Tag Archives: i-gaming

Game of Thrones’ hotties liven up 32Red, Gala Coral Group and Sportech results

The new season of HBO’s Game of Thrones debuts on April 12, so what better way than to liven up this otherwise dull-as-dishwater review of three UK-listed online gambling operators’ earnings reports than with four of the show’s UK-born actresses?

Such as Reading native Nathalie Dormer (pictured right), who plays Margaery Tyrell, the bride who (spoiler alert) got to watch her husband Joffrey Baratheon die at his wedding feast before the little shit got to put his little girlish hands on her grown up woman goodies.

GALA CORAL GROUP

Gala Coral Group issued a fiscal Q1 trading update for the 16 weeks ending Jan. 17, showing continued strong performance by its digital division. Overall revenue was up 5% to £267.4m while earnings rose 11% to £67.3m.

Online revenue rose 27% to £45.8m while online earnings rose 19% to £12.9m. The numbers were all the more impressive given the infamous run of adverse football results that all the other operators are bitching about, plus the Dec. 1 imposition of the new 15% online point-of-consumption tax (POCT).

The quarter saw the merger of the back-office functions of Coral Interactive and Gala Interactive and the adoption of a single management structure, from which the company expects to realize a £1m cost reduction in the current fiscal year.

Coral.co.uk actives rose 49% and spend-per-head rose 17%. Mobile channels accounted for 61% of sports and casino stakes, up 13 points in sports and up 11 points in casino. GalaBingo.com spending was up 33% and mobile usage improved 17 points to 45% of stakes. Coral’s phone betting revenue rose 9% to £1.2m.

Holland Casino posts first profit in seven years; no more Dutch house lotteries

Holland Casino is back in the black after recording a €12m profit in 2014, its first positive annual report in seven years.

The Netherlands’ state-owned brick-and-mortar casino monopoly credited the turnaround to a reorganization that has included several hundred redundancies among its staff. The chain’s 14 gaming joints also saw improved table game revenues.

The Dutch government is in the process of privatizing Holland Casino, with 10 casinos to be sold off in a group that will continue to use the Holland Casino brand, while the other four casinos will be sold individually. The government hopes to complete the process by 2017, by which time Holland Casino’s online gambling partnership with technology firm Playtech should be up and running.

The Netherlands is in the process of regulating its online gambling market but public officials have suggested the Remote Gambling Bill won’t take effect for at least another year. On Jan. 30, Michel Groothuizen, director general of sanctions and prevention policy for the ministry of security and justice, said officials were neck deep in preparing their response to a 586-question critique of the Bill by members of the Dutch parliament’s Lower House. As such, Goothuuizen said he didn’t expect the licensing process to begin until mid-2016 at the earliest.

NO MORE ONLINE HOUSE LOTTERIES IN HOLLAND OR ELSE

Meanwhile, the Kansspelautoriteit (Dutch Gaming Authority) has triumphed over yet another person trying to sell their house via an online lottery. In 2013, a homeowner in Winterswijk launched a website (dreamrealize.net) that offered the chance to buy 60,000 ‘certificates’ at €50 apiece to win his home. The Kansspelautoriteit declared this was an illegal lottery and warned the homeowner to cancel the lottery. Instead, the homeowner lawyered up and the parties went to court.

Last month, a court in Gelderland sided with the Kansspelautoriteit, saying that describing the chances to win as ‘certificates’ couldn’t hide the fact that this was an unauthorized lottery. The homeowners’ promotion of his raffle also violated the Games of Chance Act. It didn’t matter that the company set up to process the raffle was based in Costa Rica; if the lottery was being offered in the Netherlands, then Dutch laws apply.

BetVictor close in-house live dealer casino; Evolution Gaming planning IPO

Gibraltar-based online gambling firm BetVictor has closed its in-house live dealer casino after less than two years of existence.

