Hong Kong-based gaming operator Silver Heritage has secured government approval in Nepal to run the Shangri-La casino at the Shangri-La Hotel & Resort.

According to Nepal’s Department of Tourism, under the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Silver Heritage plans to run the casino as a joint venture with a local Nepalese company and to invest more than NPR1 billion ($10.12 million) in its new project.

In the short term, Silver Heritage has been granted the green light to prepare to start its operations of the Shangri-La casino, at least as soon as the ministry’s operation manual to run casinos in line with the new regulations are drafted. The manual is what it is, a document that specifically lists instructions, and step-by-step procedures on how to run and operate casinos.

“As soon as the manual is drafted, Silver Heritage will be issued the final operating authorization,” Department of Tourism Director General Tulasi Gautam told Asia News Network.

Silver Heritage is the only the operator that has applied to operate a casino under the new casino regulation. Hotel Everest’s Everest Casino and a casino in Soaltee have expressed their intentions to resume operations after all the casinos were shut down in April 2014 for unpaid royalty dues and lack of operating permits under the new casino regulations.

Over in Palau, those who have been pining to see a casino in the western Pacific island will have to wait a little while longer because majority of the Senate has voted to reject a new proposal that would establish an exclusive casino license in the island country.

A bill supporting a casino license passed the country’s House of Delegates with some lawmakers arguing that a casino in the island could help generate as much as tens of millions in revenue and reduce Palau’s seeming over reliance on international donors, most specifically the United States.

UK-listed bookmaker William Hill‘s profits fell 7% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Hills issued a trading update on Tuesday saying the final three months of the year had been laid low by unfavorable results in football and horseracing. The results also endured an unfortunate comparison with Q4 2013, which saw good revenue gains across all verticals.

Q4 saw sports betting revenue fall at both retail and online thanks to the aforementioned rash of favorites cashing. But while OTC handle fell 1%, online turnover rose 16%, with in-play rising 27% and pre-match up 8%. Mobile accounted for over 50% of online wagering and 38% of online gaming revenue, the latter figure an 86% improvement over the same period last year. Retail gaming machine revenue win per week rose nearly 6% to £974.

William Hill Australia thoroughly enjoyed Q4 thanks to favorable results during the important Spring Carnival period. A revised marketing strategy helped reduce cost per acquisition by 25% and the resulting “reshaping of the customer base” helped push net revenue up 15% despite a 13% decline in turnover. William Hill US continues to grow like a weed, with turnover up 20%, revenue up 18% and profit up 14%.

For 2014 as a whole, Hills expects revenue to come in 8% higher and operating profit up 11% to £375m, handily beating analysts’ forecasts of £357m. Hills CEO James Henderson called it the company’s “best ever full-year operating profit result” thanks to markets from outside the UK rising to 18% of total revenue. Australian revenue was up 41% and the US was up 30%, while poor old telephone wagering fell 28%.

Looking forward to 2015, Hills says the year got off to “a difficult start” with yet another streak of “highly unfavorable” results. Hills also warned that the European Union’s new policy of applying VAT to electronic services could cost the company an extra £5m in 2015. Regardless, optimism abounds thanks to Hills’ online operations being “very well positioned” to absorb the impact of the UK’s new 15% point-of-consumption tax.

AUSTRALIAN CONSOLIDATION COMING

Hills confirmed that it intends to consolidate its Australian brands under the William Hill Australia moniker – and this time they mean it. Hills originally claimed there would be no rebranding of its Aussie acquisitions – Sportingbet, Centrebet and Tom Waterhouse.com – then said it would scrap the other brands, then went back to keeping the original names, and now the brands are back on the chopping block. Seriously, this time it’s going to happen.

16 January 2015, London, UK– EveryMatrix, a leading software provider in the iGaming industry, is proud to be one of the supporting sponsors of the 14th annual Fire & Ice event on 4th February at the Troxy London.

EveryMatrix is supporting this year’s event entitled Fire & Ice: The Reign of Queen Vicwhich takes guests back in time to the golden era of Victorian England. This year’s performances will be as daring, dangerous and decadent as the cream of iGaming society mingle in the opulence of the Victorian ball.

“EveryMatrix is proud to sponsor this unique industry event as we have always supported Fire & Ice in the past because it is not only extravagant debouched fun but a great opportunity to host clients, network and meet old friends in a truly relaxing environment,” Nick Hill,  Sales & Marketing Director EveryMatrix commented.

