Poker is an intense and exhilarating card game. Here are some resources to help you get started.
The first European Poker Tour festival since PokerStars brought back its popular live poker brand was held at Sochi Casino & Resort in the Russian city of Sochi. The EPT Sochi proved to be a great success, particularly its Main Event, which drew a massive field of more than 860 entries.
Bearing the above-mentioned in mind, it can be said that PokerStars has clearly made the right decision to dust off and revive its EPT brand, which had previously built a solid base of fans across Europe and the rest of the world. In addition to this, it should be pointed out that Sochi has great potential to become a new popular live tournament poker destination with its casino.
The EPT Sochi attracted thousands of players, both professionals and recreational ones. And millions were distributed in prize money to the ones who made it deep enough into the festival’s events. Here are some of the biggest winners during the EPT Sochi, the first of what we all hope will be a series of successful EPT festivals.
EPT Sochi ₽192,000 Main Event
Arseniy Karmatskiy bested a field of 861 entries to win the tournament on Thursday. The player’s share of the ₽150-plus-million prize pool totaled ₽27.3 million (approximately $478,451). Karmatskiy dominated the event’s final table, winning key pots and busting fellow competitors to build his stack and pull ahead of the other players left. In the end, he busted fellow countryman Viktor Shegai in second place to claim his first-ever EPT Main Event title.
Karmatskiy had some previous triumphs on the live tournament circuit. Last August, the player won the €2,200 German Poker Championship as part of the partypoker German Poker Championships at King’s Casino Rozvadov for a first-place prize of €185,000. During last year’s PokerStars Championship Sochi, Karmatskiy topped the field of a ₽19,800 event.
As mentioned above, Viktor Shegai finished runner-up to Karmatskiy in the EPT Sochi Main Event. The player collected ₽16.56 million ($290,225) for his efforts. Ernest Shakarian, Vahe Martirosyan, and Mikhail Kovalyuk were the other three players to cash big from the tournament, collecting payouts of ₽11.688 million ($204,840), ₽8.766 million ($153,630), and ₽6.923 million ($121,335) for finishing third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
EPT National ₽66,000 No-Limit Hold’em
The EPT National was the first event on the schedule of the EPT Sochi festival. The tournament featured a buy-in fee of ₽66,000 and was played over March 20-23 at the host venue. As many as 439 entries bought into the event, including 266 re-entries. They contributed to the creation of a ₽41.031 million ($710,727) prize pool. The money was distributed to the top 103 finishers.
Czech player Matous Houzvicek was crowned the event’s victor. The player collected the amount of ₽7.77 million ($134,590) for besting the whole field of the tournament. This was Houzvicek’s largest cash from a live tournament. Including his EPT National first-place prize, the Czech’s live tournament earnings now amount to $241,500. Houzvicek cashed in one more tournament during the EPT Sochi. He finished 18th in the ₽132,000 No-Limit Hold’em Single Re-Entry for ₽228,000 ($3,978).
Other Players
Other players who cashed big from the EPT Sochi, included Sergei Kerzhakov and Viktor Ustimov. Kerzhakov finished sixth in the Main Event to collect ₽5.19 million ($90,958) for his deep run into the major tournament. This was the player’s third ever cash from a live poker tournament.
As for Ustimov, he cashed in two tournaments within the EPT Sochi. He first finished runner-up to Houzvicek in the EPT National, good for ₽4.745 million ($82,191) in prize money. He then took 42nd place in the Main Event for a payout of ₽498,000 ($8,728). The player currently has more than $620,000 in live tournament earnings.
The post Biggest EPT Sochi Winners appeared first on Casino News Daily.
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he is not supportive of a state commercial casino’s bid for a bailout. The top lawmaker was among the proponents of the legalization of commercial casino gambling in the state a few years ago.
Gov. Cuomo’s comments from earlier this week came shortly after del Lago Resort & Casino officials revealed that they were seeking assistance from the state after the gambling venue missed its first-year revenue projections by $100 million. While they did not provide details on the nature of help they were seeking from lawmakers, it is believed that they might have asked for a tax break.
Del Lago currently pays an annual tax of 37% on its slot machine revenue and a 10% one on table game revenue. The casino resort had its ribbon cut in February 2017. According to original forecasts, its casino floor was expected to generate revenue of $260 million during its first full year of operation. However, the gaming facility’s revenue eventually totaled $146 million at the end of that first year.
In a letter to Gov. Cuomo and New York State budget director Robert Mujica, Sen. Joe Griffo said that del Lago was seeking a tax break of around $14 million. The Senator further wrote that he did not support a bailout of this proportion, as the state had more pressing needs.
’Private Concerns’
Gov. Cuomo told local media earlier this week that the Upstate New York casinos were private concerns and that he did not want to “get into the business of bailing out private concerns.”
Del Lago officials have blamed the Seneca Nation for their casino’s failure to reach its gaming revenue goal. The tribe operates three casinos in the western part of the state. It used to share a portion of its gaming revenue with the state under a 2002 compact. However, it stopped making payments in 2016, arguing that the compact had expired.
Steve Greenberg, a spokesman for del Lago, said that the tribe has been using the portion of revenue it should have been sharing with the state to lure patrons with different offers and promotions. According to Mr. Greenberg, tribal casinos have thus been cannibalizing revenue from the state’s commercial casinos, hence del Lago’s call for assistance.
Casino officials have told lawmakers that the property generates enough revenue to pay the bills, but that it would likely face serious problems in the long-term if it is not treated to a bailout.
Rivers Casino, which opened doors in Upstate New York shortly after del Lago, is understood to have, too, turned to state lawmakers to seek a tax break. Rivers generated $151.8 million in gaming revenue during its first year of operation, falling well short of its target of between $180 million and $220 million.
The post Gov. Cuomo Refuses Bailout to Cash-Strapped del Lago Resort & Casino appeared first on Casino News Daily.
