Take Our Poll

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver opened the discussion of a professional sports league warming up to the idea of supporting legalized sports betting, which is why we decided to ask our readers, “Who will be next pro league boss to likely strike a favorable sports betting position?”

Naturally, Silver has become somewhat of a hero in these parts for his stance. his willingness to have a discussion on the subject got us thinking. Outside of Silver, which commissioner among the the four other professional sports leagues will most likely follow Silver’s lead and be receptive to the previously frowned upon idea of embracing a legalized sports betting environment.

We put four names on the list – Major League Baseball’s Rob Manfred, the NHL’s Gary Bettman, the NFL’s Roger Goodell, and Major League Soccer’s Rob Garber – and after a week of voting, well, the results are in.

What we found out wasn’t really that surprising because Manfred, the newly appointed commissioner of MLB, came away with the most votes, getting 50% of total votes. Why isn’t this surprising? Well, Manfred actually opened up about the idea already, telling ESPN.com that a legalized sports betting structure is something he’s willing to discuss with team owners in the league. That itself kind of already answered the poll, right?

The members of the General Affairs Committee voted 5-3, this week, to advance Legislative Resolution 10CA, a bill that would give lawmakers, not voters, the power to authorize any form of gambling in the state of Nebraska.

Nebraska voters, who currently have the power to a had approved betting on horse races, state lottery and charitable gaming such as keno and pickle cards but rejected off-track betting, casinos and slot machines.

“LR 10CA would not itself change the types of gambling allowed in Nebraska. Rather, it would remove a barrier placed in the state constitution more than 150 years ago,” said Sen. Paul Schumacher, who introduced the amendment.

Sen. Tyson Larson said that he supported LR 10CA because he believes Nebraska has been missing out on the funds that could come from expanded gambling.

LR 10CA, just like any other gambling bill, is likely to face opposition as Sen. Merv Riepe, who voted against the proposal, said that he don’t want to take away the decision of this matter from Nebraska voters and Sen. Beau McCoy has filed a motion to kill the proposal.

In Alabama, a statewide poll has been conducted by News 5 and the results show that 69% of Alabamians said that Governor should consider gambling before raising taxes, 72% said that they support lottery, and 60% would vote for casino-style gambling.

In 1999, voters rejected lottery, with the religious right and Mississippi casinos leading the opposition, making Alabama as one of the states that does not have lottery.

ICE Totally Gaming is one of my favorite gaming industry events of the year.  It serves as the perfect opportunity to get oriented with the latest innovations, the most popular products, the hottest issues and to see what’s cooking with the industry’s biggest players.

All my senses are on full blast when I attend ICE as my job on the floor is to scope out the most visually appealing aspects of the show, speak with as many influencers as possible and pick up more industry knowledge at the sessions.

For this week’s column I will share with the world what I enjoyed most at ICE over the course of the three days I was roaming the ExCeL. Unfortunately there is only so much one person can cover at an event as large as ICE, so I’m sure there is plenty I unintentionally missed.  If you have anything to add about what you or anyone else loved at ICE, please feel free to do so in the comments section below.

Bridging the gap between land based and online

I appreciate how ICE provides the first opportunity of the year for the land based and the online sides of the industry to get together under one roof. This year at ICE the overlap between the two sides of the industry was more noticeable than ever, with less of a separation between “iGaming” booths and the rest.  The expo floor was more integrated this year and a number of booths have started showcasing both retail and iGaming solutions.  Even at Fire and Ice we saw professionals from the land based side booking tables and mingling with the crowds.

Reps from the iGaming industry saw a lot of value this year (and in years previous) in coming to check out the technology and games on display at the larger land based suppliers at ICE.  What’s also true is the land based companies are looking to get online via social and the lotteries are looking to get online to increase distribution, so its a two way street when it comes to learning from each other at ICE.

The overlap between land based and online was also apparent within the sessions- take regulation in emerging markets, for example- most of these markets require a partnership with a land based casino in order to legally operate an online site.

The Revel Casino Hotel is once again left without a buyer after a company specified deadline for real estate developer Glen Straub to close the $95.4 million deal came and passed without a resolution.

According to papers filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Camden (New Jersey), Revel indicated that it had done all it can to close the sale on Straub’s terms, but the developer had “failed to cooperate and even actively opposed the sale at times.”

