infinity gaming magazine - summer 2014 edition infinity gaming magazine
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www.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE JULY/AUGUST 2014
ARTICLE CASINO COMPETITION IN OVERDRIVE
InfinityGamingTrump warns more casinos could close
DEUTSCHE BANK To sell Cosmopolitan
OSAKA Wants to be first in Japan
The APP Awards
Industry exclusion good or bad thing?
Most popular mobiles ever
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EDITOR’S LETTERcontentsInfinityGaming
Gaming App Awards .............................................04-09The launch of the global App Awards taking place in November
Interview with Tauri Tiitsaar ...............................10-14COO mBet Solutions
Industry self exclusion ..........................................16-19More harm than good? - Christina Thakor-Rankin
Scientific Games buys Bally Tech .....................20-21$5.1 billion deals creates second gaming giant
Casino competition in overdrive ......................28-29Martin R. Baird latest article
Trump to sue over name removal ...................30-31Prroerty magnate wants his name removed
Nevada tips first domino .....................................32-33Professor Nelson Rose latest intriguing article
Betconstruct joins as sponsor for IGA8 ..........34-35leading software company joins global awards ceremony
More casinos will close in NJ ..............................36-37Donald Trump warns of more shut downs
California see new online bill this year ..........38-39Golden State will see new online gambling bill in 2014
EU releases new recommendations ...............44-45To protect EU states customers with responsbile ads
Most popular mobiles ever ................................48-51Can you guess the biggest ever seller?
Latest financial reports .........................................52-53Leading gaming firms announce results
Infinity Gaming .......................................................How and where can you read the magazine?
EMMA LOVEDAY10
APP AWARDS
BWIN.PARTY LOSE 3 DIRECTORS
BALLY CEO DEPARTS
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Welcome to the July/August edition of the Infinity Gaming Mag-azine.
It is still vacation time and do not forget you can always read us on the beach or lazing by the pool on your smart phone or tablet. We have a superb edition for you with a very insightful interview with Tauri Tiitsaar the COO of mBet Solutions on Bitcoin on casino. As always with our contributing writers we have some truly thought provoking articles from Christin Thakor-Rankin and Martin R. Baird, both are a must read. Of course we also have Professor Nelson Rose adding another superb article.
However the biggest subject I want to bring to your attention is the launch of the Gaming App Awards, which will recognise the very latest technology, design and popularity of the “App”. All gaming companies have them now and with the launch of the App Awards recognition
and profiling of this exciting new sector will happen in November in London.
Nominations are now open for a variety of categories for the App Awards. Exciting times come No-vember. In closing we want to welcome Betconstruct as our latest sponsor for the 8th International Gaming Awards, where also nominations are now open for what is now recog-nised as the “Oscars” for the global gaming industry. Enjoy the magazine.
Have a great August and catch you all in September.
Enjoy
Lana x
InfinityGamingEDITORS NOTES
EDITOR’S LETTER
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Christina Thakor-RankinMartin R. BairdProfessor Nelson Rose CONTACT USClever Duck MediaSuite 105 Park Plaza Point South Hayes Way Cannock WS12 2DB UKTel: +44(0)1543 578 689 [email protected] PRODUCTIONClever Duck MediaSuite 105 Park Plaza Point South Hayes Way Cannock WS12 2DB UK
PUBLISHINGInfinity Gaming Magazineis operated by© Clever Duck Media Ltd ® Company Reg. No. 687 1018(Registered in England)
ADVERTISING:Sponsorship [email protected]
Business [email protected]
JOIN US
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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GAMING APP AWARDS CATEGORIESNovember 2014 - Central London
App of the Year Year Best Bingo App
The judges will decide the Best App of the Year on the criteria of best UI, design, style, customer engagement, fluidity of game, innovation of technologies and the ability to continue to engage the user time and again. Popularity is a consideration but not the deciding factor on the winner.
Innovative App of the Year
The judges will be looking for something truly innovative for the winner of this cat-egory, the App must have value, be unique in its field, have a familiarity but different to engage and allow the user to feel they have experienced something unique and even taking part in gaming for good.
The Judges will decide the winner of this category by the style, UI, customer engage-ment and the ability of the App to encour-age continued use while at the same time developing an exciting App for all levels of customer ability to use and enjoy.
Best in-play Sports App
One of the most competitive of Apps in the gaming sector, it is all about speed and get-ting the customers the fastest, most avail-able cross section of betting at the right time. The UI has to be perfect, access to the correct screens and ability to place a bet quickly is what the judges will be deciding on to find a winner. The App which offers the best odds is not necessarily the winner but the App the offers the greatest number of choices within the “in-play” app will help decide on whom the winner will be.
