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bwin.party enters social gaming with $50m investment...
bwin.party digital entertainment has today announced its entry into social gaming with an investment of up to US$50m over the next two years.
A specialist management team led by Barak Rabinowitz has been recruited to spearhead the group’s social gaming strategy, as well as the establishment of a dedicated social games studio in Gibraltar.
The company revealed its strategy of leveraging existing group assets and skills as well as those of partners to deliver long-term value and it hopes to secure a meaningful market position within the next two years.
Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, co-CEOs of bwin.party, said: “We have chosen a ‘build and partner’ strategy, one that provides us with both the resources and additional management expertise to execute our planned extension into social gaming - an exciting and fast growing area of digital entertainment that is the latest addition to our business strategy.
“Our investment will enable us to launch Win, our dedicated social gaming studio with its own development centre that will increase our speed to market both for social as well as mobile games. Intent on securing a meaningful position in the marketplace, we expect a €5-€10m impact to Clean EBITDA in 2012 and 2013. However, we are excited by the potential of this new market and believe we can deliver attractive returns in the medium term through relatively modest investment, funded from operating cashflow over the next 18 months.”
bwin.party digital - Extension of Group strategy into social gaming...
30 May 2012
bwin.party digital entertainment plc ('bwin.party', the 'Company' or, together with its subsidiaries, 'Group')
Extension of Group strategy into social gaming
Highlights:
· Investment of up to $50m (€40m) over the next two years to fund:
o establishment of a new social games studio called 'Win (Taiwan OTC: 3105.TWO - news) ' with its own dedicated development teams
o development and launch costs of a number of new social gaming applications
o the purchase for up to $23m (€18m) in cash (of which $17.25m (€14m) has already been
paid) of a number of assets from Velasco Services Inc. and Orneon Limited which will
accelerate our market entry and include
§ a number of existing B2B social gaming contracts
§ significant software engineering resources
· Strategy focused on leveraging existing Group assets and skills as well as those of partners to deliver long-term value
· Launch of first applications in Summer 2012
· Commitment to secure meaningful market position expected to result in additional costs of €5-€10m in 2012 and 2013
Introduction
The advent of social gaming has been a spectacular growth story over the past two years. Over this period revenue models have evolved extensively so that what previously was an interesting internet phenomenon has become a large commercial marketplace, one that now is worth billions of dollars each year. Whilst being very different in many ways to real money gaming on the internet and through digital channels, several of the assets and skills required for success in the social gaming world are the same as those required by successful companies in the real money gaming market:
· Proprietary gaming content
· Excellent CRM and business analytics
· Online marketing expertise
· Partnerships with leading brands
With many of these and other assets already in place within the Group, we are keen to leverage them into this exciting new market and so have launched a new social gaming business unit and strategy with its own dedicated management team and infrastructure. Called 'Win', the new unit is based in Gibraltar and will draw on resources across the Group's locations to identify and develop new opportunities in social gaming.
Management team
A specialist management team led by Barak Rabinowitz has been recruited to spearhead our social gaming strategy and the establishment of a dedicated social games studio. Having studied at Georgetown University as well as the London School of Economics, Mr Rabinowitz spent three years working in the Mergers ∓ Acquisitions and Global Technology Groups at Morgan Stanley (EUREX: DWDF.EX - news) before joining Yahoo (NasdaqGS: YHOO - news) ! in 2006. Following an MBA at Harvard Business School, Mr Rabinowitz was engaged in social gaming start-ups before being appointed CEO of Mytopia where he was instrumental in growing revenue and has extensive experience in the management and development of social gaming companies.
Alex Usach will lead a new technology development unit dedicated to social games development. He has over 20 years of management experience in software development having qualified with a Ph.D Degree in Computer Science from Vinnitsya Polytechnic University. Previously Mr Usach led Eastern European branches of Flextronics International (until 2006) and more recently of Aricent Group, a software services company owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. Mr Usach is known to a number of the world's leading gaming companies as a partner in developing new content for both real money and social games.
Dan Matkowski, is lead Game Producer. Previously Mr Matkowski was a leading games producer with Electronic Arts (NasdaqGS: ERTS - news) , the US interactive entertainment software company and has extensive games production experience across multiple platforms, developing products through the concept and discovery/ prototyping, pre-production, production and finalising phases.
Tilli Kalisky is Head of Publishing. Previously Associate Partner with Greylock Partners, a leading US Venture Capital firm, Mrs Kalisky is a graduate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management and has extensive experience of working with a number of social media companies including mysupermarket, PLYmedia and VocalTec
Dennis Hettema is in charge of prototype development. Previously co-founder and head of incubator at Hettema ∓ Bergsten, a social gaming applications company, Mr Hettema developed the Group's Aces Hangout application that is now running on Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) +.
Investment in development resources
Including the acquisition of assets announced today, the Group is investing approximately $50m (€40m) from existing resources over the next two years to become a major force in the rapidly growing social gaming market. As a first step, we have secured significant development resources by contracting with software developers and engineers experienced in delivering social gaming solutions across all key technologies including HTML5, iOS and Android.
Based in Eastern Europe and operating now as part of our Win Interactive subsidiary, the team has extensive experience having been behind the development of highly successful social gaming applications and platforms including Slotomania, now part of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, and Casmul, that was acquired by Playphone, bwin.party intends to launch a variety of social gaming products on the web, mobile and social networks.
As well as securing significant development resources, the Group has assumed certain B2B service contracts under which Win Interactive will continue to provide a range of social gaming and related services to third party gaming companies whilst also developing proprietary applications for the Group.
Social gaming strategy
We believe that we can establish a competitive advantage in social gaming built on the following four pillars:
· Experienced management team and proprietary gaming platform
· Portfolio of new applications online and on smartphone platforms
· Original IP in the creation and distribution of social gaming content
· Best of breed partnerships with leading independent game studios
Leveraging the Group's existing assets and skills including, inter alia, our extensive library of proprietary games content and experience in customer acquisition and analytics, we have a plan in place to reach the following milestones over the next twenty-four months:
· Establishment of a dedicated social gaming unit, Win
· Development of dedicated social gaming technology platform
· Release of social sports betting, casino, poker and bingo applications
· Launch of a new social gaming destination portal called www.win.com
Drawing upon the Group's extensive games portfolio as well as through the development of new content, Win will operate on a 'freemium' business model based on the sale of virtual credits for users to play and advance in the games, as well as to purchase virtual gifts and other consumables. Win may also seek to exploit advertising opportunities that can provide additional revenue through offers, banners and search.
Mobile is an important channel for social gaming and by drawing on the experience of our newly engaged developers, many of whom were integral to the development of an application platform for operating multiplayer-social games and gaming networks on iOS and Android devices, the Group intends to launch games using this important medium.
Commenting on today's announcement, Jim Ryan and Norbert Teufelberger, the Co-CEOs of bwin.party, said:
"We have chosen a 'build and partner' strategy, one that provides us with both the resources and additional management expertise to execute our planned extension into social gaming - an exciting and fast growing area of digital entertainment that is the latest addition to our business strategy. We are focused on building a meaningful stand-alone enterprise that will operate outside our core real money gaming business but which will benefit from the Group's significant resources and assets. Our investment will enable us to launch Win, our dedicated social gaming studio with its own development centre that will increase our speed to market both for social as well as mobile games. Intent on securing a meaningful position in the marketplace, we expect a €5-€10m impact to Clean EBITDA in 2012 and 2013. However, we are excited by the potential of this new market and believe we can deliver attractive returns in the medium term through relatively modest investment, funded from operating cashflow over the next 18 months."
Video interview and analyst presentation - 30 May 2012
An interview with Norbert Teufelberger and Barak Rabinowitz, in video/audio and text will be available from 7.00am BST on 30 May 2012 on: www.bwinparty.com.
The Group will also give a presentation on the Group's entry into the social gaming market to invited analysts in London at 11.00 a.m. BST on 30 May 2012. The presentation will be made available via a live webcast that can be accessed through the Group's website: www.bwinparty.com. Copies of the slides presented at the meeting will also be made available on 30 May 2012 and a telephone audio stream of the presentation will also be available using the following details:
Dial-In No: +44 (0)20 3003 2666
Replay (available for 1 week): +44 (0)20 8196 1998
Replay passcode: 6419292
Australian online poker gets boost from report...
Australian gambling service providers have welcomed the recommendations of a review into the Interactive Gambling Act which could usher in online poker tournaments and online in-the-run betting.
Josh Blanksby, director, legal and corporate affairs at Betfair, told Computerworld Australia that promoting online poker tournaments in Australia is a step in the right direction. He said overseas operators already offer these services to Australian consumers and operate in an unregulated environment.
“There’s clearly a demand for it and we’re of the view that if possible they should be betting with Australian operators where it’s much safer and controlled,” Blanksby said.
While Betfair does not currently offer online poker services to its Australian customers, Blanksby said it would look into the opportunity because of consumer demand for the services.
“We’ve got technology available to us to offer those services in the jurisdictions that it’s permitted through Europe and a few other jurisdictions. Obviously, if the licenses became available we’d certainly look at it,” he said.
In its submission (PDF) to the committee, Betfair also proposed legalising online in-the-run betting, which would allow users to place bets while a game is in progress.
While it is currently legal for in-the-run betting to occur over the phone or in person, it is prohibited the online.
The review has recommended any form of in-the-run betting, on any platform, should be allowed if it is approved by the relevant state regulator and the national sports governing body. However, micro-betting, such as play-by-play betting, should still be prohibited, the report said.
Blanksby has welcomed the lifting of the prohibition on online in-the-run betting and said the law was created in 2001 but technology and the way customers interact with the internet changed changed.
“It just didn’t make sense for one platform not to be allowed while others are,” he said.
The Review of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 found there could be as many as 2200 gambling services which are unlicensed and breach the IGA, with an estimated $1 billion being lost per year to unlicensed online gambling providers.
The review is now up for public consultation, which will close on 25 June.
“This is an interim report only. The government has made no decisions about possible changes to the IGA and will not do so until we have had further public consultation with interested parties,” Senator Stephen Conroy, minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, said in a statement.
Abbott comes out against online gambling...
The federal coalition has declared it will oppose any moves to open up online gambling.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he's not against gambling overall, but he is against more online gambling options, particularly those that might target young people.
"If it goes ahead, every computer is a casino," he told reporters in Canberra on Thursday as he joined independent senator Nick Xenophon to discuss the issue.
"That's not on as far as the coalition is concerned."
Communications and Broadband Minister Stephen Conroy earlier this week released a departmental interim report into the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (IGA).
The report suggests 30 changes to act, including measures to ban micro-betting on sporting events, such as ball-by-ball bets in cricket or point-by-point bets in tennis, across all platforms.
But Senator Xenophon says the underlying reasoning of the report - that new forms of online gambling should be legalised because Australians were using illegal overseas sites - is flawed.
Senator Xenophon told reporters that the government had changed its tune on online gambling, since Senator Conroy said almost two years ago that the risks of opening it up in Australia were too great.
"That raises some serious questions - is the federal government looking at online gambling as their next big revenue source?" Senator Xenophon said.
The Commonwealth had been the "last best hope" for gambling reform because it did not rely on gambling revenue, unlike the states.
"Tony Abbott is absolutely right - if you open this up you will unleash a new tidal wave of problem gambling, particularly amongst younger Australians."
Senator Xenophon said if the government was concerned about Australians spending money on overseas-based online gambling it should blacklist the websites and crack down on the financial transactions.
Anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello said in a statement, read by Senator Xenophon at the media conference, that online gambling was a "predatory product". (AAP)
Playtech and Virgin Games partner...
Virgin Games has further enhanced its offering by partnering with online gaming software provider Playtech.
Virgin Games has established a direct integration with Playtech, giving its customers access to a large variety of online slot games that will be launched over the coming months. The first game to be launched is Rocky, a five-reel, 25-payline slot based on the MGM film of the same title.
This integration “reinforces” Virgin Games’ strategy to bring its customers a wider choice of game content.
Simon Burridge, CEO of Virgin Games, said: “Our goal is to provide our customers with the widest range of top tier entertainment through online casino games. We believe that it is key to offer both variety and choice so it is crucial to us that we offer a range of games from a number of the best of breed software providers.
“Since the launch of our custom built platform back in 2008, we have introduced a wide range of new gaming content to our sites and Virgin Games now has one of the widest ranges of casino and slot games available in the UK, hosting over 350 games. The addition of Playtech, a leader in its field, is a big step forward for Virgin Games customers and we look forward to launching its games with a range of promotions over the coming months.”
James Packer to face fight on Star casino takeover...
Star casino chairman John Story has vowed to fight James Packer's move to have him kicked off the board and replaced by former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, declaring he has the full support of his directors.
Asked if he was considering stepping aside from his role with The Star's parent company Echo after Mr Packer called an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders, he said: "Of course I'm not."
Asked if he had the full support of the board, Mr Story replied: "Yes."
A statement from the board supporting Mr Story is expected today.
The EGM called by Mr Packer must be held by the end of July. It comes amid moves by Mr Packer to take over The Star and build a second casino as part of a luxury hotel development at Barangaroo.
At this stage it appears Mr Packer's bid to install Mr Kennett will be unsuccessful but he will continue to press Mr Kennett forward if regulatory authorities allow him to lift his 9.9 per cent stake in Echo.
Mr Story has made clear that if Mr Packer wants to take over the casino and win board positions, he should pay a "premium" for it.
But Mr Packer's company Crown claims he has already artificially inflated the share price by lifting his stake from five per cent.
Premier Barry O'Farrell gave Mr Kennett support yesterday, saying he would be a very "capable" chairman.
