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The first leg of the Champions League Quarter Finals gets underway tonight at 19:45. There will be much focus on Juventus vs Monaco, but rest assured the battle for Madrid will be what's on everyone's minds. Atletico Madrid will be at home to kick things off, facing off against a Real Madrid team at full strength, something we haven't had the pleasure of seeing in five months. Among those to return to Real Madrid is Gareth Bale, back after a thigh injury kept him off the pitch against Eibar last Saturday. Bale has not played the best soccer of his career and many critics argue about whether he should be worth the record breaking £85 million deal he scored in 2013. Will Real Beat Atletico? In the battle between Atletico and Real Madrid, there has been 156 matches total. Real has won 85 games and forced 33 draws, leaving Atletico with only 38 wins. That has been different this season, as Atletico have gotten the better of Real in almost every game that they have faced one another. The match will definitely be one of the most heated events of the Champions League so far and it would be foolish to miss out. To witness the sheer talent that will be playing at Vicente Calderon in a few hours is reason enough to tune in wherever and however you can. Too Close to Call: Odds and Betting Lines Online odds makers have some of the tightest odds imaginable for tonight's Spanish soccer showdown. Bet365 Sports is calling it for Real Madrid at 2.70 surprisingly, with Atletico trailing by a mere 2.87. Correct Score lines offer better odds getting up to 10.00 for a 1-2 Real Madrid victory. Punters have the ability to get their bets back with the Bore Draw Money Back offer, also at bet365 Sports, which will refund all pre-match Correct Score, Half Time/Full Time or Scorecast wagers in the event of a scoreless match.
For the next three days, all industry eyes will remain on Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino where the iGaming North America conference is currently taking place. Vital Regulation Updates The event kicked off with a private officials-only session in which 12-year industry veteran and Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Director of Licensing Susan Hensel provided vital information in moderating a discussion between government representatives which illuminated the tasks at hand for effective adaptation of regulated frameworks for online gambling. Expert government representatives included bwinPoker Director Jeffrey Haas, GeoComply CEO Anna Sainsbury and California Gambling Control Commissioner Richard Schuetz. Women Network This vital update was followed by the rousing and lively Global Gaming Women Networking Lunch, in which a vital sector of the industry engaged in an energized discussion on strategic planning led by strategic planning guru and Simmons Group Founder Ann Simmons Nicholson. Visionaries The 2015 Visionaries Panel then provided an empowering perspective on the current state of iGaming in Reality Check - The State of the Industry. Key CEO's from the biggest acquisition of this year and last provided insight on how consolidation helps improve the products, marketing and technology of complementary organizations. 888 CEO Brian Mattingley further provided a refreshingly candid perspective in his state of the Industry report revealing the parallel courses of industry developments in the US and abroad. Overall, eGamingBrokerage.com Founder Sue Schneider did a wonderful job moderating preparing attendees for harnessing the benefits of the insider perspectives from panelists Scientific Games President Gavin Isaacs and CEO NA Gaming/Interactive IGT Renato Ascoli in addition to Mattingley. The Rise of Fantasy Key perspectives on Fantasy sports followed in the afternoon and are ongoing. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins provided a perspective on the almost bionic rise of fantasy sports. Then CAMS CEO Mathew Katz made a huge splash defining the new opportunities for financial institutions with the rise of iGaming, expertly meshing together panelists perspectives that included Mastercard Senior Counsel for US Regulatory and Public Policy Jenna Goodfellow; Wells Fargo Senior Company Counsel Ted Teruo Kitada; and Paypal North America Director Laura Kane.
