LAS VEGAS and LONDON, Jan. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Casino operators at the ICE Totally Gaming 2015 conference and trade show (“ICE 2015″) will experience first-hand the strategic benefits of the combination of Scientific Games’ (NASDAQ: SGMS) Bally, WMS, Shuffle Master, SG Gaming, Williams and Barcrest brands.  At ICE 2015 on February 3-5 at ExCel London Exhibition and Convention Center, stand #N1-440, Scientific Games (the “Company”) will showcase more than 125 gaming products that address casino operators’ diverse needs across all of their land-based and interactive channels, thereby demonstrating the value of the Company’s recent merger with Bally Technologies.  For more details on Scientific Games’ products on display at ICE 2015, please visit now.wms.com/stronger-together-ice2015.

Experience the interactive multimedia release here: Click here

Gavin Isaacs, President and Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Games, said, “ICE 2015 is our first global opportunity, as a combined company, to demonstrate our ability to leverage high-earning product brands and leading technology solutions that benefit our customers and help them grow their businesses. There is no other company today that can offer the tremendous breadth of customer-favored gaming devices, systems, lottery products, online solutions and related services.

“We are Stronger Together through the combination of our time-tested brands and comprehensive and differentiated product portfolios that are created and supported by an extremely talented global team.  As a result, Scientific Games is uniquely positioned to offer new value to casino operators as we seek to become their partner of choice and a one-stop shop for their gaming product and services solutions.”

Highlights of new for-sale, gaming operations, systems and interactive products on display in Scientific Games’ ICE 2015 exhibit include:

WMS Product Highlights

More than 50 WMS-branded products will be showcased at ICE 2015, including:

A tentative deal between Washington state and Indian tribes, if approved, would allow more gambling machines at tribal casinos.

Over the years, the number of slot-style machines allowed has been set in prolonged and controversial negotiations but if the latest deal is approved, the number of slots, approximately 28,000, would increase by 10% and then automatically increase as market demands dictate.

The cap could double over a decade or so but Chairman of the Washington Indian Gaming Association W. Ron Allen said that “the market is not growing that fast.”

Under the terms, the commission’s latest compacts with tribes would increase the statewide cap by 2,700 machines immediately.

Another increase of 1,350 could happen any year a casino opens, such as the Cowlitz tribe’s facility, after the Gambling Commission has reviewed the market and verified that there are fewer than 500 unused machines for lease.

The four lawmakers with five state Gambling Commission will vote on Feb 13 on whether to send the deal to Gov. Jay Inslee for approval.

One of those lawmakers, Republican Sen. Mike Hewitt of Walla Walla opposes allowing the number of machines to increase in perpetuity unless the tribes agree to share revenue. “In my opinion, this is probably the last shot we’ll ever get” to secure revenue sharing,” Hewitt said.

New Slots will Appeal to Global Markets

GameART, the premium developer of casino-style games to the online and land-based gaming industry, has released a new series of 25 slot games in time for the ICE Totally Gaming event which opens in London next week.

This latest addition to their library of slot games incorporates GameART’s usual high-end graphics, enhanced audio effects, and unique new features including a completely redesigned user friendly interface. This is now standardised for all games and includes an interactive bonus feature and marketing banner that provides ‘player immersion’ to further capture player’s excitement.

GameART co-founder, Saverio Castellano, said “We have built the library to segment our theming of titles into cultural sub-segments so we can embrace the fullest player audience possible. Titles such as Wild Dolphin and Wolf Quest will appeal to traditional European and international markets, while games such as Power Dragon and Phoenix Princess cater more towards Asian players.”

The new series of games are supported by proven mathematical models which appeal to wide variety of game-play behavioural segments, and offer a broad range of pay-line/ways configurations.

All games are released in HTML5 and Flash supporting all desktop and mobile devices, including tablet, with Native Android and iOS versions available upon client request.

