Pennsylvania is now No.2 gambling destination surpassing Atlantic City

Pennsylvania has surpassed Atlantic City as the nation’s No. 2 gaming revenue market. The state’s Gaming Control Board said this week that Pennsylvania casinos took in $3.16 billion from slot machines and table games in 2012, surpassing the $3.05 billion reported for the same year by Atlantic City, which suffered its sixth straight annual revenue decrease.

The state still has a ways to go to catch Las Vegas, the nation’s largest gaming market, which produced $6 billion in gaming revenues in 2011. The 2012 year-end totals for Las Vegas will be released in February. For the first 11 months of the year, Strip gaming revenues were up 1.2% over 2011. In Pennsylvania, there are 11 casinos operating. A 12th casino, in the western part of the state, is expected to open this year.

Six groups, including Wynn Resorts are seeking the state’s 13th license in Philadelphia. The Pennsyvlania data underscore the challenges facing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as he looks to reinvigorate the tourism and gambling industries after years of decline and the recent superstorm Sandy.

The state has lost business as New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland expanded their gambling operations. “Pennsylvania is a great growth story,” said Jan Jones, executive vice president for communications and government relations at Caesars Entertainment. which has one casino there and four in New Jersey. “Governor Christie has really been trying to reposition Atlantic City as a resort destination.” Casino revenue in New Jersey has fallen for six straight years since peaking at $5.2 billion in 2006, according to state data.

Pennsylvania ranked third in the nation in casino spending in 2011, behind Nevada and New Jersey, according to the American Gaming Association trade group. New Jersey has 12 casinos after the opening of Revel last year. Pennsylvania has 11. The closely held Parx Casino & Racing, formerly Philadelphia Park Racetrack & Casino, was the state’s largest in revenue with almost $500 million in total, separate reports showed.

PokerStars confirm interest to buy Atlantic City Casino

As previously reported back in December, it has now been confirmed that the Rational Group, the owner of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, has offered to buy the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey for an undisclosed sum.

The move marks the first attempt by the company to gain a foothold in the U.S. market since PokerStars online gaming-related $547 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice last year.

The deal will now go before New Jersey regulators. The company said in its application, “Rational US is a willing and enthusiastic prospective purchaser, and it intends to improve the financial viability of the property, and therefore the offerings available in Atlantic City.

“The purchase will improve the overall economic and competitive conditions of Atlantic City and the state of New Jersey, as the current owner of the company has, for a considerable period of time, been marketing the property for sale.”

Michael Frawley, the casino’s chief operating officer, and Eric Hollreiser, PokerStars head of corporate communications, said in a statement, “The acquisition of The Atlantic Club Casino Hotel will secure up to 2,000 jobs and maintain the economic benefits the casino brings to New Jersey.

“During this interim period, the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel will operate as normal under current management, which will be retained following completion of the acquisition.”

The Casino has struggled under the ownership of Resorts International Holdings which is owned by a Los Angeles hedge fund.

With Senator Chris Christie still considering signing into law online poker in the state, PokerStars are hoping it seems to be the first off the blocks to offer interstate online poker back in the US before any of its competitors.

Rank considers fate of Blue Square

The Rank Group said it is undertaking a review of its lossmaking Blue Square Bet business, which operates solely in the online channel of the highly competitive sports betting market. The announcement is no surprise to observers whom have seen Blue Square plummet in appeal, since the growth of other sportsbetting sites like Paddy Power, Betfred, Bet365 and William Hill.

Rank said it intended to focus its resources on further developing Grosvenor Casino and Mecca as multi-channel brands meeting customer needs in gaming-based entertainment via venues, online and through mobile devices.

The announcement seems to point to a sale or closure of the brand and focus solely on online & mobile casino offerings.

Nevada introducing new bill allowing interstate compacts

A bill has been introduced at the Nevada General Assembly, on behalf of the state’s State Gaming Control Board, that would allow for the state governor to enter into interstate gaming compacts with other states. This legislation sets up Nevada to potentially be at the forefront of a compact in which individual states that have passed online gaming bills can work together to offer online gaming without federal legislation.

The bill, titled Assembly Bill 5, would remove language in the previously enacted online gaming bill that stated that an online gaming license does not become effective until a federal law was passed authorizing online gaming or the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) provided notice that interactive gaming activities are permissible under federal law. The bill would add language that allows for the governor, on behalf of the state, to enter into agreements with other states.