The 2015 edition of the Global iGaming Summit & Expo Conference (GiGse) is set to take place April 20-22 at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. This year GiGse will give special attention to the issue of problem gambling in an Open Space session which will be attended by Keith Whyte, Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). Reducing Problem Gambling Risks Ahead of the session, Whyte has spoken about some of the organization's stances in light of possible future iGaming legislation across a number of US states, California included. According to Whyte, outlining the risks of problem gambling that can arise from iGaming will benefit not only the players but also the companies that provide such services. Problem gambling is something that exists out there, says Whyte, and it's a question that needs to be on the table and dealt with – it needs to be faced head-on in a joint effort for the best results. Whyte believes that NCPG can work together with iGaming operators and regulators to develop programmes that will minimise the harm of problem gambling for the benefit of everyone. "By working together we can develop innovative programmes to minimise harm that are better for industry, players and advocates than government regulation." Launching iCAP The NCPG is about to launch a responsible gaming compliance assessment program (iCAP). First of its kind in the US, iCAP provides guidance on responsible gambling practices for iGaming, and it is aimed for operators, regulators and consumers as well. The iCAP seal of approval serves as an independent and objective validation that an operator abides by the NCPG responsible gaming standards. Apart for the iCAP, NCPG is also offering direct services through an online helpdesk which was recently added text and chat capabilities which join a 24/7 phone helpline.
Online championship poker is back in the USA! NJCOP Revs Engines Next week, the New Jersey Championship of Online Poker (NJCOP) will return to partypoker for ten days of high stakes high level online poker play. Starting on April 16 and continuing through April 26, the site will host 35 events and payout $1 million in prize earnings. Synched with More Online Tourneys The event takes place alongside both the Borgata Spring Poker Open and the WPT World Championship, offering a veritable smorgasbord of championship level play as well as prize money. Bwin.party operations director Jeffrey Haas promised a strong pool of players for the second annual NCOP, and will put New Jersey state firmly in the spotlight as the host for a myriad of championships all taking place at the same time. Players will be able to participate via PC, mobile, or tablet device for the largest online prize pools available in any locally regulated US market. Tournament Poker Games The 35 events have scheduled among them at least five forms of poker as well as multiple variations on No-Limit Hold'em. This is the first time that participants will be able to compete via mobile devices, with most tournaments accessible via mobile devices, no-download Java client, PC and Mac Download. Qualification play is well underway, and will continue for NJCOP events through April 26. There are two ways to qualify. The first is through daily MTT qualifiers, with a $50 NJCOP Qualifier for 1 ticket GTD that includes a $2 Rebuy and Add-on, taking place at 5:50 pm each day; or a $100 NJCOP Qualifier which includes 1 ticket GTD with a $5 Rebuy and Add-on at 4:50PM each day. The second qualification method a series of SNG step tournaments through $200 NJCOP events, including the $150,000 Guaranteed Main Event on April 26. New Jersey is buzzing already.
The Parc des Princes stadium in Paris is the venue for today's first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal between home team Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona (19:45 UK time). This is the second meeting between these teams in this Champions League season, one of many in the past 2 years. The 2012/3 season saw the teams meeting twice for two draws (2-2, 1-1), and this season PSG beat Barca 3-2 at home in September, then Barca won 3-1 in December at Camp Nou. So who'll take this one? Deciding Stage for PSG If PSG fails in this stage, it'll be a third consecutive exit at the quarterfinals. PSG was matched with Barca in the 2012/3 season and the Catalans ended up advancing despite two draws, due to away goals in aggregate total. PSG is coming in hot – leading the French Ligue 1 and encouraged by a 0-4 away beating of Bastia and winning the French League Cup, with two goals by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani each. Unfortunately for PSG, they will miss out on the important Ibrahimovic who's facing suspension; PSG will also miss David Luiz, Thiago Motta, Lucas Moura and Marco Veratti – something that could weigh on their game. Barcelona Barcelona had a winning run of 9 matches until their 2-2 against Sevilla on Saturday, yet they remain unbeaten in 10 games. Barcelona's defense will be tested by Cavani, but the Catalans will be wise to test PSG's whole structure with the great number of important absentees. Stars Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez are good candidates for goalscorer bets. Live Betting The absence of Ibrahimovic boosts the prices on PSG which could yield nice wins for punters if the home team wins. Bookie Winner Sports offered 15/4 on PSG and 3/4 on Barcelona in full time result. The game will be live at Winner with in-play markets to place as the action takes place – boost your experience tonight with an in-play wager on this exciting game!
