Nevada casinos had a downer December, with gaming revenue falling 8% to $950.7m. Things were much worse on the Las Vegas Strip, where revenue fell 16.4% to $555.2m thanks to declines in both turnover and win rate at the baccarat tables.

This marks the fifth straight month Strip gaming revenue has declined, while statewide revenue has fallen for four out of the past five months. For 2014 as a whole, the Nevada Gaming Control Board reported statewide gaming revenue fell 1.1% from 2013′s figure to just over $11b. Again, the Strip posted a larger decline, falling 2.1% to $6.37b.

December’s baccarat revenue was down 38% year-on-year to $150.2m as win rate dropped four points to 11%. Blackjack revenue rose 9.4% to $89.9m, while roulette brought in $34.8m (+21.4%) and craps earned $30.8m (+2%). The rest of the table games ranked as follows: three-card poker ($12.2m, +2.8%), pai gow poker ($10.2m, +2.5%), mini-baccarat ($3.8m, -63%), let it ride ($3.3m, +10.6%), keno ($2.1m, -6%), pai gow ($1.3m, -1.6%) and bingo ($1m, +92%). Slots revenue was flat at $559m.

Poker games earned $9.2m, down 4.4% year-on-year. The mid-November withdrawal of Ultimate Gaming from the state’s regulated online poker market means the number of licensed operators fell to two: Caesars Interactive Entertainment‘s WSOP.com and SouthPoint’s RealGaming.com. The Nevada Gaming Control Board requires three operators to be actually dealing cards in order to report revenue stats, so there is no December online poker revenue figure to report.

In a recent interview with Vegas Inc., Nevada Gaming Commission chairman Tony Alamo offered a frank assessment of his state’s ability to host a viable online poker market. Alamo said online poker needs liquidity and “we do not have the population base to do it just within our state.” Alamo said Ultimate Gaming’s demise suggested “the writing’s on the wall that it’s very pessimistic right now” unless the federal government were to allow interstate online gaming. “Until you do that, it’s not financially viable.”

Nevada’s sportsbooks did not have a great December, but the books set new records for win ($227m) and handle ($3.9b) in 2014. Football wagers topped $1.74b, of which the books kept $113.7m. In contrast, basketball win fell 8.4% to $54.2m and baseball win fell 27% to $21.2m.

December’s football revenue was down 16.2% to $16m on a 5.8% hold, but the books are up $98m on football since September. December’s basketball numbers were up 22.2% to $8.3m but laggard baseball bettors cashed in $1.5m worth of winners, parlay cards fell 6.9% to $2.6m and the race books dipped 8.4% to just under $3m.

Australian-listed casino operator Donaco International has officially agreed to acquire the Star Vegas Resorts & Club (pictured) in Poipet, Cambodia. Donaco, which operates the Aristo International Hotel and casino in Lao Cai, Vietnam, teased the markets in November with an announcement that it was eyeing a Cambodian acquisition. Donaco says the acquisition should be complete by April.

Donaco will pay US $360m for the Star Vegas property, consisting of $40m in cash-on-hand, $120m in equity issued to the vendor, a $100m new bank debt facility and $100m in equity financing. Donaco offered scant detail on the identity of the vendor, saying only that “key casino management staff are ex-Genting.” Donaco itself is headed up by two nephews of K.T. Lim, the CEO of the Malaysian-based Genting Bhd conglomerate.

The vendor will continue to manage the property for the next two years and has agreed to provide a warranty that Star Vegas will generate at least $60m in EBITDA in each of the next two years following completion of the acquisition. The vendor has agreed to make up any shortfalls in this guarantee in cash. The vendor won’t be paid the usual management services fee but, assuming the property meets its $60m EBITDA target, the vendor will receive a 25% chunk of net profit after tax. The vendor has also agreed to sign a non-compete clause with Star Vegas.

Star Vegas was launched in 1999 and features four hotels with 385 rooms in total. The casino boasts 109 gaming tables and 1,284 electronic gaming machines (EGM), of which 288 are owned outright by the property and 976 are subject to profit-sharing deals. The casino hosts an average of 5k visitors per day and has a database of 3,500 “premium-rated” players. It also features a licensed sports bar, online gaming and lotto licenses plus multiple restaurants and retail facilities.

Star Vegas is one of nine casinos in Poipet that offer a combined 768 gaming tables and 3,874 EGM. Poipet is located on Cambodia’s border with Thailand and thus represents a wholly different market from the Lao Cai casino, which primarily draws customers from China. Thai gamblers don’t require visas to enter the Poipet special economic zone and the casinos use Thai baht as the default currency.

