In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements from the gambling industry. Our Press Release section is updated constantly, and we publish roundups of the latest partnerships twice a week.

FunFair Technologies harnesses luck of the Irish with Shamrock Treasures

Engaging new slot title invites players to discover gold at the end of the rainbow

China believes there is an intrinsic correlation between gambling and crime, one that cannot be separated. It has already begun a crackdown on anyone who would promote gambling, domestic or otherwise, from within its borders and is going to step up its game. New ATMs with facial recognition technology are now in place in the country, with the latest being installed in the city of Zhuhai, just across the border from Macau. GGRAsia explains that many are now found in the city’s Gongbei district, described as one of the busiest land checkpoints between Zhuhai and Macau. 

Part of the reason for the installation of the new cash machines is presumably to monitor who is consistently making withdrawals. Reports of “excessive” ATM withdrawals have made China’s leaders nervous, with the leading theory being that criminals are emptying the machines for cross-border gambling, fraud and other activity. Facial recognition will allegedly help authorities reduce crime, as well as prevent individuals from allowing non-cardholders to use their cards to transfer potentially illicit funds. 

This isn’t the first time that the area has seen ATMs with facial recognition capabilities, but marks a major advance for China. Macau has had similar cash machines installed at various points around the city for the past four years; however, the technology was reportedly meant to be used just to verify the identity of the person withdrawing funds through cards issued by China’s UnionPay bank. Despite those claims, the general consensus has been that the technology was actually being used to monitor cross-border cash activity between the city and mainland China. 

Facial recognition technology has been a touchy subject over the years. Attempts at using it in other parts of the world, in particular by casinos, have led to lawsuits and substantial backlash. However, China feels compelled to do whatever it takes to ensure its laws and policies are followed at all times, even if it means deploying questionable solutions. 

The box office is set to be overcrowded with 2020 blockbusters over the next 12 months, with James Bond one film that is tipped to lead the recovery. While this may be the final outing for Daniel Craig as 007 in Die Another Day, we have the odds on who is the favorite to assume the mantle of MI6’s most famous secret agent.

Peaky Blinders star, Tom Hardy is the favorite at Bodog to become the next Bond at +200. Hardy is working on a Venom sequel for the Marvel Universe and is also rumored to be making a cameo appearance in the next instalment of Spider-Man. Speculation has followed Hardy since 2015 when Daniel Craig was considering dropping out of the role.

UFC 257 returns to prime time this weekend, offering plenty of intrigue around the return of the self-proclaimed king Conor McGregor. The Notorious is on the main card for a rematch with American Dustin Poirier.

There are plenty of subplots to the event on Fight Island this weekend. A win for the Irishman could be enough to draw Khabib Nuramgomedov out of retirement for a lucrative title fight with McGregor.

“Show me something spectacular! Make me come back and fight!”@TeamKhabib’s words to the lightweight division!

The Eagle opens the door to a return following #UFC257 pic.twitter.com/qatDzoR39H

Dario Sammartino, the 2019 WSOP Main Event runner-up, comes into play at the final table of the latest Super MILLION$ event on GGPoker with the chip lead.

Italy’s Sammartino hit the headlines back in 2019 when he came into the action at the WSOP Main Event final table 7th in chips of the nine players, but he confounded many people’s expectations to get all the way to the heads-up before losing to the eventual champion Hossein Ensan.

Back then, Sammartino would be disappointed to miss out on the title, as you can see in this PokerNews video from the time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l9XstJBsDIVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: 2019 World Series of Poker Runner-Up: Dario Sammartino (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l9XstJBsDI)

Since 1964, Match of the Day has been a legendary television programme, broadcasting highlights of top-flight football. In television terms, it is the shiny-backed cockroach of the Sport on Screen landscape and has survived the best part of half a century by sticking to its unique selling points and playing to its strengths.

What are they and could Match of the Day survive another 50 years, or will it eventually be replaced? Let’s wallow in the wonder of a football one-off.

The Origins of an Iconic Show

Match of the Day used to show just one game’s highlights at length on a Saturday night when it first came around, and that was in black and white, too. Coverage was presented by Kenneth Wolstenholme (he of the infamous 1966 World Cup Final commentary “They think it’s all over… it is now!”) for the first three years.

Pennsylvania’s gambling operators set new monthly records for online casino revenue and sports betting handle in December 2020, although it wasn’t enough to rescue the market from posting its first full-year revenue decline since 2014. 

Figures released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) show statewide gaming revenue of just $168.7m in the month of December, a 42.2% decline from the same month last year and the third straight month of sequential declines. 

