Let your mouth speak archive

One Delaware casino executive predicts new revenue from the state’s foray into online gambling won’t be enough to aid the troubled industry.

Dover Downs CEO Ed Sutor says the state government and thoroughbred horsemen’s lobby’s share of revenue and vendor costs are the same rates they pay for games at their physical casinos.

“We can’t afford to hire a full staff and market the hell out of it if there’s no opportunity for a profit or a revenue sharing,” said Sutor. “It’s generally understood that something has to be done, that you can’t treat internet gaming the same way you do bricks-and-mortar gaming.”

The state increased their tax share in 2009 to help withstand a massive budgetary shortfall, but those rates haven’t dropped like most other temporary increases enacted at the time.

Slot machine revenue has also dropped by nearly $110 million since 2007.

The General Assembly formed a committee to address the issue, which will report its findings by January.

Delaware unveiled the first phase of its online gambling program Wednesday morning. Patrons can play free casino games including poker, blackjack, and different slot machines, among others. State officials say they hope to launch the full program by the end of October.

Sutor says he’s not worried that it will cannibalize his business or reduce sales at the many shops located inside Dover Downs.

He notes that the average patron is in their late 50s.

“They’re not going to go to the internet. You’re talking about a new market, a new demographic. Some of them may try just for fun, but they’ve been used to coming here and they love the personal touch, the customer service. They’re still going to go for the spa treatments,” said Sutor.

Currently, anyone with internet access may play these games. But once the payouts become real, only those within Delaware’s borders will be allowed to access the portal.

Sophisticated technology checks a player’s real time location to give them access to the games.

“I’ve seen demonstrations out in Nevada where you’ve been at one point in the state and then drive across the border less than a mile and it would show that you’re unable to play,” said Finance Secretary Tom Cook.

The existing casinos can also use the platform as a marketing tool.

Sutor says it will be a boon in that regard.

“We’re going to bonus you or send you an offer that will require you to come back here to Dover Downs and thereby hopefully gaining a loyal, regular casino customer.”

But he says he doesn’t foresee internet gaming replacing the company’s physical footprint in Dover anytime soon.
- See more at: Casino CEO: Internet gaming won’t upright industry | WDDE 91.1 FM | Delaware's NPR News station

Last night, actor Kevin Spacey delivered the James McTaggart Memorial Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

It was a rallying cry for television’s executives to embrace creative risk.

Not surprisingly, much of what Spacey’s lecture can be applied to us in the advertising business.

It’s a great talk, that can be found in full here, but I pulled out some soundbytes that are worthy of attention for the post.

He started with a humorous take on the current experience of home entertainment.

“Today when I think about how all of you might go home at the end of this festival, you can sense things are a bit different now than they were then: Its more likely that you have already recorded ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ on your DVR, as you gamely try to gather the family around the giant movie screen you’ve installed in what used to be the basement; then you can try to find out where your children are on Facebook, and might ask your partner to stop Instagramming photos of the meal they’ve just ordered from the delivery service – during the film – while Grandma desperately pins even more pictures of cats on her Pinterest page, as your son quietly and surreptitiously clears his entire browser history, and your daughter Tweets how boring ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ is because its not in 3D or even in color . . . you too will feel that warm glow of precious family time when we all come together to . . .ignore each other.

It is indeed a more complicated, modern and wonderful life, isn’t it?”

He told the audience that shortened attention spans are a myth, binge viewing tells us so and its existence should give the industry permission to experiment.

“For years, particularly with the advent of the Internet, people have been griping about lessening attention spans. But if someone can watch an entire season of a TV series in one day, doesn’t that show an incredible attention span? When the story is good enough, people can watch something three times the length of an opera. We can make NO ASSUMPTIONS about what viewers want or how they want to experience things. We must observe, adapt, and TRY NEW THINGS to discover appetites we didn’t know were there. The more we try new things, the more we will learn about our viewership, the more doors will open both creatively and from a business perspective.”

Spacey’s lecture was something of a tirade against the industry’s inate conservatism and reliance on testing. Like much of what’s happens in the ad industry, it’s not the testing that’s always the problem, it’s how it gets interpeted and used.

“In 1980, NBC sent an internal memo to writer & show runner Stephen Bochco with a list of their concerns following a focus group testing of the program: “The most prevalent audience reaction indicated that the program was depressing, violent and confusing. Too much was crammed into the story. The main characters were perceived as being not capable and having flawed personalities. Professionally, they were never completely successful in doing their jobs and personally their lives were in a mess. Audiences found the ending unsatisfying. Too many loose ends…” – etc…”

Spacey countered his negative views of the industry’s conventions with the experience of making House of Cards with Netflix; a company who’s lack of industry experience made them open to risk taking.

