August 15, 2018

Buffalo Wild Wings looks to get into sports betting

Buffalo Wild Wings is the country’s third most popular casual restaurant chain, behind Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar and Olive Garden. But BWW is looking to increase that ranking, and may be doing so via an unusual means.

Nation’s Restaurant News announces that the chain may explore getting into gambling, with the following statement from a BWW spokesperson: “As the largest sports bar in America, we believe Buffalo Wild Wings is uniquely positioned to leverage sports gaming to enhance the restaurant experience for our guests. We are actively exploring opportunities, including potential partners, as we evaluate the next steps for our brand.”

Lucky for B-Dubs, this past May, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a 1992 law that banned sports gambling in most states. Since the house almost always wins, these gambling excursions could only help boost Buffalo Wild Wings’ bottom line, an attractive possibility for the chain that recently saw sales dip 1.6 percent. We envision nationwide March Madness bracket sheets and wings-fueled fistfights erupting over Super Bowl squares in front of BWW’s multitude of large-screen sports-only TVs.

Belgium gives Ladbrokes a slap on the wrist

Ladbrokes has been put in timeout – literally. Belgium has reportedly punished the sports betting company for breaking gaming regulations and has ordered it to not offer any gambling activities for a day next month.

Media outlet The Brussel Times reports that Ladbrokes was slapped on the wrist after admitting it had received bets from players in Belgium for the outcome of virtual machine events until March 14. Virtual match betting allows gamblers to place bets on the outcome of fantasy competitions and the practice has been outlawed in the country since June of last year after being “tolerated” for about five years.

Ladbrokes’ subsidiaries in the country, Tierce Ladbroke SA and Derby SA, will not be able to receive any bets for 24 hours on September 3 due to the infraction. Ladbrokes has 300 agencies and around 100 sportsbooks, and a number of digital operations, linked to it in Belgium. The country’s gaming regulator indicated that Ladbrokes had “not contested the materiality of the facts” and continued to offer the betting activity “until it was legally banned from doing so.”

In a response provided to 5 Star iGaming Media, Ladbrokes said that it had not been notified officially of the sanction. It explained that it had only learned of the punishment after it was informed by an unidentified third party on August 7.

Ladbrokes further complained that it was received an email from the regulator the same day the news starting making its rounds in the various media outlets, adding that it “‘deeply regrets that such confidential information is transmitted to the press and to third parties even before it is informed.” It alluded to the possibility of filing a lawsuit for breach of professional secrecy, but plans to honor the sanction. The sportsbook also said that it may challenge the punishment before Belgium’s Council of State.

The one-day penalty pales in comparison to that seen by Ladbrokes last year. In November, it was hit with a $2.9-million fine for not intervening after two gamblers blew a little more than half of that in stolen money on the Ladbrokes Coral-owned Gala Interactive casino website.

August 09, 2018

Crown Resorts sues NSW government over iconic Sydney Harbor view

Australia-listed casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd. has challenged the New South Wales (NSW) government to a legal tug-of-war over the iconic Sydney Harbor view.


Crown Resorts sues NSW government over iconic Sydney Harbor viewThe Wall Street Journal reported that Crown Resorts has brought the Barangaroo Delivery Authority (BDA) to court over concerns that any new property developments could obstruct the harbor views from its Barangaroo casino.

Crown is betting on the unobstructed Barangaroo views to attract affluent Chinese gamblers to visit its casinos in Australia after the casino operator has decided to fold up its overseas expansion plans.

In its lawsuit, Crown wants the court to compel BDA to comply with a contract requiring the government to consult any developments that may affect the panoramic views of the iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge.

BDA, which is responsible for the management of the Barangaroo area, plans to develop 5.2-hectares of Central Barangaroo district into a public space for recreation, events, and entertainment, as well as residential, retail, and commercial spaces.

The supposed contract obligations “ensure that sight lines from the Harbor Bridge to the Sydney Opera House are retained for the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort,” according to Crown.

“The proceedings seek injunctive relief and declarations against the BDA that, in substance, require the BDA to comply with a number of its contractual obligations under the Crown Development Agreement,” Crown said in a regulatory filing.

