Latvian gambling regulator’s representative, Janis Laganovskis will speak at Mare Balticum Gaming Summit 2018. The inaugural Mare Balticum Gaming Summit is slowly becoming the main event of the gambling industry in the Baltics. The organizers are delighted to announce the 4 regulators will be present at the event to give briefings and official numbers about the Latvia, Estonia, Lithuanian and ...

The post Janis Laganovskis to speak at Mare Balticum Gaming Summit 2018 appeared first on Casino News Today.

Popular poker pro Steve O’Dwyer scooped another title from a PokerStars-branded High Roller last night at the Monte-Carlo Casino during the ongoing EPT festival. The player emerged victorious over a packed field of fellow high roller specialists to collect the tournament trophy and €676,300.

O’Dwyer played the €50,000 Single-Day High Roller. The event took place at the Salle des Americas poker room at the host venue on Sunday. It attracted 30 unique participants and 11 re-entries. O’Dwyer himself did not need to shoot a second bullet as he navigated through the event’s field beautifully to collect the largest payout.

Speaking of money, the tournament’s field created a prize pool of €1,988,910, which was distributed between the top six finishers.

EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller champ Sam Greenwood became the unfortunate bubble boy in the €50,000 buy-in tournament. Germany’s Rainer Kempe was the first to fall into the money. The player’s share of the prize pool totaled €139,200.

Daniel Dvoress and Justin Bonomo were the next to exit the tournament, cashing €179,000 and €228,700, respectively. That was a second High Roller final table for Bonomo in just as many days as the player took part in the Super High Roller the previous day to finish fifth for €401,000. Steffen Sontheimer busted in third place, good for €467,410. His elimination set the heads-up match between O’Dwyer and Nick Petrangelo.

It was in fact Petrangelo who eliminated Sontheimer to scoop his chips and the chip lead. He had 2.1 million at the start of heads-up to O’Dwyer’s 1.8 million. It took an hour before the name of the champion was determined.

And it was really all decided in the final two hands of play. Those two hands helped O’Dwyer gain control over the majority of chips in play and eliminate his final opponent. On what turned out to be the final hand dealt in the tournament, Petrangelo went all-in for his last chips and O’Dwyer called.

Petrangelo had [Qh][5c] at that point to clash against his opponent’s [Jh][Kd]. The [3c][2d][Qd][Ks][10s] ran out on the board to seal it for O’Dwyer. Petrangelo left second place for €467,410 of the prize pool.

O’Dwyer’s latest cash helped him boost his live tournament earnings to over $22.1 million. It is important to note that back in January O’Dwyer won another 50K High Roller. The player topped the elite field of the PCA $50,000 High Roller to collect $769,500. Back in January 2016, he won that same event for $945,495. And in December 2015, O’Dwyer captured the EPT Prague €50,000 Super High Roller title for €746,543. These are just a few of the countless high roller events the player has excelled in over the past several years to establish himself as one of the most seasoned and accomplished high roller players in contemporary live poker.

The post Steve O’Dwyer Takes Down Another 50K High Roller at EPT Monte Carlo appeared first on Casino News Daily.

American private equity firm The Blackstone Group has fully acquired Spanish gambling operator Cirsa Gaming Corporation, local news outlets reported on Friday citing sources familiar with the deal.

The purchase price and other details about the deal were not disclosed, but sources said that Cirsa, which is Spain’s largest gambling company, has been valued at around €1.6 billion.

The announcement about the deal comes amid a consolidation wave that has struck the gambling industry not just across Europe but also in the rest of the world. It was just last weekend when Canada’s The Stars Group announced that it would buy UK’s Sky Betting Gaming in a $4.7-billion deal that would create the world’s largest listed gambling company. Online gambling provider Playtech has also recently confirmed that it would purchase a 70.6% stake in Italian operator Snaitech for the total amount of €846 million.

Cirsa was founded in 1978 by the family of Spanish businessman Manuel Lao Hernández, who is known to be among Spain’s richest people. Over the years, the company has expanded across its homeland and has extended its footprint to other jurisdictions, including Italy and multiple Latin American countries.

Cirsa currently operates 147 land-based casinos, 178 gaming halls, over 75,000 gaming machines across bars and other venues, 3,000 lottery terminals, 70 bingo halls, and more than 2,000 sports betting shops. The operator generated revenue of about €1.716 billion last year from its diverse operations.

Bids for the Spanish gambling giant began lining in February. Blackstone, Apollo Global Management, and Cerberus Capital Management were among the US buyout firms that were interested in buying the company. According to previous media reports, there were also fellow gambling companies to have expressed interest in purchasing Cirsa’s operations. The Spanish gambling company expected to fetch around €2 billion from a potential deal.

However, Reuters reported earlier this month that there were just two bidders left in the sale of Cirsa, those two being private equity firms Blackstone and Apollo. According to sources familiar with sale talks, the Spanish gambling operator was disappointed by the fact that there were few bidders for its operations.

The sale could have not even taken place due to the lack of interest from more investors, sources told Reuters. Both Cirsa and the two bidders declined to comment at the time.

News emerged last year that the Spanish gambling giant was also exploring possible listing. It was understood to have hired investment banker Lazard to advise it about its best option from an outright sale to a sale of a minority stake or flotation.

According to sources familiar with the deal, Cirsa’s new owners will look to expand the company’s geographical presence by merging it with other businesses operating in the same sectors it does.

