Monthly Archives: March 2018

CoinGeek.com funds the Cash Shuffle Group’s Bitcoin Cash (BCH) ‘Mixer’ Tool

CoinGeek.com continues to invest in developing BCH into the one true Blockchain with recent funding for: a terabyte block*, a tokenization mechanism (with a £5,000,000 prize for anybody who can achieve this) and now with the Cash Shuffle Group to add the ability to mix or shuffle coins on the Blockchain through multiple transactions to improve anonymity.

These improvements to the chain help tie BCH even more firmly to the original Satoshi White Paper and thus is not only the best Blockchain but also the only true Bitcoin.

Calvin Ayre, owner of CoinGeek.com, explains: “The Legacy Segwit Coin (BTC) should no longer call itself Bitcoin as there is no resemblance to the coin launched in 2008. BCH is now making sure it is true to the original vision and is adding other useful elements as the cryptocurrency world evolves. I am willing to listen any sensible arguments as to why this is not the case but can find none to refute the claim that BCH is the real Bitcoin.”

Alongside everything we are doing CoinGeek is also educating merchants about the benefits of adopting Bitcoin Cash as a lower-fee, fast-payment system. These educational efforts will really hit a peak at our CoinGeek Conference in Hong Kong this May 18th.

X-Bet partner with Quantum Bellator Fire

As X-Bet partner with the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive outfit, Quantum Bellator Fire, Lee Davy wonders when the time will come that all esports athletes will be banned from betting on esports matches.

I’ve only experienced the strange relationship between gambling companies and Premier League football teams once, but it was enough to show me that there was footwork to get right in that little waltz.

partypoker invited me to Old Trafford to play in a poker tournament involving several Manchester United players as part of the bwin sponsorship arrangement.

I was 30-seconds away from interviewing my idol, Bryan Robson, when the United Press Officer handed me my list of questions, each one with a red line through it.

The future of online poker? Virtue Poker outline plans for token sale

ConsenSys backed Virtue Poker discloses plans to launch a token sale in late April, as well as intentions for a potential Phase 2 launch, Alpha and Beta testing, and a cutting of the red ribbon sometime in Q4, 2018.

Ever get the feeling that you’re the only person in the room that has no clue what’s going on?

Welcome to my world.

As I hand Barista Rick the £3.40, he needs to make me a Breakfast Smoothie I know that this archaic form of exchange is soon for the knackers yard. It feels like flicking a rubber band in the face of an intruder holding an AK-47.

Win Systems well set for Latin American push at FADJA

Malta, 28 March 2018 – Win Systems, the leading technology supplier for the gaming and entertainment industry, will be showcasing its extensive range of casino products and management systems at FADJA, April 5-6 in Bogota, Colombia.

After a successful end of 2017 and beginning of 2018, with ICE Totally Gaming a particular highlight, the supplier is ready to continue its growth in the Americas at FADJA and onwards at further trade shows in the coming months.

Win Systems’ six-position electronic roulette, Ventura, the latest addition to its Gold Club range, will be on show to the Latin America audience for the first time. Ventura impressed in its launch at ICE, with many delegates commenting on its premium build and compact size.

This will be complemented by the supplier’s successful casino management systems including WIGOS™, which offers casinos of all types a scalable, complete suite of tools which assist in the management of every aspect of the casino operation.

Gaming Innovation Group signs deal with games development studio Push Gaming

28/03/2018, St. Julian’s, Malta – The integration of Push Gaming’s thrilling HTML5 games with beautifully designed artwork will further enhance Gaming Innovation Group’s extensive portfolio of popular and competitive casino products.

This latest deal will see GiG, along with their long list of successful B2B partners, benefit from Push Gaming’s portfolio of attractive mobile focused games. GiG have launched some of the most compelling and entertaining brands around, such as Rizk, Thrills and its latest casino launch Highroller.com.

GiG has recently been voted “Best Casino Group” for a second year in a row by Casinomeister.com, the most accredited online casino forum portal by players and operators alike.

Ahead of signing this deal, Push Gaming Managing Director James Marshall said: “Gaming Innovation Group are one of the most exciting businesses in our industry. They’ve seen exceptional growth over the past couple of years with their innovative B2B and B2C offerings. Being selected as a supplier to such a progressive business is testament to the stand out mobile games that we’re developing.”

