The winners of the 2017 iGB Affiliate Awards were revealed on Saturday, February 11th at the Brewery in London’s trendy Shoreditch. Now in its 10th year, the awards have earned their right as the biggest event of the year dedicated to celebrating excellence in the online gambling affiliate industry.
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Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has given lawmaker on Thursday a last-minute prodding for them to enact a lottery bill, which he said will generate the state an annual multi-million revenue.
The Ledger-Enquirer reported that the pro-lottery governor made a last ditch attempt to convince both members of the House and the Senate to enact a lottery as tax collections continue to fall short of expectations.
Earlier this week, the cash-strapped state made its third round of spending cuts since the budget year started July 1.
“When you’re looking at some of the challenges that we’re having and you see a revenue bill that would generate somewhere between 50 and 60 million dollars — just an estimate — I think that’s something that needs to be taken seriously by the members of both the House and the Senate,” Bryant said, according to the news website.
Venezuela’s largest bitcoin exchange, SurBitcoin, is back in business.
If you recall, the bitcoin exchange had been forced to suspend trading for all its users three weeks ago after Banesco, the largest financial institution in Venezuela, closed the company’s bank account. The bank told SurBitcoin that Venezuelans aren’t allowed to make use of the national currency, the Bolivar, to trade Bitcoin.
But it appears that SurBitcoin has already solved its dispute with Banesco.
On its Facebook page, the bitcoin exchange announced that operations will be restored in one week’s time. SurBitcoin said it has finally secured an approval from the Venezuelan bank, allowing the exchange to handle fiat currency on the platform.
The future of eSports betting will become brighter three years from now as the number of its global audience will balloon to almost 600 million by 2020.
According to the latest report of market intelligence company Newzoo, the global eSports audience will reach 385 million in 2017 and is expected to grow by another 50 percent toward 2020.
Breaking down the data, Newzoo predicts that there will be 191 million eSports Enthusiasts and a further 194 million Occasional Viewers this year.
“Esports is not only growing exponentially as a new independent business and industry, it is also accelerating the convergence of various established industries,” Peter Warman, CEO at Newzoo, said in a statement. “For brands, media, and entertainment companies, esports provides a chance to capitalize on the favorite pastime of digital natives and Millennials: playing games and watching game content. With the arrival of live streams and events, gaming has entered the realm of broadcasters and media that can now apply their advertising business model to a market previously out of reach for them.”
MGM Resorts is stepping up its efforts to enter what is poised to become the world’s second-largest casino market—Japan. And the company’s first order of business? Open a larger Tokyo office.
The Las Vegas-based casino operator is in the midst of expanding its presence in Japan, a move that could take 30 days to complete. MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO James Murren was quoted by Reuters saying that they “are going to have a larger office here in Tokyo.”
In fact, Murren said they already hired 15 new staffers in Japan, who will focus on areas such as market research as well as build connections with local companies. At least eight of the new staff will be based in Tokyo.
MGM Resorts was among the first companies that have thrown its hat into the ring for a chance to open one of Japan’s first integrated resorts. In November, Murren said they are willing to invest between JPY500 billion and JPY1 trillion (USD4.8 billion-USD9.5 billion) to open an integrated resort in Tokyo, Yokohama or Osaka by 2022 or 2023.
In this week’s poker news round-up Lee Davy reminds you that Viktor Blom could be signing for Unibet; Mike Leah is the King of the World Poker Tour event in Fallsview, and the perfect poker politician lives in Australia.
Let’s start down under this week, with the greatest politician poker has ever had in its garrison.
Liberal Democrat Senator, David Leyonhjelm, joined the Australian Online Poker Alliance (AOPA) army this week. The pair is trying to avoid online poker being caught up in Minister’s plans to get a tighter grip on foreign operators offering gambling products in the country.
Leyonhjelm has penned an amendment to the Interactive Gambling Bill in the hope that online poker and blackjack can be exempt from the rules that will effectively ban them in the country.
Malaysia-based Genting BHD’s 2016 earnings soared by 125 percent, thanks to a one-off gain in the fourth quarter from the disposal of the group’s investment in Genting Hong Kong Ltd.
genting-bhd-2016-earnings-jumped-125-percentThe Malaysian casino operator announced in its filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday that its full-year profit in 2016 leap-frogged to MYR2.88 billion (US$648.06 million) compared to its MYR1.26 billion (US$283.53 million) profit in the previous year.
On the other hand, the group’s total revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 6% to MYR8.9 billion (US$2.01 billion) and 5% to MYR2.43 billion (US$547.43 million) respectively.
