Monthly Archives: May 2017

Bitcoin tops $2,100 as global demand for digital money rises

Bitcoin is on a path to prove its doubters wrong.

And being associated with criminal activity has not stopped the popular digital currency from seeing a stunning rally this year. After powering through the $2,000 barrier over the weekend, bitcoin traded as high as $2,134.86 in the early trading hours of Monday, according to Bitstamp data.

Analysts chalked up the recent bitcoin price climb to several factors, most notably the increased demand from investors in Japan and China.

Japan, in particular, saw a burst in digital currency trading activity after regulators introduced new rules that treat bitcoin as part of the banking system. Japan currently accounted for nearly 55 percent of trade volume, up from near 40 percent last week, according to CryptoCompare.com.

James Packer abandons Las Vegas casino dream

Australian casino mogul James Packer is hanging his Las Vegas casino dream out in the open with a multi-million price tag.

The Australian reported that Packer’s Crown Resorts Ltd. has formally abandoned his plans to construct a casino in the world’s most famous gambling strip by selling his Las Vegas land on the market worth $400 million.

Crown owns 18.4 acres (7.4-hectares) of the site and is leasing the remaining 16.2 acres from the previous owners. The casino operator has hired brokerage CBRE Group to sell the lot where the Alon casino and hotel project was to be built.

The site sits opposite the famous Wynn Las Vegas and Encore at Wynn Las Vegas resorts, just north of the Fashion Show mall.

Gov’t adds ‘luxury’ casinos, betting services in 28% tax slab—highest in India

Gambling and going to the movies will soon come with a hefty price tag in India.

Last week, the constitutional body tasked with overseeing the goods and services tax (GST) system announced four new tax slabs—5, 12, 18 and 28 percent—for a host of services under the new indirect tax regime that will be rolled out from July 1.

Gambling and race club betting have been grouped in the same tax bracket with other “luxury” services such as cinemas and five-star hotels, and as such, will attract a 28 percent tax. Entry fees in casinos or other entertainment events will also be charged the highest GST rate, but there is no proposal yet to impose additional tax on gambling and betting activities.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who chairs the GST Council, said it’s only fair that cinema halls, casinos and betting centers are placed in the highest tax slab because entertainment and luxury taxes are already merged with service tax in GST.

City deputy in hot water (again) over Russian underground casino

Russian authorities swooped down an underground casino operating in a hotel owned by the deputy of the Chelyabinsk City Duma.

Crime Russia reported that Russian siloviki raided the Chelyabinsk Park City Hotel at Lesoparkovaya Street 6 last Thursday evening after receiving reports of an underground casino operating in the establishment.

Chelyabinsk Park City Hotel belongs to the family of local businessman Alexander Karelina. Karelina is married to Marina Karelina, who is the deputy of the Chelyabinsk City Duma and director of Park City.

There are at least six gaming zones in Russia and Cherlyabinsk, which is the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia is not among the six gaming zones. Only four of the six gaming zones hold gambling-related activities. These zones were Primorye, Siberian Coin, Amber, and Azov-City. The fifth gaming zone will be opened in Sochi while the last gaming area will be put up in Crimea.

Paddy Power launches innovative transactional Facebook Messenger chatbot

Onionsack-powered bot provides industry-first in allowing punters to place bets via the social messaging app

22nd May 2017 – Bet messaging platform provider, Onionsack, has developed an industry-first chatbot for Facebook Messenger allowing players to place bets directly through the app, with Paddy Power the first bookmaker to go live with the new product.

Powered by the Onionsack SaaS messaging platform, customers are able to login to their betting account, check balances and place wagers using the Facebook Messenger app.

Once connected to the Paddy Power Facebook Messenger bot, customers can compose a message detailing the bet they wish to place, with Onionsack’s platform able to understand, and execute transactions expressed.

Yggdrasil goes live in Italy

Supplier’s games now live on GVC brand Gioco Digitale

May 22nd, 2017 – Yggdrasil Gaming slots are now live in Italy for the first time, following a successful integration with GVC Holding’s Gioco Digitale brand.

The brand is the first to go live with Yggdrasil titles in Italy, and will be followed by another GVC brand, bwin.it.

There are currently 11 games from Yggdrasil’s portfolio of award-winning HTML5 titles certified under Italian regulations, including Dark Joker Rizes, Vikings Go Wild and Nirvana.

