Monthly Archives: July 2017

What happened to the BTC-E cryptocurrency exchange? A viewpoint from CASEXE’s expert

25 July 2017, one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, BTC-E, was unaccessible to users. A few hours later, the exchange stated that “in connection with the technical works at the BTC-E data center, the site may be temporarily unavailable”, “technical works are nearing completion”. However, a day later, the exchange never got online.

BTC-E published a message at its official Twitter, indicating that the operation would be recovered within 5-10 days.

The network began to circulate rumors that more than $169 million were stolen from the exchange. In addition, according to some information, the exchange may have been temporarily disabled during the fall of the Bitcoin course. The information has not been confirmed at the moment.

As we have informed, 25 July, the Bitcoin rate depreciated by $200. However, the last time of Bitcoin’s fall by 500$ on 14-16 July the exchange resource remained available.

China technology exec arrested for hosting illegal poker games

One of China’s leading technology figures has publicly confessed to organizing illegal gambling involving poker games in a Beijing restaurant.

On Monday, the Beijing News reported that Xu Chaojun, former VP of popular Chinese social media platform Renren, had been arrested on June 15 in Beijing for organizing Texas Hold’em poker games involving at least nine other suspects.

The report indicated that the 37-year-old Xu acted as the house for the poker games, personally pocketing around RMB 100k (US $15k) in rake from pots totaling RMB 3m. Police claim the illegal gambling activity had been going on for around two weeks at a restaurant founded by Xu in Beijing’s Dongcheng District.

On July 29, Xu appeared on Beijing television to cop to his involvement in the activity, while simultaneously stressing that the participants’ desire wasn’t monetary. “Money is not the issue here … A loss of RMB 80k doesn’t mean much to these people. Their desire is simply to conquer the game.”

Multilotto announce Yggdrasil partnership

Online lottery betting operator strengthens Casino vertical with addition of games from world-leading supplier.

Online lottery betting operator Multilotto has strengthened its casino offering by adding Yggdrasil to its list of suppliers.

Multilotto will have full access to Yggdrasil’s catalogue of games, with the plan being to release 2 new titles per week on their platform.

That means big name titles such as Vikings go Berzerk, Holmes and the Stolen Stones, Super Heroes and Power Plant will be available to Multilotto players in the near future.

FirstBlood.io adds Dota 2 1v1 solomid to beta!

With the rise of esports and competitive gaming rapidly approaching, everyone is looking for ways to get better at their sport. After launching their open beta last week, FirstBlood.io is already about to add a new game mode and feature. A game mode that has been a Dota 2 community favorite for some time, now. That feature is, 1v1 solomid! Read more on how to win at 1v1 and the benefits of it while playing on FirstBlood.io!

What is 1v1 solomid mode, exactly? How do you win?

An infamous game mode within Dota 2, 1v1 solomid pits two players head to head in the midlane and crowns victory to the first player to kill their opponent twice or destroy an enemy tower. That’s it! The games are usually much quicker than full 5v5 matches, but still give you the ability to learn, to practice, and to test item builds with your desired hero.

Why would I play 1v1 instead of 5v5?

SunCity Group forks out $77M for stake in Vietnam casino

A subsidiary of casino junket operator SunCity Group is set to acquire a 34 percent stake in a casino project in the Quang Nam province of Vietnam.

In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Goal Summit Ltd., will buy the entire equity interest in Star Admiral Ltd. from Suncity International Holdings Ltd. for a total consideration of HK$600 million (US$76.8 million), payable through a HK$303 million promissory note, as well as a HK$297 million convertible bond.

Star Admiral indirectly owns 34 percent—or about 50,000 shares—of Hoi An South Development Ltd., which is developing the Hoi An South Integrated Resort in a joint venture between SunCity, Vietnam-based asset management company VinaCapital Group and Gold Yield Enterprises Ltd., a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Ltd.

Goal Summit, meanwhile, is chaired by Macau junket investor Alvin Chau Cheok Wa, who, incidentally, is also the owner of Suncity International Holdings, according to the filing.

Will bitcoin price fall after hard fork? Sportsbook weighs in

As the clock tick down to August 1, sportsbooks are joining in on the bitcoin fun.

The bitcoin community, if you haven’t heard already, is currently divided on how to resolve the network’s underlying scaling issue. On one side we have the we have the Bitcoin Unlimited, which is pressing for a hard fork of the blockchain to increase the current 1MB block size for a more robust bitcoin environment, while the other camp—aka Bitcoin Core—continues to insist that the blockchain’s original design must remain in its current form.

To find a middle ground, some groups came up with a proposal called SegWit2X, which combines Core’s Segregated Witness and a block size increase.

However, some of SegWit2X’s original backers have started to lose confidence that the proposal will implement the “2X” part, and decided to take the matters into their own hands. This is why on August 1—the deadline for SegWit2X implementation—the group said they will split off from bitcoin and create a new digital currency called Bitcoin Cash.

‘Illegal’ sale of Mizoram lotteries in Kerala irks finance chief

The government of Kerala vows to come down heavily on the “unauthorized” move to sell the Mizoram lottery in the state.

On Friday, Kerala Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac told reporters that “selling of lottery tickets of Mizoram in the state is illegal,” noting that Mizoram has yet to receive permission to do so.

In fact, Isaac said the Kerala government only learned about the move to promote the Mizoram lottery “through a newspaper advertisement.”

“There has been no intimation from the Mizoram government as mandated by the Central law. The police will be asked to investigate and identify the elements behind the operation. Criminal procedures will be initiated against the perpetrators and tickets of unauthorized lotteries will be confiscated,” Isaac said, according to The Hindu.

