Germany-facing online casino operators can continue to operate without fear of legal blowback provided they observe certain restrictions before those restrictions actually take effect.

On Wednesday, German media reported that the country’s 16 perpetually fractious states had agreed to a plan to ‘tolerate’ German-facing online gambling operators that offer casino and poker products before said products are authorized under the new federal gambling treaty set to take effect on July 1, 2021.

There are a few caveats, primarily the requirement for these operators to observe the restrictions laid out in the treaty’s draft language as if it had already taken effect. These include strict caps on deposits and a €1-per-spin stake limit for online slots play. Operators who comply with these rules by October 15 will be assured they won’t face prosecution by German authorities.

Saarland was the last state to agree to the proposal, support for which was far from enthusiastic due to many states feeling the draft treaty didn’t include enough player protection measures. The state of Bremen reluctantly agreed to toleration based on its fear that failure to support the plan could mean that the new treaty – which followed a decade of ineffectual efforts – might collapse and leave the market in its largely unregulated state.

The future of Asia is always a complicated topic, but a panel of experts at SBC Summit Barcelona Digital attempted to tackle how the gambling industry can adapt to the ever-moving trends of the continent. Without much guaranteed in the way of regulation anywhere, the panel focused quite a bit on the products and technology that can make a difference.

Japan, which could still be years away from regulated online gambling, is showing a budding interest in Bitcoin. Andrea Bellezza, VP of EU and Asia Pacific for KaFe Rocks, has been scouring SEO data and had this to share:

“Users are definitely searching on how to play and how to gamble with Bitcoin. I think it’s a new kind of user, maybe not the one we were used to like 5 years ago, 10 years ago. It’s like a more young audience, that has Bitcoin saved from other business or joint venture, and now they’re trying to spend those Bitcoin. And we’re seeing a bit of a growth there, biggest interest from Bitcoin, is definitely something to keep an eye on.”

Anutosh Chatterjee, iGaming & Betting Consultant, also noted an increased interest in Bitcoin from India since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but noted that generally speaking, cash is still king in India, and users aren’t lacking for payment options to use.

The future of Asia is always a complicated topic, but a panel of experts at SBC Summit Barcelona Digital attempted to tackle how the gambling industry can adapt to the ever-moving trends of the continent. Without much guaranteed in the way of regulation anywhere, the panel focused quite a bit on the products and technology that can make a difference.

Japan, which could still be years away from regulated online gambling, is showing a budding interest in Bitcoin. Andrea Bellezza, VP of EU and Asia Pacific for KaFe Rocks, has been scouring SEO data and had this to share:

“Users are definitely searching on how to play and how to gamble with Bitcoin. I think it’s a new kind of user, maybe not the one we were used to like 5 years ago, 10 years ago. It’s like a more young audience, that has Bitcoin saved from other business or joint venture, and now they’re trying to spend those Bitcoin. And we’re seeing a bit of a growth there, biggest interest from Bitcoin, is definitely something to keep an eye on.”

Anutosh Chatterjee, iGaming & Betting Consultant, also noted an increased interest in Bitcoin from India since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, but noted that generally speaking, cash is still king in India, and users aren’t lacking for payment options to use.

One of the most popular books of recent years, How Can He Fold? arrived in 2019 to great acclaim and remains a hugely popular book to this day. Written by Grant Denison and Jonathan Levy, this book examines poker by way of looking at several often high-profile and certainly dramatic hands.

Analysing the action, the book definitely comes under the ‘self-help’ section of poker books, aiming to improve the player who is reading about the hands. Denison and Levy are very good at breaking down each hand, taking you through the methodology of each player and guiding you as how you yourself could have played the hand differently or even better.

The best thing about this book, however, is not the analysis of poker hands, but the way the book is written. There is a great chemistry between the two authors, and it’s a little like sitting next to two intelligent, witty individuals arguing about what makes the hands interesting and the players within them so successful.

