Asia Lottery Expo & Forum coming to G2E Asia 2018

The American Gaming Association and show organizer Reed Exhibitions have announced that their upcoming Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2018 extravaganza in Macau is due to feature the inaugural edition of the Asia Lottery Expo & Forum.

The pair declared that the multi-faceted Asia Lottery Expo & Forum is due to be held at The Venetian Macao from May 15 to 17 and has been designed to ‘deliver a business, learning and networking platform exclusively designed for lottery professionals’ while also providing visitors from across the region with a chance to meet and explore ‘collaboration prospects with fellow lottery operators in Asia’.

Reed Exhibitions and the American Gaming Association explained that they decided to debut the three-day Asia Lottery Expo & Forum following the success of this year’s Asia Lottery Forum and 7th China Lottery Industry Salon, which attracted some 7,000 visitors. They stated that their upcoming event is to give ‘technology and solution providers’ a stage to exhibit ‘their current and upcoming game designs, platforms, systems, capabilities and innovations’.

The organizers detailed that the Asia Lottery Expo & Forum 2018 is additionally set to feature a trio of seminars conducted by the China Lottery Industry Salon Experts Committee in partnership with some of the industry’s most prominent players. These discussions are to investigate topics as diverse as market trends and dynamics alongside the challenges and opportunities facing the sector in the era of big data while the whole affair is due to end with a first-of-its-kind networking session.

“It will offer a unique and unrivaled opportunity for professionals to meet the Asia-Pacific’s fast-growing lottery industry,” read a statement from the American Gaming Association and Reed Exhibitions.

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Playtech presents Christmas Live Casino through Jan. 2nd

Playtech is delivering an early Christmas present to all of its Live Casino licensees with the unwrapping of a festive two-table room 10 days prior to the big day.

Playtech, the world’s largest supplier of online gaming and sports betting software, has designed and built a dedicated Christmas experience filled with festive cheer featuring its top-performing Unlimited Blackjack and Roulette.

Building off the success of 2016 Christmas Roulette, along with the strong performances of Playtech’s promotional Paradise Roulette and Halloween Fortune tables, this year’s room has grown to two tables, this time featuring multi-player options and golden chips. Each one of the 50 randomly selected UK-only winners receives 20 golden chips worth £5 for use on the live tables, according to the press release.

The room is designed to recreate the decorative fairy tale Lapland home of Father Christmas, with its warm and cozy feel complete with dealers dressed as Mrs Claus and the hard-working elves who will help deliver presents to players eight days past Christmas.

The festive Playtech Live Christmas experience with bespoke table layout is open non-stop until January 2nd when the magic of the season fades and the tables return to their original state ready to welcome players to the New Year.

Playtech offers the largest Live Casino studio network across Asia and Europe, with state-of-the-art products designed to provide the most real, Omni-channel gaming experience that is supported by an industry-leading platform utilizing the most u to date business intelligence technology.

In February, Playtech opened what is touted as the world’s largest live casino, having completed the full migration of all licenses late this year.

COO for Playtech, Shimon Akad, said: “Following its overwhelming success last year, we are delighted to again be able to offer our licensees a dedicated Live Christmas experience, this time with twice as many tables, golden chips and multi-player options.

“Our Live promotional areas this year, including Halloween Fortune and Paradise Roulette, have witnessed high player demand and very positive feedback and we are planning to do many more in 2018. The Playtech Live Christmas experience is back by popular demand and really resonates with our licensees and their players and that is important when building brand identity.

“This is our way of thanking our Live customers for their ongoing and invaluable commitment and a great way to add some Christmas cheer to our new, next-generation Live offering. Merry Christmas everyone!”

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French regulator approves PokerStars.fr shared liquidity application

In France, online poker operator The Stars Group Incorporated has reportedly revealed that its PokerStars.frservice has received approval from the Autorite de Regulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL) regulator to join in an envisioned European shared liquidity project.

According to a report from iGamingBusiness.com, the online poker shared liquidity scheme was first unveiled in July and is set to present players in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal with the ability to join in cross-border games from next year so long as all software is approved by authorities in every one of the four jurisdictions.

iGamingBusiness.com additionally reported that the inaugural ARJEL authorization was granted to Reel Malta Limited, which is a subsidiary of Toronto-based The Stars Group Incorporated and operates the PokerStars.fr service, on Friday and means that its France-based players will be able to participate in the future shared liquidity project.

