Business & Financial
Ultimate Gaming Gets Final Approval From Nevada to Operate Real Money Poker Site
LAS VEGAS, NV - Today, July 25, 2013, Ultimate Gaming, a majority-owned subsidiary of Station Casinos LLC, received final approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission for its real money online poker product Ultimate Poker, the only legal poker website in the United States.
Zynga Shares Plummet as Company Won’t Enter US Online Gambling Space
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc will largely abandon its long-running efforts to build a real-money gaming business in the United States, a prospect investors once believed to be the struggling company's sole lifeline.
Mike Britt Joins Ultimate Poker as Vice President of Market Development
LAS VEGAS– Government affairs and gaming professional Mike Britt has joined Ultimate Gaming, America’s first regulated online gaming operator, as vice president of market development and government affairs. He brings 10 years of experience in politics, legislative affairs and market development to the company.
2013 WSOP Last Lady Sitting Jackie Glazer Joins PokerStars
Australian female poker pro Jackie Glazier has left Ivey Poker to join the 888 Poker team.
Glazier became the 2013 World Series of Poker Main Event’s “Last Woman Sitting”.
Ms. Glazier finished 31st for $229,281, bringing her total career earnings to almost $1.2 million.
Venetian Boycott Not Working, Adelson Sees Triple Profits as Body Count Rises
Attempts to get poker players to boycott the Venetian Hotel and Casino’s Las Vegas poker room this week have apparently fallen on deaf ears.
The room has been bristling with action each and every day.
Facebook is Bringing Social Gambling to Italy, Spain
Facebook is expanding its real money online social gambling platform to Italy and Spain.
After initial trials in the United Kingdom utilizing the bwin.party network, Facebook will expand the offering to three countries, both of which have been accommodating to real money Web gambling.
Sean Ryan, head of partnerships of the social network, confirmed the news during the World Gaming Executive Summit in Barcelona.
South Point Poker to Rebrand as Real Gaming
South Point Poker, which one promised to be the first real money online poker site regulated in the US, will be changing its name.
The site will be rebranded as “Real Gaming” in order to reflect its expanded variety of online games beyond the scope of poker.
Real Gaming will be run by the folks who own the popular South Point Casino and Hotel located off the Las Vegas Strip. They were among the first to receive a license from the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Mississippi Casino Revenue Declines 7 Percent
JACKSON, Miss. — (Associated Press) - Mississippi casino revenue resumed its year-over-year slide in June after showing positive results in May.Statewide casino revenue fell nearly 7 percent from June 2012 to $174.5 million, according to Mississippi Department of revenue figures.
The state's gambling halls eked out a 1 percent gain in 2012, because revenue rebounded after most Mississippi River casinos were affected by the 2011 floods. But year-over-year casino revenue has fallen in 11 of the last 12 months. May was the exception, when revenue rose 3 percent.
Macau Revenue Dips: First Time in a Long Time
Macau, the Asian gambling Mecca, has witnessed a rare decline in revenue.
RBC Capital Markets analyst John Kempf said gross gaming revenue for table games and slots last week was $105.5 million, down from $116.3 million the week before, Investors Business Daily noted.
"If we assume that the remainder of the month will come in at last week's rate, then gross gaming revenues for July will increase 13%," Kempf said in the note, which "may give some ammunition to the 'China bears.'"
More Atlantic City Comps: Million Dollar Giveaways, Cash Buried on Beach
ATLANTIC CITY (AP) — Million-dollar giveaways. Cash buried in the beach. Trips to tropical paradise. Shopping sprees. Guarantees that no one loses at the slot machines.
This summer, the casinos are being quite generous with their promotional offers — commonly known as comps” — to draw customers to Atlantic City.
PKR Poker Announces Changes in Affiliate Program
The online poker network PKR has announced a change in its affiliate program via an email sent out to affiliate partners.
Dear Affiliates,
We would like to notify you of some changes to the PKR Affiliate Terms and Conditions regarding the definitions and the activity of affiliates.
Full Tilt Poker Payments to US Customers Will Take At Least Another Year
Americans owed money from Full Tilt Poker since April 15, 2011 may have to wait at least another year, according to a claims adjuster overseeing distribution.
Americas Cardroom New Software Upgrade Rave Reviews: Beast Gets No Love
Americas Cardroom’s unveiling of their new software upgrade has been met with mostly a positive response from customers.
Bitcoin Online Gambling Website SatoshiDice Sells fo $11.47 Million
Dublin-based Bitcoin online gambling website SatoshiDice has sold for126,315 BTC, which at the time of the sale translated into $11.47 million.
SantoshiDice claimes to be “the most popular Bitcoin betting game in the universe”. It was launched just over one year ago by Erik Voorhees, who confirmed the sale Tuesday morning.
“I believe this to be a solid, desirable, and fair outcome for those who have put their trust in S.DICE.”
This is the first major Bitcoin acquisition to date.
Churchill Downs Completes Purchase of Oxford Casino in Maine
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — (Associated Press) - Churchill Downs Inc. says it has completed the purchase of the Oxford Casino in western Maine in a deal valued at about $160 million.
The Louisville-based company said Wednesday its acquisition of the casino in Oxford won approval from the Maine Gambling Control Board.
Oxford Casino opened in 2012. The property includes a 25,000-square-foot gaming floor with about 800 slot machines and 22 table games. It also includes a restaurant.
