Месяц: Август 2014

Casino news from around the world

The casino industry around the world is constantly changing, looking to improve and make it accessible to more players. In recent years, the image of casino games has improved significantly and gambling has become a great source of entertainment for countless people. The potential to win large amounts of money with every bet is just one of the things which make gambling so exciting and it seems that more and more casinos are being created to satisfy the increasing demand.

India will open its first world-class resort and casino

1st World-Class Casino In India And Dwarf Bouncers In London
Delta Corporation Casino Boat
The first world-class casino in India is expected to open its doors in 2014. It is located just outside the state of Goa and it shows that the country is looking to boost the tourism in the area. Delta Corporation is behind this new casino and the company also owns three offshore casino boats, so it has plenty of experience in the industry and should provide a great venue for interested players.

The resort, which is located in Daman, will have a gambling space of 60,00 sq-ft and a hotel with 187 rooms for the many tourists expected to take to the casino games. If everything goes well and the resort and casino are successful, more similar venues are expected to be built in the region and also in nearby countries, like Sri Lanka and Nepal. Delta Corporation is already looking into the casino market in Sri Lanka for the chance to set up shop in the near future, and has acquired some property in the country.

However, most of the company efforts are now focused on the casino and resort in Daman, which should be open in early 2014, if everything goes as expected.

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The smallest bouncers in Britain

While new casinos are being built in certain markets, one of the most popular land-based casinos in the world is looking to make things entertaining right from the casino doors. The Hippodrome Casino in London is the largest casino in the United Kingdom and has been known to come up with interesting new ways to promote its activity.

1st World-Class Casino In India And Dwarf Bouncers In LondonNow, the Hippodrome Casino wants to hire little people as bouncers on the floor and this should make the customers smile, according to a recent statement.

The casino had a similar campaign where the employees manning the entrance were under 4ft. 10 in. and it went so well that the management is now considering making it a full time thing. An ad has already been posted in the Metro daily in order to look for “Britain’s smallest bouncers”.

Needless to say that the marketing campaign is not without blacklash and the casino understands that there will be some concerns on the matter. However, CEO Simon Thomas quickly pointed out that the Hippodrome Casino does not intend to promote any form of discrimination and that it actually aims to highlight the unique scenario in which little people would man the entrance for a venue that is visited by 35,000 people every week.

The move is also expected to make things run smoother since nobody will pick a fight with someone small, like they would do with the massive bouncers at the clubs in London. The fact that no one will mess with a dwarf, makes them great doormen, according to the CEO.

Analyzing the figures for social gambling in the US

Social gambling has provided an interesting look into the games and into the minds of the players which enjoy them. Social casinos offer users the chance to play casino games for virtual currency and simply enjoy them without having to risk any of their real money. While there are options to buy chips for hard cold cash, players cannot exchange their virtual chips into real money when they win.

Differences between real money and social

Social Gambling Is More Popular Amongst WomenInternational Game Technology owns the biggest social gaming operation on the internet – DoubleDown Casino – and the software developer has recently released the US Social Casino Player Index, which offers a lot of useful information regarding the six million player base. The index shows a variety of interesting stats on the growing social gaming market in the United States and one of them is that most social casino players are between 50 and 59 years old. The second biggest group is between 60 and 69 years of age, while players between the ages of 40 and 49 years make the third largest group.

The age groups and the majority of social players being over the 50 years mark contrasts the real money online gambling stats, which show that more than half of the players are below 44 years old.

Another way in which the social gambling stats differ from the real money online gambling industry is the division by gender. Female players tend to wager more on social gambling per session than their male counterparts, by almost 25%.

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Slots and mobile devices

The popular social slot games had very similar stats for both genders and Monopoly Plus came out on top. Kitty Glitter and Treasure of Troy were also amongst the top favorite social slots.

The most traffic at the social gambling games was between 4 pm and 6 pm, when players would get home from work and spend a couple of hours relaxing with their favorite games. However, this also shows that a great number of players access the games on their smartphones during their post-work commute.

Social Gambling Is More Popular Amongst Women

Mobile devices were the most popular in California, Florida, Texas and New York as far as the number of players accessing the social gambling options is concerned. For the biggest amounts of bets placed on mobile devices, Delaware takes the crown; followed by Hawaii, Colorado and California.

The big number of desktop gamers came from Maine, Alabama and Kentucky, while California had the biggest wagers via desktops. The highest concentrations of players, regardless of their device of choice, were in North Dakota, Washington, Nevada and Oregon. Overall, the western half of the United States had the highest concentrations and also the most committed players, while those on the border with the Pacific Ocean preferred bigger jackpots.

California also has the luckiest players, as the biggest number of winners at the gambling games came from this state; something to consider for the highly anticipated online poker legalization.

