South Korea casino operator Grand Korea Leisure reported a 57% increase in visitation numbers from Chinese gamblers in its casinos compared to its numbers a year ago, quelling fears that China’s tightening grip on the ability of its VIP gamblers from gambling in other casinos would have a direct effect on casinos’ ability to draw in these high rollers.

In the fourth quarter of 2014, Grand Korea Leisure reported that it welcomed a total of 510,000 visitors in its three foreigners-only casinos, a number that was 34% better year-on-year. Of this total, Chinese gamblers accounted for 40% of gambling visitors with Japanese gamblers coming in at second at 28%.

“There was no slowdown in Chinese gamer traffic,” Daiwa Securities Group analyst Thomas Kwon said. “[GKL] benefited from robust visitor traffic for VIP floor and mass-table games from all countries including China.”

In the same time period, GKL reported an increase in its revenue by 5% to KRW149 billion ($134.8 million) while operating profit shot up by 4% to KRW40 billion ($36 million) year-on-year. The numbers were still below Daiwa’s forecast of KRW45.2 billion ($40.8 million) but it was still good enough to post a net profit of KRW31 billion ($28 million), an increase of 21% compared to its numbers in the same time period a year ago.

Meanwhile, Donaco International has successfully raised almost $72 million through a successful share placement, thanks to an entitlement offer to some of its new investors. The casino operator told the Australian Securities Exchange that the shares placement will net the company 154,014,665 new shares, which it began trading on February 11, 2015. Similarly, a retail component to Donaco’s entitlement offer opened on Monday, February 9, and is expected to close on February 23. The trading of these shares is expected to begin on March 3.

Donaco has made no bones about its intentions when it first announced the filing back in January 30, saying that its plan to raise $100 million in equity financing through this entitlement offer would go dotards the acquisition of the Star Vegas Resort and Club casino property in Poipet, Cambodia. That transaction is expected to be completed in April.

Vietnam says it’s getting serious about picking an investor to build an integrated resort and casino in the Van Don special economic zone in Quang Ninh province. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this process has been going on for a year and a half with very little public sign of progress.

But fear not: Nugyen Van Doc, chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, told Vietnam Investment Review that local authorities have been asked to speed up site clearances for the resort as well as for the Van Don airport. Time is of the essence, as the investment certificates have to be obtained by March and the recipients have to start construction by April.

The Committee claims companies including Las Vegas Sands have paid visits to the province. Sands routinely cites Vietnam as a promising market but has also stated it’s only interested in building in major metropolitan centers like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. And only if Vietnam relaxes its ban on locals entering casinos.

Other reported tirekickers include Casinos Austria and Phoenix Macau Tailoi, whose only English-language online references specifically relate to this project. Dao Hong Tuyen‘s Tuan Chau Group has promised to spend over $7b building not one but two casinos and Sun Group, whose properties include the Ba Na Hills and Son Tra Intercontinental resorts in Da Nang, is also in the hunt.

VIETNAMESE GAMBLER RESCUED FROM CAMBODIA BORDER CASINO

Whoever builds in Van Don may eventually get the chance to participate in the Vietnamese government’s promised pilot program to allow locals in casinos. Vietnamese gamblers are currently forced to venture abroad to get their gamble on and the government is struggling to stem the flood of gamblers crossing the border into Cambodia.

For years, Vietnamese media has retold stories of unlucky gamblers falling victim to loansharking, kidnapping and torture in Cambodia’s border casinos. On Monday, the Cambodia Daily reported the arrest of an employee of the Roxy Casino for detaining a gambler over an unpaid line of credit.

This is a guest contribution by Focus Online Management Ltd. owner Phil Fraser. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

2014 was a year of huge legislative change for the whole of the online gaming industry, with the long-anticipated introduction of Point of Consumption tax on December 1st, as well as changes to UK remote gaming licensing laws.

Many industry commentators predicted that these legislative changes would lead to a change in the online bingo landscape, with many of the smaller brands struggling to remain profitable.

Phil Fraser, owner of the leading UK bingo portal www.whichbingo.co.uk, gives his take on what happened in the online bingo market in 2014 and what he predicts will happen next in 2015.

