Tag Archives: the daily vice

Echo plans to relocate HQ in Brisbane; Crown clears hurdles for Sydney Crown

Echo Entertainment plans move its headquarters from Sydney to Brisbane if it won the casino license.

Echo CEO Matt Bekier told the Courier Mail that moving to Brisbane would make a lot of sense because majority of its operations would be in Queensland.

“If we’re successful at Queen’s Wharf, over 10,000 jobs will be in Queensland and the bulk of our economic activity will shift to Queensland,” Bekier said.

But before Echo Entertainment can pack its bags and make moving plans to Brisbane, the company has to impress the Queensland government to pick its proposal over Crown’s, which might take a lot more work after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk raised some issues about the project that she wanted to look into.

“My government is committed to seeing the redevelopment of that site,” Palaszczuk said. “However, I do have some issues that I’ve raised with the department and I want them to investigate those issues first before I make further comment.”

Meanwhile, Echo’s rival Crown Resorts Ltd. is expected to begin the formal planning process for its $2 billion Crown Sydney casino after successfully settling a dispute between developer Land Lease and the government-run Barangaroo Delivery Authority involving a myriad of issues.

Land Lease eventually submitted a modified plan to help settle the dispute with the Barangaroo Delivery Authority, paving the way for the company to finally begin construction of Crown Sydney. Part of the modifications of the company’s plan include doubling the size of the hotel that was previously approved, as well as reducing the number of proposed buildings at Barangaroo South to 13 and adding more space to the gross floor area of the property to accommodate the extra hotel, residential and gaming facilities.

Scots lost £158 million on FOBTs

Scots lost £158 million on casino-type fixed odds betting terminals (FOBT) in 2014, according to data from Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG).

The data from CFG also shows that a total of £3.4 billion were gambled on FOBT by 170, 000 punters in 2014 and more than 37,000 has problem gambling who lost £63 million—an average of £1683 each.

“We are still seeing growth in FOBT revenue with £158 million snatched out of local Scottish economies last year,” said Campaign for Fairer Gambling Spokesman Adrian Parkinson. “But it is how sustained the losses are year on year that mask what is happening among users of FOBTs. Since 2008, over £8 billion has been lost on FOBTs, with Scotland contributing about £800 million of those losses.”

“The addictive nature of FOBTs and roulette in particular, combined with their high speed of play and £100 spin capacity means players incur huge losses very fast. Each year new players are introduced to FOBTs and replacing last year’s losers. Some ­players lose everything – their car, job, family and even their freedom,” Parkinson added.

FOBT allows punters to bet £100 every 20 seconds but Leader of Scottish Labour Party  Jim Murphy supported reducing the stakes to £2 per spin, saying that it’s completely unacceptable for the people to lose a full week’s wages  on gambling.

“I want to see a change in the maximum stake,” Murphy said. “People betting a couple of pounds a time would be a lot more sensible, rather than blowing all they have in a gambling spree lasting a few minutes.”

Murphy became the latest politician to back CFG’s campaign to reduce FOBT stakes after Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles.

SEO Tip of the Week: Onsite Trust Optimisation: Keeping main content accessible

90 Digital CEO Nick Garner talks about another important part of Trust Optimisation which is to make sure that users can trust that the content their about to see is Above the Fold in this episode of CalvinAyre.com’s SEO Tip of the Week.

Short intro to Trust Optimization.

Along with on site optimization and link acquisition, there seems to be a third element to ranking well on Google, it’s called Trust Optimization. Trust Optimization is based on the information we have got from anecdotal evidence on click through rates and rankings along with explicit guidelines from Google stating what they are looking for in a trusted website.

On with the post…

Trust is being confident you’re going to get the content you expect. If you click on a search result that suggests you’re going to see whatever it is,  Google wants to make sure you get what you expect.

Google say in the 2014 quality rater guidelines:

“High quality pages are designed to achieve their purpose: they are well organized, use space effectively, and have a functional overall layout. While every page is different, functional pages should have the following characteristics:

The WPT World Championships Continue to Evolve by Ditching the Re-Entry Format

The World Poker Tour World Championships continue to evolve by ditching the re-entry format that has been a part of the fabric for the past two seasons.