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GAMING APP AWARDS CATEGORIES
All the winners announced at the spectacular evening
Best Casino App
Best Poker App
The judges will be looking for the best ca-sino App that will have the design, usability, information, style and customer interac-tion that stands out from the competitors. The winner will not necessarily be the most popular and downloaded app but will con-
The winner of best poker App will have an excellent UI, while keeping in mind that most users will be using the app on a small touch screen. The judges will evaluate the nominees on the fluidity of the app, to ensure the user can navigate to the relevant screens easily and unobtrusive. Once again size and popularity is not the deciding fac-tor bit will be taken into account.
Best Free to play App
The challenge for a free to play app is to ensure once the user has downloaded the App is that it is instantly fluid in presenta-tion, has style and offers the user the op-portunity to be engaged immediately.
Best Slots App
Great UI, style, variety of games, fluid navigation and the ability to entertain and engage the user will be the deciding factors on who will be the winner of Best Slots App.
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The International Gaming App Awards will recognise the very best companies working to develop this new and innovative sector. The worlds best companies involved in the App industry will be taking part in this prestigous event with the ceremony taking place in November in central London.
GAMING APP AWARDS CATEGORIES
All the winners announced at the spectacular evening November 2014 - Central London
Best Slots game App Best Social gaming App
Great UI, style, unique and innovative game, fluid navigation and the ability to entertain and engage the user will be the deciding factors on who will be the winner of Best Slots game App.
Fresh content, familiarity, and valuable incentives are some of the qualities the winner of the category will have along with, the ability to engage the user over a long period of time at the same time the user wants to return again and again to the game. Making sure the users prog-ress through the game quick enough so they won’t get bored along with layering enough levels to be able to entice con-tinued play. Popularity will be a factor in deciding the winner but not the ultimate reason.
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The International Gaming App Awards will recognise the very best companies working to develop this new and innovative sector. The worlds best companies involved in the App industry will be taking part in this prestigous event with the ceremony taking place in November in central London.
GAMING APP AWARDS CATEGORIES
All the winners announced at the spectacular evening
Best Social Poker App
The winner of this category will have shown the commitment to users that the App is not just a tool to divert players to real money play but offer a stylish, consistent, great UI and multi game format for players wanting variable games. The best social poker app will give the user the best experi-ence in the poker sector along with options on chat, find friends and a feeling of com-munity spirit.
Best Sports betting App
A combination of best odds and the amount of sports covered will be one of the factors to decide on the winner of best Sports Betting App. Along with UI and the ability to deliver the required sections within the App at a quick and timely fash-ion to ensure the user is totally engaged.
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Q : Thank you for talking to us today, can we start by asking you a little about your background and the role you currently hold?
TT: It’s great to be talking to you today. I started off as a poker player however the business side of poker and af-filiate marketing was clearly more profitable in the long term!. The affiliate business went very well during the peak times of poker, whereby the team behind mBet Solutions developed a full affili-ate platform, which incorporated the website, accounting, poker & casino deals and all technical solutions for affiliates. I started off as an account/affiliate man-ager and over time, my role kept growing and growing until the point where I had had very good experience across all parts of the business; being able to handle negotiations, oversee development and consider legal aspects. Given that our corporate focus is to continue innovating, especially in the gaming industry, we saw the immediate benefits of the Bitcoin protocol for merchants and con-sumers and seized the opportunity. In November 2013
we started developing a solution for gambling mer-chants who wanted to operate a turnkey solution which incorporated all of the intrinsic benefits of transacting in Bitcoins and allowed players to play casino slots, live dealer, poker and bet on sports. However we have a very diversified business model and continue to provide high
end technical services to many well known (fiat based) sportsbooks and casinos. My own role as the COO in-volves the oversight of daily company operations, negotiating with new clients, ensuring our business goals are being met and making sure the innovation does not stop! Q: mBet Solutions is a B2B service provider, what does the company offer its clients? TT: We offer our clients a full gaming platform denominated in Bitcoins and offering such verticals as poker,
casino, live casino and sportsbook whilst ensuring the gaming operations and treasury management are fully licensed, secure and auditable. We also provide all of our clients with a backend, offering full reporting including statistics, user reporting and affiliate reporting – every-thing is shown to our clients in real time without the need to refresh the page.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Interview with Tauri Tiitsaar COO of mBet Solutions / www.coingaming.io Infinity Gaming Magazine sat down with Tauri Tiitsaar, the COO of mBet Solutions to find out more about the Bitcoin only site and to delve deeper into Bitcoin itself
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S cientific Games has purchased Bally Technolo-gises for $5.1 billion, the deal which will be $3.27 billion in cash and the remainder absorbing Bally
Technologises debt. It was only one year ago that Bally Technologises bought
rival competitor SHFL for $1.3 billion, now one year later the company has been purchased by Scientific Games who itself bought up WMS for $1.5 billion recently. The companies anticipate $220 million in annual cost savings and $25 million in annual capital-expenditure savings by consoli-dating operations and generating efficiencies in the areas of manu-facturing, engineering, field and customer service and administra-tive operations.
