Monthly Archives: June 2017

Hackers who targeted Canadian casinos “financially motivated”

The computer hackers who stole Canadian casinos’ customer data and posted it online will likely strike again, according to a new report by a cybersecurity company.

On Friday, the US-based FireEye security firm issued a report identifying a shadowy group it’s calling FIN10 as the culprits behind the cyber-targeting of at least 10 Canadian companies between 2013 and 2016.

FireEye didn’t identify any of the companies by name, but previous media reports have linked FireEye to an investigation into last year’s hacking of the River Cree Resort and Casino near Edmonton, Alberta. Two other Canadian casinos – Ontario’s Casino Rama Resort and the Cowboys Casino in Calgary – suffered similar attacks in 2016.

FireEye said it was unable to specify where the FIN10 group might be based, but noted that its members appear to be native English-speakers, despite efforts to claim that it was (alternately) a Russian or Serbian outfit by (apparently) running its communications through online translation tools. FireEye also doubts that FIN10 is a state-sponsored outfit, as it employs common and widely available tools and techniques.

Ace2Three gets on fantasy sports train with Fan Fight investment

Indian rummy website Ace2Three is planning to invest INR10 million ($155,195.50) in real-money fantasy sports portal Fan Fight, which is launching soon.

On Friday, GLaws.in reported that Head Infotech Pvt. Ltd. founder and CEO Deepak Gullapalli has paid INR2.5 million ($38,798.87) for 2,500,000 Series A preference shares in the Gurgaon-based fantasy sports company last April 27. Head Infotech is the company that operates Ace2Three.

According to the report, which quoted a Registrar of Companies (ROC) filing, Gullapalli made the investment with the approval of Head Infotech and its new majority shareholders, the Clairvest Group. If you recall, the Canadian private equity fund and its foreign partners acquired a majority stake in Head Infotech for more than $70 million in May.

Head Infotech plans to invest a total of INR10 million for a total stake of 10 percent in WCFN Solutions Pvt. Ltd., which operate Fan Fight, GLaws.in’s Jay Sayta reported, noting that the company “will be sharing its expertise and knowledge of the online skill games industry to Fan Fight.”

Sweet treats campaign ends in hefty fines for Aussie betting site TAB

TAB’s decision to offer free jelly beans has turned out to be a costly affair for Australian betting site.

On Friday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that TAB is facing hefty fines and legal costs over a sweet treats campaign, which authorities ruled have breached New South Wales’s gambling advertising regulations.

In March, the betting site launched a promotion coinciding with Racing NSW’s racing event, The Championship, which was held on the first two Saturdays of April. For this event, TAB decided to hand out packets of jelly beans and mints, complete with the TAB brand and the slogan “Nothing’s as sweet as a win,” to commuters in Sydney’s central business district.

One of those packets made its way to Greens MP Justin Field, who “noticed there was no mention of the need to gamble responsibly on the jelly bean packet,” according to the report. Field reportedly wrote the Racing Minister Paul Toole to alert him about “the inappropriate gambling advertising” by the betting site.

Sweet treats campaign ends in hefty fines for Aussie betting site TAB

TAB’s decision to offer free jelly beans has turned out to be a costly affair for Australian betting site.

On Friday, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that TAB is facing hefty fines and legal costs over a sweet treats campaign, which authorities ruled have breached New South Wales’s gambling advertising regulations.

In March, the betting site launched a promotion coinciding with Racing NSW’s racing event, The Championship, which was held on the first two Saturdays of April. For this event, TAB decided to hand out packets of jelly beans and mints, complete with the TAB brand and the slogan “Nothing’s as sweet as a win,” to commuters in Sydney’s central business district.

One of those packets made its way to Greens MP Justin Field, who “noticed there was no mention of the need to gamble responsibly on the jelly bean packet,” according to the report. Field reportedly wrote the Racing Minister Paul Toole to alert him about “the inappropriate gambling advertising” by the betting site.