PokerNews, Editor-in-Chief, Donnie Peters, believes that the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championships is, arguably, the most important event of the year, behind the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

I wouldn’t argue with him.

For the past 13-years, it has produced the most amazing stories, created the most amazing talents, and attracted a large number of eyeballs. When people talk about the WPT World Championships, people listen. That’s why their latest evolutionary move is an important one.

At the tail end of the week, Peters broke the news that Tab Duchateau, Tournament Director at Borgata, had announced that the Season XIII WPT World Championships would be a one bullet affair. The video game syndrome that has infiltrated our game, to great detriment, will no longer be apart of one of the games greatest spectacles.

I doubt it’s coincidental that the announcement came shortly after the WPT Executive Tour Director, Matt Savage – the man many credit for introducing the concept at The Commerce – went to print to talk about the success of the recent WPT LA Poker Classic; a series that boldly attempted to drive more players to the cash tables by removing the re-entries from the tournament schedule.

It worked.

The MPN Main Event in Tbilisi Offers a $250,000 Guarantee

The Microgaming Poker Network has announced plans to team up with the Georgian powerhouse Adjarabet to host a $250,000 guaranteed Main Event in Tbilisi.

The Microgaming Poker Network (MPN) Main Event in Tbilisi will carry a $250,000 guarantee.

Ladies and gentlemen, that’s value right there.

The MPN festival in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi will take place 28-31 May 2015. It’s the second tour stop of 2015, and only the fourth in the events short history. The tour previously called in at London, Malta and Tallinn.

The Tbilisi event is going to be the biggest yet. To help make that happen, the MPN have teamed up with their newest partner Adjarabet. It’s been less than a week since I brought you the news that Adjarabet were the first online gambling company to take advantage of the new MPN Babelfish API. It seems they are not wasting anytime getting down to business.

The event will be held in the Sports Palace in May Square. Online qualifiers are already running on the MPN network for as low as 25 cents, and packages include your buy-in to the $550 Main Event, entry into a $100 Side Event, accommodation and €400 towards flight expenses.

‘We are delighted to be able to bring the MPN Poker Tour to Georgia for the first time’ said Alex Scott, Head of Poker at Microgaming. ‘This edition of the MPN Poker Tour looks to be the best value yet, and I know players will love the atmosphere in Tbilisi’.

European Poker Award Nominees Announced for Maltese Spectacular

Martin Jacobson, Ole Schemion and Victoria Coren Mitchell headline the 14th edition of the European Poker Tour, as poker prepares to invade the tiny island of Malta in March.

There is no rest for the wicked.

There is also no rest for the people trying to push poker into the faces of the general public – the not so wicked.

The buzz of the inaugural American Poker Awards (APA) still lingers, and Alex Dreyfus has to do it all again, this time on European soil. Can he do it? Can the 14th edition of the Global Poker Index (GPI) European Poker Awards (EPA) be more successful?

I think it can.

The Hilton Hotel in Malta may not be the SLS in Beverley Hills. We may not see representations of the three giants of poker in the same room again. But the presence of the European Poker Tour (EPT), European Poker Conference (EPC), and the inaugural Global Poker Masters (GPM) has me licking my lips.

In another punch to the kidneys to the French poker community, it will be the first time that the EPA has been held outside of France. There will be 13 awards in total, and the nominations for 11 of those awards have already been announced.

Mike Sexton Calls Out the WSOP; Ty Stewart Responds

Poker Hall of Famer and World Series of Poker bracelet holder, Mike Sexton, critized the World Series of Poker in a post on the partypoker blog and it brought an immediate response from Ty Stewart.

Mike Sexton has called out the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and unlike the time I was called out by Chris Malone in the school playground, after a particularly challenging game of British Bulldogs, they have not backed down. Ty Stewart was reading. Ty Stewart wasn’t hiding.

