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Crown Sydney Could be Godsend for Asia Pacific Poker

 In what may be a boost for poker in Australia, hotel and casino company Crown has announced that it has been given the green light to open a new hotel and casino in Sydney.

The new casino is due to be open for business in 2019 and is set to be a VIP-only establishment. Despite that fact, it may still hold professional poker events given its history of holding such events in its Melbourne and Perth casinos.
Crown’s Melbourne casino is undoubtedly the main place in Australia, and possibly the southern hemisphere, for poker. For years it has played host to the Aussie Millions, which has been played by a who’s who of poker professionals, including Gus Hansen, Sorel Mizzi, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and John Juanda.
The casino was also the host of the first ever World Series of Poker (WSOP) Asia Pacific back in April. Players such as Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari, Jonathan Duhamel and Daniel Negreanu (the Main Event winner) entered that event, further showing the Crown’s prowess on the Australian poker scene.
Such a solid reputation in Australian and Asia Pacific poker may be further cemented by the eventual opening of the Sydney hotel and casino. As previously stated, Crown Sydney is set to be open only to ‘VIPs’, which at first glance makes it appear that poker events are less likely to be held there.
This does not neccessarily have to be the case, however. Crown actually gives the company a prime opportunity to cement its poker reputation in its future Sydney establishment. The VIP-only status of its casino puts it in a great position to host High Roller type poker tournaments as well as High Stakes cash games.  
It would be a smart and strategic move for Crown if they were to go down this route, as it will give poker players in the Asia Pacific a high stakes alternative to Macau and Singapore. It will also be a strong attraction to professional poker players around the world, who are increasingly playing high roller and high stakes poker events.
Crown would also put itself in a strong position to hold its own poker tour if it wishes, given that it would have Casinos in Melbourne, Perth, Sydney as well as Macau. Holding such an tour would give a further boost to the Asia Pacific’s growing reputation in the poker world.
Author: Ekaterina
10 . 07 . 2013 y.
888 Spiderman Ad Caught in Web of Indecency in UK

 An advertisement for an Internet casino game on the 888 website that featured Spiderman was found by UK gaming authorities to be much too appealing to children.

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned 888 from displaying the advert of the popular Marvel Comics character. The ASA further warned the Gibraltar-licensed 888 to refrain from using such advertisements that may attract minors.
888 argued that Spiderman has worldwide appeal to people of all ages and that underage gamblers are not permitted to register and play any online games on the website. This did not sway UK gaming regulators, who ordered the ad removed under the premise that it was “likely to have particular appeal to children and young people,” eGR reported.
The ASA noted that the advertisement's “comic-book style” was a breach of the code put forth by the Committee of Advertising Practice. That code has also snared the ads of other gaming companies in the past, including Betfred, Betway, William Hill, and SkyBet. Gala Coral was also momentarily trapped in the ASA's web of inappropriate advertising content, but managed to escape when it was determined that the company was not at fault for one of its ads being broadcast during a show geared toward children.
The ASA appears to be much too vigilant in policing advertisements that most would find harmless. All gaming companies have safeguards in place to prevent children from gaining access to online gambling.
 
Author: Ekaterina
10 . 07 . 2013 y.
First MacroSports Conference Held in Vegas

 The first ever MacroSports conference was held in Las Vegas on the weekend, and was attended by a number of poker enthusiasts from around the US.

The conference company held their inaugural meeting at the Bellagio Hotel, and featured discussions on the art of reading behaviors, or tells, in poker players along with strategy for how to play the WSOP Main Event, which has just finished its three starting flights.
MacroSports, which lists its chief goal is revolving around “catering to the mutually shared interests of finance professionals and poker players”, includes poker players such as Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and WSOP Gold Bracelet winner Phil Galfond in its speakers list.
It was founded by businessman Reid Walker, who has also played a number of poker tournaments – including the WSOP – under the name Chance Walker. Mr Walker said that the point of the MacroSports conference was to explore the similarities between finance and poker and how skills and knowledge of both areas could benefit once another.
“As a former hedge fund manager, playing high-stakes no limit hold’em tournaments was always oddly relaxing and exhilarating It shares some of the intensity of managing a portfolio, a highly competitive environment with high variance, risk controls, reading people and interesting personalities,” he said. “There’s always been this hidden nexus of what drives good poker players and good investors. I hope it will be a fun conference over time if it germinates like we hope it does.
Mike McDonald, who is the youngest player to win a European Poker Tour and Epic Poker League event, was present at the conference and spoke on the issue of staking in poker tournaments. According to McDonald, between 20 and 25 per cent of buy ins for last year’s WSOP Main event was funded via staking, which is, by and large, an illegal practice.
McDonald said that the marketplace for investing in poker players and the events they play in is largely inefficient, but could not sell long and short stakes in other players due to the practice’s illegal status.
“It’s probably one of the least efficient markets I’ve seen and for one that’s this large, it seemed it would be beneficial to have it correct itself,” he said. “If I could aid in correcting it in the worst case and financially do well in the best case, it seemed kind of win-win.”
A second conference is planning to take place in Las Vegas next year, with it possibly occurring in May in due to the weather being cooler than it July. Temperatures in the western US city are currently around 38 degrees Celsius. 
 
