Josh Andrews

Mammoth Acquires Sin Gaming, Partners with ROAM Esports

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Despite being a fairly new entrant into the Esports industry, Mammoth Esports Enterprises, otherwise known as team MAMMOTH, has had quite an impact on the Australian Esports Market. The global Esports organization has been making tremendous efforts towards becoming an Esports powerhouse and so far everything is going great for the organization.

MAMMOTH has recently acquired Sin Gaming from ROAM Esports, which it has also partnered with – ROAM Esports acquired Sin Gaming in late 2016 and as per the terms of the partnership with MAMMOTH, it will keep providing managerial supports to Sin Gaming, including for the incoming recruits that team MAMMOTH is yet to announce.

Dion Appel, Mammoth Esports Enterprises president has an extensive background in marketing and he has had his eyes set on a number of lucrative Esports investments since last year. He points out that talent was a crucial factor during his time in extreme sports and it will just be as crucial in team MAMMOTH’s investments in various Esports teams.

ROAM Esports and Sin Gaming posted some pretty huge results last year – the team went from being considered as an inferior team in 2016 to taking third place in the OPL 2017 Split 1 Playoffs. After that, the team was invited to the 2017 Rift Rivals series as OPL representatives.

“I loved my time at Sin Gaming, it was special, it was something I created in my living room as a kid with dreams and aspirations,” says Brandon ‘Juves’ Defina, Sin’s team captain. “I was lucky enough to come across ROAM who helped the kid with a dream actually achieve them… I am SUPER excited to be able to work with Dion and his team. One chapter has ended with Sin Gaming but I am beyond excited to help make MAMMOTH one of the best and biggest Esports names in Australia.”

Juves and his team are facing an even brighter future with the major acquisition by MAMMOTH which happens to be headed by someone with some pretty serious business chops.

“We’re thrilled with our partnership with Dion Appel and his team to build MAMMOTH and also with the continued opportunity of working with a roster of players and staff that we have an incredible history and relationship with,” Ahilleas Papantos, Director from ROAM Esports commented on the company’s partnership with team MAMMOTH. “Sin Gaming did the impossible, proving many wrong time & time again, now MAMMOTH is here to win.”

Huawei Phones to Offer Easier Access to Bitcoin Wallets

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Even though Chinese authorities have been cracking down on crypto trading platforms and Initial coin Offerings (ICOs), owning cryptocurrencies in the country has not been outlawed. Now according to a report by Bloomberg, Huawei, which is arguably one of the largest telecommunication manufacturers in the world, is enabling easier access to Bitcoin for its users.

The Chinese telecommunication firm and renowned smartphone maker has partnered with BTC.com to roll out a bitcoin wallet for the tech giant’s proprietary app store, AppGallery. The BTC.com wallet will be the first of its kind to be offered in the Shenzen-based tech firm’s app store and will be pre-installed on all new Huawei and Honor phones – older phones will not be left out and will thus have the app rolled out to them in coming months as confirmed by BTC.com’s vice president of business operations Alejandro de la Torre.

“New users can access Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in a simple, secure and trusted environment. China is almost a ‘cashless economy’ today, accounting for almost 62% of all global mobile transactions. This dwarfs the estimated $49.3 billion in total mobile payment transactions in the United States in 2017, which highlights the amazing opportunity cryptocurrencies have in replacing fiat currency as the currency of choice for mobile payments. Huawei is leading the way in terms of adoption of blockchain technologies, and we’re excited to bring BTC.com to Huawei’s user base for the first time,” de la Torre said.

As it stands, the greatest impact of this new venture by both BTC.com and Huawei will be felt on the Chinese mobile phone market which Huawei own a huge chunk of. Furthermore, China has been a hotbed for cryptocurrencies despite the government’s aggressive stance trading in them and Initial Coin Offerings. As part of these control measures, the Chinese government has blocked Android’s Google Play Store and certain sections of Apple’s iTunes in order to limit access to such services as BTC.com. Still, as mentioned earlier, owning cryptocurrencies is not illegal in China and therefore Huawei and BTC.com can get away with this clever workaround.

“It’s a good opportunity to tap into the Chinese market. The use of cashless payments with apps is very big and the traditional banking system is lacking, so there’s a good use case for crypto payments to grow there,” de la Torre added.

