Donald Trump, the billionaire whose name sits atop two Atlantic City resorts, is negotiating for a partner in New Jersey’s online gambling market after all 12 casinos notified the state of plans to offer Internet wagering.
Trump, who retains online gambling rights to his name, has held talks with Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the company that owns Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza hotels, and other potential partners, according to his daughter Ivanka Trump, an executive with the New York-based Trump Organization Inc. “Given the way online gaming is rolling out on a state-by-state basis, we really want to keep our options open,” Ivanka Trump said in an interview.
Trump could sign a deal with one of his namesake casinos or another operator, she said. Trump Taj Mahal has paired with Ultimate Gaming, part of Station Casinos LLC. Online gambling in New Jersey may start this year.
All 12 New Jersey casinos met a June 30 deadline to seek state permission to offer betting online, according to Lisa Spengler, a spokeswoman for the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Trump’s online initiative is complicated by the ownership of the New Jersey hotels. Trump Entertainment emerged from bankruptcy in 2010 with Donald Trump as a minority investor and no management role. A licensing agreement signed with the company that year left him in control of his name for online gambling, according to the agreement.
Brian Cahill, a spokesman for Trump Entertainment, declined to comment.
Local Boost
New Jersey legalized online betting in February as a way to boost the state’s $3 billion casino market. Online operators are required to partner with a casino located in the state.
The casinos have all identified their prospective online partners to the state and either have agreements in hand or are still in talks, according to Spengler, the state spokeswoman. They have to file completed applications by July 29. New Jersey isn’t disclosing the names of the online companies.
Ultimate Gaming, owned by Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, said this week it entered into a partnership with the Trump Taj Mahal. The online games will be marketed under the Ultimate Gaming brands, the company said in a statement.
Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR), the largest operator in Atlantic City with four properties, will offer online games with Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings Plc (888) under the Caesars and World Series of Poker brands, according to Seth Palansky, a spokesman for the casino company.
MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Boyd Gaming Corp. (BYD), which own Atlantic City’s top-grossing Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, have partnered with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc (BPTY), also based in Gibraltar.
Those games will be marketed with the Borgata and Bwin PartyPoker names, according to Robert Boughner, an executive vice president of Las Vegas-based Boyd, which manages the property.
Trump Organization in Talks for New Jersey Online Gambling Role - Bloomberg
The European Union has many issues facing its parliament most of which are concerned with counties that are suffering huge deficits in the economies. The recent austerity programs brought about in close to bankrupt member states has caused organized protests and rebellion that further degrades the economies of the affected nations.
It has been rumoured that France is also close to the edge of financial ruin and is seeking every method it can to preserve the integrity of the county’s economy. The generation of funds from the introduction of legalized online gambling in France has helped somewhat after the European Commission approved the liberalization of internet wagering there. The French proposal to impose an extra tax on online horse-race betting in order to finance horse-racing companies has prompted a negative response from the Remote Gambling Association and the European Gaming and Betting Association.
The European Commission has approved the proposal to impose an additional tax of 8% on all online horse-race betting. The French authority said the revenues from this extra tax will go to finance a service to improve and promote the horse-breeding industry in France. The Commission began investigating the proposal back in 2010,and has finally deciding that the French proposition is compatible with its own regulations. The Commission’s position on the issue was that by sharing the financial responsibility among the operators, the measure would allow for fair competition in the online horse-race wagering market.
Representing the gambling entities that operate legally in France the Remote Gambling Association and the European Gaming and Betting Association are adamant about their objections to the new tax. The organizations released a joint press release that mentions their "concern" about the European Commission’s approval of the French plan. The groups noted that levies or parts of levies can only be justifiable if they truly serve common interest objectives. They claim that by transferring funds from one industry to another a distorted playing field will be created between other gambling sectors and other union members.
In late 2011, the US Department of Justice passed a landmark ruling that individual states can legalize online gambling without fear of repercussions. While federal legalization still faces many hurdles, a number of states have already approved eGaming and a number more are waiting in the wings. Below is the updated list.
Legal Online Gambling
Nevada, as always is the pioneer. In June this year, licensee Ultimate Poker opened its doors to intra-state customers in the country's first legal, real-money Internet gambling launch. This is only the first step. In February, the state finalized a law authorizing local firms to host online gambling for non-residents - effectively creating a nationwide framework for online gambling where the feds have failed to do so.
Delaware actually beat Nevada to legalization in June 2012, but with more restrictions. Under the Delaware Gaming Competitiveness Act 2012, Delaware Lottery will be the sole regulator of real-money poker, slots, bingo and video lottery games. In May 2013 it selected a joint bid from 888, Scientific Games Corp and WMS to operate the state's Internet Gambling services.
New Jersey was the third to join the online gambling rush. Its law, which is set to be implemented later this year, sets up a 10-year trial period in which the state will issue intrastate online gambling licenses to Atlantic City casinos and tax them at 15% (instead of 10% for land-based casinos).
Next States in Line
Pennsylvania has emerged as the likely next candidate to endorse online gambling, after lawmakers introduced a bill in April that would allow existing land-based gambling establishments to offer online casino games including poker. If the law passes, out-of-state software firms will be permitted to partner with local gambling operators.
California was originally considered the frontrunner for legal in-state online gambling, but those efforts have fallen by the wayside.
