Author: OnlineGamblingDaily

The Indiana Gaming Commission is set to decide today the receiver of a license to run a casino in Vigo County. At a public hearing in Indianapolis, the four applicants —Hard Rock, Churchill Downs, Full House and Premier Gaming— will each have 30 minutes to present their proposal, which will then be followed by regulators selecting the licensee. Commissioners are expected to each name their two applicants: those receiving four or more votes will then advance to a final round. Finalists will then make their closing statements, after which commissioners will select the winning applicant by motion and vote, reports Tribune-Star.…

Research conducted by the Washington State University found that sports betting on tribal casinos is on track to become a $94 million industry in the state within the next five years. According to the study, sports wagering at tribal casinos will also lead to an estimated 273 direct jobs.   About 59% of Washington residents surveyed described themselves as sports fans. About 5% said they placed wagers on games at least once per month, mostly through office pools and sportsbooks, while nearly 14% said they were likely to participate in Washington’s emerging sports betting industry. The conducted study, presented during the…

Caesars Entertainment announced today that the WSOP moves to the Las Vegas Strip next year! The 53rd annual World Series of Poker will be held at their Bally’s and Paris Casinos from May 31st to July 19th, 2022. Additionally, actor and comedian Vince Vaughn has been named as the event’s official celebrity Master of Ceremonies. Following a successful 17-year run at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino, the WSOP continues its tradition as the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world at an all-new location. For the first time, the WSOP will be held at the heart…

Experienced businessman Rahul Sood, former Microsoft Ventures executive and co-founder of crypto-based esports betting platform Unikrn, is returning to gaming with a new startup called Irreverent Labs. The Seattle-based company, which has already raised $5 million, is working on a new play-to-earn game utilizing cutting-edge technology. The project is being developed by a veteran gaming team, and will feature AI characters living on the blockchain as NFTs. Sood, recognized as an innovative entrepreneur in the esports and gaming industries, is known for his works with Microsoft Ventures and later at Unikrn, which he co-founded in 2014 with Karl Flores. The…

Pragmatic Play has won two awards at the Gaming Intelligence Awards 2021, being crowned iGaming Supplier of the Year and also receiving Game of the Year for its title Gates of Olympus. The judges lauded Pragmatic Play for its surge into the region with key partnerships in “Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru”. They went on to highlight the supplier’s credentials with Codere in Mexico, Colombia, and Spain and the further deals won in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Venezuela as a result of an extended deal with the major operator. Victor Arias, VP of Latin American Operations at Pragmatic Play, said:…

SCCG Management announced Tuesday it has partnered with Better Change, a Gibraltar-based organization that uses training, multi-channel content creation and professional services to gaming operators who wish to implement or strengthen their tools to help reduce the harm for risk-players.  Better Change focuses on intervention strategies for problem gamblers, leverages operator’s internal infrastructure and create external messaging for players and regulators, while bringing a clinical science and research approach to tackling this issue.  “Better Change’s difference is clear in their ability  to intrinsically and organically intertwine this much needed activity into the operating infrastructures of gambling operators and the regulatory…

DraftKings announced Monday that the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG) has awarded its three-year research grant for the Fund to Support Research on Sports Wagering to researchers at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. DraftKings’ financial contribution allowed the ICRG to proceed with a competitive request for applications from researchers around the world interested in tackling problem gambling. With this funding, they will be able to study the issue’s prevalence as well as risk specific to sports betting on a national scale.  The ICRG created the fund to focus on responsible gaming in sports betting with the goal of…

Investment payback periods for casinos in Macau have now extended from just a year to decades. Whereas a venue like Sands Macau -the enclave’s first Las Vegas-style casino-, opened in 2004, was able to recoup its $256 million construction cost in just under a year, the situation has drastically changed in the last few years. Even before the pandemic, new casino resorts were likely to see a payback period of more than five years, reports Bloomberg. This resulted from challenges from bulging construction costs to China’s crackdown on capital outflow. However, now the Covid-19 pandemic, and its hit to visitation…