Lyceum Media’s Fire & Ice party, famous for its provocative and unique entertainment and for attracting the who’s who in gaming takes place this year on Wednesday, 4th February, at London’s Troxy Theatre and will host up to 2,000 iGaming executives on its main floor.

Fire & Ice will be free to attend for all iGaming professionals. Doors open at 9pm with the Stage Show commencing at 10 pm. EveryMatrix will host a VIP table for its distinguished guests.

Companies and executives wanting to attend the Original iGaming networking party should visit www.fireandiceparty.com for details on the party and the pre-party dinner.

Other sponsors of Fire & Ice: Reign of Queen Vic, include: Play’n GO, Affiliate REPUBLIK, Bluff Europe, Callcredit Information Group, CalvinAyre.com, CORE Gaming, Dafabet, Gamesys, Gaming Realms, iGamingBusiness Executive Conference, iGamingCalendar, iGaming Capital, Income Access Group, Magnet Gaming, Openlot, Picante Gaming/GGL, Plain Gaming, Scientific Games, Secure Trading, Sure International, VegasKings.com, WPT Europe.

“There has always been a surge mentality to get in to as many markets as possible in gaming. It doesn’t mean every company is planning it right. Maybe you know of a company that isn’t even planning to expand at all.”

“There is no excuse to not be making international efforts with your online company. Every company is unique. Go and take that uniqueness, that hook, to a new market.”

– Me

History of Expansion

iGaming has always been a global affair. This industry took advantage of tech early and rapidly. This beast exploded across the world at light speed. That is the beauty of online tech, it works almost anywhere and instantly.

For the big gaming operators, like PokerStars, 888, Party and others, pioneering into new markets has been a focus point for as long as I can remember.

For the most part, the top companies expand well and plan well. Cutting edge expansion planning really. Not always positive results, but they try. ‘Stars, (whom has signed up almost 100M players), had a bad time going into New Jersey, as did Party Poker having their CEO Norbert Teufelberger detained by police in Belgium.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have become the latest NBA team to sign a partnership with daily fantasy sports provider FanDuel.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but it’s been reported that as part of the agreement, FanDuel will receive the opportunity to promote its website through branding on in-arena signage at the Cavs’ home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and on the team’s official website. FanDuel and the Cavaliers will also launch a promotional campaign, dubbed the  ‘#FanDuelfortheWin Sweepstakes’, offering participants the opportunity to win VIP experiences at upcoming home games, as well as other prizes like tickets, autographed merchandise, and other club-related products.

“The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the most dynamic teams in the NBA, with passionate fans and an exciting roster,” FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles said in a statement. “The Cavs fully align with FanDuel’s mission to make sports more exciting for basketball fans.”

The new partnership with Cavaliers now brings FanDuel’s NBA partnerships to five teams, having struck separate partnership deals with the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Meanwhile, global fantasy sports platform developer Mondogoal has entered into a partnership of its own, striking a deal with football giant FC Barcelona, considered as one of the most prestigious football clubs in the world. As part of the deal, Mondogoal has already developed and launched a Barcelona-branded version of the fantasy sports game, that the club’s supporters can now access wherever they are in the world.

“Barcelona is the largest, most engaged club in the world on social media, with over 80 million Facebook followers, and we know that following will be key to the success of our partnership,” Mondogoal CEO Shergul Arshad said in a statement. “Their fans are passionate and involved in all things Barca, and this is a new, fun and innovative way for them to follow and participate with their friends and supporters around the world, in real time.”

The fantasy sports developer’s new deal with FC Barcelona is the latest in a growing number of partnerships the company has struck with other football clubs. Mondogoal already has secured deals with Italian Serie A club AC Milan and English Premier League outfits Manchester City, Liverpool, and West Ham United.

Lee Davy sits down with the founder of My Poker Pal to talk about his plans to put the community back into poker.

I don’t think there is anything more important in a person’s life than community. Stick Tom Hanks on a desert island and he starts drawing faces on footballs to keep him from going insane.

Paul Rimmer has spent 20-years in the poker industry, and during that time he has seen a lot of change. What’s bothering him the most? It’s the lack of community. As he told me during our jibber-jabber, “It’s all hoodies and sunglasses these days.”

Paul Rimmer wants the banter back, and this is how he is going to get it.

Who is Paul Rimmer?

“I’ve been in poker for 20-years, and was probably one of the first people to set up a pub league back in 2004. It was called The Premier Pub Poker League. I had a serious knee injury and couldn’t drive. I always had home games, and I got to the point where about 50 people wanted to play. So I set up a local league in a few pubs. That expanded. I got a few partners in and we created The Get Noticed Pub Poker League.”

