Monthly Archives: March 2018

Microgaming’s Gift of Giving delivers four £7.5K donations

ISLE OF MAN – Microgaming, through its CSR initiative, PlayItForward, has donated £30,000 between four charities.

Gift of Giving provides Microgaming’s customers the opportunity to vote for one of several charities in their region. In lieu of Christmas gifts, £30,000 is split equally between four global regions: Isle of Man, UK and Europe, Africa, and Rest of the World.

The vote in December 2017 was Microgaming’s fifth annual Gift of Giving campaign, taking the total donated to £150,000.

The charities that received the highest number of votes in each region, for the second year running, were Women’s Refuge (Isle of Man), Teenage Cancer Trust (UK and Europe), Save the Rhino International (Africa) and Médecins Sans Frontières (Rest of the World).

RichCasino announces ethereum payout facility

5 March 2018 – Curacao (Press Release): RichCasino, the innovative gaming site, is now offering payout via the Ethereum cryptocurrency. Renowned for its comprehensive library of games and technology standards, RichCasino’s integration with Ethereum allows it to achieve higher payout and transaction rates.

Ethereum is perceived as the fastest cryptocurrency on the market, with an average block time of around 14 seconds – compared to the 10 minutes it takes to mine Bitcoin.

RichCasino’s more than one million global customers are able to play hundreds of top table games and slots from leading developers such as Microgaming, Betsoft and Pragmatic Play. The Curacao-based site is determined to also offer them a range of payment services that suit their requirements.

“We put a lot of emphasis on customer satisfaction as a core value, and that means allowing people to access their funds however they wish,” said Gwen Adams, RichCasino spokesperson.

Legendary football coach José Mourinho joins RT’S 2018 World Cup coverage

MOSCOW, MARCH 5 – Legendary football coach José Mourinho will be joining RT for the Russia 2018 World Cup. The international legend, a FIFA “World Coach of the Year” who has coached top international football clubs in Spain’s La Liga (Real Madrid), English Premier League (Chelsea), Italia’s Serie A (Inter) and Portugal’s Primeira Liga (Porto), will bring his unique insights into the sport during the championship.

“I am very happy to join the team at RT. I am looking forward to attending the World Cup in Russia this summer and sharing my insights into the games,” said Mourinho about partnering up with the TV channel.

“We continue to put together the RT dream team. Now we have a coach,” said RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

PROMO LINK – https://youtu.be/BECL0me4ISA

Nektan launches into Asia

Nektan plc (AIM: NKTN), an international B2B and white label gaming software and services provider, has successfully launched into the Asian market with its previously announced global platform deal for its Evolve Lite gaming system with Malta based gaming company, Tyche Digital Malta Limited (“Tyche“).

With more than 200 Asian games and other gaming content from a number of leading suppliers, including Realistic Games, Pragmatic Play™, Booongo Gaming and Pocket Games Soft, Tyche is integrating Nektan’s content aggregation platform into its Asian partner sites.

Gary Shaw, Nektan CEO, said:

“Our platform is now live across Europe, Asia and the US. We are seeing strong commercial traction with Tyche in its core Asian markets. We are pleased with the level of commercial engagement so far and look forward to delivering on the significant pipeline of opportunities that Tyche is developing and gradually ramping up revenue generation through 2018 and beyond.”

Greentube partnership for CashBet Coin

Agreement will see cryptocurrency used on the GameTwist platform

March 5, 2018 — (Oakland, California): CashBet, a leading iGaming platform provider and turnkey operator, has agreed a cryptocurrency partnership with social casino operator Funstage, a Greentube subsidiary and part of NOVOMATIC Interactive.

The deal will see CashBet Coin, CashBet’s cryptocurrency for a complete blockchain ecosystem for iGaming, made available as a payment method to users of Funstage’s flagship GameTwist platform, one of the world’s largest online gaming communities.

A platform for social casino and skill games with more than one million monthly active users, GameTwist will begin allowing players to purchase credits using CashBet Coin across its collection of over 400 games, including slots, casino, card games and bingo.

SatoshiDICE donates 100 Bitcoin BCH to Bitcoin Cash Fund

For anyone still unsure whether SatoshiDICE supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH), the cryptocurrency gambling site has laid all doubts to rest by donating 100 BCH to nonprofit group Bitcoin Cash Fund.

Bitcoin Cash is growing at a rapid rate, and things don’t appear to be slowing down for the cryptocurrency. However, there’s no denying that Bitcoin Cash is still a relatively small player in the market, which is why its community continues to spearhead initiatives to boost the cryptocurrency.

