If Spanish operator Codere had its way, all international online gambling operators would follow Microgaming’s lead and get the hell out of Dodge. Codere launched legal action against Bwin last April, asserting that the Austrian outfit’s online presence in the unlicensed market amounted to “unfair competition” since land-based operators like Codere had no choice but to observe the local laws and stay offline. Codere believes that any operator that established an online presence pre-regulation will hold an unfair market advantage over newcomers like themselves. The remedy? The scallywags should be forced to ditch their brands and customer databases and pay back taxes dating from, say, the dawn of the internet.

In December, Codere made similar allegations against Sportingbet and PokerStars, seeking injunctions to block the sites’ access to Spanish punters. (Gambling Compliance reports that Codere has “copy and pasted” similar injunctions against other companies serving the Spanish market.) A commercial court in Madrid subsequently granted an interim injunction against Sportingbet’s Spanish-facing site Miapuesta, which was then blocked by Spanish internet service providers and payment processors. Sportingbet was compelled to put up a €2m deposit to lift the injunction while the case is before the courts.

But Codere’s victory wasn’t a clean sweep. On Jan. 16, a Barcelona mercantile court rejected imposing an injunction against PokerStars, noting that Stars held another EU-based license and had formally applied for a Spanish license once the government decided to offer them. In the meantime, Judge D. Luis Rodriguez Vega ruled that Stars “cannot be liable for not having obtained the authorization, given that they did not have the chance to do it.” Codere must decide this coming week if it will appeal the decision.

The only market where Codere maintains an active online presence is Italy, but here, too, Stars is drinking their milkshake. Following the launch of their real-money iOS app in Italy, Stars has now released a similar version for Android. Unlike the iOS version, which was only available via iTunes, Stars is making the Android app available directly from its own site. That is, unless Codere objects…

Business News

The alleged plans don’t seem to have given Portugal’s existing online gambling monopoly Santa Casa de Misericordia de Lisboa pause regarding its recent appeal court victory over Bwin. Not satisfied with Bwin being forced to cease all advertising with and sponsorship of Portuguese sports franchises, Santa Casa is seeking €27m (plus interest) in damages from Bwin. Santa Casa also expects to use the Porto Tribunal da Relação decision as precedent to go after the 30 other online gambling outfits doing business in Portugal, with BetClic Everest the most likely candidate to next face Santa Casa’s wrath.

Santa Casa’s European affairs adviser Ana Paula Barros told Gambling Compliance that the company had “legal claims against all the national and international operators of whom we have knowledge of and which are awaiting the conclusion of this claim from Santa Casa against Bwin.” Bwin, for its part, isn’t conceding anything, counting on a reversal when its case reaches Portugal’s Court of Second Instance later this year. Barring that, Bwin is also counting on the European Commission declaring Santa Casa’s monopoly invalid. A Bwin spokesperson claimed Santa Casa had “never qualified” that €27m figure.

Business News

But later on Friday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Washington correspondent Steve Tetrault tweeted that Gov. Brian Sandoval’s spokesperson “shoots down Twitter report he is telling NV casinos of a Reid-Kyl deal on #webpoker. “That is patently false,” she sez.” So who to believe? The payroll tax bill needs to be passed by the end of February, but the Dems and Repubs are (shock!) a long way from consensus. If the bill doesn’t pass, Americans could see higher taxes deducted from their paychecks, but the Repubs are complaining that the Dems haven’t proposed any serious revenue generators to offset the bill’s expenditures. Online poker could theoretically fit that bill, if you could convince the GOP moralizers to head into a November election having just given the green light to the “crack cocaine” of gambling. (Honestly, in light of Breaking Bad‘s popularity, should that meme not be changed to the “meth” of gambling? Just a suggestion…)

Meanwhile, gambling companies continue to wheel and deal as if the legislation is a fait accompli. A month after musing about “realistic opportunities” in a legalized US online gambling market, Gibraltar-based mobile specialists Probability have applied for a Nevada online gambling license. CEO Charles Cohen said the company was picking Nevada to be the first state to open for business, whether intrastate or nationwide. All they need now is a local partner with a gaming license, but early stage talks with unidentified companies are reportedly underway. Probability’s official twitter feed chirped out the following nugget: “just left the lovely ladies at new Scotland yard with our fingerprints for nevada licence application. now just 100 pages of forms to go.” Cohen and Co. will be whistling a far less merry melody if Probability’s US competitors convince Vegas cops to match those fingerprints to any of the Strip’s unsolved crimes…

Also on Friday, Kentucky horse racing colossus Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) announced that it has acquired the assets of Atlanta-based Bluff Media. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but in addition to assuming control of Bluff’s numerous poker-related domains and an extensive player database, CDI intends “to further expand and build upon Bluff Media’s current content and business model, CDI management believes this acquisition potentially provides the company with new business avenues to pursue in the event there is a liberalization of state or federal laws with respect to Internet poker in the United States.” CDI already operates a thriving online horse wagering business, and US politicians have historically contorted themselves into knots while crafting gambling laws to give racing operators preferential treatment. Is it significant that Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell is from Kentucky?

