Monthly Archives: January 2017

SMP eGaming celebrates first anniversary

Specialist gaming consultancy SMP eGaming will celebrate its first anniversary next month.

The company will host a reception at London landmark The Shard on 6th February to mark its first year in business, with staff joining clients and other specially-invited guests for the event.

The anniversary coincides with ICE Totally Gaming, a major industry gathering at ExCeL, London, from 7th to 9th February, at which SMP eGaming will also be represented with a 10-strong team.

SMP eGaming was launched in February 2016 by SMP Partners, a leading name in eGaming which had decided after six years as a major player in the industry, and a dominant force behind the growth of the Isle of Man’s gaming sector, it was time to create a dedicated eGaming consulting company.

SMP eGaming celebrates first anniversary

Specialist gaming consultancy SMP eGaming will celebrate its first anniversary next month.

The company will host a reception at London landmark The Shard on 6th February to mark its first year in business, with staff joining clients and other specially-invited guests for the event.

The anniversary coincides with ICE Totally Gaming, a major industry gathering at ExCeL, London, from 7th to 9th February, at which SMP eGaming will also be represented with a 10-strong team.

SMP eGaming was launched in February 2016 by SMP Partners, a leading name in eGaming which had decided after six years as a major player in the industry, and a dominant force behind the growth of the Isle of Man’s gaming sector, it was time to create a dedicated eGaming consulting company.

SMP eGaming celebrates first anniversary

Specialist gaming consultancy SMP eGaming will celebrate its first anniversary next month.

The company will host a reception at London landmark The Shard on 6th February to mark its first year in business, with staff joining clients and other specially-invited guests for the event.

The anniversary coincides with ICE Totally Gaming, a major industry gathering at ExCeL, London, from 7th to 9th February, at which SMP eGaming will also be represented with a 10-strong team.

SMP eGaming was launched in February 2016 by SMP Partners, a leading name in eGaming which had decided after six years as a major player in the industry, and a dominant force behind the growth of the Isle of Man’s gaming sector, it was time to create a dedicated eGaming consulting company.

GIG’s iGaming Cloud appoints Aaron Xuereb as Chief Data Officer

iGaming Cloud  is pleased to announce its recent hire of Aaron Xuereb, who has joined the iGC team as Chief Data Officer in Malta. Aaron is tasked with the long term development and optimization of iGC’s data infrastructure with a focus on providing the best user experience for all of our partners.

Prior to working for iGC Aaron graduated with a BSc in Business and Computing in the year 2000 and started working as a Software Developer for a German software house, Page One AG. This was Aaron’s first introduction to iGaming where he helped develop an entire front-end for a German bookmaker who wanted to move their business online.

After two years Aaron moved to Methode Electronics where he began as a Developer, working his way up to Head of Information Systems. During his 8 years at Methode, Aaron gained substantial knowledge in Data Warehousing/ Business Intelligence fields.

In 2011, Aaron joined Nordic Gaming Group (NGG). This is where he assisted in developing a cutting edge Data-warehouse with real time data capabilities. NGG was ultimately acquired by Betsson and in 2013 Aaron moved into a Head of Business Intelligence role where he was accountable for defining and executing the BI strategy for the Betsson Group. With lots of hard work and dedication Aaron guided his Business Intelligence team from strength to strength, right up to the time he decided to embrace a new challenge with iGC.

GIG’s iGaming Cloud appoints Aaron Xuereb as Chief Data Officer

iGaming Cloud  is pleased to announce its recent hire of Aaron Xuereb, who has joined the iGC team as Chief Data Officer in Malta. Aaron is tasked with the long term development and optimization of iGC’s data infrastructure with a focus on providing the best user experience for all of our partners.

Prior to working for iGC Aaron graduated with a BSc in Business and Computing in the year 2000 and started working as a Software Developer for a German software house, Page One AG. This was Aaron’s first introduction to iGaming where he helped develop an entire front-end for a German bookmaker who wanted to move their business online.

After two years Aaron moved to Methode Electronics where he began as a Developer, working his way up to Head of Information Systems. During his 8 years at Methode, Aaron gained substantial knowledge in Data Warehousing/ Business Intelligence fields.

In 2011, Aaron joined Nordic Gaming Group (NGG). This is where he assisted in developing a cutting edge Data-warehouse with real time data capabilities. NGG was ultimately acquired by Betsson and in 2013 Aaron moved into a Head of Business Intelligence role where he was accountable for defining and executing the BI strategy for the Betsson Group. With lots of hard work and dedication Aaron guided his Business Intelligence team from strength to strength, right up to the time he decided to embrace a new challenge with iGC.

