Today, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) published its latest six-month update to the local gambling industry statistics. The main regulatory body in the UK revealed some details about the market changes and latest trends in the sector, as well as about players’ activity in the period from October 2016 to November 2017.

Such statistics about the performance, customer participation and trends in the sector are published twice a year, in May and then in November. The information released by the Commission is aimed at providing the latest data about the industry, including both land-based and online gambling services offered to UK customers.

The information rolled out by the major regulator in the country has been provided by the companies which run their services under an operation licenses issues by the UKGC.

According to the Commission, the UK gambling industry generated an overall gross gambling yield of £13.9 billion in the above-mentioned 12-month period. The figures represent a 0.7% increase in comparison to the result posted for the period between April 2016 to March 2017.

The main gambling regulatory body of the UK further revealed that the market share of the country’s remote gambling sector rose by 1% in the twelve months from October 2016 to November 2017 compared to the previous period. In addition, the online gambling industry saw a 3.7% increase in its overall gross gambling yield, reaching £4.9 billion at the time.

As far as the land-based gambling sector in the country is concerned, the UK Gambling Commission reported that the total number of betting shops on the territory of the UK amounted to 8,532. According to the data provided, the figure represented a 3.2% decline from the number of betting outlets in March 2017. There was also a 0.7% drop in the overall number of gaming machines in the UK to 183,928, with the ones requiring a local authority license only being excluded from that number.

A slight 2% increase from March 2017 in the number of bingo premises in the UK was registered. As revealed by the UKGC report, there were 649 bingo halls in the country. As far as casino premises are concerned, two new casinos have started operation since March 2017, with the overall number of casinos in the country rising to 152. In addition, a 3.5% decline was registered in the number of licensed arcades in the country from March 2017, with their number reaching 1,810.

A total of 106,366 people worked in the UK gambling sector in September 2017, with a 0.8% drop registered from March 2017.

Apart from the results of the land-based and online gambling sector, the UK Gambling Commission also provided some details about the contributions to good causes generated by large society lotteries. The regulatory body explained that there was a slight 1.7% drop to £251 million in comparison to the result posted between April 2016 and March 2017.

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Yggdrasil Gaming has announced the return of the Vikings with the launch of its new blockbuster video slot, Vikings go to Hell.

Part of Macau Legend’s $300-million casino resort in Cape Verde will open doors this August, CEO David Chow Kam Fai told local media earlier today after the company’s Annual General Meeting at the Legend Palace.

Macau Legend will open a hotel and casino in the tiny northwest African nation this summer as part of what would be a multi-phase project. The Macau-based group has already invested more than $290 million in the first phase of its scheme.

The company has revealed in previous statements that the first phase of its new resort would include a 200-room hotel, a casino, and an office block, among other facilities. Further phases of the project will include a marina, retail space, a convention center, and multiple food and beverage options. The whole integrated resort will occupy a 152,700-square-meter site (1,643,649.12 square feet).

Macau Legend announced its plans to build a resort in the tiny island nation in 2015 and broke ground on he property a year later. The Hong Kong-listed company said back then that it expected it would take about three years to complete the project.

Cape Verde currently has population of around half a million people, but Macau Legend will actually be targeting foreign visitors.

Under a deal between the Macau casino operator and Cape Verde officials, Macau legend would receive a 15-year tax relief and would be granted 10-year exclusivity over the operation of online gaming and sports betting as well as over the operation of land-based sports betting services.

Of their choice to expand namely into Cape Verde, Mr. Chow has previously said that it being a Portuguese-speaking country (Macau is itself a former Portuguese territory) with well-developed infrastructure and booming tourism were among the things that drew his company to that particular part of the world.

Tourism represents nearly a quarter of Cape Verde’s annual GDP and the country’s government has introduced a number of initiatives to boost that industry even further. Local lawmakers have pointed out repeatedly that Macau Legend’s integrated resort could certainly help the nation achieve that goal.

The legalization of gambling in the early 2010s was one such tourism-boosting initiative. As a result from the legalization process, Cape Verde’s first land-based casino – the €5-million Casino Royal – opened doors as part of a larger Hilton resort in May 2013 on Sal Island. Under the country’s gambling law, brick-and-mortar casinos can be built on the islands Sal, Santago, Boa Vista, and Maoi.

Macau Legend’s casino resort is currently under development in the capital Praia. It is also interesting to note that the Macau-based gaming company has submitted an application to develop a bank in Cape Verde. Mr. Chow said today that local lawmakers are currently evaluating the proposal, which aims to provide small- to medium-sized businesses with much-needed support and facilitate payments processed on the Cape Verde territory.

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The organizers of the Central and Eastern European Gaming Conference (CEEGC) are honored to announce that Miglena Dimitrova (MDMI Legal) will join the panel discussion which focuses on the Eastern European gambling market updates. The Bulgarian gambling industry has shown significant growth in the last 10 years and in an Analysis of the Center for the Study of Democracy of ...

