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New Jersey (NJ) is one of only three US states where online gambling markets are fully regulated, but recent statistics have revealed that this status is not a guarantee of consistent success. Looking back on August 2016, it emerged that NJ’s online gambling revenue reached $16.1 million for the month, which represented a 31.6% increase on August 2015. However, NJ’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) figures showed that August’s revenue was actually down on the $17.4 million recorded in July. So, while the state is posting double-digit revenue figures, there is a challenge in consistently raising the bar. Stronger Numbers in 2016 When delving deeper into the numbers, it transpired that online casinos have generated the most revenue, rising by 35.8% to reach $13.9 million between August 2015 and August 2016. Meanwhile, there was promise shown in the online poker category, which managed to avoid a summer dip by increasing 9.6% in August to $2.17 million. In analysing the year-to-date performance, online gambling revenue is doing much better in 2016, having already totalled $128.2 million, which is 32.6% higher when compared to the same period in 2015. During that time, online casinos have risen 37% to $110.3 million, while poker has climbed 10.7% to $17.9 million. August Casino Win Value Falls One of the more interesting findings came from the casino win statistics, when it transpired that August 2016’s online win value of $245.9 million had actually fallen by 4.9% when compared to August 2015. Ultimately, this goes against the trend of 2016 being a year where online gambling win has increased thus far versus the first eight months of 2015. From January to August 2016, online gambling win was recorded at $128.3 million, which is up an incredible 32.6% on 2015. Moving forward, OCR will report any updated NJ numbers as they become available.
Space has fascinated mankind for thousands of years, with starry nights still captivating the world to this today. And this mysterious dimension has inspired numerous software developers, with Real Time Gaming (RTG) being the latest outfit to create a space slot. After the release of Nova 7s in September 2016, players will be able to find the video slot at RTG casinos. SlotsPlus Casino, Slotastic Casino, and Sun Palace Casino are three of the RTG sites where Nova 7s can be played. In terms of design, RTG has developed Nova 7s so that the slot that can be playable across multiple platforms, which can potentially cover download, instant-play, tablet, and smartphone. Majestic Space Visuals Nova 7s has been designed to offer a majestic visual experience, with supernovas and solar flares exploding across the screen. In the background, the slot also depicts an alien planet, while colourful tones shine in the throughout the portions of space that are shown. On the slot interface, players will see a combination of five reels by three rows, which allows for 15 symbols to land after each spin. At this point, players will have the potential to win from up to 25 paylines, with players allowed to adjust these using up and down arrows. Players can also control the line bet through a range of different values. Lucky Number Seven To amp up the action, Nova 7s also integrates special features, with some symbol randomly exploding to create wild reels and/or trigger a 7x multiplier. The number seven will continue to have relevance among the other special features. In Nova 7s, players will also have the chance to trigger free games by landing scattered Blue 7s. During this stage, players can benefit from one of four different features. Each of these will trigger different rewards, which can include free games, expanding wild symbols, 7x multipliers, and wild re-spins.
Everton lost back-to-back games and the worst part is that they were unable to score a goal. The team from Liverpool has a great opportunity on Friday when it welcomes Crystal Palace at Goodison Park. The visitors won the last three Premier League games, but allowed an average of two goals per match. Five players missing for Everton The hosts lost two more defenders on Saturday in a match won by Bournemouth and their backline is under tremendous pressure. Offensively the team fares much better and will be able to field an aggressive starting formation with three strikers. They need to turn the heat up a notch after being held scoreless in the previous two games and losing both matches. Mirallas and Lukaku are spearheading the offensive once again, as the two strikers are the only ones to score so far. Everton has the advantage of having a couple of talented midfielders who frequently appear up front to assist the strikers. The key to this game is to exercise constant pressure on Crystal Palace. A tough test for Crystal Palace The visitors are riding an excellent winning streak in the English domestic championship. They scored plenty of goals but all of them were against teams struggling in the second half of the standings. It’s been a while since they took on a serious opponent and they will have their steel tested this Friday. They’re going to scale back a little bit and referred to the 4-5-1 starting formation used earlier this season. Bet365 is still offering odds of 4/5 on Everton to and the losing streak against Crystal Palace. They have a clear advantage in the head to head record and with this offensive line up, the host should be able to claim all three points. As long as the odds hold at this level, it’s definitely worth backing them at full stakes.
