South Africa‘s government has poured a great big bucket of ice water on a member of the opposition’s plan to promote the legalization of online gambling.

Earlier this week, Democratic Alliance shadow minister for trade and industry Geordin Hill-Lewis announced plans to reintroduce the Remote Gambling Bill he debuted last year. Hill-Lewis said he hoped the bill – which would expand the scope of legal online gambling beyond sports betting – would force the government “to engage properly around this argument.”

Well, sod that nonsense, says the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). On Friday, the DTI issued a statement saying it wanted to make it “publicly clear that there is no intention on the part of the government to propose the legislation of online gambling.”

The DTI insists that online gambling was “not desirable” due to “a number of social ills associated with gambling, especially online gambling.” The DTI believes “no amount of control will adequately curb the harm that may be caused” by online casino and poker games and thus “it must remain a banned activity.”

The DTI underscored its position by reminding everyone that offering anything online other than sports betting was against the law and “law enforcement agencies will act on this illegal activity with immediate effect.” The penalties for any operator offering illegal services or anyone “participating as individuals” include fines of up to R10m (US $865k) and prison sentences of up to 10 years. The DTI even offered a hotline number for finking on suspected illegal gambling.

South Africa has been flirting with the idea of an expanded online gambling market for years now but analysts at PricewaterhouseCoopers sounded an extremely pessimistic note in November on the prospects of the government acting anytime soon. Seems about right.

The Koh Puis Investment Group has set its sights on building an exclusive resort and casino project in Cambodia. According to multiple reports, the company is already lining up investors for the project and is targeting the Morakot Island off the coast of Sihanoukville, Cambodia as the location of the resort.

Plans call for the company to develop one six-star resort, two five-star hotels, a four-star casino hotel, a VIP casino, a marina yacht and Beach Club, and a slew of entertainment facilities, including bars, restaurants, a spa and fitness center, and a marina village, among other things.

The location was largely unknown as recently as the past decade. Access was difficult back then and the only people who frequented the area were backpackers enjoying adventures off the beaten path. But with a new international airport within the vicinity, the island has become a popular attraction among locals and tourists, making it an intriguing site to develop a world-class integrated resort and casino.

An investment report by Ptolemy Capital hinted at the enormous potential of the site, calling an untapped goldmine that’s ripe for development. “The secret is out and the past five years land prices have trebled and quadrupled as the international airport now makes the location easy to reach and double digit growth on the tourist numbers every year,” the report said.

The Koh Puis investment group has so far spent $126 million on the project, including building a 985-meter bridge from Koh Puis to the mainland. In addition, it has also obtained in-principle approval from the government for the casino, a construction permit, and an assessment of environment and social impacts.

The firm has also inked deals with both the Ritz Carlton and Renaissance to operate the island hotels.

Over in Saipan, Alter City Group has taken significant steps forwards with its plan to build an integrated resort and casino in Tinian. According to the Marianas Variety, the Macau-based investor has lined up three Chinese construction firms, including China Construction Group, to discuss construction details of the proposed resort and casino at Puntan Diablo.

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Many iGaming industry workers are planning to hit London for the combined iGaming conferences ICE and the London Affiliate Conference (LAC), which is why we decided to ask our readers, “Which Conferences will you be attending?”

47% voted, “ICE” 6% said, “LAC” and 47% said, “Both.”

The 9th London Affiliate Conference will be held from January 31st to February 3rd at Olympia National, London at Hammersmith Road.

Optimal Payments Plc. announces that its NETBANX iGaming payment solution is now fully integrated and operational on Ontario States’ newly launch PlayOLG, following the announcement of a five-year agreement between OLG and Optimal Payments on April 22.

PlayOLG offers online interactive lottery, casino and poker games for Ontario residents.

“We are as committed as OLG to provide responsible and sustainable online gaming,” said Danny Chazonoff, COO of Optimal Payments. “Offering regulated services in this sector is highly complex and we shared our expertise and experience with OLG. This helps the company achieve its goal of responsible play while supporting community and charitable programs.”

