Josh Andrews

Copycat Lawsuits Piling Up Against Social Casino Operators

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A slew of lawsuits have begun piling up against Washington State social gambling operators in the wake of a federal court ruling which found that Big Fish Casino which was previously owned by Churchill Downs violated Washington State gaming laws. All these copycat lawsuits hope to capitalize on the recent court ruling and state laws that govern and regulate online gambling.

As of Monday, Geekwire reports that four lawsuits had already been filed against four other social gaming operators namely High 5 Games, Playtika, DoubleDown Interactive and Huuge Games. Each of these operators offers a series of casino games like blackjack, slots, and roulette that use virtual chips. These chips have no monetary value but players must have them in order to play. Therefore, when players run out of the chips, they can either opt to wait until the game offers more free chips or buy a huge number of chips with real money and get back to playing.

All four suits further user similar language and arguments in their filings which also happen to be centre around the same arguments of the Big Fish Casino case. This takes advantage of a vague clause in Washington state law that backed the idea that the chips represent “something of value” even though they are not worth any money on their own.

“Double Down Casino games are illegal gambling games because they are online games at which players wager things of value (the chips) and by an element of chance (e.g., by spinning an online slot machine) are able to obtain additional entertainment and extend gameplay (by winning additional chips),” states one of the suits.

All these cases including the Big Fish casino case that preceded them are very likely to have major implications for the casual casino games market as a number of social casino gaming providers today depend on in-app purchases as revenue sources. The lawsuits represent an emerging backlash against this model. Already, online gambling lawsuits are becoming fairly common but the tide turned in favour of the petitioners and this opened the door for similar occurrences in the near future.

Playing It Safe

Again, following the Big Fish Casino ruling, PokerStars became one of the first social gambling operators to stop offering free play games in an effort adhere to the terms outlined by the March 28 Court of Appeals decision. According to the Washington State Gambling Commission press release, PokerStars opted out of the state’s online gambling industry. The gambling commission however assured the public that it had nothing to with this move by the online gaming operator:

“We are not a party to the civil court case, we did not testify in the case, and we did not order these sites to discontinue free online play for Washington residents. Customers with concerns should contact these websites directly,” reads the April 4 press release.

PokerStars’ parent company, The Stars Group, released a statement shortly after saying that the company was “reviewing the rulings and ensuring that our activities are in line with state regulations.” The company also said that it would reinstate players to their status before the free game offerings were altered once the law is clarified.

New York Online Poker Bill Back on the State Assembly Table

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It has been just a few weeks since the New York State Senate passed a budget which excluded plans for legalized online poker or online casinos. This was a presumably clear indication that the proposed bill represented nothing more than a pipe dream but, apparently, a recent Online Poker Report story suggests otherwise. The legalized online poker legislation still has a good shot at getting passed this year.

At the helm of the rejuvenated efforts is New York State Assemblyman Clyde Vanel who has called for the involvement of New York poker activists as he prepares to solicit for votes to support legislation that will finally allow for legal and regulated real money online poker in the state.

At the moment, the bill has 13 co-sponsors but Vanel expects it swell its ranks to “60 to 70 sponsors.” If this is truly the case, then bill A 5250 that was proposed by Assemblyman Gary Pretlow in a bid to legalize online poker, might finally be passed in the course of the year.

“Chairman Pretlow is a great champion for it, and now he has the partners to bring it through,” Vanel said in an interview with Online Poker Report. “The next few weeks will show some traction for the bill. With enough co-sponsors, I like it to get out of committee and onto the floor. I think we have a good shot at getting it through this year. My job is that I’m the guy who is going to whip these votes. That’s what I’m doing. I’m working these votes to get the bill on the floor, and I will be whipping votes on the floor.”

Vanel’s involvement, for one, makes the online poker community in New York more optimistic that they might finally be able to enjoy the games legally. The lawmaker’s attitude of fortitude is what has been missing all along in the New York online poker scene. He managed to get more than 60 Democrats in the Assembly to sign a letter that supported the inclusion of online poker in the budget. Now, the task at hand is to transfer all those signatures to co-sponsors of the bill and maybe get more on board.

