Launches and sign-ups 23 January 2013
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (17 January to 23 January).
PokerStars agrees deal for NJ casino
Rational Group, the operator’s parent company, has applied for approval from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.
PokerStars parent company Rational Group has filed for approval from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement as it looks to complete the acquisition of the Atlantic Club Casino Hotel in Atlantic City.
If approved, the operator would subsequently be permitted to apply for an online gaming licence once relevant legislation is passed, after last July’s Black Friday settlement with US authorities left the door open for PokerStars to re-enter the US market where regulation allows.
A statement from the gaming authority, published by the Press of Atlantic City, confirmed the application for an “interim casino authorisation” from the operator, which is believed – according to media reports last month – to have agreed a purchase price of less than US$50m for the loss-making casino.
The venue reported gross operating losses of $13.6m for the first nine months of 2012, with gambling revenues falling 11% to $127.2m across the same period.
SkyBet agrees three-year OpenBet contract extension
eGaming Review operator of the year SkyBet has signed a three-year contract extension with OpenBet for the provision of software, content, support and maintenance, the supplier has announced this morning.
The mainly UK-focused operator has a decade-long relationship with OpenBet and is one of the sports platform and software provider’s longest standing customers. Today’s deal will see OpenBet continue to supply the latest casino, poker and sportsbook products to SkyBet, Sky Vegas and Sky Poker.
OpenBet Sportsbook powers SkyBet’s online and mobile gambling platform from one centrally managed customer account, while the operator’s access to OpenBet Casino and its Remote Gaming Interface will enable Sky Vegas to select from the supplier’s proprietary content or third-party game providers.
Playtech to launch live casino with Casino Gran Madrid
Playtech is set to launch a live casino offering for the Spanish egaming market after agreeing a deal with one of the country’s largest land-based casinos.
Casino Gran Madrid, which is among several licensees of the software provider’s marketing arm PT Turnkey Services, will offer the land-based presence required of all dot.es live casino providers, thereby allowing Playtech to supply the offering to its Spanish-facing licensees, which include bet365 and Poker770.
Playtech’s live gaming studio, located at the venue itself, will offer HD broadcasts of casino table games with Spanish-speaking dealers.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Snai launches mobile roulette with GameAccount
Italian operator Snai has launched mobile roulette apps for Android and Apple devices with dot.it partner GameAccount Network.
The real-money apps are the “first of many” which the operator intends to release in 2013, and both are compliant with Italian casino regulations.
Snai, which has the second-highest market share for dot.it casino behind Lottomatica, agreed a deal with GameAccount earlier this month which saw the supplier launch a dedicated ‘Monte Carlo’ casino channel on the operator’s Italian-facing site.
Eurobet first to offer IGT online slots in Italy
Eurobet, Gala Coral’s Italian-regulated arm, has become the first operator to go live with IGT online slots in five year-old regulated market.
The first seven games approved by Italian regulator AAMS, or the Customs Authority since the merger between the two bodies, including titles such as Star Trek, Treasures of Troy, Garden Party and Pixies of the Forest, and two roulette games, were released on the Eurobet.it website on 11 January.
The games are integrated on the Italian site through the GameAccount platform and offered under the Luxor casino tab. A number of other IGT games will go live in the near future as soon as they complete the Italian certification and approval process, a Eurobet spokesman told eGaming Review.
PokerStars agrees Lyon partnership
PokerStars has announced a media partnership with French football team Olympique Lyonnais which sees the operator become an official supporter of the club.
The deal will see adverts for Stars’ dot.fr site broadcast on Lyon’s TV channel and added to its official website, with advertising also appearing in the club’s Stade Gerland on matchdays. The operator, which appointed Rafi Ashkenazi as COO last week, will also launch a series of regular poker tournaments for fans, giving them the chance to win exclusive prizes such as hospitality tickets for matches, signed shirts and tickets for PokerStars tournaments.
Locaid and CAMS sign mobile deal
Central Account Management System (CAMS) and Locaid have entered into a partnership to offer a location-based player identification and management system for mobile gaming operators.
CAMS, a subsidiary of global electronic payment company Verifi, became the first company licensed to offer geolocation services for online poker in Nevada in November, as well as the second to offer payment processing services after Global Cash Access.
New live casino deal for Bodog
Bodog Gaming has reached an agreement to supply Malta-licensed online casino Vera&John with a live dealer casino.
The product will be added to Vera&John’s dot.com site, which hosts baccarat, sic bo, roulette and Dragon Tiger games and is owned by Dumarca Holding company Plain Support SA.
Malta-licensed operator YouWin has spoken of the role of open-source technology in increasing its efficiency in player retention and white-label rollouts. The operator, whose poker offering sits on the Merge Gaming network and which launched an online casino offering with Chartwell in July 2011, selected 10gen’s MongoDB database within the last 12 months and has already seen an improvement with bounce rates dropping by 48%.
YouWin head of development Arek Goralski said: “Our users have very high standards and so our business model is based on satisfying their needs. We cannot afford to offend them with glitches or slow site-speeds and MongoDB helps us keep the site running smoothly so players can make decisions quickly. We know the better the site performs, the longer users stay and the more money they spend.”
NYX Gaming Group subsidiary NYX Interactive has released three new titles on its MOVE mobile offering. Cherry Blossoms, Dolphin Reef and Venetian Rose are all HTML5 slot games, and are powered by NYX’s Open Gaming System (OGS).
NYX Interactive CEO David Flynn said: “MOVE powered by NYX OGS is rapidly expanding to become the leading platform for mobile casino content. The delivery of these 3 games is a testament to the focus we have on mobile content that performs.”
Austrian operator Win2Day has completed the launch its dot.be offering after being awarded a licence by the Belgian Gaming Commission. The site is powered by OMEGA Gaming’s OMEGA CORE Management System, which allows for real-time management of its poker, casino, bingo and sports products.
Win2Day co-CEO Emmerich Hager said: “OMEGA has managed the integration of the best of breed products we offer our players, as well as ensuring consistent regulatory compliance and responsible gaming across multiple verticals.”
Egaming digital acquisition agency Jack Media has signed up with direct response TV (DRTV) agency MC&C in an agreement which it hopes will provide new marketing opportunities for its clients, which include William Hill, Probability and Spielo G2.
Jack Media managing director Emmie Faust said: “Over the last year and across the entire gambling sector, we have noticed that once TV is included within an acquisition schedule, the volume of new players and the ROI of the entire marketing spend significantly increases. “
Sportech brand Vernons has launched a television campaign or both their online casino and bingo brands. The adverts, which showcase special sign up offers and bonuses, made their debut earlier this week. They will now be rolled out on terrestrial channels ITV1 and Channel 5 as well as a host of other satellite channels throughout 2013.
Gala Coral‘s Coral brand has signed up as the newest betting partner of Perform Group-owned sports portal Goal.com. it follows Paddy Power in agreeing such a deal, and offers a free £50 bet to Goal.com users.