Monthly Archives: August 2020

Denmark’s online casino vertical the only grower in Q2

Denmark’s regulated gambling market saw its revenue cut by one-third during the second quarter of 2020, despite online casino revenue posting a modest year-on-year improvement.

Figures released Monday by Denmark’s Spillemyndigheden regulatory body show state-licensed gambling revenue hitting DKK1.16b (US$183.9m) in the three months ending June 30, down 32.8% from the same period last year and 24% below Q1 2020’s results.

Nearly all verticals were impacted by COVID-19, with land-based casino revenue tumbling 83% year-on-year to just DKK16m following the March 13 closure of all non-essential retail operations. Land-based slots halls suffered an only slightly less injurious decline, sliding nearly 73% to DKK99m.

Sports betting revenue was off 41.2% to DKK373m following the suspension of major sports activity. Online casino revenue bucked the downward trend, rising 4.5% to DKK673m. The slots figure was 21.2% higher than Q1 2020, poking holes in Spillemyndigheden’s May report that there’d been no surge in Danish gamblers’ online casino play.

Playtech pulling TitanBet from Spain’s online gambling market

Online gambling technology supplier Playtech is pulling its TitanBet brand from Spain’s regulated market as of September 14.

Last week, online betting affiliate Legalbet reported that TitanBet.es had informed its customers that it would be closing as of September 14. No new customers will be allowed to register with the site and it will stop accepting new deposits from existing customers as of September 2.

The site has recommended that customers withdraw their account balances by September 14, although customers who fail to clean out their accounts by that date can still access their funds by contacting TitanBet’s customer service department.

TitanBet didn’t specify what prompted its decision to exit Spain’s regulated online gambling market. It appears to have been a fairly recent decision, as the site renewed its Spanish license in February for another five years. The site was among the first to be registered when Spain launched its regulated market nearly a decade ago.

Sevilla and Bayern Munich claim Europe’s biggest club trophies

Two huge games produced amazing drama as the Europa League and Champions League trophies were claimed in two epic finals. While it was the Spanish La Liga side Sevilla who ended up celebrating in Germany, German champions Bayern Munich won the Champions League in Portuguese capital Lisbon as they claimed a sixth European Cup win.

Sevilla 3-2 Inter Milan

A thrilling game in Cologne saw Sevilla crowned Europa League winners for the sixth time in 14 years. Inter Milan took the lead through in-form striker Romelu Lukaku, who easily dispatched the early penalty to give the Italian Serie A runners-up the lead. That, however, was not to be the lasting memory those few inside the stadium would take away of the former Manchester United striker.

Sevilla are not known as the ‘Kings of the Europa League’ for nothing, and they came back with two headed goals by Luuk De Jong, who had already scored the winner against United in the closely-fought semi-final. His headers from Ever Banega and Jesus Navas crosses – the former Manchester City returning to finally lift his third Europa League for Sevilla 13 years after the first – flipped the tie on its head.

BuyBSV.com expands to Russia, South Africa & Nigeria

As the Bitcoin SV blockchain expands so does the need for easy accessibility and as a result you can now buy Bitcoin SV (BSV) on BuyBSV.com with VISA or MasterCard in: Russia, South Africa and Nigeria.

This global expansion is additional to the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, India, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and European countries, namely, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania and United Kingdom.

Furthermore, websites, portals, blogs and vlogs can now embed our specially designed widget to their content allowing visitors to embed the BuyBSV iframe into their site. Just fill out the form at the bottom of the buyBSV.com website.

Editors’ Notes:

The Long Con: Dr. Samuel H. Liggero shares the mindset of innovation

Innovating and disrupting existing industries isn’t just about lucking into the next big thing. As it turns out, doing so in a reliable way requires a specific mindset. Dr. Dr. Samuel H. Liggero, Professor at the Tufts Gordon Institute has a long history of finding the next cool thing, and one of those cool things was definitely his daughter, CalvinAyre.com’s own Becky Liggero Fontana. They spoke about the ever-evolving world of technology for this week’s episode of The Long Con.