Donaco generates annual earnings of around AUD $16m (US $12.5m) from its newly expanded Lao Cai property and Donaco believes Star Vegas will boost annual revenues by 480% and earnings around 300%. Donaco CEO Joey Lim called the acquisition “a compelling opportunity for Donaco shareholders” given Star Vegas’ status as “a well-established and highly successful business with an enviable market position and excellent growth prospects.”

Donaco also provided a trading update on its Aristo property, saying revenue had risen 50% to $11.7m in the December quarter. Aristo expects to turn a small profit but corporate activity will result in a small loss at the group level. Aristo inked three new junket operators from Malaysia in December and two more junkets from Macau and Shanghai commenced operations in January. Aristo now has 33 approved junkets and management hopes to “more than double” that number in 2015.

The Macau government is set to submit a bill to the legislature, proposing a full smoking ban in casinos including VIP rooms and airport-style smoking pods on mass gaming floors.

Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chon Weng announced, on Thursday, that the government plans to submit the bill in the first half this year.

Tam reiterated that the ongoing decline in Macau’s monthly casino gross gaming revenue would not be a hindrance in implementing a full smoking ban in gaming venues such as casinos and slot-machine parlors.

The policy secretary also said that the government would propose an increase in the tax on a packet of 20 cigarettes from the current 10 patacas tax per packet to 70% of the retail price, which would be in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.

On Wednesday, the Macau government announced that City of Dreams Macau had been fined for breaching the city’s ban on smoking in public places.

However, gaming operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd told GGRAsia that it will challenge the Macau government’s decision to fine CoD Macau with MOP100,000 (US$12,524) for allegedly failing to post “no smoking” signs in one area inside its casino.

“The company intends to pursue a judicial review of this matter to ensure proper implementation of the smoking regulations as they now stand,” a spokesperson from Melco Crown said. “Melco Crown Entertainment operates its casinos in compliance with Macau legal requirements and requisite governmental approvals. The legality of [the] government’s recent actions related to non-smoking signs is debatable.”

So here we are. By my count, we’re three days away from Super Bowl XLIX. It’s an exciting time if you’re a fan of the New England Patriots or the Seattle Seahawks. But even if you aren’t, betting on the Super Bowl is always a sure fire way to make your Super Bowl watching experience more exciting.

Cloudbet is one of many sportsbooks that are offering betting odds on Super Bowl XLIX. But unlike traditional sportsbooks, Cloudbet is different because of one very important feature.

Instead of using cash and/or online credits to make your wagers, bettors can bet on the game at Cloudbet using bitcoins. Yep. Bitcoins.

Cloudbet is a traditional book in a sense that it offers betting odds a host of sporting events, including the Super Bowl. It even has futures, props, and parlays readily available for bettors. But that’s where the similarities between this particular site and traditional sportsbooks end.

The fact that it uses bitcoins as its standard mode of transaction is something Cloudbet Marketing Manager Dennis Laudrup believes is a huge advantage for bettors because there’s no limit to the amount that any given bettor can bet on.

“There’s no limit to the amount that can be sent, so it’s perfect for high rollers – if someone wants to send 1,000 bitcoin they can do that, and have it credited to their account immediately,” Laudrup told CalvinAyre.com.

Betting limits are apparently foreign to Cloudbet, which, like Laudrup said, makes it an ideal site for deep-pocketed bettors to splash their bitcoins on any SuperBowl bet they want to bet on. Laudrup said that the site is already taking bets of up to 400 bitcoins ($92,000) on Super Bowl XLIX. That number is even expected to reach as much as 1,000 bitcoins by game day ($230,000) and quite possibly even more moving forward. The site is also accepting bets of up to 200 bitcoins ($46,000) on other sports like the NBA, the English Premier League, and the Spanish La Liga, ensuring its customers that it caters to a diverse set of sports where bettors can bet on.

Members of the Unite-HERE union continue to voice their opposition of billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s plan to eliminate union benefits of employees from the Trump Taj Mahal casino that Icahn is poised to acquire.

The union has even taken its protest to the streets of New York City, just outside the offices of Icahn where it reportedly tried to deliver a letter addressed to the businessman. According to the Associated Press, members of the union didn’t get to hand deliver the letter directly to Icahn, stopping short at the front desk of his office where a worker promised to personally give the letter to his boss.

Despite not accomplishing its primary objective of giving Icahn the letter, members of the union told the AP that they had made their point and that they expect Icahn to open a dialogue with the union in an effort to iron out their differences.