A BetVictor spokesperson said the decision had not been “taken lightly” but was necessary to “ensure the long term sustainability of our business.” The in-house product “did not deliver sufficient value in innovation or differentiation to justify its cost when compared to third-party providers.” BetVictor will continue to offer live dealer products from suppliers Evolution Gaming, Microgaming and Net Entertainment.

Betvictor’s live dealer product launched in October 2013 in conjunction with MediaLive, making BetVictor the first operator to open its own in-house live dealer studio. The closure affects around 50 staff members, who have been offered comparable positions in Malta and Belgium.

EVOLUTION IPO?

Meanwhile, Evolution Gaming is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering. Investment watchers GlobalCapital reported that Evolution management plans to sell some shares on Stockholm’s NASDAQ First North Premier market with an eye towards an eventual IPO. Evolution reportedly isn’t planning on raising any new capital via the premarketing phase but global institutional investors would get a crack at owning a piece of the company. Evolution has yet to confirm or deny the report.

Evolution recently launched a second live casino environment for UK bookies William Hill at Evolution’s facility in Riga, Latvia. The new operation went live last month and features two tables (one blackjack, one roulette) accessible 24/7 via desktop, smartphone or tablet. Hills has been an Evolution client since 2011.

MEDIALIVE APPOINTS JOHN GALAJSZA

Connecticut Tribal Leaders lobby together for expanded gambling

Connecticut’s tribal leaders support expanded gambling, including possibly adding a new casino near the I-91 corridor between Hartford and the Massachusetts line.

Tribal Leaders— Rodney A. Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequots (Foxwoods Resort Casino) and Kevin P. Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribe (Mohegan Sun) travelled in tandem, along with their lobbyists, to gauge support at the General Assembly for expansion gambling on Wednesday.

The Northeastern Casino Gaming Research Project’s update on the regional gambling industry was released on the same day. The update said the two casinos have seen employment and revenue shrink by more than 35% over the past eight years as slots parlors opened at Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct in New York and Twin River Casino expanded in Rhode Island.

The study also predicted that the loss of jobs and revenue will worsen once the MGM Springfield casino opens in Massachusetts in 2017.

Rep. Steve Dargan, co-chairman of the Public Safety and Security Committee, said the committee would consider the expanded gambling bill, which will be submitted before March 19.

“It’s pretty simple: Do we want to expand gaming in the state of Connecticut, one, and do we want to protect jobs in the state of Connecticut, number two, and do we want to look at that end of the state … the Hartford-Enfield area?” said Dargan.

Gov. Dan Malloy said also that legislators will take a first-look at any possible gaming expansion legislation.

Amaya insider trading probe looking at close friend of CEO David Baazov

Probes into unusual stock trades involving Amaya Gaming prior to its acquisition of PokerStars have roped in a friend of Amaya CEO David Baazov.

On Friday, the Globe and Mail reported that the search warrant served on Amaya’s Montreal HQ in December by Quebec securities regulator Autorité des Marches Financiers (AMF) was seeking records related to Yoel Altman, an accountant described as a close friend of Baazov.

Altman has invested in a number of technology companies over the years and provided a $5m bridge loan that allowed Amaya to purchase software developers Cryptologic in 2012. He was described by the company as a “long-term strategic adviser.”

Altman’s name is also among the 300 investors being investigated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a US-based self-regulatory body. Like the AMF, FINRA’s probe is examining trading of Amaya stock prior to the company’s June 2014 acquisition of the Rational Group, the parent company of Stars and Full Tilt.

Amaya’s stock went on a tear in the weeks preceding the acquisition, suggesting the deal was common knowledge among certain investors long before CalvinAyre.com first broke the news that the companies were talking.

Other names on the FINRA list have links with Intertain, the Canadian company that purchased Amaya’s WagerLogic division in 2013, and in which Amaya holds a 5.8% stake. These names include a stock promoter named Robert Chalmers, who until March 1 was Intertain’s spokesman, and who previously worked at Amaya’s investment banker Cannacord Genuity. Chalmers and Altman are both directors at a company called Portvesta Holdings inc.

