The Jets pen landmark deal with casino operator MGM Resorts International shortly after 888 advertising tie-up

The New York Jets and MGM Resorts International today announced a “first-of-its-kind” integrated gaming partnership that makes the casino and hospitality operator the official gaming partner of the NFL team.

The announcement about the Jets/MGM tie-up arrives shortly after reports emerged that the team has joined forces with online gambling operator 888 Holdings in a sponsorship deal that is yet to be announced officially.

In addition to a traditional casino sponsorship, the Jets’ deal with MGM also involves the I Called It mobile game which allows fans of the NFL team to answer questions about Jets games. The game is sponsored by MGM’s mobile app Play MGM and is available exclusively in the Official New York Jets App. It is free to play and provides Jets fans with the chance to win different prizes. However, it does not allow them to wager money on Jets games.

As part of the deal, MGM will be designated as the official gaming partner of the NFL team. In addition, the casino operator will sponsor and be offered access to the Jets 360 Production Studio, where the team films dedicated digital media and television content. The Jets’ home stadium, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will feature MGM signage.

Jets season holders and members of the Jets’ rewards program will be treated to entertainment experiences and hotel rooms at MGM resorts around the nation, including Atlantic City’s Borgata, as part of the newly penned partnership between the football team and the gaming and hospitality giant.

It also became known earlier this week that the Jets have secured a sponsorship agreement with online gambling operator 888. While an official announcement about the tie-up is yet to be made, 888 banners can now be spotted at MetLife Stadium.

The NFL changed its advertising policies in early September to allow teams to join forces with casino companies and thus boost their advertising revenues. However, under the new rules, the sponsorships should not promote and involve sports betting in any way.

888 currently offers online casino, poker, and sports betting services, and its wagering offering was what drew criticism as the company’s tie-up with the Jets was unveiled. Supporters of the partnership have pointed out that it does not violate the NFL’s advertising rules as 888’s sports betting business is not directly promoted. However, opponents have argued that the deal definitely crosses the line.

The New York Jets are not the only team to have partnered with gambling companies since the NFL relaxed its rules. The Dallas Cowboys joined forces with WinStar World Casino in Oklahoma in early September, while the Baltimore Ravens inked a deal with Horseshoe Casino Baltimore.

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The New York Jets recently announced they have joined with MGM Resorts International in a first-of-its-kind partnership making MGM Resorts the official gaming partner of the New York Jets. 

Super High Roller Bowl makes December a permanent home, promises multiple surprises for players

The fifth edition of the highly successful Super High Roller Bowl poker series is set to take place on December 17-19, organizers announced Tuesday. The major live tournament event has traditionally taken place in May ahead of the World Series of Poker. However, the days leading up to Christmas are now set to turn into a permanent home of the Super High Roller Bowl, Poker Central said in a press release.

The high roller event first took place in 2015 when US poker pro Brian Rast topped its field for a hefty first-place prize of $7.525 million and the prestige that goes along with winning a tournament of this scale.

As usual, the Super High Roller Bowl will take place at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. And as in its previous editions, it will once again feature a cap of 48 players. The Super High Roller Bowl has featured a $300,000 buy-in fee in all but one previous editions and organizers will keep that fee for its fifth edition. This means that the event will feature a prize pool of $14.4 million and the winner will take home the amount of $5 million in a first-place cash prize as well as the Super High Roller Bowl championship ring, known to have become one of poker’s most coveted trophies.

All players who are interested to take part in the event will have to make a $30,000 deposit by November 26. Of all 48 spots available, 25 will be determined by a live lottery that will be drawn on November 27. There will also be 18 seats reserved for ARIA VIP guest entries. Last but not least, five seats will be awarded to those occupying the top five spots in the High Roller of the Year leaderboard.

As mentioned earlier, it was US poker pro Brian Rast who bested the field of the inaugural Super High Roller Bowl in 2015. The player collected $7.525 million from the prize pool and the champion’s ring after he managed to outwit some of poker’s most seasoned players.

Germany’s Rainer Kempe won the 2016 edition of the tournament. The player was awarded $5 million for his feat. It is also interesting to note that Kempe faced another German poker star heads-up. He played against Fedor Holz for the title. Holz eventually collected $3.5 million for his runner-up finish.

The third edition of the Super High Roller Bowl saw another German poker pro walk out with the title and the first-place prize of $6 million. That lucky player was Christoph Vogelsang. He was crowned the victor after three days of quality poker action and a heads-up duel against Jake Schindler, who took home $3.6 million for his runner-up finish.

Justin Bonomo is the reigning Super High Roller Bowl champion. The player won the tournament this summer for a first-place prize of $5 million. It is important to note that Bonomo actually won most of the major high roller tournaments on the 2018 poker calendar, scooping more than $20 million in earnings in the process and overtaking Daniel Negreanu on the all-time money list.

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Primary lender assumes ownership of failed Lucky Dragon casino resort; property receives no offers at foreclosure auction

The unfortunate Lucky Dragon Hotel and Casino was released back to its primary lender after it got zero bids at a Tuesday auction in Las Vegas. Located in the northern part of the legendary Strip, the property filed for bankruptcy this past February after a little over a year of operation.

Lucky Dragon opened doors in November 2016, featuring Asia-themed hotel, casino, dining, and entertainment facilities. The property includes two buildings, one of which accommodates its hotel portion, while the other is home to the gambling venue.

Signals that the property had serious financial issues were there from the start. However, those issues seem to have grown rapidly, trapping Lucky Dragon in a downward spiral that eventually forced its owners to shutter the casino and dining facilities in January. The property faced foreclosure not long after and then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. The nine-story hotel closed doors early this month to seal the troubled resort’s quick demise. According to analysts, the Lucky Dragon’s failure to turn into a profitable operation was the swiftest one to have occurred in Las Vegas in decades.

