Monthly Archives: May 2017

China bitcoin trading volume, price, macau may be connected

Bitcoin has gone parabolic. Again. We’re now at $1,736. By the time I finish writing this we may be passed $1,800. This time though the parabola is not as extreme as 2013, at least not yet. If the 2013 bitcoin craze were to repeat itself, we could see a top at (take a breath) $8,634. Get much higher than that and a penny becomes smaller than the quantum Planck Length in bitcoin terms. The universe might buckle at that point. It’ll be like when Antman went subatomic.

Last time it took 56 days for the parabola to top, so again if we see something similar to what happened in 2013, that level could, at least theoretically, be reached in just 10 days by May 19th, and then crash down to $1,000 by next year.

That’s if everything repeats itself exactly. Will that happen? Almost certainly not. Market history does not repeat itself in such easily predictable patterns. The point is though that once you go parabolic, almost anything can happen, so long as at makes no sense. Trying to pick the top of a parabola is not an investment. It’s a dangerous game, filled with novices with little capital high on get-rich-quick fantasies and easily spooked if a trade goes against them even briefly. Much like real estate flippers in 2006, silver in 2011, tulip hoarders in 1637, or dot com buyers in 2000.

This is not to say that there are no fundamentals behind this drive higher – there are, but they’re just lagging behind the move. Here’s what I believe is influencing the current spike, or at least the beginning of it, though it’s unclear to what degree. Below is the BTCChina exchange going back to mid 2015. Notice the very big and obvious volume explosion from October 2016 through January 2017. Something happened in China between October and January. Someone, or a group of people, moved a lot of money. During that time bitcoin went up in yuan terms from 4,111 to 8,896, and then crashed back down to 4,893 when the volume spike tapered off.

Playtech BGT Sports expands into UK racecourse market

Supplier goes live with bespoke SSBTs at Chester and Bangor racecourses

9th May, 2017 – Playtech BGT Sports (PBS), the leading supplier of omni-channel sports betting technology, is to go live with its self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) at the Boodles May Festival at Chester Racecourse this week.

PBS will showcase its SSBT technology to Chester Racecourse’s on-course customers under the Chester Sport brand from 10-12th May, 2017, having already successfully exhibited the betting terminals at Bangor-On-Dee Racecourse on 22nd April, 2017 under the Bangor Sport brand.

PBS’ entry into the racecourse market comes after sustained success over recent years in the retail space, having seen record-breaking weekends for total turnover and number of bets across its estate of terminals in recent weeks.

Extortion attempt eyed in Hong Kong gambling sites DDoS attack

Gambling and gaming websites in Hong Kong were hit in April by several distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, which intended to take the sites offline and mulct money from the operators, according to a U.S-based cyber security firm.

The International Business Times reported that the Security Engineering and Response Team at Arbor Networks detected a sudden but unusual spike of traffic in at least 29 online gambling and gaming sites during the first two weeks of April.

Kirk Soluk, the manager of the company’s Threat Intelligence and Response team, monitored 28 and 39 percent of all attacks greater than 10 Gbps in size hit Hong Kong. Soluk said the attack started on April 6.

What made the attack unusual, according to Soluk, was the fact that Hong Kong had overtaken the U.S. in terms of targeted DDoS attacks during the first two weeks of April. He said US has always been a top destination for targeted attacks.

Product Profile – Quickspin

In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero, Mats Westerlund of Quickspin explains how failure becomes part of the company’s innovation.

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EPL week 36 review: Chelsea one win away from title; Boro are down

Week 36 of the English Premier League sees Chelsea send Middlesbrough back to the Championship and move within three points of the title with three games to play.

When Crystal Palace turned Chelsea into a bunch of fools on the first of April, football fans began to wonder. Then Chelsea took on the might of Manchester City and beat them 2-1.

When Manchester United beat Chelsea at Old Trafford two games later, those same fans began to wonder once again. Then Chelsea went on a four-match unbeaten run-scoring 14 goals and securing an FA Cup Final appearance beating Spurs.

They deserve to be champions.

Dr. Simon Planzer will join the Benefits of the European Gambling Laws panel at Prague Gaming Summit

Tuesday – 9th of May, 2017 – Prague – The organizers of Prague Gaming Summit are excited to announce the latest keynote speaker of “The Benefits of the European Gambling Laws” panel, which will be hosted during the inaugural Prague Gamins Summit, held between between  8-9 June, 2017 in Prague at the Andel’s by Vienna House Prague.

“The Benefits of the European Gambling Laws” panel is scheduled to take its course between 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM (Prague local time) and will be moderated by YANCY COTTRILL (Nsoft).

The panel will focus on the regulations and amendments which shape the future of global operators. Businesses that set a transparent course of doing business and apply for local licenses are benefiting of exposure and safety of the market regulations.

Dr. Simon Planzer

Prague Gaming Summit announces NetEnt as main stage sponsor

Tuesday – 9th of May, 2017 – Prague – The organizers of Prague Gaming Summit  are  honored to announce the latest sponsor for the event which will take place between 8-9 June at the Andel’s by Vienna House Prague.