Other states that are looking at ways to legal some form of Internet gambling are Connecticut, Ohio and Iowa. New York does not seem to be considering online casinos and poker, but there has been talk that it will enable lottery tickets to be sold online.
Not Anytime Soon
Most of the Southern states such as Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia, leave little room for movement on the online gambling issue. All have pretty strong penalties for the activity on the books, and the situation appears likely to change only in the event that the federal government steps in and legalizes on a nationwide level.
Illinois and Massachusetts lawmakers have both made efforts in recent years, but these moves seem to have been blocked for now. In Illinois, state senators recently passed a gambling expansion bill but only after deleting all references to online gambling. In Mass, an online gambling amendment was removed before passage of this year's state budget.
Special Report: Legality of Online Gambling in US - Special Reports - Onlinecasinoreports-com
Zynga Inc. (ZNGA) is hiring Don Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)’s entertainment division, as its new chief executive officer, seeking to reignite growth at the game developer. Mattrick will succeed Mark Pincus, who will remain chairman of the board and chief product officer, Zynga said in a statement today. Mattrick, who will also join the board, starts July 8, the company said.
Mattrick faces the challenge of turning around Zynga, which is suffering amid rising competition from upstarts such as King.com as well as a shift toward gaming on handheld devices. His experience in the industry, which includes stints at Microsoft and Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), may help San Francisco-based Zynga find new lines of revenue outside of Facebook Inc (F😎., where it is losing users, according to Michael Hickey, an analyst at National Alliance Capital Markets.
“It does potentially demonstrate that he believes they have a compelling growth profile,” Denver-based Hickey said in an interview. “He also adds credibility to an executive team that has been significantly compromised after their core Facebook business has deteriorated.”
Pincus will take a diminished role at the company he founded, a sign that his hard-charging management style and negotiating prowess -- once described by Google Inc. (GOOG) Chairman Eric Schmidt as “fearsome” -- may have clashed with the needs of a large, publicly traded business.
Career Moves
Shares of Zynga jumped as much as 13 percent, the biggest gain since April 3, after technology blog AllThingsD reported earlier today that Mattrick could take over the game developer. Zynga rose 10 percent to $3.07 at the close in New York. The stock is down 69 percent since debuting in December 2011.
Mattrick resigned from Microsoft at the end of last week, said a person with knowledge of the matter.
Bing Gordon, the venture capitalist who led Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (ZZISK)’ 2008 investment in Zynga and serves as a close adviser to Pincus, was instrumental in Mattrick’s hiring, said another person familiar with the matter. The two worked together as executives at Electronic Arts.
Pincus and Mattrick first discussed opportunities at Zynga in March, when the two road-bike enthusiasts began going on rides together, said a person familiar with the talks.
Zynga’s board of directors voted unanimously to appoint Mattrick as CEO, the company said. No formal search was conducted, and Mattrick was the only candidate to replace Pincus, said another person with knowledge of the matter.
Board Oversight
At Zynga, Mattrick will report to a board that’s under close control by Pincus. After founding the company in 2007, Pincus put in place a governance structure granting him de facto control over board voting. Pincus will retain majority voting power over the board after Mattrick’s hiring, said a person familiar with the plan.
Pincus previously stepped down from the CEO job at Support.com, a company he founded in 1997. Pincus left the role amid tension with the board, two people with knowledge of the matter said in 2011. When the Support.com board brought in former Hewlett-Packard Co. executive Radha Basu as the new CEO, Pincus, then chairman, asked engineers to work on weekends so he could give them projects not authorized by Basu, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Management Experience
“I think Pincus needs somebody professional running his company, so anybody who has more management experience than Pincus is a good choice,” said Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities Inc. who rates Zynga shares outperform.
Pincus joins other technology entrepreneurs who have lost or ceded top jobs within a few years of taking a company public. Earlier this year, Groupon Inc. (GRPN)’s board of directors fired Andrew Mason, the co-founder and former CEO, as growth slowed.
In a memo to Zynga employees today, Mattrick said he plans to work closely with Pincus to restart growth.
“Zynga is a great business that has yet to realize its full potential,” Mattrick said in the memo, which was posted on Zynga’s blog. “I’m really proud to partner with a product focused founder like Mark and work with the executive team to grow the DNA of the company and lead this transition.”
Zynga said last month it will cut 520 jobs, or 18 percent of its staff, and close some offices amid disappointing results.
Mattrick was probably drawn to Zynga for the opportunity to make the company competitive in the game industry again, said Sean McGowan, an analyst at Needham & Co.
“What’s attractive to Don is that’s he’s able to turn things around,” McGowan said. “If he pulls this off, it could be a massive boost.”
Microsoft Revamp
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had been planning a reorganization of the software maker aimed at reducing the number of business units and putting more focus on devices and services, people familiar with the matter said last month. He was planning to give more responsibility to Mattrick, the people said at the time.
Ballmer promoted Mattrick to president of the interactive-entertainment business in October 2010. The executive, who joined Microsoft in 2007, has been leading the effort to introduce the next-generation Xbox One home-entertainment and gaming console that will compete with Sony Corp (6758).’s new PlayStation 4 device.
“This is a great opportunity for Don, and I wish him success,” Ballmer wrote in a memo sent to Microsoft employees and posted on its website today.
Mattrick reversed course on a policy last month for Microsoft’s new console that would have required users to connect to the Web at least once every 24 hours to keep playing a game, and the company lifted restrictions on reselling, trading and lending used game titles.