Assembly Bill 5 has been referred to the Nevada General Assembly Committee on the Judiciary. The upcoming legislative session does not begin until February 4, 2013.

The possibility of gaming compacts became a reality after the DOJ released an opinion in December 2011 stating that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting.

This opinion by DOJ eased fears among state lawmakers that money involved in online gaming could not be sent across state lines without incurring a violation of federal law. With that hurdle removed, the possibility of states entering into online gaming compacts became a reality.

Thus far two states, Delaware and Nevada, have enacted laws legalizing intrastate online gaming. Last month, the New Jersey state legislature passed a law legalizing online gaming and the bill is currently waiting for action to be taken on it by Gov. Chris Christie. Other states have publicly stated that they will consider online gaming legislation in sessions this year.

One potential problem with interstate gaming compacts is the potential for a hodgepodge of different laws and regulations for players and operators. States that lack experience in regulating gambling activities may look to the states that do have such experience, like Nevada and New Jersey, to regulate for them as an alternative to establishing their own regulations for online gaming. Thus far, Nevada is the only state to implement regulations governing online poker.

Nevada may want something in return for helping regulate gaming activities in other states, and it is not clear from the bill what that may be. Compacts like this have the potential to entrust a significant amount of power in a state agency, such as the Nevada Gaming Commission, and it is unclear whether it would be in the best interests of players and operators for that to occur. The concern over one state agency having so much power may serve as an impetus for states that do not currently have regulatory bodies for gaming to decide to establish them.

Bwin asks for clarity & fairness in German market

Bwin.party said Germany should allow online gambling companies to compete on a level playing field with locally based operators.

The company, the world’s largest listed online gaming group, also said trading since the end of September had been in line with management expectations.

“Gross win margins in sports betting returned to more normalised levels in November after a very strong run of results in October,” the company said.

Bwin.party was one of 12 operators given six-year licences in December to operate online casino and poker games in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

It pressed its case for more liberal betting rules across Germany, its largest market.

“There is now a question over how the existing regime in Schleswig-Holstein can co-exist with the alternative system proposed by the other 15 German states that seeks to allow sports betting only and with significant additional restrictions for the online offer, restrictions that do not apply to land-based operators,” the company said.

The company is also concerned that Schleswig-Holstein is considering reversing course to fall back into line with the rest of Germany.

“Whilst we welcome the move to regulate the online gaming market in Germany, this must be in a consistent and coherent manner in-line with EU law,” the company said.

188bet to Offer Anonymous Tables

Online gaming provider 188BET recently launched Microgaming’s poker software, one that includes anonymous tables and signifying a move to begin offering its online poker clientele the choice of playing in tables where player profiles are unavailable, including aliases, avatars, locations, and notes. 188BET’s decision to introduce anonymous tables comes a little over a year after Bodog fully committed itself to the model when it launched its Recreational Poker Model in late 2011.

For all the criticisms and vitriol thrown at Bodog when it launched its Recreational Poker Model, anonymous tables seemed to have gained a foothold in the industry, particularly in light of 188BET’s recent move to launch its own (slightly different) version.

Bodog’s Recreational Poker Model and its anonymous tables have always had one objective in mind: to protect the interests of the net depositing players by trying to create a more level playing field. It’s a field that player tracker tools and data-mining sites won’t get access to, allowing the site’s casual players to enjoy the game without having to worry about being hunted down by the poker sharks who rely on tracking software to determine where the prey is playing.

When Bodog launched this model a little over a year ago, it came with the expected backlash from a lot of established players in the online poker circuit, a lot of whom complained in their own choice language about losing a critical advantage that these data-mining sites and player tracking software offered.

However, that’s exactly what Bodog was striving to achieve with its anonymous tables; keep the Rottweilers on a leash and let the poodles scamper about and enjoy themselves. The model created an eco-system where the sharp poker players aren’t just draining money away from the recreational players, thereby enabling everyone to rely on their skills more than using data-mining sites and HUDs as advantageous crutches.

Now, the industry has taken notice, as evidenced by 188BET’s decision to launch their own anonymous tables that are part Microgaming’s poker software. The gambling Industry Swami himself, Calvin Ayre, called this move a year ago when he predicted that at least one other poker network would eventually adopt this model as its own.

