Casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE) saw revenue fall in both Q4 and FY 2014 thanks to Macau’s ongoing revenue slump. Full-year revenue fell 6% to $4.8b, earnings fell 7% to $1.28b and net income fell 4.5% to $608.3m. The company laid blame for the slump on lower VIP gambling volume, which was only partially offset by gains in mass-market revenue.

For the three months ending Dec. 31, revenue fell 20% to $1.12b as both VIP and mass-market gambling slowed. Earnings fell 29% to $278.6m and net income tumbled nearly 60% to $92.9m. In addition to less action at the tables, MCE says $26.3m came off the bottom line thanks to costs associated with the in-development Studio City project in Macau and the recently opened City of Dreams Manila.

MCE’s original City of Dreams property in Macau reported Q4 revenue down 18% to $895m as VIP turnover dropped 30%. However, mass-market table drop nudged up 1% to $1.3b and gaming machine handle rose 4% to $1.35b. Non-gaming revenue was basically flat at $71.5m.

Altira Macau saw revenue fall 30% to $173m as VIP turnover fell 24%, mass market table drop fell 14% and non-gaming revenue dipped slightly to $9.4m. Revenue from the Mocha Clubs slots parlors fell 15% to $32.8m thanks to a 400-unit reduction in active machines to 1,300, although net win per machine per day rose 6%.

HO HATES SMOKING BANS AND TABLE UNCERTAINTY, LIKES QUALITY JUNKETS

MCE co-chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho (pictured) said 2014 had been “challenging” in Macau, but Ho took heart by the fact that MCE had been able to boost its share of Macau’s mass-market in Q4. Ho said he’d been “one of the more optimistic people” for Macau’s prospects in 2015, but he now expects the gaming hub to post “slight negative growth year-over-year” in 2015.

Ho suggested a decreased mass-market hold percentage in Q4 was at least partly caused by Macau’s smoking ban and players having to get up from the tables to go burn a butt. Ho wasn’t sure whether this impact would be temporary or permanent but noted that mass hold rate “has always been highly correlated to the length of play.”

A trio of stories from Camp 888 with the sad news that Xuan Liu will say bon voyage, the good news that I get to play in an 888Poker sponsored event in Dublin, and Sofia Lovgren describes her dream home game.

A triumvirate of 888Poker related stories begins with the news that the Canadian Xuan Liu has parted ways with her sponsor after only a year as part of the gang.

Very grateful to have been given the opportunity for a year but will no longer be an @888poker ambassador.

— Xuan Liu (@xxl23) February 11, 2015

Liu joined 888Poker in April 2014, the same time that the Swedish pro Sofia Lovgren also make the switch from Team PKR. Sam Holden left space on the team after deciding to focus on a career in philosophy. In January, Liu finished runner-up to Sean O’Reilly in the A$1,040 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max at the Aussie Millions for a score of $58,734. It was her biggest score since joining the team. Liu is the third big name departure after Shane Warne and JC Tran also departed ways in the past six months. There has been a strong outpouring of support on Twitter with Jackie Glazier, Kara Scott and Gillian Epp all paying tribute to her ambassadorial role.

Sofia Lovgren and Her Dream Home Game

They may have joined at the same time, but for the time being at least, it doesn’t look as if they are both leaving at the same time.

Brian Altman has won the World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open, at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, after defeating Mark Dube in heads-up action.

[Image Credit: WPT]

It’s not often that the outcome of a poker tournament goes the way it’s supposed to it. Fortunately, for Brian Altman it did.

When the penultimate day of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Poker Open was over, two professional poker players, in their mid twenties, had over 70% of the chips. The smart money was on Brian Altman or Mark Dube joining the WPT Champions Club.

With Altman and Dube maintaining such a stranglehold, it became a tale of who would take up the four rear spots. The booby prize went to Jon Graham. He got it in with KQo, and Kelly Minkin picked him apart with pocket queens.

Sanjay Gehi would exit stage left soon thereafter. It was Dube holding the scalpers knife. A classic race that saw the pocket tens of Gehi run out of steam against the AJo of Dube when an ace hit the flop.

