Universal Entertainment has issued a filing to the JASDAQ Securities Exchange, saying that the investigations surrounding Chairman Kazuo Okada in Japan and the Philippines have “concluded” also adding that a separate investigation in the US is expected to be closed due to“lack of evidence.”

“We are pleased to announce that all inspections or investigations by government related bodies – of the group and its officers and employees in relation to the groundless suspicion – have thereby concluded for all practical purposes in the Philippines just as all investigations … in Japan have concluded,” the company said in its filing.

According to Universal, an investigator with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), identified as Katherine Camposano, stated at a hearing of the Gaming and Amusement Committee of the House of Representatives last December 10, 2014 that the Prosecutor General of the Philippines proposed to Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima to “terminate the investigation on the company due to “insufficient evidence” pertaining to the allegations that the company engaged in the bribery of PAGCOR officials to curry favors in its pursuit of a casino license in the Philippines.

Universal also added Gaming and Amusement Committee Chairman Elpidio F. Barzaga Jr. requested the NBI to submit their reports related to the issue on January 13, 2015. In response, NBI Director Virgilio L. Mendez sent the chairman two reports compiled by the Fact Finding Panel, one dated June 28, 2013 and one dated September 24, 2014.

The Nepalese government plans to amend Casino Regulation 2013 after operators have expressed an unwillingness to relaunch their operations due to “unfeasible requirements.”

Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation spokesperson Mohan Krishna Sapkota told the Himalayan Times that the MoCTCA is prepared to hear out the complaints of local operators. A number of operators have criticized the new regulations, specifically on issues pertaining to capital and renewal fees.

“Casino Regulation-2013 has envisaged attracting foreign direct investment in casinos and the law was formulated accordingly,” Sapkota said. “However, considering the request of local operators, the ministry is doing groundwork to make some amendments.”

Local operators have argued that casinos would be hard-pressed to obtain new licenses because the regulations enforced in 2014 are too restrictive and expensive for operators. The new regulation requires operators to have a Rs 250 million ($2.5 million) as paid-up capital and submit a bank guarantee of Rs 30 million to ensure royalty.

As the debate heats up on the legality of daily fantasy sports betting, the state of Iowa is putting the kibosh on the issue when the state’s senate passed Senate File 166, which essentially describes fantasy sports as a game of skill and as such, should not be considered as gambling.

The senate approved the bill by a significant margin with those who approved it doubling the number (32) of those who voted against it (16). The bill now moves to the Iowa House of Representatives, which ironically has its own bill – House File 281 – on the issue.

The two bills, though similar in nature, do have some minor differences, including an amendment on the Senate bill that added a provision that forbids daily fantasy sports contests to be based on high school sporting events.

Sen. Jeff Danielson, the chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, voted in favor of the bill, arguing that the time is now right for the state to clearly define what fantasy sports are, specifically if its considered a game of skill or outright gambling.

Firm recognised for best Risk Management System

March 19, 2015 – SafeCharge (AIM: SCH), the global provider of payments services, technologies and risk management solutions for online and mobile businesses, today announces that it has won the Risk Management System award at the FinTech Innovation Awards, London.

The FinTech Innovation Awards honour the highest achievements from the global financial and payments technology industries over the past year. In winning the award, SafeCharge was recognised for having a RMS that offers innovation and flexibility in meeting today’s fast changing risk environment.

“We’re glad to win this prestigious award and to gain this industry recognition for our continuous efforts in making ecommerce more secure,” commented David Avgi, CEO, SafeCharge. “We are fully committed to further investing in innovative solutions and to provide our clients with the best tools to handle the ever-changing challenges of payments, fraud detection and risk management”

17 March 2015 (St. Julian’s, Malta) – Leading online casino group, iGame, announces its partnership with NYX Gaming Group, a company that provides flexible gaming solutions to some of the largest gaming operators across the world.

Following this week’s launch with NYX OGS, iGame will be able to offer leading casino titles from Nextgen Gaming, ELK studios, Amaya, iGaming2go, Thunderkick and many more, including titles like Foxin’ Wins Again, Anubis, Medusa II, Superman, Electric Sam and Esqueleto Explosivo, and a portfolio of over 60 additional HTML5 titles.

