Archive for the ‘Casino News’ Category

Online Poker Revenue Trails Other Games in Nevada

Wednesday, April 30th, 2014

The Nevada Gaming Control Board recently announced that online poker revenue was lower than analysts initially predicted. The regulator’s new data showed that the industry generated less revenue from online poker than any other form of gambling except bingo. This was a discouraging report for experts that hoped online poker would help the industry boost revenues considerably.

This was the first monthly report on online gaming revenue from in the Silver State. While the report was a bit disappointing, industry experts are still optimistic that online poker revenues will continue to grow in the near future.

A number of companies are monitoring the market before deciding to offer online poker. The NGCB reported that it has approved license applications for a half dozen companies, but those companies may not activate them right away. An attorney for MGM Resorts said that their client would wait for the market to grow before deciding to participate. Another attorney representing two different Nevada casinos said that the market will need to triple before his clients can participate.

The license fees and taxes may be discouraging many gaming operators from entering the market. Players need to pay a one-time license fee of $500,000 and a $250,000 annual fee to retain their license thereafter. The industry hopes that the government will revise these figures so they can receive a higher return on their investment.

Some casinos hope that online poker will be a good way to boost revenues in the coming years, while others have more modest expectations. Rory Bedore, the owner of the Maxim and Carson Station, said that he doesn’t expect online poker will be a huge source of revenue. However, he is confident that it will be a good way to lure customers to his brick and mortar casinos. He intends to launch an online poker site as soon as the market picks up.

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Illinois to Focus on Casinos Before Discussing Online Gaming

Thursday, April 24th, 2014

Illinois lawmakers are considering expanding the state’s gambling industry. Senate President John Cullerton has been actively working to legalize online gambling, but his plans will need to be delayed for the time being. Cullerton said that lawmakers will need to focus on the state’s land based gambling industry before considering an online gaming bill.

Cullerton recently discussed plans for the state budget. He said that Illinois will definitely take up the issue of online poker in the future. However, he said that lawmakers need to decide whether or not to approve two proposals for new casinos.

The industry is lobbying to legalize online gambling, but expanding the land-based casino industry is a greater priority to them as well. Revenues have fallen over 50% from their peak in 2005. Illinois casinos hope that constructing new casinos would help boost revenues within a couple of years.

Lawmakers may have a difficult time deciding whether or not to expand the state’s gaming industry. Many citizens are vehemently opposed to any form of gambling. However, the state’s gaming industry is lobbying to expand the market to maintain profitability. The Senate will need to weigh the interests of all stakeholders to find a solution.

The Senate will also need to consider the fiscal benefits of expanding both land-based and Internet gambling. The state’s pension program is seriously underfunded. Cullerton referenced a report showing that legalizing online gambling would help the state generate an estimated $150 million. He has been struggling to convince Governor Pat Quinn to support an online poker bill. The new revenue projections could encourage Quinn to sign a future bill.

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Illinois Becomes First US State to Launch Mobile Lottery App

Monday, February 10th, 2014

Illinois has become the first US state to launch a new mobile lottery app that enables US residents to purchase tickets to lottery games.

The app is the first of its kind in the country, allowing lottery players to purchase tickets and check jackpot values and winning numbers from mobile devices such as smartphones. Rolled out by the Illinois Lottery, the app enables lottery players to purchase Lotto, Mega Millions, and Powerball tickets and helps them use their device’s geo-locator feature to identify retailers nearby.

The app also delivers messages related to problem gambling and responsible gambling and includes a self-exclusion hotline for problem gamblers. Users can modify their app settings to limit the amount of money they spend on purchasing lottery tickets.

Anybody above the age of 18 can purchase and use this app.

In March 2012, the state of Illinois made headlines by becoming the first US lottery to expand online and allow customers to purchase lottery tickets online. The state has again become the country’s first to launch a mobile lottery app.

Lottery players in Illinois are happy about the app. This clearly indicates that mobile gambling is something that is becoming more and more popular as the days pass.

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Net Entertainment Partners with Bet365

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

Net Entertainment, an online gambling company based in Sweden, has partnered with Bet365, UK’s major gambling company, in order to popularize its products in the UK.

According to the terms of this partnership, Bet365 gaming services will now include the best titles rolled out by Net Entertainment. This will serve to popularize the Swedish company’s gaming content in the UK market. Net Entertainment has also signed similar deals with other UK-based online gaming companies such as William Hill, Paddy Power, Sky Vegas, and Ladbrokes.

Commenting on the recent partnership deal with Bet365, Bjorn Krantz, managing director of Net Entertainment Malta Limited, said that the company is pleased to announce its latest partnership with Bet365, which it considers to be “a pioneer in the online gambling space with a significant global reach.”

He further said that the partnership “solidifies the trust and confidence” existing within the technology of Net Entertainment. The partnership will enable Bet365 to deliver the best gaming experience while helping Net Entertainment strengthen its UK footprint.

Steve Ibberson, MD (gaming) at Bet365, spoke on his company’s plans to expand its mobile and desktop offerings. Expressing his appreciation of Net Entertainment, he said that Bet365 is happy to add Net Entertainment’s high-quality games into its portfolio.

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David Beckham to Promote Las Vegas Sands’ Services in Asia

Monday, December 23rd, 2013

According to the terms of an agreement recently signed between football star David Beckham and Las Vegas Sands, the former will promote the latter’s services in the Asian market.

