Monthly Archives: June 2018

Bryke continues unstoppable run with 250 machines in Big Bola Casinos

The increase in the number of machines of Bryke’s product range in Mexico is accelerating with a new delivery of 250 machines for the 16 venues of the renowned Mexican operator, Big Bola Casinos.

On the image: Left: Johnny Viveiros Ortiz (Zitro), Right: José Antonio Rodriguez (Big Bola)

“These new installments demonstrate the confidence that Big Bola Casinos is placing in our diverse product lines. Our differentiated gaming experiences for different player profiles, with games like Link King, our progressive multigame Link, or the popular product lines Pick & Win and Blazing Pearls, is what customers have asked for, and is what we have provided” commented Johnny Viveiros Ortiz, founder of Zitro.

“We would like to thank Big Bola Casinos, after so many years of successful collaboration with our Zitro products, for giving us the same opportunity with our new Bryke products,” concludes Johnny Viveiros Ortiz.

Fantasy Sports Interactive launches collaboration with AfricaBet for the World Cup

London, United Kingdom, 22 June 2018 – Fantasy Sports Interactive Ltd. (FSI) are proud to officially announce their partnership with AfricaBet International B.V.

FSI enters a partnership with AfricaBet International B.V, to provide their international site Africabet.com with a range of fantasy sports gaming products, to complement AfricaBet’s multi-faceted betting platform.

FSI and Africabet.com Team will originally roll out a core fantasy sports offering for the World Cup, to enrich customer experience and promote fan engagement during Football’s global celebration.

FSI’s igaming offering at Africabet.com will gradually unfold with a variety of fantasy sports products in the 2018/2019 football season and the ability for the addition of Fantasy NBA in October. FSI’s suite will add a unique product mix that combines skill games with sportsbook, creating a genre with advanced cross-selling and customer retention elements, able to attract a new category of players to the AfricaBet platform.

NFL division odds: Eagles, Rams among NFC betting favorites

The NFL has a ton of parity, at least in terms of teams reaching the postseason. Every year since the league switched to a 12-team playoff format in 1990, at least four new teams have made the postseason from one year to the next.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

That said, there’s usually one dominant team in one division per conference, the New England Patriots in the AFC East being a good example. The Green Bay Packers have been the Patriots of the NFC in the North Division. Thus, there’s usually at least one repeat division champion in each conference each season. That wasn’t the case, though, in 2017 as all four NFC division champions were new. Could it happen again in 2018?

The biggest NFC divisional betting favorite is the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles at -175 in the NFC East. Their division title last year was their first since 2013, and they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl despite losing starting quarterback Carson Wentz in Week 14 to a season-ending knee injury. Backup Nick Foles played his way to Super Bowl MVP honors. Will Wentz be ready for Week 1? Signs seem to be pointing that way.

iGathering21 makes waves

Pool Party makes a splash amongst industry elite

Hugo’s  Infinity, a glamorous rooftop pool location in St. Julians, set the scene for an exclusive, invite-only iGathering. The momentous event, hosted by Malta Blockchain Summit and CryptoFriends, was generously sponsored by AliQuantum Gaming and Hipay, along with partners CoinTelegraph and ICObench.

Guests were treated to an art exhibition and Blockchain Auction, before savouring gourmet barbeque and supping on freshly-made mojitos as they lounged by the pool.

Some of the most renowned iGaming-and-crypto-industry experts, enthusiasts, and investors mingled under the warm afternoon sun as cocktails flowed and business cards exchanged hands – providing just the right balance of priceless business opportunities and premier entertainment.

Annexio announces launch of LottoGo.com brand

Annexio, the Isle of Man’s thriving lottery betting business, has today launched a new flagship consumer brand LottoGo.com.

The new brand will be “exciting, energetic and fun” said Annexio founder and director Tom Brodie, who announced the move as the company continues to expand its reach and increase player numbers in the global market place.

LottoGo.com will replace the hugely successful World Lottery Club brand that has been developed over the past six years and which is currently experiencing record growth in customer acquisition and revenue. World Lottery Club players have had the chance to bet on the outcome of some of the world’s biggest and most popular lotteries including MegaMillions and US Powerball. It has paid tens of millions of pounds in winnings since inception.

