Last year, the MILLIONS Online Main Event was not played at all, meaning that partypoker’s flagship Main Event in terms of their online output was missed by the many players who might have taken part.  

French player Benjamin ‘frenchsniperrr’ Chalot took down the 2019 partypoker MILLIONS Online Main Event for $2.26m, but will that record be broken this year? We haven’t got long until we find out.  

With 28 events, a massive $5-million guarantee for the Main Event itself and other terrific events such as a $1m guaranteed Mini Main Event, which kicks off the event schedule on this coming Saturday, February 13th.  

In an article on PokerNews, partypoker Team Pro Patrick Leonard told the reporting site that “One of my favourite things about poker is the zero-to-hero stories we hear on a regular basis. When I started playing, somebody would qualify for a $5,000 event from a $1,000 satellite and it was a great story when they went on to the final table. At partypoker, we’ve seen numerous people qualify for huge events for as little as $0.01 and win life-changing amounts. MILLIONS Online is always an amazing tournament and any player with a bankroll of $0.01 or more should get ready.”  

The hits keep on coming for Imperial Pacific International (IPI). The casino operator behind Saipan’s Imperial Palace can’t seem to get rid of trouble, which is following it around everywhere it goes, and has two more black marks on its record. After recently admitting that it can’t pay its workers all the money they’re owed, IPI was already looking at contempt of court charges, but has now been slapped with another. It has also been found guilty of trying to skip out on a contract it had with Xerox, and Ramona V. Manglona, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) Chief Judge who has to continuously deal with the company’s bumbling operations, has to be at the end of her rope.

According to The Guam Daily Post, IPI has been found in contempt of court by Judge Manglona in a case that was brought against the company by a former director of operations, Joshua Gray. He asserted that he had been wrongly fired, let go because of his race and in retaliation of his complaints against the company’s treatment of employees. After previously having a few of his allegations thrown out, the case made it back in front of the judge, who approved the former employee’s request for sanctions against IPI, as well as reimbursement of attorney fees.

Now, IPI has one week to respond to the ruling and must provide new information to be used in the discovery process of the ongoing legal battle. This will include certain “Electronically Stored Information,” as well as a list of employees that are to be terminated and amended declarations from IPI’s human resources manager, Redie Dela Cruz, and former CEO Donald Browne. Should the company fail to produce the data within a week as ordered, Judge Manglona warned that she would hold IPI’s new CEO, Ray Yumul, in contempt of court.

Xerox recently filed a claim against IPI after it failed to respond to a formal complaint against the company last December. It asserted that IPI hadn’t held up its end of a service contract and, with no response coming from the company, sought the court’s help. Judge Manglona, once again, had to intervene, and has agreed with Xerox. She ordered IPI to pay about $182,905 but, with the company admitting it can’t pay its other obligations, Xerox is going to have to wait in line. However, IPI will be able to settle part of the judgment, as the company was ordered to immediately return to Xerox all of the equipment it had been given.

California-based Peninsula Pacific Entertainment (P2E) has an established presence in Louisiana, where it holds a license to operate a casino in Caddo Parish. The operator previously ran the DiamondJacks Casino & Hotel in the parish’s Bossier City, but it shut down last year due to COVID-19 issues. Now, ready to get back in the game, P2E has suggested that St. Tammany Parish, on the state’s southern coast, would be a better option for a venue, and the idea has the St. Tammany Parish’s ears burning with enthusiasm.

In a hearing held this past Monday night, the St. Tammany Parish Council discussed the idea proposed by P2E and its CEO, Brent Stevens, to potentially bring a $250-million casino resort to the city of Slidell. That lies just outside of New Orleans, and would potentially be able to capitalize on the large local population, as well as the tourist traffic that routinely descends on the Big Easy. The council voted on the proposal, overwhelmingly giving it a thumbs-up.

