UK gambling operators are furiously poring over the government’s roadmap for reviewing its gambling rules, looking for landmines and finding some surprises along the way. 

The UK government has published the terms of reference for its long-awaited review of the Gambling Act 2005, which was formally announced Tuesday. The government has issued a call for evidence on a variety of gambling-related issues, with a deadline for responses of March 31, 2021. 

The government plans to assess the evidence gathered via this 16-week process “alongside other data,” after which it will issue a white paper sometime next year containing its proposals for reform.   

The terms of reference state the government’s aim of ensuring that “all those who choose to gamble in Great Britain to be able to do so in a safe way.” This will be accomplished by examining whether gambling rules have kept pace with the “technological advances” that have developed since 2005. 

UK gambling operators are furiously poring over the government’s roadmap for reviewing its gambling rules, looking for landmines and finding some surprises along the way. 

The UK government has published the terms of reference for its long-awaited review of the Gambling Act 2005, which was formally announced Tuesday. The government has issued a call for evidence on a variety of gambling-related issues, with a deadline for responses of March 31, 2021. 

The government plans to assess the evidence gathered via this 16-week process “alongside other data,” after which it will issue a white paper sometime next year containing its proposals for reform.   

The terms of reference state the government’s aim of ensuring that “all those who choose to gamble in Great Britain to be able to do so in a safe way.” This will be accomplished by examining whether gambling rules have kept pace with the “technological advances” that have developed since 2005. 

The gambling industry has yet to fully adopt blockchain technology, and digital currency itself is still far from becoming mainstream. At the World Gaming Executive Summit (WGES), our lead reporter Becky Liggero Fontana hosted a panel looking at both those issues with three leaders in the blockchain gambling space.

Before blockchain gambling can work, it needs more adoption. One theory of why that adoption hasn’t come yet is because of a bad reputation. Liggero Fontana began the panel by why that is. “Sadly, these bad actors in crypto are constantly conflated with blockchain technology,” said Phillip Runyan, Founder and CEO of Hold Gaming. “Each time an exchange is hacked, or someone probably, maybe, most likely faked their death to bring their keys to their grave/private beach on a non-extradition beach, the underlying technology takes it on the nose as well.”

But that will change as more people see the utility of blockchain, for providing transparent and auditable transaction records as well as acting as a data layer for the internet. Runyan said blockchain will be like what SLL technology for the internet. It’s unthinkable now to do business with a website that isn’t secure, and blockchain will play a similar role in the future.

For the gambling space, Ethereum has been a popular option, but it comes with high transaction fees. Those fees are another reason why adoption hasn’t come, and as FunFair Technologies’ COO Lloyd Purser put it, they have yet to solve the fee problem on Ethereum, but they’re working on it.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are set to see some growth in North Carolina. Gov. Roy Cooper has approved a proposed amendment allowing the tribe to offer sports betting, while Chief Richard Sneed is looking to expand.

North Carolina’s General Assembly had previously voted in favor of sports betting, Harrah’s Cherokee Casinos, which the tribe owns, couldn’t offer action until their tribal compact had been amended. That process was expected to finish by April, 2020, but Cooper delayed the process by more than 6 months, with Covid being cited as a reason to blame.

“I had a very candid conversation with the governor about that fact that this was only supposed to take 180 days,” Sneed said at a Tribal Council “I don’t think he was very happy with my comments, but that’s just too bad. I feel like we were just kind of strung along with this for a year, and there was really no need for it. But thankfully it’s done.”

That doesn’t mean anyone can get to sports betting this month. Maybe in time for the next NBA season, though. “If I were a real optimist, I would hope maybe by the end of January, maybe in time for the Super Bowl,” said Ann Davis, attorney for the Tribal Gaming Commercial Enterprise. “Don’t hold your breath though, because we’ve got two issues with the Department of the Interior: COVID and administration change.” She was very confident that should March Madness happen in 2021, the tribe would be able to take bets on it.

Coingaming’s Arthur Silva has developed an affinity for the national sport of soccer in Brazil. The local view is that soccer is a religion in Brazil and it’s hard to argue that point when you consider the rich history of the national team. Silva sat down with Calvinayre.com lead report Becky Liggero Fontana to share his insights on the potential opportunities for gaming operators in the Brazilian market.

