Monthly Archives: September 2017

Bede places focus on partnership as global reach expands

Leading provider to host clients at its head office to mark recent milestones

September 2017 – Bede Gaming, the award-winning supplier of software to the online gaming industry, is continuing to build on its partnership-led approach by holding a client and key supplier day.

Bede Gaming is building an alternative route for operators, that gives them the flexibility to build their own differentiated offering on top of an established and high performing platform. This approach has been at the core of its business and appeals to a whole range of clients; from those looking to migrate platforms to those looking for a full white label.

The provider’s commitment to pursuing true partnerships with its operating partners is reflected in its approach to holding regular dialogue with its clients about its platform. It is now going a step further with an upcoming VIP client day, the latest initiative in its quest to offer the highest levels of service and responsiveness.

Jake Pollard joins SBTech as communications and content director

London, UK/Tel Aviv, Israel/Sofia, Bulgaria – September 2017

Market-leading sports betting solutions provider and igaming platform SBTech continues to strengthen its senior management team with the appointment of Jake Pollard as communications and content director.

Jake will be responsible for all press and public relations and management of the group’s media exposure. He will also develop and implement SBTech’s content strategy with both trade press and industry stakeholders, while also identifying opportunities where the group can contribute valuable content and discussion through appropriate channels. 

Richard Carter, chief executive of SBTech, commented: “I’m delighted to welcome Jake into the SBTech team, where his long-standing industry experience as one of the leading gaming journalists will help us develop our corporate communication and content strategy. We very much look forward to working with him to keep building our company profile.”

“We got’em boys!” Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff wins WCOOP Main Event

Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff wins the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Main Event for $1.6m at a final table that contained no deal-making.

Every professional poker player believes there’s a fairy somewhere, guided them, hopefully, to a life-changing win. I see it in their eyes. I hear it in their voices. I can smell the confidence in their social media feeds.

Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff is one of those people armed with a fairy. The Dutchman has travelled all over the world playing live tournament poker, but it’s his online game that’s his bread and butter.

Before today, SvZff had earned $3.8m playing online, and $1.5m playing live. Not considerable sums when compared with the people who usually hog our headlines, but sturdy enough to show you that the man is the consummate grinder.

Live tournament round-up: Wins for Chen, Pupillo, Tran and Alvarez

A round-up of some of the bigger winners on the live tournament circuit this week including action from the World Poker Tour, and the World Series of Poker.

Guo Liang Chen is the latest member of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club after burning some serious rubber on his way to becoming the last man seated in the WPT Borgata Poker Open.

The event attracted poker players like a garden full of rose bushes attracts bees. 1,132 entrants created a prize pool of $3.6m, easily surpassing the $3m guarantee put up by the hosts.

Chen is not a household name. His highest score before this event was a smidgen over $6,000 for winning a side event at the WPT National Korea last year (he also finished 11th in the Main Event).

Champions league review: Real Madrid and Spurs maintain 100% records

A round-up of the first night of Champions League action including victories for Real Madrid and Spurs, and another draw for Liverpool.

The champions continue their strong start to the campaign with a storming away win at Borussia Dortmund. The 3-1 win means they have now scored six goals in their first two matches as they attempt an unprecedented third Champions League triumph on the spin.

Once again it was Cristiano Ronaldo who was the match winner. The Portuguese star now has a record 107 Champions League goals after netting a brace in the Westfalenstadion.

Dortmund, who lost 3-1 to Spurs in the opening game, have now conceded six in two and will have to stop looking like they are playing with beachballs if they are to escape from this challenging group.

Donaco insists online gambling launch on track for October

Asian casino operator Donaco International insists it’s on target to meet the October launch date of its Cambodian online gambling operations.

Last week, Donaco CEO Joey Lim suggested that his company’s Star Vegas casino in Poipet, Cambodia might not make its stated October launch of online gambling operations. Lim told a Malaysian business paper that it could take “maybe six to seven months to develop the platform” and integrate it with the property’s CRM tools.

Fast forward to Tuesday, when Donaco filed papers with the Australian Stock Exchange indicating that its junket marketing partner Vivo Tower Limited had prepared an area in Star Vegas “for 12 online gaming tables, to be operated by third party junkets.” This online gaming area is “expected to commence operations within the next month.”

Cambodia permits many of its casino operators to conduct online gambling activities, provided they don’t accept local residents as customers. Last October, Donaco announced that it was in possession of an online gambling license and was exploring ways to utilize this heretofore untapped revenue channel.

Panthers look to continue ATS trend against favored Patriots

The Carolina Panthers (2-1) looked as bad offensively last Sunday as their opponent the New Orleans Saints (1-2) did in the first two weeks to start the year. And you can certainly make the argument that the Panthers have more offensive weapons than the Houston Texans (1-2), who found a way to post a season-high point total despite losing 36-33 to the New England Patriots last week.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Whether or not that will translate to a cover for Carolina at New England this Sunday remains to be seen, although a key betting trend supports that potential result heading into their Week 4 matchup at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots opened as 8.5-point home favorites against the Panthers, and the defending Super Bowl champions are on their way to becoming double-digit chalk for the second time in as many weeks. They are up to -9 at most books pending the status of some of Carolina’s most important offensive players on the NFL injury report.

Atlantis Paradise Island casino welcomes first female president

The Atlantis Paradise Island resort casino in the Bahamas has a new president, but we’ve yet to learn exactly what happened to the last one.

On Monday, the Atlantis’ owners, Brookfield Asset Management, announced the hiring of Audrey Oswell as the resort’s new president and managing director. Oswell (pictured), who joined Atlantis last year and was appointed senior VP of sales in February, is the first female president the property has hired.

Oswell has over three decades of experience in the hospitality and gaming industries, including past stints as interim CEO of Seneca Gaming, president and COO at Caesars Atlantic City, and CEO of Resorts International Atlantic City.

Brookfield has yet to explain exactly what happened to Atlantis’ former captain Howard Karawan, who was abruptly shown the door last week just one year after he replaced Paul Burke as Atlantis president and managing director.

Clemson a solid road favorite against Virginia Tech in ACC Clash

The betting trends support backing the defending national champion Clemson Tigers (4-0) as solid road favorites in this Saturday’s ACC showdown against the Virginia Tech Hokies (4-0).

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Tigers opened as 7-point road chalk versus the Hokies, with their rout of the Louisville Cardinals two weeks ago away from home serving as a baseline for oddsmakers in setting this line.

Clemson was only a 3-point road favorite at Louisville and ended up crushing the home team 47-21 in an early statement game. The big question bettors need to consider heading into this matchup at Virginia Tech though is how the Hokies rank when compared to the Cardinals.

Gamblit Gaming bringing real-money PAC-MAN to casino floors

A real-money version of 1980’s arcade classic PAC-MAN is coming to casino floors thanks to skill-based gamers Gamblit Gaming.

On Tuesday, Gamblit announced that it had struck a deal with Japanese games publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment to bring PAC-MAN Battle Casino, a real-money version of the wocca-wocca-wocca classic, to casino floors.

The new gaming product (pictured) will allow groups of two or four players to battle each other for cash prizes. The game is a co-production of Gamblit and the team that brought you PAC-MAN Battle Royale, which Bandai Namco unleashed upon the arcade world in 2011.

Gamblit says the new title will make its public debut at next week’s Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas and will begin appearing on select casino floors via its Model G interactive tables sometime early next year. Gamblit and Bandai Namco are also working on a new single-player PAC-MAN title for Gamblit’s TriStation hardware.