Tag Archives: the daily vice

Spain’s online gambling market grows but poker decline continues

Spain’s regulated online gambling market got a boost in 2014 from sports betting, which helped push the overall market’s annual revenue up 11% to €254m. The figures were released this week by the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ).

For the three months ending Dec. 31, overall online revenue rose 10.3% to €65.6m as gambling turnover rose 26% to €1.85b. Sports betting claimed €34.3m (+1.7%) of Q4’s total, while casino grew 8% to €11.1m and bingo was flat at €2m. Roulette captured 69% of casino revenue, well ahead of blackjack (29%) and baccarat (1.7%).

Poker revenue fell 3.5% to €16.6m, as a 28.7% rise in tournament poker revenue wasn’t enough to overcome a 20% fall in cash games. Cash game turnover fell 17% while tournament stakes rose 15%. (Similar patterns played themselves out in France, which saw cash games stakes fall 12% in Q4 and 14% for 2014 as a whole.)

The number of active Spanish player accounts rose 11% year-on-year but fell sequentially. Total number of registered accounts grew 12.5% to 382k. Licensed operators spent €20.1m marketing their wares, an increase of 3% year-on-year and 59% sequentially.

PokerStars Spanish-facing site has more to market following the recent relaunch of its casino offering. The casino games went offline a month ago so Stars’ boffins could tweak the software to record blackjack hand and roulette spin histories, as required by Spanish regulators. PokerStars.es has also expanded its casino offering via the launch of live dealer roulette.

PORTUGAL’S TAXING SITUATION

Across the border in Portugal, the country’s plans to tax its regulated online sports betting market have been slammed by the bean counters at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The Remote Gambling Association commissioned PwC to study the issue and the results have been duly submitted to Portugal’s economic officials.

MLB commish Rob Manfred to have sports betting “conversation” with owners

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred (pictured) says he wants to have a sports betting discussion with team owners. In an interview aired Thursday on ESPN’s Outside the Lines program, Manfred said gambling “in terms of society has changed its presence on legalization and I think it’s important for there to be a conversation between me and the owners about what our institutional position will be.”

Manfred said he “understands the arguments” recently made by National Basketball Association commish Adam Silver, who sparked a media ruckus in November by penning a New York Times op-ed calling on the federal government to introduce a regulatory framework for legal sports betting. Silver recently told ESPN that he’d broached the subject with the heads of the other pro sports leagues, who Silver claimed were all studying the issue carefully.

Manfred, who took over the commissioner’s chair from Bud Selig this year, declined to publicly endorse Silver’s appeal to Congress, but his comments nonetheless represent a significant realignment of MLB’s traditionally vehement anti-betting stance.

Meanwhile, an ESPN poll of 73 NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB athletes showed nearly two-thirds (63%) would support legal sports betting. The percentage is all the more surprising given that, of the athletes who responded to the poll, 41% echoed their leagues’ tired talking points that legal sports betting would negatively affect game ‘integrity.’

Just over one-third (34%) of respondents copped to gambling on sports other than their own, while 58% said they enjoyed other forms of gambling. Of those who gambled, the average amount spent per day was $1,763, although one player admitted to wagering a hefty $30k. (Did Charles Barkley come out of retirement?)

Non-sports challenges were particularly popular wagering opportunities, with NHL players betting on rock-paper-scissors matches while “multiple” NBA players reported wagering on whether they could bed a girl. A far nastier challenge involved eating “skin shaving and toenail clippings.” Some 37% of athletes suspected a current or former teammate of having a gambling problem, while 100% of them likely believe teammates have really nasty toenails.

Macau busts illegal online sports betting operation targeting South Koreans

Macau police have broken up an illegal online sports betting ring run by and targeting South Koreans. On Thursday, Macau Judiciary Police announced the arrests of three South Korean men following a tip-off about strange goings-on in a condo at the Villa de Mer luxury residential complex.