A lawsuit has been filed against MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby

Caesars Sues Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman
Stephen Crosby
Towards the end of October, Nevada-based casino gaming giant Caesars Entertainment stated that it will no longer have a partnership with the Boston race track Suffolk Downs that would allow the casino operator to build a casino in the area. The main reason to drop the deal was that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission was concerned about one of the subsidiaries that Caesars has, despite the fact that the operator denied doing anything wrong.

Now, Caesars Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby on the belief that he is looking to keep Caesars away from the market and was not willing to grant it a casino license for untrue reasons.

The lawsuit also reveals that Crosby has a business and friendship relationship with one of the owners of the land on which it is expected for a Wynn Resorts casino to be built. This relationship with Paul Lohnes was not known during the licensing process and Caesars believes that it is the main reason for it getting denied.

In fact, Wynn has also announced recently that it is thinking of no longer building the $1.3 billion resort in the region due to the unjustifiably strict regulations in Massachusetts.

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The lawsuit against Crosby is for “reputational and economic injury” since the Caesars Entertainment image has been stained after it failed to pass the suitability hearing and that this can affect the company in other markets, according to recent reports.

Caesars Sues Massachusetts Gaming Commission ChairmanA difficult market to enter

The competition between casino operators for licenses started in 2012 in the state and quite a few giants have already given up on their huge gaming projects, similar to those found in Las Vegas, mostly due to the difficult restrictions. These include Ameristar, Penn National Gaming, Hard Rock and also Mohegan Sun.

MGM Resorts – the second largest gaming company in the world – is still looking to join the market and is currently waiting for the MGC to give the green light in Springfield. However, things don’t seem to be going well for MGM since the report of 500 pages presented by investigators reveals some issues with the company operations in Macau, as well as other concerns.

The gaming act in Massachusetts passed in 2011 and the MGC is expected to issue its first license in February, 2014. The regulations only allow three regional casinos and a slot parlor to be built for now.

$30 billion casino resort no longer coming to Spain

EuroVegas Plans For Madrid Get DroppedThe Las Vegas Sands was looking to build a huge resort in Madrid, Spain which would bring a lot of needed jobs to the country. It was called EuroVegas and it would cost around $30 billion to be built as the massive resort would contain six casinos and twelve luxury hotels. With 250,000 jobs up for grabs once the construction was over, the project brought a glimpse of light to the dark unemployment situation in Spain which has reached 27 percent recently.

However, all that doesn’t matter now as the casino operator decided to scrap the plans to build EuroVegas in Spain earlier this week, leaving a lot of people shocked. The main reason for this decision is the struggle between Sands and the Spanish gambling regulators to reach an agreement that would benefit both sides.

Negotiations between Las Vegas Sands and Spanish government

Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson has already received several offers from the Madrid mayor in order to persuade him to continue with the plan to build the resort. The most appealing one offered by Ignacio Gonzales represented a significant tax cut on land-based casinos from the current 45 percent to just 10 percent.

EuroVegas Plans For Madrid Get DroppedWhile this may seem hard to resist, there are also plenty of other major hurdles between the two sides. One of which being the fact that Las Vegas Sands insists on getting protection for the company from future policy changes which would negatively affect the financial revenue for the resort. This mostly refers to the smoking regulations imposed recently in Spain since Sands stated back in September that the EuroVegas project would be in jeopardy in Madrid if the government would insist on the public smoking laws.

With neither side willing to budge, it seems that the project will be scrapped for Madrid and could be built somewhere else. Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz De Santamaria stated in a recent news conference that the government has offered new conditions regarding legal protection and taxes. She also said that the government needs to have the general interests of the citizens of Spain as a priority.

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AsiaVegas would be a better fit?

If the plans are really off the table, Adelson will most likely be looking towards Asia for expanding his casino empire. The casino magnate expressed his desire to build large resorts in Europe but was not happy with the regulations and the slow growing rate now available. On the other hand, emerging markets like the ones in Japan and Korea could benefit from large resorts and could increase tourism in the area.

Since Sheldon Adelson is not wishing to go online like most of its US competitors are now working on, the Las Vegas Sands is focusing most of its efforts on expanding to other markets. There is also the ongoing fight against online gambling in the United States, but that is mostly something which Adelson took a personal interest in. The vision that Adelson has for Las Vegas Sands seems to no longer include EuroVegas, at least for now.

PokerStars to stay away from the US for another couple of years

With the new online gambling industry in New Jersey showing a lot of potential, more and more operators are interested in getting in on the action. One of the companies which have been trying to launch in New Jersey since rumors started flowing that it will legalize online poker is PokerStars.

