Monthly Archives: March 2018

FanDuel talking reverse merger with Platinum Eagle SPAC

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator FanDuel is reportedly prepping a ‘reverse merger’ with a publicly traded investment firm linked to Hollywood exec Jeff Sagansky (pictured).

On Thursday, Axios reported that Sagansky’s Nasdaq-listed ‘special purpose acquisition company’ (SPAC) Platinum Eagle Acquisition Corp was in “advanced talks” to acquire FanDuel. Nobody at either company is currently willing to discuss the report, nor what type of value Sagansky’s SPAC may be putting on the struggling DFS operator.

FanDuel’s senior management has been desperately searching for an exit strategy following last July’s demise of plans to merge with archrival DraftKings. The Federal Trade Commission blocked the deal based on its belief that the two companies, which have struggled to maintain the early momentum of the US DFS market, would have controlled too great a slice of the pie.

Leaked financial documents indicated that FanDuel and DraftKings were hemorrhaging money due to costly marketing wars, a stagnant DFS market and spiraling legal costs from fighting state-level anti-DFS initiatives. FanDuel’s auditors went as far as to express doubts over the company’s ability to continue as a going concern without some financial white knight appearing on the horizon.

Sands Bethlehem sold for $1.3b to Poarch Band of Creek Indians

Casino giant Las Vegas Sands has sold its Pennsylvania property Sands Bethlehem to a prominent Alabama Indian tribe.

On Thursday, Sands announced that it had reached a $1.3b deal to sell Sands Bethlehem to Wind Creek Hospitality, an affiliate of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama. The deal is subject to a regulatory review and other standard closing conditions.

The Bethlehem property has been on the block for some time, with rival MGM Resorts backing out of a tentative $1.3b acquisition deal last May. The sale will reduce Sands’ US-based operations to just two properties in Las Vegas. Sands plans to use the proceeds to pursue other developments and to return excess cash to shareholders.

Sands supremo Sheldon Adelson expressed thanks to Bethlehem staffers for helping to build the property into “one of the leading regional entertainment and gaming destinations” in the US. Sands Bethlehem president Brian Carr expressed confidence that staff would “provide a smooth and seamless transition for new ownership.”

Brazil’s long-delayed gambling bill loses strength in Senate

A four-year-old bill seeking to legalize a wide range of gambling activities in Brazil has suffered yet another setback at the hands of state politicians.

On Wednesday, Brazil’s Comisión de Constitución, Justicia y Ciudadanía (CCJ) voted 13-2 rejecting PLS 186/2014, which provided for the legalization of not just online gambling and sports betting, but also land-based casinos, bingo halls, video gaming, and the locally popular jogo do bicho.

PLS 186/2014 was introduced by Senator Ciro Noguiera in 2014 and later amended by Senator Benedito de Lira to include other forms of gambling. The bill was scheduled for discussion several times last year, but committee members failed to discuss the proposal—until Wednesday, when it became the top agenda at the parliament commission’s hearing.

During the hearing, Noguiera and de Lira described the bill as the government’s answer to the growing black market operations, as it will direct the revenue from unregulated gambling services into Brazil’s state coffers. The legislation, if passed, will also pave the way for the creation of a new sector and thousands of new jobs for Brazil’s citizens.

Sportsbet ready to ride incoming Aussie online gambling tax wave

Australian bookmaker Sportsbet is bracing itself for a wave of new internet betting taxes expected to hit the land down under in the coming weeks.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Victoria and New South Wales will roll out details of their respective betting taxes with a single theme: bookmakers will be taxed on the area where the bets are made.

At present, South Australia is the only Australian jurisdiction that has implemented a 15 percent point-of-consumption tax.

Of all the bookmakers based in Australia, Sportsbet is reportedly the first to express confidence that it can easily wade through a deluge of new taxes to be implemented in the country’s two biggest betting states.

Sihanoukville will not turn into a gambling hotbed, Cambodian army chief vows

Despite an influx of investment on tourism and gambling in the once idyllic Cambodian tourist spot, a ranking Cambodian military officer has promised to protect Sihanoukville from turning into the next Macau.

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Chief of Joint Staff Hun Manet made the vow amid the rising tensions between Cambodian business owners and the large number of new Chinese investors entering Sihanoukville.