Making hay while the sun shines

Despite the impending Point of Consumption tax on the horizon, 2014 was a record breaking year for new bingo site launches, with over 77 new sites entering the market. This figure however was skewed slightly by Bauer Media launching 20 virtually duplicate sites under their magazine and radio brands. These 77 new sites dwarf the 2013 total, and, as can be seen from the graph below, is the largest ever number of new site launches in the UK market.

(Source  www.whichbingo.co.uk)

SkyCity Entertainment Group has posted disappointing half-year net profit numbers after announcing that net profit after tax for the six months to December 31 were 10.6% lower year-on-year.

The New Zealand-based casino operator posted normalized revenue of NZ$510 million ($377 million) in the same time period, an increase of 9.2% from the previous period. Likewise, the company’s EBITDA numbers also increased by 3.1% to NZ$154.4 million ($114 million) while normalized NPAT bumped up by 0.3% to NZ$66.6 million ($49 million).

But none of that small growth could prevent SkyCity from posting a drop in net profit after tax, which the company said resulted from a lower-than-average win rate of just 1.04%, below the theoretical rate of 1.35 per cent, and difficult conditions in Australia where the company’s operations in Adelaide and Darwin specifically have been affected by rebuilding challenges.

Despite the short dip in profit, SkyCity CEO Nigel Morrison said that the company has gotten off to a good start in January, which pulled the actual group-wide IB win to above theoretical number of  1.50%. “The interim results for FY15 are pleasing, with strong momentum in the Group’s core businesses,” Morrison said.

Of all of its businesses, SkyCity’s flagship business in Auckland pulled in most of the work after generating a little over NZ $302.5 million ($224 million) in revenue, a 17% improvement that’s similar to its EBITDA of NZ$124.3 million ($92 million).

Meanwhile, the company’s ambitious SkyCity convention center is in danger of becoming an “eyesore” unless the government steps in and infuses more cash into the project. That was the sentiment shared by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who indicated that his administration is looking into different ways to help SkyCity fund the project after the casino operator admitted to needing an extra $70 to $130 million to be able to complete the project.

“But the escalation in prices to build the convention center, which is bigger than was proposed and is flasher than what was proposed, means there’s a hole,” Key said as quoted by Stuff.co.nz.

London, 11 February 2015 – COLOSSUS BETS, home of the £10,000,000 Colossus and the world’s biggest football and sports jackpots, today announced that one player in its £2,000,000 correct score Pick 6 ‘Millionaire’ game is currently debating a £104,000 Fractional Cash-In offer from a £4 ticket, ahead of tonight’s Premier League fixture between Chelsea and Everton.

If the player resists the Cash-In offer he needs a Colossus Bets ‘Any Other Home’ win (i.e. Chelsea to win and score at least 4 goals) to land £689,000, with a risk free shot at winning the same amount again by picking the correct score in the bonus leg – next Tuesday’s Champions League game between Paris St-Germain and Chelsea.

Colossus Bets COO David O’Reilly said: “It must be an intense day for this person to decide should he for example, bank £50,000 now for half of the ticket and play on for almost £700,000 more, or should he sit tight and pray Chelsea steamroll an out of form Everton side.”

The £4 ticket currently has a Cash-In offer of £104,000, which can be taken in full or in part before kick off tonight.  A ‘fractional’ Cash-In of the ticket enables the player to sell any 10% part whilst retaining the remainder of the ticket to play for a correspondingly reduced share of the jackpot prize. The player will also receive a new offer at half-time in tonight’s match provided he does not sell the ticket in full before then.

The £2,000,000 ‘Millionaire’ is available on www.colossusbets.com on both Desktop/Web as well as a customized smartphone and tablet experience on Mobile Web. Like all Colossus Bets pools it can be played on partner sites including Betfair, Betdaq and Boylesports.

A full unit in the ‘Millionaire’ pool costs players £2, but like all Colossus pools, the ‘Millionaire’ can be played for as little as 20p (which buys a 0.1 unit and plays for a proportional £200,000).

Affiliate programme for multi-vertical iGaming brand to be powered by Income Access acquisition-tracking platform  

Montreal, QC. February 11th, 2015 – Totowinbet, a Malta-based and regulated online gaming brand offering players sports-betting, casino, poker and other games, has announced that the company has launched an affiliate programme with Income Access, a technology and digital marketing services provider for the iGaming sector. The new Totowinbet affiliate programme will be managed using the award-winning acquisition-tracking software of Income Access.

