This is a guest contribution by Vitaly Zalievskyi, Project Manager at Sigma Software. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

Now is a good time to play games; gaming or gambling – it doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters today is social distancing.

Early this year The World Health Organization (WHO) has created the #PlayApartTogether Campaign, strongly advising people to play games while sheltering in place. Raymond Chambers, WHO’s Ambassador for Global Strategy, tweeted:

As gaming has begun to reach a wider audience, companies would be smart to start creating cool, new casino games to play. According to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., the online gambling market is expected to reach $102.97 billion by 2025.

Casino operator Wynn Resorts is focusing hard on its shiny new interactive division while its land-based operations remain in a COVID coma.  

Figures released Thursday show Wynn generated revenue of $370.5m in the three months ending September 30, a 77.5% decline from the same period last year. Wynn reported negative earnings of nearly $66m versus a positive $397m in Q3 2019 while booking a net loss of $758.1m (although $407.4m of this was a tax provision).  

In Macau, the Wynn Macau resort saw revenue fall 89.2% to $51.4m, resulting in negative earnings of $34.5m. The situation was even worse at Wynn Palace, where revenue tumbled 97.4% to just $15.7m for an earnings loss of $77.6m.

While both properties suffered from steep declines in the market’s VIP gambling turnover, Wynn Palace suffered doubly due to its VIP win rate falling to just 1.04%, well below the expected range of 2.7-3.0%, while Wynn Macau’s rate hit an outsized 3.95%. Both properties also reported mass table win declines.

The Americas

Wynn Resorts announced a loss of over $700 million and a shift to iGaming in their Q3 results; Gaming operators continue to hold their collective breath as they wait for the results of the U.S. presidential election. The slow count continues with Democratic nominee Joe Biden grabbing an edge over sitting president Donald Trump in key states; GG Poker hosted the World Series of Poker’s Online Series and shattered the Guinness World record for the largest online poker event ever, GG Poker ambassador Daniel Negreanu accepted the award on behalf of GG Poker; Fairmount Park racetrack in Illinois has announced that their partnership with FanDuel has received the green light form the Illinois Gaming Board, making FanDuel the first sportsbook to offer betting at multiple racing venues in Illinois; Fitch ratings agency downgrades Atlantic City Casinos in the face of gloomy pandemic results; Michigan has moved to ease rules for self-exclusion, allowing some gamblers to return; MGM resorts plans to appeal its fine for its handling of social distancing policies at one of its Las Vegas properties;

Europe

LeoVegas said they were worried about problem gambling in their Q3 results. Dutch gambling authorities have given a preview of new gambling regulations, scheduled to go live in March of 2021. Spain’s stringent advertising restrictions on gambling companies has come under fire from the EGBA, the association has vowed to fight the ban as it believes it is a breach of EU laws; Online gambling operator Kindred Group announced it was withdrawing the 32Red brand from the Italian market, with the operator failing to provide details behind the reasons to the market; U.K. gaming operator GVC has warned its investors to expect some tough results, with the company announcing negative earnings of £37m due to the lockdown; Latvia’s gaming industry continues to suffer during the pandemic, Latvian government authorities announced a 45.5% decline in profits over the last nine months; Bojoko executive Joonas Karhu launches the Professional Gambling Affiliates Association, to help build relationships between affiliates and industry operators; William Hill announces the five finalist for the prestigious sports book of the of the year, with one set to win the title in its 32nd year; Spanish authorities have moved to force sports teams to ban gambling sponsorships, as La Liga sides face major sponsorship loses; Dr. Craig Wright on track to claim victory in libel case against podcaster Peter McCormack in the U.K.; Park Lane Casino in the U.K. faces a tough futures, as gaming authorities suspend its license over the company’s new ownership; Better Collective media group has acquired two new gaming companies, with one based in Poland and the other in Ireland;

With a massive 20 events and $22 million in guarantees, the GGPoker High Roller Series is sure to be a massive hit when it returns on November 8th. 

Lasting until November 15th, the series is bound to feature most big-name pros and even a few GGPoker ambassadors, though it unlikely that the GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu will be playing due to his ongoing Heads-Up Feud with Doug Polk that takes place on WSOP.com. 

There are several big money prizepools on offer, though it will take a rich player to afford the eye-watering sums needed to pony up every buy-in across this series of high roller events, and the Main Event alone boasts a massive $5 million prizepool. 

Overall, there are seven events promising more than a million dollars in the prizepool, and they include the GGMasters High Roller. That has a $1.5 million prizepool and costs $1,050 to play and starts on November 8th. Starting on the same day, the Super MILLION$ $10,300-entry two-day event has $3m in the prizepool and we’ll be covering that one as we do every week, just like this week when Sebastien Grax ended up the event winner. 

