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Monthly Archives: May 2016

Nyquist to miss Belmont Stakes race
The winner of the Kentucky Derby will not face a showdown for the rubber match with his rival, Exxagerator next month, according to the Daily Racing Form.
The news outlet reported that Nyquist has an elevated white blood cell count.

Jamaican lottery scam drives man to suicide
An ongoing sinister scam continues to cause some victims to lose their entire life savings from thieves operating from a country and an ocean away.Scam, Death, Jamaica, Law Enforcement, Crime, Video

Jamaican lottery scam drives man to suicide
An ongoing sinister scam continues to cause some victims to lose their entire life savings from thieves operating from a country and an ocean away.Scam, Death, Jamaica, Law Enforcement, Crime, Video
Asia Gaming Awards 2016 – Highlights
CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel brings us the highlights from the 2016 Asia Gaming Awards at The Venetian, Macau.
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Asia Gaming Awards 2016 – Highlights
CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel brings us the highlights from the 2016 Asia Gaming Awards at The Venetian, Macau.
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Clinton gets personal, pokes Trump for failed casinos
Hillary Clinton went for Donald Trump’s proverbial Achilles heel—his record with bankruptcy—as a warning about he would handle the U.S. economy.
Clinton appeared before union members in Detroit on Monday and got personal with the presumptive Republican nominee for his failed business ventures, particularly his casino holdings in Atlantic City.
The Democratic candidate was quoted by Politico saying: “Trump economics is a recipe for lower wages, fewer jobs, more debt. He could bankrupt America like he’s bankrupted his companies. I mean, ask yourself, how can anybody lose money running a casino? Really.”
Trump has filed a total of four business bankruptcies in the last 30 years, and all of them were about his failed casinos in New Jersey.

Clinton gets personal, pokes Trump for failed casinos
Hillary Clinton went for Donald Trump’s proverbial Achilles heel—his record with bankruptcy—as a warning about he would handle the U.S. economy.
Clinton appeared before union members in Detroit on Monday and got personal with the presumptive Republican nominee for his failed business ventures, particularly his casino holdings in Atlantic City.
The Democratic candidate was quoted by Politico saying: “Trump economics is a recipe for lower wages, fewer jobs, more debt. He could bankrupt America like he’s bankrupted his companies. I mean, ask yourself, how can anybody lose money running a casino? Really.”
Trump has filed a total of four business bankruptcies in the last 30 years, and all of them were about his failed casinos in New Jersey.

Paradise’s legal dispute vs. Sci Games still alive
Hongkong-listed gaming device maker Paradise Entertainment Ltd. has shot down Scientific Games Corp’s (SGC) claim that the court has given a go-signal to sell its products in the Macau market.
Paradise and SHFL Entertainment (Asia) Ltd., a division of Bally Technologies, which is itself owned by Scientific Games, have long been entangled in a dispute over patent claims on a multi-player, live-dealer electronic table game (ETG). The fight, which dates back to 2012, was waged not only in the courts, but also on the floor of local gaming conventions, including G2E Asia.
Derik Mooberry, executive vice president and group chief executive of gaming at SGC, recently rubbed salt on Paradise’s old wounds when he announced to the guests of Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2016 that the courts ruled in SGC’s favor over the right to sell any electronic table game (ETG) in the Macau market.
In response, Paradise refuted Mooberry’s claim and insisted that the Macau court had not yet handed down any verdict allowing SHFL Entertainment to deploy ETGs in Macau.

Capcom kicks out porn-sponsored team off Pro Tour
Things are not looking good for YouPorn-sponsored team YP.
The eSports team was recently blocked from attending Capcom Pro Tour events, although its players can still compete individually, several media outlets have reported.
Over the weekend, Capcom released the updated ruleset for its Street Fighter V circuit, otherwise known as the Capcom Pro Tour, in which the Japanese gaming giant announced that it will start banning “sponsors [they] deem inappropriate” from competing in its fighting tournaments.
According to the new rules, players will not be allowed to compete if they are “sponsored by adult content sponsors, such as a publisher of pornographic websites, or any other sponsor Capcom deems inappropriate at its sole discretion.”

