Monthly Archives: February 2020

Colorado casinos ready to pull the trigger on sports bets

Colorado voters said yes to sports gambling last year, and it’s now time to get things going. While the state may have missed out on Super Bowl LIV, and will miss out on the NCAA’s March Madness, as well, at least there will be something happening before the start of the next NFL season. Casinos are anxiously waiting for the next 88 days to pass, and have already begun to put their sportsbooks in place, waiting for the big day.

Colorado’s sports gambling industry officially goes live on May 1. DraftKings and FanDuel are already set up to begin taking bets, thanks to a partnership with Twin River Worldwide Holdings, and Ameristar is putting the final touches on its sportsbooks now. The VP and GM of Ameristar Casino in Black Hawk, Sean Demuele, explains, “(We’re) thrilled that the voters passed sports betting last November. We’re starting to plan how we’re going to roll it out here at Ameristar. We’re going to start with a sportsbook here on property, working on the design right now. We’re taking what’s been done in Vegas and improving on that.”

Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek are three Colorado cities that are going to split a total of 33 sports gambling licenses among their casinos. The Colorado Division of Gaming (DOG) is reviewing applications and will ultimately be the one to determine who wins and who doesn’t.

According to data from the DOG, there hasn’t been a shortage of interest. Through January 16, it has received over 51 applications and, since only 33 licenses will be issued, someone is going to walk away disappointed. However, this doesn’t mean that those not given a license can’t receive one in the future. According to the DOG, “The Division of Gaming is conducting prep work now to make sure all those qualified applicants who applied for a temporary license have one in place so they can begin on May 1, if they are ready.”

Famous Lake Tahoe casino gets ready for a makeover

Caesars Entertainment might be ready to give up its portfolio to Eldorado Resorts, but this doesn’t mean that it wants certain properties to be neglected. The company operates the casino at Harveys Lake Tahoe and Casino for Vici Properties, and the 76-year-old casino is about to be submitted to a major makeover. Vici has announced that it is ready to spend $41 million to renovate the property and make it even more popular than it is now.

Harvey’s has changed hands many times over the years, ultimately being sold to Harrah’s Entertainment for $625 million in 2001. Harrah’s became Caesars later on, which then sold the property to Vici in 2017 in a sale/leaseback deal. The new renovations will focus on the hotel rooms in the Lake Tower, and the new designs will be revealed this summer. However, according to Top Hotel, there will also be a new dining facility added, Gordon Ramsay’s HELL’S KITCHEN Lake Tahoe. The hotel-focused media outlet points out that 12,000 seats have already been reserved in the new restaurant, which is going to be located close to the casino floor.

The regional president for Caesars in Northern Nevada, Brad Belhouse, said of the renovations, “Harveys Lake Tahoe is an iconic resort on the South Shore and continues to offer enhanced amenities for guests to enjoy. With the newly redesigned guest rooms, the completion of the balcony suites and the upcoming opening of Gordon Ramsay HELL’S KITCHEN Lake Tahoe in the [center] of the casino, Caesars Entertainment is committed to elevating guest experiences at our resorts and advancing the Lake Tahoe tourism economy.”

With 742 rooms and six restaurants, and a casino that spans 87,500 square feet, Harvey’s is a popular regional destination. The new rooms are being designed by DEZMOTIF Studios out of Las Vegas, who was “inspired by the natural surroundings and seasonality of Lake Tahoe and wanted to reflect this in the design by creating a comfortable, relaxing and serene environment.”

Famous Lake Tahoe casino gets ready for a makeover

Caesars Entertainment might be ready to give up its portfolio to Eldorado Resorts, but this doesn’t mean that it wants certain properties to be neglected. The company operates the casino at Harveys Lake Tahoe and Casino for Vici Properties, and the 76-year-old casino is about to be submitted to a major makeover. Vici has announced that it is ready to spend $41 million to renovate the property and make it even more popular than it is now.

