Monthly Archives: June 2017

Negreanu Closing in on Bracelet #7 in H.O.R.S.E., Moorman, Rojas, Brubaker Take Home Gold

Daniel Negreanu isn’t messing around this summer. He even watched the Sylvester Stallone come-from-behind movie classic Rocky a few days ago for motivation after busting out of a tournament. A […]

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Another New Amaya Exec Signifies Move Away from Poker, Toward Casino at PokerStars Parent Company

Amaya has appointed Jerry Bowskill to be its new Chief Technology Officer, as the biggest poker company in the world continues to develop its iGaming interests beyond poker. Bowskill is […]

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Mohegan Sun Pocono exec gets 32 months for slots scam

A former top exec at Pennsylvania’s Mohegan Sun Pocono casino has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for his role in a scam that took the casino for over $422k.

On Friday, Robert Joseph Pellegrini, who acted as the Pocono casino’s VP of player development until his January 2016 arrest, was sentenced to 32 months in jail and ordered to make restitution to the casino for the money he and his co-conspirators stole via an elaborate free-play slots scam.

The 51-year-old Pellegrini was originally charged with theft, identify theft, fraud, conspiracy, computer trespassing but ultimately agreed to plead guilty to a single charge of money laundering. Mark Heltzel, Pellegrini’s accomplice, pled guilty to the same charge last October.

The scam involved Pellegrini using real Pocono casino customers’ players reward IDs to create bogus reward cards loaded with a total of over $478k in free slots credits. Heltzel, a longtime Pocono customer, used the cards to gamble with the house’s money, then split the winnings with Pellegrini and a Pocono beverage server.

Macau busts another WeChat livestream proxy betting ring

Macau authorities have broken up another online proxy betting ring that used the WeChat social media platform to stream live table game action from a local casino.

On Thursday, Macau’s Judiciary Police (PJ) announced the arrests of four local residents and 13 mainland Chinese for their suspected involvement in the illegal gambling ring, which streamed real-time action from a VIP baccarat table at an unidentified “Cotai casino.”

A PJ spokesperson informed local media that the proxy betting ring catered to a roster of mainland Chinese gamblers who were promised the ability to “play real baccarat games in Macau.” The ring, which is believed to have been operating for one year, offered “two to three” daily sessions of wagering activity, with each session involving roughly “40 to 50” gamblers.

Macau banned proxy betting – in which real-time table activity is relayed to distant gamblers via voice or video communications channels, and these gamblers respond with directions on how they wish to wager – in 2016 to comply with Beijing’s efforts to curtail capital flight.

Donaco inks junket deal to boost Star Vegas’ VIP gambling

Casino operator Donaco International has enlisted the help of more junket operators to boost VIP gambling traffic at its flagship Star Vegas casino in Cambodia.

On Friday, Donaco informed the Australian Stock Exchange that it had signed a contract with ‘international casino market agency’ Vivo Tower Limited to broker deals with junket operators in Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia and beyond to ferry high-rolling gamblers to Star Vegas.

The deal calls for Vivo Tower to pay Donaco a minimum fixed fee of $1.5m in FY18, rising to $3m in subsequent years, plus a variable revenue share based on which junkets Vivo brings into the fold.

Vivo Tower already has relationships with Malaysian junket Da Kim Global Group, which is currently funneling gamblers into VIP rooms at Genting properties in Malaysia, Singapore and Manila, as well as to NagaCorp’s NagaWorld casino in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. Under the Donaco deal, Da Kim will begin steering VIPs to Star Vegas as of July 1.