Paddy Power Betfair CFO appointment

Paddy Power Betfair plc today announces that Jonathan Hill will be appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Jonathan, who is currently CFO at Saga plc, will take up the role in the autumn.

Jonathan joined Saga plc as CFO in April 2015 and was previously Group Finance Director at Bovis Homes. Prior to that he held senior finance roles at TUI Travel and Centrica. Jonathan qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse.

Commenting on the appointment, CEO Peter Jackson said: “We’re delighted that Jonathan is joining us. He brings substantial strategic and operational finance experience in consumer businesses and I am confident he will make a significant contribution to Paddy Power Betfair’s future success.”

Jonathan Hill commented: “I am excited to be joining a business with great brands, differentiated products and substantial international scale. There are many opportunities to drive shareholder value and I look forward to being part of the team to deliver this”.

Big blind ante is taking over the poker world

Texas Hold’em poker has undergone a few changes since its inception decades ago. Two of the more recent alterations have been the inclusion of a play timer, which was much needed, and the big blind ante (BBA). Both have been happily accepted by the poker community, despite limited resistance to the BBA. The play timer is a no-brainer, and the BBA has been gaining a substantial amount of traction lately in tournaments.

The BBA came about due to confusion at the tables. The BBA can be defined simply as the ante paid for the entire table by the player sitting in the big blind spot in each hand. Perhaps from one too many cocktails or nerves, at times questions were raised regarding whether or not all players had anted up. To prevent the confusion, and subsequent arguments, high roller players created the BBA during tournaments at the Aria in 2017. The format became so popular that the Aria has included it for all of its $240 daily events.

In addition to the Aria, the Wynn Poker Room began using it for all of its events in 2018. The change will be seen at all WPT Main Tour events starting with the upcoming 17th season. Next April, The Borgata’s Spring Poker Open will implement it across all games in the series. The Venetian and Seminole Hard Rock in Florida could also introduce the BBA at a few of their upcoming tournament events. SugarHouse, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will begin using the format next month at a $150 buy-in tournament. PokerStars will also incorporate BBA in 27 events, including the Main Event, at the EPT Monte Carlo.

Two additional events will introduce the BBA, as well. The Super High Roller Bowl and the WSOP Big One For One Drop will implement the structure this year. While the WSOP indicated that it is only considering the BBA for the One Drop tournament, it indicated that it might make it the norm for all of the tournaments beginning in 2019.

Crown Resorts faces new machine-fixing allegations

The sudden resignation of Crown Resorts CEO James Packer last week was a shock to many. More shocking was the explanation provided—he had to deal with mental health issues, which may have been compounded by the long string of allegations of fraud that have recently surfaced against the casino giant. If so, the latest whistleblower case isn’t going to help him recover soon.

In a report provided to Australian news outlet ABC News, the unnamed employee claimed the casino company had willfully changed slot machines in an effort to defraud gamblers. The individual indicated that casino management had ordered employees to physically remove certain buttons from the slot machines in an effort to reduce a patron’s odds of winning and to reduce gaming options. The removal forced gamblers to play only the highest bet lines, according to the report.

After a number of complaints by gamblers, Crown decided to put the buttons back. When the subsequent investigation started, casino officials said that they were “just testing” the feature on a limited number of machines in its casino in Melbourne. The whistleblower who contacted ABC News threw out the penalty flag, saying it was a lie and that no tests had been conducted. In fact, the employee claimed staff was told to “to see how much it could rip people off.”

Crown has two casinos, one in Perth and the other in Melbourne, and is in the process of building a third in Sydney. Those plans could be put on permanent hold, however, as the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation is currently investigating the machine-fixing allegations. Depending on how the agency rules, Crown could see its license revoked temporarily or permanently.

Japanese gamblers face restrictions on casino visits

The Japanese have a saying, “If you do not enter the tiger’s cave, you will not catch its cub.” Simply put, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Japan is preparing to venture into the gambling world, with a lot to possibly gain. In making the necessary arrangements, regulators have taken a pragmatic approach to establishing gaming legislation, but one decision perhaps falls just outside that realm.

Regulators voted on Tuesday to limit the amount of times gamblers can enter casinos weekly and monthly. The plan for Japanese residents, as set forth by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and agreed to by the Komeito Party (KP), would limit weekly visits to three and monthly visits to 10.