Business News

As the WPT Venice Grand Prix wrapped up today, closing out the first two-thirds of World Poker Tour’s landmark tenth season, I thought I’d reflect on some of the changes the WPT has undergone during its decade-long existence.

1. There’s a lot more “World” in today’s World Poker Tour.

In the early years, when tournaments were played in France, Aruba, Costa Rica, the Bahamas, and on a cruise ship in international waters, there was enough international presence on the tour to justify the “W” in the WPT’s name. By Season 7, though, only two of the 14 scheduled events were outside the US and the tour was in danger of becoming increasingly irrelevant as the US government’s crackdown on online poker began to have an effect on live tournament and the industry as a whole began to look overseas for its survival.

These days there’s a lot more “world” in the World Poker Tour. Season 10 features 12 tournaments outside the US – in locations like Morocco, the Czech Republic, Italy and Ireland – plus another 12 in the US (if you count the Super High Roller tournament planned at the Bellagio’s WPT Championship in May). That’s a much more equitable distribution internationally than in years past. And on a related note, more international players than ever are winning WPT events; of this season’s 16 champions, 10 hail from outside the US. Instead of staying focused on the American market, these days the WPT is helping to grow the game of poker around the world.

2. The money isn’t what it used to be.

The earliest seasons of the WPT were more about establishing the tour than the giant prizes up for grabs, but by Season 4 the poker boom was in full swing and the WPT was in the business of creating millionaires. Its 16 events that year attracted 8,189 players and awarded $23,924,170 to the winners, an average of $1,495,261. The biggest winner that year was Joe Bartholdi, who won $3,760,165 for conquering 605 players in the $25,000-buy-in WPT Championship.

By Season 9 – the last full season on record – things had changed, not only on the WPT. The total attendance across its events was down to 7,728, despite an increase in the number of events on the schedule to 20. The prizes awarded to winners were down as well, totaling $14,799,701 for an average top prize of $739,985. The biggest winner of Season 9 was WPT Championship winner Gregory Brooks, who took home $1,654,120 as the last man standing from a field of 681 at the $10,000-buy-in LA Poker Classic.

There are lots of reasons for the decline, almost all of which have to do with factors beyond the WPT’s control – there’s the world economy, for starters, as well as the current legal environment for online poker in the US making it impossible to satellite into big events as one could in years past. But there’s no denying that winning a WPT event isn’t quite the prize it used to be.

3. Magicians were once the players. Now they’re the entertainment.

With five Top 10 finishes, two titles and more than $2.54 million in earnings from WPT events to his credit, Antonio Esfandiari is one of the more successful players in the tour’s history. The former professional magician’s success on the tour was great enough that the WPT signed a deal with him in 2008 to promote the tour as its WPT Poker-Made Millionaire. Esfandiari managed to win an event in 2010 and make one final table in 2011, but otherwise his output on the WPT in the last few years has ceased. These days the only magician grabbing people’s attention on the WPT is Steven “Dynamo” Frayne. The English magic phenomenon brought his unique brand of entertainment to the players’ party at this week’s WPT Venice Grand Prix.

4. The WPT is no longer the only game in town.

Before the WPT came into existence, the entirety of the poker programming on American television consisted of a one-hour special covering the WSOP Main Event final table and the occasional FOX Sports airing of British import Late Night Poker. By the time the WPT had reached its peak, it was competing with dozens of poker shows on all sorts of networks. Besides the expanded coverage of the World Series of Poker on ESPN, the WPT had to compete with shows like Poker Superstars, Ultimate Poker Challenge, High Stakes Poker, Celebrity Poker Showdown, Poker After Dark, and a full complement of made-for-TV fare on the Game Show Network.

The market has changed a bit in the last few years, especially after Black Friday forced online poker rooms to pull their sponsorships from shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark. But the WPT still has to compete for eyeballs with a lot of other shows, many of which are considerably less expensive to produce. It’s a good thing, then, that the company has expanded its brand into all sorts of ancillary markets.