The post Blackstone Buys Spanish Gambling Giant Cirsa appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Canadian poker pro Sam Greenwood was the first player to register into the 2018 EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller event and, in the early hours of Sunday, he became the last man standing after besting a field of 30 of the world’s best high rollers.

Greenwood collected €1.52 million after a lengthy final day of play, which included an action-packed heads-up battle against Germany’s Christoph Vogelsang. The German received €1.046 million for his runner-up finish.

It was in fact Vogelsang who led the final six players into Day 3 of the Super High Roller tournament. He had a massive chip lead over the rest of his opponents, but it should be said that all six survivors were running quite deep at the start of the day.

The first elimination of the day occurred quite quickly. Isaac Haxton fell out in sixth place, after clashing against Vogelsang. The player collected €313,000 for his performance.

It then took hours before another player left the final table. The remaining survivors were all careful during those several hours, playing small pots and trying not to get themselves into trouble. Justin Bonomo, who was vying for his second EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller title was the next to leave, good for €401,000.

Bonomo was followed by the other former EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller champion at the final table, Germany’s Ole Schemion. His share of the prize pool totaled €513,000. The elimination of recreational player and businessman Ali Reza Fatehi in third place marked the beginning of the heads-up match. Fatehi meanwhile scooped €669,920 from the tournament.

An action-packed four-handed play which involved all four players taking the lead at some point was followed by an even more exciting heads-up duel. The match began with Greenwood holding 7.61 million in chips to Vogelsang’s 3.89 million.

However, the German spotted an opportunity to even and then take the lead which he played beautifully. At one point, Vogelsang was just a river card away from the title, but that river card went Greenwood’s way to save him from busting out in second place.

It was a lengthy heads-up battle which extended into the early hours of Sunday. It was half an hour past midnight when the job was finally done and the EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller had its new champion.

On what turned out to be the final hand in play, Vogelsang’s [Ah][5h] clashed against Greenwood’s [Ks][Jc]. A [Js] on the flop and a [Jd] on the river sealed it for the Canadian player. Vogelsang received €1.046 million for his excellent performance and deep run.

Last night’s victory marked Greenwood’s largest live tournament win. It is also interesting to note that the Canadian player came into the EPT Monte Carlo festival fresh from two tournament wins earlier in April. The player first topped the field of the partypoker Millions Grand Final Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller for €1 million in prize money and then won the WPT Amsterdam €6,000 High Roller for €125,785.

Including his latest in-the-money finish from last night, Greenwood’s live tournament winnings currently exceed $11 million.

The post Sam Greenwood Takes Down EPT Monte Carlo €100,000 Super High Roller appeared first on Casino News Daily.

The EPT Monte Carlo is among the most exciting festivals on the poker calendar. This year the excitement is doubled as the festival is making its comeback under the EPT brand after a two-year hiatus.

And the highest buy-in event on what is currently officially running as the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT is under way at the host venue. The €100,000 Super High Roller has always drawn poker’s finest talent and this year makes no difference.

Day 2 of the major event was played on Friday. It started off with 24 players, including Orpen Kisacikoglu and Daniel Dvoress who re-bought into the tournament shortly before the beginning of the second day of play. This year’s EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller attracted a field of 46 entries, including 16 re-entries, to create a prize pool of €4,462,920. The top six places are paid, min-cash is worth €313,000. Aside from the very prestigious title of a Super High Roller victor, the winner will also receive a first-place prize of €1,520,000.

It was a rather short day at the host casino on Friday. Half of the 24 players who entered Day 2 of the Super High Roller were eliminated within the first four hours of action. Play lasted until the final six players were determined. Mikita Badziakouski, who bagged the largest stack into Day 2 and thrived for a big part of the day, eventually became the unfortunate bubble boy. He was knocked out in seventh place by German poker pro Christoph Vogelsang. The latter thus cemented his position as the overnight chip leader.

Vogelsang has recorded more than $15 million in live tournament earnings since October 2013, when he cashed for the first time in a live tournament event. Last year, the young German took down the highly competitive field of the $300,000 Aria Super High Roller Bowl for a first-place prize of $6 million. It is also important to note that back in 2014, he finished third in the $1,000,000 Big One for ONE DROP, leaving it to Dan Colman and Daniel Negreanu to square off for the title. Vogelsang collected $4,480,001 for his deep run in that event.

The player now has the chance to win big on European soil. Vogelsang ran quite well during Day 2 of the Super High Roller. The player emerged as the chip leader at some point in play to become the first to crack the 2 million mark. He then lost some of his momentum to regain it towards the end of the day and become the first and only player to crack the 3 million mark.

Vogelsang is thus leading the pack of six Super High Roller finalists into the final day of play with a stack of 3.02 million, well ahead of Sam Greenwood, who bagged the second largest stack last night (2.065 million) and Isaac Haxton (1.68 million), who rounded out the top three stacks.

Ali Reza Fatehi (1.84 million), Ole Schemion (1.49 million), and Justin Bonomo (1.405 million) are the other three players who are still in contention for the title and the first-place prize. It is important to note that Schemion and Bonomo are former EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller winners.

Schemion won his title in 2016 for €1,597,800, while Bonomo became a Super High Roller champion back in 2012 for €1,640,000.