Intertain director John Fielding earned his way onto FINRA’s list by purchasing $2m worth of Amaya stock in the months leading up to the Rational acquisition. Fielding told the Globe he wasn’t privy to any inside info and had purchased the shares on the advice of his broker.

Darren Phua heading home to Malaysia after plea deal on sports betting charges

Darren Phua is headed home to Malaysia after pleading guilty to participating in an illegal online sports betting operation, but his father will continue to fight his own charges.

Darren Phua is the 23-year-old son of noted high-stakes poker player Wei Seng ‘Paul’ Phua, and both father and son were among the eight individuals arrested last July at three luxury villas at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Five other defendants have already reached plea deals, while charges against a sixth defendant were dropped.

On Friday, Darren Phua pled guilty to a single charge of transmitting wagering information, for which he was fined $100k and ordered to forfeit $125k. As with the other plea deals, Phua was put on five years probation, during which time he has to give the US of A a wide berth.

News of Darren’s plea deal first surfaced on Thursday when his attorneys told US District Judge Andrew Gordon that their Malaysian-born client had grown homesick after spending the past seven months under house arrest in Las Vegas. On Friday, Phua’s attorney Richard Schonfeld said his client felt he was trapped in “a nightmare that he has been unable to wake up from.”

The Phuas were arrested after the FBI shut off the villas’ internet connection, then sent in agents disguised as tech support equipped with hidden body cameras to obtain proof of the suspected bookmaking operation. Phua’s attorneys have argued that these tactics violated their clients’ constitutional protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

In February, US Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen recommended tossing the evidence obtained during the FBI raid. Prosecutors are attempting to have Leen’s recommendation overturned, as they aren’t confident of securing a conviction without this evidence.

On Friday, Schonfeld said that “as a result of the legal successes in this case, Darren was presented with an opportunity to accept a lesser charge. While we are all confident in the strength of our case and believe we would have ultimately prevailed, this is the best outcome for Darren.”

Las Vegas Sands hit with $250k penalty over Steve Jacobs’ document shenanigans

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has been ordered to pay a $250k penalty for redacting documents related to an ongoing court case.

District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez levied the penalty after determining that Sands had willfully violated her order to turn over documents relating to the wrongful termination suit brought by Steve Jacobs (pictured on the right), the former CEO of Sands China. Jacobs was unceremoniously dismissed in 2010 and the two parties have been locked in a bitter legal tussle ever since.

Sands had previously claimed it couldn’t produce the documents because Macau privacy laws prohibited the exportation of data from the special administrative region. This excuse rang hollow after the court learned that Sands itself had exported the same data to the US so its Nevada-based attorneys could check it over (a process that cost Sands $2.4m in legal fees). When Sands did turn over the data, about 7,900 of the 100k emails and other files had been redacted.

In her ruling on Friday, Gonzalez ordered Sands to turn over the documents free of redactions. Sands must also pay Jacobs’ significant court costs relating to the “needless” document squabble. Not that this will satisfy Jacobs or his attorney Todd Bice, who had previously warned Gonzalez that the filthy rich Sands’ plan was to “spend us all into the grave.”

Still to be decided is the question of whether the Nevada courts have jurisdiction to decide a matter relating to Sands China. Jacobs has alleged that Sands China’s decision making was ultimately subject to approval by its parent company in Nevada.

Jacobs says he was sacked for objecting to Sands’ alleged efforts to dig up dirt on Macau public officials for use as leverage in future negotiations. Jacobs also claims that he objected to a “prostitution strategy” personally endorsed by Sands boss Sheldon Adelson, a claim that Adelson and Sands have vehemently denied.

SANDS CHINA TO CURTAIL NON-ASIAN ENTERTAINMENT?

Fortuna’s online betting kicking ass but shares tumble on dividend revamp

Czech Republic betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group saw its online gambling revenue rise nearly one-third in 2014.