Asian Poker Tour secures five-year deal for Macau

Manila, Philippines, July 31, 2017 – The Asian Poker Tour (APT) has signed an exclusive five-year agreement with Macau Billionaire Poker (MBP) and the Babylon Casino to bring a minimum of two international poker events per year to Macau for the next five years. One of those guaranteed events is APT’s highly popular year-end festival and Player of the Year celebrations staged every December.

Making the announcement was Mr Tim Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Macau Billionaire Poker,

“For too long Macau has been restricted in terms of the variety of poker tournaments on offer which we believe has restricted the growth of poker not only in Macau but also in Asia. Given the incredible growth and following for poker from Mainland players, more professional tournaments are needed. The APT is an established and well respected brand in Asia and viewed by many as the best poker tournament organizer in the region. We are delighted to start this long term relationship to establish a very strong presence in Macau.”

(L-R) APT CEO Jeff Mann, MBP CRMO Chris Chee, MBP CEO Tim Chen and APT Executive TD Lloyd Fontillas at the official contract signing and announcement of the five-year APT-MBP partnership

Is shared liquidity in poker good or bad?

This is a guest contribution by Marco Melai.  If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

The agreement has been signed, between the regulators, for online poker to share liquidity between Italy, France, Spain and Portugal:

To date, all the voices claim that it is a positive thing, is it really so?

The main advantages for players and operators, of this new liquidity, agreed to by all are:

BetVictor launches Liverpool FC themed slot

Reading, 31st July 2017: Award-winning casino content supplier Realistic Games has developed an exclusive new Liverpool FC slot for BetVictor ahead of the Premier League football season.

LFC Stars is a three-reel, five-win line slot, featuring present Liverpool FC players Roberto Firmino, Georginio Wijnaldum, Adam Lallana and captain Jordan Henderson.

Exclusive to the operator, which is a principle partner of the Premier League club, the game offers players the chance to net 10 free spins, as well as hitting the jackpot prize of 250 x their starting stake.

The new title is the latest game created by Realistic Games for BetVictor, following last year’s release of the Liverpool FC Football Slot and The Million Pound Goal, launched as part of the operator’s Euro 2016 marketing campaign.

CEEGC2017 Budapest announces Mr. Dan Iliovici(President of the National Gambling Office) as keynote speaker

31 July 2017, Budapest: The organizers of CEEGC2017 are honored to announce Dan Iliovici(President of the National Gambling Office)as keynote speakers at the second edition of the Central and Eastern European Gaming Conference. An event which is going to take place between 19-20 September at the Kempinski Corvinus Budapest.

2017 has been a year of changes and future project setting in the regulated gambling market of Romania. Ms. Odeta Nestor has been replaced by Mr. Dan Iliovici at the Head of the Romanian National Office for Gambling and it seems that the Romanian market is still in climb with more and more operators and vendors approaching the market.

During a recent interview in Issue 6 of EEGReport Magazine, the team has asked Mr. Iliovici about what are the major projects that he would like to implement as the President of the Romanian National Gambling Office?

Mr Iliovici has replied the following: “Together with all my colleagues from the National Gambling Office (NGO), we aim to build new stages of performance which will sustain the industry at the level it has reached and why not, even raise the bar higher. This way we assure the predictability on the long run for both sides of the industry: the operators and the players. We would like to make sure that the Romanian gambling industry can provide a safe business environment which is stable and transparent.

Yoav Dotan sees more room for growth in emerging markets

In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Becky Liggero, Genesis Gaming founder Yoav Dotan explains why his company is keeping an eye out on some emerging markets out there.

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GameCo showcase VGMs in Sydney expo; game developers casino opportunity

GameCo Inc. is preparing for a move to Australia after announcing plans to showcase their product at the Sydney Gaming Expo, and they offer gaming developers an exciting opportunity to enter the casino market.

I told my friend that I was interviewing a man who had won $18m playing in a single poker tournament.

“I had no idea, a machine could pay out so much money,” she replied.

I wasn’t sure what she was on about?

WSOP play the field; partypoker jumps into Brazilian bed; 888 fall out

The World Series of Poker has decided to play the field, preferring to partner with partypoker LIVE for the forthcoming WSOP International Circuit event in Brazil, while 888Poker looks glumly on.

Women who play the field are called sluts. Men are called studs. So, what do we call a philandering live tournament operator?

The usually monogamous World Series of Poker (WSOP) has decided to experience what it’s like when you start flicking left and right, instead of sharing a bed with the same staid thing for multiple years.

The WSOP and 888Poker have been bosom buddies for some years, and recently announced an extension of that partnership for the forthcoming World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) taking place at the King’s Casino, Rozvadov, Czech Republic Oct 19 – Nov 10. But that hasn’t stopped the WSOP organising a date with a new bit of stuff.

North Korea may be stealing your online poker money while nuking Donald

South Korea’s Financial Security Institute has told the world that North Korea is behind some of the most vicious cyber scandals of recent times, including attacks on online poker and gambling businesses.

In a few weeks time, I jump on a jet plane to spend the next five months in the land of the free and the home of the brave. I am excited. Well, I was, before the North Korean mini dictator, Kim Jong-un, declared that his nukes could blow the crap out of the US.

In preparation, I listened to Sam Harris interview the Black Hawk Down author, Mark Bowden, about the options available to the world now we have a complete fruitcake in possession of a planet killer.

I learned how the US could lose millions of lives in a strike.