OtherLevels Adds Browser Push Functionality to its Industry-Leading Digital Messaging Product Suite
MAY 24, 2016 – LONDON – OtherLevels (ASX:OLV), a second-generation marketing automation platform for digital messaging, has bolstered its market-leading product suite with the addition of browser push functionality. The feature provides OtherLevels’ clients in the gaming, wagering, hospitality and retail sectors with a new avenue for reaching 100% of their audience with every campaign and driving measurable, attributable results from omnichannel marketing.
“With consumers increasingly ‘opting in’ to share data with their favorite brands, browser push is poised to become one of the most impactful channels for customer engagement,” said Brendan O’Kane, Managing Director and CEO of OtherLevels.
OtherLevels’ “push” functionality enables marketers to reach customers who opt-in for notifications via desktop or mobile web browser. With 61% of consumers starting the purchase process on a smartphone and continuing it on another device, it’s important for marketers to target users on their preferred channels.
Marketers can now utilise OtherLevels’ platform to reach users via email; mobile/desktop browser push; interstitials; rich inbox; or location-based beacons/geo-fencing – all supported by OtherLevels’ Intelligent Messaging technology, which automatically determines which channel a customer will respond to best.

Macau strips off gaming image in new tourism plan
From Asia’s premiere gaming hub to a world-class, cultural tourist destination.
The Macau government is rebranding Asia’s gaming capital to become the “world center for tourism and leisure” as it paints a rosy picture for the Macau’s non-gaming sector on the backdrop of faltering casino revenues.
Saying that casinos are exerting “too much influence” on the city’s tourism branding, the Macao Government Tourism Office now aims to make Macau “a world class tourism city that is livable, convenient, fun, enjoyable, a city with opportunities” – one that will rival other popular city destinations around the world such as Paris, Singapore, London, and Hongkong.
In 2014, Macau ranked sixth out of the top 100 cities worldwide, with an estimated annual visitor arrivals of over 30.7 million.

partypoker Launches $1 Million Summer Giveaway
As summer approaches partypoker launches an exciting leaderboard promotion giving away $1 million worth of rewards, including 10 packages a week to November’s Caribbean Poker Party worth $6,000 each.
Players who enter any Power Series tournament with a buy-in of $109 or more, automatically join the leaderboard earning more points each time they play and gaining additional points for performance. Every Monday a new Leaderboard begins, giving players 10 new chances to win a package. For more information see the Leaderboard Points Calculator.
The $6,000 package includes:
$2500+$250 tournament buy-in for the partypoker Million

Score a £250,000 prize with the new Scratch and Match series from CORE Gaming and Ladbrokes
24 May 2016, London, UK (Press Release): CORE Gaming, the world-leading HTML5 gambling software house, and Ladbrokes, the global gaming giant, have launched a new football-themed range of instant win scratchcards.
With UEFA Euro 2016 just days away, the two companies have unveiled Scratch and Match, a series of four great scratchcards, on Ladbrokes’ website.
The cards, which follow the success of CORE Gaming and Ladbrokes’ market-leading titles such as Scratch 4 Diamonds, each offer at least four fun-filled chances to win. Depending on their stake, players are able to scoop an incredible top prize of up to £250,000.
Mark Rehorst-Smith, CORE Gaming’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Scratchcards are among the most popular games we offer, and customers love it when we bring out something new.

Score a £250,000 prize with the new Scratch and Match series from CORE Gaming and Ladbrokes
24 May 2016, London, UK (Press Release): CORE Gaming, the world-leading HTML5 gambling software house, and Ladbrokes, the global gaming giant, have launched a new football-themed range of instant win scratchcards.
With UEFA Euro 2016 just days away, the two companies have unveiled Scratch and Match, a series of four great scratchcards, on Ladbrokes’ website.
The cards, which follow the success of CORE Gaming and Ladbrokes’ market-leading titles such as Scratch 4 Diamonds, each offer at least four fun-filled chances to win. Depending on their stake, players are able to scoop an incredible top prize of up to £250,000.
Mark Rehorst-Smith, CORE Gaming’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Scratchcards are among the most popular games we offer, and customers love it when we bring out something new.