Tuesday’s foreclosure auction saw Snow Covered Capital LLC, a company linked to California developer Enrique Landa and beneficiary of the failed property, assume ownership of Lucky Dragon. The 2.5-acre, 203-room hotel and casino resort was valued at $35-million as the bidding process began, but no offers were made above that initial price.

Commenting on the outcome of the Tuesday auction, Mr. Landa told local news outlet the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Lucky Dragon was “a very well-built” property, but it was operated under the wrong business plan. The businessman went on to say that the resort could be very successful if in the right hands. Mr. Landa expressed confidence that Lucky Dragon would reopen one day but could not provide estimate when exactly that was going to happen.

According to Snow Covered Capital consultant Michael Brunet, the Tuesday outcome was quite unexpected as the sale of the property was “marketed very extensively” ahead of the auction. More than 80 prospective buyers had signed non-disclosure agreements, it has become known.

From a Vegas insider: "It doesn't matter who bids on Lucky Dragon at the 'auction,' the primary lender is going to bid a dollar more." #bankruptcytheater

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) October 25, 2018

Popular blog for everything Vegas-related Vital Vegas recently tweeted that the plan was all along for the primary lender to acquire the failed property. In a separate tweet from yesterday, Vital Vegas said that Snow Covered Capital can now sell Lucky Dragon “on its own terms”.

The creditor (sole "bidder"), Snow Covered Capital, now has the option to sell it on its own terms, outside of bankruptcy process. As we shared recently, this was likely the plan all along, miracle offer notwithstanding. https://t.co/6GOemHBzxC https://t.co/o2YuDjMYAE

— Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) October 30, 2018

The hotel and casino resort was the first to be built from the ground up on the Las Vegas Strip in many years. It was heavily promoted as a property that aimed to cater to Asian high rollers by offering them authentic Asian experience. However, it failed to attract the desired clientèle and that paired with heavy financial troubles from the outset, caused the property’s swift demise.

Upon filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Lucky Dragon had nearly $50 million in loans from Snow Covered Capital and nearly $90 million raised by 179 foreign investors who sought US residency by participating in the so-called Immigrant Investor Program.

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Yet another NFL team joins forces with a casino operator as the league relaxes gambling advertising rules

The New York Jets have penned a sponsorship deal with online gambling operator 888 and football purists are not happy about it, news outlet the New York Post reported on Monday. The deal is set to be officially announced later this week, but 888 banners have already appeared outside MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the home stadium of the New York Jets.

Following the mid-May ruling of the US Supreme Court that struck down a federal ban on sports betting, the NFL reversed ahead of the new season a long-standing ban on casino advertising, allowing teams to partner with casino operators and advertise those in exchange for financial contributions.

However, the NFL rules still prohibit sports betting operations from being advertised by football teams. Aside from casino games, 888 also offers poker and sports betting services. Critics of the partnership between the Jets and the online gambling operator have argued that the fact that it offers wagering products crosses the line and violates NFL’s gambling advertising rules.

As mentioned earlier, the tie-up between the Jets and 888 has already manifested itself in the form of several orange banners displaying the 888.com logo outside MetLife Stadium. Sources familiar with the deal have told the New York Post that the banners do not violate league advertising rules as they do not specifically refer to 888sport, the gambling operator’s online sports betting operation.

However, critics have pointed out that the banners were “dangerously close to flouting the rules.” The deal is expected to be announced later this week, which means that more details about its scope are to emerge.

According to Keith Whyte, Executive Director of the National Council of Problem Gambling, advertising partnerships of this kind can have a big and lasting impact on young fans of football who go to the games. He told the New York Post that children and young people “will become much more inclined to see gambling as being part of the game.”

The four major sports leagues – MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL – were long opposed to sports gambling, arguing that the activity threatened the integrity of sports. However, the US Supreme Court ruled this past May against the leagues and annulled the long-standing federal sports betting ban. Since the ruling, league officials have softened their stance on the wagering issue and have been seeking a share of the proceeds generated from sports betting in the form of an integrity fee and advertising revenue, among other things.

The NFL decided to relax its advertising rules ahead of the new season, allowing teams to take advertising money from casinos. The Dallas Cowboys became the first team to align itself with a casino operator in early September, thus making history. It joined forces with Oklahoma-based WinStar World Casino.

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Cheered by his mom, Fox scoops back-to-back Six-Max title at Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino

Local player Dustin Fox defended his WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max title last night to collect his second gold ring from the series and $18,878. Fox took down the exact same event at the exact same host casino this time last year.

The player said in his post-victory interview that last year he received a text message from his mother saying “You got it.” and he won the event. The exact same thing happened this year. He got the same message and he won the same event shortly after.

The six-max tournament drew a total of 208 entries this year, a significant improvement from last year’s field of 187 contenders. The prize pool of $68,640 was distributed among the top 21 finishers. Min-cashes were worth $629.

Fox did not enjoy a good start to the $400 buy-in tournament, but he remained calm and consistent to eventually lock up the title. The player had to fire six bullets into the event. He told WSOP Circuit staff that despite getting eliminated five times throughout the tournament, he did not feel discouraged and kept playing for the title. He further pointed out that he felt good all the time. His positivism certainly helped him capture the title and the gold ring.

Fox was holding the largest chip stack when the unofficial final table of seven was reached. The player had 723,000 in chips at that point in play. He was followed by Dave Potter with 676,000 and James Duke with 609,000.

