Atlantic Club casino deal fizzles

In the middle of August, the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel found a new owner. Stockton University of New Jersey was said at the time to be considering buying the 20-acre property, which it would convert into medical and law schools. However, the deal has now fizzled and the resort will remain on the market.

A report by The News and Observer last week indicated that the university wouldn’t be able to complete a transaction in a timely manner. According to Terence McCarthy, the president of TJM Properties, who owns the property, his company had “negotiated a very good deal” with the school, but that Stockton said that it “needed far more time than we were willing to provide to it without any assurances.”

McCarthy added, “Our organization feels that Stockton University will bring great economic development to Atlantic City and therefore offered it a deal unlike any other, which unfortunately did not and will not happen moving forward.”

Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman said that he was appreciative of “all the time and hard work that has gone into this effort” and that the school was “committed to Atlantic City and expanding our presence there.” He added, “This is our future and we will continue to try to make the best investments we can there.”

This was the third time in three years that TJM has tried to unload the property. It has been closed since January 2014, at which time Caesars Entertainment was reportedly going to purchase it. TJM swopped in and picked up the 23-story property for $13.5 million and has been trying to move it ever since.

Florida-based TJM had pitched the property to a multi-unit housing firm out of Pennsylvania, the Endeavor Property Group, in 2014, but that deal fell through in less than a year. Last year, it tried again, this time talking to an investment group led by businessman Ronald Young to transform the site into a family-friendly hotel with an indoor water park. That deal also never came to fruition.

Stockton University’s board agreed to the deal, but no financial terms were released. However, it now appears as though the school’s eyes may have been bigger than its pocketbook and the Atlantic Club will remain as is, shuttered and unwanted.

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Andrew Jacobs Leads after WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana Event #2 Flight B

Flight B of the second event on the schedule of the ongoing WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Southern Indiana live poker festival was completed last night. The second of two starting flights provided interested players with a final chance to register into the $400 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament.

As registration was closed, organizers were able to confirm the size of the event’s overall field as well as the prize pool and the places paid. As many as 763 entrants registered into the $400 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry. They generated a prize pool of $251,790. The top 81 finishers will leave with a cash from the event, with minimum payouts starting from $627. The champion will collect $50,359 and a WSOP Circuit gold ring.

And here is the place to mention that after Flights A and B, there are now as many as 93 players left in contention. Of them, 34 survived from Day 1A and the other 59 from Day 1B. The survivors from the two starting flights will combine together for the first time today when the final day on the tournament’s schedule is slated to be played.

Action resumes at 2 pm local time at Horseshoe Southern Indiana. The remaining hopefuls will have a long day ahead as they will have to first burst the money bubble, then to set the official final table, and finally to determine the champion.

Andrew Jacobs Emerges as Overall Chip Leader after Successful Day 1B

The remaining survivors will be led by Andrew Jacobs who bagged and tagged the largest stack after the end of Flight B. The player collected a total of 393,000 to top last night the Flight B and the overall chip counts chart, ending the reign of Day 1A chip leader Nicholas Pupillo (pictured). Pupillo now ranks second in the temporary leaderboard with a total of 389,500 in chips.

As it can be seen, Jacobs’ advantage is very tiny, and it is rather curious whether he will pull further ahead at the start of Day 2, or it will be Pupillo or another player from the 93 survivors who will assume the chip lead.

As mentioned earlier, action is scheduled to resume at 2 pm local time. It is also interesting to note that Pupillo is playing for his third WSOP Circuit gold ring. The player topped the field of a WSOP Circuit Main Event and of another tournament in previous seasons of the popular poker series to capture his first two pieces of gold.

Horseshoe Southern Indiana is playing host to the fifth WSOP Circuit stop of the 2018/2019 season. The ongoing live poker festival will run through October 8, when Day 3 of the $1,700 Main Event is to be played and the name of the Main Event champ is expected to become clear. The highlight tournament is slated to kick off on Friday, October 5 with the first of two starting flights.

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Goa’s floating casinos granted yet another stay of execution

Floating casinos in the Indian state of Goa have been granted yet another reprieve from their forced relocation, in what definitely qualifies as the day’s least surprising news.

On Saturday, Goa’s Public Works Minister Sudin Dhavalikar granted the state’s six floating casinos another six-month extension of their ability to operate on the Mandovi river. The announcement came just one day before the last six-month extension was set to expire.

For years now, Goa’s government has been promising to shift the shipboard casinos to a new waterway, but only as a temporary measure. The ultimate plan is to compel the casinos to permanently transfer their operations to a designated land-based gaming zone, possibly as part of an in-development airport near the state’s northern border.

The original plan was for Goa’s floating casinos to move ashore by 2020, but Goa’s Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar announced in early August that the transfer might not take place until 2022. Parrikar also promised to appoint a judicial commissioner who would be responsible for regulating casino activity as of this December.

Parrikar also said the new land-based licenses would be valid for a period of 10-15 years, and access to all of the state’s casinos would hereafter be restricted to out-of-state tourists.

While the water-to-land relocation will prove both disruptive and costly for operators, the long-term result will likely make up for the bother. Citing figures from similar casino relocations in the US state of Illinois, analysts have suggested shipboard casino operators could see their gross gaming revenue improve by as much as 25% once the legs of their gaming tables are firmly on dry land.