Police said the three individuals had begun renting the flat in November, kitting it out with what was described as an “unusual” number of computers and other IT gear. The men set up a website targeting South Korean bettors, who can’t legally wager in their home country. Customers were told to deposit funds in a designated bank account in South Korea, after which they were free to place their football and basketball wagers with the site.

Police believe the operation attracted over 100 clients and handled around HKD 7m (US $900k) in wagers in the short time it was up and running. In dollar terms, it pales in significance to the bust Macau police made last June, which handled HKD 5b ($645m) in wagers in just the first week of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. US federal prosecutors have alleged that the ring was organized by high-stakes poker player Paul Phua.

But this week’s bust is notable in that it represents the first time in a decade that Macau has caught South Korean nationals at the controls of an illegal gambling operation. Last month saw Vietnam deport six South Koreans for operating an illegal betting site out of a rented villa.

Police are keeping their counterparts in South Korea apprised of the situation on the presumption that other individuals were part of the operation in that country. The three men arrested Tuesday have been charged with operating illegal gaming activities and participating in organized crime. Sports betting in Macau is the sole responsibility of the Macau Slot enterprise.

Calling the Clock: Disrespect in Deauville, Lindgren Loans, and The World Series Excites

Lee Davy takes a look at a busy week in the poker media including a bunch of idiots disrespecting women poker players in France; Erick Lindgren looking over his shoulder at the oncoming PokerStars; a whole host of underdogs taking chunks of tops dogs, and the World Series of Poker doing what only they can do.

I will start this week’s little recap in France.

French poker is going through the mill of late. Not only have the authorities decided to ruin the lives of so many people connected with brick and mortar establishments, like the Aviation Club de France (ACF) – by closing them down – but the online poker world doesn’t seem to be providing the live players with the adequate shelter they need.

The French regulator ARJEL issued their Q4 reports this week and it was terrible news for lovers of ring game action. People with a fear of number should look away now.

1. €17.3m decline in online cash game revenue (quarter-on-quarter)

2. €23.8m decline in online cash game revenue (year-on-year)

3. 33% drop in online cash game revenue in the past three years.

Finland’s RAY inks 20-year deal with Playtech; Casino Iveria adds NYX Gaming

Finland’s state-owned gaming operator Raha-Automaattiyhdistys (RAY) has finalized a 20-year contract extension with software supplier Playtech, the longest deal in each of their respective histories.

RAY and Playtech have had a partnership since May 2010, with Ray enjoying a wide variety of Playtech’s slots games, including those featuring proprietary themes and branded content.

“This is a landmark contract for both companies and we are delighted to have agreed extended terms with such a valued customer,” Playtech Chief Operating Officer Shay Segev said in a statement. “We have worked together with RAY for four years defining its online offering and created the region’s biggest success story. This demonstrates our hugely powerful technology and services that are able to immediately, and successfully, launch in any newly regulated and regulating markets.”

Over in Georgia (the country, not the state), NYX Gaming Group has successfully signed its second gaming partner this week after coming to an agreement to provide online casino and poker products to Iveriabet, the online gaming arm of local casino operator Casino Iveria. The deal with Iveriabet follows a similar deal between NYX and White Hat Gaming, which also gave the latter access to use the former’s gaming products, specifically NYX Poker.

In addition to NYX Poker, Casino Iveria will get access to a handful of casino games through the NYX OGS platform, allowing the operator to expand its own menu of casino titles.

“I am delighted that Iveriabet has chosen to partner with NYX for two of our leading products,” NYX Executive Vice President of Business Development David Flynn commented.

“These agreements are strategically important as they provide an entry point into a newly regulated geographic market which further demonstrates NYX’s ambition and focus on locally regulated markets.”

Maryland casino revenue decline

Maryland’s record-setting casino revenue run has hit a roadblock after state gambling regulators reported that the state’s casinos only generated $84.9 million in January, the second straight month that revenue has declined.

The revenue numbers in the past two months (December 2014, January 2015) have dropped after the state posted a record $90.2 million in revenue in November 2013, leading many to question whether Maryland’s casino market has already topped out. That could be bad news for MGM’s casino in National Harbor that’s currently in development.