While the initial stages of the tournament were a bit challenging for the eventual champion, he had a terrific final table run. The player bulldozed his way to the end of the tournament, applying aggression where it was needed and winning hand after hand until he was the last man standing.

Fox faced James Duke for a heads-up finale. His approach to the game and his consistency won him his second gold ring. Duke, walking out as the runner-up finisher, collected $11,661 in consolation prize money.

Fox’s victory from last night secured him with his second cash from the series. Last week, the player finished 46th in the $400 buy-in multiflight re-entry tournament for $742. And as mentioned earlier, Fox claimed his second gold ring from the WSOP Circuit. This time last year, the player emerged victorious in the same six-handed tournament at the same host casino for his debut piece from the popular poker series.

Fox told WSOP Circuit staff that we will not see him at the tables of Harveys Lake Tahoe over the next few days as he will be attending a golf tournament. However, the player plans to return to take part in the Main Event, which is set to kick off November 2 and to run through November 5. Fox said that he is determined to win that one, too.

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Poker columnist and commentator Bernard Lee captures second WSOP Circuit gold ring at Harveys Lake Tahoe

A 13th-place finish in the 2005 WSOP Main Event was pivotal for Bernard Lee as it rocketed him into a successful career as a poker columnist, commentator, and player. Lee captured over the weekend his second WSOP Circuit gold ring after besting a 124-strong field in a $400 No-Limit Hold’em event at Harveys Lake Tahoe Casino, where the latest stop on the series’ calendar is currently taking place.

The tournament took place over a single day and featured 20-minute levels which provided for a speedy action at the tables of the host venue.

As mentioned earlier, the $400 buy-in event drew 124 entries. They created a prize pool of $40,920. The top 15 spots received a share of the money, min-cashes starting from $691. Aside from the shiny gold ring, Lee also claimed a cash prize of $11,456 for finishing first in the tournament.

While Lee might have had his ups and downs over the initial stages of play, he managed to overcome the challenges and build a solid stack of 303,000 when the unofficial final table of ten was set. The player held the second largest stack at the time, topped only by Paul Miller, who had 400,000 in chips.

Surviving the final table was a challenging task. Lee lost some of his momentum early into that stage of the game, but remained patient. The player said in his post-victory interview that he played for the title and that he claimed it by playing carefully, building a stack slowly but steadily.

The champion eventually faced Miller heads-up. Lee began the duel as the chip leader and maintained his advantage until the very end. He applied pressure in the right spots, and it looked as if he was making the right move on every hand dealt. Miller was eventually eliminated for a cash prize of $7,082, his second one from the WSOP Circuit series.

As for Lee, this was his third tournament victory in the past few months. The player took down a Rio Daily Deepstack in June and another event earlier this month. As mentioned above, he has also performed quite well in the WSOP, finishing 13th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event and scoring a runner-up finish in a bracelet event in the summer of 2017. Lee has also previously won one more gold ring from the WSOP Circuit.

He told WSOP staff over the weekend that the support from his family meant the world to him. Lee had dedicated his first ring to his daughter, Maya. His second piece of WSOP Circuit jewelry, the player dedicated to his son, Noah.

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Popular gaming solutions supplier Yggdrasil deals with Fantasma Games as its third studio partnership to join the YGS Masters program. Fantasma Games is a young and exciting Stockholm based studio with great game ideas and ambitious future plans. As Yggdrasil deals with Fantasma Games the partnership’s first games will be launched in 2019 using Yggdrasil’s proprietary promotional tools, BOOST®. The ...

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The lack of solid regulation in the Ukrainian gambling and betting industry has resulted in a booming underground gambling business while millions of dollars are going down the drain. According to local media reports, hundreds of gambling facilities disguised as lottery offices, are freely operating across the country.

Officially, almost all forms of gambling are banned in Ukraine with only licensed lotteries allowed to operate. Since 2009, when the Verkhovna Rada (the name of the Parliament) passed the ban into law, however, there have been multiple reports of existing underground gaming facilities. By July 2009, more than 6,000 illegal slot machines had been confiscated from dozens of illegal establishments. Investigations led to over 200 criminal charges. Things have not changed a lot since then.

In an article, the Kyiv Post uncovers what turns out to be a widespread scheme for illegal gambling operations that are carried out freely under the guise of lottery offices. The newspaper describes in details that the lack of clear regulation of the sector has allowed illegal businesses to thrive, nurturing organized crime and corruption. In 2012, according to the publication, the Rada loosened the gambling ban, allowing lottery operators to run gambling activities. During that time, the majority in the Parliament was held by the Party of Regions, the party of former president Viktor Yanukovych who is currently in exile in Russia and wanted by Ukraine for high treason.

As a result of the unfinished reforms in the sector – special legislation and gambling zones were initially considered, operators of underground gaming facilities are now offering slot-like games under their lottery licenses. There are lottery offices in every city and town across the country and many of them only pretend to offer lottery tickets. Although logos of the Ukrainian National Lottery can be seen, there are no lottery products on sale. Interestingly, there are no slot machines visible, as well.

The facilities are, actually, packed with computers – their keyboards are specifically customized to work like classic slot machines. Customers purchase plastic cards that are placed into special slots on the keyboard and the computer instantly turns into a Vegas-style casino game, the Kyiv Post reveals. Only cash is accepted, of course. And authorities seem to be clueless about this simple, yet extremely effective scheme, the paper suggests.

It is impossible to estimate the exact cost of the black market gambling industry to Ukraine’s economy but it is certainly within the six and seven-figure range. The Kyiv Post spoke to Agia Zagrebelska of the Anti-Monopoly Committee who says that the revenues from illegal gambling reach $1 billion a year. According to other foreign experts, underground gaming operators generate much more from their unregulated activity.