That approval doesn’t mean that P2E has the green light to move forward, but it is a huge step in the right direction. The company has to move its license from Caddo Parish to St. Tammany Parish but, with the council’s blessing, state lawmakers can now draft a bill to get the process started and allow parish residents to vote on the idea. That bill would need to be approved by the state legislation and Governor John Bel Edwards, after which it would be placed on the ballot to be voted on by parish residents. Only a simple majority of voters would have to approve the measure for P2E to move forward.

Years ago, the idea of adding a casino to St. Tammany Parish was way out in left field and had no chance of being taken seriously. Voters rejected the notion in 1996, but times change and the COVID-19 pandemic has served as a catalyst for a number of changes in how gambling is viewed. The council approved the idea this past Monday by a vote of 11-1, which shows that there is strong interest in allowing P2E to come into town. Given that the company expects to be able to put 1,700 construction workers and 1,000 permanent employees to work, while providing tens of millions of dollars in annual economic impact, it’s not too surprising that the proposal was accepted.

By now, no one can be surprised to learn that any company attached to the gaming industry suffered losses last year because of COVID-19. The global pandemic sent revenue into the gutter for a strong majority of the operators in the ecosystem, with only the hope that things would turn around quickly keeping some of them alive. Ainsworth Game Technology, the Australian games developer, wasn’t the exception, according to its latest financial update. It took a massive hit in the second half of the year, but has begun to see a turnaround it hopes will remain intact.

Ainsworth reported today its preliminary results for the last half of 2020, indicating that it will more than likely report losses of around $10.8 million for the period. The final numbers will be available around February 25 following an audit, but the company expects to find that its legs were kicked out from under it by the coronavirus. However, despite taking a beating, the company forecasts positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $4.6 million. This comes thanks to an increase of 71% in revenue across the half compared to the first six months of the year. Overall, the performance is 33% lower than it had been a year earlier. 

Even though the large U.S. gaming market shut down for a few months last year, Ainsworth was able to take advantage of reopenings seen in the second half to buoy its numbers. The company points out that the North American market gave it the most support, as revenue increased from $16.3 million in the first half of the year to $31.7 million in the second. It added, “Improved participation and lease revenue contributed 40% of the current period’s revenue, an increase of 10% on the [2019 period]. AGT’s Historical Horse Racing products continue to positively contribute to revenues within this segment.”

In its domestic backyard, Ainsworth also saw improvement. Its Australian operations shot up 118% from the first to the second half, with the last six months of 2020 contributing $14.7 million. Another of its areas didn’t perform as well, though, with Latin American operations stumbling. Ainsworth explained, “Given the uncertainties and deferrals of purchasing decisions caused by the pandemic within this region, further reductions in revenues are expected in the short term before a return to pre-pandemic activity levels, impacting [the] timing of expected cash flows. Based on this, the Group is reviewing the recoverable amount of the Latin American Cash Generating Unit (CGU). This review is ongoing to determine the financial impact and a material non-cash impairment charge is anticipated for the Latin American CGU.”

FunFair Games COO Lloyd Purser has one eye on the future when it comes to audience engagement. Purser is keen to engage generation Y & Z as the next level of customers for the future and he believes that building community could pay off in the long term for operators. Purser took some time out to explain his strategy to our CalvinAyre.com lead reporter Becky Liggero Fontana. 

Purser has been leading the charge in new audience engagement by embracing blockchain technology. Purser explained why FunFair continues to play the long game with the blockchain revolution and why this resonates with a younger demographic.

“FunFair started in in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain, building a casino platform that operated purely on the Ethereum blockchain,” he said. “Throughout that, we’ve also seen in the crypto space, that there’s a certain different style of content which has been performing very well. We knew from our own data that in excess of 85 of all of our customers were under the age of 40 and the majority of those under the age of 30.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQCw-nxCxUM?feature=oembed&w=640&h=360]

Wynn Resorts hopes to be a major player in the U.S. online sports betting industry by 2022 through WynnBET, and a new approval gets them 1 step closer to that goal. Tennessee has given conditional approval for the operator to allow sports gambling.

The Sports Wagering Committee of the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation’s Board of Directors approved WynnBET, assuming they fulfill all the statutory and regulatory requirements.