Super High Roller Action is set to resume at the host venue today at noon local time. The remaining contenders will play down to a champion.

The post Vogelsang Heads Final Table, Schemion and Bonomo Eye Second EPT Monte Carlo Super High Roller Title appeared first on Casino News Daily.

A Norwegian scholar will open loot boxes in video games to determine their nature and whether these constitute gambling, Norwegian media outlet Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) reports.

Norway is the next to review the in-game items after the gambling regulators of the Netherlands and Belgium have recently published the results of their own investigations into the widely publicized matter. The two regulatory bodies have found that the loot box systems of a number of popular video games violate Dutch and Belgian gambling laws.

Rune Mentzoni, an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychosocial at the University of Bergen, will purchase loot boxes featured in the FIFA Ultimate Team video game worth NOK50,000 (approx. $6,248) as part of his study. Mr. Mentzoni told media that this would help him determine whether loot boxes should be considered a form of gambling. His findings will be presented to the Norwegian Gaming Authority (Lotteri- og stiftelsestilsynet) and other regulators.

The scholar explained that he believes the purchase of loot boxes and the fact that they contain a random selection of items in terms of their value very much resembles playing on a slot machine. According to him, the in-game purchasable items are often a loss disguised as a win. The Dutch Gambling Authority drew a similar conclusion in its review of the nature of loot boxes, saying that these acted like slot machines as they could be opened unlimited times and deployed the “near-miss” effect.

The Norwegian Ministry of Culture has assembled a special committee to probe into the matter and determine whether loot boxes should be considered a form of gambling.

Trude Felde, a Senior Advisor to Norway’s gambling regulator, told NRK that an investigation could provide good arguments for a change in the country’s current law. She further pointed out that when crafting new regulations, regulators and legislators need to bear in mind that circumstance and technology change very quickly, therefore any new rules need to be developed in a more “technology-neutral” manner.

News emerged earlier this week that a coalition of four parties has submitted a legislation aimed at preventing unlicensed gambling operations from targeting local gambling customers. The new rules secured a majority at a Tuesday vote, but legislators are yet adopt them. This is expected to happen by May 7.

Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are the two state-run entities that are authorized to provide gambling services in Norway. Despite previous proposals for the creation of a regulatory framework that would allow foreign operators to obtain licenses from the national regulator and operate in a regulated environment, the country’s government has maintained that the monopoly system is the most socially responsible one and there is no need for it to be replaced.

Under the new rules, the Norwegian Gaming Authority will be able to penalize foreign operators targeting local players despite the existing ban. In addition, DNS blocking will be introduced to ensure that local players are not targeted by unlicensed companies.

The post Norwegian Scholar to Review Whether Loot Boxes Constitute Gambling appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Betsoft Gaming launches a brand new Reels of Wealth slot. The bew game is a multi-layered 5×3 slot game continuing Betsoft’s tradition of innovation. Reels of Wealth slot takes the proprietary ‘Trail System’ to the next level – providing a sense of progression as players hop into a hoard of different bonus features and begin collecting symbols. Designed to match ...

The post Betsoft Gaming launches Reels of Wealth slot appeared first on Casino News Today.

Yggdrasil is proud to launch its first co-produced, White Label Studios slot, Royal Family. The game has been launched exclusively on LeoVegas. The five-reel, four-row, 25-payline Royal Family offers collectable Feature Prizes, a Royal Chest and a Free Spin mode with sticky wilds, with a choice of 12 bonus features. The game will be marketed as part of the LeoVegas ...

The post Yggdrasil launches first exclusive White Label Studios game, Royal Family with LeoVegas appeared first on Casino News Today.

Located in one of the most spectacular parts of the Adriatic coast, the recently renovated Maestral Resort & Casino near Budva, Montenegro is just weeks away from swinging its doors open to one of this year’s hottest poker events – the Triton Super High Roller Series 2018.

The thrilling poker festival will run from May 12-18, 2018 at the resort and will feature four different events. It will represented the highly anticipated continuation of the extremely successful Triton Super High Roller Series 2017 poker extravaganza that took place at the same resort last July.

The festival is set to kick off with a two-day HK$250,000 (approximately $31,859) buy-in Short Deck Ante-Only tournament. Another tournament with a buy-in fee of HK$250,000 is set to start on May 13. It will, too, take place over two days and will feature a 6-Max structure.

There will be one more Short Deck Ante-Only event to be played within the festival. However, players will have to pay HK$1 million (approx. $127,435) in order to be able to enter it. The tournament will be played on May 17-18 and will actually mark the end of the festival.

As in its previous edition last summer, the Triton Super High Roller Series Main Event will take place over three days starting May 15. The buy-in for the tournament amounts to HK$1 million, which provides for the creation of a massive prize pool and an attractive first-place prize for the winner, in addition to great excitement for both tournament entries and viewers who will be following the action from the host casino’s rails or from home.

German poker pro Manig Loeser topped the event’s field last year to collect more than HK$16.8 million (approx. $2.16 million) and the accompanying champion’s trophy. Loeser was the last man standing from a field of 52 fellow entries, who created a prize pool of HK$48,921,600.

Winners of other Triton Super High Roller Series events over the years include Fedor Holz, another German high roller super star, Daniel Cates, Dan Colman, the winner of the 2014 WSOP Big One for ONE DROP, and John Juanda.