Goa already has a number of land-based gaming venues, most of which are located in tourist-friendly upscale hotels, but they are restricted to offering electronic gambling, i.e. no table games. All Goa casinos were hit with stiff hikes in their fees and taxes in the current fiscal year, which got underway on April 1.

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Nicholas Pupillo Eyes Third WSOP Gold Ring at Horseshoe Southern Indiana

Horseshoe Southern Indiana is the host casino of the latest WSOP Circuit stop on the series’ 2018/2019 calendar. Poker festivities at the gambling facility kicked off on September 27 with a single-day $400 No-Limit Hold’em, the field of which was topped by Corey Hodgeman for his first-ever WSOP Circuit cash of $15,873 and a gold ring.

The second gold ring tournament on the schedule started on Friday at the host venue. The $400 buy-in event began with the first of two starting flights and drew as many as 278 tournament entrants. The second starting flight is slated to be played today from 11 am. It will provide a last chance for interested players to join the event’s field.

The total amount of $91,740 was generated on Day 1A and it will be added to the money generated during the second starting flight of the tournament to comprise together the overall prize pool. And the prize pool itself as well as the places paid and how much the winner will collect will be announced upon the beginning of Day 2 on Sunday.

Of the 278 participants who registered for the tournament on Day 1A, there were just 34 players left at the time organizers called it a day on Friday at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.

The Day 1A Chip Leader

The remaining 34 survivors will have a day off today, while the second starting flight is being played. They will resume play on Sunday when the fields of Day 1A and Day 1B will combine for the very first time to play down to a champion.

Nicholas Pupillo finished off Day 1A as the chip leader. The player bagged and tagged 389,500 in chips last night to top the temporary chip counts chart after a particularly good run throughout the day. Charles Dawson with 245,500 and Kendall Staggs with 229,000 were the other two players to make it top three of the Day 1A leaderboard.

It is interesting to note that Pupillo is eyeing his WSOP Circuit gold ring number three. He won his first piece from the series in 2015 when he bested the field of a $580 No-Limit Hold’em event. He also collected a cash prize of $15,600 for his triumph back then. Gold ring number two arrived last fall when he emerged victorious in the $1,675 Main Event at Thunder Valley Casino. His victory also secured him with a payout of $170,286.

Over the course of his career, Pupillo has cashed in 36 WSOP Circuit tournaments and seven WSOP ones and has collected cash prizes of more than $512,083 from the two major poker series. It is to be seen whether the player will manage to score his third WSOP Circuit victory.

Action at the host casino resumes at 11 am local time and Day 2 action will kick off on Sunday at 2 pm at Horseshoe Southern Indiana.

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Melco’s temporary Cyprus casino ‘exceeding expectations’

Melco International Development’s temporary Cyprus casino has more than achieved the company’s visitation goals in its first three months of operation.

This week, Melco International’s Cyprus Casinos (C2) venue announced that its new Limassol gaming venue had welcomed over 175k individual guests since its soft-launch on June 28. The property held its official grand opening ceremonies this week.

The Limassol venue has apparently made up ground since its soft launch, as C2 president Craig Ballantyne originally said the property’s visitation had been “below expectations,”. The underwhelming birth was blamed in part on what Ballantyne claimed were unfair advantages offered by small-scale casinos in the Turkish-controlled northern half of Cyprus.

But C2 weathered the storm and said this week it had signed up 13k customers to the property’s loyalty program, “thus achieving the goals set by Melco Group,” according to an official statement from the company. Ballantyne added that C2’s first three months of operation “were successful and the results exceeded our expectations.”

Cypriot Minister of Finance Harris Georgiades and Limsassol’s Mayor Nicos Nicolaides were on hand for C2’s official grand opening, and each talked up the financial boost Melco’s gaming operations will give the local economy.

The Limassol venue is a temporary stand-in for Melco’s in-development €550m City of Dreams Mediterranean integrated resort, which won’t open its doors for another three years. After it opens, the Limassol venue will close its doors forever, and its staff will migrate to the larger resort.

Under the sole casino license Cyprus issued in 2016, Melco is also permitted to open four smaller ‘satellite’ venues, only one of which will be authorized to offer table gaming, while the others will each be restricted to a maximum of 50 electronic gaming machines. Three of these venues will launch later this year, while the fourth will open in Ayia Napa late next year.

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Two West Virginia Casinos Delay Sports Betting Launch

The launch of sports betting operations at two West Virginia casinos has been delayed, local news outlet the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported citing information from the West Virginia Lottery.

Lottery spokesperson Randy Burnside told the media outlet earlier this week that sportsbooks were expected to be opened at Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro and Wheeling Island Casino in Wheeling by the end of the month. However, Delaware North, the owner of the two gambling venues, had informed the state gambling watchdog that it would delay the opening of sports betting facilities at the two properties. The company had not specified why the launch would be delayed.

Mr. Burnside further pointed out that the Lottery is waiting to hear from Delaware North to schedule testing of the sports betting operations in October.

West Virginia became the fourth state to launch sports betting after the mid-May ruling of the US Supreme Court that authorized individual states to legalize wagering on professional and college sporting events, if they feel inclined to do so. Legal sports betting services went live in West Virginia in the end of August and Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races was the first local property to jump on the betting bandwagon.

The sportsbook at the casino is operated by British bookmaker William Hill. The Greenbrier is the only other property currently offering sports betting within West Virginia borders. It cut the ribbon of its FanDuel-run sportsbook on September 14.

