“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising”  –  Mark Twain

I am going to come right out and say that it is crucial to brand well. Like really, really crucial. This might sound trivial, or even stupidly obvious to some, but it has to be said. So many times I have heard ‘that’s just branding’ or ‘branding has no value’ or similar nonsense while negotiating. Folks probably say this because at times, especially to the not so tech savvy, it can be hard to measure.

There is a reason people pay so much to have commercials on TV, or have felt on a poker table. Branding helps sell.

The point of branding is to interact an impression on the customer. This impression is usually based on an interruption but not exclusively.

There is branding and there is re-branding. Both are mission critical to a successful business. Some brands sell themselves, some brands need a little push.

The Brand

For the new business, it is crucial to understand how to brand it. There is a plethora of good advice on the web with a few easy searches. I recommend doing this before jumping in full steam ahead.

Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings has added two more California teams to its growing list of partnerships in the NBA. Shortly after announcing a deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, DraftKings has struck separate deals with the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors. The deal with DraftKings is the first venture of the Vivek Ranadive-owned Kings into the world of daily fantasy sports whereas the partnership with the Warriors is the second of its kind for the team after striking a similar arrangement with PlayMLF back in November 2014.

As part of the operator’s partnership with the Sacramento Kings, DraftKings will enjoy sponsorship treatment on a number of the team’s brand platforms, including Kings.com’s Blog Central, game previews and postgame recaps. The deal also includes DraftKings info-graphics being prominently featured on the Kings’ digital network, as well as a commercial spot on the team’s KHTK Sports 1140 AM broadcast and integration of DraftKings signage at the Sleep Train Arena and the team’s dedicated website, Kings.com.

“DraftKings provides an interactive and captivating platform for consumers that enhances a fan’s ability to become involved in the sports world,” Kings President Chris Granger said in a statement. “As we approach the next era of fan engagement, in which fantasy sport represents an area of tremendous potential, we believe this partnership is the perfect opportunity for us to break barriers and transform the fan experience.”

Not content with just signing up two California teams (the Clippers and the Kings), DraftKings went ahead and scored the signature of a third team from the state, namely the Golden State Warriors. Unlike its sponsorship set up with the Kings, DraftKings’ deal with the Warriors involves an official sponsor title for the fantasy sports site on the team’s Slate Night events, which will feature the team wearing special dark uniforms during the game. As such, the Warriors’ next Slate Night will be advertised as “presented by DraftKings.” In addition, the two sides have also agreed to engage in cross-promotional sales and marketing endeavors designed to promote each other.

“As we continue to look for ways to further engage our fans, partnering with fantasy sports leaders like DraftKings makes perfect sense,” Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) Rick Welts said after announcing the deal. “We are excited to partner with a well-respected and innovative fantasy sports leader and be one of the first teams in the NBA to officially partner with DraftKings.”

With the addition of the Kings and the Warriors into DraftKings’ growing list of NBA partners, the two teams join the Clippers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Houston Rockets, and the Boston Celtics as partners of the growing fantasy sports site.

South Korean casino operator Paradise Co Ltd says it will expand its gaming operations due to increased demand from Chinese gamblers. The $26m expansion will add 26 new gaming tables, bringing the company’s total table tally to 252.

Paradise’s expansion will double the size of the gaming area at its Jeju Grand Hotel casino, while expanding the gaming floor space at two of its other four properties. Paradise is South Korea’s top foreigners-only casino operator, controlling nearly half the country’s international market. The country’s most successful casino remains Kangwon Land, the only one of South Korea’s 17 casinos that accepts locals.

Paradise vice-chairman Lee Hyuk-Byung told Bloomberg that the company’s casinos weren’t full on weekdays, but “from Friday afternoon to Sundays, it’s fully packed and very crowded.” Lee said Chinese gamblers accounted for 67% of Paradise’s high-rollers and 77% of its mass market customers last year, up from 46% and 50% respectively in 2010.

Paradise was among the South Korean casino operators whose share prices took a tumble in December after Chinese government officials criticized Jeju as a “new haven” for Chinese gamblers. More recently, China warned international casinos to stop luring their citizens to gaming emporiums.

