Monthly Archives: May 2017

Blockchain opportunities in the EU payments space will be discussed at Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Prague

An independent financial expert Ugo Bechis (Milan, Italy) will make a presentation at Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Prague on May 19. He will talk about the prospects and practical application of blockchain in the banking ecosystem of the European Union.

Ugo Bechis is an independent e-Payments & SEPS Advisor. The range of his longstanding researches include Banking, Trading On-line, Corporate and Retail Payments, Cards, Consumer Credit and Bancassurance and regulation policies of certain countries in the euro-zone.

From Ugo Bechis’ presentation, the Prague conference attendees will learn about the current state of affairs in the field of digital banking services and the EU legislative policy related to blockchain. The speaker will answer questions about the practical application of the blockchain in banking and e-commerce.

Details and registration can be found on the Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Prague website.

BOSS Gaming Studio at Amsterdam Affiliate Conference

BOSS Gaming Studio is to present its brand new online casino platforms, original video-slots and even more at Amsterdam Affiliate Conference 2017.

This year BOSS Gaming Studio iGaming company is to debut at AAC which will be held from 11th to 14th of July at Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre.

At the conference we are to present a wide range of original and highly innovative software that will be introduced for the very first time. All the participants would have an opportunity to have a closer look on two different platforms: VLT Platform for land-based projects and BOSS platform for online casinos. Both platforms have a modular structure so they can be easily changed and customized according to customer’s demand.

As well, our sub-department will present an original set of video-slots that feature our unique designs, themes, game mechanics and bonus features.

Countdown to iGaming Super Show begins

May 2017 (London) – The countdown to the 2017 iGaming Super Show has begun, with this year’s event set to take place in Amsterdam between 11-14 July at the RAI.

The iGaming Super Show, which is the biggest dedicated exhibition and conference for the igaming industry, is set to attract 4,500 delegates from more than 100 countries. Registration is currently tracking at a 15% increase in registered attendees YoY, which follows the same trend as other iGaming Business events that have taken place in the past year.

Of these delegates, around 35% will be operators, 32% affiliates, 28% vendors, 3% media and 2% regulators – truly making the iGaming Super Show an event that represents the entire igaming industry.

The 2017 edition will have eight events in one location including dedicated payments, regulation and compliance, sports betting, lottery, financial and affiliate events.

Live tournament round-up: Wins for Sorrentino, Timex, and Wadekamper

A round-up of live tournament scores from the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo, partypoker LIVE Million North America, and Mid-States Poker Tour in Minnesota

Raffaele Sorrentino has won the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo Main Event for €466,714. The Italian currently residing in Mexico defeated a field of 727 entrants.

Sorrentino had a sniff of a major title in the past when in 2014 he finished tenth in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event London. His previous best score before this win was €102,000 for winning a €1,100 Side Event at EPT Barcelona last year.

The German pro, Andreas Klatt, finished second after the pair cut a heads-up deal. Klatt had a sterling Championships beating 1,252 entrants in the €1,100 buy-in PokerStars National Championships for €151,445, and making the final table of a Pot-Limit Omaha side event finishing seventh for a minor score. His fantastic showing puts him in the driving seat for the PokerStars Championship WPT MonteDam Swing title.

NOVOMATIC shows Latin American strength at Juegos Miami

After the success of the inaugural Juegos Miami last year, the new gaming event for Latin America and the Caribbean returns to the lavish Biltmore Hotel in the Coral Gables area of Miami. With a strong focus on the region, NOVOMATIC will once again play a major role with a presentation of gaming machines on the Ainsworth stand as well as being host to an exclusive networking event.

NOVOMATIC representatives from around Latin America will be at the second edition of Juegos Miami on May 31 – June 2 to meet their customers and participate in key discussions that are driving gaming forward in the region. This new gaming show format gives the opportunity to attend networking events, understand regional developments and present new product innovations set for the market.

“Participating in Juegos Miami allows NOVOMATIC to reach key decision makers in the Latin American market,” commented Lawrence Levy, Vice President of Global Sales NOVOMATIC. “The event format perfectly fits our brand’s approach to building relationships with our customers in the region. We look forward to showcasing some of our latest gaming machines for guests to experience during this year’s event.”

On show alongside Ainsworth on Stand #S1 will be a selection of new NOVOMATIC cabinets that are a top-sellers in the region. Taking pride of place will be the GAMINATOR® Scorpion, the very first gaming machine to be compatible with all NOVOMATIC platforms. Delivering gaming entertainment in striking high definition, this new cabinet will present a selection of latest slot titles such as the Impera-Line™ HD games Amazon’s Diamonds™, Upwards™ and Lord of Fire™.

CardRunners: The original online poker training site ceases paid content

CardRunners, the original online poker training site, has announced plans to stop releasing paid content from June 1 with all further videos published on YouTube and Holdem Manager.

The online poker training site that kick-started a revolution will cease producing paid training videos on June 1 and move exclusively onto YouTube where they plan to release training videos periodically.

CardRunners broke the news both in the blog section of their website and via Twitter and confirmed that the site would also change in the coming weeks, although it didn’t say it would close down.

At its peak, CardRunners was making millions of dollars per year after its founders, Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins stumbled across the lucrative practice of recording their online poker sessions and providing them with a commentary for a fee.

Poker Player to eat $1k worth of McDonalds food in 36 hours

A professional poker player has taken up a rather unusual challenge of attempting to eat $1,000 worth of McDonald’s food in 36-hours with wagers topping $200k.

I once took on the Fatty Arbuckle Challenge and failed. My ex-wife came back from the toilet and found pieces of steak in the vase holding the fake flowers, both condiments, and squeezed in between pages of the menu.

My father-in-law at the time also took the challenge. You had to eat a CAFO full of chicken wings, a 28 oz steak with all the trimmings, and a two-pint ice cream sundae.

The trick, it seems, was in the Sundae. My father-in-law used his lighter to melt it and then drank the lot.

Online betting drives Kentucky Derby to new wagering record

Race bettors wagered a record amount on the 143rd annual Kentucky Derby thanks in large part to strong online wagering activity.

Lousy weather kept many fans away from the Churchill Downs racetrack this weekend, which culminated in betting favorite Always Dreaming winning the marquee race. The event attracted just over 158k spectators, the seventh largest figure in the race’s illustrious history.

Despite the reduced attendance, all-source wagering on Saturday’s races hit a new record of $209.2m, 8.6% higher than last year’s total and 9% better than 2015’s then-record $194.3m. Wagering on the actual marquee race was up 12% from last year and up 1% from 2015’s tally.

The disparity between on-site attendance and betting volume was mirrored for the broader Derby Week festivities, which saw attendance falling 7% from 2016 to 349k, while all-sources betting handle for Derby Week rose 7% to a new record $285.1m.

Maryland casinos have second best revenue month in April

Maryland’s newest casino held on to the state’s gaming revenue crown in April, in which overall revenue was the second highest on record.

Figures released Friday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Agency show the state’s six casino operators generated total gaming revenue of $135.7m in April, second only to the $141.2m earned in March.

April’s total represented a 30.6% improvement over the sum earned in the same month last year. However, subtracting the contribution from MGM Resorts’ National Harbor, which opened last December, the apples-to-apples numbers of the five other casinos fell 17.4%.

National Harbor was once again the state’s top earner, taking in over $49.9m in April, but this was down from its record $51.2m performance in March. Runner-up Maryland Live suffered a similarly small decline, dropping to $45.3m from $46.6m in March, although April’s total was down more than one-fifth from the pre-National Harbor market in April 2016.