“We are very excited about this partnership with NYX OGS. Being able to add such a strong casino product with the latest casino titles in the industry moves us closer to our goal of becoming one of the most innovative gaming companies out there. We look forward to the new game debuts and the cooperation with the team of professionals at NYX,” says Robin Larsson COO of iGame Group.

“iGame Group is a leading online gaming company in the Scandinavian market with focus on becoming a market leader in the European online gaming industry.  I’m very happy they have chosen to partner with NYX in order to help them reachtheir goal and am looking forward to working together with their team,” says David Flynn, EVP Business Development for NYX Gaming Group.

In this week’s confessions series, Lee Davy, explains in a rather long-winded way, why he won’t be attending the Global Poker Index European Poker Awards in Malta.

Do I fly to Malta, walk along the red carpet, say cheese, cross my fingers, hope I win the European Poker Award for Media Person of the Year and then fly back home to celebrate with Pandy, Froggie, Boofle and Sherman (my wife’s teddy bears)?

Or

Do I save the money and invest it in a memory that will last a lifetime? The smile that will be etched on my son’s face when I buy tickets to take him to Six Flags Magic Mountain in a fortnight’s time?

Two-part webinar series in partnership with iGaming Business and iGaming North America will  discuss the US social gaming, horse-racing wagering and daily fantasy sports verticals.

Montreal, QC. March 17th, 2015 – Income Access, a turnkey provider of technology and digital marketing services for the iGaming industry,has announced that company CEO Nicky Senyard will present two Q&A-style webinars focusing on the US gaming market in April in partnership with iGaming Business and iGaming North America. On 7th April 2015, Senyard will discuss social gaming as an opportunity for land-based casinos, and on 9th April 2015 she’ll present her insights on the US horse-racing wagering and daily fantasy sports verticals.

Since real-money iGaming re-emerged in the US in 2013, Income Access has provided its technology and digital marketing services to land-based casinos and operators in the New Jersey and Nevada markets. The company has also supported operators’ acquisition in the alternative vertical of social gaming, including launching a pioneering Social Gaming Network in Q4 2013. In addition, Income Access has provided its acquisition solutions to operators in the online horse-racing wagering and daily fantasy sports verticals.

Based on her company’s experience in the US market, Senyard will participate in two Q&A webinars chaired by industry experts. At 4 p.m. BST (8 a.m. PST) on 7th April 2015, Rory Shanahan, Head of Marketing & B2B Social-Interactive at Scientific Games, will conduct a 40-minute interview with Senyard on the social gaming opportunity, followed by a 20-minute Q&A for participants. Providing land-based casinos and operators with insights on offering a digital social casino experience, Nicky will discuss the value of developing social gaming brands and how these can be effectively marketed. She will also look at integrating casinos’ digital marketing channels with their traditional channels.

Macau casino junket operator SunCity Group will open four more VIP rooms in Manila casinos by mid-year, according to a note issued on Monday by Morgan Stanley Research Asia Pacific.

SunCity, whose share of Macau’s VIP market has been estimated at between 25% and 30%, already had a presence at Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort & Casino. SunCity will be bolstering its Solaire presence as well as expanding to Melco Crown Entertainment’s recently launched City of Dreams Manila property.

With no end in sight to Macau’s gaming revenue slump, SunCity and other junket operators are increasingly looking to other Asian gaming jurisdictions, where Beijing’s scrutiny is (presumably) less intense and VIPs can let their high-rolling impulses run wild.

The junket business suffered a liquidity crisis following last year’s $1.3b heist of junket investor funds. SunCity recently issued 200 shares of SunCity Group Manila to give investors a chance at owning a piece of the company’s growing subsidiary. The junket operator subscribed for half of these shares while the other 100 shares will be available to the public for the low low price of HKD 5m (US $645k) apiece. The offer closes March 31.

PokerStars have signed Japanese model and actress Yuiko Matsukawa, and Jackie Glazier has been unveiled as the new brand ambassador for Poker SA in Australia.