What is My Poker Pal?

Noah Schwartz defeats Jake Schindler, in heads-up action, to win the compact and bijou World Poker Tour Alpha8 event in Florida.

Noah Schwartz has carved out a piece of history after becoming the first player to win both World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event, and WPT Alpha8 titles.

The Floridian captured the WPT Alpha8 Florida title, on home soil, after edging out the up and coming Jake Schindler, in heads-up action, in the winner takes all format.

[Image Credit: WPT]

Winner takes all?

Unusual as the concept may sound, it was needed, as only six players showed up to contest the $100,000 buy-in, hence the $585,000 prize was reserved for the last man standing.

During my little tete-a-tete with the WPT President Adam Pliska, recently, he told me that the intention was to have a lot more Alpha8 events, but they quickly realized that the state of the poker economy had to be taken into consideration. I think this showing was a sign of that economy struggling to maintain the fast pace that the organizers set.

The teams for the Global Poker Masters are close to completion after the Global Poker Index announces the final four positions for each of the eight qualifying nations.

The Global Poker Index (GPI) has moved a tad closer to their final roster of players, for the forthcoming Global Poker Masters (GPM), after announcing the first four placements from the eight qualifying nations.

There are four changes from the automatic selections. The GPM is going to lose some star power, but the top dogs that are coming in to take their place weigh that up nicely.

“There have been no disappointments.” Said the GPI, CEO, Alex Dreyfus, when questioned about the players that dropped out. “There were some schedule conflicts for them and I wanted players that were keen to commit. Players who were keen to participate, but couldn’t guarantee their attendance had to make way for the player next in line. They understood.”

We were already aware of the biggest omission of the bunch, after Dan Colman signaled his intention not to attend very early in the process. The in-form Bryn Kenney was drafted in to replace the 2014 GPI Player of the Year, and Olivier Busquet, who replaces Pratyush Buddiga, will now join him.

There are also changes in the UK, Canadian and Russian teams. Stephen Chidwick makes way for the European No.1 money earner Sam Trickett, Mike McDonald makes way for the former World Champion, Jonathan Duhamel, and Artem Metalidi moves aside to give Igor Yaroshevsky a berth.

Dreyfus flew out to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) to chat to the players. I asked him what the feedback was like for the GPM. It was great news.

The 2015 Aussie Millions is underway with Vic Spadavecchia and Daniel Rudd taking the honors in the first two events.

The 2015 Aussie Millions is well underway and a hometown hero and bashful Brit have taken the first two titles.

[Image Credit: Pokerasiapacific]

Event #1: $1,150 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) attracted 1,211 players and the final table bowed to the pressure of the home nation. In the end it would come down between an Aussie and an American, for the title, and the lesser-experienced Australian would take the honors.

The star attraction was Andrew Hinrichsen. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, and former Aussie Millions side event winner, had all the experience, but the American Derek Wolters had previous with a 2014 side event final table appearance, finishing fourth. This time it would be Hinrichsen taking fourth, and Wolters would nearly go all the way.

Spadavecchia held a 9.5m v 3.5m chip lead, at the start of heads-up, and the first all-in of that battle would be the last: Vic Spadavecchia raised to 520,000, on the button, Derek Wolters moved all-in for 2.5m, and Spadavecchia made the call. Wolters was in front with [As] [4d]; Spadavecchia held [Qh] [3h] and a queen on the flop gave the Australian his first title of any particular note.

Event #1 Final Table Results

Three things that are absolutely certain in life: death, taxes and Paddy Power becoming controversial.

The last of these three things was in full display once again when the Irish bookmaker decided to throw a horse into the FIFA presidency. No, it didn’t throw an actual horse into the proceedings, although that still wouldn’t come as a surprise since we’re dealing with Paddy Power here.

What it did, though, might be a little more controversial, if not downright amusing.

In an attempt to “gain transparency” in the dealings of football’s governing body, Paddy Power took it upon itself to pay former Tottenham Spurs player David Ginola close to $380,000 to run for FIFA president. You better believe it because it’s absolutely true.

“This campaign is all about transparency and we are paying David £250,000 (nearly $380,000) for the campaign and for being here today,” a Paddy Power spokesman told Reuters late last week.

“It is his full-time job now and, hopefully, will be for the next four months.”

If you’re not familiar on who Ginola is, here’s his background as a former football player. Ginola is former French international who played professional football from 1985 to 2002 for a handful of clubs, including Paris St. Germain (PSG), Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Everton. Since his retirement, he focused on a handful of other endeavors, including acting and modeling, most prominently being featured as a model for L’Oreal’s line of shampoos.