While Brazil isn’t quite the wild west of the gaming market, Silva was keen to stress that it’s an easier market if you have the right people on the ground. “I think it starts with who is advising you in Brazil,” Silva stresses.

“Our presence in Brazil is surprisingly good,” he added.

Liggero Fontana was keen to find out if there’s a market for Bitcoin and blockchain in Brazil at some point in the future for gaming operators. According to Silva, the current landscape in Brazil isn’t friendly towards Bitcoin and blockchain for a simple reason. “Thirty percent of the population don’t have access to the internet.”

Affiliates can finally start seeing the benefits of Bitcoin SV (BSV) first hand. Peergame has launched their Affiliate Partners Program, inviting a limited number of partners to join their limited time closed beta.

Peergame announced the opening of the program in a December 7 blogpost, opening up applications on the same day. They promise that after one month of closed beta, they will open up the program to all who wish to partner.

To become a partner, prospective affiliates need only apply through their registration page. For details of how the program will work, they’ve set up a landing page where they have reasons to join, details about their commissions, and an extensive FAQ.

The benefits to joining are many. Their first in the world Bitcoin SV affiliate program offers free sign-up and real time payouts based on wagers rather than revenue. They also promise data transparency, thanks to the transparent and immutable nature of the BSV blockchain. And thanks to the incredibly low transaction fees of BSV, they offer high commissions, offering up to 40% on a wager.

In the fast-moving world of gambling, sometimes you might miss news that could be important to you. To make sure you’re all caught up on gaming industry news, be it online or brick and mortar, we’re rounding up the some of the announcements and partnerships from the last week that you might have missed.

Don’t miss out on all of the latest announcements. Our Press Release section is updated constantly.

Luckbox to present at Lytham Partner Conference

Esports Limited and its subsidiary companies Luckbox, an Isle of Man-based, leading provider of legal, real-money esports betting, announced that Quentin Martin, CEO, will be presenting at the Lytham Partners End of Year 1×1 Conference this week.

The global gaming space continues to evolve and become more responsible as regulators work together to enhance gambling activity. The virtual separation between individual regulatory bodies is eroding in favor of a larger, cohesive set of rules that allows for better compliance and integrity. Two new, but separate, partnerships just announced this week will help foster that development as the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) are taking proactive roles in fostering a stronger global gaming industry.

The MGA, which has, in the past, been accused of not taking compliance and integrity in gaming seriously enough, has become actively involved in helping establish the foundation for improved operations in a number of countries. It is already partnered with the Swedish Football Federation, the International Cricket Council, the International Olympic Committee and more to improve sports integrity across a number of organizations, and has now partnered with the Slovak Football Association (SFA), Slovakia’s governing soccer body, to achieve the same goal.

Through the new partnership, the MGA and the SFA will share information designed to protect Slovakia’s soccer industry from potential match-fixing. MGA Sports Integrity Manager Antonio Zerafa explained in a press release, “The agreement with the Slovak Football Association joins a continuously growing list of data-sharing agreements with international partners from the sporting world. We are proud that through such agreements we are placing ourselves as an important contributor to match-fixing investigations across the globe, and we hope that we can now provide the same level of assistance to the [SFA] also.”

GiG has announced a new partnership with Malta-based Avento Group that will see the latter begin to use GiG’s GiG Comply platform, an automated system used to ensure marketing compliance across different jurisdictions. GiG Comply is reportedly capable of investigating as many as 30,000 web pages daily in order to determine if these comply with the regulations of the different markets they target. It also comes with a multi-lingual feature that can correlate various languages and markets. In doing so, GiG Comply ensures that the website language is suitable for a particular market.

Argentina’s iGaming market continues to gather steam, with Casinos Maverick entering the space. Based in the Neuquén province, it is the first gaming operator in the province to launch online gaming, made possible with the approval of a license by the provincial gaming regulatory, the Neuquén Gaming and Betting Institute (IJAN, for its Spanish acronym). With the license in hand, Casinos Maverick teamed up with LatamWin to launch a portfolio of online gaming content and the country’s iGaming space continues to expand.

Casinos Maverick has primarily been a land-based gaming operator, but the recent approval of virtual casinos in Argentina is giving it the ability to grab a piece of the nascent market. It began negotiating with LatamWin to offer content, ultimately signing an agreement to introduce virtual slot machines, casino games and bingo offerings. In the works, as soon as IJAN gives the green light, Casinos Maverick wants to also launch live dealer games and sports gambling; however, there is currently no timeframe for these to be included in the license.

