Tag Archives: Gambling Industry

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Monday 20th August 2018: Blueprint Gaming, which is a leading game studio company that is based in the United Kingdom, launched a new portfolio of gaming slots with Mansion. It did so in a deal which has subsequently diversified the catalogs of games it has on offer.

This launch followed a successful incorporation of the Playtech Open Platform (POP). It now enables the players of Mansion to gain access to a vast array of Blueprint games. These include the new-released hot games like the Diamond Mine Megaways™, not to mention the classic titles like the TED, Paws of Fury, King Kong Cash, and Wish Upon a Jackpot.

As part of this merger, the operator will also take over the supplier, Jackpot King’s, progressive games. This shall take effect in the coming months. They are anticipated to offer greater varieties of game options to the player bases of the members. This arrangement also comes with the likelihood of awarding a life-changing reward to the members.

The Mansion Group is a firmly-established and leading provider of online entertainment and gambling products. It was established in 2003 and possesses a broad range of online casinos. These cater to the unique tastes and markets that epitomize the field of online gambling. Its flagship brand is the Casino.com. It was awarded the prestigious ‘Online Casino Operator of the Year’. This took place at the International Gaming Awards 2018.

Blueprint Gaming, on the other hand, is a subsidiary of the German Gauselmann Group. It doubles up as a leading game studio in the United Kingdom. The studio creates exciting gaming slots which it disburses to the global online and mobile platforms. Other than this, it also channels its games across 100,000 or more land-based gaming terminals throughout the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.

From the foregoing, the merger of these two online gaming studios is anticipated to revolutionize the United Kingdom casino and gaming industry. This is further expected to enrich the content options besides driving down the prices of access to the games altogether.

While signing the deal to affect the merger, Matt Cole, the Managing Director of Blueprint Gaming had these to say: “This launch is a pretty exciting deal indeed. It has the potential to greatly expand our scope within the gaming industry.” He further went on to add: “We are truly passionate about the games we generate. We subsequently look forward to bring in even more brand new and exciting contents in not so a distant future. We are very certain that the players of the various operators shall find our innovative and top-notch quality games a big hit.”

Mr. Shelly Suter-Hadad, who doubles up as the chief operating officer and the managing director of the Mansion Gaming, on the other hand, had these to state: “Given that Blueprint Gaming produces many exciting and popular casino games, incorporating its live contents in our marketing strategy has proved to be pretty easy and rewarding.”

He further stated: “It is well within our mission to furnish our players with a huge range of premium quality contents. This is to guarantee a fantastic experience on site. Our partnership with the Blueprint Gaming aligns perfectly with this noble goal.’

 

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The United Kingdom Casino market is set to become more competitive after Authentic Gaming was given a license to operate in the market. The United Kingdom Gambling Commission has now allowed Authentic Gaming to operate in the UK market following an intense application and scrutiny process. Authentic Gaming was found to fulfill the set standards for casino games in the country and is hoped to bring a unique and enjoyable experience to casino players.

Authentic gaming, a live casino provider, has been granted a UK operating license. The firm is viewing it as a breakthrough as it is the first step in its expansion plan to other favorable markets across the world. The license will make it possible for Athletic Gaming’s gaming and product suites to be available to operators and plays across the United Kingdom for the first time.

According to Jonas Delin, the chief executive officer at Authentic Gaming, the United Kingdom casino industry is the largest lice casino market in Europe. Authentic Gaming, therefore, sees the approval of its license as a major milestone in its business as it will have a larger market size.

Authentic Gaming is focusing on regulated markets in the world with an aim of showing its commitment to eradicating problem gambling. With the UK license already issues, the company is not targeting to expand to other regulated markets in the world.

The UK market is not completely new to Authentic Gaming. For some time now, the firm has been had partnerships with UK-licensed operators such as LeoVegas, Mr. Green, and Kindred Group. Its entry into the market will see it cement its relationship with the already existing customers and grow its market size in the country.

While commenting on the issuance of the license, Delin argued that the UK has a strong culture for visiting casinos. Its expansion to the country is an effort to tap into the culture and build a sustainable business. Following the granting of the license, Authentic Gaming will supply its games and products in the UK market. Notable in its products is the ‘Authentic Roulette’ which is known for streaming tables from leading casinos across the world. The product allows punters to place bets on roulette tables that are located in resorts in various locations across the world such as Italy, Denmark, Georgia, Romania, and Malta.

The license by UKGC came only weeks after Authentic Gaming opened a new studio in Malta in an effort to improve its service offerings. The studio which has been dubbed Arena contains for varied game formats and six live auto roulette tables.

The firm is optimistic that its strategies in the UK market will be successful. Delin said, “With nearly half of our client base holding a UKGC license, we are eager to bring our games to market – we know they will be a huge hit with UK players.” “We believe our Authentic Roulette stream from luxury casinos around the world will be a great proposition for UK players,” he added.

Expressing the firm’s commitment to succeeding in the market, Delin said, “We are dedicated to taking the live casino experience to the next level, and making it as thrilling and authentic as possible. Out tables located in prestigious casinos all around the world are a real USP for us.”

