It’s great for poker, fans will be able to watch the best of the best, unfortunately, just when many of them want to go online and play themselves, some of them will be reminded that Full Tilt still has their money. Womp womp.

To put it in perspective, it will be the first time in their 42-year history that ESPN has ever been this involved in the upcoming 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event finale, which begins in less than three weeks.

ESPN is scheduled to televise every single hand of the final table action from nine players all the way down to three players, with player hole cards being shown on a 15-minute delay.

The final day’s play will resume with the final three players on Tuesday, November 8th and will continue until the new 2011 World Poker Champion is crowned. Poker fans in the U.S will be able to view the action on the ESPN family of networks (including ESPN3 for both days coverage), while viewers outside the U.S will be able to watch the stream on WSOP.com or ESPN International networks with planned coverage.

WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said in the release: “There are moments when you realize you’re turning an important corner…This coverage shifts the paradigm for poker’s potential on television and will showcase our championship with unprecedented richness and scale.”

The final nine players, also known as the November Nine, will return to the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas where this year’s winner will take home $8.7m.

Doug White, ESPN’s Senior Director of Programming and Acquisitions: “We had great success with our live WSOP Main Event shows this summer and this kind of unprecedented coverage of the Final Table will allow fans to experience the culmination of the biggest event in poker.”

Poker News

According to PokerStars, Time Tourneys is a brand new fast-paced tournament format which lasts for a set period of time, in contrast to traditional multi-table tournaments. As soon as the time limit is reached, the entire prize pool is divided among the remaining players based on the players’ stack sizes.

PokerStars Pro, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier was quick to pump the tires of the new game as he commented in the press release: “Time Tourneys are going to be so much fun…I often want to play a tournament but don’t have hours to spare, so these are just perfect. I think Time Tourneys are also going to be intense, because as the clock ticks down there’s going to be even more action. I can’t wait to get playing them.”

Time Tourneys is available in the PokerStars client by clicking on the ‘Tourney’ tab and looking for tournaments marked with a stopwatch icon.

As part of a promo to generate excitement, the Saturday Countdown, a two-hour Time Tourney featuring a $22 buy-in, will run every week at 13:00 ET with a $10,000 guarantee.

Poker News

Schadek is switching sides and joining ETX Capital after having served in a similar position for their rivals at IG Group. At IG Group, Schadek was instrumental in the successful launch of IG’s German and French businesses.

Andrew Edwards, CEO of ETX Capital said in the release: “The appointment of Hannes Schadek will bring the required focus to our German and French operations, and reflects our commitment to these countries…Hannes is a German national educated at French and British institutions and has lived and worked extensively in France and French speaking countries. These unique professional and cultural capabilities give him an unrivalled ability to develop our German and French businesses.”

Dr John Wilson, executive chairman of ETX Capital, added in the release: “Our successful expansion into continental Europe will benefit from the extra focus that Hannes brings. We see significant opportunities for revenue growth across Europe and other regions and we are investing in the necessary resources to achieve this.”

Business News

Canadians are latching on to Smartphone, Tablet and/or eReader devices in increasing amounts. According to the most recent wave of Ipsos Reid’s Mobil-ology Study of Smartphone, Tablet & eReader users in Canada, Tablet ownership has doubled between January and August of 2011.

The August wave of the Ipsos study revealed the growth rate for Tablets has outpaced the growth rate for Smartphones by three-to-one. While Tablet ownership between January and August of 2011 doubled, Smartphone ownership only increased by 30%, meanwhile, tablets and eReaders grew by 75% over the same period.

Mary Beth Barbour, Senior Vice President of Ipsos Reid said in the report: “With Tablet growth rates now leading those of Smartphones, the sales potential of the Tablet in Canada is set to take off…In absolute terms, Tablet ownership across Canada is still relatively small, but when you consider that the number of Tablets in Canada has doubled in an eight month period, the indicators suggest that interest and potential for such devices will only increase. Based upon results from the Mobil-ology study we know that the Tablet fulfills an entertainment need, and in many cases is replacing some laptop use. We expect Tablets to be among the hottest items for the upcoming holiday season.”