If you write a blog post you are expecting comments. You want comments. It’s one of the pivotal points of the exercise. You know that people are interested when they take the time to respond. However, when you receive a comment, that is longer than your original blog post, you know you have struck an emotional chord. Sexton hurt Stewart’s feelings, and he let him know about it.

I like it when two stalwarts of the poker community butt heads. It intrigues me. You know that deep down they want to rip each other’s hearts out, but they can’t. They have to show a modicum of respect, whilst at the same time being pissed off. Sexton and Stewart have done this in their glove slapping exercise.

Sexton doesn’t like the November Nine. Join the club. I don’t think I have spoken to anybody outside of the WSOP that does. Another issue that brings a bad taste to his mouth is the sheer number of events that the WSOP now put on, including events outside of the US. He is also slightly irritated by the Player of the Year (POY) race including events held in other parts of the globe.

Sexton writes: “While I do love the WSOP, my concerns are clear to see. They’re attempting to strengthen their bottom line (which we all understand and appreciate), but in doing so, are diluting their product (i.e. The value of the bracelet).

I imagine Stewart sensed an overwhelming sense of hypocrisy with this statement. The type of which would have had him thrusting his head through his kitchen window, and stabbing his heart with a wooden spoon. Poker is all about money. There isn’t a Whole Foods amongst us. Any poker company that says they serve the customer first, and the shareholders second, are not playing with a full deck. That’s not the way our business works. I wish it did, but it doesn’t.

Anthony Zinno Back-to-Back at WPT LA Poker Classic

Anthony Zinno has won the $10,000 single entry World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic after beating Mike Leah in heads-up action to win back-to-back WPT Main Event titles.

The excitement of the inaugural American Poker Awards(APA) still clings to the air. The stars of 2014 have been honored; fresh in our memories. The poker journey keeps on rolling. Anthony Zinno has just shoehorned his way onto the 2015 Performance of the Year short list with 12-months still remaining.

The 33-year old, who claims that his hobby is ‘making WPT final tables,’ has walked away with the WPT LA Poker Classic Main Event title less than a month after doing likewise at the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic in Niagara.

In victory, he becomes the third player to win back-to-back WPT Main Event titles, he cashed for a record-tying seventh WPT cash in a single season, joined legends Carlos Mortensen and Gus Hansen as a three-time WPT Main Event champion, and is strangling the living hell out of the Season XIII WPT Player of the Year race.

The $10,000 single-entry main event is one of the toughest, pro heavy, events of the year. 538 players took their shot and the final table was laced with stardust. With over $10m in live tournament cashes between them, Mike Leah and Chris Klodnicki were the pick of the bunch.

Zinno would enter the fray with the second lowest chip stack. However, the confidence of being a two time WPT champion meant 37bb would go a long way – well that and a ton of double ups.

The first player to hit the rail was Peter Tran. The experienced Mike Leah was his vanquisher after Tran got all his money in on a board of [8c] [7c] [6c] [Th], holding [Kd] [7d], and Leah was sat holding [9h] [2h] for the straight.

PokerStars Head Back to China for Nanjing Millions

PokerStars, the largest online poker room in the world, will be heading back into China, as the sponsors of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour 2015 Nanjing Millions.

America might not want them, but the People’s Republic of China do.

PokerStars will be returning to the land of the rising sun, as the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) announce plans to sponsor the 2015 Nanjing Millions in the Jiangsu province.

The Jiangsu Wutaishan Sports Center will host seven events 14-19 April. All events will be No-Limit Hold’em, there is a team event and a ¥3,000 Main Event (around $500 bucks). The venue knows a thing or two about hosting big events. In 2014, it hosted the basketball, football and table tennis at the Youth Olympics.

The Jiangsu Provincial Chess Sports Association has approved the event. PokerStars will team up with Beijing’s Star Poker Club to ensure the event runs smoothly. The pair has form. In 2014, they worked together on two PokerStars events: the Beijing Millions and the Beijing Cup. At the time, the Millions event became the largest event held outside of the U.S with 2,732 entrants, and the largest live event affiliated with PokerStars.