Optimal Payments provides OLG the ability to deliver an enhanced customer experience while maximizing conversions, which PlayOLG.ca needed as it faced several issues since its launch on January 8, leaving its customers frustrated.

The website received complaints regarding the difficult registration process, requiring customers to put all their information as it exactly appears on their government identification documents.

PlayOLG.ca received further criticism as several functions of its customer support were not working, including live chat and email support.

Some of its customers even used social media channels to report issues such as games’ loading times and glitches in geolocation access services, not allowing some customers to register with the gambling portal.

Kevin Schulz has defeated Diego Ventura, in heads-up action, to take the first prize of $1,491,580 in the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event in the Bahamas.

[mage Credit: Pokerstars & Neil Stoddart]

816 entrants entered, 119 made the money, but when all was said and done it was a battle between two online grinders, from two very different American continents, who would take the lion share of the cash in the final of the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event.

Last year, the final table was a 16-hour slugfest – this year it was a six-hour knockout punch. When the final bell rang it was the American Kevin Schulz with his hand held high, but his runner-up Diego Ventura had plenty of reasons to smile.

“I’m pretty happy. I had some pretty good reads on everybody, but you never know what’s going to happen. I love skydiving but this is maybe one of the most intense things I’ve done in my life! I don’t have any plans in mind for the money right now … I’ll take some time to think about it all – and try to make sure I don’t blow it because that seems to happen a lot!” Schulz told PokerStars after his win.

Predictably, it was Schulz’s biggest win of his career. The 26-year old was amongst a score of online grinders who fled to Mexico, in the wake of Black Friday, and his PCA victory tops his fourth place finish in a World Series of Poker$5k No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event, where he earned $267,792 back in 2012.

When the final day started five out of the eight players were American, two were from South America, and then you had the bog standard presence of a German. Chance Kornuth had the chip lead, and he was one of the most experienced players at the final table – with two previous scores in excess of half a million bucks – but he would finish in third for a not too shabby looking $641,140.

Ilkin Garibli wins the $25,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller after beating Joe Kuether, in heads-up action, to take down the $1,105,050 first prize.

Poker is all about taking those chances when they come. Ilkin Garibli has just done that in spectacular fashion by winning the $25,000 High Roller event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). It was his first-ever live tournament score.

Garibli, a cash game player by trade, was on holiday when the PCA came to town. A few friends convinced him to throw his hat in the ring. He’ll be upgrading it now. The 26-year old from Azerbaijan topped the largest ever PCA $25k event, and the seventh largest $25k in poker’s history. 269 entrants (69 of them re-entries), once again showing the poker planners that the re-entry format is a popular concept.

The final day started with 11 souls: Dominik Nitsche, Bryn Kenney and Lee Markholt a sample of the talent to hit the rail before the final table was created. What a final table it was.

The Ukrainian Oleksii Khoroshenin – a former European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event champion – moved to fifth place in the Ukraine all-time money list after his third place finish, but it was the Americans that made most of the money.

The former PCA Super High Roller champion Scott Seiver had an impressive festival: making final table appearances in both high rollers for a combined score of $600k+; not a bad start to 2015 as he tries to make it three consecutive years with $4m+ annual hauls.

Seiver wasn’t the only one enjoying himself in the Bahamian heat. Nicholas Petrangelo added a sixth place finish to his $5k side-event victory, just a few days ago, and walks away from the PCA with over $400,000 in earnings.

Best Bitcoin Casino levels up its commitment to fostering a fruitful and dynamic online gambling environment ruled by Bitcoin and altcoins. It highlights its role in the market and emphasizes what it can offer to the stakeholders with the aim to promote cryptocurrency gambling as well as speed up Bitcoin adoption on a global scale.

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With the initial plan to become the venue for online reviews of the casinos running on Bitcoin, this website blossomed to more than a library of brand reviews. It presently functions as the melting pot of ideas, insights, and other key information that prove to be of great help not only to the players but to the gambling operators as well.