Lee said Paradise didn’t directly market to Chinese gamblers, but relied instead on “word of mouth.” Regardless, Paradise investors relation official Hyejeong Shim said the company had yet to see any negative impact as a result of Beijing’s fearmongering.

INCHEON AIRPORT TO HOST AREA’S FOURTH INTEGRATED RESORT

Paradise has teamed with Japan’s Sega Sammy Holdings to build the $1.7b Paradise City integrated resort on Yeongjongdo island in the Incheon Free Economic Zone. On Tuesday, Incheon Airport official Lim Byung Kee announced the development of a $4.6b tourism project to be modeled on Genting’s Resorts World Sentosa integrated resort in Singapore.

A US financial industry watchdog is investigating Amaya Gaming’s purchase of PokerStars in an effort to learn who may have profited from advance knowledge of the $4.9b deal.

On Tuesday, Canada’s Globe & Mail newspaper printed a front-page story detailing a probe by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) – a US-based self-regulatory body that oversees brokerage firms and exchange markets – into some 300 investors who made “huge gains” buying “large volumes” of Amaya stock prior to the company’s announcement last June that it was purchasing PokerStars’ parent company, the Rational Group.

CalvinAyre.com was the first to break the news that Amaya and PokerStars were discussing a deal, which prompted Amaya to issue a note to the markets two days later. The stock had enjoyed a significant rise over the preceding weeks, suggesting certain insiders understood that a major deal was imminent.

The Globe said FINRA’s 300-strong list of profiteers was “believed to be the largest group of investors ever singled out for investigation by regulators for inquiries.” Traditional investigations of this type generally involve no more than a few dozen trades. The Globe claimed FINRA’s list included “many prominent Canadian brokers, money managers, hedge funds and business executives,” plus other numbered or shell companies. A Globe source said they’d “never seen a list like this before.”

FINRA’s investigation is separate from the insider trading investigation launched in December by Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), Quebec’s financial market watchdog. That probe targeted Amaya, Canadian investment bank Canaccord Genuity and the Montreal brokerage office of Manulife Financial Group.

The Montreal-based Amaya issued a statement saying it was cooperating with FINRA’s “requests for information.” Amaya said such requests were “routine and a matter of course for regulators including in the US … following a merger.” Amaya said these requests “do not necessarily lead to an investigation” and that the only current investigation Amaya was aware of was the AMF’s.

Routine or not, this is not the kind of publicity Amaya would like just now. Amaya is believed to be in the final stages of investigation by online gambling regulators in New Jersey and is also desperately trying to convince California that its acquisition of the Rational Group has expunged PokerStars’ alleged ‘bad actor’ taint.

Increase your returns by leveraging our site to crowd source handicappers’ picks.

Vancouver, February 5, 2015: Darius Eghdami, CEO of FansUnite, has been bringing more transparency to the field of sports handicapping for the past 4 years. FansUnite continues to push out new features that enable users to improve their returns by following top betting pro’s and analyzing their own betting patterns and results. FansUnite rolls out their much-anticipated PickTracker software today. This feature will enable users to analyze their betting history by allowing the user to view historical data and break down their past picks by sport, league, or bet-type and helping the user to look critically at their own betting patterns.

The idea behind FansUnite was originally conceptualized when Darius was a casual sports handicapper. He realized that in an industry where sports betting enthusiasts were often willing to invest in costly monthly subscriptions to follow a handicapper’s picks, it was relatively easy for these “professionals” to hide their comprehensive records because they would only selectively show their winning results to reflect their success. This slanted portrayal of “success” obviously put potential subscribers at a huge disadvantage when choosing whom to follow, as there is little transparency and resulted as the impetus behind FansUnite.

Unlike traditional handicapping sites that offer insight into the general consensus of picks, the FansUnite platform is based on the notion that bettors no longer need to blindly follow “pros” because they can further research the historical data of the handicappers they follow in order to gain greater access and insight based on real analytics.