“The obligation of a pilot – from the writing perspective – is that you have to spend about 45 minutes establishing all the characters, create arbitrary cliff-hangers and generally prove that what you are setting out to do will work. Netflix was the only network that said, “We believe in you. We’ve run our data and it tells us that our audience would watch this series. We don’t need you to do a pilot. How many episodes do you want to do?” And we said . . . “Two seasons?” By comparison, last year 113 pilots were made. 35 of those were chosen to go to air. 13 of those were renewed, but there’s not many of those left. This year 146 pilots were shot. 56 have gone to series and we don’t know the outcome of those yet. The cost of these pilots was somewhere between 300/400 million dollars each year. Makes our House of Card’s deal for 2 seasons look really cost effective.”

“And for all of Netflix’s big data and mathematical research, it was there when they opened the door to ‘House of Cards’. And boy we got lucky in the creative department because since Netflix had never done an original program before, they didn’t even have an office to give us notes. Can you imagine the notes we would have gotten if we’d been at a network that didn’t support us artistically…“Umm, we are very concerned about the fact that Kevin strangles a dog in the first five minutes of the show… we are afraid we’re going to lose half our audience”.

Finally, for Spacey, it’s all about great stories

“And the audience has spoken: they want stories. They’re dying for them. They are rooting for us to give them the right thing. And they will talk about it, binge on it, carry it with them on the bus and to the hairdresser, force it on their friends, tweet, blog, Facebook, make fan pages, silly GIFS and god knows what else about it, engage with it with a passion and an intimacy that a blockbuster movie could only dream of. All we have to do is give it to them. The prize fruit is right there. Shinier and juicier than it has ever been before. So it will be all the more shame on each and every one of us if we don’t reach out and seize it.”

There’s traditionally been a distinction between advertising and entertainment, but should there be? If we want audiences to embrace our brands, we’ve got to entertain them and engage them with great storytelling, because that’s the only way our client’s brands are going to become famous.

As Spacey says, there’s never been a better time in the history of our business to share stories with an audience, we just need the imagination, patience and the ability to embrace risk,

A central part of Gov. Maggie Hassan’s 2012 campaign was expanding gambling in New Hampshire. The Legislature, for its part, let Hassan’s plan die, spurring Hassan to criticize the (bipartisan) Legislature and create a special commission to work out the regulatory hurdles.

In a reversal of a 50-year precedent, the Department of Justice ruled that the Wire Act of 1961 did not prevent state lotteries from selling tickets online. In fact, the Justice Department said, states could go beyond selling lottery tickets online and open internet-based “casinos” including virtual table games – blackjack, roulette, etc. – and slots, all under the umbrella of the state lottery. This “state lottery” exemption also gives Hassan a new path to bring casino-style gambling to New Hampshire and repair the holes left in her budget by the Legislature’s refusal to approve a brick-and-mortar casino.

Only Congress can reverse the administration’s ill-conceived decision and reinstate the bipartisan interpretation of the Wire Act that stood for more than 50 years. Sen. Kelly Ayotte raises important questions – as do other opponents of state-sponsored online gambling. But, the debate should also raise a broader issue: Why are states trying to get a quick revenue “hit” from widespread gambling instead of making long-term and substantial structural changes? Like an addict, state governments are looking for an easy fix when the issue underneath the surface is much deeper and more complex.


Letter: Congress must remove online gambling loophole | Concord Monitor

Brits spend £2.3 billion annually on online gambling according to research from Deloitte, commissioned by the Association of British Bookmakers (AB😎. However, a new report from leading independent digital marketing agency, Greenlight, shows consumer online search volumes pertaining to sports betting, poker, bingo and casino, have suffered their sharpest drop yet.

Greenlight's findings follow hot on the heels of the government's announcement of a 15% tax imposition on operators in the remote gambling market - depending on the type of gambling offered, and warnings from bookies on losses to come from the planned tax reform set to kick in next year.

The agency's "Gaming Sector Report - Issue 11" profiled consumer search habits when they went to Google UK in July to make gaming-related queries. The report reveals the most popular search terms, total search volumes and the most visible sites to searchers.

The report's 12 month retrospective shows gaming-related consumer searches which totaled 995,830 in July, suffered a sharp 34% decline on June's volume of 1.5 million, the steepest drop yet since August 2012.

