Optimal Payment Solutions to Acquire Skrill for £800m
AIM-listed Optimal Payment Solutions has announced it is set to acquire Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) for a cool £800m, which translates into $1 billion US and some change.
Skrill is the leading alternative payment solutions company in the online gambling space. Both companies produced earnings of $90m last year. Optimal was slated to have an enterprise value of well over £1bn. They are also seeking a move to the LSE's FTSE-250 Midcap Index.
Las Vegas Sands Gets Downgraded as Macau Fears Grow
Credit Agricole on Wednesday morning downgraded Las Vegas Sands Corp. from a buy rating to an outperform rating. Many analysts having growing fears over casino companies with exposure in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau following a recent crackdown by that country’s government.
The firm has also downgraded shares of Wynn Resorts, Limited, another company with operations in Macau, from a buy rating to an outperform rating.
In the midst of the crackdown, gaming revenue is forecast to decline.
WBX Betting Exchange Shuttered: Regulatory Climate Spelled Doom
Online betting exchange WBX has unceremoniously closed its doors for good though the company insists players are able to withdrawal their funds in full and that any future wagers will be decided “in the normal way”.
Dire Warning Issued By Connecticut Tribes: 18000 Casino Jobs Could Be Lost
HARTFORD — (Associated Press) - The leaders of Connecticut's two federally recognized Indian tribes made a united pitch Tuesday to open at least one, jointly-owned casino, warning lawmakers the state could lose 18,000 jobs once a casino in neighboring Springfield, Massachusetts opens in 2½ years.
That figure includes both jobs at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino, as well as hundreds of vendors and other affected businesses across the state.
Satisfy Your March Madness Fantasy Fix With a Twist of TradeSports
While most daily fantasy sports websites are shunning March Madness the way Major League Baseball shuns Pete Rose, one fantasy site sees the NCAA's annual, 68-team, basketball free-for-all as too good an opportunity to ignore.
Tradesports (www.tradesports.com) will be offering contests for the tournament, but with a twist.
You don't put your money on players, you put it on props (short for propositions).
Monday Hearings on Revel Casino Postponed
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – (Associated Press) - Hearings on the tumultuous Revel casino sale have been postponed.
A bankruptcy court judge was to hear a series of contentious motions on Monday, after she refused on Friday to approve the sale of the shuttered casino to a Florida developer for $82 million.
Revel's owners were expected to ask the judge to reconsider. She also was to hear requests from its power plant to allow it to cut off service to the building due to unpaid bills, and to appoint a trustee to liquidate the property.
Skybet Gets Reamed for ‘Odds Error’ Tied to PSG Shock Extra Time Win
One of the United Kingdom’s largest online bookmakers, Skybet, found itself caught up in a major controversy over the weekend following an odds error on its mobile phone app.
The app, which has been downloaded some 700,000 times to date, presented odds of 25-1 for a PSG win in extra time over Chelsea only to have the payout as 9-2 by Skybet. The bookmaker has since claimed the odds were a mistake.
New Fantasy League Site Swagger Stadium One of Few to Embrace March Madness
WAYZATA, Minn. -- When the annual college basketball tournament known as March Madness gets underway in a few days, most Internet-based fantasy sports leagues won't be involved, for various reasons.
But one start-up fantasy sports league, based in this Minneapolis suburb and called Swagger Stadium (www.swaggerstadium.com), wouldn't think of ignoring America's second-biggest sporting event (after the Super Bowl).
NJ Online Gambling Revenue Down 10 Percent in February Despite Snow, Frigid Temps
New Jersey has released its February online gambling revenue numbers and they are not very good. A decline of nearly 11 percent was seen from January.
Winning Poker Network Looking to Push the Envelope Even More
San Jose, Costa Rica – Over the past six months, Winning Poker Network (WPN) has delivered more unique selling propositions to its players than all of the other networks combined.
Iowa Senate Votes to Allow Fantasy Sports
DES MOINES (Associated Press) — The Senate has passed a bill that would allow a person in Iowa to win money in fantasy sports contests.