The value of a tablet catered online gaming offering can’t be understated, because it’s not just the older generations that are scooping up the tablets, their popularity are becoming more and more widespread with students and young adults.

Barbour adds: “There are some interesting demographic skews that contribute to the Tablet story in Canada. Whereas early adoption was concentrated among those aged 35+, we are now seeing increased adoption by those 18-34 (up by 106% since January 2011). This may be due in part to the recent introduction of more competitively priced devices allowing younger Canadians, with presumably less disposable income to enter the market. As prices continue to drop and devices become more affordable, we are likely to see continued elevated growth among 18 to 34 years olds”.

So with the future of entertainment literally in the hands of consumers, what are you doing to make sure your operation doesn’t miss the mobile gravy train?

Lifestyle News

Plans for the 235,000-square-foot facility in Lawrenceburg include a 180-room hotel, an 18,000-square-foot concert hall and exhibition space, a 7,500-square-foot ballroom and meeting space and a 150-seat restaurant and bar. The complex is expected to compete with Cincinnati’s casino but it is also intended to build up the city of Lawrenceburg.

Mayor William Cunningham said: “This helps revitalize downtown, which needs something to draw people and foot traffic…The benefits to the city clearly warrant the financial contributions we’re making to bring this project to fruition.” – Chicago Tribune.

The city is on the hook for $25 million while the casino will pay 4 percent interest on its 20-year loan from the city.

The give and take relationship is a change from what the Hoosier Lottery pulled on tax payers, when Hoosier Lottery Director Kathryn Densborn was forced to resign after coming under fire for using tax payer’s money to move the lottery to an upscale new headquarters in Indianapolis. Lottery officials were forced to admit in the wake of public backlash that some of the spending, including a new workout gym that cost more than $25,000, didn’t comply with Department of Administration standards.

Well, no kidding.

Governor Mitch Daniels has since appointed Megan Ornellas as interim executive director of the Hoosier Lottery following Densborn’s resignation last week.

Casino News

Gov. Pat Quinn has made it clear where he stands as he threatened Monday to veto the massive Senate Bill 744 fearing that the bill would allow Illinois to become the “Las Vegas of the Midwest”. Quinn has instead proposed a scaled-back alternative that would still allow a casino in Chicago, Lake County, the south suburbs, Rockford and Danville. However, Quinn’s proposal will not allow slot machines at racetracks, O’Hare and Midway airports and the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Quinn stood firm in his stance saying: “We’re not going to have a willy-nilly gambling bill in Illinois that is not protecting integrity, that is way too big and excessive and doesn’t provide adequate revenue for education. … Casino gambling at 14 different locations in Illinois is way too much. We have no interest in becoming the Las Vegas of the Midwest. We need to retain our culture.”- HeraldNews.

Quinn’s proposal is sure to upset many in the horse racing industry, not only is he not allowing slot machines at racetracks, but Quinn also said he opposes providing any new subsidies for the racing industry as proposed by legislators.

In what appears to be an effort to cover his tracks and limit opposition, Quinn also wants to bar gaming licensees and casino operators from making political contributions to state officials. Quinn’s counterproposal comes just a week before lawmakers return to Springfield for the start of their fall veto session.

Quinn has repeatedly said he felt the bill was “top heavy,” and while his proposal trims the scope down, it does satisfy major supports like Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and proponents of gambling expansion in the state may be willing to compromise with Quinn’s proposal.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a mile apart between us,” state Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), the bill’s chief Senate sponsor, said after Quinn made his comments. “Maybe we’re a half-mile apart but not a mile apart. I think I see the governor has moved a long ways. He thought [the original bill] was ‘top-heavy,’ but now he’s OK with the five casinos. That’s a huge move in the right direction. I think maybe we can come to compromise on things.” –HeraldNews.

