Monthly Archives: June 2016

What i-Gaming Investors Need to Know But Were Afraid to Ask About E-Sports

This is a guest contribution by Lionel Iruk, Esq. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details.

I-Gaming Attorney and Business Analyst, Lionel Iruk of Empire Legal explains how I-gaming companies, vendors, branding partners, investors, and everyone in between can capitalize on E-Sports betting.

“E-Sports Betting.”  If you have been in a cave for the last three years and the term sounds alien to you, you need not fear. You have landed at the correct place and we will guide you through the intricacies of E-Sports and E-Sports betting and in the process explain how to take advantage of an industry with over 225 million fans globally, with that number expected to increase by 40% by the end of 2017.

What is E-Sports betting?

Melco’s Lawrence Ho blames marketing team for Studio City woes

Marketing failure continues to haunt Melco Crown Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Ho, as his company’s partly-owned property, Studio City disappoints investors since its opening in October.

Ho is not amused by how Studio City’s marketing team has been performing, admitting that they have failed to translate the company’s brand to the public. As a result, Studio City’s first quarter profit in 2016 was well below market expectations at USD195 million.

Studio City – which targeted the gaming mass market and promoted non-gaming activities – did not fare well as analysts had initially predicted. Adding pressure to the beleaguered casino’s growth is the anticipated opening of MGM Cotai, Wynn Palace and The Parisian on the Cotai Strip, each eyeing the mass-gaming segment.

“We just need to do a better job at marketing ourselves and bundling offers – it’s not rocket science,” Ho told Barron’s Asia. “We had a lot of brand awareness and buzz [at our launch], but somehow our marketing team hasn’t really translated that.”

WSOP Round-Up: Gold For Benny Glaser & Andrey Zaichenko

The World Series of Poker produces a second summer bracelet for Benny Glaser, a second Russian bracelet of the summer courtesy of Andrey Zaichenko, and Jason Mercier still hunting for bracelet #3 of the summer with another deep run.

Benny Glaser has won the bracelet and $407,194 first prize in Event #32: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, meaning the lad from the UK has won back-to-back Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better events.

Glaser has become the third player in the series able to put a bracelet on each wrist following in the footsteps of Jason Mercier and Ian Johns. It also means Glaser is right on the coattails of Mercier in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year (POY) race.

The 163 entrants make it one of the smallest fields of the WSOP, but none of that will bother Glaser. He has now won three bracelets in two years, making him one of the most in-form players on the WSOP circuit.

Calling The Clock: Politics and The Chase For Bracelet #3

In this week’s Calling the Clock we get you up to speed with all the political manoeuvrings in the American poker scene, a look at the three people attempting to win three bracelets in this year’s series, and more.

It’s been an important week in the lifespan of online poker in America.

First the good news, and on Wednesday, California’s Appropriations Committee, rubber stamped the progress of Assemblyman Adam Gray’s online poker bill. AB 2863 is now heading towards an Assembly vote where it will need a two-third ‘aye’ vote for the bill to end up in front of the State Senate.

Several members of the committee decided to keep their powder dry. One voted ‘no’. Several made it clear that they could change their mind if their concerns aren’t suitably addressed in future iterations of the bill – namely how to deal with the ‘PokerStars problem’.

Euro 2016 Group Games: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

With the Euro 2016 group games in the bag, Lee Davy shares his views on the good points, the bad points, and the downright ugly points of what has been the largest finals in European Championship history.

Euro 2016 begins on Saturday when Switzerland take on Poland in Saint-Étienne. The group games were like the early seasons of Breaking Bad. The tournament showed us the cast; we loved some; hated others. And now the plot thickens. We are about to watch the final season. All the loose ends will be tied up. It’s time for sensory overload.

It’s the first time since the Euros was born in 1960 that 24 teams have contested the finals. It will be interesting moving forward. Will we eventually see a 32 team competition like the World Cup? Or, will the 24 team format be considered a failure and therefore a move back to 16 deemed necessary?

Here are my views on that question, along with my opinion of the action on and off the field during the group stages.

Michigan Lottery online sales bring in additional $147m for the state

The Michigan Lottery says the number of players making use of its online site has nearly quadrupled since the product made its debut.

Michigan launched online sales in November 2014, offering both draw ticket sales and instant win games via website or mobile app. By January 2015, Michigan Lottery Bureau commissioner Scott Bowen said the site’s sales were “going well” but still represented “less than one percent of our business.”

Around 86k players registered with the site shortly after it launched. This week, the Lottery announced that the number of registered players has since swelled over 300% to 322k (about 3% of the state’s total population).

These players have generated $147m in online sales and the Lottery Bureau expects this figure to rise to $480m by the time the site is eight years old. The site currently offers around 30 instant games as well as keno.

Paddy Power employees feel the brunt of the $7.4B merger

Paddy Power employees are now paying the steep price for the giant bookmaker’s £5 billion ($7.4 billion) marriage with Betfair.

