Monthly Archives: July 2016

Best Sunshine steps closer to a casino land lease

Best Sunshine International Ltd. is on the cusp of securing a lease of fresh land after officials in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands – a Pacific territory of the United States – finally issued an Intent to Award notice.

The Saipan Tribune however pointed out that the Department of Public Lands (DPL) has set some conditions for the issuance of the notice to Best Sunshine, a unit of HongKong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd. which operates a temporary casino in Saipan.

Citing an unnamed source, the DPL asked Best Sunshine to include items like authorization for DPL to obtain bank or financial information from the casino to vet project financing and a timetable for the project, among others.

The DPL, for its part, did not deny nor confirm the information of the unnamed source.

UltraPlay launches VulkanBet and kicks-off Live Overwatch betting

VulkanBet is now live and fully operational under UltraPlay’s Playfinity platform, licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority. Having a fully equipped Sportsbook with thousands of betting options and large number of In-Play events around numerous sports gives them all they need to become one of Europe’s top operators. VulkanBet will be using UltraPlay’s eSports data feed, positioning themselves strongly for growth in the trendiest of sports betting domains.

Being the first in releasing betting opportunities on Overwatch showed UltraPlay’s commitment  in the most anticipated game of 2016. Creating a dedicated trading team, which only specializes in the game made Live Betting on Overwatch possible. The game itself is very different to all the other competitive mainstream games. It is far more dynamic and unpredictable, which makes for a thrilling betting experience.

“Following the competitive scene and working closely with the largest tournaments as well as analyzing the whole game gave us the confidence in kicking-off the first Live-traded Overwatch matches” – said Peter Ivanov head eSports trader at Ultraplay.

CSGOBig bites the dust as Valve cracks down

ESports game developer Valve Corp. has expanded its crackdown on skin betting by targeting all types of products, including the .

Valve’s decision to crack a whip on Counter-Strike and Dota 2 third-party gambling sites comes after two separate lawsuits were lodged against it in Connecticut and Florida for its relationship to what the lawsuits call illegal gambling.

In a notice, Valve orders 23 individual skin betting sites to stop the use of their Steam accounts for any commercial purpose. Among the sites which has received the notice was CSGOLounge.com, which is said to be the clear market leader among skin-based sports betting sites.

“We are aware that you are operating one of the gambling sites listed below. You are using Steam accounts to conduct this business. Your use of Steam is subject to the terms of the Steam Subscriber Agreement (“SSA”), http://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/. Under the SSA Steam and Steam services are licensed for personal, non-commercial use only,” according to the notice. “Your commercial use of Steam accounts is unlicensed and in violation of the SSA. You should immediately cease and desist further use of your Steam accounts for any commercial purpose. If you fail to do this within ten (10) days Valve will pursue all available remedies including without limitation terminating your accounts.”

Tie-in allows Aussie punters to top up accounts at stores, service stations

Players in Australia will soon be able to top up their accounts at convenience stores and service stations around the country, following a deal between retailers and card company Emerchants.

The card company said the top-up service will be offered in “independently owned petrol stations, convenience stores and news agents,” but not in Woolworths and 7-Eleven, which backed away from the deal in March, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.

Some 1,600 retailers have already signed up to offer the service. Emerchants expects a total of 4,500 retailers will offer the service in the coming months.

So far, William Hill and Bet365 have signed up for the service, but other operators are expected to follow soon.

Russia wants to label bitcoin as foreign currency

First they wanted to ban bitcoin. Now, Russian authorities were mulling a new option for the digital currency’s status in the country—label it as foreign currency.

It’s popular knowledge that Russia, particularly the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, is hell bent on outlawing digital currency and anyone who deals in it in the country. But there is a new report indicating that the finance ministry is softening its stance against cryptocurrency.

According to Russian-language Ria.ru, the government now wants to equate digital currencies like bitcoin to foreign currency. This means that the use of bitcoin in the country will still be prohibited, but users can buy the popular virtual currency through exchange platforms and spend it in other countries.

Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Moiseev clarified that the government is still push for the bill that will punish those who use bitcoins and other cryptocurrency in Russia, telling the Rossiyskaya Gazeta: “According to the Constitution… the only ruble issuer [in the country] is the Bank of Russia. Thus, issuing any other currency is illegal.”

Spigo release exciting new game Diamonds

Casino games developer Spigo has unearthed their latest unique game Diamonds, an exciting new concept in the gaming sector.

A match-3 type game monetised for the casino industry, Diamonds is another example of Spigo merging casual with casino.

Built in HTML5, the game can be played across all platforms and features three difficulty levels that allow players of all skill levels to enjoy it. Players make a bet against the house that they can solve the level in front of them, and are rewarded according to the difficulty.

Spigo CEO Kasper Kau said that given the worldwide success of the match3 game type in the past few years, it’s about time that a version was made for iGaming.

