Category Games News

Following the revelation that Française des Jeux (FDJ) had agreed to purchase ZeTurf Group, an online horse racing wagering site, in November last year, l’Autorité de la Concurrence (ADLC), France’s national competition regulator, has now approved the said acquisition.

The regulator highlights competition concerns:

FDJ must alternate few aspects of its business to solve regulatory concerns regarding risks to competition. Specifically, the operator is devoted to splitting its competitive and monopoly gaming operations. Additionally, it said it would “allow any French licensed operator to access the common pool of horse racing bets it manages.”

Although both ZeTurf and FDJ provide online sports wagering, their low mixed market stake means that this in itself is not of concern to the regulator. Instead, the regulator said problems could arise from “FDJ’s monopoly” on retail sports wagering and lottery games. It also claimed that “because of its exclusive rights to offer these segments, the new combined business may have been tempted to restrict the competition for online horse racing and sports betting.” However, this may happen if FDJ promotes sports wagering and online horse racing to its monopoly clients or implements a single user account for every game offered.

Problems with horse racing wagering pools:

Furthermore, the regulator also emphasized competition problems, especially for horse racing. It noted that the newest mixed entity could make it more hard for competitors to gain access to wagering pools operated by the company and would be offered the option of detaching competitors’ wagers from these pools.

On that note, the ADLC commented: “The analysis conducted by l’Autorité demonstrated that the new entity had the ability and incentive to consider implementing such strategies and that they would have been effective to the detriment of ZeTurf’s competitors. L’Autorité therefore concluded that the risk of harm to competition through conglomerate effects could not be excluded.”

FDJ accepts to split competitive and monopoly gaming activities:

Because of the risks to competition emphasized by the aforementioned regulator, FDJ accepted to split its competitive and monopoly gaming operations. As a proof of this, it promised to install applications and websites for every segment of the business. Additionally, there will be no joint passage or homepage linking them.

What’s more, the lottery operator has also accepted to creates individual player accounts for every segment. Commenting on its decision to agree, FDJ said: “We will also refrain from creating a customer database to promote its competitive gaming activities, which would include monopoly player data.” It added: “We would not promote our competitive gaming activities in any of our retail outlets or online lottery hubs. Separate social media accounts will be maintained and our sales team will receive training on how to respect these commitments.”

The said operator will also supply its competitive gaming via a committed business affiliate in order to make more space between the above activities.

FDJ to permit rivals access to joint gaming pools:

The operator has decided to accept that each operator with a French license will be given access to the joint pool of horse racing wagering shares it operates. As evidence of this, it said it would “continue to maintain current pooling agreements at the date of the acquisition and that it would not stop pooling its online horse racing bets within the common pool that is available to third parties.”

And finally, following all these aforementioned promises, the aforementioned l’Autorité has accepted to permit FDJ’s long-awaited purchase to happen.

Purchase of ZeTurf:

During November 2022, the takeover of ZeTurf is planned as mentioned above. When making an announcement, FDJ said that an extra fee will be paid depending on the performance of the business during this year. However, the aforementioned operator formerly said that this purchase is part of the operator’s plans to extend its presence in the French online gambling market.

As for ZeTurf, it is the second biggest French horse racing operator and has a 20% market stake. It employs 100 people and revealed income of  €50.0 millions for 2021.

The Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) industry has been a hot topic for debate during the past month after Nevada decided to ban DraftKings and FanDuel, the two biggest DFS websites in the nation on the basis that the DFS market was similar to the casino industry and can no longer operate without a license.

A number of other states are also considering regulating the DFS industry and the state of Massachusetts has stated that the industry must have a more robust set of consumer protection regulations. Attorney General Maura Healey has put forth a proposal outlining ways in which minors and players within the DFS industry can be protected at all times.

The AG filed a petition with the office of the secretary of the state laying out a number of key points including strict data and security protection, careful monitoring of all financial transactions, ethical advertising, strict regulations prohibiting minors from accessing the website and a system in place to help gamblers with addictions. The Massachusetts government states that they were carefully monitoring the DFS industry from the beginning of 2015 and the proposal consists of suggestions that will mitigate the risks their study highlighted.

In a statement, AG Healey said “These regulations are a first of their kind for the Daily Fantasy Sports industry, and they focus on protecting minors, ensuring truthful advertising, bringing more transparency to the industry, and leveling the playing field for all consumers. This is a first step, but an important step, as we continue to evaluate this new industry and make sure our laws keep up with these evolving technologies.”