Harvey’s has changed hands many times over the years, ultimately being sold to Harrah’s Entertainment for $625 million in 2001. Harrah’s became Caesars later on, which then sold the property to Vici in 2017 in a sale/leaseback deal. The new renovations will focus on the hotel rooms in the Lake Tower, and the new designs will be revealed this summer. However, according to Top Hotel, there will also be a new dining facility added, Gordon Ramsay’s HELL’S KITCHEN Lake Tahoe. The hotel-focused media outlet points out that 12,000 seats have already been reserved in the new restaurant, which is going to be located close to the casino floor.

The regional president for Caesars in Northern Nevada, Brad Belhouse, said of the renovations, “Harveys Lake Tahoe is an iconic resort on the South Shore and continues to offer enhanced amenities for guests to enjoy. With the newly redesigned guest rooms, the completion of the balcony suites and the upcoming opening of Gordon Ramsay HELL’S KITCHEN Lake Tahoe in the [center] of the casino, Caesars Entertainment is committed to elevating guest experiences at our resorts and advancing the Lake Tahoe tourism economy.”

With 742 rooms and six restaurants, and a casino that spans 87,500 square feet, Harvey’s is a popular regional destination. The new rooms are being designed by DEZMOTIF Studios out of Las Vegas, who was “inspired by the natural surroundings and seasonality of Lake Tahoe and wanted to reflect this in the design by creating a comfortable, relaxing and serene environment.”

Pragmatic Play launches live casino landmark deal with LeoVegas

3rd February 2020: Leading iGaming content provider Pragmatic Play has seen its Live Casino portfolio available with renowned operator LeoVegas, after signing landmark agreement. LeoVegas’ customers will now have access to a wide selection of online streamed games from Pragmatic’s live dealer portfolio, which ranges among the industry’s most-cutting edge solutions.

The news reinforces Pragmatic’s commitment to expansion in regulated markets, with the tier-one Nordic operator holding licences in Sweden, Malta, Germany and Denmark, among others.

Lena Yasir, Vice President at Pragmatic Play, said: “We are delighted to have further expanded our partnership with LeoVegas, one of the industry’s best-known operators.

“We have strived to create a slick user experience in our Live Casino products, so we are very pleased to see yet another top casino brand going live with our ever-expanding portfolio.”

Michael Addamo wins Aussie Millions Main Event for A$1,318,000; Stephen Chidwick is series champion

After seven events, the winner of the Australian Poker Open Championship is known and it is British poker legend Stephen Chidwick. The final event, the Australian Poker Open $100,000-entry Main Event was won by Michael Addamo for a massive $1,318,000. But the points gained by Stephen Chidwick saw him reach the promised land, overtaking Hungarian player Andras Nemeth and winning the Championship overall, cashing for over a million Australian dollars in total, including the $50,000 bonus prize for topping the leaderboard.

The final day of the Australian Poker Open’s Main Event began with a money bubble upon which hung the overall Championship title. Chidwick needed to finish in the top four to make the money and more importantly the points to become champion. He did so after an agonising hour of play for those with short stacks, but a thrilling one for fans tuning into PokerGO for the coverage.

It would be Australia’s own crusher, Kahle Burns, who busted in fifth place to hand Chidwick the APO Championship title and that $50,000 top prize.

Burns moved all-in with pocket kings and was called by the original raiser in the hand, Michael Addamo, who held queen-eight of spades. The flop saw two eights land and no help for Burns on the turn and river meant that the field was at four and the money bubble burst, Burns off into the afternoon shaking his head in disbelief, Chidwick declared Champion in the same breathless moment.

Michael Addamo wins Aussie Millions Main Event for A$1,318,000; Stephen Chidwick is series champion

After seven events, the winner of the Australian Poker Open Championship is known and it is British poker legend Stephen Chidwick. The final event, the Australian Poker Open $100,000-entry Main Event was won by Michael Addamo for a massive $1,318,000. But the points gained by Stephen Chidwick saw him reach the promised land, overtaking Hungarian player Andras Nemeth and winning the Championship overall, cashing for over a million Australian dollars in total, including the $50,000 bonus prize for topping the leaderboard.

