Poll shows voters support public inquiry into B.C. casino money launderingSam Cooper, Global News · June 23, 2018 at 8:39 pmA majority of B.C. voters believe the provincial government should call a public inquiry into circumstances that enabled money laundering to occur at B.C. Lottery Corp. casinos, according to a new poll. Mario Canseco, who conducted the poll for Research Co., said results showed that B.C. voters closely followed reports on allegations of international money laundering in Metro Vancouver casinos, after Attorney General David Eby in September 2017 launched an independent review.
Britain & Ireland to celebrate Responsible Gambling Week in NovemberLuke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports · June 23, 2018 at 2:00 pmNo, it’s not the week everyone in this corner of the world strives (either with a little black book or just within your means) to gamble responsibly, it’s just the week that we are all supposed to contemplate the perils of gambling. Although, since no one knows about this week, it doesn’t matter too much in practice; it’s not like gambling operators are expecting a big drop in play or anything. A more sober schedule-maker might have opted for the week after the ongoing World Cup, since that’s naturally a sort of hangover/recovery period on betting anyway. (Bear in mind that this is coming from a dedicated poker player who never flutters on sports. Although I did take the $6 of bonus bets Pokerstars handed me, turned it into $8, and cashed out.) That’s one way to be responsible: only play a skill game. Still, they opted for the first… [continue reading]
UK Ad Standards Agency slams Coral Interactive for child-friendly ads & gamesLuke Haward, CDC Gaming Reports · June 23, 2018 at 12:11 amThe UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) responded to a bevy of complaints recently concerning gambling operator Coral Interactive, with most complainants arguing that the company was intentionally running games likely to appeal to children. The three games under scrutiny are Rainbow Riches, Lucky Wizard and Fishin’ Frenzy. The games were advertised using animations on the operator’s website during February; the ASA has ruled that these ads should not appear again in their current form. This is not the first time Coral has received negative attention from the ASA. The company has been previously criticised for directly linking gambling to seduction in some raunchy advertisements, a practice which is against UK law regarding permissible themes in gambling advertising. The interesting thing here is Coral’s response, in which they note, amongst other things, that they carry out extensive internal reviews in order to ensure that they do not break advertising rules, and… [continue reading]
Antigua ‘Losing All Hope’ of U.S. Payout in Gambling DisputeTom Miles, Reuters · June 22, 2018 at 2:07 pmGENEVA (Reuters) – Antigua and Barbuda is “losing all hope” of a financial settlement in a long-running dispute with the United States and it may ask the head of the World Trade Organization to mediate, Antiguan ambassador Ronald Sanders told the WTO on Friday. The United States responded by accusing Antigua and Barbuda of playing politics. The tiny archipelago built up an Internet gambling industry to replace declining tourism revenues, only to find itself shut out of the world’s biggest gambling market. It took its case to the WTO in 2003 and eventually won the right to compensation of $21 million annually, after the WTO judges upheld its complaint that U.S. laws were discriminatory.
Concerns over World Cup gambling ads in the UKLydia Thomas, BBC News · June 22, 2018 at 2:00 pmAlmost every ITV-screened World Cup commercial break broadcast on ITV contains gambling advertisements, BBC research shows. Radio 4’s You and Yours programme found that most ad breaks in the matches so far contained at least one gambling advertisement, sometimes two. Gambling firms said they too have concerns about how many gambling messages there are during live sport. They say this will not change though, until the government changes the law. Gambling commercials can be shown after the watershed at 9pm or during live sports fixtures. Betfred, Skybet, Betfair, BetVictor, Paddy Power, Bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes and Coral are the biggest advertisers in the commercial breaks this World Cup. The research analysed 11 games broadcast on ITV, each game contained six ad breaks. 62 of the 66 breaks contained one or more gambling advertisements.
Landing International’s Manila IR land lease cancelled due to licensing concernsInside Asian Gaming · June 22, 2018 at 12:01 amKorean casino operator Landing International Development Corp has had a lease agreement to develop and operate an integrated resort in Manila’s Entertainment City precinct put on hold due to the lack of a gaming license from PAGCOR. Local media is reporting that the Philippines’ Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF) – a state-owned corporation under the Department of Tourism – to temporarily pause the lease agreement it had signed with Landing until relevant licenses are obtained from both PAGCOR and the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). Landing had been planning to build a multi-use IR and theme park tentatively known as Nayong Pilipino Theme Park, Water Park and Movie-based Theme Park on 9.5 hectares of land located in the same entertainment precinct as Bloomberry’s Solaire Resort & Casino, Melco Resorts’ City of Dream Manila and Universal Entertainment’s Okada Manila integrated resorts. The company currently operates Jeju… [continue reading]
Macau’s The 13 Hotel backer completes name changeGGRAsia · June 21, 2018 at 10:18 pmThe promoter of The 13 Hotel, a tourism project on the Cotai-Coloane border in Macau, and that aspires to have an in-house casino, has completed the formalities for a company name change, it said in a Thursday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The 13 Holdings Ltd is now officially “South Shore Holdings Ltd”. It is another name-change for the scheme’s promoter. In April 2016, the group changed to The 13 Holdings from the previous name, Louis XIII Holdings Ltd. In March this year, when flagging the change to South Shore Holdings, the group said the reason was to “provide a clear delineation” between the firm’s corporate identity and that of its principal asset. Thursday’s filing said that the group’s secondary Chinese name had also been altered.
UnionPay crackdown has minimal impact amidst illegal useAsia Gaming Brief · June 21, 2018 at 10:16 pmThe seizure of UnionPay point of sale terminals (POS) from pawn shops in Macau earlier this month triggered a slide in operator shares on fears of tighter capital controls, though the continued use of illegal devices means there has been little impact on revenue. Two state-owned mainland banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of China (BOC), confiscated UnionPay terminals from locations that have seen unusually large volumes of business, said investment bank UBS. “That included terminals in shops located inside casino properties, but also at some shops straddling casinos on the peninsula,” said Ben Lee,managing partner at iGamiX Management and Consulting. Asia Gaming Brief asked for comment from the Macau General Chamber of Pawnbrokers, but received no reply. Hoffman Ma, executive director of the the Success Universe Group said his Ponte 16 property had not been affected by the withdrawal and “the impact was minimal” industry-wide.
Only a third of Spielbanken Bayern’s casinos making a profitG3 Newswire · June 21, 2018 at 10:14 pmSpielbanken Bayern, the Bavarian casino group in Germany, has reported that only three of its nine casinos made a profit last year. The casinos in Feuchtwangen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Bad Wiessee made a combined profit of €8.3m. The other six casinos made a loss of €11.3m casinos so that the casino as a group made a loss of approximately €3m Spielbanken Bayern belongs to the state of Bavaria and contributes around €2m per year to the state finances. Albert Füracker, Bavarian Finance Minster, said: “We see all our casinos as a unit – the economically strong ones and the economically weaker ones play an important role together.”
Korea’s foreigner-only casino turnover down 5.4% in 2017Inside Asian Gaming · June 21, 2018 at 10:09 pmKorea’s foreigner-only casinos saw turnover fall 5.4% to KRW1.2 trillion (US$1.1 billion) in 2017 according to figures released this week by the National Gambling Control Commission (NGCC). The fall in casino gaming activity was linked to a similar 6.2% decline in casino visitation to 2.2 million across the country’s 16 foreigner-only properties. Korea’s casino operators have struggled through the past 12 months after China implemented a blanket ban on tour groups to Korea in March 2017 amid diplomatic tensions over Korea’s decision to install the US THAAD anti-missile system.