Dr. Liggero shared how he got started in Research and Development (R&D) for a seriously innovative company back in the day. “I started at Polaroid in 1970 and I remained there until 2002, so I had a wonderful 32-year career there,” he said. “I joined right after finishing my education, I had postdoc’d at Princeton and went right to Polaroid. My first assignment there was Senior Laboratory Supervisor where I supervised half a dozen people. My last assignment, for the last seven years at Polaroid, i was a Corporate Vice President and Program Fellow, Where I was responsible for R&D with a group of several hundred scientists, engineers and technicians. And in-between those bookcases if you will, those bookends, I had many, many assignments that ranged from research group leader, to plant manager, to technical marketing director, to education and training director, to applications director and so on.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8N9UOaZn0?feature=oembed]

Polaroid wasn’t just a company that lucked into new technology; they drove toward it. “What attracted me to Polaroid was something called PP101, Personnel Policy 101, it really resonated with me there were two features to it,” he said. “The first is for the company to make products of genuine usefulness to society, and add a profit to the company. And the second, so very important, was to create a working environment where people could realize their full potential, oh did that resonate with me then and it still does today.”

California tribal casino sets stricter safety requirements than government

Casinos have recently come under fire as potential hotbeds of Covid-19 infection. At least tribal-run California casino wants to make sure its going above and beyond to prove that’s not the case.

The Sycuan Casino Resort in San Diego, California has updated its safety requirements for guests, getting much stricter about what types of face coverings are deemed acceptable. “Effective immediately, bandanas, gaiters and face coverings with valves are no longer allowed as viable face covering options,” their site now reads.

They won’t be refusing guests though. Eddike Ilko, the casino’s safety manager, has said that guests not wearing appropriate masks will be provided with one.

This requirement now goes a step beyond what either the county of San Diego or the State of California require. Even a simple bandana is fine with the government, but it’s not good enough for the casino. With guests having trouble adhering to social distancing norms, the new requirement had to come.

Genting HK chair puts up entire stake to keep company afloat

Genting Hong Kong (Genting HK had leveraged itself pretty thin as it looked to build a fleet of highly advanced casino cruise ships capable of operating in different bodies of water. It spent the past couple of years investing heavily in its seagoing operations, expecting to launch one after another over the course of a few years. The coronavirus had different plans, though, and forced the company to keep its floating casinos docked. This has already led to major shortfalls in revenue and Genting HK has been scrambling everywhere possible to try to limit the financial damage. Things are apparently getting more desperate, and its chairman, Lim Lok Thay, is making a play he hopes will never have to be called in. He’s putting almost his entire company stake on the line. 

Genting HK found itself in a dire predicament last week when it announced that it wouldn’t be able to cover any of the payments it owed to creditors. Two of the entity’s subsidiaries, Dream Global One Limited and Dream Global Two Limited, had already defaulted on a combined $4.37 million in bank fees. It began to work with its lenders and other backers to figure out how to tackle the issue, and Lim is now putting six million shares up as collateral for loans and other financial assistance, according to a report by Bloomberg. Those shares represent 76% of the company and are joined by around one-third of his stake in Genting Berhad, Genting HK’s investment holding and management arm. 

Lim has already been through a lot this year, and losing the shares would make things considerably worse. His personal fortune has been cut in half, dropping to about $700 million from its previous level of $1.5 billion. However, losing the six million in shares would only have a minor impact on his wealth, as the company’s current stock price of $0.039, should he be able to sell at full price, would only be worth around $234,000. An entity who takes him up on his offer would certainly be looking at the long-term growth potential, and the possible return of the stock to previous levels of $0.292 for a total of $1.75 million. The odds are long, though, as the company hasn’t seen that figure in three years. That was April 2017, and Genting HK has been on a decline since then.

The future of the company is now completely on the line, and it’s going to take someone with a lot of vision and staying power to keep it afloat. As Michael Melbinger, a partner at the Winston & Strawn law firm, told Bloomberg, “Many companies hit a bump in the road causing a sudden decline in stock price. That happens. However, when this bump causes the most significant shareholder and director of the company to have to sell shares, or a margin call automatically triggers the selling, the problem becomes much, much worse.”

UK gaming council gives itself a pat on the back for gambling ad ban

In August of last year, the U.K., in one of its many attempts at micromanaging the gambling industry, implemented a policy that prohibits ads by gambling operators during sports telecasts. The “whistle to whistle” ban states that, from five minutes before a televised sports event to five minutes after, no gambling ads can be seen, unless the match takes place after 9 PM. The U.K. Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) took a look recently at the effectiveness of the ban and found that it is working well, allowing the council to give itself a pat on the back for its efforts. 

Analysis firm Enders Analysis conducted research on the performance of the ban, determining that the number of gambling ads seen had dropped by 97% since the implementation of the policy. It also found that the number of gaming-related ads viewed by youth had declined by 70% across the entire span of live sport telecasts. This led BGC CEO Michael Dugher to assert, “The BGC was set up to improve standards in our industry. The success of the whistle to whistle ban is a clear example of that commitment and I’m very pleased at how effective it has been during its first year in operation. In particular, it’s encouraging to see that it has effectively eliminated children’s ability to view betting adverts during live televised sport.”