There are some really good hand choices, too, and enough to suggest that plenty of others are out there too that could be used in future volumes. One of the best things about the book is that not all the hands are too recent as to come across as similar. After all, the way we play poker changes all the time and is always evolving. There’s a great hand from the 2010 National Heads Up Championship, where Phil Hellmuth is put to the test on a call for his tournament life and another one where Phil Ivey and Isaac Haxton clash on the bubble of a Super High Roller event.

One of the most popular books of recent years, How Can He Fold? arrived in 2019 to great acclaim and remains a hugely popular book to this day. Written by Grant Denison and Jonathan Levy, this book examines poker by way of looking at several often high-profile and certainly dramatic hands.

Analysing the action, the book definitely comes under the ‘self-help’ section of poker books, aiming to improve the player who is reading about the hands. Denison and Levy are very good at breaking down each hand, taking you through the methodology of each player and guiding you as how you yourself could have played the hand differently or even better.

The best thing about this book, however, is not the analysis of poker hands, but the way the book is written. There is a great chemistry between the two authors, and it’s a little like sitting next to two intelligent, witty individuals arguing about what makes the hands interesting and the players within them so successful.

There are some really good hand choices, too, and enough to suggest that plenty of others are out there too that could be used in future volumes. One of the best things about the book is that not all the hands are too recent as to come across as similar. After all, the way we play poker changes all the time and is always evolving. There’s a great hand from the 2010 National Heads Up Championship, where Phil Hellmuth is put to the test on a call for his tournament life and another one where Phil Ivey and Isaac Haxton clash on the bubble of a Super High Roller event.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card from the organization’s Apex facility in Las Vegas was to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between the division’s second-ranked Thiago Santos and No. 4 Glover Teixeira, but Teixeira tested positive for COVID-19 so that has been shifted to October 3.

The new main event and now a five-round fight is the former co-main event featuring American female strawweights Michelle Waterson and Angela Hill. The strawweight champion is Weili Zhang with Waterson ranked No. 8 in the division and Hill No. 13.

The 35-year-old Hill (12-8) is a former World Kickboxing Association champion as well as Invicta FC strawweight champion. “Overkill” had a three-fight winning streak snapped in May via split decision to Claudia Gadelha. Most of Hill’s fights do go to the judges: She has seven wins that way and six losses; her other two defeats were by submission but Hill has never won via that route. She is a -130 favorite for Saturday.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card from the organization’s Apex facility in Las Vegas was to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between the division’s second-ranked Thiago Santos and No. 4 Glover Teixeira, but Teixeira tested positive for COVID-19 so that has been shifted to October 3.

The new main event and now a five-round fight is the former co-main event featuring American female strawweights Michelle Waterson and Angela Hill. The strawweight champion is Weili Zhang with Waterson ranked No. 8 in the division and Hill No. 13.

The 35-year-old Hill (12-8) is a former World Kickboxing Association champion as well as Invicta FC strawweight champion. “Overkill” had a three-fight winning streak snapped in May via split decision to Claudia Gadelha. Most of Hill’s fights do go to the judges: She has seven wins that way and six losses; her other two defeats were by submission but Hill has never won via that route. She is a -130 favorite for Saturday.

This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card from the organization’s Apex facility in Las Vegas was to be headlined by a light heavyweight bout between the division’s second-ranked Thiago Santos and No. 4 Glover Teixeira, but Teixeira tested positive for COVID-19 so that has been shifted to October 3.

The new main event and now a five-round fight is the former co-main event featuring American female strawweights Michelle Waterson and Angela Hill. The strawweight champion is Weili Zhang with Waterson ranked No. 8 in the division and Hill No. 13.

The 35-year-old Hill (12-8) is a former World Kickboxing Association champion as well as Invicta FC strawweight champion. “Overkill” had a three-fight winning streak snapped in May via split decision to Claudia Gadelha. Most of Hill’s fights do go to the judges: She has seven wins that way and six losses; her other two defeats were by submission but Hill has never won via that route. She is a -130 favorite for Saturday.