Every year, Ukrainian lotteries pay around $2 million in taxes. The tax revenue that comes from lottery winners, on the other hand, is approximately $4 million, which is, by all standards, bizarre. In fact, most things related to gambling in Ukraine is out of the ordinary – there are three operators which held licenses granted by the state, namely MSL, Patriot, and the Ukrainian National Lottery. Their licenses have expired in 2014 but due to a legal loophole, they can operate until new licenses are issued.

Each of the three operators is allowed to run up to 5,000 lottery shops, which suggests that there must be up to 15,000 lottery offices on the territory of Ukraine. In addition, these three operators have extended their permits via franchise to some 180 retailing companies that can sell lottery tickets. As a result, the actual number of lottery offices could not be estimated. At the same time, the Anti-Monopoly Committee says that only 19 percent of them sell lottery products, while the rest functioning like gaming facilities or betting shops. Overall, the underground gambling scene seems to be thriving in Ukraine and the state is losing millions of dollars due to the lack of oversight and resolution to come up with a new legal frame.

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On November 7-8, current operators, as well as new market entrants, will gather in Madrid for the 2018 Gaming in Spain Conference. Can you afford to miss it? Register Now https://conference.gaminginspain.com/ ! Why new AND current operators should attend This year’s Gaming in Spain Conference will feature: • a discussion of the potential for large tax reductions for Ceuta and ...

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US poker pro Joe Ambrogi secured his first World Series of Poker Circuit ring, winning the $250 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry against 267 competitors. The tournament on Thursday was the opening event of 2018/2019 WSOP Circuit at Harveys Lake Tahoe Hotel and Casino in Nevada.

The series continues with thirteen more tournaments, which will run through Sunday, November 5, with buy-ins ranging between $250 and $1,700. The venue is Harveys Lake Tahoe, one of the oldest in most iconic casinos in US history. For more than a week, it will attract hundreds of poker players from all across the country who have a chance to take a share of attractive guarantees or win one of the prestigious WSOP Circuit gold rings.

The festival opened with $250 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry on Thursday, a single-day event which drew in a field of 268 entries. The tournament came with the smallest buy-in for WSOP Circuit events and still, it managed to gather a fantastic total prize pool of $53,600. There were a few notables who entered the tournament – Bernard Lee, Robert Cheung, Adam Owen, Janet Fitzgerald, and Valentin Vornicu. Only 27 players, however, finished in the money and took home a minimum cash of $433.

After approximately 12 hours of poker play, the final table was reached late in the evening and the ten survivors had to play until the winner is determined. After the break, the big stack was David Felger, a retired attorney from Lantana, Florida, who had 950,000 in chips. He soon lost his lead, however, and finished 6th for $2,463 in prize money. Mitch Adams (10th, $976) left the final table first, followed by Jose Esparza (9th, $1,202), Val Ahmadi (8th, $1,502), and Dan Turner (7th, $1,908).

David Avina from Murrieta, California, was eliminated in the 5th position and received a cash prize of $3,232. Sean Barker (4th, $4,314) was the next to bust, followed by Canadian player Robert Cheung who won $5,862. In the final heads-up, Joe Ambrogi defeated Peter Schulz and received the top prize of $13,132. For his runner-up position, Schulz took $8,114. This is the seventh cash from a WSOP event for Ambrogi who is 35-years-old and admits he did not even plan to take part in the tournament. Luckily, he did, because along with the cash prize, he also took the first ever WSOP Circuit ring in his career.

The current poker festival at Harveys Lake Tahoe is the latest stop of the 2018/2019 World Series of Poker Circuit. It kicked off Thursday and runs until November 5 with a total of 13 tournaments on its schedule. Most of the events will be giving winners WSOPC gold rings and most of them feature an entry fee of $400. However, there is no High-Roller event, so those who look for some high-stakes action would be disappointed.

The Main Event kicks off on November 2 with two starting flights and a $1,700 buy-in ($1,515 prize pool + $185 administrative fee). Players will start with 30,000 in tournament chips and will be allowed one re-entry per flight. Day 2 will resume on November 4 with survivors from both flights, while the final Day 3 starts on November 5 and the remaining finalists will compete until the winner is determined.

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Yggdrasil's new slot, Dark Vortex, delivers unique features and launches just in time for operators’ Halloween campaigns.

The Philippines’ Department of Justice has said that in order to enforce his “no casino” policy on Boracay Island, president Rodrigo Duterte should issue an executive order. Such an act will be the fastest and most efficient method for halting the casino operations on the island, which reopens for foreign tourists on Friday.

Representatives of most public institutions and local authorities seem to be in line with the Duterte’s idea of no more casinos on Boracay. Following a six-month shut-down for an environmental clean-up and rehabilitation, the island is finally reopening this week. Authorities have set new rules regarding waste disposal, watersports that may harm the ecosystem, smoking and drinking. Being a vocal opponent of gambling, President Duterte also said that the island should be “free of casinos” when it opens.

Earlier this week, the local gambling regulator PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) was said to have been urged to cancel the existing casino licenses and to stop issuing new ones. The request had come, according to media reports, from the Boracay Inter-Agency Task Force, a body that was specifically created for the purpose of assessing the environmental damage on the island and devising strategies to address the problem. Local newspaper The Philippines Star said that the regulator has made a decision to immediately suspend all gambling licenses on Boracay.

Now, it is possible that such actions may not be entirely legal. In a letter published Thursday, the Department of Justice recommends that President Rodrigo Duterte issues an executive order, that would allow him to stop the casino operations on the island.