“The growth of poker in China has been tremendous and we are committed to support this sport throughout the region,” APPT President Danny McDonagh told the Poker Asia Pacific Blog. “Nanjing is a key location that allows players from all over the country to participate. The previous two Beijing events last year were very successful and we are proud to be a part of this government-supported event”.

One man who will be excited about the return of PokerStars will be Yang Zhang. The Chinese national was runner-up in the Beijing Millions, for $113,463, and then won the Beijing Cup for $101,683. He will be hoping to make it a hat trick in Jiangsu.

Gaming Industry News Weekly Recap – Stories You Might Have Missed

THE AMERICAS

Jim Ryan said Pala Interactive won’t launch online poker in New Jersey out of fear of PokerStars; a Pennsylvania online gambling bill insisted it wasn’t poker-only but this one is; Caesars Entertainment lost another $1b but Caesars Interactive revenue rose nearly two-thirds; Darren Phua reached a plea deal over his online sports betting charges; GTECH announced it would rebrand as IGT; Quebec’s investigation of suspicious trading in Amaya Gaming’s pre-PokerStars stock is looking at a friend of CEO David Baazov; a Florida legislator introduced sweeping gambling overhaul legislation; Wynn Resorts attempted to remove Elaine Wynn from their board and Steve Wynn’s defamation suit against Jim Chanos was dismissed with prejudice; the World Series of Poker Circuit announced plans to go global; Poker Players Alliance director John Pappas talked legislative lessons learned from the G2E iGaming Conference and Zach Kay explained how Twitch streaming will impact the poker industry.

EUROPE

Betfair shares topped £21 after a stellar Q3 report and Paddy Power posted record profits in 2014; Greece’s new government announced it would issue new online gambling licenses; Ireland’s long-delayed online betting tax cleared its final hurdle; WebIs Holdings closed its BetInternet fixed-odds division and BetVictor closed its in-house live dealer studio; PokerStars launched its live dealer casino product and experienced a two-hour global glitch; Sweden convinced Apple to pull online gambling apps; Pinnacle Sports’ new owners unveiled their regulated market strategy; Gala Coral’s online operations kept kicking ass; Fortuna Entertainment’s shares tumbled after a new dividend policy; Adjarabet migrated its poker product to Microgaming; a poker player pled guilty to ‘card marking’ at UK casinos; Robbie Davies offered his top three SEO tips for 2015. Sportech’s Nick Mounteer said content is key to customer engagement; NU Entertainment revealed its plans to shake up poker; Rafi Farber explained why 888 Holdings is the gaming industry’s top defensive stock and Michael Craig exposed the goings-on at the annual Secret Blackjack Ball.

ASIA

Macau’s February casino revenue fell to its lowest point in four years and Wynn Macau asked staff to take unpaid leave; Las Vegas Sands won a trademark infringement judgment against the Philippines’ First Cagayan Leisure & Resort Corp but was fined $250k for withholding Sands China documents from its former CEO; a South Korean illegal online gambling operator launched DDOS attacks against a competitor; PAGCOR profits rose despite revenue falling; Imperial Pacific got the okay to open a temporary casino on Saipan; Genting Hong Kong paid $550m for Crystal Cruises; Russia’s Primorye casino zone faced further delays and a new study said younger Australians are giving up the gamble.

Game of Thrones’ hotties liven up 32Red, Gala Coral Group and Sportech results

The new season of HBO’s Game of Thrones debuts on April 12, so what better way than to liven up this otherwise dull-as-dishwater review of three UK-listed online gambling operators’ earnings reports than with four of the show’s UK-born actresses?

Such as Reading native Nathalie Dormer (pictured right), who plays Margaery Tyrell, the bride who (spoiler alert) got to watch her husband Joffrey Baratheon die at his wedding feast before the little shit got to put his little girlish hands on her grown up woman goodies.

GALA CORAL GROUP

Gala Coral Group issued a fiscal Q1 trading update for the 16 weeks ending Jan. 17, showing continued strong performance by its digital division. Overall revenue was up 5% to £267.4m while earnings rose 11% to £67.3m.

