Monthly Archives: June 2018

BtoBet settles agreements to expand in Peru

The Peru Gaming Show has delivered what has been widely anticipated, with various local and international operators attending the conference and weighing the benefits of what could be a very fertile market once the upcoming regulatory framework is introduced. As one of the leading experts in the LatAm market, BtoBet has also attended this year’s PGS in Lima, meeting various established operators keen on grasping the opportunity to expand or enter the Peruvian iGaming market once the time is ripe.

Following in Colombia’s steps, Peru is set to shortly become the second white market in the region. And whilst the prospect of the imminent regulated scenario is interesting enough, this alone does not guarantee that operators will reap the benefits from their investments. There is no predetermined formula that will work for all markets. Each region is driven by its own characteristics, and operators must ensure that they understand all the different attributes and forge their activities based on the knowledge they have at hand.

BtoBet’s Chairman Alessandro Fried stated that although the iGaming scene in Peru is still in its embryonic phase due to the lack of a proper regulatory framework, it will only be a matter of time since the market enters a fully regulated stage. “Together with some leading operators, we are setting the basis to enter the market once the opportunity arises. PGS has been the ideal setting for us to meet and strengthen ties with prospective operators keen on venturing in the Peruvian market using us as their technical partners,” stated Fried.

He further stated that although the country has vastly improved its infrastructure, particularly in terms of its broadband and mobile technology, there are a number of elements that operators must ensure to place on top of their agenda before venturing in the Peruvian market. “Operators must ensure that their technology is jurisdictionally scalable, and feature a wide range of international payments. All this whilst having a deep understanding of local players’ preferences, and adjusting their activities accordingly.”

BetConstruct at World GES 2018

On July 3 – 5 BetConstruct will be in Barcelona, Spain to attend World Gaming Executive Summit 2018.

Having discussions around betting, compliance and industry in general, WGES will unite the industry’s top thinkers and representatives for networking and panels dedicated to a range of gaming topics. BetConstruct’s Head of SpringBME, Satenik Danielyan, will be joining the C-Suite panel on the second day of the summit. Looking ahead, the speakers will try to find an answer as to what the future hold for sports betting in a couple of decades. The panelists will speak about the latest practices in customer engagement as well as discuss the scales of eSports.

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Federer the betting favorite for Wimbledon Men’s draw

The most prestigious of tennis’ four Grand Slam championships is Wimbledon, and it’s the only major played on grass – a playing surface rather unfamiliar to many tennis players who grew up in the United States or Canada. This year’s tournament in London begins on July 2 and runs through July 15, the date of the men’s singles final. The betting favorite for the men is Roger Federer at +150.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Federer has won 20 Grand Slam tournaments overall, most in history. So he not only could be considered the greatest player in history but also the best on grass as last year Federer won a record eighth Wimbledon title, breaking a tie with American Pete Sampras in the Open era. Federer routed Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 for his first Wimbledon title since 2012.

At age 36, Federer now carefully plans his playing schedule. Clay is his worst surface by far so he skipped the French Open and the entire clay-court season again this year to get healthy and better prepared for Wimbledon. The Swiss legend had been No. 1 in the world rankings but lost that to Rafael Nadal on Monday after Federer was stunned in the final of the grass-court Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Jackpocket offers Minnesotans online lottery purchases

Minnesotans can once again purchase lottery tickets using their smartphones, but it’s anyone’s guess as to how long this latest experiment in modernity will survive.

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Lottery announced that it had entered into a memorandum of understanding with a New York-based company called Jackpocket for a “lottery service business” that, as of Tuesday, allows Minnesotans to order lottery tickets via an iOS app.

Jackpocket is essentially a payment agent that collects numerical lottery ticket orders – no scratch cards – from customers, then purchases tickets from a retail outlet. Customers, who must be physically located in Minnesota at the time they place their order, receive an email receipt at time of order indicating the numbers on their tickets, and later receive digital photos of said tickets as further proof of purchase.