The latest push was a 48-hour matching donation challenge on Reddit over the weekend. Late Friday night, Reddit user @jarenfeser issued a challenge in a bid to help nonprofit group Bitcoin Cash Fund, whose goal is to bring the cryptocurrency to 1 billion users in five years.

“Over the next 48 hours I will match all donations made to The Bitcoin Cash Fund (up to 300 BCH), according to the Reddit user.

iGA Gaming Innovation Start-up Launchpad: Searching for iGaming industry’s next big thing

Innovation lies at the heart of every successful product. Without innovation, the world will remain stagnant and dull.

To drive innovation and bring new opportunities to the gaming industry in the region, iGaming Asia Congress will host the first ever Gaming Innovation Start-up Launchpad on March 14, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Macau.

Launchpad is also iGA’s way to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the longest running dedicated C-level iGaming event in Asia, according to Giulia Timarco, conference producer at Beacon Events.

“iGaming Asia Congress has been the premier C-level iGaming event in Asia for the past decade. We would like to bring in more up-and-coming igaming innovators to the event in an attempt to drive innovation and bring new opportunities to the gaming industry in the region,” Timarco said in a statement.

City of Dreams lifts Belle Corp’s 2017 bottom line to $67.5M

Vibrant gambling activity in City of Dreams has lifted the consolidated net income of Philippine-listed gaming and property firm Belle Corporation by 13 percent in 2017.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Belle reported that its consolidated net income grew to PHP3.5 billion ($67.5 million) last year, compared to P3.1 billion ($59.67 million) in 2016.

Excluding capital gains on sales of non-core investments and non-recurring items, Belle’s recurring net income jumped 58 percent to PHP3.3 billion ($63.52 million) for 2017, compared to its recurring net income of P2.1 billion ($40.43 million) for 2016.

Belle’s principal assets include land and buildings located at the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s Entertainment City in Paranaque City, which are being leased on a long-term basis to Melco Resorts & Entertainment.

Unearth ancient treasures in Pragmatic Play’s Ancient Egypt

Myth and mystery await in this accessible video slot

Malta, 5 March 2018: Multi-award-winning casino games developer Pragmatic Play has announced Ancient Egypt, the latest high-quality video slot to join the provider’s thriving portfolio.

Taking players back to a time of pyramids and papyrus, the 3×5 reel game is packed with exciting and instantly recognisable symbols, including an ankh, Anubis, and the famous Queen of the Nile herself, Cleopatra.

The scarab beetle features as the games wild and scatter symbol, triggering the bonus mode when three or more appear.

Betdigital’s Hercules slot powers up William Hill’s performance charts

Monday 5th March 2018 – Betdigital’s brand new Hercules slot has shot to the top of William Hill’s best performing casino titles.

Hercules has only been available on the William Hill platform for a short time and is already showing its strength. Set at the gates of Olympus surrounded by Zeus’ lightning, Hercules is a 5 by 3 reel slots game featuring on the Inspired Storm cabinet.

Players receive wins for three, four or five of a kind and there are 10 different win lines. Betdigital and William Hill worked closely on the design process to deliver an outstanding game for casino players.

Heath Samples, CEO at Betdigital said: “Our collaboration with William Hill to deliver Hercules was an enriching process and we’re thrilled with the results so soon after launch. It’s testament to both teams that it has done so well. There were high hopes for it and this has been our best performing game to date.”

Crown Resorts license on thin ice amid pokies tampering probe

Trouble has its ways of finding billionaire James Packer wherever he goes.

The Packer-led Crown Resorts is once again at the center of an Australian regulatory probe amid allegations that it has allowed the tampering of its poker machines, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Australian gambling watchdog Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) has already green-lighted a disciplinary proceeding against Crown in connection with the company’s alleged move to “blank out” certain electronic gaming machines on the casino floor.

If lady luck smiles, then VCGLR might only order the suspension of Crown’s operation and impose fines on the casino operator. The worst case scenario for Crown is if the VCGLR decides to strip Crown’s flagship casino license.

GVC takes 51% stake in Georgia-facing betting operator Crystalbet for $50M

As part of its shift towards regulated markets, online betting operator GVC Holdings has agreed to buy 51 percent of Georgian gambling group Crystalbet for €41 million (US$50.84 million) in cash.

The UK-listed company, which is currently in the midst of acquiring rival Ladbrokes Coral, announced on Monday that has signed a deal to acquire a majority of the equity capital of Crystalbet owner Mars LLC, with a commitment to buy the remaining 49 percent in 2021 for as much as €150 million.

