UK bookmaker William Hill’s year-to-date performance has been beaten badly by COVID-19, with revenue down more than one-quarter through the first four months.

In a trading update covering the 17-week period ending April 28, Hills reported overall revenue falling 27%. Hills’ home market led the decline, with UK online operations falling 11% and retail down 35%.

The retail comparison is on a like-for-like basis, excluding the hundreds of shops Hills decided to close following last April’s reduction in fixed-odds betting terminal (FOBT) stakes but including the shops it was forced to close in March due to the pandemic lockdown. On that like-for-like basis, retail gaming revenue slid 47% while the pandemic-related suspension of major sports pushed retail betting turnover down 29%.

UK online revenue didn’t fare that much better, rising 7% in the period through March 10 then falling by one-third. There was “some substitution from sports betting into gaming” but clearly not much, as overall online gaming revenue was up only 6% in the ‘coronavirus-impacted’ period and ‘online international’ gaming enjoyed “strong growth” – partly due to the Mr Green brand launching in Spain – suggesting that UK online gaming was just along for the ride.

While the coronavirus has brought an unexpected halt to sports activity, sports gamblers suddenly found themselves without many outlets for relief. To fill the void and keep the bettors happy, table tennis, or ping pong, came in to save the day. It has seen a lot of movement by sportsbooks, and a new ping pong tournament has begun – with a twist. A favorite among college-goers across the U.S., beer pong is a well-known sport to many, and all those long nights throwing a ping pong ball into plastic cups may soon pay off for a few lucky ladies. CamSoda, an adult webcam site, has put together a beer pong tournament, and sports gambling fans can get in on the action.

CamSoda’s beer pong tourney pits eight women competing to be known as the best naked beer pong player around. It started yesterday on CamSoda’s site at 6:30 PM Eastern Standard Time with the first round of the competition. The contestants are honing their skills as they bounce the little white plastic ball for a score in one of the six cups. Of course, the balls aren’t the only thing bouncing.

The competition certainly brings a whole new meeting to “exotic wagers.” CamSoda explains that eight of the “hottest names” in the adult entertainment industry are going up against each other in the “Two Girls, 12 Cups” challenge, including adult actresses Olivia Austin, Jayden Cole, Dani Daniels, Sophie Dee, Cherie Deville, Katana Kombat, Alix Lynx and Kelsi Monroe. Sports radio hot and gambling analyst Lisa Ann is providing coverage, and the lines are being supplied by Bovada.

CamSoda VP Daryn Parker explained of the event, “With the quarantine in effect — which we fully support — people are losing their minds with boredom. To provide a new level of entertainment, we’ve decided to leverage our network of beautiful adult stars and cutting-edge technology to deliver a unique experience. And, thanks to a collaboration with Bovada, we’re marrying adult entertainment and sport betting like never before. People will be able to bet on who will win certain matchups and who will win the tournament, for a chance to win money. The tournament is sure to be doozy!”

There’s no better time to stop and learn some new lessons than when you have nothing else going on in your life, and with not much going on in the American casino industry right now, it feels like the perfect time for the gambling industry to do just that. Day 4 of the ICE North America Digital conference was all about training, with three talks on how the industry can learn and improve.

The first session was on Responsible Gaming (RG), delivered by Sydney Smith, Founder of the RISE Center for Recovery. She spoke about the need for RG to ensure the safety and pleasure of customers, while also protecting the assets of the casino.

She began by noting that RG requirements are set by each state with regulated gambling, and operators should be familiar with what is expected of them. If they somehow don’t have strong frameworks already in place, the American Gaming Association (AGA) has one to follow, but National Council on Problem Gaming, Center for Responsible Gambling and Indian Gaming Regulatory Act also great examples to follow.

So what are some of the basics that can be implemented? Employee Training first and foremost, but casinos can also start public awareness efforts, implement self-exclusion programs, fund treatment and research programs, install property signage, and set limits on financial instruments.

It’s been just a little less than a month since DraftKings started trading publicly on the NASDAQ exchange and, despite the downturn in the gaming world as a result of the coronavirus, the sports gambling company has received a positive response to its initial public offering (IPO). It already has support from billionaire investor George Soros and several professional sports team owners, and has now picked up props from financial analysts. Many investors have already enjoyed a return of around 40% on their purchases, and things are expected to only get better from here.

Joseph Stauph, an analyst with Susquehanna Financial, gives DraftKings a “positive” rating, even before the company releases its first-ever public financial health report, which is scheduled to take place today. He gives the stock a target price of $33, which represents an upside of more than 20% from the stock’s current price of $25.31 (in after-hours trading. It closed at $25.25 yesterday). Stauph calls the company the “market leader in the US” and sees nothing but good things coming down the pipe as the world begins to recover from the coronavirus pandemic that forced the sports industry to a grinding halt.