AG Healey’s staff had met with key individuals of DFS companies on a number of occasions to study and analyze company information pertaining to the DFS industry and also discovered that it was important to put rules in place to ensure that all DFS players have a level playing field so that the competition remained fair at all times.

Some of the suggestions within AG Healey’s proposal include preventing DFS companies from advertising or promoting DFS at any school or college campus; not offering any promotions that are not based on high school or college athletes’ performance; DFS employees who have insider information will not be allowed to take part in DFS concerns and experienced gamers must be prevented from playing against new gamers to avoid them from being exploited.

AG Healey’s proposal also states that DFS companies will limit deposits to $1,000 per month and exceptions should be allowed only when player verification is provided to show that they have the ability to sustain high losses and also looks to prevent DFS companies from providing players with credit facilities.

According to gaming revenue results recently released by the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE), these online casinos in New Jersey, Ocean Casino, Hard Rock, Tropicana, Bally’s, Caesars Interactive NJ, Golden Nugget, Resorts Digital and Borgata, generating $158.936 million in April. Borgata’s $43.18 million, Resorts Digital’s $41.69 and Golden Nugget’s $41.65 million were significantly more than the next highest internet gaming win reported, Caesars Interactive NJ, with $8.72 million.

In February 2020, prior to the Boardwalk City’s brick and mortar casino closures, internet gaming generated $52 million, by April that year it was $79.9 million and just one month later it was $86 million. Not only has monthly revenue from digital gaming never fallen below $80 million since that time (with the exception of Feb. 2021), in January 2021, the market segment eclipsed the $100-million mark. Furthermore, only February delivered under the $150 million mark, reporting $142.6 million for the 28-day month.

State of the States 2023

New Jersey isn’t the only state where internet gaming revenues skyrocketed after lockdown orders were given in 2020. According to the AGA State of the States Report released in May, despite any lingering effects of COVID-19 in the U.S., along with traditional gaming, iGaming is thriving, with the latter grossing $1.48 billion in Q1 2023. That’s a 22.7 percent YoY revenue increase.

The Danish gaming authority, Spillemyndigheden, has approved online casino operator Mr Green for a gaming license.

Already operating in 12 countries, the approval will now see the Stockholm-listed company’s broad range of popular casino products, such as live casino and online casino games, available to Danish customers.

Mr Green has had a presence in Denmark since the company acquired Dansk Underholding Limited in spring 2017. The Danish iGaming company operates a range of gaming brands including bingosjov.dk, bingoslottet.dk and balletbingo.dk.

Having now received the gaming license, Mr Green launched in Denmark on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017.

Per Norman, Mr Green & Co CEO said the launch is an important step in the company’s “strategy to grow geographically.” Norman explained, “Denmark is a locally regulated market which is an important criterion for us when expanding to new geographies,” according to the press release.

Founded in 2007, last year sales of SEK 924.5 million were generated by Mr Green, which has more than 220 employees. With operations based in Malta, Mr Green holds gaming licenses in Italy, the United Kingdom and Malta; casino license in Denmark and Sportsbook license in Ireland.

It’s been a productive month for the company as it announced earlier in December that it had signed an agreement to acquire rival Evoke Gaming Limited. Mr Green and Company AB stated at that time that the deal is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2018.

Leading software development company, Microgaming, has added Fortune Factory Studios to its growing arsenal of independent game builders.

The latest edition will develop exclusive content for the Isle of Man based firm, along with its already established Slingshot Studios, Triple Edge Studios and South Africa-based, Stormcraft Studios.

According to the official press release…

The new dynamic game building studio is committed to “player-centric game development” while creating experiences that are both intuitive and engaging. The studio’s “Product with Personality” will only be available to Microgaming’s operators.

Experienced professionals:

Fortune Factory Studios consists of a team of experienced game development professionals from both the video game and land-based industries. Their diverse experience allows them to create immersive slot designs that combine high-energy mechanics with a bit of whimsy, humor and mischief which enables Microgaming to introduce a new wave of premium content to the online slot market. 

New game to drop:

The first official game to launch under the new brand is Romanov Riches, which is set to roll out on October 24, 2018. Available exclusively to Microgaming operators, the soon to be released video slot game comes complete with a respin feature, mystery stacked symbols and an exciting wheel bonus feature that delivers a treasure trove of bejeweled rewards.

