Monthly Archives: March 2018

Record number of speakers gathers in London for Betting on Football

Betting on Football, the largest sports betting industry event of the year, has gathered a record number of speakers to deliver a global perspective on the football betting market at Stamford Bridge in London from March 20 to 23.

Expect 200 leading industry speakers to sit down in 40 key sessions and round table discussions that will cover leadership, country market profiles, marketing and media, as well as trading and operations during the first two days of the conference.

The lineup of speakers includes the likes of Snaitech CEO Fabio Schiavolin, Danske Spil CEO Niels Erik Folmann, Mr Green CEO Jesper Kärrbrink, Pinnacle CEO Paris Smith, Veikkaus Senior Vice President Jari Vahanen, Better Collective CEO Jesper Soegaard, OPTIMA CEO Jacob Lopez Curciel, Microgame CEO Marco Castaldo, BetVictor Director of Sportsbook & VIP Matt Scarrott, and special keynote speaker Ruud Gullit, formerly both player and manager at Chelsea FC.

Over 1,500 senior executives attending the conference will be provided with an extensive update on football betting markets across the globe, including an assessment of the Spanish market and an increasingly digitalized environment in Africa.

TwoPlusTwo forum drops Winning Poker Network advertising

Popular online poker player forum TwoPlusTwo has suspended advertising from the Winning Poker Network (WPN) due to ongoing speculation of chicanery on WPN’s flagship US-facing site Americas Cardroom (ACR).

Last month, high-profile poker player Joey Ingram went public with suspicions of strange goings-on at ACR, including the widespread use of bots, multi-accounting, collusion and the possible existence of ‘superusers.’

A few weeks later, Ingram made public his conversations with WPN CEO Phil Nagy that indicated Ingram’s allegations had some merit, but Ingram declared that he had “limited faith” in WPN’s capacity to remedy the situation.

This week, Two Plus Two Interactive LLC boss Mason Malmuth issued a statement saying that he’d emailed Nagy on February 24 that addressed four issues: “late tournament registration (which we now understand has been addressed), bots, possible super users, and other possible collusion.” Malmuth also offered suggestions on how some of these issues might be addressed.

Gambling.com Group acquires Bookies.com and related assets

The acquisition is a forceful move into the sports betting vertical for Gambling.com Group Plc, whose focus has historically been online casino.

The transaction also includes the websites Bookmakers.co.uk and FootballScores.com along with 76 sports betting and casino related domain names. The acquired domain names include premium, undeveloped domains such as: bookmakers.com and bookies.co.uk. The assets drive almost all of their revenue from the largest, regulated, online sports betting market in the world, the United Kingdom.

The acquired assets generated sales of over GBP 600,000 during the last three months of 2017. The Group expects to operate the assets with a pre-tax profit margin of more than 80% going forward. The acquisition was closed on February 28th, 2018 and will be consolidated from February 1st, 2018. The purchase price amounts to an upfront payment of GBP 2.0 million which was paid as a cash consideration in conjunction with the transfer of the assets. In addition, there is deferred compensation of GBP 4.5 million payable over a period of one year.

Charles Gillespie, Gambling.com Group Plc Chief Executive, says “This is both the largest and most exciting acquisition we have done since we began acquiring in 2017. These websites perfectly complement our existing portfolio in terms of both increasing our sports betting market share and continuing with our focus on big brands and big domains.”

Mare Balticum (Baltic Sea) Gaming Summit preliminary agenda now available

RIGA – 2 March 2018 – The inaugural edition of the Mare Balticum (Baltic Sea) Gaming Summit is aiming to create a platform that will allow conversation between the international gambling industry and the local regulators in order to improve performance and highlight the key benefits of being a licensed operation.

As the organizers pointed out in the earlier press releases, the event will feature dedicated panel discussions per region. Today, the preliminary agenda is available and a more speakers have been revealed.

The program/agenda looks the following way:

• 9:00 – 9:30 – Registration

ITF adds Sportradar’s Integrity Services to integrity protection measures

The ITF today announced the addition of Sportradar’s Integrity Services to its integrity protection measures. As an extension of its current partnership with the ITF, Sportradar will use its Fraud Detection System to monitor betting patterns across more than 50,000 ITF Pro Circuit tennis matches.

As part of the agreement, Sportradar’s intelligence and investigations capabilities can be utilised by the Tennis Integrity Unit, which is responsible for investigating breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program and in which the ITF is a partner.