In the first five months of the ban’s existence, according to the research, the number of views of gambling ads dropped by 1.7 billion. Exposure to the ads during live sports events prior to the 9 PM limit decreased by 78%. Enders doesn’t specify whether or not the figures represent individual or collective results, which is to say that 1.7 billion could represent the same segment. According to sportbusiness.com, approximately 41% of U.K. viewers are watching Premier League games and, since Enders specifies “number of views,” the 1.7-billion figure could be skewed. 

The BGC, like the rest of the U.K’s policymakers, isn’t done clamping down on gambling-related subjects, either. It is said to be drafting a new code of conduct that will address sponsorships and advertising that, according to the council, will improve standards even more. Adds Dugher, “I am determined that the BGC will lead a race to the top in terms of industry standards and we want to drive more changes in the future. At the same time, we urge the Government to work with us to crack down on black market operators who have no interest in safer gambling or protecting their customers and do not work to the same responsible standards as BGC members. The Review of the Gambling Act will also provide further opportunities to improve standards and we look forward to working with the Government on this.”

The NFL has a COVID-19 problem as teams forced to cancel practice

This is the time that everyone should be in full training mode – running drills with full pads, fine-tuning their offenses and defenses and even participating in preseason games. The NFL regular season is set to get underway in 17 days, but events over this past weekend are forcing many teams to scramble. Several had to call off practices completely over sudden surges in positive coronavirus tests, and any outbreak now would be devastating to the NFL’s plans to start on time. However, football fans – as well as the league – are breathing a sigh of relief, as it appears the positive test results were nothing more than false positives, and they were all traced back to one particular lab in New Jersey.

The Minnesota Vikings had 12 false positives over the weekend, the New York Jets had ten and the Chicago Bears had nine. The Cleveland Browns also had some, and became the first team to cancel its practices. The Jets then followed on Saturday, but practiced on Sunday, and the Bears shifted their practice from the morning to the afternoon after they determined that the results were nothing more than false positives. The Vikings decided to bench those who had tested positive and keep them out of Sunday’s practice. Other teams impacted include the Buffalo Bills, the Detroit Lions, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

In trying to determine why there was a sudden spike in the number of positive cases, the NFL was able to trace the problem to a single lab in New Jersey operated by BioReference. The league issued a statement about the issue, explaining, “Saturday’s daily COVID testing returned several positives tests from each of the clubs serviced by the same laboratory in New Jersey. We are working with our testing partner, BioReference, to investigate these results, while the clubs work to confirm or rule out the positive tests. Clubs are taking immediate precautionary measures as outlined in the NFL-NFLPA’s health and safety protocols to include contact tracing, isolation of individuals and temporarily adjusting the schedule, where appropriate. The other laboratories used for NFL testing have not had similar results.”

That’s good news and bad news for the NFL. It’s great because it could mean that there won’t be any issues as the league looks to get going on September 10. However, it is still concerning, because there needs to be definitive proof of no widespread COVID-19 appearance for the season to kick off. It also could be a financial loss to the league if it has to pay for all the tests to be retaken, instead of the lab assuming that cost. 

As the NBA picture changes, Bodog sets new lines for what’s to come

Basketball fans around the world suffered through months of withdrawal after the NBA season was halted due to the coronavirus. The delays, to some degree, were worth it, as the NBA Bubble in at Disney World in Orlando, Florida has brought non-stop excitement and more than a few remarkable achievements. As the league moved into the postseason, the action has only become more thrilling and it’s looking like the NBA Finals are going to be hotter than they’ve been in years. Of course, as some teams move up, others have to move down, and there are a lot of changes that will be seen in the offseason. As the sports world analyzes who’s coming and who’s going, global sportsbook Bodog is giving sports gambling fans a lot to look forward to. 

The Boston Celtics swept the Philadelphia 76ers in the postseason, eliminating the Sixers from championship contention. Not able to provide a solid performance in the best-of-seven series, Philadelphia is likely to see several changes at both the coach and player levels. Coach Brett Brown is expected to be looking for a new home after seven years with the team. During that time, he was able to lead the Sixers to three consecutive playoff appearances, but was stopped short of making a deep run. If he leaves, the former head coach of the Brooklyn Nets, Kenny Atkinson, who was fired this past March, is one of the most likely candidates to be his replacement and is currently getting +500 on Bodog. Sam Cassell, the assistant coach of the LA Clippers, is close behind at +600. The Clippers are currently in Round 1 of the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks, each with two wins, and part of that can be attributed to Cassell. He’s been with the Clippers since 2014, so it might be his time. 