It is also important to note that the upcoming festival will be the first one of the Triton Super High Roller Series to be livestreamed on Twitch. Organizers have previously revealed that there will be separate streams in English, Chinese, and Russian. It has also been understood that Randy ‘nanonoko’ Lew and Kane Kalas will host the English-language stream.

The Short Deck Ante-Only format will be another innovation to be introduced during the series in May. The format has gained quite some popularity in Asia and now has the chance to make its debut on the European poker scene. It features a smaller deck comprised of 36 cards. The 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s are removed from it and the Aces double as 5s. Aside from that, the game is played as a traditional Texas Hold’em.

The post Triton Super High Roller Series Returns to Maestral Resort & Casino in May appeared first on Casino News Daily.

At least three video games featuring loot boxes have been breaching Belgian gambling laws, an investigation by the Belgian Gaming Commission has shown. The news about the regulator’s position on the widely publicized issue comes shortly after its Dutch counterpart released its own findings regarding the virtual items just days ago.

Loot boxes gained broad attention with the fall 2017 release of the Star Wars Battlefront II video game. The latest installment of the popular Star Wars: Battlefront series quickly became the subject of major controversy due to the fact that it included a loot box monetization scheme.

Generally speaking, loot boxes are special items can be purchased in-game. They contain further items that can be extremely helpful to a player within the game, but can also be of little value. Each loot box includes a random selection of items and its contents only become known to a player after its purchase is completed.

The Belgian Gaming Commission was among the gambling regulators to question the nature of loot boxes. The regulatory opened a probe into the matter, the results of which were made public earlier today.

The Gaming Commission investigated four video games – Star Wars Battlefront II, FIFA 18, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Overwatch. The regulator found out that loot boxes in three of the games – FIFA 18, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Overwatch – violated Belgium’s gambling law. The Commission said that developers of Star Wars Battlefront II have addressed the issue following the controversy the game was embroiled in and that its loot box system no longer violated Belgian gaming regulations.

Under the country’s gambling law, spending real money on an item that could influence a player’s performance in a game constitutes a game of chance if the contents of such an item are determined by chance.

The Commission expressed concerns that loot boxes in video games and their gambling nature are putting vulnerable players at great risk. Video games are often played by players under the allowed age for gambling but being exposed by products that resemble gambling risks normalizing the activity.

The gambling regulator said today that developers of games with paid loot boxes violate Belgium’s gambling law and can be fined or even sentenced to prison for such a violation. They thus must remove the controversial in-game items or can otherwise face fines of up to €800,000 and or prison time of up to five years.

In a similar move, the Netherlands Gambling Authority, Kansspelautoriteit, announced last week the results from its own probe into loot boxes. The regulator investigated ten video games that featured loot boxes and were available to Dutch players.

Kansspelautoriteit found that four out of the ten games violated the Dutch Betting and Gaming Act as their loot box systems incorporated elements of games of chance into skill-based games. The provision of games of chance without the necessary authorization from the Dutch gambling regulator is strictly prohibited in the Netherlands.

The post Three Video Games with Loot Boxes Violate Belgian Gambling Law, Regulator Finds appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Leading online operator Mr Green adds Pragmatic Play content to their offering. As Mr Green adds Pragmatic Play content, the multi-award-winning casino games developer Pragmatic Play’s games will go live with Mr Green. The fact that Mr Green adds Pragmatic Play content is yet another significant operator integration. From now on Pragmatic Play games including Wolf Gold, Diamond Strike, Gold Rush and Hot Safari are now available ...

The post Mr Green adds Pragmatic Play content to their offering appeared first on Casino News Today.

IGT celebrated the recent launch of its online game Wishwood Slots by hosting Wishwood-themed customer events in Malta and Gibraltar.

Yggdrasil Gaming deals with Stanleybet, a major operator to supply its extensive range of gaming content in Italy. As Yggdrasil Gaming deals with Stanleybet, the operator will also receive Yggdrasil’s range of complementary in-game promotional tools, BOOST™, and social sharing tool, BRAG™. Stanleybet is one of the leaders in retail betting and is now attracting its extensive customer base online, ...

The post Yggdrasil Gaming deals with Stanleybet to offer its games in Italy appeared first on Casino News Today.

The UK Government is set to reduce the maximum stake on the highly controversial fixed-odds betting terminals to £2, The Times reports citing people familiar with the ongoing discussions. An announcement is expected to be made within the next few weeks.

The decision was to be made public at an earlier stage, but according to media reports from yesterday the delay was incurred by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, who was said to have previously been opposed to such a massive cut in the maximum stake. Mr. Hammond reportedly contested the measure as it would result into a huge fall in tax revenue.

At present, FOBTs accept £100 maximum stakes every 20 seconds. Following a review into the gaming machines sector conducted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport, it was announced last fall that the maximum bet would be cut to somewhere between £50 and £2. A reduction to £2 would cost the exchequer £450 million in annual tax contributions, it has been estimated.

Latest media reports indicate that Mr. Hammond may be close to settling what was believed to be an ongoing dispute with supporters of a bigger reduction of the betting limits, with the latter group being led by Culture Secretary Matt Hancock. Sources told The Times that “[they] are nearly there”.

It is believed that Mr. Hancock and his team have managed to appease concerns voiced by Mr. Hammond about the impact the massive crackdown on FOBTs would have on tax revenue.