Although they agree on the number of visits, the two parties still disagree on the number of casinos to be allowed, as well as the price of admission. Until all points in the legislation are cleared up, the chances of gambling opportunities in the reserved country are slim. The LDP and the KP will have to reach an agreement prior to June 20, the date their current session ends. Only after finalizing the terms of the bill can they send it to the Diet, Japan’s legislature that consists of a House of Councilors and a House of Representatives.

The LDP wants to see a casino entrance fee of JPY5,000 ($48) per person for Japanese residents. This is in contrast to the JPY8,000 ($75) the KP recommends and puts Japanese casino entrance fees on par with those of Singapore.  Some government officials have proposed a much lower fee, at around JPY2,000 ($19), with free admission for foreigners. The fee debate continues.

Sportingtech’s first and very successful Betting on Football

The company showcased its online gaming platform – The Pulse

Lisbon, March 28th, 2018 -Sportingtech exhibited at this year’s Betting on Football and introduced its gaming platform packed with powerful system that demonstrates great stability, high performance, possibilities for customization, great tools for managing all the operational activities for bookmakers, casino operators, and many more.

Sportingtech puts an emphasis to the regulated and emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Europe offering turnkey solution for the online bookmakers and casino operators.

Platform flexibility is its greatest unique selling point as Sportingtech has the ability to offer what other platforms cannot. The system can be tailored to individual client needs. Depending on specifics, clients can manage their own risk analysis and trading activities or it’s up to Sportingtech to take care of this to enable the client to focus on acquiring new players, marketing activities and so on.

Aristocrat brings popular links, successful cabinets to FADJA 2018

Aristocrat Exhibiting in Booth #50

LAS VEGAS (March 28, 2018) – Aristocrat’s products are popular with casino operators and their players in Colombia and across Latin America, and now Aristocrat is bringing player-favorite links and cabinets to FADJA 2018.

Aristocrat will be located in booth #50 at the tradeshow and will exhibit several links and games on its Arc™ Single and Helix+™ cabinets.

Leading the way is Aristocrat’s new Mighty Link™, a multi-licensed progressive link that combines the proven and popular Mighty Cash™ feature with leading Aristocrat licensed brands: the hilarious Ted™, the dashingly daring Zorro™, the high-flying Pan Am™ and the seductive Elvira: Mistress of the Dark™.

Former PokerStars chief joins esports betting startup as COO

Luckbox, an innovative eeports betting organisation operated by a team with vast experience in iGaming, e-sports and cryptocurrency is delighted to welcome Quentin Martin, duly appointed to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). Quentin will spearhead a major position in scaling up Luckbox operations as the enterprise concludes its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and prepares for launch later this year.

Quentin holds vast experience in the gambling sector, serving formerly as Head of Social Poker at PokerStars, where he previously collaborated with Luckbox cofounders Lars Lien and Mike Stevens.

Luckbox is an innovative start-up aiming to become a global leader in eSports betting. With a strong focus on integrity, the Isle of Man-based company will comply with top-tier licences to help bring credibility and trustworthiness to the esports betting space. Quentin, who recently completed an executive MBA (Master of Business Administration) at Warwick Business School, will work in the coming weeks to build upon the dynamic infrastructure of the Luckbox brand, including driving recruitment and putting in place the tools needed to take Luckbox to the next level.

Quentin stated: “As a scale-up COO, my role is incredibly flexible and tough to define – essentially, everything that isn’t product, marketing, or finance falls under my purview, one of which I’m honoured to undertake. I’m here to enhance the organisation and to make sure we stay on track operationally. The job description could most accurately be described as ‘get things done’!”

Red Tiger live in Ladbrokes shops

Dragon’s Luck enjoys retail roll-out

Malta, 27 March 2018: Award-winning slots supplier Red Tiger Gaming has announced the successful launch of Dragon’s Luck on the terminals of leading bookmaker Ladbrokes across the U.K.

Its roll-out follows a similar deal with Coral in September, when the game proved to be the one of the very top performing slots of 2017.

Gavin Hamilton, CEO at Red Tiger Gaming, said the launch would be followed by the distribution of further slots across the UK in the coming months.

Habanero conjures up Presto! Slot

Magical new game set to mesmerise players

27th March 2018 – Premium slots and table games provider Habanero has pulled another rabbit out of the hat with the release of its amazing new game, Presto! 

White doves, cute bunnies, and card tricks galore await the audience as the top-hatted showman goes through his repertoire in this 243 ways, five column, three row title.

This latest release also boasts no less than five sets of unique illusions which operate in both the base game as well as in the free games feature.