More than 100 brand reviews are available on the website for everyone to access free of charge. Anyone across the globe can conveniently browse through the extensive and still growing library of Bitcoin casino reviews that professionally and objectively detail the pros and cons of every brand in the market.

On top of these unbiased reportage of the hits and misses of the Bitcoin casinos is the regular publication of relevant news stories and events. News that are related to Bitcoin gambling, whether about newly launched products, expos and conferences, or new technologies, Best Bitcoin Casino takes the initiative to constantly update its readership with the significant developments and trends happening worldwide.

Paired with the Bitcoin casino news are the exclusive interviews with the top officials, programmers, and representatives of various brands in the market. These special dialogues are published online to unravel the plans, decisions, and insights of the market movers, giving the players a broader perspective of the industry that Bitcoin gambling is beginning to take shape.

Expanding its reach beyond public service, Best Bitcoin Casino is also active in introducing campaigns that benefit both the players and the operators. In 2014, it launched two campaigns—Infographics Campaign and the Christmas Bonus Campaign—both of which were warmly received by its stakeholders.

The Australian Poker Hall of Fame has announced their nominations for the 2015 induction ceremony, and the general public get in on the action for the very first time.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) has ended, and the players with enough money, and motivation, will now be heading to Australia for the second major tournament of 2015: The Aussie Millions.

The 2015 Aussie Millions will be a hotbed of action, but it’s also the time to honor the players, ambassadors and integral parts of the poker furniture that have made Australian and New Zealand poker what it is today. I am, of course, talking about the Australian Poker Hall of Fame (HOF).

The concept began in 2009-2010. Being the big bang it was decided to pad it out a bit: Joe Hachem, Jeff Lisandro, Billy Argyros, Gary Benson, Lee Nelson, Mel Judah, Tony Guoga, Maurie Pears and Marsha Waggoner the original nine.

Leo Boxell and Danny McDonagh would follow in 2010-2011; Jason Gray and David Gorr likewise in 2011-2012, and Graeme Putt slowed things down as the sole entry in 2013-2014.

So who’s likely to end up in the HOF in 2015?

The smart money seems to be on Grant Levy. 2014-2015 is the first year that the committee has sought the opinion of the general public, and the initial feedback points to Levy as being the strongest candidate.

According to a poll of four investment houses conducted by Business Daily, gaming revenues in Macau will likely decline 16.5% in January.

The estimates in the decrease of revenue by all four investment houses-HSBC, Daiwa, Wells Fargo and Stern Agee- range from 13% to 20%. The forecasted decline still has a considerable margin of error but if the market predictions are correct, Macau casinos will have their best month since September.

Wells Fargo, which gave an 18% forecast, said in a note to clients this week that daily gaming revenue during the second week of January was MOP743 million, 22% behind January’s first week (MOP950 million) and 1% down from December’s daily average.

Macau casino revenue fell 2.6% to 351 billion patacas ($44 billion) in 2014, after a record a 30.4% drop to 23.3 billion in December, the seventh straight month of decline. Last year is also the first annual decline since the special administrative region began releasing financial figures in 2002.

Sterne Agee says gaming revenue totaled MOP8.7 billion in the first 11 days of January, a drop of 13% from a year ago. Macau gaming operators recovered some ground in the stock market on January 13, with shares improving around 1.5% (except Melco Crown, which lost 1.2%).

This week saw the arrest of more than 100 people in Macau related to a prostitution ring, including Alan Ho, nephew of casino tycoon Stanley and other executives and will have to remain in prison while waiting for his trial, said Macau’s prosecution office.

Alan Ho and other senior executives of Hotel Lisboa (pictured) were arrested over the weekend for allegedly running a prostitution ring at the property.The police estimate those involved made more than MOP400 million (US$50 million) over the past two years.

Is it at all possible that we might just be underestimating the Indianapolis Colts and the Green Bay Packers? As soon as the Divisional Round games of the NFL playoffs concluded, a lot of people seemed to have penciled in the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks to meet in Super Bowl XLIX.