As per usual, Maryland Live took home the biggest share of the revenue pie with a $49.4 million take for the month, according to figures released by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. Despite continuing to dominate the state’s casino market, Maryland Live’s January 2015 haul fell eight percent from its numbers in January 2014. The Horseshoe Casino, the state’s newest, placed second with a $23.1 million revenue haul, a slight uptick over its December 2014 revenue of $22.9 million.

The state’s three other casinos – Hollywood Casino Perryville, Casino at Ocean Downs, and Rocky Gap Casino Resort – had mixed results in the month. Of the three, Casino at Oceans Down was the only one to improve its year-on-year revenue numbers after taking in $3.38 million, or 6.6 percent better than its January 2014 numbers.

Hollywood Casino Perryville saw its revenue numbers fall 4.9 percent to $6 million while Rocky Gap Casino Resort experienced a 1.8 percent decline to $2.97 million.

The state’s total year-on-year revenue did increase by 28.3 percent over the same period last year. But that number already takes into account the revenue coming from the Horseshoe, which wasn’t open this time last year. Take Horseshoe out and the revenue numbers from the four existing casinos dropped 6.7 percent from January 2014.

PAS.net to Expand Gaming Offers for Online Marketers

PAS.net, the online gaming affiliate marketers resource for the most sought-after iGaming offers, announces its intention to broaden its offer set in 2015.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (PRWEB) February 01, 2015

PAS.net, an industry leading gaming affiliate network since 2008, has announced its intention to broaden its offer set beyond poker to additional gaming offers in 2015. The company released expanded offers on a limited basis in 2014, and as a result of customer and industry demand, has decided to expand its suite of non-traditional offers on a permanent basis. PAS now provides affiliates with over eight gaming options including casino, social gaming, and daily fantasy sports, and the company confirms that it will be further increasing its menu of gaming offers during 2015. These expanded offerings come alongside its already robust assortment of affiliate gaming opportunities including traditional revenue streams such as Cost per Action (CPA) and Revenue Share.

Creating Wins for Advertisers and Affiliates

PAS traces its lineage back to the early days of 2004, when its parent company Fourcubed began operating in the online gaming space. After identifying that the industry lacked solutions for online gaming marketers to easily access and distribute offers to their target markets, PAS was launched in 2008 to provide affiliates a turnkey, streamlined solution to facilitate bringing competitive incentivized deals direct from affiliate to customer. The company attributes its success across ten years in the online gaming industry to its adaptability in the ever-changing market and its ability to continue crafting solutions to meet both advertiser and affiliate needs. The company acts as a liaison between the online gaming operators and the marketers, providing strategic expertise to each in how to better position their products, reach their audience, and efficiently distribute their offers.

While PAS recognizes that gamers will always love poker, industry-demand has proven that online gaming marketers who provide a variety of offer types including casino, social and sports, will be the ones who continue to thrive in this ever-evolving industry. The company’s expanded gaming options represent a response to customer demand in this growing and changing market.

PAS has distinguished itself from its peers through competitive rates, robust campaign tracking, data administration, dedicated support and centralized payment processing. These services not only allow affiliates to achieve maximum profitability, but free them from the burden of administrative maintenance, allowing them to focus on running their businesses and growing their brand.

FanDuel announces 2015 Fantasy Basketball Championship; DraftKings signs with LA Clippers

FanDuel is putting its reputation as the world’s largest daily fantasy sports site in the spotlight after announcing its plan to host the 2015 World Fantasy Basketball Championship in Miami, Florida from April 9 to 11, 2015.

The event, which is set to be held at the Ritz Carlton, is being prepared to be the first of what could be an annual gathering of daily fantasy sports users all competing to win a piece of the $1 million prize pool. Actually, the competition is open for everybody, but in order to be named as one of the 50 finalists of the tournament, players must go thorough a series of qualifying rounds that will be held on the FanDuel site. These qualifiers will run multiple times a week until all 50 finalists are identified.