Point guard Ben Simmons has been with the Sixers since 2016, the year he was picked first in Round 1 of the NBA Draft. However, he hasn’t been able to play in any of the postseason games this year due to arthroscopic surgery he was forced to undergo a few months ago. Still, the Sixers aren’t likely to give up their Australian big man and will look to him to help the team rebound next year. That’s why Bodog gives him -240 to still be with the team, while giving him only slight consideration for a move, possibly to the Phoenix Suns (+350) or the Chicago Bulls (+1200). 

Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid could be seen elsewhere next season, but it wouldn’t be by choice. The 7’ 26-year-old center wants to stay with the team he’s played with for the past six years, but is smart enough to know that it may not be up to him. He told reporters after his team was eliminated from the playoffs, “I don’t make the decisions. I’m here in Philly. Whatever happens, happens. I’ve always said that I want to end my career here, and if it happens, good. If it doesn’t happen, well, you move on and all that stuff.”

Return of COVID-19 in South Korea forces Kangwon Land closure

The Kangwon Land casino in South Korea was able to breathe a sign of relief when, after being closed for almost three months, it was finally able to get back to work. Revenue for the second quarter of the year had dropped more than 91% compared to the same quarter last year and, even though it was only welcoming back VIP customers, it was a step toward recovery. That forward momentum has now come to an abrupt stop, though, as South Korea is witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19. As a result, the only casino in the country that can accept locals has been forced to shut down once again.

Across a nine-day period ending this past Saturday, South Korea saw 2,200 new coronavirus cases – 300 this past Saturday alone. This has health officials scrambling and reiterating policies designed to prevent the spread of the virus, expanding its “Level 2” protocols to areas beyond the limits of the country’s capital, Seoul. Level 2 includes social distancing measures and a ban on indoor gatherings of 50 people or more. Outdoor events with 100 or more attendees are also prohibited, and any facility that is deemed to be susceptible to a high rate of infection must remain closed. 

Kangwon Land Inc., which owns the casino, shut down the venue’s operations on Friday in consideration of the Level 2 status. It intends on keeping the doors locked until at least 6 AM on August 29, but that could change, depending on guidance provided by South Korean health officials. As a result of the new stoppage, Kangwon Land anticipates incurring revenue losses of around $6.3 million, a figure that is based on the daily sales average across the first half of the year.

After Kangwon Land took its first step in the recovery process in May, it had slowly been moving forward. It began by allowing just 750 people to visit on any given day and had increased this number to 1,800 by the middle of this month. Even at that level, the casino was still only recording about 25% of its full capacity, with hopes of being able to make a huge leap forward in the very near future. 

Las Vegas Sands given reprieve in $12-billion lawsuit

Now is certainly not the time that Las Vegas Sands (LVS), or any casino operator, would want to have to deal with a lawsuit that has major financial implications. The coronavirus pandemic has forced the gambling industry to its knees and, while recovery is possible, there’s going to be a difficult road ahead. Because of this LVS should be more than a little happy that it has been able to convince the courts in Macau to delay, again, a lawsuit that has $12 billion on the line. A judge has agreed to a petition filed by the company to put the case off another year. 

The lawsuit was brought against LVS by a former business partner, Marshall Hao, who accuses the large casino company, and owner Sheldon Adelson, of taking advantage of him to get in on the then-nascent casino market in Macau in 2001. Hao asserts that LVS rode his coattails into the city and then dumped him once it was established. It’s a case that has a strong resemblance to another one LVS had faced in the U.S. by Richard Suen, and which was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.

The Macau lawsuit began its journey seven years ago, and LVS was expected to defend itself early last year. However, a judge pushed the suit down in the stack, and should have been heard last September. It was then delayed again, with this coming September becoming the new target.

The coronavirus pandemic forced LVS to ask a judge this past June to hold off once again and push back the latest date. It argued that the ongoing health crisis would make it impossible for the company to travel as needed for the suit, and the expected date of September 16 for the case wouldn’t be feasible. In typical bloated lawyer-speak that uses too many words to get its point across, LVS said in a filing (pdf) with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, “The action is in a preliminary stage and management has determined based on proceedings to data that it is currently unable to determine the probability of the outcome of this matter or the range of reasonably possible loss, if any.”

The first iGaming race in history EVER!

Yes, you got it right! The very first iGaming race will be held soon.

