Online gambling operator BetMGM has soft-launched its new Pennsylvania site while threatening a Tennessee rival with legal action for swiping its marketing slogan.

On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania-licensed BetMGM online casino began its three-day ‘soft-launch event’, which will see the site offering real-money bets from 2pm-10pm on day one, expanding to 10am-8pm on Wednesday and 10am-10pm on Thursday. Assuming no major hiccups, the site expects to be cleared to go 24/7 by Friday.  

Pennsylvania marks the seventh US state in which Roar Digital – the online gambling/sports betting joint venture of MGM Resorts and GVC Holdings – has an online presence with its BetMGM brand, joining Colorado, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia (all of which are limited to sports betting save New Jersey).

For the moment, the Pennsylvania site is purely casino-focused, as BetMGM has yet to secure the necessary land-based gaming partner that would allow it to offer sports betting. However, the company announced a marketing partnership with the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers last week and claimed it was targeting a Pennsylvania betting launch before year’s end.

Michigan’s online gamblers might find both sports betting and casino products in their digital stockings this Christmas, although odds appear better that Santa might get waylaid and they’ll have to wait until January.

On Tuesday, the Michigan state legislature’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) waived its right to subject the final draft of the state’s online gambling regulations to further (unnecessary) review.

The decision clears the path for the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MCGB) to officially file the final regs with the department of state, after which the MGCB can (finally) begin approving online casino/betting licenses.

The state approved its gambling expansion plans one year ago this month and the MGCB began accepting online license applications this summer. At the time, the MGCB set a ‘late 2020 – early 2021’ target window for launching state-approved online gambling but pressure is mounting to try for the earlier half of that range.

The legend of Johnny Chan is a story that reads like a game of poker. There are moments where the hero of the tale is almost down and out, before an epic comeback and a triumphant finish. In many way, Johnny Chan embodies the game of poker itself. But where did Johnny Chan come from to take the game by storm and what is Johnny Chan doing now?  

The Origins of The Orient Express  

The story of Johnny Chan is an amazing one, not least because it began about as far away from Las Vegas as it is possible to be. Born in Guangzhou, China, Chan’s family moved to the United States when young Johnny was just five years old, in 1962.  

It was much later, with his family owning a chain of restaurants in Texas that the young Johnny Chan learned to pay the game of poker with restaurant staff, ad when he was 21 years of age, he gave up on his University studies to focus on poker as a profession. Rumour has it at the age of just 16, Chan ran $500 up to $20,000 only to lose the lot the very next day.  

Denmark’s gamblers spend far less than gamblers in neighboring Nordic countries and put far greater emphasis on sports betting than other gambling options.

On Tuesday, Denmark’s Spillemyndigheden regulatory agency released the results of a new survey of gambling activity across 10 European markets. The survey, which relied on 2019 data provided by H2 Gambling Capital, compared Europe’s top-10 per-capita gambling spending markets.

The survey ranked Denmark eighth among these 10 countries with per-capita gambling spending of DKK2,101 (US$341) for residents aged 18 years or older. Only Germany (DKK2,051) and Greece (DKK1,788) ranked lower.

At the other end of the spectrum, Finland topped the chart with DKK3,148, well out in front of runner-up Italy (DKK2,586) and third-place finisher Ireland (DKK2,546). Denmark also scored lower than Nordic neighbors Norway (DKK2,262), Iceland (DKK2,216) and Sweden (DKK2,163), while narrowly edging out the UK (DKK2,116).  

There are good documentaries and there are great documentaries, and this week’s subject of Sports on Screen definitely fits into the latter… although perhaps for all the wrong reasons.

Sunderland Til I Die is a Netflix football documentary like on other. Last week, we wrote about the popular Amazon series Tottenham Hotspur: All or Nothing. While Tottenham hotspur: All or Nothing is also excellent, it focuses on the positives, omits serious blips like Hugo Lloris’ drinking or Son Heung-Min’s tackle which resulted in a horrendous tackle on Everton’s Andre Gomes. Throughout that documentary, Daniel Levy and Jose Mourinho also come off like your best friends, which they’re really not. That’s because the club ultimately had approval over the content and what made it to screen.  