Crown wasn’t the only one suing BDA over the iconic Sydney harbor views. Property developer Lendlease also filed an injunction seeking to stop the agency from constructing properties that could block the views of its apartment complex, which is located near Crown Sydney.

Despite filing a lawsuit, Lendlease remained hopeful that the parties would resolve the problem and reach an agreement through a negotiation.

BDA, for its part, claimed that it had been negotiating with Lendlease and Crown about the matter for the past two years. It vowed to defend its position in court, according to the report.

“At all times the Authority has acted in good faith and in accordance with its contractual obligations,” A BDA spokesman told ABC News online.

August 07, 2018

Advertising ban places Italy on the brink of huge problems

Recently the Italian Parliament has approved a new law called “Decreto Dignità,” which has now been passed on to the Senate and will become effective immediately.

This law is composed of 15 articles: one of the most controversial is about gambling advertising. Article 9 of “Decreto Dignità” forbids all media (TV, Internet, Radio) directly and indirectly advertising games in which a player can win money, including casino games, skill games, sports betting, poker, horse racing, lotteries, scratch cards. Italy is the first European country completely forbidding gaming advertising and Luigi Di Maio, the deputy prime minister, expects other European countries to follow Italy’s example.

Currently in Italy no political party or movement is aware of the consequences that this new law will produce.

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August 7, 2018
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The steps taken in Italy to introduce a blanket ban on all forms of gambling advertisements have certainly raised a few eyebrows, and formed a crucial part of many a conversation.

Now standing on the bring of introduction, after the reform was approved by the Chamber of Deputies last week and passed on to the Senate, Italian online web gaming guide casino2k details the numerous problems with the Dignity Decree, pitfalls now facing the country and potential solutions.

Recently the Italian Parliament has approved a new law called “Decreto Dignità,” which has now been passed on to the Senate and will become effective immediately.

This law is composed of 15 articles: one of the most controversial is about gambling advertising. Article 9 of “Decreto Dignità” forbids all media (TV, Internet, Radio) directly and indirectly advertising games in which a player can win money, including casino games, skill games, sports betting, poker, horse racing, lotteries, scratch cards. Italy is the first European country completely forbidding gaming advertising and Luigi Di Maio, the deputy prime minister, expects other European countries to follow Italy’s example.

We at casino2k.com, an Italian website which provides information about responsible gambling on regulated casinos, have studied the law and followed the three day discussion about “Decreto Dignità” inside the Italian Parliament. Currently in Italy no political party or movement is aware of the consequences that this new law will produce.

“FORBIDDING EVERY TYPE OF ADVERTISING ON THE INTERNET WILL RESULT IN ILLEGAL GAMING COMING BACK“

Italy is the biggest gaming industry in Europe with 150,000 employees and hundreds of small companies, like ours, whose business will be affected significantly by the prohibition of every kind of advertising. The Italian government doesn’t seem to care about the future of all the other people working in this market.

The Italian market has been strictly regulated since 2011. Illegal activities have significantly decreased since then, with websites like ours helping drive people out of the illegal market into the regulated one. Forbidding every type of advertising on the internet will result in illegal gaming coming back!

Affiliate websites spread knowledge about online gambling and promote a responsible approach to it, playing an important role in the fight against gambling addiction, under age gambling and illegal operators. Those websites will now probably close, since advertising is not allowed anymore.

The aim of this law is noble, fighting gambling addiction, protecting fragile people from wasting all of their money. The main problem is that this law does almost nothing to fight it. In every Italian bar you can play slot machines and lotteries, and in Italy you can even buy scratch cards in supermarkets.

Blocking every type of advertising does nothing to reduce such things, which are often accessed by teenagers. An advertising ban is just propaganda, people will continue spending €20bn per year on slot games in bars and private mini-casinos (called VLTs), because the law doesn’t reduce the number of slots per town, it doesn’t set a minimum distance from public places, it doesn’t stop scratch cards from being sold in supermarkets. It just blocks advertising. And physical slots in bars don’t need any advertising to earn money and to destroy people’s life.

Starting soon, Italian players will not be able to recognise a legal casino from an illegal one. Right now Google AdWords has stopped accepting regulated operators ads, and unregulated ones have already appeared.