The exclusive Main Stage Sponsor of Prague Gaming Summit has been delivering premium gaming solutions to the top online casino operators and it’s one of the most recognized brand of the online gambling industry. The Main Stage sponsor for the inaugural Prague Gaming Summit is NetEnt.

NetEnt is a leading digital entertainment company, providing premium gaming solutions to the world’s most successful online casino operators. Since its inception in 1996, NetEnt has been a true pioneer in driving the market with thrilling games powered by a cutting-edge platform. NetEnt is committed to helping customers stay ahead of the competition, is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm (NET–B) and employs almost 1000 people in Stockholm, Malta, Kiev, Krakow, Gothenburg, Gibraltar and New Jersey.

Make sure you attend Prague Gaming Summit and meet the team who will be attending the event.

Highlights and the final wrap of the APT Championships Philippines 2017!

Manila, Philippines, May 8, 2017 – The Asian Poker Tour concluded its biggest event of the year, the APT Championships Philippines 2017 at Resorts World Manila with twelve days of action packed poker festivities running from April 26th – May 7th. There were over 36 countries represented with 3,800 player entries, and 730 unique players in attendance. With three major tournaments and 18 side events on the schedule, the festival generated a massive grand prize pool of USD 1.7 million. In addition, the Main Event had a record-breaking 442 entries. Here are some of the top stories and highlights.

APT Player of the Series winners

photo L-R: Huu Dung Nguyen (2nd), Kim Gab Yong (1st) and In Chul Sin (3rd)

Korea’s Kim Gab Yong, the wolf in the big red jacket, was on fire at the series. He stormed through the festival winning the 56-player High Rollers event and the 189-field Head Hunter event. Yong also finished 4th in the APT Championships featured event. For his impressive achievements, he earned a total of USD 79,540, the APT Player of the Series first place trophy, the APT Player of the Series Ring, and an exclusive Meister luxury watch.

Online bingo players – Cast your votes for the WhichBingo Awards 2017

We are excited to announce that it is finally time for players to cast their votes for the WhichBingo Awards 2017!

With a new website, three brand new categories and a staggering 10 player voted awards, the 2017 WhichBingo awards are set to be a night to remember.

Player votes for each category can be submitted until Wednesday 31st May 2017 using the new voting form.

This year, the lucky award winning brands really will be the stars of the show, ascending the stage of London’s exclusive West End venue, Café de Paris to collect their awards on the 21st June 2017. Café de Paris is just a short short walk from this years Online Bingo & Slots Summit (taking place on the same day). Think glitz, glamour, burlesque and cabaret and you’ll be on the right lines!

Federal complaint: Amaya ex-CEO Baazov made illegal donation to New York guv campaign

Former Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov made an illegal $25k campaign donation to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to new criminal charges filed against a prominent political operative.

With the clock counting down to the end of this year’s legislative session, the New York Senate Finance Committee will hold a vote on its gaming expansion bill on Tuesday. The bill includes plans to authorize intrastate online poker, a subject that made a surprise appearance on Monday in a federal court in Buffalo.

Steve Pigeon, a longtime New York Democratic Party operative, pled not guilty on Monday to charges of conspiracy and facilitating an illegal campaign donation from the CEO of “a Canadian online gaming company” based in Montreal to a New York “public official” running for re-election in 2014.

The criminal complaint filed against Pigeon by Acting US Attorney J.P. Kennedy doesn’t name this public official or the company that made the donation. But local NBC affiliate WGRZ quoted Pigeon’s attorney Paul Cambria saying the $25k donation at the heart of the matter was made at a Cuomo event in Manhattan on February 25, 2014 by “a lawyer from Florida.”

ADMIRAL opens Europe’s largest sports bar

Gumpoldskirchen/Vienna, May 2017 – Located in a prime location in Vienna, ADMIRAL Arena Prater opened on May 1 following six months of conversion work to become the largest sports bar in Europe. The launch event was attended by around 3,500 guests as well as racing legend and NOVOMATIC brand ambassador Niki Lauda and NOVOMATIC AG CEO Harald Neumann.

A range of activities and events were on offer both outdoors and inside the venue – action stages, football modules, and autograph sessions by the Vienna Capitals ice hockey team, the Austrian woman’s national football team, as well as Rapid Vienna and FK Austria Wien football teams.

With ADMIRAL Arena Prater, HTM Hotel und Tourismusmanagement GmbH and ADMIRAL Sportwetten GmbH are setting new standards in the entertainment sector. The ADMIRAL Arena in Vienna’s Prater offers sports betting of the highest caliber over two floors covering a total area of 1,350 m2. At the centre of the venue, reminiscent of an American sports bar, there is a large, semi-circular bar with a 15 m2 LED wall in high definition picture quality. Another LED wall, and at 42 m2 is one of the largest LED walls in Europe, extends along the back wall. Here sporting events are broadcast in supreme quality from 9 am to midnight daily. This main wall is the size of a small flat with an approximate length of 15m and height of 3m, weighing around 2 tonnes. The wall consists of 180 individual panels with a total of 4,608,000 LED image points. About 6 km of cables were laid to operate the two LED walls.