OpenBet has achieved record-setting success with its Grand National. Winning Figures The popular platform provider handled a total of a whopping 19.3 million sports bets this weekend across its channels in the National Hunt. The supplier saw the busiest activity of the year in the final 24-hour build-up to the race, topping out at 45,000 bets per minute for a total of 54m account transactions made. The frenzy represented a 24 per cent increase from the 2014 race. Mobile Activity Skyrockets Predictably, there was a substantial jump in mobile device placement as well, as the 2015 Grand National received almost 63 per cent of all remote bets via the mobile, up a super-healthy 54 per cent in the previous year. OpenBet chief executive Jeremy Thompson-Hill was pleased to report how well the platform handled the shift, as all wagers were “seamlessly” placed “without any downtime” for the event won by Many Clouds. Keeping Pace The record-setting Grand National event came on the spurs of an also successful Cheltenham Festival, whose 25m sports bets handled and 146m account transactions represented robust figures for the four day duration. Worldpay global payment processor reported a 12.6 percent rise in year-on-year figures, with an 83.6 per cent for a typical day in April. The total value of these transactions rose 20.3 percent from 2014. WorldPay VP Alan Watson called the Grand National the biggest race event ever for UK online bookies, citing the ease of use and speed of online betting as the biggest draws for existing and new punters. Sign of the Times The event demonstrates how online sports betting for horse racing is one of the leading areas of expansion for online wager activity in general, and can drive further adaptation of all online gambling ad wager-based activity. Sponsors and iGaming providers would do well to take note.
Can Pennsylvania bring the online gambling movement forward for US states in 2015? First of Three iGaming Proposals That is the new question on the table, especially with progressive California firmly out of the picture for at least another year. Pennsylvania is the lone US hope for regulated online poker this year, and Thursday Harrisburg lawmakers will discuss H.B. 649, the proposal of Rep. John Payne, as the first of three online poker bills set to be considered this year. The state of Pennsylvania will consider the social and economic benefits of regulation of online poker, which Poker Players Alliance’s John Pappas says can “provide Pennsylvania players with what they deserve—access to an established online gaming marketplace with clear and strong state laws and enforcements.” A strong model for online gaming of any kind, by any state, goes a long way towards familiarizing and conditioning other states to take note of how they too may with a practical regulation model harness perceived and demonstrated benefits of online poker that three other states including New Jersey are already enjoying in the US. Supporting Stance Affirmed Pennsylvania's open and ambitious stance was further solidified earlier in the week when the Pennsylvania House Gaming Oversight Committee passed H.R. 140 in support of federal acceptance and endorsement of online gambling. The resolution calls for Congress to defeat the federal Restoration of the Wire Act, a federal interpretation which would other wise serve to prohibit states from legalizing and regulating online gambling. Calling for the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to defeat Sheldon Adelson's federal RAWA bill establishes Pennsylvania's official state position as firmly in favor of the adaptation of online gambling and poker legislation. While this represents merely one vote out of 50 at the federal level, it certainly represents strong local support for the exercise by Pennsylvania of its own state's right to adopt legislation that will legalize and regulate state-sponsored online poker. At this point, the iGaming industry can only watch with baited breath.
