Play’n GO to showcase OMNY® at ICE 2018

This year’s ICE Totally Gaming will see Swedish online casino games developer Play’n GO showcase its new pioneering platform OMNY® on Stand N3-460 at ExCeL London, UK 6-8 February. Suitable for digital, land-based and hybrid operators, OMNY® enables players to transfer the progress of their game across any digital or land-based device by way of standard user profile, and according to the award-winning gaming supplier, is set to reshape where and how players enjoy casino games. With its detailed back-end for operators and ability of driving retention through a seamless interface for users, Play’n GO believes OMNY® will be the number one omni-channel gaming tool at ICE 2018, according to the press release. In addition to showcasing its omni-channel capabilities, the Växjö-headquartered developer will also reportedly debut its new gaming verticals, including digital scratch cards and a bingo product, having recently acquired fellow Swedish games developer, Proactive Gaming Scandinavia AB. With the addition of these products, Play’n GO’s position as the number one supplier to operators in regulated territories is further established, with the developer’s content also certified in upwards of 15 countries worldwide following recent certification by regulators in Colombia and Spain. Play’n GO CEO Johan Törnqvist, said: “Our diverse product range at this year’s ICE will be stronger than ever, with the recent acquisition of Proactive Gaming providing us with a greater variety of quality gaming content and technical expertise. “We’ll also be showcasing a select few of our innovative slots, and with more than 40 titles to be released this year across a variety of game types and themes, we can offer a bespoke range to all operators. “The star of the show, however, will be OMNY®. The leading omni-channel gaming tool, which allows players to jump between devices and carry game progress with them, will spearhead our growth throughout 2018 and beyond.”

Red Tiger launches content with Ladbrokes Coral

Following last year’s successful launch of its market-leading casino games across Coral’s network, Red Tiger Gaming has launched a selection of its titles across the online gaming brands of British-based betting and gambling company Ladbrokes Coral. Titles from the Isle of Man-based games developer including Dragon’s Luck and Rainbow Jackpots have already been launched across the […]

Relax Gaming appoints current Kindred Group CPO as new CEO

Online casino games developer Relax Gaming has appointed Daniel Eskola as the Malta-based company’s new CEO and it a bit of corporate shuffling, its current CEO and co-founder, Patrik Österåker, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board. Eskola comes to the multi-product supplier from Kindred Group, where he is currently the Chief Product Officer. He assumes his new role with Relax on April 1st and brings to it a wealth of industry knowledge, with 13 years of B2C and B2B experience across sports betting, casino, bingo and poker, according to the news release. In welcoming his to the company, Patrik Österåker said: “I’m delighted that Daniel has agreed to become our CEO and we look forward to harnessing his product, commercial, and operational expertise to take the company to a new level. Daniel shares our company values and vision and I am certain he will be an excellent fit in the team. “ “For myself and the company, the appointment of a new CEO represents a natural and welcome transition after eight years at the helm. During that time, Relax has built a solid foundation that is now ripe for exponential scaling, and I am excited to leave this responsibility in the hands of our prominent Executive Management team with Daniel as captain. “ “Personally, I am looking forward to my new role which will allow me the freedom to further strengthen our competitiveness through strategic internal and external initiatives. “ Also commenting on the appointment, Daniel Eskola said: “I have followed Relax Gaming closely since its inception. I am incredibly excited to be joining a fantastic team and at being part of the exciting journey in the upcoming years.” “I’m very confident that we can leverage their market-leading tech platform across casino, poker, and bingo in order to benefit the company and all its partners.” Eskola’s appointment is on the heels of the arrival of former NetEnt CPO Simon Hammon and Head of Account Management Andrew Crosby, as Relax strengthened both its product and commercial teams.

Italy May Begin Sharing Poker Liquidity in May

Italy may enter the newly launched shared online poker network in May, according to reports from local poker news outlets. It is believed that at first Italian players will be able to play against peers from other countries in tournaments and sit’n’gos, while shared cash game tables will become available at a later stage.

France and Spain gave the official start of the shared liquidity scheme last month, when first shared Franco-Spanish tables went live. PokerStars was the first operator to receive the necessary license to operate shared poker tables. According to PokerScout data, PokerStars Europe seems to be off to a good start. At the time of writing, there are 21,552 players online, with 1,616 cash game players and a 24-hour peak of 3,268 cash game players.