The main wall can also be split into many different screens thanks to NOVOMATIC-developed software. “This means that, for instance, all Champions League games playing at the same time can be broadcast together – this broadcasting possibility is unique in Europe,” said Harald Neumann.

10bet calls on Betradar to provide broad live stream portfolio

Starting this month, 10Bet will be able to provide its online customers with a whole new range of live sport streams on their www.10bet.co.uk website. Signing up to Betradar’s Live Channel Online service will give the bookmaker access to over 30,000 live events per year.

The Live Channel Online portfolio offers sports streams that include soccer, tennis, basketball and more from the likes of Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and China to name a few countries. The coverage offered by Betradar is truly 24/7 as a combination of top tier content and highly attractive off-peak sports provide a gapless content schedule. All streams are overlaid with comprehensive live data and odds, driving interest in in-play bets across the portfolio.

Speaking about the partnership, David Bazak, Managing Director of 10Bet said: “We’re very happy to have partnered with Betradar, which is now supplying us with a superb range of major sports around the clock. We are very confident that this will prove to be a successful relationship which will benefit both companies to the fullest. I’m pleased that we’ve been able to enhance our live offering, providing a full spectrum service to the broadest possible target group”.

Lorenzo Caci, Sportradar Director Sales added: “We are very pleased to have sealed this partnership with 10Bet. We are confident that our Live Channel Online will strengthen their portfolio significantly, providing their customers online with great live coverage. I have no doubt that the website’s profile in the market will go from strength to strength”.

ONE Championship announces two additional bouts to ONE: Dynasty of heroes

FULL FIGHT CARD NOW COMPLETE

09 May 2017 – Singapore:The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has just announced two additional bouts to complete a stacked fight card at ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES set for the Singapore Indoor Stadium this 26 May. Former world title challenger Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio of Baguio City, Philippines is scheduled for a highly-anticipated rematch against Anatpong “Mak” Bunrad of Thailand. Also, Indonesian National Grappling Champion Jeremy Meciaz makes his ONE Championship debut against Chen “Rock Man” Lei.

Ticket information for ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES is available at www.onefc.com.

ONE: DYNASTY OF HEROES features a spectacular main event bout with ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee of Singapore taking on rising star Istela Nunes of Brazil. In the co-main event of the evening, ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben “Funky” Askren returns to the ONE Championship cage to defend his title against young Malaysian welterweight standout Agilan “Alligator” Thani. All four fighters have unblemished professional records.

Daniel Negreanu promises to be aggro with excessive tankers at WSOP

Daniel Negreanu outlines his plans for the 2017 World Series of Poker including an admission that he no longer enjoys playing No-Limit Hold’em events without a shot clock and plans to get aggro with excessive tankers.

Daniel Negreanu recently posted a video explaining why Tyrion Lannister will win the Game of Thrones. I love Game of Thrones. It’s the best goddam TV show ever made (except Dynasty). But I don’t care about the battle for the Game of Thrones; I’m more stoked to watch the Battle for the Poker Shot Clock.

And the battle has begun.

At the recent opening to the partypoker LIVE Million North America event at the Playground Poker Club in Montreal, President Duthie (I am sure he took the job, so people had to call him Mr President), made it abundantly clear that his tournaments would not tolerate excessive use of tanking and encouraged the players to stand up and make it socially unacceptable.

17 of the 30 NBA teams commit to NBA 2K eLeague project

The world of sport continues to evolve with the news that 17 of the 30 teams that make up the National Basketball Association in America have committed to join the NBA 2K eLeague in 2018.

I’m a little man.

I loved my football as a kid, but people told me I was too small to make it professionally. They were wrong. Sizeism isn’t prevalent within the hierarchy of football.

Diego Maradona, anyone?

Stock traders prone to ‘gambler’s fallacy’ in decision-making

Stock market investors make too many decisions based on the so-called gambler’s fallacy, according to a recent study by German researchers.

Earlier this year, the Ostfalia University in Wolfsburg published the results of a study into the decision-making process of capital investors. The study provided 188 test subjects with a limited supply of ‘play dollars’ then presented them with a number of investment options containing varying degrees of risk.

The researchers were looking for signs of three separate phenomena: herding, which involves mimicking the decisions made by a majority of players or the most successful player; status-quo bias, in which players choose not to take any action based on the fear of regretting their actions; and the gambler’s fallacy, in which players expect a certain outcome based on a history of previous outcomes.

Other studies have shown that problem gamblers are more likely than non-problem gamblers to see patterns in random events where no pattern exists, i.e. these gamblers convince themselves that because a roulette wheel has returned a ‘red’ result in each of the last nine spins, a ‘black’ result is more likely on the next spin, despite the outcome of every spin being completely random.