90 Digital CEO Nick Garner talks about trust optimisation and why you will get higher click through rates in this edition of CalvinAyre.com’s SEO Tip of the Week.

It’s a mental framework covering a basket of factors which are neither link acquisition or onsite optimisation.

If you trust optimize your website, you will get higher click through rates which then should reflect well on Google search results.  When doing SEO projects, I suggest you think about three things: onsite optimisation, link acquisition, trust optimisation.

Rationale for Trust Optimisation

Rand Fishkin from Moz recently did an experiment where he did a longtail search query ‘IMEC Lab’. His post ranked 7th. He then asked his Twitter followers to go and click on his post in this set of search results.  After 228 visits from Google, mostly through this search query,  Rand checked again and his search listing was number one.  Source: http://moz.com/rand/queries-clicks-influence-googles-results

Another was in negative SEO

Bartosz Goralewicz did an experiment where he created a bot designed to click on every search result except for his own, which was ranking number 1 for keyword  ‘penguin 3.0′ .

Sports betting side bets aka ‘spot’ wagers aren’t serious threats to game integrity, according to a new study by the Asser Institute’s International Sports Law Centre.

The Odds of Match Fixing report (read it here) used data supplied by sports integrity specialists Sportradar and UK betting exchange Betfair to conclude that the markets for side bets were too illiquid to pose a significant threat.

Side betting is widely perceived to be more susceptible to fixing than match results because (a) a bet might hinge on the activities of a single player, thereby lowering the barriers to entry, and (b) the activity in question may not have much impact on the match result, thereby assuaging players’ moral qualms.

A data set using 120 English Premier League matches over a three-month period in early 2014 showed main betting markets (match odds, total goals) accounted for 86% of bets made via Betfair. Main derivative markets (half time score, extra time, etc.) captured 11.7%, Asian handicap bets garnered 0.7% while side bets scored just 1.54%.

Goalscorer markets accounted for about 61.5% of all side betting volume, while bets on which players would be carded/booked came to 20.8%, corner kicks earned 15.4% and penalties just 2.2%. In terms of pounds wagered, goalscorer markets accounted for just 0.59% of all sums wagered on that match.

The study concluded that the lack of liquidity in side betting markets “offers the unattractive prospect of limited profits.” And if a nefarious sort were to place side wagers large enough to make a significant profit, they would “arouse a great deal of suspicion” for a market in which the average wager was £41.

Another study examined data compiled by Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System (FDS), which analyzes over 53k sporting events per year. Some 1,625 football matches were flagged as highly suspicious between May 2009 and November 2014, representing less than 1% of the total. Of these flagged matches, 1,468 were subject to Sportradar’s Suspicious Market Values function.

The Bulgarian Atanas Kavrakov has taken the title, and top dollar, at the partypoker sponsored World Poker Tour National Main Event in Cyprus, after beating Majid Ejlal Noubarian in heads-up action.

[Image Credit: Pokernews]

They say when Noah opened his Ark the animals went in two-by-two, but that wasn’t the case at the recent partypoker sponsored World Poker Tour (WPT) National Series Main Event at Noah’s Ark Hotel and Spa in Cyprus, as only one sole Bulgarian made it to the final table and left with all the money.

Atanas Kavrakov moves into the Bulgarian Top 10 all-time live tournament money earners, after he defeated the Iranian Majid Ejlal Noubarian, in heads-up action, at the most recent WPT event.

172 entrants ponied up the €2,000 buy-in amount to create a total prize pool in excess of €3m and it attracted an interesting mix of local players and established overseas stars.

Four of the most recognizable faces included the former Full Tilt UK ambassador Sin Melin, French star Erwann Pecheux, and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners Barny Boatman and Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi. Melin wasn’t one of the 21 names that earned a payday, but the other three were, with Boatman finishing in 15th, Mizrachi finishing in 17th and Pecheux finishing in 18th.

The final hand of a 12-hour shift was one of the easiest of Kavrakov’s short career. Noubarian four-bet jamming with [As] [Td], and Kavrakov calling with pocket kings. The [Kc] [Ks] [6c] flop making the rivered [Ad] look about as effective as an ice cream stand at the North Pole.

EUROPE’S biggest online bingo company has unveiled their new international managing director.

Former University of Newcastle student Murray Chisholm, 41, was appointed managing director of tombola international at the end of last year.