By far the biggest online poker room across the ocean, PokerStars has been having a very difficult time gaining access to the online gaming market in the United States after the Department of Justice came cracking down in 2011. Some signs of a foothold in New Jersey for PokerStars parent company Rational Group were seen throughout the year but the Division of Gaming Enforcement has just announced that the online gaming license for PokerStars will be suspended for two years.

pokerstarsThe process can be reopened if changes are made but it seems that the biggest problem is owner Isai Scheinberg having a legal case pending.

PokerStars has almost 10 times as many cash game players on average than the second most popular poker room in the non-US industry and is seen as the best cardroom in the world for various reasons. New Jersey players were looking forward to once again being able to take a seat at the virtual tables and enjoy the first class software.

While it was fairly obvious that PokerStars had some issues in New Jersey and will probably not be amongst the first to launch, Senator Raymond Lesniak was very confident that Stars will become available in the Garden State. With a two-year pause now in effect, things aren’t looking very promising and it will be more than enough time for other operators to establish their position in the new market.

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It is also a loss for the Atlantic City economy since PokerStars was going to build a $10 million poker room at Resorts if it was accepted for online gambling in the state.

Resorts did receive an internet gaming license from the Division of Gaming Enforcement and it remains to be seen what the casino operator will do now that its partner will be delayed for two years. Resorts can make another partnership and get the approval from the regulators to launch or just wait to see how the PokerStars issue gets resolved.

starsThe future of PokerStars in the US

As of now, PokerStars doesn’t have a lot of options remaining. The best one would be if Resorts would wait and see how it goes. On the other hand, if Resorts finds a new partner, PokerStars will be in a tough spot due to the limited partnership possibilities, even if it gets approved.

Only land-based casinos and their partners are allowed to launch in the New Jersey and most of the 12 casinos in Atlantic City already found software providers. Revel and Atlantic Club are the two exceptions and the latter one will be sold on auction in a few days. Since PokerStars is not going to get a license in the near future, it will most likely not be involved in the sale and Atlantic Club will be sold to another operator.

Revel will soon go through the same process since it has been struggling with bankruptcy and partnerships with Stars and the future casino owners are not out of the question. PokerStars can even opt to build a new casino in AC but the land-based market is too crowded to make it a viable option.

The demand for PokerStars is strong in the US and while it does not enter the market today, there is still hope for the future.

The online gambling market in NJ now has 14 websites

Golden Nugget Finally Launches In New JerseyWhile New Jersey officially launched online gambling on November 26, Golden Nugget was delayed due to some issues which were found by the regulators during the test period. This mean that the casino operator would miss out on the first few weeks of regulated online gambling in the Garden State and not be amongst the six casinos and their 13 gambling sites which did very well throughout the soft launch.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement finally gave Golden Nugget the green light on Friday and allowed the GoldenNuggetCasino.com online casino to open its doors to the entire state at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. This means that the glitches have been resolved and that players will now be able to enjoy the first-class experience which Golden Nugget promises to bring to the new iGaming industry.

There will be some catching up to do as Party and Borgata have already established themselves as the leaders in the market for online poker and also for casino games. The much larger player pool than in Nevada and Delaware combined is sure to give New Jersey sites the traffic they need to get going and the nice variety of options right from the start has made other big states look into online gambling.

This is the time to launch

Golden Nugget Finally Launches In New JerseyAccording to Golden Nugget General Manager Tom Pohlman, this is the time to launch the site and the decision to hold off in order to make sure that everything runs smoothly was a great one. Given the highly competitive market, launching with a less than perfect product can damage the image of the company more than delaying the launch for a few weeks would. Pohlman claimed that he is “very satisfied” with the product, which offers video poker, table games and 77 slot titles.

The games are provided by Bally Technologies, IGT, Amaya Gaming and SHFL, for both PC and MAC, with mobile apps for Android and iOS coming in January. Based on sheer volume, the Golden Nugget claims that it has the biggest online casino in New Jersey and plans on launching its online poker room in January as well.

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New and unique banking method

Golden Nugget has also adopted a unique solution for one of the major issues that still remain for online gambling in the United States. Several credit card issuers are not yet on board with the industry and have expressed concerns that the federal government can once again come to spoil the party.

Aside from the standard options now available in New Jersey – VISA, MasterCard, check, cash-at-the-cage and ACH – Nugget online casino allows deposits by prepaid card on the Discover network, making it the first to include this option. The transactions are done instantly and players can easily transfer money to and from their gaming accounts. A card can be ordered from the casino site and should be delivered in just a couple of days.

Tens of thousands of accounts have already been created for online gaming in New Jersey and with Golden Nugget now joining the action with a variety of games and a new banking method, more players will certainly take part in the fun. The online gambling revenue figures will be posted by casinos starting from January 14.