The first half of 2020 has not been kind to the gaming industry. COVID-19 has attempted to maintain control over gambling and, for the most part, has done a good job, unfortunately. Many gaming operators across the globe have suffered major losses and are looking for ways to stop the hemorrhaging before things get even worse. The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), which governs the country’s casino industry and runs several venues of its own, hasn’t been immune to the declines, either. It recently presented its results for the first half of the year, and the numbers aren’t good.

According to PAGCOR, it saw a net loss of almost $32.5 million across the first six months of 2020. Compared to a net gain of almost twice that for same period last year, the hit is huge. Total revenue from gaming operations dropped 49.5% from the first-half results last year, reaching just $374.88 million – $743.46 million was seen a year ago. 

Of the amount taken in, PAGCOR had to turn over $196.7 million on gaming taxes and other contributions, of which $177.48 million went to the Bureau of the Treasury. According to the laws governing PAGCOR’s operations, it must give up 50% of its gross take to the Philippine taxman. The entity has reportedly continued to be a good corporate citizen throughout the coronavirus ordeal.

Total expenses during the period dropped by 28.4%, according to PAGCOR, coming in at $230.24 million. This was made possible, in part, due to a cutback in outlay provided to several social responsibility programs and other types of donations it would have normally provided if it hadn’t been for the massive losses brought about by COVID-19.

In the fast moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly.

Smarkets introduces betting exchange to Swedish market

Betting exchange Smarkets has launched in Sweden after receiving approval from the national regulator. The London-headquartered company operates one of the world’s leading peer-to-peer platforms for trading on sport, politics and current affairs, and it is now available to users in Sweden at smarkets.com. 

Is there any mystery left to who will be former Vice President Joe Biden’s VP pick for the upcoming 2020 Presidential campaign? With the future second banana likely to be announced in just a few days, all signs seem to be pointing to one woman, and the odds at Bodog seem to help confirm that California Senator Kamala Harris will be the pick.

When we first got the odds for a VP pick in April, Harris was listed as a slight favorite and moved to +160. At the time, I commented that she seemed to be doing everything she could to stay in a favorable light and set herself up as Biden’s top pick.

Harris has now moved into being the clear favorite at -180, and all of the evidence available suggests she’ll be announced as the pick as early as this Saturday, giving bookmakers and bettors all the reasons in the world to poor money on her. 

But why is she so favored now? It starts with Politico erroneously updating their VP running mate tracker, announcing “Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris to become his running mate for the 2020 election on Aug. 1.”

The global economy is, without wanting to be overly dramatic, on life support while everyone scrambles to find a vaccine for the coronavirus and allow consumer activity to return to normal levels. In some cases, such as the casino industry, for example, it has been said that full recovery could take three or four years. Other industries, like travel, shouldn’t expect to reach pre-COVID-19 levels until late next year or the year after. Among these dire forecasts, there is an interesting beacon of light appearing. Australian investments in startups have risen by about one-third across the first six months of the year. 

According to global accounting and financial firm KPMG, through its Venture Pulse report, US$944.7 million was spent on startup investments in Australia during the first half of the year. The second quarter saw a large part of that, with $439.7 million of venture capital being laid out for startups – 38.5% more than the second quarter of 2019, which saw $317.5 million. Compared to the same first-half results from last year, which saw about $627.3 million, the results can only be seen as a promising indication of a strong rebound coming. 

According to KPMG’s Amanda Price, who heads up the firm’s high growth ventures division in Australia, “Australian startups have continued to attract record levels, despite the ongoing impact of the pandemic. This points to how lockdown has rapidly accelerated digital trends and increased the importance of digital business models and solutions, from B2B solutions to edtech and beyond. For example, globally B2B productivity solutions accounted for US$14.3 billion in VC investment over the past three months.”

As devastating as the coronavirus has been and with so many people still out of work (many with benefits that are about to expire), the pandemic has fueled a new era of investment spending and a transition to digital operations that are going to alter many industry landscapes permanently. This, by some estimates, can be seen as the jolt the global economy needs to ramp up interest in innovation, and will help usher in entirely new ways for companies to conduct business. 

Scientific Games (Sci Games) just released its latest financial results a few days ago, showing a loss of $198 million for the second quarter of the year. The international gaming company has suffered just like everyone else in the industry, but the results seemed to be better than everyone – including Sci Games – had anticipated. While any loss is never a good thing, the results are being seen as “strong,” considering the current state of the global gaming economy. None the less, Union Gaming analyst John DeCree believed Sci Games was just a “canary in the coal mine.”

Sci Games was doing well earlier this year, with its stock price sitting at a high of $30.24 around the middle of February. It has had a rough couple of years and trading levels have been much lower than the five-year high of $60.20 in May of 2018. However, the February price was a bright spot this year and showed that there was positive interest in Sci Games’ operations. Then, the floor gave way because of COVID-19 and the stock dropped to $4.71 in March. 

Then, a strange thing happened. Sci Games started to see its stock rise, and it now sits, as of yesterday afternoon, at $18.53. DeCree’s assertion that the company was the “canary in the coal mine for the broader COVID-19 sell-off across the gaming industry as investors fled the most levered names first” hasn’t seemed to pan out. 

Sci Games’ strength comes from a positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization) and free cash flow of $5 million. It has been able to weather the storm better than most, as DeCree points out, because lotteries, in which Sci Games has its hands, dipped only 5.8% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. In addition, with the most recent data, lotteries are becoming more popular and have already climbed 20% over the course of July. 