The latest casualty of the Paddy Power – Betfair merger was its office in Isle of Man, where its office staff were told of the redundancies. At least 10 jobs were affected during the opening salvo of job cuts in the Isle of Man, according to the Isle of Man Examiner.

Operations of Paddy Power in the Isle of Man will be transferred to Malta as part of its plan to trim nearly 10 percent of its workforce following last year’s merger of the two giant bookmakers.

Closer to home, Paddy Power has let go of some of the members of its marketing team, with one employee describing the job losses to UK marketing news source Campaign Live as a “clearout.”

The Football Pools goes-live with ‘Cash Out Pools’ from Colossus Bets

London, 25 June 2016

COLOSSUS BETS, home of the world’s biggest football and sports jackpots, today announced that its pools products, branded as ‘Cash Out Pools’, have gone live on both web and mobile with The Football Pools.

Bernard Marantelli, founder and CEO of Colossus Bets said: “The Football Pools is an iconic brand with a long pedigree in offering life-changing jackpot prizes on football and it’s a significant milestone for us that they have chosen to offer our pools to their client base. Enabling players to bank profits on multi-leg bets through partial cash-out is a key USP of our pools and we look forward to players from The Football Pools taking advantage of the feature.”

Conleth Byrne, Managing Director of The Football Pools said: “Creating winners has always been at the core of The Football Pools. We are always looking at innovative ways to deliver more choice and more ways to win. Colossus Bets provides a suite of complementary pools that I am sure will prove popular with our 200,000 weekly active customers. We are delighted to offer Cash Out Pools which will deliver great value as well as guaranteed jackpots up to £2m.

The Football Pools goes-live with ‘Cash Out Pools’ from Colossus Bets

London, 25 June 2016

COLOSSUS BETS, home of the world’s biggest football and sports jackpots, today announced that its pools products, branded as ‘Cash Out Pools’, have gone live on both web and mobile with The Football Pools.

Bernard Marantelli, founder and CEO of Colossus Bets said: “The Football Pools is an iconic brand with a long pedigree in offering life-changing jackpot prizes on football and it’s a significant milestone for us that they have chosen to offer our pools to their client base. Enabling players to bank profits on multi-leg bets through partial cash-out is a key USP of our pools and we look forward to players from The Football Pools taking advantage of the feature.”

Conleth Byrne, Managing Director of The Football Pools said: “Creating winners has always been at the core of The Football Pools. We are always looking at innovative ways to deliver more choice and more ways to win. Colossus Bets provides a suite of complementary pools that I am sure will prove popular with our 200,000 weekly active customers. We are delighted to offer Cash Out Pools which will deliver great value as well as guaranteed jackpots up to £2m.

Chris Moorman on Signing for 888Poker; Twitch, and More

Lee Davy sits down with the most successful online tournament poker player in history, Chris Moorman, to ask him his thoughts on signing with 888Poker, personal branding, and a whole lot more.

Chris Moorman is a big deal.

When I was watching the Global Poker League (GPL) Draft, he was one of the players you knew was a dead cert. He is the most successful online tournament player in history. And he recently signed to become the brand ambassador for 888Poker.

If you have spent time around Moorman over the past decade, you will have noticed a change in his demeanour and willingness to give back to an industry that has given him so much.

Chris Moorman on Signing for 888Poker; Twitch, and More

Lee Davy sits down with the most successful online tournament poker player in history, Chris Moorman, to ask him his thoughts on signing with 888Poker, personal branding, and a whole lot more.

Chris Moorman is a big deal.

When I was watching the Global Poker League (GPL) Draft, he was one of the players you knew was a dead cert. He is the most successful online tournament player in history. And he recently signed to become the brand ambassador for 888Poker.

If you have spent time around Moorman over the past decade, you will have noticed a change in his demeanour and willingness to give back to an industry that has given him so much.

China’s Taobao.com cracks down on prop bets disguised as ‘insurance’ policies

Vendors on China’s popular Taobao online marketplace have been told to stop offering ‘insurance’ policies that appear to violate the country’s gambling laws.

Earlier this week, the Chinese-language Legal Mirror quoted a Taobao spokesman saying the platform was “paying close attention to ensure imaginative ideas are not being improperly presented by sellers.”

These imaginative ideas included ‘insurance’ policies on intangible items, including how long it will be before breakup queen Taylor Swift breaks up with her current squeeze Tom Hiddleston, with payouts promised to customers whose ‘policies’ matched the eventual duration of the Swift-Hiddleston pairing.

Other vendors offered policies on similar celebrity questions, including whether certain singers would win a Grammy Award next year or whether certain television series would be renewed for another season … Basically, things you’d find in the novelty prop betting section of most online sportsbooks.

China’s Taobao.com cracks down on prop bets disguised as ‘insurance’ policies

Vendors on China’s popular Taobao online marketplace have been told to stop offering ‘insurance’ policies that appear to violate the country’s gambling laws.

Earlier this week, the Chinese-language Legal Mirror quoted a Taobao spokesman saying the platform was “paying close attention to ensure imaginative ideas are not being improperly presented by sellers.”