Huawei’s move came as little less of a surprise particularly because of the company’s recent beefed up efforts towards the development of a blockchain.

“Cryptocurrencies have recently expanded the human understanding of digital economy at a large scale. From our leadership position in China, the tip of the spear of mobile payments, we expect to see massive growth in global cryptocurrency adoption habits in the near future,” said Dr. Jaime Gonzalo, vice president of Huawei Mobile Services.

‘INSIDERS: Super High Roller Bowl 2018’ Series Kicks Off

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Poker Central’s new documentary series, ‘INSIDERS: Supers High Roller Bowl 218” debuts today (Thursday, May 10) on PokerGO. The series that has been produced by Poker Central in collaboration with CakeWorks will give PokerGO subscribers a chance to watch as Brandon Adams, Daniel Negreanu, and Seth Davies prepare for the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl.

The 2018 Super High Roller Bowl will be a $300,000 buy-in tournament and will feature 48 players – 30 of them will be selected by random lottery while the remaining 18 will be VIP guest entrants. As for the stars of the new series, Daniel Negreanu was selected via the lottery while his counterparts were among the 15 VIPs that were selected by Poker Central and ARIA.

To give viewers a sneak peek of what to expect, the seven-episode series will premiere its first episode on the Poker Central YouTube channel for a limited time. The remaining episodes will be released on PokerGO in the weeks leading up to and immediately after the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl. Also, the series has been produced in collaboration with Jess Cook, Emmy Award-winning producer best known for his work on the SHOWTIME original series “All Access” – this gives PokerGO subscribers even more reason to be excited.

Each and every episode of the series will delve into the behind-the-scenes action and show how the three poker stars prepare for the 2018 Super High Rollers Bowl which is without a doubt one of the most prestigious gaming events in the world. Viewers will get to see both the mental and physical preparations that the players go through.

“We wanted to give our fans a new perspective on poker – an inside look at the training it takes for these high stakes players to be at the top of their game,” said Sam Simmons, Poker Central’s vice president of content. “We look forward to highlighting the intense preparation that Daniel, Brandon, and Seth undergo in their own unique ways leading up to and throughout the Super High Roller Bowl.”

Have a look at the trailer here.

Massachusetts Regulators Allow Wynn Resorts to Drop ‘Wynn’

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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Monday made a decision to allow Wynn Resorts to drop Steve Wynn’s name from its license for a planned $2.5 billion casino in the state. Wynn Resorts has been in the spotlight for quite some time following sexual abuse allegations levelled against Steve Wynn. The gambling commission’s decision came amid ongoing investigations by associated state regulators as part of a process that could affect the company’s operations in Massachusetts.

As of now, Steve Wynn, the company’s fallen founder who resigned a few months back, no longer has anything to do with the planned casino. The regulators have since confirmed that as far as they are concerned, Wynn and the company have effectively parted ways.

“The commission rejects the characterization by Mr. Wynn’s legal counsel that he is nothing more than an ordinary private citizen of the state of Nevada vis-a-vis Wynn Resorts,” the Massachusetts Gaming Commission wrote. “There is, however, substantial evidence that the relationship between Mr. Wynn and Wynn Resorts has been terminated in a meaningful way such that Mr. Wynn no longer falls with the definition of a qualifier at the conclusion of the upcoming annual shareholders meeting.”

The gaming commission’s decision was made on condition that Steve Wynn would not vote at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting that is slated for next week. The company’s lawyers then requested that Wynn is removed as one of the “qualifiers” for the sake of the company’s Everett casino that has now been renamed the Encore Boston Harbor. Fortunately, all of Steve Wynn’s stock has been sold thus effectively severing all ties between him and the company.

“We are pleased that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has concluded Steve Wynn no longer has any involvement in our company and should no longer be considered a qualifier,” a Wynn Casino spokeswoman said. “We look forward to continuing to move Encore Boston Harbor forward.”

In addition to this, the company has gone a step further by implementing a policy that requires Wynn Resorts’ officers and directors to report any direct or indirect communication with Steve Wynn or to Wynn LLC Legal counsel. This is particularly important because the company is still being investigated in order to determine how it dealt with the allegations of sexual misconduct.

