Monthly Archives: September 2016

Joey Barton Under Investigation by The SFA After Allegedly Betting on Celtic to Lose Against Barcelona in Champions League Mauling

Rangers midfielder, Joey Barton, is once again in the news for all the wrong reason after news sources reveal the Scottish Football Association and the Gambling Commission are investigating him over a breach of gambling rules.

On Monday, Glasgow Rangers suspended Joey Barton for three weeks after a training ground altercation with his teammate Andy Halliday following their 5-1 thrashing at the hands of arch-rival Celtic.

Surprised?

Today, we learn, that the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and the Gambling Commission, are investigating allegations that Barton gambled on the outcome of the Champions League match between Celtic and Barcelona. The Spanish giants inflicted Celtic’s heaviest ever Champions League defeat after a 7-0 win.

E-Service respond to the challenges presented by new £5 polymer note

As the new £5 polymer banknote entered the market last week, E-Service helped operators to upgrade bill validators and change machines in venues across the country.

Operators across the country have been preparing for the implementation of the new £5 polymer banknote that was released on 13 September.

The new note’s increased security and durability will provide benefits in the long term, however most bill validators and change machines had to be upgraded, costing a significant amount of time and money.

With a diverse array of arcades and leisure companies looking to upgrade their validators, Mike Clokie, managing director at E-Service, has been assisting operators with the changes.

North Jersey casino plan gets dimmer, poll shows

If elections will be held today, majority of New Jersey residents will vote against the north Jersey casino referendum.

This was according to the latest poll conducted by Rutgers-Eagleton, which concluded that the chances of a new casino jurisdiction in the Garden State don’t look good.

Citing the poll results that were released on Tuesday, NJ.com reported that almost half or 50 percent of voters want casinos to remain confined in Atlantic City. The figures of the anti-North Jersey referendum has increased by a single point from the group’s last survey.

Atlantic City has been the only place allowed to have casino gambling in New Jersey since casinos opened in the city in 1978. According to the poll, voters who welcome a new gambling jurisdiction in the New Jersey had dropped by 4 points to 40 percent.

European banks will offer bitcoin wallets soon

Bitcoin Suisse founder Niklas Nikolajsen believes it’s only a matter of time before European banks will start offering bitcoin wallets.

Digital currencies like bitcoin are proven to be faster and cheaper than traditional banking methods, but the idea of banks providing bitcoin wallets remains far-fetched. Until today, that is.

In an interview with finews.ch, Nikolajsen said he expects that a change will come to the banking system “by the end of 2016.” Nikolajsen didn’t mention which European banks, only that it would “not be an exotic bank.”

Blockchain revolution won’t happen ‘soon’

Gaming tech firms decry tainted $263 million Maryland lottery bidding

Losing gaming technology providers Gaming Innovations LLC and IGT Global Solutions have put a big question mark on the regularity of bidding of the $263 million Maryland lottery computer network contract after the state agency favored an incumbent vendor.

Both Gaming Innovations and IGT have protested the awarding of Maryland lottery contract to rival Scientific Games International of Las Vegas, claiming that the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency made “arbitrary and capricious” choices in evaluating the bids, according to The Baltimore Sun.

IGT was the first to raise hell over the tainted bidding process as it accused the agency of irregularly attempting to run up the contract’s long-term value in an attempt to minimize future oversight by the state Board of Public Works.

The London-based gaming tech company has alleged that lottery officials informed them that the bid request includes internet lottery sales. The state agency explained that they wanted to avoid further “burdensome” review by the public works board if lawmakers were to approve an expansion of gambling in Maryland to include lottery ticket sales over the internet.

Imperial Pacific vows to hire more locals for Saipan casino

Casino operator Imperial Pacific International Holdings has assured the government in Saipan that it will hire more locals or U.S. citizens as employees.

Bertha Leon Guerrero, VP for human resources at Imperial Pacific, told the Commonwealth Casino Commission that half of the company’s over 1,000 employees are locals and/or U.S. citizens, which complies with the government’s required percentage of 50 percent local workers, Marianas Variety reported.

In July, the Hong Kong-listed casino operator had to let go more than 130 of its foreign workers amid reports of a breached cap on workers in the island this fiscal year.

But in her report to the casino commission, Leon Guerrero indicated that 30 percent of their local workers have either resigned from their jobs or have been terminated “due to performance and attendance.”

Maharashtra responds (finally) to lawsuit over online lotteries

There are existing rules to regulate online lotteries.

That was the answer the Maharashtra government had in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed against the state several weeks ago.

A quick recap: In early September, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court ordered the government of Maharashtra to respond to the PIL filed by a Chandan Trivedi, who asked the high court to immediately ban the “unauthorized and alluring” online lotteries in the state. The court warned the state that its continued refusal to respond could cost Maharashtra its precious online lotteries.

The state finally heeded the court’s call on Monday, with an affidavit stating “rules are in place to regulate them,” Times of India reported.

NFL Power Rankings Week 3 – Is Anyone Better Than The Pats?

We’re prepping for week 3 of the season and one thing has become brazenly apparent already: teams aren’t very good this year. Want to know how I know this? The best team in the league doesn’t even have their two best players active right now and the rest of them just experienced some pretty serious injuries and have no threats to their statusPAt in the elite class.