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We are just five months into the year but some of poker’s finest players have already added millions of dollars to their bankrolls. They have traveled the world, faced other fine and seasoned players and have outmaneuvered them to be rewarded for their skills.

Just as many poker professionals and enthusiasts are readying for this year’s World Series of Poker, Casino News Daily has compiled a quick list of the most profitable players so far in 2018. Here is a little bit more information about how much they have won and how they have performed the past several months.

Bonomo has been on a hot streak over the past five months and it seems that he has no intention to end his winning spree. The player has cashed nearly $9 million since the beginning of the year from 15 different tournaments. There is more to the story, he won five of these and made final table appearances in most of the other.

Half of Bonomo’s 2018 live tournament earnings came from his first-place finish in the HK$2-million buy-in Super High Roller Bowl China. The popular poker pro bested a field of 75 seasoned high rollers to collect $4,823,077 from the event’s prize pool. Bonomo defeated Finland’s Patrik Antonius (who will appear later in this list) heads-up.

Aside from his Super High Roller Bowl China triumph, he also took down the Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,500 High Roller for $556,873, a US Poker Open $10,500 event for $190,400, the EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em for €378,000, and the EPT Monte Carlo €25,000 Single Re-Entry for €259,700.

Koon is, too, having quite some year and quite a month, to be more precise. The player won high roller tournaments on two continents over a week’s span. He first outlasted 103 entries in the partypoker-sponsored HK$1,000,000 Triton Super High Roller Montenegro to scoop a hefty payout of $3,569,836.

Just a few days later, the player claimed another title and another seven-figure payout. He won the Aria $100K High roller during the WPT Tournament of Champions Festival at Aria Resort & Casino. Koon was the last man standing from a field of 31 entries. His share of the prize pool totaled $1,039,940.

Koon has cashed in seven events since the beginning of the year and has won one more tournament over the past few months. During this year’s PCA, the poker pro bested the field of the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em, good for a prize of $421,080.

UK’s second most profitable player of all time rounds out the podium of this year’s most profitable live tournament poker players. Chidwick has finished in the money in 15 tournaments since January and has won several of them to add nearly $6 million to his already hefty poker bankroll.

The UK poker pro started off 2018 with victories in two US Poker Open tournaments, both of them $25,000 buy-in ones. He scooped more than $700,000 from those. Just a couple of days ago, the player took down a $25,000 Aria High Roller event for $300,000.

Back in April, Chidwick collected two seven-figure payouts from the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona festival. He first finished runner-up to Jake Schindler in the €100,000 Super High Roller for €1.1 million in prize money, and then collected €1 million for his third-place finish in the €10,300 Main Event.

We have seen more and more from the Finn over the past months which is always good, as we all know how good he is at this game. The player has cashed in just five events this year, but one of these was the above-mentioned Super High Roller Bowl China.

Antonius collected $3,153,551 from that tournament after outlasting all but one of the contenders for the title. In February, the player put up great performance at the partypoker MILLIONS Germany at King’s Casino Rozvadov to win the €25,500 Super High Roller for a first-place prize of €425,000.

Schindler rounds out the list of the five most profitable players so far this year with nearly $4.5 million added to his bankroll. He has cashed in 17 tournaments since the beginning of 2018, which is an impressive number itself. In addition, he actually topped the fields of some of these events.

As already mentioned, the player emerged victorious in the €100,000 Super High Roller during the partypoker MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona. His share of the tournament’s massive prize pool amounted to €1,750,000. Schindler has also won a couple of Aria High Roller tournaments over the past several months and has cashed in some other such tournaments.

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One of the largest Australian gaming and entertainment groups, Star Entertainment Group, shared that high-roller customers and Queensland businesses have brought larger revenue, at a time when the company has been focused on new Gold Coast- and Brisbane-located projects’ roll-out.

As reported by the operator, the strong revenue growth registered since the beginning of the year has been backed by the boom in the local tourism market, as the number of international VIP customers has also increased. In addition, Star Entertainment further announced a large increase in the amount of the transformational revamp and expansion of its Brisbane-situated Queen’s Wharf project, with a 25% boost in the gross area which is expected to bring the resort costs up from AU$1.8 to AU$2.4 billion.

The company is currently engaged with the development of its AU$2.4-billion Queen’s Wharf resort situated in the central business district of Brisbane. Today, the gambling operator revealed that its revenue increased by 16.4% in the period from January to May 2018.

As revealed by Matt Bekier, the Chief Executive Officer of Star Entertainment, official offers for the first phase of the Queen’s Wharf project are set to be released in June. He further explained that additional dining and retail areas are also planned for the resort. As previously revealed, the foundations, as well as the basement of the project are set to be laid down in 2019, while the construction above the ground expected to begin a year later, in 2020.

As mentioned above, Mr. Bekier revealed that the floor area of the company’s Queen’s Wharf project would be bigger than the one originally planned, due to expanded retail and dining area. According to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, the increase reflects the confidence which Star Entertainment has in Queensland and Brisbane.