Author: Ekaterina
09 . 07 . 2013 y.
First Half Poker Revenues Fall in Italy

 Online poker revenues have dropped sharply in Italy in the first half of this year, according to unofficial figures that have been released.

Gross gaming revenues in Italian online poker tournaments fell by 36.9 per cent year-on-year to €57 million (around US$73.3 million), while gross online cash game revenues fell by 33.5 per cent to €78.5 million (around US$101 million). This was in line with figures that were released in the first quarter of 2013, which showed year-on-year declines of 34.6 per cent for cash poker and 36.4 for tournament poker.
Those declines were stated by regulatory body AAMS as being due to “a general decline of spending on games in Italy and...the decline in popularity of online poker in Europe”. The argument of a decline in general spending on gaming does not hold major weight as Italian online casino revenue jumped by a whopping 94.5 per cent in the first half on 2013. The huge jump was attributed to the introduction of online slots in the southern European nation in December 2012.
The continuing drop in Italian online poker numbers can also be seen in the average number of online traffic to some .it poker domains. According to PokerScout, iPoker’s Italian service had a seven day average of 550 players in mid-May. It now stands at 470, a drop of just below 15 per cent.
International had a seven day average of 445 players on its online poker service in mid-May, but that has fallen to 360 players just two months later, a decline of 19 per cent. Ongame and PeoplesNetwork’s .it domains have managed to keep the same numbers of poker traffic to their sites in the past two months.
PokerStar’s Italian domain remains the most dominant site in Italy for online poker, with a current 7 day average of 1720 players on the site. Deputy Director of the Italian Customs Authority Luigi Magistro has previously said that online gaming taxes would not be raised due to previous falls in gross online gaming revenue.
Author: Ekaterina
09 . 07 . 2013 y.
Poker Turnover Decreases in France

 It appears players in France are playing staking less money in online poker cash games as total turnover of French licenced operators decreased in the first half of 2013.

Turnover in France’s online gaming market fell by 14 per cent year-on-year to €2.7 billion, which was largely attributed to a drop in cash game revenue along with heavy taxation on the turnover of online poker sites. Turnover for online poker tournaments, however, remained stable over the first six months of the year, with €713 million (around US$915 million) generated.
Although online tournament turnover was stable, gross gaming revenues actually decreased by 12 per cent year-on-year to a total of €135 million (around US$173 million). This coincided with a seven per cent decrease in the total amount of active players on France’s online poker services in the first half of the year.
Winamax continues to have the greatest share of the .fr online poker market with a seven day average of 1360 players, according to PokerScout. That’s good enough to be seventh most frequented online poker service in the world as per the site's list. PokerStars is the second largest French service, with a seven day average on 1100 players on its French domain.
PartyPoker and iPoker’s .fr services are also in the top 20 global poker operators in terms of online traffic. PartyPoker is currently fifteenth on PokerScout’s Online Poker Traffic list with a seven day average of 550 players, while iPoker sits two places down in seventeenth place with an average of 485 players over the same period.
The decline in turnover in France’s online poker market is in contrast to the turnover in the European country's other online gaming industries. Online sports betting turnover, for instance, increased by 11 per cent year-on-year to total €402 million (around US$515 million), while gross gaming revenues increased by 11 and a half per cent to €80 million (around US$103 million).
Online pari-mutuel horseracing in France, on the other hand, increased by two per cent year-on-year to €578 million (around US$742 million), with gross gaming revenues in that sector going up by two and a half per cent.
The indications as to how the online poker market may fare in the second half of 2013 are currently unclear, but turnovers are unlikely to get a massive boost if high taxation rates remain in place.
Author: Ekaterina
08 . 07 . 2013 y.
Skrill vs. Neteller - Battle of the Online Poker Payment Processors

 An online poker e-wallet providers’ rivalry is quietly brewing, and at the centre the world’s largest operator of poker sites, PokerStars, is happily playing one off against the other.