Online revenue rose 27% to £45.8m while online earnings rose 19% to £12.9m. The numbers were all the more impressive given the infamous run of adverse football results that all the other operators are bitching about, plus the Dec. 1 imposition of the new 15% online point-of-consumption tax (POCT).

The quarter saw the merger of the back-office functions of Coral Interactive and Gala Interactive and the adoption of a single management structure, from which the company expects to realize a £1m cost reduction in the current fiscal year.

Coral.co.uk actives rose 49% and spend-per-head rose 17%. Mobile channels accounted for 61% of sports and casino stakes, up 13 points in sports and up 11 points in casino. GalaBingo.com spending was up 33% and mobile usage improved 17 points to 45% of stakes. Coral’s phone betting revenue rose 9% to £1.2m.

Holland Casino posts first profit in seven years; no more Dutch house lotteries

Holland Casino is back in the black after recording a €12m profit in 2014, its first positive annual report in seven years.

The Netherlands’ state-owned brick-and-mortar casino monopoly credited the turnaround to a reorganization that has included several hundred redundancies among its staff. The chain’s 14 gaming joints also saw improved table game revenues.

The Dutch government is in the process of privatizing Holland Casino, with 10 casinos to be sold off in a group that will continue to use the Holland Casino brand, while the other four casinos will be sold individually. The government hopes to complete the process by 2017, by which time Holland Casino’s online gambling partnership with technology firm Playtech should be up and running.

The Netherlands is in the process of regulating its online gambling market but public officials have suggested the Remote Gambling Bill won’t take effect for at least another year. On Jan. 30, Michel Groothuizen, director general of sanctions and prevention policy for the ministry of security and justice, said officials were neck deep in preparing their response to a 586-question critique of the Bill by members of the Dutch parliament’s Lower House. As such, Goothuuizen said he didn’t expect the licensing process to begin until mid-2016 at the earliest.

NO MORE ONLINE HOUSE LOTTERIES IN HOLLAND OR ELSE

Meanwhile, the Kansspelautoriteit (Dutch Gaming Authority) has triumphed over yet another person trying to sell their house via an online lottery. In 2013, a homeowner in Winterswijk launched a website (dreamrealize.net) that offered the chance to buy 60,000 ‘certificates’ at €50 apiece to win his home. The Kansspelautoriteit declared this was an illegal lottery and warned the homeowner to cancel the lottery. Instead, the homeowner lawyered up and the parties went to court.

Last month, a court in Gelderland sided with the Kansspelautoriteit, saying that describing the chances to win as ‘certificates’ couldn’t hide the fact that this was an unauthorized lottery. The homeowners’ promotion of his raffle also violated the Games of Chance Act. It didn’t matter that the company set up to process the raffle was based in Costa Rica; if the lottery was being offered in the Netherlands, then Dutch laws apply.

BetVictor close in-house live dealer casino; Evolution Gaming planning IPO

Gibraltar-based online gambling firm BetVictor has closed its in-house live dealer casino after less than two years of existence.

A BetVictor spokesperson said the decision had not been “taken lightly” but was necessary to “ensure the long term sustainability of our business.” The in-house product “did not deliver sufficient value in innovation or differentiation to justify its cost when compared to third-party providers.” BetVictor will continue to offer live dealer products from suppliers Evolution Gaming, Microgaming and Net Entertainment.

Betvictor’s live dealer product launched in October 2013 in conjunction with MediaLive, making BetVictor the first operator to open its own in-house live dealer studio. The closure affects around 50 staff members, who have been offered comparable positions in Malta and Belgium.

EVOLUTION IPO?

Meanwhile, Evolution Gaming is reportedly preparing for an initial public offering. Investment watchers GlobalCapital reported that Evolution management plans to sell some shares on Stockholm’s NASDAQ First North Premier market with an eye towards an eventual IPO. Evolution reportedly isn’t planning on raising any new capital via the premarketing phase but global institutional investors would get a crack at owning a piece of the company. Evolution has yet to confirm or deny the report.