The casino operator and LatamWin, which already has a strong presence in several Latin America countries, have agreed to a revenue-sharing scheme that will undoubtedly prove lucrative to both companies. Argentina’s land-based casino segment, like all others, is still suffering because of COVID-19, which has facilitated the introduction of the online alternative. While the associated taxes may not be appealing to operators, iGaming has already proven to be a veritable cash cow, and operators getting into the space are able to start generating revenue almost immediately.

Cristhian Vargas, LatamWin’s Business Development Manager, explains in a press release, “It has been a complex year in terms of the movement in regulations in Latin America, as in the case of Argentina, which advanced to provide a way out of the COVID-19 crisis for physical casinos. Luckily, due to our commercial management in the country and the agreement with JSD, we were able to obtain two licenses. We thought of them to enter the Argentine market, which has had an excellent result, allowing us to access two places in Catamarca and Neuquén provinces. They have helped us to attend to the complexities of the country, since it is not easy to do business in Argentina.”

The Moulin Rouge in Las Vegas is an icon of the city’s beginnings. It was the first racially-integrated casino in the city, although for just a short amount of time, and was the site of a historic meeting in 1960 that led to the desegregation of the Vegas Strip and Vegas Downtown. However, it lost all of its shine in later years and has sat vacant, waiting for someone to come along and breathe some new air into it. That someone has arrived, and an investment company out of Australia, BBC Capital, is now the proud owner of the iconic property.

The Moulin Rouge has seen better days and, over the past several years, has managed to survive general neglect, fires and other problems that threatened its position on the Vegas landscape. However, indicative of its stubbornness in the face of massive racial discrimination, it has persevered for over 60 years to remain a part of the city. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that BBC Capital was approved to purchase the property a couple of weeks ago, with the deal being closed this past Friday.

The recent history of the property has been just as difficult as its beginnings. 300 investors had put up money to revamp the casino prior to the recession of 2008 but, when the real estate bubble burst and the economy flipped upside down, so did everything related to the property. The developer brought in to oversee the revitalization efforts went bankrupt and the company that had collected investor funds to give the developer a $19-million loan also went out of business. That led, in 2013, to the property being placed in receivership.

The courts assigned Kevin Hanchett as the receiver, responsible for finding a buyer and helping investors recover their lost funds. There have been several offers that have appeared since then; however, nothing solid ever emerged. The most promising lead was last year when the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority was considering a purchase of the property. Like all other attempts, though, that one fell flat, as well. 

Partnerships between gambling operators and media platforms continue to be one of the big ways the American gambling industry is exploding in growth. In the opening panel of the World Gaming Executive Summit (WGUES), Kelly Stewart of the Bleacher Report Betting Vertical hosted a Fireside Chat on “The future of sports betting partnerships in the US.”

As we’ve seen from other partnerships of the like, a sportsbook partnering with a big media partner brings benefits to both parties. Turner Sports has seen increased viewership as their customers now have added incentive to watch more sports, watching their bets play out and seeing new odds that become available. “Sports betting for us is probably the biggest opportunity that we have, going forward,” said Will Funk, EVP of Sports Partnerships & Branded Content, Turner Sports

Similarly, DraftKings, who partnered with Turner officially in October, are seeing more customers driven to their app. Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer of DraftKings noted that they can measure down to the second how fast someone jumps into their app after seeing something on Turner Sports, and those numbers are improving. That’s great for the book, but the benefits are also there for the broadcaster. “What’s great, if you’re a broadcaster, if you have a tool like this, you can keep people engaged in your broadcast and keep them there watching a game, match, competition.”

Stewart asked what the panelists expect to see as the partnership continues to grow. Funk said the younger audience are taking advantage of increased access. “If you look at this generation of younger viewers, Millennials in particular, if you look at a company like Robinhood, the stock market wasn’t something you could participate in,” Funk said. “And now it’s accessible to everybody.” “We have availability now in many states for sports betting,” he added, and he expects users will take advantage of the opportunity Turner and DraftKings has created.

If you were stuck paying a 3-year 15% interest loan just to keep an empire of wounded businesses afloat, and then somebody offered to take all that debt off your hands at a premium, any one of us would probably take that offer. That is probably what Tilman Fertitta will do, too. And you can’t blame him.