From Amaya to Zombie Repellent, The A to Z of Baazov’s Offer
What ever happened to David Baazov’s offer to take Amaya private for C$21 a share? That was back in February with shares trading in the $13.25 area, with a 5% position taken for the model portfolio . We are now at $14.76 thanks to a good earnings report that included higher revenues, more registrations, and a more than doubling of its earnings per share year over year. The question with Amaya was never centered around if it could grow. The real question was, and still is, if it can grow fast enough to pay off its rather large debt.
For the leverage that Amaya does have though, the situation is not too bad, at least not imminently critical. As of last statement, the company holds $3,719,904,000 in debt to be exact, and a market cap of $1.97 billion. That puts leverage at 189%, which is a lot, but most of that debt is not due for a long while. Over $2 billion of it is due over five years from now, and only $1.14 billion is due within the next three years. That’s still a lot and that will be hard to pay off, but it is doable through an equity financing, which would be bad for shareholders, or perhaps rolling over the debt. Most likely though, it will be dealt with by taking the company private again within the next 3 years.
What’s the holdup on the offer though? Probably the fact that Baazov is now in hot water over insider trading allegations. This puts both sides of the Amaya public/private convoluted business in a strange situation. On the one hand you have the Scheinbergs, the original owners of PokerStars parent Rational Group, who probably want to do business in the US without being on the books and may be using Baazov as their proxy because the Scheinbergs are guilty of doing business in the United States illegally. But now we have Baazov himself in trouble for equally inane reasons, this time from Canadian authorities for basically being too shrewd and shareholders are complaining about it. Regulators always need someone to chase in order to look busy rather than be caught watching porn all day.
Though it was US regulators who have the documented porn problem, things can’t be all that much different in Canada, where reportedly 20% of residents in the country’s capital where all the regulators are had Ashley Madison accounts. Perhaps instead of annoying David Baazov, they should go back to watching porn. That way Canadian taxpayers will only be paying them to waste time rather than to attack businessmen who provide them with goods and services.

From Amaya to Zombie Repellent, The A to Z of Baazov’s Offer
What ever happened to David Baazov’s offer to take Amaya private for C$21 a share? That was back in February with shares trading in the $13.25 area, with a 5% position taken for the model portfolio . We are now at $14.76 thanks to a good earnings report that included higher revenues, more registrations, and a more than doubling of its earnings per share year over year. The question with Amaya was never centered around if it could grow. The real question was, and still is, if it can grow fast enough to pay off its rather large debt.
For the leverage that Amaya does have though, the situation is not too bad, at least not imminently critical. As of last statement, the company holds $3,719,904,000 in debt to be exact, and a market cap of $1.97 billion. That puts leverage at 189%, which is a lot, but most of that debt is not due for a long while. Over $2 billion of it is due over five years from now, and only $1.14 billion is due within the next three years. That’s still a lot and that will be hard to pay off, but it is doable through an equity financing, which would be bad for shareholders, or perhaps rolling over the debt. Most likely though, it will be dealt with by taking the company private again within the next 3 years.
What’s the holdup on the offer though? Probably the fact that Baazov is now in hot water over insider trading allegations. This puts both sides of the Amaya public/private convoluted business in a strange situation. On the one hand you have the Scheinbergs, the original owners of PokerStars parent Rational Group, who probably want to do business in the US without being on the books and may be using Baazov as their proxy because the Scheinbergs are guilty of doing business in the United States illegally. But now we have Baazov himself in trouble for equally inane reasons, this time from Canadian authorities for basically being too shrewd and shareholders are complaining about it. Regulators always need someone to chase in order to look busy rather than be caught watching porn all day.
Though it was US regulators who have the documented porn problem, things can’t be all that much different in Canada, where reportedly 20% of residents in the country’s capital where all the regulators are had Ashley Madison accounts. Perhaps instead of annoying David Baazov, they should go back to watching porn. That way Canadian taxpayers will only be paying them to waste time rather than to attack businessmen who provide them with goods and services.

