Monthly Archives: February 2016

Woman fighting breast cancer wins $1M lottery

When a Mecklenburg County woman found out she’d won $1 million in Wednesday’s lottery, she fell to the floor and threw her hands up in surprise. Gina Short, who was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago, found out she’d won the grand prize in the first Ultimate Millions second-chance drawing when she visited the lottery’s Charlotte regional office, lottery officials said.

DraftKings raises $70 million in latest funding round

The investors are thinking twice about pouring money into fantasy sports companies such as DraftKings as scrutiny by US state policymakers continues to intensify.

With the latest round of funding, DraftKings has reportedly raised about $70 million from investors, a sharp drop from previous investment rounds, said The Boston Globe.

According to two people briefed on the terms, investors did not assign a fixed valuation to the company on the most recent funding round, just like what happened in October when it raised $200 million.

The new investment round is also the one that prompted the Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. to mark down the value of its $160 million investment in DraftKings Inc. by about 60%, “based on information concerning DraftKings’ current valuation in a recent financing transaction.”

DraftKings raises $70 million in latest funding round

The investors are thinking twice about pouring money into fantasy sports companies such as DraftKings as scrutiny by US state policymakers continues to intensify.

With the latest round of funding, DraftKings has reportedly raised about $70 million from investors, a sharp drop from previous investment rounds, said The Boston Globe.

According to two people briefed on the terms, investors did not assign a fixed valuation to the company on the most recent funding round, just like what happened in October when it raised $200 million.

The new investment round is also the one that prompted the Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. to mark down the value of its $160 million investment in DraftKings Inc. by about 60%, “based on information concerning DraftKings’ current valuation in a recent financing transaction.”

Online Bingo Annual Review 2016

WhichBingo recently released their inaugural Online Bingo Annual Report 2016 at the ICE and London Affiliate Conference 2016. The report gives a review of the online bingo market covering topics like TV advertising spend by brand, social media usage and SEO performance as well as site launches and closures. The report also features the largest ever survey of bingo players by any bingo affiliate, offering unique insight into player likes, dislikes and habits. Also included in the report are a number of industry leader’s views on what the online bingo industry might look like in 2016 and beyond.

Here are a few highlights and snapshots from the report.

TV Ad Spend 2015

2015 was a record breaking year for the igaming market and for bingo particularly, with an estimated £56m spent in the period from December 2014 to November 2015 on TV Ad spend.

Online Bingo Annual Review 2016

WhichBingo recently released their inaugural Online Bingo Annual Report 2016 at the ICE and London Affiliate Conference 2016. The report gives a review of the online bingo market covering topics like TV advertising spend by brand, social media usage and SEO performance as well as site launches and closures. The report also features the largest ever survey of bingo players by any bingo affiliate, offering unique insight into player likes, dislikes and habits. Also included in the report are a number of industry leader’s views on what the online bingo industry might look like in 2016 and beyond.

Here are a few highlights and snapshots from the report.

TV Ad Spend 2015

2015 was a record breaking year for the igaming market and for bingo particularly, with an estimated £56m spent in the period from December 2014 to November 2015 on TV Ad spend.

NBA Trade Deadline Rumors Are Spinning Out Of Control

The NBA trade deadline rumors for 2016 have been swirling and twirling in a hyperbolic toilet for weeks, and there’s good reason. A few contenders and pretenders are loaded with tradable assets, and a lot of big names are on the chopping block. Will anything happen?

For once, I believe something major will actually transpire. For the past few years, the deadline has passed in the night like a wet fart. But this season has some seriously intriguing developments. A lot of smaller trades might surface, but there’s a seismic shift out there somewhere. It just depends if teams are willing to do something drastic.

So who has the balls to pull the trigger? The most likely earthquake involves Al Horford and a team you might not anticipate.

THE TORONTO RAPTORS HAVE TO TAKE A CHANCE

NBA Trade Deadline Rumors Are Spinning Out Of Control

The NBA trade deadline rumors for 2016 have been swirling and twirling in a hyperbolic toilet for weeks, and there’s good reason. A few contenders and pretenders are loaded with tradable assets, and a lot of big names are on the chopping block. Will anything happen?

For once, I believe something major will actually transpire. For the past few years, the deadline has passed in the night like a wet fart. But this season has some seriously intriguing developments. A lot of smaller trades might surface, but there’s a seismic shift out there somewhere. It just depends if teams are willing to do something drastic.

So who has the balls to pull the trigger? The most likely earthquake involves Al Horford and a team you might not anticipate.

THE TORONTO RAPTORS HAVE TO TAKE A CHANCE

And the Least Bad Presidential Candidate for Gambling Is…

If we want to assess which presidential candidates would be best or least bad for the gaming industry, it’s tempting to just make a laundry list of each politician’s statements and/or votes on gaming issues, check their financial backers and where they stand, and then rank it all with some kind of algorithm. Or just guess. Google the issue and you’ll find a plethora of articles on each candidate and where they stand on the gambling industry.