The capital of Hungary, Budapest was the lucky host of the 2016 CEEGC (Central and Eastern European Gaming Conference). One of the most prestigious events in the gaming industry hosted special panels regarding the online gambling markets of Balkans and Eastern Europe, which are gaining new customers and increasing in size on a daily basis. The conference included a number of other great panels as well and was concluded with the awards ceremony that saw some of the biggest names in the industry awarded for their performance in 2016 in categories such as Best Sports Betting Software, Best Sports Betting Operator in Central and Eastern Europe etc. Easter European Panels The conference which started on September 20th had a big emphasis on the emerging Eastern European and Balkans markets and included two whole panels that dealt with these markets in particular. The “Hot topics of the online gambling in Balkans” was presented by the likes of Ms. Mirjana Acimovic of the Association of Gaming Industry JAKTA and Stjepko Cordas of NSoft who talked about the state of the online gambling market in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Balkans panel gave great insight into the current state of the market in the Balkans, with the future of this gambling market looked at closely. This panel was followed by the “Hot topics of online gambling in Easter Europe” panel, which was moderated by Mihnea Paul Popescu-Grisogono, with speeches from the likes of Ms. Nadya Hambach(Head of Entertainment and Gaming Law Department @ Velchev & Co. Law Office) and Mr. Jan Rehola’s (Lawyer and independent consultant @ BetOnSkill Consulting) who discussed the issues of online gambling legislation in the Eastern European countries such as the Czech Republic. A Bomb Threat Interrupts The Conference Just as the Eastern European panel was going on, the Hungarian authorities asked the staff of the hotel and all the guests to evacuate the hotel as some sort of a bomb threat was issued. The threat came just about the time when all of the guests were supposed to head out for a coffee break as it is, but the break took longer than expected and the Hungarian police came in and searched the premises. The attendees of the Conference took this as a great excuse to organize an ad-hoc networking event that was characterized by many of the guests as the highlight of the conference and one of the finest networking events they have had a chance to attend as everyone was eager to get to know the other parties involved and there was plenty to talk about. The break in the Conference lasted about four hours and the event could resume at about 15:15, with several panels being taken off the schedule due to this delay. The Conference continued with the “Hot topics of online gambling in Central Europe” and the “Upcoming events” panels, which were deemed the most important by the organizers, with the missed panels to be uploaded online and sent to all the Conference guests by e-mail. Wine Tasting, Dinner and The CEEGAwards Once all the panels were done, the event went into a 2 hour long networking session followed by wine tasking, open bar and a complimentary dinner for all the Conference attendees. The second networking session ended up being just as big a success as the first one and the entire thing was of course followed up by the grand finale, the CEEGAwards ceremony. The ceremony was presented by Zoltan Tundik and Tal Itzakh Ron who presented all of the awards to the audience in a very relaxed and calm atmosphere and announced the winners in each of the categories. The winners in the CEEGAwards 2016 were: Best Sports betting software provider based on Betting Product Support: SBTech Best Sports betting software provider based on Open Business Relationship: EveryMatrix Best Sports betting software provider based on Product Quality: BetConstruct Best Sports betting software provider based on Service/Price ratio: BetConstruct Best casino software provider based on Product Support: BetConstruct Best casino software provider based on Open Business Relationship: EveryMatrix Best casino software provider based on Product Quality: Casexe Best casino software provider based on Service/Price ratio: Casexe Best Financial Software provider: Tradologic Best Casino operator in Central and Eastern Europe: SlotsMillion Best Sports betting operator in Central and Eastern Europe: NetBet Best iGaming Press in Central and Eastern Europe: Casino Life and Business Magazine (Online Casino Reports was one of the three sites shortlisted) Best iGaming Service Provider in Central and Eastern Europe: NMi Gaming Despite the bomb threats and the interruption, the Conference turned out to be a major success and most of the guests posted on their social channels that they were extremely satisfied with how things were ran, to the great joy of the organizers.
The world of online casinos is an exciting one, but for the most part you will find a lot of same or similar games wherever you turn. In that regard, Satoshi Dice can offer a really different and unique experience, even if based on a rather simple principle. About Satoshi Dice Casino Founded in 2012 as a Bitcoin-only casino, Satoshi Dice managed to find a huge success with a very limited game offering. At first, they only offered Satoshi Dice game to their players and despite the fact this game is essentially very simple, it was well received with the players. What has attracted players to Satoshi Dice over the years is the fact they offer provably fair games and their Return To Player is a matter of public knowledge. Due to the way their main game operates, there is no room for guessing. You know exactly what you are getting into. About Satoshi Dice the Game You don't need any expert knowledge to play Satoshi Dice and there are no hidden strategies that can help you beat the house. It is all fairly straightforward, yet highly entertaining. To begin with, you pick a number between 1 and 64,225. Then you wager an amount you want to risk that a number smaller than your pick is going to come on the next roll. And then you roll the dice. That's all there is to it. Picking number 1 offers the best payout of 64,290.9x your bet. Conversely, picking 64,225 only offers 1.0012x payout. Since there are 65,536 numbers on the virtual dice, the range that players are not able to select is, in fact, the house edge, and it amounts to 2%. Satoshi Slot Apart from their Dice game, the casino also decided to introduce an online slot to their offer, realizing that players like to have some variety. Satoshi Slot was well received within the Bitcoin gambling community, as it offers exciting gameplay and an opportunity to win up to 513 times your bet on every individual spin. The slot features free spins triggered by scatter symbols (Bitcoin) appearing on the reels, and during these spins, there are 40 extra wild symbols added across the reels. Play the House Apart from their games, Satoshi Dice used the fact that they operate in Bitcoins and offered their players a chance to play the house. You can invest an amount of your choosing and you will be awarded your share of any casino profits based on your participation in the casino's total bankroll.
