Swedish betting operator Betsson saw revenue rise by nearly a quarter in both Q4 and FY 2014. Revenue in the three months ending Dec. 31 rose 24% to SEK 814.7m (US $97m), a new quarterly record, while net income jumped 72% to SEK 243m. For the year as a whole, revenue was up 23% to SEK 3.03b and net income rose 37% to SEK 770.7m.

The numbers were boosted by last February’s acquisition of the Dutch-facing Oranje and Kroon Casino brands, which contributed SEK 89.9m to Q4’s revenue total. Absent these new brands, organic revenue growth was 11%. Betsson also reached a favorable agreement during the quarter regarding the final top-up payment to the new brands’ former owners, Nordic Gaming Group, that boosted Q4 net income before tax by SEK 40.1m.

Betsson’s B2C operations gross profit grew 25% in Q4 to SEK 518.8m, while B2B operations were up 22% to SEK 161.8m. Betsson earned 69% of gross profit from its casino vertical, up from 66%. Sports betting gross profit held steady at 27% of the overall figure, despite a 24% boost in turnover during the quarter. Poker profits fell by 20% to to just SEK 20m due to “a continued decreased level of activity in poker networks” in Betsson’s markets.

Betsson’s mobile channels accounted for 23% of Q4′s overall revenue, twice the amount from a year ago and up 6% from Q3. Mobile sports betting accounted for 43% of sports turnover but poor margins prevented mobile from increasing its share of betting revenue.

Nordic markets generated 71% of Q4 revenue, down from 85%, while EU markets outside the Nordic region rose from 14% to 27%. Customer deposits rose 32% in the quarter and “have never been higher,” despite a small year-on-year decrease in active customers.

Looking forward, Betsson says Q1 2015 has started with revenue “somewhat above” the average level in Q4. The only other notable occurrence to date was the shift to the Nasdaq Stockholm Large Cap on Jan. 1.

Betsson says it’s still developing its online lottery joint venture with a Chinese firm, although it noted that the anticipated new legislation to permit that venture to launch has reportedly been postponed. Regardless, Betsson says it has a “continued positive view” on the Chinese gaming market outlook.

Online gambling is an “extremely easy” method of money laundering, according to an online security researcher. Intel Security Europe CTO Raj Samani (pictured) told the recent NED (Cyber Network Exploitation and Defense) Forum summit in London that criminals were making good use of online gambling sites in regulated markets as well as grey- and black-markets.

“There is no visibility for law enforcement officers of money transfers that happen between players within the gambling site and no documentation is required to register for these services,” said Samani, who singled out Bitcoin-friendly sites as particularly prone to this chicanery.

To which we say, bullshit. Studies have shown that online poker – the only form of online gambling beyond exchange wagering outfits like Betfair in which players have an opportunity to win each other’s money rather than the house’s – is an extremely daft and inefficient method for money laundering. A study of the German gambling market concluded that even if the entire country’s online poker players engaged in money laundering 24/7, their combined effort would still only represent 3.2% of all criminal activity in Germany.

But we get it. Intel is selling security, so they have a vested interest in painting the online world as a scary netherworld of evildoers and villainy. Sen. Lindsey Graham used the recent confirmation hearing of the new US Attorney General to trot out the tired old chestnut about ISIS and Al Qaeda funding their plots via online poker. Much like the Dick Cheney’s of the world attempted to convince us that anyone with an Aladdin DVD in their collection is a potential jihadi, Intel has come to protect you from the digital ghosts under your bed.

Or maybe Intel is nervously practicing some misdirection in order to keep people from learning their terrible secret. See, until early last year, Intel Security was known as McAfee Associates, which was founded by one John McAfee. Shortly before the name change, McAfee the man was accused of unlicensed drug manufacturing, possession of unlicensed weapons and was named a person of interest in a murder investigation in Belize.

Clearly, using the sharp-witted powers of deduction employed above, the only logical conclusion to draw is that Intel Security is a clever front for an international drug trafficking and murder-for-hire ring. Could we be wrong? Sure. And we’ll admit our error when Samani does likewise.