Playtech BGT Sports secures Betfred contract extension

16th June 2017, London – Playtech BGT Sports (PBS), the leading provider of omni-channel sports betting solutions, has extended its Self Service Betting Terminals (SSBTs) agreement with Betfred to expand its coverage across the bookmaker’s entire retail estate.

As part of the deal, PBS will supply an additional 570 terminals to the UK bookmaker, which takes its total number to over 2,800 across its 1,700-strong estate.

The deployment of machines is expected to be completed before the start of the new football season in August.

In addition, PBS’ innovative mobile BetTracker product has also been released across the Betfred retail network.

Betsafe launches horse racing

Betsafe – the online bookmaker, known globally for innovative campaigns, premium sponsorships and extreme live experiences –becomes the first brand within Betsson Group to launch horse racing as part of their sportsbook portfolio.

As of yesterday, Betsafe customers can enjoy a highly competitive horse racing product on par with the best UK operators. From Cheltenham, through Hong Kong’s Happy Valley, to Sweden’s Solvalla, Betsafe customers can now bet on over 250,000 races from across the globe every year, and with Best Odds Guaranteed across races in certain countries.

The acquisition of niche operator RaceBets in 2016 complemented Betsson Group’s sportsbook offering with a proprietary horseracing product and an experienced horse racing trading team.

Nicola Fitton, Managing Director, Betsafe, commented: “To be a competitive player in markets like the UK and Ireland, it’s imperative to offer a horse racing product, and we’re delighted to be the first Betsson brand to launch horse racing as part of our sportsbook.”

Zarvan Tumboli runs away with first series trophy; Tsuchikawa wins Charity Event

Macau, China, June 15, 2017 – It was a big day for India’s Zarvan Tumboli who entered the final day of the Opening Event 300K Guaranteed with a stack below average then turned it up to run away with the first trophy and the HKD 74,300 cold hard cash first prize.

Opening Event Champion, Zarvan Tumboli

The APT Macau 2017 kicked off its second day of the series with 36 players returning for the Opening Event at the Macau Billionaire Poker room in the Babylon Casino. At the helm was Japan’s Ryota Hisayama who bagged up the largest stack on the previous day. Hisayama continued his impressive performance, holding on to the chip lead for a good part of the day, then making it into the final heads up round to try and bring it all home. While we know the final results, the roller coaster action leading up to Tumboli’s victory was really the meat of the story.

The battle for the title

Poker routines episode #2: Paul Jackson

Poker has changed significantly over the past two decades. Only the most adaptable of poker players survive the process of natural selection. Paul Jackson is one of those players.

Jackson is a bastion of British poker who rose to prominence in 2005 facing Phil Ivey in the heads-up phase of the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions and took part in one of the most epic hands of our time.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNd-ZxQKfyY?ecver=2]

Jackson has won over $1.5m playing live tournaments, but it’s the cash games where he had made his living. He also has poker in his DNA. His son Ben Jackson is one of the best young players in British poker.

Will Mayweather leave McGregor in the dust? Bettors favor Conor as underdog

Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor have finally set the date. For their mega bout, that is.

The UFC superstar broke the news with a tweet, in which he “accidentally” used the photo of Floyd’s 64-year-old father, confirming that the fight is on. Minutes later, the retired pound-for-pound boxing champion also took to Twitter to confirm the date: August 26 in Las Vegas.

Early this week, the Nevada Athletic Commission approved a request from the Mayweather Promotions to put on an August 26 boxing card at the MGM Grand, even though neither of the two fighters currently has a license to box in the state. Meanwhile, TMZ Sports quoted Dana White who said it will be a 12-round boxing match that will take place at the T-Mobile Arena.

White reportedly said “there will be an undercard,” and it will be boxing matches, with Mayweather Promotions handling the matches.