Waterson (17-8), 34, is a black belt in American freestyle karate and a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a former Invicta FC Atomweight champion. “The Karate Hottie” has lost back-to-back fights in the Octagon to Carla Esparza and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The defeat to Esparza was a controversial split decision. Waterson wins the majority of the time by submission (53 percent) and half of her eight losses are via decision. She’s even money against Hill.

What would be a ninth WCOOP title mean to Shaun Deeb apart from drawing level with the most successful WCOOP player of all-time, Denis Strebkov? It’s hard to say, but Deeb is just 13 eliminations away from achieving that lofty goal.

Long a divisive figure in the game of poker, Deeb’s reputation as something of an anti-hero should have nothing to do with his professional record, which is immense. Consistently not just a winning player to the tune of millions, Deeb has a remarkable ability to hang around in tournament poker and puts himself in the position for glory time and time again.

Deeb has certainly done that in the $5,200-entry PLO Event #37 in this year’s WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker), where he currently sits second in chips with just 14 players left.

With 125 entries, the prizepool of $625,000 saw just 69 players enter, but many of them re-entered, with nearly half of the total entries coming by that method. With a top prize of $140,506, it was a rollercoaster ride to the final two tables.

It’s not a cure for the virus, but a new nasal spray could help keep COVID-19 from spreading. Researchers at the University of Washington (UW) have reportedly been able to figure out how to use synthetic proteins sprayed directly into the nostrils to stop the coronavirus in its tracks and help keep it from becoming another global nuisance. While there is still more work to be done to determine the full range of possibilities of the solution, it could prove to be a huge step forward in allowing the world to return to normal. 

With the aid of computers, researchers were able to design proteins that have proven effective in protecting lab-grown human cells from the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. They explain in a press release that the solution is able to prevent the coronavirus from using their “spike” proteins to latch onto and enter healthy cells. Without the spikes, the coronavirus can’t cause significant damage and can be eliminated much more easily.

The experiments to understand how to combat the virus began this past January, and researchers developed over two million spike killers throughout the project. Of those, only 118,000 made the final cut and were then tested in a lab environment. Says Longxing Cao, lead author of the report and a postdoctoral scholar at UW’s Institute for Protein Design, “Although extensive clinical testing is still needed, we believe the best of these computer-generated antivirals are quite promising. They appear to block SARS-CoV-2 infection at least as well as monoclonal antibodies, but are much easier to produce and far more stable, potentially eliminating the need for refrigeration.”

The project saw collaboration by the UW School of Medicine in Seattle, as well as the Washington University School of Medicine, located in St. Louis, Missouri. In addition, according to the press release, it was supported by “a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Synergistic Discovery and Design (contract HR0011835403), The Audacious Project at the Institute for Protein Design, funding from Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Futures Program, Open Philanthropy Project Improving Protein Design Fund, an Azure computing resource gift for COVID-19 research provided by Microsoft, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM120553), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (HHSN272201700059C), Helen Hay Whitney Foundation postdoctoral fellowship, Pew Biomedical Scholars Award, an Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Fast Grant award and the UW Arnold and Mabel Beckman cryo-EM center.”

As far as the soft drink industry goes, Coca-Cola is still king. According to Statista, it controls 43.3% of the market, well above second-place PepsiCo, which has 24.9%. With that much control, Coca-Cola knows how to best utilize its resources and plan for the future, and it apparently sees a lot of possibilities for what cryptocurrency will bring to consumers. Through its corporate venture investment arm, Amatil X, Coca-Cola has invested in a crypto payment provider, and this is going to set the stage for how digital currency is accepted as an alternative to fiat by everything from vending machines to retail stores. 

There has already been a push by retailers to start accepting crypto, but Coca-Cola is making a statement by investing in Centrapay’s latest funding round. In doing so, the payment provider has the backing of a giant for its more than 2,000 vending machines across Australia and New Zealand that allow consumers to make purchases with crypto. Instead of credit and debit cards that can charge business operators commissions of up to 7%, or having to ensure there’s cash in the back pocket, consumers can use their cell phones – which is never out of arm’s reach – to make vending machine purchases. This is how easy it should be to conduct financial transactions, and only crypto can make it possible. 