Evolution recently launched a second live casino environment for UK bookies William Hill at Evolution’s facility in Riga, Latvia. The new operation went live last month and features two tables (one blackjack, one roulette) accessible 24/7 via desktop, smartphone or tablet. Hills has been an Evolution client since 2011.

MEDIALIVE APPOINTS JOHN GALAJSZA

Connecticut Tribal Leaders lobby together for expanded gambling

Connecticut’s tribal leaders support expanded gambling, including possibly adding a new casino near the I-91 corridor between Hartford and the Massachusetts line.

Tribal Leaders— Rodney A. Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequots (Foxwoods Resort Casino) and Kevin P. Brown, chairman of the Mohegan Tribe (Mohegan Sun) travelled in tandem, along with their lobbyists, to gauge support at the General Assembly for expansion gambling on Wednesday.

The Northeastern Casino Gaming Research Project’s update on the regional gambling industry was released on the same day. The update said the two casinos have seen employment and revenue shrink by more than 35% over the past eight years as slots parlors opened at Yonkers Raceway and Aqueduct in New York and Twin River Casino expanded in Rhode Island.

The study also predicted that the loss of jobs and revenue will worsen once the MGM Springfield casino opens in Massachusetts in 2017.

Rep. Steve Dargan, co-chairman of the Public Safety and Security Committee, said the committee would consider the expanded gambling bill, which will be submitted before March 19.

“It’s pretty simple: Do we want to expand gaming in the state of Connecticut, one, and do we want to protect jobs in the state of Connecticut, number two, and do we want to look at that end of the state … the Hartford-Enfield area?” said Dargan.

Gov. Dan Malloy said also that legislators will take a first-look at any possible gaming expansion legislation.

Amaya insider trading probe looking at close friend of CEO David Baazov

Probes into unusual stock trades involving Amaya Gaming prior to its acquisition of PokerStars have roped in a friend of Amaya CEO David Baazov.

On Friday, the Globe and Mail reported that the search warrant served on Amaya’s Montreal HQ in December by Quebec securities regulator Autorité des Marches Financiers (AMF) was seeking records related to Yoel Altman, an accountant described as a close friend of Baazov.

Altman has invested in a number of technology companies over the years and provided a $5m bridge loan that allowed Amaya to purchase software developers Cryptologic in 2012. He was described by the company as a “long-term strategic adviser.”

Altman’s name is also among the 300 investors being investigated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a US-based self-regulatory body. Like the AMF, FINRA’s probe is examining trading of Amaya stock prior to the company’s June 2014 acquisition of the Rational Group, the parent company of Stars and Full Tilt.

Amaya’s stock went on a tear in the weeks preceding the acquisition, suggesting the deal was common knowledge among certain investors long before CalvinAyre.com first broke the news that the companies were talking.

Other names on the FINRA list have links with Intertain, the Canadian company that purchased Amaya’s WagerLogic division in 2013, and in which Amaya holds a 5.8% stake. These names include a stock promoter named Robert Chalmers, who until March 1 was Intertain’s spokesman, and who previously worked at Amaya’s investment banker Cannacord Genuity. Chalmers and Altman are both directors at a company called Portvesta Holdings inc.

Intertain director John Fielding earned his way onto FINRA’s list by purchasing $2m worth of Amaya stock in the months leading up to the Rational acquisition. Fielding told the Globe he wasn’t privy to any inside info and had purchased the shares on the advice of his broker.

Darren Phua heading home to Malaysia after plea deal on sports betting charges

Darren Phua is headed home to Malaysia after pleading guilty to participating in an illegal online sports betting operation, but his father will continue to fight his own charges.

Darren Phua is the 23-year-old son of noted high-stakes poker player Wei Seng ‘Paul’ Phua, and both father and son were among the eight individuals arrested last July at three luxury villas at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Five other defendants have already reached plea deals, while charges against a sixth defendant were dropped.

On Friday, Darren Phua pled guilty to a single charge of transmitting wagering information, for which he was fined $100k and ordered to forfeit $125k. As with the other plea deals, Phua was put on five years probation, during which time he has to give the US of A a wide berth.