It is understood that levies will increase on other gambling services to offset losses incurred by the FOBTs crackdown. It is yet to be announced how exactly other forms of gambling will be taxed.

The announcement about the UK Government’s decision on the changes that will be introduced in the gambling machines sector is expected within the next several weeks. However, it will not be made before next week’s local elections due to purdah rules.

Following yesterday’s reports about Mr. Hammond’s opposition to a reduction of the maximum bet to £2, several influential MPs said that they would contest any decision that does not include a cut of the maximum stake to £2. Tory MPs Sarah Wollaston and Nick Boles were among those to say that they “will not support half measures”. Both officials took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the topic.

Shares in William Hill tumbled 11% as news about the pending crackdown on one of its key sources of revenue emerged earlier today. GVC, which recently acquired Ladbrokes Coral – the operator of the largest number of FOBTs across the UK, saw its shares go down 4.8% earlier today.

The B2 gaming machines or FOBTs represent UK’s second largest gambling sector. They generated gross gambling yield of £1.8 billion in the period between April 2016 and March 2017.

The post Gambling Machines Crackdown Announcement Due Within Weeks appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Former WSOP Circuit Main Event winner Dylan Wilkerson won a second such title last night at Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina. The player emerged as the victor after a great heads-up show with runner-up finisher and poker veteran Erick Lindgren.

Wilkerson’s payday totaled $294,152. He also captured his second gold ring from the series. The player won his first gold piece last spring when he bested the field of the $1,675 Main Event at The Bicycle stop of the Circuit.

Wilkerson came into the final day of the Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event as one of the 19 survivors from the previous day. The player was seventh in chips at the beginning of Day 3 play with 1.315 million.

By the time the unofficial final table was set, the eventual champion had climbed to second in the chip counts chart. Shortly after, Wilkerson took the chip lead to mostly stay atop during the remaining stages of the tournament.

The WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee was one of the last stops on the series’ 2017/2018 calendar. Its $1,675 Main Event drew a field of 1,060 entries who created a prize pool of $1.59 million. The top 108 places got paid, min-cash starting from $2,926. The event was played over four days.

Its final stage, the heads-up between Wilkerson and Lindgren lasted nearly three hours and saw the chip lead exchange hands on several occasions.

The two-handed match began with Wilkerson holding a 4:1 lead over his final opponent. He secured his advantage after eliminating two players within a single hand. Wilkerson busted Howard Setzer and Daniel Wagner in fourth and third to collect their chips and enter heads-up with a stack that should have given him some comfort.

However, the player did not have a good start to the duel and gradually lost grip to find himself at an 8:1 disadvantage to Lindgren.

Wilkerson managed to regain momentum and to begin to gradually rebuild his stack. He evened the counts to eventually take the lead and never look back. On what turned out to be the final hand in play, Wilkerson shoved for 7.255 million pre-flop, putting himself and his fellow player at great risk. Lindgren called for his last remaining chips and tabled pocket Queens to Wilkerson’s pocket Kings. A blank board sealed it for Wilkerson and sent Lindgren to the rail for a second-place payout of $181,864.

In his post-victory interview, Wilkerson said that he felt relieved to have captured the title after the action-packed heads-up. Of him losing his good advantage at the beginning of heads-up, the player said that nothing went his way and he probably did not play that well, thus allowing his opponent to take advantage of the situation. Wilkerson was happy to have had the chance to come back and eventually win the tournament.

The post Dylan Wilkerson Wins WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Mare Balticum Gaming Summit 2018 is a must attend event for companies that are operating or looking to operate in the Baltics or Scandinavian region. The “Mare Balticum” title of the event is inspired by local event titles which gather the locals from the Baltic Sea region. This is also main focus of the event, gathering the local industry and ...

The post Mare Balticum Gaming Summit 2018 is a must attend event appeared first on Casino News Today.

As many as 29,319 Belgians self-excluded themselves from gambling (both online and at land-based venues) in 2017, according to a press release published earlier today on the official website of Belgian Minister of Justice Koen Geens.

The reported figure represents a 9% increase from 2016, when 26,782 opted for exclusion from various types of gambling services.

Another 158,413 were banned from gambling with a court ruling. Most of the court orders were issued to gamblers who had accumulated large debts as a result from their habits. Under Belgium’s gambling law, a court could ban residents from gambling, both online and at brick-and-mortar facilities, in certain cases.

It was also found that 409 gamblers were banned from participating in gambling activities after a request from a third party, including family members and/or partners. The requests are filed to and processed by the Belgian Gaming Commission.

According to today’s press release, the number of excluded and self-excluded people has grown significantly over the past five years. In 2013, 19,670 gamblers self-excluded themselves, while 82,580 were issued a court order and 89 were banned from gambling after a third-party request.

The names of all self-excluded players as well as of those banned from gambling as a result from a court ruling or a third-party request are added to a specially created system. Belgium’s Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS) has been active since 2004. It contains information about all gambling customers that have self-excluded themselves or have been banned from gambling. All gambling customers have their names and dates of birth checked into EPIS upon opening an account with a gambling website or entering a brick-and-mortar gambling facility so that excluded persons are prevented from gambling.

While Belgian lawmakers and gambling regulators consider the country’s gambling exclusion system a powerful protection tool, a new set of rules aimed at serving the same purpose and enhancing existing tools were introduced last fall.