Casino made up the majority of July's queries, accounting for a 35% share, followed by sports betting (31%), Bingo (18%) then Poker (16%).

According to Greenlight, the ten most popular terms used by consumers to find gaming sites across the board were:
'bingo' (60,500 searches)
'online casino' (60,500 searches)
'casino' (49,500 searches)
'poker' (33,100 searches)
'no deposit casino' (33,100 searches)
'bet' (33,100 searches)
'poker hands' (22,200 searches)
'bingo sites' (22,200 searches)
'betting calculator' (18,100 searches)
'free bingo' (18,100 searches)



Online Gambling Takes Its Biggest Tumble yet, on the Search Front

It was written by the same team that brought the last classic poker movie to Hollywood, but can Runner Runner have the same impact?

The blockbuster poker movie, starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, is ready for release in October at a very opportune time as online poker makes regulatory headway in the United States.

But will the fictional story of a Princeton student who loses his tuition money playing online poker resonate in the same way that Rounders did in 1998?

Runner Runner is not a poker movie in the sense that Rounders was as far as game play. It may have been written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, the producers of Rounders, but this movie will be more focused on drama surrounding the greed that the characters display rather than scenes involving poker play (as seen between John Malkovich and Matt Damon in Rounders).

Timberlake’s character attempts to expose what he believes is a shady game. Instead of exposing the fraud, he ends up joining it, and once the FBI gets involved, the high level of drama ensues.

So while the timing may be right with Nevada and other states embracing and regulating online poker, the subject matter may not. If the story paints a negative picture of the online poker industry, it may not be accepted by the poker community as a classic poker movie.

The storyline is eerily similar to cheating scandals that have plagued the industry.

Poker has taken American society by storm and spread to the farthest reaches of the planet. A perfect storm of ESPN coverage of the World Series of Poker, the creation of online poker and the release of Rounders sent the game of Texas Hold'em skyrocketing in popularity.

When novice poker player Chris Moneymaker won the World Series of Poker in 2003, it flooded poker rooms with wannabe players. It has been dubbed the Moneymaker Effect.

Despite efforts from the federal government to keep Americans from playing online poker, the game continued to grow stateside and abroad.

Over the last five years, the game of poker has continued to grow in land-based card rooms, while a number of online operations continue to offer action to U.S. players. Online poker has become legal and regulated in many countries, while others are still developing methods of providing the game and collecting revenues from the action.

During that time, Hollywood tried poker movies they hoped could rival the impact that Rounders had on the game, but no production has managed to become popular with the general public. Movies like The Grand, Shade, Deal and others have all failed to reach the public.

“Many question whether a thriller like Runner Runner will help or hinder the cause of online poker,” said Dean Stone, a writer with OddsShark.com. “Or it could have no real impact at all other than its entertainment value.”

The one edge that Rounders had over other poker movies is that it taught the game of Texas Hold'em to many potential players. The timing of the release (1998) was one of the main factors for the success of the movie. All the other poker movies that have followed have been released in a time where the game is in flux legally in America, but that is finally changing.

Individual states have the legal right to control gambling operations, and some have already legalized poker within state borders. Nevada is already operating online poker, and New Jersey and Delaware will be dealing cyber poker to residents and visitors this fall.

More states are expected to join in on the action over the next year until an intrastate poker network is established.

Australia’s Guardian news recently reported a story about a Coalition that has plans to get rid of the national gambling regulator should it gain power in the next election. Instead the Coalition would set up an advisory council made up of representatives from the gaming industry.
This Coalition would also stop the mandatory pre-commitment rules that require gamblers to establish a bet limit on the poker machines. The proposals set forth by the Coalition have reportedly gained the support of Clubs Australia which represents many of the gambling venues in Australia.

The Coalition maintains it supports a "national voluntary pre-commitment program for electronic gaming machines", but accused the ruling Labor party of doing little to help problem gambling after they said they will hand responsibility for problem gambling support services to the states.

A Clubs Australia spokesperson commented "The Coalition's approach recognises the work already done and reflects the reality that policies based on proper consultation and consideration work better for problem gamblers than those that are the product of hasty political deals."

With estimates that put the number of gamblers with issues at a half a million the government is said to be having trouble dealing with the $12 billion spent on poker machines by Australians every year. To put the gambling industry in a position where it governs itself and is made responsible for problem gambling remediation makes advocates of gambling reform nervous.