Tombola has its group headquarters in Wylam Wharf, Sunderland, but Murray will be based in the company’s Gibraltar office.

“It’s long been an ambition of mine to work with tombola, so I’m thrilled to have joined the company,” he said.

Manchester-born Murray moved to Newcastle to study and earned extra money by working as a croupier at a Tyneside casino.

In 2003, Murray spotted a job advert for gaming company Victor Chandler (now BetVictor) in Gibraltar in 1999. “I was recruited to manage, develop and expand the casino, poker and gaming customer support teams”.

When children came along, Murray moved back to the UK, having found a job helping to set-up a poker software company (Tribeca Tables Poker). Which was sold for $140m in 2007.

Macau casinos lost 34 junket operators in 2014, as VIP gaming promoters respond to a world in which VIPs are becoming an endangered species. High-rollers accounted for just 60.5% of Macau’s 2014 gaming revenue, down from 73% in 2013.

Public broadcaster Radio Macau reported that the number of licensed junkets fell from 217 in January 2014 to just 183 by the end of the year. Nineteen of the 34 missing junkets formally requested that their licenses be cancelled while the other 15 simply didn’t bother to file for renewal.

This reduction in junket ranks doesn’t include the three rooms David Group recently announced it would be closing. Nor does it include Gold Moon Group’s closure of its VIP room at Sands Cotai Central.

On Sunday, Macau Chief Executive Chui Sai On told a press conference that it was “normal to have changes or adjustments” in the number of VIP rooms serving Macau. On Tuesday, Ponto Final quoted Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) director Manuel Joaquim das Neves saying the issue “deserves no special attention” because the junkets that opted not to renew were “small-size gaming promoters that already had no activity.”

Analysts at Daiwa Securities Group released a report rejecting the popular wisdom that junket consolidation will improve the situation, saying they’d yet to see any evidence that smaller junket closures were resulting in a shift of capital to larger operators. The larger junkets are still facing “a deteriorating climate and plan further cuts in VIP room numbers.”

Daiwa also reported that Macau’s top-six junkets control 76% of all VIP gambling turnover. Suncity Group led the pack with an estimated 25% share of the pie and 219 tables in operation. The Guangdong Group (aka Neptune Group) has more tables (228) but a smaller share (15%).

Tak Chun Group placed third (10% of the market, 78 tables), tied with Golden Resorts Group (10%, 73 tables). David Group placed fifth (8%, 84 tables), although these numbers don’t reflect the planned closures at the end of this month, tied with Hengsheng Group (8%, 75 tables).

Beirut’s Casino du Liban was the planned target of Islamic suicide bombers, according to local media reports. The casino, Lebanon’s only legal gaming venue, was to be bombed on New Year’s Eve.

Last week, the Lebanese army arrested three individuals said to be acting on behalf of the al-Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda-linked militant group. Lebanese newspapers reported that the detained suspects told investigators the casino plot was hatched by two fugitive terrorists, Shadi al-Malwlawi and Osama Mansour. The group had targeted a number of major facilities popular with westerners, including the Le Royal hotel.

It was the job of one of the three arrested men, Elie Warraq, a recent convert to Islam, to use the Christian designation on his ID card to gain access to the casino then detonate a car bomb. Warraq failed to carry out his plan because of what Naharnet reported as “logistic difficulties.”

Lebanese security forces remain on the hunt for several other would-be suicide bombers. In response to the news, the US Department of State issued a travel advisory warning to US citizens in Lebanon, advising them to “take appropriate measures to ensure their safety and security.”

Casino du Liban has definitely known better days. On Tuesday, the gaming joint’s owners announced they were laying off 191 employees. The casino has been struggling to pay the bills, leading it to sever its ties with staffers it claimed were “absent, undisciplined, unorganized and unproductive.”

News of the layoffs, not to mention the insults to their characters, prompted a number of the affected staffers to protest outside the casino. The Daily Star said employees have asked legislators to intervene based on their claims of management’s ‘corruption, political favoritism and embezzlement.’ Management has so far refused to reconsider its dismissals.

9 months ago, Wynn was trading at a P/E ratio of 30. It is now down to 19. When I last covered the stock in April, I warned it was very expensive, and should not be bought without OTM put options to hedge any capital loss. Since then, WYNN has collapsed 24%. Even so, now is not yet the time to buy.