Fans of Asian females in schoolgirl soft porn shots will be happy to learn that PokerStars have signed 24-year old Japanese model, and actress, Yuiko Matsukawa. People opposed to that kind of thing would not.

It’s the second time in a matter of months that the world’s largest online poker room has hired in Japan, showing that they are increasing their visibility in the land of the rising sun. Online poker star Kosei Ichinose joined the team in January. World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Naoya Kihara was already a member of Team Online.

“PokerStars champions the game of poker around the world and we are eager to promote its growth in Japan,” said Eric Hollreiser, Director of Corporate Communications for PokerStars and Amaya. “Yuiko Matsukawa is an exciting celebrity who has caught the poker bug and wants to share her love of the game with her fans. We look forward to working together to promote poker as an exciting, skill-based game in Japan and beyond.”

Konstantinos Nanos wins the World Poker Tour Main Event in Vienna, after beating local Vladimir Krastev in heads-up action to capture the first prize of $157,446.

[Image Credit: PokerNews]

In a week where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called Greece the ‘most unhelpful country the organization has dealt with in its 70-year history,’ Greek poker players have been living it large.

Konstantinos Nanos is the latest big winner after taking $157,446 away from the World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event in Vienna. His victory comes mere days after Greek online player kelly-koulis locked up a $725,267.11 prize for finishing second in the PokerStars 9th Anniversary Sunday Million special.

Macau police have broken up a major prostitution ring, the second such high-profile bust since the year started.

On Wednesday, Macau officials announced the arrests of 42 individuals, including one alleged ‘kingpin’ who was just 17 years old. The suspects include 36 alleged gang members, three relatives of gang members and three prostitutes. The suspects are all from the Chinese mainland. Prostitution is legal in Macau but pimping carries a potential jail term of up to eight years.

The ring’s kingpins operated out of four rooms in a hotel on Cotai, although police have yet to identify the name of the property. Police said the ring used social network accounts to attract clients.

The working girls would meet clients at hotels of the clients’ choosing. Clients would pay between MOP 1k-3k (US $$125-$375), of which the girls would keep 50%, although they weren’t paid until they returned to the mainland. The gang member who found the client would get 30% and the remaining 20% went to the kingpins.

Pennsylvania’s dozen casinos reported table game revenue up nearly 12% in February, despite a wave of bad weather that neighboring Atlantic City cited for its casino revenue decline.

Table game revenue hit $63.9m, an increase of 11.8%. That’s a far better performance than the state’s slots revenue, which gained a mere 1.1% to $183.2m in February. The month’s total gaming revenue haul of $247.1m is up 3.7% over February 2014.

Sands Bethlehem was the clear winner in the table games stakes, with its 207 tables generating revenue of nearly $15.3m, up 21% from the same month last year. Parx Casino was up over 20% to $11.7m, despite its number of tables falling by 11 to 154 from last February. SugarHouse ranked third with $7.5m (+4%), Rivers placed fourth with $6.3m (+2%), narrowly edging out Harrah’s Philadelphia’s $6.1m (flat).

CASINO OWNERS DEMAND MORE BOOZE

UK-listed online gambling operator Bwin.party digital entertainment has inked a prospective online deal with an unnamed casino in Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday, eGaming Review reported that Bwin.party had confirmed its inking of a Pennsylvania land-based partner to be first in line if and when the state gets around to passing intrastate online gambling legislation. Bwin.party CEO Norbert Teufelberger said the company had “identified a market access partner” and hoped to be “first to market” if Pennsylvania legislators can get their ducks in a row.

There are currently two online gambling bills being considered in the current session of the Pennsylvania legislature. Rep. Nick Miccarelli’s HB 695 is a poker-only bill while Rep. John Payne’s HB 649 would also permit online casino games. The legislature plans to hold a public hearing to discuss online gambling on April 16.

Payne, who chairs the state’s Gaming Oversight Committee, recently told OnlinePokerReport’s Steve Ruddock that Gov. Tom Wolf was “open minded” on the issue of expanding gaming options in the state. Wolf, who assumed office in November, had said on the campaign trail that he was agin’ gambling expansion of any kind. Payne says Wolf’s current position is more like “go show me, what it is, how it would work and what the revenue numbers are.”