Dr.Colin McLeod, a senior fellow at the University of Melbourne, commented on the state of affairs, "It's just bizarre to put the gambling industry in charge of the advisory group," continuing, "What you're asking the industry to do is to find ways to curtail the spending of its most profitable customers."
McLeod also said, "We have got to start thinking about problem gambling as public health problem," adding, "You go to any sporting match and there is a huge amount of advertising for gambling. It has become so intrusive in Australians' lives."



Australian Online Gambling An Election Issue

Actress-singer Miley Cyrus says children should enjoy being young and carefree and not pursue acting career at a young age.

Actress-singer Miley Cyrus says children should enjoy being young and carefree and not pursue acting career at a young age.

The 20-year-old, who is known in Disney TV series "Hannah Montana" when she was 11, insists that children should enjoy their childhood and need not cope up with pressure that comes with being a star. "People are like, 'What's your advice to young people that want to be actors?' And I'm like, 'Don't do it', because you need to enjoy being a kid," femalefirst.co.uk quoted Cyrus as saying.

"People don't realise, but with so many responsibilities you hold an entire company on your back," she added.

A central part of Gov. Maggie Hassan’s 2012 campaign was expanding gambling to the Granite State – a proposal she said was a result of Massachusetts’ plan to build several casinos of its own. The New Hampshire Legislature, for its part, let Hassan’s plan die before the session ended this spring, spurring Hassan to criticize the (bipartisan) Legislature and create a special commission to work out the regulatory hurdles.

Yet even if the bill is not taken up in next year’s session, Hassan may have an out, courtesy of President Barack Obama’s Justice Department. In a reversal of a 50-year precedent, the DOJ ruled that the Wire Act of 1961 did not prevent state lotteries from selling tickets online. In fact, the Justice Department said states could go beyond selling lottery tickets online and open Internet-based “casinos” including virtual table games – blackjack, roulette, etc. – and slots, all under the umbrella of the state lottery.

This broad definition was a boon to big-spending states looking for quick fixes to their revenue problems, and the floodgates opened. Illinois – the president’s home state – was the first to legalize online ticket sales, while Delaware, New Jersey, Michigan and other states have also taken steps to capitalize on what they see as a new revenue source.

This “state lottery” exemption also gives Gov. Hassan a new path to bring casino-style gambling to New Hampshire and repair the holes left in her budget by the Legislature’s refusal to approve a brick-and-mortar casino.

Only Congress can reverse the administration’s ill-conceived decision and reinstate the bipartisan interpretation of the Wire Act that stood for more than 50 years. And it looks like Congress is finally taking that job seriously, led in part by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.

In a hearing last month of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance, Sen. Ayotte noted her enthusiasm for quick congressional action, saying online gaming holds the potential for “money laundering, terrorism, drug trafficking,” and carries negative societal impacts for children and the elderly.

Ayotte raises important questions – as do other opponents of state-sponsored online gambling. For the gamblers themselves, Americans for Tax Reform points out that state-run lotteries “offer consumers an incredibly poor value with prizes-to-sales ratios” below private competitors. For society, online gambling raises the potential that vulnerable populations – notably, seniors and the young – will be scammed by online predators.

But the debate should also raise a broader issue: Why are states trying to get a quick revenue “hit” from widespread gambling instead of making long-term and substantial structural changes? Like an addict, state governments are looking for an easy fix when the issue underneath the surface is much deeper and more complex.

Hopefully the NH Legislature continues to oppose Hassan’s casino scheme. But Congress also must act to halt the DOJ’s runaway legislating on the fly before more revenue-hungry blue states use expanded gambling as a quick fix to fill their coffers.


www-nashuatelegraph-com/opinion/commentary/1014808-474/nh-shouldnt-gamble-with-online-casinos-html

Montreal Canada based Amaya Gaming Group has seen its revenue stream grow at a great rate after expanding its empire for the past few years. While those with experience know you must spend money in order to make money there is usually a time where the spending can outpace the earnings.
Such is the case for Amaya Gaming. The firm reported revenue of $37.2m in the three months ending June 30,2013 posing a 157% increase over the same period last year. Adjusted earnings were up nearly five-fold to $10.1m as margins increased to 27% from 14%. But the company’s net loss for the quarter rose 320% to $11.44m primarily due to the costs of its acquisition spending.

In 2010 the company filed an IPO and then took most of 2011 making technology deals with government operated gaming corporations in jurisdictions such as Kenya, Moldova and the Dominican Republic.
Amaya`s quest for a more diversified company started in 2012 by acquiring suppliers for online products such as Cadillac Jack and software developer Cryptologic. The company also purchased the Ongame Poker Network from Bwin.party digital entertainment raising some concerns the firm didn`t have enough cash on hand to secure the player liabilities totaling $15.7m, when the business had just $4.9m in ‘cash and cash equivalents’ on hand.

