www.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE FEBRUARY 2015

SPECIAL FOCUS

WH end talks over 888 takeover

International Gaming Awards

InfinityGaming

Is Chris Christie blocking PokerStars

Dutch MP call for Curaçao gambling investigation

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EDITOR’S LETTERcontentsInfinityGaming

William Hill pull out of 888 deal ........................04-05 UK Bookmaker says price was too high Jersey - New Kids on the Block .........................06-09Christina Thakor-Rankin looks at the new option

Chris Christie ............................................................10-11Is the NJ Governor behind blocking PokerStars?

Welcome to the Savoy Hotel .............................12-13The venue for the 8th IGA Awards

8th IGA Awards Special ........................................14-41All the winners and fun at the Industry Oscars

Caesars new BFF with PokerStars? ..................42-43Casino giant says PokerStars should enter US sector

Customer Service tips......................................45-46 Marty Baird on his latest article on valet service

Dutch MP demands investigation ...................46-47 Curacao comes under spotlight for gambling Chineses going nowhere to gamble ..............48-49President makes worrying comments

City of Dreams Manila ..........................................50-51Opening of new resort

It’s time to get the App .........................................52-53Your favourite magazine is now available on NEWSSATANDS

NO DEAL04

JERSEY REVIEW

CUSTOMER SERVICE TIPS

ALL THE PICS FROM IGA8

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Welcome tto the Febru-ary edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine

First of all we would like to say congratulations to all International Gaming Awards Winners. We have some great photos from the IGA evening at the Savoy Hotel. Once again we celebrated the career of one very special individual for the Outstanding Contribution Award which this year recognised Bill Cammegh. An amazing video presentation showed exactly why the founder of Cammegh Ltd received a standing ovation and brought a tear to the man’s eye. It was a moment that Bill said he will never forget, thank you all for mak-ing it so special for Bill Cammegh. I would like once again to thank you our industry experts contribut-ing to Infinity Gaming Magazine with their knowledge and opin-ions. Huge thank you to Martin R Baird and our beautiful expert Tina Thakor-Rankin.

We would like to say, huge thank you to 7Red for donating the Mike Tyson signed gloves, along with our Charity Sponsor Mr Green, overall we raised in excess of £10,000 on the evening for Care International charity, you are all stars.

Finally, dear readers, spring is nearly here and I am sure that we all desperate for some sunshine and getting out to the golf course, apart from those who live in exotic islands and don’t know what we are talking about.

Looking forward seeing you all at the Women in Gaming event soon.

Enjoy the magazine

Lana x

InfinityGamingEDITORS NOTES

EDITOR’S LETTER

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Christina Thakor-RankinMartin R. Baird

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byLana Thompson - Chief Editor

Opinion Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in all external articles are those of the authors and

do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Infinity Gaming Maga-

zine Any content provided by our feature writers or authors are of their opinion, and

are not intended to malign any religion, ethic group, club, organization, company,

individual or anyone or anything.

The Infinity Gaming

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William Hill end takeover talks with 888, bwin party next?

ONLINE GAMING NEWS

W illiam Hill has pulled out of talks to acquire 888 Holdings because the UK largest bookie feels the price that 888 were asking for was

too high. The news of the collapsed talks was announced by 888: “Due to a significant difference of opinion on value with a key stakeholder, it has not been possible to reach agreement on the terms of a possible offer and the Board of the Company has agreed with William Hill to terminate discussions.”

Brian Mattingley, chief executive of 888, said: “The Com-pany is in good health and continues to trade comfort-ably in line with expectations.” At first William Hill valued the company at £720 million, at 203p-a-share along with a 3p dividend but it is under-stood at least one major shareholder believed the online gambling firm was worth significantly more. News of the failed talks drove down 888 shares by 16%. 888 Holdings began life in 1997 by founding brothers Avi and Aaron Shaked, and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak .The two families’ trusts continue control around 60% of the company. Some observers now believe that William Hill may turn their attention to bwin party entertainment who are rumoured to be in talks of a takeover back in November of last year, but no new developments have taken place since then. It is understood William Hill sees the future with consoli-dation and now with 888 Holdings out it could very well be the turn of bwin party.

Playtech snap up Yoyo Games

Playtech has announced the acquisition of UK-based Yoyo Games Limited for $16.4 million, Yoyo, which is head-quartered in Dundee, is the home of Game Maker: Studio (“GMS”), a mobile driven cross-platform casual game development technology that enables developers to create games using a single programming code and then publish them to run natively across most common platforms, including iOS, Android, OS X, HTML5, PlayStation, Xbox, Ubuntu, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Windows RT.

The entire Game Maker family of products has been downloaded more than five million times. GMS enables game developers to create cross-platform games in hours with a user-friendly intuitive platform. Given the simplicity of the platform and its capabilities, GMS has secured more than 750,000 registered games developers who currently use the platform on a freemium basis with chargeable add-ons.

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The now traditional winners photograph of all the category winners from the evening. It seems the excitement of winning was all a bit too much for some and could not hold their excitement. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists and thank you so much for a fantastic photo.