Sports Betting Market Looks Healthy during First Few Weeks

According to information from the West Virginia Lottery, the state’s two sportsbooks have handled nearly $3.4 million in wagers since the Hollywood Casino facility opened doors. Sports betting handle at the property totaled a little over $450,000 during its first week of operation and a little over $1.1 million during its second week. Together with the FanDuel Sportsbook at The Greenbrier, sports betting handle amounted to more than $1.8 million during week three.

Handle figures are expected to improve even further in the coming weeks as the state’s sportsbooks are to go live with digital/mobile betting. Eric Zimny, Vice President of Racing and Sports Operations at Hollywood Casino, said during a recent ICE Sports Betting USA webinar that they will likely launch their mobile betting app in the coming weeks. The casino official pointed out that he still did not have a firm date and that the launch will not take place next week, but it will not take place in three or four months from now, as well.

It is still unknown when a FanDuel-powered mobile app will go live at The Greenbrier, but said app is anticipated to boost betting operations at the property significantly.

It now (and for now) seems that West Virginia has a healthy nascent betting market. And betting activity in the state is only poised to grow with the launch of mobile betting and the anticipated opening of two more sportsbook.

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Zitro achieves great success at Andalusian Game Congress Expo

Zitro exhibited its latest creations for Video Bingo and Video Slots at the recent Andalusian Game Congress Expo, the new creations will be a revolution for the Spanish market in the coming months. Under its Video Slots brand BRYKE, Zitro showcased its leading product: LINK KING, a new form of revolutionary game in Spain. LINK KING has great progressive jackpots ...

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Who Is the 2018 Asia Player of the Year?

The Asia Player of the Year has been awarded each year since 2009. The Asian poker player to excel in the PokerStars Asia Circuit throughout the year is named as Player of the Year to enjoy the accolades accompanying that title. And each Asia Player of the Year has their name engraved on the one and only APOY trophy that is located at the PokerStars LIVE Macau poker room at City of Dreams Macau.

The best Asian player of the year is determined by the APOY Leaderboard, which takes into consideration players’ performance in PokerStars-sponsored tournaments that take place on Asian soil throughout the year. By players’ performance we mean how a given player finishes in one tournament or another, how much entries that event has, and what buy-in fee it features. Players receive points for each of these three factors and the more points they collect, the higher they climb in the APOY Leaderboard.

This year’s leaderboard included PokerStars-branded live tournaments that took place in the period between November 27, 2017 and August 12, 2018. Aside from having their name engraved on the special trophy, this year’s winner will also be awarded the amount of $20,000.

The Philippines Celebrates Its First Asia Player of the Year

Philippine poker pro Mike Takayama topped this year’s APOY Leaderboard with a total of 10,230 points. The player has had a killer year so far, cashing in 30 different live tournaments. In addition, he cashed in a large number of the official Asia Player of the Year Events throughout the season.

At the age of 29, Takayama has become his homeland’s first Asia Player of the Year since the ranking was first established in 2009. And with 10,230 points collected over the span of the 2017/2018 season, he is well ahead of the player who occupies the leaderboard’s runner-up spot. Alexis Lim is the player to rank second with 5,931 points.

Most prominently, Takayama won the PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 5 PHP10,000 Main Event for a cash prize of PHP931,800 (approx. $17,875) and a Platinum Pass for the upcoming 2019 PCA Poker Players Championship. He topped the tournament’s field in February, this year.

In May, he finished third in the PokerStars LIVE Manila Super Series 7 PHP10,000 Main Event to collect the amount of PHP525,000 and more points for his APOY score.

Overall, Takayama is his home country’s third most profitable player in terms of live tournament earnings generated. His winnings currently amount to a little under $1 million. The poker professional scored his career’s largest cash of nearly $198,568 this summer during the 2018 edition of the World Series of Poker. The player bested the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Bounty and his triumph also secured him with his first-ever gold bracelet from the series.

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Is Europe’s Casino Industry Ready to Embrace the Integrated Resort Model?

The integrated resort model has become the standard in Las Vegas, Macau, and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region that annually see large inflow of international visitors. However, even though Europe might be the leader and the main driver of growth within the regulated online gambling space, it is lagging behind in the successful deployment of the integrated resort model and the construction of large-scale resorts that, aside from gambling venues, include accommodation, food and beverage, meeting, and entertainment facilities.

On the other hand, it seems that this might change soon, as at least three large-scale properties are to be built in South Europe in the next few years, all aiming to draw high roller gambling customers, particularly from the Asia-Pacific region and other corners of the world known to be inhabited by high-spending members of the global population. With that said, it seems that while most European countries are focused on creating well-regulated and well-functioning digital gambling markets, some of them might be ready to finally embrace the integrated resort model in a manner similar to Macau and Las Vegas and reap the benefits of offering diverse offering within the limits of a large property located in an attractive enough destination.

Integrated Resort Projects in Europe

City of Dreams Mediterranean is slated to become Europe’s first full-blown integrated resort combining casino gambling, meeting, entertainment, accommodation, and food and beverage facilities in one place. The €550-million integrated resort is currently under development in the city of Limassol in the Republic of Cyprus. It will feature the tiny island nation’s first legal casino after it has battled and is still battling underground gambling operations used by criminal individuals to mask other illegal activities.