Rumors are swirling since last week from Bloomberg that Fertitta may soon bring his Golden Nugget casino and restaurant empire public for a valuation of “several billion dollars” as quoted from “one of the people”. Bloomberg was pretty frank about the situation, in financial-speak of course, but the message is obvious enough. “Listing a stake in the business,” says Bloomberg, “could allow the billionaire to take advantage of strong investor appetite for new equity offerings to pay down debt.”

Translation: Money is being thrown at stocks like lap dancers in the VIP section, so just go ahead and make it rain shares.

Will the IPO, assuming it happens, be worth buying? That depends on your intentions. If we just look statistically, there have been 196 IPOs year to date in the United States. 47 have been losers, or about 24%. The rest are all winners, so far. So just there, your chances of making money from a short term trade perspective, provided you get out in time, are pretty good. The average return across all IPOs, winners and losers this year, has been 61%. I’m sure Fertitta is well aware of all this and would very much like to take advantage of the historic amount of liquidity flooding Wall Street, because it can’t last forever.

November brought a new drop in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Macau that has continued into December. While last month got off on the right foot, with an average daily GGR the first week of around $31.1 million, that figure dropped to $23.2 million the following week and the total monthly draw remained low. The latest figures coming out of the city’s casinos show that downward trend to still be in place, with the possibility of further drops on the way as the difficult 2020 draws to a close. At this point, the year is essentially a write-off because of COVID-19, and everyone hopes that 2021 will start with a strong rebound.

In the first six days of this month, Macau’s GGR is 11% lower than during the same period last month, which would seem to indicate that a solid recovery process is still not underway. Analysts calculate the GGR to be around $150 million for the period, and the estimated daily amount of $25 million would be around 72% lower than the first week of December last year. In November, the daily average was right around $28 million.

As expected by analysts and others in the gaming industry, the mass gaming segment is bouncing back quicker than the VIP segment. It is still way off from where everyone would have liked to have seen it, with the year-on-year drop measured to be around 65%-70%. VIP volumes, however, are off from last year’s levels by almost 80%. As Macau tries to release the grasp of COVID-19, mass gaming has proven to be the life preserver that is helping keep the city afloat.

Bernstein analysts forecast that visitation will begin to pick up in Macau over the next several months, which will certainly help the recovery process. However, more help is needed. Hong Kong can’t be seen as a source of visitation as long as it continues to see COVID-19 issues, and the city is now once again fighting the virus – the fourth wave seen since the pandemic began. As long as these issues persist, the Hong Kong-Macau border won’t be reopened, which is going to continue to be an issue for Macau’s casinos.

Donald Browne is apparently out of money. The CEO of Imperial Pacific International (IPI) is facing jail time for contempt over the company’s failures to comply with court orders associated with the company’s fledgling Imperial Palace in Saipan, but can’t hire a lawyer to plead his case. He has asked a judge to supply him with a lawyer so he can try to avoid spending Christmas behind bars, according to the Saipan Tribune, but he shouldn’t worry too much. The Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has already repeatedly shown that its bark is much worse than its bite.

Browne was told last week to show how IPI is ready to fulfill its long-outstanding obligations tied to a court order from several months ago to pay fees. He was given until the end of the day on December 4 to provide the update or face the possibility of being put in jail, but he’s still free. Browne has now filed a request with the court to have a lawyer assigned, explaining that he’s in no shape financially to cover the expense on his own.

In his request, Browne asserted, “I took a 30% pay cut when I became CEO. The company is not able to pay its employees or to sustain operations. All employees, including myself, have not been paid since Sept. 25, 2020. As a result of having been on furlough without pay for about four months, and then not having been paid for more than the last two months, I have no savings. I am married but my wife is not employed right now. We have two minor children, a 4-year-old and a 4-month-old. I have no income. Therefore, I am not able to afford to hire an attorney. I request that the court appoint counsel for me as I am facing incarceration.”

Browne was never meant to be the CEO of IPI. He was forced into the position this past summer when the company was ordered to appoint a boss, having previously been working as its head of security. Apparently, finding an experienced executive willing to assume command of the controversial company was more difficult than IPI’s board had expected. Browne was given the task for six months and his term is supposed to end in January, but he probably never expected to be facing prison as it came to an end.