 

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The United Kingdom Gambling Commission has announced brand tough measures on betting for betting firms. These new rules have been necessitated by concerns over misleading advertisements that pertain to bonuses and promotions.

These new rules and regulations assure gamblers of better protection. They also empower the Gambling Commission to levy unlimited fines and fees for any breach of these rules or the associated consumer laws. Some of these possible breaches include but are not limited to misleading advertisements, those that tend to target small children, or those that make gambling appear great and normal.

Other than these, the gambling firms that send out spam marketing contents such as text messages and e-mails will also be in for trouble under the new rules. They will also be required to follow all the laid down United Kingdom advertising codes whilst putting in place a more robust conflict resolution mechanism for the gamblers.

The rules shall come into force on October 31st, 2018. The commission shall, after coming into effect of the rules, impose an eight-week window for the casino operators to resolve any complaints with their clients and customers.

These rules are expected to facilitate the process of resolving any breaches of the consumer laws. These include such aspects as unrealistic restrictions on the withdrawal process, misleading promotions, and impractical bonuses.

To help the consumers make the right purchasing decisions, websites like www.smartphonecasinos.co.uk have sprouted. It reviews the various online casino operators on a regular basis and provides independent assessments of their competence from time to time.

While commenting on these developments, Neil McArthur, the Gambling Commission’s Chief Executive, had these to say:“The Gambling Commission is intent on cracking down on the firms that tend to treat consumers unfairly. This is because consumer protection is a topmost priority for us. It subsequently has to be a priority for the gambling operators as well. The changes we have instituted will surely protect consumers from unscrupulous and misleading advertisements and promotions. They will also see to it that the consumers can withdraw their earnings faster and easier. This is not to mention that the rules shall facilitate the resolution of consumer complaints.”

The founder of Justice for Punters, Brian Chappell, on the other hand, had these to say: “It is great to note that the Gambling Commission has finally acknowledged that gambling operators have to be subjected to stricter regulatory regimes. Only time will tell whether these new powers shall be used accordingly and if the gamblers shall be able to derive their rights promptly after a mistreatment. Even though the announcements incomprehensive, it is nonetheless highly welcome.”

Way back in 2016, while in partnership with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the United Kingdom Gambling Commission established formal investigations to find out whether the online gambling companies were indeed mistreating their customers.

The findings of the investigations led the authority to launch enforcement actions against several gambling operators the following year. This was after the companies were accused of breaking the consumer laws with regards to the promotions.

From the foregoing, it is clear that the United Kingdom Gambling Commission greatly benefits casino operating sites. It does so mainly by instilling confidence in the potential gamblers and encourage them to gamble more. This certainly leads to an increase in the profit margins of the said firms.

 

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The popular Ladbrokes company is yet to face a 24- hour license suspension. On 3rd September 2018 Belgians, gaming commission issued a sanction to Ladbrokes over their blunt mistake of offering virtual chances games.

Virtual chances games are those lark games where customers put into hefty amounts of their finances to predict outcomes of some non-existent imaginary events. This kind of chance game was only entertained by law between 2012 to June of 2017. Afterward, it was banned and declared illegal by the countries law. In giving a blind eye to the ban, Ladbrokes further progressed to avail this kind of illegal services to their esteemed customers until the 14th of March, 2018.

The reports of the 24-hour license suspension were made on Wednesday by De Morgen dailies, Het Laatste Nieuws and La Derniere Heure. In effect to this sanction, the esteemed customers of Ladbrokes are compelled from making any online bet on that very day. In addition, its 300 agencies together with their vaguely projected 100 bookstores that are related to it and its digital operation will also face a 24-hour suspension on that same day.

As if this is not enough, its daughter companies, that is Derby SA and Tierce Ladbroke SA will also be immensely affected by this prevailing sanction.

In regard to the above, the gaming commision saw it wise to come up with a stringent sanction that will necessitate a 24-hour suspension of Ladbrokes online casino activities. This sanction is meant to punish Ladbrokes after realizing that they acted ignorantly to the law as they continued to carry out their virtual chance gaming activities despite them knowing that there was an existing ban compelling the activity from taking place in the country. Ignorance is paid with ignorance.

The I gambling business site, in addition, adds that the company had enjoyed a monopoly on virtual chance gaming activities in Belgium until the last day of June 2017. Throughout their time of monopoly, no other online casino site was granted the authority to offer the same virtual chance gaming services. The likes of Rocolus had possessed a number of challenges concerning this.

In addition, the company was found guilty by the commision over not having contested for facts of materiality on the same. iGamblingBusiness.com request for publication clarification was not responded to by Ladbrokes betting company.

The gambling insider site has a lot to share concerning the 24-hour license suspension of Ladbrokes. It adds that the 24- hour sanction not only applies to Ladbrokes online casino company but also any other high profile street shop that is located in Belgium. Shifting our focus from this thud slap to Ladbrokes company, there is some recent better news for their branches located in Australia. Ladbrokes as a general has another reason to smile as their Australian branches are set to launch a brand new betting accumulator product. This will be as a result of them working hand in hand with suppliers Sportscast.