FansUnite continues to evolve and produce more tools to improve the handicapping model to provide their user base more and more information. Every pick on the site goes through their proprietary algorithm to determine whether the pick is a “Pro Pick” based on factors such as the success and history on that sport and the teams involved. The FansUnite platform is attracting “pros” and their top handicappers are proving to be 10% more successful than the industry average. As an example, if you had bet $100 on every FansUnite NBA Pro Pick in January 2015, the profit would have been over $19,000.

Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, FansUnite specializes in crowd sourcing of handicappers’ picks to earn you more money. With a social aspect behind making your picks, the tight-knit FansUnite community is in it to “beat the books” together.

About Darius Eghdami

Kara Scott and her husband Giovanni Rizzo have announced a new relationship with the Italian poker industry event organizer Tilt Events.

It’s been a fast-paced, frenetic, firecracker of a 2015 for Kara Scott. The year started with the sad news that her five-year relationship with partypoker had ended, and it’s rolled on with the much more upbeat story that she has joined the Italian poker industry event organizer Tilt Events.

Scott revealed the news on her Cardrunners blog, and she’s not the only addition to the team. Former partypoker Team Pro, Giovanni Rizzo, will also be joining making them the only married couple to represent the same brand as professional poker players.

“Giovanni and I will be joining their team, being involved all the way from the early dreaming stages to the fine detail execution of the Tilt Cup events as well as bringing back – and this is REALLY exciting – the Venice Poker Festival for the end of 2015! We’re both energized to work hard, listen and help create tournaments that are the kind of events that we as players would love to attend.” Wrote Scott.

Scott was a former guest on my Life Outside of Poker show where she spoke about the difficulties in learning the Italian language. Not only does she live in Italy, but she now works in an Italian company. One imagines her learning curve has shortened incredibly.

This is me learning just how many verb tenses there are in Italian. pic.twitter.com/9IME0v2p4j

— Kara Scott (@KaraOTR) January 22, 2015

The Pitch ICE stand at this year’s show.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015 (London, UK) – Voting has opened at www.GamCrowd.com/PitchICE  to determine the inaugural winner of Pitch ICE.

Presented by GamCrowd and Clarion Events, the competition saw start-ups showcase their ideas in front of attendees during 15-minute slots at ICE 2015.

Videos of the pitches have been published and the concept which attracts the most votes before the deadline on Friday, February 20, will gain entry to the GamCrowd Incubator service. The program is designed to help start-ups secure investment, fill skills and expertise gaps, and provide valuable introductions to operators in the industry for testing and distribution.

“From journalists to investors to suppliers to operators, the feedback from Pitch ICE has been extremely positive. It has given priceless exposure across the industry to everyone who took part,” said GamCrowd CEO Chris North.

“The competition demonstrated that our sector is a hotbed of fantastic ideas – the level of innovation guarantees that deciding on the Pitch ICE proposition with the greatest potential is going to be tough,” North added.

Pitch ICE entries cover a wide range of real-money and social gambling products across verticals including sports betting, casino, poker and lottery.

Macau casinos are facing a bleak lunar new year celebration, with analysts projecting February’s revenue could fall as much as 40% year-on-year. The comparison was always going to be difficult, given February 2014’s record MOP 38b (US $4.75b) haul, but the new year of the sheep appears to be entering this world already shorn.

Annual comparisons are doubly tricky given the lunar new year’s habit of spanning the January-February period, so most analysts opt to lump the two months together. UBS analysts believe the combined January-February period will fall between 27% and 32% this year.

Daiwa Securities analysts suggest the already troubled VIP sector could witness a 50% year-on-year decline in February. Worse, mass market gamblers are finding it increasingly difficult to get to Macau thanks to further transit visa restrictions that kicked in last month. Daiwa reported that eligible travelers were facing up to three-hour waits at Macau’s border gates, only to be denied entry.

Daiwa also reported that Macau casinos had yet to put their dealers on standby notice for mandatory overtime and some large junket operators have reduced their forward hotel bookings by 50%. Bottom line, Daiwa says this lunar new year “will be marked by poor liquidity, a decline in player quality and a drop in frequent customers.” So, er, happy new year?