In its letter, the union basically called out Icahn’s previous comments to the union about his own hard-strung years as a youth in Queens and a supposed attempt to make the union believe that he feels their plight. But members of the union didn’t see it that way, and they made it perfectly clear that they’re not buying what Icahn is selling.

“You may be someone who came up through the streets of Queens, and you may see yourself as the underdog fighting against entrenched corporate executives,” the letter read.

“But this time, you aren’t fighting executives with multimillion-dollar salaries and expense accounts. This time you are fighting housekeepers, bartenders, food servers, bell people, cooks and cocktail servers. This time you aren’t fighting for the little guy, you are fighting the little guy.”

A union organizer told the AP that a little over 100 members participated in the protest.

IGBA Affiliate Awards to take place on 1st February 2015 at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea Football Club, London

Every year over 500 people from the iGaming affiliate community gather to honour the ongoing success within the industry at the iGB Affiliate Awards. Now in its 8th year, the iGB Affiliate Awards is the only industry awards ceremony that celebrates the growth, innovation and achievements within this sector of the gaming industry.

The 2015 iGB Affiliate Awards will take place on the 1st February at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea Football Club in London. For further information, please visit www.iGBAffiliateAwards.com. This year see’s a lot of old and new faces that will be able to gain the exposure and recognition in the industry.

Tickets are now available to purchase from the LAC registration page and include a cocktail reception, sumptuous three course meal, an after party with some special late-night entertainment and of course the awards themselves.

Space is limited and this has sold out year on year so make sure you book early to avoid disappointment.

To view the full conference schedule, please visit http://www.igbaffiliate.com/events/londonaffiliateconference/schedule-2015

To find out more about the London Affiliate Conference, please visit http://www.igbaffiliate.com/events/londonaffiliateconference/

Take Our Poll

It’s a simple question that’s appropriate given that a certain sporting event is going to be played this weekend.

“Who’s will win the Super Bowl 2014?”

That was our question in our latest weekly poll because we wanted to know who you think was going to win between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.

If we had just based our answer depending on what the existing betting action is leading up to the game, then the Patriots would’ve been the runaway answer. But we took a different route, and not surprisingly, the answer turned out to be different. A lot different.

Lee Davy takes a rapid-fire look at poker’s most interesting tales of the week including a decision by the World Series of Poker to drop their $10m first place guarantee, in their Main Event, and news of a monstrous win for Todd Brunson.

Two news stories have hogged the headlines more than most, this week, and they both involve the life-changing sum of $10m bucks.

In 2014, Martin Jacobson became the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, at the same time netting himself a personal fortunate of $10m. Now that’s what I call life-changing money. But let’s imagine for a moment that the young Swede only won $8m. Do you think he would look a little sour? Do you think $8m is still life changing?

I do, and so do a lot of other people; as social media streams, and poker forums lit up like Blackpool illuminations when the WSOP chieftains proudly told the world, that they intended to once again guarantee a $10m first prize in the greatest poker tournament in the world.

Fortunately, for the poker community, the WSOP has a set of ears. They listened to the feedback, digested the information, and spat out a new headline.

“1,000 players to get paid, the largest widespread payout in the WSOP’s 46-year history!”

The social media streams went wild, the poker forums went crazy, and balance was restored in the poker community – at least for another week.

This is a guest contribution by Wink Bingo & Winkly Magazine’s Marketing Manager Eitan Gorodetsky. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

Branding is one thing, rebranding is another.

The first is all about who you want to be. A new company trying to establish itself in the marketplace has to cultivate an appearance, creating an impression of what it’s about even as it’s in the process of discovering that for itself. It’s about finding out what the customer wants, and the ways in which you can communicate that that’s what you’re all about. It’s tricky; a deceptively complex hurdle that trips up a lot of fledgling companies.

Rebranding is very different. For an established company it’s not about forecasting what you want to be about, it’s about recognising and demonstrating what you’re already about. When your brand already means something then any attempt to change its presentation has to first and foremost address those pre-existing values. Accurately represent the idea of your business and customers will see the truth behind the aesthetic, but miss the mark and you risk turning them away in droves.

Wink Bingo is one of the longest standing bingo brands in the country, and a name that instantly springs to mind when you think of online bingo. When we began the rebranding process we knew that alongside top quality gaming our customers chose us because we provided a specific look and feel that other sites didn’t. The mission was to build our new look around those unique factors.