Caesars Entertainment Board Member Jan Jones Blackhurst is taking part in a special keynote session at SBC Summit North America, the event organizers have announced. The conference and expo is set to take place November 30 – December 2, 2021, at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. Blackhurst’s “fireside chat” session will take place on Thursday, December 2, from 4 PM to 4:40 PM EST. During the keynote, the executive will address some of the challenges facing the evolving gaming industry, including the importance of building a sustainable diverse and inclusive workforce, and the impact of investors demanding…

CT Interactive is about to debut in Lithuania after striking a deal that will see its games live at the TOPsport operator. A selected game list from the company’s portfolio will be soon available. Lachezar Petrov, CEO at CT Interactive, said: “The agreement will expand our reach and strengthen our stronghold in the regulated European markets.” “We have included bestsellers as 40 Treasures, Lucky Clover, and Duck Of Luck along with many other titles that TOPsport players will enjoy and come back for more”, added Milena Tsankarska, Business Development at CT Interactive. A first of its kind for CT Interactive…

International Game Technology PLC (IGT) announced on Monday that a massive jackpot was awarded on its Wheel of Fortune slots game in October. On October 13, a player won $1,163,526 playing Wheel of Fortune 4D at Silver Star Hotel & Casino at Pearl River Resort in Choctaw, Mississippi. Wheel of Fortune slots has minted over 1,100 millionaires and awarded over $3.3 billion in jackpots since its launch in 1996.

Lawmakers in New Jersey are proposing financial relief for casinos in Atlantic City, in an effort to help them continue recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal would exempt two of the industry’s fastest-growing revenue streams -internet gambling and online sports betting- from calculations on how much the casinos should pay the city. The bill, which was advanced Monday morning by a state Senate committee, would reduce payments for some casinos, including market leader Borgata, while imposing higher payments onto others, such as Hard Rock. The proposal is a renewal of a measure requiring casinos to make payments in lieu…

Global gaming technology and content provider Bragg Gaming Group announced Monday that Paul Godfrey, Chair of the Board of Directors, has been appointed to the role of Interim CEO of Bragg Gaming, effective November 15, 2021, as Richard Carter stepped down from the CEO role. Bragg founder and former Interim CEO Adam Arviv will take on the role of Special Advisor to the Chair and CEO. Oryx founder and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Bragg Matevž Mazij will also play an integral role in the organization.  Godfrey has agreed to take on the role of CEO until…

MGM Resorts has inked a $12.5 million wage deal with casino workers in New Jersey and Maryland, resolving two related suits brought by table games dealers at Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City (New Jersey), and MGM National Harbor Casino and Hotel in Oxon Hill (Maryland). Plaintiffs Maria D. Maldonado and Laura A. Day, who earned sub-minimum wage plus tips, had challenged the company’s ability to claim a tip credit due to a purported failure to provide notice required by the Fair Labor Standards Act, reports Law 360. The FLSA only allows employers to claim the tip credit if…

Yes, we’re talking about mobile sports betting again… and just in time for the Thanksgiving break! On our last show before the holiday we reveal the operators approved to operate in New York state, and the tax rate those operators will have to pay! We’re also still waiting on a decision from a judge about Florida sports betting! Plus, there is news on the Bicycle Casino in California, and we have a new interview to share! Back around Halloween I told you guys about the preposterous tax rate being proposed by New York state for mobile sports betting. A tax…

The Bicycle Casino near Los Angeles seems to have forgotten some things. You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit into the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with the Internal Revenue Service. The casino has been hit with a fine of half a million dollars for not properly reporting cash transactions of over $10,000 on multiple occasions over an 8-month period back in 2016. And yes, we’re just learning about this now. It seems a customer (who was a Chinese national) brought about a hundred million dollars to the…