Casino News

The agreement of both companies will result in a significant development of sportsbetting on the Valencian coast. Currently, the Group-branded Matencio operates more than 1,200 terminals in the region and has extensive experience in the private gaming sector with a channel catering to the southern peninsula.

Codere brings to the table experience as a pioneer in Spanish sports betting since 2007, and an infrastructure of over 600 betting points in Spain and 200 in Mexico, Panama , Uruguay and Brazil.

Leaders of the Group Matencio, Antonio and Tomas Matencio said in a press release: “We expect very good results…This new agreement brings together the experience in the private gaming and sports betting in Spain, with the positioning and experience in the gaming industry in this Community “.

Also, Jaime Estalella, Director of Operations for Codere Group Europe, said: “The combined efforts of both companies, with a long history in the private gaming sector, will drive this new market of sports betting in Valencia the next few years.”

Under the terms of the new agreement, both companies will work together until 2015.

Business News

The Atlantic City Tropicana Casino and Resort is set to execute a pilot program with 11 slot machines and two electronic table games which will be placed in The Quarter, its shopping and dining area across the street from the casino.

The move to allow gambling on the city side of Pacific Avenue will mark the first time in the history of Atlantic City that gamblers will be able to enjoy casino entertainment outside of the casinos.

The move is designed to attract more impulse play from potential gamblers waiting for dinner or browsing the shopping areas.
The Tropicana doesn`t intend to stop there and eventually hopes to have 100 to 125 slots and live table games in The Quarter.

Tropicana president Tony Rodio told The Associated Press: “This will be the first time ever in the history of Atlantic City that there’s gaming on the city side of Pacific Avenue…It’s pretty historic…We’ll get a lot of impulse play, from people waiting to sit down for dinner or waiting for their reservations or for a movie at the IMAX…On a unit-by-unit basis, I expect these machines will outperform the ones in the regular casino.”

The move is yet another effort being made by Atlantic City casinos to turn their fortunes around and restore the world class gambling destination moniker to the former gambling mecca.

Casino News

The new game will allow players to enjoy two Tumbling Reels games at the same time with additional win opportunities available with the new innovative Tumble Thru feature.

Alex Kelly, IGT vice president of Interactive Sales and Business Development spoke about the new game in a news release saying: “In the short period of time since we launched Da Vinci Diamonds Dual Play the results have been excellent, and it is currently tracking as our most successful online game release ever…The original Da Vinci Diamonds game is IGT’s best performing online slot in history so we look forward to similar ongoing success with Dual Play.”

According to IGT, the game is currently live with partners Boylesports, Cashcade, Chiligaming, Kerching, Mr Green, Paddy Power and Virgin Games.

Business News

With the state taking a long hard look at gambling expansion, competing interests are beginning to make their presence known in Central Florida’s $28 billion tourism industry over whether to embrace high-stakes gambling.

While casino executives are aggressively lobbying the Florida Legislature to build Las Vegas-style casino resorts in South Florida and Central Florida, tourism leaders feel they must follow suit or risk losing convention business to Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Competing interests are trying to shoot down the gambling expansion bid entirely.

Walt Disney World has historically aggressively opposed any efforts to expand gambling anywhere in Florida and yesterday, Disney made it clear that its stance hasn’t changed on the issue of gambling expansion.

Disney spokesman Mike Griffin said during a meeting with the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board: “We really think it disagrees or conflicts with the family-friendly brand of Florida.” – Orlando Sentinel.

In other words, Disney wants to limit their competition for tourism dollars.

Disney has the backing of the anti-gambling group No Fun- excuse me, No Casinos Inc. It’s a group that Disney helps fund and thus keeps in their back pocket. Disney also has Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce backing them up. Wilson has said the chamber will fight any plans to expand gambling during the next legislative session, which begins Jan. 10.

According to Wilson: “This commercial casino gambling … is one of the biggest threats to the future of Florida that’s on the drawing board right now.” – Orlando Sentinel.

Off come the gloves.

Casino News

GLI is just the third company to receive the accreditation following along with NMI Metrology & Gaming Limited and BMM Spain Testlabs SLU.