Mr Packer's bid to increase his stake in Echo may face significant regulatory hurdles, with the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority to send casino inspectors to Macau to investigate Mr Packer's businesses there amid controversy over his dealings with the Ho family.
The approval process could take six months.
Mr Packer's business partner in Macau is Lawrence Ho, son of Stanley Ho, who has been linked to Macau triads in reports by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Mr Ho denies the allegations and Lawrence Ho denies any connection with his father's business interests.
Crown sources pointed out yesterday that Mr Packer had won regulatory approval in Perth, Melbourne and the "strictest" regime in the world - Nevada.
sIt is understood the Packer Barangaroo hotel proposal presented to the Premier in a meeting in March in the Premier's office involves the completion of a six star luxury hotel development at Barangaroo in 2018.
That would be built just one year before the one-casino licence for NSW runs out.
Crown and Lend Lease have been having discussions about building the hotel at Barangaroo south.
Asked for his opinion of Mr Packer's boardroom moves, Mr O'Farrell said yesterday: "I'm not a shareholder, I don't have to make anything of them.
"Jeff Kennett is certainly someone who is more than capable of being a chairman of a public company, and as I've said on the record before, I welcome investment in NSW, but anyone who invests in NSW has to meet the usual regulatory and planning approval."
But even if Mr Packer wins a takeover of the Sydney casino, it will never be as big as Crown in Melbourne.
There is a clause in the Victorian casino agreement which stipulates Mr Packer would not be able to build The Star as big as Crown (News Limited)
Packer casino bid to give Kennett a Star role...
Billionaire James Packer will ask Echo Entertainment shareholders to dump the head of Sydney's The Star casino in favour of former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett.
Mr Packer, who is chairman of Melbourne's Crown Casino, has called for the chairman of Star operator Echo Entertainment, John Story, to be stood down over the company's management of the casino and handling of a recent public inquiry into its operations.
Mr Packer has written a letter to Echo shareholders calling for an extraordinary general meeting to remove Mr Story and install Mr Kennett to the board.
Mr Packer is an Echo shareholder and it is believed the move is part of his plan to pressure the New South Wales Government to approve a second casino on Sydney Harbour.
The Government had said it would not comment, because Mr Packer's application to build the casino in the massive Barangaroo development is before the state's Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
But Premier Barry O'Farrell later insisted Mr Kennett's involvement would have no impact on any decision to allow a second casino.
"Jeff Kennett is certainly someone who is more than capable of being a chairman of a public company and, as I've said on the record before, I welcome investment in New South Wales," Mr O'Farrell said.
"But anyone who invests in New South Wales has to meet the usual regulatory and planning approvals."
Anti-gambling campaigner and independent Senator Nick Xenophon says he is disappointed to hear of Mr Kennett's involvement.
"What I find curious is that Jeff Kennett, through his terrific advocacy and terrific work for Beyond Blue, an organisation that has helped so many Australians battle depression; I think there is some irony in the fact, if he takes on this role at The Star casino, there is a clear link between problem gambling and depression," Senator Xenophon said.
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu says he is surprised to hear of the potential new role for his predecessor, but Mr Kennett would be a valuable asset.
"Obviously there's a downside of gaming and gambling. I think if anybody is aware of that Jeffrey is aware of it, but there are also other components to what I understand is going to happen at Barangaroo," Mr Baillieu said.
The inquiry into The Star by the gaming authority reported back earlier this month.
The authority found the casino acted appropriately over sexual harassment claims against its former managing director, Sid Vaikunta.
The report said Echo promptly and thoroughly investigated the allegations and it was appropriate they sack him.
Tabcorp responds to Gambling Act review findings...
Australia’s Tabcorp has responded to the interim report released by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, following its review of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
The operator has been a long-time advocate of a review of the act, but believes that the growth of online technologies has meant that it is not fulfilling its intended purposes since it was first introduced 11 years ago.
The company stated: "Specifically, a number of gambling operators offer online services to Australian customers in contravention of the act, without consequence.”
Tabcorp has reiterated its support for an online gambling framework that creates a level playing field for wagering operators, minimises harm and maintains consumer confidence in the gambling industry.
In response to the interim report’s findings:
• Tabcorp supports efforts to strengthen sanctions against illegal online gambling operators, including the provision of more forceful warnings to consumers. To succeed, these measures will require vigilance by authorities, resourcing from government and regular review to keep pace with technological change. The measures proposed should go some way to ensuring that contravening operators are more likely to comply with the act’s requirements and are sanctioned when they are breached.
• The deregulation of certain online gambling activities, such as live betting on sports events and tournament poker, would enable Australians who wish to participate in such activities to bet with reputable Australian operators, rather than force them to bet with contravening offshore or local operators.
• Tabcorp supports the development of national minimum standards for harm minimisation. This would create a framework for the appropriate delivery of online gambling, noting the differences for customer care between online and land-based gambling activity. Standards should address responsible gambling messaging, credit betting, inducements, marketing, self-exclusion and requirements for arrangements with sports controlling bodies. Tabcorp has been critical of the inconsistent approach to responsible gambling messages, pre-commitment tools and credit betting policies, which currently apply across the country. (Intergame Online)
News Ltd moving into MMOs and online fantasy games...
News Limited wants to begin charging for massively multiplayer online (MMO) sporting games
News Limited has flagged that it is to make a push into massively multiplayer online (MMO) games and ‘online fantasy games’ as part of an effort to capture a slice of the growing online gaming market.
In its submission to the Federal Government’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001 review, the company argued for a clarification of the ‘interactive gambling’ term to allow it to begin charging users to play.
The company already offers online fantasy sports games in which users can construct sports ‘dream teams’ but these are run as “free to enter trade promotion lotteries" in order to remain compliant under Interactive Gambling Act 2001 and various state legislations. However, News Limited argues that the nature and scope of the competitions are not akin to gambling services, and hence should not fall under the Act.
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According to the submission, the fee charged for entry would be based on a “relatively small fixed annual payment” in return for News administering and providing the gaming service.
“There would be no continual investment from the participants as is required to play poker machines, online poker or sports betting where there is always a chance to take or event to bet on,” the submission reads.
“This scenario differs markedly from the issue of problem gambling which is what the Act was designed to control by limiting the provision of gambling services to Australians through interactive technologies such as the internet.”
In clarifying the Act’s definition of an interactive gambling service to allow the company to charge for its online games and “allow News Limited to adequately compete in what is becoming a largely international market in terms of interactive online games.”
Detailing its plans for massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, News said it intended to allow users to take their dream sports teams and allow them to compete against other players online.
“Entry to the MMOs would be free with participants at a later stage being afforded the non-mandatory opportunity to purchase better skills to improve performance,” the submission reads.
According to the submission, with each user win the difficulty of the game increases, thus increasing the need for users to purchase new players, skills, coaches, and equipment via ‘cards’.
“The upper limit to the number of cards one player can purchase ensure that the games requires a fixed payment which would not be comparable to regular and continual monetary injections required to play online poker or wagering on sporting events,” the submission reads.
News’ submission follows those made by a number of online gaming companies. In its submission Sportsbet called for a relaxation in the Interactive Gambling Act to allow it to compete with offshore companies.
In its submission Internet Industry Association (IIA) called on the government not to make internet service providers responsible for regulating online problem gambling.
Crown Casino To Host World Series of Poker in 2013...
James Packer's Crown Casino has announced an exciting partnership with the worlds largest poker brand, the World Series Of Poker. Set to take place at Crown Casino in Melbourne from April 4-15 2013, the World Series of poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC) is a huge expansion into the world's largest gaming market.
WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said, “Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,”
“With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”
Crown Casino in Melbourne already is the home to the world's largest tournament series outside of the World Series Of Poker in Las Vegas with the Aussie Millions series each January attracting the worlds premier players. Crown Melbourne's CEO Greg Hawkins said, “This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region”.
“Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”
The WSOP brand is one of the worlds most iconic and every poker player in the world dreams of one day being the proud owner of coveted WSOP Bracelet. The WSOP brand is 42-years old and in 2007 it expanded beyond the USA with the launch of the WSOP Europe in London (2007-2010) and subsequently into France (2011). The WSOP APAC is set to tap into the tremendous growth of peer-2-peer gaming in this region.
As part of the agreement with the WSOP, the WSOP APAC events are expected to be televised globally across ESPN. Fox Sports, as seen on Foxtel, already broadcasts games from competitor, World Poker Tour (owned by Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment).
One man who is no stranger to ESPN and the WSOP is Australian local sporting hero, Joe Hachem. Way back in 2005 Joe won the most prestigious poker event in the world, the World Series Of Poker Main Event.
“It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil,” said Joe Hachem. “I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia. It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”
The full WSOP APAC schedule is set to be released later this year.
Marvel Entertainment - The Avengers Boosting Marvel Slots Popularity; Media Agency...
The box office success of Marvel Entertainment comic book based movie 'The Avengers', is boosting the popularity of Marvel slot games across internet networks, the Media Man agency has reported.
A Media Man spokesperson said "Marvel themed games have been popular ever since they were first released, but the success of Marvel Entertainment movies such as Thor, Captain America and The Avengers has at least doubled their popularity according to our data. A new rumoured Hulk movie or TV series, and the upcoming release of The Wolverine movie, staring Australia's own Hugh Jackman, will only further spike online game popularity."
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment has licensed the Marvel deal, and the games can be found at Hitwise top ten website portals such as Media Man, which has a b2b in place with Bwin.Party and PartyCasino.
More Marvel Entertainment games are in the works and the Media Man agency will be providing detailed reviews on the games as more information comes to hand.
Gamers and gamblers, as always - bet with your head, not over it, and have fun.
Marvel Entertainment movie game fans and true believers...there's only one thing to say - Excelsior!
Chris Hemsworth Catches Self From Fame, Calls Hollywood Rise Amazing...
Chris Hemsworth is literally lording over cinema lobbies recently. His arresting larger-than-life posters and stand-ins are displayed as Thor in “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “The Cabin in the Woods” and forthcoming film “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
“[Fame is] absolutely [surreal] I catch myself and I think ‘oh my God.’ I’ve been in the business 11, 12 years and now I’m doing exactly what I dreamed of. It’s funny because when you are right in the eye of the storm you don’t realize it. Then suddenly you catch yourself and go ‘wow, this is amazing.’”
Hemsworth spends most of the awesome Hollywood time going through the motion without really realizing how huge his year has been since he starred in “Thor.” But he gets reminded of the feat through family.
“What’s most enjoyable is when my parents come and visit and I’m able to see it through their eyes. That’s so great. They are blown away every time they come to a set to visit. And it’s lovely going to premieres with them. We all just have a laugh about it.”
For the actor, it seems just yesterday when he came to LA from Australia and struggled to find acting gigs. But looking back now, “I’d had a good year of doing nothing and I was about to go home when these things started happening. I worked with Kenneth Branagh, Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman in ‘Thor.’ These are great professionals who I respect enormously and they are such a good bunch of people, too. Then I jumped into ‘The Avengers’ with another amazing cast and from that to ‘Snow White and the Huntsman.’ It’s been incredible. Next I’ll be working with Ron Howard on ‘Rush.’”
A family man off-camera, Hemsworth’s family life is also in the upswing. Happily married to actress Elsa Pataky and a new father to a baby girl born May 14, Hemsworth is one rare example that some people can have it all.
“I am very excited (about fatherhood). As a kid, my parents travelled up to the Northern Territory and all over Australia. I look forward to doing that kind of thing with my family. So becoming a father is another exciting journey for me.”
Playing A Drunk Huntsman
The 28-year-old actor only gets to visit the dark side when filming. In “Snow White and the Huntsman,” the actor stars opposite Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron. “It’s certainly more the Grimm’s fairytale version of Snow White than the Disney version that we know from the cartoons. ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ is epic in every way. The scale of the picture is huge. For example, we were shooting 150 people on horseback riding down the beach to storm the Queen’s castle, a fantastic scene we shot down in Wales. I’ve never seen anything this size. And the sets were incredible. They built castles and courtyards and villages one after another.”
He likened the production to the epic battle scenes of “Lord of the Rings” and “Gladiator.” “It’s a sort of on the scale of a ‘Lord of the Rings’ or ‘Gladiator’ film. What was great for me was Rupert Sanders’ (director) vision for the film and the fact that there are fully developed characters. There’s nothing black and white about it. Even the Queen has great motivation for doing what she is doing. She is not just evil for the sake of being evil. Snow White, too, has her own conflicts. The Huntsman, who I play, is a real lost soul and has sort of given up on the world and then sees a bit of light in Snow White. She sees it in him, too, and all of a sudden he is forced to re-think things and find who he really is. It’s a very redemptive story for my character. There are some beautiful character arcs.”
In “Huntsman,” the dwarves are played by Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and Bob Hoskins among others. “The dwarves are amazing. To work with those guys and actually to sit off set and listen to Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and Bob Hoskins chatting away to each other, telling stories, all their banter, was such a treat. What they add to the film is just brilliant. It’s one of my favourite things about the film,” said Hemsworth.
As the Huntsman, Hemsworth said he was “hired as a bit of a mercenary. He’s a drunk and he puts himself into situations where he doesn’t really care what’s going to happen. And he’s doesn’t have much of a choice about whether he will go and capture Snow White. He is kind of forced into it but at the same time he is offered something that The Queen promises. So he weighs his options and agrees to do it. By the time he meets Snow White and captures her, his conscience starts to play into it and he starts to see the light that Snow White has. He begins to question what he is doing.”
As far as Hollywood’s current obsession with fairy tales goes, Hemsworth said it has a lot to do with the stories being familiar to viewers. “I think it’s because fairy tales are familiar to people. These stories have survived so long so obviously there is something enjoyable about them. It can be tough sometimes to get people into the cinema so when you have a film of this scale, with all of the special effects, people want to see it on the big screen.”