Wells Fargo analysts believe Macau’s struggles are firmly in line with the aims of China’s President Xi Jinping, who reportedly doesn’t intend to let Macau overheat as it did in 2013, when it posted annual growth of 18.6%. China’s economy is expected to grow by an annual 6% to 7% over the next few years and Macau will apparently only be allowed growth of a few points beyond that range.

Wells Fargo qualified its predictions by saying that, in Macau, “nothing is static and transparency is low.” But the bank has already struck a far more pessimistic tone for 2015’s prospects, projecting negative growth of 12%. Wells Fargo noted that there were more optimistic forecasts out there, but “few point to hard evidence as to why growth will resume.”

VENETIAN MACAO CANCELS BECKHAM BASH

Phil Ivey’s online poker training site is up for sale barely a year after it launched with the promise of delivering high quality content from a highly skilled roster of sponsored pros.

The Ivey League online poker-training site is up for sale.

If you have $20m handy, then head over to Merger Network and make your bid. Unfortunately, the business summary seems to be written in Swahili. You have been warned.

In the summer of 2013, the poker community started to get a little wet after Phil Ivey launched a free play social media poker offering on Facebook called IveyPoker. In Sep 2013, the app went mobile.

The rumors started to circulate that Ivey had taken his first step towards owning a real money online poker network. The States would be his first point of call, and then the world. Global domination, nothing less would do.

Patrick Antonius, Greg Merson, Jennifer Harman and Dan Smith were some of the biggest names to wear the Ivey Poker patch. Then there was Ivey himself. The opportunity to play with the greatest poker player in the world was too much to bear. Active users started to pile through the gates.

Merson would later leave the stable and join WSOP.com, but many more arrived. At one point it seemed likely that IveyPoker would overtake Full Tilt’s world record for having the most sponsored pros on their books. Only none of them were getting paid.

World Series of Poker Main Event champion, Martin Jacobson, has donated $250,000 to Raising for Effective Giving after his big $10m win back in November. 

Martin Jacobson is poker’s world champion.

He is our figurehead.

The integrity and values of our world champion are paramount (just ask Joe Hachem), and the young London-based Swede has started off in fine fettle after donating $250,000 to the non-profit organization Raising for Effective Giving (REG).

REG was founded by, amongst others, Philipp Gruissem, Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree as a way to create a charitable movement of poker players who could make a difference in the world by the use of scientific and rational decision making in order to find the most effective interventions.

Viewers of the 2014 WSOP Main Event final table will have no doubt noticed the REG patch glued to the rather impressive left bicep of the blonde bombshell, and it’s nice to see him come through after the biggest win of his life.

According to REG’s Facebook page Jacobson has a 5% REG commitment, meaning he donates 5% of all gross winnings to cost effective charities. Jorryt van Hoof was also wearing a REG patch in the same final table, but details of his donations have so far not been made public.

Online gambling operator 888 Holdings has received a takeover bid from UK-listed bookmaker William Hill. On Tuesday, 888 confirmed a report in The Times that Hills had offered 210p per share, a deal valuing 888 at over £744m (15x annual EBITDA). Shares in 888 jumped more than 25% on the news before closing up over 18% at 171.5p. Hills’ shares fell 3% to 377.4p.

Following initial reports, 888 issued a statement saying it had “received an approach regarding a possible offer,” but added that there was no guarantee that “any firm offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be forthcoming.” The company promised to update the market within 28 days.

This isn’t the first time 888 has been the subject of acquisition talk and this deal may also amount to nothing in the end. The Times claimed that the Shaked family, who played a key role in 888’s origin story and holds nearly half of 888’s shares, is insisting on a 300p per share offer or no dice.

Hills has yet to issue any statement regarding the deal but Panmure Gordon analyst Karl Burns suggested Hills was unlikely to up its offer. Burns suggested meeting the alleged Shaked price target would “stretch [Hills’] balance sheet to a degree that they may have to raise capital as well.”