Americas Cardroom New Online Poker Software Unveiled: Slew of New Features
US-facing Internet poker site Americas Cardroom has completely revamped, enhanced, and re-energized its online poker software. The online poker site today released a major software update, complete with a slew of new features that puts Americas Cardroom in a class of its own.
Red-Faced Reuters Says ‘Ignore Alert on SHFL’: Shares Still Surge
Shares in gaming device manufacturer SHFL surged following news of its acquisition by Bally Technologies.
Reuters News agency was later forced to put out a notice Wednesday advising readers to ignore an overnight warning regarding the potential negatives of this deal, claiming said report was issued off a press release from an unrelated law firm, Robbins Arroyo LLP.
Bally Technologies Buys SHFL Entertainment
LAS VEGAS (Associated Press) — Bally Technologies said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy fellow gambling equipment maker SHFL Entertainment for about $1.3 billion in cash.
SHFL shares shot up up 21.6% in trading on Tuesday, and Bally's shares were up 6.3%.
Bally says the addition of SHFL will complement its existing product portfolio, while also providing new access to land-based and online table games markets around the world.
Total Gambling Revenue Flat for Pennsylvania
PHILADELPHIA (Associated Press) — Total gambling revenue at the state's 11 casinos was flat for the fiscal year that just ended, but gross revenue from table games grew 7.4 percent on the strength of continued strong growth at the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem and the first full year of play at Valley Forge Casino Resort, according to annual figures released by state regulators Tuesday.
Full Tilt Poker Casino Games, C$1 Million Guaranteed at Montreal Festival
Full Tilt Poker has confirmed it will be expanding into online casino games.
Full Tilt Poker, owned by the Rational Group and a sister site of PokerStars, issued a statement to PokerFuse.com Tuesday.
Lock Poker News Gets Nearly 7000 Likes in Under 12 Hours
News that Lock Poker had gotten its Neteller payouts caught up almost completely had many in the Facebook community ecstatic.
Bookie Service: 2013 NFL, College Football Season
What’s the best bookie service for the upcoming 2013 NFL, College Football season? We have three Gambling911.com endorsed bookie services with reviews below.
PayPerHead.com (1-888-978-0288) is endorsed by none other than Johnny Sack of “The Sopranos” fame.
Packages include the following:
BASIC
$5/month, 24/7/365 online wagering, Bet on 80+ leagues, Online support
STANDARD
$10/month, Phone & online wagering, 3 preset casino profiles, Phone & online support
Bitcoin Mining vs. Litecoin Search Interest Betting Odds
Bitcoin mining vs. Litecoin search interest betting odds have been released by the brand new Bitcoin betting exchange Predictious.
Lock Poker Neteller Payouts Mostly Caught Up: Under 10 Day Payouts for Some
(Gambling911.com Facebook Update) - Lock Poker, plagued by payment processing complications from past months, appears to see progress with an ample amount of payouts caught up on the international front.
Documented cases of Neteller payments over 2 months are no longer on record as of July 12, a tracking statistician using the handle of “IHasToNut” communicated via his dedicated posting forum at TwoPlusTwo.
Lumia 1020 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Search Interest Betting Odds Released
The new Bitcoin prediction market website, Predictioius.com, has released betting odds on the new Lumia 1020 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 search interest on July 20, 2013.
Early pricing had Lumia as a “buy” at 5.20 and Samsung as a “sell” at 4.80.
Kevin Costner Asking $14 Million for Deadwood Casino
DEADWOOD, S.D. (Associated Press) — Hollywood actor Kevin Costner is asking $14 million for 1,000 acres of land he owns near the Old West gambling town of Deadwood in western South Dakota's Black Hills.
The property includes the site of the ill-fated Dunbar casino resort, a $100 million project that would have included a golf course and a steam-powered passenger train. It never materialized.
Predictious Bitcoin Online Prediction Market Unveiled
Welcome Predictious.com as the newest online gambling website and like none other that exist today. Not only does the site promise to be a step up from now defunct intrade.com, Predictious.com will also be accepting the digital currency Bitcoin (note that credit cards can also be used).
The new site is slated to debut this coming Thursday July 9, 2013.
Ultimate Poker Successful Completes Field Trial
LAS VEGAS, NV - Ultimate Gaming, a majority-owned subsidiary of Station Casinos LLC, has successfully completed the field trial for Ultimate Poker, receiving recommendation for approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board to continue offering real money online poker at UltimatePoker.com.
Nevada Gambling Revenue Up, Zynga Rises
(Associated Press) - The state Gaming Control Board reports Nevada casinos won $897.3 million in May, posting a 1.37 percent increase from the same month a year ago.
The May winnings pushed the fiscal year-to-date total to more than $10 billion, 2.4 percent more than last year.
Taxes collected on the May win totaled $57.5 million, an increase of 10.9 percent.
The Las Vegas Strip posted a 6.4 percent monthly gain over May a year ago and is now 5 percent ahead of 2012.
Casino winnings in Reno jumped 9.8 percent.
Bwin.party Lower Margins in Sports Betting Hit Q2
The second quarter of 2013 for Bwin.party was mired by lower margins in sports betting, the City reported on Wednesday.
Bwin is dealing with a turnover tax on sports betting in Germany, its largest market, and competition in the bingo sector in Britain and Italy, according to the City.
“While the revenue performance was down on last year, we remain on course to deliver the targeted €70m (£60m) of cost savings in 2013 with more to follow in 2014,” chief executive Norbert Teufelberger said in a statement.
