Gambling | Bitcoin Gambling

SBTech Partners with Golden Nugget for Sportsbooks Venture

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Leading sports betting solutions provider, SBTech continues to snap up new business and partnerships in the United States. One of its latest deals involves a partnership with Golden Nugget Casino to launch an omnichannel sports betting solution for Golden Nugget’s casino in Mississippi in New Jersey. Under the new partnership, SBTech will be integrating its sportsbook with Golden Nugget’s existing online gaming platform in the two states, providing a full platform and a sportsbook solution that will include integration into their existing casino management systems.

In addition to this, the sport betting solutions provider will also be responsible for developing a custom and highly flexible front-end for Golden Nugget in a bid to ensure maximum differentiation. In a similar note, SBTech will apply a bespoke trading strategy and non-pooled risk management that is powered by unrivaled levels of automation which will give Golden Nugget Casinos the opportunity to shake up the United States market with its unique pricing for all sports.

“Since sports betting is a critical component of our successful expansion for online betting and gaming in the US, SBTech persisted through our arduous review process. In the end, we knew SBTech was the right partner for us because of its industry-leading retail and online technology, their significant and diverse regulatory experience, as well as its innovative product-driven approach,” Golden Nugget Casino’s senior vice president, Thomas Winter commented.

The partnership is also set to significantly contribute to SBTech’s endeavor to meet the licensing requirements set by both Mississippi and New Jersey. Both companies will benefit from SBTech’s live offering which will reinforce the long-term success of Golden Nugget’s sportsbooks. Customers can expect to enjoy some of the industry’s widest range of events and markets and groundbreaking new mobile-focused features like Action Betting and Pulse Bet, both of which will boost in-play turnover from key gaming demographics.

“I’m very pleased to confirm our latest strategic partnership with a major US operator. Golden Nugget fully shares our vision of leveraging the power of innovation to achieve sports betting success, and as the US market matures, I’m confident of the potential for further collaboration in multiple jurisdictions,” Richard Carter, the SBTech CEO said.

SBTech’s Partnership with Rocket X

Rocket X, which operates a number of gambling sites in the United Kingdome has also recently struck a partnership deal with SBTech. This one also involves supplying the former’s sportsbook to a number of UK-facing sites. The partnership was contracted directly in conjunction with LeoVegas, a leading Swedish mobile gaming operator that created the Rocket X brands earlier in March in a move to consolidate its UK assets.

“The strength of SBTech’s in-play coverage, its technological and regulatory expertise, proven track record of powering high-growth operators in the UK and wide range of responsible gambling controls were at the heart of our decision to sign this agreement. With the power of one of the industry’s top sportsbooks behind us, I’m confident of achieving a significant share in the uniquely competitive UK market,” Rocket X CEO, Mark Good said.

Pennsylvania’s Comprehensive Gambling Expansion Surges On

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) has confirmed that the state’s plans for the establishment of mini-casinos, online gambling and a number of other developments are well underway. The members of the board believe that it is going to be a fairly smooth sail from here on out now that a lawsuit that has been challenging the gaming expansion has been dropped.

Even so, everything pertaining to the Keystone State’s comprehensive gambling expansion was already in the right regardless of the setbacks that included the said lawsuit.

“These are very busy times for the Gaming Control Board,” said Doug Harbach, the PGCB spokesperson. “We have six expansion initiatives that we are part of…There’s never been a jurisdiction in the United States that had to get that many types of gaming up and running in a very brief period of time.”

Filed by Penn National, the operator of Pennsylvania’s Hollywood Casino, the lawsuit which was filed earlier this year cited the company’s concerns that the legalization of mini-casinos would jeopardize and cannibalize their casino operation in the state. The lawsuit was, therefore, seeking to have the federal courts pass a ruling that would block the new Category 4 casino provisions since they treated the state’s existing operators unfairly and contained “unconstitutional” language.

