Senate Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, and ranking member Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, introduced bipartisan tax and disaster relief legislation Feb. 28 that includes three-year depreciation for racehorses.
Monthly Archives: March 2019
NYRA's Turf Triple Times Up Well for Japan-Based Horses
Ryota Sensui, the senior manager of the Japan Racing Association’s office in Stamford, Conn., says that Japanese owners and trainers are open to participating in the new races due to their summertime scheduling and large purses.
One Time Poker Launches with “Become A Pro” Contest
OneTimePoker(OTP) has officially launched on the Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) and right out of the starting gate has launched a novel campaign which shows the prowess of its experienced management team. You will have a chance to become a Pro Ambassador in their “Become A Pro” promotion.
Become A Pro is a promotion where OTP customers are evaluated by an independent panel who will award 3 players a pro ambassador contract – the very same one the current OTP pro team has in place. The promotion kicks off March 7th, running through the end of April. Players can sign up here now and register to be a part of the most exciting poker competition in years.
OTP was founded by Randall Kasper, Casey Jarzabek, and Jeff Maxon and management also includes Anthony Taylor, the former CEO of the Merge Gaming Network. Combine that with a highly accomplished and well-respected Pro Ambassador team led by Canadian pro Danny Noseworthy, and all the ingredients for success seem to be present.
The OTP group has a long history of accomplishments on the business side of the poker and gaming industry. OTP also has two casinos, one built right into the client and one external which includes a full array of slots and table games, including a number of live-dealer tables.
Kasper was the founder of Poker Players International and has represented hundreds of professional live and online poker pros from around the world. He has also represented corporate clients seeking to attract liquidity from the poker community, Bestbet, and DraftKings, being two examples of tremendous success.
“We have seen firsthand, what has and what hasn’t worked for poker sites for more than ten years now. We are always going to do right by the player and everything good for us will flow from that,” commented Kasper.
Jarzabek is not only an accomplished online poker player, with over $5 Million in earnings, but is also the founder of Tournament Poker Edge, the world’s leading online poker tournament instructional site. He’s also been the pro team manager for several sites, with tremendous success in customer acquisition and satisfaction.
“We want our players to succeed, and to experience a sense of community while they enjoy and learn the game they love. That’s one reason we decided to make our first promotion Become A Pro, because it recognizes the players. Our Pro Ambassadors are our link to the community, great examples of professionalism and we want to highlight and expand our team and reward players who stand out amongst the competition along the way,” added Jarzabek.
Maxon is a tried and true veteran businessman, with two decades of Wall Street experience in global business within and outside the gaming space.
“We are grateful for our opportunity to show players we care. This initial promotion is just one of many to come where we will do just that. We will not make them jump through hoops or spend a ton of money to be treated well, hence our decision to award automatic maximum rakeback and top tier deposit bonuses. We’re looking forward to growing our community and our brand to become a major force in the industry, and it all starts with how we treat our customers. With partners like MPN and GiG, and our experienced management and ambassadors, the sky is truly the limit,” concluded Maxon.
Taylor, as mentioned, was CEO of Merge Network which experienced explosive growth under his supervision.
Japan's Derma Louvre to Prep for Derby in Dubai
Derma Louvre (JPN), the points leader among Triple Crown nominees in the Japanese prep races, is targeting the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)
BtoBet maintains Gold Certification status with Betradar
International award-winning iGaming software development company, BtoBet has renewed their multi-year partnership with Betradar, maintaining their Gold Certification Status with the global leader in analysing and leveraging the power of sports data.
BtoBet first became a client of Betradar in 2016. Since then it has gained Betradar’s Gold Certification status through the company’s Partner Certification program, which recognises approved technology partners within the industry that have successfully integrated and utilise Sportradar’s full-range of betting solutions, including Managed Trading Services (MTS).
Offering standalone platforms and services for the iGaming and sports betting industry, BetoBet utilises Betradar’s comprehensive offering of data and betting products and services, including live betting, pre-match betting feed, virtual gaming, Live Channel Online and the signature all-in-one risk management and trading solution, Managed Trading Services (MTS).
MTS Managing Director, Paolo Personeni said: “We are very pleased to extend and continue our partnership with BtoBet. We have a very strong relationship with the team. Together with our sportsbook risk management activity through MTS, their platform solution delivers a very robust and flexible offering to the marketplace.
Iforium joins the sponsors list at Prague Gaming Summit 2019
Prague – 1 March 2019 – The organizers of Prague Gaming Summit are honored to announce their latest sponsor in the record-breaking sponsors’ list the event has ever seen.
