Josh Andrews

Union Workers Picket in Las Vegas over New Concerns

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It has been a month since the contracts of Las Vegas union employees expired and they have decided the best way to go about the issue is to apply new pressure to casino properties. This begun last Friday when the workers ran picket lines of hundreds of workers on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas.

Apart from the issue of better wages, the union workers also wanted the new contracts to address the increased use of robots in gambling establishments as well as the issue of security which has been amplified in the past few months following last year mass shooting at a casino complex.

“We want to make sure we’re not lost to the robots,” Linda Hunt, a food server at the El Cortez Hotel & Casino said. “We want to make sure that they don’t just show up next week — that we have some time to adjust and train for new jobs over the next five years.”

Panic Buttons Coming to Two Las Vegas Casinos

MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment will be joining the increasing number of companies that have begun to provide their employees with panic buttons for use in case of emergency with more emphasis on sexual harassments or abuse. The rollout of the car-remote-sized panic buttons comes amid contract negotiations with the Culinary Union whose members have been vocal about worker protections.

“We are here to do our jobs and provide incredible, world-class customer service for our guests,” Maria Landeros, an MGM Grand housekeeper said in a press release issued by the Culinary Union. “We are not here to be abused or have people think that just because it’s Las Vegas, anything goes.”
“I was carrying a heavy tray full of drinks on the casino floor, and a high roller at the dice game grabbed me by the neck with both of his hands and forced me to kiss him for good luck,” she recounted during the release. “I have permanent nerve damage from that incident and I live in pain every day.”

The use of panic buttons is becoming increasingly common in hotels as a way of giving their employees more assurance of protection. In fact, a number of cities including New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and Seattle have made it mandatory for hotels to provide housekeepers and all other employees who are at a risk of harassment with panic buttons.

The new contract that has been negotiated by the Culinary Union and the Bartender unions includes language that calls for greater security measures for the employees. This includes safety, protection from sexual harassment as well as issues to do with immigration, the use of technology at their workplaces and subcontracting. In addition to all these, the unions also hope to get a share of the anticipated cash flows that the hotels and casinos expect to receive in response to changes made to federal government taxes.

Legalized Sports Betting Finally Coming to the State of Iowa

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Ever since the United States Supreme Court made repealed PASPA in May, a number of states have been grappling with various sports betting legislation. A decent number of the states have been quite successful in launching their own sports betting industries with a few others opting for a rather slow approach as they fine-tune various elements of the regulations that will govern their sports betting ecosystems.

One of the states that are just now beginning to significantly advance its sports betting bids is Iowa. Gambling interests backed by the state’s legislators, the state lottery, and the casinos are gearing up for yet another push for the legalization of sports betting. It is anticipated that statewide sports betting in Iowa could go live by next year thus opening the doors for a number of economic benefits to both the state and the local community through the taxes paid by the operators.

With all the relevant parties having shown great support for sports betting in Iowa, the only thing that remains is for them to decide how best to go about it. Jake Highfill, the Iowa state representative has confirmed that both the Democrat and Republican politicians in the state are “all in” on the legislation.

Legislative Work Continues Behind the Scenes

As mentioned before, the window of introduction of the new legislation has now closed since the state session has been officially closed till January – there will, therefore, be no significant legislative moves till then. Still, when the next legislative session begins, it is likely that the sports betting legislation will move forward in the form of House File 2448, which had already been approved by Iowa’s Ways and Means and House State Government committees.

The biggest setback for the legislation this year was the failure of the Republican majority to reach a consensus, something that denied the Senate the chance to take an action. Fortunately, work on the issue will continue behind the scenes as legislators like Highfill prepare legislation that will be approved by all proponents of sports betting in the state.

Everyone Wants a Piece of the Action

It seems that there is an insanely high amount of interest when it comes to sports betting in Iowa – perhaps the highest in any state. Highfill pointed out that other than casinos, other entities such as the convenience stores, grocery stores, and retail outlets all want to in on sports betting. The state’s retailers want in specifically because they believe that the industry could lead to increased sales in their stores.

As expected, professional sports leagues have not been left far behind – they are still going after the so-called ‘integrity fees’ they have been lobbying for since earlier this year.

The casinos and the state lottery will still have a considerable portion of the sports betting market in Iowa especially considering the fact that a huge chunk of global sports betting is conducted through the lottery. Currently, the Iowa Lottery is currently in charge of games like scratch tickets and Powerball while the Racing and Gaming Commission oversees casino gambling.

