Monthly Archives: May 2017

GAN narrows FY16 net losses as revenue rises nearly one-third

Online casino technology provider GAN reported narrowed losses in 2016 thanks to revenue rising nearly one-third.

Figures released Tuesday by the UK-listed GAN (formerly GameAccount Network) show the company generated net revenue of £7.8m last year, up 30% from 2015’s result. B2B revenue was up 37% to £7.4m while the company’s comparatively minor B2C operations fell nearly one-third to just over £400k.

While the company says its ‘clean earnings’ loss was down 69% year-on-year to £900k, the company reported a pre-tax loss of £5.2m, down only marginally from £5.6m in 2015. After-tax loss came to £3.8m, a bigger improvement from 2015’s £5m, thanks in part to development tax credits.

As he did in 2015, GAN CEO Dermot Smurfit blamed much of his company’s sluggish performance on the “slower than expected” pace of real-money online gambling regulation in the United States, where GAN derives most of its income. But Smurfit said GAN’s free-play Simulated Gaming product will “more than adequately compensate” for US laggardness in hopping on the real-money online train.

Juegos Miami 2017: Gaming’s meeting point in Latin America

Gaming elites from the Pan-Latin America and Caribbean are coming together this week to plot the industry’s future at the 2017 edition of Juegos Miami.

Now on its second year, Juegos Miami will return to The Biltmore in Miami from May 31 to June 2, bringing together the region’s innovators, regulators and industry visionaries to talk about the future development of gaming in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Event organizer Clarion Gaming said representatives from 44 nations have registered to attend the invite-only, C-level event.

“There’s a huge appetite for Juegos Miami amongst the C-Level industry opinion formers who will be in attendance as well as the senior management of the 40 commercial organizations which have a stand, showroom or sponsorship presence in Miami,” said Kate Chambers, managing director of Clarion Gaming.

888 exit Poland; country monitors Facebook for illegal gambling

Poland continues to tighten its grip on the nation’s gambling market, prompting operators like 888 Holdings to join the exodus of operators not holding a local gaming license.

This week, Polish poker players reported that 888Poker had informed its customers that their ability to play on the site was coming to an end as of June 5. The site, which has already blocked new players from setting up accounts, said the exit was prompted by a “business reevaluation.”

Last December, the Polish Gambling Act was amended to explicitly ban online gambling operators not holding a local license. The Ministry of Finance has given local internet service providers a July 1 deadline to begin blocking all online gambling domains tagged with a scarlet letter on the Ministry’s burgeoning blacklist of sites it deems to be flouting the new law.

That blacklist continues to grow and now contains some 235 domains – a pale shadow of similar lists in other European markets, but growing nonetheless. And social media giant Facebook could soon find its name on the Ministry’s hit list, according to deputy finance minister Wiesław Janczyk.

Nevada governor gives eSports betting bill the thumbs up

eSports betting will soon be legal in Nevada after state governor Brian Sandoval signed a bill amending the pari-mutuel wagering rules.

Senate Bill 240, sponsored by Clark County Republican Sen. Becky Harris, was signed into law by Sandoval over the weekend, paving the way for the addition of “other sports” to the pari-mutuel wagering category, including eSports and proposition bets on awards shows like the Oscars and Grammys. The law comes into effect on July 1.

Nevada gaming regulators already allowed betting on eSports, but the bill would formalize such wagering under state law.

Under the new law, the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) may issue licenses permitting the conduct of the pari-mutuel system of wagering, including off-track pari-mutuel wagering, and may adopt, amend and repeal regulations relating to the conduct of such wagering.

Bitcoin’s price fluctuates again, but don’t sound the alarm yet

After hitting a record high of over $2,700 last week, bitcoin has gone into a correction—and it’s one that has caused the digital currency’s price to lose nearly 19 percent of its value in four days.

On May 24, bitcoin hit a new all-time high of $2,760.10 on Bitstamp thanks to an uptick in demand out of Asia. But on Monday, the digital currency traded at $2,260 level, marking a $500 drop since the record high last week.

Analysts cited a “quite brief” correction as the cause of the price fall, which has also affected other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash and Monero.

“The correction was actually quite brief, and the prices today are still higher than that of a week ago,” BTCC CEO Bobby Lee told CNBC.

Play’n GO furthers its gaming reach with Multiloteri deal

30th May, 2017 – Award-winning slots specialist Play’n GO has licensed its content to innovative gaming system developer Multiloteri.

Play’n GO will deliver its premium HTML5-enabled gaming content as an exclusive solution on Multiloteri’s unique MLT one™ system, which allows players to game in licensed venues from a tablet, linked to a base terminal.