Last October, Belgian politicians gave the nod to proposed curbs on the way gambling services are advertised in the country. The move came as part of the Belgian government’s efforts to limit the proliferation of gambling among vulnerable people.

The new measures prohibit gambling operators from advertising their products during live sports broadcasts. Gambling ads should also not appear on Belgian media before a 10 pm watershed, unless they are part of a non-live sports program. In this case such ads should not air 15 minutes before and after children-focused programs. The new rules also aimed to crack down on affiliate marketing, banning the use of third-party websites for the promotion of gambling products and services.

Legislators also crafted non-advertising limitations as part of the larger package of measures, including a €275 monthly cap on the maximum value of bonuses offered by online gambling operators to each of their customers. Under the new rules, players would not be able to deposit more than €500 per week to fuel their online gambling accounts.

It is still to be confirmed when the new regulations would take effect. But it is believed that they will come into force eight months after their publication in the Belgian Official Journal.

The post A Total of 29,319 Belgians Self-Excluded Themselves from Gambling in 2017 appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Day 2 of the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event was played on Sunday at the host venue. It kicked of with 182 players from the tournament’s two starting flights, but the field was reduced to just 19 survivors by the time all ten levels scheduled were completed.

Jonathan Hilton, a player who boasts one gold bracelet and one gold ring as well as more than $1.14 million in earnings from the WSOP and WSOP Circuit series, leads the final 19 with 2.175 million. The player was the only one to have cracked the two million mark at the end of Day 2 play.

Hilton scooped both his WSOP trophies in 2013, when he bested the fields of a WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Council Bluffs $365 No-Limit Hold’em and the WSOP National Championship $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em.

Hilton is not the only accomplished player to have made it thus far into the Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event. In fact, the top five stacks after Day 2 of the event are held by players with quite some poker portfolios.

Peter Vitantonio, himself a former WSOP Circuit gold ring winner, is trailing behind Hilton with 1.925 million. Vitantonio is vying for his fourth gold piece and second Main Event title from the series.

Timothy ‘TK’ Miles bagged the third largest stack last night with 1.7 million. The player has previously won two gold rings from WSOP Circuit events, and has come really close to taking down a Main Event. In 2008, the player finished runner up in the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans $5,000 Main Event for $210,610.

Robert Hankins, who has nine gold rings, ended Day 2 of the Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event with 1.7 million and with hopes to scoop his 10th gold piece and thus tie with Maurice Hawkins and Valentin Vornicu. The latter two represent the tiny club of winners of a record-breaking number of gold rings.

The 19 finalists will be headlined by Erick Lindgren. With live tournament earnings of over $10.3 million and multiple trophies, the player has quite a lot to boast about. He is a two-time WSOP gold bracelet winner and also a winner of two WPT Main Tour Main Event titles. His list of live poker accomplishments also includes a first-place finish in the 2007 Aussie Millions A$100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller. Lindgren is yet to win his first WSOP Circuit gold ring. The player bagged 1.51 million chips last night.

Action at Harrah’s Cherokee is set to resume today at noon local time. The survivors will play down until a champion is determined. The winner will collect a gold ring and $294,152 in prize money. The last person standing will also secure a seat into the upcoming Global Casino Championship, which will be played at Harrah’s Cherokee this August.

Each of the 19 finalists is guaranteed a minimum cash prize of $13,070. The Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event attracted a field of 1,060 entries who generated a prize pool of $1.59 million, exceeding the $1 million guarantee by more than half a million.

The post Erick Lindgren Headlines WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event Final Day appeared first on Casino News Daily.

As many as 182 players reached Day 2 of the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee $1,675 Main Event after entering the tournament on Days 1A and B. They are set to return at the host casino at noon North Carolina time and to continue their battle for the first-place prize and the gold ring that goes along with it.

The Harrah’s Cherokee Main Event attracted a field of 1,060 tournament entries who cracked the $1 million guarantee and generated a prize pool of $1.59 million. However, only the top 108 finishers will be treated to a portion of the money, which means that bursting the money bubble will be the first thing on today’s agenda.

The remaining survivors are scheduled to play ten one-hour levels today at the host venue. Their goal will be to hopefully reach the official nine-handed final table, but with 182 hopefuls left in contention that could be a difficult task.

The first flight of the tournament was played on Friday at Harrah’s Cherokee. It saw 407 players putting up the $1,675 buy-in fee to enter the event. Of them, only 67 bagged and tagged for the night. They were led by Andrew Mousmoules with 314,500 in chips.

Another 652 entries joined the field on Day 1B, which played Saturday at the host casino. However, only 115 survived throughout the day to secure a seat into Day 2. North Carolina native Jason Sandling ended Day 1B as the chip leader, transforming his 20,000 starting stack into a 340,000 one. The player will thus start Day 2 play as the overall chip leader across the tournament’s two starting flights.

Sandling is vying for his third gold ring from the WSOP Circuit series and his second WSOP Circuit Main Event title. The player won his first Main Event at the same host venue four years ago. He topped a field of 665 entries at Harrah’s Cherokee to scoop a first-place prize of $204,487 and his first-ever gold piece from the popular poker series.

A year later, Sandling won a $365 No-Limit Hold’em at Horseshoe Baltimore for his second gold ring and a first-place payout of $14,505. He is now in a great position to make history at Harrah’s Cherokee, winning his second title from a Main Event and his largest WSOP Circuit cash.