The UK government has confirmed its plans to impose a ‘racing right’ that would require bookmakers to ante up a percentage of race betting revenue to the racing industry.

In December, Chancellor George Osborne announced that the government was consulting on the introduction of a Horserace Betting Authorization to replace the much-loathed annual race betting Levy. On Wednesday, just six days after that consultation closed, Osborne delivered his 2015 budget, which says the new Horserace Betting Right will “apply to all bookmakers wherever located, who take bets from British customers on British racing and will be administered directly by the racing industry.”

The racing industry has long complained that UK-facing online bookies based in jurisdictions like Gibraltar weren’t compelled to contribute to the Levy scheme. The new betting right closes this loophole, much as December’s introduction of the 15% online point-of-consumption tax eliminated much of the financial advantages of a Gibraltar online gambling license.

No info was offered as to the rate of this racing right, but the consultation document envisioned three possible scenarios: 10.75% (equal to the current Levy scheme), a ‘central’ rate of 30% and a high rate of 50%. Should either of the latter rates be implemented, bookies will pass on the costs to consumers, who will invariably seek out more cost-effective alternatives with online bookies not holding a UK license, thereby depriving racing of the extra revenue it so desperately craves. So, er, well done, racing.

South Korea’s gambling revenue rose in 2014, the ninth consecutive year of annual growth, but the rate of growth has been slowing over the past couple years.

Total sales of all legal gambling products – casinos, lotteries, racing (horse, cycling and boat) and bullfighting – hit KRW 19.87t (US $17.6b) in 2014. That figure is up 1% from 2013’s tally, which was up only 0.6% from 2012. The previous two years had enjoyed growth of 6.5% and 5%. The Yonhap news agency quoted government officials saying the expectation is for gambling revenue to top KRW 20t in 2015, driven largely by the lottery and casino sectors.

Horseracing earned the lion’s share (KRW 7.64t) of 2014’s gambling revenue, but this was down 0.7% year-on-year. Betting on cycling and boat races also fell for the third straight year. Lottery ticket and sports betting revenue each topped KRS 3.28b, up 1.4% and 6.5% respectively.

The nation’s 16 foreigner-only casinos reported revenue up 0.3% to KRW 1.36t ($1.2b). South Korean casinos have become increasingly popular with Chinese tourists, prompting Chinese media to quote government officials complaining that casino hubs like Jeju Island were becoming the “new haven” for Chinese gamblers.

Despite it’s immeasurable wealth and resources, China has never been considered a football powerhouse.

The country’s national team hasn’t competed in a World Cup since 2002 and even then, it was the first time the country qualified since 1938. But all that could change now that the Chinese government has identified football as one of its long-term priorities and created a 50-point plan to turn the country into a “football powerhouse.”

It helps that China now has a president in Xi Jinping who considers himself a football fanatic. Xi is very serious about this plan, taking the unprecedented step of separating the Chinese Football Association (CFA) from its much-maligned sports bureaucracy, otherwise known as the General Administration for Sport. This essentially frees up the CFA to independently determine its own financial and manpower requirements.

The goal is to see the men’s national team regularly compete in the World Cup. The country also wants to host the World Cup, develop a grassroots program that includes establishing 50,000 football schools throughout the country in the next decade, and establish a national football lottery.

Cash strapped casino operator Caesars Entertainment has warned that creditors’ lawsuits pose a threat to the company’s continued existence.

In a year-end filing with the US Securities Exchange Commission, Caesars says “uncertainties” relating to the lawsuits have left “substantial doubt regarding [Caesars] ability to continue as a going concern.”

Caesars said it believes it is “not probable” that these lawsuits would be resolved to the company’s disadvantage, but should they be proven wrong, the repercussions could have “a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.”

Caesars’ main unit Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC), which holds 80% of the parent company’s debt, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January. Caesars has worked out a restructuring plan that would pay junior creditors about 10% of the $5b they’re owed, which isn’t sitting well.