Australian casino operator The Star Entertainment Group has sold a 10% stake of itself to two Asian firms with which it’s partnered on a Queensland integrated resort project.
On Thursday, The Star informed investors that it had entered into an “expanded strategic partnership” with Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE) and property developer Far East Consortium International Ltd (FEC). The trio are already joint venture partners on the A$3b Queen’s Wharf casino project in Brisbane, which is expected to open to the public sometime in 2022.
The trio have inked a Strategic Alliance Agreement that will see them pursue several development projects, including up to five joint venture towers on Australia’s Gold Coast for hotel, residential, entertainment, tourism and retail use.
The trio will also collaborate on further expansion of The Star’s flagship Sydney property, as well as form a marketing alliance to leverage CTFE and FEC’s customer bases and loyalty programs to drum up new VIP and premium mass gambling business for The Star’s casino properties.
The Star also announced that the Hong Kong firms would each be taking a 4.99% stake in the company at a cost of A$245m apiece. While the HK firms are, in aggregate, currently prohibited from boosting their stakes above 19.9%, the companies have indicated they will apply to Aussie regulators to boost their aggregate shareholding to “over 10%.”
This isn’t the first time The Star has sold a piece of itself to Asian firms. Back when the company was still known as Echo Entertainment, Malaysian gaming giant Genting took a 9.7% stake in the firm. Genting expressed a desire to boost that stake up to 25% but kept hitting regulatory roadblocks and ultimately sold off its remaining 5.62% stake in The Star last summer.
Both of The Star’s new/old partners have been making moves to expand their gaming industry presence. CTFE already controls the $4.2b Baha Mar integrated resort in the Bahamas and is collaborating on a Vietnam casino joint venture with leading casino junket operator Suncity Group. FEC recently announced a tie-up with Trans World Corp, which operates casinos in the Czech Republic.
The post The Star Entertainment inks ‘expanded strategic partnership’ with Asian firms appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
A US Court of Appeals judge ruled on Wednesday that Big Fish Casino constituted illegal online gambling under the Washington state gambling law. The recent court ruling could open Pandora’s box for the growing social casino sector, particularly in the US where online gambling is prohibited in most states.
Developed by Seattle-based casual gaming company Big Fish Games, Big Fish Casino offers free-to-play versions of popular casino games, including slots, roulette, and blackjack. Players can play these via virtual chips that have no actual monetary value. However, if users run out of chips, they can either wait until they are offered more free chips to play the games, or can purchase chips for real money.
Judge Milan D. Smith of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said on Wednesday that the virtual chips were a “thing of value” and their purchase actually represented illegal online gambling under state law.
The lawsuit was filed against Churchill Downs back in 2015 when the Kentucky-based casino operator was the owner of Big Fish Games. Churchill Downs bought the casual games studio a year earlier for $885 million. It announced last year that it would sell Big Fish Games to Australian gaming company Aristocrat Technologies for nearly $1 billion. The deal was closed earlier this year, as confirmed by the casino company.
The ruling could have a negative impact on the growing social casino market which was worth over $3 billion last year, as virtual currencies are widely popular in social casino games. The outcomes of previous lawsuits against representatives of the social casino sector had generally been favorable. However, Judge Smith’s ruling from Wednesday could complicate future lawsuits related to the nature of social casino games and whether these constitute online gambling.
Big Fish Casino’s Lawsuit in Greater Detail
In 2015, Cheryl Kater, a regular Big Fish Casino player, filed a lawsuit against the social casino’s parent company Churchill Downs, claiming that she had spent over $1,000 on virtual chips to be able to play. Her legal team also argued that virtual chips represented “a thing of value” under a provision in Washington’s gambling law.
[A]ny money or property, any token, object or article exchangeable for money or property, or any form of credit or promise, directly or indirectly, contemplating transfer of money or property or of any interest therein, or involving extension of a service, entertainment or a privilege of playing at a game or scheme without charge.
Ms. Kater further pointed out in her legal complaint that the virtual chips could be cashed out by being sold for real money on secondary markets or being transferred to other users. However, that argument was rejected by the Court of Appeals as Big Fish Casino’s terms and conditions explicitly prohibited practices of this kind.
The post Popular Social Casino Constitutes Illegal Online Gambling in Washington appeared first on Casino News Daily.
Gaming wins continue for Nevada casinos in February, with revenues reaching past the $1 billion mark for the second month in a row—thanks to revellers visiting America’s playground to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Figures released Wednesday by the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) showed that state-wide gaming revenue hit $1.02 billion in February, a 7.7% increase from the same period in 2017. This is the first time that Nevada achieved a back-to-back billion-dollar performance since March and April 2008.
For the fiscal year beginning July 2017 until February 2018, Nevada’s “gaming win” has risen to $7.9 billion, a 2.3% increase from the close to $7.7 billion reported in the 2016-2017 period.
The Las Vegas Strip posted its first monthly gain since the October shooting, logging winnings of over $603 million for February—an 11.37% jump from the same period last year.
Michael Lawton, senior research analyst for the Tax and License Division of NGCB, attributed February’s gaming wins to the “big baccarat win” on the Strip, which was up 82.5% to $79.7 million. In an interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lawton said “this February was much stronger than last February due to Chinese New Year falling in January” in 2017.
Nevada sportsbooks’ stellar performance came to halt in February, with overall revenue down 48% to $10.7 million compared to the $20.7 million posted in February 2017. This, however, still makes it the 55th consecutive winning month for the state’s sportsbooks, which experienced its last losing month in July 2013.
Football wagering dropped 136.35% year-on-year to less than $2.5 million, but basketball wagering revenue inched 0.68% to reach $11.6 million. Sports parlay cards was down 58% to $449,000, while sports pari-mutuel dropped 71% to $4,000. Nevada’s “other” betting category was also down 7.57% to $1.39 million.