The transition to www.lottogo.com is a result of the desire to have a brand that reflects the personality of its products said Tom.  “We are rebranding to make our consumer proposition more exciting, more vibrant and easier to understand. We believe with the launch of LottoGo.com we will see many more people enjoying the chance to win some of the biggest jackpots on the planet,” he added.

PhilWeb expands eGaming presence with new PAGCOR purchases

PhilWeb Corp., the game technology company, has repeatedly said that it wants to regain ground in the Philippines after taking a state-ordered vacation of more than a year. It would now appear that it knows how to put its money where its mouth is, and has acquired additional eGaming sites from the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp (PAGCOR) in a deal for cash and stock.

The company’s BigGame unit has purchased two sites from Golden Frontier Gaming. The sites, in Consolacion and Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu, changed hands for $46,882 in cash and 394,322 PhilWeb shares. The shares were offered for a total of $37,841.

PhilWeb began ramping up its portfolio after it reacquired an operating license last year. In August, the company announced that PAGCOR had given it a provisional Certificate of Accreditation to operate as an Electronic Gaming System (EGS) provider. In October, PhilWeb was given a permanent license with the caveat that it could only operate 16 gaming outlets out of the company’s 34 locations. This past February, the firm saw its operations capabilities extended when PAGCOR authorized it to operate at an additional 21 sites across the country.

At the end of March, PhilWeb was operating 38 locations. Since then, it has added an additional 14 to bring its current total to 52.

‘The 13′ casino faces new delays

Maybe it’s all about the name. The casino simply called ‘The 13’ planned for Macau can’t seem to catch a break. Construction delays have continuously pushed the grand opening further and further back. The company behind the construction has had to reach out for more financial assistance after not being able to stay on budget. That company, which was previously called “The 13 Holdings Ltd.,” even changed its name to South Shore Holdings Ltd. – possibly in an attempt to break the bad luck spell. It didn’t work, and the casino is more than likely about to face another opening delay.

The 13 has been expected to open on June 30, after being pushed back from April 30. However, according to GGRAsia, the Macao Government Tourism Office told the news outlet that “there are still unfinished works inside the hotel, so the hotel applicant needs to apply for reinsertion once they are completed.” With that in mind, chances of meeting the deadline in eight days does not look good.

The casino was envisioned to be “the world’s most luxurious casino resort” by its founder, billionaire Stephen Hung. The hotel itself carried a hefty price of $1.6 billion to be built, and Hung was able to attract a number of investors to see the project through to the end.  However, once the Chinese government began cracking down on VIP junkets between mainland China and Macau, things started to fall apart.

Shares in the company are now almost worthless. In 2014, they were going for $4 a piece – now they’re worth only around $0.10. Hung ultimately left the company this past February amid the operation’s questionable future.

Bahamas ‘web shop’ tax hikes claim first shop closures

Online gambling operators in the Bahamas have begun laying off staff as the government shows no signs of budging on its plans to dramatically hike gaming taxes.

On Wednesday, the Bahamas Tribune reported that local ‘web shop’ operator A Sure Win had announced the closure of 11 of its venues, which offer access to online lottery and casino games via computer terminals. The closures, which will happen at the end of the month, will result in around 50 staffers losing their jobs.

A Sure Win issued a statement blaming the closures on the government’s recent decision to dramatically hike gaming taxes. A Sure Win said its tax burden had gone up 82%, forcing the operator to make some “fundamental business decisions concerning the future sustainability of our operations.

There are seven licensed web shop operators and the Bahamas Gaming Operators Association (BGOA) has warned that the tax hikes could result in the closure of nearly 200 shops and around 2,000 staff layoffs. The government justified the tax hike by claiming that the web shop sector was making obscene profits, a claim the industry vehemently rejects.

BetConstruct becomes the Innovator in Sports Betting Software at EGR awards

The cutting-edge technologies of BetConstruct got the company recognized at EGR B2B Awards as the front runner in software development of the year.

Artificial Intelligence inspires and opens new prospects for achieving a more secure and automated operation. Being on of the leading tech companies, BetConstruct could not be absent of this tendency and now is in development of similar technologies that can be integrated into the igaming industry. The outstanding work of our team on Machine Learning usage in this industry won the company the title of Innovation in Sports Betting Software at EGR awards.