Las Vegas Sands, a giant international gambling company, wants to launch a mobile casino in China, but the gambling laws of that country do not permit mobile casino gaming. The company hopes that Beckham will help attract more and more wealthy Chinese gamblers to Las Vegas Sands’ gambling services.

Since advertising casino gaming services is illegal in China, Las Vegas Sands will not be able to use Beckham to promote their gambling services directly. The company is therefore taking a roundabout route. Beckham will help promote Las Vegas Sands’ retail and entertainment services in Asia and any gamblers who explore these services will be encouraged to try the casino.

Since Beckham is not associated with any mobile sportsbooks, Las Vegas Sands must’ve had a tough time to get him to sign the deal, especially as gambling companies are trying every marketing technique available to grab their share of the Asian market. However, only time can tell exactly what type of influence Beckham will have on Las Vegas Sands’ operations in Asia.

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Jackpot City Casino’s New iOS App Includes Blackjack

Saturday, November 16th, 2013

Jackpot City Casino players can now play blackjack on their iOS devices as the online casino has launched a brand new iOS application. Owners of iOS devices can download this app from the iStore.

The new app gives players an excellent experience of their favorite Jackpot City Casino games as it comes with impressive graphics, realistic audio effects, and smooth game play. The app includes all the favorite Jackpot City Casino games, such as Classic Blackjack, European Roulette, Jackpot Express, and Jacks or Better.

Players in New Jersey can also play Microgaming’s Immortal Romance through this online slots app. Immortal Romance slot, which comes with 243 ways to win, is one of the most popular games in Jackpot City’s portfolio. The slot is based on the theme of forbidden love and revolves around four major witch and vampire characters.

Besides, Immortal Romance slot comes with lucrative features such as wild icons, scatter icons, and a unique free spins feature called Chamber of Spins, which can be activated by spinning at least three scatters across the reels.

Jackpot City Casino has an impressive portfolio of more than 500 titles. Jackpot City Casino’s mobile gaming service includes apps for not only iOS, but also for Nokia, Blackberry, and Android.

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NGCB Issues Online Poker License to Siena Casino

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

Siena Casino recently announced that it intends to provide online poker in Nevada. The casino received a license from the Nevada Gaming Control Board a couple of weeks ago. Siena will be collaborating with Z4 Poker to reach players throughout Nevada.

Eric Colvin, Chief Technology Officer at Z4, said that his company is excited to work with Siena. He believes that the Nevada online poker market is an untapped goldmine. Z4 provides some of the most popular interactive gaming technology on the market. Colvin said that customers want to have access to the best gaming platforms available. He feels this will give his company a competitive edge over those that are relying more heavily on flashy advertising campaigns.

Many companies are worried that Nevada’s player base is too small to support a number of competitors. This has made many companies hesitant to activate their online poker licenses. However, Colvin isn’t worried about the competition. He said that Z4 offers superior technology to that available from most other companies. He believes that Siena and Z4 will be able to compete against Ultimate Poker, WSOP.com and other online poker providers.

Colvin said that online poker technology providers have offered the same technology for over 10 years. He said that Z4 believes it is time to reinvent the industry and provide more innovative solutions. Z4 plans to develop something much more innovative and introduce it in the near future. They are already planning beta tests.

Siena and Z4 haven’t announced when they intend to launch online poker. They still need to get approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission, but experts believe they will receive a license in the near future.

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Mobile Gaming to Become $100 Billion Industry by 2017

Monday, September 30th, 2013

According to Juniper Research, the mobile gambling industry will be worth $100 billion by 2017. The UK-based research company says that the popularity of mobile gambling sites such as bingo, sports betting, and casino gaming is on the rise.

Important mobile gambling markets all over the world are in China, Europe, and the USA. Great growth is expected in the sectors of mobile poker, blackjack, roulette, and slots gaming. More and more players are expected to take to playing their favorite casino games for real money play while on the move. Currently, mobile casinos are just side products of larger online casinos, providing a small catalog of mobile games. But this is going to change soon as mobile casinos are introducing new mobile games on a daily basis.

In the UK, mobile sportsbooks are immensely popular, and mobile casinos are slowly capturing the attention of owners of mobile devices. Mobile casinos are being launched on a regular basis, and the quality of the mobile games offered is excellent, featuring realistic graphics and splendid sound effects.

Several developers are teaming up with Facebook to launch play money casino gaming apps, and this is turning out to be another factor contributing to the growth of mobile casino gaming.

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Goldfire Studio Launches New HTML5 Game CasinoRPG

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

Goldfire Studio has rolled out an exciting product called CasinoRPG for blackjack enthusiasts. CasinoRPG, which challenges players to build a huge casino kingdom of their own, is written in HTML5, and the developers claim that it is one of the best in the industry.

CasinoRPG offers not only blackjack games, but also the entire suite of online casino games such as slots, video poker games, and others. Players can use their profits to build a large casino kingdom and invite more and more players into their network.

Since CasinoRPG is developed with only HTML5, it is compatible with all devices under the sun, which means that players can play CasinoRPG in any part of the world.

Players should note that CasinoRPG is for fun alone; it has nothing to do with real money gambling. Although this could disappoint those who love the adventures of real money gaming, CasinoRPG is bound to be an instant success with anybody who enjoys playing casino games for fun.

Goldfire Studio CEO James Simpson says that CasinoRPG is “the most advanced HTML5 game” in the gambling world, giving players a very good idea of modern browser gaming. He also said that the company has just begun exploring the potentials of online gambling.

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