Statewide slots revenue posted a modest 4.17% increase to reach $605.58 million in February, while total games and tables were up 13.27% to $412.33 million. Several major tables, however, reported declines, including blackjack ($88 million, -17.22%), craps ($31.2 million, -12.33%), and roulette ($36.4 million, -5.55%).
Overall, the gaming regulator said the state collected close to $44.2 million in percentage fees based on the taxable revenues generated in February. This was a 14.99% drop from the prior year’s March period, when Nevada fee collections reached close to $52 million.
The NGCB, however, noted that the amount did not reflect the $8.75 million in transferable tax credits used in March or the total amount of tax credits taken fiscal-year-to-date, which amounted to $65.8 million.
The post Nevada casinos continue winning streak in February appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
Esports Arena Las Vegas, the first permanent esports venue on The Strip, is now open at Luxor Hotel and Casino.
News exploded earlier today that Sky Betting and Gaming (SkyBet) has become the latest UK-facing operator to have been reprimanded by the Gambling Commission for social responsibility failures. One of UK’s largest gambling companies, formerly owned by broadcasting giant Sky, SkyBet was fined £1 million by the regulator for failing to prevent self-excluded customers from registering with its websites and other regulatory breaches.
SkyBet is being imposed a penalty from the UKGC at a time when the regulator is reviewing its existing license conditions and is gradually rolling out tougher ones for iGaming operators to follow and comply with.
Last summer, 888 Holdings was fined £7.8 million for similar responsible gambling breaches. And last month, William Hill received £6.2-million bill for what the Commission deemed poor anti-money laundering policies and player protection failures. While the scope of violations was different in each of the three cases, the fines imposed certainly raise the question whether the UKGC has gone too soft on SkyBet.
The Nature of SkyBet’s Failures
The UKGC found, after probing into the matter, that SkyBet breached the Commission’s codes and rules for the provision of gambling services in three different ways. In the first place, it became clear that 736 customers of SkyBet, who had self-excluded themselves, were able to open duplicate accounts with the operator and gamble via those in the period between November 2014 and November 2017.
In the second place, around 50,000 customers kept on receiving promotional materials by the operator even after self-exclusion. Self-excluded players and bettors were thus encouraged to gamble. And while they were presumably not able to reopen their accounts with SkyBet, people, some of whom may have been trying to fight problem gambling behavior, could have felt the urge to gamble somewhere else.
Last but not least, the UK Gambling Commission found that a total of 36,748 self-excluded customers did not have their account funds returned upon account closure.
SkyBet will thus have to pay £1,008,600, including £750,000 to responsible gambling charities. The remaining portion of its penalty would be split in the following way – £450,000 for allowing self-excluded customers to open duplicate accounts, £250,000 for sending self-excluded customers gambling-related promotional material, and £50,000 which the operator will have to return to players who had opted for self-exclusion.
Does the Penalty Match SkyBet’s Failures?
SkyBet’s breaches of its license terms eventually affected tens of thousands of self-excluded customers in one way or another and could have affected many more.
The reason why a person decides to self-exclude themselves from one gambling website or another is that they either feel to be close to developing some form of gambling addiction or have already become a gambling addict. What may seem to be a minor violation by an operator toward a self-excluded player could actually become a serious trigger for that same player to relapse into their risky gambling behavior. Operators need to be aware of that and to make sure that their customers are well-protected.
SkyBet was found to have generated gross gambling yield of £217,306 from the self-excluded players who were able to open new accounts with the operator. In comparison, 888 was fined £7.8 million partly for allowing players, who had self-excluded from its betting/casino/poker platform, to play on its bingo platform. Players were thus able to deposit over £3.5 million with the operator.
While £3.5 million is an enormous amount when compared to just over £200,000, it is important to note that in 888’s case self-excluded players were able to gamble within the period between October 2015 and September 2016. However, with SkyBet self-excluded customers opened and used accounts between November 2014 and November 2017 or for three years.
In 888’s case more than 7,000 customers were affected, while in SkyBet’s case there were just over 700 customers. Both operators failed self-excluded players in a very serious manner and fines were a must. However, the fact that it took SkyBet three years to solve an apparent issue with its self-exclusion system raises questions and doubts about the operator’s ability to prevent customers with problem gambling behavior from being able to gamble.
As already pointed out, SkyBet is one of largest UK-facing operators. And if an operator with extensive record in the online gambling field and with a large player base is unable to protect its customers, it certainly deserves more than a slap on the wrist, particularly when it takes so long to solve an issue that could put at risk thousands of people.
The post Is £1 Million Enough Punishment for SkyBet for Failing Self-Excluded Gamblers? appeared first on Casino News Daily.
The Japanese have a saying, “If you do not enter the tiger’s cave, you will not catch its cub.” Simply put, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Japan is preparing to venture into the gambling world, with a lot to possibly gain. In making the necessary arrangements, regulators have taken a pragmatic approach to establishing gaming legislation, but one decision perhaps falls just outside that realm.
Regulators voted on Tuesday to limit the amount of times gamblers can enter casinos weekly and monthly. The plan for Japanese residents, as set forth by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and agreed to by the Komeito Party (KP), would limit weekly visits to three and monthly visits to 10.
Although they agree on the number of visits, the two parties still disagree on the number of casinos to be allowed, as well as the price of admission. Until all points in the legislation are cleared up, the chances of gambling opportunities in the reserved country are slim. The LDP and the KP will have to reach an agreement prior to June 20, the date their current session ends. Only after finalizing the terms of the bill can they send it to the Diet, Japan’s legislature that consists of a House of Councilors and a House of Representatives.
The LDP wants to see a casino entrance fee of JPY5,000 ($48) per person for Japanese residents. This is in contrast to the JPY8,000 ($75) the KP recommends and puts Japanese casino entrance fees on par with those of Singapore. Some government officials have proposed a much lower fee, at around JPY2,000 ($19), with free admission for foreigners. The fee debate continues.