The sports betting industry may still be reeling from a hellacious weekend in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean we can’t look ahead to what’s in store for this week.

Two important sporting events from opposite ends of the world are scheduled to commence action, beginning with the 2015 Australian Open.

As many of you know, Novak Djokovic is the odds-on favorite to win the men’s title at 5/6 odds while Serena Williams has been penciled in as the favorite to win the women’s title at 5/2 odds. But suppose you’re not as confident as you should be on the two favorites. Who among the rest of the field have legitimate shots to win the tournament.

Over on the men’s side, Roger Federer sits second at 5/1 odds. After him, it’s Andy Murray at 7/1 odds, Rafael Nadal at 8/1, Stan Wawrinka at 10.1, and Kei Nishikori at 12/1. The spread fall precipitously after these six players, all the way to 30/1 for Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, and Tomas Berdych. David Ferrer looks interesting at 60/1, although how much of a chance he really has could depend on the bracket he finds himself in.

Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova is the closest threat to Williams for the women’s title at 9/2 odds. She’s then followed by Simona Halep at 13/2, Petra Kvitova at 9/1, and Engenie Bouchard at 10/1. Other notable players with double-digit odds, include Victoria Azarenka at 12/1, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic at 15/1, Agnieszka Radwanska at 20/1, and Venus Williams and Garbine Muguruza at 30/1 apiece.

Moving to the world of motorsports, the Daytona 500 isn’t getting nearly the same amount of betting attention as it used to. But with a two-week gap between the NFL Conference title games and Super Bowl XLIX, this year might be the time to get acclimated to the odds leading up to the Daytona 500 on February 22, 2015. With so many “favorites” getting, you know, favorable odds, you might cash in if you play your bets right.

At the moment, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a short favorite with odds as low as 9/2 all the way up to 12/1. His list of competitors also demand some kind of attention, including Jimmie Johnson at 5/1 odds and as high as 12/1 odds. Matt Kenneth also has a decent chance. He’s being offered at 8/1 odds with some books opening him at the same 12/1 number as Junior and Kenneth. Then there’s Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Jeff Gordon. All three can also be bought at 12/1 odds at the right sportsbook.

The NFC Championship game was some kind of something else, wasn’t it? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a game with a team having been shut out for two-and-half quarters roar to life and come back the way the Seattle Seahawks did to take that game from the Green Bay Packers. Incredible. It was arguably one of the most exciting finishes to any playoff game we’ve seen in a while. Some part of me still wonders how in God’s name did Green Bay choke that game away. Granted, miscues from their defense and special teams were largely responsible. But still, how the hell did they lose that game? It was like the football equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs choking away Game 6 of the NBA Finals to the Miami Heat.

You know what else was eerily similar between both games? Seahawks fans actually left before the comeback began! Sorry, fellas. You missed out on an epic finish. Too bad.

You know it was looking bad for the Seahawks when live betting odds on that game had them as high as 10/1 to win the game after Russell Wilson threw his fourth interception with a little over five minutes left in the game. If you picked that time to lay some wood on the Seahawks, then congratulations; you’re a certified betting savant.

Even those who put money on Seattle must’ve thought the game was in the books, leading me to wonder how many rushed to the trash can to retrieve those crumpled tickets they had thrown away earlier.

Unfortunately, the AFC Championship game wasn’t as exciting, but we did still see a whole lot of trickery from the New England Patriots. In the end, they probably didn’t have to do it after walloping the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, to set up Super Bowl XLIX against the Seahawks.

It wasn’t at all surprising that New England is now being offered as the -1 favorites after the line actually opened with Seattle being -2.5 faves. But that spread was released before the Patriots bum-rushed the Colts. As soon as the AFC title game was getting out of hand, sportsbooks immediately flipped the tables to put New England as the short faves.

The good thing is that you don’t have to rush out of the house to bet on the game because Super Bowl XLIX is still two weeks away. What you should do is absorb as much about the game as you can. Be educated and when you feel the time is right, put money down on the game and the myriad of novelty bets that will undoubtedly be offered ahead of the game.

London, England.

Casino Kings, a brand new online casino house, has launched in London.

The site, casinokings.com, is a dedicated online casino offering that intends to compete in the iGaming marketplace through a diverse portfolio of online and mobile casino and slots games.

The site features over 240 online slot and casino titles released by some of the gaming world’s most popular developers. The games featured include releases from developing giants Microgaming, Thunderkick and NextGen Gaming, with many titles available across the site’s desktop and mobile platforms.