As mentioned earlier, the top 108 finishers in the tournament will get paid. Payouts start from $2,926, but sights are set on the first-place prize of $294,152. Aside from the gold ring and the prize money, the winner will also secure a seat into the Global Casino Championship for a chance to win a WSOP gold bracelet.

Daniel Weinman is another player to be eying a second Main Event title. The player won that same event at Harrah’s Cherokee in 2015 for a gold ring and $280,260. Other notables still in contention include five-time gold ring winner Kurt Jewell, Josh Arieh, and Jonathan Hilton.

The post Jason Sandling Eyes Second WSOP Circuit Main Event Title at Harrah’s Cherokee appeared first on Casino News Daily.

John Dollinger from Gulf Breeze, Florida captured last night his first WSOP Circuit gold ring after running cold on one notable previous occasion. The poker pro bested 243 tournament entries in the $1,125 No-Limit Hold’em with a $200,000 guarantee, played at Harrah’s Cherokee.

Dollinger also received $59,536 in prize money to go along with his shiny new gold ring from the popular series. Two years ago, the player ran deep into the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s New Orleans Main Event. He eventually finished runner-up to David Hubbard. Dollinger scooped a $145,186 payout for finishing second in that event.

The brand new WSOP Circuit champion performed quite well in the event he took down last night at the host casino Harrah’s Cherokee. The player was mid-stacked upon entering the six-handed final table of the event. From that point on he only built up his stack to emerge the chip leader.

Dollinger faced Texan Daniel Jones heads-up. The two-handed match began with the eventual champion holding the chip lead. Dollinger never lost his advantage over his last opponent in the field of the $1,125 buy-in tournament. However, Jones proved to be a tough nut to crack as he made several attempts to double.

Jones actually managed to win some chips on two occasions, but never really came close to Dollinger. His final attempt to improve his situation at the table cost him his further participation. On what turned out to be the final hand in play, Jones went in for his last chips, hoping that Lady Luck would smile upon him.

The player had [Kh][Qh] which clashed into Dollinger’s [Ah][5c]. A dry board secured the victory for Dollinger, sending Jones to the rail. The latter collected $36,875 for making it that far into the tournament.

The $1,125 No-Limit Hold’em with a guaranteed prize pool of $200,000 was the eighth gold ring event to be played as part of the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Cherokee schedule. As mentioned earlier, the tournament drew 243 entries from all over the United States.

The event’s field cracked the guarantee and created a prize pool of $243,000. There were payouts for the final 26 finishers. The min-cash totaled $1,308. Players completed the event over two days of action.

There are three more gold rings left up for grabs at Harrah’s Cherokee. The $1,675 Main Event is, too, among the tournaments yet to be completed. The event features a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million. It kicked off Friday at the host venue and will run through April 23.

As many as 407 players paid the buy-in fee of $1,675 to enter the event during Day 1A. Of them, only 67 made it through the end of the day and will return at Harrah’s Cherokee on Sunday for Day 2.

The post John Dollinger Captures WSOP Circuit Gold Ring at Harrah’s Cherokee after Previous Near-Miss appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge asked the state’s Supreme Court to reject a request to force her to give the nod to the wording of a ballot measure that, if approved, would allow for the establishment of up to four casinos across the state.

The Driving Arkansas Forward group filed a petition earlier this week asking the Supreme Court to intervene after having the ballot information for the casino constitutional amendment rejected for the fourth time by the AG.

Driving Arkansas Forward is one of two groups currently seeking to amend the state’s Constitution in a manner that would allow for the construction of casinos. The Arkansas Casino Gaming and Highway Funding Amendment of 2018, the casino legalization effort promoted by the group, would allow for the addition of casino gaming at the existing Southland Park Gaming and Racing in West Memphis and Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs and the construction of two new casinos in Pope and Jefferson Counties.

The opening of casino gambling facilities is expected to create new jobs and produce revenue for the state. Driving Arkansas Forward proposes that a big portion of the tax revenue generated by the new gaming venues be used for improvements and maintenance of Arkansas’ highway system. Host municipalities would also receive contributions. According to initial estimates, four casinos could annually generate around $45 million for the Department of Transportation.

Driving Arkansas Forward has been seeking to put the measure on the November ballot. However, under state law, the popular name and the ballot title of a proposed amendment to the Constitution first needs approval from the state’s Attorney General so that the group behind it is able to proceed with the signature gathering process.

Driving Arkansas Forward will need to collect 84,859 valid signatures by July 6, if it wants to put its proposal on this year’s ballot.

In a Friday statement, AG Rutledge said that she had rejected the measure’s wording properly. This was the fourth time that Driving Arkansas Forward had its proposal for a constitutional amendment rejected by the Attorney General.

AG Rutledge also asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the group’s petition from earlier this week to force her into giving the green light to the ballot measure.

In a separate statement from a few days ago, Ms. Rutledge defended her decision by explaining that she found four different issues with the wording of the measure. She further pointed out that the popular title and the ballot name should not contain any ambiguities and that voters should be able to understand easily what they are asked to approve or reject.

AG Rutledge also referred to the Supreme Court which “has set a very hard standard” for the certification of a ballot proposal and that she considered it her responsibility to follow that standard.

The post Arkansas AG Asks Court to Side with Her in Ongoing Dispute with Casino Group appeared first on Casino News Daily.