Asian casino operators got a rude awakening Friday after a top Chinese official said the government would crack down on attempts to lure its citizens to international gambling destinations.

Hua Jingfeng, deputy bureau chief at the Ministry of Public Security, told state media that the government had “investigated a series of cases” involving casino operators who had “set up offices in China to attract and drum up interest from Chinese citizens to go abroad and gamble. This will also be an area that we will crack down on.”

Credit Suisse issued a note clarifying that the ‘crackdown’ wasn’t really anything new, as it’s already illegal to directly market gambling services in China. Nonetheless, it doesn’t bode well for hopes that China would loosen its new exit visa restrictions anytime soon.

Credit Suisse also suggested that casinos in Macau would suffer as a result of their increasing reliance on ‘premium mass’ players – gamblers who spend far more than the average but do so with their own money rather than rely on credit advanced by junkets. For years, casinos have been sending agents to China to network with premium mass gamblers but increased scrutiny of these agents’ activities could negatively impact gambling revenue in Macau and elsewhere.

Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson gave a talk at the Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau this week, telling the audience that high-rollers “will stay low and will not be conspicuous in their spending habits until the witch-hunt – or whatever it is called, the crackdown on corruption – levels, goes down.” Adelson said the premium mass segment was also laying low “because they don’t want the government to see them spending what they consider large amounts of money.”

Macau’s VIP market tumbled to 60.5% of gaming revenue in 2014 from 73% in 2013 but Macau’s loss has been a gain for other integrated resort destinations like Singapore, Manila and Australia. Beijing’s crackdown on mainland junket operators has led junkets to shift their attention beyond Macau in the hopes that Chinese VIPs will feel more comfortable betting big away from Beijing’s all-seeing eye.

Macau taxes gaming revenue at 39%, a rate far higher than other Asian gaming jurisdictions, giving junkets even more incentive to diversify their geographical profile. Australian casino operator Echo Entertainment recently reported its VIP gambling turnover nearly doubled over the last half of 2014.

Malta-licensed online gambling operator Mr Green says it has made a provision for SEK 108m (US $12.9m) in its Q4 2014 accounts in the event it’s forced to pay its disputed Austrian tax obligations.

The sum covers a self-assessed period beginning in January 2011 and ending August 2014. The start date coincides with the Austrian government’s imposition of a 40% tax on online gambling revenue generated by Austrian punters, regardless of whether or not an operator holds an Austrian gaming license.

Mr Green says it’s engaged in ongoing discussions with Austrian tax officials regarding a partial payment plan but the company’s legal advisors believe the entire liability won’t survive a court challenge. Mr Green intends to challenge the Austrian government’s cash grab in both Austrian courts and the European Court of Justice as well as with the European Commission. In the meantime, Mr Green says it’s still operating in Austria but is “reducing its market investments.”

In other Mr Green news, the company recently acquired the former Italian-facing operations of German online gambling operator Mybet. Mr Green says the Mybet Italia deal was financed with existing cash assets of unknown quantity. Mybet spun off its money-losing Italian operation in September, after similarly dumping its money-losing Spanish-facing Digidis operation.

Mr Green says it plans to use Mybet Italia’s license to enable the launch of the Mr Green brand in the Italian market and Mybet Italia’s current CEO will stay on to help with the transition. Outgoing Mr Green CEO Mikael Pawlo said the company hoped the launch would happen in Q2, assuming local regulator AAMS offers no objections. Mr Green intends to focus on online casino initially but hasn’t ruled out the possibility of adding a sportsbook. Either way, the company doesn’t believe the Italian operation will make a positive contribution to earnings this year.

Canada’s Intertain Group has pulled the trigger on its latest acquisition, snapping up the Jackpotjoy and Botemania online bingo brands and the Starspins casino brand from UK gaming operator Gamesys.

Intertain will pay Gamesys £425.8m upfront – including 7.4m Intertain shares worth about £57m – with top-ups of a maximum £15m provided Jackpotjoy meets certain earnings benchmarks. Intertain says the Jackpotjoy business recorded earnings of £67m from revenue of £130.9m in the 12 months ending September 2014.

