By Tina Paterson | 6th February 2012 | Casino Game Updates
Many casinos are hoping to definitely cash in the weekend of the Super Bowl, which pits the New York Giants against the New England Patriots. It is considered to be the biggest single-day sporting event. Many casinos believe that the crowds on Super Bowl day will surpass the crowds they had during New Years Eve. There is also a possibility that the Super Bowl this year will be heading in to sportsbooks’ record history.
Everyone has their own reasons for betting on a different team – they are either from the area or have strong ties to the area where the teams are from, they like a team that did not make it to the Super Bowl so they are rooting for their next favorite, or they do not like one of the teams and are therefore going with the others. Some people are relying on their gut emotions to place bets while others do a lot of hardcore strategizing and scouring over stats before placing their bet.
It does not matter if these men and women place just $20.00 or hundreds of dollars on the win, the biggest winter of the day will be the casinos. These are two of the most popular NFL teams going at it, one sportsbook director said, and therefore, people are making much larger bets than normal.
Everything is being betted on, not just who wins. Bets include the number of passes, who will have the ball first, who will have it last, which player will fumble first, and even who is going to have the first interception in the game.
While most bets that are coming in are favoring the Patriots, bets for the Giants are still coming in, making the point spread much greater.
With $87 million wagered on the Super Bowl last year, it is becoming evident that this will be surpassed this year.
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By vince.baker | 30th January 2012 | Casino News
In 2011, Macau casino gambling revenue increased by 42 percent, bringing it to a high of $33.47 billion. This is in large part due to the increasing traffic of very wealthy Chinese from the mainland who come to Macau, a Chinese territory, to play in the casinos. Unlike the rest of China, where casinos are banned, they are quite in fashion in Macau, which is what brings many Chinese in
This total revenue is said to be approximately five or six times more than what the gamblers in Las Vegas or Singapore casinos were believed to have spent throughout the 2011 calendar year. PricewaterhouseCoopers did the estimates and also made note that the Macau casino industry will most likely double its total revenue by 2016. According to Aaron Fischer the head of Asian consumer and gaming research at CLSA, a brokerage firm based in Hong Kong, no one expected the market in Macau to grow as quickly or as much as it did. Everyone was expecting possibly a 20 percent growth, and that was seen as very bullish at the time.
The Macau boom in their gaming industry sharply contrasts that of venues in the United States, like Las Vegas, where there has been some slight suffering due to declining revenues, the result of the current global downturn. While the Chinese are not immune to the current economic downturn, the average gambler in Chine tends to place bets up to ten times more than an American counterpart
Approximately 16 million Chinese men and women from the mainland visited the Macau casinos during the 2011 calendar year, which is a 20 percent increase over 2010. Currently, Macau is now looking into ways to expand their transport links as well as accommodation facilities to take in the rise of all the mainland visitors. There is presently a new railway to decrease travel time, a bridge, and ferry services. Macau International Airport receives a number of flights from Shanghai and Beijing. As for accommodation, in 2012, the Sands Cotai Central is listed to open their doors, boasting an additional 5,800 rooms.
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By Goodluck | 24th January 2012 | Casino News
An independent research firm, Spectrum Gaming Group, that services a number of clients, both public-sector and private-sector around the world, listed some of the top trends to be monitored in 2012 in regards to the worldwide casino industry. Here are some of the top trends:
- New casino plans for 2012 will emphasize mid-scale, sensible sizes and design as all gaming companies begin to emphasize a return on investment in the current soft economy.
- A number of major gaming operators in the United States are going to continue to scout undeserved international markets, such as Asia, for the development of new major gaming resorts.
- Land-based casinos in the United States are going to continue to prepare for capitalization of internet poker when it is finally made legal in the country. When legalization does occur, a number of offshore operators will be eager to sign deals with land-based casinos in the United States.
- Social networking websites and electronic gaming are quickly heading up to be the “next big thing” in casino gaming.
- Competition throughout Las Vegas is going to continue to accelerate within the local markets as the housing and employment markets remain weak. Meanwhile, casino operators along the strip are going to push their focus on property enhancements and debt restructuring rather than consolidation and new developments.
- Legalization of gambling in states like New Hampshire, Kentucky, and other states reluctant to start building casinos, may push to fruition as these states are looking for additional revenue streams to boost their state’s economy. On the flip side, states where there is limited casino gaming will pursue opportunities for expansion, such as states like New York and Florida.
- There will continue to be an increase in regional casino competition as slot parlors, racinos, as well as Native American Casinos continue to expand and provide additional upscale amenities. This will place additional pressure on destination casino resort cities, such as Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
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By Keila Brown | 19th January 2012 | Casino Game Updates
After Black Friday, online poker was put into shambles. Even with news that the United States may be opening up for the legalization of online poker, many online poker sites are feeling wary and are discouraged from making an entrance into the United States market. With the population in the United States still barred in the meantime from playing online poker, these companies are now looking elsewhere for alternative markets. One of the primary strategies that have emerged is to look into the market in developing countries, including India and around Asia.