Don Mattrick is a big name in the gaming world. He sold his first gaming business to Electronic Arts, where he stayed on and played a key role in popular franchises like The Sims and FIFA Soccer. At Microsoft MSFT +0.18%, he helped reinvigorate Xbox. The stock market seems to think that if anybody is going to rescue social gaming company Zynga, Mattrick is the guy to do it. Investors have pushed up Zynga’s shares by 25% since Mattrick was named Zynga’s new CEO this week.
But one thing Mattrick knows very little about is online gambling. It’s safe to say that Mattrick could walk down the Las Vegas Strip without being recognized by anyone other than Xbox fans. He knows Wayne Gretzky and Steven Spielberg, but Mattrick could show up at a board meeting of the American Gaming Association and probably not know anyone in the room. Zynga founder Mark Pincus’ replacement choice as CEO at Zynga sends an unmistakable message: Zynga is a gaming company, not a gambling company, and it’s future will be determined in the areas that Mattrick knows well.
This was not the message that Pincus was sending when shares of Zynga were in free fall. With its social gaming efforts floundering amid a tough transition to mobile, Pincus encouraged investors to stick with Zynga by implying it would ultimately find riches through online gambling. The idea was to build off of Zynga’s hugely popular free-to-play online poker franchise, Zynga Poker, which was Zynga’s first social game. The company struck partnerships with the likes of Bwin.Party to launch online gambling overseas while crafting a strategy for the U.S., where a few states are moving toward regulating online gambling. But building a big online gambling business remains a long shot for Zynga. With no federal regulation of online gambling, the U.S. market is not very viable, yet the competition is intense as the Las Vegas casinos work to protect their turf. Big companies like Caesars Entertainment CZR -1.23% have made huge investments in this area. Zynga also has to confront PokerStars, the world’s biggest online poker company, which completely dominates the international market and is working to find a way back into the U.S. after its settlement with the Department of Justice. As I have previously argued, Zynga’s real-money online poker prospects are also not as great as one might think because the company has no experience in this very unique business and a high percentage of its online poker players are under the age of 18 and come from countries like Indonesia.
Zynga will continue to try to move the online gambling ball forward, but Pincus probably realized that the online gambling road would likely not get him anywhere, which is why he has been making a hard run at Mattrick, a hardcore gamer, since April, around the time Zynga reported that sales fell 18% in the first quarter.
Increasingly, Pincus’ online gambling moves look like a bluff. Pincus has sold investors a lot of things since he took Zynga public at $10 a share in 2011. He first sold investors on Farmville and Facebook FB +0.53%, then he sold investors a boatload of his own Zynga stock, and finally he tried to sell investors again on online gambling. With Zynga’s shares now changing hands at $3.40, Pincus is now selling a Microsoft exec. It’s probably his best bet.
With the UK set to introduce its new point of consumption tax on the remote gambling industry in December next year, neighbouring gambling jurisdictions are thinking ahead to how the new regulations will impact them.
The Isle of Man's Economic Development Minister, John Shimmin, rolled out a new five-year strategy for Isle of Man online gambling, saying that the isle is looking to take a proactive approach to the new changes in the region.
Many online gambling operators are located on the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and others in a bid to escape the UK's high tax rates. However, the new UK remote gambling tax regime planned for 2014 has been designed to generate taxes from these firms, even though they are based offshore.
As such, the Isle of Man recognises that it may lose some of its licensees who may return to the UK if the advantage is removed.
IoM Meets with UK Gambling Commission
Minister Shimmin confirmed that the Isle of Man's Gambling Supervision Commission, which oversees land and online gambling in the jurisdiction, has met with the UK's Gambling Commission to "fully understand the implications for the islands regulatory regime."
"My department is continuing to support existing e-gaming businesses, while seeking to also attract new licensable and non-licensable businesses to the sector, thus we hope bringing both balance and, crucially, diversity to the portfolio of businesses that make up the Isle of Man's successful e-gaming sector," he said.
Top gambling operators such as Paddy Power, Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars are licensed by the Isle of Man's Gambling Supervision Commission.
New UK Tax Laws will Impact Isle of Man
Shimmin correctly pointed out that the Isle of Man is not the only jurisdiction that may be impacted by the new laws set to be introduced to the UK next year.
"It should also be noted that the UK is only one of a number of markets for our e-gaming companies and that the impact of the change in the UK may well affect some of our competitive jurisdictions to a greater degree than the Isle of Man," he said.
"It is recognised that the UK's plans to regulate at the point of consumption will affect all operators with customers in the UK market, regardless of the jurisdiction from which they operate."
Isle of Man Weighs Online Gambling Options - GamblingKingz-com
Channel Ten has commissioned new comedy and entertainment series ‘A League of Their Own’ based on a UK comedy of the same name and produced by Freehand Productions in Australia.
The announcement:
Network Ten, the home of Event TV, is pleased to announce it has commissioned a brand new comedy and entertainment series called A League Of Their Own.
Comedian Tommy Little, will be joined by Wimbledon champion Pat Cash and Olympic swimmer Eamon Sullivan for a sport entertainment show like no other.
The exciting new series will be filmed in Sydney, in front of a live audience, and will feature a spectacular set.