While French sports betting in 2015 may have been a dog for licensees, it remains far too far a reach for most operators to pull out of the French market. ARJEL Reports Losses National gambling regulator ARJEL did report a collective €5 million ($5.6 million) operating loss for the country’s licensed betting operators in 2015. The Biggest Hits Sportsbook and online poker took equal hits, losing €7 million each for the 12 months ending December 31st. Sports betting Struggles Further, out of 11 total sports betting operators active in the country, only five came with any kind of operating profit in the ARJEL report, while seven of nine poker brands posting losses. Sole Success In fact, the only betting vertical to show a positive gain for its licensed operators in France was racing, which generated a decent €10 million in total revenues. Yet Market Grows However, despite the ominous figures for individual operators, the overall market is still nothing short of robust year-on-year, with turnover reaching a record €1.4 billion in 2015 for a 30% jump. H1 Gathers Momentum Further, the momentum of growth has only picked up, with ARJEL’s H1 figures for 2016 showing turnover for the six month period at €1.1 billion, good for a 60% year-on-year jump. Activity Leaders The most popular sport for French punters is football as usual, holding a 53% share of the sports betting market. Tennis was second at 20%. H1 Losers ARJEL identified H1 losses in online poker, down 4% year-on-year to €232 million; and horseracing, down 2% to €1 billion. Horseracing losses do have a silver lining, improving significantly from the previous year’s 7%. Regulation Totals The new ARJEL figures bring the total operating loss since the regulated market launched in 2010 for French-licensed operators to €471m. Sports betting is the loss leader with €222m, followed by poker (€206m) and racing (€43m Adaptive Measures To pass the revenue benefits onto individual French-facing operators, ARJEL suggests tax reform, expanding the variety of online products licensees can offer, and sharing poker liquidity with other European regulated markets. Hanging Tough As the French regulator, ARJEL’s suggestion to make things more hospitable to licensees is not likely to be lost on French legislators. Operators still standing in the French market at the end of the adaptation process should thrive.
The five shortlisted finalists competing in the Start-Up Launchpad final at this year´s EIG Berlin is set to bring competitive advantage to all who see it. Interesting Competitive Mix An intriguing roster of lottery, eSports and game development projects are set compete at this year´s edition. Originally organised in 2008 at EiG and GiGse in partnership with GamCrowd, the Launchpad competition pits emerging gaming start-ups against each other. Previous Participating Beneficiaries The list of iGaming stars launched via the exposure of the Launchpad spotlight to prospective business partners and investors includes former winners and finalists Element Wave, Colossus Bets, NumberFire, Fresh8 Gaming and current reigning champion Casino VR. Current Competitors 1SpinMillionaire is a promotion and customer retention platform combining integrating lottery and jackpots concepts to provide larger bonus and jackpot opportunities without additional stakes Black Cow Technology is a self-described flexible and modular game server construction kit. GamingBattleGround is a plug-in service for casino clients to host online eSports competition. Glück Games provides the technology for online lotto operators to seamlessly introduce casino play to its lottery clients Game Time Competitors will present at the Start-Up LaunchPad session on Thursday, October 20th from 11:00-12:30. The Competition Format A panel of judges led by Melissa Blau will quiz and critique each presentation. Blau will be joined by a group of iGaming luminaries that includes Burlywood Capital partner Mark Blandford; Velo Partners Partner Evan Hoff; Partner, Optimizer Invest CEO Carla Maree Vella and former Techstars MD Jon Bradford. Champions will ultimately be decided by popular audience vote. Competitive Benefits The value of competing and winning was identified by Casino VR CEO Marco Koblet, who says the exposure brought recognition from iGaming experts of the company´s “value proposition and vision.” Mark the Date The short-list invitees will compete at Start-Up LaunchPad competition as part of EiG (Excellence in iGaming) taking place in Berlin from October 18-20 2016.