Another point of contention centered on the number of casinos that would be authorized in the country. The KP wants to see, at most, three casinos, but the LDP is pushing for as many as five. Their proposal is based solely on the number of local governments that have shown interest in wanting a casino built in their territory. However, who wouldn’t want part of a multi-billion dollar industry to brighten their back yard?
Analysts predict that only three casinos would bring in almost $10 billion in annual net profit to the country. Several international companies have lined up to compete for one of the few licenses that will be issued, with the first casinos expected to be ready by around 2022.
The post Japanese gamblers face restrictions on casino visits appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
BGB recently announced that it has signed an agreement with 1xbet for BGB to provide its Live Casino platform to the 1xbet who will add BGB’s full portfolio of live games to its online platform.
The timing of Galaxy Entertainment’s surprise move to acquire a 4.9% stake in Wynn Resorts suggests that Galaxy has been waiting in the wings for an opportunity to make this kind of move for a while. The two casinos are similar in their structure, style, balance, stock price movements, and are both particularly dependent on the VIP market. They are both pretty glitzy places as Macau casinos go, known for attention to detail and customer service. The only glaring difference is that one is Chinese and the other is American.
When Steve Wynn was at the helm, it would have been quite difficult for Galaxy to make a move to acquire any appreciable stake in the company. Wynn would have probably personally objected, not wanting to make it look like he was allowing “the Chinese” to “invade” another sacred space of “American capital”. Wynn was a big Trump supporter during the campaign, and Trump being the American exceptionalist Sinophobe that he is, he would not have been happy with Wynn allowing such a thing. Though Wynn is not as flamboyant as Trump in blasting a funeral dirge every time a Chinese firm acquires something American, he would have probably also been rather uncomfortable with it and would not have wanted that kind of publicity.
Well, now that we have all heard more about Steve Wynn’s alleged sorry sex life than any of us ever wanted, his opinion and Trump’s are no longer relevant. Galaxy waited for him to liquidate his stake, which he was pressured into, and then they made their move.
Wynn did not sell any of his shares to Galaxy, at least not directly. 8 million were sold to Capital Research and Management, and T. Rowe Price. Another 4.1 million were sold on the open market. The 5.3 million shares that Galaxy acquired were newly issued for a total $927 million. That’s a lot of money to use up for a casino that is actively expanding in Cotai. It’s about 40% of its cash holdings as of 2017. It may have been more if not for pesky reporting requirements above a 5% threshold. The Nevada Gaming Control Board is still examining the transaction anyway, but that’s just because they feel like it. They’re probably really bored over there.
Galaxy is probably interested in more than just a 4.9% stake. Otherwise it wouldn’t have used nearly half of its cash hoard on what could have been directed towards Cotai development. It’s probably the start of something bigger.
So what’s in it for Wynn, besides $927 million? I see speculation being thrown around on the news that the Wynn board might feel that having a Chinese insider at Wynn can help them navigate the capricious Chinese political minefield. With tensions between the United States and China worsening, having a Chinese company take a big stake in an American company might help insulate against some of the abrasiveness between governments.
That’s probably true but it’s not really the simplest explanation. Besides, from a pure equity standpoint Galaxy wasn’t able to insulate itself against Xi Xinping’s crusade against graft by crippling the VIP sector. Galaxy may be politically wired into the engine of the Ruling Communist Party of the People’s Republic, but that didn’t seem to do much for Galaxy on the way down. Galaxy stock suffered the most in the Macau bear of 2014-2016. Perhaps that has changed now but you’d have to be on the inside of Chinese palace intrigue to get any sense of that.
The simplest explanation is that in order to pad itself against Steve Wynn’s complete departure and sale of his entire stake, some good news was needed to mitigate what is widely perceived as a loss of stability. What better way than to have its sister company Galaxy, similar in so many ways, pick up a big stake and raise close to a billion dollars in the process? Wynn’s strengths are also Galaxy’s strengths so the two companies probably understand each other’s approaches pretty well.
Over the long term, Galaxy’s investment in Wynn is a good thing. The investment is stabilizing but only in the context of an otherwise calm economic environment. When turmoil returns though, it could make stock price movements for both companies that much more volatile, being tethered to one another slightly now. Not all that much more (4.9% is not a huge stake), but it certainly won’t even out the mountainous terrains of both companies’ long-term charts going forward.
Who knows how far this will go, and whether it will lead to joint ventures in the future or something more remains to be seen. Is it by itself a signal to buy either Galaxy or Wynn? Not really, at least not for the next few months. Dollar supply expansion is nearly dead in the water and China’s official inflation rate is at 2.9%, having jumped from an indolent 1.5% in January. It’s at the highest rate since 2013. Hong Kong’s has jumped to 3.1% from 1.7% in January, nearly doubling. Macau’s is up to 3.12%. It’s not that these numbers in and of themselves are alarming, but if Beijing decides to fight them if inflation jumps like this again above 5% say, it could slow down business in Macau.
So while the new fledgling partnership between Galaxy and Wynn is good news, it won’t help change the wider economic environment in the short term. Continue to stay away from Galaxy and Wynn for now.
The post Galaxy’s Wynn investment is good news, but doesn’t make either a buy appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
US federal agents came knocking on the doors of the Pojoaque Pueblo tribe over the weekend, seizing a total of $10.1 million in gambling revenue.
According to The Santa Fe New Mexican, the seizure was part of a government-initiated civil forfeiture process that stemmed from the years-long earnings tussle between the state of New Mexico and the tribe. Records showed that the bank account had $10,128,847.42 at the end of January.
The dispute stemmed from the failure of the Pojoaque Pueblo tribe and the state of New Mexico to agree on a new gambling compact after their last agreement expired in 2015.
The impasse dragged on for two years, but the U.S. attorney allowed the tribe to continue operating its casinos provided they abided by a few conditions.
One of the conditions that the state set for the Pojoaque Pueblo was to open a bank account where the tribe could set aside an amount equivalent to the proceeds it would be required to turn over to the government once the impasse was resolved.