The cost of the acquisitions has created a loss but is not subsiding with the CEO of the firm David Baazov announcing it had penned a deal to acquire Los Angeles-based lottery and gaming product designer Diamond Game Enterprises for $25m. Baazov said Diamond Game’s technology would “increase our lottery footprint in North America while anticipated to be accretive to adjusted EBITDA.” As part of the arrangement Amaya Gaming Group agreed to provide Diamond Game with credit facilities worth $2.5m to fulfill its existing contracts until the acquisition is complete.


Amaya Online Gambling Still Growing Despite Losses

An Albuquerque mental health clinic is using the hit cable TV show “Breaking Bad” and its methamphetamine trafficking theme to help fight addiction.

KRQE-TV reports that Sage Neuroscience Center has partnered with HealthShire-com to give away two addiction-treatment scholarships at the end of the AMC television series.

The “Breaking Addiction” awards are open to residents in the Albuquerque area over 18 who cannot afford treatment for their addictions.

Applicants have to submit their story of addiction, which will be compiled into a collection for addiction awareness and posted online.

“Breaking Bad,” which was filmed largely in Albuquerque, follows former high school teacher Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, who produces and sells methamphetamine with a former student, Jesse Pinkman, played by Aaron Paul.

The show is airing its final season.

Read more: US clinic to offer ‘Breaking Bad’ free rehab | Inquirer Entertainment
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

When a gambler walks into a casino, they must exchange their cash for chips. In addition to making it mentally easier to gamble, chips provide casino patrons with a unified currency to place bets.

The same holds true for online gambling, whether it be on poker, sports or other casino games. Of course, converting various currencies into one uniform number requires man hours and cost, meaning that by the time the unit is ready to be wagered, it has already lost some of its value. Processing these these transactions not only hurts the value of a player deposit, but acts as an additional rake that takes huge sums of cash out of the online gambling market.

Enter Bitcoin.

What Are Bitcoins?

Bitcoins were developed in 2009 by an anonymous developer known only as Satoshi Nakamoto as a peer-to-peer, decentralized digital currency. Because banks and other payment processors are circumvented in Bitcoin transactions, the processing fees are almost zero. Additionally, they can be anonymously used all over the world without the need of a daily conversion rate.

There are two ways to earn Bitcoins. You can mine for them, meaning you participate in the checks and balances process of verifying Bitcoin transactions in exchange for a small cut, or you can simply buy them from an e-wallet such as Coinbase or Blockchain. Currently, 1 Bitcoin, or BTC, is worth approximately $113 USD.

The marketplace will cap out in the future at 21 million BTC, though currently, there are about 11 million in circulation. People may use their BTC to buy goods and services (even illegal drugs) across a global marketplace, but unsurprisingly, the very nature of Bitcoins has attracted gamblers as well.

One firm, Lightspeed Venture Partners, estimates that nearly half of all BTC transactions are categorized under gambling.

After Black Friday, getting money onto an offshore online poker site became incredibly difficult for Americans and some sites blocked U.S. players altogether. Most banks refused to process any deposits or withdrawals associated with a gambling site, causing unavoidable delays and shrinking the size of the online poker economy.

In an effort to make it easier to get money online, some sites turned to Bitcoin. WinPoker, a member of the iPoker network, began accepting BTC deposits in March. Switch Poker has been offering BTC options since November of 2011.

Unfortunately, accepting BTC in exchange for USD credit is problematic due to the volatile exchange rate. Another site led by poker pros Bryan Micon and Justin Schwartz, SealsWithClubs, decided to spread anonymous, USA player-friendly, no-limit hold’em exclusively with BTC currency. Players deposit BTC and withdraw BTC, meaning the betting unit value stays constant. “We don’t have a bank account at Seals with Clubs,” Micon told NPR. “There’s no bank account. There’s no bank of any sort that we do. We only do this one weird, brand-new, Internet protocol transaction that some of the nerds out there are calling money.”

Of course, anonymous gambling and a lack of government regulation means that BTC online poker could be vulnerable to collusion and other player security issues. The site’s FAQ acknowledges that it is the “wild, wild west of online poker rooms,” adding that the player must accept the risk of using their software. As of August 2013, SealsWithClubs had anywhere from 50 to 300 players using the site at any given time.

A Game Of Dice

Though poker is growing in popularity, the most popular form of Bitcoin gambling is dice, though this isn’t the usual game of craps you may see at your local casino.