With the nod from the Spanish Gaming Commission, GLI is now accredited as an independent testing laboratory for both B2B online gaming platform suppliers and B2C online gaming operators, and an independent auditor of Information Systems Security (ISS).

GLI Europe managing director Phillip Barow said in the release: “We are thrilled to have obtained this accreditation…there are three distinguishing factors that set GLI apart from all other labs: our bandwidth, technical expertise, and ability to save clients time to market and money through our testing results transfer system…We will use these advantages to take products previously approved for Italy, France, the AGCC and other highly regulated markets and quickly and inexpensively certify those same products for Spain.”

GLI has eighteen laboratories located across Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and South America.

GLI Director of iGaming Development Filippo Ferri added in the release: “We are seeing a tremendous amount of interest in the Spanish market, both from established international operators seeking to cement their presence in the market and from local Spanish realities looking to take their bricks-and-mortar operations online…It is great that a lot of the work that was done for Italy, France and the AGCC will be re-usable in this jurisdiction, and that we are already working with some of the leading third-party suppliers of traceability and storage solutions looking to offer iGaming suppliers and operators with pre-certified compliant systems to complement their Internal Controls.”

Moving forward, operators wanting to get into the Spanish market will have to choose the laboratory certifying their systems and games and GLI is hoping that with their resources and the knowledge to be able to make testing and certification as smooth as possible, they will be the laboratory of choice.

Business News

The new product is part of the company’s initiative to harnesses the marketing power of mobile and social media.

Pollard Banknote co-CEO Doug Pollard said about the new product in the release: “While Instant tickets have achieved growth of about 136 per cent over the past 10 years, emerging technology offers the opportunity for significant growth, particularly in the younger demographic…Our goal with Social Instants is threefold, yet simple.”

Social media has the unique ability to allow company’s to communicate with their customers in real time through popular social networking channels.

The Social Instants mobile app will scan instant tickets via Quick Response codes printed on the physical ticket. Using Pollard Banknote’s patent pending Quick Link technology, players will use their smartphones to scan the QR code which will prompt them to share winning moments and experiences with friends, or enter a second chance draw which may also integrate with the a lottery’s VIP club.

Doug Pollard described how the product would work in the release: “First, explode winner awareness via social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, or a lottery’s VIP site. Second, enable and encourage players to invite their friends and family to participate in the team play aspect. The third goal is to drive players back to retail outlets for purchase and prizes, to capitalize on lotteries’ biggest assets, their retail network.”

Nancy Bettcher, director of product innovation & development at Pollard Banknote added in the release: “We have collaborated with lotteries to form an interactive online presence. Our new Social Instants offering is a powerful tool that will help our business partners gain new customer bases, and retain existing ones.”

Business News

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Jim Chanos, the founder of the New York-based hedge fund Kynikos Associates, said he’s betting that Chinese bank stocks will tumble despite a rally spurred by government purchases. Interestingly enough, despite the fact that Chanos believes the financial situation of Chinese banks is “deteriorating,” he still believes that Macau casinos will continue to boom.

According to the Macau Daily Times, the gauge of banks, insurers and developers had tumbled as much as 43 percent in 2011 spurred on by growing concerns that slowing economic growth will spur bad debts in the wake of a three-year credit boom.

China’s banking regulator told lenders in July not to extend the maturity of loans to developers and not to grant new credit to help developers repay maturing debt.

According to Chanos, “The fact that people are even talking about the government stepping in to shore up the banks, when two months ago people thought there was nothing wrong with the Chinese banks, should tell you just how seriously this situation is deteriorating.” – Macau Daily Times

Additionally, gaming stocks were hit by a massive sell-off last week amid fears over tighter credit, higher interest rates and a slowdown in China’s economy that could hamper revenue. Despite this, Chanos has kept the faith and his holdings in casinos in Macau and was quick to cite their growth.