PAGCOR H1 profit up but future uncertain until Duterte’s intentions known

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) posted a mild profit gain in the first six months of 2016, but future numbers could be much less rosy.

PAGCOR, which acts both as gaming regulator and operator, reported an H1 profit of PHP 2.45b (US $52.1m), up 2.5% from the same period last year.

Revenue from gaming operations, which make up the overwhelming bulk of PAGCOR revenue, was up 19.6% to PHP 26.1b ($555.2m). In addition to operating gaming venues under its Casino Filipino brand, PAGCOR licenses private casinos, including the integrated resorts in Manila’s Entertainment City gaming zone.

Earlier this year, PAGCOR became the largest contributor among state-controlled corporations to the government’s revenue. In H1, PAGCOR remitted PHP 17.4b ($370m) to the government, 11.6% higher than H1 2015 and 37% higher than PAGCOR’s target number.

VegasMaster Announces Relaunch of Enhanced Site

VegasMaster is pleased to announce that its online gambling news and magazine site VegasMaster.com has been upgraded. It now features a new design as well as an improved user experience. While continuing to provide dependable, quality, helpful and unbiased content, it has become more user-friendly, has enhanced some of its already popular features and added some new ones.

Created by professional players for players, it was important for VegasMaster to upgrade its online casino and online gambling hub of news, reviews, acclaimed guides and information to better accommodate its users. Now, users have access to customized data to better suit their needs.

The newly improved site is equipped with a smooth interface and a clean and sensible layout that makes navigation a breeze. Users can quickly and easily demo an extensive library of free casino games and find the information and resources they want with a few simple clicks.

VegasMaster has also introduced a new mascot to heighten the experience of users. Named Vincent, the coyote mascot is a sophisticated and expert gambler from Vegas who acts as their guide to help both new and experienced players to become Vegas masters like himself.

3-Barrels: Mercier Wins WSOP POY; Full Tilt Case Settled; 888Poker Video Storyboard

3-Barrels of pure value including Jason Mercier crowned the 2016 World Series of Poker Player of the Year, news of a Full Tilt lawsuit settled beneath the radar, and 888Poker get innovative with the introduction of video storyboards.

While most eyes focused on the live updates of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event last night, some people may have missed the news that Jason Mercier won the 2016 WSOP Player of the Year (POY).

Mercier grabbed the leaderboard by the throat on June 15, with only Justin Bonomo threatening his dominance briefly. By that time Mercier had won two bracelets in the $10k 2-7 Draw Lowball Championships and the $10k H.O.R.S.E Championships, as well as finishing second in the $10k Seven Card Razz Championship. The PokerStars Team Pro cashed 11 times and made four final tables.

Coming into Day 7 of the Main Event only Paul Volpe or Max Silver could have removed Mercier from his throne. Volpe needed to finish third; Silver needed to win it. Silver finished 33rd and Volpe 29th.

Goa’s chief minister pleads ignorance of private operator’s offer to berth casinos

The chief minister of the Indian state of Goa is pleading ignorance of a private company’s offer to provide a permanent home to the state’s shipboard casinos.

Goa’s five floating casinos have until March 31, 2017 to find somewhere other than the Mandovi river to call home. Last week, a representative of the Chowgule Group claimed to have alerted Goa’s government to a parcel of land on the Zuari river near the town of Chicalim where the state’s casinos could permanently berth.

On Sunday, Goa’s Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar (pictured) told reporters that he was “not aware of any such proposal which is related to the relocation of offshore casinos to the Chicalim Bay and there is no such issue that has come up before the government.” Parsekar claimed the whole question had been invented by the media.

It’s entirely possible that Parsekar’s apparent case of memory loss may have something to do with the unanimous opposition local villagers’ representatives have expressed to the Chowgule Group’s plan. Their representative in the state’s legislative assembly – a minister in Parsekar’s cabinet – has also expressed her opposition.

Philippine president’s confounding comments on anti-online gambling plans

The Philippines’ new president continues to confound with comments regarding his vow to ‘stop online gambling’ in the country.

On June 30, newly sworn-in President Rodrigo Duterte made the surprise announcement that “online gambling must stop” because too many of his countrymen were gambling instead of working for a living.

But Duterte’s lack of specifics left even the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (PAGCOR) unsure as to what ‘online’ gambling activities the president was out to close.

The Philippines is home to most Asian-facing international online gambling operators, who hold licenses issued by the First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corp under the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA). By law, these operators are prohibited from accepting bets from Philippine citizens, a fact that seemed to exempt them from Duterte’s plan to save locals from themselves.

Nebraska Poker Could Come as Early as November

Nebraska poker could soon be more than just the occasional home game. That’s because pending legislation that would legalize brick-and-mortar casinos could tangentially lead to land-based poker rooms in the Cornhusker State. Legal poker rooms would only seem like poetic justice, as the creation of the game Omaha would seemingly have some connection to its […]

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