The City of Dreams Mediterranean complex is being developed and will be managed by Hong Kong gaming and hospitality giant Melco Resorts & Entertainment and a local partner, known to be a subsidiary of Cypriot holding CNS Group. The property will feature 500 hotel rooms, suites, and villas, 11 restaurants and bars, 1,200 square meters of retail area, 7,500 square meters of gaming space with 1,200 slot machines and 140 gaming tables, a 3,000-square-meter expo center, and 9,600 square meters of convention, meeting, and event space, among other facilities.

The property is expected to open doors in 2021 and to attract 300,000 international tourists to the Republic of Cyprus. Owners have also said that City of Dreams Mediterranean will look to combat the issue of seasonality as the tiny island nation is looking for means and ways to drive tourists not only during the summer months but all year round.

The southern part of Europe traditionally has warmer climate and more sunny and hot days, which is a perfect condition for attracting visitors from different parts of the world throughout the year. Aside from Cyprus, there are two more European countries that are looking to take advantage of the weather and other favorable conditions by adopting the integrated resort model.

As part of its privatization drive, Greece is looking to transform the long-abandoned former Ellinikon International Airport near Athens into an €8-billion integrated resort that, among other things, will feature a €1-billion casino. Preliminary discussions are currently taking place between the Greek Gaming Commission and companies interested to operate the gaming portion of the complex. And it is also important to note that some of the world’s largest gaming and hospitality companies, including Melco, Hard Rock International, and Caesars Entertainment Corp., have lodged interest in the major development scheme.

It is expected that the bidding process for the gaming license is to be finally launched later this fall after years of delays.

Last but not least, Florida’s Hard Rock International was selected earlier this year as the winning bidder for the development of a 745,000-square-meter integrated resort in Spain’s Tarragona province. The company has put a €2-billion price tag to its newest development. The property will operate as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tarragona and will be developed over several phases, the first of which will see a €700-million investment and will feature a casino with 1,200 slot machines, 100 table games, 1,100 hotel rooms in two hotels, retail space, and a number of other facilities. The whole grand scheme is expected to be carried out in five years. Hard Rock is yet to break ground on the project.

Final Thoughts

Integrated resorts have proved particularly successful endeavors in Las Vegas and Macau, and have major contribution to the formation of the modern land-based casino industry. Companies have been expanding their integrated resort footprint across Asia for more than a decade now and properties of this kind have proved to be extremely popular with different groups of customers, but mostly with high roller gamblers from Mainland China.

It seems that developers might be ready to explore new territories and Europe might be ready to catch up with Las Vegas and Asia and finally embrace the multi-purpose complex model that could help it further boost its tourism industry and draw wealthy and big-spending clientele from the Asia-Pacific region. City of Dreams Mediterranean will be Europe’s experimental venture into the integrated resort model and this particular resort’s future performance will play instrumental role in the further recreation of this model on European soil.

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Silver Heritage wraps up shares offering

Silver Heritage Group has wrapped up the retail component of its shares offering. The event was anything but the huge success the company had anticipated, bringing in only about a quarter of the revenue it had hoped to garner. The casino operator had been looking for US$4.03 million, but only collected $1.05 million.

The company announced the results to the Australian Securities Exchange this past Wednesday. It indicated that it had received applications from qualified shareholders to sell 73.2 million shares and that another 8.9 million shares were offered through the Top-Up Facility, bringing in an additional $129,731.

The good news is that Silver Heritage has been able to raise almost all of the capital it had hoped to collect. Because the share offering was underwritten in its entirety, 177.6 additional shares have been allocated to the underwriter, bringing the total amount collected to $3.74 million.

The offering follows an institutional share offering presented by the company earlier this month. That offering attracted $5.4 million, which is to be spent on the company’s Tiger Palace Resort Bhairahawa in Nepal.

Silver Heritage has had somewhat of a rough month. It has suspended trading twice on the ASE due to increased first-half losses and announced that it was working on a plan to raise capital. The company reported losses of $9.9 million for the first half of the year, an increase of 182% over the same period in 2017.

Those two suspensions aren’t the only ones in the company’s history. In February of last year, it had to halt trading after a “shortage of liquidity in the Nepal banking system” resulted in delays to the opening of the Tiger Palace.

The casino operator is still clamoring to get back to black. It is launching several casino projects, including a second casino in Nepal. That project gave the company some hope of a brighter future after it finally received approval to purchase the land rights for the operation, which will be located in Jhapa.

Since opening at the end of last year, Tiger Palace has only been treading water. If Silver Heritage expects to see a drastic turnaround, it would be a good idea to re-evaluate its current model and future business plans.

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The Players to Have Cashed in the Largest Number of Countries So Far in 2018

Traveling around the world is one of the perks of being a professional poker player. Visiting new places, clashing against players with different techniques and at different level of skill and proficiency, and getting oneself exposed to new and different poker games is enriching experience that could help anyone improve their own game and overall worldview, of course.

The poker enthusiasts of Casino News Daily love poker-related lists and writing about poker lists. This is why they have prepared a brand new such list for their readers. This time, it will revolve around those three players who have cashed in the largest number of different countries around the world since the beginning of the year. Here are these three players and where they have cashed in over the past nine months.

Henri Ovaska

The Finnish poker player has cashed in 21 tournaments in 16 different countries since the beginning of the year, including Italy, Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, and many more. While Ovaska might have been quite active on the live tournament scene over the past several months, he has not won any major events. He scored his only victory this year during the Irish Poker Open & Norwegian Championships 2018 in Dublin.