The final day of the Australian Poker Open’s Main Event began with a money bubble upon which hung the overall Championship title. Chidwick needed to finish in the top four to make the money and more importantly the points to become champion. He did so after an agonising hour of play for those with short stacks, but a thrilling one for fans tuning into PokerGO for the coverage.

It would be Australia’s own crusher, Kahle Burns, who busted in fifth place to hand Chidwick the APO Championship title and that $50,000 top prize.

Burns moved all-in with pocket kings and was called by the original raiser in the hand, Michael Addamo, who held queen-eight of spades. The flop saw two eights land and no help for Burns on the turn and river meant that the field was at four and the money bubble burst, Burns off into the afternoon shaking his head in disbelief, Chidwick declared Champion in the same breathless moment.

Michael Addamo wins Aussie Millions Main Event for A$1,318,000; Stephen Chidwick is series champion

After seven events, the winner of the Australian Poker Open Championship is known and it is British poker legend Stephen Chidwick. The final event, the Australian Poker Open $100,000-entry Main Event was won by Michael Addamo for a massive $1,318,000. But the points gained by Stephen Chidwick saw him reach the promised land, overtaking Hungarian player Andras Nemeth and winning the Championship overall, cashing for over a million Australian dollars in total, including the $50,000 bonus prize for topping the leaderboard.

The final day of the Australian Poker Open’s Main Event began with a money bubble upon which hung the overall Championship title. Chidwick needed to finish in the top four to make the money and more importantly the points to become champion. He did so after an agonising hour of play for those with short stacks, but a thrilling one for fans tuning into PokerGO for the coverage.

It would be Australia’s own crusher, Kahle Burns, who busted in fifth place to hand Chidwick the APO Championship title and that $50,000 top prize.

Burns moved all-in with pocket kings and was called by the original raiser in the hand, Michael Addamo, who held queen-eight of spades. The flop saw two eights land and no help for Burns on the turn and river meant that the field was at four and the money bubble burst, Burns off into the afternoon shaking his head in disbelief, Chidwick declared Champion in the same breathless moment.

High 5 Casino receives MGA approval

New York, N.Y., Monday 3rd February 2020 – High 5 Games, the world’s largest independent casino games provider, has been granted a B2C licence Type 1 by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), marking High 5 Casino’s approval to enter the real money gaming market.

The new online casino will launch on H5G’s proprietary iGaming platform, Vault, which is embedded with innovations that the company envisions will define the future of online and mobile gaming.

Vault incorporates the New York developer’s Brain with Benefits technology that monitors players in real time and at all stages of the customer lifecycle, and is set to revolutionise the whole user journey with a truly personalised experience.

The Brain, named Oracle, sits in the cloud and the machine learns player behaviour. Oracle is present and monitors:

High 5 Casino receives MGA approval

New York, N.Y., Monday 3rd February 2020 – High 5 Games, the world’s largest independent casino games provider, has been granted a B2C licence Type 1 by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), marking High 5 Casino’s approval to enter the real money gaming market.

The new online casino will launch on H5G’s proprietary iGaming platform, Vault, which is embedded with innovations that the company envisions will define the future of online and mobile gaming.

Vault incorporates the New York developer’s Brain with Benefits technology that monitors players in real time and at all stages of the customer lifecycle, and is set to revolutionise the whole user journey with a truly personalised experience.

The Brain, named Oracle, sits in the cloud and the machine learns player behaviour. Oracle is present and monitors:

Half million dollar bet changes Super Bowl line

They say that money talks, and that proved to be the case on Wednesday when BetMGM announced that they were changing their line on Super Bowl LIV after a $550,000 wager was placed on the Kansas City Chiefs to win football’s biggest game. That move prompted a change in the line from the Chiefs by 1.0 to them being favored by 1.5.