Bringing his quick wit and enthusiasm for all thing sports related to the hosting chair, Tommy Little will oversee team captains Pat Cash and Eamon Sullivan, who will be joined by the crème de la crème of national and international sport stars and a variety of well-known faces from Australian
comedy.
More than a game show, A League Of Their Own will feature the teams competing on a level that boasts laugh-out-loud moments, derived from quizzes, out-of-their-seat games and irreverent but very competitive sporting challenges.
Network Ten, Chief Programming Officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: “We are very excited about bringing this brand new show to TEN later this year.
“A League Of Their Own offers wonderful talent and a wonderful mix of sport, comedy and stunts. It is a big entertainment show for the whole family, with big stars, big stunts, a big set and big laughs. A League Of Their Own is a smash in the UK and we are confident Australian families will embrace our version.”
Tommy Little said: “It’s exciting to finally see the three titans of Australian sport come together to make a show, Pat Cash with his Wimbledon title, Eamon Sullivan with all his Olympic medals and myself with my fourth place ribbon from the year 9 inter school sports!”
Created by CPL Productions and distributed by Red Arrow International, A League Of Their Own is based on the BAFTA-nominated UK series of the same name. The Australian series will be produced by Freehand Productions and will air on TEN later this year.
Ten commissions new family entertainment show - mUmBRELLA
Prior to the September 2006 military coup d'état, in Thailand 34,411 web sites were blocked by all three government agencies. Estimates put the number of websites blocked at over 110,000 and growing in 2010. It was suggested that approximately two to three percent of those blocked sites had something to do with gambling.
A recent article in the Thai news the Nation reported that at least six online gambling web sites were frozen and the bank account of those domains were locked up pending an investigation. The Department of Special Investigation said as many as one thousand bank accounts and 10 million Thai dollars were involved.
Accounts connected with students and the general population were allegedly linked to the online gambling sites about 20 accounts of these were reportedly identified as the perpetrators. The illegal internet gambling activities included football betting and online casino games. DSI chief Tarit Pengdit who has been in charge of the ongoing investigation into the illegal online betting has had summons’ issued of all of the account holders.
The police revealed they found the bookies had arranged for at least 200 punters to join gambling activities on offshore websites and had operated as an proper business that included a manager, accountant, telephone operator, and a financial person who would complete the illegal transactions. The higher up books may be transferring bets worth Bt200 million to Bt500 million per month.
The chief also said to the paper the criminals have been hard to catch because of sophisticated techniques. The operators set up bank accounts in Thailand’s banks for prospective punters and moved or closed them often enough as too not arouse any suspicion by officials. The offices of the bogus business set ups were also relocated frequently. This process kept the authorities guessing as to whether the business and money transfers were legal.
It has taken a long time in Delaware to propose a regulatory platform for the legal offering of internet gambling in the state. The proposed regulations were released recently by Delaware’s officials.
The regulator for the State has chosen 888 Holdings, Scientific Games and Williams Interactive as its online gambling partners but they must still qualify under the terms and conditions set out by the First State for the provision of interactive gaming to its residents.
These regulations are just a proposal and public comments and consultations, which will be listened too until July 31st, and will be considered before the regulations take effect.
The first part of the regulations prohibits anyone that has been convicted of a felony or gaming related crime from participating in the regulated online gambling industry in Delaware. The regulations also exclude any person or company that has failed to follow any applicable tax laws of the federal, state or local governments. Additional examination of firms that failed to pay federal tax or state taxes make the Delaware law exclude offshore operators that did not file tax returns with Delaware or other jurisdictions in America.
Part of the new interactive gaming rules says there is an exception for companies licensed in other states. A company that has already received an interactive gaming license in a jurisdiction with the same stringent requirements as Delaware may be able to receive a waiver for some of the background requirements that other potential licensees may be forced to provide which for some firms this would streamline the process.
Unlike some jurisdictions the proposed Delaware regulations do not require licensees to be located in the State. Primary employees and servers must be located in the United States but non-essential employees and servers that contain personal information may be located in other countries. Primary gaming servers, which compute wager results, must be located in the United States, but these servers are not required to be in Delaware.
Proposed Online Gambling Rules for Delaware Released
Gambling is one of the many industries that has been revolutionised by the internet and as the importance of the bricks and mortar bookie continues to wane, online gambling grows. So how has the industry changed and what new danger does online gambling bring?
Declan Lynch author of the gambling book Free Money said before the internet era, it was quite difficult to place a bet but now you're only a couple of clicks away and Leon Blanche Head of Communications with Boylesports discussed how they are combating the new addiction dangers of online betting.
Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane says City Council action on an updated security ordinance for downtown bars and nightclubs should be among the first actions taken up when the panel returns from summer break.
Lane on Monday updated the council on a proposed ordinance to require bars, nightclubs and other establishments to provide a safer environment for patrons.
The update came a week after the second stabbing in six months at Martini Ranch, a nightclub in downtown’s entertainment district. A 34-year-old man was stabbed several times in the back, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
A previous stabbing resulted in the death of former Arizona State University football player Tyrice Thompson, who was a bouncer at the nightclub.
The council had a second meeting on Tuesday, its last before beginning its summer break. The council won’t reconvene until mid-August.
“The ordinance should be an item on either the first or second meeting (after the break),” Lane said. “There was no sloughing off on this at all. It’s been a high priority.”