Both teams even opened in the -7 range as favorites against the Colts and Packers, both high numbers given how deep we are in the playoffs. But just when it appeared that momentum for a Seahawks-Patriots Super Bowl was getting some steam, bettors are singing a slightly different tune by giving the Colts and Packers a lot of love.

The Colts, in particular, are getting a lot of action, enough at least to push the spread against the Pats down to -6.5. All this is happening despite the fact that Andrew Luck is 0-3 against the Pats in his young career, getting blown out each time on his way to losing by an average of 26 points per game! That’s not a misprint, nor is it an exaggerated version of the truth. It’s just facts stating facts.

But the spread is where it’s at because the public isn’t buying this lopsided trend. Some people even believe that Indy’s peaking at the right time, especially Luck who had two good games against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos to set up this encounter with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

Even at -6.5, there’s belief among sharps that the number is still inflated leaning towards New England. So if you’re betting on the Colts, now may be a good time to take the splash before the spread goes down even more.

Prediction: Pats 28, Colts 24

Over to the NFC Championship game, the game between the Seahawks and the Packers opened at -7.5 for the defending champs. A few days later, the line has bounced up and down marginally, but for the most part, it still sits at that number with a few sportsbooks now offering the Seahawks at -7 with an extra squeeze of juice attached to the favorites.

Lee Davy gives you a sound bite of all the week’s poker news and stories including a run down of the most impressive results from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, PokerStars Spin & Go’s first $1m winner, and much more.

The story that picked up the most press coverage, this week, was the magnificent performance of Ronaldo in the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event.

The Brazilian footballing legend’s impressive run ended in 26th place, and the PokerStars marketing department must have been rubbing their hands with as much verve and vigor as a witch checking out the kids as they start munching on her chocolate flavored brass knockers.

This is what it’s about.

This is why online poker rooms pay the big money to attract the stars of sport. They finish 26th and the brand of PokerStars is spread wider and further than any poker player could take it.

The winner of the event was the Kevin Schulz. The American beat the number one Peruvian online wizard, Diego Ventura, in heads-up action, to take the $1.4m first prize. A good kid and a great poker player. But I doubt he goes down in the box with the enthusiasm of Ronaldo.

The PCA ended with their largest ever $25k High Roller event. 269 entrants, and the winner was a young man who doesn’t even play live tournaments. In fact, his million-dollar victory is the only piece of writing on his Hendon Mob CV. Cash game player, Ilkin Garibli, was on holiday, in the Bahamas, when friends convinced him to play. Wise choice.

Clarion Events, the organizer of numerous high-profile gambling conferences and expos including ICE Totally Gaming, Global iGaming Summit and Expo (GiGSE) and the Excellence in iGaming (EiG) summit, has been acquired by global asset management firm Providence Equity.

The transaction is reportedly worth in excess of £200m, with sources suggesting that Providence fought off competition from a number of rival bidders including conference and exhibition organizer ITE Group and private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Clarion, which can trace its origins back to 1947, was owned by private-equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, which bought the company from HgCapital for 120.5 million pounds in 2008. Clarion also organizes the Counter Terror Expo and Forensics Europe Expo at Olympia, London.

Jersey to exhibit at ICE Totally Gaming 2015

Jersey eGaming has announced that it will be exhibiting at ICE Totally Gaming, which be held at Excel London on Feb 3rd-5th.

Jersey is the newest tier-one eGaming jurisdiction to emerge, offering lost cost, high quality services.  Key features of Jersey’s eGaming proposition include:

“Jersey’s eGaming offering has gone from strength to strength in recent years and is now arguably the most attractive of any tier one jurisdiction. Our recently announced highly competitive licensing environment, investment in telecommunications, depth of technology skills and our reputation as a leading finance centre makes us the compelling new option for eGamingorganizations. We are also fortunate to have a supportive government position in relation to eGaming, and Jersey’s Assistant Chief Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf, will be attending the ICE event on the 5th February to speak personally to businesses who may be interested in doing business with Jersey,” said Andy Jarrett, Director of Digital Jersey.

