Author: OnlineGamblingDaily

Atlantic City casino workers pushing for a smoking ban received support from several state lawmakers on Monday at a hearing on a bill that would put an end to indoor smoking at the destination’s nine properties.  Casino employees testified before a state Senate panel in favor of a law that would close a loophole in the state’s 2006 indoor smoking law, which was written specifically to exempt casinos from the ban. Currently, smoking is permitted on 25% of a casino floor in Atlantic City.  Even though no action was taken on the bill, numerous lawmakers supported a ban, calling it…

Blue Star Planet, trading as 10Bet, will pay £620,000 ($742,000) after a UK Gambling Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures, the regulator announced on Thursday. The operator – which runs 10bet.co.uk – will pay the money as part of a settlement with the Commission. The failings were identified following a compliance assessment that was conducted by Commission Officials on June 22-25, 2021. Between November 2019 and June 2021, the company failed to comply with a number of License Conditions and Codes of Practice. — Gambling Commission (@GamRegGB) February 16, 2023 These involve compliance for the prevention of money…

iGaming platform provider and aggregator Soft2Bet announced Thursday that it has secured a key content agreement with games studio AvatarUX. According to the supplier, this new partnership will see the company increase its capabilities for player retention and offer “an enhanced player experience” with the addition of “popular and groundbreaking” game mechanics. The deal will see Soft2Bet add several AvatarUX games to its portfolio, including content that is available and “proven extremely popular in major markets across the globe.” These games will be offered directly to Soft2bet’s network of clientele. Mechanics such as Popwins and Multipop, which have been incorporated into…

On the biggest sports betting day in America, the William Hill app crashed for bettors in the state of Nevada just prior to kickoff. Well, they do say that timing is everything. How could such a thing happen? Were they simply not prepared for such a massive volume of traffic? I mean, William Hill is one of the largest bookmakers in the United Kingdom, so surely they have experienced large spikes to their apps before. And they’ve been in Nevada for several years… even before the US sports betting revolution. So surely they knew what was coming. So, some players…

Gaming provider Euro Games Technology announced Wednesday it will provide assistance to earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. Seismic activity registered in both countries on February 6 has left a death toll of 35,000 people, while rescuing efforts continue in the area.  EGT will thus join humanitarian aid efforts from other companies by sending essential goods, and will also provide sleeping bags for extremely cold temperatures. Vladimir Dokov, CEO of EGT, commented: “Unfortunately, the earthquake in Turkey and Syria is another natural disaster with devastating consequences. At such times, the most natural thing to do is to help. That is why…

Managers of Genting Casino have announced the closure of the chain’s venue within The Cornerhouse in Nottingham, England, citing “commercial considerations.” In a statement, a spokesman for the Birmingham-headquartered casino chain explained the decision followed a 30-day consultation process with all staff at the Nottingham casino. “We have explored all avenues and come to the decision that we will be closing the Nottingham casino due to current commercial considerations,” they said, as per Nottingham Post. “Genting has a duty of care to all our employees and we will be supporting our staff accordingly as we have done through the consultation review.” Genting…

Gaming technology company Lottery.com has appointed Mark Gustavson as its new Chief Executive and principal executive officer. He officially assumed responsibilities on February 1 and will also serve as the business’ principal financial and accounting officer until a replacement is found.  Gustavson replaces Sohail Quraeshi, who was appointed CEO full-time in November after being brought in on an interim basis in October. Gustavson, age 54, has 17 years of business development, transactional, alliance management, finance, operational, company formation, and IP experience with emerging businesses, notes Lottery.com. During his career, he acquired extensive experience in the integration of business disciplines, with an…

This week’s gaming and casino news comes from the floor of the International Casino Expo in London, England. Discussion centers around several US gambling news stories, from the launch of sports betting in Massachusetts, to the proposition of esports betting in Pennsylvania, to the push for online casinos in Maryland! Hello friends, Jay Todd here on the floor of the International Casino Expo, or ICE as they call it. Arguably the biggest gathering of gambling professionals in the world. There’s about 35,000 people here from 70 countries from all over the world that have booths  and are displaying their products.…