GameART will be demonstrating its latest games and platform capabilities at ICE Totally Gaming being held at ExCel, London, Feb 3rd – 5th 2015, at stand S2-262.

A couple of Aussie Millions events to catch up on including an Accumulator victory for Malaysia’s Michael Soyza, and a Bounty victory for the Australian Jai Kemp.

As the 2015 Aussie Millions reaches its midway point we have two more events to catch up on.

[Image Credit: Pokerasiapacific]

The first is Event #6: $1,150 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Accumulator, and the gold ring has headed to Malaysia, after Michael Soyza won the first title of his career, overcoming the German Rainer Kempe, in heads-up action.

605 entrants created a total prize pool over $620,000, and a sparkling array of talent made their way through to the final eight. The reigning World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP-APAC) Main Event winner, Scott Davies; WSOP bracelet winner, and Australian Poker Hall of Famer, Gary Benson; and the reigning European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona champion, Andre Lettau, all making Soyza work hard for his money.

Davies (7th) and Benson (6th) would bow out early, and a four-way chop was agreed after Huy Pham was eliminated in fifth place. Soyza locked up $120,000, Kempe $76,272, Lettau $69,319 and Liao $59,336. No sooner has hands been shook and we were heads-up. Soyza eliminating both Lettau and Liao after flopping two pair, versus top pair, versus gutterball and flush draw. Everyone missed, Soyza took a 3:1 chip lead into the heads-up clash against the young German, and it wasn’t much longer before he owned every chip on the table.

Aussie Millions Event #6 Final Table Results

David Ginola’s bid to unseat Sepp Blatter as FIFA president had a farcical air to it, only because Paddy Power, known for its outlandish marketing ploys was behind it. How ironic is it now that it appears that the Irish bookmaker’s involvement in Ginola’s campaign could be the deterrent that keeps the former Newcastle United man from getting a sniff of FIFA’s version of the Iron Throne.

Turns out, if Ginola was really serious about his attempt to become the next FIFA president, the organization’s ethics code – itself a paradox in its own way – explicitly says that no candidate can “take part in, either directly or indirectly, or otherwise be associated with betting, gambling.”

Paddy Power did say that it won’t continue financially to Ginola’s candidacy “beyond January 27”, the imposed deadline for candidates to gather the necessary support of at least five football federations around the world. That in itself is a problem for Ginola because no federation has come out and supported his bid.

But the real issue could go down to the fact that Ginola’s making this bid because Paddy Power paid him 250,000 pounds to vie for the FIFA presidency. The Irish bookmaker can talk all the semantics it wants, but the combination of the possible ethics code breach and Paddy Power’s publicity mongering reputation could torpedo Ginola’s chances.

Both he and Paddy have said that his campaign is serious, even if a lot of people greeted the news of Ginola’s plans last week with a mixture of amusement of incredulity. Not exactly the two things you want people to feel when you’re serious about your intentions.

Making things even bleaker for Ginola’s candidacy is the planned support base he and Paddy Power have set up to fund his campaign. As it turns out, the Irish bookmaker will be collecting donations from football fans using a campaign website that oddly enough says that donations are “non-refundable”, through a new company called Rebooting Football Limited, which is a subsidiary firm set up by Paddy Power specifically for the purpose of Ginola’s planned candidacy. Paddy Power has since come out with a statement, contradicting its own policy by saying that fans would be reimbursed their campaign donations if Ginola doesn’t make the cut.

As if all of these things are bad enough, Ginola also misses out on a number of critical items every candidate should have on their checklist. Has he had an active role in football for any two years in the past five years? Has he worked as a “a board member, committee member, referee, assistant referee, coach, trainer [or] any other person responsible for technical, medical or administrative matters in FIFA, a Confederation, Association, League or Club”?

Rapinder Cheema reigned victorious at the United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour Season 5 Main Event, in London,  after beating the UK-based Spaniard Fernando Marin, in heads-up action, to take the £78,825 first prize.

