Monthly Archives: August 2017

VIP sector to fuel Macau gambling rebound: Morgan Stanley

The VIP sector will be Macau’s silver lining after Typhoon Hato’s onslaught.

Economists at Morgan Stanley Research are predicting a sharp rebound in Macau’s gross gaming revenue this week thanks to the VIP sector’s firepower.

Typhoon Hato pummeled its way to mainland China last week, causing a massive disruption in Macau’s lucrative casino industry. Hato’s fury sent tourists and gamblers scurrying away from the former Portuguese enclave.

With mass players expected to give Macau a wide berth for the time being, analysts Praveen Choudhary and Alex Poon suggested that Macau will temporarily rely on the VIP sector to help China’s special administrative region get back on its feet.

Robust gaming powers Macau Q2 GDP

Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 11.5 percent in the second quarter on the back of a robust gambling business in the former Portuguese enclave.

Data released by Macau Statistics and Census showed that Macau’s GDP during April to June 2017 period was at MOP95.06 billion (US$11.78 billion), the fourth consecutive quarter of growth. The data, which was released last week, was also higher compared to the previous quarter.

Macau attributed the GDP expansion to the increases in exports of services and private consumption. Exports of services grew by 18.8 percent year-on-year, thanks to exports of gaming services and other tourism services.

Both sectors grew by 19 percent and 22.1 percent, respectively, according to the statistics bureau.

Win Systems look to Central America and the Caribbean with latest hire

Malta, Monday 28th August 2017 – Win Systems, a leading technology and gaming supplier, has boosted its sales team with the appointment of Manuel Wladdimiro.

Wladdimiro, who has been named as Sales Manager for Central America and the Caribbean (Gaming Division), joins from WMS, now a part of Scientific Games, where he spent four years as the Sales Manager for the same region.

Previously, he held various roles within the US telecoms industry, including eight years as Director of Sales and Marketing at Telecom Networks.

Wladdimiro will be responsible for expanding Win Systems’ commercial footprint within the region, where it is making a concerted push to target new casino operators, as well as developing existing partnerships.

Japanese bitcoin exchange bitFlyer sets foot on US soil

bitFlyer, Japan’s largest bitcoin exchange by trading volume, is preparing to enter the U.S. market.

The Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange announced that it has opened an office in the financial district of San Francisco, and is eyeing to start its U.S. operations by the fall of 2017. bitFlyer said it has already been approved to operate in 34 states.

Founded in 2014, bitFlyer raised an estimated $27 million in a Series C funding round last year. The start-up said it has facilitated over $40 billion in bitcoin trades, $30 billion of which came in 2017 year-to-date alone.

“While bitFlyer, Inc. is headquartered in Japan, my vision was always to create a global company, and I am excited that the US will be its first step toward global expansion,” bitFlyer CEO Yuzo Kano said in a statement. “Bitcoin is a global currency, now our exchange will be global too.”

Pragmatic Play takes flight with Pixie Wings slot game

Malta, 29th August 2017 – Multi-award winning slot developer Pragmatic Play is taking players on a mystical journey with the release of Pixie Wings, the latest addition to its expansive portfolio of games.

The character-driven 4×5 video slot features larger-than-life royalty racing to rule a fantastical kingdom, with a King, Queen, Prince and Princess going head-to-head, grouped in super-long stacks.

The game’s regal cast is brought to life when the four reels combine, with smaller symbols transformed into dazzling, full-height animations.

Well-paced pay-outs encourage longer play sessions, and players can identify with the game’s colourful characters even further through a set of unique bonus features.

Product Profile – Qorex

In this interview with CalvinAyre.com’s Stephanie Raquel, Gerard Knowler of TCSJOHNHUXLEY explains what makes Qorex one of the products to watch out for in 2017.

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Sail away with Habanero’s Scruffy Scallywags

Bottles of rum lead the way to bountiful booty

29th August 2017 – Premium slots and table games provider Habanero is giving slots lovers a shot at success on the seven seas with its new release Scruffy Scallywags.

The 5×3, 25-line slot follows the nautical adventures of a group of pirates on the trail of the legendary Kraken, with bottles of rum leading the way to bountiful bounty.