These imaginative ideas included ‘insurance’ policies on intangible items, including how long it will be before breakup queen Taylor Swift breaks up with her current squeeze Tom Hiddleston, with payouts promised to customers whose ‘policies’ matched the eventual duration of the Swift-Hiddleston pairing.

Other vendors offered policies on similar celebrity questions, including whether certain singers would win a Grammy Award next year or whether certain television series would be renewed for another season … Basically, things you’d find in the novelty prop betting section of most online sportsbooks.

Michael Jackson Enthusiast Wins Leovegas UK Lip-sync Battle VIP Prize

A Michael Jackson enthusiast has won a VIP experience in London to visit the West End, thanks to LeoVegas and its latest competition.

The leading mobile casino asked members of the public to test out their skills by taking part in the ultimate Michael Jackson lip-sync battle, to celebrate the launch of Bally’s ‘Michael Jackson King of Pop’ game. Entrants were encouraged to create Michael Jackson themed lip-sync videos and share via @LeoVegasUK with the #MJLipSync.

After many entries featuring moonwalks and iconic white gloves, 27-year-old Andrew Tanner was voted as the judge’s favourite and will now be wined and dined, put up in a hotel and get tickets to a show at London’s West End where he can lip-sync the night away.

Andrew, from Uxbridge near London, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be the winner of the lip-sync battle. I love Michael Jackson so I thought I would enter and throw a few shapes. It took me many attempts and practising my Michael Jackson impressions before I got it right.”

Michael Jackson Enthusiast Wins Leovegas UK Lip-sync Battle VIP Prize

A Michael Jackson enthusiast has won a VIP experience in London to visit the West End, thanks to LeoVegas and its latest competition.

The leading mobile casino asked members of the public to test out their skills by taking part in the ultimate Michael Jackson lip-sync battle, to celebrate the launch of Bally’s ‘Michael Jackson King of Pop’ game. Entrants were encouraged to create Michael Jackson themed lip-sync videos and share via @LeoVegasUK with the #MJLipSync.

After many entries featuring moonwalks and iconic white gloves, 27-year-old Andrew Tanner was voted as the judge’s favourite and will now be wined and dined, put up in a hotel and get tickets to a show at London’s West End where he can lip-sync the night away.

Andrew, from Uxbridge near London, said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be the winner of the lip-sync battle. I love Michael Jackson so I thought I would enter and throw a few shapes. It took me many attempts and practising my Michael Jackson impressions before I got it right.”

Pennsylvania Online Poker Combined with DFS

Pennsylvania’s bid to regulate online gambling will be attached to the state’s DFS regulation, a fact that poker players are hoping might be enough to carry it over the line. Equally important, the newly combined gambling reforms have avoided the addition of a controversial proposal to expand video gaming terminals (VGT) into bars and restaurants. […]

The post Pennsylvania Online Poker Combined with DFS appeared first on .

Pennsylvania Online Poker Combined with DFS

Pennsylvania’s bid to regulate online gambling will be attached to the state’s DFS regulation, a fact that poker players are hoping might be enough to carry it over the line. Equally important, the newly combined gambling reforms have avoided the addition of a controversial proposal to expand video gaming terminals (VGT) into bars and restaurants. […]

The post Pennsylvania Online Poker Combined with DFS appeared first on .

NHL’s Las Vegas expansion has Canadian sports betting backer dropping the gloves

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry on Wednesday after the National Hockey League confirmed it would be expanding to the Nevada city in time for the 2017-18 season.

The NHL had only two contenders for its first expansion since the year 2000 – Vegas and Quebec City. The former city has been hungering for some major league attention for decades while the latter city has never really gotten over losing their Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Vegas got the nod in part due to “fluctuation of the Canadian dollar,” the value of which had at times this year sunk as low as 68¢ on the US dollar. Since player salaries are paid in US dollars, Quebec’s Canuck-buck ticket prices would have to be set sky-high to balance the books.

Vegas had its own hurdles to clear, in particular, the belief that a pro sports team had no business playing in the only US state in which sports betting is legal because, er, well, it’s not quite clear why, since betting goes on everywhere regardless of its legality.

NHL’s Las Vegas expansion has Canadian sports betting backer dropping the gloves

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry on Wednesday after the National Hockey League confirmed it would be expanding to the Nevada city in time for the 2017-18 season.

The NHL had only two contenders for its first expansion since the year 2000 – Vegas and Quebec City. The former city has been hungering for some major league attention for decades while the latter city has never really gotten over losing their Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Vegas got the nod in part due to “fluctuation of the Canadian dollar,” the value of which had at times this year sunk as low as 68¢ on the US dollar. Since player salaries are paid in US dollars, Quebec’s Canuck-buck ticket prices would have to be set sky-high to balance the books.

Vegas had its own hurdles to clear, in particular, the belief that a pro sports team had no business playing in the only US state in which sports betting is legal because, er, well, it’s not quite clear why, since betting goes on everywhere regardless of its legality.