Iforium will join Prague Gaming Summit as General Sponsor and you can meet their team at the conference to start potential partnership straight away!
Founded in 2006 and based in the Isle of Man, Iforium is a multi-award winning B2B software development company focused on providing next generation gaming solutions.
Gameflex™ is Iforium’s innovative casino aggregation and seamless bonusing platform. It combines over 8,000 games from 100+gaming vendors and is available to multi-channel operators via a single and seamless API integration.
Relax Gaming Targets Expanding European Market with French Online Poker Network
Unibet partner Relax Gaming is celebrating its fifth year of online poker activity by making a play for France’s burgeoning shared liquidity market. Announcing its intentions on February 28, the […]
The post Relax Gaming Targets Expanding European Market with French Online Poker Network appeared first on .
Sports gambling could be coming to North Carolina within months
North Carolina is on the heels of sports gambling revenue. The state is considering legislation that would legalize the activity and, if the bill’s sponsor is correct, the bill won’t get stuck in the tar as it races toward the finish line.
Senate Bill 154 was introduced this past Wednesday by Senator Jim Davis and would allow sports bets on both professional and collegiate games. He predicts that it will be passed within a month and doesn’t see any reason why the bill couldn’t be signed into law by this June. This is Davis’s third gambling-related bill, with all of the activity being authorized for the Cherokee Indian tribe in the state.
Davis explains, “The Eastern Band are wanting to get into sports wagering, and wagering is legal now after the Supreme Court decision of May of last year overturning PASPA. It’s a legal enterprise and they want to expand to include wagering in my district, so I consented to file the bill and don’t expect it to have any problems getting passed.”
If the bill is approved, it would allow the tribe to add a sportsbook to its Class III games. The Cherokee people operate two casinos in the state, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel and Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort. The tribe had approached Davis specifically to request a bill that would allow it to legally operate the sportsbook.
Gaming helped Macau’s GDP increase in 2018
In 2018, gaming activity in Macau contributed helped the city see an increase in tax revenue of 14%. $13.21 billion in taxes was collected from gaming operations and this ultimately led to a slight uptick in Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP). According to a report by Macau’s Statistics and Census Service from yesterday, the GDP rose 4.7% year-on-year, the second consecutive year for increased GDP in the city. Macau closed the year with a GDP of $54.46 billion.
According to the bureau, Macau’s economic growth was boosted by exports of services, which includes gaming services, as well as by private consumption. Gaming is included in exports of services as a means to calculate tourist spending in the city and this category increased 6.7% last year over 2017.
Exports of goods also increased, rising 10.2%, and tourism services saw a 1.4% increase.
Domestic demand hasn’t seen any positive movement. Investments were down 14.3% last year, while government expenditures, imports of goods and private consumption saw a slight uptick of 3.4%, 2.3% and 2.8%, respectively.
Galaxy Entertainment profits increase thanks to gaming ops
Galaxy Entertainment Corp. released its latest financial report yesterday in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the gaming company is staying strong. Its profit for full-year 2018 increased 28.6% year-on-year to $1.72 billion, driven by a substantial increase in gaming revenue. The company’s overall revenue increased 13.5% over 2017, reaching $7.034 billion.
Galaxy Entertainment is behind, among others, the Galaxy Macau and Broadway in Macau. It also owns and operates a third venue in the city, the StarWorld Macau hotel casino, and holds the license for three “City Clubs” on the peninsula that are managed by third-party entities.
In a press release related to the financials, Galaxy’s chairman, Lui Che Woo, stated, “We continue to drive every segment of the business with a particular focus on the mass business and continue to allocate resources to their most efficient use.”
Galaxy has declared a special dividend as a result of last year’s performance. It will pay shareholders $0.057 per share, with the payout expected to be made April 26. That follows two other special dividends paid out over the past year – one for $0.052 and the other for $0.063.
Donaco’s profits still impacted by ongoing legal battle
Donaco International Ltd., a major investor in casinos, particularly in Southeast Asia, continues to suffer due to ongoing litigation. The six-month period ending December 31 last year saw the company forced to report a net loss of AU$36.8 million ($26.09 million), mostly due to a major impairment charge against its gaming license for the Star Vegas resort in Cambodia.
An impairment in the amount of US$27.08 million came as the company continues to fight with a Thai vendor and former business partner. It previously won a court case that prevented its partners from terminating the land lease of the Star Vegas, but the litigious drama is far from over.
That former partner, Lee Hoe Property, has been running illegal casinos next to Star Vegas in violation of non-compete agreements. The two companies, Donaco and Lee Hoe, have been involved in court proceedings in Cambodia and Singapore, as well as Australia. Donaco has sought restitution of damages worth $190 million in Singapore and has asked an Australian court to freeze the Thai vendor’s shares.