GLMS Partners with ESIC to Safeguard the Integrity of Sports

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Esports is particularly vulnerable to match-fixing and we have seen a number of such cases especially due to the global rise of Esports. The world is still on a course headed for a technological singularity which makes many things very easy – since it is so simple to place a bet, rigging can, in turn, be just as easy.

Keeping this in mind, the Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS) and the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) have signed a partnership deal that will see them working together towards ensuring integrity by identifying and reporting any irregularities or suspicious betting patterns.

“Betting on Esports has been growing consistently in the last few years and the global appeal among millennial’s on digital entertainment is the driving force behind it. Esports and in-play Mobile Betting are a perfect combination of social entertainment and interaction. GLMS has been monitoring the phenomenon over the last 3 years now and we consider Esports an area to dedicate specific efforts and commitment given the impact on young citizens and society as a whole. We are very excited to support ESIC in its mission to tackle the integrity challenges within the Esports arena. Thanks to our growing network which guarantees local expertise and global reach, I am convinced that we can make a difference in the domain of Esports as well,” said Ludovico Calvi, the president of GLMS.

The GLMS was spawned from the minds of like-minded people who were keen on ensuring that integrity as a core value of sporting systems was maintained. The organization has since grown immensely and boasts of a number of hubs in Hong Kong and Denmark as well as 27 partners in several different parts of the globe.

“ESIC being the main integrity player in the field of esports is pleased to welcome GLMS into its network of partners. GLMS, thanks to its experience on monitoring betting patterns, as well as its global operations with hubs in Copenhagen and Hong Kong will for sure be a great asset in the pursuit of our mission. The expertise of GLMS in managing intelligence and integrity matters as well as its local presence in almost 30 countries across the world will also help us enhance our education and prevention activities,” said Ian Smith, the ESIC Commissioner.

The partnership is, however, not the first time that both organizations have worked together – they have already been part of a fruitful unofficial cooperation and information exchange that spans three or more years. Their new partnership will go beyond the monitoring of betting patterns as both organizations have also agreed to work towards educational programs tailored to raise awareness about the risks that come with betting on Esports competitions.

Hawthorn President Warns of Sports Betting ‘Indoctrination’

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Sports betting is still on the verge of becoming a reality in the United States and while there are people who have always supported it and others who have acknowledged its inevitability and began preparing, there are some who still find the idea of it to be distasteful. This extends to other countries as well, not just the U.S. One such person is Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who during this week’s promotion of this year’s beyondblue Cup has made public some of his long-term concerns about the impacts of sports betting advertisement on the society.

Like many other Australian Football League clubs, Hawthorn contentiously relies on revenue from poker machines but Mr. Kennett believes that there is a significant distinction between the poker and sports betting. According to him, poker machines are strictly for adults and children are not allowed to play.

“The worry I have with sports betting is that it is indoctrinating a whole generation of young people that their future, their happiness, is associated with gambling,” Kennett said of sports betting. “When we have sports betting up there being thrust down the throats of young people on a daily basis – whether it be on television, on radio etcetera – you are indoctrinating them into a lifestyle aspiration, which I think is very dangerous.”

Last year, the Australian federal government introduced a legislation that set limits to when sports betting advertisements can be shown. Kennett, on the other hand, believes that this is not enough and the government should implement a blanket ban or at least subject them to the same restrictions that casinos are subject to as far as advertising is concerned.

“If I was in control, I would apply the same rules to promotion and advertising of sports betting that applies to casinos and gaming machines, and that is that you can’t advertise it publicly,” he added.

Kennett also believes that the effects will not be seen for the next 10 to 15 years but it will too late by then and there is a high likelihood that other problems will have spawned from it as well.

76ers Gaming Club Win Inaugural NBA 2K League Tournament

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The NBA 2K League’s “THE TIPOFF” tournament came to an end on May 5^th with the 76ers Gaming Club having secured the $35,000 grand prize and championship banner by beating the previously undefeated Blazer5 Gaming squad 75-65 in the final. THE TIPOFF tournament consisted of pool play from May 1 to May 4 with the top eight teams advancing to the May 5 playoff rounds.

The tournament gave Esports lovers a week of exciting matchups that ended with both the 76ers and Blazer5 Gaming proving that they are the best teams in the league – well, at least for the initial stage of the season. There is still more action ahead as the season progresses.