Play’n GO will provide the MLT one™ system with a range of its innovative gaming content, including the popular Energoonz, Aztec Idols and Ninja Fruits, as well as various table games including Single Blackjack and Casino Hold’em.

Johan Törnqvist, CEO at Play’n GO, said: “We are pleased to exclusively provide our award-winning gaming content to such an innovative product as MLT one™.

Sun Bingo set to show who’s got the biggest balls

Sun Bingo will be entering a new world of entertainment on the 3 June 2017 when they will be aiming to break, not one, but two GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ™ titles at the famous Blackpool Tower.

The landmark occasion will see Sun Bingo try and overthrow the current world records for the Largest set of bingo balls plus the Largest bingo card.

Sun Bingo ambassadors Rustie Lee and Chico will be on-hand to host the event and will be joined by up to 400 Sun Bingo players from across the UK.

The day will involve all players playing two standard games of 75-ball bingo and be in with a chance of winning up to £30,000 in prizes. Additionally, an official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ™ adjudicator will be present to confirm that the records have indeed been beaten.

IGT shares may have topped last year

The IGT-GTECH merger may have been the best move IGT could have made considering circumstances at the time, but it hasn’t rescued International Game Technology from its current straits, nor does it look like it will. With IGT, the same issues keep replaying themselves and there doesn’t seem to be a good way out of the mess. Bankruptcy and a restructuring may eventually follow by the end of the decade in a situation similar to Caesars, unless the company has a miraculously spectacular next two years, which does not look all that likely.

The problems are mainly two. The first is debt, and the second is Italy. Total leverage is now 200%, and this despite paying off a respectable amount of debt last quarter. The clock is still ticking to big repayments in 2018, 2019, and 2020 totaling $4 billion in principle, which IGT will not be able to do without refinancing. 2018 is only $600 million which will be difficult to pay off or refinance at reasonable rates but doable. 2019 and 2020 is a different question and could lead to a restructuring which would tear shares down.

As for Italy, doing business with a very indebted and unstable government is a double-edged sword. Once you get in you get crony benefits and exclusivity and that’s nice and all, but your fate becomes inextricably tied. Since governments generally have monopolies on lotteries that they grant themselves (gambling is a sin unless the government manages it as we all know) once you get in bed with the State to manage its lotteries, you become very dependent on the single government client, which cannot have any competitors. If the government then gets into financial trouble or decides to tax you more for doing business with it, you can’t shift your weight to a competitor. You do down with the ship.

Same with the military-industrial complex, drug prices, and universities dependent on ever-increasing tuitions fueled by higher and looser student loans. Imagine if the United States adopted a Swiss neutrality foreign policy, what would happen to defense stocks the next day. They’d collapse. Or if the federal government stopped giving out student loans, how many tax-fattened universities would go out of business. Or if the FDA were abolished what would happen to drug prices and consequently the shares of Specialty Pharma, dependent on spiraling drug costs.

Genting BHD net profit grows more than threefold in Q1

Malaysia-based Genting BHD’s net profit leapfrog at the start of 2017, driven by its hospitality, leisure, and plantation activities.

The holding company announced that its net profit grew more than threefold or 361 percent to RM603.1 million (US$140.78 million) in the first quarter ended March 31 from RM130.8 million (US$ 30.53 million) a year ago.

Genting, however, reported that it eked a one percent year-on-year revenue gain, raking in RM4.77 billion (US$1.11 billion) from RM4.71 billion (US$1.10 billion).  The Malaysian-firm attributed the increased revenue to better hold percentage from the mid to premium segment of the business even though business volumes were lower.

On the other hand, the group’s profit before tax in the January to March 31 period was at RM1,455.8 million (US$339.83 million), a significant increase compared to last year’s Q1 profit of RM542.7 million (US$126.68 million).

Ema Zajmovic on her vision to help girls manage social media pressures

Lee Davy catches up with the World Poker Tour Champions Club member Ema Zajmovic at 888Live Barcelona to talk about poker, politics, and her desire to help young people develop self-respect.

I’m one of those parents trying to live the unfulfilled parts of my seesaw life vicariously through my children. It’s not like I have a scimitar held at their throats – it’s more subconscious than that, and that creates more misery because most of the time I am unaware.

As a self-imposed veteran of life, I think I know it all. I know that a few too many Gin & Tonics means you will end up impregnating someone behind the bus stop. I know one too many Marlboros leads to lung cancer. And if you keep posting idiotic selfies on social media then you will grow up lacking self-esteem.

My teenage son, Mr Congeniality, reminds me frequently, that I have no idea what it’s like to grow up as a teenager in the year 2017.  Pause. Think.