The Senate voted 32-16 to approve the bill Thursday. It now heads to the House, where lawmakers are considering a similar bill.
Red Bull Energy Drink Fuels PokerStars Live Macau
ONCHAN, Isle of Man – March 13, 2015 – PokerStars.net, an Amaya Inc. (TSX: AYA) company, today announced that Red Bull, the world’s best-selling energy drink, has become the Official Energy Drink Provider of PokerStars LIVE Macau.
The iconic drink will give wings to poker players who will get complimentary cans of Red Bull when they compete in PokerStars LIVE Macau’s four major main events of 2015:
• Macau Poker Cup 22: February 27 - March 15
• APPT 9 Macau: May 27-31
Atlantic City Casino Revenue Down Another 14.8 Percent
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey — (Associated Press) - Atlantic City's February casino revenue declined by 14.8 compared with a year ago, when there were 11 casinos operating instead of the current eight.
Even the eight surviving casinos saw their revenue fall by 1.9 percent compared with February 2014.
The casinos won $178.4 million in February, a month beset by snowy weather.
Bwin.Party Potential Suitor Talks Reach Fever Pitch
LONDON - (Reuters) - Online gambling firm Bwin.party said talks about selling all or part of its business had become more serious, as it battles headwinds such as the decline of regulated poker markets in Europe.
Bwin, which was created by a merger of sports betting group bwin and online poker group PartyGaming in 2011, said in November it was considering a range of proposals from interested parties.
Canada's Amaya Gaming, which last year bought online gambling sites PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, was one party named in media reports last year as being interested.
Daily Fantasy Sports Leagues Not Mad for March Madness as Most Shun College Hoops
For the second time this year, fantasy sports leagues will be shut out of the action for a major sporting event.
Last month, none of the leagues weren't able to hold daily fantasy contests for the Super Bowl because Federal law bans fantasy play based on a single game.
This month, most fantasy sports leagues won't be holding any contests in connection with March Madness, the annual NCAA basketball tournament, because most leagues don't get involved with any college sports.
DraftKings May be Off the Hook With Class Action Clause
As reported on the Gambling911.com website and elsewhere, one of the world’s largest daily fantasy websites DraftKings is now the subject of a class action lawsuit claiming false advertising. But the Boston-based company may have an ace up their sleeve according to the legal firm JD Supra.
MGM Stock Falling on Macau Concerns
MGM Resorts International shares were down 3.01% to $20.97 in late morning trading Monday as concerns continue over China’s Macau gambling hub taking a revenue hit.
Gaming revenue is forecast to decline on fears of the impact from a crackdown by the Chinese government.
"Macau is in a tough spot. We believe dividends will be slashed across the board," Zhou, analyst Jamie Zhou of the Hong Kong-based firm Macquarie Securities told Bloomberg.
PokerStars Launches MicroMillions 10 Championship
PokerStars.com, an Amaya Inc. (TSX: AYA) company, today announced that the MicroMillions 10 championship, which features 100 events and $5 million in guaranteed prize money, is set to take place from March 19-29.
MicroMillions is the world’s most popular tournament series, which has seen more than one million tournament entries for each championship held to date. Buy-ins for the next series begin at just $0.11 and max out at $22 for the No Limit Hold’em Main Event, which takes place on March 29 at 14.30 ET and features a $1 million guarantee.
Brits Blowing Away £1.7billion on Gambling Machines
The Mail on Sunday this weekend revealed that those living in the UK are spending £1.7billion gambling on fixed-odds betting terminals.
Nevada Gaming Enforcement Division Confirms Bitcoin Poker Room Seals With Clubs Raid
While Karl Bennison, chief of the Nevada Gaming Enforcement division, confirmed that the board “took part in law enforcement action” related to Seals with Clubs on Feb. 11, it was not immediately clear as to whether that investigation directly tied to the anonymous digital currency Bitcoin or if it involved Seals With Clubs operating from within Nevada.