Hugh Jackman tweets Wolverine sequel start date...
Uncross those adamantium claws because The Wolverine could go into production in Sydney as soon as August, according to a tweet from Hugh Jackman.
In a reply to a fan who tweeted him about when his Wolverine sequel would start filming, Jackman replied: "(it) starts shooting in August!!!"
The Aussie star, who is currently filming Les Miserables with Russell Crowe, will take a two month break before filming begins so he can bulk up his famous frame for The Wolverine.
The news was announced last month that the state and federal government had secured a deal with 20th Century Fox to have the film shoot locally, bringing some 2000 jobs to Sydney.
It was a welcome relief for fans of Jackman's portrayal of comic book hero Wolverine.
The sequel to X-Men spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine has experienced no shortage of trouble in its pre-production stages, with a 2011 start date in Japan having to be canceled after the tsunami.
Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky was attached to the project, before dropping out and being replaced by James Manogold (Walk The Line, Girl, Interrupted).
Jackman says he's looking forward to working with Manogold, who directed him on rom-com Kate and Leopold.
"He’ a great director and he’s very smart.
"I know he’s going to make an amazing film and this is the best script we’ve ever had.” (News Limited)
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Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Vegas casinos gamble on online partners with a past - 14th May 2012
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To prime itself for the U.S. debut of legal online poker, MGM Resorts International, owner of such Las Vegas Strip monuments as the MGM Grand, the Bellagio and the Mirage, wanted a partner that knew the ropes.
So last October it hooked up with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc, a London-listed, Gibraltar-based specialist that rakes in more from Web betting than any other publicly traded company. MGM Resorts took 25 percent of a new venture 65 percent owned by Bwin.Party, with smaller Las Vegas casino operator Boyd Gaming getting the remaining 10 percent.
"We'll be out of the gate as soon as anybody," MGM Resorts Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren boasted to investors in February.
Online expertise isn't the only thing that distinguishes Bwin.Party. In 2009, an earlier incarnation of the company paid $105 million while admitting to U.S. prosecutors it had run an illegal gambling operation and engaged in bank and wire fraud.
Among its principal backers: a California-born woman who made a fortune in phone sex and Web pornography businesses that, like the pioneering online-gambling company that became Bwin.Party, faced multiple allegations of wrongdoing.
MGM Resorts' choice of Bwin.Party as a partner while applying for online poker licenses in Nevada might seem unusual. It isn't. The alliance reflects the calculated risks that major casino operators, Native American tribes and social-gaming giants Zynga and Facebook are weighing as they angle for a slice of a market valued at billions of dollars a year.
Caesars Entertainment Corp is prepping for online poker by tying up with an Israeli company that in 2007 acknowledged settlement talks with the U.S. Justice Department over alleged breaches of anti-gambling laws.
A group of Native American tribes in California has signed up to use software from another Israeli company, run by a man who served prison time for stock manipulation and bribery. Another tribe last week announced a deal with Bwin.Party.
Zynga, eager to convert some of its tens of millions of virtual poker enthusiasts into cash gamblers, also has been in talks with Bwin.Party and others that have had brushes with the law, according to people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, offshore gambling outfit PokerStars is considering buying its chief offshore rival, Full Tilt, and making a run at the U.S. market even though founders of both were indicted by the Justice Department last year on charges of illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering, according to people familiar with the situation.
All this comes as Nevada prepares to license the first online poker operators and software suppliers late next month -- and as California, New Jersey, Iowa, Massachusetts, Delaware and other states debate similar moves.
Many of the cash-starved states, encouraged by intensive industry lobbying, have felt freer to act since December, when the Justice Department declared that one federal anti-gambling law, the Wire Act, would no longer be enforced beyond sports betting.
But casino operators, Indian tribes and Internet powers bent on offering online poker lack experience delivering it. Online poker is a business that involves processing billions of dollars worth of bets and battling the fraudsters, cheats and robot-player software that can ruin the games. Hence the casinos are cozying up to some tech-savvy offshore partners whose pedigrees might give regulators pause.
Most states have "suitability" rules designed to keep crooks out of the gambling industry. Nevada requires that successful license applicants and their large shareholders possess "good character, honesty and integrity." Nevertheless, the big casino operators and their offshore partners are betting that regulators will look favorably on their license applications for two good reasons: tax money and high-tech jobs.
Early indications are that they are right.
At a hearing on a Caesars deal with the Israeli company last year, Mark Lipparelli, chairman of Nevada's Gaming Control Board, said: "I don't think as we look at companies that we can have perfection as the standard, because I think that would be a disservice to the state in attracting business here." The board unanimously recommended approval of the venture.
Gambling foes warn that states are putting fiscal worries ahead of public safety, exposing a huge and vulnerable population to the potential for compulsive betting. "The governments are so desperate for revenues that they will partner with these lawbreaking outfits," said Les Bernal, executive director of the nonprofit Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation in Washington, D.C. "They will create addiction in order to feed off of it."
PORN AND CARDS
Jim Ryan, co-chief executive officer of Bwin.Party, acknowledged in an interview that when the company was looking for U.S. partners, its history was a chief concern of MGM Resorts and other U.S. companies.
"Suitability is the very first question on all of their minds," he told Reuters during a recent business trip to San Francisco.
It's easy to see why.
Bwin.Party grew out of PartyGaming, a brainchild of San Francisco-area native Ruth Parasol, who has a history as colorful as Las Vegas. After earning a law degree, Parasol first prospered in the 1990s through 1-900 phone-sex and other services that were sued by multiple states for aggressive billing and collection practices. In North Carolina's suit, the judge ordered a company she co-founded to pay $270,000 in damages.
Then Parasol put her money behind Internet Entertainment Group, which gained notoriety for releasing an early Pamela Anderson sex video and promising an initial public offering that never happened. Employees accused the company of routinely overbilling customers, and Chief Executive Seth Warshavsky fled to Thailand as authorities investigated. Warshavsky didn't respond to an interview request.
Parasol managed to emerge unscathed, and in 1997 founded Starluck Casino in the Caribbean, providing online gambling to customers in the U.S. and elsewhere. The company had a big hit with its PartyPoker website, which became the dominant force in U.S. online cards, and then renamed itself PartyGaming.
Parasol, who has been living in Gibraltar for most of the past decade, declined requests for an interview.
In 2005, PartyGaming's IPO became the largest London had seen in four years, valuing the company at more than $8 billion. Just then, debate over the U.S. legal status of online gambling flared.
The Justice Department had long argued that Internet poker violated the Wire Act and other federal and state laws. Despite the success of PartyGaming and other offshore companies, no U.S.-based companies offered alternatives for fear of prosecution.
In 2006, Congress clarified the matter by passing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, explicitly barring processing interstate or international poker transactions where state laws forbade such gambling. PartyGaming responded by pulling out of the U.S., leaving two-thirds of its players behind to be claimed by privately held offshore companies.
The law didn't snuff out online poker in the U.S. as players migrated to other offshore providers. Research firm H2 Gambling Capital estimates the U.S. accounts for about $400 million of global annual online poker revenue of nearly $5 billion, or 8 percent. Depending on how many states ultimately legalize online cards, that share could rise to as high as 28 percent in five years, the company says.
PartyGaming's problems didn't end when it left the United States. In 2008, co-founder Anurag Dikshit pleaded guilty to gambling via the wires in federal district court in New York. He forfeited $300 million and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, leading PartyGaming itself to settle in 2009. The company paid $105 million to avoid prosecution for pre-UIGEA violations. Dikshit couldn't be reached. His lawyer didn't return calls seeking comment.
In 2010, prosecutor Arlo Devlin-Brown told the court that the probe was continuing and referred to documents under seal. He recently told Reuters he could not comment further, leaving open the possibility that Parasol could be charged if she returns home to the United States.
PartyGaming's fortunes recovered as it began to focus on non-U.S. customers. Last year it bought rival Bwin Interactive of Austria and changed the merged company's name to Bwin.Party, with annual revenue of 691 million euros, or $902 million.
During the merger talks, the regulatory suitability of PartyGaming and Parasol became an issue. Parasol and her husband, Russell DeLeon, agreed that the board could force them to restructure their more than 13 percent stake in the merged company or sell it if "required by any gaming regulatory authority in connection with business opportunities," according to merger documents filed with regulators.
That clause wouldn't apply, however, if the licensing process is "more burdensome to the principal PartyGaming shareholders than the licensing requirements currently imposed by the state of Nevada." That means the couple's stake could, in effect, block deals in states with tougher standards. Bwin.Party's Ryan said he couldn't imagine the couple standing in the way. DeLeon couldn't be reached for comment.
Now partnered with MGM Resorts, Bwin.Party has applied for a Nevada license to offer Internet poker software and services. Co-CEO Ryan said the joint venture will handle all U.S. games where players pay to play and can cash out their winnings.
In the meantime, he said, Bwin.Party will promote its brands through a social game, to be announced soon, without the ability to cash out. Ryan said negotiations with Facebook, a likely game platform, are continuing.
Facebook declined to comment. MGM did not respond to repeated interview requests about its choice of Bwin.Party.
"PRETTIEST GIRL IN TOWN"
One of Bwin.Party's top rivals is also listed in London but based in Israel. That company is 888 Holdings, founded by a dentist inspired to put poker on the Net after a 1996 trip to Monte Carlo. The late Aharon Shaked and his brother Avi mortgaged their homes to fund the company, and their families and a co-founding family still have majority control.
In 2006, 888 joined PartyGaming in pulling out of the U.S. market. But for a time before that, 888's Casino-on-Net gambling website was among the top 10 buyers of banner ads aimed at U.S. home Internet users, reaching more than 10 percent of them in a single week, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
In 2007 the company acknowledged it was in settlement talks with the Justice Department over suspected breaches of pre-2006 anti gambling laws. No charges were filed.
The 888 deal with Caesars that Nevada regulators approved last year was a trial run of Caesars-branded online poker in the British market, where such games have been legal for years. Caesars, operator of the Strip's Caesars Palace, Harrah's and Rio, has since expanded its relationship with 888, agreeing to use its software in the United States once states approve.
Ambitions are running high at 888. "The most exciting market opportunity for the industry must be that of the States, and we are definitely the prettiest girl in town, with everybody keen to have discussions with us," 888 Chief Executive Officer Brian Mattingley told investors last month. Officials at 888 declined interview requests, as did those at Caesars.
Lipparelli, the Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman, said scrutiny of the initial Caesars venture was lower than what it would have been for a U.S. venture. He said current investigations of Bwin.Party, 888 and more than 20 other license applicants would be far more rigorous than anything the overseas outfits had experienced in their home countries. "Some will probably not make it through," Lipparelli said.
He said confessions of pre-2006 wrongdoing wouldn't automatically prevent licensing, though. Gambling executives say they expect smooth sailing in Nevada because regulators want to add local technology jobs. Concern about past lawbreaking "has all gone away," one casino executive said.
One big test could come in the case of PokerStars, based in the Isle of Man, and Full Tilt Poker, based in the Channel Islands, which together snapped up most of the U.S. market after the 2006 law was passed and PartyGaming ran for the exits.
Last year, on an April day known in online poker circles as Black Friday, federal prosecutors unsealed indictments alleging illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering against the founders of PokerStars and Full Tilt. Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Full Tilt had operated as a Ponzi scheme, relying on new players' deposits to cover payouts to older customers while executives and advisers took hundreds of millions of dollars from player accounts.
The indictments prompted Wynn Resorts Ltd to drop a weeks-old "strategic relationship" with PokerStars. The main owner of Station Casinos, which serves Las Vegas locals at 11 casinos off the Strip, abandoned a similar tie-up with Full Tilt. Neither Nevada company returned calls seeking comment.
Full Tilt has shut down while it negotiates with the Justice Department. But PokerStars remains the biggest site worldwide, with what others in the industry believe tops $1 billion in annual revenue. It harbors hopes that a deal with prosecutors could pave the way for a return to the U.S.
People familiar with the situation say that as part of the settlement talks with the Justice Department, PokerStars is considering buying Full Tilt and refunding U.S. players hundreds of millions of dollars missing from their accounts. PokerStars confirmed the settlement talks but declined to comment on Full Tilt or its American aspirations. Full Tilt officials couldn't be reached for comment.
"CONCERNED ABOUT PROBITY"
In California, casinos and gambling-software companies already are scurrying for deals with the tribes and others that would be eligible for direct licenses under a bill pending in the state senate. Caesars manages the Rincon tribe's Harrah's casino and is hoping to build on that with software from 888.
A coalition of tribes and card rooms known as the California Online Poker Association has signed up to use software from Playtech Ltd, a London-listed British company. About 40 per cent of Playtech is owned by Teddy Sagi, an Israeli billionaire who pleaded guilty to stock manipulation and bribery in 1996 in a scandal known as the Discount Affair. He was sentenced to nine months in prison. Playtech didn't respond to a request for comment.
The tribes are aware of the risks of choosing partners that won't satisfy the state Justice Department, which the current bill would empower to approve license applications.
"We are very, very concerned about probity," said Joaquin Fletcher, president of the Pechanga Development Corp, owner of the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. "We don't want whoever we pick to just create more nightmares down the road."
Similar concerns are on the minds of social media companies.
Zynga, the dominant provider of recreational games on Facebook, has 36 million monthly average users of its Texas HoldEm Poker, the second most popular game on Facebook after its CityVille, according to market research firm AppData.
The card game doesn't require regulation because players don't receive cash payouts, though they often pay for extra chips to play with. Those virtual chip purchases have made the game one of Zynga's top earners and opened the company's eyes to the potential of the real thing.
Lazard Capital Markets said in March that it expected Zynga to move "aggressively" and capture an extra $100 million in annual profit by offering online poker with cash payouts and prizes.
