Monthly Archives: January 2018

Comtrade Gaming awarded B2B supplier license in Romania

Technology provider’s class II license sees immediate developments in regulated gaming market

Ljubljana, Slovenia – Comtrade Gaming, the leading technology provider to the gaming industry, confirms that it was awarded a Class II License by the Romanian National Gambling Office (ONJN). The terms of the license permit Comtrade Gaming to provide class I operators in Romania with their product portfolio of igaming platforms, server-based gaming systems and mobile gaming products.

“Regulation is the foundation of our growth strategy and the company holds licenses in a number of global and European regulated market,” explains Steven Valentine, Director of Interactive at Comtrade Gaming. “Our new Romanian license is to help support some of our new operators who will use our iCore gaming platform. Comtrade Gaming continues to gain global market share as a result of our continued investment in platform technology and focus to deliver best-of-breed solutions.”

Contact: Lucia Strojnik

Novomatic signs with Sportradar for sports betting solution

1 February 2018 – With ICE just a few days away, NOVOMATIC has announced a partnership with leading sports betting solutions provider Sportradar to develop an innovative line of sports betting products and services. NOVOMATIC will initially focus on developing a turnkey solution for retail and other channels that is built around Sportradar’s Managed Trading Services (MTS) and includes cash desks, as well as Self-Service Betting Terminals (SSBTs) with intuitive player environments, and will be first rolled out in the Italian market.

Visitors to ICE Totally Gaming in London will be able to preview the solutions on both the stands of Sportradar brand Betradar #S1-150 as well as the NOVOMATIC Italia area of the NOVOMATIC Group stand #S5/S6. Admiral Sport terminals will be presented on both exhibits with Betradar showcasing a wide range of functionality that includes managed trading services, odds feeds for pre-match, live and virtual sports, statistics and live match centre tools for retail, and NOVOMATIC Italia will demonstrate the highly adaptable, scalable and responsive sports betting system.

Speaking about the partnership, Bartholomäus Czapkiewicz, Managing Director NGI, said: “It has become clear that sports betting is a growing opportunity that we are making serious in-roads into. We offer a platform with distribution channels that is unrivalled, therefore, we found in Sportradar a company highly established in the sports betting space that complements and supercharges our mutual offering. We look forward to this collaboration in order to provide leading sports betting products and services worldwide.”

Carsten Koerl, Founder and CEO of Sportradar, added: “Today‘s announcement is great news for the betting industry. NOVOMATIC needs no introduction to anyone with any interest in the betting and gaming space, and the confluence of the group’s hardware, technology and reach, with Sportradar’s credentials in odds, data and risk management should pique the interest of all retail and digital operators around the world. Our initial focus will be products focused on the Italian market, and we will work tirelessly to support NOVOMATIC in terms of future product development and geographic expansion.”

PropellerAds launches Push Notifications on its self-serve advertising platform

Limassol, February 1, 2018 – PropellerAds, a leading global advertising network, has announced a launch of a new ad format on its Self-Serve Platform as well as for its managed clients. Push Notifications are intended for both desktop and mobile devices. New release underscores company’s unique ability to modernize and expand the scope online advertising opportunities.

Previously available solely to app owners, Push Notifications service now allows advertisers to take advantage of the format, giving additional exposure beyond their limited existing audience. The company states that their Push Notifications subscriber database has now reached a 60 million users mark, and continues to grow dynamically.

The service at its core is a way for brands to adopt efficient direct communication with a customer. Closed beta testing results revealed that Push Notifications outperform conventional ad formats with an average сlick through rate of 15%.

Furthermore, this ad format equips eCommerce professionals and affiliate marketers with an essential tool for connecting with the audience even when the user is not browsing the website or interacting with an app. New PropellerAds technology empowers advertisers to deliver time-sensitive marketing messages to the right customers and in a timely manner, providing exceptional online visibility.

Paddy Power Betfair, 888 reducing UK affiliate activity

Online gambling affiliates have a few less UK-facing options as operators feel the heat of increased regulatory oversight.

Last week, affiliate marketing partners of UK-listed online gambling operator 888 Holdings reported receiving emails saying the company was “seeking to exert greater control on the traffic which is generated from the UK.”

888 informed members of its Uffiliate program that, as of January 29, they “must not target UK IP addresses and/or any persons located in the UK” and 888 “shall no longer pay you any commission with regard to money players in the UK.” The change doesn’t apply to non-UK money players or UK money players “which you have generated in the UK prior to such date.”