Media Entertainment Consulting Network recently published a report pointing out that India and a number of Asian countries would be great potential markets for the introduction of online poker. 2UP also recently published a report that there is a potential market, which has been proven by an increase in the number of players from Asia and India looking to want to play online poker and win real money.
Media Entertainment Consulting Network started further that the current potential market in India for online poker is somewhere around $50 million dollars. A number of reports are coming out and saying that India offers the highest growth potential when it comes to online poker. However, it is important to note that gambling is currently illegal in India and the country has yet to publish statements regarding online poker.
South America is another location many online poker companies are starting to look into. While online gambling is often frowned upon, the latest economic crisis that has hampered the entire region over the last few years has pushed some countries to look further into online poker and open up their borders to it. Guyana, Antigua, and Barbados have established themselves to be part of the current online poker circuit.
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By vince.baker | 17th January 2012 | Casino Game Updates
On Saturday, the 17 of December, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin, Phil Hellmuth held his Second Annual Phil Hellmuth’s Hold’em with Agrace HospiceCare. It is a poker tournament themed charity event, as well as a silent auction and raffle, designed to increase awareness and raise money for Agrace HospiceCare.
The even brought in a fun mix that included over 250 players, as well as supporters and observers. Some of the people playing included Annette Obrestad, the 2007 World Series of Poker Europe Champion, Dewey Weum, fourth place finisher at the 1998 World Series of Poker event, and a few online pros, including Mark “P0ker H0” Kroon (who was the defending champion) and Anthony “D1rtyR1v3r” Nardi. There was also a number of local celebrities, including Mark Johnson, Leigh Mills, Charlie Shortino, Carleen Wild, and Jerry Kelly.
The event was held at the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery, located in the downtown area of Madison.
Those who were there stated it was a fun affair with a laid back atmosphere and lots of laughing.
The winner of the charity poker tournament event was Laura Schultz. At the final table, it was Schultz, Kroon, Nardi, John Green, and Morgan Machina. While Kroon came very close to defending his current title, he finished fourth place. In the end, it was head-to-head between Schultz and Green, and Shultz took him over with a winning hand.
However, Shultz’ trophy as the winner were not the only prizes to be had. Many were waiting around for the raffle to see who would win the seat at the 2012 World Series of Poker event and who would win the two year lease for a 2012 Honda Civic LX. The winner of the seat was Jerry Mistele, and the winner of the car was Tiffany Schreiber.
In the end, $110,000 was raised at the charity event and the wheels are currently in motion for planning next year’s charity poker tournament event. There have even been some big celebrity names tossed around for next year, so who knows!
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By Keila Brown | 16th January 2012 | Online Casino News
The current problems going on with the Euro throughout Europe’s Eurozone is starting to wreak havoc on casinos throughout Switzerland, especially in Ticino, which is near the Switzerland – Italy border and has the largest concentration of casinos found anywhere in Europe. While Ticino is no Las Vegas, it does have a number of casinos, include the largest in Europe.
The federal government of Switzerland mandates that the casinos pay a percentage of all profits to the state. And while they were still able to provide some money to the federal government, it is not as much as they have been able to. Between the newly created smoking ban in casinos, coupled with the current economic crisis and the introduction of video lotteries throughout Italy, the casinos have lost a minimum of 40 percent of their gross gaming revenues.
The situation is made even more difficult because employees as well as suppliers are paid in Swiss currency, Francs, while most people play the games in Euros, which has lost approximately 25 percent of their total value since the onset of 2010. While Italian players still use the same amount of Euros, the Euro crisis means much fewer Swiss Francs.
The casino will not cut out services to their clients, but will have to reorganize internally a bit without compromising quality. The casino does not want people to stop coming. They are also hoping that soon the economy will be in an upswing and the Euro crisis will dissipate.
One final measure to aid the casinos will be to try to renegotiate the profit revenues given to the federal government. Currently, casinos pay close to 50 percent to the government. However, the Swiss government rebuffed the request to change the amount paid.
There are no exact predictions for the future if the Euro crisis continues other than that the Ticino casinos will have start reducing investments and costs if the exchange rate does not start going in their favor.
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By Dror Pumper | 12th January 2012 | Online Casino News
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recently released Global Gaming Outlook, the Asia Pacific Region will be the fastest growing in terms of the casino gaming industry over the next five years. The gaming revenue is said to increase from $34.3 billion US to a projected $79.3 billion US by 2015.
However, despite these numbers, the online casino industry is currently illegal in Singapore. Jonathan Galaviz, a gaming analyst said that the governments in the area should really try to seize this growing opportunity rather than push it away as there is huge growth in online gaming. The report published by PricewaterhouseCoopers said that there is a very strong argument right now in the area that as consumers continue to engage in websites offering illegal online gambling opportunities, it is much better to provide licenses and tax it, rather than allowing unlicensed operators to continue to amass large amounts of revenue.
Galaviz said that the Singapore government should do some serious research regarding the issue of online gambling and bring it up during policy discussions. However, not all gaming analysts have taken the same approach as Galaviz. Felix Ling, a senior partner and casino consultant at Platform Asia Management Services said that by legalizing online casinos in Singapore, it will create a devastating social impact. Derek da Cunha, the author of “Singapore Places its Bets,” agreed with Ling. He stated that if online gambling were to be legalized in Singapore, it would bring in new players who do not really know what online gambling is. The social consequences would be that people, rather than work, would be using their computers only for gambling purposes.
