Monthly Archives: June 2015

American Pharoah winners choosing to cash their $2 winning tickets on eBay

Three-year-old thoroughbred American Pharoah made history on Saturday by becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years and small-time bettors are apparently eager to claim their own little slice of history.

On Monday, Belmont Stakes spokesman John Durso Jr. told ESPN that there were 94,128 bettors who took a $2 punt on American Pharoah winning Saturday’s race. Of those bettors, 90,237 have yet to redeem their tickets for their $3.50 winnings. In other words, the Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack bookies are sitting on $315,829 worth of unclaimed winners, which are valid until March 31, 2016.

The unclaimed tickets have made their way onto online auction houses like eBay, where other history buffs have bid up their value to as high as $30. However, this gold rush isn’t likely to last, so anyone who hasn’t already sold his ticket for more than the $3.50 value has likely missed the boat. The sheer number of similar artifacts out there makes this a buyer’s market with already limited appeal.

Of course, the sentimental value of being able to hold a piece of history in your hand is incalculable. But anyone hoping to put this puppy in the safe and redeem it for big bucks in 20 years is swilling the same snake oil that convinces people to buy those cellophane-sealed master-pack boxes of baseball cards that MLB issues each year.

S.C. Education Lottery officials say 2 $500K tickets sold in Georgetown

In what lottery personnel described as a “lottery first,” a Georgetown convenience store sold two winning lottery tickets for a total of $1 million in prizes. Last week, the Beverage Depot – located at 254 Saints Delight Road – sold two winning tickets in Saturday’s Palmetto Cash 5 drawing, with each having a value of $500,000.

Negreanu To Act In TV Poker Drama, Four Kings

Daniel Negreanu is to play a role in a new poker-themed TV show, Four Kings, it was revealed this week. Negreanu, whose acting credits to date include playing “Himself” (Mr Dee, 2012); “Himself” (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2009); “Himself” (The Grand: 2007); “Himself” (Lucky You, 2007), and “Male News Reporter” (Detention, 2013), told PokerListings that he […]

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Wynn Resorts (WYNN) Stock Falls After Sterne Agee Note

In a note to investors, Sterne Agee CRT analyst David Bain said, “According to our channel checks, Macau table-only gross gaming revenue is MOP3.3 billion from June 1 to June 7.” The June run rate suggests that GGR will fall 46% year over year in June to MOP14.6 billion . “Our June GGR growth forecast range of between -33% and -38% YoY remains unchanged,” Bain wrote.

Romania promises to drink the blood of unauthorized online operators

Romania’s top gambling regulator has pledged to “eradicate” any online gambling operators who refuse to abide by the market’s new restrictions.

Romania recently firmed up its plans to launch a regulated online gambling market, which came with a requirement that any operator wishing to hold a new Romanian license would first have to pay back taxes totaling 20% of their winnings from Romanian punters over the past five years. Applicants have been told to provide an accounting of their revenue broken down by year and by gaming verticals.

This requirement to submit to what amounts to an audit has led industry observers to predict a significant decrease in the number of applicants interested in acquiring a Romanian license. Just last week, UK bookies William Hill announced they were exiting the Romanian market due to “recent regulatory developments.”

But National Gambling Office (NGO) president Cristinela Odeta Nestor (pictured) told Eastern European Gaming that international operators were “extremely interested” in the Romanian market. Odeta Nestor said the country expects to raise €100m purely from direct taxes on newly licensed operators “during the course of the current year.”

BCLC scraps shipboard slots plan; Paragon says Parq Vancouver to open in late-2016

The Canadian province of British Columbia has rejected a proposal to launch shipboard slot machines on BC Ferries.

On Monday, BC Transportation Minister Todd Stone announced that the government no longer supported the proposal, which would have added slot machines to the list of BC Ferries’ entertainment options. The quasi-Crown corporation, which operates a ferry service between the mainland and its adjacent islands, had originally floated the idea of a shipboard slots pilot program on its main route two years ago.

The plan called for the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC) provincial gaming monopoly to own the slots while ferry staff would have been tasked with monitoring their use. Stone said an analysis conducted by BCLC had projected the shipboard slots program would lose around $240k per year due to increased staffing, technical support and equipment costs.

PARAGON SAYS PARQ VANCOUVER TO OPEN IN 2016

Winner of A 225,081 lottery ticket in Northumberland is found

Loot winners Fred and Doreen Smith, who are urging the mystery winner of a million-pound Lottery ticket bought in North Tyneside to come forward A lucky lottery winner has finally come forward with their winning ticket, months after their life-changing numbers were drawn. The previously outstanding A 225,081 Lotto prize from a ticket bought in Northumberland in February has now been claimed.

New Jersey gives affiliates 150 days to stop promoting international gambling sites

New Jersey has clarified its stance toward online gambling affiliates, taking a good-cop/bad-cop approach to ensure affiliates are promoting only state-authorized sites.

In May 2014, the New Jersey attorney general’s office issued a warning to affiliates who continued to promote both New Jersey-licensed online gambling sites and internationally licensed sites, saying such affiliates were leaving themselves open to “appropriate civil or criminal sanctions” unless they ceased promoting international sites.

Last week, the state Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) issued a Director’s Advisory Bulletin (DAB) clarifying its stance toward affiliates who continued to promote international sites after (a) New Jersey launched its regulated online gambling market in November 2013 and (b) the 2006 passage of the federal Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

The DGE says any affiliate looking to either acquire or maintain a New Jersey license will have to cease all promotion and marketing of international sites taking wagers from US residents within 150 days of the June 4 DAB. Affiliates who are currently engaged in this activity are required to provide the DGE with a notarized certification attesting to their cessation of prohibited activities.

Vietnam tells would-be casino developers to hold their horses

Vietnam’s government has told would-be casino developers to hold off on submitting new casino proposals until a new decree governing their operation is finalized.

Late last week, VietnamNet reported that the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had rejected a proposal by the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee to build a casino on the northern Cam Ranh peninsula. In doing so, the MoF said it had not yet finished the decree governing the development and operation of new casinos in the country, despite five years having passed since the MoF was tasked with compiling this decree.

Vietnam currently has five small-scale standalone casinos, one major property (The Grand: Ho Tram Strip) and around 50 small gaming venues located inside four- and five-star hotels. At present, all these establishments are accessible only by tourists and Vietnamese residents holding foreign passports. This prohibition has been widely cited by international casino companies as a negative factor deterring them from seriously considering expansion opportunities in Vietnam.

However, Vietnam’s government has been flirting with the idea of relaxing this restriction for local residents who can present documentation demonstrating that they are “financially capable” of dealing with potential casino gambling losses. Donaco International Ltd., which operates the Aristo International Hotel in Lao Cai, has said it would be willing to pay a higher tax rate if locals were allowed to gamble at its casinos.