In addition to securing the rights to the brands and player data, Intertain inked a 10-year deal that will see Gamesys continue to supply platform services and gaming content to the Jackpotjoy operation. Gamesys founder Noel Hayden will also join Intertain’s board as a non-executive director.

Hayden described the deal as “a perfect match,” claiming that the two companies were in ideological lockstep “from our earliest discussions.” Intertain CEO John Kennedy Fitzgerald said the acquisition was in keeping with his company’s stated focus on “the female demographic, in regulated markets.” Fitzgerald claims the deal has made Intertain the planet’s largest purveyor of “online, bingo-led gaming.”

Last June, Intertain acquired the UK-facing Costa Bingo brand via a $45m purchase of Mandalay Media. That followed Intertain’s late-2013 $70m acquisition of the B2C WagerLogic business from fellow Canucks Amaya Gaming, which holds a significant stake in Intertain. More recently, Intertain inked a letter of intent to acquire Nordic-facing operator Vera&John.

Intertain has followed Amaya’s acquisitive path to success and Fitzgerald told eGaming Review that Amaya’s blockbuster $4.9b deal to buy the Rational Group and its PokerStars cash machine had “woken up” the investment community to the potential of online gaming deals. Intertain shares rose nearly 4% on the Toronto exchange on the day’s news.

As promised, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) has reintroduced the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), the anti-online gambling legislation written/supported/demanded by Las Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has vowed to reintroduce RAWA in the Senate this year after it failed to come up for a vote in the previous legislative session.

The three-page bill (read it here), which is identical to the 2014 model, seeks to undo the late-2011 Department of Justice opinion that confirmed the 1961 Wire Act applied only to online sports betting. The opinion paved the way for the regulated intrastate online gambling markets in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, all of which would be forced to close if RAWA were to pass. RAWA would also restrict state lotteries from offering their services online.

Fortunately for those states, RAWA has about as good a chance of passing as President Obama has of joining the faces on Mount Rushmore. RAWA has been publicly slammed by a host of Republican icons, including Ron Paul and Grover Norquist, as an assault on the hallowed ground of state’s rights. The fact that Adelson is a major GOP sugar daddy has also given legislators qualms about the blatant quid pro quo that RAWA entails. To paraphrase Virgil Sollozzo, they don’t want to be seen as one of those politicians you carry in your pocket, Don Adelson, like so many nickels and dimes.

Chaffetz brushed off the controversy, telling reporters that Adelson had never personally funded any of his election campaigns. Chaffetz said he was glad Adelson supported RAWA but insisted the issue was “not just about any one person.” Chaffetz framed his anti-online gambling stance as a response to the DOJ opinion, which he called “yet another example of executive branch overreach.”

Chaffetz said the DOJ had made “what amounts to a massive policy change without debate or input from the people or their representatives.” Chaffetz insisted “that’s not the way we change laws in this country.” Of course it isn’t. If you want to pass a law without debate, you wait until the middle of the night then sneak it into a larger, unrelated piece of legislation, like the way Republicans slipped the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) into the SAFE Port Act back in 2006.

DID NETANYAHU PIMP JAPAN ON ADELSON’S BEHALF?

Adelson appears to be getting a much better bang for his funding dollars in Israel. Local media is in a frenzy over Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s alleged lobbying of Japan’s government about Adelson’s desire to build a casino in the Asian country.

French online poker cash game traffic has dropped 33%, over the past three years, according to a fresh report from the French independent online gaming regulator ARJEL.

If you want to see a lot of art, queue for a exceedingly long time to climb to the top of a very large tower, or visit a cathedral that was once the home to a geezer with a colander tucked under the back of his shirt then go to France.

If you want to play poker, then don’t.

That’s not the view of a xenophobic Englishman chucking stones from across the channel. That’s the view of over a hundred French poker players who now earn their trade playing out of a different country.

And how does that effect the French online poker economy? It affects it quite a lot, actually.

On January 30th 2015, the independent French online gaming regulator Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) released the quarterly analysis of the market for online games in France (Q4: 2014).

It was painful reading.