Leading social casino developer and publisher KamaGames global expansion with opening of London office
Dublin, Ireland May, 24th 2016 – KamaGames®, a global developer and publisher of social games for mobile platforms, Steam, Xbox Live & PlayStation Network, today announced the next phase of its global expansion with the formation of its UK operation and the opening of its first UK office in central London. In addition, the publisher and developer also announced the appointment of Daniel Kashti as Chief Marketing Officer and Sam Forrest as Director of Global PR.
Daniel Kashti joined KamaGames in February of this year from the leading poker site PokerStars where he held the position of Head of Mobile.During his 5 year tenure, Kashti established and managed PokerStars¹ mobile business making it a pivotal part of the company¹s global growth as well as being awarded the EGR Mobile Operator of The Year award twice.
It¹s a very exciting time for KamaGames right now. We are seeing significant and very rapid growth across the social gaming sector, in particular across the social casino space on mobile and so we felt it was the right time to really focus on growing the player-base across our portfolio of games with the setting up of a UK service company as well as making some key appointments starting with Sam. We have a number of releases in 2016 starting with 3D BlackJack in the next few weeks as well as the Pokerist¹s 6th birthday celebrations and so expect to hear more from KamaGames in the near future² said Daniel Kashti.
Sam Forrest joins KamaGames from Team17 where he served as PR Director.Prior to Team17, Forrest worked for Jagex Games Studio as PR Director and then as VP of Communications and also for THQ where he spent nine years in numerous senior communications roles before leaving the publisher as Head of PR, UK & Europe.

Leading social casino developer and publisher KamaGames global expansion with opening of London office
Dublin, Ireland May, 24th 2016 – KamaGames®, a global developer and publisher of social games for mobile platforms, Steam, Xbox Live & PlayStation Network, today announced the next phase of its global expansion with the formation of its UK operation and the opening of its first UK office in central London. In addition, the publisher and developer also announced the appointment of Daniel Kashti as Chief Marketing Officer and Sam Forrest as Director of Global PR.
Daniel Kashti joined KamaGames in February of this year from the leading poker site PokerStars where he held the position of Head of Mobile.During his 5 year tenure, Kashti established and managed PokerStars¹ mobile business making it a pivotal part of the company¹s global growth as well as being awarded the EGR Mobile Operator of The Year award twice.
It¹s a very exciting time for KamaGames right now. We are seeing significant and very rapid growth across the social gaming sector, in particular across the social casino space on mobile and so we felt it was the right time to really focus on growing the player-base across our portfolio of games with the setting up of a UK service company as well as making some key appointments starting with Sam. We have a number of releases in 2016 starting with 3D BlackJack in the next few weeks as well as the Pokerist¹s 6th birthday celebrations and so expect to hear more from KamaGames in the near future² said Daniel Kashti.
Sam Forrest joins KamaGames from Team17 where he served as PR Director.Prior to Team17, Forrest worked for Jagex Games Studio as PR Director and then as VP of Communications and also for THQ where he spent nine years in numerous senior communications roles before leaving the publisher as Head of PR, UK & Europe.

New gaming jurisdiction opens in Philippines
A new gaming jurisdiction is looking to attract online gaming operators—and possibly, land-based casinos—to the northern part of the Philippines.
The gaming jurisdiction is located within the 12,500-hectare Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) in the town of Casiguran in Aurora. The zone is about 270 kilometers away from the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA), where master licensor First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corporation is allowed to issue both online and land-based licenses.
Pacific Seaboard Leisure and Entertainment Corporation is the exclusive master licensor for the new body for the next 25 years, according to a GGRAsia report.
The gaming jurisdiction plans to focus first on issuing online gambling licenses—using a license fee structure similar to CEZA—to bring operators to the Aurora, which is considered to be an underdeveloped part of Luzon, before turning its attention to brick-and-mortar casinos.