Thomas Allen of Morgan Stanley sees great things coming, as well. He has called DraftKings “almost a pure play,” justifying his position by predicting a change in the sports gambling landscape across the US. There are currently 18 states with legalized sports gambling (with others close to launching their own markets), and the nationwide industry could grow from $2 billion to $12 billion within five years. When Morgan Stanley initiated coverage last month, it forecast a $23 price target and gave DraftKings an “overweight” rating, but things are definitely changing.

Across the US, states are now finding themselves in a situation that bears a striking resemblance to a major recession, even if no one is willing to step up and draw comparisons to the Great Depression. As the world begins to emerge from the COVID-19-forced lockdown, states are going to look for new sources of revenue wherever they can find it, and sports gambling is one of the most likely targets. State-level legislative efforts will most likely ramp up and, possibly within two years, the vast majority of states in the country will have legal sportsbooks – there might even be a push on the national level.

Two casino operators hoping to claim victory and develop an integrated resort (IR) in the Wakayama prefecture in Japan are one step closer to the final battle to decide a winner. The prefecture has initiated a request-for-proposal (RFP) project for those companies interested in bringing large-scale gambling to the region and, after spending the past couple of weeks reviewing the applications to participate in the scheme, the local government has settled on two companies. Suncity Group Ltd., through its Suncity Group Holdings Japan Co. Ltd. subsidiary, and Clairvest Neem Ventures will now advance to the next round.

Next up, both companies will have to woo and impress local government officials with their project designs. They will need to make sure nothing is left to chance as they prepare to present their proposals by Wakayama’s deadline of August 31, or they risk being disqualified on a technicality. Once they receive the proposals and go over the details with a fine-tooth comb, the officials will select a partner and then submit their final IR proposal to Japan’s national government. That portion of the overall process is expected to be completed by the middle of November.

There is still no guarantee that Wakayama will be chosen as a target for an IR in Japan. Initially, the casino plan approved by the country’s lawmakers two years ago call for three casino resorts to be built, and Wakayama is just one of the contenders. Osaka, Yokohama and Nagasaki are also in the race; however, they are currently spending more time combatting the coronavirus and have decided to put their IR projects on the back burner temporarily. Nagasaki may be the next to get back into the race, though, as it, as well as Wakayama, is no longer included in a list of prefectures that saw emergency measures ordered by the government as a result of COVID-19.

As the IR picture in Japan continues to be drawn, there is no shortage of movement. A surprise move this week found Las Vegas Sands (LVS) dropping out of the race, despite the casino operator having been seen as one of the strongest contenders. It chose to concentrate its efforts elsewhere and, given its recent assertion that mergers and acquisitions are near the top of the list of actionable items, it may already be working on a major deal.

A Las Vegas casino has let its employees – former employees, actually – know exactly the level of respect it had for them. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t much. As the coronavirus pandemic has forced governments across the globe to issue stay-at-home orders, casinos, in particular, have been hurt extremely hard. However, this doesn’t mean that they need to be any less professional or unethical with the people who have kept the operations running. Apparently, Rampart Casino, located at Marriott-branded The Resort in Summerlin missed that memo, and used a pre-recorded message to tell its employees that they were fired. It didn’t even have the common decency to handle the sensitive subject on a more personal level.

Apparently, employees were surprised to receive a phone call this week from the casino and, when they picked up the receiver, they heard VP and GM Michelle Bacigalupi’s voice on the other end. However, instead of a live person, they could only listen as a recorded message stated, “We’ve made the very difficult decision to terminate your employment. We’ve tried to retain our entire team. However, with the continued uncertainties, we are no longer able to do so.” The employees are officially no longer part of the Rampart workforce as of today; however, if that’s how the casino treats its people, they’re probably better off.

One employee came forward to talk about the manner in which the firings were held, staying anonymous as he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he wasn’t at all surprised by the move. He indicated that the company has used pre-recorded messages in the past, including to announce the initial coronavirus-forced layoffs and to tell employees to return their uniforms. He added, “We don’t have 80,000 employees. … This is a smaller, intimate property. [The use of voicemail] was disappointing but not surprising.”

It isn’t clear how many employees may have received the voicemail, but some will at least get a little bit of severance pay in the form of a check to be delivered in the mail. None are eligible to be immediately reassigned at the company. Bacigalupi further stated in the voicemail, “We would have liked to have given you more notice to this action but were unable to do so because of how quickly and unexpectedly our operations were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. These decisions are never made lightly, and we deeply regret the hardships it places on you and your family.” She added that some employees might be able to come back on board “when economic conditions allow,” but a company willing to fire its employees through voicemail is most certainly not on the list of the top ten employers of the year.