It became apparent that the 76ers would triumph when they began shining at the knockout round. Majority of the matchups were close save those that featured teams from Philadelphia – the 76ers beat Mavs Gaming by 26 in the quarterfinals, Pistons Gaming Team by 18 in the semifinals and overcame Balzer5 by 10 in the final.

As far as technique goes, the 76ers utilized a balanced scoring approach and perimeter shooting. Both techniques are unique in the current 2K Meta – most of the teams in the league usually bank on the one star that can finish the paint. A typical example is Brandon “Hood” Caicedo, Cavs Gaming point forward that made scoring 40 points look easy.

Leading the 76ers was star guard Ethan “ITZ_Radiant” White who came through with 14 assists in the final. Still, all the members of the gaming club hit threes as the teak shot a collective nine for 17 from deep. As it turns out, Blazer5 was overwhelmed by the strong play and on-court leadership that Radiant brought to the game. This is despite the fact that he was only the 14^th out of the 17 total first-round picks in the draft.

Here is a summary of all the playoff match results:

Quarterfinals

Cavs Legion GC 71, Jazz Gaming 70

Blazer5 Gaming 66, Pacers Gaming 46

Pistons GT 61, Warriors Gaming Squad 47

76ers Gaming Club 83, Mavs Gaming 56

Semifinals

Blazer5 Gaming 69, Pistons GT 48

76ers Gaming Club 66, Cavs Legion GC 64

Finals

76ers Gaming Club 75, Blazer5 Gaming 65

To sum it up it all up, the tournament was an outstanding kick-off of the NBA 2K League’s first season. Nonetheless, the NBA 2K League has a long to go before it is considered a major Esports league. The tournament’s Twitch channel had a little under 10,000 viewers during the group stages. This number, however, plunged to less than 6,000 viewers for most of Saturday’s playoffs. The implication here is that the league will have to grow further before it can be able to draw as many viewers as the leading Esports titles such as CS:GO and League of Legends do.

The regular season for NBA 2K begins on May 11, so do keep an eye out for that.

Online Poker Finally Making a Comeback to the United States

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Seven years ago, on April 15, 2011, the United States Department of Justice effectively shut down the country’s online poker industry citing various illegal gambling and money laundering concerns. Since then, the quest to reinstate online poker in the U.S. has been quite daunting but the situation has taken a turn for the better. On May 1, the online poker industry finally began the journey towards the eradication of state-segregated online poker markets. Now, online poker players in the states of New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada are able to play legally against each other on World Series of Poker (WSOP.com) and 888Poker networks.

While only the three states mentioned above are able to participate in the shared liquidity online poker, for now, the combination of the player pools is certainly a huge step forward for the market. In fact, it is just what the U.S. poker industry needs to gain some traction – more states, Pennsylvania included, are expected to join in soon and a number of other operators, such as PartyPoker, have shown interest in jumping into the online poker liquidity bandwagon.

“It’s a monumental day for online poker in the United States,” said Bill Rini, WSOP.com’s Head of Online Poker. “This is truly a game-changer for players and we hope is the model blueprint for additional states to join the fray.”

What to Expect

The immediate culmination of the multistate share liquidity will be larger player pools which will, in turn, culminate into larger prize pools. Eventually, the larger prize pools will draw in more players and this creates a growth cycle that in essence, could contribute to exponential growth in the United States online poker market since it will undoubtedly impact the directions of similar legislation in other states.

Pennsylvania is in the process of launching its online poker industry and as mentioned earlier, all signs point to the possibility that it will eventually join the Multi-State Internet Gaming Association when it goes live.

In addition to this, liquidity sharing implies that the poker market will be more appealing to poker players as the operators strive to offer them wider selections of games and tournaments, wider time zone coverage and bigger prize pools. It is basically a win-win situation for nearly all stakeholders including the states themselves – a sustainable and viable online poker market means that the state will be raking in more revenue in tax dollars from the online poker industry. Online poker operators that do not get join the pool or find viable countermeasures are likely to get downtrodden, but they still have a bit of time to adjust appropriately.