Launched in 2013 and since enjoying strong growth in popularity, Totowinbet, which is regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority, offers players a cross-vertical online gambling experience. The brand’s sports-betting offering features multiple sports, including soccer, tennis, basketball, Formula 1 motor racing, rugby and ice hockey. The Totowinbet website also features sophisticated live-betting functionality for major sporting events.

In addition, the brand offers players a wide array of online casino games. The Totowinbet casino boasts a full suite of slots by industry-leading content providers NetEnt and Betsoft as well as a wide range of table games, including both American and European roulette, Baccarat and an array of different versions of online poker, all of which are powered by the brand’s proprietary poker platform, Mythospoker. The experience of a real-world casino floor is brought to life for players by Totowinbet’s Live Casino, which features live-dealer versions of Texas Hold’Em, Blackjack and roulette among other games.

To celebrate the launch of the new Totowinbet affiliate programme on the Income Access platform, which has won the Best Affiliate Software eGR B2B Award for the last two years straight, the brand has announced a special affiliate promotion. All new affiliates will receive a special flat 50% revenue share deal for their first three months with the programme, which provides affiliates with dedicated, 360-degree support from the moment they register.

After affiliates’ first three months with the programme, the commission structure reverts to a standard tiered revenue share model. Commissions vary between 35% and 55%, depending on which Totowinbet offering – sports-betting, casino, poker or games – the affiliate is promoting and the amount of revenue they refer each month.

“We’re excited to partner with Income Access for the launch of our new affiliate programme,” said Jack Frost, Affiliate Manager at Totowinbet. “The Income Access software is incredibly reliable and ahead of the curve when it comes to player acquisition via the affiliate channel, especially when their new mobile-tracking solution comes into play.”

California’s divided tribes attempted to find online poker consensus at the 20th annual Western Indian Gaming Conference (WIGC) on Wednesday. The two main sticking points remain whether or not the state’s racetracks should be allowed to add poker to their current online advance deposit wagering sites and similar concerns over the participation of so-called ‘bad actors,’ i.e. PokerStars.

As detailed earlier this week by Pechanga.net’s Dave Palermo, there are three factions squaring off in California’s online poker octagon. There’s the Morongo and San Manuel bands of Mission Indians, who want Stars in and are supporting Assemblyman Reggie Jones-Sawyer’s AB 167 legislation.

Opposing them is the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who want to exclude both Stars and the racetracks. They support Assemblyman Mike Gatto’s AB 9 legislation.

Sitting on the fence are the Pala Band of Luiseño Indians (already offering online poker in New Jersey), the United Auburn Indian Community (who have a deal with Bwin.party digital entertainment) and the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians (who have partnered with Caesars Interactive Entertainment). Rincon councilman Steve Stallings told Palermo he thought “the bad actor language will be less of an issue than the tracks.”

Rincon attorney Stephen Hart followed up on this thought at the WIGC. Pechange.net editor Victor Rocha (@VictorRocha1) quoted Hart saying that (a) the racetracks needed to be included in any bill to assure it getting past their powerful lobby in Sacramento, and (b) the concept of ‘bad actors’ didn’t apply if the company was under new ownership and management, as in the case of Amaya Gaming’s acquisition of Stars last June.

The Press Enterprise quoted Rincon chairman Bo Mazzetti telling attendees that “there will be some things we don’t like” in any compromise legislation but there had to be “a lot of give and take on all our parts” if the tribes were ever going to clear this hurdle. Morongo chairman Robert Martin echoed Mazzetti, saying “there has to be compromise or it won’t get done.”

Morongo attorney George Forman said there were ways to allow Stars to participate in California’s regulated market while still excluding truly bad actors. Forman suggested crafting the legislative wording to specifically exclude operators with ‘continuing problems.’ Frankly, we’re hoping this results in the creation of a sliding scale of thespianity, ranging from Daniel Day Lewis (888poker) all the way to Keanu Reeves (Lock Poker). And the online poker license goes to…

A 19-year old resident of Nantong in Jiangsu, China, took the rather extreme step of severing his left hand at the wrist after becoming addicted to video gaming.

Here’s a secret.

I used to be addicted to pornography.

Notice the use of past tense in that sentence?

I have not watched pornography for over a year now, and I won’t go into great detail as to how I cured my addiction, but I will tell you one thing. I never considered chopping off my cock as a way of dealing with my problem.