But the “social consequence” argument is not as strong as people would like to believe. If it was a strong argument, then how could it explain the opening of two brick-and-mortar casinos in Singapore in 2010? These casinos have amassed over $4.4 billion US in 2011. Think about what kind of revenue online gambling could bring in? It seems as though Singapore would like to think that online gambling is a much bigger evil than physical casinos.
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By Dror Pumper | 10th January 2012 | Online Casino News
With Denmark recently deregulating their online gambling industry, witnesses are marveling as the sector continues to open up. As of January 01, 2012, Denmark will officially be a brand new online gambling licensing jurisdiction. Denmark also signed a bilateral cooperation agreement with licensing bigwig the Isle of Man, mainly to learn how to be a successful licensing jurisdiction. This agreement will be formalized as well on January 01, 2012. Denmark has also created a similar agreement with the Alderney Gambling Control Commission as well.
In the Czech Republic, the accidental passing of a new piece of legislation has the country doing some massive backpedaling. Recently the parliament’s lower house passed legislation stating that video lottery terminal operators would be offered a €77.7 million tax break. This has created much firestorm in the media. A 20 percent tax on the video lottery terminal revenue is also cites to become split between three groups – local municipalities, education, and charities as to be determined by the local gambling industry. However, it was originally only supposed to be split between the municipalities and the education. But the controversial wording has everyone up in arms right now.
Lastly, Greece has recently passed a number of laws that look as though they will be challenged by the Remote Gambling Association in court. It is to take place at the beginning of the New Year. However, with this last year not faring well for Greece in terms of their economy, no one knows if 2012 holds anything much better, especially as far as the online casino industry is concerned. Cyprus also looks like it could be changing very quickly. While it is currently considered a haven for not just British retirees but also the remote gambling industry, things look like it could be changing for the latter, and not in a positive direction. Stay tuned for the New Year to find out more.
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By Keila Brown | 20th December 2011 | Online Casino News
And the online casino industry continues to boom as some of the biggest players online start showing their interest in this lucrative industry. One of the biggest players starting to pique interest is the largest social media network website in the world – Facebook.
Facebook has already opened their doors to allowing online casinos to purchase advertising space on the website, but now the website is in talks with a variety of online casinos, consultants, and gambling experts to determine whether or not it should create real money gambling opportunities. According to a report from eGaming Review, Facebook is currently looking for new streams of revenue and the online gambling industry is looking for brand new ways to access the growing public. This could, therefore, become a very convenient match for both parties. However, it said in the report that it could take quite a bit of time before Facebook and the online gambling companies interested find an appropriate agreement regarding age verification procedures and revenue sharing.
As previously mentioned, this new announcement follows the heels of a decision made last month when Facebook decided to amend advertising guidelines to allow advertisements from online casino companies. Those who are for this new decision note that Facebook is already a leader in non-monetary online gaming. The Zynga-powered games in Facebook’s portfolio include games like Zynga Poker. However, those who are opposed to this say that it could be opening up a number of problems related to underage gambling. They believe it is irresponsible promotion, allowing children to think that it is only “fun and games.” However, James Bennet, the editor of eGaming Review said that while Facebook is searching for new streams of revenue and the online gambling industry looking for new markets, there is much work to be done in regards to age verification and the percentage of money the online casinos would have to give to Facebook.
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By Casinomom | 19th December 2011 | Casino News
Phil Hellmuth, 47, an eleven-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, recently went back home to Madison, Wisconsin to host the second annual Hellmuth’s Hold’em – a charity event he does with Agrace HospiceCare.
Starting December 17, the proceeds from the tournament (as well as a silent auction as a raffle raffle), are going to the Agrace HospiceCare, a non-profit organization devoted to providing physical, spiritual, and emotional care to patients as well as their families dealing with life-shortening medical conditions throughout southern Wisconsin.
Two big prizes at the charity event this year include a 2012 World Series of Poker event seat and a Zimbrick Honda CR-V LX two year lease. Everyone is excited about signing up for this charity event.
There will be a lot of big name professional poker players also on hand on this event to provide a bit of extra support. These people include Annette Obrestad, Tony “D1rtyR1v3r” Nardi, Dewey Weum, and Eric “Basebaldy” Baldwin. Also at the event will be a number of local celebrities who will be moving from table to table and socializing with all the participants at the charity Texas Hold’em game.
Last year, a number of big name people came to participate in the game, including former New York Giants member Derek Engles, Casey FitzRandolph, an Olympic gold medalist in speedskating, Jerry Kelly, a professional golfer, as well as Mark Johnson, member of the 1980 Olympic ice hockey team.
240 people played last year and just about $140,000 was raised for the charity. Hellmuth is definitely looking to beat those numbers this year. So far, the organizers of the event are anticipating over 400 players for this year’s event.
The two day event is going to be located at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery Town Center
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