Monthly Archives: February 2016

GSN Games acquires rival Plumbee to expand in UK

Sony-owned GSN Games has acquired rival Plumbee to expand its global footprint to the UK

GSN has acquired 100% of London-based Plumbee’s equity in an undisclosed price, announced the GSN on Monday.

Plumbee is best known for its Mirrorball Slots app, which exceeded its 10 million download mark on Facebook and mobile devices in March last year. The company has shut its Mirrorball Bingo app in March 2015 because the product did not have the traction the company was hoping for and for the company to focus on its core Mirrorball Slots product.

The deal shows a continuous consolidation of the mobile social casino market, which according to Eilers Research, generated $3.3 billion in revenues in 2015, quoted Venturebeat.

GSN Games acquires rival Plumbee to expand in UK

Sony-owned GSN Games has acquired rival Plumbee to expand its global footprint to the UK

GSN has acquired 100% of London-based Plumbee’s equity in an undisclosed price, announced the GSN on Monday.

Plumbee is best known for its Mirrorball Slots app, which exceeded its 10 million download mark on Facebook and mobile devices in March last year. The company has shut its Mirrorball Bingo app in March 2015 because the product did not have the traction the company was hoping for and for the company to focus on its core Mirrorball Slots product.

The deal shows a continuous consolidation of the mobile social casino market, which according to Eilers Research, generated $3.3 billion in revenues in 2015, quoted Venturebeat.

West beats East in Kobe Bryant’s final NBA All-Star Game

Contrary to the typical flashy, all-for-show, fan-focused event, the 2016 NBA All Star Game paid tribute to the man who has celebrated his 18th and final All-Star game.

The NBA’s annual mid-season classic, which pits the league’s best against each other in a fierce battle to see who can make the most highlight plays, packed the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, the first time the All-star game was played outside the U.S. But that’s not how All-Star weekend had played itself out at first.

Prior to the game’s opening tip, NBA great Magic Johnson lauded the 37-year-old Kobe Bryant a pair of tribute videos featuring some career highlights interspersed with messages of thanks from a handful of fellow NBA players. Fireworks burst behind him as he entered his final All-Star game.

“It was really special,” Bryant told The Associated Press. “Those are the things you don’t get a chance to hear when you’re competing against each other. To hear those stories now, you have such a deep sense of appreciation and such a brotherhood from all the years of competing against each other. It just felt good.”

West beats East in Kobe Bryant’s final NBA All-Star Game

Contrary to the typical flashy, all-for-show, fan-focused event, the 2016 NBA All Star Game paid tribute to the man who has celebrated his 18th and final All-Star game.

The NBA’s annual mid-season classic, which pits the league’s best against each other in a fierce battle to see who can make the most highlight plays, packed the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Sunday, the first time the All-star game was played outside the U.S. But that’s not how All-Star weekend had played itself out at first.

Prior to the game’s opening tip, NBA great Magic Johnson lauded the 37-year-old Kobe Bryant a pair of tribute videos featuring some career highlights interspersed with messages of thanks from a handful of fellow NBA players. Fireworks burst behind him as he entered his final All-Star game.

“It was really special,” Bryant told The Associated Press. “Those are the things you don’t get a chance to hear when you’re competing against each other. To hear those stories now, you have such a deep sense of appreciation and such a brotherhood from all the years of competing against each other. It just felt good.”

Crown Resorts faces $362 million amended tax bill

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is chasing Crown Resorts down with a $250 million tax bill from its pre-GFC foray into the US casino market.

Crown has received an amended tax assessments from the ATO, regarding income tax paid for the financial years ending June 30, 2009 to June 30, 2014 for its investment in Nevada-based casino operator Cannery Casino Resorts (CCR).

ATO is seeking $250 million from Crown plus an additional notice of penalties to the amount of about $112 million, bringing the total to $362 million.

Crown disputes the amended assessments and said that is intends “to pursue all available avenues of objection including, if necessary, court proceedings”

Crown Resorts faces $362 million amended tax bill

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is chasing Crown Resorts down with a $250 million tax bill from its pre-GFC foray into the US casino market.

Crown has received an amended tax assessments from the ATO, regarding income tax paid for the financial years ending June 30, 2009 to June 30, 2014 for its investment in Nevada-based casino operator Cannery Casino Resorts (CCR).

ATO is seeking $250 million from Crown plus an additional notice of penalties to the amount of about $112 million, bringing the total to $362 million.

Crown disputes the amended assessments and said that is intends “to pursue all available avenues of objection including, if necessary, court proceedings”

Melco Crown turns to tech to drive banned customers away from its casinos

Lawrence Ho’s Melco Crown Entertainment is reportedly stepping up its technology game to prevent banned players from re-entering its casinos.

The casino operator is the first in Asia’s gaming hub to install a specialized face recognition technology developed by German biometric firm Cognitec. The system, called FaceVAC-VideoScan, is capable of detecting people’s faces in live video streams, which are then compared to databases of banned persons.

If there’s a match between the information collected and the photos in the casino’s system, it will immediately send real-time alerts to the security staff who will deny the detected player entry into the casino.

The company also said its software “also allows to compute demographical information, client behavior, people movement in time and space, and frequent visitiors.”