Bertrand ‘Elky’ Grospellier, Patrick Bruel and Paul Tedeschi have taken advantage of a tough stance from the Betclic Everest Group by joining #TeamFrance ahead of the inaugural Global Poker Masters.

Billed as Poker’s World Cup, the Global Poker Masters (GPM) is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year. The top eight countries, as ranked by the Global Poker Index (GPI), will compete until one team is declared the champion of the world, and the French are the first to finalize their team.

They were in turmoil earlier this week after two of their stars were forced to withdraw on request of their sponsor. Fabrice Soulier and the current French No.1 Benjamin Pollak, withdrew from the line up after the GPI CEO Alex Dreyfus made it very clear that the live stream would be patchless.

A patch-free live stream didn’t suit the French managerial team at Betclic Everest, and Soulier and Pollak were soon vacating spaces that needed filling. The next two players in line were PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, and the baby faced assassin Paul Tedeschi.

It seems PokerStars are non-too fussed about the power of the patch – as Vanessa Rousso found out this week – and neither are Winamax. The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Patrick Bruel, was added as the fifth and final member as the team’s wildcard entry.

“The first draft was great, but the second one is also good,” Says PokerNews France Chief Editor Matthieu Sustrac. “I think we have a chance to win, and Patrick is a great wildcard entry, especially for advertising the game in France. I am also delighted for Paul Tedeschi. It’s a great accomplishment for him. He’s young, a nice guy and the future of French poker.”

If the inclusion of Patrick Bruel surprises you (he carries a rank of GPI#1452) then never under-estimate the power of having a singer in your team. It’s all about morale folks, and when you have seen seven of your albums hit the top of the French charts, then the man knows how to warble a tune.

PokerStars have sued former Full Tilt Poker pro, Erick Lindgren, for an outstanding debt worth $2.5m, and have also parted ways with long-standing member of Team Pro Vanessa Rousso.

PokerStars are suing Erick Lindgren for $2.5m

I guess it’s not exactly a surprise. The men and women who once ran Full Tilt Poker strike me as the type to turn a blind eye to a $2.5m cock-up – not PokerStars.

Rational FT Enterprises Limited v. Lindgren is a fight that started on January 30th 2015, and it’s going to be interested to see how this one develops. Lindgren is a former gambling addict. He managed to accumulate a  debt load that Caesars Entertainment would be proud of. Unless he has an empty coke bottle that generates money, like the ones Dynamo uses, I would say he’s screwed.

So how does one manage to owe PokerStars $2.5m?

Here is the direct answer taken from court records.

“Pursuant to an agreement between Lindgren and Full Tilt and in accordance with Full Tilt’s capitalization table Full Tilt Poker would submit distributions via direct deposit into Lindgren’s bank account. The distributions were compensation for Lindgren’s service as a professional poker player pursuant to the agreement, under which Lindgren promoted the Full Tilt Poker brand.”

Spain’s regulated online gambling market got a boost in 2014 from sports betting, which helped push the overall market’s annual revenue up 11% to €254m. The figures were released this week by the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).

For the three months ending Dec. 31, overall online revenue rose 10.3% to €65.6m as gambling turnover rose 26% to €1.85b. Sports betting claimed €34.3m (+1.7%) of Q4’s total, while casino grew 8% to €11.1m and bingo was flat at €2m. Roulette captured 69% of casino revenue, well ahead of blackjack (29%) and baccarat (1.7%).

Poker revenue fell 3.5% to €16.6m, as a 28.7% rise in tournament poker revenue wasn’t enough to overcome a 20% fall in cash games. Cash game turnover fell 17% while tournament stakes rose 15%. (Similar patterns played themselves out in France, which saw cash games stakes fall 12% in Q4 and 14% for 2014 as a whole.)

The number of active Spanish player accounts rose 11% year-on-year but fell sequentially. Total number of registered accounts grew 12.5% to 382k. Licensed operators spent €20.1m marketing their wares, an increase of 3% year-on-year and 59% sequentially.