Zynga has held talks with Bwin.Party, 888, multiple California tribes and card rooms, and the big brick-and-mortar casinos, people familiar with the discussions said. The company might experiment first with poker in well-regulated overseas markets such as the United Kingdom, they said. Zynga declined to comment.
The gambling majors have seen the promise of social networking as well. MGM Resorts, like Bwin.Party, is planning its own game without cash payouts but with social networking built in. Caesars recently bought game application developer Playtika, which has a popular free slot machine app on Facebook called Slotomania, and it launched a Caesars-branded casino game suite there, too.
Despite the enthusiasm, the risks of a regulatory, legal or public-relations setback for Zynga and Facebook are substantial, even if they partner well.
With millions of free players, "it's very likely these people can be converted" to playing for real money, said one longtime offshore poker executive. "But do they want a headline saying some kid lost $10,000 playing poker on Facebook?" (Reuters)
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To prime itself for the U.S. debut of legal online poker, MGM Resorts International, owner of such Las Vegas Strip monuments as the MGM Grand, the Bellagio and the Mirage, wanted a partner that knew the ropes.
So last October it hooked up with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc, a London-listed, Gibraltar-based specialist that rakes in more from Web betting than any other publicly traded company. MGM Resorts took 25 percent of a new venture 65 percent owned by Bwin.Party, with smaller Las Vegas casino operator Boyd Gaming getting the remaining 10 percent.
"We'll be out of the gate as soon as anybody," MGM Resorts Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren boasted to investors in February.
Online expertise isn't the only thing that distinguishes Bwin.Party. In 2009, an earlier incarnation of the company paid $105 million while admitting to U.S. prosecutors it had run an illegal gambling operation and engaged in bank and wire fraud.
Among its principal backers: a California-born woman who made a fortune in phone sex and Web pornography businesses that, like the pioneering online-gambling company that became Bwin.Party, faced multiple allegations of wrongdoing.
MGM Resorts' choice of Bwin.Party as a partner while applying for online poker licenses in Nevada might seem unusual. It isn't. The alliance reflects the calculated risks that major casino operators, Native American tribes and social-gaming giants Zynga and Facebook are weighing as they angle for a slice of a market valued at billions of dollars a year.
Caesars Entertainment Corp is prepping for online poker by tying up with an Israeli company that in 2007 acknowledged settlement talks with the U.S. Justice Department over alleged breaches of anti-gambling laws.
A group of Native American tribes in California has signed up to use software from another Israeli company, run by a man who served prison time for stock manipulation and bribery. Another tribe last week announced a deal with Bwin.Party.
Zynga, eager to convert some of its tens of millions of virtual poker enthusiasts into cash gamblers, also has been in talks with Bwin.Party and others that have had brushes with the law, according to people familiar with the matter.
Meanwhile, offshore gambling outfit PokerStars is considering buying its chief offshore rival, Full Tilt, and making a run at the U.S. market even though founders of both were indicted by the Justice Department last year on charges of illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering, according to people familiar with the situation.
All this comes as Nevada prepares to license the first online poker operators and software suppliers late next month -- and as California, New Jersey, Iowa, Massachusetts, Delaware and other states debate similar moves.
Many of the cash-starved states, encouraged by intensive industry lobbying, have felt freer to act since December, when the Justice Department declared that one federal anti-gambling law, the Wire Act, would no longer be enforced beyond sports betting.
But casino operators, Indian tribes and Internet powers bent on offering online poker lack experience delivering it. Online poker is a business that involves processing billions of dollars worth of bets and battling the fraudsters, cheats and robot-player software that can ruin the games. Hence the casinos are cozying up to some tech-savvy offshore partners whose pedigrees might give regulators pause.
Most states have "suitability" rules designed to keep crooks out of the gambling industry. Nevada requires that successful license applicants and their large shareholders possess "good character, honesty and integrity." Nevertheless, the big casino operators and their offshore partners are betting that regulators will look favorably on their license applications for two good reasons: tax money and high-tech jobs.
Early indications are that they are right.
At a hearing on a Caesars deal with the Israeli company last year, Mark Lipparelli, chairman of Nevada's Gaming Control Board, said: "I don't think as we look at companies that we can have perfection as the standard, because I think that would be a disservice to the state in attracting business here." The board unanimously recommended approval of the venture.
Gambling foes warn that states are putting fiscal worries ahead of public safety, exposing a huge and vulnerable population to the potential for compulsive betting. "The governments are so desperate for revenues that they will partner with these lawbreaking outfits," said Les Bernal, executive director of the nonprofit Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation in Washington, D.C. "They will create addiction in order to feed off of it."
PORN AND CARDS
Jim Ryan, co-chief executive officer of Bwin.Party, acknowledged in an interview that when the company was looking for U.S. partners, its history was a chief concern of MGM Resorts and other U.S. companies.
"Suitability is the very first question on all of their minds," he told Reuters during a recent business trip to San Francisco.
It's easy to see why.
Bwin.Party grew out of PartyGaming, a brainchild of San Francisco-area native Ruth Parasol, who has a history as colorful as Las Vegas. After earning a law degree, Parasol first prospered in the 1990s through 1-900 phone-sex and other services that were sued by multiple states for aggressive billing and collection practices. In North Carolina's suit, the judge ordered a company she co-founded to pay $270,000 in damages.
Then Parasol put her money behind Internet Entertainment Group, which gained notoriety for releasing an early Pamela Anderson sex video and promising an initial public offering that never happened. Employees accused the company of routinely overbilling customers, and Chief Executive Seth Warshavsky fled to Thailand as authorities investigated. Warshavsky didn't respond to an interview request.
Parasol managed to emerge unscathed, and in 1997 founded Starluck Casino in the Caribbean, providing online gambling to customers in the U.S. and elsewhere. The company had a big hit with its PartyPoker website, which became the dominant force in U.S. online cards, and then renamed itself PartyGaming.
Parasol, who has been living in Gibraltar for most of the past decade, declined requests for an interview.
In 2005, PartyGaming's IPO became the largest London had seen in four years, valuing the company at more than $8 billion. Just then, debate over the U.S. legal status of online gambling flared.
The Justice Department had long argued that Internet poker violated the Wire Act and other federal and state laws. Despite the success of PartyGaming and other offshore companies, no U.S.-based companies offered alternatives for fear of prosecution.
In 2006, Congress clarified the matter by passing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, explicitly barring processing interstate or international poker transactions where state laws forbade such gambling. PartyGaming responded by pulling out of the U.S., leaving two-thirds of its players behind to be claimed by privately held offshore companies.
The law didn't snuff out online poker in the U.S. as players migrated to other offshore providers. Research firm H2 Gambling Capital estimates the U.S. accounts for about $400 million of global annual online poker revenue of nearly $5 billion, or 8 percent. Depending on how many states ultimately legalize online cards, that share could rise to as high as 28 percent in five years, the company says.
PartyGaming's problems didn't end when it left the United States. In 2008, co-founder Anurag Dikshit pleaded guilty to gambling via the wires in federal district court in New York. He forfeited $300 million and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, leading PartyGaming itself to settle in 2009. The company paid $105 million to avoid prosecution for pre-UIGEA violations. Dikshit couldn't be reached. His lawyer didn't return calls seeking comment.
In 2010, prosecutor Arlo Devlin-Brown told the court that the probe was continuing and referred to documents under seal. He recently told Reuters he could not comment further, leaving open the possibility that Parasol could be charged if she returns home to the United States.
PartyGaming's fortunes recovered as it began to focus on non-U.S. customers. Last year it bought rival Bwin Interactive of Austria and changed the merged company's name to Bwin.Party, with annual revenue of 691 million euros, or $902 million.
During the merger talks, the regulatory suitability of PartyGaming and Parasol became an issue. Parasol and her husband, Russell DeLeon, agreed that the board could force them to restructure their more than 13 percent stake in the merged company or sell it if "required by any gaming regulatory authority in connection with business opportunities," according to merger documents filed with regulators.
That clause wouldn't apply, however, if the licensing process is "more burdensome to the principal PartyGaming shareholders than the licensing requirements currently imposed by the state of Nevada." That means the couple's stake could, in effect, block deals in states with tougher standards. Bwin.Party's Ryan said he couldn't imagine the couple standing in the way. DeLeon couldn't be reached for comment.
Now partnered with MGM Resorts, Bwin.Party has applied for a Nevada license to offer Internet poker software and services. Co-CEO Ryan said the joint venture will handle all U.S. games where players pay to play and can cash out their winnings.
In the meantime, he said, Bwin.Party will promote its brands through a social game, to be announced soon, without the ability to cash out. Ryan said negotiations with Facebook, a likely game platform, are continuing.
Facebook declined to comment. MGM did not respond to repeated interview requests about its choice of Bwin.Party.
"PRETTIEST GIRL IN TOWN"
One of Bwin.Party's top rivals is also listed in London but based in Israel. That company is 888 Holdings, founded by a dentist inspired to put poker on the Net after a 1996 trip to Monte Carlo. The late Aharon Shaked and his brother Avi mortgaged their homes to fund the company, and their families and a co-founding family still have majority control.
In 2006, 888 joined PartyGaming in pulling out of the U.S. market. But for a time before that, 888's Casino-on-Net gambling website was among the top 10 buyers of banner ads aimed at U.S. home Internet users, reaching more than 10 percent of them in a single week, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.
In 2007 the company acknowledged it was in settlement talks with the Justice Department over suspected breaches of pre-2006 anti gambling laws. No charges were filed.
The 888 deal with Caesars that Nevada regulators approved last year was a trial run of Caesars-branded online poker in the British market, where such games have been legal for years. Caesars, operator of the Strip's Caesars Palace, Harrah's and Rio, has since expanded its relationship with 888, agreeing to use its software in the United States once states approve.
Ambitions are running high at 888. "The most exciting market opportunity for the industry must be that of the States, and we are definitely the prettiest girl in town, with everybody keen to have discussions with us," 888 Chief Executive Officer Brian Mattingley told investors last month. Officials at 888 declined interview requests, as did those at Caesars.
Lipparelli, the Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman, said scrutiny of the initial Caesars venture was lower than what it would have been for a U.S. venture. He said current investigations of Bwin.Party, 888 and more than 20 other license applicants would be far more rigorous than anything the overseas outfits had experienced in their home countries. "Some will probably not make it through," Lipparelli said.
He said confessions of pre-2006 wrongdoing wouldn't automatically prevent licensing, though. Gambling executives say they expect smooth sailing in Nevada because regulators want to add local technology jobs. Concern about past lawbreaking "has all gone away," one casino executive said.
One big test could come in the case of PokerStars, based in the Isle of Man, and Full Tilt Poker, based in the Channel Islands, which together snapped up most of the U.S. market after the 2006 law was passed and PartyGaming ran for the exits.
Last year, on an April day known in online poker circles as Black Friday, federal prosecutors unsealed indictments alleging illegal gambling, bank fraud and money laundering against the founders of PokerStars and Full Tilt. Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Full Tilt had operated as a Ponzi scheme, relying on new players' deposits to cover payouts to older customers while executives and advisers took hundreds of millions of dollars from player accounts.
The indictments prompted Wynn Resorts Ltd to drop a weeks-old "strategic relationship" with PokerStars. The main owner of Station Casinos, which serves Las Vegas locals at 11 casinos off the Strip, abandoned a similar tie-up with Full Tilt. Neither Nevada company returned calls seeking comment.
Full Tilt has shut down while it negotiates with the Justice Department. But PokerStars remains the biggest site worldwide, with what others in the industry believe tops $1 billion in annual revenue. It harbors hopes that a deal with prosecutors could pave the way for a return to the U.S.
People familiar with the situation say that as part of the settlement talks with the Justice Department, PokerStars is considering buying Full Tilt and refunding U.S. players hundreds of millions of dollars missing from their accounts. PokerStars confirmed the settlement talks but declined to comment on Full Tilt or its American aspirations. Full Tilt officials couldn't be reached for comment.
"CONCERNED ABOUT PROBITY"
In California, casinos and gambling-software companies already are scurrying for deals with the tribes and others that would be eligible for direct licenses under a bill pending in the state senate. Caesars manages the Rincon tribe's Harrah's casino and is hoping to build on that with software from 888.
A coalition of tribes and card rooms known as the California Online Poker Association has signed up to use software from Playtech Ltd, a London-listed British company. About 40 per cent of Playtech is owned by Teddy Sagi, an Israeli billionaire who pleaded guilty to stock manipulation and bribery in 1996 in a scandal known as the Discount Affair. He was sentenced to nine months in prison. Playtech didn't respond to a request for comment.
The tribes are aware of the risks of choosing partners that won't satisfy the state Justice Department, which the current bill would empower to approve license applications.
"We are very, very concerned about probity," said Joaquin Fletcher, president of the Pechanga Development Corp, owner of the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California. "We don't want whoever we pick to just create more nightmares down the road."
Similar concerns are on the minds of social media companies.
Zynga, the dominant provider of recreational games on Facebook, has 36 million monthly average users of its Texas HoldEm Poker, the second most popular game on Facebook after its CityVille, according to market research firm AppData.
The card game doesn't require regulation because players don't receive cash payouts, though they often pay for extra chips to play with. Those virtual chip purchases have made the game one of Zynga's top earners and opened the company's eyes to the potential of the real thing.
Lazard Capital Markets said in March that it expected Zynga to move "aggressively" and capture an extra $100 million in annual profit by offering online poker with cash payouts and prizes.
Zynga has held talks with Bwin.Party, 888, multiple California tribes and card rooms, and the big brick-and-mortar casinos, people familiar with the discussions said. The company might experiment first with poker in well-regulated overseas markets such as the United Kingdom, they said. Zynga declined to comment.