According to Harbach, the Penn National lawsuit was one of the most significant setbacks to the Keystone State’s comprehensive gaming expansion. Even though some other issues may arise in the near future, Penn National’s decision to drop to the lawsuit will definitely lighten the load.

“We made a business decision to withdraw our lawsuits against the Category 4 law,” said Penn National spokesperson, Eric Schippers. “While we continue to believe in the merits of our arguments, we have chosen to focus entirely on our development efforts for our two new casinos, rather than pursue what is likely to be a lengthy and costly legal battle.”
“As previously stated, our goal in pursuing our Category 4 licenses is both defensive, in terms of protecting our existing investment at Hollywood Casino from new competition, and offensive in terms of penetrating more deeply into more populous market areas to our south and east, in order to drive incremental value for our shareholders.”

Internet Gambling

While the state is still handling and reviewing mini-casino proposals, the iGaming license process is also in progress. Already, nine of the state’s 13 casinos have paid the discounted $10 million licensing fee for slot machines, poker, and table games.

“Once we get the iGaming up, of course then we’ll start to look at the airport gaming,” Harbach added. “We’ve got the video gaming terminals at the truck stops…Course we began to do some regulation on fantasy sports and have collected taxes on that for a couple months. So, all those things.”

Alleged Leader of Western Pa. Gambling Operation Charged

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Pennsylvania’s gambling industry has seen tremendous growth in the past several months, something that has brought more to the local players and improved the overall conditions of gaming. These developments have necessitated the need for more inspection and a monitoring as a means of ensuring that the necessary regulation of the field as well as the prevention of illegal gambling activities. The measures have been quite successful.

The most recent casualty of the anti-illegal gambling measures is Washington County man who was arrested last Thursday for allegedly running an illegal video gambling operation in a total of 33 bars and clubs for between 2006 and 2017. According to the Josh Shapiro, the state Attorney General, during the 11 years in within which the operation was conducted, its owner, 58-year-old Anthony Zenner, accrued over $7 million in illegal profits.

“Today we’ve ended Tony Zenner’s video gambling operation,” the Attorney General said in the press release. “This defendant raked in millions of dollars in illegal proceeds, draining money from Pennsylvanians – and from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — over the last decade. These video poker machines – with the lure of the cash payout – are illegal gambling devices. We’ve taken action with the Pennsylvania State Police to shut his enterprise down.”

Mr. Zenner has been charged with dealing in proceeds or illegal activities and gambling devices as well as being part of a corrupt organization. The Attorney General further confirmed that Zenner’s Zenner Vending operation provided no less than 142 illegal gambling devices to restaurants, bars, and clubs in southwest Pennsylvania for nearly a decade.

The investigation into Zenner’s operations began in January 2016 after a review of gambling devices questionnaire that was completed by the owners of clubs and bars where illegal gambling machines were discovered and used to track down the vendors of the illegal gambling devices. This was then followed by the installation of undercover surveillance on the clubs and bars with illegal gambling machines that were provided by Zenner Vending.

Violation of Pennsylvania Gaming Laws

In the press release, Shapiro further mentioned that Zenner Vending made cash payouts to players who won credits on the illegal gaming machines. These cash payouts coupled with the poker machines that are games of chance made Zenner’s operation a violation of the state laws. Zenner’s machines were also found to contain “knock off” devices as well as an internal accounting feature that kept track of every player’s earned credits and winnings. He would also split the profit of his poker machines with the club, bar and restaurant owner usually one a 50-50 basis – it is estimated that his weekly profits summed up to about $14,470.

“Thanks to strong law enforcement collaboration with our partners in the Pennsylvania State Police and the effective use of a Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, this illegal gambling enterprise is over,” Shapiro added.