On the surface, the deal would appear a good fit for Hills. 888 is one of the few listed operators whose poker vertical has weathered the global decline in poker revenue. 888 also has a foothold in America’s regulated online gambling markets, with operations already active in New Jersey and a Nevada launch expected sometime this year. Hills has a solid presence in Nevada sports betting and has a tentative betting deal with New Jersey’s Monmouth Park.

Hills’ play for 888 reflects the squeeze facing all UK-facing online gambling operators, which are struggling to absorb the impact of the new 15% point of consumption tas. Retail operators like Hills will also face a hike in Machine Games Duty on their fixed-odds betting terminals come March 1.

Where Tuesday’s news leaves UK-listed operator Bwin.party is anyone’s guess. Speculation continues to swirl that Bwin.party is a takeover target but so far it’s been all smoke and no fire. Poker writer Dave Behr (@dave_behr) underscored this sentiment with this Tuesday tweet: “I picture bwin, sitting on stage, checking their phones, waiting for their number to be called, as all other chairs empty out.”

When it comes to the capital goods sector of the gambling industry – the gaming machine manufacturers – there are no clear winners. There are safer companies and more dangerous ones, but none in any sort of exceptional position. One thing that stands out about the capital goods sector of gaming is that, while most retailers – the big direct-to-consumer casinos themselves – have recovered spectacularly since the financial crisis, the machine manufacturers have not. At least not in terms of share price. International Game Technology (IGT) gets singled out sometimes for lagging in capital growth compared to direct-to-consumer casino companies, but that’s apples to oranges comparing two different strata of the gambling industry.

Scientific Games (SGMS), Aristocrat Leisure (ALL), and IGT are all way below their 2007 highs. The only game manufacturer that ended up surpassing its 2007 highs was Bally Technologies, which got acquired by Scientific.

Let’s take a look at three of them.

Aristocrat Leisure in Australia

Aristocrat is in something of a weird situation. First, taking a look at the macro conditions and monetary picture in Australia, we see this.

money supply growth has been stable for a decade. You can almost draw a straight diagonal line from 2002 until now, so nothing too crazy there. However, take a look at the Aussie Dollar / US Dollar exchange rate and there’s definitely something strange going on in the Outback.

The AUD has weakened 20% in 6 months against the USD. This can’t be because of supply, since while the AUD supply certainly is not stable (it keeps growing at a close to constant rate), it is a lot more stable than the supply of other currencies. This has to do with USD demand, which has skyrocketed in tandem with collapsing oil prices, the USD being for all intents and purposes an oil-backed currency, since oil can only be traded in US Dollars. The conclusion being that the current fall in the Aussie Dollar since September is artificial and entirely related to oil. See for yourself below, comparing the oil price with the AUD/USD ratio.

Gaimerz.com Co-Founder Martyn Denney on Video Game Wagering Video

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Suncity Group owner and Chairman Alvin Chau Cheok Wa said that the closures of some VIP rooms in Macau was to be “expected” but the mass market could not replace the VIP sector.

Regardless of the VIP business slump, Mr. Chau said that the sector is still important for the whole industry, as revenues generated by the sector account for as much as 70% of total gaming revenue.

“If there are no VIP rooms, [despite] the proportion of the mass market getting bigger, the drop in gaming revenue will remain serious,” Chau said in an interview with local Chinese media outlet Macau Asia Satellite Television.

Chau also predicts that the VIP sectors will see a revenue drop by 15% more following the implementation of a full smoking ban. “Even Singapore, with its strict government, let gaming operators build indoor smoking rooms inside the casino when it opened the gaming market, [so that there are] smoking areas and non-smoking areas,” Chau said.

Macau’s Health Bureau’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Office Director Tang Chi Ho said that the full ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces in Macau—including VIP rooms and airport-style smoking pods on mass gaming floors— is likely by 2016.

Tang said he was “confident” a tobacco ban covering all workplaces in all Macau casinos would gain acceptance among the public and be approved by Macau’s Legislative Assembly members. Alexis Tam Chon Weng, Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, on January 29 said the government would strive to have an amended bill ready before the end of the first half of 2015.