Residents lamented that the increased Chinese investment in the area had triggered the rise of land prices in Sihanoukville andcreated a closed economic loop that shut out Cambodian businesses and workers.

The Khmer Times reported that Manet urged local officials to focus on preserving Sihanoukville’s image as a tourist destination rather than turning it into another playground for Chinese gamblers.

New online casino Gate777 combines airport casino theme with innovative bonuses

Now Live on The White Hat Gaming Platform

March 8, 2018 – Valletta, Malta –  An impressively designed brand-new online casino launched this week at Gate777.com. With boarding now open for everyone, the airport casino themed platform offers an extra generous welcome package to all new players, and a lucrative agreement to all potential affiliates through its exclusive affiliation program, Partner-Up.biz.

Available on all web-enabled devices, the versatile casino powered by the White Hat Gaming platform was conceptualized with a desire to create a top-class gaming environment, the intention being to evoke a luxury travel feeling in all players, and the idea that every player should receive first-class treatment.

Practice matches theory at Gate777. With welcome bonuses up to €1,000 and 100 extra spins, many one-time and ongoing promotions, additional surprise Daily Upgrades that can be claimed each and every day, and a worthwhile VIP Loyalty Program, the casino is well poised to attract a fantastic turnout of players and place itself at the forefront of the industry.

Lv Bet supports International Women’s Day and Europa Donna

For a second consecutive year sports and casino betting site LV BET will be supporting International Women’s Day by donating a percentage of player deposits to a female-centric non-profit organisation. This year European Breast Cancer Coalition – EUROPA DONNA will be the recipients of the collected contributions.

LV BET will be donating 25% of all deposits made through a special onsite promotion to this worthy non-profit organisation. The LV BET Women’s Day promotion will be held between the 8 th and 11 th of March and offers players a 25% Bonus up to €/£200 playable on all the videos slots available in the LV BET casino, as well as up to 200 Free Spins depending on the deposit amount.

Made up of affiliated groups from countries throughout Europe, EUROPA DONNA works to raise awareness of breast cancer and to mobilise the support of European women in pressing for improved breast cancer education, appropriate screening, optimal treatment and increased funding for research. EUROPA DONNA represents the interests of European women regarding breast cancer to local and national authorities as well as to institutions of the European Union.

LV BET will be announcing the total amount donated once the promotion has ended.

Yggdrasil announces new YGS Masters programme

8th March, 2018 ­­– Yggdrasil Gaming will invite independent games studios to develop game titles on its platform with the launch of Yggdrasil Game Server (YGS) Masters.

The invite-only, semi-open platform will see Yggdrasil curating content from the world’s leading independent games studios.

Yggdrasil will provide access to BOOST™, the supplier’s collection of in-game promotional tools, allowing studios to develop their own versions of these tools within their game clients. This will include the ability to run network campaigns.

YGS Masters will be led by new Yggdrasilian Stuart McCarthy, who assumes the role of Head of Studio Partnerships. McCarthy has previously worked for BetClic and NYX, where he was Product Manager for OGS.

Pariplay inks strategic content partnership with AMATIC’s AMANET

Pariplay’sFUSION content network continues to expand with the addition of games from leading Austrianland-based games manufacturer’s online subsidiary

8th March 2018 – Pariplay Ltd., a gaming technology company serving online and land-based casinos, iLotteries and iGaming brands, has announced a strategic partnership with AMANET, the online subsidiary of the Austrianland-based casino games manufacturer AMATIC Industries. Under the agreement, AMANET’s portfolio of online casino and slots games will integrate with Pariplay’s FUSION content network.

The addition of AMANET‘s portfolio of over 100 cutting-edge video slots will continue to diversify the range of content available to iGaming operators integrated with FUSION. Developed in HTML5 for play across all devices, AMANET’s online slots,which are based on tried-and-tested land-based slot machines developed by AMATIC, include the 720-ways Eye of Ra, the 243-ways All Ways Fruit, and the 50-line Arising Phoenix, all of which are UK certified.