The services provided by Sportradar will add to ITF’s anti-corruption measures at Pro Circuit events. Current measures the ITF has in place at Pro Circuit level include accredited areas, monitoring, training and mentoring of tournament and match officials, and increased video streaming of matches.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “We are pleased to be further developing our relationship with Sportradar in order to enhance our integrity protection measures. Combating match-fixing and other forms of corruption in tennis is crucial in ensuring the long-term health of the game. These new developments build on our long-term partnership with Sportradar to develop and provide ITF Pro Circuit data and content for fans worldwide. Sportradar brings added expertise and capabilities to existing anti-corruption measures, and shares our commitment and passion for protecting the integrity of the game.”

Battle for third Connecticut casino back to square one

The Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegan tribes may find themselves back to the drawing board after a bill seeking to open casino expansion to a competitive bidding has been filed before the State Capitol.

It also turns out that the new casino expansion bill, which is scheduled to be tackled on March 8, also calls for the repeal of a law that gave the tribes the go signal to start constructing a casino in East Windsor.

The Hartford Courant reported that lawmakers from Bridgeport, Connecticut, are pushing for the repeal of Public Act 17-89 (PA 17-89), which authorizes the operation of an entertainment and casino gaming facility in East Windsor.

On Thursday, the Public Safety Committee co-chairman Rep. Joe Verrengia justified the move for the scrapping of PA 17-89 since the new bill requires the $50 million licensing fee, which isn’t found in the East Windsor Expansion Act.

Malta Blockchain Summit inaugural launch

Inspired by the recent initiation of Malta’s Virtual Currency Act, the Malta Blockchain Summit will be held for the first time this year on the 1st to 2nd November at the Malta InterContinental.

Boasting over 2000 delegates, 100 speakers and 150 sponsors and exhibitors, it promises to be an innovative and momentous opportunity for global influencers to network, forge new connections and debate the potential applications of Blockchain across a myriad of industries such as health, entertainment, government, and banking.

With the opportunity for custom built stands and packages at various competitive price points, exhibitors will be spoilt for choice. The pinnacle of which is the exclusive Platinum package which is cram-packed with tempting lures: such as a four-page interview with photo shoot and company profile in Blockchain Magazine, a double page advert and 20 hours of consultancy by Malta Blockchain Summit.

There are also exciting sponsorship deals to be found from a WiFi Sponsorship package  to the Exclusive Main Entrance package, all offering an unmissable chance to get your brand seen by the people that matter.

Stan Collymore teams up with Betstars to relive his match-winning goal against newcastle In 1996

Former Reds striker revisits Anfield 22 years on from his iconic last-gasp strike

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – March 1, 2018 – Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has teamed up with online betting site BetStars, the sports betting brand of The Stars Group Inc., to look back at his iconic match-winning goal against Newcastle at Anfield in 1996 in a new video.

Collymore, who scored 28 goals with the Reds, took a stroll down memory lane outside Anfield Stadium, reliving his memories of the stoppage-time goal which secured a 4-3 victory for Liverpool in a game often cited by fans and commentators as the greatest Premier League game in history.

Reflecting on the goal, Collymore said: “My abiding memory of the winning goal against Newcastle is how much space I had in the box so late on in the game. I got a really good first touch, steadied myself and I just hit it beyond the goalkeeper before he could react, and I think there was a split second of silence before the whole of Anfield erupted. Then I just ran off like a crazy man towards what is now the Kenny Dalglish Stand and I knew that we had won the game.”

Vegas Hero launches new document upload power feature!

Vegas Hero has brought a whole new dimension of powers for uploading your documents!

Vegas Hero heard your cries and has answered them with the brand-new document upload feature that’s super charged with speed and ease, to make verifying your account easier than ever before so you can concentrate on having fun!

All customers at Vegas Hero will have to verify their account at some point prior to a deposit or withdrawal, so the hero has put this seamlessly smooth new feature inside all accounts.

To verify your account at Vegas Hero, you will need to log in and click on go to the section ‘My Account, where you will be directed down to bottom of the page and presented with the option ‘Document Upload’. If you are familiar with this feature then have fun whizzing through it thus ensuring even speedier withdrawals, but if not, you can follow all the online steps or click on the circular help/how to verify your account.

When the curtain calls: The 90th Academy Awards betting guide

The award season for the entertainment industry is almost finally over, and the red curtain will finally be unfurled on Sunday at the 90th Academy Awards.