Fourth place was reserved for Greg Rosen. The 48-year old father of twins was always going to be a winner no matter what the results on this final table. Winning your seat through a $100 satellite and turning it into $220,189 will do that to a man. He made his move on a flop of [Qs] [8s] [6d] holding bottom pair, and Altman took him to the cleaners with top pair.

PokerStars and Unibet walked away with some of the top honors at the recent 8th International Gaming Awards at the Savoy Hotel in London.

It’s a little far fetched to say that 2014 was annus horribilis for PokerStars. After all, they were subject to the most exciting and interesting iGaming takeover in recent times. But they lost some customer love; of that there is no doubt. This is what makes winning awards so much sweeter.

The 8th International Gaming Awards were held at the Savoy Hotel in London. There was music, dance, champagne and trumpets. The fanfare blew for PokerStars as they picked up the award for Online Poker Operator of the Year. It was the third successive year that the largest online poker room in the world had picked up the award.

‘We are Poker’

I guess you are.

The only other two previous winners of this award have been partypoker (2012) and PKR (2010 & 2011).

PokerStars also had its manicured nails in various other pearl soaked oysters. Rational Group picked up the award for Socially Responsible Operator of the Year Online, and two casinos that contain PokerStars branded poker rooms also won top awards: The City of Dreams in Manila won the Casino/Integrated Resort of the Year award, and The Hippodrome won the Casino Operator of the Year Europe award.

Atlantic City casinos have started the year off right by posting a 17.9% revenue gain in the month of January. The eight surviving AC casinos that were operational in January 2014 reported revenue of $186m last month, not counting the $11.5m contributed via January’s online gambling revenue.

The brick-and-mortar total is also an improvement over December’s $179.8m. Even if you factor in all online and land-based revenue from both surviving and closed casinos, revenue is up 1%, so happy new year AC.

New Jersey Casino Control Commission chairman Matt Levinson cautioned that while “it is always risky to say we’ve turned a corner or that there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, let me say that January’s results are very encouraging.”

Seven of the eight survivors reported year-on-year revenue gains in January, six of them in double-digit territory. Perennial market leader Borgata rose 18.1% to $57.1m while Harrah’s was up 20.1% to $30.8m and Caesars rose 29.8% to $23.1m. The rest of the casinos finished as follows: Tropicana ($20m, +19.8%), Golden Nugget ($15.8m, +50.8%), Bally’s ($15.8m, +6.7%), Trump Taj Mahal (the month’s lone decliner, falling 21.2% to $12.1m) and Resorts ($11m, +31.8%).

Ohio’s casino industry earned nearly $65m in January, up 9% year-on-year. However, January 2014 was a time of epic snowfall that closed some casinos for a couple days. Regardless, three of the state’s four casinos posted gains, led by Hollywood Columbus ($18m, +17%). Horseshoe Cleveland rose 4% to $17.4m, while Hollywood Toledo posted the month’s biggest percentage gain, rising 24% to $14.3m. Horseshoe Cincinnati bucked the trend, falling 6% to $15.2m. The state’s seven racinos earned $63m, down 2.6% from December.

Michigan’s casino industry saw revenue jump 15% to $111m in January. with all three Detroit venues sharing in the extra bounty. MGM Grand Detroit rose 12% to $46.2m, Greektown was up 16% to $26.7m and MotorCity rose 20% to $38.1m. In addition to better weather, Detroit’s improvement is credited to the fall in gas prices, which has left customers with more discretionary income.

New Jersey’s regulated online gambling market generated $11.6m in revenue in January, up 22.3% from the same month last year and up 8.5% over December’s tally.

The Division of Gaming Enforcement says the monthly total is actually up 34.5% if you discount the fact that Ultimate Gaming was still operational last January. Either way, the monthly sum is just $300k off the state’s all-time peak recorded in March 2014.

The casino vertical accounted for $9.3m, up from $8.7m in December, while poker added $2.3m, up from $2.05m. However, when comparing year-on-year numbers, poker revenue is down by a full third from January 2014’s $3.44m, which represents the market’s peak poker revenue score. Meanwhile, the casino vertical is up 54% year-on-year.

