Josh Andrews

Golden Nugget Online Brings Live Dealer Casino Hold’em to NJ

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Golden Nugget Atlantic City becomes the first brick-and-mortar casino in the US to launch an online live dealer Casino Hold’em poker table. Live dealer online casino games are becoming more entrenched in the New Jersey casino culture and Golden Nugget being an iGaming leader in the state, it was just a matter of time before it expanded its already polished online casino offering that includes popular titles like American Roulette, Blackjack, and Dragon Bonus Baccarat. Furthermore, all the table games that the online casino platform offers are accessible via both desktop computers and mobile devices which makes it suitable for a wide audience of table game players.

“Being the first to offer a Live Dealer version of the world’s most popular poker game in America, Casino Hold’em, shows our commitment to delivering on an innovative and world-class product to our patrons,” said Golden Nugget’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Online Gaming, Thomas Winter.

The casino operator’s variant of live dealer Casino Hold’em was developed by Stephen Au-Yeung and builds on the popularity of the mechanics of classic Texas Hold’em while offering players an option to play against the casino’s dealers. This new live dealer offering is in partnership with renowned European casino games developer Ezugi whose popularity has been increasing significantly in the United States.

Initially, the live dealer Casino Hold’em tables will run from 0300 HRS to 0300 HRS ET from Sunday To Thursday and 1200 HRS to 0300 HRS ET on Fridays and Saturdays since the live dealer games requires the company to employ licensed and certified human casino dealers.

Evidently, even though 2018 is just a few days old, Golden Nuggets is already gearing up for a great year ahead, and an even better 2019, especially for its players. Golden Nuggets first launched live dealer games back in 2016 with a select number of live dealer games that we mentioned earlier. The company witnessed great returns from these offerings and decide to differentiate it from its other offerings in the state. Now, Golden Nugget offers a total of seven concurrent live dealer games – a number that is bound to increase with time. The casino operator’s gross revenue has been the highest in the state despite its reluctance towards participation in peer-to-peer New Jersey online poker sites. Investing in live dealer games will solidify its position as the number one place for gamblers who are attracted to its amazing collection of over 470 slots and table games.

ICE 2018: UltraPlay To Elevate Its Esports Betting Solutions

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Advanced betting solutions provider UltraPlay has announced that it will be expanding its portfolio through a premium Esports betting site offering during this year’s ICE Totally Gaming that will run in London from February 6^th to February 8^th.

Having been part of the iGaming industry for seven solid years, UltraPlay has what it takes to successfully expand its portfolio through the launch of its latest products which they say will offer revolutionary match-predicting systems and thus the widest odds feed in the market. Dubbed odds.gg, the system will be presented with all the latest upgrades and add-ons that UltraPlay has been working on in the past year. In addition to its most popular game titles, UltraPlay has also extended its odds feed to include such titles as Kind of Glory, Heroes of the Storm Live as well as live betting options GWENT for FIFA Interactive World Cup. Alongside the Esports betting company’s diversified catalog of 25 competitive games, it further offers over 3,000 events every month and more than 1,500 in-play events.

Last month, UltraPlay announced that GWENT, the Witcher Card Game, was to be added to its Esports betting portfolio which makes it the first online betting provider to offer betting options for the renowned card game. During the acquisition, Peter Ivanov, UltraPlay’s Head of Esports trading said that he believed that “the game holds a great potential to attract many esports punters with passion and experience in card games.”

“Gwent is a perfect choice for a card game that offers endless fun to the players. The esports betting brands using UltraPlay’s products will be one step ahead of the competition providing another exciting option to their players,” he added.

Since it was founded in 2010, UltraPlay has always been very ambitious about offering innovative approaches to the online gaming industry using modern technology to provide advanced betting solutions that are focused on Esports, bitcoin solutions, sports betting, live betting and online casinos.

CoinPoker to Launch Stage 1 of Its ICO on January 19

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CoinPoker, the growing cryptocurrency-based online poker room that was launched in late 2017, has announced that its Stage I Initial Coin Offering (ICO) will be launching on January 19^th at 1000 HRS GMT. This stage of the poker room’s ICO will offer 127.5 million CHP tokens for sale at a price of 1 ETH to 4,200 CHP – CHP is the digital currency that CoinPoker uses on its platform. So far, there is a lot of optimism going around especially considering how successful the November 16 to November 22 pre-ICO launch was. CoinPoker sold out a whopping 100 million CHP tokens in six days at a great price of 1 ETH to 6,600 CHP.