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the state’s casinos to close in mid-December in a bid to halt the further spread of COVID-19. As a result, December’s land-based slots revenue was down 77.5% year-on-year to $42.2m, while land-based table games fell 78.2% to just over $17m.

Retail’s loss was online’s gain, as online casino and poker brought in $71.6m in December, handily beating the state’s previous high-water mark of $59.8m set in October 2020. Online slot revenue soared 730% year-on-year to $46.25m, tables gained a lucky 777% to $22.6m and the state’s lone online poker site nudged up a comparatively modest 10.4% to $2.73m. 

Michigan’s online casino and sports betting market will officially launch on Friday (22), just in time for this weekend’s NFL conference championships. 

On Tuesday, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) confirmed that nine of the state’s tribal and commercial casino operators and their respective platform providers had been cleared to launch online sports betting and casino games as of noon on Friday. The launch comes 13 months after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the state’s iGaming legislation into law.

The nine lucky operators are six fewer than received preliminary approval in December but the MGCB said additional final approvals would be granted in the coming weeks pending successful testing of operators’ online systems.  

The nine online horses packed into Friday’s starting gate include all three Detroit commercial casinos – Greektown (operating as Penn National Gaming’s Barstool Sportsbook), MGM Grand Detroit (BetMGM) and MotorCity (FanDuel). 

US casino operator MGM Resorts has abandoned its bid to acquire its online gambling/sports betting joint venture partner Entain plc, leading to a steep plunge in the latter firm’s share price. 

On Tuesday, MGM issued a statement saying it “does not intend to submit a revised proposal and it will not make a firm offer for Entain.” MGM said it arrived at this decision “after careful consideration and having reflected on the limited recent engagement between the respective companies.” 

The news sparked a massive sell-off of Entain shares, which pushed the price down more than 17% before the panic subsided. Nevertheless, the shares closed out Tuesday’s trading down nearly 12% from Monday’s close. MGM, on the other hand, is currently trading up 3%. 

Early in this new year, MGM publicly expressed interest in acquiring Entain, its partner in the ROAR Digital joint venture, which offers iGaming/betting in multiple US states via the BetMGM brand. After receiving a cooler than expected response to its initial $11b all-stock offer, MGM secured a commitment from shareholder Barry Diller’s InterActive Corp to sweeten the pot by up to $1b in cash.

Sky Bet’s latest sports gambling market has come crashing to the ground without a parachute. The gambling operator had recently introduced “Commentator Bingo” as a way to branch out into other gambling avenues, but it turned out to be a complete dud. The company, per a report by SBC News, has announced that it has shelved the idea after receiving a serious amount of backlash, pulling it just ahead of this Sunday’s English Premier League game between rivals Manchester United and Liverpool.

Commentator Bingo was presented as a way for gamblers to place bets on “exact words and phrases” that commentators might use during the game. Sky Sports is broadcasting the game, with Martin Tyler, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher set to provide the commentator, and Twitter apparently exploded with criticism over the concept. However, some of the backlash may have been misdirected, as it’s possible that some Twitter uses erroneously linked Sky Bet with Sky Sports, even though they’re two separate and independent companies. 

Sky Bet was probably more concerned about the high-profile criticism it received for Commentator Bingo than it was over the reaction of Twitter users. Carolyn Harris, a U.K. Member of Parliament and the chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, was not impressed with the activity and told The Athletic that it was “astounding, unbelievable and predatory.” She added, “Where are the limits? What are the boundaries on what these companies are going to take a bet on? I am aghast that they try to find a betting opportunity in every minute of the day.”

Possibly unaware of how the new gambling option would be taken, Sky Bet has most likely just reignited anti-gambling flames in the U.K. The country has already been cracking down on how gambling operators manage their activity and a number of new policies have been introduced over the past two years that limit revenue-generating possibilities. Offering options such as Commentator Bingo are not against U.K.’s gambling laws; however, operators should now expect that to change in the very near future.

Playtech Sports is gaining more ground in Europe. The gambling software developer has struck a deal with Danske Spil to introduce new virtual sports gambling products, helping Denmark’s national lottery operator expand its lineup. The products are reportedly in place already and offer a variety of options that will appeal to all types of sports gambling enthusiasts.

Danske Spil has chosen eight titles to offer, including soccer, basketball, tennis, greyhound racing, horse racing, motorsports, cycling and competitive running. The operator will provide simulation-based odds for the virtual products, giving gamblers the ability to study the finer details of the event before placing their bets. Danske Spil CEO Pernille Mehl said of the new content and the deal with Playtech, “We are pleased to launch a new product vertical in our product portfolio. It is a different product than the classic lottery, which hopefully can attract new customers to our business.”