A bettor sends their BTC units to one of a number of public addresses and receives either more or less BTC units back in return, depending on the outcome of a game determined by a random number generator. Sites like SatoshiDice, PrimeDice, Just-Dice and others help to facilitate the transactions, or bets, in exchange for a tiny service fee that usually amounts to less than 1 percent.

Players are assured the bets are “100 percent provably fair” because as they say, the numbers don’t lie. Because Bitcoin utilizes open-source software which anybody can review, sites can’t rig the outcome of the game. Each roll is composed of the player’s seed, the server seed and a secret variable. The combination of all three determines winners and losers.

The server seed is random, the player selects their own seed and the secret variable is publicized the next day. Users can simply do the math themselves to verify whether they really won or lost.

In addition to these games of “dice,” players can also use similar algorithms to gamble on Las Vegas-style casino games such as Roulette, Baccarat, Pai Gow, Blackjack and Craps, lotteries or minesweeper.

Take a look at this list of BTC gambling sites that have sprouted up recently.

A Jurisdictional Struggle

Gambling is turning out to be big business in the Bitcoin world and there are now dozens of sites dedicated to it. SatoshiDice was once publicly traded on the MPEX, a BTC stock exchange, before it was privately purchased in July for $11 million USD.

Now the question is, how do various government agencies properly tax and regulate the Bitcoin system? Because the Bitcoin marketplace is self-monitored and maintained by users from all over the globe, it doesn’t fall into any specific government’s jurisdiction.

Although all transactions are completely transparent to anyone willing to look them up, the Bitcoin economy is still mostly anonymous, making it a logistical nightmare for anyone to determine who exactly is profiting and how to tax it.

Outside of one online poker site in Nevada, the current online gambling market in the United States operates in legal grey area. Offshore sites can get away with serving American players, as long as payment processors don’t violate a number of U.S. regulations.

A few BTC gambling sites have avoided unwanted Department of Justice att

The third and final day of New York’s Electric Zoo Festival on Randall's Island has been cancelled due to suspected drug overdoses, the mayor’s office announced Sunday.

Two concert-goers have died and at least four others are critically ill from what officials say appears to be MDMA or ecstasy overdoses.

"The Electric Zoo organizers have worked with city officials to reduce health risks at this event, but in view of these occurrences, the safest course is to cancel the remaining day of the event," a statement from the New York City mayor's office reads.

The founders of the electronic music festival said in a statement that there is nothing more important than their patrons, which is why they cancelled Sunday's show.

"The founders of Electric Zoo send our deepest condolences to the families of the two people who passed away this weekend," the statement read.

Police identified those who died as Jeffrey Russ, 23, of Rochester, N.Y., and Olivia Rotondo, 20, of Providence, R.I. Both were pronounced dead at hospital.

Acts at this year’s event included David Guetta, Avicii and Benny Benassi.

According to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) the use of MDMA can result in hyperthermia because it interferes with the bodies' ability to regulate temperature. Severe dehydration can also occur if the drug is taken in hot, overcrowded conditions.

The DEA notes that concert-goers take MDMA because the drug reduces inhibitions and produces feelings of closeness, euphoria and sexuality.

Read more: Final day of N.Y. electronic music festival cancelled due to drug overdoses | Entertainment & Showbiz from CTV News and etalk

I will need it after the season will over...

Online banking can be sometimes a nightmare for the person who just wants to pay and go. According to Swedish online payment processor PugglePay consumers want payment models that are simple and safe, and which may be accessed and executed anywhere. This compelling customer demand led directly to the creation of PugglePay and a payment model that is uniquely simple, safe, convenient and mobile.

PugglePay was started in 2012 by entrepreneurs Kristofer Ekman Sinclair and Johan Friis, whose respective backgrounds are in the payments company Klarna, and the online gaming company Betsson. Serial entrepreneurs Martin & John as well as Peo Nilsson & Mikael Arborelius are also involved in the company.

Since mobile phones are currently the most widespread technology, PugglePay has developed a unique solution where consumers need only to enter their telephone number followed by an SMS code to complete the purchase.

The convenience factor is definitely a plus for online punters who are paying attention to the game and don’t want to be distracted by the payment process obligations. PugglePay is a secure mobile payment method that can be used for funding your online or mobile gambling accounts. It acts like an instant cash device on your phone, allowing the punter to transfer funds at any time without needing to enter private information.
The method of payment processing has been utilized by a number of internet wagering operators such as Betsson and Mr Green. These firms have recognized the service as an example of social responsibility.