According to the Department of Justice, Duterte’s “no casino” policy has to be implemented carefully and through a presidential executive order. In a recommendation letter dated from October 8, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra writes that the President has the authority to limit casino operations on the island. The letter is an eight-page legal opinion that comes in a response to a query by the Department of Tourism, which is concerned about possible legal repercussions resulting from the revocation of casino licenses.

In the legal opinion, Guevarra explains that the President may direct the PAGCOR by an executive order to revoke the licenses already granted and to prohibit the issuing of new permits. He also points out that the provisional licenses granted by the regulator are not contracts and are, therefore, not legally binding for the government. Casino licenses can, then, be “granted, revoked” or their renewal withheld by the regulatory body instantly.

Meanwhile, Macau-based casino giant Galaxy Entertainment Group is planning to build a large integrated casino resort on Boracay. It was granted a casino license just a month before the temporary closure of the island. Galaxy Chairman Lui Che Woo explained that the casino facility would be just a small part of the complex and that the complex would, in fact, focus on the leisure and entertainment offerings.

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Popular software provider, Wazdan has captured the spirit of Mexican Day of the Dead, Dia de los Muertos, one of the most fascinating holidays in the world. With its unique atmosphere, colorful decorations, strange costumes and joyful parades, this Mexican tradition seems to be a perfect theme for a slot. Wazdan’s Los Muertos ™ slot perfectly reflects the climate of this ...

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Following the creation of a joint venture in July 2018, MGM Resorts and GVC Holdings announced this week the appointment of Adam Greenblatt as the venture’s Chief Executive Officer. Greenblatt has previously served as Director of Corporate Development & Strategy for GVC Holdings Plc, but he also possesses in-depth knowledge and expertise in sports betting and online gaming from his position at Ladbrokes.

His promotion to the executive leadership position was announced on Tuesday in a combined corporate communication, pointing out his long experience in the gambling and entertainment industry. Greenblatt will now serve as CEO of the recently established joint venture between the American gaming and hospitality giant MGM Resorts International and Isle of Man-headquartered GVC Holdings PLC, which owns major gaming and sports betting brands, including Coral, Ladbrokes, bwin, Crystalbet, partypoker, and CasinoClub.

The joint venture was formed this summer for the purpose of creating a leading sports betting and interactive gaming proposition for the US market, according to the press release. It is hardly a surprise that Adam Greenblatt has been chosen to lead MGM GVC Interactive, considering he has played a “significant role” in its creation during his job as a Director Corporate Development & Strategy at GVC Holdings. His career, however, did not start at GVC and has been much more interesting.

After studying Business Science at the University of Cape Town, Greenblatt worked as a Chartered Accountant in the UK with Arthur Andersen. He then focused on mergers and acquisitions at international investment bank Rothschild where he oversaw deals in the leisure sector. In addition, Greenblatt was Director of Corporate and Strategic Development at Ladbrokes from 2010. According to the press release, he was in charge of “defining transactions” for the company such as the strategic partnership with Playtech, the acquisitions which created Ladbrokes Australia and the successful merger between Gala Coral and Ladbrokes in November 2016.

Rumors about the partnership between MGM Resorts and GVC emerged in late July and it the two companies soon confirmed the creation of MGM GVC Interactive. The joint venture has its headquarters in the United States and is formed with an initial investment of $100 million made by each of the partners. According to the initial statement by GVC, the new business would have access to 15 states within the US and a potential audience of 90 million people.

In reality, MGM GVC Interactive will take advantage of all U.S. land-based and online sports betting and poker tournaments, real money and free-to-play casino gaming. It will integrate both companies’ customer loyalty programs. Commenting his new position as CEO, Adam Greenblatt said that he would transform the joint venture into the most “dynamic and successful” company in the industry, considering MGM GVC will profit from the combined brands, technology, and market reach.

The new venture is looking at the rapidly evolving US sports betting market following the United States Supreme Court’s decision in May to lift the federal ban on sports wagering. GVC is one of the several UK-based bookmakers that are now focusing on the new opportunities in the US as more and more states are passing legislation that allows wagers on sports.

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The World Poker Tour and partypoker Live will be co-hosting five poker events next year, including the popular WPT Barcelona and the first ever WPT festival in Russia. The two brands announced they are extending their partnership in 2019, offering players in Canada and Europe various live poker formats at all buy-in levels.

On Tuesday, the World Poker Tour (WPT) released details regarding their schedule for 2019, revealing brand new festivals that will be held in co-operation with partypoker LIVE. In an official statement, Adam Pliska, CEO of the World Poker Tour, announced that they will be expanding their relationship with the online poker room and will be adding more locations to the current list of events. Most notably, the two brands will co-host WPT Russia, the first ever WPT festival in the country.

ICYMI, WPT and @partypokerlive are teaming up for five events in 2019 across Canada and Europe. https://t.co/d3wtdBT013 pic.twitter.com/u4ZlEBNsrX

— World Poker Tour (@WPT) October 24, 2018

The announcement has naturally attracted the attention of European players who will be able to take part in various WPT500, WPTDeepStacks, and WPT Main Tour events. WPT and partypoker are currently among the largest and most respected poker brands in the industry, and their names and reputation only drew in thousands of poker pros from all over the globe. The popularity of their events means, of course, much larger prize pools than the prizes advertised in standard live tournaments.

WPT also said that at some of the events, players will have the opportunity to use partypoker LIVE Dollars. This is a flexible currency, introduced by the online poker network, and it can be won in online satellites and later used by players for buy-ins, travel expenses and hotel reservations for the partypoker LIVE events.