Paddy Power Reports Record Profits
Ireland’s biggest bookmaker, Paddy Power, has reported some of its biggest profits ever.
Shares in the company continued to surge on news that Paddy claimed €167 million in profits before tax and that it plans to return up to €392 million to shareholders.
The company’s net revenue increased 18% to €882 million with pre-tax profits growing 21% to €167 million. These impressive figures were helped by the number of bets placed at Paddy Power increasing by 16%. Online gambling makes up 77% of its overall business.
Betfair Better Than Expected 3rd Quarter
LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - Online gambling company Betfair hiked its full-year profit forecast range on Thursday after trading remained strong following a better-than-expected third-quarter, sending its shares sharply higher.
The company, which runs an exchange that allows gamblers to bet against each other, said revenue jumped 20 percent in the three months to Jan. 31, as investment in products and marketing helped increase active customer numbers by half in its core markets, with sports and gaming income up strongly.
Macau’s Gambling Woes are a Win for Wynn
Despite the highly publicized corruption crackdown that has left the gambling hub of Macau nearly in tatters, one casino group operating there will benefit to the tune of $511 million.
That is the amount the Chinese subsidiary of Wynn Resorts Ltd. plans to issue in the form of a special stock dividend this month, according to Howard Stutz of the Las Vegas Review Journal.
More Time Permitted for Revel Casino to Seek Higher Bids
CAMDEN, New Jersey — (Associated Press) - A bankruptcy court judge says more time is needed to seek higher bids for Atlantic City's former Revel Casino Hotel.
Judge Gloria Burns delayed a decision Wednesday on the proposed $82 million sale of the shuttered gambling hall to Florida developer Glenn Straub. She did so after Los Angeles developer Izek Shomof expressed interest in buying Revel, but for $2 million less.
The $2.4 billion casino closed in September after just over two years of operation, during which it never turned a profit.
U.S. Government Blames Iran for Hack of Sands Casino Websites
Senior government officials have reportedly linked Iran to a hacking attack on the Sands Casino websites last year.
Hackers knocked all of the Sands websites offline and published sensitive personal information about Sands employees including their social security numbers in February of 2014. The sites remained down for over a week.
Record Numbers Reported at Americas Cardroom During Month of February
Though February was the shortest month of the year it didn’t stop Americas Cardroom (ACR) from having its biggest month ever. ACR delivered on its promise to players to host Winning Millions, the online poker site's $1,000,000 GTD poker tournament as a finale to their biggest online tournament series to date.
Casino Revenue in Macau Plunges Nearly in Half During February
HONG KONG (Associated Press) — Casino revenue in the world gambling capital of Macau plunged by nearly half last month as fewer mainland Chinese high-rollers visited during the busy Lunar New Year holiday.
Data posted on the gambling regulator's website Tuesday show that February's gross gambling revenue fell by 48.6 percent from a year earlier, the biggest monthly decline on record.
It's the ninth straight month that gambling revenue has declined in Macau.
BetConstruct Grabs Gold and Lanyard Sponsorships at Upcoming DFSE in Miami Beach
Existing operators and those looking to enter the lucrative new industry of daily fantasy sports will be happy to know that software providers and white labels plan to show up in force this August in Miami Beach for the first ever Daily Fantasy Sports Expo (DFSE).
The most visible of these providers is going to be BetConstruct. They have secured both the gold and lanyard sponsorships at DFSE.
Las Vegas Westgate Casino Finds Innovative Way to Offer Online Sports Betting in US
The Westgate Casino and Sportsbook in Las Vegas on Monday announced it had entered into a deal that would allow sports betting throughout the U.S.
Skrill to Exhibit at Daily Fantasy Sports Expo in Miami Beach
Another huge addition to this August’s Daily Fantasy Sports Expo in Miami Beach as one of the world’s largest payment solutions, Skrill , will be a main exhibitor. Skrill, formerly known as Moneybookers, is only second to PayPal in terms of customers in the digital payments solutions sector.
