Monthly Archives: March 2019

Okada Manila keeps on rolling with big GGR growth

Okada Manila is continuing its story of explosive growth. Universal Entertainment Corp, the operator behind the Manila casino, has released their February gross gaming revenue numbers, and they look fantastic.

The resort brought in PHP2.38 billion ($45.2 million) in February 2019. That’s up 73% when compared year over year. It also means the casino brought in PHP6.22 billion ($120 million) for 2019 so far, better than doubling their numbers for the same period in 2018.

It unfortunately represents a decline month over month, which the operator said “was primarily due to the Chinese New Year holidays, particularly impacting VIP table games.” They had the same dip in 2018, so it appears Chinese VIPs prefer to play closer to home during their holiday season.

VIP GGR continues to show healthy increases, which is great news for the operator as it makes up a healthy share of revenue. The company brought in PHP969 million ($18.4 million) from high rollers in February, compared to PHP393 million ($7.5 million) last year.

Connecticut sports gambling bill faces vocal opposition in committee

Last we checked, Connecticut had a new sports gambling bill to consider, and it was expected to sail through committee with very little resistance. Now that it has been brought up for discussion in the Committee on Public Safety and Security, it’s met quite a lot of resistance, and its future is in doubt.

SportsHandle reports the committee met for seven hours on March 13, and discussed House Bill 7331, which would legalize mobile sports betting in Connecticut. Representatives from the state lottery, the NBA, operators, local tribes, and addiction groups all showed up to share their piece of mind with lawmakers.

Lawmakers came prepared for a fight.

Republican Representative Craig Fishbein grilled Rich Pingel, chief legal officer for Sportech, an operator in the state for off-track betting. He asked, “Off-shore gambling of this ilk is going on in this state. Certainly you wouldn’t sit here today and say that that will go away?”

Skrill becomes proud partner of Alessandro Del Piero’s LA10 Football Club

Digital wallet provider unveiled as front-of-jersey sponsor for Italian soccer legend and FIFA World Cup champion’s new Los Angeles team 

London, UK. March 14th, 2019 – Skrill Ltd., a leading digital wallet provider and part of Paysafe Group, has announced a high-profile sponsorship deal with the Los Angeles-based LA10 Football Club. The club, which was launched last September and has the backing of Alessandro Del Piero, reflects the former Juventus F.C. captain’s ongoing commitment to the game.

For Skrill, the sponsorship deal supports its ongoing strategy to heighten its profile and increase usage of its wallet globally. As the new front-of-jersey sponsor for LA10 FC, Skrill will take a front-row position on and off the pitch with the team, which was unbeaten in the fall soccer season. Under the partnership, LA10 and Skrill have collaborated to design a striking new team jersey prominently featuring the Skrill logo as well as a limited edition Del Piero shirt.

Skrill will also benefit from the legendary international status of LA10 owner Del Piero, who has had a promotional relationship with the UK-headquartered digital wallet provider since May 2018. A FIFA World Cup champion and the captain of Juventus F.C. during 11 seasons (2001-2012), Del Piero remains the all-time top scorer (290 goals) for the famous Turin club.

UK regulator says BetBright bet-voiding the least “best option”

The UK’s gambling regulator says it didn’t err by allowing online betting operator BetBright to void all pending wagers following the operator’s acquisition by rival 888 Holdings.

On Wednesday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) issued a statement defending the stance it took in permitting BetBright to cease trading and void all outstanding wagers earlier this month. The operator delivered the bad news to its roughly 35k customers just 24 hours after 888 announced its £15m deal for Dedsert Ltd, which controls BetBright’s sports betting technology platform.

BetBright’s customers reacted angrily to the news that their pending wagers would be cancelled and their stakes returned to them, coming as it did just one week before the commencement of the annual Cheltenham Festival.

BetBright’s official FAQ on the issue said it was voiding “all single bets due to settle after 5 March at 23:59pm,” while unsettled accumulator/parlay bets with a winning leg or legs would be settled as winning wagers “with the remaining unsettled legs voided.”

“Very large” int’l bookmaker to launch Russia-licensed site in April

A major Western online sports betting operator is preparing to launch a Russian-licensed site in April, according to those in the know.

On Wednesday, Sport24.ru quoted Paruyr Shahbazyan, head of Russian online betting affiliate Bookmaker Ratings, saying his little birds had told him that “a very large international bookmaker will start working in Russia” next month.