Commenting on the new studio and its coming slot release, Chief Executive Officer for Microgaming, John Coleman said…

“Our studios model was established to bring greater diversity and innovation to the market. The talented team at Fortune Factory have years of land-based and traditional video gaming experience behind them, ensuring they are in a strong position to deliver exciting game features and mechanics exclusively for Microgaming customers. With the launch of Romanov Riches later this month, Fortune Factory join Slingshot, Stormcraft and Triple Edge in diversifying our range with new premium content.”

Meanwhile, Fortune Factory Studios Head of Game Production, Phelan Sykes, said…

Our game design philosophy stems from our belief that marrying exciting and intuitive gambling mechanics with appealing characters, themes and purpose-designed orchestration creates the ideal gaming experiences for players. We are delighted to bring our ‘product with personality’ to Microgaming on an exclusive basis.”

Record-setting jackpot:

In more exciting news for the software developer, Microgaming’s Mega Moolah was recently hit for a massive €18.9 million (US$21.8 million) jackpot at Grand Mondial Casino. They set a new payout record for the popular progressive online slot – the largest in the industry – as well as a new Guinness World Record for the ‘largest jackpot payout in an online slot machine game.’

The Malta-based online casino content provider has significantly grown its presence in Latin America since the 2020 launch of its continental hub, with Solbet joining CryptoBet in December, Zamba in October, and most recently with Boldt’s Bplay brands, Bplay.com.ar and Bplay.com.py, in Argentina and Paraguay, among many other operators utilizing Pragmatic’s multi-product offering.

Using an official company press release, Victor Arias, Vice President Latin America for Pragmatic Play, added…

“We’re pleased to have partnered with Solbet and continue with the string of impressive commercial deals in Peru.

After last month inking a multi-year data sharing agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL), American casino operator MGM Resorts International has now announced the signing of a similar deal with Major League Baseball (MLB).

Baseball’s official partner:

The Las Vegas-based firm used an official Tuesday press release to reveal that the latest accord is to see it designated as the Official Entertainment Partner of MLB as well as the inaugural Official Gaming Partner of MLB and be given the ability to promote its brands and gaming options domestically via the professional baseball organization’s broadcast and digital platforms.

Cross-promotion opportunities:

As such, MGM Resorts International stated that the new multi-year union will see it publicize its many offerings as well as those of its playMGM brands across the United States via the MLB Network television channel, the MLB At Bat mobile app and the MLB.com domain while moreover working with the league to jointly develop ‘additional fan engagement offerings’.

In return, the Nevada casino giant detailed that MLB intellectual property is to be emblazoned on its own promotional and advertising materials while it also intends to ‘broaden its commitment to baseball’ via the signing of partnerships with individual franchises in addition to having ‘a presence’ at marquee events such as the annual World Series and MLB All-Star Game.

Statistics access:

MGM Resorts International declared that the fresh partnership is to furthermore see its domestic digital and live sportsbetting operations receive access to official MLB statistics on a non-exclusive basis while working with the league ‘to protect the integrity of the game both on and off the field’ all the while endeavoring to improve responsible gaming measures.

Operator hails ‘historic partnership’:

Jim Murren (pictured left), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for MGM Resorts, described the accord with MLB as a ‘historic partnership’ that will see the pair craft a ‘one-of-a-kind fan experience’ for professional baseball.

Murren’s statement read…

“Combining MGM Resorts International’s world-class entertainment and technology with MLB data will continue to transform a rapidly changing industry. This partnership further amplifies the significance of our GVC joint venture, firmly establishing MGM Resorts International and playMGM as the market leader in partnerships with major professional sports leagues.”

Japan commitment:

For his part, Robert Manfred (pictured right), the MLB’s Commissioner of Baseball, proclaimed that he was ‘pleased to partner with MGM Resorts International’ before detailing that the union is to additionally see the casino firm sponsor grassroots baseball events in Japan such as the travelling MLB Road Show extravaganza.

Manfred’s statement read…

“Our partnership with MGM Resorts International will help us navigate this evolving space responsibly and we look forward to the fan engagement opportunities ahead.”

Pregnancy is often a life altering time for woman. And for that reason it along with an its joy, anxiety and fears. One way to alleviate this anxiety is actually the involving pregnancy rub. Pregnancy massage encompasses prenatal and postnatal therapeutic. It is done in a conducive setting with soft lighting and calming popular music. A specially made bed that will fit you and comfortable pillows will be employed for comfort. Many therapists will advice for you to lie working with you as you would possibly already be big and uncomfortable with lying to your front or back. Some massage therapists light candles but if these affect you negatively be bound to tell them and they will be removed. Your clothing or lack than me  should be what enables you to be comfortable. After all, means that about every one in a baby.