John McAfee Fires Shots at the RBI over Cryptocurrency Ban

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Renowned cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee has recently called for a boycott of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the financial institutions dealing with it over a recent decision by the central bank that forces banks to cease and desist from dealing with cryptocurrency traders.

The move by the RBI has created a lot of chaos and panic especially because of India’s technology ecosystem that has been riding the cryptocurrency wave for quite some time now. Most of the reactions have cited concerns pertaining to how the country’s rapid movement towards development will be hindered from here on out.

It is important to note that the ban is not an all-inclusive decree that Indian cryptocurrency investors will be in violation of the law for dealing in crypto. In fact, there are many other options that digital currency traders can users and they include crypto-to-crypto, peer-to-peer, offshore exchanges as well as international bank accounts. As such, while the decree that financial institutions should stop offering services to crypto investors is indeed a setback, it does not mean that it will be the end of all cryptocurrency trading in India.

The Indian media is culpable for the panic, fear, uncertainty, and doubt that is now rife in the country – as expected, they erroneously reported that the RBI had imposed a country-wide ban on cryptocurrency trading among investors.

McAfee Is Not Amused

On July 6, John McAfee posted an intriguing tweet that fired off at the Reserve Bank of India and urged all financial institutions to dissociate themselves with the central bank. He further warned that he would call for a boycott against the financial institutions that steal deal with the RBI.

“The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated this atrocity out of fear and won through the existing centralized power structure. I’m calling for a boycott of any financial institution that does business with RBI. We must stand together and act,” read McAfee’s tweet.

In his tweet which comes in the wake of the recent verdict by the Indian Supreme Court to uphold the RBI crypto ban, McAfee spoke out against these developments. Knowing McAfee, he will remain at the forefront of these protests, at least until the ban is either lifted or a reasonable consensus is reached.

From the looks of things, there are many ways this could play out but it will all depend on how both sides of the divide will play their cards. Recent reports revealed that prior to the ban, the RBI did not carefully and explicitly review the pro and cons of cryptocurrencies in the country. Already, the central bank’s officials have begun reviewing a draft that focuses on cryptocurrencies and associated regulations that would be required to ensure its survival. The said draft was prepared by the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs, Subhash Chandra Garg. Maybe there is still hope for crypto in India after all.

McLaren Signs New Partnerships for New Esports Series

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McLaren has had its sights set on the Esports industry for quite some time now. Last year, the car manufacturer hosted the World’s Fastest Gamer, an Esports racing competition which was won by Ruby van Buren. Following the success of that particular event, McLaren has recently revealed its plans for the Esports industry and the company indeed intends to seal its place in the world of Esports with the launch of a new Esports series called ‘Shadow Project’.

The ‘Shadow Project’ Esports series is an extension of 2017’s World’s Fastest Gamer (WFG) tournament. However, unlike the WFG that was purely dependent and focused on the traditional driving simulator titles, Shadow Project will branch out and include more casual racing titles. These will even include smartphone titles like Real Racing 3 which will be played alongside established competitive gaming titles like rFactor 2, iRacing and Forza Motorsport.

The winner of this Esports series will earn a spot on the company’s newly formed Esports racing team which will further create an opportunity for them to join McLaren’s Formula 1 team as a simulation driver.

“Last year’s competition proved that the skills learned as a racing gamer are transferable to the real world. This is unique to the racing genre. We believe that Esports and real-world racing have much to learn and give to each other and last year’s competition was just the start,” Ben Payne, Mclaren Director of Esports said. “McLaren Shadow Project will be the most open and inclusive racing Esports competition on the planet. We are looking for the most talented virtual racers from all countries and backgrounds. To make this possible we have partnered with the biggest racing game brands in the world – Real Racing 3 on mobile, Forza Motorsport on Xbox, PC racing sims iRacing and rFactor 2”

The Partnerships

While Shadow Project is entirely owned by McLaren but the company has welcomed various partners including Dell’s Alienware, VR brand HTC Vive, Logitech G, Sparco Gaming, Electronic Arts (EA) and Microsoft. HTC Vive’s involvement is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this development as it creates the potential for VR-enabled racing titles to be part of the line-up of the racing games the players will have to triumph at in order to claim the position of champion.

“Season one proved that Esports are a new talent frontier for motorsport and after pioneering the program in 2017, McLaren plans to develop the concept to generate greater global reach and engagement in season two. A strong, diverse Esports program has a direct benefit to McLaren’s innovative ambitions, bringing in new audiences, partners, and talent to motorsport,” says McLaren CEO Zak Brown. “By ramping up over multiple platforms across the online world, it will establish McLaren as an important brand in the motorsport Esports community.”