Each of the lucky players who do make it to the championship in Miami will receive a posh three-night stay at the Ritz Carlton. In addition, each of the players will get free entry to a host of events, including the opening ceremonies on Thursday, the Finals on Friday, and the send-off party on Saturday.

Each player will be crying to stake claim to the $100,000 first prize, even though the second prize of $70,000 and the third price of $50,000 aren’t too shabby consolation prices themselves.

While FanDuel is busy preparing for the tournament, its main rival, DraftKings, is busy scooping up new sports partnerships. The Boston-based daily fantasy sports site has added the Los Angeles Clippers to its growing list of sports partnerships.

We are excited to partner with DraftKings,” Clippers President of Business Operations Gillian Zucker said in a statement. “This is a tremendous opportunity for the Clippers to associate with an innovative and progressive organization and we look forward to engaging our fan base through this new partnership.”

Just like its deals with other NBA teams like the Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, and Minnesota Timberwolves, the Clippers partnership allows DraftKings to have its brand name incorporated through various elements, including video board and LED Courtside signage, game day receptions, an extensive digital media package and a Fan Contest hosted on DraftKings.com.

NagaCorp reports increased GGR; Success Universe eyes Macau license

Vietnamese casino operator NagaCorp reported a 17% increase in gross gaming revenue to $381.4 million on the strength of VIP betting volume increasing 35% to $6.2 billion.

The company that operates Cambodia’s biggest casino, NagaWorld, takes full advantage of Macau’s gambling slowdown, especially among VIPs and high rollers who are beginning to explore other gaming venues in the region. To its credit, NagaCorp isn’t wasting any time trying to attract these gamblers out of Macau and into Cambodia.

“The downturn in gaming in Macau offers opportunities for the Group to further penetrate the Chinese gaming market in both the VIP and Mass Gaming segments, by offering better commercial terms to junket operators and agents as a result of NagaWorld’s low cost structure,” the company said in its financial statement.

An important part of the company’s success has been attributed to these junket operators, who routinely fly in VIPs to play in their casino partners in exchange for a commission. With Macau junkets becoming more receptive to sending their clients to neighboring casinos, NagaCorp takes the predictable yet important step of signing up more of these junkets to come to NagaWorld in Cambodia instead.

“The 35% increase in VIP rollings in 2014 demonstrates NagaWorld’s incentive program’s success in promoting NagaWorld to a wider range of operators and players, particularly from China,” the company added.

This plan of offering higher incentives to junket operators comes with a cost. Despite the sharp increase in gross gaming revenue, NagaCorp’s net profit only grew nine percent to $136 million.

Meanwhile, Macau casino operator Success Universe Group Ltd. isn’t sweating the downturn in business over in Macau. On the contrary, the company is actually setting its sights on bidding for a new gaming license in the event the government decides to follow through on rumors that it will issue one gaming license to a local enterprise to break the dominance of Chinese and US-owned casinos in the world’s largest gambling hub.

Fire and Ice – The Reign of Queen Vic Highlights Video

CalvinAyre.com takes us to the highlights of the Fire & Ice 2015 – The Reign of Queen Vic, at the Troxy London. We talked to Michael Caselli of Lyceum Media. He tells us that this event is 6 months in the making they search everywhere the best entertainer on earth to really make this happen.

SBTech partners with Evander Holyfield; Scientific Games online casino games arrive in NJ

Sports betting solutions provider SBTech has partnered with four-time World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield to launch a new online gaming brand based on the former World Heavyweight Champion’s nickname “The Real Deal.”

RealDealBet.com, mainly a sports betting site, will be hosted on SBTech’s platforms and will use the supplier’s managed services marketing solutions, covering more than 60,000 events each month across more than 30 sports, including 150 football leagues.

Customers will have access to casino games, with a range of jackpot, video and 3D slots available, alongside live dealer blackjack and roulette products and classic table games, with content supplied by BetSoftGaming, Net Entertainment and Microgaming.