“The budget effort didn’t work, but that happens with negotiations,” Vanel said. “What the exercise did is make us see that there’s more support for online poker than we previously thought.”

Suppose the proposed bill is passed at the Assembly, “it will have no problem getting through the Senate.”

Two More States Considering Sports Betting Legalization

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Currently, there are sports betting bills being discussed by lawmakers in at least 18 states, a number which is now poised to grow by two. Media outlets in both Arizona and Minnesota have recently reported that lawmakers in both statehouses have been considering legislation pertaining to sports betting even though neither has produced a bill to date.

The only issues, so far, will be the timing, as the 2018 legislative calendar is nearing its end, as well as tribal interests in both states which will certainly make such legislative efforts quite complicated.

What’s Going On in Arizona?

Arizona is known for its thriving (but separate) sport and gambling industries – all four United States professional leagues have Phoenix-based franchises and the state also hosts 20 tribal casinos, a lottery, as well as two horse racing tracks. Pro-sports betting legislators in Arizona intend to use tax revenue from the industry to allocate more funds to the state’s teachers.

Senator Sonny Borelli will be supporting the legislation mainly because of geography and the fact that the state needs the money.

“We’re sending all of our money to other states right now on sports betting,” he said.

The idea of legalized sports betting in Arizona has received a fair share of criticism and opposition with Sen. Dave Farnsworth, one of the legislators who oppose the idea saying that more gambling is the last thing the state needs. He believes that he has the support of a good number of lawmakers which may see his take on the bill passed in case the federal prohibitions are relaxed.

Furthermore, any expansion of gambling in the state must put tribal agreements into consideration – the report overlooks this. There is less than a fortnight until the Arizona lawmaking calendar runs out which makes the possibility for progress significantly slim during this session. Fortunately, Arizona state laws do not allow for daily fantasy sports and the tribes have not allowed legislation to change that to advance and thus their approval may not be needed regardless of what the state decides on sports betting.

What About Minnesota?

Even though it also has both tribal and commercial gaming operations, unlike Arizona, the tribes do not share their gaming revenues with the state of Minnesota. Everything is likely to be smoother for the state since the state is not bound by any contractual restrictions as far offering its own gambling products is concerned. However, its state statues would need to be amended.

Rep. Pat Garofalo who is leading the pro-sports betting campaign in Minnesota cited “huge public demand” in the state and as such, he has been quite vocal about the need to prepare for the much anticipated Supreme Court ruling.

“People are going to have an expectation that they’re going to be able to engage in safe, fair, and regulated sports gambling,” Garofalo said, presuming the Supreme Court will lift the ban on sports betting. “We’re going to have a lot more people gambling on sports by the end of this year. It’s just a matter of whether they’re going to be doing it in a safe, regulated environment in Minnesota or whether they’ll be using offshore sportsbooks.”

PA to Permit Online Gaming Licensees to Host Multiple Skins

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The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) published its most recent rules and regulations that govern is imminent online gaming licenses. The new rules and regulations will allow the state’s online gambling licensee to host multiple ‘skins.’ This means that non-Pennsylvanian companies will have the opportunity to participate in the state’s lucrative online gambling market. However, the licensees will be forced to piggyback the skins on their casino domains.

The contentious question about skins or the ability of a casino to host affiliate operators has been looming of the board for quite some time and now that it has been addressed operators can start preparing. In essence, it emulates New Jersey’s approach where one casino is allowed to partner with and offer services from other operators.

In Pennsylvania, the lobbyist efforts on the issue of skins have proven to be very fierce with online operators such as 888 Holdings advocating for it and Parx Casino and Penn International arguing that no third-party sites should be allowed. 888 Holdings has successfully implemented a model of such kind in New Jersey where it has piggybacked its local casino license to favour its partnership with Caesars Entertainment.