“First of all, I would like to congratulate my BetConstruct colleagues for being honored with the title of the Innovation in Sports Betting Software. Having our innovations recognized as valuable and successful solutions is what I am proud of and grateful for,” comments Tigran Meliksetyan, BetConstruct Sportsbook Product Owner. “We have developed BetCloud for our partners to be a part of a powerful system and take advantage of the operation within it as well as of a few new functionalities like Auto and Partial Cash Outs and Edit Bet.”

Adhering to its event calendar, BetConstruct has one more awards ceremony ahead which is EGR North America on June 26 recognizing providers with an outstanding contribution to the industry. But before that we will be attending a series of EGR briefings. Company regional director in Germany, Gor Mnatsakanian, will attend EGR Online Gambling Briefing in Portugal overviewing the online regulatory regime in the country and discussing what the future holds for the operators running their business in Portugal.

Jason Somerville and PokerStars announce new partnership

A new poker studio is born. In a partnership between Jason Somerville and PokerStars, Run It Up Studios (RIUS), an endeavor designed to help enhance the Twitch poker community and to also assist other streamers with their brands and capabilities, is being launched on the popular streaming platform.

Somerville is already a well-known face on Twitch. He has been streaming on the platform for several years, and is somewhat of an expert in building brands. He has also expanded his offerings to cover live poker events such as the Run It Up Reno poker tournaments.

While there have been several other poker studio launches this year – Aria Casino’s PokerGO and Luxor’s Esports Arena, to name two – Run It UP Studios is the only one not associated with a casino. It won’t cover live tournament action and will focus on the “behind the scenes” world of poker.

Explains Somerville, “As a Twitch streamer for many years, there were many lessons that I learned in broadcasting myself. There are many resources and assets that I gathered for my own stream and I’ve decided to take all those lessons and resources and build them into a company that is able to help other streamers be successful. I know what it takes to run a successful Twitch stream and taking that same knowledge and resources, and offering it to others.”

World Cup round-up: Russia and Uruguay advance from Group A

Another round-up from the World Cup where Russia and Uruguay advance to the knockout stages maintaining their 100% win rate in Group A.

Burger King needn’t have placed the ad offering Russian women £36,000 and Whoppers for life if they could convince World Cup players to fill their bellies with babies. The Russian footballing gene pool is doing quite well, thank you.

The lowest ranked side in the competition made it through to the knockout stages after a stunning second-half display against a Mohamed Salah inspired Egypt in St Petersburg.

After the 5-0 win against Saudi Arabia, Russian coach, Stanislav Cherchesov, received a personal call from President Putin during the post-match press conference. I have a vision of him taking his bloodied rubber gloves off, the CEO of Burger King in Russia hanging from a meat hook, while someone passes him a mobile phone.

World Cup round-up: Portugal & Spain Edge Closer

Another round-up from the World Cup, this time from Group B with Portugal and Spain edging closer to a knockout berth with victories over Morocco and Iran respectively.

There was a moment during Portugal’s opening game with Spain when Pepe clashed with Diego Costa, and the commentator called them both ‘Titans.’

I remember thinking at the time, “Did he mean Tits?”

Portugal has beaten Morocco to put eight studs into the Round of 16 thanks to another goal from Cristiano Ronaldo. All the talk should be of the world’s greatest footballer, and instead, I feel compelled to talk about the man muppet – Pepe.

British Columbia casinos under pressure to ban high-limit games

Casinos in the Canadian province of British Columbia are facing mounting public pressure to ban high-limit table games following a spate of money laundering scandals, according to new poll results.

This week, Global News reported on the results of a Research Co. survey of 800 BC voters that found 76% support for a public inquiry into the parade of money laundering allegations at brick-and-mortar casinos licensed by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC).

Last September, BC’s new NDP government revealed the existence of a report that was buried by the previous Liberal administration detailing Chinese VIPs using BC casinos, in particular the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, to launder money of dubious origin.

A steady drip of negative headlines followed this report, including a significant number of housewives and students making millions of dollars in cash buy-ins at local casinos despite no obvious source of income, and the Liberals shutting down a gaming investigative body when it started asking too many questions.