Pennsylvania casino revenue fell 1.44% to $3.07b in 2014, the fourth straight year that casino gaming revenue in the state has topped $3b. It’s also the second consecutive year of negative growth, although the total was enough to maintain the state’s status as America’s #2 casino gambling market.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) had previously released the state’s slots figures for 2014, which showed revenue down 2.7% to $2.31b. On Thursday, the PGCB revealed that table game revenue had risen 2.7% to $749.5m, the highest total since the state allowed table games five years ago. However, table revenue growth was less than the 6.2% gain recorded in 2013.

The state’s high water mark came in 2012, when overall revenue topped $3.15b. Since then, new casinos have opened up in neighboring Maryland and Ohio, giving Pennsylvania a dose of the same medicine it has inflicted on New Jersey, where gaming revenue has fallen every year since 2006, the same year Pennsylvania launched its own slots venues.

Still, don’t cry too much for Pennsylvania, as the state’s highest-in-the-nation tax rates – 54% on slots and 14% on tables – diverted $1.34b of 2014’s haul into the government’s coffers.

The full-year numbers were aided by a boffo December, which saw slots rise 6% and table games jump 15.3% over December 2013. Sands Bethlehem led December’s table tallies with $14.2m in winnings, followed by Parx with $10.2m (+13%) and SugarHouse with $7.3m (+12%). Sands benefited from having 206 tables in action during December, compared to just 183 in December 2013. Parx’s gains are all the more impressive considering its table total fell from 165 to 154 over the same period.

For the year as a whole, Sands Bethlehem’s tables earned $189m, up 7% year-on-year and representing nearly one-quarter of the total statewide haul of $749.5m. The Parx’s tables were up nearly 9% to $130m, about 17% of the statewide total. Just four of the state’s dozen casinos – Harrah’s Philadelphia, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Meadows Racetrack and Presque Isle Downs – were in negative table territory for the year.

Macau casino fortunes may have taken another body blow on Wednesday after China’s President Xi Jinping announced plans to intensify his anti-corruption campaign in 2015. The crackdown, which began in earnest about a year after Xi took power in March 2013, has been widely credited for Macau’s ongoing casino revenue decline as high-profile individuals curbed their conspicuous consumption in a bid to stay under Xi’s radar.

The fifth plenary session of the Communist Party of China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) concluded on Wednesday, after which a communiqué was issued listing seven priorities for 2015. These include ensuring senior officials “toe the line” with regards to central leadership policies. All state-owned enterprises (SOEs) will be subject to new inspections and officials found to have embezzled funds or engaged in the selling or buying of government posts will face “serious penalties.”

SOE execs and the heads of Party and government departments will be held accountable for any serious corruption cases that occur on their watch. The government also intends to “strengthen international cooperation in the hunt for fugitive officials and asset recovery.” The CCDI says it punished a total of 71,478 Chinese officials for corruption in 2014, with 68 of these cases involving high-level officials.

Perhaps sensing that their language might spur the anti-corruption team’s rank-and-file members to break out the pitchforks and torches, the state cautioned that this was not a “whirlwind campaign” but a “step by step” process that required “political composure, restraint and patience.” In other words, anyone hoping that Xi would ease up on the throttle has another thing coming.

As for what impact this broadened campaign might have on Macau, one only has to look at the damage previous efforts have done to Macau’s VIP gambling sector (and the junket operators that cater to these VIPs). High-rollers traditionally account for as much 70% of overall gaming revenue but this has fallen to as low as 56% in recent months.

Pre-crackdown studies by the Polytechnic Institute of Macau found that around half of Macau’s high-rollers were either government officials or SOE executives. One assumes that the smarter VIPs have already cottoned on to the fact that playtime is over, so anybody caught in the act from this point forward is merely bent on proving Darwin was right.