The acquisition, which is not subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed by the end of March 2018.

Described as “one of the leading online gaming operators in the Republic of Georgia,” Crystalbet holds licenses to offer sports betting, casino games, poker, and peer-to-peer games in the Georgian market. According to GVC, since the Georgian-facing operator was launched in 2011, it has “achieved significant growth, driven by its entrepreneurial management team and a highly successful marketing strategy.”

Tom John Light, Vice President of Business Development at SBTech will share blockchain related info at Prague Gaming Summit 2018

Prague – 5 March 2018 – With little over 24 days to go until the second edition of Prague Gaming Summit kicks off, the organizers are looking forward to hosting +30 speakers and 100 delegates from 42 countries.

With trending topics such as the Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Swiss, Austrian and Slovenian market regulations, the event will also focus on featuring panels about Responsible Gambling, AML, cryptocurrencies and of course the use of blockchain.

The latest announced speaker will join the “Innovation Talks Live” panel discussion that features expert speakers such as Max Krupyshev (Cubits) and Bernhard Blaha (Herocoin.io).

Tom John Light is no stranger to technology and it comes as no surprise that he also focuses on blockchain and the use of blockhain.

Tiago Almeida: Social media is main source of Latin American traffic

In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero, Tiago Almeida of eGaming Services explains why operators need to take a look at the Latin American market.

Loading the player…

jwplayer(‘camediasplayer-361691-2’).setup({

file: “http://30.cdn.bit2host.eu/videos/tiago-almeida-social-media-main-source-latin-american-traffic-video.m4v”,

Kalidou Sow goes 3 for 3 in tournament action

Three tournaments, three wins. That’s the claim to fame of France’s Kalidou Sow, who just picked up his third title in a row at the Winamax Poker Tour Paris High Roller tournament. He added just over $123,000 to the more than $900,000 he earned between December 2017 and January, and the more than $1.4 million he’s picked up in live action in his career.

In December, Sow finished first at the PokerStars Championship Prague Main Event for $123,104. He followed that up with his second first-place win at the PokerStars Festival London Main Event, adding another $170,000 to his bank. He completed the hat trick (shamelessly borrowed from other sports) with the Winamax victory in Paris last February 27.

A total of 376 entries for the Winamax tournament were logged, a record for the High Roller event. Part of the increase came from re-buys from players that busted prior to the end of the late registration period. Belgium’s Davidi Kitai was in a competitive mood and tried a total of five times to keep going, but never did make it to the money.

Forty-seven would go on to pick up cash during the tournament, earning at least €2,800 (about $3,450). Winamax’s own Adrien Delmas made it as far as 26th place, pocketing €3,800 (around $4,683). The final nine were guaranteed at least €12,000 ($14,791), with €50,000 ($61,618) going to the winner.

What do poker pros do when they’re not playing? Make rap songs

Brad Owen may not be the winningest poker player, but he’s made a name for himself vlogging about the game. He has over 35,000 subscribers to his channel, and is friends with someone of the game’s heaviest hitters, like Doug Polk and Phil Hellmuth. So what do they do when they’re not playing cards? They make rap songs. Not just any rap songs, though—cat rap songs.

The trio recently hooked up with fellow players Scott Blumstein and Andrew Neeme to create a rap song using Owen’s cat, Cosmo, as the main attraction. Apparently, Cosmo is a stellar poker player, and decided to let the world know that he “beasts everything.” This is the part where most viewers roll their eyes.

The rap is actually almost catchy. Owen uploaded the video to his YouTube channel three days ago and it already has 16,902 views, and Cosmo can be seen displaying his massive bank and ability to roll the chips. Cosmo compares himself to Garfield the cat and retired basketball star Michael Jordan. The rap video lasts a grueling 5 minutes and 39 seconds, but the rap itself, thankfully, is only 2 minutes and 32 seconds. That’s when the poker stars come in to discuss their histories with the furry player.

Neeme admits that Cosmo “flew through the stakes” in the few games they’ve played together. Polk, on the other hand, has had a number of duels with the feline, and has lost more hands than he cares to remember. Hellmuth was bluffed by the cat (not surprising) and Blumstein thinks that Cosmo should have won poker’s People’s Choice award. “He is a great poker player but he’s always bragging about how purrfect he is,” said Blumstein, who was also in the running for the award. Neeme ultimately took the People’s Choice Award.