Sunderland A.F.C. cannot have had even the merest smidgeon of control over this documentary’s content making it to Netflix.  

Whoever signed off on Sunderland Til I Die from the club may have missed a trick, but it makes for an unbelievably ‘warts ‘n’ all’ docuseries look at the former English Premier League club who, after being relegated to The Championship, are determined to make it back to the big time.  

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

In a normal college football season, the first weekend in December would be conference championship weekend, but everything has been pushed back in 2020 due to the coronavirus so that’s not the case this Saturday. It will be the regular-season finale for many teams around the nation, though.

On Saturday, it could be a bit of a trap game for top-ranked Alabama (all rankings from most recent College Football Playoff Top 25 and some could change) when the Tide visit LSU. Bama played in the Iron Bowl last Saturday without Coach Nick Saban due to a positive COVID-19 test but still easily handled bitter rival Auburn and is on the verge of clinching a spot in the SEC Championship Game. Assuming all goes well, Saban would be cleared ahead of this one.

Norway’s online gambling monopoly is imposing new holiday spending limits, while PartyPoker plans to make this the worst Christmas ever for its Norwegian customers.

On Tuesday, Norway’s state-run Norsk Tipping announced that it was reducing monthly loss limits for certain ‘high risk’ online casino products by 25% to NOK7,500 (US$850). Maximum daily loss limits on these games will be capped at NOK2k.

The products — KongKasino, eFlax, Bingoria and Yezz – will also be subject to an extended ‘time out’ period after one hour of continuous play. The previous 90-second delay will now last 15 minutes. The company is also removing the ‘popular’ label it formerly applied to certain casino games and halting all text message promotions to customers aged 18-25 years.

Pre-selected stakes on certain products are being set “as low as practically advisable” and Norsk Tipping warned that it isn’t ruling out a further “downward adjustment” of maximum betting stakes on certain casino products.

Australian race betting operator BetMakers plans to boost its US presence by acquiring the Global Tote business from UK operator Sportech.

On Tuesday, the Bristol-based Sportech announced that it had reached a £30.9m deal to sell its Global Tote pari-mutuel technology division to Betmakers Technology Group. The announcement came just days after media reports speculated that the financially struggling Sportech was flogging its Tote operations.

The deal will see BetMakers pay 20% of the deal price as a non-refundable initial payment once BetMakers shareholders voice their approval. The balance is due when regulatory approvals are secured, which the parties expect will occur in H1 2021.

Global Tote has clients in 37 different markets who handled a combined US$12.2b in racing wagers last year, from which the unit derived revenue of £30.8m, earnings of £5.6m and a pre-tax loss of £800k. Over the first half of 2020, the Global Tote’s revenue totaled £12m, with earnings of £1.6m and a pre-tax loss of £1.2m.

The Lumbee Tribe are very happy about their recent wins, with the U.S. House unanimously approving the Lumbee Recognition Act. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians aren’t quite so happy, seeing this as a mockery of their own past recognition, and an attack at their bottom line.

By receiving recognition, the Lumbee can now go for several benefits, including a casino in Robeson County, North Carolina. “The Lumbee people have been praying for this day and today’s action in the House brings us one step closer to our goal,” Harvey Godwin Jr., chairman of the Lumbee tribe, said in a news release.

The Cherokee are much less happy. They’ve pointed out in the past that the Lumbee have changed the story of their heritage multiple times, and they hope the Senate puts an end to any talk of recognition.

“The use of congressional authority to ignore and avoid investigation of such serious questions about the Lumbees’ authenticity is an outrageous injustice to all federally recognized Tribes,” said Richard Sneed, principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, in a statement Tuesday. “History and facts must guide the process, not politics. We call on the Senate to reject this legislation and allow the Lumbee claims to be examined through the Office of Federal Acknowledgement in the Department of the Interior.”