A Chinese teenager known only as Little Wang (which is what I would have been called had I chopped off said cock), has reached worldwide infamy after severing his left hand, at the wrist, in a bid to cure his addiction to online gaming.

According to press reports, Little Wang’s mother – who we will refer to as Mummy Wang, as she wanted her identity kept a secret – said that Little Wang was a ‘smart boy’ (I think we will withhold judgment on that one). She told reporters that she went into his bedroom to find a note that read:

The Global Poker Masters will be streamed live on Twitch, after the pair shook hands on a groundbreaking deal for poker.

Do you know what Twitch is?

No?

Do you have a teenage kid?

You need worry no more. They are not watching porn. They are not watching ISIS Thanksgiving Turkey cutting videos. The videos that your son or daughter plays repeatedly on their phone are probably coming from Twitch.

Twitch is a live streaming video platform that is so powerful Amazon paid $970 million to acquire it in 2014. It originally started out in life as Justin.tv, and was created by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear, two people who are now incredibly rich, after creating a product that received 100 million monthly viewers earlier this year, broadcasts 11 million videos per month, and is more of a Mummy or Daddy to your kids than you will ever be.

It’s also going to be the home of the Global Poker Masters (GPM) thanks to the foresight and genius of Alexander Dreyfus.

Lee Davy continues his confessions series by breaking down his reasoning behind his nominations for the 2014 Global Poker Index European Poker Awards.

I am proud to announce that I have been asked to join a select band of people who will create the initial short list for the 2014 Global Poker Index (GPI) European Poker Awards.

I didn’t cast a vote in all of the categories. I found some easy, others hard, some received one vote, others two, and here most of them, laid out, just for you.

Breakout Player of the Year

There were four people who immediately sprung to mind when considering my vote in this category: Martin Jacobson, Jack Salter, Simon Deadman and Mustapha Kanit.

The inclusion of Jacobson might seem strange to some of you. He was already established as one of the best in the business, well before his $10m win, but he fitted the category criteria perfectly. In the end I left him out, instead voting for him in the ‘Tournament Performance of the Year’ category.

Simon Deadman was the other player to miss out by a worm’s testicle. His consistency, throughout 2014 was outstanding, but I thought Kanit’s two titles at the Aussie Millions, and Salter’s performances in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final, and the World Series of Poker Asia Pacific (WSOP-APAC) just edged him out.

Atlantic City’s beleaguered Trump Taj Mahal casino has been hit with a record $10m penalty for serious lapses in its anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. The fine was issued after the Taj failed to file about half of its required reports on currency transactions and suspicious activity, even after Internal Revenue Service examiners repeatedly raised concerns about the lapses.

The record fine was issued in January but only came to light as part of the Taj’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. A filing with the Delaware bankruptcy court listed the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as an unsecured creditor, meaning the feds are likely to collect only pennies on the dollar – perhaps less than $50k – when the Taj finally sorts out its tortured finances.

FinCEN told the Taj it was under investigation in April 2014 over transactions that occurred between 2010 and 2012. The IRS had told the Taj that some of their customers’ names didn’t match their listed social security numbers, yet the Taj neglected to follow up on this warning. The Taj also failed to monitor and report when gamblers pumped more than $10k per day into slot machines.

The Bank Secrecy Act requires casinos to keep track of all transactions over $5k. Lately, FinCEN director Jennifer Shasky Calvery has been reminding casinos of their obligations as “complex financial institutions” and wondering why, when casinos make liberal use of ‘big data’ to target customers with tailored promotions, they can’t seem to file paperwork that doesn’t earn them any profits.

The Taj is the latest casino to get out its checkbook (albeit the rubber kind) to make nice with federal authorities. In 2013, Las Vegas Sands paid $47.4m to avoid criminal prosecution over its dealings with a Mexican casino whale/alleged meth dealer. More recently, Caesars Entertainment announced it was under investigation for money laundering lapses at its Caesars Palace property and Wynn Resorts is believed to be under investigation for undisclosed shenanigans.

Former PokerStars Team Pro, Marcel Luske, intends to tighten up security in the poker industry and will use his new company Fortified-ID Holdings limited and their nonClonableID product to achieve their goal.

“U really think there is no fraud in the poker industry? R U 100% sure?”