Ultimately, the PGCB opted not to restrict its online market and instead decided to permit its interactive gaming certificate holders to partner “with multiple licensed interactive gaming operators to offer interactive games the Board has authorized the interactive gaming certificate holder to conduct.”

The PGCB further clarified that it was not going to restrain third-party operators from inking deals with more than one Pennsylvania gaming certificate holders. However, this is on condition that the third-party companies will no offer online gambling to the Pennsylvanian market “independent from an interactive gaming certificate holder and the interactive gaming certificate holder’s webpage or the webpage of an entity within the interactive gaming certificate holder’s organizational structure.”

On the same note, the licenses or any of their partners “may only offer interactive gaming in this Commonwealth through the interactive gaming certificate holder’s webpage or the webpage of an entity within the interactive gaming certificate holder’s organizational structure.”

The mentioned clauses clearly indicate the fact that third-party operators will have to piggyback on the domain names of the license holders. Fair enough. The board will begin accepting interactive gaming applications from the state’s existing brick-and-mortar casinos later this month.

Crypto Trading Has Not Been Banned In India, Govt. Confirms

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As mentioned in the Friday news post, the cryptocurrency situation in India is quite unstable at the moment. Still, it is worth noting that there have been a lot of misconceptions regarding the recent decision by the Indian government with a number of media outlets claiming that India has banned trading in bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies for that matter. This is certainly not the case. Just to be clear, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) only cut ties between its own banks and any entity that deals with cryptocurrencies.

No Cause for Alarm?

It goes without saying that the RBI press release indeed caused quite a stir especially because it somehow translates to a total ban on bitcoin trading, depending on how one interprets it. While this is not the case, it cannot be said that there is nothing worry about since the RBI’s ultimatum is still rather significant for cryptocurrency users.

All banks that are currently servicing any entities that deal in cryptocurrencies have a three-month deadline looming over their operations. Any bank that fails to sever its ties with the crypto users the will no longer be considered as a partner of the Reserve Bank of India.

What It Implies

According to Unocoin, there is not much cause for alarm since the RBI has not deemed bitcoin as an illegal currency and there is no ban on cryptocurrencies. For now, Unocoin will continue operating as usual until the banks it is affiliated with state otherwise. The three-month ultimatum creates room for a lot of changes and adjustments but everything will become crystal clear after that. So far, the damage is going to be minimal even though this is subject to abrupt change, but such kind of change is something you get used to when you stay in the crypto-world for long.

The decision by Indian officials is not entirely surprising since the RBI has for several months now reiterated the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. As such, it is likely that many of the India cryptocurrency entities have always been prepared for such developments. In other countries, the alternative has been moving to crypto-friendly countries such as Malta and Switzerland. All that matters now is that bitcoin trading has not been banned in the country but in case it happens, there are viable options for the crypto operations. We will just have to wait and see how it all plays out.

Paul Chaloner Calls for Better Esports Betting Education

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Renowned broadcaster and Esports veteran Paul ‘Redeye’ Chaloner is calling for better Esports betting education as the industry is now at a critical stage of its growth. The Esports industry is no newcomer to controversial scandals one of the most prominent being underage betting.

Chalone who recently joined new Esports betting platform, Luckbox, as an advisor believes that there is mostly lack of understanding in the Esports community pertaining to the risks of gambling. As part of his new role in the yet-to-be-launched Esports betting platform, he hopes to contribute to changing this.

“We can educate them along the way – that’s the key part for me. I don’t want to see underage gambling and I don’t want to see irresponsible gambling. I want people to be educated so they understand what they’re doing and the risks involved. And I think we can do that together with Luckbox,” he said.

Luckbox will be launching primarily with the intention complying with the highest level of gambling jurisdiction which will set it apart from all the other gambling operators.

Already a Billion-Dollar Gambling Industry

The past couple of years have seen the rapid of growth of Esports with a number of professional sports leagues, players and businessmen have backed and bought into competitive gaming teams around the globe. Naturally, Esports betting was bound to follow and with the likes of Mark Cuban at the helm, it certainly has a long way to go.