He took down a €170 R.O.E. tournament for a cash prize of €2,700. He collected his largest cash of this year in January, when he finished third in the African Series of Poker/Unibet Deepstack Open €550 Main Event for €9,000. The tournament took place in Grand Bay, Mauritius an exciting destination without any doubt.

Andrew Christopher Hills

The Englishman cashed in 30 live events in 11 different countries around the world, mostly the United States. He has taken down three tournaments so far in 2018, none of them were major ones, though.

A victory in a Wynn Summer Classic $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em secured the player with his largest cash this year. He bested a field of 302 entrants, including fellow countryman Stuard Taylor, whom he clashed into in the heads-up match, to collect the total amount of $72,799 from a total prize pool of a little over $300,263.

Manig Loeser

The German poker pro has cashed more than $2.3 million since the beginning of the year in 25 events that have taken place in 10 different countries. The player has appeared and cashed in events in the United States, Russia, and Montenegro, among others.

It is also important to note that Loeser has long been particularly active on the international high roller scene. Over the past nine months, the player has participated in some of the major high rollers on the live tournament poker calendar. Most prominently, Loeser finished runner-up to Michael Lim in Aussie Millions Poker Championship A$100,000 Challenge for a cash prize of A$558,600 (approximately $445,334).

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Caesars wants ‘100-year partnership’ with Japan

Caesars Entertainment has raised the curtain on a “100 Year Partnership for Japan” campaign. The casino operator is one of the many that is hoping to grab a license to set up a resort in the newly approved Japanese integrated resort (IR) market. As part of its campaign, Caesars has included a number of announcements tied to initiatives in the country, all designed to help set it apart from the competition.

Included in the initiatives are concept imagines of an IR that could be located at the Yamashita Pier in Yokohama. The concept is based on The Great Wave, an ukiyo-e piece crafted by Japanese artist Hokusai. The IR would carry the name “The Yokohama Art & Culture Park and Entertainment Resort,” but is up against some strong opposition. Yokohama citizens have already overwhelmingly said that they opposed an IR, as has Yukio Fujuki, chairman of the Yokohama Transport Association (YTA). The YTA controls the area around the Yamashita Pier.

Caesars also said that it was designed an innovative casino entry system exclusively for use in Japanese IRs. The system uses smartphones to initially register the customers and then to subsequently track each entry into the casino, as well as to monitor for possible problem gamblers.

That system, apart from sounding very intrusive, doesn’t meet Japan’s requirements. Japanese regulators require that a “MyNumber Card” be produced each time a customer enters a casino.

The casino giant also said that it has already spent around $223,000 on responsible gaming initiatives in the country. Those funds were first allocated last February, meaning it spent just over $30,000 each month on the program. Caesars added that it will now allocate an additional equal amount, more than likely to be spent just as quickly.

The company also said that it is currently expanding its team in the country. It has added Shinya Okiyama as the manager for Japan development and Kengo Nishmura as the head of government and community relations. Caesars didn’t specify exactly how many boots it now has on the ground in Japan, but said that it is still increasing the force and that it was still considering adding more contingents outside of Tokyo.

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Wazdan Wins Online Casino Innovator 2018 award at CEEG Awards

Slots provider Wazdan has strengthened its market leading position by winning the award for Online Casino Innovator 2018 at the 2018 Central and Eastern Europe Gaming Conference (CEEG) held in Budapest. The CEEGC award for Online Casino Innovator 2018 is a confirmation that Wazdan’s meteoric growth this year is underwritten by the company’s laser focus on technology innovation that allows ...

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Caesars suggests “100-year partnership” with Japan

Caesars Entertainment has raised the curtain on a “100 Year Partnership for Japan” campaign. The casino operator is one of the many that is hoping to grab a license to set up a resort in the newly approved Japanese integrated resort (IR) market. As part of its campaign, Caesars has included a number of announcements tied to initiatives in the country, all designed to help set it apart from the competition.

Included in the initiatives are concept imagines of an IR that could be located at the Yamashita Pier in Yokohama. The concept is based on The Great Wave, an ukiyo-e piece crafted by Japanese artist Hokusai. The IR would carry the name “The Yokohama Art & Culture Park and Entertainment Resort,” but is up some strong opposition. Yokohama citizens have already overwhelmingly said that they opposed an IR, as has Yukio Fujuki, chairman of the Yokohama Transport Association (YTA). The YTA controls the area around the Yamashita Pier.

Caesars also said that it was designed an innovative casino entry system exclusively for use in Japanese IRs. The system uses smartphones to initially register the customers and then to subsequently track each entry into the casino, as well as to monitor for possible problem gamblers.

That system, apart from sounding very intrusive, doesn’t meet Japan’s requirements. Japanese regulators require that a “MyNumber Card” be produced each time a customer enters a casino.

The casino giant also said that it has already spent around $223,000 on responsible gaming initiatives in the country. Those funds were first allocated this past February, meaning it spent just over $30,000 each month on the program. Caesars added that it will now allocate an additional equal amount, more than likely to be spent just as quickly.

The company also said that it is currently expanding its team in the country. It has added Shinya Okiyama as the manager for Japan development and Kengo Nishmura as the head of government and community relations. Caesars didn’t specify exactly how many boots it now has on the ground in Japan, but said that it is still increasing the force and that it was still considering adding additional contingents outside of Tokyo.