Lightning Box Games powers into Kung Fu action

Supplier’s latest release Panda Pow also tailored exclusively for William Hill’s retail estate

22nd May 2017 – Specialist slot designer Lightning Box Games’ latest release sees a Kung Fu fighting panda, decked out in black belt attire, who is ready to take on the world.

Panda Pow is a 3×5 reel, 25-line slot which features a unique wild symbol that triggers a free games bonus when any five or more are hit.

Extra stacks of wild gold pandas are added to the reels in the free games mode, providing a great opportunity for wins over multiple lines.

MIGS17 and iGaming iDol dates set for September

Jonas Kjellberg, Co-Creator of Skype to be Key Note Speaker

Two major events in the international gaming sector are to be held once again in Malta this September.

The flagship C-level centric gaming seminar, the Malta iGaming Seminar, will return for its 9th Edition, whilst last years Glamorous Awards event, iGaming Idol will return for its second edition following a hugely successful pilot event last year.

The event organisers have confirmed that Jonas Kjellberg, Co-Creator of Skype will be the keynote speaker for the main event and a special guest at an invite only CEO event, which will be launched shortly.

MIGS17 and iGaming iDol dates set for September

Jonas Kjellberg, Co-Creator of Skype to be Key Note Speaker

Two major events in the international gaming sector are to be held once again in Malta this September.

The flagship C-level centric gaming seminar, the Malta iGaming Seminar, will return for its 9th Edition, whilst last years Glamorous Awards event, iGaming Idol will return for its second edition following a hugely successful pilot event last year.

The event organisers have confirmed that Jonas Kjellberg, Co-Creator of Skype will be the keynote speaker for the main event and a special guest at an invite only CEO event, which will be launched shortly.

Pokerstars to host the biggest day in online poker history with $28 million in guaranteed prizes

Guaranteed $1 million first-prize in two events

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – May 2017 – PokerStars, an Amaya, Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, is hosting what is expected to be the biggest day in online tournament poker history with 1,275 tournaments and a total guaranteed prize pool of more than $28 million  making it a must-play day for poker fans across the globe.

The precedent-setting day will be Sunday May 21, coinciding with the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event. At least two players will become millionaires as a result of two tournaments with guaranteed first-prize of at least $1 million. The 15 SCOOP events on Sunday guarantee $18 million alone and with SCOOP buy-ins from $5.50 to $10,300, there’s a tournament for everyone, including special $25 Spin & Go’s that are awarding players a $10,300 seat into the high-stakes Main Event.

“This is a really special day for us and our players, which will go down in online poker history as a record breaking moment.” said Severin Rasset, Director of Poker Innovations and Operations at PokerStars. “The huge prizepools on offer further cement our position as the biggest and the best and on Sunday when players compete for $28 million we will be delivering millions of winning moments too.”

World snooker champions put Leicester City football stars to the test in Betstars challenge

Foxes stars pitted against each other to find out who is king of the baize

 ONCHAN, Isle of Man – May 2017 – Three members of Leicester City Football Club’s 2015/16 Premier League title winning team have swapped their football boots for pool cues in the latest BetStars ‘Face-Off’ challenge for online betting site BetStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand.

Jamie Vardy, Marc Albrighton and Andy King were joined by Foxes fan and reigning and three-time World Snooker Champion Mark Selby, and seven-time World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry to take on a series of pool challenges to find out who was king of the baize.

Each player was given three attempts to take on a trio of different challenges – a test of straight cueing, a two-cushion pot and a tricky swerve shot . To watch the video go to BetStars social media channels here.

GameArt was integrated into Slotegrator’s unified API

In its official release, Slotegrator, one of the major gambling aggregators, announced about GameArt’s recent integration into the unified API protocol.

The unified protocol has a whole range of advantages, but most importantly, provides an opportunity of content installation from several providers just in one single integration session. It means that you don´t need to repeat integration processes over and over again in order to obtain all the necessary content from all of your providers. In such a manner clients get exactly what they need saving their time and effort.

Cross-functional API documentation is created by the best developers of aggregator’s technical department. Before its final launch it has been repeatedly tested in order to exclude bugs and provide clients only with efficiently functioning content.

Slotegrator’s team guarantees quality customer service, support at all stages of collaboration and seamless functioning of integrated products.