The gambling majors have seen the promise of social networking as well. MGM Resorts, like Bwin.Party, is planning its own game without cash payouts but with social networking built in. Caesars recently bought game application developer Playtika, which has a popular free slot machine app on Facebook called Slotomania, and it launched a Caesars-branded casino game suite there, too.
Despite the enthusiasm, the risks of a regulatory, legal or public-relations setback for Zynga and Facebook are substantial, even if they partner well.
With millions of free players, "it's very likely these people can be converted" to playing for real money, said one longtime offshore poker executive. "But do they want a headline saying some kid lost $10,000 playing poker on Facebook?" (Reuters)
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Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Virgin Casino Adds Stash of the Titans and Coyote Moon Slots
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Virgin Casino have added the Stash of the Titans and Coyote Moon slot games to their offering today – get a 100% welcome bonus up to £100 as well as a one off 100% deposit bonus up to £500 on the new slot games.
Stash of the Titans is a Microgaming powered slot game with 5 reels and 20 paylines. The main feature is the Free Spins bonus round where you can win up to 200,000 coins. You need to get 3 or more Medusa symbols across the reels to initiate the bonus game. You will then be rewarded with 15 free spins each with a 4x multiplier.
Coyote Moon is powered by IGT/WagerWorks and features 5 reels and 40 paylines. Similar to Wolf Run, it’s a low variance slot game which will give you plenty (but small wins). It has a Stacked Wilds feature where each reel is loaded with groups of 4 or more consecutive Wild symbols. This becomes significant in the Rising Moon Bonus feature as the Stacked Wilds give you bigger rewards. You can trigger the feature by getting 3 bonus symbols on reels 2, 3 & 4. You will then be rewarded with 5 free spins which come with richer stacked wilds. You can retrigger more free spins up to a maximum of 255 free spins.
If you haven’t got an account at Virgin Casino, now is the time – they offer a 100% welcome bonus up to £100. This means that if you deposit anything up to £100, you will get the same value free. When registering, click on the ‘Select A Bonus’ button and select the ‘Casino’ option – simple.
Furthermore, Virgin Casino are running a Cash Blast Off promo with a deposit bonus match up to £500. If you take up the welcome bonus today, you have time to get a 100% bonus up to £500 – yes, £500. You need to deposit by tomorrow and enter the bonus code BLAST500 to qualify.
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Virgin Casino have added the Stash of the Titans and Coyote Moon slot games to their offering today – get a 100% welcome bonus up to £100 as well as a one off 100% deposit bonus up to £500 on the new slot games.
Stash of the Titans is a Microgaming powered slot game with 5 reels and 20 paylines. The main feature is the Free Spins bonus round where you can win up to 200,000 coins. You need to get 3 or more Medusa symbols across the reels to initiate the bonus game. You will then be rewarded with 15 free spins each with a 4x multiplier.
Coyote Moon is powered by IGT/WagerWorks and features 5 reels and 40 paylines. Similar to Wolf Run, it’s a low variance slot game which will give you plenty (but small wins). It has a Stacked Wilds feature where each reel is loaded with groups of 4 or more consecutive Wild symbols. This becomes significant in the Rising Moon Bonus feature as the Stacked Wilds give you bigger rewards. You can trigger the feature by getting 3 bonus symbols on reels 2, 3 & 4. You will then be rewarded with 5 free spins which come with richer stacked wilds. You can retrigger more free spins up to a maximum of 255 free spins.
If you haven’t got an account at Virgin Casino, now is the time – they offer a 100% welcome bonus up to £100. This means that if you deposit anything up to £100, you will get the same value free. When registering, click on the ‘Select A Bonus’ button and select the ‘Casino’ option – simple.
Furthermore, Virgin Casino are running a Cash Blast Off promo with a deposit bonus match up to £500. If you take up the welcome bonus today, you have time to get a 100% bonus up to £500 – yes, £500. You need to deposit by tomorrow and enter the bonus code BLAST500 to qualify.
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Monday, April 23, 2012
Facebook drives growth of social gaming developers
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The networking giant has put a British firm on route to Nasdaq...
London Riccardo Zacconi will always remember Christmas Eve 2003 — it was when his company almost went bust.
Instead of jetting off to spend time with his family, Zacconi and his then business partner, Toby Rowland, son of the late Tiny Rowland, were hunched over the office fax machine waiting for a letter of fin-ancial support that would keep their online gaming operation afloat.
At the last minute, the vital document arrived, with the promise of backing from an old colleague. Nearly nine years later, that vote of confidence looks likely to prove a shrewd investment.
The company, King.com, has evolved into Britain's leading player in the fast-growing social gaming market, taking on the likes of Zynga, creator of Farmville, and other American rivals such as Electronic Arts. King.com could even emulate Zynga and pursue a lucrative listing on Nasdaq.
Social gaming is booming. It is estimated that the amount spent on such games will hit more than $8 billion (Dh29.4 billion) globally this year, and nearly $15 billion by 2015.
Many of the most popular games are played by Facebook users. Apple's App Store has become a centre for developers of smart phone applications. Similarly, the social network's huge worldwide membership makes it the prime destination for games creators.
It is this that has helped propel King.com to the front ranks of the industry. When Zacconi, a 44-year-old dotcom veteran, and Rowland started the company in 2003, it foc-used on internet versions of board games, word games and quizzes on its own website.
Funding hiccup
After the initial funding hiccup, it went well, turning a profit every year since 2005. By the summer of 2009, however, Zacconi realised the market was evolving. "People were moving away from large portals to play games on Facebook," he said. "Initially, the quality was low, but you could play with your friends."
King.com needed a new strategy to compete. The solution was to set up a team to develop products for Facebook in parallel with the existing website. The company calculated that many of the King.com games could be adapted for Facebook. The first to make the move was Bubble Saga, which quickly took off.
It was soon followed by a Facebook version of mah jong.
King.com went from about 300 million games played a month to more than 2.5 billion after joining Facebook. Bubble Witch Saga, launched last September, helped make it the fourth-biggest gaming company on the site. Zynga is comfortably on top, followed by Electronic Arts and Wooga.
On Zynga's trail
Zacconi has Zynga, which clocks up more than 50 million daily users, in his sights. "We are going after them," he said.
King.com has quite a way to go — it attracts less than 20 per cent of the players Zynga has — but it is growing fast. The most recent accounts for the London company show turnover of €35 million (Dh169.59 million) and pre-tax profits of nearly €1 million — down from €4 million in 2009 because of the investment required to expand into social games.
Zacconi is coy about discussing the group's latest figures, but they are up substantially. He expects revenues to top €100 million this year, thanks to income from advertising and from players buying extra lives to help complete the games.
The stock market is likely to come calling, not least to provide an exit for two venture capital firms, Apax Partners and Index Ventures, that invested in 2005 — an age ago in tech terms.
The business has already made Rowland, who left in 2006, and Zacconi wealthy — they were able to take money off the table when the venture capitalists bought in. The deal valued King.com at €75 million.
Zacconi would like to follow Zynga onto Nasdaq. The American firm was valued at $7 billion when it listed in December. "It's something we are thinking about. We have an option next year to go public," he said.
A sale is another possibility, particularly as social gaming companies are changing hands for big bucks. In 2009, Electronic Arts, famous for sports games such as Fifa 12, picked up Playfish for $300 million. In January, Double Down Interactive, which has a casino game, sold for about $500 million.
There could be increasing convergence between social gaming developers and their online gambling cousins. Bwin Party Digital Entertainment, which runs poker, sports betting, roulette and bingo, is examining the market and has helped set up an investment fund dedicated to social games.
"It's an area that is of great interest to gambling companies," one City leisure analyst said.
There is even talk that Zynga, or one of its ilk, could expand by buying an online gambling group. Either way, future Christmases promise to be rather less stressful in the Zacconi household.
PartyPoker And PartyCasino Owner bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plans Return to US Market...
Online gambling firm bwin.party are set to return to the US poker market after almost six years away following their application for a gaming licence with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The Gibraltar-based company – which owns online poker room PartyPoker – have submitted their application to add their name to an ever-growing list of firms showing massive interest in taking advantage of the expected legalisation of online poker in the USA.
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment plc was formed in March last year following the merger of Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming plc to create the world’s largest publicly traded online gambling company that is now listed on the London Stock Exchange.
PartyGaming Left US Market in 2006
This merger came almost five years after PartyGaming took the decision to suspend all real-money games in the USA, before then exiting the market three days after the US government’s passing of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) back on September 29, 2006.
In April of 2009, PartyGaming decided to reach a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in which they agreed to pay a $105 million penalty over four years as part of a non-prosecution agreement for providing online gambling to American customers before the UIGEA was passed.
As an element of the agreement, PartyGaming put its name to a “statement of facts” in which it admitted that, before October of 2006, they had aimed to attract American citizens that resulted in the processing of transactions “contrary to certain US laws”.
This deal ensured that PartyGaming were not prosecuted and also made sure that they could return to the US market if – and when – new laws are put in place to regulate all internet gambling in the North American nation.
Partnership Provided Opportunity to Return
Bwin’s merger with PartyGaming last year also paved the way for the new company to partner with Nevada-based gaming firms Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts International late last year in what was considered an “anticipatory” move ahead of the hoped-for legalisation of online gambling in the States.
The venture has resulted in bwin.party owning 65% of the company as they provide and maintain the software for both gaming businesses, while MGM – which also runs hotels – holds 25% and Boyd Gaming just 10%.
Boyd Gaming and MGM have previously applied for licences with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to operate as online poker providers.
PartyPoker Still World’s Second Biggest Poker Room
PartyPoker had been the world’s biggest internet poker brand – if based on their number of players and cash game revenue – before pulling out of the US market, although it still holds the position as the second biggest behind PokerStars.
While Jim Ryan, bwin.party’s chief operating officer, recently told media that the joint venture is unlikely to see them regain the 50% share PartyPoker enjoyed before the introduction of the UIGEA, he does expect to see a “very meaningful liquidity pool” in what will be a highly competitive market.
Stay tuned as well follow up the story.
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The networking giant has put a British firm on route to Nasdaq...
London Riccardo Zacconi will always remember Christmas Eve 2003 — it was when his company almost went bust.
Instead of jetting off to spend time with his family, Zacconi and his then business partner, Toby Rowland, son of the late Tiny Rowland, were hunched over the office fax machine waiting for a letter of fin-ancial support that would keep their online gaming operation afloat.
At the last minute, the vital document arrived, with the promise of backing from an old colleague. Nearly nine years later, that vote of confidence looks likely to prove a shrewd investment.
The company, King.com, has evolved into Britain's leading player in the fast-growing social gaming market, taking on the likes of Zynga, creator of Farmville, and other American rivals such as Electronic Arts. King.com could even emulate Zynga and pursue a lucrative listing on Nasdaq.
Social gaming is booming. It is estimated that the amount spent on such games will hit more than $8 billion (Dh29.4 billion) globally this year, and nearly $15 billion by 2015.
Many of the most popular games are played by Facebook users. Apple's App Store has become a centre for developers of smart phone applications. Similarly, the social network's huge worldwide membership makes it the prime destination for games creators.
It is this that has helped propel King.com to the front ranks of the industry. When Zacconi, a 44-year-old dotcom veteran, and Rowland started the company in 2003, it foc-used on internet versions of board games, word games and quizzes on its own website.
Funding hiccup
After the initial funding hiccup, it went well, turning a profit every year since 2005. By the summer of 2009, however, Zacconi realised the market was evolving. "People were moving away from large portals to play games on Facebook," he said. "Initially, the quality was low, but you could play with your friends."
King.com needed a new strategy to compete. The solution was to set up a team to develop products for Facebook in parallel with the existing website. The company calculated that many of the King.com games could be adapted for Facebook. The first to make the move was Bubble Saga, which quickly took off.
It was soon followed by a Facebook version of mah jong.
King.com went from about 300 million games played a month to more than 2.5 billion after joining Facebook. Bubble Witch Saga, launched last September, helped make it the fourth-biggest gaming company on the site. Zynga is comfortably on top, followed by Electronic Arts and Wooga.
On Zynga's trail
Zacconi has Zynga, which clocks up more than 50 million daily users, in his sights. "We are going after them," he said.
King.com has quite a way to go — it attracts less than 20 per cent of the players Zynga has — but it is growing fast. The most recent accounts for the London company show turnover of €35 million (Dh169.59 million) and pre-tax profits of nearly €1 million — down from €4 million in 2009 because of the investment required to expand into social games.
Zacconi is coy about discussing the group's latest figures, but they are up substantially. He expects revenues to top €100 million this year, thanks to income from advertising and from players buying extra lives to help complete the games.
The stock market is likely to come calling, not least to provide an exit for two venture capital firms, Apax Partners and Index Ventures, that invested in 2005 — an age ago in tech terms.
The business has already made Rowland, who left in 2006, and Zacconi wealthy — they were able to take money off the table when the venture capitalists bought in. The deal valued King.com at €75 million.
Zacconi would like to follow Zynga onto Nasdaq. The American firm was valued at $7 billion when it listed in December. "It's something we are thinking about. We have an option next year to go public," he said.
A sale is another possibility, particularly as social gaming companies are changing hands for big bucks. In 2009, Electronic Arts, famous for sports games such as Fifa 12, picked up Playfish for $300 million. In January, Double Down Interactive, which has a casino game, sold for about $500 million.
There could be increasing convergence between social gaming developers and their online gambling cousins. Bwin Party Digital Entertainment, which runs poker, sports betting, roulette and bingo, is examining the market and has helped set up an investment fund dedicated to social games.
"It's an area that is of great interest to gambling companies," one City leisure analyst said.
