Sweden’s erstwhile gambling and betting monopoly Svenska Spel has a new CEO to lead the company into a new era of competition.

On Tuesday, Svenska Spel’s board of directors appointed Patrik Hofbauer as the company’s new chief executive. Hofbauer (pictured), is currently the CEO of the Swedish division of Norwegian telecom operator Telenor, and will officially assume his duties by “mid-December 2018.”

Hofbauer is replacing Lennart Käll, who in January announced his intention to step down as Svenska Spel’s CEO after seven years in the role. Käll’s last day on the job will be July 19, after which Svenska Spel CFO/VP Marie Loob will serve as acting CEO until Hofbauer’s arrival.

Svenska Spel chairman Erik Strand welcomed Hofbauer, saying his experience in both the business and sports sectors – Hofbauer was a professional hockey goaltender for 10 years – will be “very valuable” given the “exciting time” facing Svenska Spel as Sweden’s gambling market undergoes a seismic shift.

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has reiterated its commitment to protect the children from risks of being exposed to gambling in the digital age.

On Tuesday, UKGC made the pledge to ensure young people, especially children, are protected from possible gambling-related harm after the experts from Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) call for greater public debate on the role and position of gambling in society.

However, protecting the children from gambling harm goes beyond regulatory action, according to UKGC Executive Director Tim Miller.

“Safeguarding children in a digital age is complex, and what both RGSB and our research has highlighted is that it takes a multi-faceted approach by us, government, educators, gambling firms and parents. It will take firm ongoing commitments from the Commission as gambling regulator, but also from all of those with a part to play,” Miller said in a statement.

The gaming unit of Philippine casino investor Udenna Development Corp. has formally joined the Philippine Stock Exchange through a backdoor listing.

According to The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Udenna will use the firm’s recently acquired the publicly-listed Philippine H2O Ventures (PHV) as the backdoor-listing vehicle for its gaming and tourism business.

PHV has reportedly secured the approval of its shareholders to change its name to PH Resorts Group Holdings, Inc. (PRGHI) and change the company’s purpose from water utility business to hotel and/or gaming and entertainment business.

PRGHI shareholders also gave the go-signal to increase the company’s authorized capital stock from PHP500 million (US$9.31 million) to PHP8 billion (US$149.01 million. PRGHI’s portfolio includes two integrated resort and casino projects in the Philippine provinces of Cebu and Pampanga.

The worst is finally over Macau’s gaming industry as the clampdown against the source of cross-border case for gamblers begins to wind down, according to gambling analysts.

International brokerage JP Morgan Securities and Japanese credit-debt watcher Nomura allayed concerns of a sustained crackdown on UnionPay terminals in the former Portuguese enclave. While the clampdown added negative sentiment to the gaming market, the two financial institutions believed that the crackdowns would not have any measurable impact on the gross gaming revenue trends.

“We believe the latest UnionPay terminal removals and World Cup have had little (if any) impact on Macau GGR so far,” Nomura analysts Harry Curtis, Daniel Adam and Brian Dobson stated in a note issued on Monday.

Meanwhile, JP Morgan analysts DS Kim and Sean Zhuang pointed out that most of their contacts were unaffected by the clampdown “as players are finding other ways to obtain liquidity.”

There is little that is more trite in the investment world than trying to front-run an event that everyone already knows about years in advance. It’s like buying retail stocks right before the holiday shopping season on the theory that higher sales means higher stock prices, when in fact expectations are built in to match. Or investing in pumpkins before Halloween. Of course investing doesn’t work this way, which is why when Googling “World Cup Stocks” there are pages and pages of articles telling us which stocks will do well during World Cup season. Seasonality, whether it is yearly or every four years, doesn’t move stock prices in any consistent pattern. Shares of seasonal stocks expect seasonality and it’s all priced in. Over the long term, the three main things that affect stocks are unforeseen events, company fundamentals, and regression to the mean.

