Monthly Archives: September 2017

PokerStars caring for the future of humanity via REG

PokerStars continues to partner with Raising for Effective Giving (REG) by promising to donate all tournament fees for the $25,000 World Championships of Online Poker High Roller to effective charities.

When it comes to being charitable, do you go with your heart or your head?

For many years, the answer, for poker, was a simple one.

Go with your heart.

OPAP profits fall one-third on costs of new product rollouts

Greek betting and lottery operator OPAP saw its net profit fall by more than one-third in the second quarter of 2017 as revenue declined and the cost of marketing new product rose.

Figures released Wednesday show OPAP’s revenue hitting €330m in the three months ending June 30, 2.5% below the sum generated in same period last year. Earnings were down nearly 24% to €52m and net profit tumbled 33.7% to €22m.

OPAP CEO Damian Cope said the company’s results were “commendable” given the tough comparison with Q2 2016, which contained the majority of the Euro 2016 football tournament.

Total betting revenue was down only 1.2% to €93.2m, as the Euro 2016 impact was partially offset by the launch of new virtual games product in April. Lottery revenue was down 8.4% to €190m due to unfavorable jackpot rollovers in OPAP’s Joker product.

Atlantic City’s elite eight casinos enter autumn on a roll

Atlantic City casinos reported another modest gaming revenue decline in August, proving that all things named Trump are really bad for anyone trying to maintain a positive outlook.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement issued its August casino report card on Wednesday, which showed the state’s eight casinos generated brick and mortar gaming revenue of $223.6m, up 3.5% from what these same elite eight earned the same month last year.

Throw in the $21.3m the casinos’ online gambling operations earned in August and the year-on-year comparison looks even better, rising 5.5% to nearly $245m. However, including last August’s contributions from the Trump Taj Mahal, which closed in October 2016, and August’s official brick-and-mortar figure is down 2.7% and overall revenue slipped 0.4%.

August’s brick-and-mortar number wasn’t helped by a guest at Resorts Casino Hotel hitting a $1.24m slots payday on August 29. Amazingly enough, the guest – identified only as James C. – pulled off the life-changing feat on his freaking birthday.