem.

Esports

The panel was unequivocal in its view that whilst eSports was not a one size fits all strategy for casinos, it does represent an opportunity to drive traffic to venues. Reviewing the debates, Clarion Gaming’s, Head of Content, Ewa Bakun said: “It’s clear that eSports is a value proposition which is incredibly important to millennials and which requires a mind shift on behalf of operators. The GiGse audience learned about venues converting room suites to bunk rooms in order to host eSports leagues, in the process building a business around eSports and hosting the teams. Anybody who’s thinking 5-10 years down the road has to consider the importance of catering to the millennial. According to Seth Schorr, Chief Executive Officer of Fifth Street Gaming, it is undeniable that people under 30 years are not motivated to play traditional casino games, indeed, he advised they found games of chance both stupid and offensive. He added that eSports wagering will be a huge part of this equation. Replying to a question from the floor, he stated that the money in eSports was from a mix of verticals, including wagering, but also by bringing skill games onto the gaming floor and monetization of the eSports consumer.”

Tribal Gaming Innovation