After signing a new gambling agreement in 2017, the federal government and the tribes locked horns on who will keep the money set aside during the dispute.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice flexed its muscle and told the tribe that the money in the bank was the fruits of illegal gambling. The feds said allowing the tribe to keep the money is tantamount to giving them a tax holiday for the two-year absence of a gambling compact.
Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. Joseph Talachy slammed the government’s move to initiate forfeiture proceedings, saying that the money should have been used instead to fund the tribe’s needs and for economic development.
“The money in this account by law should help provide food, shelter, education and other basic necessities for the Pueblo’s people, including funds to fight the overwhelming opioid epidemic that is devastating the Pueblo,” Talachy said in a statement.
The post New Mexico tribe loses $10.1M in gaming revenue to US government appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
Pressure on Crown Resorts has grown as a new wave of evidence shows that the casino operator might have only stopped what it previously described as a “trial” of removing betting options on slot machines after complaints from patrons.
A whistle-blower has told local news outlet ABC News that the major company, which operates two casino resorts in Melbourne and Perth and is building a third one in Sydney, felt forced to restore the normal operations of slot machines at its Melbourne property after customers at the casino had spotted that their betting options had been reduced significantly and had filed complaints.
Last fall, the Australian casino operator found itself embroiled in a scandal that could cost it its license in the state of Victoria. Back in October, independent MP Andrew Wilkie tabled evidence from three whistle-blowers who claimed that Crown had tampered with 17 of all 2,628 slot machines (or pokies as they are known in Australia) at its Melbourne casino, significantly reducing patrons’ wagering options and chances to win.
The chief allegation against the operator was that it has instructed staff to remove certain buttons on 17 slot machines. The gaming devices had thus been modified in a manner that had maximized profits for the casino and had reduced players’ wagering options. Patrons had thus been forced to wager the highest bet line on the affected machines, whistle-blowers had explained.
Separate allegations by the unnamed individuals also suggested that Crown had knowingly allowed select casino customers to dodge anti-money laundering regulations.
Crown’s Response and the New Wave of Allegations
Crown rejected all allegations back in October, but eventually admitted to removing buttons on 17 gaming machines between March and April 2017. The operator said in a March 5 statement to the Australian Stock Exchange that the “blanking” of buttons was part of a trial it had conducted at its Melbourne casino.
However, a whistle-blower who is employed at the casino company told ABC that the trial claims were “farcical”. He further pointed out that Crown only came up with the trial story after regulatory pressure began bearing down on its profitability and general performance.
The unnamed Crown employee went on to say that no trial had been running on the casino floor and what the operator had basically tried to do had been to see how much it could “rip people off”.
Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation had opened investigation into the allegations even before those were tabled in the Parliament. Crown could have its license from the regulator revoked if the allegations prove true.
The Commission has been presented with the latest whistle-blower evidence. The regulatory body told ABC that it is aware of the new claims and that these are now part of the ongoing investigation.
The post New Allegations Suggest Crown Fabricated Slot Machine Trial Story to Avoid Penalties appeared first on Casino News Daily.
The proposed construction of a $500-million integrated resort on Boracay could damage the quality of the sand on the island, a top urban planner told local media.
According to Felino Palafox, a leading Philippine architect and urban planner, developers should not be allowed to build on the island’s beaches as this would have a negative environmental impact. Mr. Palafox spoke with local news channel ANC on Saturday.
Last week, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. awarded a provisional license to Macau-based casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group and its Philippine partner Leisure and Resorts World Corp. to build and operate a $500-million casino resort on Boracay.
Construction on the complex is set to begin in 2019 and to be completed over the next three years. Leisure and Resorts has recently secured a 23-hectare site on Boracay where its property will be built.
While the resort is expected to bring wealthy high roller players from the Asia-Pacific region and to thus boost the island’s already booming tourism sector, the proposal was not received very well by a number of parties, including tourism stakeholders and environmental groups.
During his recent interview, Mr. Palafox said that Galaxy’s project might be involving the “wrong land use at the wrong place at the wrong time”.
The locally established Boracay Foundation has also joined the casino resort debate recently, arguing that the island is well-known among tourists for its white sand beaches, water attraction, and bright nightlife scene, and these are enough to support and grow its tourism industry. The environmental group has added that the island does not need to promote itself as a gambling destination and that a casino would only harm its social environment.
News about the approval of the casino resort plan emerged as Boracay became the subject of heavy criticism from Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte.
Imminent Closure of the Island
President Duterte has been firing at the way the major tourism hub’s environmental issues have been handled since last month. The Philippines’ top official called the island a “cesspool” due to its lack of a properly functioning sewerage system and threatened to blow up every structure built on the island without the necessary permission.
After probing the island’s environmental situation, a specially assembled unit has recently recommended its closure for a period of between six months and a year, during which an environmental cleanup would be carried out.
It was confirmed earlier this week that the island would be closed for tourism for six months. In a letter to President Duterte, three government agencies recommended that the island be shuttered starting April 26. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Tourism wrote in their joint letter that the proposed date would prevent Labor Day parties on the island on May 1. However, the island would still be able to welcome tourists that have long planned and made the necessary arrangements to spend the Holy Week break there.
The final decision is in the hands of President Duterte and it is yet to be seen whether he would approve the proposal of the three departments or would pick another date for the island’s imminent closure.
The post Top Philippine Architect Says Boracay Is the “Wrong Place” for Casino Resort appeared first on Casino News Daily.
Gambling ads shown on UK television should feature responsible gambling messages throughout their duration from the end of June 2018. The new requirement was introduced on Friday by the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) as the latest enhancement to its Code for Socially Responsible Gambling Advertising (Industry Code).
UK-facing gambling companies will thus be required to add a responsible gambling message or a reference to www.begambleaware.org to every gambling-related commercial on UK television and to make sure that the message is legible and runs throughout the length of the clip.