GIG’s iGaming Cloud appoints Aaron Xuereb as Chief Data Officer

iGaming Cloud  is pleased to announce its recent hire of Aaron Xuereb, who has joined the iGC team as Chief Data Officer in Malta. Aaron is tasked with the long term development and optimization of iGC’s data infrastructure with a focus on providing the best user experience for all of our partners.

Prior to working for iGC Aaron graduated with a BSc in Business and Computing in the year 2000 and started working as a Software Developer for a German software house, Page One AG. This was Aaron’s first introduction to iGaming where he helped develop an entire front-end for a German bookmaker who wanted to move their business online.

After two years Aaron moved to Methode Electronics where he began as a Developer, working his way up to Head of Information Systems. During his 8 years at Methode, Aaron gained substantial knowledge in Data Warehousing/ Business Intelligence fields.

In 2011, Aaron joined Nordic Gaming Group (NGG). This is where he assisted in developing a cutting edge Data-warehouse with real time data capabilities. NGG was ultimately acquired by Betsson and in 2013 Aaron moved into a Head of Business Intelligence role where he was accountable for defining and executing the BI strategy for the Betsson Group. With lots of hard work and dedication Aaron guided his Business Intelligence team from strength to strength, right up to the time he decided to embrace a new challenge with iGC.

Event 14 – recap 2017 aussie millions poker championship

Melbourne, Australia. Tuesday 24 January 2017. Event 14 of the 2017 Aussie Millions, the Australian Poker Hall of Fame Classic, was a special one. While all the tournaments in the poker room of the Crown Melbourne have been packed and action-filled so far this poker festival, this event had a twist, which resulted in even more spectacle. Members of the Australian Poker Hall of Fame namely bought in without having to pay rake. On top of that, ‘HOF’ members buying in got a AUD$500 bounty on their head.

A total of 123 players signed up for the event, resulting in a prize pool of $126.075. Six Hall of Fame members participated in the event; Jason Gray, Graeme Putt, Joe Cabret, Leo Boxtel, Gary Benson and Marsha Waggoner quite literally had a target on their back. Knocking them out would be worth half the buy-in of the event for the other contestants.

That was reason enough for most players to go gunning for them, hunting season was officially opened as the tournament got underway at 2:30 p.m. Their bounties were in high demand by the other players, resulting in all six of them getting knocked out before the money stage of the tournament commenced. Twelve players would cash, but no hall of fame members were amongst them.

While there were no ‘HOF’ members amongst the finalists, the final table did have a very local touch as eight out of nine players were from the region. Just a single Kiwi and a German distorted the otherwise totally Australian final table. In fact, the top three players all came from the city of Melbourne.

Main event day 1b – recap 2017 aussie millions poker championship

Melbourne, Australia. Tuesday 24 January 2017. Another day was done and dusted in the Crown Poker Room yesterday as Aussie Millions $10,000 Main Event Day 1b is now on the books. We saw 184 players pull up seats throughout the seven levels of play yesterday to take the running total up to 396 – ahead of the 387 that were in contention at the same time last year. With the final Day 1 flight today, time will tell if the 732-player field from 2016 can be eclipsed.

It was another day of exciting poker action, and when all was said and done, it was birthday boy Mustapha Kanit who emerged on top with 215,000. When the clock ticked past midnight, Kanit’s birthday began and a mountain of chips seemed fitting as the perfect gift.

Kanit dominated his table today, picking off attempted bluffs and winning hands in all the right spots. The Italian superstar has over $8.5 million in live cashes to his name and finds himself in a great position to add to that impressive total here this week.

Joining Kanit for Day 2 come Wednesday will be Rhys Jones who bagged up 159,800 by the conclusion of play. Fortune favored Jones straight out the gate as he delivered the first knockout blow in level 1 and things continued to trend well for him throughout the day.

Main event day 1b – recap 2017 aussie millions poker championship

Melbourne, Australia. Tuesday 24 January 2017. Another day was done and dusted in the Crown Poker Room yesterday as Aussie Millions $10,000 Main Event Day 1b is now on the books. We saw 184 players pull up seats throughout the seven levels of play yesterday to take the running total up to 396 – ahead of the 387 that were in contention at the same time last year. With the final Day 1 flight today, time will tell if the 732-player field from 2016 can be eclipsed.

It was another day of exciting poker action, and when all was said and done, it was birthday boy Mustapha Kanit who emerged on top with 215,000. When the clock ticked past midnight, Kanit’s birthday began and a mountain of chips seemed fitting as the perfect gift.

Kanit dominated his table today, picking off attempted bluffs and winning hands in all the right spots. The Italian superstar has over $8.5 million in live cashes to his name and finds himself in a great position to add to that impressive total here this week.

Joining Kanit for Day 2 come Wednesday will be Rhys Jones who bagged up 159,800 by the conclusion of play. Fortune favored Jones straight out the gate as he delivered the first knockout blow in level 1 and things continued to trend well for him throughout the day.