In announcing the investment, Centrapay CEO Jerome Faury states, “Both Centrapay and Coca-Cola Amatil are committed to preserving consumers’ privacy and data ownership rights, whilst increasing business value. The fact that Coca-Cola Amatil has invested in Centrapay through Amatil X shows that there is a real appetite to provide customers with new ways to engage or to exchange value.”

This isn’t the first time that Coca-Cola and Centrapay have connected, and the expansion of their business relationship would seem to further solidify the company’s belief in what lies ahead in the commercial world. Adds Alix Rimington, who heads Amatil X, “We already have a commercial relationship with Centrapay and our investment further supports our partnership with the team. Amatil’s customers can use their Sylo Smart Wallet at any one of our 2000+ vending machines with a QR code payment sticker. These are located across New Zealand and Australia and will accept payments in cryptocurrency or other digital assets with a scan of your phone’s camera when Sylo Smart Wallet is installed.”

eSports is already a thriving industry, and it has gained even more popularity this year as one of the few activities that could be held virtually due to the coronavirus. There has been no shortage of interest in getting involved in the market from sanctioned high school competitions through professional organizations, and there will be even more going forward. Gambling company Parimatch was already involved in eSports and is now taking an even deeper plunge. It has partnered with Fnatic as its official betting partner, giving it a substantial international foothold in eSports competitions everywhere. 

Fnatic is one of the most prolific eSports organizations, having won over 200 championships in different games over the past ten years. It has been around since 2004 and has the support of many global brands, including BMW, Monster Energy, AMD Radeon and more. Parimatch will join those ranks, becoming the organization’s gambling partner for its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) teams.

Parimatch’s Head of Esports, Stepan Shulga, says of the new partnership, “This partnership with Fnatic is another example of Parimatch strengthening ties with the international esports community, but it is the first time we can call ourselves partners of a truly global and legendary brand with more than 15 years of history.” He adds, “We look forward to collaborating closely with Fnatic to reach millions of esports fans around the world, so watch this space, as we’ve got some exciting plans in store – #alwaysfnatic.”

The tie-up between the two entities will give Parimatch the ability to take advantage of Fnatic’s global footprint to increase its exposure in different marketing and social media segments. This will serve as a gateway to a number of different eSports audiences in various competitions, giving it access to over 15 million eSports fans that follow Fnatic on social media. 

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.

Vivo Gaming teams up with 7Mojos

Vivo Gaming is happy to welcome 7Mojos as a new member of the Vivo Gaming family. 7Mojos create next-generation entertainment solutions by offering a complete turnkey portfolio of games, which can be integrated into pre-existing or newly-created platforms and websites. 7Mojos are MGA and Bulgaria State of Commission of Gambling licensed which is part of Vivo Gamings’ plan to engage with regulated markets all over the world. Vivo Gaming will offer an amazing Live Dealer Andar Bahar table and Unlimited Blackjack, part of the 7Mojos portfolio plus 22 slots with more to come. This summer is packed with new content and amazing games!

The Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN) has teamed up with DraftKings for a new sports gambling show that will continue the merger between live sports and wagers. Prime Time Action, Powered by DraftKings (PTA) is now on MSG Networks and offers in-game betting during live events, making it one of the first of its kind as the sporting world takes on an entirely different aspect compared to previous years. Just in time for the start of the NFL season, PTA will help sports gamblers make better, quicker decisions on where to place their wagers as the action is happening, and is a precursor to an entirely different sports environment going forward. 

PTA airs exclusively on MSG+, as well as on its MSG GO on-demand mobile platform, during the week from 7 PM to 10 PM Eastern Time, according to a press release issued by VSiN yesterday. It’s the second time this month that the sports-centered broadcaster has launched a show this month, following the introduction of the Rush Hour sports broadcast in Illinois a couple of weeks ago. PTA includes content from DraftKings, the exclusive sponsor and data provider for the show, that will allow it to provide live odds and up-to-the-minute betting lines during games.