Established in 2014, IGRG is currently comprised of the Association of British Bookmakers, BACTA, the National Casino Forum, the Bingo Association, and the Remote Gambling Association. All of the aforementioned are trade bodies that represent the UK gambling industry and its various sectors.
IGRG itself through its Industry Code aims to promote and encourage the provision of different gambling services in a socially responsible manner.
The introduction of the new TV advertising requirement came after a broader review of the UK Government into gambling companies advertising activity found that the www.begambleaware.org reference and other responsible gambling messages featured as part of adverts did not appear on screen long enough to be easily spotted by viewers.
The new advertising guidelines are included in the fourth edition of the Industry Code. The Code was first introduced in 2007 when the Gambling Act 2005 came into force. It was reviewed in 2016 and 2017. IGRG said in a Friday statement that it is now committed to reviewing the Code on an annual basis so that emerging issues are resolved in a timely manner.
Gambling Ads on UK Television
Television has long been among the most popular mediums among gambling operators to advertize their services on. According to a 2016 report by measurement firm Nielsen, UK-facing gambling companies spent £456 million to advertize on British television in the period between 2012 and 2015.
While a well-established watershed policy prevents gambling adverts from being shown before 9 pm, there are certain exceptions to the general rule. Under UK advertising regulations, gambling-related advertising content can be shown during live broadcasts of sports events throughout the day.
Anti-gambling campaigners have long been calling for an overall pre-watershed ban on gambling TV ads, citing concerns that these trivialize gambling to children and overexpose vulnerable people to the risks gambling activities may create.
A recent report by the UK Gambling Commission indicated that while people, and children in particular, may not be watching television as they used to, gambling ads on TV are still reaching young and vulnerable members of the population. According to the report’s findings, 80% of all children aged 11 to 16 had seen gambling adverts on television and about 39% had seen these at least once a week.
The post Enhanced Rules for Gambling Ads on British TV to Come Into Force in Mid-2018 appeared first on Casino News Daily.
Casino operator Boyd Gaming and gaming supplier International Game Technology (IGT) aren’t giving up on bringing virtual reality (VR) technology to America’s casino gaming floors.
Boyd’s Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas recently announced the launch of new daily VR archery tournaments at the property’s Virtual Zone, which incorporates IGT’s VR platform and HTC Vive headset technology.
The Virtual Zone tournaments at the Orleans involve two archery games, SiegeVR and ArcheryVR, both of which involve players defending a castle by shooting virtual arrows at the hordes of aggressors attempting to storm the gates for the sake of (presumably) looting, pillaging and other socially frowned-upon activities.
The SiegeVR tournaments involve two-person teams competing against each other, with entry fees of $30 per team. Scoring is calculated by how many baddies your team knocks off with its arrows, and the top daily score wins $300 in ‘Slot Dollars’, which are only valid for 48 hours after they’ve been awarded.
For friendless archers, the single-player ArcheryVR tournaments cost $10 per person, with daily top scorer winning $125 in Slot Dollars. Regardless of which tournament style you fancy, your entry fee has to be in cash, and you also have to belong to Boyd’s B Connected rewards program.
Notably, the fine print indicates that Boyd has the right to turf so-called ‘advantage players,’ so if you have any Olympic gold medals for archery hanging in your closet at home, you’d be well advised to keep that info to yourself (and pretend to miss now and then).
The launch marks not only Boyd’s first VR entertainment offering but also the first time IGT’s VR platform has appeared on a casino gaming floor. IGT chief commercial officer Nick Khin said the VR platform delivers “an entertainment experience unlike anything previously offered on casino floors.”
Perhaps, but the millennials that habituate Vegas nightspots have so far proven relatively disinterested in some of the more innovative offerings that were specifically designed to entice them onto the casino gaming floor. The much-ballyhooed launch of so-called skill-based games have so far generated more headlines than revenue.
IGT announced its partnership with HTC Vive earlier this week, and HTC Vive’s VP of global content Joel Breton claimed VR tech “has proven to be a consistent traffic generator in entertainment venues.” VIVE Studios has already utilized IGT’s software development kit to develop a tournament-ready casino version of its Arcade Saga game. All that’s left now is the Field of Dreams question: we’ve built it, now will they come?
The post IGT, Boyd launch VR archery tournaments at Vegas casino appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
Net revenue of Hong Kong-listed casino operator Summit Ascent Holdings Ltd. soared 46 percent on the back of the strong rolling chip operation at Tigre de Cristal in Russia’s Far East.
In a regulatory filing, Summit Ascent announced that it posted a net revenue of HKD470.6 million (US$60 million) in 2017 compared to HK$323.2 million (US$41.19 million) in 2016. Summit Ascent’s 2017 profit was HK$13.8 million ($1.76 million).
Summit Ascent chairman Kuo Jen Hao attributed the revenue surge to vibrant gambling activity at Tigre de Cristal.
Tigre de Cristal posted adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of HK$173.7 million, up 32 percent year-on-year, while its rolling chip turnover grew to HK$18.8 billion ($2.4 billion) from HK$14.1 billion (US$1.8 billion) in 2016.
Tigre de Cristal’s mass table revenue climbed 13 percent to HK$132 million (US$16.82 million). Slot machine revenue was up 21 percent to HK$120 million ($15.29 million).
“Most impressively, this was achieved during a period of substantial ownership changes at the Summit Ascent level, the changeover of chief operating officer at Tigre de Cristal, [and] policy uncertainties regarding gaming taxes in the Russian Federation as well as geopolitical instability in the region,” Kuo said in a statement.
Last December, casino mogul Lawrence Ho divested his remaining 20 million shares in Summit Ascent as he looked for opportunities elsewhere.
Quick Glitter Ltd., a company wholly owned by Ho, unloaded 238.6 million shares, representing 16.03 percent of Summit Ascent’s issued share capital.
Ho’s exodus from Summit Ascent came at a time when the Russian Duma announced its plan to hike gaming taxes throughout the Russian Federation.