Main event day 1b – recap 2017 aussie millions poker championship

Melbourne, Australia. Tuesday 24 January 2017. Another day was done and dusted in the Crown Poker Room yesterday as Aussie Millions $10,000 Main Event Day 1b is now on the books. We saw 184 players pull up seats throughout the seven levels of play yesterday to take the running total up to 396 – ahead of the 387 that were in contention at the same time last year. With the final Day 1 flight today, time will tell if the 732-player field from 2016 can be eclipsed.

It was another day of exciting poker action, and when all was said and done, it was birthday boy Mustapha Kanit who emerged on top with 215,000. When the clock ticked past midnight, Kanit’s birthday began and a mountain of chips seemed fitting as the perfect gift.

Kanit dominated his table today, picking off attempted bluffs and winning hands in all the right spots. The Italian superstar has over $8.5 million in live cashes to his name and finds himself in a great position to add to that impressive total here this week.

Joining Kanit for Day 2 come Wednesday will be Rhys Jones who bagged up 159,800 by the conclusion of play. Fortune favored Jones straight out the gate as he delivered the first knockout blow in level 1 and things continued to trend well for him throughout the day.

Main event day 1b – recap 2017 aussie millions poker championship

Melbourne, Australia. Tuesday 24 January 2017. Another day was done and dusted in the Crown Poker Room yesterday as Aussie Millions $10,000 Main Event Day 1b is now on the books. We saw 184 players pull up seats throughout the seven levels of play yesterday to take the running total up to 396 – ahead of the 387 that were in contention at the same time last year. With the final Day 1 flight today, time will tell if the 732-player field from 2016 can be eclipsed.

It was another day of exciting poker action, and when all was said and done, it was birthday boy Mustapha Kanit who emerged on top with 215,000. When the clock ticked past midnight, Kanit’s birthday began and a mountain of chips seemed fitting as the perfect gift.

Kanit dominated his table today, picking off attempted bluffs and winning hands in all the right spots. The Italian superstar has over $8.5 million in live cashes to his name and finds himself in a great position to add to that impressive total here this week.

Joining Kanit for Day 2 come Wednesday will be Rhys Jones who bagged up 159,800 by the conclusion of play. Fortune favored Jones straight out the gate as he delivered the first knockout blow in level 1 and things continued to trend well for him throughout the day.

Australian Online Poker Alliance fighting for online poker rights

The Australian Online Poker Alliance is building up a head of steam as they try to put pressure on politicians to change the wording in the proposed Interactive Gambling Bill that if passed would spell the end for online poker in Australia as they know it.

Last April, Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge began his crusade to become Australia’s public enemy number one of the gambling world when he promised to tighten legislation governing in-play sports betting.

Seven months later and he laid down his plans, submitting the Interactive Gambling Bill 2016 to Parliament, containing wording that would effectively ban in-play betting apps, and bring the hammer down on international poker operators, because the wording would deem online poker a form of in-play betting.

PokerStars reacted to the news by informing their Australian based online poker players that they could leave the market if the bill received the thumbs up. Earlier this month, 888Poker decided it wasn’t worth the wait when they withdrew.

Australian Online Poker Alliance fighting for online poker rights

The Australian Online Poker Alliance is building up a head of steam as they try to put pressure on politicians to change the wording in the proposed Interactive Gambling Bill that if passed would spell the end for online poker in Australia as they know it.

Last April, Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge began his crusade to become Australia’s public enemy number one of the gambling world when he promised to tighten legislation governing in-play sports betting.

Seven months later and he laid down his plans, submitting the Interactive Gambling Bill 2016 to Parliament, containing wording that would effectively ban in-play betting apps, and bring the hammer down on international poker operators, because the wording would deem online poker a form of in-play betting.

PokerStars reacted to the news by informing their Australian based online poker players that they could leave the market if the bill received the thumbs up. Earlier this month, 888Poker decided it wasn’t worth the wait when they withdrew.

Australian Online Poker Alliance fighting for online poker rights

The Australian Online Poker Alliance is building up a head of steam as they try to put pressure on politicians to change the wording in the proposed Interactive Gambling Bill that if passed would spell the end for online poker in Australia as they know it.

Last April, Minister for Human Services, Alan Tudge began his crusade to become Australia’s public enemy number one of the gambling world when he promised to tighten legislation governing in-play sports betting.

Seven months later and he laid down his plans, submitting the Interactive Gambling Bill 2016 to Parliament, containing wording that would effectively ban in-play betting apps, and bring the hammer down on international poker operators, because the wording would deem online poker a form of in-play betting.