It could be a very important weekend, both in the immediate destiny of the Premier League title and the management and therefore long-term future of Manchester United. Two Manchester and Merseyside clashes could decide an awful lot as Gameweek #8 of the English Premier League takes place up and down the country. 

Everton vs. Manchester United (Saturday, 12.30pm GMT kick-off) 

This could be carnage. 10 months ago, Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer was under little to no pressure as he took his United side to Goodison. They were roundly humbled 4-0, and while better times were ahead last season, this year, it could be the last chance saloon that Solskjaer is managing the game from. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8iE7h2FfAgVideo can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: BLUES RUN RIOT AGAINST MAN UNITED! | HIGHLIGHTS: EVERTON 4-0 MAN UTD (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8iE7h2FfAg)

Online gambling choice may be coming to Canada’s largest province while the push for national single-event sports betting gets new life.

Thursday saw Ontario’s Conservative government deliver its 2020-21 budget, which revealed the drastic toll the pandemic has taken on the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp (OLG) monopoly. After delivering C$2.3b (US$1.76b) to provincial coffers in fiscal 2019-20, OLG’s 2020-21 forecast is a mere C$200m.

Ontario’s land-based casinos, which are owned by OLG while private operators handle day-to-day management, were shut down this spring due to COVID-19 and only recently began to resume operations under severe health & safety restrictions. OLG’s finances were sufficiently dire to require a C$500m lifeline from the province to keep its lights on.  

OLG is overdue in releasing its 2019-20 annual report, so we don’t yet know what kind of boost its PlayOLG online gambling site received from the land-based shutdown. The 2018-19 annual report showed the site generated revenue of C$92m, which was around one-quarter better than the year before, but still well behind rivals in British Columbia and Quebec.  

Six floating casinos in the Indian state of Goa may have caught a break regarding their business licenses, but none have so far received clearance to restart operations after their long pandemic lockdown.

On Thursday, the Herald reported that the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) had given in-principle approval for the renewal of the trade licenses of the six ‘offshore’ casinos that dock in the city when not entertaining gamblers on the Mandovi river. Final approval could come at the next Council meeting on November 11.

Panjim mayor Uday Madkaikar said casino operators would need to reapply for their licenses, which will be good for the current fiscal year that ends March 31, 2021. The CCP says the fees will contribute Rs52 (US$70,300) to the city’s operating budget.

The decision marks a reversal of the administration’s view of the casino industry one year ago, when the CCP unanimously voted against renewing the trade licenses. That decision followed locals’ frustration with the disruption caused by the casinos’ presence while docked in the city as well as the state government’s inertia on finding the casinos another waterway to call their permanent home.

Casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment (MRE) lost over $331m in the third quarter of 2020, with only its Manila and Cyprus operations reporting positive earnings.

Figures released Thursday show MRE generated revenue of $213m in the three months ending September 30, an 85% decline from the same period last year. The company reported negative earnings of $76.7m versus earnings of $418.2m last year, while booking a net loss of $331.6m versus an $83.2m profit in Q3 2019.

The net loss was only slightly better than the $368m MRE tossed on the bonfire in Q2 2020, but MRE boss Lawrence Ho nonetheless hailed the “moderate recovery” enabled by the resumption of MRE’s Cyprus and Manila casino operations, while holding out hope that Macau will start to show benefits from China’s relaxed travel rules.

MRE’s flagship Macau property City of Dreams reported revenue down 88.3% to $91.4m with negative earnings of $49.2m. VIP gambling turnover fell 89%, mass market table drop slid 93.6% and slots handle slumped 91%. In addition to seeing fewer VIPs, City of Dreams also reported “a higher provision for credit losses” as VIPs failed to honor their markers.

Online gambling operator Aspire Global has lost its fight with Sweden’s consumer watchdog over online casino bonus offers to customers.  

On Wednesday, Sweden’s Patent & Market Court issued a ruling that bonus offers made by Aspire Global’s Karamba online casino brand failed to honor the ‘moderation’ requirement in Sweden’s gambling advertising regulations.

About one year ago, Sweden’s Consumer Ombudsman (KO) launched a lawsuit against Aspire Global subsidiary AG Communications, which holds a license issued by Sweden’s Spelinspektionen regulatory body for, among other domains, Karamba.com.

The KO took exception to a Karamba bonus offer that, in the watchdog’s opinion, contained excessive rollover requirements that weren’t adequately detailed in the marketing pitch. Sweden’s gambling regulations require operators to observe ‘moderation’ in their promotional material, although licensees have complained about the vagueness of this requirement.