MGM Resorts International has officially named Bill Hornbuckle as their new permanent CEO, upgrading him from interim CEO after a little more than 4 months in the role. The company’s board of directors announced he’s taking over the role immediately, since filling in for retired former CEO Jim Murren in March.

Despite Hornbuckle doing the job for several months now, the board noted that they pursued a national search to find the best candidate. Chairman Paul Salem commented that they already had the right man. “The board unanimously concluded that Bill is the best candidate to lead MGM Resorts through these immensely challenging times and into a more promising future,” he said.

Part of why Hornbuckle was chosen was due to how he’s conducted himself during the pandemic. “There are few tests of leadership greater than what Bill has faced. His seasoned global experience, depth of knowledge and steady hand have provided reassurance and confidence to our employees, partners, guests and shareholders during one of the most difficult periods in the history of our company.”

Hornbuckle didn’t necessarily get the role for how amazing the casino operator has been performing. With the Covid-19 pandemic strangling travel and the economy, with air travel down 77% year over year and gaming revenue way below what it could have been, he has his work cut out for him.

Many of our Poker in Print reviews are on the subject of strategy, but this week’s offering is a political thriller where the buck stops at the poker table – often with deadly consequences.

Dead Money is a poker thriller written by the hugely prolific Dean Wesley Smith, who to date, has written well over a hundred novels. Puts that moth-eaten first draft we’ve all got in the bottom drawer of our desk to shame, doesn’t he?

Smith’s main protagonist is Doc Hill, who has to solve the murder of one of the most celebrated poker players of the age. The combination between detective and poker play strikes a good balance, and Doc Hill is frequently in peril as he goes about trying to solve the series of murders while winning the biggest poker tournament that he’s ever taken on.

One of the quotes thrown about after the book’s release was that, ‘Dean Wesley Smith does for poker what James Patterson does for serial killers’, which is – thanks to James Patterson’s International reputation, a huge compliment.

Detroit’s three casinos will finally get the chance to reopen next month, but the news comes too late for thousands of their former staff.

On Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order that will allow Detroit’s three commercial casinos – MGM Resorts’ MGM Grand Detroit, Penn National Gaming’s Greektown and the privately held MotorCity – to open Wednesday, August 5, ending nearly five months of pandemic inactivity.

Whitmer noted in her order that the state’s numerous tribal casinos – which, as operated by sovereign entities, aren’t subject to the state’s authority – had managed to reopen without major incident and thus Detroit’s casinos are being trusted to conduct their operations in a similarly responsible manner.

However, as the casinos were warned last month, they will be subject to tough limits on their operations, including a hard cap of 15% of total occupancy limits. Guests will have to wear masks (unless eating or drinking) and guests won’t be allowed to smoke indoors. There is also a moratorium on self-serve food or drink, valet service, coat check and all live entertainment.

This week, in case you missed it, featured a WSOP Twitch storm as Daniel Negreanu was briefly banned from the poker streaming service after offering to insert a poker player’s teeth where he’d have no natural use for them.

In the ensuing days, Negreanu has defended himself as a husband protecting his wife, Amanda Negreanu, answered various calls for his head and defended blasphemy, his licence to rant and his Twitch record among other things. Add into that he’s cashed in 15 WSOP events and it’s been a busy week for Kid Poker. So when Doug Polk called out his behaviour in the latest of several bizarre social media posts that come across more as a call for fans than Negreanu’s head, it’s been a week of beef for the famous vegan player Negreanu. 

Polk doesn’t just want Negreanu’s head on a plate – although, imagining the YouTube views, he might require it – Polk wants a ‘heads-up for rolls’ clash.

These match-ups always sound way more exciting than they end up being, so before you buy up your nearest 7/11’s entire supply of sweet ‘n’ salted popcorn, think back to the Cate Hall vs. Mike Dentale ‘clash’, which had all the rumble in the jungle of a petting zone at a hamster sanctuary. 

This week, in case you missed it, featured a WSOP Twitch storm as Daniel Negreanu was briefly banned from the poker streaming service after offering to insert a poker player’s teeth where he’d have no natural use for them.

In the ensuing days, Negreanu has defended himself as a husband protecting his wife, Amanda Negreanu, answered various calls for his head and defended blasphemy, his licence to rant and his Twitch record among other things. Add into that he’s cashed in 15 WSOP events and it’s been a busy week for Kid Poker. So when Doug Polk called out his behaviour in the latest of several bizarre social media posts that come across more as a call for fans than Negreanu’s head, it’s been a week of beef for the famous vegan player Negreanu. 

Polk doesn’t just want Negreanu’s head on a plate – although, imagining the YouTube views, he might require it – Polk wants a ‘heads-up for rolls’ clash.

These match-ups always sound way more exciting than they end up being, so before you buy up your nearest 7/11’s entire supply of sweet ‘n’ salted popcorn, think back to the Cate Hall vs. Mike Dentale ‘clash’, which had all the rumble in the jungle of a petting zone at a hamster sanctuary. 

While there have been a plethora of poker shows on television, few have had the impact of the greats. Think of the European Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker or the PartyPoker Premier League Season 4. You probably won’t think of the Intercontinental Poker Championship, but we bet that you remember its most famous scene.

It’s an interesting quirk that the show that was designed to welcome players from all over the world features something of a storm in a global teacup. Tony G was the offender in the hand, telling Russian player Ralph Perry to ‘Get on your bike’ as he bade him back to his motherland. 

It’s quite a famous clip. It’s also one that – much like the show itself – hasn’t aged well.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynLSJHxBags?feature=oembed]