Fortuna’s combined operations in its home market as well as the Slovak Republic and Poland reported overall gambling turnover up 18.5% to €672.4m, while sports betting turnover rose 19% to €655.7m largely due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Lottery stakes rose 4.1% to €16.7m.

Fortuna’s revenue rose 13.9% to €132.6m thanks to a 31.7% rise in online betting revenue to €67m. The online numbers were goosed by enhanced live betting offers and live streaming courtesy of a Bwin.party feed project. By contrast, retail betting revenue was up only 0.5% to €58m. Lottery operations contributed the remaining €7.5m.

Fortuna’s 2014 earnings rose 6.4% to €28.4m and would have been up 13.6% were it not for a one-off value-added tax claim in Poland. Profit rose 2.3% to €15.9m, slightly below analysts’ expectations.

Despite the largely positive numbers, Fortuna’s shares fell 13% on Thursday – its biggest one-day decline in two years – after the company said it would review its dividend policy. Fortuna has been returning 70% to 100% of its profits to shareholders but warned of a “substantial reduction” in this rate as it stores up cash to fund “investments into future growth.”

Analysts suggested Fortuna’s dividend rate could fall as low as 30%, resulting in a 2% dividend yield. Fortuna promised to reveal specifics of its revised dividend scheme before the company’s annual general meeting in May.

Fortuna has been funneling around €3-4m per year into growth investments but CFO Jaroslava Hirschova said this figure would be “at least two to three times more” in 2015. Hirschova said Fortuna had no plans to increase its debt to fund these investments, but will rely on cash flow.

Greece to issue new online gambling licenses in bid to raise €500m per year

Greece’s online gambling market is set for a shake-up after the country’s new left-wing government announced plans to issue new online gambling licenses.

The ruling Syriza party, which assumed power after snap elections were called in January, says its new online gambling licenses will cost €3m apiece and be valid for a five-year term. Syriza said its plan would raise an additional €500m per year for the cash-strapped state.

Syriza’s plan calls for the “immediate, official licensing of existing Online Gaming Providers,” apparently referring to the 24 temporary online licenses issued by the previous government in 2011 (which were revoked a year later). Each license would apply to a single online domain. License renewal fees will be revised according to “actual market data.” Syriza feels the sale of new licenses shouldn’t take more than two months.

Tax rates would remain at their current levels and each new licensee would have to prepay minimum tax of €1m per year, “irrespectively of the actual volume of transactions and with the possibility that other taxes are waived.” Syriza envisions a completely “cashless” environment with payments done by debit or prepaid cards, “to be managed by an officially licensed Payment Service Provider by the Central Bank of Greece.”

The online gambling plan was one of seven new Syriza proposals to boost revenue and thus allow Greece to meet its debt obligations. Syriza and its combative finance minister Yanis Varoufakis have been warring with Greece’s EU and IMF creditors over repayment of the €240b bailout the country received in 2010. Other aspects of Syriza’s plan include enlisting “large numbers of casual onlookers” to fink on individuals or businesses avoiding value-added taxes.

Greece’s online gambling market has been in a state of legal turmoil for years. Those 24 operators whose temporary licenses were revoked have taken Greece to the European Commission over what they claim was blatant protectionism intended to boost the pre-sale value of former state-owned betting monopoly OPAP.

Syriza’s rolling out the welcome mat for online gambling represents something of an about-face. Shortly before January’s election, Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said he was dead set against “large gambling interest and profiteering rampages on neighborhoods.” Tsipras also suggested the Greek government’s sale of its one-third stake in OPAP was a “national crime” and “not a done event.”

Online slots portal VegasSlotsOnline.com acquires MrGamez.com for close to $500k

Malta: 6th March 2015- Leading online slots portal VegasSlotsOnline.com (VSO) announced today that they have successfully acquired the assets of MrGamez.com in a deal worth close to $500,000. VSO, the largest provider of free games and slots reviews online, have cemented their position as the leading source of online slots information with the purchase of the European-based online games portal.