“In FY16, the leisure and hospitality business in Malaysia recorded growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA despite the disruptions arising from ongoing development under the Genting Integrated Tourism Plan (“GITP”),” the company said in a statement.
The question is how a payment solutions company survived the tough competition. While, regulation may vary from different continents. The “it” thing, the so called millenials are regarded to have shorter attention span. Well, trends like in fashion changes even in iGaming market.
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Casino Kings, iGaming industry pioneers, has recorded bumper levels of player activity in 2016.
The online and mobile casino provider has documented a 27% increase in new account traffic and 48% increase in overall activity in 2016.
This rise in gamer numbers has coincided with the provider’s multiple catalogue expansions over the course of the year.
Casino Kings began the year with an initial launch of 27 NetEnt titles across its web and mobile platforms. That activation was the first of many in 2016, with more top titles launched throughout the year from industry-leading slot and casino game developers such as Blueprint Gaming, Microgaming, the NYX Gaming Group and Genesis Gaming. The Casino Kings mobile portfolio has seen the biggest growth, increasing 38% in the last three months of 2016.
Software company to provide major bookmaker with a range of premium HTML5 content
February 2017, London, UK – Leading online and mobile game supplier iSoftBet has struck a deal to provide the Interactive arm of bookmaking giant William Hill with its range of content. iSoftBet, well-known for creating entertaining and innovative games will enhance the William Hill Interactive Online offering with its entire portfolio of games that will be made available to William Hill customers in mobile and online through an integration with Openbet RGI.
iSoftBet will also work with the William Hill Interactive Online team to create exclusive content for the bookmaker throughout the course of the agreement.
Speaking about the agreement, iSoftBet’s MD, Nir Elbaz, said: “We are very, very excited about this fantastic opportunity to work with a leading bookmaker like William Hill.
The Totally Gaming Academy have partnered with GamCrowd to launch the Digital Transformation Academy, an intensive two day course designed to educate decision makers about emerging technologies which will have a significant impact on operations and how to roadmap these into the business plan and exploit the opportunity they bring.
Speaking about the course, Chris North, CEO of GamCrowd, said “we are entering into a truly transformational time where the pace and type of technological change will be like nothing we have seen before. GamCrowd and the Totally Gaming Academy have put together this course to equip the gaming industry with the insight needed to ensure businesses are conscious, equipped and prepared for the technology revolution. ”
The Digital Transformation Academy training course will take place on 10 – 11 May 2017 and takes place at Cambridge University. For more information please contact [email protected]
About Chris North
Europe’s largest poker room to host PokerStars sponsored live event in Rozvadov
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – February 2017– PokerStars Festival will make its debut in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, for a 12-day poker spectacle featuring 37 events and a €500,000 guaranteed Main Event prize pool, sponsored by PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand. PokerStars Festival Rozvadov follows PokerStars becoming the first international online casino and poker brand to be licensed under the Czech Republic’s new gaming regulation, and is the second PokerStars Festival of 2017 after PokerStars Festival London in January and third ever after PokerStars Festival New Jersey last year. The tour will continue on to Chile in May, with stops including Marbella, Korea, Manila and Uruguay to follow.
From March 2-13, Rozvadov, a small municipality in the Czech Republic, will be home to PokerStars Festival Rozvadov. The famous King’s Casino will host The Festival which will feature a variety of tournaments including the €2,200 PokerStars Festival High Roller, the €550 PokerStars Super Deep and the €275 PokerStars Open. PokerStars TV will broadcast the PokerStars Festival Rozvadov Main Event coverage on Day 2 (March 12) and during the final table on March 13. The stream will be available in German and English on PokerStars.tv, Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.
ONLINE ROUTE TO LIVE POKER IN ROZVADOV
Sports Jackpots, the newest innovation from BetStars, launches with $1 million UK Premier League jackpot prize
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – February 2017 – Sports Jackpots by BetStars, a collaboration between StarsDraft fantasy sports and BetStars, both Amaya Inc. (NASDAQ: AYA; TSX: AYA) brands, has launched today on all .COM, .EU and .UK markets where BetStars is currently available.
BetStars Sports Jackpots is the newest sports betting innovation from BetStars — a reimagined sports betting experience that combines the best of fantasy football with daily, real-money tournaments and life-changing $1 million jackpot prizes.
BetStars Sports Jackpots is a simplified version of traditional fantasy football that’s quick and easy to play. Players use their sports knowledge to beat the other tournament entrants by picking which football player in each of the pre-selected groups will score the most fantasy points that day — no positions, salaries, or season-long team to manage. For players who are not familiar with fantasy, or who are short on time, BetStars Sports Jackpots provides a smart pick tool that enables users to auto-select their players based on different criterion.