Tournament poker stats were also very satisfying. To celebrate the start of PokerStars Europe, the online poker operator recently announced the FRESH (France Espania Hold’em) tournament series. The online poker festival kicked off on January 28 and will run through February 12. Players from Spain and France will be able to participate in 50 different events, including the Main Event with a guaranteed prize pool of €1 million.

It was last summer when the online gambling regulators of France, Spain, Italy, and Portugal signed the shared liquidity project. Like Italy, Portugal is too yet to launch shared poker tables. According to recent reports, the country is well into the final stages of preparations and is likely to join the poker network in the second quarter of the year.

Italy’s Participation – What We Know So Far

A number of different reports regarding Italy’s participation in the shared liquidity project have emerged over the past several months. Many even expressed serious doubts over the eventual launch of shared poker tables in the country.

Last week, the Undersecretary of State at the Italian Finance Ministry, Pier Paolo Baretta, told local media that there is an ongoing verification process, possibly of technical nature, and that once complete, local gaming officials will be able to proceed with preparatory work and the eventual launch of shared poker tables to Italian players.

According to local sources, the upcoming general election in Italy could delay further the country’s participation in the shared online poker liquidity project. However, the latest reports from local media point out that the election would probably not prove such a big of a hindrance to shared liquidity and that Italian players may be able to play against peers from France, Spain, and possibly Portugal by the end of May or sometime in June.

While PokerStars is the sole participating operator at present, it is believed that another one is gearing up to join the scheme soon. French online gaming operator Winamax seems to have renewed its initiative for recruiting French- and Spanish-speaking staff for its offices in Paris.

Last fall, Winamax recruited poker pros Adrian Mateos and Mustapha Kanit to popularize its brand across Europe as part of its plans for geographical expansion. Mateos recently posted on social media sponsored messages inviting Spanish and French speakers to apply for a job at Winamax. It is believed that the operator might not be that far from joining the shared liquidity project, although it needs an online gambling license from the Spanish regulator first. Winamax currently operates only in its home country.

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London Affiliate Conference & FPE Feb 7-10 2018

The London Affiliate Conference (LAC) is taking place at ExCel London from 7th to 10th February 2018. The industry event is organized by iGB Affiliate, an iGaming Business brand of Clarion Events. In addition to the LAC, iGB Affiliate also produces two more of the biggest events designed for affiliates - the Amsterdam Affiliate Conference and the Berlin Affiliate Conference covering some of the most important markets in Europe. Of the 5,000 delegates expected to attend, 3,500 of them will be affiliates which makes this year's conference and expo the biggest in its history. In addition to a robust networking schedule, the event presents important thought leaders and industry expert speakers. The line up has been confirmed with high profile names sharing their experience and knowledge over the course of four days. The Stars Group (formerly Amaya) SEO Manager, Manuel Martinez will be featured as will Acceleration Partners managing director, Helen Southgate. Aira co-founder, Matt Beswick will also speak at the event. Sharing insights, preventative measures and cautionary tales in the security arena, Peter Bassill, CEO and founder of Hedgehog Security will present a discussion under the title: "Top 5 ways firms were hacked in 2017". The Peak Ace AG Head of SEO and famed international optimization expert Andor Palau will participate in two discussions - the "SEO Rockstar Panel" and "Welcome to a new world: Crawling, indexing & ranking in the age of mobile-first!" Beyond educational and networking opportunities the event is also home to the Financial Partners Expo and iGB Affiliate Awards. The FPE is celebrating its 10th year and is designed to help bridge the gap between affiliates and brokers in the retail finance sector. It's the largest dedicated expo of its kind and runs all four days. The iGB Affiliate Awards will be held on Feb 8 at The Brewery and are free to attend. These awards, that focus on transparency, are some of the most prestigious in the industry and recognize affiliates who "go all in" to make the affiliate business world a better place for all. The LCB Network has two businesses on the Best Casino Website shortlist with Latest Casino Bonuses and Wizard of Odds. Pokerlistings and PokerNews have made the cut for consideration in the Best Poker Website category. LCB Network sites LatestBingoBonuses and Two Little Fleas are also under consideration for Best Bingo Website. Judging for the 2018 awards will include consideration not only of being in the forefront of the industry sectors but on what each company has done to maintain and grow their position as well as what sets them apart from the crowd. The awards will be based on momentum, not size, giving everyone an equal chance to be recognized. To learn more about LAC 2018 or to register your interest in this important industry event please visit http://www.igbaffiliate.com/events/london-affiliate-conference. To learn more about the Financial Partners Expo London please visit http://www.financialpartnersexpo.com/london2018/