PokerStars Spanish-facing site has more to market following the recent relaunch of its casino offering. The casino games went offline a month ago so Stars’ boffins could tweak the software to record blackjack hand and roulette spin histories, as required by Spanish regulators. PokerStars.es has also expanded its casino offering via the launch of live dealer roulette.

PORTUGAL’S TAXING SITUATION

Across the border in Portugal, the country’s plans to tax its regulated online sports betting market have been slammed by the bean counters at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The Remote Gambling Association commissioned PwC to study the issue and the results have been duly submitted to Portugal’s economic officials.

Lee Davy takes a look at a busy week in the poker media including a bunch of idiots disrespecting women poker players in France; Erick Lindgren looking over his shoulder at the oncoming PokerStars; a whole host of underdogs taking chunks of tops dogs, and the World Series of Poker doing what only they can do.

I will start this week’s little recap in France.

French poker is going through the mill of late. Not only have the authorities decided to ruin the lives of so many people connected with brick and mortar establishments, like the Aviation Club de France (ACF) – by closing them down – but the online poker world doesn’t seem to be providing the live players with the adequate shelter they need.

The French regulator ARJEL issued their Q4 reports this week and it was terrible news for lovers of ring game action. People with a fear of number should look away now.

1. €17.3m decline in online cash game revenue (quarter-on-quarter)

2. €23.8m decline in online cash game revenue (year-on-year)

3. 33% drop in online cash game revenue in the past three years.

Finland’s state-owned gaming operator Raha-Automaattiyhdistys (RAY) has finalized a 20-year contract extension with software supplier Playtech, the longest deal in each of their respective histories.

RAY and Playtech have had a partnership since May 2010, with Ray enjoying a wide variety of Playtech’s slots games, including those featuring proprietary themes and branded content.

“This is a landmark contract for both companies and we are delighted to have agreed extended terms with such a valued customer,” Playtech Chief Operating Officer Shay Segev said in a statement. “We have worked together with RAY for four years defining its online offering and created the region’s biggest success story. This demonstrates our hugely powerful technology and services that are able to immediately, and successfully, launch in any newly regulated and regulating markets.”

Over in Georgia (the country, not the state), NYX Gaming Group has successfully signed its second gaming partner this week after coming to an agreement to provide online casino and poker products to Iveriabet, the online gaming arm of local casino operator Casino Iveria. The deal with Iveriabet follows a similar deal between NYX and White Hat Gaming, which also gave the latter access to use the former’s gaming products, specifically NYX Poker.

In addition to NYX Poker, Casino Iveria will get access to a handful of casino games through the NYX OGS platform, allowing the operator to expand its own menu of casino titles.

“I am delighted that Iveriabet has chosen to partner with NYX for two of our leading products,” NYX Executive Vice President of Business Development David Flynn commented.

“These agreements are strategically important as they provide an entry point into a newly regulated geographic market which further demonstrates NYX’s ambition and focus on locally regulated markets.”

Maryland’s record-setting casino revenue run has hit a roadblock after state gambling regulators reported that the state’s casinos only generated $84.9 million in January, the second straight month that revenue has declined.

The revenue numbers in the past two months (December 2014, January 2015) have dropped after the state posted a record $90.2 million in revenue in November 2013, leading many to question whether Maryland’s casino market has already topped out. That could be bad news for MGM’s casino in National Harbor that’s currently in development.

As per usual, Maryland Live took home the biggest share of the revenue pie with a $49.4 million take for the month, according to figures released by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. Despite continuing to dominate the state’s casino market, Maryland Live’s January 2015 haul fell eight percent from its numbers in January 2014. The Horseshoe Casino, the state’s newest, placed second with a $23.1 million revenue haul, a slight uptick over its December 2014 revenue of $22.9 million.

The state’s three other casinos – Hollywood Casino Perryville, Casino at Ocean Downs, and Rocky Gap Casino Resort – had mixed results in the month. Of the three, Casino at Oceans Down was the only one to improve its year-on-year revenue numbers after taking in $3.38 million, or 6.6 percent better than its January 2014 numbers.

Hollywood Casino Perryville saw its revenue numbers fall 4.9 percent to $6 million while Rocky Gap Casino Resort experienced a 1.8 percent decline to $2.97 million.