In a two-year deal signed at the start of the 2017 season, the Rugby Football League has put in place an Integrity Partnership with Sportradar Integrity Services to monitor global betting patterns in the sport.
Under the deal, Sportradar’s renowned Fraud Detection System will monitor over 200 Rugby League matches, including all Betfred Super League games, Ladbrokes Challenge Cup games as well as the Dacia World Club Series.
To complement this service, Sportradar Integrity Services will also deliver bespoke integrity workshops to club representatives and Rugby Football League match officials.
In parallel, the Rugby Football League have finalized an official data partnership with Sportradar which will ensure that data from Rugby Football League competitions is made available to a range of businesses and platforms.
February 2017: BetConstruct will attend the third edition of Georgia Gaming Congress in Tbilisi, Georgia on March 1.
BetConstruct team will present the company’s entire product line up. Most importantly, Oksana Yanyshyn, Live Casino Product Owner, and Rafayel Badalyan, VR Casino Product Owner, will share thoughts on the development of live and VR casinos and offer participants to navigate round a virtual casino.
Enhanced with HD quality streaming, BetConstruct Live Casino delivers real games in real time, getting players immersed into an atmosphere of a brick and mortar casino.
Apart from Live Casino, our team will be showcasing VR Casino that brings a full venue with live dealer, sport bar, slot machines, slot machines with jackpot, and social games space.
The group 3 U.A.E. Oaks Sponsored by Al Naboodah-Ashok Leyland and the Nad Al Sheba Trophy Sponsored by Al Naboodah VDL Buses highlighted racing at Meydan in the United Arab Emirates Feb. 23.
Players can experience fairy tale with Golden Bet feature
February 2017 – Yggdrasil Gaming’s latest slot, Beauty & the Beast, transports players to a mythical make-believe wonderland, bringing to life a classic fairy tale with stunning visuals and an immersive soundscape.
Haunting characters including the Butler, the Chef and the Maid help players improve on their winnings, each with their own respective features – Nudge Reels, Synced Reels and Random Wilds. In Free Spins mode, one of the three features is always active to bring players bigger wins.
The highlight of the title is the Golden Bet feature, which allows players to increase their chance of hitting the Free Spins more often in the base game, as well as unlocking more features in the Free Spin mode.
NetEnt, the leading provider of digital gaming solutions, is taking players on a thrilling journey with its latest game release, Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist™.
Set in the rugged lands of the American frontier, the story unfolds in a comic-book style in the five-reel, three-row, 10-line (fixed) video slot. Players team up with a notorious group of gunslingers as the gang of would-be robbers hopes to pull off its raid and ride into the sunset with their stolen loot.
Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist lives up to its name with four different wild features in free spins: regular wild, expanding wild, x2 multiplier wild, and a spreading wild. Meanwhile, the Pick and Click feature, which is activated when three bonus symbols appear on the reels, awards a coin win of up to x50 the bet.
“As a time and place of myth and legend, the Wild West is a captivating setting for our latest release,” comments Simon Hammon, Chief Product Officer of NetEnt. “The launch of Wild Wild West: The Great Train Heist demonstrates the breadth and versatility of the NetEnt games portfolio with a highly-charged game that promises explosive fun.”
The field for the 2017 Super High Roller Bowl is nearly complete after organisers announce a further 20-names, leaving only a mystery celebrity missing from the lineup.
In a strange way, the balls-up by everyone associated with the construction of the Super High Roller Bowl field has resulted in more interest in the event. But the drama is nearly over.
The organisers weren’t prepared for the event to sell out in a single day and reacted by holding an impromptu live lottery to select the first 35 bums that would occupy seats. Here they are:
1 Christian Christner
A new poll finds Americans are split on the merits of legalizing sports betting, but those who oppose legalization are more likely to be dead soon.
Thursday saw the release of a new Seton Hall Sports Poll that queried 661 American adults on their agreement with one of two positions: that betting was already happening so might as well legalize the activity and let the government tax it, or, legalization is a bad idea because there’s already too much gambling and sports integrity would suffer.
The results showed 46% of those surveyed favored legalization, while 42% stood opposed. The poll carries a 4% margin of error, so it’s basically a statistical dead heat. However, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll in 2010 showed 39% in favor and 53% opposed, suggesting a positive trend that could be explained via a glimpse into the age demos behind the numbers.
Among respondents aged 18-29 years, two-thirds (67%) favor legalization. This drops to 48% of those aged 30-44, drops againt to 42% in the 45-59 demo, while just 30% of those above the age of 60 think legal sports bets are the way to go.