Lane said the ordinance is a holistic approach to improving public safety while “trying very hard not to interfere with those businesses operating well.” He also said the process has involved outreach from the beginning and the proposed ordinance has been revised 12 times based on feedback.
“This is not something we just want to react to without doing a thorough and thoughtful study of the things that we can do that will have real impact,” he said. “... We did the necessary work to really be able to say what is it we’re trying to focus on and that’s exactly what we did.”
Councilman Bob Littlefield said the proposed ordinance is “too little, too late, too weak and clearly crafted by the bar industry.” He also said the public hasn’t been involved in the process, “just staff and the bars.”
Downtown bar owners, the Arizona Restaurant Association and the Arizona Licensed Beverage Association have weighed in on the proposed ordinance, and two public outreach meetings are scheduled for July 16 and 24.
Littlefield said July is the “absolute worst month” to conduct public outreach because many residents will be out of town.
Lane said he also met with members of the Association to Preserve Downtown Scottsdale’s Quality of Life, a group of downtown residents and businesses.
Other council members asked questions but didn’t criticize the proposed ordinance.
Councilman Guy Phillips said he has continuing concerns about safety in the entertainment district, but he likes the ordinance, adding that “hope springs eternal.”
The proposed ordinance requires a minimum number of security officers per number of patrons, including one officer per 50 patrons for the first 500 and at least one additional officer per 75 patrons beyond that during peak hours, said J.P. Twist, Lane’s chief of staff. The requirement is less for establishments where at least 60 percent of gross sales is food, he said.
In addition, it requires establishments with two or more public-safety incidents within a one-week period or three or more incidents within a month to hire at least two off-duty peace officers to supplement security personnel during peak times for at least three months. The requirement is stricter for establishments with incidents involving the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon or deadly instrument, he said.
Peace officers could include off-duty officers from Scottsdale and other area law-enforcement agencies, Twist said.
Littlefield said the city should require off-duty Scottsdale officers because that would ensure that all incidents are reported, thus providing clearer picture of what’s happening in the bars. The council defeated his motion to explore that option
“The issue is still out there,” Twist said. “As it appears, it doesn’t look like the city can require the hiring (of Scottsdale police officers) by the establishments, but we’re going to continue reviewing it in the hopes that maybe we can identify an avenue to require hiring off-duty Scottsdale police officers.”
State lottery officials released regulations this week to govern legal online gambling in Delaware, scheduled to debut at the end of September.
The draft regulations, open for public comment through the end of the month, detail how the state will license vendors of online games and technology and software to support them, as well as requirements for player registration and money transactions.
Delaware’s online gambling rules came out July 1, the same day all 12 Atlantic City, N.J, casinos began a process to obtain online gambling licenses in that state. New Jersey was the second state to legalize full-service online gambling and is slated to launch its games in November. Nevada legalized online poker before Delaware, and sites began operating there in May.
Online gambling is available only to players physically located within the borders of states where it is legal, according to federal law. However, online gambling states could enter into agreements to pool players from their jurisdictions and share in the profits, arrangements similar to the compacts that govern multistate lotteries like Powerball.
The regulations spell out requirements for game content vendors and others chosen to service parts of the online gambling system. All owners, company directors and key staff will have to submit to criminal background checks, and the state will only issue gaming licenses to those who have no felony convictions in the last decade.
The Lottery Office will also consider whether a license applicant has been “known to associate with persons of nefarious backgrounds or disreputable character.”
Earlier this year, the state awarded a contract for administering the central computer systems that will control online gambling to a joint venture of Scientific Games International and European online wagering company 888 Holdings.
Lottery Director Vernon Kirk said the process of selecting game content vendors who will operate under the Sci Games/888 umbrella is moving ahead slower than expected because of the complicated nature of the technology.
Online gambling still is slated to launch Sept. 30, but Kirk said the websites of Delaware’s three casinos, which will serve as portals for players, won’t have a full array of games.
“We’ll be introducing game content throughout. At launch, it won’t be as robust in game content as we’ll introduce later on,” he said. “All of these games are certified, for the most part, in Europe, but not in the U.S., so it’s taking some extra time.”
The proposed regulations also say a player must be “reasonably determined to be located within the state” to wager money online and provide his or her name, address, cellphone number, email address, date of birth and Social Security number.
Free games with no money transacted are not limited to in-state players.
Third-party software vendors will be selected and licensed to verify player identity, age and location.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) and 11 other Atlantic City casinos have begun the process of getting Internet gaming permits ahead of a Sunday deadline set by New Jersey regulators.
They're part of a rush to get in on the ground floor as online gambling gets ready to go mainstream nationwide.
New Jersey will in November be the third state to launch statewide online poker and other gaming, after Nevada and Delaware.
The new gaming outlet became possible when the federal government did an about-face in December 2011. After adamantly opposing online gambling for years, the government said states could issue licenses, but must limit gambling to residents who live within that state.
Las Vegas casinos Las Vegas Sands (LVS), the world's largest casino resort operator, MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN) are expected to jump into online gambling.
Sands, MGM and Wynn all have multibillion-dollar hotel casino complexes in Macau and rely on it for the bulk of their growth.
Former Portuguese colony Macau, on China's southern coast across the straits from Hong Kong, is the world's top gambling destination and fastest-growing.