“The Macau casinos have a wonderful business, it’s taking in money from Chinese businessmen elsewhere who send it through junket companies to casinos to gamble…The growth continues and they have basically western managers and western accounting, so we trust the numbers a little bit more.”- Macau Daily Times.

Business News

But as a recent study shows, not only do people love the convenience of making purchases with their smartphones and tablets, but those that own them are spending significantly more online, which suggest that this target market has capital to spend and love to spend it online.

Recent findings from a survey of U.S. smartphone and tablet owners conducted by Ipsos OTX MediaCT on behalf of PayPal have shown that tablet ownership increases the following: frequency of mobile shopping, improves the purchase experience – and makes consumers who own both devices use their smartphone more often.

The study revealed that tablet ownership increases mobile purchase frequency, with people who own both the tablet and smartphone buying nearly twice as often as those who only have smartphones.

According to the study, more than 40 percent of these “dual owners” made more than 20 mobile purchases over the past year. Additionally, nearly two-thirds of dual owners indicated higher overall spending due to their mobile purchasing activity.

Laura Chambers, Senior Director of Mobile, PayPal said in the report, “We are starting to see more retailers take advantage of this trend by tailoring their mobile websites and apps for tablets. With more shoppers planning to use tablets to shop this holiday season, and quite often using them from the comfort of their own home, we expect that retailers will see quite a bit of ‘couch commerce’ this year…We are predicting that the first big spike in mobile shopping will be right after Thanksgiving dinner, where consumers will be shopping from their tablets and smartphones right from their couch – a fantastic early opportunity for retailers to engage their customers.”

According to the study, dual owners are significantly more likely (63%) to indicate increased overall spending on mobile purchases as compared to smartphone users (29%). Tablet owners may be enticed to spend more due to the device’s larger screen and keyboard, and touchscreen capabilities, which tablet owners say improve the shopping experience.

Todd Board, SVP of Ipsos OTX MediaCT said about the findings: “…While smartphones seem preferred for app-based purchases, tablets seem preferred for website-based purchases, probably tied to the ‘couch commerce’ theme of at-home purchasing we also see in our data…The bottom line, though, is that owners of both devices are raising their hands to say ‘I want to spend money with these devices,’ and retailers have an opportunity to help them do so as much as they can.”

Lifestyle News

Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias told the House Commerce Committee: “Many among us would probably never enter such establishments during our lifetime, but this does not mean that we should not respond to the needs of the age, taking into consideration the public interest.” – Cyprus Mail.

Indeed it is a change of heart towards casino gaming as past administrations routinely refused to consider the opening of casinos with President Christofias ignoring the fact that Greek Cypriots were spending their money elsewhere instead of spending them at casinos in the republic.
In 2009 President Christofias even went so far as to state: “There will be no casinos in Cyprus as long as I am President.”

But with the economy sputtering and budgets reeling, proponents have gathered momentum behind the notion that Cyprus cannot turn its back on a sector that could bring much needed revenues to the state coffers.

Famagusta Tourism Coordinating Committee marketing officer, Lakis Avramides described the move as better late than never: “It had to be done a long time ago. It’s never too late and we hope it will be realised soon, of course the Famagusta district will claim an operating licence for a casino to help the seasonality of the district,” – Cyprus Mail.

The feeling from casino proponents is that casinos will be necessary to help Cyprus attract more tourists. Currently, Cypriots spend millions gambling with online games as well as casinos in the north, and proponents are banking that gambling expansion legislation will keep those gambling dollars with the republic.

Casino News

King is hoping a court ruling will help bring a casino style resort to the Sunshine State.

King is hoping to be able to transform the old jai-alai building into an entertainment powerhouse which he believes will also provide jobs.

After a ruling passed in Florida allowing lawmakers to approve slots anywhere in the state, King sees a real opportunity.
“We must dedicate and commit ourselves to a better Florida…It’s the Sunshine State, but we’ve been seeing a lot of darkness…We want to remove the darkness and bring in the sun again and give the people the opportunity to earn in the greatest nation.”