It was always going to be entertaining, but last night’s premiere of the PokerGO programme Negreanu vs. Polk: Heads-Up Feud got real.  

With 25,000 hands to play in their epic heads-up battle, the fact that Daniel Negreanu ended the night six figures up will not overly worry Doug Polk, who will pay the other 99.2% of the match online where he is something of an overwhelming 4/1 favourite.  

The manner of the victory for Negreanu will annoy Polk. That’s no shock; virtually everything Negreanu does annoys Polk and it’s clear to see that from the intro and outro to the entertaining 3 hours and 43 minutes that PokerGO put out for free to their fans last night. A couple of Kid Poker’s calls on Polk’s bluffs will have given the latter pause for thought, however.  

Before we talk about the show, let’s get down to watching it if you haven’t already. It’s great stuff.  

Online gambling operator LeoVegas says Sweden must take “quick and strong measures” to eliminate unauthorized sites or face a surge in problem gambling activity.

Figures released Thursday show the Stockholm-listed LeoVegas generated revenue of €88.9m in the three months ending September 30, up only 1% from the same period last year. Earnings fell 6.3% to €11.9m and after-tax profit slid nearly one-fifth to €4.1m.

The modest revenue rise came despite the number of new depositing customers rising 24% year-on-year and returning depositing customers up 28%. The gains were credited to the company’s launch of its GoGoCasino and Livecasino brands in Finland, as well as the pandemic restrictions imposed on land-based gambling options.

However, total deposits rose only 6% year-on-year and average deposit per depositing customer shrank 16%, in part due to the online casino deposit restrictions Sweden imposed in July. LeoVegas said these changes have caused “unhindered” growth among international online operators not holding a Swedish license, which aren’t subject to the same restrictions.  

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Soccer is by far the No. 1 sport that Brazilians care about, but mixed martial arts might be No. 2 with so many legendary fighters coming from that country. It’s an all-Brazil bout that will headline this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card from the organization’s Apex facility in Las Vegas as Thiago Santos battles Glover Teixeira at light heavyweight. The main card begins at 10 p.m. and is available in the United States on ESPN2 and ESPN+.

These two were supposed to fight a couple of times earlier this year but both were called off because each tested positive for COVID-19. Brazil is getting hammered by that virus.

The light heavyweight champion is currently Jan Blachowicz with Santos as the No. 1 contender and Teixeira at No. 3, so Saturday is clearly a huge fight.

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.

NetGame Entertainment Releases Blockbuster Book of Nile: Revenge Slot 

NetGame Entertainment, one of iGaming’s foremost casino software providers, is proud to announce its freshest slots release, Book of Nile: Revenge.

It took a little longer to get the latest figures from sportsbook Bodog for this past weekend, but they’ve finally arrived. For sports gambling fans who like to analyze what sports are attracting the most attention, there weren’t any real surprises. As has been seen since the NFL season began in September, football is still the reigning champion, aided by the inclusion of college football when the various conferences decided to join in on the fun. 

Last weekend, Bodog saw 47.11% of the action on NFL games, followed by 39.32% on college games. Combining for a total of over 86%, these two were the only sports to receive double-digit attention – everything else in the top ten was below 4%. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Fight Night drew 3.03% of the wagers, while the English Premier League captured 2.4%. Cricket made the list at number five with 2.17%, thanks to the Indian Premier League, and the Vienna Open in tennis captured 2.02% of the bets. 

Major League Soccer in the US found a little more support than normal this past weekend, grabbing 1.07% of the wagers. There were several great games on tap, including a matchup between FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo, which Dallas won 3-0, and New England against D.C. United. New England edged out D.C., 4-3. Also making the top ranks on Bodog was the President’s Cup in tennis, which had the ATP Tour holding the ATP 250 Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. Until last year, Nur-Sultan was known as Astana, and the tournament attracted 1.06% of the wagers on Bodog. The Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) also made an appearance on Bodog, grabbing 0.82% of the bets. 

Breaking down which individual sports events attracted the most attention on Bodog this past weekend, almost all of the top ten spots went to NFL games, except for two – these went to college football. The embarrassing 23-9 defeat of the Dallas Cowboys at the hands (talons?) of the Philadelphia Eagles was responsible for 23.53% of the wagers. The Seattle Seahawks/San Francisco 49ers game, which saw the Seahawks improve to 6-1 with their 37-27 victory, captured 15.27% of the bets, and the New Orleans Saints gave Bodog 12.52% as they squeaked out a 26-23 win in overtime against the Chicago Bears.