Currently, the major Esports leagues are projected to be worth $906 million – a figure that encompasses advertising, media rights, merchandise, game publisher fees, sponsorships and tickets. Unbeknown to most people, especially outsiders and newcomers, the gambling market around these Esports leagues has also risen meteorically and can be said to be quite robust.

According to a recent report by software analytics company Narus and research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, excluding the vast majority of the United States where sports betting is still illegal, global figures for Esports betting have been projected to be somewhere close to $6.7 billion. From here on out, the sky is the limit.

RBI Bans Regulated Entities from Dealing in Cryptocurrencies

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Even though it is currently exploring the creation of its own cryptocurrency, India’s central bank on April 5 escalated a crackdown on existing digital currencies like bitcoin. In an official statement released by the Reserve Bank of India, it was directed that all regulated entities, including banks, should stop providing services to individuals or even businesses that are users, holders and traders of cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, the central bank has set up a panel that will be tasked with studying the feasibility and the desirability of introducing a fiat digital currency. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the panel will be expected to submit a report by the end of June this year.

“It has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling virtual currencies,” the RBI said. “Regulated entities which already provide such services shall exit the relationship within a specified time. A circular in this regard is being issued separately.”

As far as the specified time frame is concerned, the RBI gave the regulated entities three months to unwind their positions with the crypto-related entities. This move comes after over three warnings that were issued to the public in regards to the risks of dealing with decentralized digital currencies. It also follows in the footsteps of several other governments around the world that have been strengthening scrutiny of the virtual currencies. In fact, by its own admission, the RBI affirmed that this move is geared towards protecting the regulated entities form the risks associated with digital currencies.

“Virtual Currencies (VCs), also variously referred to as cryptocurrencies and crypto assets, raise concerns of consumer protection, market integrity and money laundering, among others… In view of the associated risks, it has been decided that, with immediate effect, entities regulated by RBI shall not deal with or provide services to any individual or business entities dealing with or settling VCs,” the RBI said in an April 5 statement.

Possible Introduction of a Fiat Digital Currency

The new RBI regulations certainly have rather significant implications for the crypto market in India. However, the central bank is taking steps that will maintain or draw from certain aspects of the crypto-ecosystem. The underlying blockchain technology, for instance, is quite promising and the RBI acknowledges this fact – the bank will be investigating ways of exploiting the blockchain technology in order to achieve financial inclusion and enhance the efficiency of the country’s financial system.

Also, as mentioned earlier, the RBI is exploring the concept of a fiat digital currency that will be issued by the bank and thus will be considered to be its liability. The new currency will in circulation alongside the tradition paper currency – if it succeeds it also holds the promise if reducing the costs of printing the paper currencies.

Intel, Shaquille O’Neal Enter Esports with NBA 2K League

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Yesterday, Intel announced its multi-year agreement with NBA 2K to become the Esports league’s official technology partner. The league which is a product of the partnership of NBA and Take-Two Interactive is set to debut in May and it will feature 17 NBA teams fielding their own Esports lineups to compete in the electronic basketball games.

Intel’s announcement further included information on the league’s technology, which will be provided by Intel – the NBA 2K games will be played on the Intel Core I7-8700K-powered Alienware PCs instead of PlayStation or Xbox. In addition to this, Intel will also be providing the tech infrastructure for tournaments, playoffs as well as regular season games.

“Intel plans to provide the best gaming experience for competitors and fans through its cloud to client solutions,” said John Bonini, vice president and general manager of the VR, Gaming and Esports Group at Intel Corporation. “Intel has been a leader in the growth of the Esports industry and community for more than 15 years, and the NBA 2K League’s fresh format will be a great showcase for Esports. With more than 15 years in the industry, Intel is committed to advancing Esports through new and innovative partnerships so it was a natural fit for us to work with the NBA 2K League to deliver our cloud to client solutions and showcase that the best experience for fans and players is on a PC with Intel Core i7 processors.”

