Tag: Casino

Cashio Unveils Semi-Decentralized Blockchain Casino

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The world of crypto betting just got yet another boost thanks to a recent addition. Cashio, a new entrant into the sector, is making quite the debut by launching a semi-decentralized casino. This will not only offer customers a way of enjoying their favorite casino games but also give them the opportunity to profit via Cashio token.

A Revolutionary Gambling Offering

The gambling operator has recently detailed its plans for a revolutionary casino experience. As it stands, the company is developing some special decentralized games that will alter the casino as we know. Still, the target audience for this amazing product is mostly people who gamble crypto. That is already a pretty huge number.

According to the company, the goal is to integrate the gambling and NFT industries in a manner that allows investors to get a piece of the casino revenue. That is, of course, when the token price eventually rises to increased demand. Cashio has further committed to distributing the retained profits to the token holders. It will also be accumulating a massive amount into its Jackpot contract.

How It Works

Cashio’s Jackpot contract will gather BNB from the Casino earnings and from every buy/sell fees. It will then be deployed as a Lotto game. This Jackpot amount will then first be bought as Cashio Tokens thus boosting the price to the limits. As a result, the winner will receive their loot and the increase in the token’s value will reward Cashio Token holders in the process.

The operator will also be adding a 3-tier system where the rewards will be distributed to the token’s investors accordingly to their Holdings. This reward pool relies on Casino earnings and Cashio Token transactions. All the investors will not only be able to claim their rewards but also track all the useful information on the site’s Earnings Dashboard. More detail on this aspect is available on the operator’s whitepaper.

Is It Viable?

Well, the crypto and gambling spaces are always filled with new and interesting innovations. A good number of them are thriving or are at least headed there. Some do not make it due to several factors. As for Cashio, it is early on in its growth and it is hard to foreshadow where it will be a year or so from now.

Still, the casino operator has some solid ideas that could take off especially if crypto gamblers get on board. The innovative features will certainly make online gambling even more exciting than it already is.

Venezuela Pushes Petro With Launch of Crypto-Only Casino

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Venezuela, the very first country on the planet to launch its own national digital currency, has been trying to get Petro, its state-sanctioned digital currency off the ground for quite some time now. The digital currency was primarily conceptualized as a way for the country to escape United Sanctions and it was hoped to be the ultimate solution to the country’s woes in that regard.

However, everything did not go as smoothly as initially expected with the most recent effort to push adoption of Petro being the launch of a crypto-only casino.

Capitalizing on The Gambling Industry

Recently, Nikolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, announced plans for an upcoming casino at the Hotel Humboldt in the Ávila National Park. This would be a special project for the country and the world of crypto as it would be the first retail casino in the world to operate exclusively using crypto. At the casino, everyone will be required to use Petros (PTS).

The casino’s customers will, therefore, need to exchange their fiat currencies or digital currencies into PTR. According to the president, the funds from the casino will be used to fund education and healthcare in the country.

As expected, this was a rather unexpected move especially considering the fact that it is a total turn around for the country where gambling was completely banned back in 2011. Legal and regulated gambling in Venezuela essentially went extinct after the ban.

Previous Efforts

Venezuela officially launched in February 2018 as an oil-backed digital currency. Unfortunately, the digital currency has not been able to attract much interest since its launch because of the purpose of its creation – that is, circumventing US sanctions. To make the situation even worse, a number of risk rating sites have labeled it as a scam.

In an effort to improve the standings of the digital currency, the president has on a previous occasion announced that millions of barrels of oil would be sold for PTR.

Will It Work?

President Maduro and his government are quite aggressive about getting PTR off the ground. While it can be hard to tell what these efforts will amount to in the long term, it is safe to say that they may just have a chance. The gambling industry is a great way to boost crypto adoption and this can be seen across the industry.

Still, lots of people still prefer Bolivars and dollars for other transactions beyond gambling. That said, it might take a little longer for things to turn out the way that President Maduro is hoping they will. Still, it remains a significant development in the worlds of crypto and gambling.

High Hopes for US Sports Betting as Pa. Sportsbook Goes Live

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Last Thursday (November 15, 2018) Pennsylvania finally took its first ever legal sports bet. This was after the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board approved Hollywood Casino at the Penn National Race Course for a two-day testing period that was run by renowned US sports betting operator, William Hill US. Fortunately, the testing period went so well that on Saturday, November 17, the operator was given the go-ahead by the state regulator to proceed with its official launch.

