Monthly Archives: October 2016

Details emerge on Cambodia’s updated gaming law

New details have emerged regarding the oft-delayed update of Cambodia’s Gaming Law.

On Friday, the Khmer Times reported that the Cambodian government had held a meeting of cabinet ministers and over 100 private sector stakeholders to discuss the latest draft of the new Gaming Law, which has been in the works for over two years now.

Government reps declined to specify the new draft’s tax implications but the report said expectations were for a rate of between 4% and 5% of gambling revenue. That is higher than the effective rate of 2% currently paid by NagaCorp’s NagaWorld casino in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. However, that range is lower than the 5% to 7% that NagaCorp chairman Timothy McNally was predicting last month.

The government’s share of the revenue generated by Cambodia’s 69 casinos has long been a source of angst for opposition politicians, who claim casino operators are getting off lightly. But figures released this week by the Ministry of Finance showed casino tax revenue of $37.4m through the first nine months of 2016, compared to $34.7m through all 12 months of 2015.

Playtech bolsters bingo offering via ECM Systems acquisition

Online gambling technology providers Playtech have shored up their bingo offering via the acquisition of bingo tech outfit ECM Systems.

On Friday, Playtech announced that it had agreed to pay £14.9m to acquire 90% of ECM’s share capital. The remaining 10% will remain with ECM CEO Allen Richardson, who has agreed to stay on in the CEO’s chair for the next three years.

ECM supplies bingo software and hardware to a number of major retail bingo operators, including Gala Leisure, Mecca Bingo and leading independent firms in the UK and Ireland. In its fiscal 2016, ECM generated revenue of £9.1m and adjusted earnings of £4.5m.

ECM has been upgrading its digital offering in recent years and now earns a significant slice of its revenue from providing and licensing software that powers handheld Electronic Bingo Terminals in bingo venues.

Playtech bolsters bingo offering via ECM Systems acquisition

Online gambling technology providers Playtech have shored up their bingo offering via the acquisition of bingo tech outfit ECM Systems.

On Friday, Playtech announced that it had agreed to pay £14.9m to acquire 90% of ECM’s share capital. The remaining 10% will remain with ECM CEO Allen Richardson, who has agreed to stay on in the CEO’s chair for the next three years.

ECM supplies bingo software and hardware to a number of major retail bingo operators, including Gala Leisure, Mecca Bingo and leading independent firms in the UK and Ireland. In its fiscal 2016, ECM generated revenue of £9.1m and adjusted earnings of £4.5m.

ECM has been upgrading its digital offering in recent years and now earns a significant slice of its revenue from providing and licensing software that powers handheld Electronic Bingo Terminals in bingo venues.

New Jersey rep preps pro-online gambling legislation; Reid done with online gambling

A New Jersey congressman says he’ll mount a fresh push to drag America’s “obsolete” federal gambling laws screaming and kicking into the 21st century.

On Friday, ESPN’s David Purdum reported that Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) plans to introduce new legislation aimed at harmonizing the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, the 1961 Wire Act and the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Pallone (pictured, far right) told ESPN that federal gambling laws “need a wholesale review to see how they can actually work together and create a fairer playing field for all types of gambling, both online and offline, including sports betting and daily fantasy sports.” Conversations with stakeholders are already underway but Pallone offered no details on when his new legislation might be filed.

Pallone, the ranking Democrat on the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee, has been attempting to change federal gambling laws for years. His latest effort was a committee hearing this spring that was supposed to address multiple forms of gambling but ended up focusing solely on DFS.

UK competition watchdog launches probe of online gambling T&C’s

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a probe into whether online gambling sites are breaking the law via misleading promotions.

On Friday, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announcing an investigation of “potential breaches of consumer law, including misleading promotions and unfair terms, being used by firms to block players’ payouts.” The CMA said it was prompted to act after the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) raised similar concerns.

Nisha Arora, the CMA’s senior director for consumer enforcement, said the CMA was “worried players are losing out because gambling sites are making it too difficult for them to understand the terms on which they’re playing, and may not be giving them a fair deal.” Arora said the CMA would work closely with the UKGC during its investigation.

The UKGC’s CEO Sarah Harrison said she had concerns that betting operators’ terms and conditions “appear to bamboozle rather than help the customer make informed choices.” Harrison said too many of the UK’s estimated 5.5m online gamblers felt like “the deck is stacked against them because of an obscure condition that they did not properly understand.”

Week 7 Sunday Night Football Betting Preview

It is not surprising that the Arizona Cardinals are drawing faint praise from oddsmakers, given how Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks have performed at University of Phoenix Stadium recently. The Cardinals are listed as the two-point favorite against the Seahawks with a 43.5-point total for their Sunday Night Football matchup.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Seahawks, who are 4-1 straight-up and 3-2 against the spread this season, are also 3-0 SU and 3-0 ATS in their last three road games against the Cardinals. Wilson is capable of carrying his team offensively, but his offensive line is occasionally leaky and might be unable to thwart Cardinals pass rushers such as OLB Chandler Jones and OLB Markus Golden.

Wilson, TE Jimmy Graham and WR Doug Baldwin will also be attempting to find holes in a strong Arizona pass defense led by CB Patrick Peterson and FS Tyrann Mathieu.