 

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The National Casino Industry Forum (NCIF) is on the spot for allegedly influencing the findings of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). This forum confirmed having donated a whopping £8,000 to the said institution. This move has been hailed by many as having been done to skew its research findings.

IEAAs per the conclusions of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), there is no longer need for the current restrictions on the number of casinos to be in force. This report has further urged the various authorities and municipalities to allow the mid-sized cities and towns to allow more casinos to be opened within their jurisdictions.

These allegations were brought to the fore by the Guardian newspaper. This newspaper unearthed a more or less similar incident earlier on. This particular incident concerned pitted a group of US investors who had farming interests.

It is stated that the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) organized a meeting between these investors and the then Brexit Minister Steve Baker. This meeting lasted an hour and supposedly resulted in the said investors having their way.

The members of the public and the various stakeholders in the gambling industry did not take these revelations kindly. They questioned the validity of the research findings and even went ahead to demand that appropriate investigatory measures be taken.

These calls have indeed yielded fruit. Two agencies have stepped in to unearth the scandals. The Charity Commission and the government’s lobbying watchdog have particularly stepped in. The former is currently investigating whether the said institution breached any charity’s codes of conduct whereas the latter wants to know whether the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) overstepped its mandate as an educational charity.

Even with these stern measures, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) remains undeterred. It insists that its activities have been above board. It further states that many people did indeed have access to its research and that no such access had any bearing on the final draft. It delivered these responses via its director, Mark Littlewood.

Several institutions and leading figures have voiced their concerns in response to these developments. The local Labour Party has accused the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) of engaging in underhand deals. In particular, the party has revealed that the body had been engaged in extensive lobbying and other political campaigns activities. These, the party started, overstepped its mandate as ‘educational charity.’

UK’s leading multinational, BP, reiterated its commitments to quality research work. It defended its engagements with the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). It further stated that it is merely interested in furthering its viewpoints of various issues at hand. It denied any culpability in the report’s findings.

Lastly, the National Casino Industry Forum (NCIF) has also denied any attempt to skew the final outcomes of the just-released research findings. It also defended its opposition to the planned extensions of the areas that are eligible for increasing the numbers of their casinos from 53 to 56. It also expressed concerns that the exchequer could be losing around £30 million a year in the form of gaming duty due to unused or underutilized licenses.

 

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As part of the UK’s departure from the European Union, companies, residents, and citizens of the United Kingdom are set to forfeit several privileges. Businesses will particularly be hardest hit given the numerous benefits and incentives that the EU currently provide.

BrexitFor instance, the EU has a very large population. Firms that operate in or have access to the trading bloc, therefore, enjoy huge revenue inflows and market. It also has a uniform tax regime and payment processing options. This is why UK-based firms are currently bracing themselves for tough times ahead.

Perhaps no other industry shall be as hardest hit as Gibraltar’s gambling industry. This is because it is one of Europe’s if not the world’s most developed and sophisticated gambling industry. The departure of the UK from the EU is, therefore, going to severely impact the betting firms that set up base there.

The two most likely negative impacts are the dip in revenue, sophisticated operational environments, and the shrinking of the market base. This has sent many firms panicking. Both the operational firms as well as the government of Gibraltar have decided to put in a raft of measures that are geared towards mitigating these dangers.

As part of forestalling the adverse negative consequences of this imminent departure, the government of Gibraltar has stepped in to reduce the operational expenses of the gambling firms that are based within its borders. It has decided to lower the tax that is levied on the income which is derived from gambling. At the same time, it has also decided to raise the license fees.

Before the Brexit deal started taking shape, firms used to part with 1% of their betting revenue in form of tax. As things stand, this figure was reduced by a whopping 85%! Right now, the betting firms will part with only 0.15% of their revenue from gambling.

Given that proceeds from gambling constitute a huge portion of the income of Gibraltar, a way out has to be sought. The government has decided to increase the license fees as part of the strategy to make up for that shortfall. The B2B firms shall now pay $112,000 (£85,000) while the B2C shall pay $132,000 (£100,000).

This means that it will be more expensive for firms to enter the market. However, license fees are a one-time expense. This increase will not impact the profit margins of such firms in the future.

During these Brexit talks, the service industry has largely been overlooked. Since gambling is part of the service industry, it will not be given the necessary attention it ought to during such talks. This has prompted some players within Gibraltar’s gambling industry to consider lodging an official complaint with the World Trade Organization.

This is because both the UK and the EU are members of this global trade body. They also draw their inspiration from a case that once pitied the US and the tiny Caribbean nation of Antigua. In that dispute, the WTO mediated and ruled in favour of Antigua.

Some firms have however opted to relocate to other bases that are still within the purview of the European Union. The Bet365 and the 888 Holdings are two of the most outstanding firms of this kind. They have decided to relocate to Malta and Ireland respectively.

These impending disasters notwithstanding, the Government of Gibraltar has remained upbeat and undeterred. The Minister for Financial Services of the nation-state, one Mr. Albert Isola, has insisted that the nation shall withstand the dangers and remain strong.

He has further stated that the alterations of the license fees and tax regime are all geared towards solidifying the stature of Gibraltar as Europe’s top betting hotspot.