Customers fund their ticket purchases – which are capped at $100 per day, although players have the option of setting that limit lower – by providing Jackpocket with bank account data. Jackpot charges customers a 7% fee of the ticket price, but doesn’t take any cut of player winnings.

Mizoram opposition party lambasts minister over lottery scam

The future of lotteries in India continues to be called into question. After the country’s comptroller warned earlier this month that Kerala wasn’t doing enough to prevent scams, now the main opposition party in Mizoram is going after a minister for allegedly participating in a multi-crore lottery scam.

The Mizo National Front (MNF) has accused chief minister Lal Thanhawla of being involved in the scam through the issuance of tenders to four lottery distributors on May 30. The MNF pointed out that the distributors had not presented revenue consistent with the industry to the government for the past six years. The MNF’s general secretary, L. Thangmawia, added that the distributors had cost Mizoram around $17.3 million as a result.

The MNF has demanded a probe by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter. It has also asked the Mizoram government to revoke the new tenders and to allow for more distributors to be approved for lottery licenses.

Lotteries are always a touchy subject in the country. Both Kerala and Mizoram have come under fire for lax lottery oversight and possible scams. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) accused Kerala of not doing its part to provide oversight of the industry, which resulted in a large fake ticket ring. Last year, Mizoram was admonished by the CAG over discrepancies in its lottery management, saying that the state never collected all of the proceeds from distributors that it was owed.

WSOP day 27: Margolin wins one after three years of thinking about defeat

Another round-up from the World Series of Poker focusing on Timur Margolin winning a bracelet in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, three years after losing heads-up in the same tournament.

It’s 2015, and Timur Margolin is heads-up for the bracelet in a $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. The Israeli native has the chip lead when he completes from the small blind holding A7ss. His opponent, Matt O’Donnell looks down to see K5ss, and moves all-in; Margolin snap-calls.

The flop is Qd8s2c.

Margolin is two cards away from the bracelet.

World Cup round-up: Uruguay batter the hosts to top Group A

Another round-up from the 2018 World Cup in Russia that sees the action in Group A coming to a close with Uruguay battering the host nation to win the group.  

When David Seaman saved Miguel Nadal’s spot-kick to send England into the semi-finals of Euro 96, I strode towards my front door, arms in the air, a snarl on my face, crunched can of Bow in my right hand, and I kicked at the hole through it.

I stopped drinking in 2009.

As you can see, it made me a little loopy.

US tribal casinos set another new gaming revenue record

US tribal gaming operators reported revenue rising nearly 4% in their most recent fiscal year, pushing the sector to yet another record result.

Figures released Tuesday by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) show that the 494 gaming venues operated by 242 federally recognized tribes generated gross gaming revenue of $32.4b in fiscal 2017, 3.9% higher than the fiscal 2016 result, which featured 10 fewer gaming venues.

The FY17 sum marks the seventh consecutive year of annual growth after flatlining at $26.5b in 2010. There were 33 venues earning over $250m in FY17, unchanged from FY16, while the number of venues earning between $100m and $250m rose by five to 56.

The 74 tribal casinos in the Sacramento region (California and Northern Nevada) claimed the largest slice of FY17 revenue at just under $9b, followed by $7.3b generated by the 37 venues in the Washington DC category (Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and New York).

Where have are all the illegal Chinese World Cup bookies gone?

Are China’s illegal sports betting operators getting better at hiding their activities or are local police getting worse at catching them in the act?

On Monday, a Macau Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesperson told the Macau News Agency that the PJ have yet to make a single illegal sports betting arrest, despite the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament getting almost into the knockout stage by now.

The spokesperson indicated that the PJ ramped up their detection and enforcement protocols as they do for every major quadrennial football extravaganza and would continue to carry out their inspections through to the end of this World Cup. It’s just that they haven’t caught anyone yet.

By this stage of the 2014 World Cup, Macau police had busted what may have been the largest illegal sports betting operation to have ever set up shop in the special administrative region of China. That betting ring, which was linked to online betting operator/high-stakes poker player Paul Phua, reportedly handled HKD5b (US$645m) worth of World Cup wagers in just the first week of the tournament.