Caesars, which missed the boat to Macau, hopes to rake in the chips online. Analysts project the online gambling revenue opportunity in New Jersey alone at $500 million to $1 billion annually.
Analysts speculate online companies such as leading social network Facebook (F😎, which offers non-money games now, might join the party. Facebook rose 0.5% Wednesday.
Caesars fell 1.2% Wednesday in stock market trading.
Sands was unchanged, MGM Resorts rose 0.4% and Wynn Resorts edged down fractionally.
Caesars has focused mainly on its U.S. properties and is one of the biggest casino operators in Atlantic City. It also has resorts in Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., Baltimore, New Orleans, Philadelphia and other U.S. cities, as well as in Cairo, London and Emerald, South Africa.
It was one of the first to file for a permit earlier this year.
Caesars CEO Gary Loveman told reporters on a May earnings calls, "We're pursuing emerging opportunities, including real-money online gaming in the United States and international expansion.
"The successful launch of real-money online gaming in Nevada and New Jersey could be a model for other states considering the legalization of online gaming," Loveman added.
Like other casinos, Caesars is teaming with an established online gaming company. The four Atlantic City casinos owned by Caesars paired with European online gaming operator 888 Holdings.
The Trump Taj Mahal casino signed an agreement with Las Vegas-based Ultimate Gaming to bring online gambling to New Jersey. In April, Ultimate Gaming launched online poker in Nevada.
And Atlantic City's Borgata Hotel Casino, jointly owned by an MGM divestiture trust and Boyd Gaming (BYD), teamed with British territory Gibraltar-based Bwin.Party. Boyd fell 0.5% Wednesday.
Read More At Investor's Business Daily: Casinos Rush For Licenses As Online Gambling Dawns FB LVS WYNN CZR - Investors-com
Follow us: @IBDinvestors on Twitter | InvestorsBusinessDaily on Facebook
Actress and singer Bernie Nolan has died following a long battle with breast cancer. She was 52.
Nolan, who spent 20 years as lead singer of ‘The Nolans’, was first diagnosed in 2010, and had chemotherapy and a mastectomy, receiving an all-clear in 2012.
Bur, months later the disease returned and spread to her brain, bones, lungs and liver, the BBC reported.
The confirmation was made public by a spokesperson for the family.
Nolan was born on 17 October 1960, and she grew up in Ireland, performing as a family troupe with her five sisters and two brothers.
She turned to acting following 20 years fronting the Irish all-girl group and a string of hits including 1979’s ‘I’m in the Mood for Dancing’ and ‘Don’t Make Waves.
She later moved into television playing hairdresser Diane Murray in Brookside from 2000-02 and joining ITV's police drama The Bill in 2003, as Sergeant Sheelagh Murphy.
Nolan also wrote about her battle with cancer in her autobiography, released in May.
The means by which we play online games and gamble has changed over the past few years making the gaming more fun and definitely more available. In the beginning of internet gambling was relegated to desktop computers that were usually located in offices and home environments but now there are no wires and a cyberspace connection is available almost everywhere.
Apple, Nokia, HP, Google, Acer and Toshiba have all launched products that are competing with one another for the millions of dollars and euro spent annually on communications devices. Apple’s iPad has revolutionized the gaming industry and is expected to make a difference in the way people punt.
Mobility is the key word to describe the latest high tech offerings as is confirmed by sales of the iPad which exceeded the one million mark in 28 days, selling more than twice as fast as the iPhone did at its launch.
With as many as eighty million iPads in circulation the potential for internet gambling firms to offer gaming for the Apple OS platform is great. Betfair, the betting exchange from the U.K., has become the first major betting company to offer a downloadable gambling application from Apple’s iPhone App Store. This is a big change for Apple which traditionally did not venture into real money internet wagering. The app, available to customers in the U.K. and Ireland, uses GPS to ensure bets can only be placed in the regulated jurisdictions.
The iPad is a high-resolution 9.7-inch LED-backlit computer that weighs just 1.5 pounds for the basic model with a accurate touch screen perfect for relaxed gaming anywhere.
Sports books have created their own applications for the Apple OS platform and other gambling web sites continue to develop their own compatible versions of popular casino games and poker rooms. The graphics engine can handle sophisticated games having no problems with poker tables and exciting slots applications. With the competition coming on strong Apple is sure to design a product that delights the user.
Online Gambling Operators Offering More Apple OS Apps
Online casino operator EGO (egaming online) has announced that German and Danish players can now use PayPal to deposit and withdraw funds to and from its two leading brands - EUcasino and CasinoRedKings.
Using PayPal
PayPal is the Internet's most popular payment method, and is simple to use: when it comes time to make a deposit or withdrawal at your online casino, sportsbook or poker room, just select PayPal from the list of options on the operator's banking page and follow a couple of brief steps to complete the transaction.
Using PayPal allows you to pay securely, safe in the knowledge that your online casinos will not see your financial information, credit card or bank account number when receiving the money. It is also safer, faster and more convenient than many of the other banking methods, which makes it a good option for online gambling.
Two More Casinos
EUcasino has had a busy few weeks. The addition of PayPal as a payment option for its German and Danish customers comes hot on the heels of its launch of yet another game in partnership with software producers SkillOnNet and NextGen Gaming - the Voodoo Dollars slot.
CasinoRedKings is another online casino powered by SkillOnNet, and as such delivers its customers all the latest titles from the software leader including slots, table games, card games and more.
