California horses have been more than effective at the highest levels of U.S. racing in recent years, and the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) was just the most recent example.
Monthly Archives: May 2015
DraftKings becomes NASCAR’s official daily fantasy sports partner
Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings has inked a deal to become the exclusive fantasy partner of the NASCAR auto racing organization.
The three-year deal, which was announced on Thursday, gives DraftKings the designation of NASCAR’s ‘Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner.’ The partnership gives DraftKings the exclusive license to develop NASCAR-branded games for the DFS market.
NASCAR has agreed to provide DraftKings with a direct real-time data feed to give players up to the minute statistics on races and drivers. The data and games will also be available on DraftKings’ mobile app, giving DFS players something to do while waiting for the cars to zoom by their particular seat in the grandstand.
DraftKings is promising both free and paid games in which players pick a team comprised of five NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers. Scoring will be based on finishing position, fastest laps, laps led, position differential and passing differential. In addition to cold hard cash, DraftKings players will have the opportunity to win unique NASCAR prizes and VIP experiences.
Peter S. Cohan: Is your money manager earning his pay?
There is a mountain of evidence that investors can’t do better than the market. Yet there are plenty of people who are willing to sacrifice part of their retirement savings by betting that they can pick managers who will outperform the market on their behalf.
Morgan Creek hosts lotto home
A new lottery home has opened in Morgan Creek, valued at more than $2.2 million, making it the highest-valued home to date for the Hometown Heroes Lottery. The 15936 39A Ave. home backs onto a large pond, and boasts three bedrooms upstairs, a great room on the main floor, a large covered deck and a lounge, theatre, games room and two additional bedrooms in the basement.
There's a lottery winner somewhere who bought the ticket locally
If you played the Mega Ball lottery last Friday, you may want to check your numbers. Somewhere out there is an unclaimed ticket for $1 million.
Was Scenic Van Ride the Ticket for Mr. Z?
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas was headed to Maryland to race some horses the weekend of May 15-16 and, though he didn’t officially know the status of Mr. Z for Preakness, he thought the colt could use a change of scenery.
Donworth Aims for First Stakes in Sir Barton
The Sir Barton, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, is one of four ungraded stakes scheduled for Saturday’s Preakness Day card at Pimlico, along with the James W. Murphy, Chick Lang Stakes, and The Very One Stakes.
Coup de Grace Appears One to Beat in Sprint
Fox Hill Farms’ Coup de Grace appears the one to beat in the $150,000 Maryland Sprint Handicap (gr. III) at Pimlico Race Course May 16.
Wynn and Sands resorts file to cut ties with NV Energy
Wynn Resorts and Las Vegas Sands have become the first resort companies to make a formal step toward cutting the cord with NV Energy and are attempting to purchase their own power. The Las Vegas Sun reports that the two companies filed applications of exit with the Public Utilities Commission and more companies are expected to follow suit.
Callaghan Looking to Turn Preakness Tables
Heading into the Xpressbet.com Preakness Stakes (gr. I) this weekend, trainer Simon Callaghan said there are several factors that could enable his charge Firing Line to pull off a victory over American Pharoah.
Alibi Breakfast Message One of Thankfulness
The May 14 Alibi Breakfast at Pimlico Race Course had its usual moments of levity, but this year thankfulness set the tone given the recent unrest in the city of Baltimore.
Baffert's Training Brings Classic Success
“You’ve got to know when to back up or lean on them. It’s just a fine line, but you have to see them every day.” — Bob Baffert, trainer of Preakness (gr. I) contenders American Pharoah and Dortmund.
Heart to Heart Hopes To Beat Red Bank Foes
A field of established turf runners will compete in the Red Bank Stakes, but most are seeking a reversal of recent form in stakes company as they compete over the one-mile distance.
Amaya Gaming expects to earn 13% of 2015 revenue from casino, sportsbook
Canadian online gambling operator Amaya Gaming says it expects its new sportsbook and casino verticals to account for 13% of its total revenue in 2015.
Revenue from Amaya’s continuing operations in the three months ending March 31 hit C$340.1m, all but C$3.1m from its B2C operations, which consist of online gambling brands PokerStars and Full Tilt. Net earnings from continuing operations came to C$22.7m. Year-on-year comparisons are mostly meaningless, as Q1 2014 predated Amaya’s blockbuster $4.9b acquisition of the Rational Group, the former owner of Stars and Tilt.