Online sites affiliated with the Borgata casino – NJ Party Poker, the Borgata’s own branded sites and recent addition PalaCasino.com – led all comers with a total $3.78m (+2.7%). Borgata sites earned $2.5m (flat) from casino and $1.28m (+16%) from poker. Caesars interactive New Jersey – whose sites include all Caesars brands, WSOP.com and 888.com – earned $2.75m, with casino accounting for $1.74m (flat) and poker earning $1m (+7%).

The Tropicana‘s sites reported $2.56m from their casino-only operations, up 11% over December’s total and finally unseating the Borgata as the market’s casino leader. The Golden Nugget – on whose license Betfair is now piggybacking – earned $2.46m (+12%) from its casino-only operations.

Quebec’s financial regulator is investigating the stock trades of a dozen Manulife Securities brokers prior to Amaya Gaming’s June 2014 acquisition of online poker giant PokerStars.

In December, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) launched a probe into trading that preceded Amaya’s $4.9b acquisition of the Rational Group, the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt. The AMF and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police paid unannounced visits to branch offices of Manulife Securities – the brokerage arm of insurance giant Manulife Financial, which holds 300k Amaya shares, making it Amaya’s 17th-largest shareholder – and investment bank Canaccord Genuity, as well as Amaya’s own Montreal HQ.

On Thursday, The Globe And Mail reported that 12 unidentified Manulife brokers at the company’s Dorval office west of Montreal were among those being investigated. Sources said the brokers were a “closely knit group” connected by family ties and that the probe included trades made by relatives who didn’t work at Manulife.

Manulife’s Dorval office is located a few kilometers down the Trans Canada Highway from Amaya’s HQ, but Amaya spokesman Tim Foran said neither Amaya nor its execs had ties to the brokers in question. Amaya was “also not aware of any connection between retail brokers at Manulife Securities and any other employee at the company.”

The AMF probe is unrelated to the probe being conducted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a US self-regulatory agency that is examining some 300 investors’ trading activities in the run-up to Amaya’s public announcement of its Rational acquisition. Amaya’s stock saw significant rises in both trading volume and share price in the weeks leading up to the acquisition. CalvinAyre.com was first to report the news that Amaya and Rational were holding acquisition talks.

Independent gaming software provider 1×2 gaming launched a new sports betting product, providing a new virtual betting experience made up of more than 160 national league competitions from 146 countries, all in the world of simulation.

The product titled “Virtual Football Pro” will feature real team names from various football leagues around the world with offerings of a number of betting options that bettors normally see in live-action football matches. Be it total match goals or other additional outright markets, Virtual Football Pro provides a pretty cool simulated interpretation of actual football leagues.

“This represents a genuine milestone in the provision of online virtual football,” 1×2 gaming Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Reid said in a statement. “The product provides localized content that will be interesting and compelling to the players in the different geographic locations, and operators will be able to see the benefit of having a data-driven, virtual sports product to complement their existing graphical products.”

It’s still unclear which operator will sign up to get Virtual Football Pro in their libraries but with the immense potential of a simulated virtual football market, it likely would be just be a matter of time before we see the game go live.

Meanwhile, online gambling operator Betway followed up on its massive £20 million deal with  English Premier League club West Ham United by striking an agreement with UK-based sports radio station talkSPORT.

As part of the newly minted partnership between the two sides, Betway’s Alan Algar will get a segment on the station’s “Weekend Sports Breakfast Show” where he will be able to discuss some of Betway’s latest sports betting odds while also giving listeners a first-hand lowdown on the range of betting markets and specials being offered by Betway in that particular time.

The deal is particularly important for Betway, which now has access to a multitude of people who are exposed to talkSPORT. “For a huge number of football supporters across the UK, talkSPORT is the first place they tune into every day for all the latest football news, the company said in a statement. “We are delighted to have teamed up with the station which will give us exposure to this huge pool of sports fans.”