It won’t help that the recent arrest of Stanley Ho’s nephew for operating a prostitution ring at the Hotel Lisboa has local police vowing to beef up surveillance at Macau’s gaming properties. On Tuesday, Macau’s Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak vowed to “strengthen communication with senior executives in casinos and hotels” while simultaneously adding more equipment and manpower to the Public Security Forces to help in “maintaining a secure society.” And, one presumes, less profitable casinos.

Macau junket operator David Group is reportedly cashing in its chips, underscoring the difficulties facing all facets of gaming operations in the world’s largest casino hub.

On Thursday, analysts at Nomura reported that David Group was “in the process of shutting down its VIP rooms in Macau.” David Group is considered one of Macau’s top-10 junket operators, controlling seven VIP rooms containing 58 gaming tables, which are believed to have handled up to 5% of Macau’s total VIP turnover.

Analysts at Daiwa Capital Markets later reported that David Group was planning to close four of its VIP rooms; two each at the Wynn Macau and MGM Macau. The junket also has a presence at Galaxy Macau, Sands China’s Four Seasons and the L’Arc, which operates under an SJM Holdings license. David Group has yet to publicly comment on either report.

Nomura’s sources reported that David Group had recently waived its requirement for gamblers to make a minimum deposit of HKD 100k (US $13k) to open an account at its VIP rooms. Nomura said David Group planned an “orderly” shutdown “over the next few months” as they seek to collect all outstanding debts.

Nomura suggested David Group’s demise might not have too great a negative impact on junket operator liquidity, although the analysts cautioned that they were unclear “whether this is an isolated incident or something more structural.”

Macau’s seven-months-and-counting gaming revenue decline is primarily the result of high-rollers scaling back their spending, which has weighed heavily on the special administrative region’s junket operators. Industry observers have projected Macau could see up to 50 VIP rooms close in 2015.

David Group isn’t suffering in isolation. Last week, Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd warned the market that its 2014 profit stream from the Hengsheng Group junket operation had failed to meet guarantees. Imperial Pacific, which is developing a casino project on the island of Saipan, holds a 5% stake in profits generated via Hengsheng’s junket activities. That stake was supposed to guarantee a minimum of HKD 24m ($3.1m) in 2014 but Hengsheng anted up only HKD 10.7m.

Online poker giant PokerStars says its initial foray into the world of sports betting will make its public debut before the end of March. The news was revealed in a business update issued on Thursday by Star’s parent company, Canada’s Amaya Gaming Group.

In November, Stars announced plans to roll out casino and sports betting products in markets served by its .com site. Amaya now says the sports betting launch will take place in Q1, “ahead of schedule.”

The betting product will launch within the PokerStars 7 poker client “in certain markets” and Stars vows to “gradually” add other markets as well as web and mobile versions throughout 2015. Stars has enlisted former bet365 VIP trading manager Ian Marmion to build Stars’ in-house trading team.

Amaya says it has successfully completed the rollout of casino table games “in eligible markets on PokerStars.com and certain domains sharing liquidity on the global network.” Stars says web and mobile versions of its casino offering are coming later this year, which will be accompanied by an “aggressive” marketing campaign.

Stars’ Spanish-facing site was the first to host its new blackjack and roulette offering in October, but the product was taken offline over the holidays to address local regulations requiring Stars to make hand- and spin-histories available to customers. The casino games are scheduled to be back online within weeks.

Before the product went offline, Amaya says it had managed to capture a “significant double-digit share” of Spain’s regulated online casino market. Stars enjoyed a 30% cross-sell of table games to its active player ranks, a faster cross-sell than Amaya’s ‘B’ gaming site Full Tilt enjoyed, despite Tilt offering a wider variety of casino products, including slots. Spain is still in the process of allowing its licensed operators to offer slots.

Meanwhile, Stars’ French-facing site is testing new ‘surprise’ bonuses that use ‘big data’ to tailor rewards for specific players based on their individual gaming habits. The scheme allows players to swap their regular bonuses for a personalized bonus of unknown treasures. Assuming they choose the mystery option, the specific benefits and requirements will then be spelled out, with players given two weeks in which to clear the necessary benchmarks.

Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. (CEOC), a unit of Las Vegas-based casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp, filed for bankruptcy in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago on Thursday.