MrGamez.com offers users the chance to play a huge selection of online casino games for free across a wide variety of different software providers. The site has a more European focus and masculine tone, and combined with VSO will focus on slots on a global scale by attending to the needs of different demographics.

Spokesman for VSO, Josh Turner noted that “The purchase of MrGamez.com is the next step in our quest to become market leaders in the online slots space. We are very appreciative of quality websites especially when they are in iGaming verticals, and whenever an opportunity arises to acquire something like this, you do whatever it takes to make it happen.” He added that, “We have increased our market share with this purchase and hope to leverage this going forward in our business pursuits.”

The acquisition is the continuation of an excellent 24 months for the VSO team, who have surged to the top of almost all online slots related rankings and currently serve over 800,000 monthly visitors in the online gaming sector.

It will be business as usual for the two sites which will operate as strategic partners going forward, but still offer users the same great content and experiences that they are used to.

In the near future VSO intends to continue its expansion by opening an office in Malta to utilize the strong presence of iGaming intellect and a tech savvy population. Due to the significant interest in slots, slot machines and all things related to casino games, proximity to Las Vegas remains pivotal and the majority of the team will continue to operate from the VSO head office, fulfilling research and media related roles.

Netanyahu heavily favored to remain Israel PM; Betfair joins in on UK election craziness

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the favorite to be re-elected as the PM of Israel says online prediction website PredictIt.org. The site, which sets its odds depending on public volume coming in on either side of a specific bet offer, listed Netanyahu as an 81% favorite when the country holds its elections for the 20th Knesset on March 17, 2015.

Based on recent events, it appears that Netanyahu’s recent address before the US Congress had a big impact on the voters. Just before his address, public polls in Israel had the PM race a lot closer than the latest returns. PredictIt.org even posted his chances as being below 50% as recently as January 2015.

But over the past few weeks, that number has steadily gone up and it now appears that Netanyahu is all but certain to retain his status as Israel prime minister.

Speaking of election betting, UK bookmaker Ladbrokes isn’t the only one reaping the rewards of what has become an action-packed election betting prop in the UK. Fellow oddsmaker Betfair is also getting in on the action. According to CEO Breon Corcoran, Betfair has already received £2.2 million in bets on the company’s exchange and is expecting to generate close to £2.2 million £40 million in bets before the general election takes place on May 7.

Betfair is predicting that the elections will result in a hung parliament and the odds of that happening – 1/4 odds – indicate that such a scenario is the overwhelming favorite to happen. the betting company has also priced an overall Tory majority at 11/2 and an overall Labour majority at 18/1.

If the Scottish referendum last September 2014 was an indication, it’s safe to say that Betfair’s odds are right in line with what’s expected to happen in the UK elections. Corcoran even said as much when he said that it expects its posted odds as a reflection of a similarly accurate outcome with the Scottish referendum, which Betfair supposedly called earlier than a lot of other oddsmakers.

 

Imperial Pacific gets nod to open temporary casino in Saipan; Bangkok casino could become police station?

Macau junket investor Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd has reached a written agreement with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, amending its casino license to establish and operate a temporary casino in Garapan, Saipan.

The agreement was mentioned in a filing submitted to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as well as the company’s plan to seek legal advice to make sure that the temporary casino complies with all the applicable laws that fall under the jurisdiction of the stock exchange.

The temporary casino will be operational while the company build its $7.1 billion integrated resort and casino project in Saipan. The first phase of the massive project is set to be completed sometime in 2016.

Once the project is completed, the massive resort and casino project will feature a town hotel plus integrated resort with gaming facilities.

The temporary casino is expected to be launched sometime this year.

Over in Bangkok, Tao Pun casino—long considered as a hotbed for illegal gambling among the residents, will be permanently shuttered and will be turned into, of all things, a police station.