2020 has shown the weakness of the Las Vegas strip. That has industry experts suggesting that local casinos are a better business model long term.

October revenue numbers out of Nevada spelled the picture in a nutshell. Statewide revenue was down 19.5% year over year, but the Strip was hit hardest with a 30.2% drop. Locals revenue only fell by 11.1%.

Joseph Greff, a J.P. Morgan gaming industry analyst, suggested that casinos that cater to locals are a better investment as a result:

“The Las Vegas Locals market is exhibiting a faster recovery than the Las Vegas Strip gross gaming revenue, as evident on Boyd and Red Rock Resorts third-quarter earnings conference calls — which makes sense given the general Clark County area population benefit from payroll protection programs and unemployment checks and the retiree base in the area. We continue to prefer Las Vegas Locals exposed operators, Boyd and Red Rock Resorts over Las Vegas Strip operators.”

ZenSports wants to be one of the largest gaming operators in the US. What started as an international sports gambling exchange, allowing users to establish their own bets, has morphed into something larger, and the company recently announced that it was possibly looking at buying a casino in Nevada. That venture would lead to the company operating a sportsbook out of the property, but that wouldn’t be the only one on its list. It has just submitted its paperwork to both Tennessee and Virginia as it looks to secure a sports gambling license in both of the states.

Should the applications be approved, ZenSports will be able to offer its peer-to-peer gambling exchange to users in the states. The online portal has rapidly found a lot of support around the globe, as sports gamblers aren’t forced to pay the customary vig sportsbooks charge. Instead, ZenSports only charges a fee that is less than the vig, making it a more attractive offer to gamblers.

In comments sent to Casino.org, ZenSports co-founder and CEO Mark Thomas asserted, “We are amenable to only doing market-making and bookmaking ourselves in states where peer-to-peer isn’t yet allowed. We’re pushing to allow for as many of our features as possible. But we have the capability to turn on/off as many or as few features as need be.”

Tennessee already has four active sportsbooks – Action247, BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel – and BetAmerica, William Hill and Wynn Resorts are reportedly vying for sports gambling licenses, as well. The state requires sports gambling operators to maintain a hold of 10%, which is higher than what is found in most states, and it isn’t clear if ZenSports would be able to adhere to this requirement. However, the company is in great shape financially and Thomas asserts that it would be able to meet all expectations established by the state.

New coronavirus cases in Australia have been negligible for two months now, and yet, restrictions against normal human activity in the country continue. You can read about them, province by province, over here. Australia’s lockdowns have been extremely strict, but also unpredictable. Every few days we hear of one easing up and another one going into effect. Melbourne ended the country’s strictest lockdown at the end of October, but then the whole state of South Australia went into another severe 6-day lockdown after a cluster of 23 cases was found a few days ago.

Australia has proven to be frenetic with lockdowns, very quick to shut down local economies entirely over any sign of virus activity. Obviously this method of managing the situation has had a seriously negative effect on business, especially casinos, to the point that investors with any significant amount of capital there should seriously consider pulling out entirely. I believe at this point that any stake in Crown Resorts especially, should be liquidated. The stock has had a nice 16% bump since Melbourne came of out lockdown, and it’s now time to get out.

It’s not even the lockdowns themselves that are the biggest problem here. Much worse is the inherent unpredictability of it all. If Australia had a lockdown policy something along the lines of “OK, we’re going to try this one more time for X days all over the country and after that no more lockdowns period,” that would be one thing. It might provide some rational base for some kind of economic calculation. But of course virus clusters will keep reappearing and seemingly the severe responses will keep coming. How anyone is supposed to invest in such an environment is beyond me.

Australia also has another serious covid problem though, triggered by its support for an international investigation on the origins of the virus back in April. China’s Communist Party was none too happy about this initiative, and so Xi Jinping has responded with the wrath of the punitive tariff. Australian barley, beef, wine, coal, and cotton are all being targeted, and this is no small matter. China is by far Australia’s biggest trading partner, with 40% of Australia’s exports going to the Chinese, and 27% of its imports coming from there.