Monthly Archives: October 2016

Macau VIP revenue down, mass market up

Macau casino revenue posted a year-on-year increase in Q3 2016 despite another decline in the VIP baccarat segment.

Figures released Monday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) show overall gaming revenue of MOP 55.2b (US $6.9b) in the three months ending September 30, 3.9% higher than the same period last year, when the market reported a 34.3% year-on-year decline.

This year’s gains came despite VIP baccarat revenue falling 1.2% to MOP 28.6b (US $3.6b). The VIP share of Macau’s overall gross gaming revenue pie came to 52.1%, down from 53.3% in Q3 2015, although it’s a better showing than the low of 51.5% recorded in Q2 2016.

Including slots, mass market gaming revenue totaled MOP 26.4b ($3.3b), a 3.9% year-on-year improvement. Mass market baccarat revenue totaled just under MOP 19.5b, up from MOP 18.6b in Q2. Mass baccarat accounted for roughly 35.4% of the total revenue pie.

NetBet first UK-licensed site to add Bitcoin payment option

Online betting operator NetBet has become the first UK-licensed online gambling operator to offer Bitcoin payment options to UK punters.

On Monday, Bitcoin payment service provider Bitpay announced that it had helped NetBet become the first online gambling operator licensed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to offer Bitcoin deposit and withdrawal options to its online sports betting and casino customers.

Bitpay, which claims to be the world’s largest Bitcoin payment processor, says NetBet opted to include Bitcoin payment options to better serve the UK’s growing digital currency user base and to offer customers the peace of mind that comes with freedom from online payment fraud. Given the relative novelty of Bitcoin in the UK online gambling marketplace, Bitpay says it worked closely with NetBet to ensure its new payment option met all UKGC requirements.

In August, the UKGC updated its License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) and reminded licensees to ensure they were implementing appropriate policies and procedures concerning the usage of cash and cash equivalents, which included the UKGC’s first reference to “digital currencies” under this category.

Report: UK operators to kick back 10% of online and retail race betting revenue

UK betting operators could be forced to pay racing bodies 10% of online race betting revenue, according to the responsible government minister.

Over the weekend, the Racing Post reported that Tracey Crouch, who represents the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), had told racing industry stakeholders that the government would establish a rate of 10% of race betting revenue that both retail and online bookmakers would be required to remit to the racing industry as a replacement for the existing Levy scheme.

The current Levy system requires retail bookies to return 10.75% of their race betting revenue to racing, but there is no formal requirement for a similar kickback from online race betting operations. Some major UK online betting operators had struck deals with racing to remit lump sum payments to racing but racing stakeholders claimed these voluntary contributions were too low.

Companies like Gala Coral Group had offered to pay a harmonized 7.5% rate on race betting revenue but the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) deemed this insufficient. The BHA launched a new Authorized Betting Partner (ABP) scheme that reserved racing sponsorship opportunities for bookmakers who’d agreed to ante up 7.5% of online race betting revenue on top of the 10.75% retail levy.

One Drop Raises €3m For Charity; Elton Tsang Takes €11.1m First Prize

Elton Tsang has followed in the footsteps of Antonio Esfandiari and Dan Colman by winning the €1m buy-in Big One for One Drop in Monte Carlo for a jaw-dropping €11,111,111.

The only the third time in history the Big One for One Drop is in the books, and Elton Tsang is the latest champion banking €11,111,111 in the process. It’s the third highest score ever doled out in a poker tournament.

Tsang, who had Mustapha Kanit coaching him, defeated the Russian Anatoly Gurtovoy in heads-up action. Tsang, who is Canadian born but now resides in Hong Kong, also wins a Richard Mille-designed bracelet. Gurtovoy banked €5,427,781 for this runner-up position.

The €1m buy-in event attracted 26 players, nine fewer than the marketed 35, and two players with deeper pockets than most bought in for a second time to take the final prize pool up to €24,888,892. It was the first time in the One Drop’s short and sweet history that professional poker players were not allowed to participate.

Araneta seeks SEC nod of the $41.56 PhilWeb deal

Businessman Gregorio Araneta is wooing the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve his PHP2.01 billion (US$41.56 million) deal with the resigned PhilWeb Corp. chairman Roberto Ongpin.