South Korea casino operator Grand Korea Leisure reported a 57% increase in visitation numbers from Chinese gamblers in its casinos compared to its numbers a year ago, quelling fears that China’s tightening grip on the ability of its VIP gamblers from gambling in other casinos would have a direct effect on casinos’ ability to draw in these high rollers.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, Grand Korea Leisure reported that it welcomed a total of 510,000 visitors in its three foreigners-only casinos, a number that was 34% better year-on-year. Of this total, Chinese gamblers accounted for 40% of gambling visitors with Japanese gamblers coming in at second at 28%.

“There was no slowdown in Chinese gamer traffic,” Daiwa Securities Group analyst Thomas Kwon said. “[GKL] benefited from robust visitor traffic for VIP floor and mass-table games from all countries including China.”

In the same time period, GKL reported an increase in its revenue by 5% to KRW149 billion ($134.8 million) while operating profit shot up by 4% to KRW40 billion ($36 million) year-on-year. The numbers were still below Daiwa’s forecast of KRW45.2 billion ($40.8 million) but it was still good enough to post a net profit of KRW31 billion ($28 million), an increase of 21% compared to its numbers in the same time period a year ago.

Meanwhile, Donaco International has successfully raised almost $72 million through a successful share placement, thanks to an entitlement offer to some of its new investors. The casino operator told the Australian Securities Exchange that the shares placement will net the company 154,014,665 new shares, which it began trading on February 11, 2015. Similarly, a retail component to Donaco’s entitlement offer opened on Monday, February 9, and is expected to close on February 23. The trading of these shares is expected to begin on March 3.

Donaco has made no bones about its intentions when it first announced the filing back in January 30, saying that its plan to raise $100 million in equity financing through this entitlement offer would go dotards the acquisition of the Star Vegas Resort and Club casino property in Poipet, Cambodia. That transaction is expected to be completed in April.

Vietnam says it’s getting serious about picking an investor to build an integrated resort and casino in the Van Don special economic zone in Quang Ninh province. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this process has been going on for a year and a half with very little public sign of progress.

But fear not: Nugyen Van Doc, chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, told Vietnam Investment Review that local authorities have been asked to speed up site clearances for the resort as well as for the Van Don airport. Time is of the essence, as the investment certificates have to be obtained by March and the recipients have to start construction by April.

The Committee claims companies including Las Vegas Sands have paid visits to the province. Sands routinely cites Vietnam as a promising market but has also stated it’s only interested in building in major metropolitan centers like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. And only if Vietnam relaxes its ban on locals entering casinos.

Other reported tirekickers include Casinos Austria and Phoenix Macau Tailoi, whose only English-language online references specifically relate to this project. Dao Hong Tuyen‘s Tuan Chau Group has promised to spend over $7b building not one but two casinos and Sun Group, whose properties include the Ba Na Hills and Son Tra Intercontinental resorts in Da Nang, is also in the hunt.

VIETNAMESE GAMBLER RESCUED FROM CAMBODIA BORDER CASINO

Whoever builds in Van Don may eventually get the chance to participate in the Vietnamese government’s promised pilot program to allow locals in casinos. Vietnamese gamblers are currently forced to venture abroad to get their gamble on and the government is struggling to stem the flood of gamblers crossing the border into Cambodia.

For years, Vietnamese media has retold stories of unlucky gamblers falling victim to loansharking, kidnapping and torture in Cambodia’s border casinos. On Monday, the Cambodia Daily reported the arrest of an employee of the Roxy Casino for detaining a gambler over an unpaid line of credit.

This is a guest contribution by Focus Online Management Ltd. owner Phil Fraser. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

2014 was a year of huge legislative change for the whole of the online gaming industry, with the long-anticipated introduction of Point of Consumption tax on December 1st, as well as changes to UK remote gaming licensing laws.

Many industry commentators predicted that these legislative changes would lead to a change in the online bingo landscape, with many of the smaller brands struggling to remain profitable.

Phil Fraser, owner of the leading UK bingo portal www.whichbingo.co.uk, gives his take on what happened in the online bingo market in 2014 and what he predicts will happen next in 2015.

