Monthly Archives: December 2017

Struggling New Jersey horse tracks to get a piece of Internet gambling pie

New Jersey lawmakers are throwing a lifeline to help the state’s struggling horse racing tracks.

On Thursday, the New Jersey State Assembly approved a bill that would allow tracks to offer Internet gambling on their premises, The Providence Journal reported.

The law requires tracks operators to ink a partnership with an Atlantic City casino or an online affiliate of a casino to be able to offer online betting.

Casino executive-turned Democratic Assemblyman Ralph Caputo said the new legislation aims to boost the racing industry’s revenue.

Galaxy Entertainment eyes integrated resort on ‘world’s best island’

Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) is eyeing to construct a $500 million integrated resort at the heart of the Philippine island oasis of Boracay.

Bloomberg reported that GEG Deputy Chairman Francis Lui had a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday in Manila to again discuss the casino operator’s intention to get a slice of the Philippine gambling market as the firm looks for new growth engines.

Galaxy’s expansion comes on the heels of China’s strict no-smoking policy in casinos and an ongoing crackdown against corruption in gaming territories like Macau.

Now that Beijing and Manila is mending their strained relationship, Lui said GEG wants to help China in fostering strong diplomatic relations with the Philippines through increased trade.

Betsafe walks ‘The Walk’

 – Brand releases ‘The Walk of Adversity’ integrated advertising campaign with leading ambassadors to showcase the journey they make to overcome the odds

 – Campaign developed by creative agency, SNAP London

 – Conor McGregor narrates launch ad for Betsafe

Known worldwide for premium sponsorships and innovative campaigns, the online bookmaker and gaming company, Betsafe, has today released its latest advertising campaign with a host of leading global sporting stars.

Dragon snaps up 4 junket partners for $400M casino cryptocurrency sale

Hong Kong-based gaming company Dragon Corporation is pushing through with its initial coin offering (ICO) in a bid to raise more than $400 million for the construction of its floating casino.

The token sale is scheduled for Dec. 8 and will be open to investors in “most countries except the United States, mainland China and Singapore,” Dragon Corp. CEO Chakrit Ahmad told Macau News Agency. A “blockchain distributed ledger” will be provided to investors interested in snapping up the company’s digital tokens.

Under Dragon Corp’s ICO, investors will basically become a junket shareholder and get revenues from utilizing blockchain technology, which they can plug back into the token. The tokens will be listed in multiple exchanges, according to the company, so that investors will be able to “cash out” their funds via major digital currency exchange worldwide or Wi Holdings’ exchange.

The money raised from the token sale will help fund the construction of Dragon Corp’s 1,600-square-meter floating Dragon Pearl Casino Hotel, which is expected to make its way to Macau by 2019.

G2E Asia 2017 to proudly receive brand exhibition award once again at Macao Convention and Exhibition Commendation Awards

Macau, December 2017 – Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia, the region’s largest sourcing platform for global gaming and entertainment products, is the proud recipient of the Brand Exhibition Award.  This is the second year that the globally renowned industry exhibition, presented by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and organized by Reed Exhibitions, the world’s leading event organizer, received the honor.

The award is organized by the Macao Convention and Exhibition Association (MCEA) and co-organized by the Macau Fair & Trade Association, the Association of Advertising Agents of Macau, and the Macau Federal Commercial Association of Convention & Exhibition Industry. The award ceremony, the Macao Convention and Exhibition Commendation Awards is scheduled to take place on December 12.

“It is such an honor to once again receive the Brand Exhibition Award,” said Josephine Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Reed Exhibitions Greater China. “G2E Asia has built a solid bridge between Macau and the world to promote local industry capabilities and economic development. As G2E Asia steps firmly into its second decade, being recognized for our contributions to Macau and the industry is quite an inspiration to all of us. We are extremely grateful to MCEA. This honor will serve as a driving force to ensure that our teams deliver even better and more professional editions that will fully meet the needs and exceed the expectations of the industry.”

The annual award recognizes and honors outstanding events, or “exhibition performances,” that serve as a role model in brand creation and have a positive impact on the long-term exhibition development and promotion of Macau’s MICE industry, thereby contributing to its maturity into an “International MICE City.”

Betstars is first international sports betting operator to launch in the Czech Republic

Over 20 sports and specialist betting options on offer

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – December 07, 2017 – Online betting site BetStars, the sports brand of The Stars Group, has become the first international sports betting operator to launch in the Czech Republic.

BetStars.cz is available across desktop, web and mobile devices on both iOS and Android to players in the Czech Republic. Under the provisions of its licence, which was granted by the Czech State Supervision of Gambling and Lotteries last month, players on BetStars.cz will enjoy access to a range of more than 20 sports and specialist betting options.

“It is a great honour to be the first international sports betting operator to launch in the Czech Republic,” said Zeno Ossko, Managing Director of BetStars. “The BetStars team have worked very hard to make this a successful launch and we hope customers in the Czech Republic will enjoy the range of betting options available.”