It has been a very long road to the first ever legal sports bet in the state. When the United States Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports betting earlier this year in May, the Keystone State’s sports betting could have kicked off on that very day – in theory, is. Pennsylvania’s sports betting laws and regulations were approved in a sweeping bill in October 2017 that complimented Pennsylvania’s booming lottery and land-based casino industry. This has really helped propel the state into one of the country’s most lucrative gambling markets.

More States to Swarm into Sports Wagering Next Year

Of all the states that have operational sports betting industries, Pennsylvania is the perhaps the most consequential especially since it is the most populated state with legal sports betting so far and thus it opens up a major chunk of the US population to legal sports betting. Furthermore, the move significantly bolsters the growing Mid-Atlantic market as a whole – this area has been the epicenter of the gambling expansion in the US following the Supreme Court ruling that abolished PASPA and lifted the federal ban on sports betting.

According to industry experts, at least 12 more states could legalize sports betting next year, and up to eight of them could launch their sportsbooks before the 2019 football session kicks off. This means that within the next 2 years there could be at least 24 states with legal sports betting operations. Among the states that are expected to close in on legislation or new regulations by the end of 2019 are Connecticut, Ohio, New York, Florida, Oregon, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan.

Even so, the Keystone State’s is quite different from all other states especially because considering the fact that it will be the first state with franchises in each of the four major US professional sports leagues to offer legal and regulated sports wagering. This, when added to the potential size of the market, will make the state a force to reckon with in as far as sports betting in the United States is concerned.

While it will certainly be a while before Americans are able to enjoy a fully-fledged legal sports betting environment, the developments in various states, more so Pennsylvania, is certainly a vital step towards the future many are hoping for.

Major U.S. Science Museum Now Accepting Payments in Bitcoin

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Bitcoin has made yet another step in the right direction towards mass adoption thanks to a museum located in Cleveland, Ohio that will be taking payments in crypto as from November 13. Great Lakes Science Center, the museum in question plans to use BitPay to process the BTC payments that it will be receiving from the visitors who will want to pay in BTC.

According to the Kirsten Ellenbogen, the museums chief executive, by accepting payments in BTC this early on, the institution hopes to facilitate the growth of the blockchain ecosystem. Moreover, there is much more optimism with regards to blockchain technology thanks to a number of promising developments. For instance, a Swiss luxury watchmaker known as Hublot successfully integrated the bitcoin and the blockchain to sell 210 pieces of its limited edition BTC-themed sports watch – the company made a whopping $5.25 million in revenue from the sales that were conducted solely through BTC with each piece fetching no less than $25,000.

The adoption of the digital currency as a means of payment comes ahead of the museum and education center’s inaugural Blockland Solutions Conference which is a four-day event scheduled for December 2018. One of the core agenda of the conference will be to explore and educate the attendees about the future of blockchain technology.

“There is a lot of excitement around the conference. Accepting bitcoin is just a small part of the momentum to grow a blockchain ecosystem in Cleveland,” Ellenbogen said.

Tried and Tested

Fortunately, the Great Lakes Science Center will not be venturing into unknown grounds since two other casinos in the United States – Museum of the Coastal Bend in Texas and St. Petersburg Museum of History in Florida – have succeeded in integrating bitcoin as a payment system. When it kicked off the initiative in 2013, the Museum of the Coastal Bend’s officials were quite skeptical about anyone visiting and using BTC but they went ahead with it because there really wasn’t as much risk.

Five years down the line and bitcoin has become quite a big deal and is worth upwards of $110 billion. The digital currency is also considered to be a proper asset by mainstream institutions such as Nasdaq, Fidelity, ICE and even the New York Stock Exchange. The Great Lakes Science Center hopes to also tap into the ecosystem with its own set of unique offerings that will include the ability to purchase admission tickets to visit NASA’s Glenn Visitor Center.

All this will be possible through an app that the museum launched a year ago. The app utilizes augmented reality and virtual reality to allow visitors to experiment with various elements of space phenomena such as flames and space-craft designs when they visit the Glenn Visitor Center.

Such developments are clear proof that the integration of trusted or major digital currencies like bitcoin is the new trend in the global market.

Partypoker To Sponsor PGA EuroPro Tour In 2019

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Online poker behemoth PartyPoker has recently announced a new sponsorship agreement with the PGA EuroPro Tour in 2019. The deal which was announced on November 1 will see the renowned online poker company feature at stops on EuroPro Tour which acts as a feeder for the European Tour and the Challenge Tour. In addition to branding during the 2019 season, there will be more “promotional opportunities” with some of the golfers as well as visibility across the organization’s social media channels.