On Wednesday, Skrill (formerly Moneybookers), announced that it would be the official payment provider sponsor of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Season 10. The move serves as a clear indication that Skrill are once again strongly invested in poker.
The EPT is just one of many tours PokerStars operates, along with the Italian Poker Tour (IPT). In June, it was announced that one of Skrill’s biggest rivals, Neteller, would sponsor the first leg of the IPT which took place in San Marino between June 13th and June 17th.
The strategy is a curious one for PokerStars since sponsoring poker tournaments is usually the preserve of large online poker room. But somehow the online poker giant, a subsidiary of UK based The Rational Group, has managed to get the two largest, poker facing e-wallets involved in bidding against each other for similar tournaments.
For Skrill, it’s the second time that it has partnered with the EPT and the company says it will help support its ongoing worldwide expansion. The sponsorship will see Skrill branding in and around the tournament area at events during Season 10, along with staff at all events on hand to offer marketing promotions and assist players during the tournament.
“Skrill is delighted to be working with the European Poker Tour as its Official Payment Provider Sponsor again,” said Joe Hall, vice president of leisure and entertainment at Skrill. “The EPT is a well-respected and established brand, and this partnership will help to further strengthen our position as the leading digital wallet among poker players. We are looking forward to attending the events and interacting directly with players throughout the season.” 
The EPT, too, was in high praise of Skrill. The tour’s president, Edgar Stuchly said Skrill had a long and established track record of providing easy, safe, and secure payment options, adding that “as a result [Skrill] is widely regarded as one of the most popular deposit and withdrawal methods by the online gaming community. We are pleased to be working with them again during Season 10.”
Yet only three weeks earlier, Luca Pagano, head of the Pagano Group, which runs the IPT alongside PokerStars, was singing Neteller’s praises as a “valuable global company”.
“At the same time, we are sure that this collaboration will offer the players a great advantage for their money transactions, thanks to the excellent Neteller payment account and the Net+ Prepaid MasterCard, as well various promotions which will be offered at each stage of the Italian Poker Tour,” he added.
It’s not clear from Skrill’s press release, announcing its sponsorship of the EPT, what its involvement with the tour will entail, aside from plastering the event with its branding. Nevertheless, the benefits to it are clear.
E-wallets are essential for online poker players to move money to and from their poker accounts across various poker rooms. Both Skrill and Neteller are widely popular among poker players and are a fundamental element of the poker community, offering secure and anonymous payment solutions. Both are also UK-based: Skrill is owned by Investcorp Technology Partners while Neteller’s parent company is London Stock Exchange listed OPAY.
Their involvement in poker tours is an attempt to infiltrate the online poker market at a grass roots level which is a situation PokerStars seems happy to exploit.
The payment processing industry is clearly an extremely lucrative one, given that online gaming companies must prioritize the speedy, safe and efficient transfer of funds to and from their platform. No doubt that both Skrill and Neteller fall in to this category of platform.
With that said, it's an industry somewhat shrouded in mystery and controversy. In particular, payment processors were at the forefront of the scandalous fallout from Black Friday, with young millionaire payment entrepreneur Daniel Tzvetkoff spectacularly falling from grace and opting to testify against those indicted on Black Friday to save himself from serving jail time. Chad Elie served five months in prison after pleading guilty to "conspiracy to commit bank fraud and to operating an illegal gambling business."
Author: Ekaterina
08 . 07 . 2013 y.
William Hill to Launch Poker Service in Italy

 Gaming powerhouse William Hill is set to have a greater involvement in Italy, with the company announcing it will add poker to its .it service in the near future.