At present, Russia has issued 16 online betting licenses but only one of these has gone to a Western betting brand. Bwin.ru, the Russian-licensed site of GVC Holdings’ Bwin brand, launched in November 2017 via a joint venture with local companies Digital Betting LLC and Rambler & Co.

Shahbazyan played coy with the identity of the operator he expects to launch in April, saying only that the company will also enlist the help of a local partner. Shahbazyan further claimed that two additional Western betting brands would launch Russian-licensed operations before the year was through.

WPT Gardens Poker Championships: Stepuchin beats Shorr to take the title

The second of three World Poker Tour Main Event Final Tables is in the books after Frank Stepuchin beats Shannon Shorr, heads-up, to win the WPT Garden Poker Championships.

When the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced plans to shift most of their North American Main Event Final Tables to the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas poker’s terrible twitter tirade began.

Some called the new arena a ‘tomb.’

[Image credit: World Poker Tour]

888Live Bucharest: Neagoe wins the Main Event; Jakslund takes the High Roller

888Live Bucharest draws to a conclusion with Darius Neagoe taking down the €888 buy-in Main Event, and Peter Jakslund winning the High Roller.

The live tournament scene has never been hotter. The best in the business have just finished a week of intense action at the Triton Poker Series in Jeju. The World Poker Tour (WPT) is broadcasting three final tables from the heart of Las Vegas. The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) is about to hit the slopes in Sochi. And Phil Hellmuth Jr has booked into his suite in preparation for partypoker MILLIONS South America.

So what’s 888Poker been up to?

The online poker room spent 4 – 10 March in the Intercontinental Hotel in Bucharest for 888Live Bucharest, and it’s been another stunning success for the Live team.

WPT Thunder Valley: Erkut Yilmaz wins title #2; takes Player of the Year lead

Erkut Yilmaz is the new favourite to win the Season XVII World Poker Tour Player of the Year race after taking down his second title of the season with the victory in WPT Thunder Valley.

Erkut Yilmaz has beaten 280-entrants to win the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event at the Thunder Valley Casino Resort, Lincoln, California.

[Image credit: World Poker Tour]

It’s a second Season XVII title for Yilmaz after beating 1,075-entrants to take the $575,112 first prize in the $3m Guaranteed $3,500 buy-in WPT Borgata Poker Open back in September.

iGaming Idol 2019 soars to the next level with iGaming NEXT

For iGaming Idol, 2018 was a year of positive change. The third edition culminated in a sold-out sensational gala night on the 26th of September, at the InterContinental Arena Conference Centre in St Julian’s, with a fantastic €20K raised for the Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation during the same evening. But now, iGaming Idol organisers have launched two new and exciting projects; iGaming NEXT and iGaming Invitational, signalling quite an eventful and busy year ahead for iGaming Idol.

iGaming NEXT: Above and beyond an iGaming Conference

iGaming NEXT is an exclusive concept where the ideas, products and technologies for the future will be revealed. Happening on the 10th of September 2019, at the InterContinental Arena Conference Centre, iGaming NEXT is the go-to, one day, one venue event for the industry’s key decision makers. Bringing together some 700 delegates, iGaming NEXT will present six of the largest, tier-1 iGaming suppliers, who will take to the stage in 20-minute slots. We are excited to have already confirmed NetEnt, Quickspin and Evolution Gaming as partners, who will be presenting at iGaming NEXT. To add to the significance of the event, tech giant Google has also been confirmed as a partner and keynote at the event, not to mention iGaming Business and Calvin Ayre as media partners.

Michael Pedersen, CEO of iGaming Idol comments: “One of the key benefits of iGaming NEXT is that it’s a one-stop-shop for iGaming suppliers, operators and media and will be a tremendous time saver for everyone, as everything is packed into one solid day. Imagine Apple’s yearly reveal event, combined with the presentation quality and attention of a TED conference.”

Genesis Affiliates the latest exhibitor to sign up for AffiliateCon Sofia 2019

Leading brand Genesis Affiliates has been confirmed as an exhibitor for AffiliateCon Sofia 2019.

The affiliate strives to offer customers lifetime value and will be present in Sofia on 15-16 May, showcasing its services at one of the premier gaming events of the year.

Genesis Affiliates was recently granted a Swedish license and already boasts a long list of casino brands as its partners.

In adding its name to the line-up of reputable attendees, Genesis Affiliates joins the likes of Kindred Group, Lapalingo and 7StarsPartners, as the AffiliateCon Sofia floor plan begins to take shape.