The company’s boss explained that the increase marked in the number of tourists and higher interstate migration have helped the economy of the state.

The Star Entertainment Group has revealed that the construction of its Gold Coast casino’s new accommodation tower is planned to kick off in August 2018. However, the company still needed more clarity to be brought on the matter, with the State Government expected to say whether the operator would need another casino license, especially for the tourist strip. According to Mr. Bekier, Star Entertainment is absolutely fine with the planned investment in the new tower, but more regulatory clarity would be needed before further investment is given a go.

Kate Jones, the Minister of Queensland Tourism Industry Development is expected to meet with potential supporters of the new resorts in the region. Previously, Star’s CEO shared his opinion that the Gold Coast did not need another casino resort, considering his company’s plans to built four more towers of up to 74 storeys at the already existing Broadbeach venue. In any case, no more poker machines are proposed at the site in question.

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The specialist slots developer, Lightning Box gets Portugal approval to launch its games in the country on the SG Digital platform. Lightning Box gets Portugal approval after the Portuguese gaming regulator, Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SIRJ), has given Lightning Box the right to release nine games from its offering. These include Silver Lion, Stellar Jackpots-Chilli Gold x2, ...

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Gambling company GVC Holdings is facing a shareholder backlash over what has been described as an “excessively disproportionate” pay to the company’s CEO, Kenny Alexander, The Guardian reports.

Mr. Alexander has been at GVC’s helm since 2007. He has concluded two important acquisition deals during the past two and a half years. GVC first acquired fellow online gambling operator bwin.party Digital Entertainment in February 2016 in a £1.1-billion deal. Earlier this year, his company acquired British bookmaker Ladbrokes Coral for £3.2 billion to extend its footprint across the UK retail market. Prior to that second acquisition, GVC had operated solely in the online gambling space.

It was understood that Mr. Alexander has received £45 million worth of share options since 2016. In addition, GVC’s Chairman, Larry Feldman, has been awarded over £22.5 million worth of share options over the same period. GVC’s shares reached an all-time high of £10.26 this past Friday.

During last year’s annual general meeting of the gambling company, over 45% of its investors voted down its pay policy which awarded Mr. Alexander £19.4 million for 2016. The executive’s pay totaled £18 million for 2017. It, too, is expected to be snubbed by shareholders at the upcoming AGM, slated to take place June 6 in Gibraltar.

Shareholder advice bodies Glass Lewis and Pirc have urged shareholders to vote against the company’s pay policy, calling Mr. Alexander’s pay “excessively disproportionate”, particularly given the fact that it represents around 550 times what average GVC employees are paid.

Luke Hildyard from remuneration think tank High Pay Centre has said that he found it outrageous that GVC has retained its pay policy, despite last year’s protest vote from shareholders. He went on to say that the company has apparently been disregarding investors’ strong objection to its 2016 remuneration report and has decided to maintain the same pay approach for 2017, which would probably be met with even stronger negative reactions from shareholders.

Generally speaking, such shareholder votes are advisory and a company is not obligated to change its policies, even though it is facing a backlash from its investors.

While GVC has not commented on the matter publicly, but it is believed that the company has told its shareholders that its remuneration report was the way it was due to the fact that its share price has increased significantly with Mr. Alexander and Mr. Feldman at its helm.

Last week, GVC upgraded its cost synergies forecast following the acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral to £130 million from an original estimate of £100 million. Mr. Alexander explained that the anticipated savings were for the first three years after the creation of the enlarged group and that he was “confident of delivering shareholder value”, even though it has been just two months since the deal was closed.

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It started off with 80 former WPT Main Tour Main Event champions, but it was Matthew Waxman who outlasted that elite field to become this year’s WPT Tournament of Champions winner. The player claimed the title and the first-place prize of $463,375 after picking off a bluff from his heads-up opponent Matas Cimbolas.

Waxman and Cimbolas were two of the five players who returned for Day 3 of the prestigious tournament. Instead of playing that final day at Aria Resort & Casino, the remaining survivors switched venues and their final battle thus took place at the brand new Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor.

Waxman entered the final day of action third in chips, while Cimbolas held the second largest stack at the time when cards were thrown in the air. The five finalists were led by Darren Elias, who won his record fourth WPT title just a few days ago.

The player maintained his momentum for a while, but then lost his chip lead to Waxman. Elias eventually busted in third place, thus missing the chance to win a back-to-back title and smash another record. He collected $177,060 in prize money.

Nick Schulman was actually the first player to leave the final table on Day 3. He was eliminated in fifth place namely by Elias. His share of the $1,365,000 prize pool totaled $89,290. David Benyamine went out in fourth, good for $123,045.

Waxman was the player to set the two-handed match after he eliminated Elias in third place. The eventual champion entered heads-up as a chip leader with 2:1 advantage over Cimbolas. The first half of their duel saw chips swinging back and forth from one player to the other and vice versa.