2017 began the biggest phase of interest in digital currency since it had been introduced years earlier. There has been some pullback since then, but interest began to rise once again in 2020, facilitated in part by BTC’s halving this past May and by more interest on the part of regulators and governments everywhere. If anyone had previously thought that digital currency was “just a fad” that would blow over, that myth has already been busted. For anyone who thinks the current increased attention given to the digital currency ecosystem will fade away, they’re about to be proven wrong, as well. The latest research shows that adoption around the world is only going to increase in 2021 and beyond. 

The demand for digital currency is on the rise and Bendik Schei, the head of research for Arcan Crypto, expects this to continue. His belief is supported by the senior analyst of Hxro Labs, Nick Kote, who also anticipates there will be substantial growth this year and next, with large institutions looking to acquire digital currency. Adoption by large-scale entities has a huge impact on overall movement, as well as on global regulatory interest.

The recent embrace of digital currency by PayPal and the assertion by JP Morgan that Millennials are more attracted to digital assets than they are gold are definitive pieces of evidence that show how far the global currency environment has come. Add to this more interest on the part of governments to interact with regulatory-safe digital currencies, like Bitcoin SV (BSV), and a picture of complete digital currency infusion across the globe suddenly comes into focus. 

Digital assets are now more accessible than ever before, and the development of even easier forms of interaction are constantly being released. Even today, it can be argued that fiat has not been able to reach the level of stability people expect out of their money, and it has been around for thousands of years. Bitcoin has done in 11 years what generations have been trying to accomplish for ions.

While the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) segment is falling out of favor, the Philippine Inshore Gaming Operator (PIGO) alternative could take over. If a current plan being developed by gaming regulators in the country comes to fruition, land-based casinos that launch online operations will need to be prepared to give up almost half their revenue to the Philippines in the form of taxes. That compares to the 5% “franchise tax” on turnover paid by the POGOs. 

PIGOs could be the up-and-coming online gaming star in the Philippines, provided operators can get past the tax rate. PAGCOR (the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp) is working on a tax framework that would require them to give up 42.5% of the online gaming revenue to the state, and would also have to pay a 5% “gaming systems fee,” according to Asia Gaming Brief and its sources. The end result, after all deductions, taxes and fees, is just a 28% take for the casinos. 

These percentages are apparently not fixed yet, according to the sources, and could be altered before the final draft of the framework is signed. However, the rates are expected to be “very close” to what has been projected and this means that PIGOs would be facing one of the highest tax rates of anywhere in Asia. The proposal would mean substantial revenue for the Philippines, but only if land-based casino operators believe it makes sense to launch a PIGO, and the suspected tax rate will almost certainly become a big obstacle to entry. 

Online casinos typically have much lower overhead than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. However, walking away with just 28% of the take won’t be too appealing to many companies, especially considering the costs associated with introducing the activity. PAGCOR believes the tax rate is necessary in order to overcome the losses incurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and to help put the country back on track, but it won’t be effective if the response is minimal. 

Casino operator Silver Heritage Group has had some difficulty the past couple of years. It entered administration this past May and brought in receivers to help sort out the mess and hoped there would be some way to stay afloat. The company behind the Tiger Palace Resort in Nepal and others hasn’t been able to make much headway toward that goal, however, and could soon be acquired. Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) has determined that there is no reason to prevent gaming and technology company DFNN, Inc. to pursue its plans to buy a major stake in Silver Heritage.

HatchAsia, Inc., a subsidiary of Philippine-listed DFNN, suggested the takeover after seeing the position Silver Heritage was in. It proposed an acquisition of 92% of the company, but will need to jump through several hoops before any deal can be consummated. Since DFNN is out of the Philippines and Silver Heritage is listed in Australia, the first hoop to cross was getting approval by the FIRB. The next hoop involves approval by Silver Heritage shareholders. DFNN is behind HatchAsia, iWave, Inc., Inter-active Entertainment Solutions Technologies, Inc. in the Philippines, and Pacific Gaming Investments Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Should the deal make it all the way through the red-tape obstacle course, HatchAsia, though its subsidiary of Hatch Australia Holdings Pty. Ltd., will take possession of 92% of Silver Heritage through the acquisition of company shares. That stockpile will come from the consolidation of shares held by existing shareholders, as well as the issuance of new shares to Hatch Australia.

The final price could be adjusted due to several stipulations, and is cheap compared to most casino-tied acquisitions. DFNN said this past September that it was ready to pay around $379,000 (PHP 18.74 million) in cash and 3% of the Silver Heritage shares. Receiving approval by the FIRB will help push the sale along, and DFNN said in a statement, “The successful conclusion would eventually result in the HatchAsia shareholder-controlled entity being listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and DFNN owning part of the listed entity.”