Pol Col and Secretary-General of the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) Seehanat Prayoonrat told The Bangkok Post that the property will finally be put to use for another purpose after gamblers continued to use it for illegal gambling activities even after the place had been seized by the AMLO.

CalvinAyre.com Readers receive a 25% discount for iGaming Asia Congress 2015

CalvinAyre.com has signed up as a media partner of iGaming Asia Congress 2015, which will be held on March 17–19 at the Grand Hyatt City of Dreams Macau, and our readers will receive 25% discount by using a promo code.

Follow these simple steps.

• Click here to go to online registration form

•Tick the 3-day pass button

• Click the Go to Step 2 button

• Fill out the form with your information and use the promo code: BU940CA

Over 250+ of Asia’s leading sports betting, online casino, lottery, social and mobile gaming executives are expected to attend. iGA 2015 is a great place whether you’re looking to form new partnerships, learn about the Asia’s latest innovations, opportunities, strategies, and developments for interactive gaming and to network to discover new opportunities.

Weekly Poll: Were the Seals and Clubs’ technical issue and police operation related?

Take Our Poll

Bitcoin-only online poker site SealsWithClubs (SwC ) has been shut down due to what was described as technical issue after the home of its founder Bryan Micon was raided at gunpoint by the police, which is why we decided to ask our readers, “Were the Seals and Clubs’ technical issue and police operation related?”

It would be easy to connect the raid with the technical issues that took down SwC around the same time and most of our readers seemed to agree as 77% voted “Yes” and only 23% voted, “No.”

Prior to the raid, Seals With Club users complained a series of technical problems that made the room unavailable on Feb 11, then after few days Bryan Micon’s video came out, describing how police raided his home on the same date; served with a warrant from the Nevada Gambling Commission accusing him of violating Nevada Revised Statutes NRS 463.750(10b) and the operation of an interactive gaming site without all required licenses, but wasn’t formally charged with any crime.

Micon said that the timing might be suspicious but he hasn’t been able to make a connection between the two occurrences himself. “It’s true, there have been some irregularities with our server that coincided exactly with the time that my front door was broken down, and it seems too unlikely for these things to not be connected. Right now, however, it’s simply impossible to understand what exactly happened,” Micon said.

Innovation in iGaming Profiles: Stakes & Ladders/Bets of Mates

In the following episodes of the CalvinAyre.com innovation iGaming Profiles, we focus on the stories behind two sportsbetting start-ups that recently merged into one- Stakes & Ladders and Bets of Mates.  The two companies merged in early 2015 and now operate under the single brand of Stakes & Ladders with both founders taking an active part in the business.

David McGurk is the founder of Bets of Mates, a social sportsbetting company that facilitates competition amongst friends. McGurk spent over ten years as a semi-pro football player, but as his career began to wind down, McGurk decided he wanted to start up his own business. The original idea was formed while McGurk and his friends were enjoying a bet themselves.

“The three of us were sat watching a game and we all lost our bets which were bet against a bookmaker, so we thought the if the idea was we could bet against each other, one of us could actually win.  So we went from there and sort of ran with that idea and progressed it and came up with a better idea where you could enter pools of betting against your friends or against strangers”.

At the time, McGurk was able to leverage connections with professional footballers to help spread the word about his new business.

“I’ve got a lot of friends in football where they just helped us with the publicity, they would send out a lot of tweets for us, send messages on Facebook and we got them signed up to the site so fans of the football clubs they were playing for could actually play against players”.

August 1, 2014 marked the date when England’s Football Association issued a new betting ban for footballers and also the date when McGurk had to think about shifting his strategy.

“Unfortunately the FA have instigated a rule where professional footballers can’t bet on any football whatsoever so that kind of slowed things down a little bit for us, so we tried getting the extra investment to boost the website.  We couldn’t get it, but fortunately [Stakes & Ladders] came up with a merge idea and things have gone smoothly with that”.

SEO for 2015 – 3 Top Areas to Focus in Gaming

SEO for 2015

One really popular topic right now on the SEO forums and pertinent blogs is 2015. That is right, 2015, the year. What does it mean for SEO to be in 2015?