Waxman then began to pull ahead of his final opponent until he took controlling advantage. On the final hand in play, the eventual champion check-called the three streets with [Qc][7d]. Cimbolas moved all in on the river with [10h][3s] on a [Kd][2h][Qs][4s][8h] board. Waxman quickly picked off his opponent’s bluff and called to claim the title and the largest share of the prize pool. Cimbolas exited the tournament in second place, good for $265,590.

As for Waxman’s first-place prize, it also includes a $15,000 seat into next season’s WPT Tournament of Champions, a luxurious Hublot watch, a JetSmarter membership worth $50,000, and the one and only WTP Tournament of Champions trophy.

Talking to WPT staff minutes after his triumph, Waxman said that it took him some time to decide whether he should play in the Tournament of Champions or not due to the high buy-in, the elite field, and the lack of much confidence in his game. It seems that he has made the right decision, though.

The event concluded Season XVI of the popular poker series. As mentioned above, it attracted 80 entries, including the winners from throughout the season and players who had won WPT titles during previous seasons. A prize pool of $1,365,000 was generated to be split among the top 10 finishers, min-cashes starting from $39,840.

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A Springfield, Illinois developer has once again put forward a plan for the construction of a downtown casino and the addition of video gaming terminals at the state fairgrounds as House legislators are set to discuss a gambling expansion bill this Monday.

It was on Friday when lawmakers revived a failed effort for the legalization of up to six casinos around the state, including one in Chicago. The House Gaming Subcommittee is now set to review the gambling expansion bill at a Monday hearing. While lawmakers have renewed their interest in adding more gaming options in Illinois, they have very little time to act as the legislative session adjourns on Thursday.

The piece of legislation very much resembles a bill that was introduced and approved by the Illinois Senate last year but never made it through the House. Under the proposed bill, up to six casinos could open doors in six locations across the state, with those six being Chicago, the city’s southern suburbs, Lake and Williamson Counties, Rockford, and Danville.

Last year’s bill proposed the same six locations as the potential hosts to the state’s new casinos. Lawmakers said Friday that they have decided not to add any more casinos beyond what was proposed in the original Senate Bill from last year.

This year’s bill also includes provisions that, if the piece moves any forward, could open discussions for the legalization of online gambling, sports betting, and daily fantasy sports.

As the new gambling expansion bill has stirred in the Legislature, Springfield developer Chris Stone has begun lobbying for the authorization of the construction of a casino in Springfield. The businessman’s gambling expansion proposal includes a 60,000-square-foot casino on a parking lot near the Bank of Springfield Center. His plan also calls for the addition of up to 200 video gaming terminals at the state fairgrounds that could be available to customers all year round.

A portion of the revenue generated by the machines would then go to the state’s coffers, while another portion would be contributed to the State Fairgrounds Foundation, which raises money to repair facilities on the fairgrounds.

Talking to local media outlet The State Journal-Register, Mr. Stone explained that the gaming positions would not ruin the family-friendly atmosphere at the fairgrounds as these would be located in a building in the northern part of the fairgrounds and would be separated from the family activities available there.

Although the developer has decided to make another push (he pitched his plan last year, as well), he told local media that he was not very optimistic the Legislature would make any significant progress toward the authorization of the proposed gambling expansion in the state. He pointed out that it is an election year, and pieces of legislation of this kind are usually paid more attention to by lawmakers during non-election years.

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The second day of the WPT Tournament of Champions was completed on Saturday at Aria Resort & Casino. It started with 29 players but just five of them survived through the very end of the day and are still in contention for the title and the $463,375 first-place prize.

Day 2 of the tournament kicked off with Dennis Blieden leading the pack of 29 hopefuls from Day 1. The player had a solid run during the first day of the WPT Tournament of Champions and methodically built a massive stack into Day 2. However, it appeared he had lost some of his momentum when he returned to the tables yesterday to eventually lose his chip advantage. The player was eliminated in 11th later on Day 2 to become the unfortunate bubble boy.

The original field of the prestigious tournament comprised 80 entries. The prize pool totaled $1.365 million and included the $15,000 buy-in fees paid by the participants and an additional $150,000 contributed by the WPT. The money was split into payouts for the top ten finishers.

The five finalists are set to resume play today at 4 pm local time. Unlike the previous two days when they played at the poker tables of Aria Resort & Casino, the final tablists will take to the felt of the brand-new Esports Arena Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel and Casino to battle it out until there is just one player left.

Darren Elias came into the WPT Tournament of Champions fresh off the inaugural WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic, which he took down to win a record-breaking fourth title from the series. And if Day 1 of the Tournament of Champions belonged to Blieden, it can be said that Day 2 belonged namely to Elias.

The player eventually bagged and tagged 1.4 million to top the chip counts chart. It is also important to note that he has quite some advantage over the rest of his remaining opponents.