In a statement provided by Jeff Stoneback, director of trading operations for MGM Resorts International, he explained that a bet for $550,000 was placed on Kansas City when they were favored to win by 1.0. If he wins, he will receive $500,000. He added that once that wager was placed “That forced us to move it” speaking about the line.

Earlier in the week, Stoneback was adamant about not wanting to move the line. He was expecting that a lot more money would be bet on the 49ers later in the week after the first two six-figure bets were placed on the Chiefs. Those amounts were for $150,000 and $200,000.

However, the more than half-million-dollar bet changed the dynamics, forcing MGM to change the line. They had set Kansas City as 1.0 favorites following the two conference championship games, but the third big bet changed things.

Australian Open Final sees Djokovic reach the promised land

After a thrilling five-set classic, Novak Djokovic turned his dreams into yet more ridiculous reality as he triumphed 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Austrian challenger Dominic Thiem at the Rod Laver Arena.

The Serbian powerhouse Djokovic had already won the Australian Open a record seven times, but he extended his own record in Oz, and in doing so, became the only man in tennis history to win Grand Slam singles events in three different decades.

That Djokovic was two sets to one down against the younger man and still emerged from the hard court victorious should surprise no-one. As he said in his acceptance speech, this is a man who knows how to triumph over adversity, who came from nothing to become the heir incumbent to the title of the Greatest of All Time. It no longer seems a case of whether Djokovic can beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Race to 21 Grand Slam singles titles.

It looks merely a matter of when.

NFL gambling fans, don’t worry – there’s always the XFL

It’s all over for the NFL 2019-20 season after the Kansas City Chiefs embarrassed the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. However, football gambling fans don’t have to worry about what to do to keep them busy until this September. The XFL, on track for yet another attempt to make it through a full season, is about to get underway and offers a plethora of gambling opportunities to keep things interesting. Sportsbooks everywhere aren’t taking a break after the NFL Championship game and are busy putting up the numbers for the alternative football league.

Currently, with no games having been played in the season, oddsmakers believe that the XFL has enough talent to rank the teams. Bovada, as well as virtually all others, have put the Dallas Renegades on top to win the Championship, giving the team +300. After that, the New York Guardians are getting +400 and the LA Wildcats are looking at +550. The definite longshot is found in Washington State, where the Seattle Dragons are only able to secure +1100 odds.

While the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys couldn’t get anything done, perhaps the Renegades will. The team has already brought in a lot of talent, including quarterbacks Eric Dungey and Landry Jones and former Cowboys running back Lance Dunbar, and is ready to get the XFL season started on the right foot when it meets the St Louis Battlehawks on February 9, a day after the season officially gets underway.

The NFL has tried to keep a certain separation between football and gambling; however, the XFL has taken a completely different approach. It welcomes gambling with open arms, and even established a gambling integrity program, through a partnership with Genius Sports, to provide better transparency. The commissioner of the league, Oliver Luck, has worked with sportsbooks to determine how to roll out the action, telling the Tampa Bay Times this past December, “The sportsbooks…are interested in making the odds, accepting bets. We asked them what information they need and when they need depth charts, all those things. I’m not sure that there’s anything that we’ll do that’s different than any other league.”

Football Association of Ireland scrap SportPesa sponsorship deal

Sports betting operator SportPesa has lost its sponsorship agreement with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) after the sports body came under heavy criticism from anti-gambling campaigners.

This weekend, the FAI announced that it had called time on its two-year SportPesa sponsorship deal, despite the deal being less than one year old. The FAI said it made its decision after “re-evaluating its partnership portfolio” and “shifting priorities.” The FAI thanked SportPesa for its “professionalism over the course of this deal.”

SportPesa issued its own statement saying that the decision to “mutually terminate” the contract ahead of schedule was the result of “discussions between the two parties.” SportPesa added that “as an organization that takes responsible gambling incredibly seriously, we understand the new approach taken by the FAI toward its partnerships with those in the gaming sector.”