The popularity of online slots and casino games has exploded since the advent of mobile gaming. Casino Kings aims to take advantage of this continuing boom in the UK’s online gaming industry by offering mobile content that has mass appeal. The latest gaming releases take advantage of the superior graphics technology offered by today’s smartphones, making even the best games playable wherever the player may be.

Nathan Howes, Marketing Manager at Casino Kings, cites this accessibility as a key foundation for the site’s success.

“When we created Casino Kings we did so with a vision to give every 21st century gamer the power and the tools to play the best games available online wherever they were and whenever they wanted. This means ensuring top gaming titles from industry-leading developers are available not only on desktop but also across our mobile platform,” says Howes.

WPT President Adam Pliska: It’s The Best Job in the World Video

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Former World Series of Poker bracelet winner Darren Woods has been sentenced to 15-months behind bars for his online poker crimes.

A former World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner has been sentenced to 15-months behind bars, and ordered to pay back £1 million to the organizations, and players, that he duped during his crimes, after being found guilty of fraud by representation, in connection to online poker scams, at Sheffield Crown Court last week.

Darren Woods, 29, pleaded guilty to nine counts of fraud by false representation, after originally being charged, and maintaining his innocence, on 13 separate charges, and although 15-months is nowhere near the maximum sentence of 10-years, it’s still a victory for online poker.

The investigation into Woods behavior started in late 2011, when the Humberside Police’s Economic Crime Unit slapped a restraint order on him, and froze all of his assets. Woods, a one time 888Poker sponsored player, and Limit Hold’em coach on PokerStrategy, was in hot water after allegedly multi-accounting and creating bogus accounts to profit from affiliate payments.

Judge Paul Watson QC also ordered Woods to pay back £1m to those he had wronged, or else expect his jail sentence to be extended by a further six-years. Reports in the Grimsby Telegraph state £911,217 had been restrained, and Woods was ordered to pay £287,673 in compensation to an unnamed Gibraltar based gaming company, which would be used to pay back players that Woods had defrauded on their site. Police believe Woods made far more than the one million he is being asked to return.

Prosecutor Andrew West told the court: “At the moment, he has assets well in excess of £1.4 million.”

There is nothing, in either court reports of the Grimsby Telegraph reports that show any remorse coming from Woods, and the latter even ran with the headline: “Jailed Healing Poker Millionaire Darren Woods Insists: I’m Not the Criminal, I’m the Victim.”

BLUFF have decided that the February issue of their print magazine will be their last, as they roll out a 100% digital format in the forthcoming months.

BLUFF’s print magazine is heading the way of the Dodo. It’s a shame. Sadly, it’s progress. It’s inevitable, and a sign of the times. Technology is a wonderful thing, but a physical copy of a magazine is something else. The touch, the feel, the ability to roll it up and use it as a devastating weapon.

On Sunday, I went to the local casino to play in the £35 Freezeout event. There were copies of BLUFF magazine strewn all over the place. Everyone was reading a copy. It was their way in. A perfect way to stay current whilst drinking a cup of cold tea, talking nonsense, and folding their hands.

After February that will be all gone. But as Lance Bradley, Vice President of Content, explains – the view needs to change to one of excitement.

“The way our readership enjoys our content has changed and this really allows us to reach more of our target audience where the numbers show they’re reading us – via mobile devices and online.

“We will still produce the same features. We looked at Grantland as a content delivery model that would appeal to our readers and we believe that we can eventually become that for poker, producing more long-form and fun content than ever.”

It’s a sensible approach. People are using mobiles and tablet’s to read the news, and costs will reduce considerably, thus helping people stay employed for longer. I’m all for that.

The World Poker Tour announce plans to return to the Austrian capital of Vienna in the Spring of Season XIII.

The World Poker Tour (WPT) has announced plans to host a festival of European poker, as part of the Season XIII festivities, and the Austrian capital of Vienna has been selected as the host venue.

The event will be sponsored by partypoker, and the Austrian Festival of poker will be spread across 14-days Mar 12-17, with the WPT returning to their familiar Austrian casino partner: The Montesino Casino.

“World Poker Tour Vienna 2015 will be one of the biggest events ever held at the Montesino Poker Club with combined estimated prize pools up to €2,500,000. As well as hosting such a prestigious and renowned poker brand, what is extra special about this festival is the wide variety of buy-ins offering huge prizepools,” commented Karl Novak, CEO of the Montesino Vienna.

The wide variety of buy-ins that Novak refers to is thus:

€3,300 Main Event

€6,000 High Roller