The latest news surrounding them is that, for whatever reason, the board has slashed Steve Wynn’s base salary and limited him to $250,000 in private jet travel a year as opposed to having an unlimited global ticket to anywhere he wants. The troubles of a billionaire CEO, as they say. By contract, he must use the private company plane for security reasons, even for personal trips. A proverbial prisoner of his own success.

This is mostly a non-item. Wynn doesn’t need a dollar in salary, travel subsidies, or anything else. It’s his company and he’ll continue to run it well regardless of whether his base salary is $4M or $2.5M. The change won’t save the casino any significant amount of money so who knows why they’re doing it. To project an aura of fiscal responsibility maybe? The stock jumped $10 yesterday so maybe investors like the fact that Steve is getting a pay cut.

Wynn is already quite a fiscally responsible company regardless of CEO salary savings. What is most impressive by them are two things. First, while Wynn does carry $7.34B in debt, $5.6B (page 70) of that debt is fixed-rate, and of the remaining floating rate debt, $753M (page 17) is hedged with swaps out until 2017. This leaves only 3.2% of its long term debt load unprotected. You can’t get much safer than that.

The other impressive feat Wynn accomplished is to secure a guaranteed maximum price for construction of the Wynn Palace in Macau through one of its subsidiaries, Palo Real Estate, to be completed by next year. I’m really not sure exactly how that works financially, getting a guaranteed maximum price from your own subsidiary. But it sounds impressive if convoluted. So far they are $1.4B into a $4.1B maximum project. That leaves $2.7B more until completion, and Wynn has more than that ($2.9B) just in cash on its balance sheet. Not to say that will spend it all on finishing up, but the jist of it is they can easily afford the project.

Wynn has put itself in a very interesting position for when Macau recovers, and I still believe the worst is ahead of us. Besides being completely safe in terms of interest rate troubles, Wynn could have a field day with foreign exchange earthquakes. This goes for the rest of Macau stocks as well, but especially Wynn, for the following reason.

From Wynn’s last 10-Q:

Derek Schroeder tops a huge field of 1,370 entrants, in Event #4: $365 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry, after defeating Jonathan Moseley, in heads-up action, at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica Mississippi.

The American poker community are loving their live tournament poker lately, and one tour that seems to be benefiting more than most is the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC).

After setting a few records in Choctaw, the tour has moved onto the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, and the field sizes are equally as impressive.

1,370 entrants participated in Event #4: $365 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Re-Entry, and it was a Missouri web developer who took home the biggest pot of gold.

When the action reached an unofficial final table of 10, Derek Schroeder was sitting behind the second shortest stack at the table. Back then, his only thoughts were about getting it in and doubling up – now he’s thinking of how to spend over 70-grand.

“$70,000 is awesome, but the best part is the ring. Anybody can have money. Not everyone can get one of these,” Schroeder told the WSOP after his win.

The runaway chip leader at that point was Justin Booth, and after half of the table was sent to the rail – including the former Heartland Poker Tour (HPT) champion, Quentin Crossley – Booth held 7m of the 13.7m chips in play.

Angelina Rich becomes the first female poker player to win a gold ring at the 2015 Aussie Millions after defeating John Thomson, in heads-up action, to capture the first prize of $25,905 in Event #12: $1,150 No-Limit Hold’em Terminator.

Angelina Rich has become the first female gold ring winner, at this years 2015 Aussie Millions, after beating everyone put before her in Event #12: $1,150 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Terminator event.

[Image Credit: PokerAsiaPacific & Kenneth Lim]

The Terminator format means $500 bounties are handed out each time a player is eliminated, and Rich was the only player who kept her bounty in tact, after going all the way.

243 entrants created a $2,490,075 prize pool, and Rich took home the winners check of $25,905 (I was going to use the Rich by nature pun, but felt better of it). It was a largely unrecognizable final table, although Rich did defeat a man in form in heads-up action: John Thomson was making his fourth cash of the series – and he finished ninth in the NLHE Shotclock event.

It was the second title of Rich’s short career, her most prestigious, and her largest payday. Her previous victory coming at the 2014 Women’s Event at the European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo.

Rich was the chip leader going into a final table the PokerAsiaPacific blog said she ‘dominated.’ An ICM deal was agreed when play reached fourhanded, and Rich took the best part of it. There was an additional $905 to play for, during heads-up, and that went the way of Rich after turning a flush on [Js] [6s] [4h] [7s] [6h] – Thomson rivered trip sixes and had moved all-in on the river.