PhilWeb assured the SEC that it is not trying to skirt a mandatory offer even if they wanted to do the tender offer after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the special block sale of Ongpin’s company shares to Gregorio Araneta Inc. (GAI).

“Mr. Araneta is pointing out that there have been cases that the sale transaction pushed through before the tender offer,” PhilWeb President Dennis Valdes told GMA News Online.

Two weeks ago, PhilWeb announced in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that Araneta and Ongpin agreed to a special block sale of Ongpin’s 53.76 percent stake or 771,651,896 shares in PhilWeb, with tag price of PHP2.01 billion (US$41.56 million) or PHP2.60 (US$0.0539).

Araneta seeks SEC nod of the $41.56 PhilWeb deal

Businessman Gregorio Araneta is wooing the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve his PHP2.01 billion (US$41.56 million) deal with the resigned PhilWeb Corp. chairman Roberto Ongpin.

PhilWeb assured the SEC that it is not trying to skirt a mandatory offer even if they wanted to do the tender offer after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the special block sale of Ongpin’s company shares to Gregorio Araneta Inc. (GAI).

“Mr. Araneta is pointing out that there have been cases that the sale transaction pushed through before the tender offer,” PhilWeb President Dennis Valdes told GMA News Online.

Two weeks ago, PhilWeb announced in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange that Araneta and Ongpin agreed to a special block sale of Ongpin’s 53.76 percent stake or 771,651,896 shares in PhilWeb, with tag price of PHP2.01 billion (US$41.56 million) or PHP2.60 (US$0.0539).

White Label Checklist

White Label Checklist was created for those entrepreneurs who are looking for a way to launch White Label platform or as other people call it – betting platform which incorporates Sportsbook, Virtual sports, Casinos and probably other very popular games of chance. Sometimes it is very difficult come to terms with the technology which is moving forward in leaps and bounds, so a better idea might be paying close attention to the functionality of the product rather than listening to the very much opinionated ideas and suggestions of the developers who offer White Label.

The best way to start discussion is to try to understand what White Label, online betting platform, actually is. It is true that the opinions on the matter do not hold together, therefore under the White Label product different companies mean different things. It would be easier to start form the other end and establish what this product should mean both functionally and operationally.

If we look at it from that angle – we should see that It should be the product which requires as less interference from its owner as possible. Most of the things should be done on the White Label provider side. So what are the things we are talking about, can White Label Checklist really help us in understanding whether the technology provider is doing its work right?

Including but not limited to those things are: Sub licensing, Risk Management, Trading, Flexible backend reporting tools, Affiliate System integration, SEO optimization, Marketing Support, Customer Support, Payment Processing, Partners Integration…

Celebrating 6 years of the Gaffg Awards

The Gaffg Awards are back for the 6th year in a row. These awards recognize some of the best gambling affiliate programs and best affiliate managers in the industry. Every year there are just 5 affiliate programs and 5 affiliate managers that are given award voted by gambling webmasters. The Charity Recognition Award was created to highlight the charity work done by affiliate programs and companies working in online gaming.

The categories that are available for affiliates to vote are casino, poker, sportsbetting, bingo and lottery.

The awards run from October 13th to December 11th, 2016. Only established gambling webmasters are allowed to vote.

To learn more or to vote visit http://gaffg.com/awards

Morgan Stanley predicts a positive 3Q Macau EBITDA

American investment bank Morgan Stanley has painted a rosy picture for Macau casino operators’ earnings for the third quarter.

In a note it released on Friday, Morgan Stanley predicted that Macau casino operators’ collective earnings before interest, taxation, amortization, and depreciation (EBITDA) may have risen 5 percent year-on-year and 7 percent quarter on quarter.

This is the first year-on-year growth in quarterly earnings since the former Portuguese enclave has been afflicted by an economic malady as a result of Xi Jingping’s anti-corruption crackdown, according to the investment bank.

Morgan Stanley also taken into account in their recent note the openings of two new Cotai properties that opened on September 13 and on August 22 respectively, and that are promoted respectively by Sands China Ltd and Wynn Macau Ltd.