There is even talk that Zynga, or one of its ilk, could expand by buying an online gambling group. Either way, future Christmases promise to be rather less stressful in the Zacconi household.
PartyPoker And PartyCasino Owner bwin.party Digital Entertainment Plans Return to US Market...
Online gambling firm bwin.party are set to return to the US poker market after almost six years away following their application for a gaming licence with the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
The Gibraltar-based company – which owns online poker room PartyPoker – have submitted their application to add their name to an ever-growing list of firms showing massive interest in taking advantage of the expected legalisation of online poker in the USA.
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment plc was formed in March last year following the merger of Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and PartyGaming plc to create the world’s largest publicly traded online gambling company that is now listed on the London Stock Exchange.
PartyGaming Left US Market in 2006
This merger came almost five years after PartyGaming took the decision to suspend all real-money games in the USA, before then exiting the market three days after the US government’s passing of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) back on September 29, 2006.
In April of 2009, PartyGaming decided to reach a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in which they agreed to pay a $105 million penalty over four years as part of a non-prosecution agreement for providing online gambling to American customers before the UIGEA was passed.
As an element of the agreement, PartyGaming put its name to a “statement of facts” in which it admitted that, before October of 2006, they had aimed to attract American citizens that resulted in the processing of transactions “contrary to certain US laws”.
This deal ensured that PartyGaming were not prosecuted and also made sure that they could return to the US market if – and when – new laws are put in place to regulate all internet gambling in the North American nation.
Partnership Provided Opportunity to Return
Bwin’s merger with PartyGaming last year also paved the way for the new company to partner with Nevada-based gaming firms Boyd Gaming and MGM Resorts International late last year in what was considered an “anticipatory” move ahead of the hoped-for legalisation of online gambling in the States.
The venture has resulted in bwin.party owning 65% of the company as they provide and maintain the software for both gaming businesses, while MGM – which also runs hotels – holds 25% and Boyd Gaming just 10%.
Boyd Gaming and MGM have previously applied for licences with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to operate as online poker providers.
PartyPoker Still World’s Second Biggest Poker Room
PartyPoker had been the world’s biggest internet poker brand – if based on their number of players and cash game revenue – before pulling out of the US market, although it still holds the position as the second biggest behind PokerStars.
While Jim Ryan, bwin.party’s chief operating officer, recently told media that the joint venture is unlikely to see them regain the 50% share PartyPoker enjoyed before the introduction of the UIGEA, he does expect to see a “very meaningful liquidity pool” in what will be a highly competitive market.
Stay tuned as well follow up the story.
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Thursday, April 19, 2012
IGT Sex and The City - Human Statue Bodyart
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Today was a important day on the Australian gaming industry calendar. It's the third and final day of the 2011 Australasian Gaming Expo, held at Darling Harbour in 'Sin City' Sydney, Australia. The event comes at a time where the spotlight on the Australian gambling industry may have never been brighter or so politically red hot. My company, Human Statue Bodyart, was delighted to be in the thick of the action. Enter the events world of the Gaming Technologies Association...
Australasian Gaming Expo Open Day In Sydney...
Over 150 gaming - gambling exhibitors enjoyed day three at the Australasian Gaming Expo Open at Sydney's Darling Harbour. Dozens of big name brands were there including IGT (and its new 'Sex And The City' slot game), Aristocrat Technologies Australia, Ainsworth, Konami, WMS, ShuffleMaster and Bally.
Most of the exhibitors were making a return appearance from last year. It appeared they're were more exhibitors than "punters".
It's a huge production, with over 15,000 square meters decked out in gambling gear.
While big name companies like IGT somewhat dominated the event, it was impossible not to also recognise some of the smaller operations, as well as a few of IGT's competitors of sorts, thanks to their considerable branding and marketing efforts.
Here's the list of all of entities I was blessed to be able to speak with and photograph:
IGT
Aristocrat Technologies Australia
Ainsworth
Bally
Maxgaming
Keno
Paynter Dixon Hospitality
Tenrod Australia
Rohrig
Choice Paper & Imaging
Allpride Signs & Marketing
Paltronics Australasia
Maximun Light
As you can see from our photographs showcased on our Flickr, a great time was had by all, and the event was largely a success for all involved.
For the record, some of my personal favorite games are 'Sex And The City', 'The Phantom', 'Queen Of The Nile', 'Aussie Gold', 'Rose Tattoo', 'Jaws', 'Wheel Of Fortune' and Keno.
It's going to be interesting to see what poker machine manufacture is the one that will step up to battle with the red hot IGT slot - 'Sex And The City'. Will it be Australia's own Aristocrat or an international entrant.
Good on the organisers for also having coffee and bites on hand. 4.5 stars out of 5 for an excellent event, and we'll look forward to being on hand next year for more of the fun and games that is the Australasian Gaming Expo.
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Human Statue Bodyart IGT Human Gaming Eva Rinaldi Casino Promotions Advertising Art
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Today was a important day on the Australian gaming industry calendar. It's the third and final day of the 2011 Australasian Gaming Expo, held at Darling Harbour in 'Sin City' Sydney, Australia. The event comes at a time where the spotlight on the Australian gambling industry may have never been brighter or so politically red hot. My company, Human Statue Bodyart, was delighted to be in the thick of the action. Enter the events world of the Gaming Technologies Association...
Australasian Gaming Expo Open Day In Sydney...
Over 150 gaming - gambling exhibitors enjoyed day three at the Australasian Gaming Expo Open at Sydney's Darling Harbour. Dozens of big name brands were there including IGT (and its new 'Sex And The City' slot game), Aristocrat Technologies Australia, Ainsworth, Konami, WMS, ShuffleMaster and Bally.
Most of the exhibitors were making a return appearance from last year. It appeared they're were more exhibitors than "punters".
It's a huge production, with over 15,000 square meters decked out in gambling gear.
While big name companies like IGT somewhat dominated the event, it was impossible not to also recognise some of the smaller operations, as well as a few of IGT's competitors of sorts, thanks to their considerable branding and marketing efforts.
Here's the list of all of entities I was blessed to be able to speak with and photograph:
IGT
Aristocrat Technologies Australia
Ainsworth
Bally
Maxgaming
Keno
Paynter Dixon Hospitality
Tenrod Australia
Rohrig
Choice Paper & Imaging
Allpride Signs & Marketing
Paltronics Australasia
Maximun Light
As you can see from our photographs showcased on our Flickr, a great time was had by all, and the event was largely a success for all involved.
For the record, some of my personal favorite games are 'Sex And The City', 'The Phantom', 'Queen Of The Nile', 'Aussie Gold', 'Rose Tattoo', 'Jaws', 'Wheel Of Fortune' and Keno.
It's going to be interesting to see what poker machine manufacture is the one that will step up to battle with the red hot IGT slot - 'Sex And The City'. Will it be Australia's own Aristocrat or an international entrant.
Good on the organisers for also having coffee and bites on hand. 4.5 stars out of 5 for an excellent event, and we'll look forward to being on hand next year for more of the fun and games that is the Australasian Gaming Expo.
Profiles
Human Statue Bodyart IGT Human Gaming Eva Rinaldi Casino Promotions Advertising Art
Websites
Human Statue Bodyart Human Statue Bodyart - IGT 'Sex And The City' profile Human Statue Bodyart Flickr Human Statue Bodyart Facebook
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Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Gaming and Gambling News: NZ PM comfortable with more pokies; $1 Million WSOP Event up to 30 Entrants...
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NZ PM comfortable with more pokies...
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says he is comfortable with an increase in the number of pokie machines at SkyCity as part of a possible deal with the casino operator to build and run a $NZ350 million ($A279.25 million) national convention centre in Auckland.
Mr Key told media in Jakarta on Tuesday he believed the increase would be "extremely modest in number and overall the number of pokie machines is reducing across Auckland and New Zealand".
Negotiations were continuing but Mr Key rejected suggestions public opposition to a deal was growing.
Explaining his dealings with SkyCity, Mr Key said he was looking for a deal to build and run the convention centre in which the government did not put up any cash.
SkyCity had presented a credible option but that was subject to negotiation and did not include any dilution of techniques to reduce the harm from gambling.
"They have the room to do it, they have integration with their hotels, they have integration with their other entertainment facilities and they are good operators running what is already a convention centre, but just one that is not big enough."
Accusations of some sort of underhand deal between the government and the company were just "nonsense", Mr Key said.
"I've been extremely upfront the whole way through. I have said I want to build a convention centre as minister of tourism."
Critics have charged the extra pokies will lead to more problem gamblers.
The Labour Party has said SkyCity wants an extra 500 machines and are being offered about 350.
$1 Million WSOP Event up to 30 Entrants...
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, along with the World Series of Poker (WSOP), announced Thursday that this summer’s $1,000,000 buy-in WSOP event has added eight more entrants, increasing the field to a stout 30 players. The tournament, called the Big One for ONE DROP, is now on pace to feature the largest first prize in poker history.
In December, it was announced that 22 players had been confirmed for the event, just shy of half the 48-player maximum. Joining such poker luminaries as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Bobby Baldwin, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius are:
Bob Bright – CEO, Bright Trading
Cary Katz – CEO, College Loan Corporation
Arnaud Mimran – French businessman
Paul Newey – Co-founder, New Wave Ventures, LLP. (UK)
Paul Phua – Asian businessman
Erik Seidel – Poker pro
Justin Smith – Poker pro
Richard Yong – Asian businessman
With $111,111 of the $1,000,000 dollar buy-in going to ONE DROP, the 30-player field brings the total prize pool to $26,666,670. According to a payout structure table provided by the WSOP, the winner of the tournament at its current size will earn $12,266,668.20, or 46 percent of the prize pool. That would break the record for the largest prize ever awarded in a poker tournament, live or online. The current record is $12,000,000, won by Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event.
ONE DROP is a charitable organization which seeks to provide access to clean, drinkable water to people around the world. In a press release, Laliberté, who himself is participating in the tournament, said, “It is an exciting moment and it is wonderful to see the poker community’s generosity, where organizations, players and fans are all coming together to support ONE DROP. Whether entering the BIG ONE for ONE DROP, becoming a poker ambassador, making a donation, or simply changing their water consumption habits, everyone can get involved and everyone should be concerned, because a child dies every 20 seconds from a water related disease and that together we can beat the odds.”
As it stands now, over $3.33 million from the tournament is earmarked for ONE DROP. And while 30 players signing up for a $1 million buy-in event is phenomenal, WSOP officials expect the tournament to reach its cap of 48 players. Should that happen, the prize pool will hit $40,000,000, with $17,200,002.15 going to the winner.
The continued growth of the Big One for ONE DROP will be aided by live satellites scheduled to be held at casinos around the country. The next satellite will be at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. The direct buy-in for the “Main Event” satellite is $500 with 40 percent of the prize pool going to the winner. That first prize is guaranteed to include at least the $25,300 buy-in to the Official World Series of Poker the Big One Satellite on Saturday, June 30th in Las Vegas, where at least one $1,000,000 seat in the Big One will be awarded. Also included in the Canterbury Park prize packages is airfare and lodging. Qualifiers for the Canterbury Park $500 satellite will run May 7th through May 12th and will feature both $65 and $125 buy-ins. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
Scott Seiver Wins PartyPoker Premier League V...
Going into the final table of the PartyPoker Premier League V, many in the poker community were hoping the Mathew Frankland’s Cinderella story would continue for one more day. Frankland, one of two players in the field who had to qualify to get into the game, began Tuesday with the largest chip stack, a reward for earning the most points in the preliminary heats. It was not to be for Frankland against an all-star table, though, as he bowed out in 7th place. Emerging triumphant just a few days shy of his 27th birthday was Scott Seiver, who gave himself a sweet early birthday gift of half a million dollars.
Though there were seasoned vets such as Erik Seidel, Phil Laak, and Tony G at the table, it came down to two of the young guns, Seiver and 22-year old online phenom Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, for the championship. The two started heads-up play in almost a dead heat in chips – Cates with 1.295 million and Seiver with 1.245 million. Within minutes, though, Seiver took a 500,000 chip lead, picking up many of those when he moved all-in with pocket Kings, forcing Cates to fold after a three-bet.
Just minutes later, Seiver stretched his lead to 2-to-1. With blinds at 20,000/40,000, Cates had to make a move quickly. A pocket pair was as good a hand as many with which to make that move, so Cates got it all-in pre-flop with 7-7. Seiver was all-in, as well (having Cates covered, of course), settling for a coin flip with K-Q. Cates had to have been happy with the flop, as it came down T-T-4, which both denied Seiver a pair and severely limited any straight possibilities. The 3 on the turn was fantastic, too, as Seiver now had just six outs. Unless you skipped everything to this point, you already know that the percentages were not with Cates on the river. Seiver spiked a King to give him the title and the $500,000 first prize.
Here is a look at the final table standings and prize payouts:
1. Scott Seiver – $500,000
2. Daniel Cates – $300,000
3. Phil Laak – $175,000
4. Patrik Antonius – $125,000
5. Tony G – $100,000
6. Tom Dwan – $80,000
7. Mathew Frankland – $65,000
8. Sam Trickett – $55,000
But that’s not all. Each player in the PartyPoker Premier League V received $2,000 for each point earned in the preliminary heats. The standings based on total winnings remained almost the same after including the bonus money. The only change was Frankland moving up from 7th to 6th in the money rankings, the result of his winning $80,000 in the preliminary rounds. All 16 players won prize money, though only Seiver, Cates, Laak, Patrik Antonius, Tony G, Frankland, and Tom Dwan made enough to cover the $125,000 buy-in. Because Frankland won his seat, though, his winnings were all profit. The same was true for Ben Wilinofsky, which is fortunate, as he took home just $2,000. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
2012 PartyPoker Premier League V – Final Payouts
Scott Seiver – $560,000
Daniel Cates – $376,000
Phil Laak – $233,000
Patrik Antonius – $189,000
Tony G – $160,000
Mathew Frankland – $145,000
Tom Dwan – $136,000
Sam Trickett – $121,000
Yevgeniy Timoshenko – $58,000
Andy Frankenberger – $56,000
Erik Seidel – $48,000
Vanessa Selbst – $46,000
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – $36,000
Eugene Katchalov – $18,000
Luke Schwartz – $14,000
Ben Wilinofsky – $4,000
Star investigator dismisses 'Sniffing Sid' rumours...