PayPal Available for German and Danish Online Gamblers - The Headlines - Onlinecasinoreports-com
Indian Bollywood director Anurag Basu holds the best director, best actor and best story trophies during the14th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony in Macau. - AFP
The film Barfi scooped top honours in India's version of the Oscars at a ceremony in the Chinese gambling haven of Macau on Saturday that also celebrated a century of Bollywood, which makes up a big chunk of a multi-billion-dollar film industry.
Barfi is a romantic comedy about a mute and deaf man and his relationship with two women. The movie was praised by critics for its positive portrayal of physically disabled people, a somewhat unusual theme for Bollywood screenplays.
India, the world's biggest film producer, makes more than double the number of Hollywood movies on an annual basis. Already popular in countries with sizable Indian populations, Indian films are also a growing hit with Chinese audiences as well as in Russia and Germany.
Hosted by Bollywood heartthrobs Shah Rukh Khan and Shahid Kapoor, the four-hour ceremony of pulsating dance routines and colourful costume changes was attended by an audience of over seven thousand screaming fans.
Some of Indian cinema's biggest names including Deepika Padukone set the Macau arena alight with high octane performances, while older generation actors like Boman Irani and modern pin ups such as Vidya Balan graced the green carpet. Known for catchy songs, whimsical backdrops and raven-tressed actresses, Bollywood films typically transport viewers away from reality to a world where good triumphs over evil and love reunites everyone, themes that resonate well in China. "We make musicals.
I think every film is a musical. Every film has at least six to seven songs," said Ayushmann Khurrana, nominated for best actor after his debut in "Vicky Donor", a romantic comedy about sperm donation. "So that is how Bollywood is completely different from Hollywood."
Best actress was won by Vidya Balan for Kahani while, Ranbir Kabir for Barfi took home the award for best actor. Barfi also won the award for best film. India's film entertainment sector is booming and estimated to generate revenue of close to $5 billion by 2015.
The choice of Macau to host the annual event comes as the gambling hub is pushing to diversify its customer base beyond the traditional casino punter who spends only on the baccarat tables rather than on entertainment, dining and hospitality. Indian customers are increasingly targeted by the casino operators due to their tendency to stay longer than the average Chinese punter and their heavy spending on non-gaming pastimes.
Bollywood's Barfi wins at Indian film awards in Macau - Entertainment - DNA
Here’s one challenge for states trying to create legal online gambling industries: Many of the companies that know best how to run Internet gambling operations have closets full of skeletons. Regulators in New Jersey will soon show how forgiving they’re willing to be, when they consider whether to approve a deal announced this week by PokerStars to run an online poker operation in partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel, a struggling Atlantic City casino.
The state needs the action. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has some optimistic—maybe unrealistic—projections for how much money the state will pull in from online gambling. According to Christie’s budget, New Jersey will bring in $160 million by taxing virtual wagers in the upcoming fiscal year. To do so, regulators will have to license the companies prepared to offer online gambling. This group doesn’t appear to include any Atlantic City casinos, which lack the Internet chops to immediately create online operations sufficiently effective or safe to pass muster.
PokerStars certainly knows how to get the money flowing. It is “the one company that everyone in the business of Internet gambling should try to emulate,” according to Jim Quigley, president of market research group U.S. Gaming Survey. “They have the largest market share, the most capitalization, and by far the best poker product,” he told the Off Shore Gaming Association earlier this year.
PokerStars also has a troubling record in the U.S. for the way it did business after the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (PDF) in 2006, tightening regulations. Many gambling companies stopped providing services to customers in the U.S. at that time. In 2011, however, PokerStars was among the online poker operations shut down by the U.S. Justice Department. The company eventually reached a deal with the federal government to pay users who still had money in its system, and it then went on to acquire Full Tilt Poker, its largest competitor. The company admitted no wrongdoing and was not precluded from seeking state licenses for online gambling.
That’s not to say the company will be granted any state licenses. Late last year, PokerStars cut a deal with Colony Capital to acquire the Atlantic Club casino, which was on death’s doorstep. But the American Gaming Association, a trade group representing casinos, filed an objection with U.S. regulators, saying that PokerStars’s “deceit, chicanery and the systematic flouting of U.S. law” should disqualify it from doing business in New Jersey. With the licensing process bogged down, Colony pulled out of the deal; the two companies are still in court.
PokerStars argues that its opponents are self-interested and their objections should be taken with a grain of salt. The American Gaming Association, after all, isn’t a good government group; it represents casinos that know they don’t have products to compete with those of the online poker companies, for now at least. By keeping a company like PokerStars out of the market, the old-school casinos may be able to buy time to build their own systems. “These are matters for expert regulators to determine, not self-interested partisans picking a public fight,” said Eric Hollreiser, a spokesman for PokerStars. It’s not clear why the company thinks it has a better chance this time around.
This isn’t necessarily about a single company. You’d be hard-pressed to find an online gambling company with a squeaky-clean past. Bwin.party (BPTY), for example, recently settled a suit with the state of Kentucky, which had sued it for taking illegal bets. Caesars Entertainment (CZR), perhaps recognizing the records of its rivals, has pushed for legislation in Illinois that would bar companies that have taken online bets in the last 10 years. Strangely, this would include 888 Holdings (888), the Gibraltar-based gambling company it is teaming up with elsewhere in the U.S.