[Image Credit: Pokerstarsblog]

“I have never won a poker tournament before!”

Those were the words of Rapinder Cheema moments after securing a pulsating pay day of £78,825, as the champion of the £770 United Kingdom & Ireland (UKIPT) Season 5 Main Event.

It was a wonderful moment, and defined what the UKIPT is all about. In fact, the top five players only had a total of four live tournament cashes between them when they sat down at the final table.

742 entrants, and the £502,818 prize pool, was a little down on the 1,089 that turned up for the Season 4 event in Oct 2014. A young man named Brett Angell walked away with that title, and £115,083 in prize money, and he nearly stole the headlines again with a superb back-to-back run that saw him fall in a hand against Cheema in seventh place.

Cheema and his heads-up partner Marin were the two chip leaders when the final table began, and as often happens they were the only two left to contest this thing. Marin started with a 3:1 chip lead, but that didn’t stop the pair agreeing to share the money equally – with an additional £15,000 to play for – an amount that’s now gathering interest in Cheema’s bank account.

UK’s biggest gambling companies implement self-regulation, protecting customers in danger of developing gambling problems.

Betting companies will put mandatory time limit on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) into place, which is described by campaigners as the “crack cocaine” of gambling.

At the start of a session on a terminal, players will be prompted to set their own time or money limit. Even if they choose not to do so, the machine will show a short warning after 30 minutes of use or once a play racks up losses of £250. The companies will also will also cover 8,000 betting shop with messages about betting responsibly as part of an industry-wide “gamble aware week.”

Betting companies have launched a new £2m responsible gambling campaign intended to remind punters to curb their impulses when gambling. The new watchdog named the Senet Group, whose ranks include Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill, have debuted a pair of new TV adverts centered around the message that: “when the fun stops, stop.”

“75% of customers, when hitting a limit, stop immediately or don’t put any more money into the machine. But not enough customers are setting limits.” said Carl Leaver, chief executive of Gala Coral.

“Campaigners would say that problem gamblers were our best customers, actually the reverse is true – they are our worst customers,” he added. “We want people who continue to have fun for month after month, year after year. Our hope is that in introducing these measures, customers will manage their own spending better.”

According to the Responsible Gaming Trust after it took its first in-depth analysis at FOBT that average player loses £6 per session after playing for 11 minutes and the average stake doubled after 10pm and 3% of sessions involved the maximum £100 bet, a ceiling that was set in 2005.

It was a somber week at the On Deck office (of one). Roger Federer was my bet to win the Australian Open and he got bounced out early. I hadn’t even had the time to process that when Kobe Bryant reportedly suffered yet another season-ending injury. Then just when it couldn’t get any worse, Josh Gordon, my fantasy hero from 2013, will reportedly get a one-year suspension after testing positive for, wait for it, alcohol. Alcohol! I didn’t even know you could get busted for testing positive for alcohol!

I know what you’re thinking. No opinions on Deflategate? Don’t worry, I do have an opinion but I’m saving it for a separate piece. That one deserves its own 800 words.

Anyway, let’s start with Federer, who I (foolishly) backed ahead of the Australian Open. I probably drank too much of that 1,000th match win Kool Aid, so shame on me, right? Who knew that little known Andreas Seppi would boot out the current world number 2 player in the third round of the Aussie Open. I certainly didn’t see it coming, but it did seem like Roger was out of his game throughout that third round match. Chalk it up to age or just having a bad day at the court, but c’mon Roger! You shouldn’t be losing to Seppi in any match, let alone a third round match in the year’s first Grand Slam!

As usual, Federer was gracious in defeat, even referring to the Seppi draw as one he “quietly feared.” You don’t normally read into these sorts of things, especially considering that Federer has a spotless record against Seppi (10-0 before their Aussie clash) and that his past performances at the tournament usually meant that you already had him booked at a seat in the semi-finals, a spot he found himself in every year since 2003.