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SA Gaming has launched a new game: Shanghai Godfather slot! The slot game features Shanghai in the 1930s. Those were the days when the bold gets the gold. With a 3×5-reel 30-line slot, “Shanghai Godfather” comes with a Free Game Feature, where free spins are awarded when a certain amount of Scatters appear on screen. Players have more chances to ...

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Where Is Sports Betting Legal in the US?

In a historic move, the Supreme Court of the United States lifted in mid-May a long-standing ban on wagering on professional and college sports leagues, known as PASPA (Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992). The ruling authorized individual states to legalize sports betting, if they feel inclined to do so.

The SCOTUS decision thus paved the way for the formation of a legal sports betting industry that could be worth well over $150 billion in terms of turnover. It also marked the beginning of a race that saw several states legalize sports betting days and weeks after the ruling and launch legal sports betting services at dedicated facilities. Aside from Nevada, where sports gambling was legal even after the introduction and approval of the PASPA legislation, there are now four more states to comprise the United State’ legal sports betting field. Several more are expected to join the mix in the following months, and a number of others are expected to follow suit next year and in the next few years.

While it is too early to say how the nation’s nascent sports betting market is performing, it should be said that it is a market of great potential and with the proper legislation, selection of offering and customer incentives, and advertising, it could turn into a behemoth gambling field.

Where can a person bet legally on sports in the US? The latest industry report by the team behind Casino News Daily aims to present its readers with that valuable information.

Delaware

It was Delaware to win the race and become the first state to launch full-fledged sports betting services after the mid-May SCOTUS ruling. Its three licensed casino operators – Delaware Park, Harrington Raceway & Casino, and Dover Downs Hotel & Casino – went live with single-game sports wagering offering on June 5.

Here it is important to note that Delaware previously offered parlay wagering via its state-run Lottery. Following the lifting of the federal ban on sports gambling, the state’s gambling venues now offer fixed-odds bets on different sporting events as well as point spread and money-line bets.

It took only days after the US Supreme Court announced that states would be able to legalize sports betting that the Delaware Attorney General said there was no legal obstacle before the state to begin offering full-scale betting services.

According to the latest financial report by the Delaware Lottery, the state’s legal sportsbook handled almost $23 million in sports bets in the period between June 5 and August 26. Revenue from the three sports betting facilities amounted to a little over $2 million during the reviewed period.

Sports betting handle at Delaware Park accounted for around two-thirds of the whole. The facility processed the amount of $16.3 million in wagers and generated revenue of $1.5 million.

With both the NFL and college football seasons now under way, it is believed that betting activity will ramp up activity at the three sportsbooks and will bring additional revenue.

It is also important to note that mobile betting apps are, too, expected to be launched at some point in future, but essential details regarding that important step are still under discussion by state regulators.

New Jersey

New Jersey was the state to lead the anti-PASPA effort. It took state lawmakers years of lobbying and searching for supporters of its cause as well as of legal battles until the US Supreme Court agreed to take on the sports betting case.

Following the annulment of the ban, New Jersey legislators passed the necessary legislation for the legalization of wagering on amateur and professional sports leagues within the matter of weeks. First legal sports bets were accepted in the state on June 14 at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City and the Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport.

More gambling venues on the famous Atlantic City Boardwalk followed suit and launched sports betting services at dedicated on-site sportsbooks. The Meadowlands Racetrack, too, went live with a sportsbook in mid-July to compete for a share of the state’s sports betting pie.

Online betting services and mobile apps allowing bettors to wager anywhere on the state territory were also launched as part of the ongoing expansion of New Jersey’s gambling industry. The state’s existing casino and racetrack operators have joined forces with major international companies, including William Hill and The Stars Group, to take advantage of their experience in the sports betting and digital gambling fields and reap as much benefits as possible from the newly legalized wagering activities.

According to information from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, the state’s sportsbook handled the total amount of $152.7 million in wagers in the period between June 14 and August 31.

A recent report by gambling research house Eilers & Krejcik Gaming stated that the New Jersey sports gambling field could overtake Nevada’s established betting market by 2021. It is to be seen whether that point will prove true, but Eilers & Krejcik analysts believe that market channelization, partnerships with big industry names, and attractive promotions could help the nascent New Jersey market to become the main driver of growth in the United States sports betting field.

Mississippi

The Magnolia State became the third one to launch legal sports betting in the months after the PASPA annulment. Its wagering legislation came into force on July 21 and it was on August 1 when the state’s first sportsbooks opened doors and accepted first sports bets.

According to information from the Mississippi Gaming Commission from earlier this month, sports betting facilities processed nearly $10 million in wagers during the first full month of legal sports betting on the state’s territory.

September figures are expected to be significantly higher as the NFL and college football are in full swing. Gaming Commission Deputy Director Jay McDaniel has told local media that the state’s more than 20 sportsbooks saw betting handle of $17.8 million in the period between September 1-19.

It is also interesting to note that Mississippi was the first state where a tribal sportsbook opened doors outside Nevada. It was late last month when the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians launched its sports betting facility at the Timeout Lounge at its Gold Moon Casino, which is part of its Pearl River Resort. Owners of the gambling venue also said that bettors will be able to place bets via their mobile devices as long as they are anywhere within the property.

On-site mobile betting will also be available at the state’s other sportsbooks.

West Virginia

Sports betting debuted in West Virginia in late August, right in time for the beginning of the new college and NFL football seasons. Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races was the first property to launch sports betting services following the annulment of the long-standing ban.