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After years of supporting the “Bad Actors” clause in online gambling in Nevada, New Jer-

sey and Delaware effectively block-ing the entry of PokerStars into the US market, Caesars Entertainment have now come out and said they think PokerStars should be allowed into the sector following Amaya Gaming purchasing the online poker giant. Jan Jones Blackhurst the Executive Vice President of Communications & Government Relations for Caesars, said recently that Amaya/PokerStars “should be considered for legaliza-tion in the U.S.” Why Jan Jones came out and said this is a mystery, surely this was not a personal comment, but whatever the reason the door has now been

left open for PokerStars to push for any potential movement in Califor-nian legislation towards online poker in the state, along with PokerStars continued attempts to gain licensing in New Jersey. With one of the largest online gam-

ing operators in what is still a small market in the US saying that the bad actor clause should be effectively re-scinded now Amaya Gaming has the reins means that PokerStars moves just a little closer to getting back in the US online gambling industry.

C aesars Entertainment won the court battle against creditors in to where the

bankruptcy hearings should be held after federal bankruptcy judge Kevin Gross ruled they should be in Chicago rather than Delaware. However the judge blasted the ca-sino operator which had been busy prior to entering chapter 11 by mov-ing around preferred assets into a separate company saving them from being touched by angry creditors. The judge said he understood “seri-ous” creditors’ allegations that the debtor’s owners “engaged in a series of self-dealing transactions” that transferred substantial assets out of the reach of Caesars creditors before

the bankruptcy filing earlier this month. Following his ruling to allow Caesars to have the case heard in Chicago which has different bankruptcy laws than Delaware allowing for own-ers and senior management not to be liable for operational financial matters involved in bankruptcy hearings, the judge said, “Caesars, its owners, and their “suspect” dealings will be “under a magnifying glass” there. Caesars said it was pleased with the venue decision. A spokesman said the pre-bankruptcy transactions were done to “improve” the unit’s financial condition, with advice from independent legal and financial

advisers. “We look forward to a full hearing on these issues in the Chi-cago court,” he said. Many creditors are furious about the way Caesars Entertainment moved around prime assets prior to placing Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. with $18.4 billion in debt, into bankruptcy protection. Most see this as putting all the companies bad eggs in one basket and then putting the good ones in a separate one out of reach of creditors. Although Caesars deny any wrong doing, many observers feel that it is unfair on most inves-tors and creditors that will not see a penny on the funds they invested.

Caesars win bankruptcy location hearing

Caesars Ent. say let PokerStars in the US

US GAMING NEWS

Playtech has un-veiled a series of never-before-seen

industry-first features within an expanded Virtual Sports portfo-lio including a new, fully simulated football game, allowing for realistic betting and gameplay. Playtech’s Virtual Sports multi-channel package is available online, in retail, mobile and satel-lite, across any device and includes full sports simulations, a feature unique to the Playtech offering. Playtech licensees are able to choose from a host of sports including football, horse-racing, greyhounds, velo-drome, and speedway with tennis, basketball and trotting, com-plete with league and tournament and in-play betting, available later this year. Each game employs leading-edge graphics based on feature film motion cap-ture technology, shot on location, and using professional sportsmen and women. Realistic odds and an increase in bet-ting options, multiple

languages with local language commentaries and in-game branding provide both operators, and their players, with the ultimate virtual sports experience. Elliott Norris, Head of Virtual Sports, Playtech, said: “The portfolio we are able to offer today, and showcase at ICE 2015, is the best the industry has ever seen. The graphics are mind-blowing and we are the only company able to offer full sports simula-tions meaning that bet-ting and gameplay are as realistic as possible. “Our new football and tennis products, due for release in the coming months, are a cut above anything else available on the market and, from the positive feedback we’ve received from licensees and their players across multiple regulated markets, we are delighted with the outcome,” Norris added.

Playtech unveils industry-first

Virtual Sports featuresDutch MP calls for Curaçao gambling investigation

A Dutch MP in the Socialist Party wants the Dutch Ministry to investigate the close relationship Curaçao government officials have with the gambling industry there.

Ronald van Raak is asking the Minister of Kingdom Relations, Ronald Plasterk and the Dutch Minister of Justice, Ivo Opstelten to investigate the current situ-ation in Curaçao where he says people are gambling Curaçao millions of guilders on the island and it is be-coming more every day. The MP says that the gambling industry there is heavily involved in money laundering and are paying government officials to keep away from the business and out of jail.

So the MP Ronald van Raak now wants the Netherlands to launch an investigation into party financing and the involvement of the gambling industry in the poli-tics of the island. No word has come from either the Justice Minister or the Minister for Kingdom relations on whether they will look in to the matter the MP has brought up.

