Monthly Archives: October 2016

Betsson Q3 revenue rebounds after “temporary” Q2 challenges

Swedish betting operator Betsson AB rebounded from its dismal Q2 performance by posting healthy revenue and earnings gains in Q3 2016.

Figures released Thursday covering the three months ending September 30 show Betsson’s revenue rising 9% year-on-year to SEK 1.06b (US $120m), earnings up 5% to SEK 273m and net income gaining 3% to SEK 254m.

The results stand in stark contrast to Betsson’s second quarter figures, advance news of which resulted in a one-third decline in the company’s share price. Betsson CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said Q3’s strong performance indicated that the company’s Q2 challenges were “of a temporary nature.”

Betsson’s mainstay online casino revenue jumped 11% to just under SEK 732m while sportsbook revenue rose 9% to SEK 300m. Mobile’s share of the revenue pie grew 55% to SEK 504m, representing 47% of the total.

Betsson Q3 revenue rebounds after “temporary” Q2 challenges

Swedish betting operator Betsson AB rebounded from its dismal Q2 performance by posting healthy revenue and earnings gains in Q3 2016.

Figures released Thursday covering the three months ending September 30 show Betsson’s revenue rising 9% year-on-year to SEK 1.06b (US $120m), earnings up 5% to SEK 273m and net income gaining 3% to SEK 254m.

The results stand in stark contrast to Betsson’s second quarter figures, advance news of which resulted in a one-third decline in the company’s share price. Betsson CEO Ulrik Bengtsson said Q3’s strong performance indicated that the company’s Q2 challenges were “of a temporary nature.”

Betsson’s mainstay online casino revenue jumped 11% to just under SEK 732m while sportsbook revenue rose 9% to SEK 300m. Mobile’s share of the revenue pie grew 55% to SEK 504m, representing 47% of the total.

Netherlands regulator slaps €374k fine on illegal betting shop owners

Gaming regulators in the Netherlands have slapped a nearly €374k fine on an illegal betting operation based in Rotterdam.

On Thursday, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) regulatory body announced what it called the highest penalty ever imposed “in the so-called country-specific domain.” The two offenders are the owners of a betting shop in Rotterdam that falsely claimed to be licensed to offer state-approved gambling services.

The KSA says it issued warnings to the shop owners on two different occasions last year and local authorities in Rotterdam closed the shop for a month earlier this year. The KSA said the owners’ flagrant disregard for these shots across their bow left it with no choice but to dole out the six-figure penalty.

The operators falsely advertised their shop as a licensed purveyor of the state-owned De Lotto’s Toto sports betting and Runnerz horserace betting products. The KSA says this “mixing of legal and illegal gaming is a serious matter” that gives customers “a false sense of safety and security.”

UK watchdog orders Coral, Titanbet, bgo ads banned

Gambling operator Coral has been hit—again—with advertising bans from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Aside from Coral, Titanbet and Bgo Entertainment also found themselves on the receiving end of the UK advertisement watchdog’s scolding after customers complained about their promotions that run over the summer.

The dispute related to Coral stemmed from a newspaper ad that the gambling operator ran in June, which read: “England to beat Russia was 10/11 now 50/1. Winning paid in cash.”

It was followed with a smaller print at the bottom of the ad, stating, “New customer offer… If your selection wins, you will be paid in cash based on the normal price on site and will have your account topped up to reflect the enhanced price in free bets. If your bet loses, a £5 free bet will be credited to your account within 24 hours of settlement. Free bet stake not returned.”

One Championship Returns To Manila For One: Age Of Domination

20 October 2016 – Manila, Philippines: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced its return to the state-of-the-art Mall of Asia Arena in Manila for another evening of world-class mixed martial arts action. ONE: AGE OF DOMINATION is set for 2 December, and will feature the absolute best in local and international MMA talent. In the main event, ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera will defend his title against undefeated heavyweight contender from Japan, Hideki Sekine.

Tickets for ONE: AGE OF DOMINATION are available at https://smtickets.com/events/view/5040

Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “ONE Championship is ready for another tremendous event for fight fans in Manila. Filipinos are some of the most passionate people in the world, and they really love their sports. So we have prepared a stacked card featuring a solid group of local fighters mixed in with some of the best international talents on our roster. ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera is set to return to the ONE cage, and you all know that means be ready for an amazing night of action!”

Filipino-American Brandon “The Truth” Vera is a 39-year-old mixed martial arts veteran with a 14-7-0, 1 NC professional record. He joined ONE Championship in 2014 after competing for over a decade as one of the world’s best fighters. A devastating striker with well-rounded submission grappling skills, he captured the ONE Heavyweight World Championship with a stunning knockout victory over Paul Cheng last December. He now returns to the ONE cage to defend his title against undefeated Japanese fighter Hideki Sekine.