PokerStars reacted to the news by informing their Australian based online poker players that they could leave the market if the bill received the thumbs up. Earlier this month, 888Poker decided it wasn’t worth the wait when they withdrew.

Endorphina introduced a first ever slot about vaping for ICE!

In the fall 2016, Endorphina surprised the igaming industry with their innovative EiG 2016 slot that brought the EiG team a Creative Sponsorship Campaign Award. Obviously, Endorphina didn´t stop there and continues setting the bar higher with a first ever slot game about vaping in the world.

Fascinated by the intense flavors and continuous popularity of fruit themed slots, the creative team came up with a fruit game with an unexpected twist. The DIAMOND VAPOR has a catching game mathematics and a fruit theme enriched with pleasant fruity vapor flavors and is the first ever slot game to bring the attractive theme of vaping to the players.

Endorphina team aims to extend the enjoyment from the online environment to the offline and they chose a very unusual and unique theme for the newest game and it is targeting your senses this time.

Endorphina´s creative team about the game: “Fruit slots, the most popular games of all time were now given a completely new dimension. Not only colors, graphics and pleasant sounds, this time we bring even the scents and amazing real prizes to win!”

Endorphina introduced a first ever slot about vaping for ICE!

In the fall 2016, Endorphina surprised the igaming industry with their innovative EiG 2016 slot that brought the EiG team a Creative Sponsorship Campaign Award. Obviously, Endorphina didn´t stop there and continues setting the bar higher with a first ever slot game about vaping in the world.

Fascinated by the intense flavors and continuous popularity of fruit themed slots, the creative team came up with a fruit game with an unexpected twist. The DIAMOND VAPOR has a catching game mathematics and a fruit theme enriched with pleasant fruity vapor flavors and is the first ever slot game to bring the attractive theme of vaping to the players.

Endorphina team aims to extend the enjoyment from the online environment to the offline and they chose a very unusual and unique theme for the newest game and it is targeting your senses this time.

Endorphina´s creative team about the game: “Fruit slots, the most popular games of all time were now given a completely new dimension. Not only colors, graphics and pleasant sounds, this time we bring even the scents and amazing real prizes to win!”

Endorphina introduced a first ever slot about vaping for ICE!

In the fall 2016, Endorphina surprised the igaming industry with their innovative EiG 2016 slot that brought the EiG team a Creative Sponsorship Campaign Award. Obviously, Endorphina didn´t stop there and continues setting the bar higher with a first ever slot game about vaping in the world.

Fascinated by the intense flavors and continuous popularity of fruit themed slots, the creative team came up with a fruit game with an unexpected twist. The DIAMOND VAPOR has a catching game mathematics and a fruit theme enriched with pleasant fruity vapor flavors and is the first ever slot game to bring the attractive theme of vaping to the players.

Endorphina team aims to extend the enjoyment from the online environment to the offline and they chose a very unusual and unique theme for the newest game and it is targeting your senses this time.

Endorphina´s creative team about the game: “Fruit slots, the most popular games of all time were now given a completely new dimension. Not only colors, graphics and pleasant sounds, this time we bring even the scents and amazing real prizes to win!”

Korean nationals arrested in Thailand connected with illegal online gambling

Four Korean nationals are in the hands of Thai law enforcement after being caught running an illegal online gambling operation in rented accommodation out of Pattaya.

I kept looking at this guy. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. I knew if I lost him, I would never get back to my hotel. And then, for a moment I couldn’t see.

It was blood.

That was my first experience of a night of bonafide Thai Boxing somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t my blood. I just happened to be ringside when some kids teeth came flying over like hail.

Korean nationals arrested in Thailand connected with illegal online gambling

Four Korean nationals are in the hands of Thai law enforcement after being caught running an illegal online gambling operation in rented accommodation out of Pattaya.

I kept looking at this guy. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. I knew if I lost him, I would never get back to my hotel. And then, for a moment I couldn’t see.

It was blood.

That was my first experience of a night of bonafide Thai Boxing somewhere in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t my blood. I just happened to be ringside when some kids teeth came flying over like hail.

Pennsylvania Supreme Court grants slots tax levy extension

The gambling industry in Pennsylvania is in a state of chaos after the Supreme Court voted 6-1 in favour of an extension for the General Assembly to change tax laws on slot machine revenue as local communities suffer.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted the General Assembly more time to pull their fingers out of their ass and come up with a solution to their slot machine tax levy headache.

In 2006, Senate Bill 862 passed with flying colours dictating that the 12 casinos in the state would have to pay a tax levy of 2% of annual gross slot revenue or $10m (whichever came first). And that deal has stood for the past decade until recent rumblings.

The first to complain about the tax levy, a decade after the imposition, was Pittsburgh’s Rivers Casino, where four of the world’s top No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up specialists are currently being handed their ass on a plate by a machine.