PokerStars is reportedly the only online poker brand to already be licensed in France, Portugal, Italy and Spain. ARJEL purportedly explained that the shared liquidity authorization is contingent upon the operator keeping it abreast of any future software changes and ensuring that only players in the four nations participate in the upcoming shared liquidity games.

For its part, OnlinePoker.net reported that authorities in France, Spain and Portugal are expected to launch the cross-border shared liquidity experiment sometime next year before Italy follows suit in 2019. It purportedly declared that the changes are expected to open up the ring-fenced markets and help to boost revenues.

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PAGCOR issues warning to casinos; allow access to minors risk losing license

In the Philippines, in an effort to reduce the number of minors who are entering casinos, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) issued an advisory on Dec. 6 revealing that any such establishment found to be granting access to individuals 21 and under will risk losing its license.

According to reports, the advisory will be effective beginning January 1, 2018.

The regulator has reportedly not specified via the advisory what in terms of the number of violations would lead to a casino’s loss of license or whether the ban would take immediate effect. However, what is known via the advisory is that penalties are set by the regulator for those who allow entry to other prohibited persons including government officials and their immediate family and individuals on the National Database of Restricted Persons (NDRP).

Allowing access to the casino to those individuals will result in the operator being fined PHP 100,000 ($1,983) per violation.

Also banned from gambling are those individuals who possess a gaming license, who are either indirectly or directly involved in gaming operations. Loan sharks/financiers are also banned in all PAGCOR-regulated and operated gaming establishments.

PAGCOR is in the midst of a transition that will see it divest its land-based casinos and move to a regulator-only capacity with Congress taking over its licensing powers. Soon, PAGCOR will auction off 35 of its satellite gaming facilities and 13 of its Casino Filipino locations. Upon completion, it is expected that PAGCOR will be renamed the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Authority (PAGA).

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Provisional approval for planned Indian casino

In India, last week reportedly saw local firm Golden Play Pvt Limited receive a provisional license that will allow it to prepare the groundwork in advance of opening a new casino inside the Hotel D’Wang in the northeastern city of Gangtok.

According to a report from GLaws.in, the six-month interim authorization was received on December 13 and permits Golden Play Pvt Limited, which is a subsidiary of Mumbai-headquartered Golden Gaming International Pvt Limited, to bring in the appropriate gambling infrastructure and technology ahead of applying for a ‘go live’ operational casino license.

Gangtok is the capital of the Indian state of Sikkim, which one of only three Indian jurisdictions that permit casino gambling, and GLaws.in reported that Golden Play Pvt Limited now expects to start gambling operations inside the five-star Hotel D’Wang by the end of April.

Should it eventually receive the expected operating license, the casino inside the Hotel D’Wang will reportedly be the fourth such facility in Sikkim alongside the nearby Mayfair Spa, Resort and Casino, Casino Deltin Denzong and The Royal Plaza Hotel.

Manoj Sethi from Golden Play Pvt Limited reportedly told GLaws.in that the new casino inside the Hotel D’Wang will feature a 1,200 sq ft gaming floor and serve to complement ‘the online sportsbetting and gaming services that are already being offered’. He purportedly stated that the firm moreover has plans to expand into ‘other states and territories where casinos are permitted’ including neighboring Nepal where it has already applied for a gambling license for the Hotel Cygnett Inn Krishna in the border city of Nepalgunj and expects to begin operations during first quarter of 2018.

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Respin LLC announces new agreement with Oregon Casino

Nektan PLC subsidiary, Respin LLC, recently announced that it signed a new partnership agreement with a casino in Oregon. Respin and the Seven Feathers Casino Resort will now be working together to bring quality gaming options to casino guests.

With the new partnership agreement, the in-venue platform of Respin titled Evolve will be added to the SUZOHAPP Interactive Pro Table. This integration will provide guests of Seven Feathers the ability to play new video slot games, poker and bingo products. On top of that, new free play games will be added to the resort’s dining venues and bars, according to the press release.

The Respin LLC brand name is Rapid GamesTM, which creates an in-venue solution for mobile gaming, which is the first platform approved for both Class II and Class III gaming, and the only one available currently. This platform recently launched in California before going live in Oregon.

Nektan Interim CEO Gary Shaw commented on the new partnership agreement by stating: “We are thrilled with this latest contract win for Rapid games as our first customer in Oregon extending the states in which we will operate. In addition, the SUZOHAPP table integration shows the flexibility of the Evolve system and its omni-channel capability linking mobile to cabinets and other existing casino infrastructure.”

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