Brian Musburger, cofounder and CEO of VSiN, states, “We’re thrilled to partner with industry innovators like MSG Networks and DraftKings to deliver one-of-a-kind sports betting programming to the largest media market in the country. The fact that the television home of sports in New York is dedicating programming to sports betting is a testament to the momentum this industry, and specifically in-game betting, is experiencing across the country as well as MSG Networks’ position at the forefront of a media revolution.”

The show is hosted by Gill Alexander, a sports gambling analyst and long-time TV and radio personality. He is joined by several of his veteran accomplices, all of whom have extensive experience in the sports gambling market. Especially during the upcoming NFL season, the ability to offer live data is going to be particularly important, as teams have not been able to gear up for regular-season contests due to the presence of the coronavirus. This is going to lead to a certain degree of confusion, and possibly more injuries, on the field, which will cause teams to change their plans on the fly. 

Although there is still a long way to go before it can say it has recovered from the coronavirus debacle, Macau might be on the right path. After watching the numbers reported from casinos remain flatlined for months, there has been a little blip on the screen, with August finally seeing some action. It may not be much, given how robust the gambling market in Macau was a year ago, but every little bit helps at this point. 

According to the Financial Services Bureau in Macau, the city reported $76.8 million in tax revenue last month, 52.4% more than a month earlier. Because of differences in when the casinos took in the revenue and when the government can tally its percentage from that take, there is typically a delay in the representation of the figures. As a result, some of this tax revenue can be attributed to action seen in July, not just August. 

Despite the substantial monthly increase, Macau is still a long way off from its normal levels. The gross gaming revenue (GGR) reported by the casinos remains flat and is down 94.5% year-on-year. The total GGR for the city’s casinos was $166.38 million, an indication that the relaxation of border restrictions has not had a huge impact on visitation to Macau’s casinos.

At the end of August, the cumulative total GGR for casinos in Macau had only reached $4.552 billion – 81.6% lower compared to the same period last year. As a result, Macau was only able to receive about $2.85 billion in tax revenue from its gaming properties. This is only 29.8% of what it had received over the first eight months of last year, and is obviously impacting previous budget forecasts. 

The annual Labor Day weekend holiday in the U.S. took on a slightly different form this year, with many people looking to try to forget, at least for a little while, the continuing coronavirus pandemic. Las Vegas wanted to take advantage of the long weekend to lure in visitors as the city’s casinos tried to regain some of the massive losses they incurred due to COVID-19, and there was no shortage of deals to be had at area hotels. However, the attempt to draw in large crowds may have backfired, as the amount of violence and destruction seen at some properties was something no one had expected. According to one analyst, the chaotic scene experienced by some venues was a direct result of cheap, or free, hotel rooms that may have attracted riff-raff that would have otherwise not descended on the city.

Greg Mullen, VP at CDC Consulting, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal (LVRJ), “Cheap retail rates for the hotel rooms (and) free rooms are going to the players that have never had free rooms in Las Vegas. They’re going deeper in their database to get players who aren’t as lucrative, because it’s better just to get a body in there.” He added that properties will need to figure out how to determine price points that will be attractive enough to give hotel occupancy rates a boost, but high enough to keep out “less-desirable guests,” according to the LVRJ.

The problem, however, started before the long weekend. A month ago, crime in Las Vegas was already on the rise and crime tracking site CrimeMapping.com points out that, in just a two-mile area of the Las Vegas Strip, there were 324 911 calls in one week last month. Most, 137, were for disturbing the peace, while 72, the next-highest on the list, were for assault. Burglary, vehicle theft and vandalism also made it to the top of the list.

There’s more to this than just rates that reportedly attract unsavory characters. The average daily room rate in Vegas, as indicated by the LVRJ, is $104.39 – 18% lower than it was last year. That certainly doesn’t seem to be enough of a factor to suddenly attract a completely different – and unwanted – clientele. More than likely, the issue spawns from pent-up stress and frustration that has been building as a result of continued lockdowns and ongoing protests against racial and social inequalities. Nevada, home to Las Vegas, has seen a rash of protests over the past couple of months, with the National Guard having to be called in temporarily to try to restore order.