An investigator at Sydney's Star casino has told an inquiry he does not believe his former boss Sid Vaikunta was using drugs while in charge of the business.
Kevin Houlahan, the casino's investigations manager, is giving evidence this morning at a public hearing by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
Gail Furness SC is presiding over the inquiry to examine the sacking of Mr Vaikunta, as well as claims of sexual harassment and a culture of bullying at the Star.
The inquiry heard yesterday from former staff member Elizabeth Ward, who believed Mr Vaikunta used drugs.
Ms Ward said that the casino's general manager came to be known to staff by the nickname "Sniffing Sid".
Mr Houlahan has told the hearing he had heard of the nickname and rumours that Mr Vaikunta used cocaine.
But the former policeman said Mr Vaikunta never showed any signs of being a drug user in his dealings with him.
"Mr Vaikunta made it very clear to me that he was against drug use, that he had been subjected to drug testing whilst he worked previously in the United States and that he was more than happy to introduce drug testing within the workplace here," Mr Houlahan told the inquiry.
Star spokesman Brad Schmidt yesterday condemned the claims of Mr Vaikunta's drug use.
The inquiry heard yesterday that a five centimetre line of fine white powder was found in a bathroom in a high roller section of the casino.
Ms Ward said she believed the powder was cocaine, but that it was switched for cement dust before it was tested.
Security questioned
Mr Houlahan has told the inquiry he was on annual leave when the powder was discovered in December.
He said when he returned to work and was updated on the matter he felt that several steps had been missed.
Mr Houlahan said the powder should have been photographed in situ, and it should have been appropriately bagged.
The inquiry into the casino also heard details of an anonymous report suggesting staff wiped evidence of Mr Vaidunka being drunk on the premises.
Mr Houlahan said he had no reason to believe security staff had deleted video footage showing Mr Vaikunta being removed from the building.
He says he questioned two security workers and he believes their responses.
"I interviewed two other staff members within the surveillance department to which I expressed the concerns about how or why the system works, can footage be deleted, have they ever been requested to delete footage, to which they both returned that no they'd never been asked and there is no way that you can delete footage," he said.
Counsel assisting the inquiry Michael Wigney put an allegation to Mr Houlahan, that he had once told a high roller, "You need to stay off the drugs".
But Mr Houlahan flatly dismissed the suggestion.
"I deny that conversation ever took place," he said.
The casino's chief executive, Larry Mullin, also faced questioning today.
Mr Mullin worked with Mr Vaikunta in the United States before they came to work at the Star.
Mr Wigney asked Mr Mullin about claims he and Mr Vaikunta were once at a bar in the casino where a female colleague was drinking.
Mr Vaikunta allegedly told bar staff to keep serving the woman shots, despite the fact she was drunk.
Mr Mullin told the inquiry he had no memory of the alleged incident.
Mr Wigney also asked if the casino put its business interests ahead of rules, but Mr Mullin said that was not the case.
"(We) keep them happy within the framework of what's legal," he said.
Mr Mullin said the media has misrepresented the casino.
Asian operators give Vegas casino titans run for their money...
MACAU/LAS VEGAS - Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who became one of the world's richest men by creating a casino empire in Las Vegas and Macau, is doubling down on his bets in Asia, the hottest gambling market on the planet where his Singapore operation made $1 billion the first year it was opened.
The 78-year chairman of Las Vegas Sands, the world's biggest gambling company by market capitalisation, looked supremely confident when he opened his new $4.4 billion casino last week in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, the world's largest gambling destination where bettors spent $33.5 billion last year compared to Las Vegas, which took in $6 billion.
Speaking at the opening of his Sands Cotai Central on April 11, Adelson outlined plans to spend billions more developing casinos in Vietnam, Korea and Japan, in addition to the $35 billion he plans to spend on a Spanish casino-resort complex.
Rivals Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts are also staking their own claims throughout Asia for growth.
It's not all an American story however. Asian players like Malaysia's Genting, Hong Kong-listed Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Crown, are aggressively raising the ante as they expand on their home turf.
Rise of the Asian titan
The race to conquer the Asian casino world is already heating up in the Philippines where Asian brokerage CLSA forecasts gambling revenue to grow from US$1.3 billion in 2011 to US$3 billion in 2015 once three new resorts are completed.
Genting, controlled by Malaysian businessman Lim Kok Thay, controls and is developing casinos in the Philippines through its Genting Hong Kong unit, while parent Genting Group is developing a casino in Vietnam with local asset management group VinaCapital, according to Vietnamese media.
Galaxy and Melco, which both sit on prime real estate on Macau's coveted casino strip, are also interested in investing in the Philippines, Cristino Naguiat, chairman of the state-owned Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp, told Reuters in February.
The firms currently developing or operating casinos in the Philippines include Belle Corp, Bloomberry Resorts, Universal Entertainment and Travellers, a joint venture between Genting and Alliance Global.
"Countries like Singapore have provided a very good template for emerging jurisdictions looking to liberalize gaming entertainment," said Steven Tight, president of international development for U.S. giant Caesars Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Caesars does not operate a casino in Macau, but is itself expanding in Asia and is building a luxury resort in China's southern tourist destination, Hainan, where gambling is illegal.
Genting Singapore, armed with a hefty cash reserve of some S$3.9 billion ($3.1 billion) as of March 2012, has in the past two months raised around S$2.3 billion in debt, suggesting it is likely to push ahead with expansion plans and global acquisitions in the near term, analysts said.
Loss of face
The Asian expansion by U.S. operators has not been without controversy. Government officials in several potential Asian gambling jurisdictions considering which operators will be awarded a license are growing weary of the negative headline risk that Las Vegas operators bring with them, executives said.
Sands and Wynn are both embroiled in legal battles in the United States and Macau. Sands is fighting lawsuits filed against it by its former Macau chief executive and a former Taiwanese business partner while Wynn is being investigated for a HK$1 billion ($130 million) donation to the University of Macau.
Alleged bribes for Philippine regulators became the centerpiece of litigation in the United States between Wynn and its largest shareholder, Kazuo Okada. The case is now before a federal court in Nevada.
Okada, one of Japan's richest men whose Universal Entertainment manufactures pachinko machines, is building a casino resort in the Philippines and is reported to be investing in South Korea.
"Since entering Macau, all three Las Vegas-based operators have had international headlines that have caused humiliation and 'loss of face' for their Chinese partners and government officials," said Matthew Ossolinski, chairman of Ossolinski Holdings, a global emerging markets fund that invests in casinos and other gambling-related companies. "Some government officials in Asia are now wondering: is it worth it?"
Leaving Las Vegas?
Meanwhile, U.S. operators committed to a future in Asia could make a bold move to leave Las Vegas by delisting and selling their U.S. properties, which could free them from various U.S. legal constraints.
"It would be creating a sort of international hybrid gaming company: an established, world-class operator without the American legal baggage," said fund manager Ossolinski, who predicts the next five years will determine who dominates Asian gambling for the next 20 years.
U.S. operators are also on guard against Asian companies muscling in on their territory in the United States. Genting has been buying waterfront real estate in downtown Miami over the past year, including buying the Miami Herald building, in the hopes the state will legalise gambling.
As Asian firms look to dominate in Asia by relying on their local networks and knowledge, they are also tapping the intellectual resources of Las Vegas by hiring Las Vegas-based lawyers, architects, live entertainment producers and information technology companies.
"It won't be long before Asian firms start acquiring and developing properties in Las Vegas as a part of creating a global footprint," said Jonathan Galaviz, managing director and chief economist at Galaviz and Company LLC, an economic research and government strategies firm.
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NZ PM comfortable with more pokies...
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key says he is comfortable with an increase in the number of pokie machines at SkyCity as part of a possible deal with the casino operator to build and run a $NZ350 million ($A279.25 million) national convention centre in Auckland.
Mr Key told media in Jakarta on Tuesday he believed the increase would be "extremely modest in number and overall the number of pokie machines is reducing across Auckland and New Zealand".
Negotiations were continuing but Mr Key rejected suggestions public opposition to a deal was growing.
Explaining his dealings with SkyCity, Mr Key said he was looking for a deal to build and run the convention centre in which the government did not put up any cash.
SkyCity had presented a credible option but that was subject to negotiation and did not include any dilution of techniques to reduce the harm from gambling.
"They have the room to do it, they have integration with their hotels, they have integration with their other entertainment facilities and they are good operators running what is already a convention centre, but just one that is not big enough."
Accusations of some sort of underhand deal between the government and the company were just "nonsense", Mr Key said.
"I've been extremely upfront the whole way through. I have said I want to build a convention centre as minister of tourism."
Critics have charged the extra pokies will lead to more problem gamblers.
The Labour Party has said SkyCity wants an extra 500 machines and are being offered about 350.
$1 Million WSOP Event up to 30 Entrants...
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, along with the World Series of Poker (WSOP), announced Thursday that this summer’s $1,000,000 buy-in WSOP event has added eight more entrants, increasing the field to a stout 30 players. The tournament, called the Big One for ONE DROP, is now on pace to feature the largest first prize in poker history.
In December, it was announced that 22 players had been confirmed for the event, just shy of half the 48-player maximum. Joining such poker luminaries as Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Bobby Baldwin, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius are:
Bob Bright – CEO, Bright Trading
Cary Katz – CEO, College Loan Corporation
Arnaud Mimran – French businessman
Paul Newey – Co-founder, New Wave Ventures, LLP. (UK)
Paul Phua – Asian businessman
Erik Seidel – Poker pro
Justin Smith – Poker pro
Richard Yong – Asian businessman
With $111,111 of the $1,000,000 dollar buy-in going to ONE DROP, the 30-player field brings the total prize pool to $26,666,670. According to a payout structure table provided by the WSOP, the winner of the tournament at its current size will earn $12,266,668.20, or 46 percent of the prize pool. That would break the record for the largest prize ever awarded in a poker tournament, live or online. The current record is $12,000,000, won by Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event.
ONE DROP is a charitable organization which seeks to provide access to clean, drinkable water to people around the world. In a press release, Laliberté, who himself is participating in the tournament, said, “It is an exciting moment and it is wonderful to see the poker community’s generosity, where organizations, players and fans are all coming together to support ONE DROP. Whether entering the BIG ONE for ONE DROP, becoming a poker ambassador, making a donation, or simply changing their water consumption habits, everyone can get involved and everyone should be concerned, because a child dies every 20 seconds from a water related disease and that together we can beat the odds.”
As it stands now, over $3.33 million from the tournament is earmarked for ONE DROP. And while 30 players signing up for a $1 million buy-in event is phenomenal, WSOP officials expect the tournament to reach its cap of 48 players. Should that happen, the prize pool will hit $40,000,000, with $17,200,002.15 going to the winner.
The continued growth of the Big One for ONE DROP will be aided by live satellites scheduled to be held at casinos around the country. The next satellite will be at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota. The direct buy-in for the “Main Event” satellite is $500 with 40 percent of the prize pool going to the winner. That first prize is guaranteed to include at least the $25,300 buy-in to the Official World Series of Poker the Big One Satellite on Saturday, June 30th in Las Vegas, where at least one $1,000,000 seat in the Big One will be awarded. Also included in the Canterbury Park prize packages is airfare and lodging. Qualifiers for the Canterbury Park $500 satellite will run May 7th through May 12th and will feature both $65 and $125 buy-ins. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
Scott Seiver Wins PartyPoker Premier League V...
Going into the final table of the PartyPoker Premier League V, many in the poker community were hoping the Mathew Frankland’s Cinderella story would continue for one more day. Frankland, one of two players in the field who had to qualify to get into the game, began Tuesday with the largest chip stack, a reward for earning the most points in the preliminary heats. It was not to be for Frankland against an all-star table, though, as he bowed out in 7th place. Emerging triumphant just a few days shy of his 27th birthday was Scott Seiver, who gave himself a sweet early birthday gift of half a million dollars.
Though there were seasoned vets such as Erik Seidel, Phil Laak, and Tony G at the table, it came down to two of the young guns, Seiver and 22-year old online phenom Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, for the championship. The two started heads-up play in almost a dead heat in chips – Cates with 1.295 million and Seiver with 1.245 million. Within minutes, though, Seiver took a 500,000 chip lead, picking up many of those when he moved all-in with pocket Kings, forcing Cates to fold after a three-bet.
Just minutes later, Seiver stretched his lead to 2-to-1. With blinds at 20,000/40,000, Cates had to make a move quickly. A pocket pair was as good a hand as many with which to make that move, so Cates got it all-in pre-flop with 7-7. Seiver was all-in, as well (having Cates covered, of course), settling for a coin flip with K-Q. Cates had to have been happy with the flop, as it came down T-T-4, which both denied Seiver a pair and severely limited any straight possibilities. The 3 on the turn was fantastic, too, as Seiver now had just six outs. Unless you skipped everything to this point, you already know that the percentages were not with Cates on the river. Seiver spiked a King to give him the title and the $500,000 first prize.