Ocean Resort Casino Atlantic City Launches Online Casino

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In just two weeks, New Jersey’s gambling options have seen a significant expansion that began with the relaunch and grand openings of Atlantic City’s previously closed casinos. Hard Rock and Ocean Resort went live on June 28 with Hard Rock launching its online casino offering later that day. Ocean Resort has not been left behind and on Tuesday the casino operator officially unveiled its much-anticipated online gaming platform when it removed the “under construction” banner from OceanOnlineCasino.com.

The online casino is currently in the process of a soft launch with the limited gameplay being imposed for the first few days. There are already a number of promotions available on the websites as well but the online casino is yet to begin featuring the “full offering” of its online gaming services.

Big Gain for GAN

For its online casino venture, Ocean Resort Casino partnered with GAN, a B2B internet gaming software developer, and supplier. Ocean Resort will be utilizing GAN’s technology to deliver a converged online and on-property gaming experience to the casino’s guests via its Ocean Premier loyalty program. The offering will allow the guests to trade their reward points earned from on-property gaming for cash when they switch to the online casino. Similarly, the Ocean Resort online casino customers will also be able to redeem the rewards points earned from online gaming at the brick and mortar Atlantic City casino.

“Ocean Resort Casino is a fabulous casino property, unarguably offering the best quality gaming & hotel in Atlantic City, which has now been optimized for success by the new ownership and leadership. We’re privileged to bring this immense property to life online, just as it relaunches in the traditional retail casino market. We’re excited to deliver not just another ‘me too’ Internet casino, but to also bring online for the first time the capabilities unlocked only by GAN’s convergence Patent which may give casino patrons in New Jersey a compelling economic rationale to play online with Ocean Resort Casino rather than established incumbent casino operators already online in this fast-growing market. Ocean Resort Casino is anticipated to be material to GAN’s revenue and earnings in H2 2018,” commented Dermot Smurfit, the CEO of GAN.
What to Expect

At launch, the casino began by offering over 50 slots, a decent number of table games including blackjack and roulette as well as 8 different versions of video poker. The online casino also includes a dedicated section where customers can access online games which can also be played in the land-based casino.

“GAN delivered efficiently and cost-effectively for Ocean Resort Casino and possesses a strategic patent which will give Ocean Resort Casino a competitive advantage with casino guests in Atlantic City who also choose to gamble online. Furthermore, GAN’s proven platform, ‘dual-mode’ Simulated Gaming, as well as real money Internet gaming and track record of client success in the New Jersey market, are among the many reasons we chose GAN to bring Ocean Resort Casino online in 2018,” Ocean Resort Casino CEO, Frank Leone pointed out.

Atlantic City’s Hard Rock Casino Starts Online Gambling Site

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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.

UK Gambling Commission Expands Child Protection Plans

Reading Time: 2 minutes

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.”

Mobile Betting Drives Growth in Australian Online Wagering

Reading Time: 2 minutes

According to Roy Morgan, an Australian market research company, the country’s mobile gaming industry is currently thriving. More and more Australians are using mobile devices to place bets at a steadily increasing pace year-by-year. However, the report also reveals that despite the tremendous rise in the number of bets placed using mobile devices, the overall number of punters has seen a not so slight decline in the last few years.

The Specifics

Roy Morgan reveals that a total of 3.4 million Australian punters wagered on sporting events, horse racing, greyhound racing, harness racing and many other events in the past year. In comparison, between March 2011 and March 2012, over 3.7 million Australian citizens placed wagers on the same or similar events. Interestingly, the report reveals that more of these punters seem to be shifting to the online space for their gambling needs as mentioned earlier – the number of people who placed bets on the internet increased by over 50 percent which sums up to about 34.1 percent of the total number of Australian gamblers.

The massive increase in online gambling, as reported by Roy Morgan, is all thanks to the increasing popularity of mobile devices especially mobile phones, or to be more precise, smartphones. To be more specific, more than one-fifth of Australians use their mobile phones to place bets. On the hand, the number of people who still prefer to place bets online on their computers has remained unchanged when compared to the figures that the research firm reported in 2012, that is, 15.1 percent.