I promise that the rankings get sorted by Week 4 but until then we have to carry some biases that will inevitably impact how we wager. Remember that all rankings are based on performance in real life and in gambling life, so a team like Seattle which isn’t covering (or playing well) will get dropped despite reputation. As for the rest, you’ll have to read on to find out.

1. New England Patriots (2-0 SU and ATS)

I really don’t know who else to put in this slot. The Patriots have looked outstanding without Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, and they’ve still managed to score an average of 27.0 points. Make an argument for another team that looks better than New England right now, and will only get better in two weeks time. You can’t.

Delaware iGaming Revenue For August Increases by 54% Year-on-Year

The tiny state of Delaware has seen their monthly iGaming net revenues for August increase by 54% year-on-year, but online poker shows a 7% spiral south.

Planet Poker, do you remember them?

It was 1998 when Randy Blumer launched the first real-money online poker site. Mike Caro packed up his Book of Tells and joined as an ambassador.

Few, if any, new online poker players will have heard of Planet Poker, but without them making the first dirty footprints in the settled cyber soil of the online poker world, things would look a tad different today. And I think about that when I chuckle at the online poker revenue numbers that show up on the Delaware Lottery iGaming monthly financial wrap sheet.

Aussie TAB inks UFC partnership; New Zealand TAB website showing its age

Australian betting operator Tabcorp has entered into a multi-year sponsorship deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

On Tuesday, Tabcorp announced that its TAB.com.au betting brand was now the Official Betting and Wagering Partner of the UFC in Australia. The partnership will make its official debut in Melbourne on Nov. 27 at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold v. Jacare 2.

The deal makes TAB.com.au the presenting sponsor of all UFC live events in Australia. The UFC’s famous octagon will feature Tab.com.au branding and UFC fighters will wear the betting brand’s logo on their fight kit. TAB.com.au will also get plenty of visibility on UFC.com and other UFC digital and social platforms.

Things are decidedly less sunny at the New Zealand TAB (no relation), which had its betting website crash on Saturday. The TAB is still investigating the cause of the crash, but overloading is the prime suspect, given the day marked the busiest day to date of the current racing season.

Doug Polk & Philip McAllister Set New Twitch Records in WCOOP High Roller Action

Doug ‘WCG|Rider” Polk and Philip ‘Grindation’ McAllister both break records for the most cash ever won while playing and streaming on Twitch after coming one-two in the $10,300 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max High Roller in the World Championships of Online Poker.

For the second time during the 2016 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP), the man who finished wearing the bridesmaid dress finds themselves in front of the flickering camera.

It happened to Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz when he finished runner-up to bcnb789 in the $102,000 buy-in Super High Roller, and it’s happening to Doug ‘WCG|Rider” Polk after finishing runner-up to Philip ‘Grindation’ McAllister in Event #53: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max High Roller.

The reason for the switch in emphasis is Twitch. Polk has become one of the most fascinating, absorbing, and controversial streamers in recent times, and the camera was rolling when the serious money was being doled out, creating a new record for the most money won on a Twitch stream.

Antonio Esfandiari Joins StakeKings as an Ambassador

Antonio Esfandiari has been unveiled as the ambassador for the staking platform StakeKings and has promised to put packages on the site so his fans can buy pieces of his action.

There used to be a time when staking, backing and deal making was all sweaty handshakes and nervous waits.

Times are changing.

Antonio Esfandiari is the latest ambassador for the staking platform StakeKings. Not only will Esfandiari promote the site when he plays and across social media networks that connect to hundreds of thousands of people, but he will also post his personal packages on the site.

Gamblit gamblify virtual reality first-person shooter Brookhaven Experiment

Game publisher Gamblit Gaming has struck a deal to bring the Brookhaven Experiment virtual reality first-person shooter game to casino floors.

On Tuesday, the California-based Gamblit announced that it had struck a deal with Chicago-based developer Phosphor Games to create a gamblified version of the Brookhaven Experiment, the horror-based VR game that debuted this spring on HTC Vibe to great acclaim (neophytes check out the video below).

Gamblit will demo its version of the game at next week’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas. The game will run on Gamblit’s new Virtual Reality Cube (VRC) gaming platform, which will also be making its public debut at G2E.

Gamblit CMO Darion Lowenstein told Games Industry Biz that the plan is to allow players to wager on how well they’ll perform in Brookhaven’s monster-filled environment, with wagers as low as $15 or as high as $50.

Macau gambler threatens casino winners with HIV-filled (not really) syringe

A Macau casino gambler down on his luck was arrested after threatening luckier bettors with a syringe he claimed was filled with HIV-positive blood.

Macau’s Public Security Police (PSP) held a press conference on Monday detailing their arrest of a 27-year-old mainland Chinese tourist who threatened at least three men over a five-day period at unspecified casinos in the ZAPE district earlier this month.

The Macau Daily Times quoted police saying that the suspect had brandished a syringe full of a red liquid he claimed was his own blood. The suspect also claimed to be HIV-positive, and produced a medical report attesting to this claim.

However, once he was in police custody, the suspect admitted that both the report and the blood were fake. The man claimed to have bought the ‘movie blood’ in his native Hebei province, while refusing to indicate where he obtained the bogus medical report. Police are still awaiting test results to learn if the suspect is in fact HIV-positive.