While this sponsorship deal will give Partypoker additional opportunities to promotes its brand, the company has been part of some pretty lucrative partnerships in the past. In 2008, for instance, the online poker company became the headline sponsor for the PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School. In the past two years, the company has done quite well for itself by reviving its online poker room, launching more live online poker offering and fostering stronger connections with its growing player database.

“We are excited to come on board with the Euro ProTour for the forthcoming season and further strengthen our relationship with Matchroom Sport,” Partypoker managing director, Tom Waters said. “The tour hosts some of the most exciting events across Europe, and we look forward to supporting Matchroom in their quest to unearth the next generation of golfing stars.”

With the PGA EuroPro Tour sponsorship, PartyPoker hopes to leverage the great reputation that has been created – the tour is essentially a proving ground for upcoming golfers. Billed as the “leading development tour” in Europe, the PGA EuroPro is known for graduating its most successful players onto the Challenge Tour which is just one step shy of being the continents biggest and most lucrative golf tour. The top stop is occupied by the European Tour.

“Our developmental golf tour has become one of the leading circuits for young professionals looking to become tomorrow’s superstars of the sport. I am really looking forward to building on an already strong relationship with PartyPoker and can’t wait to see the benefits it will bring to all involved in the PGA EuroPro Tour,” Barry Hearn, the Tour Chairman commented.

More to It Than Meets the Eye

Partypoker plans to set itself apart from other operators by expanding its presence across all the corners of the globe and putting out massive guarantees. However, in Europe, one of the biggest challenges for poker operators is the advertising restrictions that are imposed on gambling-related activities. By partnering with the PGA EuroPro Tour, PartyPoker will have a golden opportunity to advertise itself to millions of fans.

IGT Secures Sports Betting License in West Virginia

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Casino operator in West Virginia will now be able to partners with International Game Technology (IGT) for sport betting ventures after the company was granted an interim license by the West Virginia Lottery Commission. With this approval, the casino operators will now be able to use IGT’s PlayShot integrated sports betting platform.

“Receiving approval from the West Virginia Lottery Commission to deploy IGT’s PlayShot sports betting solution throughout the State continues IGT’s momentum in pioneering sports betting across the U.S., and creates additional new market opportunities for IGT,” said Enrico Drago, IGT Senior Vice President PlayDigital. “This distinction acknowledges the reliability, security, and market-readiness of IGT’s PlayShot solution, and creates opportunities for IGT to further differentiate our sports betting solution in the marketplace.”

Sports betting in the United States has been subject to a number of pivotal changes that are expected to change the face of gambling in the country. Sports betting providers such as IGT are looking to take advantage of the new legal sports wagering market and by receiving the West Virginia license, the New York-listed IGT has made yet another important step towards achieving its goals.

The gaming technology specialist company already powers retail betting operations allowing customers to place a variety of pre-game and in-game bets over the counter at a number of locations in the country.

Rhode Island Is a Go

At about the same time that its license was granted in West Virginia, IGT announced that it and its commercial partners William Hill U.S. have been chosen by the Rhode Island Lottery to be the end-to-end sports betting service providers in the state. IGT will be responsible for providing the sports betting platform while the William Hill will be handling the risk management and sports betting operation services at Rhode Island’s licensed video lottery and table game facilities.

“We are pleased that Rhode Island is the first lottery to set up sports betting operations post-PASPA,” said Renato Ascoli, IGT CEO, North America. “IGT is a leading and proven supplier of sports betting technology in the U.S. The combination with William Hill, a leading sports betting operator in the U.S., uniquely positions us to provide the Rhode Island Lottery with a comprehensive, market-ready solution to maximize sports betting revenues and returns to good causes for the state of Rhode Island.”

The state is clearly moving fast to tap into the lucrative sports betting market that was opened up by the Supreme Court ruling that repealed PASPA in May. Once the offerings go live, the state will receive a 51 percent portion of the share with the vendor and the casinos getting 32 and 17 percent respectively. This is quite reasonable and will, therefore, have a positive impact on the industry in the long run.

“IGT is a world-class gaming technology company and we could not be more happy to partner with them to provide a world-class sports betting solution for the state of Rhode Island,” commented Joe Asher, CEO, William Hill U.S.

NBA Strikes Gambling Partnership with MGM Resorts

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The NBA on Tuesday, July 30, announced that it had struck a deal with MGM Resorts International to be its official gambling partner. This partnership, which is the first ever for a sports league and gambling operator marks a crucial step forward for sports betting in the United States especially considering that before the Supreme lifted the ban on sports betting, the leagues had for decades shunned any association with gambling activities.