There is also some serious debate raging in the SEO forums I frequent right now about this. Does SEO even matter anymore?

I am going to look at these 2 questions in this article. In short, 2015 is very similar to 2014 and SEO matters.

SEO DOES MATTER!

This is a topic I have a lot to say on. I am talking years of experience. SEO trench work and consulting all day long. I have had sites on the first page of google for the term ‘poker.’ Yadda yadda, this isn’t my first rodeo.

That said, I don’t consider myself an SEO guru or master. I am merely someone that respects it and enjoys working hard at it. I am not at 10k hours, getting closer every week.

Wynn Macau asks staff to take unpaid leave; proxy betting back in vogue?

Macau’s casino industry gave off another strong signal that all is not well after Wynn Resorts asked its staff to take voluntary unpaid leave.

The Hong Kong Standard reported that Wynn Macau staff received text messages seeking volunteers to take “no-pay leave or annual leave from March 9-15.” While the request is for volunteers, it marks the first time Wynn Macau has made such a request since the 2008 global economic crisis. Other Macau casinos have reportedly been making similar requests of their staff since December due to the lack of customers at their gaming tables.

PROXY BETTING BACK IN VOGUE?

In a further sign that Macau casino operators are leaving no revenue stone unturned, some operators have reportedly restarted their telephone betting business. Last week, Daiwa Securities claimed “at least one” of the two operators that suspended telephone betting last year had quietly resumed the practice.

Sands China cut off its proxy betting in October and a spokesperson told GGRAsia that the company had not rethought its decision. Wynn Macau is believed to be the other operator who dropped the ban hammer but its current stance on the practice is unknown.

Phone betting or proxy betting involves a trusted go-between who sits at the gaming table and relays play-by-play card information to a mainland bettor, who decides how much to wager on any given hand. The practice, which allows high-rollers to gamble without having to leave the mainland, was believed to account for up to 8% of Macau’s VIP gaming turnover.

INDIVIDUAL VISIT SCHEME REJIG PROMISES TO CONSIDER CASINO INTERESTS

Ben Askren to Face Luis Santos in ONE: Valor of Champions Main Event

MARK STRIEGL TO MAKE ONE CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUT AGAINST CASEY SUIRE

EUGENE TOQUERO RETURNS TO ACTION OPPOSITE INDONESIA’S BRIANATA ROSADHI

TICKETS FOR ONE: VALOR OF CHAMPIONS ON SALE NOW AT SM TICKETS

6 March 2015 – Manila: Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90% market share, ONE Championship™ (ONE), has announced two additional bouts for ONE: VALOR OF CHAMPIONS. In the co-main event, Filipino superstar Mark Striegl will make his promotional debut when he takes on the undefeated Casey Suire. Accomplished kickboxer Eugene Toquero also returns to action when he faces Indonesia’s Brianata Rosadhi. ONE: VALOR OF CHAMPIONS will be headlined by a ONE Welterweight World Championship bout between incumbent champion Ben Askren and the number one contender, Luis Santos.

Tickets for ONE: VALOR OF CHAMPIONS are available now at www.smtickets.com. Ticket categories begin with the full Red Carpet and cageside experience for VVIPs at PHP5380. Tickets priced at PHP3180, PHP1280, PHP640 and PHP220 are also available. Early bird promotions for Gold, Silver and Bronze categories are available until 20 April. Prices include ticketing fee.

CEO OF ONE Championship, Victor Cui, stated, “ONE: VALOR OF CHAMPIONS is set to be the biggest sporting event to be held in the Philippines this year. Mark Striegl is a Filipino MMA superstar who has proven that he has what it takes to compete with the best in the world. He now tests himself against the best in the world in ONE Championship’s stacked Bantamweight division, beginning with the undefeated Casey Suire. Both mixed martial artists are known for their exciting styles. Get set for a night of adrenaline pumping mixed martial arts action as ONE Championship goes live around the world on 24 April!”