Broadcasters, casinos, beer, Twitter and Facebook, clothing companies that sell uniforms etc. These articles touting supposed winning World Cup picks only exist to get clicks and sell subscriptions to retail investors who are just starting to get curious about the possibility of putting their capital somewhere to invest. They see World Cup, they think of stocks that could make money off the World Cup will go up, and they Google it and find all this stuff to confirm their theories. But the people who these articles are appealing to, most of them do not have enough money to move stock prices in any meaningful way.

Let’s look at the numbers then for a few select stocks that many of these pieces are touting and cross reference with the World Cup dates going back to 2002. We’ll give a two-month buffer on each side to account for preparatory buying and earnings to be factored in post event. We’ll then compare the stocks with the S&P 500 and FTSE 100 for British companies over the same timeframe to see if there ever really is a noticeable, consistent World Cup bump above the general stock market for any of them. While any one stock may outperform the S&P 500 or FTSE 100 in any given World Cup year, the question really is, does any stock do so consistently every time the World Cup is played? Let’s see.

World Cup 2002

The two-time New York Times Bestseller and journalist, Maria Konnikova, becomes the latest PokerStars Ambassador, as her transformation from writer to poker pro continues to gain pace.

One miserable looking stripper is covered in lettuce and cucumber, the direct result of a failed Kim Basinger fridge experiment, and the other is angrily fishing herself out of the pool.

Las Vegas.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP).

This is a guest contribution by Ivana Flynn, a Malta-based SEO Consultant. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you. 

Our deep-dive into the Slovak market takes a closer look at the reality on the ground and how you can profit from it.

In Part 1 of Deep Dive into Slovakia, we discussed the reality on the ground and how iGaming operators and affiliates can profit from it. Now let’s look at how the typical marketing strategies employed by iGaming firms can be applied to Slovakia. 

Marketing strategies for operators and affiliates who want to apply for licence

As Japan gears up to legalize casino construction in the country, there are a number of loose ends that are starting to be identified. One in particular revolves around tax obligations on winnings, and it’s possible that taxes owed will be geo-discriminatory.

Japanese regulators feel that profits generated from gambling should be considered “occasional income.” This would make the profits subject to tax regulations, and some indications are that citizens of countries such as China and India would be obligated to pay income tax on the winnings, while those of other countries, like South Korea and the US, would be off the hook for the taxes.

Japan currently has tax treaties with 123 states and regions. The train of thought is that foreign tourists gambling in Japan’s casinos would be held to the stipulations of those treaties. The National Tax Agency indicates that the country’s treaties with the US, South Korea, European countries and members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provide provisions that put the tax onus on the visitor in his or her home country.

Other treaties, like those signed with India, China and Singapore, authorize Japan to collect taxes on casino winnings. These individuals would be required to adhere to Japanese tax laws and would be held to the same legal tax framework as Japanese citizens.

The good news is that International Entertainment Corp., a hotel operator listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, saw its revenue increase by 1.9% this past fiscal year to reach $37.7 million.  The bad news is that also reported a net loss of $8.6 million during the same period. The loss follows the previous fiscal year loss of $5.3 million.

According to a statement by International Entertainment, the company saw an increase in revenue of $23.9 million stemming from a leasing deal signed with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR). This represents a 2.3% increase year-on-year and “was mainly due to increase in the net gaming revenue from the local gaming area operated by [PAGCOR].”

PAGCOR, through the leasing agreement, operates a casino inside a hotel owned by International Entertainment in Manila. The company stated of the agreement, “The monthly rental income is based on an agreed percentage of net gaming revenue generated from the local gaming area operated by [PAGCOR] as lessee of the group’s premises or a fixed rental amount, whichever is higher.”

International Entertainment is set to take over a professional soccer club out of England. The company announced a deal earlier in the year that will see it take ownership of Wigan Athletic AFC, a team that was recently promoted to the English Football League Championship.