“He’s an inspirational individual, not to mention a champion many times over, and we’re confident as experienced industry frontrunners that we can achieve the same levels of success for this new endeavour,” SBTech CEO Itai Zak said of Holyfield. “This will be a site developed by champions for champions.”

Meanwhile, gaming solutions provider Scientific Games has announced that its online casino games will be rolled out in New Jersey, through its partnership with bwin.party digital entertainment.

Customers of websites such as BorgataCasino.com and NJ.partypoker.com will now have access to a range of online slots games developed by the Scientific Games Williams studio, including online versions of land-based titles on casino floors throughout Atlantic City such as Gold Fish, Zeus III, and Spartacus Gladiator of Rome.

Partypoker’s group director of poker Jeffrey Haas said that providing players with great games and entertainment was its number one priority.

New York posts decline in gambling sales, lottery and racinos take direct hits

Gambling sales in the state of New York in 2014 experienced its first decline in years, prompting concern that the state’s decision to award three casino licenses could end up becoming a bad investment.

According to data provided by the State Lottery, gambling sales in the Empire State totalled $9 billion in 2014, a 2% decline from the $9.03 billion the state received in 2013.

The decline in sales affected a handful of industries, including the lottery and the state’s race track casinos. Traditional lottery games, which accounts for a majority of gambling sales in the state, dipped 2.2% to $7.2 billion in 2014. Betting sales from multi-state big jackpot games Powerball and Mega Millions, plummeted 43.5% and 11.8%, respectively.

Sales from lotteries, which has lost a lot of steam since its robust years of generating close to $500 million in sales per year, sunk to under $86 million in 2014, a 16.8% drop from the $103.4 million in sales it earned in 2013.

New York’s gambling sales in 2014 dropped for the first time in years, potentially signaling a saturated market just as three new upstate casinos are in development.

The only redeeming form of lottery for the state has been scratch-off instant games, but even its $3.7 billion in sales in 2014 only represented an increase of less than 1% from its 2013 numbers.

As far as the state’s nine racetrack casinos are concerned, the unsettling thought of less and less people coming and betting in these places became a reality when only two of the nine casinos posted improved revenues in 2014 compared to 2013.

Iowa is one step closer to legalizing fantasy sports

Iowa lawmakers have introduced a bill which would would clarify fantasy sports as a skill game and authorize cash pay offs to participants in the state.

Senate Study Bill 1068 was introduced at the end of January by Senator Jeff Danielson and was approved by the Senate State Government Committee on a voice vote with only one dissent on Wednesday.

Danielson said the proposal would simply declare that fantasy sports in Iowa are not considered gambling and are not governed by the state’s regulatory framework.

“Fantasy sports as defined by the U.S. government is a game of skill. It is not a game of chance,” Danielson added.

The bill states that winning outcomes must reflect the knowledge and skill of the participants, and “are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals in multiple actual sporting events, and no winning outcome is based on the score, or performance of any single actual ream or combination of such teams or solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single actual sporting or other event.”

Once approved, Iowa casinos could offer fantasy sports with cash payoffs but they would still be banned from allowing gamblers to bet on athletic events like the Super Bowl.

The games are offered through major league sports websites, as well as through ESPN, Yahoo and other online content providers. An estimated 264,000 Iowans participate in the games but no Iowans have been prosecuted for playing fantasy sports games, according to the Iowa attorney general’s office.

Caesars’ Gary Loveman stepping down as CEO; remains as chairman

Caesars Entertainment Corporation Chairman Gary Loveman will step down from the company’s chief executive role on June 30 and will be replaced by the former chairman and CEO of Hertz Global Holdings.

“After 12 years as CEO, Caesars has accomplished more than what we could have imagined when I arrived in 1998. Now, with the company in the midst of a formal restructuring of one of its subsidiaries and a merger between entities, the time is ripe for a transition,” said Loveman.

