Monthly Archives: July 2017

He’s coming back! Microgaming signs licensing deal for horror classic Halloween

ISLE OF MAN – Microgaming has signed a licensing agreement to develop an online slot based on the classic horror movie, Halloween®.

The 1978 American independent slasher film was directed and scored by John Carpenter, co-written with producer Debra Hill, and starred Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut. The film centres on the character Michael Myers, who on Halloween night in 1963 at the age of six, murdered his sister. 15 years later, he returns to the fictional midwestern town of Haddonfield, Illinois to continue his killing spree.

Halloween was produced on a small budget of $300,000 and to date has grossed $47 million at the box office in the United States, and $23 million internationally, making a total of $70 million worldwide. It was the first instalment in what has become the Halloween franchise, with 10 films in total released to date.

The film (nearly 40 years later) continues to be a firm favourite with viewers and critics. In 2006 the movie was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. It also features in many movie polls, including being named in 2010 as one of The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time (Total Film).

Sky Racing World adds fourth track to Saturday night offerings

Extra meet comes in response to growing Australian Racing fanbase in North America

Louisville, KY. July 2017 – Sky Racing World, the Louisville, Kentucky-based distributor of international horse-racing content and subsidiary of Australian wagering operator Tabcorp, has increased its Saturday night offering from three Australian Racing meets to four for North American fans.

Saturday, July 15th will mark the first week of fourth track availability and comes in response to the growing popularity of Sky Racing World’s Australian Thoroughbred Racing product in the North American market. The fourth meet will have a tote track code of AUD.

While this newest offer will provide heightened levels of fun and excitement for loyal horse-racing fans on Saturday nights, Sky Racing World also has ambitious plans for the months ahead. With Australia’s high-stakes Spring meetings rapidly approaching, Sky Racing World is exploring the potential of expanding to daily offerings to help celebrate the action. The Spring meetings, which run from September through November, will feature an array of exciting events, including the Cox Plate, Victoria Derby, and the race that stops a nation, the 2017 Emirates Melbourne Cup.

Elastic Media launches ‘EVE’, the first ever gameplay video ‘Clipbot’

LONDON, July 2017 — Elastic Media, a leading media-tech company using cognitive real-time video editing and streaming technology, announced today the immediate availability of EVE, a game-changing ‘VOD-clipping’ bot that allows videogame streamers, the latest generation of influencers, to produce useable content from assets that were previously less accessible.

The clipbot, named, ‘EVE’ (Elastic Video Engine) uses Artificial intelligence (AI) and proprietary deep-learning technology to automatically detect single games within complete gameplay video VODs. It is not unusual for these video assets to be over 8 hours long. EVE then splits these into intuitive segments and creates video clips that can be monetized, distributed to viewers and help players to build their brand on social media.

“We’re extremely pleased to launch EVE and excited to see where this technology will take us,” said Ronen Shoval, CEO and Founder of Elastic Media. “Competitive gaming really does have its sights set on the stars at the moment, and continues to grow at an exponential rate year-on-year. At Elastic Media, we feel it’s important that those within the gaming community have the best tools available to find, create and enjoy their favorite content.”

EVE also automatically tracks metadata, taking it directly from the video file – intuitively tracking statistics across a range of areas such as win/loss percentages, and how often particular ‘heroes’ are picked across a range of games. With EVE, streamers, content creators and competitive gamers can readily collect and analyze data about the games they play, subsequently using it to improve their play or create data-related analytical content for their viewers/followers.

GameCo secures license agreement with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. to adapt SOULCALIBUR II game for its skill-based Video game Gambling Machines (VGM)

GameCo to bring one of the most popular fighting games of all time to casinos around the world

LAS VEGAS, July 2017 — GameCo, Inc., creator of the world’s first Video Game Gambling Machine (VGM™), announced today the company has entered into a license agreement with BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc., pursuant to which the companies will jointly develop a skill-based gambling video game based on one of the world’s most popular fighting games, “SOULCALIBUR™ II”. Ranked by Complex Magazine as one of the best fighting games of all time, “SOULCALIBUR™ II” is the third installment in the popular video game series of weapon-based fighting games that originally debuted in 1995. GameCo’s SOULCALIBUR™ skill-based video game gambling machine is expected to debut in casinos in late 2017.

