California Gov. Jerry Brown Renegoti-
ates Tribal Gaming Agreement
Declining gaming revenue was cited as
the reason for the new deal with the Vie-
jas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, a major
tribe in San Diego County. The prior 2004
agreement required an annual payment to
the state of $17.4m. The new payments
will be around $3 to $5 million, a loss
to the state of over $12 million a year.
Gov. Brown is noted to be a supporter
of the tribes, more so than his predeces-
sor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Viejas has
made about $711,000 in contributions
since January 2013 to state candidates and
campaign committees, but none directly
to Brown.
Hong Kong Stocks Decline Along
with Casino Sector
Casino shares declined as Hong Kong
stocks fell to their lowest level in two
weeks. Macau casino firm Galaxy Enter-
tainment Corp. HK:0027 -6.38% went
down 6.4%. Sands China HK:1928 -5.76%
declined 5.8%. Both companies are index
components and have recently confronted
labor unrest. The gaming secotr has had
weak numbers recently. Other gaming
companies whose stocks have declined
include Wynn Macau HK:1128 -7.56%,
with a decline of 7.6%, MGM China Hold-
ings HK:2282 -6.34%, down 6.3%, Melco
Crown Entertainment HK:6883 -4.78%, re-
treating 4.8%, and SJM Holdings HK:0880
-3.37%, at 3.4%.
Russia Legalizes Gaming in Crimea
and Sochi
Russian President Vladimir Putin has
signed a law legalizing new gaming en-
terprises in Sochi, site of the most recent
Winter Olympics, and in the recently
annexed Crimea. Sochi locations that were
used to house the 2014 Winter Olympics
will be used for gaming sites. The Sochi
initiative was spearheaded by the Sber-
bank president German Gref. Russia based
Sberbank is the country’s largest credi-
tor. Sochi will also be a site for the 2018
World Cup, which Russia is hosting. The
Crimean resort town of Yalta will likely
become a key gaming destination. Crimean
gaming could generate $750 million to
the regional budget annually, but is likely
to be controversial given the international
community’s lack of recognition of the an-
nexation. Russia currently allows gaming
in West Siberia, the Krasnodar Territory,
Primorye Territory, and Kaliningrad.
Zynga Introduces Sharknado Tie-In to
Hit It Rich: Casino Slots
In a tie-in with Shark Week on the Dis-
covery Channel and the film Sharknado 2:
The Second One, airing on cable channel
SyFy, Zynga has introduced a Sharknado
slot machine to its Hit It Rich! Casino
Slots. Players help the hero stop storm-
borne sharks that have flopped into Los
Angeles.
“This themed game joins many
other themed properties in Hit It Rich!,
including Ted, The Terminator, The Wizard
of Oz and more. Hit it Rich! is available to
download for free on iOS, Google Play and
the Amazon App Store. The game is also
available to play for free on Facebook.”
Macau Casinos Lose to Lottery
Competition During World Cup
A lottery in China that utilized World
Cup betting is attributed to reduced
revenue at Macau casinos. An economic
slowdown in the Mainland, recent limita-
tions on visas for Chinese bettors, and
restrictions on the use of China UnionPay
Co.’s debit card have also affected rev-
enues.
“There were enough incidents in the
past months that could create that one-off
discrepancy,”
said Louise Cheung, an ana-
lyst at Nomura Holdings Inc.
“Keeping an
eye on lottery sales is important because it
is a convenient gaming option with more
platforms. The constraint is it depends on
the events that people can bet on.”
The
Chinese government began running lotter-
ies in the 1980s.
Chinese Lottery Sales Reach Euro
21bn in First Half
Chinese lottery sales went up by 19 % to
RMB178.4bn ( Euro 21.5bn) for the first
half of 2014. The greatest increase was in
the Welfare Lottery and the Sports Lottery.
Welfare Lottery sales were up by 16 per
cent to RMB98.5bn, a 55% of total lottery
sales in China.
Paddy Power Data Breach: How Did
Contact Info for 649,055 of the Book-
maker’s Customers End Up For Sale?
PGRI Note:
The interesting thing
about this story is the lack of legal clarity
about the sale of stolen data. The guy who
tried to sell it is not being charged with
any crime.
A Toronto area gaming entrepreneur
purchased the data from an unknown
source based in Malta. 40-year old Jason
Ferguson saw the contact info as ideal
marketing material. Among other gaming
related jobs, Ferguson works as an “affili-
ate,” referring potential clients to gaming
firms.
“I bought lots of data for marketing
but I did not hack anything,”
he says. He
acquired the data in December 2013 via a
Malta-based contact he met on an online
message board. The contact’s profile was
simply called “Gambling.” Paddy Power
apparently lost the data in a cyber-attack in
late 2010. The company said it detected an
attempt to hack its computers, but did not
reveal this to its customers or the general
public at the time.
Ferguson’s stash of data was discovered
via the investigations of Joe Saumarez
Smith. Saumarez Smith runs a U.K.
consulting firm that helps online gaming
companies investigate hacking. He encoun-
tered Ferguson when he was looking into
the loss of another company’s data. After
examining a sample that Ferguson gave
him, Saumarez Smith contacted Paddy
Power’s commercial director, who was a
personal acquaintance.
Ferguson has not been charged.
“Many
countries have anti-hacking or data
privacy laws that criminalize the theft of
personal data, but there is no harmonized
position on buying and selling data that
has been stolen,”
said Richard Jones,
director of data privacy at Clifford Chance
LLP in London.
“Even in a strict
59
September/October 2014 • Public Gaming International
Pulse
of the
Industry
Continued …