“It has been an honor to be the Chairman and CEO of Caesars Entertainment. My decision to begin to transition management now comes with the confidence that we have taken the steps necessary to ensure the company’s long-term success. I am confident that the efforts underway to address the capital structure of CEOC and the announced merger of Caesars Acquisition Corporation and Caesars Entertainment will position Caesars for growth and prosperity for many years to come. I look forward to working with Mark, the Board of Directors and the Senior Management Team to effect a seamless transition,” Loveman added.

According to a statement from the company, Mark Frissora, who has seven years of experience with the automobile and equipment rental car company, will be CEO designee—a title which allows him to join the board of directors for Caesars immediately until July 1 when he formally becomes CEO.

Frissora was appointed CEO of Hertz in 2006. He oversaw Hertz’s 2012 acquisition of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. Prior to joining Hertz in 2006, Frissora was Chairman and CEO of Tenneco, an auto parts maker.

The announcement comes less than a month after Caesars placed its largest operating unit into a pre-packaged bankruptcy to eliminate almost $10 billion in debt and was shot down as US Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross ruled that Chicago was the appropriate venue to handle the proceedings.

Loveman, who has been with Caesars since 1988, is one of the gaming industry’s longest-tenured CEOs, making him one of the highest-paid casino executives in recent years. According to the company’s recent statement, Loveman earned more than $7.6 million in salary and other compensation in 2013. In 2010, Loveman earned more than $18.2 million in total compensation.

Sportradar inks deals with MLS, German Handball League

Sports data provider Sportradar has notched a new partnership in its growing list of clients and extended an existing one with a budding football league.

First comes the extension. After first signing a deal with Sportradar to become its official data partner, Major League Soccer has re-upped its existing contract for another two seasons, beginning in 2015. The extension allows the MLS to continue benefiting from Sportradar’s acclaimed Fraud Detection System and its capacity to monitor global betting markets on all of

its football matches this year and in 2016.

“At MLS, we are dedicated to delivering the best sports entertainment to millions of fans worldwide that follow our league,” MLS Vice President, Operations and Security Ray Whitworth said. “In line with that, we cannot compromise when it comes to preserving the integrity of soccer in the US.

The growing popularity of football in the US, or soccer as they call it, has likewise made MLS a popular bet for a lot of football bettors. That’s a big reason why the league decided to extend its monitoring partnership with Sportradar.

“MLS has never been more popular. It is unsurprising that more and more fans are being drawn to US soccer,“ Sportradar Managing Director, Strategy and Integrity Andreas Krannich added. “There is always a danger of match fixing when liquidity increases on the global betting market and there is only one way to effectively deal with that danger – that is to get ahead of it. And that is exactly what MLS has done.”

While the MLS has already reaped the benefits from its partnership with Sportradar, the German Handball League is looking to experience the same level of security for the first time after announcing that Sportradar has become the league’s official data partner from the 2015/16 season until the end of the 2022/23 season.

As part of this deal, Sportradar will be granted the right to exclusively collect, archive and distribute “Official HBL Data” to both the media and betting industry as well as to the HBL itself and its teams.

Kiwis spent $2.1 billion in gambling in 2014

Residents of New Zealand, also known as Kiwis, spent almost $2.1 billion on the four main forms of gambling—racing, lotteries, casinos, and gambling machines outside casinos—in the 2012/2013 financial year.

The numbers were compiled and released by the country’s Department of Internal Affairs, breaking down the amount of money gamblers bet on the aforementioned forms of gambling.

According to the DIA’s figures, a majority of the $2.1 billion spent by gamblers fell under gambling machines outside casinos at $808 million. That amount accounted for a little close to half of the total expenses, even though the number fell by $18 million compared to the previous year’s tally and was also the lowest amount spent in the past five years.

Coming up second on the list is are casinos, which accounted for $509 a quarter of the total amount spent by Kiwis in the last financial year. Like the numbers posted by gaming machines, the casino’s total fell 2.1% from the previous year when it posted expenses amounting to $520 million.