Call Don King what you want, but he sure knows how to promote his interests. The darkness King refers to is the alarmingly high unemployment rate in Palm Beach County which is currently at 11 percent.

Of course, King is not blind to the lucrative potential of casino style resorts in a key location, and he’s prepared to bring in the big guns to help him make his vision a reality. King will reportedly try to enlist the support of Donald Trump to get the ball rolling.

Casino News

Duncan begins his new role in November and will be responsible for all of Camelot’s operations for the National Lottery in the UK. Duncan will report to Camelot Group CEO Dianne Thompson and will be responsible for over 700 staff across all key departments including marketing, sales, insight and IT.

Andy Duncan said in a news release: “I am very excited about joining Camelot and taking on the role to run the UK business – which comes with both great opportunity and tremendous responsibility…To have the challenge of further developing such a successful portfolio of brands, such as Lotto and EuroMillions, and raising even more money for the Good Causes is an incredible prospect. I look forward to starting work with my new colleagues at Camelot later this year.”

Duncan joins Camelot after having served at H.R. Owen plc, the UK’s leading luxury car retailer, where he was chief executive.

Dianne Thompson, Camelot Group CEO had high praise for Duncan in the release: “I am delighted that someone with Andy’s calibre is joining Camelot’s senior leadership team…He is an instinctive marketer with undoubted flair and a proven track record in growing brands and running businesses. Combine that with his experience in the digital sphere and I know that, under Andy’s leadership, Camelot will continue to deliver responsible and sustainable growth for The National Lottery…In particular, his arrival will allow me to focus more on our group of companies, especially on the international front – one of our key strategic priorities.”

Business News

The offering is the result of both Svenska Spel responding to the demands of their customers and an effort to capitalize on the momentum of a growing mobile entertainment market.

Earlier this year, Swedish gaming operator Svenska Spel launched Stryktipset for mobile, a mobile football pools product exclusively covering Swedish football matches to its offering. With the new release of the mobile Lotto, Svenska Spel is making a concerted effort to up the mobile gaming ante.

Patrik Körberg Swedish gaming operator Svenska Spel’s sales manager for mobile gaming said in a news release: “We are constantly working to offer our customers more products and services on our mobile web. The goal is that in the future be filled with even more products.”

Business News

Additionally, the French online gaming operator has authorised Iliad Gaming to add a new domain name for its online poker and sports betting offering for the website Chili.fr.

200% Poker had been licensed with ARJEL since July 13, 2010, but the site was closed in late July 2011, and announced to all its players that it would not reopen. One of the major stumbling blocks for 200% Poker was its lack of traffic and a rather poor estimate of the market by its owners.

ARJEL also decided to repeal the licensing of SAjOO Poker. Sajoo Poker players already migrated to Bwin, but the ruling by ARJEL marks the official closure of the site and effectively ends their gaming license.

Much of these decisions were expected, however, industry professionals were anxious to see how the French online gaming regulator would handle the Full Tilt license. ARJEL suspended the license of Full Tilt Poker July 4, 2011, and with Full Tilt Poker no longer having its international license, and given its issues with Alderney, many expected ARJEL to completely revoke the license, but it did not happen.

Business News

The upgrade has been termed as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to offer the best trading technology by working with its customers to give them the developments they want.

Soaking in all the customer feedback from CMC’s Traders Club events and customer service department has facilitated CMC in developing its platform offering in line with its customers’ needs. With the upgrade, users can now trade on a fully customised screen allowing them to save enhanced charts, use technical pattern and candlestick highlighting functions and develop their own bespoke drawing tools and technical indicators.

iPhone and iPad charting software has also received a significant upgrade with the introduction of more technical tools, drawing tools, and increased data points.

Peter Cruddas, founder of CMC Markets said in the release: “A key part of our strategy has been to invest heavily in bringing our customers the best technology on the market…We recognise that our clients have individual needs and the developments to our Next Gen platform are giving our customers exactly what they’ve asked us for. The move to a totally customised package allows customers to create their perfect trading platform.”

Business News