If the back-and-forth between Revel and Straub didn’t complicate the sale enough, a recent string of last-minute court rulings made by the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia last Friday and later on, by Judge Jerome Simandle of the U.S. District Court in Camden, N.J. certainly didn’t help either. In a sudden and surprising move over the weekend that swept over Revel’s transaction with Straub, the higher courts that basically halted the sale to give the hotel’s tenants the chance to have their appeals heard in court.

The 11th hour court rulings prompted Straub to seek a Feb. 28 extension to close the sale, arguing through his lawyers that it didn’t want to buy anything that still has so many legal issues hanging over it. What’s clear is that the developer isn’t willing to buy the property without these issues being resolved, telling the Wall Street Journal that he doesn’t plan to close the deal until “[they] hear our case surrounding the legal issues.

Revel, though, isn’t backing down and has made it clear that it’s planning to move on to Plan C, D, E, or F after Straub’s failure to meet the imposed deadline. The “purported justifications for failing to timely close under the purchase agreement lacks any support under such agreement,” lawyers for Revel said in court papers.

As far as what those plans are, it’s still unclear how Revel will proceed, although the company has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns to turn over Straub’s $10 million deposit that’s currently held in escrow.

Strobe is unlikely to see his $10 million deposit back, but that’s an issue for another time. What’s important now is what Judge Burns will say at the hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning and whether she grants Straub’s request to extend the deadline or give Revel the nod to officially terminate the sale.

Russia is seeking ever more restrictive ways of preventing its citizens from accessing forbidden internet sites, including online gambling operators. At a Feb. 5 appearance at the Infoforum 2015 national IT security conference in Moscow, a top Russian official declared war on anonymity over the internet, including the use of the Tor network and virtual private networks (VPN).

Leonid Levin, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Information Policy and Communications, told Infoforum attendees that the government should consider methods to block the use of anonymous technology in order to help impede access to “forbidden” information. Among the categories of sites not currently finding favor with Vladimir Putin are online gambling sites, access to which Russian internet service providers were ordered to cut off years ago.

Roskomnadzor, the state agency that regulates internet use, has reportedly agreed to Levin’s request. Roskomnadzor issued a statement calling the challenge “difficult, but solvable,” although few tech observers give them much chance of eradicating Tor, which was developed by the US military before being declassified and turned loose for commercial purposes in 2002. Silk Road, the infamous online bazaar for all sorts of illicit activity, operated via Tor.

Russia’s Safe Internet League, whose members include state telecom outfit Rostelecom and other major mobile providers, issued a statement supporting the ban, saying online anonymity allowed “offenders of all kinds to hide their intentions from the state and use it to commit crimes.”

Russians looking to circumvent their country’s draconian online gambling ban have used VPN to access sites like PokerStars, which remains wildly popular in Russia despite its presence on Russia’s blacklist. While Russia has made strides toward implementing a legal online sports betting market, the prospects for online poker and casino authorization seem as bleak as ever.

In December, Roskomnadzor was given new powers to block restricted sites without a court order. Failure to comply with these new rules could leave violators liable for fines of either RUB 500k (US $7,700) or three-years income derived from Russian citizens, plus the option of a two-year, all-expenses paid trip to the gulag.

All this leaves Canada’s Amaya Gaming – Stars’ new owner – in a pickle. While Stars pulled out of numerous grey- and black-markets following last summer’s Amaya takeover, most of those markets were piddling in terms of contributions to Stars’ overall revenue. Russia, on the other hand, reportedly represents a significant chunk of Stars’ revenue pie.

Connecticut state Senate Majority Leader BoB Duff announced on Monday that a proposal to legalize slot machines outside tribal casinos has been denied.

“While this will be a difficult budget season, Connecticut’s economy continues to recover,” Duff said. “The unemployment rate is down, and we continue to grow jobs. Former Speaker [Jim] Amann’s idea of putting slot machines at off-track betting sites near the Massachusetts border is not the answer, and any expansion of gaming needs to be done in consultation with the tribes.”

Prior to Duff’s announcement, two spokesperson from two Indian casinos-Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes-told The Hartford Courant that Amann’s proposal would violate their revenue-sharing compacts with the state.

