THE AMERICAS

Caesars Entertainment finally bit the bullet and filed for bankruptcy despite a last minute intervention by angry junior creditors; Amaya Gaming said it was considering ditching its entire B2B business; New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market showed signs of life in December; Atlantic City revenue fell for the eighth straight year while Pennsylvania fell two years in a row; Penn National Gaming hired Betfred alum Chris Sheffield to steer its new online gambling course; California’s probe into alleged skimming at Casino M8trix worried online poker backers; New York’s gaming regulators reopened the tender for a Southern Tier casino; a Montreal police sergeant was accused of illegal bookmaking; New Jersey said daily fantasy sports was a greater threat to integrity than sports betting; Washington and Mississippi got new online gambling bills; the American Gaming Association welcomed increased federal scrutiny of Nevada sportsbooks while the sportsbooks lobbied for the right to offer Olympic wagers and CanAffco.com’s Gian Perroni discussed Break Out Gaming’s virtual currency plans.

EUROPE & AFRICA

PokerStars said its new sportsbook would launch before the end of Q1, allowed a glimpse at its data security practices and handed a Russian player $1m via Stars’ Spin & Go; the Czech Republic said it would impose a point of consumption tax on international online operators; South Africa’s gov’t said online gambling must remain a banned activity; Belgium banned operators from using live dealer studios based outside the country; GVC Holdings reported its sixth consecutive quarter of growth; Bwin.party shut down its social betting app while it negotiates a sale; Ladbrokes launched a new affiliate website and Laurent Malka told affiliates how to simplify traffic management; 13 operators expressed interest in a Cyprus casino license; Merkur Gaming appointed a new CEO; the UK’s point of consumption tax caused William Hill to scrap a race sponsorship and SBOBet’s Bill Mummery explained why the company walked away from the UK market.

ASIA

High-rollers’ share of Macau’s 2014 gaming revenue hit new lows and the David Group junket drastically downsized but good things are forecast for 2016 thanks to China’s growing mass market; Stanley Ho’s nephew was accused of running a major prostitution ring out of a Macau hotel; Melco Crown Entertainment unveiled its new Martin Scorsese commercials starring Leo Dicaprio and Robert De Niro; Thai police were accused of extorting money from a ring of South Korean online bookmakers; South Korea approved casino cruises; Koh Puis Investment Group pimped a new Cambodian casino project; Rafi Farber approved of Genting’s investments in the Philippines and Betcoin Tech’s Oron Barber and Ellon Arad discussed Bitcoin’s potential in Asia.

The latest prognosis for Macau casinos is dire in the short term, much more healthy in the long run. Speaking at this week’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2015 press conference at Melco Crown Entertainment’s City of Dreams resort, CLSA analyst Aaron Fischer said he expects Macau’s Q1 gaming revenue will be “among the worst months on record.”

Fischer expects Q1 revenue to fall 29%, with February being particularly grim given comparisons with February 2014, which enjoyed a 40% revenue surge. Fischer expects a further 20% fall in Q2 before things start to pick up in H2 as new properties by Melco Crown and Galaxy Entertainment Group open up. That said, the damage will have already been done, leaving 2015’s annual take down around 9%.

However, Fischer says 2016 will be “a fantastic year” thanks to more new venues opening. Fischer believes 2016 will likely enjoy a 22% year-on-year revenue boost over 2015 but Fischer cautioned that anyone expecting a return to the “glory days” of 40-50% annual growth would be sorely disappointed.

While casino operators will cheer a return to growth, Fischer says the upcoming casino concession renewal process could bring an increase in gaming revenue tax. Macau already has the region’s highest tax rate at 39%, but this may swell to 43%. If there’s any consolation, the first of these concession renewals doesn’t come due until 2020.

Fischer doesn’t expect any problems with the six current concessionaires getting their licenses renewed. Fischer said he’s heard rumors that Macau might issue a seventh concession to Macau Legend, which currently operates under a “service agreement” with concessionaire SJM Holdings, but Fischer nonetheless expects Macau regulators to maintain the status quo.

Fischer also suggested that there was “no chance at all” for any of the new Asian gaming jurisdictions to rival Macau’s market dominance, with the possible exception of Japan. Fischer referred to Japan as the “holy grail of opportunity” for casino operators, although he probably didn’t intend to imply that Japan’s likelihood of passing casino legislation was on par with the Monty Python knights’ chances of ever finding that mythical chalice.