“This is an industry and an area that we’ve been discussing a lot over the last several years, and of course, with the Supreme Court’s repeal of PASPA, it’s all come to a head,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.

Even though the Supreme Court ruling that repealed PASPA is not likely to culminate in a federal gambling bill, the ongoing state-by-state approach for the legalization of sports betting will help the NBA and other leagues to tap into the new revenue stream that acknowledges the sports betting interests in the country. According to the sources close to the partnership, the deal is approximated to be $25 million over three years which may seem small, but the real value for the league may come through the creation of a market for their direct data feed.

MGM Resorts International will also enjoy a number of perks from the partnership. These included the rights to NBA league and team logo, highlights, access to official league data as well as recognition for being an “official gaming partner” of the NBA and WNBA. Using the aforementioned official NBA league data on its betting platforms, MGM will also be able to work with the league to detect and prevent fraud and game-fixing which have plagued both industries for a very long time.

The NHL Also Wants a Piece of the Gambling Action

The leagues have since abandoned the controversial quest for an “integrity fee” but this is not stopping some of them, including the NHL, from candidly and directly pursuing their interests in the gambling scene. According to recent reports, Gary Bettman, the NHL Commissioner, the league hopes to be paid from gambling interests for the sports intellectual properties associated with the league.

“We’ve historically been opposed to extending sports betting on our game, and, emotionally, I don’t think that’s changed. However, it is a fact of life in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling, and it’ll be up to states to decide whether or not they’re going to enact sports betting,” Bettman stated.

“From our standpoint, we believe that whether it’s our intellectual property or data, whether it’s a video of our game, we have important assets. And if somebody is going to avail themselves or want to avail themselves of those assets in order to conduct their business, then we’re going to need to have a negotiation.”

GVC Holdings, MGM Resorts Forge U.S. Gambling Joint Venture

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MGM Resorts International on Monday, July 30, announced two new partnerships that, according to CEO Jim Murren, will significantly help the company to rise above many other operators and become an industry leader in U.S. sports betting markets other than Las Vegas.

One of the two strategic partnerships is a market access agreement between MGM and Boyd Gaming which is expected to expand the scope of online and mobile gaming in the country. This partnership will offer sports betting, poker and other casino gaming platforms in the areas where either MGM Resorts International or Boyd Gaming operate a land-based casino or possess online licenses.

“Thanks to our partnership with MGM Resorts, Boyd Gaming will have the opportunity to potentially add an online presence in five additional states, positioning us for significant future growth as our respective companies take a leadership role in our industry’s evolution,” Boyd Gaming President and CEO Keith Smith.

Separately, MGM also announced that it had established a 50-50 joint venture with Europe-based GVC Holdings PLC. The venture will see both companies collaborating to establish a sports betting and online gaming platform that will have its headquarters in the United States. To capitalize on the venture, each of the companies will be raising a whopping $100 million.

GVC has made tremendous efforts to nab a share of the U.S. sports betting market and with the country’s Supreme Court having lifted the federal ban on sports betting, there are a ton of new opportunities in the nascent but rapidly growing market.

The joint venture alone will give the company access to 15 states which have around 90 million people. Added to the fact that the joint venture will also give GVC access to all the land-based gambling facilities and online sports betting platforms in the United States, there is certainly bound to be a revolution in the United States gambling scene.

“MGM Resorts is a world-leading entertainment business and the most trusted name in gaming, with the highest quality brands and management, and strong sports connectivity. This combined with GVC’s technology and experience in successfully building online gaming businesses across multiple markets presents a truly exciting opportunity for U.S. players and our respective shareholders. To be able to team up with a partner with such pedigree and knowledge, particularly in the U.S., is a real opportunity for GVC,” Kenneth Alexander, the GVC Holdings. Chief Executive Officer said.

Jim Murren, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MGM Resorts International also commented on the joint venture saying:

“We are excited to benefit from GVC’s proprietary, best-in-class technology, digital customer acquisition expertise, and experience with adapting to new operating environments. GVC is unusually qualified due to their existing operations in the U.S. Together, we are creating a one-of-a-kind platform that we expect will dominate the U.S. sports betting market.”

Online Gaming in New Jersey Gets a Lot Easier

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While New Jersey’s online gambling industry is considered to be one of the best, online gamblers in the state have until recently had to cope with one very frustrating and annoying problem. Participating in online gambling in the state has been a nightmare for residents due to the difficulty of paying with credit cards. The situation was quite unfair especially considering the fact that we live in a world where credit cards are considered to be a standard of payment for a vast range of goods and services.