The use of smartphone technology is growing along with PugglePay’s vision to provide a safe and secure easy access system. PugglePay uses your mobile number as the main identifier with the purchase being made not affecting the phone cost. A confirmation invoice is issued using an SMS code. This young firm has the right stuff to further the online gambling experience without the sticky parts that seem to take forever.



Online Gambling to Benefit from Sweden's PugglePay

Online gambling has so many facets that operators can offer to consumers at every level of involvement. Companies that are stuck in their traditional ways of doing business may not grow as fast as those which see the trends driving the internet gambling marketplace and invest in the technology required to deliver the goods.

An example of one of the firms looking to exploit the mobile betting market is Playtech which is one of the world's two leading online gambling software companies. Mobile online gambling is being driven by the expanding use of smartphones and the availability of high speed internet.
Chief Executive Officer of Playtech, Mor Weizer commented during the announcement of a new chairman, "Playtech has more than 500 million euro on its balance sheet and it has access to more than 100 million euros in credit facilities," adding that the firm is ready to go, "to the next level."

Playtech is reportedly planning on expansion with their financials in such good condition. Playtech, is preparing to spend $800 million or about 600 million euro on acquisitions, as the company plans to expand its mobile sports betting and bingo offerings.
Playtech is also changing it executive leadership with the announcement that senior non-executive director Alan Jackson will be taking over from Roger Withers who has been Chairman for the last seven years. The move will transpire in October of this year after the former chairman led the sale of its stake in William Hill Online to the parent firm for the handsome sum of £424 million.

Playtech’s fortunes are still doing well as it revealed a 13 percent increase in first-half earnings recently led by the increasing popularity of mobile and online gambling.

According to the company, underlying adjusted earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortization reached 78.9 million euro or $105 million for the six months to June, compared to 69.8 million euro in the corresponding period the previous year. Total revenues climbed 15% to 176.8 million euro.



Playtech Online Gambling Software Plans Mobile Expansion

Former Beatle Paul McCartney has declared that he has no intention of bowing out of the music business as he “loves making it”.

According to WXRT Chicago, the 71-year old English musician, who recently released a new Mark Ronson-produced single titled “New”, said that even if he retired, he would continue making music, the Huffington Post reported.

McCartney, who called Tom Petty and Dave Grohl “cool musicians”, is set to releasing an album in October.

International Business Times reported last Friday that the U.K. spends the equivalent of $4 billion (more than £2 billion) on online gambling annually. This is an increase since 2008 of roughly 80%. Over the next four years, it is expected to grow more than 30%. However, a report for online searches shows that gambling terms have been searched for less, while smartphone-enabled gambling app usage has shown an increase.

London-based digital marketing agency, Greenlight, concentrated the report on gambling related Google searches within a 12-month period.

Searches such as “sports betting”, “bingo”, and “poker” dropped by more than 30% in July down from 1.5 million in June.

William Hill, one of the UK’s largest bookmakers, launched its online gambling app 18 months ago and has accumulated more than a million downloads. Thirty-eight percent of sports bets were placed through the app either via smartphone or tablet within the first year of launch.

In order to make online gambling more convenient and accessible, competitors such as 888-com, bet365, and Paddy Power have also thrown their hat into the ring and launched their own online gambling apps.

Companies such as Ladbrokes, Bwin.party, William Hill, and Betfair no longer enjoy the benefit of the once tax-haven of Gibraltar as the government has announced a 15% tax on operators whom do business with a British customer base.

It is expected that the tax will raise £300 million in revenue.


Online Gambling Google Searches Fall | Mobile Marketing Watch

The World Cup 2014 is coming to Brazil where fans are getting extra excited about the tournament. Brazil has won the golden cup of football five times so there is a fever pitch in the air about this one. Brazil is reported by many to be the odds on favourite to take the championship while on home turf and Brazilian fans think there could be nothing sweeter.

One would think that the government would have reformed the betting laws in Brazil before the event came to town. Back in 2009, the Brazilian senate was to consider a bill that was based on the USA’s Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in order to modify existing Brazilian gambling laws. The bill copied the US model and would put pressure on the country’s financial institutions to stop processing transactions from online gambling websites. That bill has yet to see the light of day and time is short with the 2014 World Cup around the corner.