News of Darren’s plea deal first surfaced on Thursday when his attorneys told US District Judge Andrew Gordon that their Malaysian-born client had grown homesick after spending the past seven months under house arrest in Las Vegas. On Friday, Phua’s attorney Richard Schonfeld said his client felt he was trapped in “a nightmare that he has been unable to wake up from.”

The Phuas were arrested after the FBI shut off the villas’ internet connection, then sent in agents disguised as tech support equipped with hidden body cameras to obtain proof of the suspected bookmaking operation. Phua’s attorneys have argued that these tactics violated their clients’ constitutional protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

In February, US Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen recommended tossing the evidence obtained during the FBI raid. Prosecutors are attempting to have Leen’s recommendation overturned, as they aren’t confident of securing a conviction without this evidence.

On Friday, Schonfeld said that “as a result of the legal successes in this case, Darren was presented with an opportunity to accept a lesser charge. While we are all confident in the strength of our case and believe we would have ultimately prevailed, this is the best outcome for Darren.”

Las Vegas Sands hit with $250k penalty over Steve Jacobs’ document shenanigans

Casino operator Las Vegas Sands has been ordered to pay a $250k penalty for redacting documents related to an ongoing court case.

District Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez levied the penalty after determining that Sands had willfully violated her order to turn over documents relating to the wrongful termination suit brought by Steve Jacobs (pictured on the right), the former CEO of Sands China. Jacobs was unceremoniously dismissed in 2010 and the two parties have been locked in a bitter legal tussle ever since.

Sands had previously claimed it couldn’t produce the documents because Macau privacy laws prohibited the exportation of data from the special administrative region. This excuse rang hollow after the court learned that Sands itself had exported the same data to the US so its Nevada-based attorneys could check it over (a process that cost Sands $2.4m in legal fees). When Sands did turn over the data, about 7,900 of the 100k emails and other files had been redacted.

In her ruling on Friday, Gonzalez ordered Sands to turn over the documents free of redactions. Sands must also pay Jacobs’ significant court costs relating to the “needless” document squabble. Not that this will satisfy Jacobs or his attorney Todd Bice, who had previously warned Gonzalez that the filthy rich Sands’ plan was to “spend us all into the grave.”

Still to be decided is the question of whether the Nevada courts have jurisdiction to decide a matter relating to Sands China. Jacobs has alleged that Sands China’s decision making was ultimately subject to approval by its parent company in Nevada.

Jacobs says he was sacked for objecting to Sands’ alleged efforts to dig up dirt on Macau public officials for use as leverage in future negotiations. Jacobs also claims that he objected to a “prostitution strategy” personally endorsed by Sands boss Sheldon Adelson, a claim that Adelson and Sands have vehemently denied.

SANDS CHINA TO CURTAIL NON-ASIAN ENTERTAINMENT?

Fortuna’s online betting kicking ass but shares tumble on dividend revamp

Czech Republic betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group saw its online gambling revenue rise nearly one-third in 2014.

Fortuna’s combined operations in its home market as well as the Slovak Republic and Poland reported overall gambling turnover up 18.5% to €672.4m, while sports betting turnover rose 19% to €655.7m largely due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Lottery stakes rose 4.1% to €16.7m.

Fortuna’s revenue rose 13.9% to €132.6m thanks to a 31.7% rise in online betting revenue to €67m. The online numbers were goosed by enhanced live betting offers and live streaming courtesy of a Bwin.party feed project. By contrast, retail betting revenue was up only 0.5% to €58m. Lottery operations contributed the remaining €7.5m.

Fortuna’s 2014 earnings rose 6.4% to €28.4m and would have been up 13.6% were it not for a one-off value-added tax claim in Poland. Profit rose 2.3% to €15.9m, slightly below analysts’ expectations.

Despite the largely positive numbers, Fortuna’s shares fell 13% on Thursday – its biggest one-day decline in two years – after the company said it would review its dividend policy. Fortuna has been returning 70% to 100% of its profits to shareholders but warned of a “substantial reduction” in this rate as it stores up cash to fund “investments into future growth.”