Atlantic City casinos are to “pay their fair share” in taxes, according to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who assured the state will see it happen as his administration continues its court fight to uphold a 2021 law that cut the industry’s local tax burden by millions.  The changes to the casinos’ payment-in-lieu-of-property tax system resulted in the industry paying $55 million less in 2022 than it would have if the law had stayed the same.  The Governor’s comments came during the February 2 episode of WNYC public radio’s Ask Governor Murphy program. Asked by senior WNYC reporter Nancy Solomon…

Betty, a New York-headquartered entertainment company operating on the intersection of real money online casino and casual mobile gaming, announced Tuesday it has raised a $5 million seed round led by Karlani Capital.  Participants in the round also include CEAS Investments, Courtside Ventures, Gaingels, OCA Ventures Subversive Capital, and 305 Ventures. Betty had previously raised a $1.8 million pre-seed in March 2022. The company says it has identified a large audience of casual iCasino customers, particularly women slot players, who are “underserved” by existing brands which, at their core, are sportsbooks.  “Betty’s mission is to maximize the entertainment value of…

Casino-entertainment giant Bally’s Corporation announced Monday that its CEO, Lee Fenton, will step down after a year and a half in the role. He will be replaced by President of Interactive Robeson Reeves, effective March 31, 2023. Fenton became CEO of Bally’s on October 1, 2021, following the acquisition of Gamesys Group, where he had been CEO since 2015. Fenton will also step down from the Board of Directors. Soo Kim Soo Kim, Chairman of Bally’s Corporation’s Board of Directors, said: “On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to thank Lee for his excellent leadership and valuable contributions to Bally’s.…

 February 13, 2023 There are at least two State Senators pushing legislation to regulate Maryland online casino regulation already this year. Ron Watson and Nancy King have already introduced a bill which would permit internet casino games to be offered by the state lottery. Online sports betting in Maryland had just becoming a “thing” back in November of last year, and now this. We’re hoping the attempt is successful, but we must also admit that it’s a long shot. First tries at this sort of thing almost never go well… but still, the chances are not zero. In a statement…

After years of lobbying, a proposed law that would ban smoking inside Atlantic City casinos will see State lawmakers hold the first public hearing on the bipartisan bill on Monday. The proposal would close a 17-year loophole that has allowed casinos to have smoking sections despite a ban in indoor spaces set in 2006. There will not be a vote on the proposal at the hearing hosted by the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. Instead, the meeting will be “discussion only,” according to Sen. Joe Vitale, the panel’s chairman and the measure’s main sponsor.  As reported…

Geolocation services provider GeoComply announced it conducted a record 100 million geolocation checks across 23 US states and the District of Columbia with legal online sports betting during Super Bowl LVII weekend. This was the first Super Bowl to take place in a state (Arizona) with legal sports betting.  The company reported a 25% increase in geolocation checks compared to last year’s Super Bowl weekend, and registered 7.4 million accounts over the two-day period, accounting for a 32% increase compared to 2022.  GeoComplya’s data shows more than 100,000 geolocation checks in and around State Farm Stadium in Arizona, from over 8,000…

Just over a month after Ohio’s sports betting launch, state Governor Mike De Wine is seeking to double the tax rate from 10% to 20%, an increase included in his biennial executive budget proposal for the 2024-25 fiscal years.  The budget doubles the tax on sports betting to be paid by casinos and teams running sportsbooks with mobile companies. And just slightly over the average of 19% that other states are levying, according to a report from Bloomberg Tax.  The revenue would go to schools for athletics and extracurricular activities, as well as to tackle problem gambling in the jurisdiction…

It’s Super Bowl Sunday! But with the excitement of the game, and the added excitement of American sports betting being a reality, we’re sure to see some bumps along the way. A while ago, we discussed some of the potential problems that we could see with the growth of the industry. One of those problems is the growth of advertising and marketing. We caught up with the American Gaming Association to discuss some of the dynamics and potential issues of marketing for sports betting. Chris Cylke, the Senior Vice President for Government Relations at the AGA, speaks with us about…