But such one-dimensional analysis, while somewhat helpful, doesn’t go deep enough in determining who would be the best candidate for the gambling industry as a whole. For example, you could have one candidate who is, say, against a federal ban on online gambling. While that’s obviously a plus for the industry, if the same candidate wants to jack up corporate and capital gains and VAT taxes on everything that moves so he can pay to repave a bunch of roads and bridges that don’t need repaving just so he can look like he’s “doing something” and “stimulating the economy,” then that would not be good.

Or if a candidate once even owned a bunch of casinos himself and really knows the industry well and definitely would not support a federal ban, that candidate could still be really bad for the gaming industry if he, say, wants to ignite trade and tariff wars with countries he accuses of “stealing American jobs” by selling stuff to American consumers.

No matter how you look at it this election, there really are no clearly good candidates for the gambling industry. There might be least bad and worst, but that’s it. In any case, let’s take the three front-running Republicans and the two Democrats and maybe come out with an answer of who would be the least bad, comparatively.

And the Least Bad Presidential Candidate for Gambling Is…

If we want to assess which presidential candidates would be best or least bad for the gaming industry, it’s tempting to just make a laundry list of each politician’s statements and/or votes on gaming issues, check their financial backers and where they stand, and then rank it all with some kind of algorithm. Or just guess. Google the issue and you’ll find a plethora of articles on each candidate and where they stand on the gambling industry.

But such one-dimensional analysis, while somewhat helpful, doesn’t go deep enough in determining who would be the best candidate for the gambling industry as a whole. For example, you could have one candidate who is, say, against a federal ban on online gambling. While that’s obviously a plus for the industry, if the same candidate wants to jack up corporate and capital gains and VAT taxes on everything that moves so he can pay to repave a bunch of roads and bridges that don’t need repaving just so he can look like he’s “doing something” and “stimulating the economy,” then that would not be good.

Or if a candidate once even owned a bunch of casinos himself and really knows the industry well and definitely would not support a federal ban, that candidate could still be really bad for the gaming industry if he, say, wants to ignite trade and tariff wars with countries he accuses of “stealing American jobs” by selling stuff to American consumers.

No matter how you look at it this election, there really are no clearly good candidates for the gambling industry. There might be least bad and worst, but that’s it. In any case, let’s take the three front-running Republicans and the two Democrats and maybe come out with an answer of who would be the least bad, comparatively.

Racinos top casinos in Jan. gains

Gamblers furthered their preference for Ohio’s horse tracks over its casinos last month, with total gaming revenues at the state’s seven racinos growing nearly 10 percent while the state’s four freestanding casinos barely scratched out a 1 percent gain. The state’s casinos collected $65.5 million in gaming revenue in January, up from $64.8 million in the same month last year, according to figures released Monday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Racinos top casinos in Jan. gains

Gamblers furthered their preference for Ohio’s horse tracks over its casinos last month, with total gaming revenues at the state’s seven racinos growing nearly 10 percent while the state’s four freestanding casinos barely scratched out a 1 percent gain. The state’s casinos collected $65.5 million in gaming revenue in January, up from $64.8 million in the same month last year, according to figures released Monday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

Century Casinos, Inc. (CNTY) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research

According to Zacks, “Century Casinos,Inc. & its subsidiaries,own & operate a limited-stakes gaming casino in Cripple Creek,Colorado & are pursuing a number of additional gaming opportunities internationally & in the U.S.The Company was formed to acquire ownership interests in,and to obtain management contracts with respect to,gaming establishments.The Company generally seeks to enter into gaming operations in areas with attractive demographic attributes,high population densities,local tourism and/or predictable traffic patterns,w/ the long-term objective of establishing geographic project diversification.

Century Casinos, Inc. (CNTY) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research

According to Zacks, “Century Casinos,Inc. & its subsidiaries,own & operate a limited-stakes gaming casino in Cripple Creek,Colorado & are pursuing a number of additional gaming opportunities internationally & in the U.S.The Company was formed to acquire ownership interests in,and to obtain management contracts with respect to,gaming establishments.The Company generally seeks to enter into gaming operations in areas with attractive demographic attributes,high population densities,local tourism and/or predictable traffic patterns,w/ the long-term objective of establishing geographic project diversification.

Inmate files lawsuit against Tenn. couple who won Powerball jackpot

According to KFOR , Jonathan Lee Riches, also known as Jihadi Schitz, has handwritten a lawsuit against the Multistate Lottery Commission, Powerball and the couple, In the full complaint , Riches is requesting an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order against the Robinson family and a Riches’ lawsuit claims he is actually the true winner of the Powerball fortune because he allegedly sent $20 from his prison trust fund to the couple’s daughter, Tiffany, and told her to give the money to her parents so they could buy lottery tickets. Without the money from his prison trust fund, Riches says the family couldn’t have afforded to purchase the lottery tickets.