Once spotted, the terrifying yet generous sea monster awards extra wilds on reels. The non-stop action continues with compasses seen regularly along the journey, awarding multipliers, cash prizes, and re-spins.

Mayweather-McGregor records not a Las Vegas buy signal

If the Mayweather vs. McGregor fight proved anything, it’s not that Las Vegas gaming stocks about to pop higher. It only proved that boxing is more of a sport than a UFC submission fight or other martial art. In martial arts you get your opponent on the floor by (almost) any means necessary. Boxing, on the other hand, is a more level test of balance, quickness, strength and endurance. As maddeningly arrogant as Floyd Mayweather is, an arrogance that now will never again be challenged in the boxing ring, at least he proved to the world that boxing is, in truth, a sport.

Floyd Mayweather had said that boxing’s reputation was on the line and he was right. Had he lost, it would have tarnished boxing’s legacy for a long time, perhaps permanently. On the one hand, many of us wanted to see him fall. On the other hand, it was probably best that he won. While Mayweather-Pacquiao was akin to Balboa-Creed, Mayweather-McGregor was more like the Rocky III exhibition stunt between Rocky and Hulk Hogan’s character Thunderlips.

Now, what do the once again record revenues tell us about the Las Vegas economy, the business cycle, and near-term investment options? The same thing that MGM’s latest 10Q tells us. There is a record amount of money available at the consumer level that is being spent more easily, while at the same time we look to be on the verge of a sharp downturn at the capital goods level.

Volumes at MGM have stagnated this last quarter, which is to be expected given that we are at a trough in dollar supply growth. This week will probably end up being the bottom for money supply expansion for the year, which means now is the most dangerous time of year to buy stocks.

German market update with Dr. Joerg Hofmann and Austrian market update with Helmut Kafka announced for CEEGC2017

August 2017, Budapest: With one of the most successful boutique C-level gaming conference coming up this September, it comes as no surprise that its organizers (EEGEvents) have included discussions about the gambling industry in Germany and Austria.

The focus on the two countries have been in the eyes of most operators who are somehow active in these German speaking countries and would like to have a legal presence.

As the German online gambling market has the potential of turning into a highly profitable one, if regulated properly, the country has been in a legislative limbo in regard to its online gambling and betting regulations for almost five years and following the latest regulatory developments. The key question is that, is this state of oblivion and uncertainty likely to continue in the upcoming years? Especially when the elections are just around the corner in Germany and it is high likely that we might see some changes if a new Chancellor is seated in the Parliament.

It was this year, the heads of Germany’s 16 states approved a new Interstate Treaty on Gambling, one that was introduced as a refined version of a 2012 gambling law. Each individual state will now have to pass the legislative piece in order for it to come into effect on January 1, 2018.

Michael Caselli and Becky Liggero to host iGaming idol

August 2017, Malta – The organisers of iGaming idol have confirmed that the world-renown veteran of the iGaming Industry and Editor in Chief of iGaming Business, Mr. Michael Caselli, will again host iGaming iDol Awards together with Becky Liggero, the iGaming Industry reporter of CalvinAyre.com and Brand Ambassador of Bodog.com.

iGaming iDol, the first award event of its kind which recognises iGaming employees for their outstanding achievement, will be held at the Grandmasters Suite at the Hilton in Malta on the 26th of September 2017.

Michael Caselli stated, “I am delighted to host yet another edition of an awards event that recognises the actual people that make the industry tick.  As a stakeholder of the Industry this kind of initiative lies very close within my beliefs and therefore when I was asked to host for the second year it was a real no-brainer”

The categories of the 2017 edition have been revamped to include more specific roles within the gaming operations whilst for the first year the event will honour the “Employer of the Year”.  An anonymous survey will be distributed throughout several organisations where employees will rate their own satisfaction within the workplace.  This task has been commissioned to Business Leaders Malta and has been an outright success.

3 million pirates rob Mayweather and McGregor of more pieces of eight

Close to three million people watched Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor, via illegal live streams, preventing the two paupers from adding to their $130m combined purse.

The world believes millennials feel entitled to free digital content, but I’m 42-years-old and feel the same.

Ok, as a young whippersnapper searching for my Dad’s porn stash, the Internet was a little Arthur C. Clarke, but I did watch the number of  TV channels rise from three to over 30, including the creation of pay-per-view (PPV) TV.