But it wasn’t meant to be, which is probably the most apt way to describe Federer’s early exit in the tournament. Now, is it possible to get my stakes back?

Federer may have had a rough weekend, but at least he’s still healthy enough to play. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for one Kobe Bryant, who, according to reports, will likely miss the rest of the NBA season after tearing his rotator cuff. Kobe actually had the injury earlier in the pre-season, but gamely played through it even if his Lakers have languished in mediocrity for the entire year. It’s possible that his early action slowly aggravated the injury, but one thing we do know is that it’s going to be another tough road back for the Black Mamba. Hopefully, he recovers from this latest setback and returns stronger than ever.

It’s tough to ask, especially after suffering through two season-ending injuries in the past two seasons. But if anybody’s up to it, it’s Kobe Bryant. I’ve never been a fan of Kobe until the past few years, but you have to appreciate what he’s done to the game of basketball and ending his career like this isn’t the proper send-off we should have for the future first-ballot

Gaming machines manufacturer Interblock has taken steps to change its leadership after hiring John Connelly, former executive committee member of Bally Technologies, to become its next global chief executive officer. Connelly’s background in the US and international gaming industries will serve him well as he assumes the role of overseeing the company’s business endeavors in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Connelly’s tenure in Bally began in 2004 and in the decade since, he has held a variety of roles within the company, including time spent as vice president of international business and more recently, as senior vice president of business development and interactive. On top of his roles at Bally, Connelly also had senior roles at GTECH and Automated Wagering International, which is now part of Scientific Games.

“I am honored to be given this opportunity to join such a dynamic and ambitious organization, with a clear and focused mission to provide the casino sector with the necessary products to remain competitive,” Connelly said in a statement.

Interblock owner and chairman Joc Pececnik also commented on the hiring of Connelly, lauding the new CEO’s “vision, focus, and experience” in the industry and expressing his confidence that Connelly’s leadership would help achieve Interblock’s expectations in the future.

Meanwhile, UK independent machine operator the IOA Group went through its own management reshuffling after John Powell stepped down from his chairman role within the company after serving in that capacity for the last 15 years. Taking Powell’s place will be Paul Langham, who already has 40 years of experience in the industry. Langham is the current  managing director of operating firm Town & County Leisure.

“I’m honored to be leading the IOA, an organization which continues to raise the bar in machine operating and is a standard bearer for professionalism and dedication,” Langham said in a statement.

“Having worked alongside John Powell for more years than we both probably care to remember, I know only too well the amount of time and insight he has dedicated to the IOA and it is fair to say that the vast majority of the success we have enjoyed over the last decade-and-a-half can be traced back to what he has brought to the table.”

UK online sportsbook Titanbet has signed off on a sponsorship deal that would make the online gambling site the official sponsor of the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick Racecourse in February 2015.

Titanbet will also have its name attached to a number of other races on the card as the firm builds up its brand ahead of the highly awaited Cheltenham Festival this coming March 2015.

Titanbet struck the deal in part because of its ongoing attempts to further ingratiate itself in the UK market. “It’s a prestigious race at an important stage in the calendar and we’re delighted that it marks our biggest racing sponsorship to date,” Titanbet spokesman Russell Yershon said. “We hope it will be the first of many similar deals that help us build the profile of Titanbet.co.uk among horseracing fans.”

The Jockey Club’s region sponsorship manager for the south west region, Carey Buckler, echoed those sentiments, calling the deal with Titanbet an important step towards fostering a positive working relationship with the betting firm.

“I am delighted that Titanbet.co.uk have taken their first major National Hunt race sponsorship at Warwick,” Buckler added. “The Titanbet.co.uk Kingmaker Novices’ Chase is one of the leading trials for the Racing Post Arkle and I am sure that this year’s renewal will be just as competitive.”

Moving to the world of football, the Estonian Football Association (EJL) has renewed its partnership with  Sportradar. With the extension, the EJL will continue to benefit from Sportradar’s industry-leading sports data collections system as it continues to monitor global betting patterns through the country’s leagues and cup competitions.