Extensive research gave us the three core features of our brand:

Regional casino operator Penn National Gaming lost $250.4m in Q4, but the numbers were laid low by a $316.5m non-cash impairment charge. The company, which operates 26 gaming facilities across 16 US states and one Canadian province, reported revenue of $651.4m (+!%) while earnings fell nearly a quarter to $64m in the three months ending Dec. 31. For 2014 as a whole, revenue fell over 11% to $2.56b, while earnings tumbled nearly 60% to $285.1m.

Discounting the effect of that impairment charge, Penn CEO Timothy Wilmott heralded his company’s Q4 performance, which was also negatively impacted by $4.3m in unplanned lobbying expenses ahead of the Massachusetts casino referendum. Wilmott said Penn’s new slots parlor in Plainsville is set to open in June and the $360m Hollywood Casino-branded property outside San Diego on the Jamul Indian Village land will open in mid-2016.

MOHEGAN SUN’S FIRST REVENUE GAIN IN THREE YEARS

The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (MTGA) reported a healthy turnaround in its fiscal Q1. Revenue in the three months ending Dec. 31 nudged up 1.2% to $316.7m, which sounds minimal until you realize it’s the largest gain since Q1 2012. The MTGA operates its flagship casino in Connecticut and the new Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania, which just completed its first full year of operation. The MTGA also manages the Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.

Slot revenue was basically flat at $197.9m but table games were up 4.6% to $79m. The $14.8m in quarterly profit was a welcome change from the $67.3m loss in the same period the previous year, which was saddled with a $62.1m debt payment. Cost cutting was a big factor in this quarter’s profit, as the company has about 400 fewer employees from the same time last year.

MTGA CEO Mitchell Etess told analysts that “one quarter does not make a trend” but the company was “nonetheless encouraged” by the results. The MTGA will soon break ground on a second hotel in Connecticut, adding 400 rooms to its existing 1,200. Etess said the property is often forced to turn guests away because they’re fully booked, resulting in “hundreds of thousands” of missed booking opportunities over the course of a year.

MARYLAND CASINO SWAP SLOTS FOR TABLES

Gibraltar, 27 January 2014 – Odobo, the Developer Program and Marketplace for regulated gaming, proudly announces the launch of the Odobo Play app – an innovative new games discovery application available for consumers globally via the iTunes App Store.

The Odobo Play app is a unique consumer-facing showcase of the games content produced by dozens of leading game studios participating in the Odobo Developer Program.  Much like an “app store” itself, the Odobo Play app allows players to browse and discover great new casino games by category or game studio. Each game is featured on a profile card with description and preview screenshots. Free play is available to players worldwide. For players in approved markets, the Odobo Play app uses geo-location to present the additional option to play the games for real-money (currently UK only) and offers a choice of leading licensed casino operators.

As new games are certified and made available in the Odobo Marketplace for licensing by casino operators, they also become available for play within the Odobo Play app. Casino brands automatically appear as a real-money play option to players on games they have licensed within the Odobo Play app.  Current participating casino operators include bet365, Betfair, Coral, Gala Casino and Unibet.

In addition to exclusive titles like Castle Builder, Extinction, The Oddventurers and Akaneiro, the app also features:

• Optimisations for all iOS devices including the latest generation of iPhones and iPads

• Syncing favourites via iCloud for players with multiple devices

• Quick app browsing with a shake navigation gesture

PokerNews lovers will have a sour face this morning as news break out that the World Series of Poker will be looking to take their live reporting in-house for the summers festival.

In a move that can be viewed as either ballsy or backward, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) have decided to say thanks, but no thanks, to the PokerNews live reporting team when it comes to this summer’s spectacular.

The eyeballs at F5Poker were more focused than most as they spotted the following tweet from Matthew Parvis, Head of Content at IBus Media (PokerNews).

As we won’t be doing official live coverage what are some features you want to see on @PokerNews during the WSOP?

— Matthew Parvis (@MatthewParvis) January 27, 2015

They reached out to WSOP Vice-President of Corporate Communications, Seth Palansky, to confirm the tweet, and the hand went up to do just that. PokerNews will not be bringing you the blow-by-blow account of the 2015 WSOP.

So why the change of heart?

A SWAT team has raided a well-known poker game in Great Falls, Virginia, making eight arrests, and seizing $150,000 in the process.

Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to change the controversial ‘Equitable Sharing’ Civil Forfeiture law is going to have one of its first high profile tests after a SWAT team from the Fairfax County Police Department burst into a poker game in Great Falls and allegedly seized over $150,000 from the players, and host, of the game.

The reason a Civil Forfeiture case may well result, is those initially charged have been told that if they stay clean for six months, the gambling charges will be dropped. The money, however, will not be returning to the owners. A stipulation of the deal is that 40% of the money will remain with the police department.

