Online betting operator Bet365 has become the first operator to launch Playtech’s new native mobile casino app.

Bet365 has unveiled its new mobile casino app for iOS and Android devices, which the company claims is up to three-times faster and more customizable than Playtech’s previous HTML5 app.

Playtech COO Shimon Akad said research had shown that 89% of mobile time is spent in-app, versus 11% for browsers, “supporting the theory that native apps are what players want to use when gaming.” Akad said operators could drive player values thanks to the app’s “instant and sticky native play functionality.”

In other Bet365 news, the company’s Spanish-licensed site has been hit with a legal complaint from players who claim the operator has unfairly limited their ability to wager via the site or closed their accounts outright based on their ability to beat the bookie at its own game.

Image Credit: yourvotegoa.com

A former chief minister of the Indian state of Goa wants to put the fate of the casinos in the hands of popular opinion.

Luizinho Faleiro, president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, called for an opinion poll to review the state government’s decision to allow casinos in the small state, the Times of India reported. He claimed “most political parties” in Goa are a party—directly and indirectly—to the casino business, hence the need for a review.

“We want the people of Goa to decide,” the former Goa chief minister said, according to the news outlet. “Just because the state gets INR200 crore (USD2.99 billion), you want to make Goa the vice capital of India, the sin city of India?”

Image Credit: yourvotegoa.com

A former chief minister of the Indian state of Goa wants to put the fate of the casinos in the hands of popular opinion.

Luizinho Faleiro, president of Goa Pradesh Congress Committee, called for an opinion poll to review the state government’s decision to allow casinos in the small state, the Times of India reported. He claimed “most political parties” in Goa are a party—directly and indirectly—to the casino business, hence the need for a review.

“We want the people of Goa to decide,” the former Goa chief minister said, according to the news outlet. “Just because the state gets INR200 crore (USD2.99 billion), you want to make Goa the vice capital of India, the sin city of India?”

With G2E 2016 just around the corner, Las Vegas has been on my mind.  I’ve been traveling to Las Vegas my entire life and can actually remember when the Mirage was first opened (November 22, 1989!) and it was the latest and greatest property on the strip.  I also remember when Vegas shifted its messaging from an adult playground to a family destination (remember the MGM Grand theme park?) but over time the messaging shifted back to its original “Sin City” roots.

Vegas has gone through so many phases since I’ve been traveling there, but only now have I started to notice real change, a shift from old school Wynn and Adelson mentality to a new one more like Jim Murren’s.  I also predict the gambling industry will notice a lot of change at G2E this year, but we still have a way to go before the sea of slot machines on the expo floor will be reduced and replaced by something new.

Outdoor venues for food, drink and fun

One of the most obvious changes to Las Vegas over the past year was the opening of “The Park”, MGM Grand’s “pedestrian experience” located between the Monte Carlo and New York, New York properties.  I actually stumbled across The Park when I was in Las Vegas this past April and couldn’t believe what I was seeing- a grassy strip of outdoor bars, restaurants and entertainment, accessible only on foot.  What a nice change from the dark, windowless, smoky inside of a casino, I was thinking.

With G2E 2016 just around the corner, Las Vegas has been on my mind.  I’ve been traveling to Las Vegas my entire life and can actually remember when the Mirage was first opened (November 22, 1989!) and it was the latest and greatest property on the strip.  I also remember when Vegas shifted its messaging from an adult playground to a family destination (remember the MGM Grand theme park?) but over time the messaging shifted back to its original “Sin City” roots.

Vegas has gone through so many phases since I’ve been traveling there, but only now have I started to notice real change, a shift from old school Wynn and Adelson mentality to a new one more like Jim Murren’s.  I also predict the gambling industry will notice a lot of change at G2E this year, but we still have a way to go before the sea of slot machines on the expo floor will be reduced and replaced by something new.

Outdoor venues for food, drink and fun

One of the most obvious changes to Las Vegas over the past year was the opening of “The Park”, MGM Grand’s “pedestrian experience” located between the Monte Carlo and New York, New York properties.  I actually stumbled across The Park when I was in Las Vegas this past April and couldn’t believe what I was seeing- a grassy strip of outdoor bars, restaurants and entertainment, accessible only on foot.  What a nice change from the dark, windowless, smoky inside of a casino, I was thinking.