Sports betting has gone through radical changes over the last two months, as a near total lack of live sports has meant operators have had to rely on alternatives. XLMedia has been watching the trends in the market, and we reached out to Stuart Simms, CEO of XLMedia to learn more about them.

Surprising stars like Table Tennis and Belarussian Football have taken over the sports betting scene, and XLMedia reports a 42% increase in the amount of bets alternative sports like these have seen. “These markets were almost non-existent under ‘normal’ sports betting circumstances,” Simms said. “Due to the lack of betting options, some bettors are looking for other areas to bet on. Two specific niches have remained unscathed, and that is eSports – which can be played from the home in isolation – and computer-generated virtual sports.”

While there is some pent up demand for live sports betting, don’t expect it to all rush back at once. “It will depend on which sports are returning and when,” they said. “For example, the UFC returned over the weekend of May 9.This brought significantly more traffic than usual during coronavirus, but obviously not nearly as close to the amount of traffic we are expecting when major European football leagues return to action, such as the German Bundesliga on May 16.”

So the big question is, with esports traffic up 690%, and virtuals up 1534%, will we see these levels of activity continue once live sports return? “There will likely be a small portion of bettors who really enjoyed the experience of eSports betting and virtual sports and will continue in this space, even when traditional sports return,” Simms said. “These bettors may also revisit these options during ‘dryer’ sports periods like the summer; but, ultimately, most bettors will most probably return to actual sports betting and their traditional betting options”

Philippine casino operator Bloomberry Resorts took a profit beating in the first quarter of 2020, mostly due to a one-fifth decline in VIP gambling action.

Bloomberry, which operates the Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila’s Entertainment City gaming zone, reported net revenue of P9.4b (US$186m) in the three months ending March 31, down 13% from the same period last year. Earnings fell 23% to P3.5b and net profit slid 38% to P1.4b.

Solaire, which was forced to close on March 16 as Manila was ordered into COVID-19 lockdown, reported gross gaming revenue of P12.2b, a 16% year-on-year decline. Contra revenue accounts, aka payments to junket operators, fell 7% to P3.7b as VIPs opted to sit out the pandemic at home.

Solaire’s VIP gambling turnover fell nearly 19% to P150.8b, which pushed VIP revenue down 21% to P4.73b. Mass table drop fell 14.6% to P9.7b but mass hold jumped 5.4 points to 40.5%, leaving mass table revenue basically flat at P3.93b. Slots volume was down 1%, while slots revenue fell 2.2% to P3.55b.

[Image credit: WPT flickr]

High Roller online tournaments don’t come much bigger than the $25,000-entry Super high Roller SCOOP Event #52(H) which ended last night. Steve O’Dwyer, popular poker professional and all-round entertaining guy in the poker world, took it down for $521,598, triumphing against overnight leader Andras Nemeth.

With 89 entries, the event had a massive $2.1 in the prizepool and saw 59 unique players add 30 re-entries into the prize fund. O’Dwyer, who has now won over $6.5 million online and over $30 million in live tournaments, in a high-profile winner of the SCOOP title and keeps PokerStars’ flagship online festival duking it out with GGPoker’s WSOP Super Circuit Series for bragging rights as the biggest poker tournament of all-time. Prizepools and time extensions aside, that may be proven in the final shakedown by how many players attend and it’s hard to look past ‘Stars for sheer numbers on that front.

The final day kicked off with just 10 players still involved. First to depart and miss out on the final table was Ben Sulsky, who moved all-in with nine-eight and was busted by O’Dwyer’s ace-seven. An eight on turn but a rivered ace was the cruel hope before despair that Sulsky cannot have enjoyed.

Mississippi’s casinos have been cleared to reopen starting May 21, but Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri and Ohio casinos will have to wait a while longer.

On Thursday, the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC) announced that the state’s commercial casino operators can choose to reopen at 8am on May 21, just ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. Gov. Tate Reeves ordered the casinos closed on March 16 as the state tried to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

On Friday, the MGC will release guidelines detailing the rules that casinos will have to follow to ensure safe gambling, including social distancing policies that will limit how many slot machines can operate and how many individuals will be allowed at gaming tables.

Mississippi has 29 commercial casinos (some land-based, some riverboat) and three tribal casinos, although the latter aren’t subject to the MGC’s oversight. In 2018, Mississippi’s casinos generated combined revenue of $2.14b, the seventh highest gaming state in the nation.