Reports suggest that the game is not exactly a secret. The Washington Post suggested that Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari have played in the game that allows a minimum buy-in of $20,000, and rebuys when the first $20,000 has bitten the dust.

The alleged crime (as a UK citizen I find this laughable) is a Class 3 misdemeanor of illegal gambling. The word ‘illegal’ stands up here because there was a 1.5% rake to pay for dealers and assistants such as waiters and massage therapists.

Only eight of the ten players were arrested after ski mask, rifle-toting policeman raided the room shouting, “Does anyone have a weapon?” And asking for people to lay their hands down on the table. The rumors that someone had to lay down a Royal Flush have not yet been clarified, and thank God a ski mask wearing Phil Laak wasn’t actually playing or all hell would have broken loose.

The reason only eight players were arrested is because one lucky bleeder was waiting for a seat, whilst another ‘new’ player to the game is believed to be an ‘informant’. The Washington Post reports that this individual was interviewed separately and later not charged.

Industry leading HTML5 games developer, CORE Gaming, have entered into a partnership with GECO Gaming.

The agreed partnership will give CORE a proprietary RGS platform for distribution to the global gambling community in 2015 and beyond and will make available over 100 HTML5 products including CORE’s latest industry leading proprietary titles and extensive back catalogue of third party content to the wider audience via GECO’s powerful gaming server.

The first titles to be released in Q1 will be CORE’s cutting edge Roulette and Blackjack products to be offered as part of a platform level suite of table games which will also include Video Poker and 3 Card Brag. Further content to be released through 2015 will include slots, scratch cards and virtual products for both desktop, tablet and mobile deployment via a single HTML5 delivery.

CORE Chief Executive, Justin Chamberlain said “Our partnership with GECO is a natural progression for CORE Gaming and marks our transition from industry leading HTML5 development studio to world leading games content provider. We are hugely excited at the prospect of competing with some of the biggest games studios in the business, with GECO RGS technology powering and enabling our delivery ambitions”.

GECO Gaming CEO,  Mark Paling added “CORE are an established HTML5 powerhouse within the gaming industry, delivering their extensive list of proprietary content and a significant catalogue of third party games. HTML5 is the critical component of operators game release plans moving forward and having CORE’s adoption of the GECO platform as their key route to market adds significant value to CORE, GECO and GECO’s operators”.

CORE Gaming Ltd. is the UKs leading HTML 5 development studio, mobilising content for numerous game owners and developing proprietary content for all major online operators, worldwide.

UK-listed gaming operator Rank Group posted decent profit gains in its fiscal H1 despite only a modest growth in revenue. The company reported revenue of £361.7m in the six months ending Dec. 31, up less than 3% over the same period the previous year. But earnings rose 14.5% to £62.1m and operating profit rose by a quarter to £40.8m.

Rank’s Grosvenor Casinos drove the gains, with revenue rising 6% to £205.6m. The Mecca bingo brand was flat at £143.3m while the Spanish-facing Enracha bingo brand dipped by a fifth to £12.8m. Overall operating profit would have been much higher were it not for £14m in costs stemming largely from Rank’s efforts to beef up its online infrastructure.

Rank’s online operations reported revenue up 16% and operating profit up 75% year-on-year. Grosvenor’s online operations saw revenue surge over 70% to £9.9m, while turning in an operating profit of £1.9m versus a £900k loss in the comparable period a year ago. Mecca’s digital revenue rose a more modest 5.7% to £31.5m but profit rose nearly 24% to £8.4m. Nearly two-thirds of Mecca customers play via mobile devices, generating 37% of Mecca revenue.

Rank also announced it was shifting its core online platform to one provided by Bede Gaming, who beat out incumbent OpenBet for the contract. However, OpenBet will remain a key content provider for Rank and will continue to provide its remote gaming server for specific game integrations.

The Rank deal marks the first ‘tier one’ operator deal for the Newcastle-based Bede, which currently serves over 20 casino and bingo sites and won Bingo Supplier of the Year at the most recent eGaming Review Awards. The deal allows Rank the option of taking an equity stake in Bede via a convertible loan.

Rank says it plans to sequentially migrate all three of its brands to the Bede platform, with the first brand to accomplish the move this year. The new platform will allow the introduction of new games content from IGT, Playtech, Bally, WMS, Novomatic and other firms. Rank’s H2 plans include the formation of a shared digital marketing team and a single digital agency for all three brands. Former William Hill and Ladbrokes veteran Colin Cole-Johnson was recently appointed to tne newly created role of Group Director of Digital and Cross Channel Services.