Back in those days, I was a Sky TV customer, and remember paying to watch a Madonna concert, and several WWE events, but each time I did it with a grimace on my face like I had just sprayed my mouth with pesticides.

A suicide every 40-seconds: partypoker is doing something about it

The online poker giant partypoker is partnering with a collection of Ireland’s finest to improve the lives of the homeless and those suffering from suicidal impulse.

Last week was a tumultuous one.

I crossed the Atlantic with a 10-month-old baby vying for my undivided attention, I have assimilated into the Korean culture as best this English council estate kid can, and three people have told they want to kill themselves.

For most of us, like uranium atoms, the thought of suicide never enters our head. It’s not that life is precious, or any of that clichèd crap, it’s that death is, well, death is pretty fucking final.

Kindred take Initiative over media planning; winning Betts in Nottingham

The Kindred Group announce the preferred bidder for their media planning and buying account, and the results are in from the Unibet UK Tour stop in Nottingham.

Three times already today, people in Starbucks have said, “Downton Abbey” when I tell them I am from the UK.

Perhaps, it’s the 100 degrees LA heat?

I think I would rather be a woolly mammoth surrounded by stone tipped spears held in the hands of Sapiens who have eaten nothing but dried mammoth shit for a week than watch Downton Abbey, but Initiative once made them trendy.

Tony G is advising a bank named after a mushroom

Member of European Parliament, and part-time kick ass poker player, Tony G, is on the board of advisors for a new bank specialising in cryptocurrency.

I need a new bank.

I’ve been a member of Barclays Bank since I was 14-years-old. My son lost his debit card, and I wanted them to issue a new one but they wouldn’t. I had to go to the bank to make it so.

I told the customer service representative that if she didn’t send me a new card, I would leave, and break the Davy/Barclays Bank lineage forever. I thought that was a powerful move. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I bet she didn’t blink.

By the numbers: Ben Askren

American stalwart Ben Askren needed less than four years to conquer ONE Championship and become the biggest star in the constantly-growing world of martial arts.

Known by the moniker “Funky,” Askren made an impact in his first two assignments in ONE Championship, submitting Bakhtiyar Abbasov with an arm-triangle choke in his May 2014 promotional debut before thwarting Nobutatsu Suzuki in the first round to claim the organization’s coveted welterweight crown three months later.

Askren is coming off a spectacular first-round submission triumph over Malaysia’s Agilan “The Alligator” Thani this past May, keeping his immaculate record intact and the ONE Welterweight World Championship belt around his waist

As he has morphed into a fully formed combat sports superstar, Askren has compiled his share of intriguing statistical data.

Primorye gaming zone land auction faces delay

The corporation overseeing development of Russia’s far east Primorye gaming zone has postponed an auction of casino land plots, reportedly at the request of potential investors.

Late last week, the state-owned Development Corporation of the Primorsky Territory announced that the August 28 deadline for receiving applications for the auction of gaming zone subleases had been pushed back to September 28. The auction is now scheduled for September 29, although the Corporation reserved the right to reschedule again provided it gives three days’ notice.

The Corporation claimed that the delay had been requested by potential investors so that they might get their paperwork in order. The Corporation further claimed to have received interest from investors from Russia, China, South Korea, and “several European countries.”

The three plots of land up for auction range from 7.9 hectares (17.2 acres) to 19.7 hectares. Companies interested in setting up casino operations are required to invest a minimum of $120m for the smallest plot and at least $300m for the largest, with the allotments of gaming tables and slot machines mirroring the size of the plots.

Miami Slot seating approves TCSJohnHuxley as International Distributor

Miami Slot Seating has teamed with TCSJohnHuxley to represent their Gold Crown Seating Brand of premium casino seating for the US and international markets. TCSJohnHuxley has offices in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, and Macau.

TCSJohnHuxley will display our seating at the G2E Global Gaming Expo on October 3-5, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada ,Booth #4439

“We are very pleased to have such a prominent company like TCSJohnHuxley represent our seating brand to all casinos around the world and we look forward to working together” said Aldo Andreu Sr., President/CEO of Miami Slot Seating.

www.MiamiSlotSeating.com