Making hay while the sun shines

Despite the impending Point of Consumption tax on the horizon, 2014 was a record breaking year for new bingo site launches, with over 77 new sites entering the market. This figure however was skewed slightly by Bauer Media launching 20 virtually duplicate sites under their magazine and radio brands. These 77 new sites dwarf the 2013 total, and, as can be seen from the graph below, is the largest ever number of new site launches in the UK market.

(Source  www.whichbingo.co.uk)

SkyCity Entertainment Group has posted disappointing half-year net profit numbers after announcing that net profit after tax for the six months to December 31 were 10.6% lower year-on-year.

The New Zealand-based casino operator posted normalized revenue of NZ$510 million ($377 million) in the same time period, an increase of 9.2% from the previous period. Likewise, the company’s EBITDA numbers also increased by 3.1% to NZ$154.4 million ($114 million) while normalized NPAT bumped up by 0.3% to NZ$66.6 million ($49 million).

But none of that small growth could prevent SkyCity from posting a drop in net profit after tax, which the company said resulted from a lower-than-average win rate of just 1.04%, below the theoretical rate of 1.35 per cent, and difficult conditions in Australia where the company’s operations in Adelaide and Darwin specifically have been affected by rebuilding challenges.

Despite the short dip in profit, SkyCity CEO Nigel Morrison said that the company has gotten off to a good start in January, which pulled the actual group-wide IB win to above theoretical number of  1.50%. “The interim results for FY15 are pleasing, with strong momentum in the Group’s core businesses,” Morrison said.

Of all of its businesses, SkyCity’s flagship business in Auckland pulled in most of the work after generating a little over NZ $302.5 million ($224 million) in revenue, a 17% improvement that’s similar to its EBITDA of NZ$124.3 million ($92 million).

Meanwhile, the company’s ambitious SkyCity convention center is in danger of becoming an “eyesore” unless the government steps in and infuses more cash into the project. That was the sentiment shared by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who indicated that his administration is looking into different ways to help SkyCity fund the project after the casino operator admitted to needing an extra $70 to $130 million to be able to complete the project.

“But the escalation in prices to build the convention center, which is bigger than was proposed and is flasher than what was proposed, means there’s a hole,” Key said as quoted by Stuff.co.nz.

London, 11 February 2015 – COLOSSUS BETS, home of the £10,000,000 Colossus and the world’s biggest football and sports jackpots, today announced that one player in its £2,000,000 correct score Pick 6 ‘Millionaire’ game is currently debating a £104,000 Fractional Cash-In offer from a £4 ticket, ahead of tonight’s Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Everton.

If the player resists the Cash-In offer he needs a Colossus Bets ‘Any Other Home’ win (i.e. Chelsea to win and score at least 4 goals) to land £689,000, with a risk free shot at winning the same amount again by picking the correct score in the bonus leg – next Tuesday’s Champions League game between Paris St-Germain and Chelsea.

Colossus Bets COO David O’Reilly said: “It must be an intense day for this person to decide should he for example, bank £50,000 now for half of the ticket and play on for almost £700,000 more, or should he sit tight and pray Chelsea steamroll an out of form Everton side.”

The £4 ticket currently has a Cash-In offer of £104,000, which can be taken in full or in part before kick off tonight.  A ‘fractional’ Cash-In of the ticket enables the player to sell any 10% part whilst retaining the remainder of the ticket to play for a correspondingly reduced share of the jackpot prize. The player will also receive a new offer at half-time in tonight’s match provided he does not sell the ticket in full before then.

The £2,000,000 ‘Millionaire’ is available on www.colossusbets.com on both Desktop/Web as well as a customized smartphone and tablet experience on Mobile Web. Like all Colossus Bets pools it can be played on partner sites including Betfair, Betdaq and Boylesports.

A full unit in the ‘Millionaire’ pool costs players £2, but like all Colossus pools, the ‘Millionaire’ can be played for as little as 20p (which buys a 0.1 unit and plays for a proportional £200,000).