Onfido recognised as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum

● The World Economic Forum on Wednesday announced its selection of the world’s 30 most promising Technology Pioneers 2017

● Companies were selected for their potential to significantly impact business and society through new technologies, and advance the Fourth Industrial Revolution

● Onfido, which provides global Identity Verification using machine learning, was selected for its contribution to the field of RegTech

● The full list of recognized Technology Pioneers can be viewed here

FunFair announces Token Creation event on June 22 for world’s fastest Blockchain casino platform

FunFair Set to Disrupt Global Casino Game Market with Pioneering Ethereum “Fate Channels” Technology

NEW YORK, NY – June 15, 2017 – Today FunFair, the world’s fastest Ethereum blockchain casino platform, announced its token creation event will begin on June 22, 2017 shortly after 10 am EDT: https://www.funfair.io/token-event/.  Using its breakthrough technology, Fate Channels, FunFair is the first blockchain platform and open-source protocol that makes online casino games fun, fast, and fair.

“Unlike other companies, we have much more than a white paper and a dream for our token creation event,” said Jez San OBE, founder and CEO. “We’ve already developed real, playable casino games that prove our model works.” Our vision is a limitless universe of transparent, secure casinos that can be easily created by anyone, anywhere in the world.”

More details about FunFair and terms of the token creation event can be found in the white paper here.

21-22 June, Peru Gaming Show 2017

BTOBET IN LIMA TO SUPPORT LOCAL OPERATORS EXPANDING THEIR BUSINESS AND GETTING READY TO MOVE TO MOBILE.

Despite the fact that the Peru gaming market is principally land-based, the growth in mobile use and the evolution of mobile devices is making the area very attractive for the mobile business.

During the last few years the Peruvian gambling industry has become regulated and after the recent law, that made online wagering possible, it is rapidly catching up. Peru is also showing a growing number of mobile users – 60% of the population in 2012, 66% in 2017, 70% expected by 2020, mainly smartphones – and is recording a strong propensity for mobile shopping and mobile payments among the population.

This trend is a robust signal of the big potential of Mobile for the Peruvian gambling industry.

Big value weekend with half-price Sunday Million and €25,000 ticket drop at Pokerstars

€75,000 in PokerStars Championship Barcelona satellite tickets to be awarded over next three Sundays

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – June 15, 2017 – PokerStars, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, is halving the buy-in for this week’s Sunday Million from $215 to $107.50 while retaining the $1 Million guarantee, so the world’s biggest weekly online poker tournament will represent extraordinary bang for your buck this Sunday, June 18.

Limited edition $2.50 Spin & Go tournaments running from now until Sunday will also be awarding tickets for this weekend’s half-price Sunday Million.

The Sunday Million is also paving the Road to Barcelona with gold with €25,000 ticket drops during each Sunday Million from now until July 2, which will take place 50 minutes after the start of the tournament. Players should register early to make sure they don’t miss out. The ticket drop will randomly award players participating in the Sunday Million with €215 or €10 PokerStars Championship Barcelona satellite tickets. Players who make the final table of each Sunday Million in June will also be gifted a €215 satellite ticket.

Kenya MPs okay 35% gambling tax plan on their way out the door

Kenya’s gambling operators are facing significant tax hikes after legislators sided with their country’s president on the final day of the legislative session.

Earlier this week, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta refused to sign the country’s Finance Bill because legislators had declined to impose a uniform 50% tax on all gambling revenue. Kenyatta offered a compromise rate of 35%, which would still represent a nearly fivefold rise on the 7.5% rate that the country’s betting operators had been paying.

But Thursday marked the final day before the 11th term of Parliament officially came to a close and, with national elections scheduled for August 8, legislators apparently didn’t want to leave the Finance Bill twisting in the wind. High on Thursday’s order paper was addressing “the president’s reservations to the finance bill” and considering his 35% across the board tax rate recommendation.

While the official vote has yet to be recorded on the National Assembly website, CitizenTV reported that the House Finance Committee approved Kenyatta’s recommended alterations to the Finance bill. Which means sports betting, gaming, lottery and competition operators will all face significant tax challenges going forward.