West Virginia actually passed the necessary legislation authorizing sports wagering ahead of the mid-May SCOTUS ruling. It was this past spring when state lawmakers gave the green light to sports betting.

Penn National Gaming, the owner of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, has revealed that it processed the amount of $640,000 in sports betting handle over its opening weekend.

Pennsylvania and Rhode Island the Next to Join the US Sports Betting Mix

It seems that Pennsylvania will become the fifth state to go live with legal sports betting offering. Following last year’s passage of an omnibus gambling bill, the Keystone State is gearing up for a massive expansion of its gambling industry that will also include sports betting.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board began accepting applications for sports betting licenses earlier in the summer. Three operators have submitted their applications, with those being Penn National Gaming, Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment, and Harrah’s Philadelphia. It became known earlier this week that their applications will be considered by regulators at their next meeting on October 3.

In other words, Pennsylvania might be days away from launching legal sports betting. Approved applicants will have to pay an upfront license fee of $10 million and their properties will have to receive individual nod by gaming regulators in order to be able to operate wagering services.

Rhode Island passed a sports gambling legislation in June. Under that legislative piece, the state’s Twin River Casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton would be the exclusive providers of sports betting services. These services would be provided thanks to a partnership of the gambling venues’ owner with International Game Technology and William Hill.

It was originally expected that bets would begin to be accepted by October. However, it has recently become clear that it will not be before November when the state’s sportsbooks will open doors and welcome their first customers.

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Baccarat Player caught Cheating attempts to Bribe IGC Agent with Big Macs

Either the Indiana Gaming Commission agent doesn't like fast food, or maybe he should have offered some super-sized Big Macs instead? Of course, when it comes to being arrested due to a gambling-related crime, it is very risky to bribe your way out of this mess, but if you are desperate, remember that bribing someone with fast food is not the very best of ideas out there, most especially if you don't even have the mouthwatering burgers and fries on hand. In late July, a man from [...]

Biggest Online Gambling Merger and Acquisition Deals Announced So Far in 2018

Amid growing competition and massive regulatory pressure in a number of jurisdictions, several major gambling companies have decided since the beginning of the year to undertake merger and acquisition moves. M&A deals have often proved a successful way to blunt competition and to offset the ill effects of regulations that might aim to improve the quality of service but sometimes produce the exact opposite effect.

The past nine months have seen some of the major players of the online gambling field look for and find partners to reduce the negative impact from changes of different nature in the global market. Here are several of the biggest deals that have been undertaken since the beginning of the year and how they are expected to change those involved in them as well as the global online gambling landscape.

Playtech – Snaitech

Playtech announced in April that it had agreed to buy around 70.6% of the total issued share capital of Italian gambling company Snaitech S.p.A. in an initial acquisition deal. Under the terms of the agreement, the gambling tech giant agreed to make a mandatory takeover offer for the remaining shares in Snaitech after the completion of the initial acquisition.

The total purchase price was estimated at €846 million, which Playtech funded with existing cash resources and new debt facilities.

Snaitech generated revenue of €890 million and EBITDA of €136 million last year. The deal is expected to result in annual cost synergies of €10 million for the combined entity. The Italian company operates more than 1,600 betting points around the country. In addition, it also provides sports and horse race betting, online sports betting, and online casino games. Aside from its domestic market, Snaitech also operates in a number of other jurisdictions where it is fully regulated.

Playtech pointed out that the move was part of its newly implemented strategy to focus its business on regulated markets and reduce its reliance on unregulated markets. The company suffered a heavy blow following a massive gambling crackdown in Malaysia, which had previously been one of its key Asian markets. As a result, its share price has dropped more than 50% over the past year and it was forced to issue two profit warnings over that period.

The gambling tech giant, founded by Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi in the late 1990s, now hopes that the addition of Snaitech would help it diversify its geographical revenue and improve the quality of its earnings with a particular focus on regulated markets. It is to be seen whether that strategy will prove successful and will help Playtech leave the financial issues behind.

The Stars Group – Sky Betting & Gaming

The Stars Group, owner of PokerStars, and Sky Betting & Gaming announced in April that they had agreed to complete a landmark transaction that would create a $4.7-billion online gambling behemoth with presence across multiple jurisdictions, massive customer base, and strong positions in key online gambling sectors, including sports betting in which The Stars Group has taken great interest over the past year.

The two companies said that the deal would produce $70 million of annual cost synergies, among other financial benefits.

The transaction was closed on July 11. However, a day later, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced that it had opened a probe into the deal, without giving much detail about the nature of said probe. The ongoing investigation blocked the beginning of the integration of the two businesses and the transfer of ownership that needed to take place as part of the deal. They will have to wait until the completion of the CMA probe in order to be able to move forward.

Although the watchdog has provided limited details on the matter, it is believed that the investigation was launched due to concerns over the effects a deal of this scope would have on competition in the UK gambling market, which is currently SkyBet’s main market of focus.

The CMA published earlier this month the two sides of its initial enforcement order, which means that The Stars Group and SkyBet can start the planning process for their eventual integration. It is believed that the competition watchdog will release the full results of its investigation in October.

Once the deal is finally closed and the two businesses are successfully merged, The Stars Group will be able to use SkyBet’s experience in the online sports betting vertical to improve its own sports betting business. It is also important to note that the company is among the gambling giants looking to expand their geographical presence in the United States in as many states where sports betting is legal as possible.