Last month, the Primorye gaming zone in which Tigre de Cristal resides decided against hiking gambling taxes for fear of deterring future investment by international casino operators.
Union Gaming analyst Grant Govertsen pointed out that Summit Ascent had exceeded some of its expectations, especially when it came to revenue and property-level EBITDA.
Looking ahead, Union Gaming lowered its 2018 VIP growth forecast to 9 percent from 16 percent. For the mass market segment, the Union Gaming analyst is expecting a solid 14 percent growth.
“Importantly, the local government has begun to take enforcement against some (but not all) of the numerous illegal gaming venues in and around Vladivostok,” Govertsen said in a note. “This gives us some optimism as it relates to the outlook for mass and slots on a go-forward basis.”
The post Summit Ascent net revenue jumps 46% in 2017 appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
The UK Court of Appeal rejected an appeal lodged by Ladbrokes in relation to the gambling operator’s decade-long £71-million tax avoidance battle with HM Revenue and Customs, City A.M. reports.
The dispute relates to a 2008 tax scheme deployed by Ladbrokes and accountancy firm Deloitte that exploited a legal loophole to avoid a higher corporate tax bill. The loophole was closed by the UK Government the same year.
Back then, Delloite advised several of its clients, Ladbrokes included, to establish “transacting subsidiaries” within their groups and to transfer corporate tax charges into these. The larger groups thus created just a single unit that was generating losses.
In Ladbrokes’ case, the high street bookmaker merged two of its companies – Travel Document Service and Ladbrokes International, into one subsidiary. The arrangement involved an “artificially manufactured fall in the value of shares” in one of the companies to create a loss in the other company for tax avoidance purposes. Ladbrokes was found to have not suffered actual economic loss following the move.
The dispute between Ladbrokes and HMRC began with the latter slamming the gambling operator for knowingly entering the arrangement and exploiting a loophole to renege tax duties. The UK Government department also pointed out that nine UK corporations that had deployed Deloitte’s scheme had conceded to have done wrong and had paid the tax owed, urging Ladbrokes to follow suit.
The operator admitted back then that it did aim to avoid taxes and it did not generate losses in 2008, but maintained that its set-up did not fall within the remit of HMRC’s rules against tax avoidance at the time.
The bookmaker eventually paid the amount of £71 million in taxes but later on sought to recoup the sum.
Tribunal Court’s Ruling
The UK Tribunal Court sided with HMRC last February, ruling that Ladbrokes had been well-aware of the fact that it had exploited a tax loophole to avoid tax burden. The bookmaker was later on allowed to appeal the Tribunal Court’s ruling in the UK Court of Appeal.
The UK’s second highest law court rejected the major gambling operator’s appeal and bid to rebate the amount of £71 million it had to pay in taxes.
News about Ladbrokes losing its tax appeal case came shortly after the Competition and Markets Authority cleared the operator’s proposed takeover by Isle of Man-based online gambling company GVC Holdings.
GVC is set to acquire Ladbrokes Coral for up to £4 billion to create one of the world’s largest gambling companies. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year’s first half. This would be the second consolidation move undertaken by Ladbrokes Coral in as many years. The Ladbrokes Coral group was created back in 2016 through the merger of Ladbrokes and Coral. The company currently operates the largest chain of betting shops across the UK.
The post UK Court of Appeal Rejects Ladbrokes Appeal in HMRC Tax Battle appeared first on Casino News Daily.
Governments around the globe have taken a serious interest in trying to curtail the amount of money laundering that is supposedly plaguing the gaming industry. Canada and British Columbia have been busily enacting legislation to prevent repeats of the negative publicity surrounding questionable activity at the River Rock Casino, and the U.S., the UK and Australia have also been exploring changes in policies to help clean up the system. Japan is now joining the fight, and recently ordered changes in reporting guidelines at casinos in the country.
Operators of future casinos in Japan will be obligated to report customers who exchange chips worth $9,500 (¥1 million) or more. Regulators are responding to concerns that the casinos will be havens for the exchange of “dirty money” that is used for money laundering or financing terrorism. The new casinos are slated to be opened in integrated resorts in an effort to bring in more international tourism to the island nation.
Anyone who buys or cashes chips worth $9,500 or more will have to provide their name, address and birth date to casino operators. This information will then be turned over to a casino management committee, which will be created at a later date by the government. That entity will catalog the data and investigate any instances that raise flags, such as repeated high-dollar exchanges.
Japan isn’t the first country to introduce these money-laundering countermeasures. In the U.S., Nevada regulators require that casinos follow the same guidelines, and in Singapore the amount is less, at roughly $7,600. Macau has also placed restrictions on exchanges, with Large-Amount Transaction Reports being required for exchanges by junkets of more than around $62,000. Suspicious Transaction Reports are more vague, and are required for any transaction that is thought to be associated with money laundering.
Money laundering is big business. In 2012, a report by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that money-laundering activities amounted to as much as $3.6 trillion per year. That report brought about changes to multiple industries, including gambling, corporate reporting and banking.
Japan is set to re-enter the gambling market with the new casinos. Almost all forms of gambling, except pachinko and horseracing, have been prohibited. However, a change of heart by the Japanese parliament has opened the doors for casinos to enter the country. If everything goes according to plan, Japan anticipates an increase in tourism that jumps by 16 million visitors by the year 2020, up from the 24 million recorded in 2016.
The post Japanese regulators lower casino chip exchange reporting requirements appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
Today, the Health Bureau (SS) of Macau revealed that it has been reached out by two casinos applying to build a total of 12 smoking lounges in their properties as of March 21st. The casino operators that have filed applications seeking the local authorities’ approval, are the recently-opened MGM Cotai and Ponte 16 casino hotel. No additional information about the number of smoking lounges sought to be established by each of the companies was revealed.
According to information provided by the Health Bureau, other casinos in the gambling hub also have intentions to apply, seeking permission to set up smoking lounges in their gambling facilities.