The division Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. who owns and operates 44 gaming and resorts properties and represents 80% ($18.4b) of Caesars’ overall $28.2b debt load, announced that it is moving forward to implement its previously announced financial restructuring plan.

In a press release, CEOC said that the plan, which has received support from more than 80% of first-lien note holders, is intended to significantly reduce long-term debt and annual interest payments, while providing for significant recoveries for creditors and ensuring no interruption of operations across the company’s network of properties.

“Today, with the overwhelming support of our first-lien bondholders, we are moving forward to implement our previously announced restructuring plan, which is intended to strengthen CEOC’s financial condition and significantly reduce debt,” said Gary Loveman, Chairman of CEOC.

“We believe this restructuring is in the best interests of all of CEOC’s stakeholders and will result in a sustainable capital structure for CEOC and value creation for all stakeholders. The restructuring of CEOC is the culmination of a years-long effort to improve the health of CEOC’s balance sheet, which has included substantial investment in new and upgraded assets, especially in Las Vegas. I am very confident in the future prospects of our enterprise, which will combine an improved capital structure with a network of profitable properties,” Loveman added.

Caesars CEO also announced that its casino-hotels would remain open and continue to host meetings and events, assuring customers that their loyalty points would still accrue and the company’s lineup of on-stage entertainers would keep performing according to their schedules.

According to Loveman, the company’s suppliers will still be paid in full and employees would continue to receive pay and benefits as usual.  Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s has more than 30,000 employees in its 38 casino-hotels, including Bally’s and Caesars in Atlantic City and the iconic Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip.

Ladbrokes‘ affiliate program, Ladbroke Partners, has revealed a redesigned website for its current and prospective business partners.

The new look includes a responsive design, adapting to customer’s device and screen size and an intuitive interface that streamlines a user’s experience.

Ladbrokes Partners’ homepage is said to be cleaner, brighter and reminiscent of Ladbrokes’ new “This is the Ladbrokes Life” campaign. The site’s product and available market pages were laid out to highlight its unique selling points, while new pages have been added for promotional and affiliate news.

The site has been made available in different languages such as English, Swedish and German to ensure that it is in line with Ladbrokes’ recent shift to regulated markets. French and Dutch will be rolled out soon.

“This new site puts our business partners at the forefront. One of our key goals was to create a responsive site in light of the increasing number of mobile and tablet visitors. The site also makes it easier than ever to find the markets and products of interest to our affiliates,” said Ladbrokes Digital CMO Selmi Chakim.

Intertain Group‘s InterCasino.com, one of the internet’s first online casinos, established 1996, has undergone a site design overhaul and re-brand.

The redevelopment of the site has been executed ahead of a planned UKTV marketing campaign later this year and based on the feedback of more than 6000 customers, media partners, and affiliates through focus groups and surveys.

Merkur Gaming has appointed gaming industry veteran Jens Halle as the new CEO of the casino gaming systems designer and manufacturer effective January 1.

Halle had left Novomatic group, end of 2014, after 15 years of working as managing director of Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH and chief executive of Novomatic Americas Sales LLC.

The Germany-based firm Merkur Gaming said in a press release on Wednesday that Halle will take charge of the company’s international sales and distribution, consolidation of business activities in Merkur Gaming’s established markets, as well as the company’s expansions into new territories.

“The development know-how and the long-standing wealth of experience at the Gauselmann Group offer great potential and diverse development opportunities for our partners abroad,” said Halle.

“Mr. Halle’s long-standing focus on the global casino business has enabled him to have the right vision, with such experience so as to further develop our products – mainly overseas outside of Europe –  in a truly sustainable way,” said Paul Gauselmann, chairman of the Gauselmann Group, and Jürgen Stühmeyer, sales director of the firm in a joint statement.

Merkur Gaming, subsidiary of Gauselmann AG, develops multi-games, cabinets, casino machines, video lottery terminals, and jackpot systems for the gaming industry.

The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) has also announced its latest line up of officials.