Monthly Archives: April 2015

Tabcorp’s Luxbet to provide eSports betting platform for Unikrn

Australian betting operator Tabcorp has struck a deal to become the exclusive eSports betting provider for gaming and entertainment firm Unikrn.

Tabcorp’s Northern Territory-licensed online betting site Luxbet has agreed to provide a betting platform for the US-based Unkirn, which boasts a 9m-strong global eSports community that watch live multi-player gaming tournaments involving League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota2 and other games. Tabcorp has also taken an undisclosed stake in Unikrn as part of the deal.

The new platform will provide access to live viewing, live discussions and competitive odds, but betting on the outcome of eSports matches and tournaments will be limited to jurisdictions in which such activity is legal. Tabcorp will be responsible for ensuring no bets are placed from disallowed jurisdictions or by underage gamers. At launch, the eSports wagering will be limited to match and tournament outcomes but “further bet types” have been promised for future rollout.

Unikrn CEO Rahul Sood, who until recently was GM of Microsoft Ventures, said the idea was to provide “a secure, legal and fun arena for adults to gather, game and bet on eSports.” Tabcorp CEO David Atttenborough said his firm was chuffed to have teamed with “a global gaming community platform that reaches millions of gamers around the world, with a proven record of innovation and success.”

Bank Of America Previews Gaming, Wynn Earnings

In a report published Monday, Bank of America analyst Shaun Kelley stated that Macau’s total visitation in March was down 13.5 percent, marking the first double-digit decline since 2009. Kelley said Macau’s declining traffic trend was attributed to a 17.6 percent decline in visitors from mainland China as the group represents 64 percent of total visitation while Mainland Chinese Individual Visit Scheme travelers were down 9.7 percent.

William Hill Australia finds way around country’s ban on online in-play betting

The Australian division of online bookmaker William Hill believes it has found a way to circumvent the country’s ban on online in-play betting.

Australian-licensed operators have long complained about the country’s ban on live betting, a sector that has come to dominate online sports betting in markets where the practice is allowed. But Australia does allow live telephone betting and William Hill Australia believes it has come up with an ingenious in-play workaround that appears to remain within the bounds of the law – and also fits nicely with the company’s existing marketing tag “It’s your call.”

The new “click to call” option, which launched last week on WilliamHill.com.au and TomWaterhouse.com.au, allows punters to survey in-play betting markets on their desktop or mobile device. Once bettors have identified a bet they wish to place, they click a “Call to Place Live Bet” button. Assuming they’ve authorized their browser to use the device’s microphone, punters are then prompted to make one of three choices: confirm the bet, cancel the bet, or hear an audio replay of the selected bet’s options and odds.

The ‘click to call’ option is currently available for the following devices: Windows/MacOs Chrome, Windows/MacOS Firefox 22+, Windows Internet Explorer 10+, Android/Chrome, Samsung Galaxy S3 Phone/Chrome and MacOs Safari. At present, Apple mobile device users will be redirected to live phone betting operators to confirm their wagers but the company says native iOS and Android apps are in the pipeline and will arrive later this year.

Tuesday's small-cap stocks to watch

Subscribe to Globe Unlimited now and get up-to-the minute insights on developing market news with Inside the Market! Alamos Gold Inc. said it will begin to able to resume working on its Agi Dagi gold project in Turkey as an injunction order against the Turkish Ministry of the Environment and Urbanization’s approval of the Environmental Impact Assessment for the Agi Dagi gold project has been dismissed by the Canakkale Administrative Court.

The Clever Deviousness of Caesars’ Shell Game Revealed

When a multibillion dollar bankruptcy looms, lawyers, accountants, and legalists of all shapes and sizes huddle together in rugby scrum as dense as a neutron star and come up with some really complicated, convoluted, confusing, mind-numbing shuffling shell game filled with so many acronyms that you’ll forget how to sing the alphabet.

Don’t blame Caesars. They’re just using the tools available to them built up over hundreds of years of laws and bureaucracies designed to “protect the markets” layered on top of one another in a way that feels like each generation of politicians was simply trying to make his mark on the regulation pile without at all worrying about how much sense it makes. The maze becomes so tortuous that massive bankrupt companies like Caesars can hide in the thicket and hope to wait it out, praying that nobody will ever find them in there.

An investment in Caesars, either the main stock (CZR) or Caesars Acquisition Company (CACQ), is essentially a bet that the company can remain hiding in that thicket indefinitely until the dogs are called off. That’s what going long Caesars means. It’s not about earnings, fundamentals, growth prospects or anything else. It’s just about whether they can escape or not by hiding for as long as possible in that regulatory labyrinth dreamed up by the ingenious brains of generations of former student council presidents.

Caesars is the only company I’ve seen that actually has to put a chart of its organizational structure on its public filings. Here it is:

Commemorative town square to honour Accrington Pals moves step closer after funding secured

MILLION pound plans to create a commemorative town square in the middle of Accrington have moved closer to fruition after funding was secured. The sacrifice of the Accrington Pals 100 years ago will be permanently remembered when the centre piece of a regeneration project is completed in front of the town hall and market hall.

Dagenham Daredevil Crowned Bravest Man In Britain

Steve Thorn has been crowned the bravest man in Britain after jumping his way to victory at Salford Quays, Manchester.

38 year-old Steve was one of 60 brave Apple fans who bungee jumped for their chance to win the recently released Apple Watch. Participant’s heart rates were monitored and Steve, an electrician from Dagenham, stayed the calmest throughout the 160 foot descent with an average heart-rate of just 72 beats per minute.

Steve said: “We were in Manchester to watch Paddy McGuinness’ new show but it was postponed so we were looking for something to do while we waited when we came across the bungee competition.

“I’m terrified of heights and one of my biggest fears is falling but I thought I’d give it a go anyway. I didn’t expect to win so was totally shocked to hear I stayed so calm.