Boasting strong brand recognition in the European market and globally, AMANET’s games will further expand the content integrated with FUSION, which provides operators with access to Pariplay’s own collection of over 100 branded and original casino games developed by its in-house development studio. These include recent branded video slots such as Atari Pong®andX-O Manowar®,as well as original slot titlessuchas Chang’e – Goddess of the Moon, Jack in the Box, and Pets.

Quickfire live on Strendus.com.mx, a new interactive division of Logrand Entertainment Group

ISLE OF MAN – Quickfire powered by Microgaming is extending its reach in the LatAm region with the signing of Strendus.

Strendus is the online division of Logrand Entertainment Group. The group comprises several companies that operate gaming and entertainment establishments in Mexico, running 14 land-based casinos in total.

Having integrated with the Quickfire platform, Strendus.com.mx is live with a vast collection of Microgaming games, including classics Agent Jane Blonde, Avalon and Mega Moolah.

Andrew Clucas, Director of Quickfire at Microgaming, comments: “We are thrilled to be working with the experienced team at Logrand. Strendus is the first Quickfire operator to launch in the regulated Mexican online gaming market, expanding our presence in the important LatAm market.”

Caesars Entertainment net loss down to $375M in 2017

The list of corporate executives wanting to thank U.S. President Donald Trump for approving a one-time tax benefit has become longer.

Nasdaq-listed casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corporation (CEC) trimmed its net loss in 2017, thanks to the $2 billion boon linked to the recent changes in the U.S. tax code.

In a regulatory filing, Caesars announced that its net revenue jumped 25.1 percent to $4.85 billion in 2017 from $3.9 billion in 2016. Same-store net revenues remained flat at $8.12 billion, according to the company.

The casino operator would’ve registered a loss once again this year due to the $2.03 billion restructuring expenses related to Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s (CEOC) emergence and a $232 million loss on debt extinguishment, if not for Trump’s tax benefit.

EvenBet draws InBet Games for poker deal

Rising stars of software development converge on reigniting poker vertical

8th March 2018 – Leading online gaming software developer EvenBet Gaming has announced a new deal to integrate its cutting-edge poker product with the progressive platform of provider InBet Games.

EvenBet’s trailblazing turnkey poker solution delivers multi-functional performance alongside exceptional reliability and scalability. This flagship offering is now reinvigorating a vertical which had previously been overlooked by many operators.

The agreement also furnishes InBet Games, which has become a leader in the CIS igaming market, with an innovative poker product, as it seals its full-stack portfolio and bids to expand its global reach across Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Playtech delivers Omni-Channel single account across Ladbrokes estate

Playtech BGT Sports integrates Self Service Betting Terminals into player management platform enabling single account access across all channels

London: March 8th, 2018 – Playtech, the world’s leading gaming software, systems and services supplier, has delivered single account Omni-Channel functionality throughout the entire UK Ladbrokes estate enabling its players to use one account and one wallet across all online, mobile and retail products.

In line with its pioneering Playtech ONE Omni-Channel strategy, the newly unified sportsbook platform, that now includes Self Service Betting Terminals (SSBTs), is fully integrated with the Playtech IMS player management system enabling Ladbrokes customers to use a single account to access single wallet transactions online, across all channels and on all devices.

SSBT integration was the final element in the Ladbrokes Omni-Channel platform integration plan. This core platform integration work will enable significant future growth across the division and the wider business.

2 directors leave Wynn Resorts as legal troubles pile up

An exodus among board directors is happening at Wynn Resorts as lawsuits against its founder and his business partners over alleged sexual misconducts continue to pile up.

On Monday, board member Ray Irani stepped down from his position—effectively immediately, Wynn Resorts announced in a filing. Another board member, Alvin Shoemaker, also advised the board of his plans to step down when his current term ends in 2019.

The announcement came several hours after the state of Oregon revealed that it’s suing Steve Wynn and Wynn Resorts, along with its board of directors, for failing “to protect shareholders, the company, and its employees when it failed to investigate allegations of sexual abuse and harassment.”

Oregon, which is acting on behalf of its state pension fund, joins the New York State Common Retirement Fund and at least four other shareholder groups who have gone after Wynn Resorts, which they claimed breached its fiduciary duties by ignoring the alleged decades-long sexual abuse and harassment incidents of its employees by the casino mogul.