Unibet Launch the Fastest Pool Betting Game Ever with Commologic!

Unibet have launched the latest product from Commologic – BetUP Instant. Combining the fun of BetUP in-play tournaments with an instant-win moment, players can place instant bets on every BetUP round and boost their winnings in seconds.

This new innovation by Commologic provides Unibet with up to 30 additional betting opportunities per football match. BetUP Instant acts as a micro-pool on the next BetUP question. This increases game turnover with a fixed and guaranteed profit margin for the operator. With the new instant bets, BetUP becomes an even more engaging game, giving players an enjoyable experience from kick-off to final whistle. Players can now join a BetUP instant game without a BetUP ticket, or can still enjoy BetUP Instant even if they are behind on the core BetUP game or missed the game start.

BetUP Instant is also a fun way to engage new players. It allows them to try out this new game format and rhythm before committing to play the full game. With instant bets, BetUP appeal to wider audiences and also for those who like to just pick occasional bets.

BetUP Instant is now available to all operating partners on the Commologic B2B network, including on Unibet mobile, tablet and desktop for all Unibet’s core markets and more.

BitCasino.io boosts slots portfolio with 120 new titles

BitCasino.io, the first legally licensed and regulated online Bitcoin-only casino gaming and sportsbook operator, has partnered with Pragmatic Play to bolster its online casino portfolio.

Under the deal, BitCasino.io will integrate 120 HTML5 titles from Pragmatic’s game library, allowing players access to titles including Beowulf, Lucky Dragons and Go! Monkey.

Pragmatic Play is the latest casino game provider to join the bitcoin casino site, which also features titles from suppliers such as Microgaming, NetEnt and Betsoft. As part of the deal, the Pragmatic games will also be available on BitCasino.io’s sportsbook partner, Sportsbet.io.

Hollywood producers log on to Silk Road-based thriller

DraftKings gets rid of late swap feature for NBA contests

Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings has made a teeny-weeny change, but it’s one that has a potential to gain greater traction in the near future.

Last week, the DFS operator decided to remove a feature called late swap for its NBA contests. Based on the name itself, late swap allows users to remove a player from their lineups—as long as his game hasn’t started yet—and replace him with another player, whose game also hasn’t started yet.

But with DraftKings’s announcement, which will take effect on October 18, “all lineup selections will lock at the start of the contest (i.e. you will no longer be able to swap players after contest lock).”

“This change will allow our customers to enjoy the games and follow their teams rather than monitoring for late breaking news leading up to tip-off of each game,” the DFS operator said.

‘FanDuel for stocks’ app draws ire of securities commission

A mobile phone app that offers “fantasy stock” contests is facing a $50,000 penalty on charges of illegally offering security-based swaps.

The Forcerank app was described by Fortune as “the stock market version of fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings” when it was launched in March. According to start-up Estimize, the app allows players to rank a group of 10 stocks or exchange traded funds based on expected performance over the upcoming week.

Using the app, players get to win points for each instrument based on the accuracy of their prediction, and the players with the most aggregate points receive cash prizes at the end of the competition. Forcerank, in turn, keeps 10 percent of the entry fees and obtains “a data set about market expectations,” which it hopes to sell to hedge funds and other investors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, however, found that the games violated provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, whose goal is to limit the sale of security-based swaps to the highest level of regulation as well as ensure that information about a swap offering is fully transparent to retail investors.

Mel Gibson & Vince Vaughn to Host WPT Foundation Event

Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn are amongst the hosts for the upcoming Four Kings and an Ace charity poker tournament organised by the World Poker Tour Foundation and raising money for the Mending Kids charity.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) Foundation is teaming up with the Mending Kids charity to host the Four Kings and an Ace charity poker tournament.

The event will take place Friday, Oct 21 at CITIZEN Beverly Hills and the non-profit isn’t messing about when it comes to their choice of hosts with Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn and Andrew Garfield taking on the responsibility.

It’s not the first time the two companies have combined their resources to raise funds for children in need. Back in 2012, the pair hosted a similar event at The London in West Hollywood. Mel Gibson was once again involved as were Jodie Foster, Gene Simmons, and Robert Downey Jr., so expect a similarly star-studded line up on Oct 21.