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC SECURITY IN TOWN TO TALK UNIONPAY TRANSFERS

Eilers Research has released its Q4 social casino market share results, in which Caesars Interactive Entertainment (CIE) continues to enjoy its reputation as top dog. CIE held 21.2% of the social casino market, up slightly from its Q3 share. IGT’s DoubleDown Casino maintained its runner-up spot with 10.5%, while former titans Zynga managed to hold on to third place with 8.4%.

Churchill Downs Inc earned fourth place with 6.6% thanks to its recent acquisition of Big Fish Games. Sony (Bash/GSN) placed fifth with 6.5%, followed by Scientific Games and Boyaa (tied with 4.7% each), Tencent (4.3%), Playstudios (2.6%) and Aristocrat (2.5%), while the nameless hordes of ‘other’ firms accounted for the remaining 28.2%.

DIWIP RELEASE BEST CASINO SLOTS, EXTEND IMPERUS ACQUISITION DEADLINE

Social casino studio Diwip has yet to carve out its own distinct slice of the revenue pie but it hopes its recently launched Best Casino Slots for iOS will help. Diwip is primarily known for Facebook games but is hoping to mimic Zynga’s pullback from irrelevancy by putting more of an emphasis on mobile, including its previous mobile titles Slots Club and Best Casino Bingo. Diwip says an Android version of Best Casino Slots is in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, the acquisition of Diwip by Canadian firm Imperus Technologies still hasn’t closed. The deadline for sealing the $100m deal was recently extended to Jan. 30 after the firms “mutually agreed” that more time was needed. However, should the two parties fail to consummate their fiscal love by the end of the month, Diwip will be entitled to a $1.5m breakup fee.

OPENWAGER AND WIN2DAY TEAM UP ON SPINTOPIA

San Francisco-headquartered developer OpenWager Inc. has teamed with Austrian online casino outfit win2day to launch Spintopia, a social casino app for Android, iOS and Facebook Canvas. The ‘magical theme park’ app features a variety of win2day’s top-performing slots titles, with more games to be added in the future.

The Czech Republic wants to impose a point of consumption tax on international online gambling operators serving Czech punters. The Ministry of Finance is done looking under the sofa cushions and car seats so it’s asking internationally licensed gambling operators to turn out their pockets — 20% of revenue to start, maybe 30% later. The government justified the move as a way to reclaim the annual CZK 1b (US $41.4m) in tax revenue it believes these operators need to be anteing up.

For once, government projections may have some basis in reality. A bottleneck of online firms use the same WorldPay payment processor, giving the government a pretty good idea of how much money the operators take in versus how much they pay out. Local media outlet Hospodářské Noviny quoted Deputy Finance Minister Ondřej Závodský saying the government might not be able to “block these illegal movements” but that didn’t mean they couldn’t “monitor them in detail.”

The Czechs are in the process of overhauling their gambling sector, as recommended/urged/ordered by European Commission watchdogs. The government hopes to enact a new gambling regime – covering everything from online gambling to slot machines to lotteries – by early 2016. The changes include significant tax rate increases, replacing the existing 20% rate across all gambling types with a new variable rate ranging as high as 40% on live slot machine revenue.

International operators aren’t currently eligible to obtain Czech gaming licenses because they lack a physical presence in the country. The new regime that would expunge this requirement is still a year away but the government figures, why wait? The operators have cash, the government has needs… Let’s party!

Martin Lyčka, general counsel for UK-listed online betting operator Betfair, told Hospodářské Noviny that if the government made good on its vow, it was “likely” that companies like Betfair might choose to cash their Czechs and walk away. That would leave the market mostly to a few Czech-licensed online firms, including Fortuna and Tipsport.

It’s not just online firms taking it on the chin. Shortly before Christmas, the Czech city of Brno approved a blanket ban on gaming machines to take effect in 2015. The ban, which garnered the support of two-thirds of the city council, followed a vote last January that banned gaming machines in 23 city districts. That cut the number of gaming machines in the city from over 4,000 to around 1,500 and now the rest need to go. Brno is the Republic’s second-largest city and the largest to banish gaming machines since an April 2013 Constitutional Court ruling gave municipalities that power.