5. The new WPT wants to play well with others.

World Poker Tour founding father Steve Lipscomb was certainly a visionary when it came to realizing there was an untapped market for poker on American television. But when it came to splitting up that market with other poker operators a few years later, his company was fierce about protecting the its turf, even going so far as to schedule the Bellagio Cup during the previously sacrosanct period of the World Series of Poker. When it came to the players who actually participated in the tour’s events, the company even asserted through its player release form that it owned their likenesses and could use them however it wished. That attitude didn’t make the WPT many friends and even resulted in a handful a lawsuit leveled at it, filed by players based on the Sherman Antitrust Act. (The tour eventually settled with the players two years later, amending its player release.)

These days the WPT is a lot better about getting along with players and its neighbors in the industry. Its Executive Tour Director, Matt Savage, recently issued a call for competing tours to work together on creating a “Majors” system for poker much like those used in golf and tennis. “This is business, and I do realize that the tournament series and casinos are in competition with each other to attract the most players, biggest prize pools, and most media coverage,” wrote Savage. “But without the players and their satisfaction, there is no longevity in that plan. When players can easily coordinate their travel schedules, money transfers, and even familial obligations around a set schedule, everyone will win, including the majors, which will see bigger turnouts and happier crowds.”

Whether or not such a system comes to pass, even the suggestion of such an arrangement would have been impossible in the past. For that alone, the WPT deserves credit.

Goodbye, Nikolay

On an only slightly related note, I wanted to take a moment to mark the passing this week of Russian poker player Nikolay Evdakov. Just 47 years old, Evdakov died on Monday, February 6th, after an undisclosed illness. Evdakov made his reputation at the 2008 WSOP, where he cashed 10 times to set a record that still stands today. He followed that success up with another 10 WSOP cashes over the next three years, including a 4th-place finish at the 2010 $10,000 Seven-Card Stud Championship and a 7th-place score in the 2011 $25,000 Heads-Up Championship. All told he won more than $1.15 million playing tournament poker around the world from 2006 to 2011, making him a leading figure in the emerging Russian poker scene.

Poker News

GES LatAm- Panama City, February 21-23, 2012

Gaming Executive Summit Latin America is around the corner and this event is happening in Panama City, Panama, the home of the hottest nightlife in Central America. The cocktail reception sponsored by Codere kicks off on Wednesday, February 22nd at 5:30pm and that will be just the beginning, folks.

Have a look at my nightlife recommendations from last year’s conference for a sneak preview of what you’re in for…or you could tear up the city like Calvin Ayre does, its up to you.

iGA Congress- Macau, March 6-8, 2012

We all know that Asia is where its at these days and everyone in the online gambling world wants a piece of the Asian action. The next conference in the East is the iGaming Asia Congress and the Official Party is happening in Macau on Thursday eve March 8th at the brand new Hard Rock Café. Based on previous years’ experience at this annual event, the Hard Rock will be stop number one and stops number two, three, four and five will be…naughty.

Hyperion’s Online Gaming Links Drinks- London, April, 2012

Our friends at Hyperion have announced that the first Online Gaming Links Drinks of 2012 will be in April, exact date to be determined. As we’ve seen in the past, these socials serve as a great opportunity to meet some new people and get $hitfaced with old iGaming pals. Hyperion has already secured several sponsors and is happy to take on some more so we can drink for free, baby.

Join CalvinAyre.com at these events in person or check back with us throughout the coming weeks for an overview of all the adventures- either way your gonna get all the dirt.

Lifestyle News

Betfair

We’re thinking this must have something to do with their fixed odds offering or are they going to let one lucky customer that lays odds a slot on the ad on a weekly basis? “This week’s lucky customer is Dave from Barnsley!!!”

Scandinavian based Betsson saw revenues and income jump as they released their latest results. For the year of 2011 revenues were up 8% to SEK 1,736.6million and operating income increased by a huge 47% to SEK 559.7m. This included 103,000 more active customers and was in addition to operating income increasing by 35% in the fourth quarter of the year to SEK 1 72.3m. Magnus Silfverberg, President and CEO of Betsson, said: “Betsson now ranks as one of the world’s most influential gaming companies. We have achieved this position thanks to our strong growth and profitability as well as Betsson’s long-term efforts to create attractive gaming solutions for both partners and end users. During the fourth quarter, Betsson has experienced an all-time high in both activity and deposits, while the Group sits at the forefront in the technological development towards a new reregulated reality in Europe.”