The World Poker Tour has announced plans to return to the UK with its highly successful National series heading to Stratford and Newcastle.

World Poker Tour (WPT) President Adam Pliska once told me that his brand ‘is about you being comfortable enough to jump on the train at anytime.

It was a metaphorical expression used to define the wide variety of buy-ins the WPT offers, and the National part of that train is planned to stop in the UK three times during the first half of 2015.

The WPT, partypoker and the Aspers Casino chain have partnered up to bring UK poker players, of all shapes and sizes, three lovely little treats. The first event will be held in Aspers Westfield Stratford City Feb 12-15 with the star attraction being a £600 Accumulator style Main Event carrying a £100,000 guarantee.

Last year, top UK pro Laurence Houghton broke his live tournament duck by capturing the title, in this event, after beating Arvin Ravindram, in heads-up action. Riverman pocketing over £20k as he cut his way through a final table that included the former WPT Dublin runner-up Chaz Chattha.

This year there will be three starting flights. Each day, you will exchange £200 for 20k in chips, with blinds increasing at 30-minute increments. Players can get involved in as many of the flights as they want (spending £200, £400 or £600), and can combine chip stacks accrued in total play to take forward to Day 2. The final table will play out on Sun, Feb 15.

“There were over 2,500 entries in last season’s partypoker WPT National UK. It proves what we set out to achieve, bringing more people into the game at various levels of buy-ins”, commented John Scanlon, Poker Manager at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City.

An Aussie Millions update with Sean O’Reilly, Jonas Mackoff, Ryan Dodge and Alex Trevallion picking up victories as the series reaches the point where the top dogs start setting up their kennels.

There are no places to hide in and around the dirty green baize: no white poodles, no ninjas, and no sharks. It’s the place where stars are revealed, and the Aussie Millions has just seen one shining brighter than most.

The name of Alex Trevallion is not a familiar one, but after he topped a field of impressive names in the $25,000 Challenge, that may well change.

104 players entered the event, and after 30-players commenced the final day of action (19 from Day 1 and 11 late entrants), it was Trevallion who headed into the final table with the chip lead.

He would need it as well.

Pratyush Buddiga, Stephen Chidwick, Steve O’ Dwyer, and Tobias Reinkemeier, just four of the big names that made it through to the final phase. It was going to be tough, but according to the PokerAsiaPacific blog, Trevallion always seemed confident.

This confidence comes from an impressive online career that sees him regularly beating people up at the $25/50 tables. But this was different gravy. He would never have experienced anything quite like this before.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications, for PokerStars and Full Tilt, has issued a statement apologizing to New Jersey online poker players who were led to believe real-money gaming was available at Full Tilt after a bug produced a statement to that effect on their mobile app.

Eric Hollreiser, Head of Corporate Communications, for both PokerStars and Full Tilt, has issued a statement apologizing for the impromptu case of premature Full Tilt elation that placed New Jersey online poker players in a ditzy last week.

Excitement levels hit Megadeath type decibel levels after a poker player named Dennis Lopez logged on to Full Tilt’s free-play dot-net site, on his mobile device, to be greeted by a message from the online gambling giant welcoming him to a version of the game: ‘fully licensed by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, offering real-money gameplay on a fully regulated online gaming platform.’

For the sake of clarity, I feel it’s only fair to point out that the news story here, isn’t the fact that people do actually play free-play online poker, but that Full Tilt were informing players that they were legal and live when they weren’t.

An excited Lopez wasn’t able to download the requisite software, but that didn’t stop a screenshot of his mobile phone, resplendent with message, being sent to all and sundry in the online poker world.

Step forward Mr. Hollreiser to set the record straight.

In e-mail received from Hollreiser the blame for the slip was laid squarely as the feet of a bug that was fed up at being snug in its particular rug.