There are currently five events scheduled for 2019 and they will be co-hosted by WPT and partypoker LIVE. Casino Sochi in the Russian summer resort will be the opening stop on the schedule, with WPT Russia running from January 18 to January 27. The Main Event will start on January 21 and will feature a $3,300 buy-in and a guarantee of $1,500,000.

Next on the schedule is the beautiful city of Barcelona in Spain, which will welcome WPT Barcelona between March 9 and March 17. The venue will be Casino Barcelona, a regular host of premier live poker tournaments, and players will be able to take part in a wide range of events, including WPTDeepStacks, WPT500, €10,000 High Roller and WPT Main Event.

In April, WPT heads to the United Kingdom for the 17th Season of the WPT European Championship, which will take place from April 6 to April 14 at the Dusk Till Dawn Poker and Casino in Nottingham. It will be headlined by the £3 Million GTD Main Event that will start on April 8.

The next stop on the WPT schedule is King’s Casino in Rozvadov, the Czech Republic, a popular venue that has welcomed plenty of major poker festivals and brands over the years. From August 9 to August 18, it will be home to WPT Germany, a large festival that promises more than €6 million in guarantees.

The fifth and final stop on the tour will be Canada next fall. WPT and partypoker LIVE will be returning to Playground Poker Club in Montreal with an exciting festival that starts October 25 and ends November 3 and a centerpiece CA$5,300 Main Event.

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Gaming technology company serving iGaming operators, land-based casinos and lotteries, Pariplay Ltd. has released a Luxor slot, an original video game that combines cutting-edge 21st century technology with the timeless mystery of the land of the pharaohs. The Tutankhamun-themed Luxor slot features highly innovative in-game features such as expanding reels that increase the pay ways to an exceptional 1,944. iGaming ...

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Horseshoe Casino Baltimore has entered an official partnership with the Baltimore Ravens in the second deal of this kind since September when the National Football League (NFL) allowed its teams to accept advertising from casinos. The move follows the historic partnership announced between the Dallas Cowboys and WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma.

For many years, the NFL did not allow its teams to sell sponsorships to casinos with sportsbooks in order to steer clear of any connection to sports betting. Last month, or in late August as Sports Business Daily reported, the NFL loosened the ban on casino advertising. Soon after that, the Dallas Cowboys teamed up with the WinStar World in the first NFL casino partnership. Now the Baltimore Ravens have joined them, extending their existing deal with Horseshoe.

The new partners are neighbors in Southern Gateway Entertainment District, an area just south of the Ravens’ home in M&T Bank Stadium. When the casino opened just a few blocks away from the sporting venue, it became a catalyst for huge investment and development in the neighborhood. Now their partnership will bring them even closer as logos of the team will be featured across the gaming venue, while the casino’s ads will be significantly more at the stadium.

The announcement for the deal was made by Baltimore Ravens Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales and Business Development Kevin Rochlitz and former Raven and NFL Hall-of-Famer Jonathan Ogden and Caesars Regional President and Horseshoe Casino General Manager Erin Chamberlin. The owner of Baltimore’s Horseshoe is the group CBAC Gaming, which gathers Caesars Entertainment, Jack Entertainment, CVPR Gaming Holdings, LLC; STRON-MD Limited Partnership and PRT TWO, LLC.

Since 2014, when the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore opened for business, it has been an advertising sponsor at Ravens games. However, it did not have the right to use the team’s name or logos in any way. The Maryland casino was not able to use trademarks for any events, including tailgate parties and giveaways. Now, instead of referencing only Baltimore football or using purple colors, the Horseshoe Casino will be allowed to make use of the logo and name of the Ravens. But that is not all.

The three-level feature bar at Horseshoe Casino Baltimore that is currently known as 14Forty will soon be rebranded and will be a Ravens Baltimore Bar. The casino will also introduce player cards with the NFL team’s logo. M&T Bank Stadium, on the other hand, will feature Horseshoe advertising. According to Rochlitz, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore has become a popular destination for Ravens fans, especially before and after games, so the new deal will enrich the appeal and entertainment offering of the two major Baltimore brands.

The financial terms of the deal are confidential but for the time being, it remains only a marketing partnership. The State of Maryland is expected to pass a sports betting legislation, which would allow the casino to extend its cooperation with the Baltimore Ravens.

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US’ poker pro Zachery Schneider came out victorious Monday night at the $1,700 Main Event during the 2018/2019 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond. After three days of grinding poker play, he managed to survive the strong 1,094 entry field and take the title, securing the second WSOP ring in his career.

It was an easy victory for Schneider, who started Day 3 of the tournament with the second biggest stack and once the final table was set up, he came second in the chip count once again. The 25-year-old professional poker player then eliminated four of the nine finalists and overtook Nick Pupillo in the heads-up battle. There were no serious hurdles to get over, he later admitted after taking the WSOP Circuit Main Event title and the first-place prize of $302,492.

This is the 11th WSOP event cash and the second ring for the young poker pro from Harvard, Illinois. Almost exactly three years ago, on October 25, 2015, Schneider finished first in the WSOP Circuit $5,300 NHL High Roller Ring Event, which took place at the same casino, the Horseshoe Hammond, just 25 miles away from Chicago. Back then, he won the first World Series of Poker ring in his career along with a cash prize of $101,250.

Monday’s win was a huge success for Schneider, who said that he was not such a good player and it was not until the final table that became confident in his own skills. During the entire tournament, he was not entirely serious on the felt, he added, so the first-place finish was, apparently, a surprise for him. It was also his largest live reported cash ever and now his total earnings from live tournaments total nearly $450,000.