Calling the Clock: Van Fleet wins a million; WPT offers two million

Another look underneath the lampshade of the world of poker with the spotlight beaming brightly on partypoker’s online MILLIONS event, and the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic. 

The battle to become number one in the poker tournament charts intensified this week after partypoker successfully migrated the MILLIONS brand to the virtual world.

Not everything went smoothly (Day 1A ran over by 45-minutes, costing party $25k in apology money), but it showed that Mike Sexton and co. are capable of matching PokerStars in three of the key areas of traction (live MTT, Online MTT, and Online High Stakes cash action), albeit in more isolated cases. The challenge comes longer term. Will people stick around minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-after-day?

1,047 entrants ensured they surpassed the $5m guarantee by $135,000, and Jonathan “sordykrd” Van Fleet was the last man seated, earning $1,027,000 to take his total online MTT earnings over the $9.5m mark.

7StarBall launch Social Lottery platform

A brand new lottery operator hits the European markets on December … with the launch of 7StarBall, a platform that promises a strong balance of big wins and regular payouts. At a time when more people are heading online and looking at alternatives to national lotteries across the world, it’s a timely launch with a package that should attract interest.

Founded and licensed in Curacao, 7StarBall features two weekly prize draws which take place every Thursday and Sunday at 10.00 AM EST. The first draw features a jackpot with up to One Billion Euros up for grabs while the second draw is a Pari-Mutuel version where one in five tickets is guaranteed to be a winner.

Gouloud Hammoud, Director of 7StarBall said: “We felt that it was important to provide those two key elements that every lottery player looks for. We all want to dream of a big win but if players aren’t picking up smaller cash wins on a regular basis then eventually they will lose interest.

“With 7StarBall, every fifth ticket is a winner and over time, players should therefore pick up more cash prizes than they would with some national and state lotteries. It’s a fairer system and one that we hope will see us retain more ongoing customers.”

Lightning look like team to beat for Stanley Cup according to oddsmakers

The Tampa Bay Lightning (19-6-2) became the first NHL team to reach 40 points and currently lead the league in goal differential, earning the respect of oddsmakers who have them pegged as the +700 favorites to hoist the 2018 Stanley Cup.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Lightning sit atop the Atlantic Division standings and do not look like they will have much competition outside of the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto (18-10-1) is three points behind Tampa Bay but has also played two less games, and the Atlantic race appears a lot less challenging right now in the Eastern Conference than the Metropolitan, where seven of the eight teams have winning records. That said, the Maple Leafs are the second choice to win it all at +900.

Caesars bankruptcy cost company $160m in legal fees

The final legal tab has come in for casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corporation’s prolonged bankruptcy fight, and it ain’t pretty.

According to a summary court filing on Tuesday, the nearly three-year bankruptcy tussle over CEC’s struggling main unit Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC) required the company to pay out over $160m divvied up among six different law firms, including $77m to Kirkland & Ellis, which served as CEC’s lead counsel.

Another $30.6m went to Winston & Strawn, which served as legal counsel to Richard Davis, the former Watergate prosecutor who was brought in to dig through CEC’s dirty laundry to discover if their sketchy financial antics meant they were liable for billions more dollars than they hoped to pay. (Spoiler alert: they were.)

Of course, a messy restructuring of CEOC’s tangled affairs was never going to come cheap, but imagine how much smaller CEC’s legal tab might have been if it had just copped to paying those extra billions from the get-go rather than cling to the faint hope that US Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar would simply smile their way and say ‘that’s fraudtastic!’

3: Barrels: Johnson & Lees win WSOPC titles; Ponte battered?

Three-barrels with a World Series of Poker link, including big six-figure scores landed in North America and Australia, and a pounding for Salomon Ponte.

Charles Johnson has taken down the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in North Carolina after cruising through a final table containing as many former champions as you’ll see fleas on a dirty dog.

The WSOP and Harrah’s Cherokee tournament team were confident about this one, raising the bar to a $1m guarantee. 957 entrants created $1.4m in prize money. Johnson banked $272,744, a score way above his live tournament pay grade according to his Hendon Mob stats.

A hot sticky tar of former champions covered the final table.

Rise Up: WPT challenged over $10k unlimited re-entry at Five Diamond Main Event

A Twitter poll by Allen Kessler has set the sharks amongst the fish in a debate over the value of allowing players unlimited re-entry in the $10k WPT Five Diamond Main Event.

I learned a new word, today.

Cicatrix – new tissue that forms over a wound and later contracts into a scar.

Poker players are riddled with cicatrix. You can’t see them. Poker isn’t Jaws or Lethal Weapon. Sure, you have the same scenes, with people sharing wounds in the form of bad beats, but you can’t peel away the skull and reveal your inner pain and suffering, like Quint and Riggs.