Playtech has already seen its novel offerings introduced to GVC, MansionBet and OPAP. A year ago, it added its QUANTUM digital gambling solution to OPAP’s platform, a move that proved to give OPAP a strong boost as the gambling industry continued to be pummeled by COVID-19. Playtech creates its virtual sports offerings with the assistance of advanced motion capture film recording, which has become exceedingly popular since it was introduced.

Playtech’s Director of Virtual Sports, Richard Andrews, adds about the new relationship with Danske Spil, “We’ve seen player engagement for our virtual sports outmatch even our most optimistic expectations in recent months, and we’re delighted to announce that Danske Spil has launched our innovative virtual sports portfolio. We’re thrilled to offer the industry’s most exciting simulation of live sports available with our latest collaboration. Danske Spil have customised the product specifically for their Danish players and we have no doubt it will prove to be a strong revenue driver and a firm player favourite.” Danske Spil took a hit last year because of COVID-19 and the new options should help it find renewed support. The first half of 2020 brought a 7.8% reduction in revenue compared to the same period a year earlier, even though the company was able to limit its profit losses to just 2.9% year-on-year. Much of that loss was due to the pause in sports activity in the half, which led to fewer sports wagers, and Danske Spil was able to rely on its lottery options to help offset some of the losses.

If there’s any doubt that a POGO (Philippines Offshore Gambling Operator) exodus is happening, we need only look to the real estate sector to find out the truth. The Lobien Realty Group (LRG) is warning Metro Manila vacancy rates could nearly double in 2021, at the rate operators are currently leaving the city.

In a media briefing, LRG chief executive officer Sheila Lobien noted the city closed 2020 with an 8% vacancy rate. “We feel that in the next few months, this can be double digit 12 percent to probably 14 percent vacancy rate… because many office buildings are being vacated. The exit of POGO affected the market’s vacancy rate,’’ Lobien said.

There will be a huge knock-on effect from this to landlords. Rental rates are expected to drop anywhere from 25 to 30%. Lobien explained that current rates have remained high thanks to some crafty budget management by property owners:

“[Rates] have not reflected the decrease due to the POGOs’ contractual agreements of about a year’s worth of security and advance deposits, which protected the landlords’ rent income during the lockdowns and despite the numerous lease pre-terminations.”

If there’s any doubt that a POGO (Philippines Offshore Gambling Operator) exodus is happening, we need only look to the real estate sector to find out the truth. The Lobien Realty Group (LRG) is warning Metro Manila vacancy rates could nearly double in 2021, at the rate operators are currently leaving the city.

In a media briefing, LRG chief executive officer Sheila Lobien noted the city closed 2020 with an 8% vacancy rate. “We feel that in the next few months, this can be double digit 12 percent to probably 14 percent vacancy rate… because many office buildings are being vacated. The exit of POGO affected the market’s vacancy rate,’’ Lobien said.

There will be a huge knock-on effect from this to landlords. Rental rates are expected to drop anywhere from 25 to 30%. Lobien explained that current rates have remained high thanks to some crafty budget management by property owners:

“[Rates] have not reflected the decrease due to the POGOs’ contractual agreements of about a year’s worth of security and advance deposits, which protected the landlords’ rent income during the lockdowns and despite the numerous lease pre-terminations.”

Entain’s plan to buy up Enlabs AB has just hit a major roadblock. Texas hedge fund Alta Fox Capital Management, 3.3% shareholder of Enlabs, now says they’ll refuse to sell for the offered price, and they’ve gathered enough support to stop the purchase.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, shareholders would receive SEK 40 (£3.50) per share. In a letter to their fellow shareholders, Alta Fox Capital wrote, “This offer materially undervalues the company, represents a negligible premium of 1.1% to the pre-offer trading price, and has unusual circumstances that make us question why Enlabs’ Chairman, Niklas Braathen, accepted such an inadequate offer.”

They go on to conclude:

“The fact that Entain will compensate Braathen as a senior executive post-deal and that the CEO of Entain just announced his departure is highly unusual. It leads us to conclude that while this is a good deal for Entain, it is a bad deal for NLAB minority shareholders. Alta Fox has retained legal counsel to protect our interests in this matter and has spoken with other large shareholders, a portion of which have signed in support of this letter and represent over 10% of total shares outstanding.”

In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly. We also roundup the latest slot game releases for you every Wednesday.

BetConstruct Optimizes Backoffice for Mobile Use

The sportsbook and online casino supplier is among the fewest who provide operators with a complete set of products and services on a self-hosted platform. Adapting the controls to smartphone browsing is the next move towards providing operators with a maximum comfort in using BetConstruct solutions. The seamless integration of backoffice into mobile is, first and foremost, part of catering to the needs of operators and bridging the agility gap.