Legalized gambling in Brazil could generate up to 300,000 jobs and $10 billion in government revenue per year say some advocates of legalization. At present, the only fully regulated, open forms of gambling are Lotto horse betting and Bingo other forms of sports betting are available through state-backed operator CAIXA.
Yet many foreign online gambling operators offer their services to Brazilian customers regardless. Most are happy to process transaction from Brazilians, and some support locally popular payment methods such as e-wallet Boleto Bancario. Many offer Portuguese language versions of their websites, with content targeted at Brazilian consumers.

It has been estimated that the unregulated portion of the Brazilian gambling market may be worth in excess of $5 billion. Indeed, in 2010 alone, estimates suggested Brazilians spent $4 billion gambling on the internet.
Currently legal wagering by Brazilians at online casinos at $4 billion per year and, thanks to the spike in World Cup wagering and increasing to play online poker in Brazil as of late, players like Bwin, 888, Betsson, Poker Stars, and Sporting Bet already have a strong presence in Brazil.


Brazilian Online Gambling Reforms Still Pending

Denmark has been a progressive country when it comes to online gambling regulation. Their format for liberalization of online betting has become a model for other countries taking the change on.
The Danish Gambling Authority recently revealed figures that have shown that gross gaming online poker revenues in Denmark has dropped in the second quarter of this year. Danish poker revenues in the second quarter totaled around $8.9 million, a fall from the $9.8 million reported during the same time in 2012.

The decline seems to be only with the poker sector with other forms of online wagering in Denmark have increasing over the same period. Gross online casino revenues for example, increased from about $41.5 million to $44.3 million in the second quarter of this year. Online sports revenues, went from $46.9 million to $59.2 million in Q2, an increase of 26 percent over last year. This represents a 17 percent increase in total online gambling revenues in Denmark in the last quarter.

The positive surge for the online gambling industry in Denmark is great but for the declining interest in the game of poker. A possible explanation for the declining poker fortunes in Denmark is that it may be part of a trend away from poker. France and Italy have also been affected by this trend seeing declines in poker revenue while other gambling venues continue to grow.

Poker is still very popular in Denmark and other countries and has massive followings all over the globe. The decline in poker doesn’t signal a problem in the online gambling industry it may only mean the game is going through a saturation phase or the players are just more interested in other ways of betting. Online gambling offers an enormous number of venues that are less knowledge based, and for some more entertaining.



Danish Decline In Online Poker Revealed

U.S. gaming officials are hoping to capitalize on the release of a poker-themed movie that depicts online poker as a shady lawless con game.

They're hoping that the momentum of Runner Runner could provide an opportunity to gain the attention of Congress on the issue that has thus far been ignored in Washington.

Geoff Freeman, President of the American Gaming Association (AGA), sent an email to his board of directors that pegged the October 4th movie premiere date as an opportunity to make Congress aware of the need for regulated online gaming in the U.S.

"This film provides our industry with an opportunity that the AGA will capitalize upon," Freeman said. "The AGA will leverage the certain coverage this film will receive to raise awareness about the need for proper regulation of online gaming."

Freeman intends on providing data on the amount of illegal online gaming that is currently going on in the U.S. in order to show Congress that there is a need to control the industry and protect American poker players from potential shady offshore operations.

The AGA will also look to drive traffic to a website that will offer information on how a potential regulated online gaming market will operate. The movie stars Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake and enjoyed cameo appearances from some of the world's top poker players, including Antonio Esfandiari (see Q&A interview).

AGA Spokeswoman Holly Wetzel explained that the organization is still exploring different options on how to leverage the release of the movie in their favor and increase their odds of poker success.

"We're looking for every opportunity to spread the word about the need for a regulated online poker market in the U.S., and the movie is an opportunity," Wetzel said.

The AGA has been warning of these potential pitfalls of offshore online gaming for years and they are hoping that the movie can finally get their opinions heard.

Online gaming has had instances of unfair games and unlawful and unethical practices in the past, but the exaggerated version of the movie could be what it takes to finally get enough lawmakers interested in the issue.

Not every member of the AGA is looking forward to Runner Runner's potential impact on games like online Texas Holdem specifically and the online poker gaming community in general.

Some members like Bally Technologies Chairman Richard Haddrill, the current chairman of the American Gaming Association, has voiced his fear that the general public could believe that the movie setting is how all online gaming providers operate.

"A great majority of the public doesn't understand that regulated Internet gaming is taking place all over the world, but it has been slow to come about in the U.S.," Haddrill said. Ideally, the film allows us to present our message for a strong regulated system."

Nevada has been operating legal regulated online poker since April and New Jersey will be offering both online casino and poker action by November.

Delaware is close to developing its online gaming market and other states are sure to follow over the next couple of years.