Mark Striegl is a Filipino mixed martial arts superstar who has found success in every promotion he has competed in. Striegl has a proven grappling pedigree, and has won eleven of his bouts by submission. Striegl will be making his ONE debut in the bantamweight division after exploding onto the MMA scene with twelve straight wins in the featherweight division.

Coingaming Launches GameART Games for Bitcoin Players

Curaçao: 3rd March 2015 – Coingaming.io, the leading platform provider which specialises in the provisioning of Bitcoin cryptocurrency solutions for the iGaming sector, today announced that it has integrated GameART’s casino games for their Bitcoin only licensed gaming platform.

Integration with GameART provides operators that use the Coingaming Bitcoin only casino platform with access to their first 12 games available on all devices, including both flash and HTML5 versions with mobile coming soon. GameART’s exclusive designs, 3D graphics with high-quality audio and sound-effects will certainly appeal to the unique and demanding Bitcoin player-demographics.

Tauri Tiitsaar, COO of Coingaming, comments: “Coingaming is rapidly establishing itself as the leading category provider of premium casino gaming content for the Bitcoin casino player market. Having recently signed an agreement with Quickfire and Microgaming, we continue to look forward to partnering with the industry’s leading games content providers such as GameART whose games maximise game-player retention and improve ROI for our Bitcoin operator’s.”

Borut Lozej, Business Development Director of GameART added: “Coingaming is well-respected when it comes to Bitcoin gaming platforms and is by far the best rated and respected cryptocurrency gaming operation. The addition of this first batch of the GameART portfolio  with more games to be added, further delivers premium gaming content to Bitcoin players via this distribution agreement and will clearly bring exciting opportunities for both GameART and Coingaming.”

For further information, please contact:

Coingaming.io

Mark McGuinness

Pennsylvania slots up, Maryland casinos down in February

Pennsylvania casino slot machine revenue nudged up 1.1% to $183.2m in February. Seven of the state’s 12 casinos posted year-on-year gains, including the market leading Parx Casino, which rose 7.3% to $29.6m. Rivers Casino ranked second with $22.5m (-3%), relegating Sands Bethlehem to third place with $22m (+5.5%). February’s tally was $2.2m more than January’s total.

Across the border in Maryland, the state’s five casinos earned $82.8m in February. That makes three straight months of declines since the state peaked at $90.2m in November. Revenue records had been falling left right and center since Horseshoe Casino Baltimore opened in late August but the thrill has apparently worn off.

As ever, Maryland Live! topped all comers with just under $47m, down $2.4m from January. The aforementioned Horseshoe suffered a much smaller decline, falling only about $150k to just under $23m. As for the state’s lesser lights, Hollywood Casino Perryville earned $6m, unchanged from January. Rocky Gap earned $3.5m (+16%) and Ocean Downs was unchanged from January at $3.3m.

Looking at things from a year-on-year perspective, the four casinos that were open in February 2014 had a much rougher time. Maryland Live! was down 10.2%, Ocean Downs fell 4.9% and Perryville fell 14.7%. Rocky Gap bucked the trend by rising 11.7% year-on-year. Minus the Horseshoe, the state’s year-on-year total is off 9.4%.

Operators insist that February’s decline was in part due to wretched weather. But since the snow didn’t seem to stop Pennsylvania’s casinos from posting gains, concerns are mounting that Maryland’s market is saturated. Meanwhile, MGM Resorts is on track to open its new National Harbor venue next year and the state legislature is considering a measure that would slots at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore (informally known as the Bad Idea Act of 2015).

The Shoe’s revenue has been remarkably constant, averaging $22.8m in its six full months of existence, but that’s about 35% below projections. In January, the Shoe got the okay to exchange around 300 of its slots for 30 extra gaming tables, while Maryland Live! traded in 300 slots for 13 tables. Not that it helped either casino that much.