As such, the Stage I ICO is attracting a lot of attention and interest from a lot of people with some even submitting whitelist registrations with hopes of hopping on to the early buyers’ list during the January 5 to January 15 open period. This stage of CoinPoker’s ICO will run until January 26 but the time will definitely be extended in case the offering is not fully sold out by then. After that, there are plans for a Stage II ICO where the online poker room will be offering another 137.5 million CHP at a price of 1 ETH to 3,500 CHP. An official date for the Stage II ICO is yet to be announced but once it is completed, CoinPoker will have distributed 375 million CHP tokens which represent 75 percent of its total supply of 500 million CHP token.

As an incentive, CoinPoker will be returning 15 percent of the tokens collected throughout the entire span of the ICO to its community. This will be done through real-money tournaments with one of the closest being scheduled for January 21^st and will include a Tesla S worth £71, 000 as the top prize.

Swimming in Success

CoinPoker also launched its real-money games and promotional campaigns shortly after the pre-ICO in November – among them is a freeroll series where the prize will be 5 million CHP tokens. Both the promotions and the real-money games became huge successes with the CoinPoker online poker room already having up to 30,000 unique registrations as well as 20,000 MVP downloads.

The online poker room also now boasts of over 4,000 unique daily players as well as 15,000 CHP token holders. All this is thanks to the experienced CoinPoker staff who have been very diligent about fixing existing bugs and improving the platform’s stability. Community relations have also played a key role in its success as the staff strive to optimize outreach via various social media platforms. Additionally, the site has a very strict security policy that makes it a great place for poker players who are very keen on this aspect. Customers are further allowed to get involved in all this by giving their suggestions and stating their preferences in regards to what the platform should improve on.

Online Casino Operator GAN Partners with SBTech

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Yet another sports betting deal is banking its hopes on legal sports betting in the United States. New Jersey-based B2B online casino supplier GAN yesterday announced that they had entered into a strategic relationship with SBTech in a bid to provide real money sports betting on their platform. SBTech is a renowned European B2B provider of sports betting technology. This move follows shortly after Scientific Games wrapped up its acquisition of NYX Gaming, which is also intended to take advantage of the US sports betting market.

Both deals are gearing up towards positioning the involved companies for a great stint in the event that the United States Supreme court rules in favor of New Jersey after the hearings on the bill seeking for the abolishment of the ban on sports betting comes to an end.

The GAN/SBTech deal is primarily focused on the US sports betting market where SBTech is anticipated to offer wagering services via both online and retail channels. Dermot Smurfit, GAN CEO revealed that the company has been on several occasions and by several clients asked to review, procure and support the delivery of a sports betting solution both in the online space as well as on the on-property retail channel in the event that sports betting is legalized. GAN’s management has further conducted diligence process in Europe to identify a preferred sports betting partner based on their technical capability, ability to integrate with GAN’s already existing enterprise software platform, US licensing capability and the level of sophistication of their managed sports services. SBTech checked all the right boxes in this case hence the agreement with GAN.

SBTech considers the partnership to be a logical move by the company’s management that will allow it to rapidly introduce its sports betting technology and services across a wide range of US-based casinos. The company is quite ambitious about being the first to settle a legal, online or on-property sports betting establishment in certain states.

There Are Only 4.2 Million Bitcoins Left to Be Mined

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Bitcoin has been receiving a significant share of attention since last year and this does not seem to be going away anytime soon. The previous weekend marked a great milestone for the decentralized digital currency since now it is reported that 80 percent of the cryptocurrency has been mined and is in circulation. There are only 4.2 million bitcoins left to mine which translates to the remaining 20 percent. The protocol that was put in place by bitcoin’s inventor(s) is one of the first that was based on digital scarcity which therefore means that soon enough this particular digital asset will become even harder to obtain than it already is.

So far, the capped supply and other pillars of the bitcoin framework have held on quite sturdily thanks to the miners who secure the network and have successfully managed to uphold the rules from changing with hash power. One such rule is bitcoin’s supply cap which was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto and stands at 21 million bitcoins. However, there have been skeptics that believe that there could be a way of increasing the supply of bitcoin using manipulative tactics such as Sybil attack and 51 percent – but this is all just theoretical since in its decade-long existence no one has been able to successfully alter or break the rule on the 21 million supply cap.

What is Next?

Since there are only 21 million bitcoins, the digital asset’s limited supply will definitely make the asset harder to acquire as more people become aware of it. In nearly all cases, when an asset is limited with associated resources being harder to come by, the supply causes demand for the market. From what we can already clearly see, the supply of bitcoin shows a significant gap between the number of bitcoins in circulation and the number of people who want to get their hands on them.

Other than the obvious difficulty in accessibility that is already taking route, it is quite obvious that miners themselves are going to be forced to constantly deal with having to constantly increase their processing power. Depending on the hash rate speed, the next miner reward halving will be upon us in two years or less. The miner reward halving is part of the bitcoin protocol and it essentially means that in two years or less, instead of getting 12.5 BTC for every block that miners mine, they will get 6.25 BTC. It is a network consensus agreement that requires that halving is done every four years but everyone is bound to feel the pinch as it will be very difficult to obtain bitcoin even with the large data processors available in various warehouses all over the world.