Manchester City won all six games this season and is comfortably leading the Premier League. They are fighting a war on two fronts but this doesn’t seem to have a negative impact on their performance. They were able to win the Champions League opener and suffered no further injuries. Now that they have put some distance between them and Manchester United, they need to deal with the runners-up. Aguero Fires on All Cylinders The Argentinean striker served two games of suspension before returning to the starting formation. He is scoring goals every single match and will be the main threat for Tottenham on Sunday. Well rested and fit enough to play for 90 minutes, Aguero is going to be joined up front by Sterling. Nolito will be watching them match from the stands after picking up a red card, so Manchester City will use two strikers. Defensively, they have their best players fit to play, but the backline is missing Kompany who is mending an injury. His experience makes him impossible to replace and this is something that Tottenham will try to exploit. Manchester City has scored an average of three goals per match recently, but they find it increasingly difficult to keep clean sheets. Kane Doubtful Ahead of Sunday Derby Henry Kane is usually the player that Tottenham fans are counting on for scoring goals both at home and on the road. He didn’t play over the weekend and his fitness remains a major reason for concern ahead of the Manchester City fixture. The most likely scenario is for him to enter as a substitute in the second half, if the hosts find themselves trailing the visitors. Tottenham is credited with the second chance despite having home pitch advantage and being undefeated in the Premier League so far. Even without Kane on the pitch, they should be able to hold their ground and salvage at least one point. Bet365 makes it worthwhile to take the double chance wager at odds of 7/10.
NFL Football season is one of the most highly anticipated times of the year. From September until the Super Bowl Championship on February 5th, football fans watch their favorite teams, and many of their rivals on Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday religiously. Games are as exciting as they come and the sport has one of the biggest wagering cultures of any other sport in the world, despite strict laws in the US. The Professional and Amateur Sports Act (PASPA) was passed in 1992 by US Congress and has denied sports betting in all states aside from Nevada. They estimate that there will be $90 billion bet on the NFL this year, but only $2 billion will be through legal platforms, both online or at a traditional land-based bookmaker. The law is not a popular one, as sports betting is wildly popular today, with no signs of slowing its growth. PASPA's attempts to prohibit sportsbetting have not worked and instead, state government is losing out on billions of dollars in tax profits that could be used for education, charitable initiatives and so much more. Once again the US government is creating criminals in its midst by using prohibition to try and limit gambling, and we all know how that worked out with Alcohol so many years ago. All in Favor of Legal Sports Gambling American Gaming Association claims that in 2015 Americans placed $149 billion in illegal sports wagers and none of that money can be accounted for, as the bets were all made through underground channels. The popularity of sports betting is now around 65% of football fans in favor of legalization and regulation. Even the leagues have loosened up to sportsbetting with the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell recently stating that "All of us have evolved a little on gambling." He is not alone as Adam Silver, NBA Commissioner said in a 2015 New York Times interview that the laws of sports gambling need to be changed. All are in favor of regulation and technological safeguards including both MLB and NHL commissioners respectively. The breakthrough in legal sports gambling is just over the horizon and it is only a matter of time until legal and regulated sports gambling will be accessible to Americans, as it has been for punters all over the world for many years.
Art of the Heist is an innovative new slot game from Playson that comes with free spins at the end of a trail, stacked wilds, a bonus game and 3D effect symbols that give it cinematic look. This 5-reel, 21-payline game is now available at Playson-powered casinos the likes of PlayFrank Casino, GrandWild Casino and Mr Green Casino. About The Art of the Heist The action unfolds in a museum, where master thief Vincenzo is attempting to steal priceless works. The game commences with an animated sequence that sees the star of the game breaking in to the museum and avoiding the mummies that wander the corridors. A dark backdrop to the game sees symbols like a security guard, crown, mummies and famous works of art spinning along with a wild symbol that acts as others to help complete winning lines. The high card icons are all decorated with further treasures such as vases, Egyptian artefacts and Roman helmets. Vincenzo moves along a winding path with each spin as certain symbols send him back and forth across the reels, collecting free spins as he does so. At the end of the path, players win 10 free games on top of any collected, while bonus symbols can trigger a side game along the way. In this round, players need to unlock the right rooms to steal rewards like win multipliers and as a fun twist, anything collected in the bonus games are displayed on the wall back at the thief's' house. Adam Daniel, managing director at Playson said of their newest game ''With one of the most fun and engaging Pick-em bonuses and innovative game play, our latest game has a lot to offer. I am confident Art of the Heist will prove a hit with both operators and players and become one of the most successful releases from Playson in 2016.”
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