Donaco saw its group revenue drop 9.6% on its gaming floors during the period due to a lower VIP win rate, as well as supposed organized crime activity perpetrated by a Chinese crime syndicate along the border between China and Vietnam. Donaco operates a casino, the Aristo, on the Vietnam-China border. Group revenue was reported as AU$39.7 million (US$28.149 million).
SJM sees 2018 profit skyrocket by 45%
SJM Holdings Ltd. is flying like an eagle. Its profits soared last year, climbing 45.2% year-on-year and reaching $363.1 million. SJM was able to improve its bottom line by streamlining some of its internal operations and by reducing marketing and promotional expenses. Despite the overall success, total net gaming revenue only increased to $4.291 billion for an improvement of 8.3% over the previous year. 97.9% of the company’s aggregate revenue comes from gaming revenue.
Total revenue for last year of $44.384 billion was reported by the company, also an increase of 8.3% year-on-year. Its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) jumped 21.1% over 2017 to reach $473.99 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin climbed 10.8% from 2017 to 2018 compared to the 9.7% seen in the previous two-year period.
VIP gross gaming revenue (GGR) dropped slightly year-on-year, falling 1.1% to $2.50 billion. Mass table GGR increased 12.1% to $2.94 billion, while revenue from slot machines and other gaming operations increased 12.6% to around $147.8 million.
VIP gross gaming accounted for under 44.8% of the total GGR for the company last year. In 2017, it accounted for 47.9% of the overall GGR and this marks a trend that is seeing many operators focus on mass-market gaming while still massaging their VIP feeder markets.
Minsk iGaming Affiliate Conference from Smile-Expo: experts will discuss affiliate marketing in the gambling industry
On April 24, Smile-Expo organizes Minsk iGaming Affiliate Conference in Belarus. The event will focus on affiliate marketing in gambling. The first Belarusian iGaming conference will gather online casino software providers, developers, and marketers.
Speakers and main topics
The main discussion topic will be the Act “On the improvement of the gambling business regulation” that will come into effect on April 1, 2019. Gambling experts will speak about changes in the field brought by the new legislation, its advantages and pitfalls.
The event will feature the founder of SoftSwiss, major casino software provider, – Ivan Montik. The expert will highlight how to attract and retain new players on a gambling site. Besides, the specialist will explain what the player LTV depends on and how to build the collaboration with affiliate programs correctly.
Red Rake receives content license from Malta
Red Rake Gaming, a developer of online casino games, has been issued a business-to-business license by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). According to a press release from this past Wednesday, the company will now be able to offer its games to a large number of gaming operators licensed by the MGA. It was the second license received by Red Rake following a license it was issued by the UK Gambling Commission less than a month ago.
The Spain-based company now holds a number of licenses across Europe. In addition to those previously mentioned, it is also licensed to provide its games in Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Romania.
Red Rake’s managing director for Malta, Nick Barr, states, “Securing the MGA license is another big step in Red Rake Gaming’s strategy and increases our capability to be able to supply the large concentration of operators located on the Island. This further solidifies our commitment and expansion on the Island after recently setting up our commercial and business development team in Malta. Based on the demand for the Red Rake Gaming portfolio, which was even more apparent after a very successful ICE exhibition, we expect to continue growing our footprint in Malta. 2019 is already shaping up to be a great year for the company and a big well done goes out to all involved in securing the license”
Red Rake has over 200 partners through several platforms and its games are provided in 20 languages and in more than 100 currencies. Securing the licenses in the UK and Malta will give the company the ability to expand its presence through new partnerships, as well as grow its footprint across Europe.
The Online Voting Session for the Baltic and Scandinavian Gaming Awards is now live!
Vilnius – 1 March 2019 – The organizers of MARE BALTICUM Gaming Summit are excited to announce that the online voting session for the inaugural Baltic and Scandinavian Gaming Awards (BSG Awards 2019) is now live!
You can vote for your favorite companies in the Baltic and Nordic region between 1 – 31 March to help them reach the top 5 and advance to the shortlist. Vote here!
The nominations have been submitted between 19 November (2018) and 22 February (2019) by several companies that are active in the region and also by the nominations committee.
To have a non-biased nominations list, the nominations committee has been set up by the organizers and consists of Andrius Gabnys (Founder at Gabnys Law Firm) for the Baltic region and Morten Ronde (CEO at Danish Online Gambling Association and Managing Partner at Nordic Gambling) for the Nordic region.