XIN Gaming is an emerging Chinese slot game developer with immediate expansion aspirations in the global igaming industry. Just recently, XIN Gaming announced that a partnership agreement had been struck with Plus-Five Gaming. From April 2015, Plus-Five Gaming will be distributing XIN Gaming content to various igaming operators all over the world. Plus-Five Gaming operates as a white label provider of igaming software. Operators that partner with Plus-Five Gaming can offer their users access to an extensive selection of betting platforms, covering casino, mobile, bingo, poker, sports, and skill games. The UK-based software provider holds a Class 1 license from the Malta Gaming Authority. Now Alongside Leading Developers XIN Gaming will join an illustrious list of igaming software developers already partnered with Plus-Five Gaming. At a glance, some of the more familiar developers will include Microgaming, IGT, NextGen, and Sheriff Games. This partnership will allow for XIN to dramatically increase the size of its potential audience, which is crucial at this stage of the company’s development. XIN chief executive Mathias Larsson cited the fact that his new partner has “a great reputation in the market” as being a motivating factor for the deal. From the other side of the deal, Plus-Five chief executive Andy Jones said that his company “prides itself in providing new and cutting-edge casino games” to explain why they chose to make the distribution agreement. Introducing XIN Gaming Slots There are currently nine slot games found on XIN’s corporate website. A range of popular themes have been covered in the slots. Bling Bling is inspired by wealth and luxury living, while Chinese New Year is steeped in tradition. Fruitmania is a quirky slot situated on a bright beach, which can also be said for Pirates. Many of the other slots possess striking visuals of Chinese heritage, including Red Panda and Dragons Pearl.
The Euroleague are down to the last eight teams, which are all currently doing battle in the 2015 Quarter Finals. The teams that have made it this far are: CSKA Moscow, Panathinaikos Athens, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Olympiacos Piraeus, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul and Maccabi Elektra Tel Aviv. An excellent representation of the top teams in European Basketball and tonight’s late game features Fenerbahce Istanbul vs Maccabi Tel Aviv. Game 1 between these two teams was as exciting as they come and in the end, Fenerbahce got the best of Maccabi in the fourth quarter and rallied for the win, 80-72. Jan Vesely led the Turkish team with 23 points and Nemanja Bjelica ended with a double-double. On the Israeli side, Jeremy Pargo led both teams with 25 points, but they couldn’t hold on for the win. What it will take to Win Tonight Maccabi have an even harder task ahead of them tonight, as they travel to Istanbul. They need to be able to rely on the endurance of their players, which was lacking late in the first game. Look out for Devin Smith on the outer perimeter, as he will be looking to shoot and shoot often, with support by Yogev Ohayon and Pargo in the backcourt. Istanbul needs to have a big game by their forwards on the offensive boards, as this is what led them to victory last game. They successfully brought down 17 offensive boards in Game 1, but didn’t see a very productive game by Nikos Zisis, Andrew Goudelock or Bogdan Bogdanovic. Attractive Online Gambling Props There are some attractive lines from bet365 Sportsbook for the underdogs from Tel Aviv. They could easily bounce back and beat the Turks tonight, which would count for 3.50 punter odds for Maccabi. Fenerbahce are outright favorites at 1.32, but there are a ton of additional props to choose from. The over/under is 153.5 at 1.90, with Fenerbahce on the over and Maccabi on the under.
New Merchant Category Codes (MCC) set to be introduced on April 17th might ease the lives of players and online gambling operators in the US. Banks Limiting Payment Methods One of the biggest issues that faced iGaming in the US since the introduction of online gambling regulation in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware back in November 2013 was payment methods. Despite regulation, banks and other financial bodies simply refused to process payments in the region of online gambling, blocking transactions even in regulated sites. This also affected players' ability to sign up and open an account with online casinos. New Codes The new codes (7800/1/2) apply for "State-run" online lotteries, casino games and dog/horse racing. Whether this will help things out or not is yet to be known, but the fact that steps are done in the direction of acknowledging that online gambling is indeed legal and regulated at the three states should be seen as a positive development. The hope is that the new codes will help financial institutions to identify regulated transactions and not put them off due to being under "notorious" MCCs. Effect on Industry Payment methods are among the most important aspects of an online casino experience, allowing players to start playing, fund their accounts and withdraw their wins. The problematic nature of blocked payment methods in the regulated US market so far has deterred many back and perhaps this initial step might alleviate things. Still a Long Way to Go Despite the positivity of the step, ultimately it is still up for banks to decide which transactions they willing to process as they are not obligated by law to do so. While the codes give them more clarity in making a decision, the iGaming laws in US are still problematic – one of the main impediments being the notorious UIGEA.
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