Atlantic City’s Hard Rock Casino Starts Online Gambling Site

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Atlantic City’s Hard Rock Casino and Ocean Resorts Casino went live last Thursday in some of the biggest grand openings in a very long time. This takes New Jersey’s thriving gaming market to a whole new level and it is even about to get better.

Atlantic City’s Hard Rock casino on Tuesday afternoon quietly rolled out its online gambling operation just five days after its highly anticipated land-based casino opened its doors to patrons. Reportedly, this will not be the last time we are hearing of the launch of online gambling operations in the city – Ocean Resort Casino is apparently also preparing itself to offer online gambling to the New Jersey market.

According to the director of the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, David Rebuck, Hard Rock’s equipment and systems all passed the necessary tests and were thus cleared for operations. The operator’s online gambling site is now the 26th operational legal gambling site in the state. As for Ocean Resorts Casino’s supposed online offering, Rebuck confirmed that it is still in its testing phases with the New Jersey gambling regulators.

“Our online gaming team has done an amazing job launching one of the most dynamic online gaming experiences in the industry,” said Hard Rock’s Atlantic City president, Matt Harkness. “We’re excited to extend the Hard Rock brand beyond the Boardwalk and let casino players (play) across the Garden State.”

Hard Rock joins six other online casino gambling licensees including Resorts, Tropicana, Caesars interactive-NJ, Borgata and Golden Nugget. The state’s new gambling regulator also approved a number of companies that partner with the Atlantic City casinos.

New Jersey’s internet gambling begun officially in 2013 and has grown steadily since then into a very huge revenue source for both the state and the operators. In 2017, internet gambling brought in a whopping $245 million for Atlantic City casinos – this translates to about 10 percent of their total revenue.

Things are certainly looking up in this regard especially considering the fact that sports betting which kicked off in New Jersey last month will also be in the mix. This will without a doubt take the state through a quick period of recovery as these two new revenue sources – online gambling and sports betting – were lacking during the two-year period within which five of Atlantic City’s 12 casinos shut down. Already, two of them, that is, Hard Rock and Ocean Resorts casino, have been reopened and this proves that the state is indeed about to regain its former glory.

Indian Supreme Court Upholds RBI’s Cryptocurrency Ban

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On April 5, India’ central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a circular that was addressed to all regulated financial institutions including banks prohibiting them from offering their services to crypto-related business. The policy further mandated the financial institutions to stop allowing their own retail clients from purchasing cryptocurrencies through their banking accounts. A three-month deadline was set for the policy and therefore the ban should effectively take effect as from Thursday, July 5.

As expected, the move by the RBI to ban cryptocurrencies has caused quite a stir across India’s nascent but rapidly growing cryptocurrency community with a number of crypto exchanges opting to take up the issue through the courts. The Supreme Court just happens to be one of the many courts where petitions challenging the ban were filed – most of the petitions cited the RBI’s policies as being “arbitrary, unfair and unconstitutional.”

The move was led by the Internet and Mobile Association of India which counts cryptocurrency exchanges as its members. The organization fast-tracked the legal challenge against the RBI ban and they finally got to be heard on the morning of June 3.

Unfortunately, the Indian Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra chose to side with the arguments of the RBI and therefore the cryptocurrency ban is still in effect and so is the July 5 deadline.

“This a win for the RBI and a big blow to virtual currency exchanges and traders. In our earlier request to the RBI as well, we had asked it to extend the deadline by a month after the July 20 hearing. However, now that the ban will continue, the banking route for the exchanges and its users will be completely choked,” said Rashmi Deshpande, an associate from legal firm Khaitan & Co who are involved in the petition.

Is This the End for Crypto Exchanges in India?

If you have been following the crypto industry in India, you may have noticed that it is quite likely that this might truly be the end of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. There is all talk of total control of crypto being eventually handed to the RBI, something that, if goes through, will lead to the digital currencies being declared as completely illegal assets.

Furthermore, some top government officials have hinted at a number of regulatory or legal developments that are currently in the works and have the potential of turning everything around.

“We have prepared a draft (on virtual currencies) that entails what parts of this businesses should be banned and what should be preserved. This should be discussed by the first week of July and we should wrap this up within in the first fortnight of July,” Subnash Chandra Garg, the Secretary of the Department of Economic Affairs said.