Ludovic Lacay is the latest member of Team Winamax to move to pastures new, after it was announced on his blog that he would be leaving with immediate effect to focus on something ‘scary and exciting.’

When I think about Ludovic Lacay I think about those brown headphones. I could easily identify him in the throng because he was the only one who owned a pair.

[Ludovic Lacay’s Image Courtesy of WPT]

That was Lacay. He was always different. Making moves that others wouldn’t. Dressed like a rock star. Muttering words that nobody understood. Smiling one minute and throwing his cards the next.

He always stood up and shook my hand when I waltzed past his table. He once promised a member of the media 1% of his action, at a major tournament that has been lost in the recess of my mind, just for charging his phone. He ended up cashing for a six-figure score. He was a man of his word. He handed over the cash to the lad.

So it’s sad that I read, in broken English, that Lacay has decided to leave Team Winamax. He’s the latest spirit to leave the group in recent times after Nicolas Levi left to take up Ranking Hero charge, and Manuel Bevand left to also discover a new challenge. It must be something they put into the Winamax tea, because I loved those two old boys as well.

Lacay was picked up by Winamax shortly after finishing as runner-up in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Spanish Championships in Barcelona. Those were the days when the European WPT legs were €10k events and top players like Gus Hansen, Erik Seidel and Steve Billirakis were cashing.

The Suite includes Videobingo, Slots and Bingo games and will allow personalization based on geography and user preferences

VIVA! is now available in Facebook. A mobile release will follow at the beginning of 2015

Barcelona, 27 January, 2015.- Akamon Entertainment, the leading social gaming company specialising in traditional and casino games in Latin America and Southern Europe, has launched VIVA!, a new suite of social casino games that includes Bingo, VideoBingo and Slots games.

With VIVA!, Akamon introduces its first Video Bingo, a type of social casino game that is very popular in Latin America, and continues the strategy of launching new product offerings focused on Akamon’s core markets.

VIVA! Is the result of development from all three Akamon studios in Barcelona, Valencia and Tel Aviv, under the direction of Alex Cohen, Akamon’s Chief Product Officer.  With VIVA!, Akamon’s product team have dedicated a clear focus on the quality of graphics, math of the games, effects and flow of the design.

In words of Cohen, “VIVA! Makes the most of Akamon’s geographical diversity, as it will allow us adjusting the offer to our different geographies, and further on, to personalize it based on player preferences”. Also, “having multiple games within a single environment will allow players to have a longer player experience, and will also give Akamon more flexibility with acquisition strategies”, adds Cohen.

VIVA! is now available on Facebook, and a mobile release will follow within the first quarter of 2015. Cohen explains, “We intend to maintain our VideoBingo and slots as our primary product lines that will have ongoing releases improving quality and functionality, as well as innovation, as we progress with these titles”.

We are proud to exhibit for the first time at the London International Casino Exhibition in London from February the 3rd – 5th, 2015.

The Gaming Incubator is an established advisory company with extensive experience in Land-based, Online and Social gaming to cover the broad spectrum of the gaming industry. We have a physical presence in UK and Hyderabad, India additionally with a number of Partners located in the U.S. and Asia. We have conducted business in over 65 countries. Our mission is to help entrepreneurs navigate from Start-up through Growth to Exit and beyond…

Our strategic approach is to:

1) Find Raw Diamonds – Companies/Entrepreneurs that have a winning combination of the talent and drive to succeed together with a gaming concept/product with the potential to develop into a scalable and profitable business;

2) Polish the Diamonds – The period in which we provide Advisory and Hub Support services to our clients to support and accelerate traction and profitability

3) Leverage on Scale – Where we provide access to our Network and Ecosystem together with our Hub Support services to support profitable growth.

Ben Dodds, founder and General Manager, explains, “Our focus is on unique gaming technology, business models and operating opportunities. We believe that in mature markets with limited product differentiation our ability to recognise, qualify and support the growth of innovation makes us an ideal strategic partner, advisor and investor.

Canadian online gambling operator Intertain Group says it is in “advanced discussions” with an unidentified third party regarding a potential “significant acquisition of certain assets” worth “in the range of C$1b” (US $806m).

In a brief release on Tuesday, Intertain informed the markets that its potential acquisition was in no way a done deal and was subject to “the finalization of definitive documentation” and the approval of both companies’ boards.