Macau rebounds in February to see GGR growth once again
Macau is back on track for growth. February saw a 4.4% increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR) year over year, increasing to MOP25.37 billion ($13.4 billion USD), reports GGRAsia.
The increase could be in part due to the Chinese New Year. That celebration is big for Macau, and brings in a large increase of tourists. “The timing of Chinese New Year (CNY) should have, in theory, benefited this year,” said Grant Govertsent, an analyst for Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd. “Based on our on-the-ground observations, and given robust foot traffic trends, it appears that mass market came through for operators and growth of this segment likely remains in the low double digits.”
The holiday really helped revenue overall. For the first time ever, Macau saw over one million arrivals solely during the celebration period. That represents a 26.6% increase compared to the previous year.
This represents a rebound for Macau, who in January, snapped their streak of 29 straight months of GGR growth with a 5% decline from 2018. Even with the 4.4% increase in February, Macau is still 0.5% behind the GGR they were at year over year for the two months combined.
UK watchdog says Betfair’s ad doesn’t breach regulations
Restrictions against gambling ads in the UK might be strict, but they aren’t crazy. The Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has ruled that the operator’s November 2018 ad did not breach guidelines, and won’t result in any punishment.
In the ad, this guy is walking down the street while everyone else is walking the opposite way for some reason, perhaps escaping Brexit. He then comes to a door with the Betfair logo and checks his phone. He then sits down with a kind looking man, and they both look at their phones. Essentially, what dating looks like in the modern age.
The complaint against the ad centered around the narration. In the ad, the young man says:
“My gut says that horse is something special and my smarts say to back it on the Betfair Exchange where I get bigger returns than if I bet with one of these other bookies. That’s why I go to Betfair. Betfair, where gut instinct meets smarts.”
IPI struggles to complete casino project due to labor shortage
The Imperial Pacific International Casino project being built in Saipan already missed an August deadline. However, the new deadline looks to be a stretch as well, according to an article published in Asia Gaming Brief on Thursday.
In June of 2018, we reported that the $7 billion project, being built in Saipan, was not going to hit an August 31 deadline. IPI asked the Commonwealth Casino Commission to extend the timeframe for completion of the project, which was granted until December of 2018, but that deadline was not met either. Now there is concern that completion by 2019 will not occur either.
The project looked to be on target to open by the end of 2019, but now that looks to be in jeopardy. IPI recently reported that they had lost a large number of workers during the month of January, reducing their total workforce to just 300 helping to construct the multi-billion dollar resort and casino. This has forced the company to petition the commission to grant extensions for the project to continue.
IPI reports that in the last month they have lost more than 500 workers. The shortage was created by a new US policy that bans people from the Philippines being able to receive an H-2B work permit. Most of the workers on the project were coming from the Philippines, which are located about 1700 miles from Saipan.
Biggest Russian affiliates launched affiliate network on MatchingVisions software
Biggest Russian affiliates bookmaker-ratings.ru and vseprosport.ru launched first in Russia affiliate network using matchingvisions software. It will focus on Russian legal betting operators.
“Uffiliates.ru currently offers CPA, Revenue Share and Hybrid deals for biggest Russian licensed betting operators Fonbet, Liga Stavok, BetCity, Winline and Parimatch. And we are planning to add more operators by Q3 2019” – says co-founder of uffiliates.ru Konstantin Ulanov
Uffiliates.ru is a unique product on Russian market that offers both CPA, Rev Share and Hybrid deals on legal sports betting operators.
“We see uffiliates.ru as a great opportunity for affiliates to get good deals with flexible payment types. Many Russian affiliates will benefit from using our platform” – adds founder of bookmaker-ratings.ru Paryur Shahbazyan.
partypoker relaunches in the Czech Republic
After months of anticipation, the Czech Republic is finally getting a second choice for international online poker. partypoker, in partnership with King’s Resort, has launched in that country, the online operator reports through their blog.
Anyone looking to sign up for the site will need to take a trip to their local post office first. In-person physical registration is required for the moment. Eventually, patrons will also be able to sign up at King’s Casino in Rozvadov, near the border of Germany.
partypoker’s managing director, Tom Waters, said, “We are delighted to be working with King’s Resort to offer online poker in the Czech Republic. We have some ambitious and exciting plans for 2019 in partnership with King’s and there will be plenty on offer for Czech players at partypoker.”
Some of those promotions are already kicking off. The €110 buy-in Czech Poker Masters will featuring a €552K Guaranteed Main Event. That offer will run from April 14-22. The site is also offering 25% cashback for Czech-based players.