It must be noted though, that Microgaming already used a limited version of anonymous tables before Bodog, but according to Bodog Network vice president Jonas Odman, their interpretation and implementation of the software differed from Bodog’s version. “At those sites, [anonymous tables] are an alternative to normal tables,” Odman noted back in December 2011 when the Bodog Model had just been launched.

The problem with having anonymous tables as an alternative is that net depositing players – the group identified as the lifeblood of online poker – do not realize the benefits of sitting in an anonymous table. Instead, they sit down at non-anonymous tables, putting themselves at risk of having their profiles tracked. “The winning players then follow the net depositing players, which means that nobody plays at the anonymous tables,” Odman noted.

Awareness still falls on the shoulders of the players themselves, but what happens when these casual players are there to enjoy themselves without knowing what an anonymous table really is? The responsibility of offering a level playing field is on the operator and Microgaming’s optional anonymous tables aren’t exactly “optional” if they use them more as marketing tools and the casual players don’t know what it’s all about in the first place.

Nevertheless, it’s refreshing to see a major Asian operator taking a similar approach to Bodog and offering its own recreational poker model. It would’ve been better if 188BET decided to make all their tables anonymous to really level the playing the field. In the end though, the benefits of having anonymous tables is becoming more evident, proving that there’s a lot more to this model than the critics have slammed it to be. Heck, it could even potentially be the future of the industry.

Poker has, and will always be – and is supposed to be – a game of skill. With anonymous tables, there’s no other option than to pit those skills to the test against the rest of the table. That’s how poker should be in the first place.

Ladbrokes in talks to buy Betdaq betting exchange

Irish businessman Dermot Desmond could be in line for a windfall after Ladbrokes confirmed it was in discussions to buy his betting exchange.

It is thought the bookmaker could be just weeks away from paying an estimated £30m for the Global Betting Exchange, which trades as Betdaq.

Ladbrokes said on Monday: "[We] enjoy a close commercial co-operation with Betdaq and can confirm discussions regarding a potential future acquisition. Negotiations are ongoing, though at this stage there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached."

Desmond set up the exchange 13 years ago in Dublin as a rival to Betfair, but it has failed to grab a significant portion of the market and is thought to be loss-making. Betfair, meanwhile, continues to dominate, with an estimated 90% share of the exchange market, which operates more like a trading platform on which punters can lay bets against one another.

The Ladbrokes chief executive ,Richard Glynn, has been dogged by failed acquisitions since he took the helm of the group almost three years ago, holding talks with 888 and Sportingbet that ultimately collapsed. But analysts say this deal is more likely to go ahead, as Desmond is also one of Ladbrokes' biggest shareholders, with an estimated stake of between 2% and 3% in the bookie.

It is thought Ladbrokes is keen to offer customers, who use both betting exchanges as well as fixed-odds services, a one-stop shop.

Simon French of Panmure Gordon said: "Acquiring Betdaq would provide Ladbrokes with broader product reach and may reduce leakage of certain customers to Betfair but significant investment in product and marketing would likely be required for Betdaq to become a material profit contributor to Ladbrokes."

Desmond retains a hold rating on the shares with a target price of 202p.

Ladbrokes shares ticked up 0.5% in early trade to 203p.

Texas introduce bill banning online poker

Texas legislatures will have a new poker bill to consider in 2013, after a measure called the “Texas Poker Gaming Act of 2013” was introduced in December.

The new bill, sponsored by State Sen. Eddie Rodriguez seeks to regulate the offering of brick-and-mortar poker games while banning other forms of poker, including over the Internet. Electronic poker tables, warmly supported in an earlier Texas poker measure that died in committee, would also be banned under the Rodriguez bill.

Rodriguez’ measure would define a new poker division of the Texas Lottery Commission, though the bill also defines poker as a game of skill and therefore not a lottery.

The bill would also allow licenses for offering poker to be applied for by existing pari-mutuel facilities, bingo halls and tribal concerns. Participating tribes and pari-mutuels could offer poker around the clock, while bingo halls would be limited to providing poker only during the halls’ normal hours of operation.

Operators would be taxed a maximum of 18% of gross revenues under the bill.

The bill’s wider goals appear to be the corralling of widespread illicit poker games across the state, none of which generate tax revenue for Texas. While underground games and illicit poker rooms abound, the state has only one legal poker room at present — the Kickapoo Nation’s 12-table Lucky Eagle Casino poker room, at Eagle Pass, near the Texas-Mexico border.