888’s UK-listed rival Paddy Power Betfair issued a similar notice saying it was looking to “reduce our number of active affiliate accounts.” Affected affiliates were told that their accounts would be suspended as of February 5.

Japanese Poker Tour expands to Taiwan & Macau; APT 2018 kicks off in Vietnam

The All Japan Poker Championship fails to live up to its name by expanding to South Korea, Taiwan and Macau, and Adrian Esslen takes down the Main Event of the Asian Poker Tour 2018 Kickoff in Vietnam.

My brother-in-law is moving to Japan.

Should I visit him?

I want to go; free rent and all that. But there is a lot about Japan that gives me the heebie-jeebies.

The American Poker Awards return with 20 categories and a media content focus

The Global Poker Index has announced the date for the 4th Annual American Poker Awards, and there will be 20 categories to choose from, heavily dominated by poker media content.

[Image Credit: American Poker Awards]

I pinned my future poker hopes on Alex Dreyfus’s cravat. His magic pixie dust got me. He was changing things in poker as rapidly as an eyebrow shrug, and all positive.

The delicate, intricate architecture of the Global Poker Index (GPI) and the Global Poker League (GPL) enthralled. There was a polish to everything, and after Season 1 entered the books, I expected more of the same.

I hear cowbells: NBC extends and improves partnership with Poker Central

Poker continues to remind the US mainstream audience of its presence after the NBC Sports Group extended and improved their deal with Poker Central to show the very best high stakes action in the business.

Poker is returning to the once fertile lands from whence it grazed so bountifully. I can hear the tinkle of the bells from over the mountain. Black Friday. The Poker Gods angered by the interference of politicians sent fire and brimstone to the earth. The once lush lands blackened with anger and suffering.

The poker players had no choice but to put on their roller skates and scoot off elsewhere. They still lead a nomadic lifestyle. They still yearn for home. But things are changing.

In April 2017, poker returned to American TV screens when Poker Central brokered a deal with the NBC Sports Group on the eve of the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB).

PlayNow.com first Canadian gov’t site to launch live casino

British Columbia’s provincially-run online gambling site has launched Canada’s first government-approved live-dealer casino offering.

On Wednesday, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) announced that its PlayNow.com gambling site had officially launched its new Live Casino product. The site currently features 10 gaming tables offering live baccarat, blackjack, roulette, auto roulette and baccarat eSqueeze.

The live casino is accessible via desktop and mobile channels but is currently only open from 10am to 2am, although the site says these hours could expand in future if the product proves popular.

The live casino product comes courtesy of live dealer technology provider Evolution Gaming, which inked its first Canadian deal with BCLC last April. The company opened a new live dealer studio in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster that currently employs 50 people, but Evolution expects this number could grow to 170 should other provincial gambling monopolies choose to add live casinos to their own online offering.

No, a Saudi prince did not lose $106.7b playing online poker

What is it with Saudi royals and outlandish reports of their alleged gambling excesses?

On Wednesday, India-based news agency Asian News International (ANI) published a report that claimed Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman had squandered the sum of US$106.7b playing online poker.

The vast sum the prince allegedly lost neatly corresponds to the amount of shakedown cash the regime hoped to garner in exchange for releasing the dozens of royal family members detained in November for alleged corruption. The ANI report claims that the prince sheepishly detailed how he squandered the funds in an address to Saudi Arabia’s Consultative Assembly.

In decidedly un-royal language, bin Salman allegedly confessed that his epic bad run was the result of a “series of unbelievably shitty hands.” The prince allegedly claimed he’d only intended to play “one quick game of Texas Hold’em but got sucked in and the next thing I knew it was 5am and I was $106.7b down.”

CalvinAyre.com featured conferences & events: February 2018

ICE VOX

ICE VOX stands for Clarion Gaming’s knowledge exchange and educational brand and it comes in the form of 9 mini-conferences taking place between Monday, February 5th and Wednesday, February 7th at the ExCeL London.

Overlapping with ICE Totally Gaming’s enormous expo floor for two of three days, ICE VOX’s 9 tracks include The International Casino Conference, World Regulatory Briefing, Data Science & Personalization, eSports, Game Design & Development, Blockchain, Cybercrime & Security, Modernizing Lotteries and Sports Betting USA.

Pricing varies based on what conferences and what days delegates wish to attend, visit ICE Totally Gaming’s website for more information.