“What is clear from these figures though is that a majority of Australians who bet still don’t bet via the Internet. Over two-fifths of Australians who bet have not used the Internet to place a bet and these are the key market companies offering online betting need to target to grow their revenue,” the Roy Morgan chief executive officer, Michele Levine said in an official statement.

Consolidation in the Australian Gambling Market

As it stands, the Australian gambling industry is undergoing a period of elongated consolidation and therefore, the numbers presented by the Roy Morgan report are encouraging to say the least. In fact, there is a lot of great things ahead including more technologically up-to-date options and products.

Roy Morgan reports that the Australian betting market is being dominated by two operators. The two market leaders include Tabcorp Holdings whose online betting site boasts of nearly 18 percent local customers. Tabcorp Holdings runs a decent number of betting websites each offering various kinds of betting services to the market.

The other operator dominating the Australian gambling market is Sportsbet.com.au that is used by close to 13 percent of the Australian gambling markets. Coming in third is Crownbet which caters to about 6.5 percent of the Australian gambling population.

Ocean Resorts Gets Casino License, Confirms June 28 Launch

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Following an emotional two-day hearing, the New Jersey Casino Control Commission finally granted Ocean Resort Casino, formerly known as Revel Casino, a casino license on June 21 thus putting the new establishment’s June 28 launch back in track.

Just a little over a year ago the Revel hotel and casino was sitting empty on Atlantic city’s boardwalk, a bleak reminder of Atlantic City’s misfortunes rather than the glittering hotel and casino that many thought it would be. This was, however, only until Bruce Deifik, a Denver-based property investor decide to take control of the property towards the end of last year. By January 2018, he was already a majority owner of the property that has now been refurbished and renamed Ocean Resort Casino and is expected to go live on June 28.

Among Deifik’s intentions in regards to this venture is overcoming the history of the $2.6 billion property that was conceived over a decade ago. Revel casino was intended to offer somewhat of an antidote to the rather old-school casinos further down the boardwalk but, unfortunately, it eventually went bankrupt twice owing to a high debt loads design mishaps, and, of course, lots of competition. At the hearing, Deifik and his Ocean Resort Casino team addressed how they would handle these issues and how the business would benefit the city as a whole.

The Terms

As expected, the license came with a number of conditions – 26 to be precise – that was laid out by the state regulators at the Division of Gaming Enforcement. Among these conditions is one that addresses Ocean Resort Casino’s financial resources as well as its relationship with JPMorgan Chase, one its lenders. This was particularly meant to ensure that the refurbished property does not fall victim to the same financial struggles that plagued its predecessor leading up to the time of its closure.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, the commissioner also had a number of “very serious concerns” that were shared by the Division of Gaming Enhancement that had given several recommendations on the pressing issues. However, as stated by Commissioner Alisa Cooper, “After listening to the very extensive, and personal, testimony of the past two days, my concerns have been eased.”

Deifik’s and the chief financial officer, Alan Greenstein’s, testimonies came on the first day of the hearing – they expounded on their vision for the casino hotel, the changes they had to the property as well as the group’s finances. On the second day of the hearing, Ocean Resort’s chief executive officer, Frank Leone gave a testimony in regards to the property’s marketing strategies.

“I can assure you that we’re going to speak loudly and clearly to the core casino audience,” Leone said. “Our promise is to have an unwavering commitment to exceeding guests’ expectations.”

Betting on the FIFA World Cup 2018 with EtherWorldCUp

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The 2018 FIFA World Cup is indeed one of the biggest sports events in the world, and we do not intend to get left out of all the action and enticing activities that will be going on as a result. Even though the United States did not qualify, there is still plenty of side action for soccer enthusiasts in the United States especially those who love to bet on their favorite teams. This particular article further addresses the needs of a much larger demographic thanks to the three different aspects that it involves – that is, crypto, sports betting and the World Cup. How amazing is that?

