Monthly Archives: April 2015

UnSpin It; How to Understand What The Political Leaders Really Mean

Ahead of the next televised leaders debate on the 16th April, with the political campaigning and inevitable spin hotting up, Betfair has created ‘Unspin it’, an app designed to unpick the political language of misdirection and misinformation.

The general election will affect everyone, but many people are disenfranchised with the main parties as they struggle to differentiate between them and relate to them. The jargon and spin that politicians put on the most important issues being widely regarded as a key issue.

Betfair’s ‘Unspin it’ app light-heartedly solves the problem by using a three stage process allowing consumers to choose the topics they want to hear about from specific politicians. A fruit machine style device appears with 3 options; the first box allows you to pick the topic you want to hear about, the second box contains the real answer from the chosen party leaders and the third box provides the withering translation.

Conservatives: David Cameron on Welfare: “In two years, Iain Duncan Smith has driven forward welfare reform on a scale and with a determination not seen since World War Two.

Microgaming awards biggest slots jackpot; XIN Gaming deals with Plus Five

Online gaming software company Microgaming awards €5.4 million ($5.7 million), one of its biggest mobile jackpot prizes last week.

The breakthrough moment arrived to a player identified as Mark A, who was playing on RoyalVegasCasino.com when Micograming’s Mega Moolah progressive slots jackpot rang on his mobile device.

“We’ve been watching the progressive ticker grow substantially over the last few weeks; anticipation was building as to when it was going to strike,” Microgaming head of casino John Quinn said. “Once again the jackpot was hit via a mobile device; it really is a sign of today’s industry and how prevalent mobile is.”

“One of our senior VIP executive hosts had the pleasure of phoning Mark to confirm the win and to congratulate him; to say he was elated is an understatement.”a spokesperson from Royal Vegas said. “Everyone here at Royal Vegas would like to congratulate Mark on this mammoth and historic win.

OpenBet breaks Grand National record with more than 19 million bets

Sportsbook software provider OpenBet posts a new record,  handling 19,300,000 total sports bets on the Grand National race across all channels.

OpenBet, which processes transactions for the likes of William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power handled 45,000 bets-per-minute and 54 million account transactions on April 11, an increase of 24% from last year’s Aintree showpiece.

The bets placed on mobile devices during the 2015 Grand National also saw an increase, with an average of 63% of all remote bets being made via the channel; compared to 54% in 2014.

CEO Jeremy Thompson-Hill said that the power and reliability of the OpenBet platform meant that it was able to accommodate the surge in activity and support its growing partner eco-system without any downtime.

Interview with Hon. Jose Herrera on Malta’s Online Gambling Industry

Rebecca Liggero talks to Hon. Jose Herrera member of the Maltese government and in charge of the online gambling component of the goverment. He talks about how prevalent the online gambling industry is in Malta.

The Honorable Jose Herrera of the Maltese Governmentis responsible for the iGaming sector in Malta.  He confirmed Malta is the largest jurisdiction in the EU and gaming contributes between 10 and 12% of Malta’s revenue making it the second biggest industry on island.  He highlighted the iGaming industry directly contributes to Malta’s economy and creates a positive ripple effect by bringing in employees from other nations who then pay rent and spend money and also creates jobs in other industries on the island.

“We have over 250 foreign operators; we have granted more than 450 licenses and it’s creating a ripple effect to our economy in the sense that besides employing directly a large amount of people and the government gets all the money through direct taxation.”

Herrera explained the government is doing a lot to continue the promotion of iGaming in Malta, including a push to remove any bad feelings people may have about the industry.  For example, the Responsible Gaming Foundation has been created to help people who have gambling additions and this project is also an opportunity to give back from the iGaming industry proceeds.

iGaming North America 2015 Day Two Recap

The second day of iGaming North America 2015 was a success with plenty of networking, full sessions, excellent speakers and more than enough food.

This morning we were treated to keynote speaker Joel Comm, a New York Times best selling author, reality TV show host and internet marketing expert.  Comm shared his simple four steps to success when it comes to securing a new paying customer:

1)Like me

2)Know me

Networking Drinks Press Conference: The launch of SiGMA 2015

SiGMA15 is organizing an opportunity for the gaming industry to meet fellow c-level executives with a “drinks after work” concept on April 17 at Tapaz, St. Julian’s—right after work, before drive time, and before the weekend.

This is where details of SiGMA2015 will be unveiled—the conference topics, the new attractions being included for 2015 as well as the various exhibition and sponsorship opportunities. The event will include short, keynote speeches by the MGA COO Heathcliff Farrugia as well as Parliamentary Secretary for iGaming Jose Herrera.