Gavin Isaacs now CEO at Scientific Games knows Bally Technologises very well as he has worked for them in the past along with more recently SHFL prior to his ap-pointment with Scientific Games.
Scientific Games buys Bally Technologises for $5.1 billion
US GAMING NEWS
Adelson spends less on lobbying than Caesars
Sheldon Adelson who pronounced war against online gambling in the US and to spend whatever it takes to defeat the spread in other states considering its merits seems not to be “spending” as much as others in the fight over online gambling after all. Website opensecrets which tracks political contribu-tions says that Sheldon Adelson and his Las Vegas Sands company spent a total of $460,000 in the hope of influencing political figures against the spread of online gambling. But at the same time other casino operators spent much more, such as Caesars Entertainment which spent a total of $1.8 million in the same period at-tempting to influence politicians of the merits of online gambling. Indeed add together MGM, Boyd and Churchill Downs
who spent a total of $570,000 which again passes the money spent by Adelson. However these amounts don’t account for outside spending, money spent at the state level, or personal contributions to candidates, these are the totals spent on registered Washington DC lobbyists. So tracking of those amounts is a lot more difficult and Adelson could very well be outspending in targeted areas of the US. Observers believe that at present the battle is in stale-mate, with Adelson failing at present to move forward on banning all online gambling in the US, but at the same time those casino operators in favour of online gambling are struggling to get more states to expand and legislate for online gambling.
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ADVANCED GAMING PLATFORM
AUSTRALASIAN GAMING EXPOAUGUST 12 - 14, SYDNEY-AUSTRALIA, STAND# 309
POWER UP YOUR BUSINESSWWW.BETCONSTRUCT.COM
FINANCIALBETTING
FANTASYSPORTS
CASINO& GAMES
POKERNETWORK
SERVICESYSTEMS
SPORTSBETTING
ODDSFEED
LIVECASINO
15.000+LIVE-MATCHES &ODDS FEED PER MONTH GLOBAL GAMING EXPO 2014
SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 2, LAS VEGAS - USASTAND# 115
VISIT US
ENTERTAINMENT ARENA EXPO SEPTEMBER 2 – 4 BUCHAREST – ROMANIA,STAND# 115
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B etconstruct will take part in the Australia Gaming Show as sponsors and new exhibi-
tors. The firm will be showcasing its online and land-based Sportsbook, Poker, RNG and Live Dealer Casino, Skill and Virtual games, Financial Betting and Fantasy Sports at Sydney Exhibition Centre on 12 - 14 August 2014. As sponsors and new exhibitors, BetConstruct are very proud to be attending AGE 2014. BetConstruct recognizes that this is one of the most important Gaming expos in the world and is very much looking forward to developing new relation-ships and meeting influential execu-tives from the Australasian gaming industry. BetConstruct do not currently have any partners in Australia but is very interested in learning more about the betting landscape and regula-tory framework. This is very much a fact finding mission for BetConstruct, they position themselves as a global supplier and are keen to share their expertise with partners around the world. BetConstruct is currently working on a Sports Betting Terminal and Touch screen solutions that they believe will create global interest. BetConstruct also tries and ensures that all of their software systems are developable and meet their partners evolving requirements; responding to the needs of their customers cre-ates a constant cycle of innovation. The main aim is to showcase the full range of comprehensive solutions for gaming companies, which include
an online, land-based Sportsbook, Poker, RNG and Live Dealer Casino, Skill and Vir-tual games, Financial Betting and Fantasy Sports. It will also be very interesting to speak with regulators and local operators so that they can gain more understand-ing of the regulatory framework and op-erator requirements.