The Stars Group currently operates a mobile betting app in the New Jersey regulated market, which it rolled out earlier this month. But it has long been clear that the company is looking to return to the US after it was shamefully banished from the nation after the Black Friday of US online poker back in 2011.

As for SkyBet, it will be able to extend its footprint in a number of jurisdictions after joining The Stars Group. The company currently operates in the United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany.

The Stars Group – CrownBet – William Hill Australia

Australian online bookmaker CrownBet emerged in February as the winning bidder for William Hill’s struggling Australian business. The company, which was controlled by local casino operator Crown Resorts at the time, competed with the likes of bet365, Ladbrokes, and Paddy Power for William Hill Australia.

The final round of bids placed CrownBet against Paddy Power’s local business Sportsbet, but it was the former to win the bidding war. CrownBet agreed to buy William Hill’s ailing Australian operation for A$300 million.

It was announced at around the same time that The Stars Group had reached an agreement with CrownBet’s owners to acquire a 61% stake in the company. It then became clear that the Canadian gambling giant would actually acquire an 80% stake in a move that would allow it enter Australia’s regulated betting market.

The two deals resulted in the creation of the third largest licensed bookmaker in Australia. To mark the beginning of a new era, CrownBet announced in May that it would rebrand. It first picked Sportingbet as its new name, but Paddy Power’s Sportsbet contested its choice in court, arguing that the two brands were too similar and could confuse customers. The court sided with Sportsbet and CrownBet decided that it would eventually rebrand as BetEasy.

It is quite clear that The Stars Group is looking to cement its positions in the global sports betting market by entering as many regulated jurisdictions as possible. In Australia, in particular, the company might face certain difficulties as a result of the massive competition in the local sports betting industry and growing regulatory pressure, including the introduction of a point of consumption tax in almost all Australian states and territories.

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Macau 2018 growth forecast at 5.8%

The Macau economy is expected to grow 5.8% for this year, followed by 3.9% growth in 2019, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

News outlet The Macau Hub reported on the EIU’s forecast that the special administrative region’s growth in gross domestic product (GDP) will continue to be fueled by the gaming sector, which itself has seen below-expected gross gaming revenue (GGR) the past year.

Macau’s Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) had previously released data for the first half of the year, showing 7.6% GDP growth year on year.

The EIU said that the Macau government’s attempts at diversifying the economy outside of gambling would remain largely unsuccessful. However, according to the EIU, the government should continue working to grow its non-gambling tourism activities to boost the entertainment sector.

With Typhoon Mangkhut hitting the city the other weekend, several analysts had adjusted their GGR forecasts for the quarter. The overall effect on the economy, however, is seen to be negligible.

The EIU expects a slowdown in mainland China’s economy will affect Macau; however, this will be offset somewhat by increased incomes to be spent by visitors from China.

Chinese tourists remain the hugest population among those visiting Macau, with 2.53 million Chinese visiting last August, a 25.3% increase from August last year. A total of 3.4 million people visited in August, a 18.7% increase year on year.

Macau’s strong 2017 performance, much on account of growth in the VIP gaming business, was preceded by three years of contraction owing in part to the Chinese government’s anti-corruption drive where it cracked down on outflows to Macau.

According to the EIU, inflation for 2018 is expected to hold at 2.9%, lowering to 2.8% the following year. The budget balance will be at 10.3% for 2018, and 9.4% in 2019. The unemployment rate is projected to stay at 1.9% for the two years.

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Play’n GO released Street Magic slot

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Macau visitation up almost 19% in August

Yesterday, Macau’s Statistics and Census Service released its August data for the gambling mecca. According to the agency, 3.4 million visitor arrivals were recorded in the month, an increase of 18.7% over the same period last year. This was a bigger climb than what was seen in July, which recorded a 4% jump year-on-year.

Chinese visitors were the biggest segment, accounting for 2.53 million visits and an increase of 25.3% year-on-year. The number of visitors who took advantage of China’s Individual Visit Scheme increased to around 1.31 million for an impressive jump of 31% year-on-year. The Individual Visit Scheme is a system that allows mainland Chinese to visit the exterior independently, rather than as part of a tour group.

Most of the feeder markets into Macau also saw increases in their visitor numbers. The ones that didn’t were Switzerland, Brazil, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea.

For the eight months ending August 31, visitor arrivals to Macau increased year-on-year by 8.9% with a total of 23.25 million arrivals recorded. 70.5% of this, or 16.4 million, came from mainland China. The segment increased by 14.2% over the same period last year.

The increase in visitor arrivals does not necessarily mean an upswing in casino revenue. Investment analysts have pointed out that Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) is typically centered on high-end play, and the arrivals figures do not indicate that the visitors went to the city only to gamble.

However, August GGR did increase last month. $3.29 billion was taken in during August for a year-on-year increase of 17.1%. It was the most productive month seen by casinos this year.

This year’s overall GGR is still expected to be stronger than last year, despite Typhoon Mangkhut taking a toll on the city. Last year, Macau had to contend with Typhoon Hato, an exceptionally strong typhoon that ravished the city. Hato was the strongest typohoon to hit Macau in 53 years.

Overnight and same-day visitor arrivals were up 16.3% and 21.6%, respectively. 1.8 million overnight visitors and 1.6 million same-day visitors were recorded. The average length of stay in Macau was 1.2 days, a decrease of 0.1 day over August 2017.

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