Isn’t an airbag arm massage function typically the Inada Yume. This is really a departure from Inada’s latter models, the Inada Sogno and the Doctor’s Choice 3a seats. Some would argue that arm massage is “fluff” anyways so i guess group of personal preference if you believe it is important or no more.

As circulation is improved, the brain also starts getting the correct quantity of blood helping you believe more truly. Massage therapy is an excellent way increase brain serve as well.

Please be on time for shoppers. Whether you’re meeting with an office or going on-location it’s vital that be promptly. Sometimes other clients will run late but allow them know before you proceed that its important begin on time so that the rest of your appointments likewise be promptly. You might want to practice good time management and dissatisfied on time tables. Allow them to know whenever they are late, nonetheless have to finish on second. It’s unprofessional become chronically late to sessions. Traffic is and not a good excuse, it aids you with didn’t plan well in advance.

The reason a sensual massage is known as sensual massage is because gives you an experience that focuses on all the senses. All five senses must connect the encounter. Otherwise, there is nothing sensual about in which.

Make positive the massage therapist does his or her job in a sanitary depth. They should have fresh towels and hygienic supplies to ones massage activity. You definitely do not in order to be catch something from prior client he or she worked of. If you have any concerns at all check out a different therapist.

While the crna can tolerate a great bit of pressure, he still cannot handle my deepest deep tissue restorative massage. I have to ease up on the pressure I use with him from time to time.

These short-term some tips to help you do massage at the house. You can share the tips with others to help them learn. Of course, if you have a free day and would for a professional to admire your muscle tension, visit the massage therapy clinician. This type of therapist can alleviate many problems through massaging the system. A professional knows the right way to massage a person’s body from head to toe using various kinds of effective techniques which will be both effective and extremely rewarding.

Beginning in April of this year, betting operators in the United Kingdom will have to provide 10% of race wagering revenues to the racing industry. Last Friday, Tracey Crouch, the Minister for Sports, Tourism and Heritage, confirmed that the new rate would be applied to every betting operator, whether they were retail, online, off or on course, spread betting websites or betting exchanges.

The new rate applies to gross gambling revenues over the first £500,000 made by bookies from racing. The new percentage takes the place of the Horserace Betting Levy system which included protracted annual negotiations. Due to the changes, the Levy Board is expected to disband early next year and the UK Gambling Commission will be the group responsible for overseeing the fees. A Racing Authority is set to be created and be in charge of deciding how the money will be distributed within the racing industry.

Word of the 10% rate began back in October and bookies were trying to lobby to see the rate decreased, at least by some degree. It is believed that the fee will create around £90 million for racing each year for a time frame of seven years.The rate will be reviewed again at that time.

Nick Rust, the head of the British Horseracing Authority announced that the fee would restore to racing a return from all betting on the sport at a fair and proportionate rate. The new rate must still be approved by the European Commission to make sure it does not constitute improper state aid. Operators may decide to file an appeal on the matter to the European Court of Justice but this could take some time and would not prevent the new rate from taking place in the meantime.

Operators are not happy with the new rate. Take, for example, Ladbrokes-Coral. They have suggested that the new increase along with other factors could see the sport of horse racing in danger of pricing itself out of friends.

Step into the ring for body slamming entertainment with the new slot title Lucha Maniacs by Yggdrasil Gaming. This new slot game is based on loco luchadores wrestlers and combines exciting gameplay with colorful wrestling characters.

The main attraction of this game is the ability to retrigger an Extra Spins round. During this round, players will be able to connect to features like added wilds and multipliers. Symbols will merge to mix and match combinations to create quality wins. With the Golden Bet feature, players will have ringside seats to the wrestling affair, able to pick a special feature during the Extra Spins round.

When you are short one scatter in the base game to activating the Extra Spins round, a pick’n’ click game will be activated. In this round, players can earn wins or more scatters to then earn tickets for extra spins. The new slot game has over 20 features that can be activated, which makes gameplay even more interesting!

Jonas Strandman, Head of Slots for Yggdrasil Gaming, commented on the new title in a press release by stating: “We had a fantastic time showcasing Lucha Maniacs during one of Yggdrasil’s famous slot shot tournaments at ICE, and now is the time to launch the game for real.

“Lucha Maniacs is jam-packed full of fun and we are sure this extravaganza of action-oriented features will soon get it a cult following.”

This new video slot game released to the public on April 24 and offers a return to player percentage of 96.2%. The game is available via desktop and mobile device.