The poker bill will receive its first consideration once the Texas state legislature reconvenes in January of 2013, though its prospects are uncertain. Despite the state giving poker’s most popular variant its name, the state remains a conservative bastion with strong anti-gambling interests, which have lined up to defeat similar proposals in the past.

Macau sees $38 billion revenue in 2012

Macau’s gambling revenue jumped 13.5% to a record $38 billion in 2012, official figures showed on Wednesday, despite the pace of growth in the world’s largest gaming hub slowing from a year earlier.

Gaming revenue rose to 304.14 billion patacas from 267.87 billion patacas in 2011, according to statistics posted on the official Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau website.

But the pace of growth slowed from 2011, when revenues surged 42% year-on-year to $33.47 billion.

The former Portuguese colony of Macau, the only part of China where casino gambling is legal, overtook Las Vegas as the world’s gaming capital in terms of revenue after the sector was opened up to foreign competition in 2002.
Six firms are licensed to operate casinos in Macau, which was handed back to Beijing in 1999.

Casino operators have plans to build new multi-billion-dollar resorts on Macau’s Cotai Strip, a former swamp which has been reclaimed and transformed into a glittering centre for gamblers.

Antigua online gambling hopes dashed

Antigua’s argument with the United States over legalising online gambling took a blow for the small nation this week with the World Trade Organization (WTO) informing the twin-island state that it would not be allowed to raise the matter at an upcoming forum, despite a WTO pronouncement on the case some years ago.

Antigua & Barbuda High Commissioner to London, Dr Carl Roberts, said on Monday government had submitted to the WTO Secretariat a request for the matter to be included on the agenda for deliberation.

But feedback on the matter suggests that the country would not be requesting the authorization after all, since the Secretariat, in consultation with the United States, decided that the country’s request was untimely.

“Antigua & Barbuda is a small, developing country, under particular economic stress in these difficult times. We haven’t the resources to maintain a mission here in Geneva, and the prosecution of this case and the pursuit of our rights under the WTO agreements have been expensive, enormously time consuming and difficult.“It is very unfortunate that we were, under all circumstances, denied the ability to present our suspensions request to this body today. We will be back to do so in January,” High Commissioner Roberts said in a Caribbean 360 report on Tuesday.

The WTO had in 2007 awarded Antigua & Barbuda the right to target US services, copyrights and trademarks in retaliation for the online betting ban, with a US$21 million limit on annual trade sanctions.

These proceedings were initiated in 2003, and the WTO ruling found in 2004 and 2005 that the US had violated its 1994 General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Government had sought the right to impose US$3.4 billion in retaliatory measures, while Washington offered a mere US$500,000.

The WTO has upheld rulings striking down the US ban, but in 2006 Washington prevented US banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country. According to Dr Roberts, notwithstanding the disappointment at not having the matter addressed, Antigua & Barbuda was again reiterating its position on the matter.

“We did not come to the decision to exercise our suspension rights lightly… What was once a multi-billion dollar industry in our country, employing almost five percent of our population, has now shrunk to virtually nothing,” the High Commissioner said, adding that domestic remote gaming continues to grow in the United States.

He added that for the past several years, since the last WTO proceeding on the matter, the Antigua Government has not been sitting idly by. Nor has it been imposing unrealistic or unbending demands upon the United States.

“Antigua & Barbuda has been working hard to achieve a negotiated solution to this case. We have tabled proposal after proposal to the US government, and attended session after session, in pretty much every case involving our delegation travelling to Washington, DC in hopes of finding some common ground,” Dr Roberts said.

He pleaded to the WTO that to date, the USA has not presented one compromise offer of their own, and in particular the US Trade Representative has made no sincere effort to develop and prosecute a comprehensive solution that would end our dispute.

“We have spent the past five years searching, at great expense and considerable effort for our little country, for the person or persons, the agency or agencies, whomever has the authority and will to work with us to come to a reasonable, just and fair resolution of our dispute,’ Roberts said, noting however, “Sadly we have never found that person, that agency, that whomever.”

The High Commissioner pointed out that the twin-island state maintains that a WTO “member can avoid its obligations to another member under the WTO agreements by simply removing or modifying the part of the agreement that a measure offends, making bilateral arrangements with other members, and leaving the supposedly prevailing member with no remedy at all.”