Bitcoin Trading Is Coming to Goldman Sachs

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Bitcoin and other decentralized digital currencies seem to be back on track on the road towards to mainstream adoption thanks to recent developments such as the plans by Reddit to reinstate bitcoin as a payment option – more cryptocurrencies will be accompanying bitcoin when it returns as a mode of payment on Reddit. But that is not all. Now, Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is taking the next leap into the crypto space according to a May 2 report from the New York Times.

The investment bank will soon begin trading bitcoin futures for its clients while at the same time offering its so-called non-deliverable forwards which is a derivative product that the bank will be bringing to cryptocurrency users. The non-deliverable forward will involve trading of bitcoin without physical exchange of the underlying asset. Instead, it will involve the exchange of the currency it is quoted on the settlement date for the forward.

Since most of the leading financial institutions have tried as much as possible to distance themselves from bitcoin and most, if not all, other cryptocurrencies, the move by Goldman Sachs is very likely to lend some legitimacy to digital currencies. Still, it will certainly spawn a number of new concerns for the investment bank as it is about to begin using its own money to trade with clients in a range of contracts all linked to bitcoin’s price. Thanks to this, the bank is still quite guarded.

While there has been both internal and external skepticism, there is nearly an equal measure of support for the bank’s initiative. Mathew Newton, an analyst at eToro, a cryptocurrency retailer believes that considering the way things have been in the crypto world in the past 18 months, the move by financial institutions to join in should not come as a surprise. According to the analyst, any forward-looking financial institution must endeavor to not only understand the technology behind cryptocurrencies but also acknowledge its huge potential.

“Despite some initial posturing, the reality is most big banks have already invested significant amounts in research and development into blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies themselves. It will still take time for institutional investors to fully come around – and the fact that Goldman won’t be buying or selling actual coins suggest some skepticism remains – but there’s a growing acceptance that these assets are here to stay,” Newton said.

Goldman Sachs is likely to begin directly trading cryptocurrency once there is more regulatory certainty surrounding bitcoin and other decentralized digital currencies.

LeoVegas Online Casino Fined for Accepting Bets from Addicts

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LeoVegas, an online casino operator that is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, has been fined £600,000 for failing to refund the deposits of over 11,000 problem gamblers who had requested to be barred from participating in the games the operator offers. The fine was imposed by the UK Gambling Commission which about a month ago also imposed a £1 million fine on Sky Bet for similar transgressions.

The rollout of a planned industry-wide self-exclusion scheme that has been delayed for a while now constitute a majority of LeoVegas online casino’s failings – the scheme would allow gamblers who were developing addictions to voluntarily bar themselves from placing bets with any gambling operator under the gambling commission’s jurisdiction.

The regulator conducted an investigation whose findings revealed that 1,894 LeoVegas online casino customers were deliberately targeted by marketing material that was sent directly to them even though they had already signed up to the platform’s self-exclusion scheme. Also, the online casino allowed over 400 of its customers to bet £200,000 over two months without any intervention by the company – the company did not even advise them to apply for its 24-hour “cooling-off” period.

Moreover, the commission also found that the online casino failed to return funds that were deposited by 11,205 customers who had chosen to self-exclude and close their accounts. However, as part of the settlement, the casino will be returning more than £14,000 to the affected customers. The fine that was imposed on LeoVegas also happens to encompass 41 misleading advertisements that it had issued between April 2017 and January 2018 including adverts that failed to mention the restrictions that were part of certain promotions offered by the platform.

“The outcome of this case should leave no one in any doubt that we will be tough with licenses holders who mislead consumers or fail to meet the standards we set in our license conditions and codes of practice,” said Neil McArthur, the UK Gambling Commission’s chief executive. “We want operators to learn the lessons from our investigations and use those lessons to raise standards.”

Despite having been fined by the Gambling Commission, the company has continued to post positive numbers and reports for year on year growth. In the first quarter of this year, for instance, the operator’s revenue went up 76 percent to a whopping £ 68.2 million. Everything is about to get better for the company regardless of the fine since its management has expressed “high ambitions for compliance with laws and regulations” so as to continuously improve its processes and procedures.

“We have had discussions with the UK Gambling Commission, UKGC, on suspected cases of breaches of the British gaming rules. A clear majority of cases are attributable to affiliate marketing. It’s good that UKGC puts increased demands on us in the gaming industry. It is an advantage for serious actors who both have the will and ambition to work in a regulated market,” LeoVegas online casino’s officials commented.