Apart from Zachery Schneider, another 116 players made it to the money levels and received guaranteed $2,718. The tournament drew in 1,094 contenders for the title over the two starting flights on Friday and Saturday. Entering the $1,700 buy-in event, they contributed to a total prize pool of $1,657,410. Day 1 ended with most players eliminated and the chip leader from the first flight returned as the big stack on Day 2, along with 235 other survivors. By the end of the night, the field was reduced to only 23 players, who would continue playing on the third, final day.

Day 3 of the tournament kicked off at noon with Sam Miller leading the way with his stack of 3,535,000. He was followed by Schneider, who had bagged 2.8 million in tournament chips the previous night. Two-time gold ring winner Nick Pupillo came third in the temporary leaderboard with a stack of 1.85 million in chips. Soon after cards went into the air, Miller lost his lead to David McDermott, while the first elimination was Kevin Johnson who took home $11,386 for his 23rd finish.

Following several eliminations and a fortunate win against Porfirio Mendez (19th, $13,524), Schneider took the chip lead and right until the heads-up battle, he did not go too far from the first position. After Don Hines was sent home in 11th place for $24,182, the final table was set up led by Nick Pupillo who had a huge advantage with his stack of over 9 million. Zachert Schneider came in second with 7,555,000 in chips, while the rest of the players could not reach the 3 million. Miller was the short stack with only 385,000 and he was almost immediately eliminated in the 10th place for $24,182.

Royce Matheson finished 9th ($29,999) after being defeated by Schneider, while the 8th place in the tournament was for Jake Baumgartner ($37,640) who was sent home by Pupillo. He then eliminated Mark Wahba (7th, $47,750). After the dinner break, Giuliano Lentini left the tournament (6th, $61,258), followed by the person who eliminated him, Young Hoon Koh (5th, $79,506). By that time, the two main contenders were Pupillo and Schneider and after David McDermott (4th, $104,417) finally gave in, Sami Shurbaji and the two players were the only survivors. Shurbaji moved all in against Schneider and lost, collecting a nice cash prize of $138,825 for his third-place finish.

Schneider started the heads-up against Pupillo with a 2 to 1 advantage and did not have to try a lot to claim the title. In the final hand, Schneider defeated his competitor with Queen-7 against Pupillo’s 4-2 on a flop of Queen-6-5, a 6 on the turn and a King on the river. Pupillo was eliminated in the second place and took home $186,823, while Schneider was crowned Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Champion and received $302,492.

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Following an unidentified slot player’s lawsuit against Novomatic, the Austrian gambling company was ordered to pay the plaintiff €2.5 million in compensation. As local media reported on Monday, the court ruled that the gambler’s addiction to slots rendered all his bets invalid, so the company had to repay all the money he wagered on slot machines plus an interest.

In the judgment that was made public Monday, October 22, the court found out that the gambler was under the influence of addiction while playing slot games. According to the plaintiff, an unidentified Austrian man, he lost a little over €2 million on Novomatic-run slot machines over a period of ten years. From 2002 to 2012, the plaintiff placed bets on gaming devices in the country’s capital, Vienna Online reports. According to local media outlets, the ruling was issued on August 10 but has not been made public until now.

The plaintiff claimed that during that time, from 2002 to 2012, he was “partially incapacitated” due to his addiction. A psychiatric-neurological expert opinion heard by the court explains that the man could not resist and played excessively. His compulsive behavior and incapacitation left him unable to work, which motivated the lawsuit and the claim for compensation. According to the ruling, Novomatic Gaming Industries GmbH now has to repay the gambler €2,009,100 plus interest. The total sum is €2.5 million or approximately US$2.87 million.

All these gaming machines, slots and dice games, were operated by Novomatic, a manufacturer and distributor of gaming cabinets, electronic casino games, and various gaming platforms. The company is based in the Austrian town of Gumpoldskirchen, around 30 km away from Vienna. The decision ruled by the Regional Court of Wiener Neustadt is not final and legal representatives of Novomatic say they will appeal.

This is not the first time Novomatic is ordered to repay the losses of a gambling addict, although the compensation in this case is, indeed, a record. In 2014, the company had to refund another Austrian gambler with €800,000 after a court in Vienna deemed all “gaming contracts” invalid. According to the ruling, the gambling addiction of the person made him not responsible for his actions. The plaintiff’s lawyer specified the player was not visiting a casino but betting on Novomatic slots outside casinos.

In late 2014, politicians in the capital passed amendments to the Viennese Events Act, which effectively banned slots and other electronic gaming machines from being installed and operated outside casinos. Until that change, slots could be played in various locations such as shops and gas stations but after January 1, 2015, many non-casino gaming machines had to be switched off. At the time, there were 2,600 devices in Vienna and around 1,500 of them were run by Novomatic.

The ban was intended to combat problem gambling, especially in low-income individuals. It is unclear, however, whether it was effective or not. In the latest case against Novomatic, the court also said that its gaming machines violated the regulations in several ways, most notably by accepting too high stakes.

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Ambitious online money transfer company hires Paddy Power Betfair’s Breon Corcoran as new boss

UK fintech company WorldRemit today confirmed the appointment of former Paddy Power Betfair CEO Breon Corcoran as its new Chief Executive after weekend reports that he would become the new boss of the rapidly growing digital money transfer business.

WorldRemit was founded in 2010 by Somaliland entrepreneur Ismail Ahmed. Mr. Ahmed was studying in London at the time and was forced to travel across the city in search for an agent to transfer money to his family who lived in a refugee camp in Ethiopia. The transactions were extremely costly and usually required months to be completed, but Mr. Ahmed’s family needed the money.