GameArt entered Romania and Italy for the first time, starting with a launch on NetBet. GameArt entered Romania and Italy with iSoftBet‘s help. iSoftBet is a market-leading online and mobile casino content provider. iSoftBet and GameArt have a longstanding partnership, with the developer’s games available through its Game Aggregation Platform (GAP). GAP boasts more than 1,500 slots from 35+ suppliers ...

The post GameArt entered Romania and Italy with iSoftBet’s help appeared first on Casino News Today.

Josephine Teo, the Second Minister for Manpower and Home Affairs of Singapore, said that greater consolidation of the functions of casino regulatory authorities should be considered, especially at a time when the country’s gambling landscape has been quite complex.

Today, Ms. Teo took part in the annual Workplan Seminar of the Casino Regulatory Authority seminar that was held at Biopolis in Buano Vista. She highlighted the fact that currently, different regulations and agencies are set to control the gambling products offered in the country, such as casinos, private clubs’ fruit machines as well as online gambling. The Second Minister for Manpower and Home Affairs also gave her assessment for the approach, saying that such partial strategy and measures would hardly be sustainable or suitable enough in order for the constantly increasing difficulties related to the existing gambling landscape.

The seminar, at which Ms. Teo was present, was aimed at outlining the history of the agency and providing better perspective of the future challenges it is expected to face. It was held as an one-day event in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the Casino Regulatory Authority.

Increasing regional competition was pointed as one of the most serious challenges posed to Singapore casinos. Ms. Teo also predicted that competition for tourism revenues is to become even stronger, with a lot of jurisdictions keeping their eyes on the Singapore integrated resort (IR) concept. According to the Second Minister, the local integrated resorts would face some difficulties to stay ahead of competition.

Singapore is currently home to two integrated casino resorts. The first one, Resorts World Sentosa, is run by Genting Singapore Plc, while the second one, Marina Bay Sands, is operated by a division of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Integrated resorts, however, are not a special trademark of Singapore only, as other jurisdictions have been aimed at adding IRs to their gambling industries as well. Japan, for example, is slowly but surely approaching a regulated casino industry that is to feature casinos as part of larger hotel, gaming and entertainment complexes.

Technological disruption, on the other hand, has been outlined as another major challenge to be faced by the gambling sector in Singapore. New game types, new payment methods as well as new gaming machines are constantly added, which basically means that local casino regulatory authorities need to review their methods and establish qualitative control to adequately face the latest developments of the industry. According to Ms. Teo, regulations could and need to evolve in order to allow a more coherent system to be set and to maintain the balance between efficient regulation and keeping the market open for innovations.

For some time now, the Ministry of Home Affairs of Singapore has been preparing for certain development, with the competent authorities being studying the wider gambling regulatory framework in the country. Ms. Teo urged the Casino Regulatory Authority to put more efforts into building up capabilities, stamina, new and more effective strategies and integrity in order to adapt to the new demands of the local market.

The post Singapore Needs Greater Consolidation of Casino Regulators, Says Josephine Teo appeared first on Casino News Daily.

Kenya’s current 35% tax on betting and gaming services could be scrapped by the government in favor of a 15% one under growing pressure from the country’s gambling industry.

Local media reports that National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale submitted earlier this week the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018, which seeks to lower the current tax rate and to add several more amendments to the country’s existing gambling taxation law, including a tax on betting and gaming winnings.

Kenya’s new taxation regime was approved by the country’s government and president, Uhuru Kenyatta, last summer and came into effect on January 1, 2018. Under it, all gambling services, including sports betting, casino gaming, and raffles, are taxed at a flat rate of 35%.

Previously, licensed bookmakers paid a 7.5% tax, while casino operators were taxed at 12%. Providers of raffles and similar competitions paid a 15% tax.

The new 35% tax immediately sparked controversy and drew criticism from gambling industry stakeholders, who condemned it as an extremely burdensome one. In addition to that tax, licensed gambling operators are also required to pay a 30% corporate tax and to contribute 25% of all sales proceeds to good causes.

The industry expressed concerns that there would be operators that would not be able to survive the new taxation regime. Pambazuka National Lottery went out of business on January 7, or less than a week after the new tax law came into effect. The operator cited the high tax rate as the reason for its demise.

The implementation of the new tax rate also resulted in Kenyan sports betting operator SportPesa withdrawing KES600 million (nearly $6 million) worth of local sports sponsorships.

The new bill calls for the introduction of a tax on all winnings from gambling services. If the legislative piece gains the necessary support, it would require gaming and betting operators to deduct 20% on every win scored by their customers.

Tax consultants noted that the government should clarify how exactly the tax on winnings will be charged when customers win cars and other non-monetary prizes as opposed to cash prizes, from which the required tax is much easier to deduct.

Kenya had previously charged betting winnings, but dropped that tax in 2016 as numerous hurdles hampered its proper implementation. The new proposal for taxing gambling winnings aims to reduce interest in such activities among Kenyans, particularly among the younger members of the African country’s population.

Sports betting, in particular, has grown significantly in popularity in Kenya over the past several years. The growth has been attributed primarily to the widespread penetration of smartphones and the launch of mobile-based services that allow customers to bet and withdraw winnings via their mobile phones without having to provide bank account details.

The post Kenya Could Scrap 35% Gambling Tax and Introduce Tax on Winnings appeared first on Casino News Daily.