Commenting on his run over the past several days, Elias said that “wins […] come in bunches in poker” and that when a player wins in a tournament, they become more confident and maybe play better in their next tournaments.

While Elias might have secured the chip lead, he will have a different task today as the rest of the finalists are seasoned players themselves. Matas Cimbolas collected a stack of 1.159 million last night to rank second in the chip counts chart. Matthew Waxman finished third in chips, good for 554,000. Nick Schulman, a player who boasts $3,534,047 in live tournament earnings, and David Benyamine, who has collected more than $1.8 million from different live tournaments, were the other two players to make it through Day 2 with and collect almost even stacks at the end of the day with 447,000 and 440,000, respectively.

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The WPT is about to wrap up another successful season. Once again the popular poker series is celebrating the end of its season with the WPT Tournament of Champions, a three-day event that features champions from the past year and is already taking place at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Day 1 of the season-ending tournament was played on Thursday at the host casino. It started off with 80 participants but the field was whittled down to just 29 players by the end of the day.

The event came with a buy-in fee of $15,000, but those who won Main Tour Main Events throughout the season had that fee included in their first-place prizes. The WPT also added $150,000 to the prize pool, of which $50,000 would go to the winner to create an overall prize pool of $1.365 million.

The top 10 finishers will leave with a payout, min-cash worth $39,840. The winner will receive $463,375 from the prize pool. However, awards for the big champion would not be limited to the monetary prize. Their victory will also be rewarded with a Hublot Big Bang Unico Titanium Ceramic watch, a JetSmarter membership worth $50,000, and the one and only WPT Tournament of Champions trophy.

The first day of this year’s WPT Tournament of Champions concluded with Dennis Blieden leading the elite pack into the night. The player bagged and tagged 593,000 to lock a comfortable start to Day 2.

Blieden is followed by J.C. Tran with 305,500 and Marvin Rettenmaier with 234,500, but it can be seen that the overnight chip leader has secured quite an advantage over his remaining opponents.

Blieden catapulted himself to the top of the Day 1 chip counts chart after winning a massive pot during Level 4 of play. The player clashed against Andy Frankenberger. The latter went all in with pocket aces to Blieden’s pocket sixes. A [6c][4d][2c] flop and blank turn and river saw Frankenberger hit the rail, while Blieden collected his chips. Later the same level, the overnight chip leader scooped quite some chips from Mike Del Vecchio to further cement his advantage.

Blieden won the LA Poker Classic $10,000 Main Event back in February to claim his first WPT title, a seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions, and $1 million in prize money. The player had cashed in two WSOP events prior to his triumph earlier this year. Talking with WPT staff last night, Blieden said that he has not played tournament poker since the LAPC, but he was running pretty well in the Tournament of Champions and it felt as if he had picked where he had left off.

Unlike many of the other tournament entries, Blieden is not that well known to the poker community. Dwelling on that, the player said that he knew many of his table mates considered him “terrible” and that was why he was getting calls that many would not. He went on to say that he got quite some coolers throughout Day 1 and it seemed to him that every time he bluffed, his opponents would fall, while every time he called, he would win the pot.

Play is set to resume at Aria today at noon local time. The remaining hopefuls will play down to an official six-handed final table. Aside from Blieden, the likes of Erik Seidel, Marvin Rettenmaier, Justin Young, and Darren Elias, who came into the Tournament of Champions fresh off his record fourth WPT win in the inaugural WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic, will also join Day 2 action.

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The Government of Catalonia has given the nod to the €2-billion project for the construction of an integrated resort with a gaming floor in Tarragona. The plan has been proposed by Florida-based gaming and hospitality company Hard Rock International as part of its strategy for global expansion.

The Government of Catalonia published its approval for the multi-billion scheme in its Official Gazette earlier today, giving Hard Rock the authorization to move forward with the development. The major US company was finally given the green light after multiple delays.

It is understood from a note issued by Catalonia officials earlier today that the integrated resort will be called Hard Rock Entertainment World instead of the previously announced BCN World. Although the Tarragona area was previously selected as the preferred location for the complex, developers were allowed by court to use ‘Barcelona’ as a trademark. Hard Rock eventually decided not to create additional controversy and rebranded the proposed development.

Hard Rock Entertainment World will feature two hotels with a total of 1,100 rooms, a retail area with nearly 75 different stores, a number of food and beverage and entertainment facilities, and a 10,000-square-meter (107,639.1 square feet) casino. As mentioned above, the major gaming and hospitality company is planning to invest €2 billion into the massive scheme. Hard Rock’s project will thus rank among the largest projects of this kind to have ever been carried out in Europe.

Hard Rock already operates a number of casinos in its home state, Florida, and is currently expanding into New Jersey. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, the company’s first resort on the Atlantic City Boardwalk is slated to open doors on June 28 at the site of the former Trump Taj Mahal.