The drop in gaming machines and casino expenses were offset by the increased betting in TAB racing and sports betting. Thanks to the 2014 World Cup that attracted over 10,000 new customers, the numbers attached to these two bet types increased by 5.6 per cent from $294 million in the previous year to $311 million in the latest.

Likewise, spending on the lottery also increased from $432 million to $463 million, a 7.3% increase that has been closely associated with a steady increase in lottery sales since 2003.

All in all, the $2.1 billion Kiwis spent on gambling in the 2012/13 financial year represented a 0.9% increase from the previous year, showing that gambling in the country is as robust as it’s ever been, even though it still fell 20% short of the country’s record in 2004 when gamblers spent $2.61 billion when adjusted for inflation.

Silver Heritage begins operation of Nepal casino; Grand Korea Leisure eyes casinos in cruise ships

Silver Heritage Limited (SHL) has begun operation of the Millionaire’s Club & Casino at Shangri-La Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal.

While the casino itself isn’t a huge property,  it’s been described as a boutique casino —having only 22 live gaming tables and 40 electronic gaming machines, the opportunity to invest in the country was too good of an opportunity to pass up for SHL.

“The Company has been looking to invest in the Nepali tourism and recreation industry since 2011,” SHL CEO Mike Bolsover said in a statement. “We are confident the Kathmandu development represents a huge opportunity given its proximity to India and China’s massive and growing middle class and Nepal’s cultural affinity with its Southern neighbor.”

According to SHL, the casino was opened with the idea of offering expanded gaming opportunities for Indian, Chinese, and Bangladeshi gamblers within the vicinity of the casino. Likewise, foreign nationals living in Nepal are also expected to be lured by the company, which is already planning to operate the property in a 24/7 capacity.

That’s the first step of SHL’s plan to become a bigger player in Nepal’s gambling market. The company has indicated that it also has plans to run a hotel/resort in Bhairahawa to complement its core investment business that provides leasing and revenue sharing solutions for a number of casinos located in Asia.

SHL’s presence in the region goes beyond the capacity of its new casino joint in Nepal. In addition to that,  the company is also heavily entrenched in the Asia-Pacific region as an operator of slot machines and electronic casino table games in places like Macau, the Philippines, Vietnam, Northern Marianas, Cambodia, Laos, and cruise ships touring international waters.

Over in South Korea, local casino operator Grand Korea Leisure Co. announced its plan to operate casinos on cruise ships. According to its own announcement, the company has already engaged a consulting agency to determine the feasibility of the project.

Becky’s Affiliated: How to manage your first week back after LAC & ICE

So LAC & ICE are over- now what?

Its amazing how you’re able to get by on adrenaline and caffeine for one week straight, yet the minute you get on the plane, you suddenly feel like death.  Some people even feel depressed on the way home because the excitement is over and its going to be another five months until we all reunite again.  The good news is there will be a next time and (hopefully) you’ve got something to show your boss after a week full of sessions, booths, networking and fun.

One of the best parts about the iGaming industry is its conferences and a part of the package includes how you manage your time straight after an event finishes.  After spending ten years attending these events, I’ve got a routine perfected, so here’s my advice on how to manage your first week back in the office after LAC & ICE come to an end.

1) Detox!

Its likely conferences for you mean changing time zones, big nights out, lots of alcohol, not enough sleep, unhealthy meals and generally overextending yourself for five or six days straight.  Before you do anything after returning from the conferences, be sure to take care of yourself.

Take a day or two off after the conference ends and make sure you catch up on your rest.  Take some time away from drinking if you’re a drinker, focus on hydration and eat an obscene amount of fruit and vegetables to boost your immune system.

2) Follow up with new contacts

ICE Totally Gaming 2015 Day 2 Recap

 

The second day of ICE Totally Gaming was packed like yesterday, with thousands of people roaming the expo floor and attending sessions from 10am until 6pm solid.  On the expo floor delegates were treated to everything from Playson’s “live” Dracula, his coffin and lovely assistants, Credorax’s foozeball competition against Paul Merson and awesome Football Freestyler Dan Magness, live music, models, models and more models and free drinks flowing at every corner.