Gaming companies that currently operate in the city have until September 28th to apply for opening new smoking lounges in order for them to have a chance of getting the authorities’ approval before the new smoking ban in casinos comes into effect on January 1st, 2019. Today, the Health Bureau of Macau announced that September 28th would be the last day for local gambling operators to file their applications for setting special smoking lounges with enhanced technical standards in their casino venues.
As far as existing smoking lounges constructed on casino mass floors after the ban are concerned, casino operators would be required to have them upgraded in order for the facilities to meet the new standards imposed by Macau’s Health Bureau.
Macau Casino Smoking Ban
The new regulatory regime on smoking was imposed by the Macau Government in October 2014. At that time, the Government suspended smoking on casino mass floors, with an exception being made for the so-called enclosed smoking lounges.
The latter are special facilities located on some casino mass-market floors, where there are no gaming tables or slot machines, but smoking is allowed. On July 14th 2017, the Legislative Assembly of Macau gave the green light to a revised bill on smoking under which smoking in VIP rooms was suspended. Despite the fact that the amendment was set to be officially enforced on January 1st 2018, visitors of Macau casino VIP rooms are to be given the opportunity for tableside tobacco use until January 1st 2019, because the city’s casinos were provided with a grace period of one year to apply for and set up VIP smoking lounges under the new piece of legislation.
In accordance with the legislation amendment, smoking would be fully banned in casinos as of January 1st 2019, with the only exception being made for the above-mentioned smoking lounges.
The owners of already existing casino smoking lounges would have to submit separate requests to upgrade the facilities and would have to be provided with new licenses from the Macau authorities in order to be given the chance to operate such lounges. In case that any casinos run existing smoking lounges without the necessary technical upgrades and under a newly-issued operating license after the smoking ban comes into effect on January 1st 2019, they could be forced to pay monetary fine of up to MOP 200,000.
The post Two Casinos Reach Out to Macau’s Health Bureau Applying for 12 Smoking Lounges appeared first on Casino News Daily.
Landing International may be late to the Philippine casino party, but Chairman Yang Zhihui hopes that the Hong Kong-listed company will still be able to build a family-friendly integrated resort in the country.
Yang was quoted by a GGRAsia report describing Landing’s Philippines aspirations as a “work in progress,” given the country’s moratorium on the issuance of licenses for brick-and-mortar gambling facilities. Landing, according to Yang, sought regulatory approval for the construction of a multi-million dollar integrated resort before the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) stopped accepting applications for casino licenses.
“But in fact, our application [for such licenae] has already been under negotiation last year… On this business, it is still a work of progress,” Yang said, according to the news outlet.
Unlike other Philippine casino projects, Yang said their proposal to President Rodrigo Duterte involves building a world-class entertainment and leisure resort for families while gambling facilities remain secondary.
“I’ve told President Duterte about this plan of [building] a theme park; [something] which the Philippines does not have; nor does the country boast any large-scale water parks. He was very interested in our concept,” Yang said.
On Tuesday, PAGCOR chair Andrea Domingo told gaming executives during the opening of the ASEAN Gaming Summit 2018 in Manila that there’s an existing moratorium for integrated resort casinos.
She said that PAGCOR will continue to process the applications that were submitted before January 13, 2018, since they already paid all the fees and completed the requirements.
“We want gaming to be more of an entertaining activity. But since gaming cannot be prevented, we have to regulate it well and ensure that the revenues derived from this activity will be used for the socio-civic needs of our country,” Domingo said.
Vicky Melbourne, Fitch Ratings’ head of Industrials, Property and Consumer, South and Southeast Asia, said the casino moratorium is a positive development because it will provide surety that casino operators in the Philippines are looking for.
“From an operator’s perspective, knowing that now, I think that’s good for them,” Melbourne told CalvinAyre.com at the sidelines of the ASEAN Gaming Summit 2018 in Manila. “If they know that the regulators have sort of capped it and you are in the market, you’ve got that safeguard.”
The post Landing boss still hopeful to get in the Philippine casino market appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
Vietnam has all the ingredients to have a successful casino industry but somehow, the Asian country remains underpenetrated.
Imperial Pacific Senior Vice President Lu Tsai pointed out that many operators have overlooked Vietnam’s potential in favor of more popular Southeast Asian jurisdictions such as the Philippines and Cambodia. But Tsai believes the Vietnam market still has lots of opportunities to offer.
“I think there’s still room for penetration. Just what we’ve talked about earlier, with the Vietnam market, is not penetrated very well,” Tsai told CalvinAyre.com.
Among the main draws of the Vietnam market are its young population, its propensity for games, and the Vietnamese love of travel. Tsai noted that Vietnam has international airports with many direct flights to a lot of regional places.
Natural resources and tourist spots in Vietnam are also good selling points for the premium mass sector from mainland China, according to Tsai.
Unfortunately, the Imperial Pacific executive said that there’s a little push from the stakeholders and government to really develop the Vietnamese base.
“It’s something that I rack my brain, I wonder why,” Tsai said. “If these operators truly understand the Vietnamese markets, especially out of Ho Chi Minh City, they are going to put some effort to build that market.”
He also believes that Vietnam, just like Thailand, is proof that the Southeast Asian region’s casino industry has not reached overcapacity.
“I think the markets are not saturated at all at this point. Even the Thai market is not penetrated. The Thai inbound is huge, $24 to $28 million a year. The Thai outbound is also very big,” Tsaid pointed out. “On the Thai outbound side, how are they being targeted? That is something is need to get a good look and understand where they want to develop new market.”
If there’s one piece of advice that he could give operators wanting to invest in Southeast Asia, Tsai said that they should first take a look at the airport and sites to see where the most flights are being taken. He noted that big airport traffic establishes that the market has a good infrastructure from a travel perspective.
“You need to make a more holistic approach from a marketing strategy perspective to say these are the markets we want to go after. Here’s why and here’s how,” Tsai said.
The post Vietnam casino market remains underpenetrated, says Imperial Pacific exec appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.