What I am referring to is the EtherWorldCup which is a new Ethereum-based betting platform that was created with nothing but the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup in mind. Other than just helping people to invest using Ether, the platform is designed to combat some of the problems that many sports bettors face today – these include lack of transparency, high betting fees, bureaucracy as well as a ton of trust issues that stem from the fact that the bettor have to reveal lots of sensitive information and then entrust the operators with that information and their money.

How It Works

Using Ethereums’s blockchain technology and smart contracts, EtherWorld Cup will be providing solutions that will make the sports betting ecosystem more transparent and discrete while at the same time dispelling the need for trust. The smart contracts are the main highlight when it comes to the issue of trust as they can be used as trustless tools that will automatically deliver your funds whenever you win a bet.

To participate, all a customer needs to do is to install Metamask on their computers and have some ETH to bet on their favorite team at the World Cup. As mentioned earlier, all the trading will be carried out through smart contracts and therefore players will not need to worry about dispensing any personal information.

EtherWorldCUp bets are not audited since the team behind the platform believes that auditors have high fees that would result in higher costs of investment for their customers. This does not, however, mean that your money is any less safe as the company explicitly outlines that it has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that customer funds are safe and secure.

These smart contracts further help to keep the fees lowed that 7 percent and users are only charged when they decide to give up on a bet or when they withdraw their funds. The platform also uses two of the best live score APIs to determine the winners – Sportmonks and footballdata.org.

So, while there are certainly a number of sports betting sites based on the Ethereum blockchain, if you are a World Cup fan then look no further than EtherWorldCup simply because it was created specifically for that event and therefore does a great job at optimizing service delivery in that regard.

2018 FIFA World Cup Betting Guide

Reading Time: 2 minutes

In the United States, Las Vegas is and will probably always be the Mecca of sports betting. However, in the wake of the landmark United States Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for nationwide sports betting, many more states will be giving Nevada a run for its money. As it stands, Delaware was the first state – after Nevada where some forms of sports betting have been legal for years – to legalize sports betting. This move has since been followed by New Jersey and many more including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Mississippi are expected to do the same very soon.

As you might have already guessed, this is perfect timing since the World Cup just kicked off recently (last Thursday) and this presents a huge opportunity for some side action. If you are only finding out this now then you are a little late to the party. You will be forgiven for not knowing though – it is growing more understandably clear the FIFA World Cup can either bring out either absolute indifference or rabid interest when it comes to the United States.

This year will probably lean more towards the side of absolute indifference especially because, for the first time since 1986, the United States failed to make the World Cup. Ouch!

“Las Vegas is such an international city and the World Cup is such an international event that people are still going to be around to bet on it,” Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito commented. “It’s going to be a tremendous event for our sports books, but the U.S. not being there is definitely going to have some effect.”

However, the country remains to be the third most populated country in the world, which means that even a tad bit of interests represents a considerably large number of people. With legalized sports betting now a reality, there is still a lot that Americans can play for. Patriotism aside, it is time to make some cash. If betting is not for you, then too bad. I am sure there are a couple of other things that you can do; the opportunities are endless.

Odds to Win

Country Odds % chance to win

Brazil 18-5 22%

Argentina 19-5 21%

Germany 9-2 18%

Spain 5-1 16%

France 11-2 15%

These top five choices represent 92 percent of the win equivalent even before you consider other contenders that include formidable teams like Belgium and Portugal as well as several other spoilers in the 32-team midfield. It would probably be smarter to wait for the knockout round before you jump in with these teams especially if you want to get a little more insight into what you are getting into. Still, the futures prices will not have changed much since the assumptions to qualify are already baked into the numbers.

Alternatively, as the knockouts begin you could bet on your preferred team to advance on game-by-game lines – this will roll out your investment at every round and is likely to yield a better return than betting futures prices.