The “SOULCALIBUR™ (tentative name) VGM” will feature a faster-paced take on the classic 3D fighting experience of the popular SOULCALIBUR™ series, while maintaining the same feel and core gameplay elements of the franchise that veteran gamers will appreciate. The game, which will take approximately 45 to 60 seconds to play, is being designed with game play features that will be entertaining and familiar to existing fans of the series, while also being easy for casual players to grasp and enjoy.

In accordance with this license agreement, BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. will leverage their original engineering, production, and creative teams to adapt the game to GameCo’s innovative VGM. GameCo will hone the gameplay for a shorter form session and optimize it for a casino gaming entertainment experience. This marks the first time that a AAA fighting video game will be adapted for skill-based gaming at land-based casinos. The popular SOULCALIBUR™ fighting game experience from video game consoles and arcades will now be available at casinos worldwide.

Genting sells out of The Star; is Crown buying in?

Malaysian casino operator Genting has sold its stake in Australian casino operator The Star Entertainment Group, as rumors swirl that The Star is prepping some kind of union with local rival Crown Resorts.

On Thursday, the Australian Financial Review reported that Genting had sold its 5.62% stake in The Star, netting a reported A$233m (US $180m) in the process. Later that day, the Australian reported that local investment group Perpetual Ltd, which already holds a 12% stake in The Star, had teamed with two other unidentified investors to acquire Genting’s former stake.

Genting’s selloff ends a long and occasionally puzzling investment history that began in 2012 when two Genting subsidiaries acquired 9.7% of The Star (then known as Echo Entertainment). Genting repeatedly flirted with boosting its stake as high as 25% but receiving regulatory approval took years, during which time Genting’s interest apparently waned.

The AFR suggested that Crown may have been among the entities that snapped up Genting’s stake in The Star. Crown once held close to 10% of Echo but sold out in 2013 after it became clear that Crown would win the right to build its own casino in Sydney, which is home to The Star’s eponymous flagship casino.

Realistic Games content goes live on Videoslots

July 2017 – Slots from award-winning supplier Realistic Games have now gone live with leading online casino Videoslots.

The partnership sees the operator strengthen its vast array of premium online gaming content with Realistic’s market-leading titles, including Super Graphics Upside Down, 6 Appeal, Fireworks, and 8th Wonder as well as their most recent releases, Big Wheel and Time is Money.

Videoslots will integrate the British supplier’s games over the coming months, via NYX Gaming Group’s OGS distribution platform.

Daniel Hansen, Head of Games at Videoslots.com, said: “Videoslots’s aim is to offer our players the largest collection of quality slots, and going live with Realistic Games is another big step for us.”

Pokerstars casino becomes Italian market leader

PokerStars Casino takes Italian top spot in just over two years

ONCHAN, Isle of Man – July 2017 – PokerStars Casino, an Amaya Inc. (Nasdaq: AYA; TSX: AYA) brand, has become the market leader among online casinos in Italy after just two years in the market. PokerStars Casino, which launched in April 2015 and is the sister brand of PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, topped the June casino GGR charts with 8.85% of the Italian online casino market share to take the top spot from longstanding leader Lottomatica, as reported by Amministrazione Autonoma dei Monopoli di Stato (AAMS).

Bo Wänghammar, Managing Director of PokerStars Casino, said: “These results show that we are continuously growing and are on track to becoming Italy’s favourite i-gaming destination. However, we don’t just want to match the best casinos out there, we want to surpass them. We plan to continue improving our casino offering including by expanding our selection of top games, enhancing our VIP program, expanding customer acquisition efforts, and introducing an improved mobile casino app.”