Under a 25-year-old deal crafted by ex-Gov. Lowell Weicker, Jr., the tribes have the exclusive right to operate slot machines in Connecticut. In return, the casinos have agreed to pay 25% of their slot revenues to the state.

Connecticut’s tax revenue from casinos has decreased in recent years as gambling opportunities expand in other states—Massachusetts and New York will have new casinos in the next few years. To address this new competition, former House Speaker James Amann and some legislators pushed for a plan to allow slot machines at the off-track betting parlors at the Bradley Teletheatre in Windsor Locks, Sports Haven in New Haven, and Shoreline Star in Bridgeport.

Amann said that he respects Duff’s decision but the battle is not over, and he will continue conversations about the bill because the stakes are high.

“It’s premature at this point. There’s a lot of interest in the bill. It’s a win, win, win for everybody. I respect the senator’s decision as a leader, but I think he’s wrong not to look further into it. In Massachusetts, they want to clean our clock,” Amann said.

Legal sports betting in Minnesota is the aim of a new bill coming from state Rep. Phyllis Kahn (pictured). Kahn is preparing to reintroduce the sports betting legislation she originally introduced in 2013, which would have allowed the Minnesota Lottery to take sports wagers on its own or in conjunction with approved licensees.

Kahn told KAAL-TV she expects a somewhat smoother ride than in 2013 in part because of the state’s support for pull-tab operations to help fund the new Vikings’ stadium. Kahn suggested is was “hypocritical of us to allow certain forms of gaming but not others.”

Kahn’s 2013 bill died shortly after New Jersey’s original court challenge of the federal PASPA sports betting ban went down to defeat. Kahn hopes that if her 2015 bill is passed, the state would then mount its own challenge of the “manifestly unfair” PASPA prohibition in a different federal court, assuming New Jersey’s latest kick at that can also fails. (Speaking of, new legal briefs are due to be filed with the US Third Circuit Court of Appeals this Friday.)

Kahn’s plan has already met with opposition from the Minnesota Freedom Foundation, whose spokesperson Annette Meeks called Kahn’s bill “nothing more than a tax on the poor” and would lead to “the expansion of government and not the private sector.” Meeks also suggested the state had better things to do with its money than mount a legal challenge of a federal law with only a faint hope of success.

Meanwhile, former National Basketball Association commissioner David Stern has reiterated his support of his replacement Adam Silver’s call for legal sports betting. During a lecture at New York University on Monday, Stern said he agreed with Silver that “it’s time” for an end to Nevada’s monopoly on single-game sports betting.

While Silver has gotten a lot of media attention with his public call for a federal framework for legal sports betting, Stern made his own waves back in 2009 by telling Sports Illustrated that sports betting represented a “huge opportunity” for the NBA. As quoted by ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk, Stern said it was “clear where we were headed. The course was set. But it was left for Adam to make a direct statement of where it was going and I think he did the right thing.”

Macau police have broken up an illegal online sports betting ring run by and targeting South Koreans. On Thursday, Macau Judiciary Police announced the arrests of three South Korean men following a tip-off about strange goings-on in a condo at the Villa de Mer luxury residential complex.

Police said the three individuals had begun renting the flat in November, kitting it out with what was described as an “unusual” number of computers and other IT gear. The men set up a website targeting South Korean bettors, who can’t legally wager in their home country. Customers were told to deposit funds in a designated bank account in South Korea, after which they were free to place their football and basketball wagers with the site.

Police believe the operation attracted over 100 clients and handled around HKD 7m (US $900k) in wagers in the short time it was up and running. In dollar terms, it pales in significance to the bust Macau police made last June, which handled HKD 5b ($645m) in wagers in just the first week of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. US federal prosecutors have alleged that the ring was organized by high-stakes poker player Paul Phua.

But this week’s bust is notable in that it represents the first time in a decade that Macau has caught South Korean nationals at the controls of an illegal gambling operation. Last month saw Vietnam deport six South Koreans for operating an illegal betting site out of a rented villa.

Police are keeping their counterparts in South Korea apprised of the situation on the presumption that other individuals were part of the operation in that country. The three men arrested Tuesday have been charged with operating illegal gaming activities and participating in organized crime. Sports betting in Macau is the sole responsibility of the Macau Slot enterprise.