The company is expected to join Playtech’s Italian-facing network as it aims to boost its presence in the southern European country’s online gaming market. According to Playtech, William Hill will be one of a number of “known dot.com names” that will join its iPoker.it network before the end of this year.
Playtech also said that William Hill’s Italian poker service should be launched “in the coming weeks”, which should help boost its and the iPoker network’s presence in the Italian market. The iPoker network is currently the fourth largest poker operator in Italy in terms of poker traffic. According to PokerScout, iPoker’s Italian operations currently have a seven day average of 480 players, which puts it in the top 20 global poker sites.
PeoplesNetwork is slightly ahead of iPoker.it, with a seven day average of 485 players, which gives it a very slight lead over iPoker in the Italian online poker market. Ongame’s Italian domain is also in the same ball park as the two other sites, with a seven day average of 495 players according to PokerScout.
Figures at iPoker and Playtech are now hoping that the future launch of William Hill’s poker offering in Italy will give the network the push it needs to leapfrog the other two aforementioned networks in the country. That would make it the second largest operator in the Italian market, something that could be easily doable given the long established and well-known nature of the William Hill brand.
What will be more difficult, and essentially impossible, for iPoker is to have the biggest .it poker network. That accolade goes to none other than PokerStars, which has a stranglehold on the Italian online poker market with a current seven day average of 1720 players. That number is larger than the online poker traffic of the other previously mentioned poker networks combined.
While William Hill’s future online poker launch will likely result in increased traffic for the .it poker network, it is unlikely that it will make much of a dent in PokerStars domination in Italy. It will, however, further establish the company in the country, something which it has been working on in recent years. The poker offering will be one of a number games already offered by William Hill in Italy; it already offers bingo, casino games and sports betting on its Italian web site.
The decision for William Hill to offer another poker service is a bold move by the company, however, due to the fact that poker revenues for its online divisions declined in the first quarter of 2013.
 
Author: Ekaterina
05 . 07 . 2013 y.
Delaware Releases Draft Online Gaming Regulations

 The Government of the US state of Delaware has released the draft proposal of its online regulations for comment by the state’s public.

Delaware is set to launch an online gaming industry in September, which will follow Nevada, which was the first US state to launch regulated online gaming back in April. The draft regulations are 27 pages long are available for comment by the Delaware pubic until the end of July.
The draft regulations state that the Delaware State Lottery will oversee the state’s online gaming industry when it is established, which would be different to how Nevada and New Jersey’s industries are run. In those states, the online gaming industry is run by state gaming regulators.
It is also stated in the regulations that along with online poker, the Delaware lottery will also have the power to offer and approve other forms of online casino games, such as roulette and bingo. This also contrasts to Nevada, which only offers online poker. New Jersey, however, is set to also offer and allow a wider range of online games when the industry in that state is established later this year.
An aspect of the regulations that may come under some fiery debate is the absence of any clause prohibiting ‘illegal gamblers’ from getting a licence in the state. Colloquially known as the ‘bad actor clause’, it is a part of most proposed or passed regulations in the US. Its primary purpose in online gaming regulations is to stop any person or company previously convicted of operating an illegal gambling business to be licenced.
While Delaware’s draft regulations lack such a clause, it does state that all persons and companies applying for a licence to operate an online gaming licence must all past disciplinary actions they have had against them. According to the draft regulations, any licence applicant found to have committed “within 10 years before the filing of the application, of any felony, a crime of moral turpitude or a crime involving gambling” will be denied a licence.
Applicants for a Delaware licence must also disclose “whether  the applicant, or any of its present or former officers, directors, owners, partners, key employees, or gaming employees, is or has been the subject of an investigation in another jurisdiction, the nature of the investigation, and the outcome, if any, of such investigation.”
Like other US states, Delaware’s regulations would only allow its online gaming services to be played by those who are physically in the state. Players who wish to play on the state’s online gaming sites must also prove that they are 21 years of age or older.
Another key factor in the draft regulations is the proposed streamlining of licence applications from applicants who have already been granted licences in other US jurisdictions. In the name of efficiency, the State Lottery would be able to decide whether such a company could skip elements of the licensing process, which would result in the quicker granting of licences.
Williams Interactive, Scientific Games and 888 Holdings were chosen to be Delaware’s foremost provider of its soon to be established online gaming industry. It came after a joint bid between the three companies earlier this year, which was accepted by the State Lottery.
It is believed, however, that other online gaming companies will be licenced in the near future.
Author: Ekaterina
05 . 07 . 2013 y.
US Poker Regulation Update: Where Are We Now?

 An online gaming renaissance is currently underway in the US, with first Nevada, followed by New Jersey and several other states, introducing legislation to legalise internet poker or placing such legislation on their agendas.