Former PokerStars Duo Launch Esports Betting Platform

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Lars Lien and Mike Stevens who are both former PokerStars ambassadors recently joined forces to launch a crypto-based Esports betting platform. The platform which is due to go live any time this year is going to be a Bitcoin-based startup where punters will be allowed to wager on professional Esports events. Furthermore, the platform that has been dubbed Luckbox.com, will allow users to make deposits using both in-game items and various cryptocurrencies, something that both Lien and Stevens believe will go a long way in opening up markets that are currently experiencing restrictions as far as payment services are concerned.

While a global roll-out is the ultimate goal of this endeavor, Lien and Stevens are hoping to obtain a license in the Isle of Man for the platform before they begin preparing to extend to other parts of the world. Soon, Luckbox.com will be launching an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and the platform is already being aggressively marketed in various parts of the world including Africa. As of now, the two have raised 483.5 Bitcoin form strategic contributors and the ICO they are planning is intended to generate the remaining finances that they require to launch.

The Initial Coin Offering will revolve around the sale of a utility token that will be used on Luckbox.com and also traded by accredited investors to hold a ‘profit share’ token that will entitle the holder to about 20% of the company’s annual net income.

Luckbox.com will be issuing two tokens to its users once it goes live. The first is LuckCash which is a utility token for the platform and the second is LuckProfits which, like we mentioned earlier, gives the holder contractual rights to a share of the company’s net profits.

Lien and Stevens are among many other entrepreneurs who have seen the huge potential in emerging markets such as Esports. There is generally a whole lot to look forward to in this regard, that is, the development of smart contracts will lower transaction costs, and dispel the dependency on traditional bank accounts.

Sports Betting Concerns Revived by New Fantasy Sports Game

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There is once again a lot of buzz among gambling experts pertaining to a new daily fantasy sports game that allows users to hone in a single NFL playoff game. The question here is; is the contest drawing the fantasy sports industry closer to sports betting which is still illegal in most of the United States?

Leading fantasy sports provider, DraftKings is offering the “Showdown” variant that allows users to pick six athletes from two teams playing against each other in a real-life football game. They get to rack up fantasy points based on certain statistics such as receptions, touchdowns and yards passing, rushing or receiving.

However, the 2006 federal law that effectively outlawed online gambling but gave rise to daily fantasy sports requires that daily fantasy sports contents are based off the performances of athletes in “multiple real-world” sports events and not just single games. This particular detail has been the reason behind raised concerns regarding how regulators and fantasy sports companies such as DraftKings operate.

“This new game continues the industry trend of trying to get as close as possible to single-game betting,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling.

He further mentioned that the games have in many ways blurred the largely fictional line between daily fantasy sports and sports betting. DraftKings, on the other hand, argue that the Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act only applies in cases where there is an underlying violation of state gambling statutes first – so far, there has not been any objection to the competition by any of the states.

“This act is basically irrelevant. Everything defaults to state law now,” said Anthony Cabot, DraftKings outside legal counsel, referring to the federal law that the industry has long cited for justifying its existence. “If it’s not in violation of state law, then there’s no violation of the federal act. It’s a big red herring.”

Meanwhile, the United States Supreme Court is still weighing New Jersey’s bid to overturn the sports betting ban that has been in effect in all but four states. If the ruling is favorable, the numerous debates that are popping up in regards to daily fantasy sports will be definitely be muted.

Mining Fees Surge as China Intensifies Crackdown on Bitcoin

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This week, the Chinese government intensified its efforts to stop bitcoin mining by calling for all the task forces to “actively guide” in the closure of bitcoin mining operations. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the notice by Chinese authorities called for an “orderly exit with no specific deadline. The report further stated that the reason for the intensification of China’s efforts against bitcoin mining was because it “consumes a large amount of electricity and also encourages a spirit of speculation in virtual currencies.” On the same note, the Chinese authorities believe that bitcoin mining is among a host of activities that are not particularly in line with the needs of the real economy.

Chinese government officials have been asked to wield a policy ax on bitcoin which implies that they will be required to cite or promulgate regulations to limit aspects of bitcoin mining such as land use, electricity consumption, environmental regulation and tax collection.

The Role of China in the World of Bitcoin

To put the importance of China in the bitcoin ecosystem into perspective, we can take a look at the last month of 2017 when China accounted for 80% of all the bitcoins mined in the world. These impressive percentages are mostly attributed to the numerous advantages that the country offers to bitcoin manners including cheap electricity as well as centralized mining operations, both of which are key sustainers of the price of bitcoin.