Perhaps everybody had a clear idea on who might be crowned winners on Sunday by just tracking how the nominees fared in the recently concluded 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA), the 23rd Critics Choice Awards, and the 75th Golden Globe Awards.

Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri wasn’t on every film critic’s radar going into the awards season until it won the Golden Globe for best picture, while fan favorites Dunkirk, Get Out, and The Post had been shut out from the category.

In fact, Three Billboards is now in a neck-and-neck race with Guillermo Del Toro’s Shape of Water and is considered to be an Oscar front-runner after it was nominated for 13 statuettes.

Dennis Blieden calls a halt to the Toby Lewis express train; wins WPT LAPC

Dennis Blieden prevented Toby Lewis from winning his second major title in less than a month after a dominant display at the final table of the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic Main Event.

It’s the 48th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Live tournament rookie Dennis Blieden is having a blinder in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em side event. His road ends in 13th place, but he liked the dead feeling in his right foot from pressing hard on the pedal. And, the winner of that event? The UK’s Chris Brammer.

Eight months later and Blieden entered the final table second in chips in the World Poker Tour (WPT) LA Poker Classic (LAPC), and once again an Englishman was sitting in pole position. Toby Lewis. Only this time, things would turn out a little different.

It was an LAPC to remember.

Keith Lim: Blockchain will definitely have a positive role in disrupting the insurance industry

Most of the young companies developing blockchain-based solutions are focused on cross-border payments and other financial services. Therefore, the insurance industry is still poorly covered by the blockchain, says Keith Lim, owner of the insurance startup Hearti.

However, the expert is sure that the technology will change the sphere of insurance in the near future. In an interview with Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Thailand, he talked on how this will happen, as well as made a brief announcement of his presentation at the event.

Interviewer: Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Thailand (BCT)

Speaker: Keith Lim (K.L.)

Calling the Clock: Polk to focus on crypto; Cody in the black and more

In this week’s Calling the Clock we bring you up to speed on some developments involving Doug Polk, an incredibly ballsy move by Jake Cody, and much more.

If there is one lie that most of humanity seems to have in common it’s this one:

“I don’t care what people think about me?”

Each opinion is a brick, each cutting comment the cement that builds our personality. Of course, we care, and this week we saw an excellent example of that from the most unusual of places.

Snooker champ Ronnie O’Sullivan attends CoinPoint’s Bitcoin Cash Party

Cryptocurrency and blockchain agency CoinPoint gathered some of the biggest names and global leaders not just in the crypto industry, but also from the gaming scene, for a night of celebration—the Bitcoin Cash way.

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EPL Review Week 28: City slam another three past Arsenal

Week 28 of the English Premier League sees Man City beat Arsenal for the second time in a week, this time extending their lead at the top of the Premier League to 16-points.

The Beast from the East cast its spell on the Emirates Stadium last night. But surely, the weather wasn’t the only reason for the vast masses of empty seats as Man City gave Arsenal their second three goal thumping in five days.

A lot has been said about Arséne Wenger’s tenure at the club. Yes, the Frenchman’s legacy is slowly being peeled away from the Arsenal archives, but sometimes you have to hold your hands up and admit the other side is far superior.

It is unacceptable that Arsenal lie 30-points adrift of City, and ten points away from a Champions League place, but there can be no shame is losing to a side that beats everyone it faces (with the exception of Wigan for some ungodly reason).

Sports stock exchange INDEX expands into Canada, Sweden

Move over NASDAQ, the world of stock trading has taken a turn.

Instead of just owning a piece of a company, it’s now possible to own a piece of a soccer player, kind of. INDEX is a stock market that allows for speculation on the performance of soccer players. Similar to the way a commodity exchange works, INDEX allows participants to buy and sell money shares of more than 2,000 football players. The list includes some of the including some of the top players in the English Premier League, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europe League.

The company already offers trading to users based in the UK with over 100,000 subscribers. It is now moving into Sweden and Canada, part of the companies plan to eventually offer its platform to traders across the globe. It decided on the two countries due in large part to the popularity of soccer, and because both countries have a high population of English speakers.

The expansion will give additional liquidity to INDEX’s market, and will allow its clients to have a broader portfolio with more possibilities to generate profits. Adam Cole, founder and CEO of INDEX, spoke about the expansion, saying, “We have selected Sweden and Canada as the first step in our international expansion strategy because both nations have strong sporting heritage and English is widely spoken. This latest development is not only great news for Swedish and Canadian football/trading fans but will also be a significant boost for our UK football traders.”