Shaq’s Second Gaming Venture

Basketball legend Shaquille ‘Shaq’ O’Neal also recently revealed that he would be entering into the Esports arena with NBA 2K. This is the second competitive video gaming venture that Shaq will be pursuing – his beat’-em-up reboot of Shaq-Fu has proven to be quite successful.

Shaq made the announcement via his Twitter account where he also revealed that he is now the general manager of Kings Guard, an NBA 2K team. While he did not give any precise details on what the position entails, Shaq’s involvement goes in line with the NBA’s vision of the Esports league – the Esports teams are matched with actual NBA players to oversee their direction. The Sacramento Kings Guard is one of the 17 NBA-owned Esports teams that will be participating in the inaugural NBA 2K League draft that begun filling up player rosters on April 4.

Online Poker Excluded from New York State Budget Again

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Internet gambling has once again been excluded from the New York state budget despite having passed the Senate vote in January for the third straight year. Therefore, and they will have to continue driving off-state to get in on some poker fun.

While the New York Senate has from time to time shown some love for the poker community in recent years, it is no secret why all the online poker bills never seem to get far in New York. The bill has been passed by the Senate a number of times but it cannot become a law until the Assembly and the governor give their approvals. The Assembly, for one, has shown very little support for online gambling and even refuses to vote on it.

Land-based casinos in New York have been struggling financially for a while now and it was anticipated that they would borrow a leaf from the neighbouring Atlantic City where online gambling has helped to the revenues of their struggling casinos. Apparently, the state is not interested in boosting land-based casino revenues.

New York hosts four non-tribal casinos all of which are in dire need of financial aid. The $440 million Seneca County-based Del Lago Resort Casino, for instance, has been asking the state to bail it out of its huge debts. The casino expected revenues of up to $263 million during its first year of operation – it, however, fell short of the revenue projections by a staggering $100 million.

“This casino developer pushed to have a New York casino for years, including on the Syracuse state fairgrounds,” state Sen. John DeFrancisco said. “So he knew exactly what he was getting into. If he’s losing money, that’s his problem to fix, not the taxpayers.”

This certainly proves that the state’s struggling brick and mortar casinos are not going to benefit from revenue boost from online gaming anytime soon.

Banking on Sports Betting?

Should the United States Supreme Court abolish the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), each state will be able to license sportsbooks within its borders. New York, like many other states, is considering supporting wagering on professional sports in case the Supreme Court rules in favour of sports bettors.

Atlantic City Casino Job Fair for Veterans Set for April 19

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According to reports by local media, a casino job fair for veterans is scheduled for April 19 in Atlantic City. This follows the entry of two more casinos into the Atlantic City casino market – the two will begin operating later this year and they are hoping to staff up before their official launch dates.

The April 19 casino job fair will be held from 9 am to 3p at the offices of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission that is located at the Atlantic City Boardwalk. Veterans who are looking for new job opportunities have been advised to get ready for the event especially because it is tailored specifically for them. These veterans have been invited to pre-register and attend the job fair where there will be a number of casino job opportunities made available for them.

Some of these available job opportunities will require the approved applicant to obtain licenses from regulators but, according to Jim Plousis, the head of the New Jersey Control Commission, the process should not take that long. The approved applicants will be able to begin working within as little as a couple of weeks.

“It’s called ‘Bet On A Vet’ and the 8 casinos down here and the two that are looking to open up soon will be here and hiring veterans,” Chairman Jim Plousis said in an interview with KYW Newsradio. “Registrations don’t take that long. We can have them done in a couple weeks and then people would be able to work.”

Veterans are further encouraged to bring their resumes and be dressed appropriately for spot interviews. In addition to this, veterans’ services will be provided to people who might need them.

The new casino operations that will launch in a few months on Atlantic City’s Boardwalk will create as many as seven thousand new job opportunities in the city. Still, all the seven operational casinos in Atlantic City will participate alongside the yet to be launched casinos at the job fair.

Think this is the right opportunity for you? Check out the applications here.