AppBet to Shake Up the Betting Sector

A new app is set to revolutionise the way UK punters find the best odds and bet on their phones. AppBet gives users the chance to integrate all of their betting accounts in one place, view their balances, place bet deposits and withdraw winnings, all without switching between apps.

The new app is the brainchild of three betting industry veterans, led by MD Martin Hodges, who looked at existing odds comparison solutions and believed that there was a gap in the market for an app that allowed you to manage your betting accounts better. AppBet is the result and, after 12 months of development, it is now set to take the betting industry by storm, beginning with football and horseracing markets.

“We saw that in the growing mobile betting market, there was no easy and convenient way of managing your bookmaker accounts, knowing where your cash is or looking at what odds are best for the accounts with funds in,” said Martin Hodges, MD of AppBet. “There are some good odds comparison apps out there, but we felt it was possible to do better.

“With AppBet, instead of finding the best odds and then opening up the bookmaker’s app, you can search the odds and place your bet in one simple process. This saves time and can potentially lead to better odds in a fast-moving market.”

Circle builds European presence with 2 new markets

Social payments app Circle is rapidly building its presence in the European market.

The company announced that it is adding the euro and European cards to its list of supported financial systems. In particular, users of the peer-to-peer payments app in Spain and Ireland can connect their Spanish or Irish bank account to the app to send and receive money within their countries and across borders.

“More than a payment app,” Circle said its goal is to make online payments as simple and convenient as possible, while also making sure that additional safety measures and user privacy protection are in place.

“Unlike existing systems that are closed and proprietary, we use open internet standards and protocols, including the blockchain (allowing us to offer this service for free),” the company said in its website.

DraftKings clears DFS player in $1M collusion probe

Martin Crowley, the fantasy sports player accused of collusion to win DraftKing’s $1 million prize, said he has been cleared of the charges.

The Chicago-based player, who goes by the name “papagates,” was among the winners of DraftKings’ Sept. 24 “Fantasy Football Millionaire” contest, which yielded a $1 million prize. However, Crowley’s brother, Tom, also won a million dollar contest in the site last year, which prompted speculations that they two may have colluded to win the contest.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Crowley confirmed that DraftKings had banned him from accessing the site “for almost a week” while the company investigated the case. However, Crowley said “a DraftKings representative called him several weeks ago to say there was no evidence of wrongdoing and that he was eligible to play on the site again.”

DraftKings’ investigation focused mainly if the contest winner found ways around the site’s limits on how many entries each user can submit and the level of cooperation they can have with other players. Players are allowed to submit a maximum of 150 entries for Fantasy Football Millionaire. For that particular contest, there were almost 257,000 entries at $20 apiece. Winning the contest would require having high-scoring players that nobody else owns, which means that having more lineups with little overlap to other entries increases a player’s chance of winning.

Icahn frowns at bill limiting casino re-openings

Billionaire Carl Icahn has two options for the now shuttered Trump Taj Mahal casino – either he will re-open it or sell the casino property.

But a bill pending in the New Jersey Legislature would derail his obvious plans for the Taj casino when he decided to close it on October 10.

NJ.com reported that the owner of Taj casino is now opposing a bill preventing casinos from re-opening and will strip operators of casino license for the property for five years. The state Senate is set to vote on the bill Thursday.

Tony Rodio, who runs the Taj casino and Icahn’s Tropicana casino, believes that the bill sponsored by Stephen Sweeney is nothing but a punishment for closing the beleaguered casino early this month.

Crown Resorts eyes demerger of overseas holdings, IPO of Aussie hotels

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts is pushing ahead with its plan of demerging international operations, despite growing concerns following the arrest of some of its employees in China.

In a filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday, the company announced that “work on the proposed demerger, in particular, to obtain all the necessary approvals, consents and waivers from third parties, including from governments and gaming regulators, is ongoing.”

The casino operator signaled in June that it is planning to put most of its international business interests into a new listed vehicle.

Crown Resorts, which lists James Packer as its major shareholder, had already reduced its stake in its Asian-facing casino joint venture, Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE), leaving Melco International Development boss Lawrence Ho as MCE’s single largest shareholder.

William Hill scored for delayed prize payments

A punter’s group has accused British bookmaker William Hill of deliberately delaying – or even avoiding – the payments of winning bettors by brandishing its terms and conditions of its withdrawal procedures.

Justiceforpunters.org has called on the UK Gambling Commission to conduct a thorough probe on the rules set by bookmakers on paying winning bets, which the group finds to be discriminatory, according to The Guardian.

The group’s founder Brian Chappell cited the case of a successful punter who was forced to wait nearly a month to be paid £13,000 (US$ 15,963.61) in winnings. He said the punter, which the news website declined to name, sought his help to withdraw about £20,000 (US$ 24,559.40) from William Hill.

According to Chappell, the supposed bettor opened an account with William Hill in mid-July and deposited a total of £7,100 (US$8718.59) over the course of the next four weeks, and placed a series of mostly three‑figure bets on racing.