EUROPEAN GAMING NEWS

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The launch of City of Dreams Manila saw over 30,000 visi-tors experience Manila’s first-

ever world-class entertainment-inspired leisure destination. The landmark event was officiated by Melco Crown Entertainment’s Co-Chairman and CEO Mr. Law-rence Ho, Co-Chairman Mr. James Packer, government dignitaries and VIP guests to officially launch the over $1 billion resort at Manila’s latest tourist destination, Entertain-ment City. City of Dreams Manila has been developed by integrated casino re-sort developer MCE Leisure in coopera-tion with SM Group’s Belle Corporation, and is under the sole management and operation by MCE Leisure Philip-pines, a subsidiary of Melco Crown Resorts Corporation which is a subsidiary of Melco Crown Entertain-ment Limited. Mr. Cristino Naguiat Jr, Chairman and CEO of PAGCOR said: “The magnificence of the City of Dreams Manila grand launch last night was testimony to how Melco Crown Entertainment has opened up a new chapter of entertainment experience in the Philippines. I am confident that the new benchmark set by this entertainment-inspired resort will help Entertainment City and Manila to being one of the leading premier leisure destina-

tions in Asia.” Thousands of excited visitors witnessed Melco Crown Entertain-ment’s Co-Chairman and CEO Mr. Lawrence Ho and Mrs. Sharen Ho; Co-Chairman Mr. James Packer; and Mr. Clarence Chung, Chair-man & President of Melco Crown Philippines as they were joined by Mr. Cristino Naguiat Jr, Chairman and CEO of PAGCOR, Mr. Henry Sy Jr, Chairman of SM Prime Hold-ings, turning the ceremonial keys – opening the ‘Fortune Egg’ of City of Dreams Manila and cascading a ‘Dream Cloud’ of mechanical butterflies – to officially mark the

launch of the integrated resort. Celebrations of Manila’s newest world-class gaming and entertain-ment destination started with a glamorous red carpet entrance of celebrities and socialites preceded a prestigious gala dinner event attended by government officials, business partners and VIP guests. Meanwhile, a crowd of over 5,000

movers and shakers partied at the sell-out ‘Concert of Dreams’ and were wowed by a stellar line-up of international and Philippines’ stars, with headliners Ne-Yo, international R&B heartthrob, and Kelly Rowland, the Grammy-award winning singer, who was formerly part of one of the most successful female groups of all time, Destiny’s Child, sup-ported by a host of top local artists including Gary Valenciano, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Kyla and Jed Madela. Earlier in the day hundreds of representatives from international and regional media joined the assembled ranks of Philippines

media corps, to attend a special press confer-ence and interview opportunities with Mr. Lawrence Ho and Mr. James Packer, where the audience en-joyed the impressive talk-around-town TV promotional film, star-ring Hollywood super-stars Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese, and produced by the

internationally-acclaimed RatPac Entertainment producer and direc-tor Brett Ratner. Prior to the opening, City of Dreams was announced as the Best Inte-grated Resort of 2015 at the 8th International Gaming Awards.

City of Dreams Manila opens to award winning start

ASIA GAMING NEWS

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Per Norman has been appointed new CEO of Mr Green & Co AB (publ), listed on AktieTorget.

He will assume his position after the Annual General Meeting on 23 April 2015. Per Norman has extensive experi-ence from such positions as CEO and Deputy CEO of Boxer, SES-Sirius and MTG, and he has been a Board member of Mr Green & Co AB since 2014. Per Norman has also acted as adviser for the Mr Green Group since 2012, held Board assignments in the Group’s Maltese companies, and been responsible for the IPO process when Mr Green & Co AB was listed on AktieTorget. “With Per Norman as our CEO, we will acquire a leader who knows the company well and can continue to

develop the company, while also leveraging Mr Green & Co’s entrepre-neurial culture,” says Tommy Troll-borg, Chairman of the Board of Mr Green & Co. “It is a great honour to be entrusted with the development of Mr Green & Co and our subsidiaries. I am pas-

sionate about our tradition of giving visitors the best gaming experience in the industry,” says Per Norman, incoming CEO of Mr Green & Co. As previously announced, the Nomi-nation Committee of Mr Green & Co AB will propose the appointment of current CEO, Mikael Pawlo, to the company’s Board.

G amesys has sold major parts of their business to growing online operator

Intertain in a deal worth over £425 million. The Intertain Group has acquired both Gamesys bingo site Jackpotjoy and slot website Real-Money Starspins and the final cost could increase dependant on the performance of the two brands over the next three years. “Our stated vision is to focus on the female demographic, in regulated markets,” John Kennedy FitzGerald, chief executive officer of Intertain, said in a statement. “This acquisition is consistent with this vision.’ The Toronto based firm is quickly chasing it’s country neighbour

Amaya Gaming with large acquisi-tions following the $126-mil-lion pickup of online casino player Vera&John group late last year along with the $82.4-million acquisition of Mandalay Media, which owned some of the U.K’s most popular bingo websites, including Costa Bingo, Sing Bingo, City Bingo and Fancy Bingo. It looks as if there is another big

player coming into the market that has seen multiple acquisitions over the last 12 months creating a hand-ful of large gaming companies.

Intertain acquire Gamesys bingo & slot sites

Per Norman new President and CEO of Mr Green

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