Here is a look at the final table standings and prize payouts:
1. Scott Seiver – $500,000
2. Daniel Cates – $300,000
3. Phil Laak – $175,000
4. Patrik Antonius – $125,000
5. Tony G – $100,000
6. Tom Dwan – $80,000
7. Mathew Frankland – $65,000
8. Sam Trickett – $55,000
But that’s not all. Each player in the PartyPoker Premier League V received $2,000 for each point earned in the preliminary heats. The standings based on total winnings remained almost the same after including the bonus money. The only change was Frankland moving up from 7th to 6th in the money rankings, the result of his winning $80,000 in the preliminary rounds. All 16 players won prize money, though only Seiver, Cates, Laak, Patrik Antonius, Tony G, Frankland, and Tom Dwan made enough to cover the $125,000 buy-in. Because Frankland won his seat, though, his winnings were all profit. The same was true for Ben Wilinofsky, which is fortunate, as he took home just $2,000. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
2012 PartyPoker Premier League V – Final Payouts
Scott Seiver – $560,000
Daniel Cates – $376,000
Phil Laak – $233,000
Patrik Antonius – $189,000
Tony G – $160,000
Mathew Frankland – $145,000
Tom Dwan – $136,000
Sam Trickett – $121,000
Yevgeniy Timoshenko – $58,000
Andy Frankenberger – $56,000
Erik Seidel – $48,000
Vanessa Selbst – $46,000
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – $36,000
Eugene Katchalov – $18,000
Luke Schwartz – $14,000
Ben Wilinofsky – $4,000
Star investigator dismisses 'Sniffing Sid' rumours...
An investigator at Sydney's Star casino has told an inquiry he does not believe his former boss Sid Vaikunta was using drugs while in charge of the business.
Kevin Houlahan, the casino's investigations manager, is giving evidence this morning at a public hearing by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
Gail Furness SC is presiding over the inquiry to examine the sacking of Mr Vaikunta, as well as claims of sexual harassment and a culture of bullying at the Star.
The inquiry heard yesterday from former staff member Elizabeth Ward, who believed Mr Vaikunta used drugs.
Ms Ward said that the casino's general manager came to be known to staff by the nickname "Sniffing Sid".
Mr Houlahan has told the hearing he had heard of the nickname and rumours that Mr Vaikunta used cocaine.
But the former policeman said Mr Vaikunta never showed any signs of being a drug user in his dealings with him.
"Mr Vaikunta made it very clear to me that he was against drug use, that he had been subjected to drug testing whilst he worked previously in the United States and that he was more than happy to introduce drug testing within the workplace here," Mr Houlahan told the inquiry.
Star spokesman Brad Schmidt yesterday condemned the claims of Mr Vaikunta's drug use.
The inquiry heard yesterday that a five centimetre line of fine white powder was found in a bathroom in a high roller section of the casino.
Ms Ward said she believed the powder was cocaine, but that it was switched for cement dust before it was tested.
Security questioned
Mr Houlahan has told the inquiry he was on annual leave when the powder was discovered in December.
He said when he returned to work and was updated on the matter he felt that several steps had been missed.
Mr Houlahan said the powder should have been photographed in situ, and it should have been appropriately bagged.
The inquiry into the casino also heard details of an anonymous report suggesting staff wiped evidence of Mr Vaidunka being drunk on the premises.
Mr Houlahan said he had no reason to believe security staff had deleted video footage showing Mr Vaikunta being removed from the building.
He says he questioned two security workers and he believes their responses.
"I interviewed two other staff members within the surveillance department to which I expressed the concerns about how or why the system works, can footage be deleted, have they ever been requested to delete footage, to which they both returned that no they'd never been asked and there is no way that you can delete footage," he said.
Counsel assisting the inquiry Michael Wigney put an allegation to Mr Houlahan, that he had once told a high roller, "You need to stay off the drugs".
But Mr Houlahan flatly dismissed the suggestion.
"I deny that conversation ever took place," he said.
The casino's chief executive, Larry Mullin, also faced questioning today.
Mr Mullin worked with Mr Vaikunta in the United States before they came to work at the Star.
Mr Wigney asked Mr Mullin about claims he and Mr Vaikunta were once at a bar in the casino where a female colleague was drinking.
Mr Vaikunta allegedly told bar staff to keep serving the woman shots, despite the fact she was drunk.
Mr Mullin told the inquiry he had no memory of the alleged incident.
Mr Wigney also asked if the casino put its business interests ahead of rules, but Mr Mullin said that was not the case.
"(We) keep them happy within the framework of what's legal," he said.
Mr Mullin said the media has misrepresented the casino.
Asian operators give Vegas casino titans run for their money...
MACAU/LAS VEGAS - Billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who became one of the world's richest men by creating a casino empire in Las Vegas and Macau, is doubling down on his bets in Asia, the hottest gambling market on the planet where his Singapore operation made $1 billion the first year it was opened.
The 78-year chairman of Las Vegas Sands, the world's biggest gambling company by market capitalisation, looked supremely confident when he opened his new $4.4 billion casino last week in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, the world's largest gambling destination where bettors spent $33.5 billion last year compared to Las Vegas, which took in $6 billion.
Speaking at the opening of his Sands Cotai Central on April 11, Adelson outlined plans to spend billions more developing casinos in Vietnam, Korea and Japan, in addition to the $35 billion he plans to spend on a Spanish casino-resort complex.
Rivals Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts are also staking their own claims throughout Asia for growth.
It's not all an American story however. Asian players like Malaysia's Genting, Hong Kong-listed Galaxy Entertainment and Melco Crown, are aggressively raising the ante as they expand on their home turf.
Rise of the Asian titan
The race to conquer the Asian casino world is already heating up in the Philippines where Asian brokerage CLSA forecasts gambling revenue to grow from US$1.3 billion in 2011 to US$3 billion in 2015 once three new resorts are completed.
Genting, controlled by Malaysian businessman Lim Kok Thay, controls and is developing casinos in the Philippines through its Genting Hong Kong unit, while parent Genting Group is developing a casino in Vietnam with local asset management group VinaCapital, according to Vietnamese media.
Galaxy and Melco, which both sit on prime real estate on Macau's coveted casino strip, are also interested in investing in the Philippines, Cristino Naguiat, chairman of the state-owned Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corp, told Reuters in February.
The firms currently developing or operating casinos in the Philippines include Belle Corp, Bloomberry Resorts, Universal Entertainment and Travellers, a joint venture between Genting and Alliance Global.
"Countries like Singapore have provided a very good template for emerging jurisdictions looking to liberalize gaming entertainment," said Steven Tight, president of international development for U.S. giant Caesars Entertainment, which owns Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Caesars does not operate a casino in Macau, but is itself expanding in Asia and is building a luxury resort in China's southern tourist destination, Hainan, where gambling is illegal.
Genting Singapore, armed with a hefty cash reserve of some S$3.9 billion ($3.1 billion) as of March 2012, has in the past two months raised around S$2.3 billion in debt, suggesting it is likely to push ahead with expansion plans and global acquisitions in the near term, analysts said.
Loss of face
The Asian expansion by U.S. operators has not been without controversy. Government officials in several potential Asian gambling jurisdictions considering which operators will be awarded a license are growing weary of the negative headline risk that Las Vegas operators bring with them, executives said.
Sands and Wynn are both embroiled in legal battles in the United States and Macau. Sands is fighting lawsuits filed against it by its former Macau chief executive and a former Taiwanese business partner while Wynn is being investigated for a HK$1 billion ($130 million) donation to the University of Macau.
Alleged bribes for Philippine regulators became the centerpiece of litigation in the United States between Wynn and its largest shareholder, Kazuo Okada. The case is now before a federal court in Nevada.
Okada, one of Japan's richest men whose Universal Entertainment manufactures pachinko machines, is building a casino resort in the Philippines and is reported to be investing in South Korea.
"Since entering Macau, all three Las Vegas-based operators have had international headlines that have caused humiliation and 'loss of face' for their Chinese partners and government officials," said Matthew Ossolinski, chairman of Ossolinski Holdings, a global emerging markets fund that invests in casinos and other gambling-related companies. "Some government officials in Asia are now wondering: is it worth it?"
Leaving Las Vegas?
Meanwhile, U.S. operators committed to a future in Asia could make a bold move to leave Las Vegas by delisting and selling their U.S. properties, which could free them from various U.S. legal constraints.
"It would be creating a sort of international hybrid gaming company: an established, world-class operator without the American legal baggage," said fund manager Ossolinski, who predicts the next five years will determine who dominates Asian gambling for the next 20 years.
U.S. operators are also on guard against Asian companies muscling in on their territory in the United States. Genting has been buying waterfront real estate in downtown Miami over the past year, including buying the Miami Herald building, in the hopes the state will legalise gambling.
As Asian firms look to dominate in Asia by relying on their local networks and knowledge, they are also tapping the intellectual resources of Las Vegas by hiring Las Vegas-based lawyers, architects, live entertainment producers and information technology companies.
"It won't be long before Asian firms start acquiring and developing properties in Las Vegas as a part of creating a global footprint," said Jonathan Galaviz, managing director and chief economist at Galaviz and Company LLC, an economic research and government strategies firm.
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Monday, April 09, 2012
PKR Casino releases new 3D games
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LONDON, England - (PRESS RELEASE) - PKR Casino today launched an exciting new update that will allow its 4.5m registered users to experience the thrill of casino gaming with the launch of full 3D versions of multiplayer Blackjack, Caribbean Stud™ and Casino Hold’em.
Following on from the recent launch of 3D single player Blackjack to the casino games suite, new multiplayer 3D Blackjack allows up to 6 seats per table to be played at any one time against the dealer. Also released today is a 3D version of PKR’s Caribbean Stud™ Poker which has already enjoyed great success in its mini-game format on the site. The final addition to the 3D games lobby comes in the shape of 3D Casino Hold’em - a fixed odds game based on the popular poker game variant which is available in single player mode.
Leon Walters, PKR Chief Operating Officer said: “PKR has always been about making realistic, immersive and engaging games that put players at the heart of the action. We’re delighted to be able to launch three new casino games that do just that, and we’re confident that they’ll prove to be hugely popular additions to our suite of games.”
PKR’s latest release also includes eleven new male and female avatar hairstyles, nine new emotes as well as improvements to customer support with Virtual Agent “Anna” now integrated into live person chat, who will be able to answer any customer questions immediately.
Walters about the poker software update: “We've also added synchronised tournament breaks with this release which is just a taste of the new features we're release in the coming months that are very much focused on our core poker audience.”
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LONDON, England - (PRESS RELEASE) - PKR Casino today launched an exciting new update that will allow its 4.5m registered users to experience the thrill of casino gaming with the launch of full 3D versions of multiplayer Blackjack, Caribbean Stud™ and Casino Hold’em.
Following on from the recent launch of 3D single player Blackjack to the casino games suite, new multiplayer 3D Blackjack allows up to 6 seats per table to be played at any one time against the dealer. Also released today is a 3D version of PKR’s Caribbean Stud™ Poker which has already enjoyed great success in its mini-game format on the site. The final addition to the 3D games lobby comes in the shape of 3D Casino Hold’em - a fixed odds game based on the popular poker game variant which is available in single player mode.
Leon Walters, PKR Chief Operating Officer said: “PKR has always been about making realistic, immersive and engaging games that put players at the heart of the action. We’re delighted to be able to launch three new casino games that do just that, and we’re confident that they’ll prove to be hugely popular additions to our suite of games.”
PKR’s latest release also includes eleven new male and female avatar hairstyles, nine new emotes as well as improvements to customer support with Virtual Agent “Anna” now integrated into live person chat, who will be able to answer any customer questions immediately.
Walters about the poker software update: “We've also added synchronised tournament breaks with this release which is just a taste of the new features we're release in the coming months that are very much focused on our core poker audience.”
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Sunday, April 08, 2012
MGM Resorts, BetMGM and The National Hockey League Announce Partnership Extension
MGM Resorts, BetMGM and The National Hockey League Announce Partnership Extension
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 3, 2022 -- MGM Resorts International, BetMGM, a leading sports betting and digital gaming operator, and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced a multi-year extension of their groundbreaking partnership. The news comes as MGM Resorts, which operates T-Mobile Arena, prepares to host Honda NHL® All-Star Weekend festivities in Las Vegas Feb. 4-5. Several special events will take place at MGM Resorts’ iconic properties along the Las Vegas Strip as well.
As an official sports betting and resort partner of the NHL, BetMGM and MGM Resorts will continue using NHL brands to enhance the experience for both customers and guests. BetMGM and MGM Resorts will continue to be integrated into the NHL’s jewel events, with camera-visible signage and on-site activation opportunities. Additionally, BetMGM and MGM Resorts will maintain the ability to reach hockey fans through communications to subscribers from the NHL’s fan database.
“We are thrilled to renew our partnership with MGM Resorts and BetMGM,” said Evin Dobson, NHL Group Vice President, Partnership Marketing. “Our extension enables us to continue to work together on delivering innovative content programming to connect with our passionate fans. We look forward to continuing to grow our relationship with MGM Resorts and BetMGM and collaborate on new opportunities for fan engagement.”
Lance Evans, Senior Vice President, Sports & Sponsorships, MGM Resorts, said, “Our partnership with the NHL has been a tremendous success, allowing us to provide guests and hockey fans with unparalleled access to their favorite teams. Alongside BetMGM, we remain committed to helping the League grow its audience, while offering fans new and entertaining experiences.”
BetMGM Chief Executive Officer Adam Greenblatt added, “This collaboration allows BetMGM to deliver the best-in-class hockey product, including a wide-variety of NHL wagering options. We will continue to work with the League to reach new fans, as we expand into new markets.”
BetMGM, MGM Resorts and the NHL share the priority of encouraging responsible gaming activity. All three are official partners of the American Gaming Association’s Have A Game Plan.® Bet Responsibly.™ public service campaign to educate new and seasoned bettors on responsible sports wagering.
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