In terms of the year to come, the firm is confident the industry will “develop strongly” and that the firm will experience “healthy growth.” The firm also confirmed that they’ve been awarded a licence to operate in Italy and will be launching in the country very soon. He explained that they won’t be applying for a licence in Belgium though, and added: “Our view is their regulation is not in coherence with EU legislation, so we have no plans to apply for that kind of licence.”

Business News

Philippines

The Philippines projected to be Asia’s next jewel in terms of casino gambling and should pass Nevada once a number of projects have been completed.

Singapore’s casino business regulator has fined the country’s two casinos for breaching rules. The Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) found Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) and Genting Singapore guilty and fined them a total of S$385,000. LVS were wrapped for breaches at Marina Bay Sands that took place between October 28, 2010 and April 30, 2011 and ordered to pay S$225,000. Genting’s fine related to Resorts World Sentosa and they were fleeced S$130,000 for the offences between August 15, 2010 and April 30, 2011.

In each case it concerned the admission of minors, excluded persons or Singapore nationals that hadn’t paid levies. SRA chief executive Lau Peet Meng added: “These social safeguards are put in place to mitigate the casino’s potential impact on vulnerable persons and to ringfence the casinos from potential criminal influence.

“Hence, we are taking tough disciplinary action against the casino operators for the cases where they have failed to show due care in complying with our requirements to prevent minors and excluded persons from entering the casinos, and to ensure that entry levies are duly paid.”

Casino News

Spain

Belgium has called in the country’s police force to help continue the fight against unlicensed gaming industry operators. The Belgian Gaming Commission enlisted the help of the boys in blue in order to file a report on blacklisted firms that is now in the possession of the Public Prosecution Office. Peter Naessens, head of the commission’s regulatory unit, told eGR IP bans are among the imminent measures to make sure Belgium remains a walled-garden. Naessens explained how operators could get their name off the list.

“If they [are awarded] a Belgian licence, if they close down their .be website or if they exclude Belgian players from their .com website, then these operators will be removed from the blacklist at the next meeting of the BGC.”

“We will examine if they really exclude Belgian players at their .com site. If they really do, then we will propose the BGC (at the beginning of next month) to remove them from the black list.”

PokerStars has gained a remote gaming licence from Malta to operate its new PokerStars.eu site. The Lotteries and Gaming Authority licence will, according to head of corporate communications Eric Hollreiser, enable Stars “to provide an enchanced service to players in several European markets.”

Business News

It wasn’t until quite recently that fans came to realise Cole Turner was more Character than CEO. The doubt must have crept in after a rather sensational adventure in particular portraying Cole in a river run through the jungles of Cambodia where he was taken hostage by some sexy Khmer Rouge operatives. Until this moment, Cole’s exploits had been somewhat believable, but as ridiculous as the hostage story was, people called customer service daily to learn the status of the CEO who scoffed at danger.

Nevertheless, here we are – celebrating the fiftieth episode of a parallel iGaming industry with social norms not quite like ours. And you know what? It gave us the excuse to ask you guys what you thought, and poll our readers with the question: “Cole Turner is… too crazy for me, not crazy enough or just the right amount of crazy?”

Interestingly – the results demonstrated a tie, with 38% of readers sayings Cole is just too crazy and another 38% saying he’s just not crazy enough. 24% of you said Cole is just the right amount of crazy. Does this mean these top two contrasting results cancel one another out, and suggest you all think he hit the crazy nail on the head? We think so – so we’ll keep up the good work. Here’s to the hundredth!

If you haven’t had chance to catch the Cole Tuner is an Asshole comic misadventure, then best start with the first episode.

Once you’ve thrown up from laughing after wading your way through every last episode, give our second poll a good seeing to: “When I play poker.I’d rather play with beautiful women, I want to play where the pros play or I don’t care where the pros play” to give us a further understanding of your stance on our poker pro: marketing suicide? piece.

Entertainment News

Golden Nugget

“We started an intensive process approximately nine (9) months ago and looked at more than a dozen internet gaming companies and selected Alex and Chiligaming because they were experienced in online gaming in Europe and demonstrated incredible passion, talent and knowledge which our team found to far exceed their competitors. We believe that online gaming is inevitable in the United States and that the Golden Nugget will be well positioned to compete when US laws allow for online gaming,” he commented.

As part of the agreement a free-play site is due to launch “within the next quarter” and it’s hoped it will “facilitate swift entry” into any US regulated market that emerges in the coming years. Chiligaming CEO and founder Alex Dreyfus couldn’t contain his excitement, stating: “Chiligaming is thrilled to partner with Golden Nugget, which has a very strong brand presence across the US. With its Las Vegas, Laughlin and Atlantic City properties, it is ideally and uniquely positioned for all of the online developments that lie ahead.”