Meanwhile, local gaming union Macau Gaming Enterprises Staff Association submitted a petition of about 20,000 signatures to the government headquarters on Friday, urging the government to legislate on smoke-free casinos within this year. Choi Kam Fu, director-general of the association told the reporters that the limits of fines punishing a casino for not posting smoking ban signs is too low and not an effective punishment, suggesting the government  to include records of violations of the smoking ban as one of the factors in the renewal of gaming licenses.

Share prices of casino companies in the Philippines took a tumble, the biggest one-day loss in the last year, over fears that China’s increased focus on cracking down on foreign casinos could have a debilitating effect in the Philippine casino industry.

According to BusinessWorld, share prices dropped across the board with Bloomberry Resorts Corp. seeing the biggest drop at 11.64% before closing at a price of Php10.32 per share, the biggest shares drop the company has experienced in over three years. Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp. wasn’t far behind with its share price going down 10.19% to Php9.70 per share. Meanwhile, Premium Leisure Corp. the local arm of Melco Crown Resorts and the SM Group, saw its share price stumble by 8.24% to Php1.56 per share, while Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., which operates Resorts World Manila, saw its share price go down by 4.23% to Php6.80 per share.

Despite the looming threat of China’s iron hand having a negative affect on the casino industry in the Philippines, there are still those who believe that the country won’t be as affected by this crackdown as many have feared. Tiger Resorts, Leisure & Entertainment Inc. Executive Vice-President of Casino Operations and Marketing Matt Hurst told BusinessWorld that “legitimate tourism and travel” to the Philippines from China won’t be affected by this crackdown and the healthy influx of Chinese tourists could still feed into the growth of the Philippine casino industry. Incidentally, Tiger Resorts, the local arm of Kazuo Okada’s Universal Entertainment Corp. that is building Manila Bay Resorts is unlisted in the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Hurst also noted that the gaming market in the country is well-equipped to accommodate visitors from other countries and not just from China.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) took a similar stance on the issue, noting that Chinese gamblers aren’t the “be-all-end-all” clients they’ve been made out to be. While they do represent a vast and rich market, the Philippine casino industry can still tap into “several sources” of tourists who come to the Philippines, including those coming from South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and other Southeast Asian countries.

Some analysts, including COL Financial Vice President April Lynn Tan, believes that while the crackdown might have a short-term effect in bringing high-rollers to the Philippines, China’s mass market could make up for that through the volume of visitations in the country. Either way, Tan also said that the stumble in share prices of casino operators is a “knee-jerk” reaction” from shareholders who aren’t willing to wait out this dip because of fears that Macau’s sinking casino revenue could be a sign of things to come in the Philippines.

At some point, Summit Securities President Harry Liu believes that casino operators will “likely reach an agreement” with the Chinese government on how to resolve the issue that will satisfy all parties concerned. “The owners of big casinos can’t just sit down and do nothing. Casino has been here for a long time, you can’t imagine that it will just close down,” Liu told BW.

The UK Gambling Commission has published a series of updates on the version of its License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) for licensed operators, which will take effect May 8.

The changes to the LCCP is a response to the LCCP social responsibility review that took place last year, increasing the number of measures with which companies must comply under the terms of their license agreement.

Here are the main points of the new regulatory enhancements, much of which will go into effect in May:

Operators’ employees must be able to supervise customers effectively on gambling premises. And they must have arrangements for identifying customers who are at risk of gambling-related harm, if they are not displaying obvious signs.

Larger operators must conduct test purchasing to make sure that their systems for preventing underage gambling are working.

By April 2016, land-based operators must have in place schemes that allow a customer to make a single request to self-exclude from all operators of a similar type within their area – typically where they live and work. The Commission is also working with industry representatives to develop a national online self-exclusion scheme, which should be in place in 2017.

A range of measures to ensure that marketing and advertising is socially responsible, including a requirement that the marketing of ‘free bet’ offers is open, transparent and not misleading.