The acquisition target is rumored to be the Gamesys Group, or portions thereof. In December, eGaming Review reported that the two companies were holding talks about a potential deal, which included the possibility of a long-term partnership. Prior to that, Intertain’s name was bandied about as one of the companies reportedly kicking the tires of Bwin.party digital entertainment.

Intertain emerged on the online gambling scene in late 2013 via its $70m purchase of the B2C operations of Amaya Gaming’s WagerLogic, which included the InterCasino brand. Within a year, Intertain paid $70m for the UK’s Mandalay Media bingo operations and signed a letter of intent to pay €89m for the Nordic-facing Vera&John online gambling operations. But this new deal would be exponentially larger than anything the company had previously pulled off.

Trading of Intertain shares was temporarily suspended on the Toronto Stock Exchange as the company made its announcement but trading has since resumed. Intertain’s stock has been on a tear in 2015, rising nearly 30% since Jan. 6 to its present value of $16.54. A similar rise was witnessed prior to Amaya’s mid-2014 $4.9b acquisition of the Rational Group, the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt. Amaya is the single largest shareholder in Intertain, holding 1.9m shares, representing about 8.7% of the company.

The Philippines’s new integrated casino resort, City of Dreams Manila, is set to officially launch on Feb 2.

The event is just prior to Lunar New Year, on February 19, known as Chinese New Year in Greater China—a popular time for Chinese and other Asian people to visit casinos.

Created by Melco Crown, City of Dreams is located in the new Entertainment City area of Manila Bay The property features VIP and mass-market gaming facilities with capacity for 380 gaming tables, 1,700 slot machines and 1,700 electronic table games. Its offering also includes hotel, retail, food and beverage and entertainment facilities.

More than 600,000 visitors have had a first experience of the stunning new resort, during its “Sneak Preview” period, with some 20,000 people visiting on its first day after doors opened to the public on December 14 last year.

The Grand Launch will be led by the Co-Chairman & CEO, Mr. Lawrence Ho and Co-Chairman, Mr. James Packer, accompanied by the Chairman and President of Melco Crown Philippines, Mr. Clarence Chung.

“Our official Grand Launch finally delivers our stated commitment to bring Manila its first international integrated leisure destination offering. The new resort complex will deliver a diverse collection of contemporary leisure and lifestyle brands from all over the world, including Crown, Nobu, Hyatt and the Pangaea Group, who are behind the world’s most successful nightclubs and lounges,” said Chung. “Together with the soon-to-be-announced opening of DreamWorks’ DreamPlay, which is an educational interactive playspace for families, an exceptional entertainment experience now awaits all types of travelers and visitors from around the region and the world.”

City of Dreams Manila features in a new promotional trailer, specially commissioned by Melco Crown Entertainment, starring Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Hard Rock International has decided to dump its land acquisitions in Massachusetts after failing to secure a casino license in the state.

According to documents released by the Hampden County Registry of Deeds, the Florida-based gaming operator has sold one of its property when it was still in the thick of the casino race. An industrial site listed as 55 Circuit Ave., was sold for $385,000 to a corporation called Westside 55 Circuit LLC, owned by a local businessman identified by the Secretary of State’s office as T. Patrick Kennedy.

Hard Rock initially made the land purchase with the sole intention of using it to build its proposed resort and casino in the state. But the firm’s proposal never got off the ground after residents of West Springfield defeated the said proposal by a 55-45% vote back in September 2013. That put Hard Rock out of the running, leaving the competition for the single Western Massachusetts casino license to MGM Resorts International and, at that time, Mohegan Sun.

In addition to selling the property at 55 Circuit Ave., the company also transferred municipal lien certificates to the town for three others, including properties on Circuit and Bramble avenues.

Hard Rock losing out on the casino license in Massachusetts may have potentially opened the door – yet again – for the Seminole-owned casino operator to turn its attention to Atlantic City.

According to the Associated Press, the Seminole tribe that owns the Hard Rock brand is once again debating the possibility of entering the beleaguered Atlantic City casino market.

The tribe’s interest in Atlantic City is well-documented, having most recently applied for a statement of compliance in the state, considered as a preliminary measure to become a licensed casino in New Jersey.

Scientific Games announced that the company is relocating its global corporate headquarters and primary gaming manufacturing operation in Las Vegas.