Back in Q1 2014, Amaya had also yet to implement its plan of shedding all its B2B units, from which it used to earn the majority of its bones. These discontinued operations reported revenue of C$30m and a net loss of C$9.7m. Amaya expects to “significantly” reduce its debt load via the proceeds from the sale of its Cadillac Jack and Chartwell/Cryptologic B2B businesses, deals for which were signed this year.
STARS BOOSTS GLOBAL MARKET SHARE
One Sports Business Makes CNBC’s Disruptor 50 For 2015, And It’s Winning In Pay Fantasy
One Sports Business Makes CNBC’s Disruptor 50 For 2015, And It’s Winning In Pay Fantasy
Uber, AirBnB, Pinterest, Dollar Shave Club. All brands that have challenged the establishment and lived to tell about it. They buck trends and carve their own way, and that’s why they were selected to the CNBC Disruptor 50 list for 2015.
CNBC features private companies in 16 industries-from aerospace to financial services to cybersecurity to retail-whose innovations are revolutionizing the business landscape. These forward-thinking upstarts have identified unexploited niches in the marketplace that have the potential to become billion-dollar businesses, and they rushed to fill them. In the process, they are creating new ecosystems for their products and services. They ranked those venture capital-backed companies doing the best job.
On the list was one sports industry brand, and it wasn’t ESPN or a new sneaker startup or even Under Armour. It was the brand that seems to be advancing and challenging even the new world of fantasy sports elite; the more established and much larger and higher valued Fan Duel.
It was DraftKings, which chimed in at number 50 and is the latest feather in the crown, so to speak, for the attacker brand of pay fantasy. The fact that a pay fantasy brand made the list is impressive. The fact that no other sports brand made it is even more impressive. Here is the full list, courtesy of CNBC.http://www.cnbc.com/id/102609977
Dan Excel Eyes International Cup Repeat
Last year’s winner, Dan Excel, drew the post 10 in a field of 11 for the May 17 Singapore Airlines International Cup (Sin-I) at Kranji, but trainer John Moore remains optimistic.
Preakness Not as Easy as 1,2,3
The top three Kentucky Derby finishers have only all hit the board in the Preakness twice since Affirmed, Alydar, and Believe It filled the frame in both races in 1978.
Damjam Radanov Wins the WSOPC Main Event in New Orleans
Damjam Radanov wins the World Series of Poker Circuit Main Event in Harrah’s New Orleans, after beating David Nicholson, in heads-up action, to take the $174,514 first prize.
Serbian born Damjam Radanov has won the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) $1,675 buy-in Main Event at Harrah’s in New Orleans. The 33-yr old beat four-time gold ring winner David Nicholson in heads-up action to take the first prize of $174,514.
[Image Credit: PokerNews]
The 10th event of a 12 event series attracted 554 entrants and created a total prizepool of $831,000. 63 players received a minimum of $2,717, and WSOP bracelet winners Loni Harwood (32nd) and Larry Wright (42nd) both cashed in the event.
Bloomberry posts P533m net loss in Q1
Bloomberry, operator of Solaire Resort & Casino, incurred a decline in the first three months of 2015, as higher depreciation and other expenses from the opening of its new wing offset the double-digit rise in gaming revenues.
Bloomberry, in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, posted a net loss of P533m in January to March period, versus a P1.46b net profit in the same period last year
In the first quarter, gross gaming revenues went up by 15% year-on-year to P8.09b as Solaire attracted an even split of VIP mass market. Revenues net of promotional allowances increased by 9% year-on-year to P6.34b.
Bloomberry noted that the first quarter of this year was the second best quarter in terms of gross gaming revenues after the fourth quarter of last year.
Fantasy Sports Could Suffer the Same Fate as Poker
Daily Fantasy Sports has exploded in popularity over the past couple of years due to a lack of regulation, a fervent desire for people to gamble, it’s turned regular people into millionaires, DFS is touted as a game of skill and it’s presence seen and felt all over the sports networks, so much so that it has politicians and anti-gambling nuts up in arms calling for bans. DFS meteoric rise and its lack of regulation could force the US government to enact some sort of limits or ban that could crush the burgeoning industry.
Does this sound familiar? If you’re an online poker player, it should.
The similarities between the rise of online poker and the dally fantasy sports industry is eerie. Both are clearly gambling, both are touted as games of skill rather than luck and both piss off the powers that be who would rather have a say on how allegedly free Americans can spend their entertainment dollars.
When the US Government passed the Unlawful Government Enforcement Act back in 2006, there were carve outs for both horseracing and fantasy sports but it’s clear the politicos didn’t realize that fantasy sports would evolve so much to allow gamblers a daily fix of what is essentially sports betting.