The state’s total year-on-year revenue did increase by 28.3 percent over the same period last year. But that number already takes into account the revenue coming from the Horseshoe, which wasn’t open this time last year. Take Horseshoe out and the revenue numbers from the four existing casinos dropped 6.7 percent from January 2014.

PAS.net, the online gaming affiliate marketers resource for the most sought-after iGaming offers, announces its intention to broaden its offer set in 2015.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) February 01, 2015

PAS.net, an industry leading gaming affiliate network since 2008, has announced its intention to broaden its offer set beyond poker to additional gaming offers in 2015. The company released expanded offers on a limited basis in 2014, and as a result of customer and industry demand, has decided to expand its suite of non-traditional offers on a permanent basis. PAS now provides affiliates with over eight gaming options including casino, social gaming, and daily fantasy sports, and the company confirms that it will be further increasing its menu of gaming offers during 2015. These expanded offerings come alongside its already robust assortment of affiliate gaming opportunities including traditional revenue streams such as Cost per Action (CPA) and Revenue Share.

Creating Wins for Advertisers and Affiliates

PAS traces its lineage back to the early days of 2004, when its parent company Fourcubed began operating in the online gaming space. After identifying that the industry lacked solutions for online gaming marketers to easily access and distribute offers to their target markets, PAS was launched in 2008 to provide affiliates a turnkey, streamlined solution to facilitate bringing competitive incentivized deals direct from affiliate to customer. The company attributes its success across ten years in the online gaming industry to its adaptability in the ever-changing market and its ability to continue crafting solutions to meet both advertiser and affiliate needs. The company acts as a liaison between the online gaming operators and the marketers, providing strategic expertise to each in how to better position their products, reach their audience, and efficiently distribute their offers.

While PAS recognizes that gamers will always love poker, industry-demand has proven that online gaming marketers who provide a variety of offer types including casino, social and sports, will be the ones who continue to thrive in this ever-evolving industry. The company’s expanded gaming options represent a response to customer demand in this growing and changing market.

PAS has distinguished itself from its peers through competitive rates, robust campaign tracking, data administration, dedicated support and centralized payment processing. These services not only allow affiliates to achieve maximum profitability, but free them from the burden of administrative maintenance, allowing them to focus on running their businesses and growing their brand.

Vietnamese casino operator NagaCorp reported a 17% increase in gross gaming revenue to $381.4 million on the strength of VIP betting volume increasing 35% to $6.2 billion.

The company that operates Cambodia’s biggest casino, NagaWorld, takes full advantage of Macau’s gambling slowdown, especially among VIPs and high rollers who are beginning to explore other gaming venues in the region. To its credit, NagaCorp isn’t wasting any time trying to attract these gamblers out of Macau and into Cambodia.

“The downturn in gaming in Macau offers opportunities for the Group to further penetrate the Chinese gaming market in both the VIP and Mass Gaming segments, by offering better commercial terms to junket operators and agents as a result of NagaWorld’s low cost structure,” the company said in its financial statement.

An important part of the company’s success has been attributed to these junket operators, who routinely fly in VIPs to play in their casino partners in exchange for a commission. With Macau junkets becoming more receptive to sending their clients to neighboring casinos, NagaCorp takes the predictable yet important step of signing up more of these junkets to come to NagaWorld in Cambodia instead.

“The 35% increase in VIP rollings in 2014 demonstrates NagaWorld’s incentive program’s success in promoting NagaWorld to a wider range of operators and players, particularly from China,” the company added.

This plan of offering higher incentives to junket operators comes with a cost. Despite the sharp increase in gross gaming revenue, NagaCorp’s net profit only grew nine percent to $136 million.

Meanwhile, Macau casino operator Success Universe Group Ltd. isn’t sweating the downturn in business over in Macau. On the contrary, the company is actually setting its sights on bidding for a new gaming license in the event the government decides to follow through on rumors that it will issue one gaming license to a local enterprise to break the dominance of Chinese and US-owned casinos in the world’s largest gambling hub.