One of the firm’s first moves into the US was in 2010 when they launched a subscription poker site before a year later deciding the California was just about right for their new office. That was the same time their social gaming offering was launched in California and Dreyfus looks to be giving them the right footing to have a good stab at the US market.

Business News

PokerStars have added four new stops to the growing United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT). The addition of stops in Swansea, Cork, Edinburgh and Dublin doubles the amount already announced and sees the tour hitting four different countries. UKIPT president Kirsty Thompson revealed to Bluff Europe: “We are delighted to bring the UKIPT to Wales for the first time and further extend the reach of the UK and Ireland’s largest poker tour.”

The dates now go as follows:

Galway – Radisson Hotel, February 16-20

Nottingham – Dusk Till Dawn, April 12-16

Dublin – CityWest, May 17-21

Newcastle – Aspers, September 6-10

Swansea – Aspers, November 22-26

Edinburgh – Balmoral Hotel, January 17-21, 2013

Cork – Rochestown Park, February 14-18, 2013

London – TBC, March 8-12, 2013

Not content with just announcing two poker tours, Stars went for the trio by setting dates for the upcoming Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT). The fourth season kicks off at The Star Casino in Sydney from March 22-25 ($2,200 main event) before moving onto Queenstown for the ANZPT Snowfest 2012 from July 24-29 (NZ$3,000 main event). The Grand Final takes place in Melbourne from August 31 to September 3 with a $5,000 main event.

Poker News

While political brokers work to strike a gambling deal, the poll by Tribune/WGN-TV demonstrates how attitudes towards gambling in Illinois have changed, and for the better. The results show how the 50% that now support the idea of more casinos is twice the results of a similar poll back in 2004.

Here’s a breaking down the poll results:

• 58% of Democrats surveyed approve of gambling expansion, with 35% against.
• 40% of republicans support more gambling while 50% disapprove.
• Independent voters more equally, with 48% approving and 46% opposing
• Gender wise, almost 6 in 10 men in the survey back the idea of more gambling, compared with 43% of women.
• White suburban women were among the respondents least likely to support the idea, with 39% for and 49% against.

A report by the Chicago Tribune says that the poll is a reflection of a new level of support for gambling in the state, which is consistent among Cook County and downstate voters. However, making headway on gambling expansion issues could prove difficult in an election year when all 177 House and Senate seats are on the ballot and 42% of the polled state voters show opposition to the idea of more casinos.

After what happened last year, too, nothing is certain. Gambling expansion backers got the closest they’ve been in 20 years when lawmakers approved five new casinos, including one in Chicago, but Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn soon blocked the deal due to concerns over slot machines at racetracks.

Nevertheless, since then, Quinn has named a former lawmaker to lead negotiations with gambling interests due to ongoing pressure from Mayor Rahm Emanuel - who wants a city casino to raise money for infrastructure projects – so it looks like the state may have more chance to see the approval of casinos. Which way do you think the vote will swing?

Casino News

Okada can now make his requests to Wynn and they decide whether they’re reasonable or not. Any that are deemed by Wynn to be unreasonable will be referred back to Judge Gonzalez. It will be her decision in two weeks time that’s taken as gospel.

The disagreement began back in November when Okada’s requests to see documents were refused by Wynn’s board of directors. According to Okada these relate to an investment made Aruze and how it’s been used. He’s also after details on a $135million donation that the firm made to the University of Macau.

Wynn’s side of the fence tells it differently. Their argument is it stems from their decision not to invest in Okada’s project in the Philippines as it competes with their own interests in the region. Okada didn’t mention this in his filing and it’s probably Wynn’s loss given the country could be the next Asian destination to surpass Nevada in terms of revenue.

Wynn comments about the Philippines backed up similar ones made by Mr Steve Wynn just last week and could be the crux of the situation. Whatever happens this dispute doesn’t look like giving either side the victory they wanted, as they both have to give something up. Unless Okada gets in a successful request to see some compromising photos of the Wynning Women. What…they don’t exist. That’s what they want you to think.

Casino News

Bally Technologies

Opening its Macau office only five years ago in 2006, Bally’s managing director Kurt Gissane said in areport by Macau Business: “The Asia-Pacific region is extremely important to Bally.” He added that he had a difficult job replacing Cath Burns, who established the company’s Asain head office and managed large-scale systems installation projects for several of the city’s new casinos.