The FAI’s SportPesa deal was subject to intense criticism from anti-gambling campaigners who felt the body was improperly promoting betting. The decision to forego SportPesa’s sponsorship cash came despite the body being so cash-poor that it was forced to accept a €20m financial assistance package from the Irish government last week.

Oregon casino proposed to help the homeless

With the homeless crisis always a hotly discussed topic across the Western U.S., lawmakers and residents are looking for ways to find the financial resources to help reduce the crisis. In Oregon, the Mayor of Wood Village is pushing for the idea of opening a casino in the city. He proposes would provide additional tax revenue that could be used to help fight the problem.

The city has twice tried to get a referendum passed to approve the Wood Village Casino project. That happened in both 2010 and 2012 when two businessmen sought to open gain approval for the facility but residents voted it down each time. However, Mayor T. Scott Harden believes that things will be different this time:

“The new major beneficiary of the dollars will be our homelessness efforts. I think in a lot of people’s minds this would get them to think. It might be the tipping point for a lot of voters.”

Bruce Studer and Matt Rossman are leading the initiative. They filed a pair of ballot proposals on January 30 with the Oregon Secretary of State. This would open the door for the design and construction of a casino and entertainment center that would be located in Wood Village. The city is located just east of Portland.

New Jersey man confesses to role in gambling conspiracy

On January 31, a Keyport, New Jersey man pled guilty to playing a role in a gambling conspiracy. He was forced to forfeit $80,000 as part of his plea.

According to documents filed by U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, from January 2011 to October 2017, John Dougherty conspired with an unnamed resident of New Jersey to carry out a business enterprise that violated New Jersey gambling laws. Sports betting did not become legal in the state until June 2018.

According to the complaint, while working with an unnamed man, he also had formed his own group of bettors. The two offered a website where sports betting was conducted, including individuals being able to establish their own usernames and passwords.

Carpenito explained that Dougherty, 55, used money he received from the unknown resident to pay users who were winners. He also collected money from users, and the two would meet regularly to divide up the revenue that they had made.

Robert Rippee: what generational change means for gambling

Innovating the gambling space isn’t just about finding the next edge to attract new gamblers; it’s about bridging the gap from the last generation of player to the next. Understanding how to best do that can be helped a bit by taking an academic view of the shift. To do just that, our Rebecca Liggero Fontana spoke with Robert Rippee, Director of the Hospitality Lab at the International Gaming Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR8vog565Mo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

Before even starting to work on the thing that appeals to today’s youth, it’s important to understand what makes them difference. “First step is to understand that those two generations are very different, so what works for one may not work for the other, which is in theory why they need to market to the younger generation,” he said. “So the experiences that they designed and built that appeals to my generation doesn’t necessarily appeal to yours. So the way that you get around that is first of all, you have to kind of take a risk. You have to take a risk in figuring out what do I want? Or what does a younger generation want? Then there’s a second part that says if you do it right, you have examples of things like technology that have been designed and introduced to younger generations that made their way, and are accepted and used by other generations.”

Thankfully, a whole new wave of technology could help attract the millennial and Gen-Z generations. “In fact, I would say the clues to us are in things like virtual reality and augmented reality,” he began. “And in machine learning, artificial intelligence, I think if I were to predict a world for now, so in 20 year from now, you have to assume that things like integrated circuits are everywhere, right? They’re in the wall, they’re in the floor, they’re in your microphone. And the amount of data that’s flowing through is so massive that it takes machine learning to process. What that means is that there are new opportunities for smart machines. So some of the burden that we take in our own brains is offloaded to machines and we spend more time on creative things like virtual reality being in different worlds, or augmented reality, of changing the world we currently live in.”