BETCONSTRUCT TO FEATURE AT AGE
AUSTRALASIAN GAMING EXPO, 12 – 14 AUGUST 2014, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
ADVANCED GAMING PLATFORM
AUSTRALASIAN GAMING EXPOAUGUST 12 - 14, SYDNEY-AUSTRALIA, STAND# 309
POWER UP YOUR BUSINESSWWW.BETCONSTRUCT.COM
FINANCIALBETTING
FANTASYSPORTS
CASINO& GAMES
POKERNETWORK
SERVICESYSTEMS
SPORTSBETTING
ODDSFEED
LIVECASINO
15.000+LIVE-MATCHES &ODDS FEED PER MONTH GLOBAL GAMING EXPO 2014
SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 2, LAS VEGAS - USASTAND# 115
VISIT US
ENTERTAINMENT ARENA EXPO SEPTEMBER 2 – 4 BUCHAREST – ROMANIA,STAND# 115
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New Jersey has seen the slide of land based casinos over recent years and the fledg-
ling online gambling industry only launched late last year is already seeing signs of decline. In a recent report from credit rat-ings company Fitch Ratings they have said that the estimates of win-nings for online companies operat-ing in the state have been slashed from its previous estimate of $200 million to $300 million for the full
year to its new estimate of just $120 million to $150 million. “Several factors we had expected to drive sequential growth have not materialized, including a ramp-up in players’ awareness of online gaming as a result of operators’ marketing efforts,” Fitch Ratings wrote to in-vestors. “The number of online gam-ing accounts increasing 8 percent in June to 378,564 from 351,136 in May, and tripling since December, has not translated into increased
revenue. Other factors expected to drive growth include technology improvements, users’ adaption to the available payment methods and the rollout of mobile products.” The announcement comes after the state online gambling business has seen takings of just $63 million for the current year. June gambling figures for the state were again dis-appointing with just $9.51 million compared to $10.47 million in May, representing a fall of 9.17%.
Online gambling in NJ estimates slashed again
US GAMING NEWS
More casinos will close warns Trump
In a recent interview Donald Trump has warned that the current crop of casino closures in Atlan-tic City is not the last and could become much worse not just in Atlantic City but in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania also. The Trump Plaza which is set to close in September with the loss of over 1,500 jobs, was once owned by the property tycoon along with
Trump Marina and The Taj Mahal said the over saturation of casinos would mean more casino closures for certain. “I’m very sad for Atlantic City. I spent many years there, as you know,” Trump said from New York City less than two hours after Trump Plaza employees were is-sued layoff notices. “But I have not been involved for many years. “I have nothing to do” with Trump
Plaza’s closing, he said. “Different people own it.”
“I feel badly, but Atlantic City is a different place now,” Trump said. “What’s happening in Atlantic City is happening all over the country. The United States is becoming one big casino.“Atlantic City is getting clobbered. Seventy-five percent of the casinos in Atlantic City are bankrupt.”
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T he Rank Group said it was a tough year with strong competition after announcing the bingo and casino operators full year results. Indeed
the UK’s largest casino operator said that revenues were down from the same time last year, with like-for-like rev-enue from Grosvenor venues dropping by 4% however the firms digital business revenues rose by 38%. Mecca like-for-like venue revenue fell 5% and online revenue dipped 4%. Grosvenor casino’s reported a total revenue lift of 30% to £391.2m, driven by a £107.2m revenue contribution from the newly acquired Gala casino deal, pushing a 20% rise in operating profit to £56.8m. Mecca Bingo’s revenue decreased 3% to £288.2m as cus-tomer visits decreased during the year. Lower revenues and higher digital IT costs resulted in total brand profit falling 16% to £37m. Now with the impact of the Gala casino deal taking ef-fect that helped drive group total revenues up by 13% to £707.7m with profits rising by 7% to £116m. Rank said cost-cutting and tighter capital spending had resulted in a 21% rise in second half operating profit against a tough first half. Chief executive Henry Birch said Rank was well-placed for growth after a government cut in bingo duty, major capital investment programmes planned at its Not-tingham, Bournemouth and Luton casinos and full year benefits from the £8.9m investment in new products in the acquired casinos. “In the short term, the introduction of a digital point of consumption tax will impact performance, but our strong brands and market leading positions ensure that the group is well placed and provide long-term oppor-tunities.”
GAMING NEWS
Rank announce tough full year resultsCaesars Q2 results show losses widen further
Caesars Entertainment announced its second quarter results with losses widening in the quarter to $466.4 million compared to $212.2 million in the same quarter of 2013. Revenues were up for the casino giant by 3% to $2.18 billion, with increases coming from online and social gambling segments of the company’s busi-ness, but was held back with greater revenue climbs by poor casino revenues. CEO Gary Loveman said Las Vegas spending and visitation trends are encouraging. The company recorded modest increases of 2% and 7% in slot and table volumes, respectively, while lodging revenues for Las Vegas increased by 5%. However a 1.9% decline in casino revenues, largely coming from low volume and visitation in Atlantic City and other regional markets. Loveman said the company hopes construction of a meeting facility near Harrah’s in Atlantic City will help diversify the economy there. In closing Loveman said, “As we look ahead, we are excited about further expanding and enhancing our network with the opening of Horseshoe Baltimore and the potential development of an integrated re-sort in South Korea. We believe the advances we are making across the enterprise coupled with on going capital structure initiatives aimed at reducing lever-age will produce a positive impact on our business.