Those are the words painted onto the Facebook wall of Marcel Luske.

Fortunately, for the Flying Dutchman the overwhelming answer from the poker community will be “Yes, Marcel, we are 100% sure that there is fraud in the poker industry.”

Sad, but true.

Since being dropped by his long-term sponsor, PokerStars, Luske has found plenty of time to continue his work to create nonClonableID technology to help improve security for online and live poker tournaments and cash games.

Whether it’s Finnish players having their laptops tampered with in Catalan hotel rooms; Danish players having Trojan horses fitted into theirs, or idiots trying to inject hundreds of thousands of fake chips into a live tournament and then trying to flush them down the toilet. The counterfeit industry is a big one.

Ireland’s proposed online betting tax appears to be finally making progress toward becoming law, four years after it was first announced. Last week, Finance Minister Michael Noonan told opposition members that the Betting (Amendment) Bill would at long last enter the committee stage in Ireland’s upper house this week. On Wednesday, Noonan lived up to his word.

The bill seeks to extend the 1% tax on retail betting turnover to the online realm, meaning all Irish-facing companies would be required to pay the tax on wagers placed by Irish punters. Online betting exchanges like Betfair would pay 15% tax on profits generated from Irish wagers. The government hopes the tax will raise an additional €25m in annual revenue, €6m of which will be redirected into the country’s racing industry.

The legislation has taken a long and winding road to get this far, most recently being held up by the European Commission over concerns that operators on the continent would find their access to the Irish market restricted. But the EC-imposed standstill period has finally expired, paving the way for Irish legislators to actually get around to enacting the damn thing. Noonan said the tax would be implemented as soon as the bill is approved.

While debating the bill, members of the Seanad rejected a proposal to include tobacco-style warnings on betting slips and online betting sites. Independent Senator Gerard Craughwell had put forward a motion calling for all betting slips and adverts to carry the following language:

“Gambling has been shown to be addictive, causing financial loss and damage to interpersonal, working and family relationships.”

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed, and Craughwell’s proposal was narrowly defeated on Wednesday by a vote of 22 to 19. Unfortunately, the language may yet surface when the government gets around to modifying the Gambling Control Bill.

A spokesman for the Irish Bookmakers Association told The Journal that the group wanted “all our customers to enjoy having a bet, understand what they are betting on and how to identify signs that their betting activity may be becoming a problem for them.”

Online gambling operator Unibet enjoyed healthy gains in 2014, although the numbers were artificially boosted by the sale in May of its Kambi Sports Solutions division. Full-year revenue rose 16% to £312m while earnings and profit after tax doubled to £115.7m and £93.4m respectively, although £35.3m of this came via its Kambi sale.

For the three months ending Dec. 31, revenue was up a more modest 5% to £78m, while earnings fell 6% to £18.9m and profit fell 8% to £13.5m. Unibet cited below average sports betting margins and unfavorable currency exchange rates for the shortfall while insisting revenue would have risen 16% had average currency exchange rates not gone south.

Sports betting accounted for 39% of group revenue in Q4, with revenue rising 7% from Q4 2013. Casino and games garnered a 52% share (revenue +12%). Q4 saw Unibet’s poker product deal its hundred millionth hand since it relaunched as a network-independent standalone site, but the vertical’s revenue fell 28%, representing just 2% of the overall pie.

Nordic markets accounted for 49% of Q4 revenue, with Western Europe contributing 40%, Central, Eastern and Southern Europe adding 8% and ‘Other’ (which includes Australia) responsible for the remaining 3%. The Nordics’ share was basically flat, while Western Europe was up 18%, the rest of Europe fell 3% and Other fell 21%.

Live-betting’s share of total sports betting stakes rose from 43.5% in Q4 2013 to 47.5% last year, while pre-game stakes fell to 52.5%. Overall stakes rose 18% year-on-year to £459.6m. Mobile wagering accounted for 43% of sports betting revenue and Unibet’s active customer ranks grew 10% to 570k in Q4.

Unibet CEO Henrik Tjärnström said trading in the first five weeks of 2015 had seen average daily gross winnings revenue improve by 5% over the same period last year. The company has also assumed full ownership of real-money social casino operator Bonza Gaming after taking a 45% stake in March 2013.

KAMBI ENJOYING LIFE ON ITS OWN