“I don’t look at it as though I have replaced Cath Burns,” he said, as he praised her achievements. However, he wasn’t too negative about their loss. He also mentioned that he was very fortunate to be left with a legacy “which is a strong business across both games and systems but, more importantly, a tremendous team”.

What will be Bally’s next move in strengthening their Asian market? And what will similar companies do in order to fortify their bonds with Asia for that matter?

International provider of gamling technology staffing solutions, Pentasia, announced yesterday the inauguration of its new HR consultancy based in Macau.

Named Pentasia Macau Ltd, the arm was first incorporated in November last year providing human resources consultancy to the gaming market in Macau and acts as a representative office of the Pentasia group.

In a report by Macau Business, Pentasia’s managing director for the Asia Pacific region, Jonathan Pettemerides, said the office’s opening is a significant step forward.

“Macau has been a developing market for Pentasia’s HR consultancy business for some time now and the opening of our new office further enhances the levels of local expertise and face-to-face contact we can provide our Macau based clients.”

Business News

Held from 20-22 March at the RP5 Casino in Hannover, Germany, the Slot Summit will have a regional focus on Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Scandinavia and is supported by the European Casino Association (ECA).

The event, which aims to addresses “numerous practical topics and issues of casino and gaming management”, will see a talk by Novomatic as well as from other key operators

Managing Director AGI, Jens Halle, said: “We are convinced that the Slot Summit in Hannover will be on the crest of a wave with a broad field of topical issues that will provide valuable economic and technological information for casino management staff.”

Gaming technology provider, Konami Gaming, has announced today the forming of a partnership with JOINGO, a mobile and social technology company to provide the Konami Casino Management System (KCMS) Patron App.

In case you were wondering, the KCMS Patron App is a mobile loyalty system. A press release by Konami explained it firther, stating it “allows casinos with KCMS to immediately deploy their own branded Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and Mobile Web Apps”

According to Konami’s Vice President of Systems Research and Development, Tom Soukup, “The Patron App is an example of our commitment to provide the latest technology. The KCMS Patron App exploits the unique features of KCMS products and allows operators to not only expand targeted player communications, but also to personalize the experience and information for the customer, all of which will help drive casino revenues.”

The KCMS Patron App will allow players to view all aspects of their loyalty program, such as real-time loyalty club status, point totals, promotional free play credits, points-to-play balance, as well as the current KCMS Floorwide Progressive Bonusing jackpot values.

Video Gaming Technologies (VGT) has developed an updated version of its Cherry 96 slot game – its fans will be pleased to hear. An announcement by the company today stated it will also be the sole distributor of the game as part of its VEGA$ Jackpot$ product line for the Illinois video gaming machine market.

Illinois Sales Manager, Frank Fortunato, said: “We were looking for a way to connect with Illinois players rather than just bringing in games that may have worked in other states. So we asked Illinois operators what we could do to create interest. Their answer time and time again was that they would like to see a game like Cherry 96.”

Cherry 96 has been integrated into the VEGA$ Jackpot$™ game suite and will be compliant with all applicable laws and regulations under the Illinois Video Gaming Act.

Business News

However, it’s not all good news for the rest of the state. While Las Vegas is surging, 450 miles away, northern Nevada continues to struggle against tribal casinos “siphoning off the drive-up market along key highways from Northern California” says Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association.

At least over in Pennsylvania – the industry’s third largest market – business is doing well overall. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reports annual gross gaming revenue topped $3 billion for the first time. That’s an increase of 21.6% when compared to 2010.

Not all of the 22 casino-approved states in the US have reported their 2011 revenue figures,  But so far – up until November last year – unaudited data by the American Gaming Association shows a reported total of $32.56 billion revenues meant the industry was running 2.3% ahead of the first 11 months of 2010. With that, the trend of 2011′s association figures has industry observers cautiously optimistic in the aftermath of a casino operator’s worse nightmare – the recession.

Casino News

If approved, House Bill 593 would allow the Lottery Commission to license two casinos in the state – one right away and one in two years’ time – with each licence costing $50 million. The bill would also have a $500,000 fee to apply for a license and its holder would be granted permission to install 5,000 slots and tables. New Hampshire’s share of the proceeds would stand at 35% of slot revenue and 8% of table games, which would in turn lower business taxes.

In a report by UnionLeader, the House gambling plan’s main man, Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Stephen Stepanek, said his committee will hold a public hearing on proposed changes to the plan before bringing the proposal to a vote.