Are you ready to boost your endorphins? It starts and ends with one run, packed with loads of fun to ensure that you’ll feel absolutely alive.

The dynamic and creative slot provider Endorphina from Czech Republic is anticipated to welcome you at the very first iGaming race – Endorphina Fun Run, happening in Malta, St. Julians, on November 16th, just one day before the grand SIGMA exhibition.

Let the breeze of the Mediterranean Sea embrace you in a warm and hot welcome. The upcoming autumn season may seem to be the same as usual, but Endorphina decided to make it truly memorable and to organize the very first Endorphina Fun Run to get your endorphins pumping like never before.

Vivo Gaming teams up with Leap Gaming

Vivo Gaming has signed a content distribution agreement with Leap Gaming, a top gaming provider! Leap games are MGA licensed and offer a top-notch gaming experience providing amazing visuals available on any device. Vivo Gaming is happy to add Leap Gaming to its third-party game’s portfolio. The wide range of games offered by Leap includes Virtual Sports, Table Games, and Slots, catching the player’s attention with high volatility, shifting wilds, wild multipliers, expanding wilds, free spins, and other in-game bonuses.

“State-of-the-art graphics and a lot of fun can be found in all the games provided by Leap and we are thrilled to share this unique experience with our customers and provide them with premium games,” said Faruq Salomon Head of Marketing

“Having our unique 3D games offering available across Vivo Gaming’s extensive footprint, reassures us that the need for immersive UX, quality and authentic content, is real. We look forward to a successful journey and a strong and lengthy partnership”, said Andreea Spiteri, Head of Customer Success

About Leap Gaming

Oddin signs Esports Entertainment Group operating under Vie.gg brand

Oddin, the engaging esports odds feed and risk management provider, has agreed upon odds and a risk management provision to Esports Entertainment Group to bring the true engagement into the global esports betting market.

“We have looked at all the existing esports odds feed providers supplying services to betting platforms, the majority treat esports as a line extension item, Oddin is different” stated Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group. “Once we spoke to Oddin, we immediately saw how they can help us to bring our offering to a completely new level and continuously improve upon it. They offer a tremendous amount of unique expertise in both betting as well as esports. Their uptime and number of live markets are exceptional and we feel they are the market leaders.”

“Both Vie and Oddin have ambitions to significantly improve the esports landscape in the years to come, so we just clicked from the very first moment we spoke together,” said Marek Suchar, Head of Partnerships at Oddin: “It is an honor to cooperate with an operator with such caliber as Vie. They are the first esports betting operator listed in the NASDAQ and their ambitions within esports are limitless. Having multiple licenses in various jurisdictions positions them to became the major global esports player and it will be our privilege to be with them on that journey. It is always fulfilling to see our partners utilizing our solutions to its fullest potential and we are confident Vie will do just that.

About Oddin

Anson Tsang wins second WSOP bracelet

Two years after winning a WSOP bracelet in Pot Limit Omaha, Anson Tsang has won his second WSOP bracelet in Event #68 of this extended yet online 2020 World Series of Poker.

With a massive 2,315 entries, the $500-entry no limit hold’em Deepstack event on GGPoker ended with Anson Tsang top of the pile again, this time winning a massive $1,099,625 after he got the better of Mohaiman Ashrafee heads-up.

Tsang has now cashed a dozen times across this series of WSOP events on both WSOP.com and GGPoker and has three times that number of cashes in Las Vegas and at King’s Casino in Rozvadov where he won that 2018 bracelet.

This time around, some of the players to join Tsang in the money included some of the world biggest names. GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu made the money, as did partypoker’s Joao Vieira and popular poker player Vanessa Kade. Tsang, however, was always around the top of the leaderboard and headed into the nine-handed final table as one of eight nationalities, including players from countries as far flung as Bangladesh, Israel, Mexico and Japan.

WSOP Gold: Hesp bows out as Blumstein bullies with the rockets

Some World Series of Poker hands will always be remembered not only for the drama that the cards brought, but the context within which they were dealt.

One such example of this came in 2017, when popular British amateur John Hesp, the Bridlington-based caravan salesman who had cashed for literally hundreds of pounds before winning $2.6 million in the Main Event of that year. 

Hesp was, as many have doubtless regarded him in his time, a colourful character, both literally in the sense of his own personal dress code – all Hawaiian shirts and Panama hat – and his 4th-place finish left many hoping to see him again at such a level. 

Sadly, that wouldn’t really be the case, Hesp barely returning to live poker and certainly not running deep in $10k-buy-in events, but that left this hand to be enjoyed forever and earmarked for poker posterity.