This year ICE featured a number of start-up related activities in an effort to showcase innovation in the gambling industry.  Pitch ICE is a new feature this year at ICE, organized by the crowd sourcing and crowd funding GamCrowd and in partnership with Clarion.  At Pitch ICE, throughout the course of the day, start-up companies were given 15 minutes to pitch their products to ICE delegates.  Chris North of GamCrowd confirmed each pitch would be filmed and distributed on the GamCrowd site after ICE for the industry to vote on and ultimately determine the winner.  North told CalvinAyre.com he is pleased with the turnout this year and although some times are busier than others, he’s had constant traffic overall in the Pitch ICE corner.

Genfour was one of today’s Pitch contestants, a company providing “Robotic Process Automation” or RPA.  Ian Dunning, Co-Founder of Genfour, confirmed his company’s participation in Pitch ICE was a great vehicle for educating the industry on RPA and Genfour in general.  Dunning truly believes in his product and wants to communicate to operators how implementing RPA into their systems will reduce manual labor for valuable employees and open up more time for strategy and innovation.

Along the same theme of start-ups and innovation, Igor Samardziski of Nexus described the “Start-up Incubator” he is running this year at ICE with Clarion.  Three one hour sessions were held at the Nexus booth today, all pre-registered by companies who are wishing to enter the online gambling market and would like guidance on how to do so.  Common issues that come up surround regulation, total cost and a number of other questions surrounding entry into a new marketplace.  Samardziski has years of experience in iGaming and is there to answer such questions and provide further support down the line.

The ICE Conferences are held alongside ICE Totally Gaming and feature a series of “mini-conferences” touching on hot topics in the gambling industry.  The IMGL Masterclass was one of the conferences taking place today and featured a session on opportunities in emerging markets.  The session covered the current and future opportunities in Spain, Latin America, India, North America and Australia.

Panelist Sue Schneider of iGaming Brokerage discussed North America and said in Canada there are now attempts in legislature to get single game sportsbetting regulated.  Over in California, Schneider explained the tribes are split on the “bad actor” clause which basically means is PokerStars going to be able to participate or not- “lets cut to the chase”, she said.  Of course this split causes a problem for the iGaming regulation we are all hoping for in California.   “Until the industry comes together with a single message we are not going to get the politicians on board”, she said.

Devilfish Poker Set For a Return; White Hat Gaming Joins NYX Poker

Devilfish Poker is set for a return, according to investment opportunity website Funding Tree, and White Hat Gaming become the first online gambling company to join the NYX Poker network.

I guess it’s wrong to say that Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliot is back. He hasn’t really gone anywhere. But that’s how it feels after reading on the investment opportunities website Funding Tree that Devilfish Poker is set for a return in the spring of 2015.

Devilfish Poker was incorporated in 2006, and at its peak (June 2010) its then owners filed revenues of £783,355 – £525,115 of which was gross profit. The company eventually hit hard times, and shut down, but it still retains a 10,000 registered player-base, and, of course, the advertising power of one the games most loveable rogues.

The job of breathing new life into Devilfish Poker has fallen into the hands of the experienced seed capital investor, Jeff Williams, and he is searching for £100,000 of start-up capital. At the time of writing he has raised £10,700.

According to the pitch on the Funding Tree website, Devilfish Poker has signed a deal that will see them appearing on the Ongame network. Since that network no longer exists (NYX Gaming bought it from Amaya and renamed it NYX Poker), then we can assume that’s where Devilfish and the team will lay their hat.

The strategy is to reach out to customers in the UK and abroad, and they have struck up a partnership with Dave Hulme’s Grassroots Poker. A provider of pub leagues throughout the UK. Sign up to Grassroots Poker and you sign up to Devilfish Poker.

And of course there is the Devilfish.