While we cannot be certain about what the future truly holds for crypto, the Supreme Court’s decision is most certainly bad news for the Indian crypto market especially considering how deep-rooted blockchain technology is in India.

Resorts Casino Partners with SBTech for Sports Betting

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As sports betting in New Jersey and the United States as a whole continues to pick up steam, Resorts Atlantic City has been busy adding a number of partners to support its bid to offer services to the sports betting market. Just a little over a month after landing a sportsbook partnership with renowned daily fantasy sports provider DraftKings, it was announced that Resorts on Monday, July 2 had inked a deal with SBTech, an industry-leading sports betting solutions provider for the regulated online gaming industry.

The deal will see SBTech “provide its sportsbook solution across on-property, online and mobile channels” in New Jersey. It also marks the second partnership agreement that SBTech has gotten into since the United States Supreme Court ruled to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in May. The first partnership deal was with Churchill Downs – both deals are quite similar since both casinos will be leveraging the SBTech platform for their full omnichannel offering across all channels. There will be a lot of focus on on-property solutions that will hopefully provide a land-based solution for the future.

Resorts, through the partnership, will now be able to launch a fully-integrated omnichannel sports betting solution with an emphasis on mobile-friendly features like bet builder solution Your Bet or SBTech’s live betting innovation Pulse Bet.

In addition to this, Resorts will also be outsourcing its risk management and trading SBTech – SBTech will implement a bespoke risk management strategy that will be enabled by proprietary trading operations. This will, in turn, allow Resorts Casino to achieve genuine differentiation and at the same time achieve control of its liabilities will avoiding the influence of the wider pool-based risk management.

“After conducting a comprehensive selection process to find the right sports betting supplier, we feel that SBTech offers the right combination of deep regulatory expertise in the world’s most dynamic and demanding markets and the scalability to support our ambitious multi-vertical plans,” Resorts Casino Hotel president and chief executive, Mark Giannantonio said.

Partnering with SBTech is going to be great for Resorts Casino not just because the solutions provider provides players with uninterrupted access to sports and casino products from a wide range of devices but also because SBTech has superbly flexible gaming solutions. Resorts will benefit immensely from the exceptional configurability of the SBTech platform that is further supported by the very best business intelligence and reporting capabilities.

“Our strategic partnership with Resorts represents the next stage of our long-planned penetration of the US market. SBTech’s renowned commitment to delivering leading-edge solutions across all channels and intelligent responsible gaming infrastructure will help us develop a sports betting offering that will benefit our partners and promote best practice and the strongest levels of consumer protection,” SBTech CEO, Richard Carter stated during the Monday announcement.

UK Gambling Commission Expands Child Protection Plans

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The UK Gambling Commission has laid out plans to better protect children and young people from the risks of being exposed to online gambling. There is already some work underway in this area, but the commission hopes to build on the existing regulations and measures so as to ensure they are as effective as possible.

The commission employed advice from expert advisers with regards to the critical themes of children, young people, and gambling. It further brought together all the existing work in this area while acting on advice from the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) and this resulted in a strengthened focus on the implementation of the right protections in order to effectively reduce the risk of harm to children and young people.

In addition to this, the gambling regulator has asked all parties that are responsible for safeguarding children to corporate with them as they try to address some of the critical issues that were identified by the RGSB. This will help in laying out feasible action plans for preventive education and treatment, handling digital and online risks, evidence collection and consumer engagement as well as preventing access and exposure to gambling services.

“We have a strong commitment to protecting children and young people from the harm gambling can pose – it’s at the heart of how we regulate. We asked our expert advisers, the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, to consider this critical theme. The advice helps us to refocus and reinforce what we are doing already, and what we need to do next. For example, this year we will be carrying out targeted compliance and enforcement activity to identify and tackle any weaknesses in the age verification processes,” Tim Miller, the executive director of the UK Gambling Commission said.
“Safeguarding children in a digital age is complex, and what both RGSB and our research has highlighted is that it takes a multi-faceted approach by us, government, educators, gambling firms and parents. It will take firm ongoing commitments from the Commission as gambling regulator, but also from all of those with a part to play,” he added.

Worrying Statistics

The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB) recently conducted a study that revealed that 31,000 children are classable as problem gamblers and 45,000 more are at a risk of becoming the same. The study also found that 91 percent of the 11-15 years old children who had recently gambled had seen gambling adverts on social media platforms or on TV – 2 percent of these children said that the adverts had either increased their gambling rates or prompted them to try it out.