Frustrated by the complex remittance process, he set up WorldRemit to storm the international remittance market. He spotted an opportunity in the quick growth of mobile money accounts to grow his business. Today, WorldRemit serves more than 800,000 customers from more than 50 countries who send money to millions of people in around 150 countries. Supporting migrants send money from developed countries to family and friends based in emerging economies has been the main focus of Mr. Ahmed’s company.

WorldRemit’s founder is currently its Chief Executive, but once Mr. Corcoran steps in, Mr. Ahmed will assume the post of Executive Chairman. Mr. Corcoran left major gambling operator Paddy Power Betfair this past January after sixteen years at the company and its predecessors.

He first joined Paddy Power in 2001 as Managing Director of its Non-Retail (Digital) operations. He was appointed as the company’s Chief Operating Officer in 2010, but left in 2011. In 2012, he joined rival gambling operator Betfair as its CEO. In 2016, he was appointed as the Chief Executive of the combined Paddy Power Betfair. He had an instrumental role in what was praised as a successful merger of the two major gambling companies.

Mr. Corcoran surprisingly announced his departure from Paddy Power Betfair last August and left his post in January 2018 to be replaced by Peter Jackson. Prior to stepping down, the former gambling CEO drew quite some ire from the UK retail betting industry as he supported openly the proposed cut of the maximum stake on FOBTs to £10 or less from £100.

Mr. Corcoran said in a letter to Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport Minister Tracey Crouch dated September 2017 that the FOBT issue has become so toxic that

“only a substantial reduction in FOBT stake limits to £10 or less will address societal concerns. I am confident we could operate our retail business successfully and profitability under such circumstances. Other well-run operators should be able to do the same.”

With Mr. Corcoran now at the helm, WorldRemit is expected to soon become the UK’s newest technology unicorn, that is a start-up worth at least $1 billion. The company has received more than $200 million in funding since it was founded and some of its investors have included TriplePoint Venture Growth, Accel Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank. It most recently raised funds in a $40-million round that was led by LeapFrog Investments.

Earlier in October, the company extended its footprint across Africa by launching online bank transfers in Botswana, Chad, Zambia, Mozambique, and five more countries. WorldRemit has revealed that the transactions that it has handled to Africa this year have increased 75% year-on-year. Its fees range between 2% or 3%, which is significantly less than major banks for the same type of transactions.

The UK-based company says that its growth has accelerated in 2018 and it expects its annual revenue to top £95 million, up from £60.5 million in 2017. With the expansion of its reach and its rapid overall growth, the company believes it is in a strong position to “leverage the increasing demand for cashless payments.”

Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Corcoran as the new WorldRemit CEO, Mr. Ahmed said in a statement that with their “goal of delivering a better and safer experience for people sending money home” and the former gambling boss’ “reputation for developing a consumer-first culture makes” they will be able to build on their vision.”

Mr. Corcoran said that “with tailwinds like the global adoption of new technologies combined with growing remittance flows, there is enormous potential for WorldRemit’s global expansion.”

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Evolution Gaming, leading provider of Live Casino solutions, has gone live with another Dual Play Roulette convergence table for Genting Casinos, this time at the company’s Palm Beach Casino in London’s Mayfair. Established in the heart of Mayfair for over 50 years, The Palm Beach Casino has recently undergone a complete refurbishment and refresh. The Evolution Dual Play table is ...

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Day 2 to kick off with 236 survivors from the tournament’s two starting flights

The second starting flight of the WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond Main Event is now in the books. It drew 634 entries, of whom only 140 survived through the 15 levels that were played at the host casino on Saturday to progress into Day 2.

Alex Triemanis ended up bagging the largest stack of the day with 479,000. However, it will be the Day 1A chip leader, Michael Perrone, who will lead the surviving hopefuls from the tournament’s two starting flights into the second day of action. Perrone scooped 649,000 on Friday night when his starting flight was played.

With Day 1B’s entries, the overall field was brought to a total of 1,094 entrants, which is down from last year’s edition of the tournament when as many as 1,247 contenders entered it to compete for the title and $332,020 in first-place prize money.

Speaking of prize money, the $1,700 buy-in Main Event generated a prize pool of $1,657,410 this year, beating the $1 million guarantee. The top 117 finishers will receive a share of the money, min-cashes starting from $2,718. Each of the players who make it to the official final table of nine will be guaranteed a minimum of $29,999, but they will all eye the first-place prize of $302,492. Along with the cash prize, the tournament’s champ will also scoop a gold ring from the series and will secure a seat into the season-ending Global Casino Championship.

As mentioned above, Day 1B was busier than the preceding starting flight as more players rushed to Horseshoe Hammond to register into the tournament. At the end of the day, there were 140 players to bag and tag. The Day 1B field will merge with the Day 1A’s today for the second day of play. A total of 96 players made it through Day 1A on Friday night, which means that as many as 236 hopefuls are expected to return to the host venue later today.

Among the Day 1B survivors were poker pro and WSOP Circuit legend Maurice Hawkins, who fired a second bullet yesterday, after failing to bag on Day 1A, Zo Karim, Aaron Massey, and Anna Antimony. They will join other notables from Day 1A, including gold bracelet winners David Pham and Tom Koral and gold ring winners Robert Hankins and Ralph Massey. Last year’s champion – Blake Battaglia – is also still in contention. The player bagged and tagged 96,500 at the end of Day 1A and will return to fight for a back-to-back title.

Day 2 action is set to resume today at 11 am local time at the host casino. The remaining players are scheduled to play ten one-hour levels. The money bubble will burst at some point in play and the field will be further whittled down to just a few players, who will return tomorrow to play the final day of the tournament.

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