Hard Rock, which also operates more than 170 cafés around the world, has further been looking to expand its gaming operations outside the US. The company was part of the €500-plus-million plan for the construction of an integrated resort in the Republic of Cyprus but walked out of it to pursue other opportunities, including the Tarragona project. Hard Rock was, in fact, the only bidder for that letter scheme.

Japan, which recently legalized casino gambling, has been another destination Hard Rock has been eying to extend its footprint to. The company has established offices in the Pacific Ocean island nation and has been looking actively for local partners. In a recent interview with Casino News Daily, Hard Rock Japan CEO Ed Tracy said that educating the Japanese people about the actual nature of integrated resorts and that casino gambling represents just a small portion of the whole concept was one of their main tasks in their pursuit of a license in what is believed to have the potential to become the world’s second largest casino market.

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Darren Elias finally claimed a coveted fourth WPT title after a near miss earlier this season in Jacksonville. The player topped last night the elite field of the inaugural WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic to become the only one to have ever captured four titles from the series’ Main Tour.

The WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic drew 162 entries to the tables of the host venue – Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. It was a star-studded field of former WPT champions, former WSOP Main Event champions, including 14-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, and a plethora of other accomplished pros and recreationals. They created a prize pool of $1,555,200 and the amount of $387,580 went to the winner.

Elias entered the final day of the event as the chip leader and with a massive stack. The player said that he was there for anything but the win, and he did his best to execute his strategy and claim the prestigious fourth title that put him ahead of Gus Hansen, Carlos Mortensen, Anthony Zinno, and Chino Rheem who are all holding three WPT titles.

It was an action-packed day at the host casino on Wednesday. Despite his advantage, Elias’ ride to victory was not a smooth one. Aside from him, the official six-handed final table of the event featured two players who were eying their third WPT titles (Jonathan Little and Sam Panzica), a player who was looking to claim a second title (Dietrich Fast), former WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen, and female poker pro Kitty Kuo who has been smashing tables over the past several months.

Little and Panzica were the first to leave the final table, their hopes for a third title thus being brought to an abrupt end. The players collected $74,520 and $97,795, respectively. Fast was then eliminated in fourth place, good for $130, 895.

The most important hand of the final table occurred during three-handed play when McKeehen and Elias found themselves locked in an all-in confrontation that would end everything for one of the players. It was eventually McKeehen to bust in third place for $178,610, while Elias collected his chips to enter heads-up against Kuo with a 3:1 advantage.

Despite the huge gap, Kuo was not showing any signs that she was ready to give up on the title without a fight. As a result, the two-handed duel lasted three hours and over 100 hands. While Kuo never managed to take the lead during the match, she doubled several times and almost erased the gap.

On what turned out to be the final hand of the tournament, Kuo announced all in for her last 600,000 and Elias called almost immediately. Elias tabled [Ah][10c] to his opponent’s [As][5d]. The [4d][Js][8h][7s][2c] arrived on the board to end Kuo’s participation in the tournament. The player took $248,380 for her performance.

As for Elias, the player is now heading into the WPT Tournament of Champions which starts today at Aria. Fresh off his latest triumph, he will play against the WPT Main Event champions from throughout the season for a chance to be crowned the absolute champion of Season XVI of the series.

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Atlantic City’s highest grossing casino resort, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, is ready to begin offering sports betting on the very day the provision of that service is legalized by New Jersey lawmakers, officials for the property said Tuesday.

The Borgata already features a facility for betting on horse racing and casino officials revealed plans to rename it as The Race & Sports Book once sports betting becomes legal in New Jersey. The venue will also open a separate sports betting facility, the plans for which are being finalized by owners.

The Borgata is owned by Las Vegas gaming and hospitality giant MGM Resorts International. The hotel and casino resort has long been Atlantic City’s most profitable property. It generated gaming revenue of $803.6 million in 2017. In comparison, Harrah’s, the second highest grossing casino in the city, reported revenue of $363.7 million last year.

Commenting on the recently lifted federal ban on sports betting and his casino’s plans, Borgata President Marcus Glover said Tuesday that the property is uniquely positioned as Atlantic City’s only one to be featuring a race book already. Mr. Glover added that Borgata’s owner, MGM, has years of experience in operating sports betting in Nevada, which will help them launch their sports book in New Jersey.

It was also understood that the Borgata has been readying itself for the decision of the US Supreme Court for quite some time and has been crafting its strategy for operating a sports betting business at the existing resort to make sure it would be launched in due time.

New Jersey has actually been the state to push most actively for the annulment of the long-standing federal ban on sports betting. The US Supreme Court decided to review the state’s case last year and ruled on it last week.

Under the ruling, it is now up to each individual state to determine whether it should legalize sports betting within its borders. Prior to last week, sports betting was prohibited everywhere across the United States but Nevada and three more states.

With New Jersey being a backer of the legalization of sports betting, the actual introduction and implementation of a regulatory framework is not expected to come upon any major stumbling blocks. It is believed that the state’s sports betting law could be passed by legislators and enacted by early June.