American Gaming Association continues anti-PASPA efforts

As part of its efforts to get the United States’ Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) revoked, the American Gaming Association trade group has announced that some 97% of all domestic wagers on this weekend’s Super Bowl LII are likely to be placed illegally. Introduced in 1992, PASPA instituted a nationwide ban on all sportsbetting in the United States with the notable exceptions of venues located in Oregon, Delaware, Montana and Nevada. New Jersey had been given the chance to become the fifth member of this exclusive club but was unable to pass legislation within the required window of opportunity and has since launched the Christie v NCAA federal lawsuit in an effort to change this current state of affairs. The American Gaming Association stated that it recently conducted an investigation that indicated around $4.76 billion is set to be bet domestically on Sunday’s contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots but that only about $138.5 million of this will be wagered through venues in Nevada, which is the only state to offer full-scale sportsbetting. “Thanks to the failed federal ban on sportsbetting, Americans are sending billions of their hard-earned dollars to corner bookies, shady offshore operators and other criminal enterprises,” read a statement from Geoff Freeman, President and Chief Executive Officer for the American Gaming Association. “The big question we’re asking; is 2018 finally the year when governments, sporting bodies and the gaming industry work together to put the illegal sportsbetting market out of business.” In arriving at its estimate, the American Gaming Association declared that it had taken the $80 billion the 1999 National Gambling Impact Study Commission's final report had conservatively estimated had been wagered before applying modern-day inflation and gross domestic product growth figures. The group explained that it had moreover factored in the proportion of cash that had been bet on past Super Bowls via Nevada sportsbooks and applied this figure on a nationwide basis.

Steven Greenberg Leads 27 Survivors into WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship Day 4

Steven Greenberg sits on top of the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship leaderboard after the event’s Day 3 of play. The self-proclaimed recreational player bagged 3.573 million last night after a terrific run throughout the day during which he won a ton of important hands.

Greenberg has been playing here and there around the US for the past 15 years. His HendonMob profile shows that he has cashed in 12 live tournaments so far. Talking to WPT staff, the player said that he has been popping into different events from time to time, although he revealed that being the head of a six-member family makes it more difficult for him to play the game as often as he wishes.

Of his performance on Day 3, Greenberg said that he was “catching hands” all day long, which helped him build the solid stack he ended the day with. At one point, he knocked a couple of fellow players to cement his leading position.

Over the years, Greenberg has come very close to winning WSOP Circuit events, but has ended up in second place eventually. As for his performance in WPT tournaments, the payout he locked in the ongoing WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open is his first one from the series.

Day 3 Action Recap

The $3,500 buy-in tournament’s Day 3 kicked off with 159 players. The remaining contenders were just three eliminations away from bursting the money bubble. Konstantinos Koufalis and Jonas Wexler busted simultaneously to become the unfortunate bubble boys.

This year, the Borgata Winter Poker Open Championship attracted a field of 1,244 entries, who generated a prize pool of nearly $4 million, thus exceeding the guaranteed prize pool of $3 million. The top 157 are paid, with min-cashes starting from $3,065.

The winner is set to take home a nice payout of $651,928, including a $15,000-worth automatic entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. Each of the six players who will make it to the official final table are guaranteed a minimum payout of $138,254.

Of all 159 who entered Day 3 of play, only 27 made it through the whole day and bagged for the night. They are set to resume play at the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City today at noon local time. The players will play down to the official final table.

Greenberg and each of his colleagues are guaranteed a min-cash of $19,347 at this point in play. As mentioned above, Greenberg is leading the pack of 27. However, Chase Bianchi, a high-stake cash game player and a former WSOP gold bracelet winner, is trailing closely behind with a stack of 3.698 million. The two players were the only to go beyond the three-million mark last night.

Former WPT champions Kevin Saul, Jonatan Little, Eric Afriat, and David Paredes are also still in contention, eying another title from the Main Tour of the popular poker series.

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