As always, some members of the House have opposed the plan, some lawmakers say the bill would give the license winners a monopoly therefore violating the state Constitution, and some argue it will create problems costing the state additional revenue. Chairman of the Granite State Coalition Against Expanded Gambling, Jim Ruben, said in UnionLeader’s report the real reason the vote was delayed was because the House leadership found “they were hopelessly underwater on the vote count and they wanted to avoid the embarrassment.”

Bitter Ruben said his group will be there Monday to oppose the bill at the public hearing, which doesn’t bode well for the bill’s backers – House leadership – especially since the House has never approved expanding gambling that includes video slots machines or casinos. NH’s legal history in gambling expansion, such as its online lottery, tells us that an approval on this bill is also very unlikely.

Legal News

Speaking via conference call, CEO Ho told analysts that his company has “continued to execute on our premium strategy, both in the rolling chip and mass market gaming segments. Our premium mass market focus at City of Dreams represents one of our key competitive advantages, giving us an ability to capture and leverage a loyal and more profitable customer base. When it comes to the discretionary spending and consumer sector we really haven’t seen any significant slowdown in Macau. Our hypothesis for a 15-20% [rise] in gross gaming overall for the market this year is based on an 8% GDP growth.”

Ho said the company will continue its quest to raise the billions needed to get its Studio City project up and running in Macau. Ho was confident that no new shares would need to be issued to raise the funds, nor would the timetable for development be affected. Packer’s one-third stake in Melco Crown is expected to give an extra oomph to Crown Limited’s H1 results later this month. Deutsche Bank analysts told Bloomberg they expect Crown to report a 32% rise in profit.

Aussie wagering outfit Tabcorp released its H1 results, sporting a 14.1% rise in profit to AU $189.3m. Revenues were $1.57b, a rise of 2.8% once you factor in Tabcorp spinning off its Echo Entertainment casino business last year. Tacorp’s fixed odds betting turnover was up 39.5% to $152m. Tote gambling in Victoria was off 5.5% to $325m, while New South Wales’ tote total was down 7.2% to $384.3m. Revenue from the new automated horse racing game Trackside was up 95% to $41.8m. Gaming revenues were $569m, but Tabcorp’s poker machine duopoly in Victoria is slated to end in August. The company hopes its new Tabcorp Gaming Solutions (a service provider that manages gaming machines) will contribute $50m to annual earnings.

As for those negative Tote numbers, Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough told The Age not to worry. “Don’t expect the tote pools to disappear. They are well over 50% of our business and will continue to be well over 50% of our business.” That said, Attenborough expects Tote numbers to continue to drop for the next couple years, as punters embrace live betting, a sector Attenborough described as “underdeveloped in Australia.”

Meanwhile, staff over at TOTE Tasmania are sweating it out, wondering if they’ll still have jobs when the $100m sale to Tatts Group is finalized in March. The Mercury obtained an internal company memo in which staff complained about the lack of info as to if/when the knacker’s blade might fall. A Tatts Group spokesman said he sympathized with their plight and that the company was “working towards a position where we can provide TOTE staff with some certainty within the coming weeks.” Premier Lara Giddings claims Tatts told her they intend “to maintain the call centre and will continue to operate, support and enhance the existing retail network.”

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While there have been positive performances, such as those of Betsson, 32Red and most recently 888, for the most part iGaming companies have struggled to make a significant impact on the opinions of financial analysts and the wallets of traders.

Many suggestions have been put forward with regards to reasons for the stock market performance of some of the public gaming companies. One that can’t be ignored is that most are simply not operating at their optimum. Barring this, there are many which all contribute to the repeated stock market failings that have been seen in the past 18 months.

The case with almost all of these reasons is that there appears to be an underlying theme – one of instability.

Unfortunately for those involved, instability as a public iGaming company is fairly easily achieved. It can come as a result of any number of changes, many of which may even be necessary.

From any company’s first day as a public company they’re bound to not be operating at 100%. This is due to the focus placed on their IPO, a necessary but timely activity that distracts key employees from fulfilling their usual roles. Financial services company Ernst & Young explain that when preparing for an IPO, the CEO’s and CFO’s roles assume a new balance between time spent managing sharemarket relations versus managing the business.

Recently David Yu, CEO of Betfair, admitted that his soon to be former company had gone off the boil as a result of preparing the company for IPO.

However, a more permanent risk is that of key employees departing the company. While this is an issue which faces all companies, it is highlighted in the gaming sector as staff tend to change roles and even companies regularly.