The U.S.-based gaming and lottery supplier said in a press release on Monday that the move from New York—the firm’s previous corporate headquarters—to Las Vegas is effective immediately.

“Selecting Las Vegas as our global headquarters is a natural step in the corporate evolution of Scientific Games,” said Gavin Isaacs, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Las Vegas is a diverse, cosmopolitan city in business friendly Nevada where we have strong roots and an extensive and growing employee base. This move will allow us to stay closely connected to our worldwide base of gaming, lottery and interactive customers.

Company’s Bally and Shuffle Master gaming development and support operations will continue to be based in Las Vegas, while WMS game development, engineering and other gaming support operations, as well as the Interactive Division, will continue to be based at Chicago Tech Campus and the operational headquarters of Scientific Games’ Lottery Division will remain in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Scientific Games expects all production to be transferred to the Las Vegas facilities by the summer of 2015 and anticipates closing the Waukegan facility before the end of 2015.

The cost arising from the manufacturing consolidation and the associated costs of transferring production and corporate functions to Las Vegas are included in the Company’s previously disclosed estimate of $235 million of expected annual cost synergies from the Company’s acquisition of Bally Technologies, Inc. by the end of 2016 and associated one-time costs to achieve the synergies of $80 million.

Aside from relocation of HQ, Scientific Games Corp. also announced partnership with international cruise ship operator Carnival Corp. & Plc. to offer its adult guests the ability to wager on their mobile devices throughout Carnival cruise ships while in international waters.

You know how everybody’s pre-occupied with all the Super Bowl odds – standard and props – coming out these days? You can’t really blame the betting frenzy because, you know, it’s the freakin’ Super Bowl! But lost in the shadows of the justified hoopla surrounding the Super Bowl is another interesting prop bet that’s slowly gaining some steam.

The US presidential elections, or to be more specific, the 2016 Republican Party presidential nomination. We already know who’s likely to come out of the Democratic Party – that would be Hillary Clinton – but the same can’t be said for the Republicans, which actually held a summit last weekend in Iowa to prepare for the Iowa caucus next year.

The list of names still in the running is long but there appears to be a clear favorite at this point. That would be former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the second son of former president George H.W. Bush and the younger brother of former president George W. Bush. Right now, Bush is leading the way with Sportsbook.ag posting him as the 3/1 favorite to win the Republican nomination.

Nipping at Bush’s heel is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney at 5/1 odds. This is the third time Romney’s voiced his interest in running for the highest seat in the land. Back in 2008, he narrowly lost the Republican nomination to eventual party candidate John McCain.

Romney finally got his desire to run for president in 2012 but he still lost out on the chance after Barack Obama secured a second term as US president. Is Romney’s third time in the seat the charm? He’s going to have to make a lot up to Bush, but he could put up a fight since the Republic nomination is so open.

If you’re looking at longer odds, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker are both sitting at 5/1 odds. Up next is a man we’re all familiar with: New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who shares 7/1 odds with Kentucky senator Rand Paul.

From there, the odds drop significantly to 18/1 odds for Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg all getting 20/1 odds.

Shareholders of slot machine developer International Game Technology will vote Feb. 10, at The Signature at MGM Grand Las Vegas, on the company’s merger agreement with lottery provider GTECH Holdings.

GTECH will pay $4.7 billion in cash and stock while assuming $1.7 billion of IGT debt, owning 80% with IGT shareholders holding the remaining 20%.

Terms of the agreement will combine GTECH Holdings and IGT into one company and be headquarteres in the United Kingdom. Operating headquarters will be housed in Rome, Las Vegas and Rhode Island.

Initial acquisition talks between the two parties began in July 2014.Lottery and gambling technology supplier GTECH would amend its acquisition terms in September 2014, in order to secure the lending capital for the $4.7 billion needed to finalise its acquisition.

GTECH has announced that it has entered a a $2.6 billion five year senior facilities agreement with a syndicate of twenty banks in order to finalise its acquisition of International Game Technology (IGT)in November.The financing agreement will provide GTECH SpA with a $1.4 billion multi-currency credit facility. The corporation have also been granted a further €850 million in open credit, which it may choose to access.

IGT scheduled the special meeting with its shareholders to vote on the proposal along with some other issues that need to be supported and approved, including the approval of IGT common stock shares, closing conditions with the GTECH Holdings contract, and the reception of the required gaming approvals that is needed to move forward by Nevada Gaming regulators.