The result has been a rush of online poker sites entering the US market, along with casinos in these states also looking to get in on the act. However, federal legislation legalising online poker nationwide is still some way off, with an industry still shaking off the effects of “black Friday” – that date in April 2011 when the United States Department of Justice charged principals of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker with bank fraud, illegal gambling offences and laundering billions of dollars in illegal gambling proceeds.
That litigation effectively ended online poker in the country, denying thousands of American poker players the ability to legally play the game in the United States.
Since then the country has been navigating a legal maze, attempting to put legislation on the table to legitimise the game once more in the face of fierce lobbyists opposed to the measures.
In June, Rep. Peter King introduced the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act of 2013 which would establish a federal regulatory regime for online gaming. At the same time, Rep. Joe Barton also plans to introduce similar legislation.
However, Barton has been fighting to introduce such legislation since 2011, and previous attempts have all faltered. Similar legislation in 2012 failed after policymakers ran out of time in getting it passed in the last Congressional session.
Various religious groups have been campaigning to stop Congress passing poker legislation since last year, and opposition has also come from some state lottery groups and casinos.
Indeed, Sheldon Adelson, chief executive of the Sands casino in Las Vegas, made a vociferous attack on plans to legalise internet poker, telling Bloomberg in June that: “It’s a train wreck, it’s a toxicity, it’s a cancer waiting to happen.”
Adelson runs a casino based out of Nevada which has led efforts to introduce online gambling, with state authorities believing it would be a vital new avenue for revenue in a difficult economic climate.
However, not all Vegas casino bosses are opposed to online poker. Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, for example, who run several hotels and casinos in the city, were the first to launch a Nevada poker site – UltimatePoker.com – which has already had a deluge of players sign-up to the site.
Elsewhere, attempts in Kansas by Senator Jacob LaTurner to introduce legislation in the state that would outright criminalise online poker was vetoed by the Kansas State Senate.
Indeed, the tide in support does seem to be turning towards accepting online gambling. Supporters now include the American Gaming Association, which represents many of nation’s biggest casino groups such as Caesars and MGM. In an interview in May, association President Frank Fahrenkopf said his group’s position on the issue has evolved from opposing all forms of online gaming to backing legislation that would fully legalise online poker now. He added that online poker is more acceptable than other forms of gambling because participants play against other players, not the house.
“We’ve seen technology does exist … to really put in place regulatory regimes” that work, Fahrenkopf said.
Meanwhile, Congress is also seeing efforts to create a nationwide regulatory regime for online gambling in states where gaming is legal now, clearing another path for states like Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. That legislation is set to be put before the House Financial Services Committee.
And finally, Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. Dean Heller, who led efforts in the Senate to introduce online poker legislation last year, are said to be working together again this year on an online poker bill.
The momentum is certainly now behind online poker in the US, but the next few months will be crucial to see if any effective legislation will be passed this year to legalise an industry analysts say will be worth billions.
Author: Ekaterina
04 . 07 . 2013 y.
PokerStars to Open Live Poker Room in Resorts Casino

 With the ink still wet on the signed agreement that calls for PokerStars and New Jersey's Resorts Casino Hotel to join forces in the state's online gambling regime, the latest rumors indicate that a PokerStars-branded poker room will be launched within the landmark casino.

PokerStars already has such poker rooms throughout the world in Macau, Spain and London. But such a launch in the United States will be its first on American soil, certain to raise the ire of the American Gaming Association and other competitors who feel that PokerStars should be punished for operating in the U.S. post-UIGEA.
Resorts Casino does not currently operate a live poker room. Such an endeavor opens up a number of possibilities for PokerStars to market its offerings and establish a strong presence in the U.S.
But before the top poker site begins offering online satellites to play at live tournaments at its planned poker room at the Resorts, it must wait to hear if state gaming officials will approve the partnership agreement forged with the casino. Some believe that despite New Jersey not having bad actor regulations in its online gambling legislation, regulators may not look favorably on the site as a suitable licensee partner.
Yet others are of the mind that PokerStars is a shoo-in and it won't be long before the online poker behemoth spreads its dominance across the U.S. as it has done in regions throughout the globe. We will know the outcome in due course, as New Jersey officials are eager to have gaming sites up and running in about 4 and 1/2 months.
Author: Ekaterina
04 . 07 . 2013 y.
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