Almost all of Atlantic City’s operational casinos have said that they would offer sports betting once the activity becomes legal in the state. It is also important to note that its two new casinos – Hard Rock Atlantic City and Ocean Resort Casino, both slated to open doors on June 28 – are too planning to feature sports betting.

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Engaged Nation recently announced its redesigned and enhanced $2 Million Pro Football Frenzy online sports program that leverages the entire professional football season to drive customer acquisition, engagement and bottom-line revenue.

Three-time WPT champ Darren Elias is heading a loaded final table of the WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic, the last event on the Season XVI schedule of the popular poker series. If Elias takes down the ongoing Main Event, the player will create history as the only one to have ever won four WPT titles.

Elias was among the twenty hopefuls that returned at the host venue on Tuesday for its Day 3. While it was Jonathan Little, a two-time WPT champion, to lead the pack of survivors when cards were thrown in the air, it should be said that it was Elias who dominated action.

By the time there were just six players left in contention, Elias was holding roughly 44% of all chips in play. Organizers called it a day at that point. The final six will return at Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas today to play the tournament’s official final table and determine the champion.

The winner will collect a first-place prize of $387,580, including a $15,000 seat into the season-ending Tournament of Champions which is just days away.

While Elias might be holding a substantial chip lead over the rest of the final tablists, the player will have quite some hard time while trying to win a record fourth title. Aside from the poker pro, the final table of the WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic is comprised of three more former WPT winners, a WSOP Main Event champion and a seasoned female poker pro.

Through aggressive play, Elias managed to bag and tag 2.127 million in chips on Day 3 of the tournament. The player was the only one to break the 2 million mark. Germany’s Dietrich Fast finished second in chips last night but was anywhere close to the overnight chip leader with his 801,000 chips. Fast is vying for WPT title number two.

Kitty Kuo collected the third largest chip stack at the end of Day 3. The popular poker professional bagged 683,000 to secure herself with a comfortable position to attempt at winning her first WPT title.

Sam Panzica, who is looking to claim WPT title number three, accumulated a stack of 566,000 in chips on Day 3. Former WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehen will attempt to win his first-ever WPT title. The player is heading into Day 4 with 385,000. Jonathan Little, who was the Day 2 overnight chip leader, did not have that much momentum over the course of Day 3. The player ended the day as the short stack with 300,000. Little is too eying a third title from the WPT.

The final day of the final WPT tournament of the season is set to begin at 2 pm local time. The remaining finalists will play down to a winner who will then head into the WPT Tournament of Champions to celebrate the end of the season with the rest of the winners from the past year and try to win the major event.

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The team at European Gaming Media and Events is honored to announce their latest event in their portfolio of boutique gaming events. The inaugural European Gaming Congress will be held on the 16th of October at the Grand Union Hotel in Ljubljana and has the aim of highlighting the market regulations and updates from several countries within the EU and ...

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The Nigerian Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) has faced the criticism of the local House of Representatives, with the latter blaming it for its failure to impose effective regulation of the sector.

According to local lawmakers, it was the Commission that was responsible for the failures in implementing the sector’s regulation efficiently, which on the other hand resulted in Nigeria losing an amount estimated at more than ₦1.493 trillion. The NLRC, on the other hand, has blamed lack of efficient regulation in the industry for the unsatisfactory revenue amount generated by the sector.

As far as the sector’s performance is concerned, Bello Maigari, the acting National Lottery Trust Fund’s Executive Secretary shared that the trend of the sector failing to meet its revenue target has been going on for several years now. According to Mr. Maigari, who spoke before the House Committee on Inter-Governmental Affairs, the revenue target of ₦1.5 trillion could hardly be reached by the sector, which was only able to generate approximately ₦7 billion in 13 years.

Considering the estimated high potential of the local market, the 5-year cumulative returns amounting to a little over ₦7 billion, which was found completely unacceptable for the sector. Mr. Maigari also shared his regret that the Nigerian lottery industry’s revenue growth was hurt by foul practices, conflict of interest, etc.

For the time being, there are a total of 21 operators who offer licensed lottery products across the country, after their operating licenses were given the green light by the President Muhammadu Buhari. The Nigerian House of Representatives has already threatened the operators that were found guilty of not paying the amount due to authorities by withdrawing their licenses.

The Executive Secretary of the National Lottery Trust Fund further noted that the lack of proper regulation in the country has been beneficial for the lottery and gaming operators there. Mr. Maigari further reminded that according to some industry experts, the Nigerian lottery sector is actually the most attractive market on the territory of Africa.

According to estimates, the lottery has made a significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) not only of Nigeria but also of other countries in Africa. For the time being, approximately 7.5 million Nigerian citizens were betting on lotteries on a daily basis. The number of Nigerians engaged in sports betting operations every day amounted to approximately 22 million.