Without online advertising it will be very difficult to recognise legal and reliable sites, while the illegal ones will take advantage and gambling addiction will flourish.

Illegal casinos don’t care about the fun and the health of their users, they don’t care about responsible gaming, they don’t do anything against gambling addiction. Furthermore, they don’t pay taxes because their base is often placed in offshore countries.

The law is almost approved, the time for amendments is over, but we want to suggest a proposal. We hope that it will be considered by mass media, national and international newspapers and, in particular, that it will be evaluated by Parliament for a future law.

An alternative to an online gambling advertising ban could be allowing advertising only on specialised websites, magazines and newspapers, with these restrictions:

1. A license for affiliate websites and website owners with strict and specific requirements chosen by government.
2. Every affiliate or affiliate company needs a legal representative who will be personally responsible for every breaking of rules.
3. Every affiliate or affiliate company needs to pay taxes in Italy.
4. 2% of affiliates income to be used against gambling addiction.
5. Slower games to fight fast bets which lead to deep addiction.
6. Government campaigns to increase culture of responsible gaming.

The Government lacks knowledge of the market, they don’t understand how online gaming can be strictly controlled, players can ban themselves from gaming sites, operators can recognise addiction and block players. Artificial intelligence can also play an important role in preventing addiction and problematic players.

In conclusion, we think Italy needs better rules, because the ban on advertising would produce serious damages and would bring the market back to the early 2000’s. We hope that the government will try to understand how online gaming works, and why it’s safer than slot games in bars.

August 03, 2018

William Hill notes ‘solid progress’ despite booking + £900 million FOBTs adjustment

FTSE bookmaker William Hill will settle exceptional charges and adjustments of £916 million, including a ‘£882 million non-cash impairment’ for its Retail division, as governance adjusts to the UK government’s Triennial Judgement reducing wagers on FOBTs machines to £2.

Publishing its half-year 2018 results (26 weeks ending 27 June), William Hill governance has pre-booked corporate losses of £916 million, which will result in the FTSE bookmaker declaring a period statutory loss before tax of £820 million.

Aiding its corporate adjustments, William Hill was able to recoup proceeds of £241 million from the disposal of its Australian business division (acquired by CrownBet) and its enterprise investment in NYX Gaming Group (acquired by Scientific Games).

Despite settling high-cost exceptional charges, William Hill governance reports solid operational progress during a period of ‘substantial corporate change’.

Closing World Cup Russia 2018 trading, in which the bookmaker recorded ‘+1 million active online customers’ during the tournament, William Hill records group net revenues of £802 million, up 3% on corresponding H1 2017’s £778 million.

In its Interim update, William Hill governance outlines substantial growth across its digital assets, with the firm’s online sportsbook up ‘18% in net revenues and 16% in new accounts’. The firm’s online gaming assets detailed 4% increase net revenues, driven by improved ‘cross-sell efficiencies’.

Replicating industry trends, William Hill’s Retail division’s net revenues were down 3% due to a ‘challenging environment for the UK high street’, with a number of UK horseracing fixture cancelled during Q1 2018 due to severe weather conditions.

Moving forward, the legacy bookmaker seeks to become a leading player in the liberalised US sports betting market, expanding its footprint within New Jersey having launched a new sportsbook at Ocean Casino in Atlantic City.

Updating investors Philip Bowcock, Chief Executive Officer of William Hill, commented on H1 2018 trading: “William Hill has performed well during the first half of 2018 and, following major regulatory decisions in the UK and US, we now have greater clarity over the challenges and opportunities that lie before us.

“During the first half, our Online business continued to deliver double-digit growth. In Retail, we are beginning to put in place plans to mitigate the impact of the Triennial Review. In the US, we have moved quickly following the repeal of PASPA as we grow into newly regulating states. We will continue to invest in the US to ensure we are well placed to capture the substantial potential available to us.”

“Fundamental to delivering over the long term will be our sustainability strategy, which marks a significant cultural change for the company. Gambling-related harm is a serious issue and it is important that we face up to this challenge. We have set ourselves the ambition that nobody is harmed by gambling and set out a detailed programme of actions as we start out on this journey.”