“Ideally, children and young people should not be exposed to marketing and advertising for gambling at all, let alone in the quantities now prevalent,” the report stated. “The potential longer-term effects of what has been a relatively recent phenomenon are unknown. There is good reason to think they might be harmful.”

Poker Central Rescues Poker Players Alliance and Rebrands It

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The Poker Players Alliance released a statement last Wednesday announcing that the organization had been revived by funding from Poker Central, a company that deals in offering poker new and live event streaming via its PokerGO app. Also, as part of the new arrangement, the Poker Players Alliance has since been rebranded to Poker Alliance, but its goal of advancing poker on behalf of the poker playing community in the United States and around the world remains intact.

Formed in 2005, the Poker Players Alliance began its activities by lobbying against restrictions such as the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act in Washington. Unfortunately, prior to being picked up by Poker Central, the group has had a rough couple of months that even included being dropped by PokerStars, one of its earlier corporate backers at the end of 2017. This subsequently led the lobbying group to a bit of a hiatus as donations got scarcer over the years.

New Leadership

The rejuvenated Poker Alliance will take on the activities of its predecessor albeit under new leadership – the new president is Mark Brenner, a “longtime business development and government relations executive.” Still, the group will retain two of its formers presidents, Rich Munny and John Pappas, as members of the Poker Alliance’s advisory board for at least three months.

“I’m very optimistic about Poker Alliance’s potential to bring new innovations and a different skill set to the fight for poker, serving its membership and consumers in general. Along with my fellow advisors to the new leadership, I look forward to advocating for the great game of poker as part of Poker Alliance,” Rich Muny commented while confirming his new role.

It will certainly take some time to develop a definitive direction for the Poker Alliance but for now poker enthusiasts can rest assured that there will be a tight focus on poker. Also, even though the organization is removing the “Players” from its name, it will still very much try to uphold its core values that are supported by most poker players.

“Poker Alliance will be a dedicated voice for the millions of Americans who support expanding the sporting world of poker, in particular, the players seeking to enjoy safe, well-regulated, and fair games in myriad locations and formats. The revamped association will prioritize advocating for consumer protection and states’ rights in the context of poker and internet gaming,” reads the Poker Alliance press release.

Considering Brenner’s neat management and lobbying portfolio, and the experience of John Pappas and Rich Muny as advisory board members, the Poker Alliance is certainly bound to spawn a new era for the poker community.

South Korea Advances Its Cryptocurrency Regulations Further

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South Korea has been at the forefront of the crypto industry since the investor boom and cryptocurrency frenzy of 2017 and since then, the country has seen a number of gradual and significant changes in the way cryptocurrencies are perceived within its borders. Just recently, the country’s authorities announced that it was lifting the blanket ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs). Next on South Korea’s agenda are plans to lead what could be the fourth industrial revolution that they will be backed by blockchain initiatives.

Even as the country surges on towards delivering a blockchain-powered future, the authorities still understand the importance of regulation. According to the announcement which was made by the country’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), a set of new anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer rules for cryptocurrency exchanges will take effect on July 10, 2018, and will remain in effect for a year.

A Tougher Stand

The country’s new guidelines will make the current regulations on user and transaction monitoring even stricter than they were before. These stricter regulations are being put into place so as to prevent money laundering, fraud as well as money transfers between local and foreign exchanges. The FSC also requested the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (KFIU), the country’s financial supervisory organization to strengthen their control over digital currency transactions and user activity so as to provide cryptocurrency exchange investors with even greater security.

The advancement of the crypto regulations in South Korea was primarily based on the FSC’s recent inspection of Nonghyup Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, and KEB Hana Bank – the inspection revealed that some of the crypto exchanges had moved assets from their investors’ depositing accounts into their own operating accounts. This is a violation of the promise that cryptocurrency exchanges make to keep investors’ assets separate from their own.

“We plan to closely keep tabs on bank accounts used by cryptocurrency exchanges for parking their expenses,” the FSC noted after the findings.

The new regulations also require the crypto exchanges to conduct Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD). These are meant to ensure that foreigners are not trading digital assets through the South Korean crypto exchanges and, as mentioned earlier, to reduce the possibility of fraud, prevent money laundering and prevent personal data breaches.

While these regulations mostly seem to be restrictive in nature, the South Korean government’s initiative to control the crypto space is also a step forward towards the legitimization of the sector. In the next few months, the local authorities will be teaming up with local exchanges and banks in an effort to better structure the cryptocurrency market.