Tennessee is the ninth state to give some sort of approval to WynnBET. The operator is already live in New Jersey, Colorado and Michigan, but also has plans to start in Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Ohio.

Wynn’s overall plan is to become a major sports betting operator by the next Super Bowl. While analysts expect sports-betting to reach as many as 12 new states this year, reaching 35 total, Wynn president and chief financial officer Craig Billings recently noted the company only expects to expand where it makes sense. “Our focus there is making sure that we can achieve market parity in order to do that,” Billings said. “I would say that’s our number one focus. And it consumes 40% of our time on Wynn Interactive.”

Nevada and New Jersey provide two very different stories of how the Super Bowl went this year. One state reported their first drop in volume in several years, while the other more than doubled its volume, and the difference could have been having an online option.

You’d probably guess the state that didn’t fair as well is Nevada, and you’d be right. The state’s 184 sports books saw $136.1 million in wagers, their lowest volume since 2016’s $132.5 million. Based on Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win over Kansas City, the books did well enough, taking in $12.6 million in profit.

“If there was no COVID, we would’ve broke the all-time record,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “People love coming to the Super Bowl parties here in Nevada. COVID knocked it out. It’s that simple.”

NGCB senior research analyst Michael Lawton also blamed Covid restrictions for the drop:

Nevada and New Jersey provide two very different stories of how the Super Bowl went this year. One state reported their first drop in volume in several years, while the other more than doubled its volume, and the difference could have been having an online option.

You’d probably guess the state that didn’t fair as well is Nevada, and you’d be right. The state’s 184 sports books saw $136.1 million in wagers, their lowest volume since 2016’s $132.5 million. Based on Tampa Bay’s 31-9 win over Kansas City, the books did well enough, taking in $12.6 million in profit.

“If there was no COVID, we would’ve broke the all-time record,” William Hill sportsbook director Nick Bogdanovich told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “People love coming to the Super Bowl parties here in Nevada. COVID knocked it out. It’s that simple.”

NGCB senior research analyst Michael Lawton also blamed Covid restrictions for the drop:

With vaccines yet to roll out, the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is turning to creative solutions to get people back to the poker table. The regulator has published a new memo, allowing an increase of players allowed seated at a poker table.

The February 8 memo amends the Health and Safety Standards for Resumption of Operations of Gaming Sites.

Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR has issued new guidelines to operators across the Philippines that allow for an increase in the number of players allowed to be seated at poker tables. While no new maximum is stated, the memo sets out a handful of steps operators can take to get as many people at the table as they can.

Most of these would be shocking to someone following what other territories, namely American operators, have bene implementing. Players still must be at least 1 meter apart and wear Personal Protective Equipment, namely masks and face shields, but operators can now install acrylic walls and barriers between each seating position.

With vaccines yet to roll out, the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is turning to creative solutions to get people back to the poker table. The regulator has published a new memo, allowing an increase of players allowed seated at a poker table.

The February 8 memo amends the Health and Safety Standards for Resumption of Operations of Gaming Sites.

Philippines gaming regulator PAGCOR has issued new guidelines to operators across the Philippines that allow for an increase in the number of players allowed to be seated at poker tables. While no new maximum is stated, the memo sets out a handful of steps operators can take to get as many people at the table as they can.

Most of these would be shocking to someone following what other territories, namely American operators, have bene implementing. Players still must be at least 1 meter apart and wear Personal Protective Equipment, namely masks and face shields, but operators can now install acrylic walls and barriers between each seating position.

Online casino sites need to stay on top of the hottest slot offerings to keep up with the competition. We’ve got the newest slots released in the past week, so you can check them out and decide if you want them on your site.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly. We also roundup the latest slot game releases for you every Wednesday.

Gift yourself a chance to win with Cupid!

Endorphina is delighted to introduce you to the one and only Cupid. He is an ordinary guy, living his ordinary life. But just once a year, everything changes and he becomes famous with his arrows of love. Do you want to fall in love this February with this new game?