Analysts suggested Fortuna’s dividend rate could fall as low as 30%, resulting in a 2% dividend yield. Fortuna promised to reveal specifics of its revised dividend scheme before the company’s annual general meeting in May.

Fortuna has been funneling around €3-4m per year into growth investments but CFO Jaroslava Hirschova said this figure would be “at least two to three times more” in 2015. Hirschova said Fortuna had no plans to increase its debt to fund these investments, but will rely on cash flow.

Greece to issue new online gambling licenses in bid to raise €500m per year

Greece’s online gambling market is set for a shake-up after the country’s new left-wing government announced plans to issue new online gambling licenses.

The ruling Syriza party, which assumed power after snap elections were called in January, says its new online gambling licenses will cost €3m apiece and be valid for a five-year term. Syriza said its plan would raise an additional €500m per year for the cash-strapped state.

Syriza’s plan calls for the “immediate, official licensing of existing Online Gaming Providers,” apparently referring to the 24 temporary online licenses issued by the previous government in 2011 (which were revoked a year later). Each license would apply to a single online domain. License renewal fees will be revised according to “actual market data.” Syriza feels the sale of new licenses shouldn’t take more than two months.

Tax rates would remain at their current levels and each new licensee would have to prepay minimum tax of €1m per year, “irrespectively of the actual volume of transactions and with the possibility that other taxes are waived.” Syriza envisions a completely “cashless” environment with payments done by debit or prepaid cards, “to be managed by an officially licensed Payment Service Provider by the Central Bank of Greece.”

The online gambling plan was one of seven new Syriza proposals to boost revenue and thus allow Greece to meet its debt obligations. Syriza and its combative finance minister Yanis Varoufakis have been warring with Greece’s EU and IMF creditors over repayment of the €240b bailout the country received in 2010. Other aspects of Syriza’s plan include enlisting “large numbers of casual onlookers” to fink on individuals or businesses avoiding value-added taxes.

Greece’s online gambling market has been in a state of legal turmoil for years. Those 24 operators whose temporary licenses were revoked have taken Greece to the European Commission over what they claim was blatant protectionism intended to boost the pre-sale value of former state-owned betting monopoly OPAP.

Syriza’s rolling out the welcome mat for online gambling represents something of an about-face. Shortly before January’s election, Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said he was dead set against “large gambling interest and profiteering rampages on neighborhoods.” Tsipras also suggested the Greek government’s sale of its one-third stake in OPAP was a “national crime” and “not a done event.”

Online slots portal VegasSlotsOnline.com acquires MrGamez.com for close to $500k

Malta: 6th March 2015- Leading online slots portal VegasSlotsOnline.com (VSO) announced today that they have successfully acquired the assets of MrGamez.com in a deal worth close to $500,000. VSO, the largest provider of free games and slots reviews online, have cemented their position as the leading source of online slots information with the purchase of the European-based online games portal.

MrGamez.com offers users the chance to play a huge selection of online casino games for free across a wide variety of different software providers. The site has a more European focus and masculine tone, and combined with VSO will focus on slots on a global scale by attending to the needs of different demographics.

Spokesman for VSO, Josh Turner noted that “The purchase of MrGamez.com is the next step in our quest to become market leaders in the online slots space. We are very appreciative of quality websites especially when they are in iGaming verticals, and whenever an opportunity arises to acquire something like this, you do whatever it takes to make it happen.” He added that, “We have increased our market share with this purchase and hope to leverage this going forward in our business pursuits.”

The acquisition is the continuation of an excellent 24 months for the VSO team, who have surged to the top of almost all online slots related rankings and currently serve over 800,000 monthly visitors in the online gaming sector.

It will be business as usual for the two sites which will operate as strategic partners going forward, but still offer users the same great content and experiences that they are used to.

In the near future VSO intends to continue its expansion by opening an office in Malta to utilize the strong presence of iGaming intellect and a tech savvy population. Due to the significant interest in slots, slot machines and all things related to casino games, proximity to Las Vegas remains pivotal and the majority of the team will continue to operate from the VSO head office, fulfilling research and media related roles.