Another risk that is common across all businesses is the consistency of the products offered. Unfortunately for gaming companies this an issue that is known all too well. Be it website downtime, software glitches or even a rogue bot, there are many potential ways that online gambling products can falter.

All of the above are only some of the internal issues affecting company stability. Those which are external are considerably more hazardous, none more so than the regulation, legislation and taxation of different geographical markets.

However this is a risk which could be subsiding as discovered by Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC). Research conducted by GBGC has shown that for the first time ever revenue generated in Europe from regulated markets will outweigh that of unregulated markets in the continent.

The figures show the rate at which European online gambling regulation is spreading with the percentage of revenues from regulated markets standing at just 37.2% in 2008.

It is predicted that 2011 saw this figure increase to 51% but it’s not going to stop there with the percentage rising further to 60.1% by the end of 2012 and 63.8% in 2013.

In a statement released by GBGC director Lorien Pilling explained: “The founding pillars of the “golden age” of internet gambling in Europe are crumbling and 2012 will be a defining year in that process.”

The increased regulation may be even more significant for public gambling companies making 2012 a make or break year for them. For some, the ability to enter new markets with greater ease is a major advantage of becoming a public company and as such one that they should now be putting to good use.

Ed Ware, CEO of 32Red, explained late last year that the ease with which license applications can be made was important for him. He said: “We believe our status [as a PLC] will be of assistance as we look to apply for licenses in newly regulated markets.”

Surely then, more regulated and stable markets will lead to more stable iGaming companies and more stable share prices. After all, isn’t that a major supposed reason for their constant fluctuation and in most cases underperformance?

There certainly are some valid arguments for this being the case as Lorien Pilling explains.

He agrees: “Shares of companies who operate in regulated markets should be more stable because investors shouldn’t wake up to the news that a CEO/Executive has been arrested, e.g Unibet’s Petter Nylander in Holland, Bwin CEOs in France.”

“Investors dislike uncertainty and regulated markets bring more certainty.”

However, unfortunately for the companies in question, regulated markets are far from a saving grace.

Pilling explains the other side of the coin: “Even in regulated markets governments can still change their mind on a whim – perhaps withdrawing a previously permitted gambling activity without much warning, or imposing a new tax without consultation.”

He also draws attention to the fact that a change in government can create uncertainty and uses France as example. There the result of the upcoming Presidential election is likely to have considerable connotations for the online gambling industry with sides taking differing views on its regulation.

This is also the case in Germany where the common changes in stance by the states have a habit of making a chart of Bwin.Party’s shares look comparable to a heart monitor.

But the bad news keeps coming in the form of the fact that even if market regulation continues to increase across the board and does stabilise iGaming share prices, it still doesn’t guarantee high share prices.

Pilling points out: “Stability does not necessarily mean a rising share price – regulated markets mean increased costs and tax, which means lower profits for listed firms.”

So while an increasingly regulated gambling landscape may allow the industry to continue to professionalise and certainly has other benefits, for public companies it isn’t the saving grace it could be.

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An official announcement by Everleaf is expected Friday. Meanwhile, MintedNeil claimed that Everleaf and representatives from its regulator, the Maltese Lotteries & Gaming Authority, “will now commence proceedings” with US officials “as to how these funds are returned to players.” MintedNeil maintained that all European funds were safe and operations in Europe would continue, but funds would be converted to euros. The only other noticeable change will be the absence of US players, who reportedly made up 20% of the network’s liquidity.

In other poker news, ChiliPoker has protested its appearance on the Belgian Gaming Commission’s first ‘blacklist’ of online gambling operators that internet service providers are required to block. That list, issued Wednesday, featured Chillipoker.com along with nine other sites, but Chilipoker CEO Alexandre Dreyfus has been making the rounds, claiming that the company didn’t accept (or had deceased accepting) Belgian players, and thus its inclusion on the blacklist was unwarranted.

Sticking with Belgium, QuadJacks reported (via Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Neiuws) that the International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) has officially registered a holding company in Brussels. The ISPT is the goofy 30k-players-playing-poker-via-electronic-tablets-in-Wembley-Stadium pet project of Laurent Tapie, his dad Bernard and colleague Prosper Masquelier. However, the details of the ISPT’s inaugural event remain as murky as the state of the pending deal for Groupe Bernard Tapie to acquire the assets/carbon-frozen-corpse of Full Tilt Poker. According to the Belgian media, the Belgian Gaming Commission has yet to be “informed about the creation of this company.” Given recent events, we half expect GBT to send out its lawyer to issue comments about how Wembley owes the ISPT millions of dollars and the fate of the tournament hinges on the stadium coming across.

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