People within the gambling industry believe that there will be a huge first-mover advantage in online gambling. Once poker players flock to one platform, it will be hard to lure them to another because the softest games—in which players hold weak cards the longest—will almost certainly take place on the sites with the most people. New Jersey’s online gambling system is scheduled to be operating by later this year, and maneuvering for position is likely to be intense until then. The stakes, as they say, are high.
Closeted Skeletons Complicate the Legalization of Online Gambling - Businessweek
The impact of legal online gambling on the internet may be huge some critics claim. Not just the fact that billions of bits of information will spam the web but that such masses of cluttering knowledge may overwhelm the system.
The other side of the coin is the technology that online gambling has brought to the world. Gaming for real money within certain boundaries takes a bit of figuring out and the security required to keep it all running smoothly has created an enormous amount of traffic.
While search engine engineers have been more or less keeping up with the predicted learning curve and adjusting to the needs of a exploding industry there have been issues. The gambling industry has also been influential in the analytics space in early on and has instigated behavioral targeting in Europe, where it has been legal for many years. With the larger potential audience in the U.S. targeting has seen more investment.
When factoring in the potential income generated by advertizing revenue gained by Microsoft, Google and Yahoo the real net gain tax for governments with sub industries that provide employment is much greater than is being predicted. Serious development will be provided by an industry hungry to grow in the USA. Having already proven itself in the U.K. and the challenge of the European Union’s lack of consensus online gambling is poised to make a comeback in individual states in America.
The large potential that online gambling has in the USA will continue to blossom and be a good bet even the lawyers are going to be in court a great deal over challenges regarding the legality of online gambling . New Jersey and the sports leagues are already at odds over whether New Jersey can legally offer sports betting. It remains to be seen but there is already a lot riding on this gamble.
New Jersey gaming officials set a deadline of June 30 for casino companies interested in filing for an Internet gaming permit. Not surprisingly, all 12 licensed Atlantic City casinos met the deadline.
Now, officials said, the Division of Gaming Enforcement will be able to see if these applicants will be ready to commence Internet gambling operations by Nov. 23, the designated “go live” date.
Most operators indicated they would be partnering with firms that already have online experience. For the most part, these firms have been operating in Europe but for the Trump Taj Mahal casino the partner is Las Vegas-based Ultimate Gaming, the only company with actual legal Internet poker experience in the United States.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, owned jointly by Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Resorts International, will partner with Gibraltar-based Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment while the four properties owned by Caesars Entertainment Corporation will partner with the European firm, 888 Holdings Plc.
Just prior to the deadline, Resorts Casino Hotel announced it would partner with The Rational Group’s PokerStars for its online gambling activity. PokerStars had bid to take over Resorts Casino but the deal fell through. Because PokerStars was indicted by federal authorities for conducting poker activities prior to 2006, the company will be barred from participating in legal Internet gaming by a number of states, including Nevada.
Also looking for an Atlantic City online gambling deal is Donald Trump whose company, Trump Organization Inc. retained the online gambling rights to his name.
“Given the way online gaming is rolling out on a state-by-state basis,” said Ivanka Trump, “we really want to keep our options open.”
New Jersey casinos on online gambling bandwagon :: GamingToday-com
Trump, who retains online gambling rights to his name, has held talks with Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the company that owns Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Plaza hotels, and other potential partners, according to his daughter Ivanka Trump, an executive with the New York-based Trump Organization Inc. “Given the way online gaming is rolling out on a state-by-state basis, we really want to keep our options open,” Ivanka Trump said in an interview.
Trump could sign a deal with one of his namesake casinos or another operator, she said. Trump Taj Mahal has paired with Ultimate Gaming, part of Station Casinos LLC. Online gambling in New Jersey may start this year.
All 12 New Jersey casinos met a June 30 deadline to seek state permission to offer betting online, according to Lisa Spengler, a spokeswoman for the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Trump’s online initiative is complicated by the ownership of the New Jersey hotels. Trump Entertainment emerged from bankruptcy in 2010 with Donald Trump as a minority investor and no management role. A licensing agreement signed with the company that year left him in control of his name for online gambling, according to the agreement.
Brian Cahill, a spokesman for Trump Entertainment, declined to comment.
Local Boost
New Jersey legalized online betting in February as a way to boost the state’s $3 billion casino market. Online operators are required to partner with a casino located in the state.
The casinos have all identified their prospective online partners to the state and either have agreements in hand or are still in talks, according to Spengler, the state spokeswoman. They have to file completed applications by July 29. New Jersey isn’t disclosing the names of the online companies.
Ultimate Gaming, owned by Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, said this week it entered into a partnership with the Trump Taj Mahal. The online games will be marketed under the Ultimate Gaming brands, the company said in a statement.
Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR), the largest operator in Atlantic City with four properties, will offer online games with Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings Plc (888) under the Caesars and World Series of Poker brands, according to Seth Palansky, a spokesman for the casino company.
MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Boyd Gaming Corp. (BYD), which own Atlantic City’s top-grossing Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, have partnered with Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc (BPTY), also based in Gibraltar.
Those games will be marketed with the Borgata and Bwin PartyPoker names, according to Robert Boughner, an executive vice president of Las Vegas-based Boyd, which manages the property.
Trump Organization in Talks for New Jersey Online Gambling Role - Bloomberg