content are also available to Manitoba resi-
dents. Loto-Québec’s Espacejeux.com site,
available in both French and English, has
been providing interactive bingo games to
Quebec residents since June 12.
“GTECH
is proud to launch another industry first
with Loto-Québec and BCLC in the
government-sponsored interactive space
in North America,”
said Jaymin B. Patel,
President and CEO, GTECH Americas.
“The Canadian Bingo Network will ensure
that players have a legal, safe and fun ex-
perience, and that proceeds from interac-
tive bingo in these Canadian provinces will
remain in their communities.”
GTECH’s
games provided through this agreement,
including the Canadian debut of PopCap
Games’ Plants vs. Zombies
®
Bingo, are
only available to adult residents of British
Columbia, Manitoba and Québec. The
network offers a full range of responsible
gaming control and prevention measures.
Mobile Gaming in China’s
Internet Economy
Since the Chinese market is huge, online
games can potentially be highly profitable,
particularly in the mobile sector. But the
market is highly crowded, with over a hun-
dred games being released a day. Work-
ing effectively with app stores and social
media is key. China one of the largest
markets in the world with over 490 million
users and worth RMB 83 billion ($13.7
billion) in revenues. China’s mobile games
market is expected to double in size this
year to RMB 17.85 billion ($2.8 billion).
It’s quickly stealing market share from tra-
ditional PCs as users shift to smart phones
and tablets to discover new and engaging
content. Nearly 460 million people are go-
ing online through mobile devices instead
of desktop computers.
Bovada (Bodog) No Longer to Serve
Nevada And Delaware
After withdrawing from Washington,
Maryland, NewYork, and New Jersey,
US-facing online poker site Bovada has
now added Nevada And Delaware to its
list of excluded US states.
“It is believed
Bovada’s exit from six US states repre-
sents an attempt by the company to head
off potential litigation from authorities
further on down the line … and not fall
prey to the fate of companies like Poker-
Stars which, though chomping at the bit
to enter the legal and regulated US online
market now, have so far been prevented
from doing so in the three legal states due
to its ‘bad actor’ designation for post-
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement
Act (UIGEA) behavior.”
National Association of Conve-
nience Store supports proposed
online gaming ban
“The National Association of Conve-
nience Stores (NACS) will back a major
public affairs campaign aimed at encour-
aging Congress and association members
to support a proposed online lottery and
gaming ban, reported Politico.”
Lyle
Beckwith, NACS senior vice president of
government relations says that
“Lottery
tickets should not be sold interstate on the
Internet. Those sales risk letting kids buy
them, letting people gamble in states that
don’t want gambling, and pulling money
and sales out of some states into others.
… If Congress does not act to pass this
legislation, states will open the floodgates
to Internet gambling and it will become
difficult or impossible to turn it back.”
PGRI Note:
Of course, NACS needs
to resort to these ridiculous assertions and
scare tactics. Notice that the claims they
make are not true, that these are social
issues that NACS members are not actu-
ally concerned about anyway, and that
the actual concern of NACS members is
not even stated here. NACS just wants to
protect their distribution monopoly over
lottery products. Of course, they can’t say
that because the U.S. Congress is not sup-
posed to take legislative action to protect
monopolies. The U.S. Congress is not
tasked with the job of denying consumer
rights to choose, the rights of consumers to
buy online. Congress not supposed to take
legislative action to require that a product
be made available only in retail stores
because store-owners want to protect their
distribution monopoly—The notion that
NACS’ actual agenda is to pressure the
U.S. Congress to intervene to prevent the
natural disruptions in a dynamic market-
place by protecting their monopoly and
denying consumers the right to choose is
not a political platform and legal strategy
that would work.
Amaya to acquire Rational Group
(Owner of PokerStars and Full
Tilt Poker)
PokerStars, the world’s biggest online
poker company, will sell itself for $4.9
billion to Amaya Gaming, a Canadian
supplier of gaming equipment. PokerStars
had major problems with law enforcement
authorities in the US.
“In 2012, PokerStars
struck a $731 million settlement with fed-
eral prosecutors that also saw the company
acquire the assets of Full Tilt. The com-
pany did not admit any wrongdoing. [Its
founder, Isai] Scheinberg remained under
indictment and has not come to the U.S.
to face the charges.”
PokerStars however
dominated online poker in the rest of the
world.
“The company posted revenues of
$1.1 billion last year and earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortiza-
tion of $420 million.”
But when it comes
to the US, other companies have been able
to enter the limited market space for online
poker ahead of them, and thus the own-
ers of PokerStars best option was to sell.
Amaya said it believes the
“transaction
will expedite the entry of PokerStars and
Full Tilt Poker into regulated markets in
which Amaya already holds a footprint,
particularly the U.S.A.”
Loto-Québec to License, Regulate,
and Tax Online Poker
The lottery corporation now plans to of-
fer a license to sites such as Poker Stars, in
return for what is expected to be quite rich
income.
“Montreal-based Amaya Gaming
Group, which bought Poker Stars and Full
Tilt Poker last week to $ 4.9 billion, could
be the first company to receive such a
license. The company is already a supplier
of Loto-Québec for devices in casinos.”
NC Lottery Official: Budget Writ-
ers Knew Restrictions on Ads Would
Reduce Income
PGRI Note:
Classic case of politicians’
unwillingness to support Lottery colliding
with their dependence on lottery funding
to make the budget work. And the lottery
director being caught in the middle with
the unenviable job of explaining the facts to
politicians who prefer not to accept reality.
The interesting thing about this story is that
it is being played out on the public stage.
49
July/August 2014 • Public Gaming International