Lanre Gbajabiamila, the Director General of the NLRC, also shared his opinion of local lottery legislation, saying that the fact that Nigerian laws on the matter were not up-to-date with the contemporary state of the market, which was also the reason why inadequate legislation has contributed to the slow growth of the sector. Still, Mr. Gbajabiamila explained that the Commission is aimed at helping the sector reach international standard, despite there was a lot of work to be done in terms of renewal of the already existing laws.

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Play Fortuna deals with Relax Gaming to provide its table game and slot content to the online casino’s offering. As Play Fortuna deals with Relax Gaming and under the terms of agreement, the online operator will initially roll out the supplier’s Blackjack and Roulette products, which are available at a cost-effective rate, before the introduction of slot games later this ...

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Las Vegas gaming and hospitality giant MGM Resorts International will hold this week nine public meetings in Massachusetts where it is looking for staff for its $960-million MGM Springfield casino resort. The property is set to open doors on August 24 and its owner is looking to fill crucial job positions ahead of its grand opening.

All but one of this week’s meetings will be held in Springfield. MGM officials will meet with potential employees, answer any questions they might have, and advice people on choosing the right job position of all available ones.

MGM was one of two operators to be issued a license for the operation of a full-scale commercial casino in Massachusetts, with Wynn Resorts being the other. The Las Vegas giant selected Springfield as the home of its new property and introduced a $800-million downtown development scheme. Eventually, MGM increased its investment into the project to $960 million.

Under the terms of its license, the gambling operator will have to make sure that more than two-thirds of its employees are from Springfield and the region. MGM has previously said that once fully operational, its resort would employ around 3,500 people.

Apart from this week’s nine public meetings, the casino operator is also set to hold Tuesday a live Facebook Q&A with potential employees. The Q&A session will start at 1:30 pm local time and will mostly focus on job positions in MGM Springfield’s slot machine operations.

Under previous regulations, strict background checks and registration requirements shut out unemployed individuals with criminal records. Earlier this year, the Massachusetts Legislature changed existing laws to allow for certain exemptions that would make it possible for such people to be able to apply for a position at the state’s new casino resorts.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission then exempted 127 available positions at MGM Springfield which accounted for around 800 jobs. These are mostly in maintenance, food service, reception, and office staff. People with criminal records would not be employed at the resort’s gaming floor and would not have access to confidential information.

MGM has said that they really want to open up the pipeline and provide people with job opportunities. The company will itself conduct background checks on all job applicants, it has been understood.

It is also planning to hold a number of mass hiring events in the next few months to make job offers to a number of applicants. MGM hired 200 people at such an event earlier this month. The company is optimistic that it would manage to hire people for vital positions before the casino resort’s opening at the end of August. MGM Springfield was originally scheduled for a September launch, but owners announced that it would eventually be ready to swing its doors open for guests and visitors ahead of schedule.

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Last week, casino industry experts refuted rumors that the island of Hainan, also known as “China’s Hawaii”, is set to become the next casino hub in the country. Still, they confirmed that the island could open doors for several kinds of sports lotteries.

In February 2018 it became clear that the Chinese Government has been mulling the legalization of some gaming options on Hainan Island – a step that could end the gambling monopoly of Macau. Then, in April, the Government revealed that it would officially legalize horse racing and some new types of sports lotteries on the Island as part of its effort to turn Hainan into the largest pilot free-trade port.

However, the South China Morning Post revealed that Su Guojing, the founder of the China Lottery Industry Salon and a gambling sector expert, explained in an interview at the Macau-based Global Gaming Expo Asia 2018 that casino gambling contradicted to the overall ideology and legislation of China. According to Mr. Su, for the time being, it was almost impossible for the Government to permit land-based casinos to be established outside the gambling hub of Macau.

According to Mr. Su, the legalization of horse racing in Hainan could take a very long time to develop. He further explained that the country’s Government should pay much more attention to Sanya and its development to a global home port for cruises.

For the time being, all forms of gambling, except for two types of lotteries, are officially suspended under a gambling ban imposed by the Chinese Government. As mentioned above, horse racing operations are permitted to a limited extent. However, sports betting services are fully banned in the country. Other forms of gambling are currently permitted only in the autonomous region of Macau, which is currently the only place in China where gambling in casinos is allowed.

Recently, rumor has it that the country’s authorities have been considering whether to lift some of the restrictions imposed on gaming operations on land and allow them on boats.

Sanya currently attracts the largest number of tourists in the province of Hainan as a whole. According to a report issued by the online travel booking agency Ctrip, a total of 18 million visitor arrivals were registered in Sanya last year. Up to date, the city offers about 14 cruise routes traveling to various countries and is also a stopping point for some of the largest cruise operators which could help it become a global cruise destination.

As far as opening Hainan to gambling operations is concerned, the Chinese Government has been considering such a step as part of its efforts to help the economy of the ailing southernmost province. For many years, the administrative region of Macau has kept a monopoly on casino gambling operations, with the region having attracted some of the largest casino operators on a global scale.

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