Having started as an attempt to regulate and prevent online gambling fraud in the state grew to become one of the most significant drawbacks to online gambling in the state as the banks were not allowing players to use their credits to deposits funds into their online casino accounts. As such, many gamblers had to jump through several hoops whenever they wanted to participate in the legal and regulated activity to ensure that their payments were not declined.

“At some point (the federal government) wanted to shut down illegal gambling in the U.S.,” explains Mattias Stetz, COO at Rush Street Interactive/playsugarhouse.com. “Banks became very subjective to what transactions they would or wouldn’t approve. However, since the legal and regulated New Jersey online casinos launched, some banks still haven’t changed their controls to reflect the new legal status.”

Even though these precautions proved to be quite helpful in preventing fraud and illegal gambling activities, it also served a pretty significant stumbling block for legitimate online gambling.

The Solution

New Jersey’s online gaming community has been anticipating a fix for this problem for quite some time now. Well, luckily for them, they now have an easier way to deposit money into their online casino accounts using their credit cards.

This is facilitated by a collaboration between Sugarhouse Online Casino (playsugarhouse.com), an online establishment, and Wyrz, an experienced payment provider. The two have created a system that allows customers to deposit money into their individual online gaming accounts with nearly all the available credit cards.

“Many may not be aware that one of the biggest challenges with online gaming in New Jersey has to do with depositing money to play,” Stetz explained. “When a player tries to fund their account with a conventional debit or credit card payment, the transaction would often fail. Now thanks to the partnership between playsugarhouse.com and Wyrz, that is no longer an issue for those looking to wager and win on the exciting casino games offered on the site.”

This will hopefully give online gamblers the ability to play stress-free since they no longer have to worry about their payments being declined by the bank.

“This should help the New Jersey tax income from gaming as well because all players will be able to play,” Stetz added.

FanDuel to Launch Online Casino and Sports Betting in N.J.

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Renowned fantasy sports provider, FanDuel, has recently announced its plans to launch an online casino alongside a sports betting offering in New Jersey. Sources reveal that the company plans to apply its branding to an online casino through its licensing affiliation with the Golden Nugget Casino in Atlantic City. On the same not, FanDuel will be providing online sports betting under the license of the Meadowlands Racetrack.

The move was rather surprising, especially because both FanDuel and DraftKings, its competitor, have previously shunned all and any association to gambling and now they are both charging forward into the gambling space with sports betting and online casino ventures.

Rebranding in Progress

FanDuel is owned by Paddy Power Betfair which is one of the largest bookmakers in existence – the European bookmaker acquired FanDuel last week, thus finally closing a deal that was struck in May.

“Today is a milestone for the sports industry. We are excited to share that we closed our previously announced merger agreement with Paddy Power Betfair to combine our US businesses, allowing us to move forward with our promise to provide you, our loyal users, an even better experience,” an e-mail FanDuel wrote for to its customers read.

FanDuel will be serving as the face of Paddy Power Betfair’s United States operations that included sports betting and online gambling platforms. One of its most notable operations is the Betfair online casino in New Jersey.

Apparently, Paddy Power Betfair chose FanDuel because of the latter’s brand and database of players which are certainly key selling points and would, in turn, compliment the plenty of sports betting tech that Paddy Power has at its disposal. In a press release, Paddy confirmed that:

“The transaction strengthens the Group’s opportunity to target the prospective US sports betting market through the addition of a strong brand, large existing customer base, and talented team.”

While Paddy will be using the FanDuel brand in the United States, the bookmaker has been trying to rebrand itself – earlier this month, it announced that its US-facing operations, Betfair US, would be changing its name to FanDuel Group. In fact, this rebranding might even affect the Betfair online casino in New Jersey.

GAN and IGT To Offer Assistance

Paddy Power Betfair is definitely a market leader in other jurisdictions but in the United States, the FanDuel group has already secured its own deals with third-party suppliers. One of these suppliers is IGT which has been tasked with providing the platform that will deliver Paddy Power Betfair’s bookmaking services to FanDuel’s sports books.

FanDuel Group further inherited Paddy Power’s partnerships with Golden Nugget and GAN, the two entities that are at present responsible for the Betfair online casino. GAN will be participating in providing logistics to power the FanDuel online casino and sportsbook operations. This will be done in conjunction with both IGT and Paddy Power Betfair.