Stars Rewards, which launched in Italy on June 1, provides an exciting loyalty scheme that gives PokerStars Casino players personalised rewards based around the games that they play across all Stars brands. Stars Rewards avoids complex contribution percentages and instead uses progress bars and boosts that make every game count for all players, not just high volume players.

Calling the Clock: WSOP in China deal; Stars save PKR players, and more

In this week’s poker news round-up the World Series of Poker agree a ten-year deal with Tencent Holdings to grow the game in Asia; PokerStars buy the $2m lying in PKR accounts and decide to give it back to PKR players, and much more.

The biggest news story has to be the World Series of Poker’s (WSOP) signing a 10-year partnership deal with the Chinese investment holdings company Tencent.

To pinch the grey matter of Alex Dreyfus, Tencent is the owners of League of Legends and Supercell, they are the largest shareholder of Activision, owner of WeChat, and of course, the 100 million registered accounts that play on Tencent Poker.

So what does this mean?

WSOP Main Event day 2c review: Ferguson, Negreanu, and Kassouf all fall

A round-up of the final flight of Day 2 of the World Series of Poker Main Event including exits for Chris Ferguson, Daniel Negreanu, and William Kassouf.

Day 2c of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event finished similarly to Day 2b, after a British player, competing in the event for the first time, finished on top of the chip counts.

When it comes to grand names in poker, Artan Dedusha, is more of a pocket knife than a full blown machete, but he managed to cut through the thick foliage of Day 2c to clamber to the spot with the best view.

Dedusha comes into the Main Event in fine form after winning a Grosvenor 25/25 Series event in London for £25,421. It’s not the kind of money he is hoping to bank in the Main Event, but it’s the heat that’s the most important thing.

Poker routines episode #6: Sam Razavi

Welcome to another installment of Poker Routines, the series that uncovers the routines and habits of the world’s greatest poker players, featuring Sam Razavi. 

Sam Razavi is an actor, a comedian (I made that one up, but he is funny), and a professional poker player.

He made his name working through the ranks at the now defunct Blackbelt Poker, before moving to Asia, where he has won more Asian Poker Tour (APT) Player of the Year titles than Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Triple H have won wrestling titles.

Razavi has won $1.7m in live tournaments and recently appeared in India’s Poker Sport’s League where he represented the Hyderabad Kings.

Lotteries no longer guaranteed cash cows for US states

Lotteries are no longer guaranteed cash cows for US state governments, probably because they’re so damn boring.

On Thursday, the Pew Charitable Trusts published data showing that fully half of the 44 states that allow lotteries saw lottery revenue fall between 2014 and 2015. The phenomenon isn’t entirely new, as 21 states reported lottery sales declines between 2013 and 2014.

Lottery participation by US citizens has been steadily decreasing since 1999, when a Gallup poll found that 57% of respondents had purchased a lottery ticket in the past 12 months. That figure fell to 49% in 2016, and keep in mind that there were only 37 lottery states in 1999.

The decline in lottery sales is being blamed on an unholy trinity of ‘jackpot fatigue’ – players opting not to play unless the top prize on offer gets up into the mid-nine-figures or higher – plus increased competition from rival gaming options like casinos and the general disinterest in lotteries shown by the so-called millennial generation.

DraftKings, FanDuel daily fantasy sports merger officially toast

The proposed merger of daily fantasy sports giants DraftKings and FanDuel was officially pronounced dead on Thursday by the CEOs of both companies.

Early Thursday afternoon, FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles issued a statement saying he believed it was “in the best interest of our shareholders, customers, employees and partners to terminate the merger agreement and move forward as an independent company.”

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins simultaneously issued a similar statement, saying the merger’s demise would allow his company to “singularly focus on our mission of providing the most innovative, and engaging interactive sports experience imaginable.”

The statements came just two days after Eccles expressed doubts about the merger going forward in the wake of efforts by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to block the union due to concerns over decreased competition in the US DFS market.