UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings has released a trading update showing 2014 net gaming revenue (NGR) of €224.6m, up 23% over 2013. Revenue was up 22% in Q4 – the sixth consecutive quarter of growth – thanks to sports betting turnover topping €435m, a new quarterly record. Daily betting NGR came to €302k (+24%) while gaming NGR hit €344k (+21%).

GVC says 2015 has started on a positive note, with sports wagers up 9.7% and customer deposits up 22% over the first eight days of January. CEO Kenneth Alexander (pictured) credited the boffo performance to motivated staff, who have bonus plans aligned to the level of dividends paid to shareholders. There must be some happy GVC employees, then, as GVC declared a dividend of 12.5€cents per share, up 8.7% year-on-year.

Looking forward, Alexander says he expects to increase GVC’s focus on regulated markets but don’t expect the company to mimic the ill-advised ‘volume-to-value’ strategy employed by Bwin.party digital entertainment. Unlike Bwin.party, which pulled out of many grey-market jurisdictions two years ago and has since witnessed its revenues plummet, Alexander says GVC has “no plans to exit any of the markets we are in at the moment.”

In fact, Alexander told eGaming Review that GVC was looking to expand into Asian markets sometime in 2015. Alexander offered no fixed agenda for when and where this expansion might take place but said he hoped to appoint a new Asian-facing exec in the next few weeks.

Alexander expects some potential acquisition targets may present themselves as UK-facing operators struggle with the new 15% point-of-consumption tax (POCT), which kicked in on Dec. 1. Alexander said GVC would give some of the “smaller” UK-facing operators a good looking over. Should GVC choose to pull its trigger, Alexander said they “would probably keep the brands … I prefer to take some costs out and keep the brands.”

PokerStars have come up with another innovative way to promote their brand by teaming up with the food group Jones & Sons, to host the first-ever dining experience where you can pay for your meal by winning a poker tournament.

You have to tip your hat to PokerStars. They have some blue-sky thinkers in their team.

The latest initiative is perfect for the poker community. Anyone who travels around the poker circuit understands the intimate relationship between poker players and fine dining, and PokerStars have taken it to the next level.

To celebrate the kick off of the 2015 United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) in London, the world’s largest online poker room has teamed up with the renowned gastronomes Jones & Sons, to create the first restaurant experience where the results of a poker tournament decide the fate of the bill.

The All-In Kitchen in Haggerston, London, will host the three day special, Jan 19-21, and if you were interested – tough luck. The dining room is completely sold out for the duration of the special.

Instead of tasting the goods, you will have to salivate at the thought of eating Queen Scallops, Salt Baked Swede and Bacon Marmalade; The Nuts: Butternut & Chestnut Gratin; The Royal Flush: King Crab Thermidor and Straw Fries, and the Two Pair: Pear Tarte Tatin, Pear Caramel and Ice Cream.

You don’t have to play poker, of course, but if you choose to sit out then the three course lunch will set you back £50. Alternatively, get stuck into the action and play a three-hand tournament to try and knock a few quid off your final bill.

The Greek-controlled southern half of Cyprus has announced that 13 companies have expressed interest in winning the right to operate a casino on its territory. Philippos Katrania, head of the government’s casino coordinating committee, announced the news on Tuesday. Katrania declined to offer up the identities of the baker’s dozen applicants, but in November, Caesars Entertainment confirmed that it was among those interested in the opportunity.

In the meantime, work continues on the country’s casino legislation. Lawmakers will begin discussions on the bill next Tuesday (20) and hope to have the bill approved by the end of January. Three weeks later, a tender will officially commence in which operators will be invited to reveal their proposals for what is expected to be a €500m project. The government expects the tender process will take an additional two months.

Constantinos Petrides, undersecretary to the president, warned legislators not to substantially divert from the bill’s original guidelines, which he said had been “painstakingly and expertly” drafted. As written, the bill calls for a venue with at least 100 gaming tables, 1k slots and 500 hotel rooms. Gaming revenue will be taxed at 15%, while annual license fees will start at €2.5m for the first four years, rising to €5m for the following four. The operator will be allowed to select the location of the project and will also be allowed to open several smaller slots-only venues in other locations on the island.

Meanwhile, the Cyprus government has been forced to announce that no decision has been made on privatization of the state lottery. Local daily Phileleftheros had reported that the lottery was targeted as one of the state assets to be sold to help repay the €10b bailout Cyprus received from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

On Monday, a lottery department source told the Cyprus Mail that no cabinet decision had been made regarding the sale of the lottery. The lottery generated revenue of €22.3m in 2013 while operating expenses were just €1.05m. Over the past 25 years, the lottery has contributed over €600m to the government’s coffers.

South Africa will take another stab at passing online gambling legislation in 2015, according to the author of its most recent legislative effort. Democratic Alliance shadow minister of trade and industry Geordin Hill-Lewis, who introduced his Remote Gambling Bill last year as a private member’s bill, says this time around he’s “offering government a possible solution, so I am confident that the Bill will succeed.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers analysts would beg to differ, having said in November said they “don’t see anything happening” on the online gambling front “for quite a period of time.” This, despite the country’s Gambling Review Commission having recommended updating the country’s online gambling legislation some four years ago. South Africa currently allows only sports betting to take place online while Hill-Lewis’ bill would expand the range of online betting options.

Hill-Lewis’s bill would make licensing the combined responsibility of the National Gambling Board and the country’s nine provinces. The Board would serve as an umbrella body for issuing gaming licenses but the provinces would be allowed to provide input into the process.

Even Hill-Lewis admits the Department of Trade and Industry has “not yet developed its own policy position, and, if anything, favored the prohibition of online gambling.” Regardless, Hill-Lewis intends to reintroduce his bill when Parliament reopens in February, after which he hopes it will be sent to the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry for debate. Hill-Lewis told ItWeb he hopes the Committee debate “will force government to engage properly around this argument.”

LAND-BASED OPERATORS ONLINE FEARS UNFOUNDED

Meanwhile, the Casino Association of South Africa (CASA) is waging a campaign to convince people that online gambling poses a threat to the country’s brick-and-mortar casinos. CASA CEO Themba Ngobese says even if only 5% of the country’s land-based revenue was diverted online, it would deprive the government of R110m (US $9.5m) in annual tax revenue. Casino revenue growth slowed to 0.6% last year after a 10% gain in 2012-13.

Ngobese claimed (without citing sources) that casinos in Europe had suffered a 20% drop in visitation due to the popularity of online gambling and a similar trend in South Africa would result in a “devastating” loss of tax revenue and casino jobs. This doesn’t jibe with numerous studies and the personal testimonies of casino owners that have found that online gambling complements, rather than cannibalizes, brick-and-mortar casino revenue.