Philippine electronic gaming operator DFNN has reportedly received the first online gambling license that will allow local residents – at least, those with deep pockets – to legally bet online. 

On Monday, Asia Gaming Brief broke the news that Philippine-listed DFNN was the first recipient of the new locals-focused online gambling licenses issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR). Investors liked what they heard, pushing DFNN’s shares up over 41%.  

DFNN CEO Calvin Lim said the new InPlay.ph online casino will be limited to VIP players only, at least to start, with strict know-your-customer protocols to ensure locals have the necessary wherewithal to responsibly enjoy online gambling from the comfort of home.  

Inplay will be run by DFNN’s Inter-Active Entertainment Solutions (IEST) subsidiary, which has a long history as a PAGCOR-licensed supplier of land-based electronic gaming technology through the Instawin (online casino) and Xchangebet (peer-to-peer sports betting) brands. These eGames are offered to local residents through computer terminals in a wide network of eCafes. 

So far in our series on sports on television, we’ve already watched with glee as Sunderland plummeted down two divisions and Tottenham Hotspur rode out the Coronavirus to come back stronger. This week, we’re completing the triumvirate of football documentaries from the past couple of years in looking at Manchester City: All or Nothing.

The season that is covered in the documentary is the 2017/18 English Premier League season. Don’t remember it? Yes you do, The Citizens were one of the Teams of the Century that year.

Pep Guardiola’s side were utterly dominant across the season as they amassed a record-breaking 100 points and swept all before them in the Premier League, including their cross-city rivals, Manchester United.

Therein, unfortunately, lies one of the problems with the series that Tottenham and Sunderland’s documentaries don’t encounter – the luxury of unparalleled success.

UK gambling operators are waiting with baited breath as the government officially kicked off its long-delayed review of the Gambling Act 2005.  

On Tuesday (local time), the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) announced the official launch of “a major and wide-ranging review of gambling laws to ensure they are fit for the digital age, as committed to in the [Conservative party’s 2019 general election] manifesto.” 

The DCMS has issued a call for evidence that will run until March 31, 2021. The subjects up for discussion/criticism/poo-flinging include online stake and spend limits, with the government widely expected to press for an online slot limit that mirrors the £2 maximum stake imposed on fixed-odds betting terminals in betting shops back in April 2019. 

Also up for grabs are gambling age limits and the future parameters of promotional offers and gambling advertising. The latter is most certainly to encompass sports sponsorship, which has proven a consistent target for the usual UK media suspects, although even football fans are now expressing weariness at the ubiquity of gambling logos on team shirts. 

Online gambling payment processor Paysafe Group Holdings is prepping for its US public market debut following a $9b merger. 

On Monday, a ‘special purpose acquisition company’ (SPAC) called Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II announced that it had come to terms on a US$9b deal to merge with the with the London-based Paysafe, allowing the payments firm to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PSFE. 

Foley Trasimene is led by investor Bill Foley, whose holdings include Fortune 500 insurance firm Fidelity National Financial as well as the National Hockey League club Vegas Golden Knights. The SPAC listed on the NYSE in August after raising nearly $1.5b. 

Private equity groups Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners, which took Paysafe private in 2017, will remain Paysafe’s biggest investors following the NYSE listing. The hedge funds will reportedly triple their original investment via the merger, not a bad return for their hefty bet. 

We love poker here at Calvin Ayre, and poker players are at the heart of that love. One particular set of players we admire and respect are The Britpack, a select band of players who hail from The British Isles and have crushed live and online poker for years.  

You’ll love them too after you read some of their words on the greatest card game on the planet. So grab yourself a cup of team, put some jam and cream on your scones and don your smoking jacket before being inspired by these seven quotes from British poker players.  

1.     “The more you play, the more chances you get.”  

We love these words from Toby Lewis, EPT winner and all-round crusher from this interview with Pocket Fives several years ago. There’s a similarity between it and the golfer Gary Player’s words on his improvement when he said, “The more I practice, the luckier I get.”  Toby Lewis is a lover of golf, American Football and many other sports and he brings the same dedication to his poker game. Hardly surprising, then, that he’s cashed for $6.5 million at the live felt and is perhaps even better known online as ‘810ofclubs’. To this day, we’ll always try to play that hand… just not quite as well as Toby Lewis does!