Will Global Bitcoin Mining Operations Take a Hit?

Regardless of all the perks of operating within China, bitcoin mining operations will not have a lot of trouble once the crackdown begins.

In fact, a number of renowned bitcoin mining operations have already exited China and moved to other areas that offer nearly the same advantages that China offered. A great example is Bitmain, which is considered to be the largest bitcoin mining pool in the world, that recently set up shop in Inner Mongolia.

Some other mining operations are moving to cooler climes and according to numerous reports, Canada seems to be one of the locations that will benefit from the migration of mining operations. Meanwhile, since the Chinese government did not issue any strict deadline pertaining to the “orderly exit,” the price of bitcoin will not experience any radical volatility.

Revel Casino Finally Sold, Could Be Reopened in the Summer

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Revel Casino, Atlantic City’s biggest casino flop is getting back in the game under new ownership and a new name. In an official statement on Monday, Colorado developer Bruce Deifik announced that he had purchased the former Revel Casino hotel from Glenn Straub for 200 million. Deifik plans to reopen the casino this summer which also happens to be around the same time that the nearby former Trump Taj Mahal casino will be reopened under Hard Rock ownership.

The casino will be reopened with a new name, Ocean Resorts Casino, and it is anticipating to create over 3,000 local jobs. Deifik and group are also planning to bring back restaurants that were successfully operating in the casino before it closed down while at the same time offering some new venues like a top Asian noodle bar and a high-end players club.

“We are incredibly excited that we were able to take advantage of the opportunity to acquire this tremendous property at a time when Atlantic City is seeing great economic strides,” Deifik said. “Now the city has a number of exciting new projects with our property and the Hard Rock, as well as Stockton University’s new campus and the expansion of the medical center.”

For months, Floridian businessman Glenn Straub denied that there was any deal in the works for the sale of the property. He had acquired the $2.4 billion property for $82 million in bankruptcy court back in August 2015 and it was even rumored that he was planning to reopen it himself. Straub confirmed that a deal with Bruce Deifik and Moody’s Investors Service had been closed on January 4^th.

The developers will, of course, face a number of significant challenges in their attempt to revive the casino. Moody’s mentioned in the statement that the project may struggle to attract a big enough slice of Atlantic City’s diminished number of casino lovers since it will be repaying debts amid tight competition from other properties – at least at the first stages. This report was based on Deifik’s plan to borrow about $255 million for acquisition and renovation costs.

Analysts Raise Concerns

There has been a lot of chatter among analysts who are mixed on whether the seven already operational Atlantic City casinos can handle competition from the two more operators, that is the former Revel Casino and the former Taj Mahal. Some analysts think that the two may heart smaller casinos and even lead to their closure. Others are quite optimistic about the new offerings, pointing out that they have the potential of attracting off-state visitors and gamblers.

How The Overwatch League Could Change the Face of Esports

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The highly anticipated Overwatch League kicks off this week but the size of the investment makes it more of a gamble for Blizzard. However, if things go as expected, the league will set new standards for the Esports industry and become a benchmark for all other electronic games. On the other hand, if it flops, Esports may be viewed as a not so worthwhile venture and skeptics are already waiting to pull the “I told you so” card.

Since it was announced back in 2016 at Blizzcon, Blizzard has been pushing the Overwatch League quite hard in order to make it similar or even better than traditional sports franchises. Within the same period, the league has gained a strong following who are looking forward to the competitions. It is not just the competitive Overwatch community that cannot wait to see how the games play out – a number of Blizzard’s investors and sponsors are banking on its success and they stand to gain a lot when the Overwatch league gets to a point where it can be likened to the NFL Esports.

The Overwatch League will run for seven months with 12 professional Esports teams battling it out to pocket a piece of the $3.5 million in the prize pool. All the matches will be streamed live from the impressively high-tech Blizzard Arena in Los Angeles.

Going Mainstream

Blizzard has some very ambitious plans for taking the Overwatch League and Esports as whole mainstream even though it is particularly younger than some other established Esports like DotA 2 and CS:GO. Already Blizzard has brought the League onto the menus of its $35 million strong online player base in order to popularize the Esport. While this may seem like a power player by the company, placing the Overwatch league front and center in-game will go a long way in blurring the line between the die-hard competitive gaming and casual or hobbyist gaming.

Esports Betting and Gambling

This applies to nearly all Esports franchises that have gained a lot of traction in the past few years because of the growing number of spectators. Numerous betting sites that allow Esports fans to bet on the games the same way they do for soccer, hockey and many other traditional games have popped up. The number keeps growing and considering how huge the Overwatch league might be, it will not come as a surprise that a few wagering offerings come into play within the period that the league is supposed to run. There is a lot of enticing opportunities in this especially considering the huge amounts of money that are on the line in top Esports tournaments.