Robert Rippee: what generational change means for gambling

Innovating the gambling space isn’t just about finding the next edge to attract new gamblers; it’s about bridging the gap from the last generation of player to the next. Understanding how to best do that can be helped a bit by taking an academic view of the shift. To do just that, our Rebecca Liggero Fontana spoke with Robert Rippee, Director of the Hospitality Lab at the International Gaming Institute of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR8vog565Mo?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

Before even starting to work on the thing that appeals to today’s youth, it’s important to understand what makes them difference. “First step is to understand that those two generations are very different, so what works for one may not work for the other, which is in theory why they need to market to the younger generation,” he said. “So the experiences that they designed and built that appeals to my generation doesn’t necessarily appeal to yours. So the way that you get around that is first of all, you have to kind of take a risk. You have to take a risk in figuring out what do I want? Or what does a younger generation want? Then there’s a second part that says if you do it right, you have examples of things like technology that have been designed and introduced to younger generations that made their way, and are accepted and used by other generations.”

Thankfully, a whole new wave of technology could help attract the millennial and Gen-Z generations. “In fact, I would say the clues to us are in things like virtual reality and augmented reality,” he began. “And in machine learning, artificial intelligence, I think if I were to predict a world for now, so in 20 year from now, you have to assume that things like integrated circuits are everywhere, right? They’re in the wall, they’re in the floor, they’re in your microphone. And the amount of data that’s flowing through is so massive that it takes machine learning to process. What that means is that there are new opportunities for smart machines. So some of the burden that we take in our own brains is offloaded to machines and we spend more time on creative things like virtual reality being in different worlds, or augmented reality, of changing the world we currently live in.”

Online Casino and Sportsbook BETZEST goes live with Payment Provider MuchBetter

Malta, 3rd February 2020 – Online Sportbook and Casino Betzest announced a new partnership with the award winning iGaming payments company MuchBetter.

MuchBetter is already available on Betzest cashier for both deposits and the withdrawal of winnings, offering real-time payments for players.

Online casino and sportsbook  Betzest continues increasing its operations since its launch in July 2018. Betzest is quickly becoming one of world’s leading online gambling company offering high class sports betting and casino games.

Marius Filip, Founder/CMO at Betzest, said: After the launch of MGA license, we are delighted to conclude another partnership with award winning payment provider MuchBetter. We are always looking to improve the Betzest product for our players and we trust that this innovative global payment solutions provider will play an important part in helping Betzest to  facilitate transactions in key European& International  target markets. A big thank you to our Betzest team for this amazing accomplishment and to MuchBetter Team for their continuous support throughout the process. We’ve had an extremely pro-active start to 2020 with a remarkable collection of world-class payment and casino providers on the way. I’m certain the best is yet to come.”

GTGNetwork.com sign data and games deal with BetEasy

• Agreement will see GTG Network.com deploy consumer-facing data platform with leading Australian bookmaker

Melbourne, Australia, 3 February 2020: Data and technology provider GTGnetwork.com (GTG) has signed a deal with BetEasy to deploy GTG’s iSport Genius product and software.

The ‘betting choice’ content-and-insights platform is designed to inform and educate customers about their choice of bet.

iSport Genius’ interactive consumer-facing platform leverages trillions of pieces of data, and via an intuitively designed interface creates a multitude of engaging calls to action and helps improve the overall experience for punters and sports fans alike.

Sports books report Chiefs win the best Super Bowl result since 2008

After a 50 year drought, the Kansas City Chiefs are once again Super Bowl Champions. The odds on favorite had to do it in a comeback, but they managed to beat the San Francisco 49ers 31-20. Happily for the sports books, this was also a huge win for the house.

With a spread of -1.5 and a total of 53, the final score worked out just right for the house. “We did very well. I know for a fact that it’s our best Super Bowl since at least 2008,” The Mirage sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback said to the Las Vegas Review Journal. “We had the best-case scenario for us, Chiefs and under.”

“It was our best scenario,” Caesars Entertainment sportsbook director Bill Sattler said. “We were real heavy on the Niners money line and a lot of it was from Lake Tahoe.”

The best single day take since 2008 was helped heavily by two heavy bettors going in on the 49ers. One man bet $1 million on the 49ers moneyline, and another punter bet $2 million, splitting it on $550,000 on the 49ers -1.5, $500,000 on 49ers first-half (EVEN), and $550,000 on over 53.5. Of course, most of that came into the house.