Delegates can also pick up a hard copy of the second publication of SiGMAgazine.

Here’s the schedule:

Belle wants more casinos in the Philippines; Bloomberry details plan for casino in Korea

Developer Belle Corp. has expressed interest in bidding for new casino licenses once the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) decides to further expand the market.

Belle CFO Manuel Gana made the disclosure to ABS-CBN News, saying that the real estate arm of parent company SM Group would be aggressive in pursuing new licenses if the opportunity presents itself.

“We’re interested in bidding for any casinos outside Metro Manila, but Pagcor hasn’t made that decision yet,” Gana added.

PAGCOR is on record saying that no licenses will be offered until all four projects in Entertainment City are completed. Two more projects—Tiger Resorts’ Manila Bay Resorts and Travellers International’s Resorts World Bayshore—are still under development with completion tentatively set for 2018.

Victor Cui: UFC, ONE a global duopoly

ONE Championship looks to up the ante with its blockbuster event next week, April 24 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. Titled ONE: VALOR OF CHAMPIONS, it is expected to be a sell-out event and one of the biggest sporting events in the country this year. UFC will then follow with an event in May.

Both organizations are at the top of the heap in their respective regions, and have both played their part in raising the profile of mixed martial arts, now one of the world’s fastest rising sports.

One man who revels in the challenge of breaking into new markets is none other than ONE Championship CEO, Victor Cui.

“I really feel the emergence of a global duopoly of East versus West,” said Cui, in an interview with Sherdog.com a few years back.

Sports Betting & iGaming Asia Media Release

Sports Betting & iGaming Asia summit and exhibition organised by Eventus International and Coinpoint, is set to take place at Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila, the Philippines from 10th  to 12th August 2015.

The summit’s main focus will be on fundamental issues such as strategies, developments, growth and opportunities in the Asian gaming sector, as well as, exploring issues and trends in the Asian market. There will be high level speakers and discussions with key industry players from across Asia and Europe, the line-up will include speakers from First Cagayan, CoinPoint, Bettorlogic, London Gaming Company, 1710 Gaming Ltd., Web Gaming and many other big names in the industry.

Limited Sponsorship and Exhibition opportunities. Book your space now, email [email protected].

Sports Betting East Africa Social Media Release

Landing Int’l plans financial exercise to generate funds; Vietnam to relocate Phu Quoc casino project

Chinese real estate developer Landing International Development Ltd. plans to open a fund-raising exercise for the company’s future financing needs.

In a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Landing says it has officially begun preliminary discussions with financial institutions and shareholders on the possible move. The company clarified that the discussions are still in their initial stages and are subject to further negotiations.

Landing posted a loss of around $43 million in 2014. The amount was largely attributed to expansion costs incurred through Genting Jeju, its newly acquired resort and casino business in South Korea with 50-50 partner Genting Singapore. Landing and Genting have invested close to $2.2 billion on the project

Over in Vietnam, the country’s Ministry of Construction has asked Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to approve a relocation of the planned integrated resort and casino on Phu Quoc island.

Reid, Graham In Civil Union To Pass RAWA

As Congress gets back to work, Capitol Hill conservatives are anxious about the anxious about the out-in-the-open partnership between retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham to ban web-based gambling. Reid said he confers with Graham on the legislation for a federal ban web-gambling and the two men agreed to let the House pass its bill first in the same March 27 interview Reid gave to Joe Schoenmann , host of KNPR’s ” State of Nevada ” program that featured first-time-long-time President Barack Obama .

United Nations says online gambling to blame for increase in match-fixing

New York bookie Joseph Ruff has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his illegal sports betting activity.

The 32-year-old Ruff, who was arrested by federal authorities last June, pled guilty in December to charges of illegal gambling, money laundering conspiracy and extortion. The credit betting ring took wagers via password-protected websites while processing $76m in betting handle via FedEx, bank deposits or in person at the Marina Restaurant and Bar in Charlotte.

On Wednesday, Chief US District Judge Frank Geraci Jr. handed Ruff 41 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Ruff also agreed to forfeit over $1.3m of his ill-gotten gains. Tough, but better than Ruff’s brother Mark, who received a nine-year sentence earlier this year. Charges against the brothers’ accomplice Paul Borrell are pending.

Ruff’s case made headlines after word leaked that National Hockey League player Thomas Vanek was among Ruff’s clients. Vanek wasn’t a particularly good sports bettor, at one point endorsing a $230k New York Islanders paycheck to partially cover his gambling debts. There’s no evidence that Vanek ever bet on NHL games with Ruff, so we’re sure this next item is completely coincidental.