Governor of Sicily Raffaele Lombardo wants to respect the commitments for the Casino of Taormina

The Region of Sicily has absolutely not renounced the idea, repeatedly proposed and sought to reopen the Casino in Taormina. We have not forgotten the commitments made by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said the Governor. In pre-election pact the PDL party which supports Berlusconi run together with with the MPA, the Movement leaded by the Governor of Sicily, Raffaele Lombardo. The reopening of the casino of Taormina, province of Messina, was one of the points agreed. A casino in Taormina means with no doubts a boost to the local tourism industry making the casino the first one in south of Italy.
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New laws in Nevada

New laws in Nevada It has been speculated that the Nevada Gaming Control Board is now creating rules to govern the land-based casino operators once the federal government regulates the online gambling industry and gives the green light to Nevada legislators which would then permit Las Vegas casinos to legally offer gambling over the Internet.
While their are strict guidelines when it comes to advertising the casinos in Las Vegas, the laws are unclear when it comes to online gambling and advertising over the Internet. The NGCB as well as government legislators plan to draft rules and regulations for the online gambling industry. They want to make sure that all of the rules and regulations in Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada are up-to-date. Once online casino gambling is legal within the United States, the land-based casinos will rush to enter the new market.
The NGCB wants to make sure that the same rules and protections are in place for online gambling that protect land casino operators, their employees, and patrons in the state of Nevada. The casino operators in Las Vegas have been able to advertise free casino games because online gambling is legally a grey area in Nevada.
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IT analysts stole £33,000 from London casinos

Two IT contractors have admitted using their insider knowledge to cheat casinos out of thousands of pounds by printing false winning betting slips.

Andrew Owen Ashley, 30, Nimesh Bhagat, 31, both from London, admitted theft between July and September 2007.

They received 12 month suspended prison sentences at Croydon Crown Court.

The scam centred on remote betting terminals at casinos that enable customers to place bets without being at the roulette table.

These men not only used their intimate knowledge of two complex systems to break the law and make these fraudulent claims, they also breached the trust of their employers  

Those who make winning bets are given a printed ticket with details of their credit that can then be cashed.

They reprogrammed the machines to print out winning vouchers for sums of up to £600, whatever the outcome on the wheel.

But they were caught out when a sharp-eyed cashier realised a payout was impossible as only £10 had been wagered at odds of 35-1.

Officials traced a string of suspicious wins back to the two contractors, who were employed as problem analysts.

Ashley, of Catford, south-east London, and Bhagat, of Balham, south-west London, each pleaded guilty to theft under the Theft Act 1968. The pair were also ordered to undertake 200 hours of community service and pay back around £16,000 each.

The convictions are believed to be the first where people have been caught mishandling the computer technology behind Britain's gaming industry.

Det Insp Ann-Marie Waller said: "These men not only used their intimate knowledge of two complex systems to break the law and make these fraudulent claims, they also breached the trust of their employers."
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Calvin Ayre attacks Partygaming

Calvin Ayre was on the record since the early 2000’s as saying that privately owned corporate structures are better for the on-line gaming industry than a public structure. He was on a panel with a few executives during the GIGSI conference in Montreal in spring 2006. During my debate I stuck to my position that the flexibility of a private structure gave advantages to private companies and was accused of over stating the size of Bodog (remember I was on the cover of Forbes Billionaires issue a few months earlier) or some such other logic on what my real agenda was.
Less than 6 months later all the public companies, including the ones he was debating with, were out of the US market, one was in fact already shut down. Now, this caused a lot of pain to a lot of people, but the reason is because these same companies are now complaining that the private companies like Poker Stars, Full Tilt (and the soon to be launched European based Bodog Poker Network, run by respected former OnGame CEO Patrik Selin) are somehow competing unfairly by not leaving the US market….

 The real problem the public companies have is not just the private companies (their complaining is now proving that they all agree with me related to the US market by the way), it’s that this same issue is inherent in all other markets. They are all still the big lumbering inflexible beasts they were before and they are all still in an industry that rewards flexibility. But its even worse than this. The same boring competency that you need to sell to the public markets in order to maximize your stock values, well its boring and it makes your brand the same way doesn’t it. Maybe Party should consider changing their name to “40 Winks Gaming” or “Blue Hair Gaming” to get more on brand with how they operate.

Summing up Ayre thinks the existing public companies, with all the fussing around about mergers and other such things that waste time and energy, are going to be slowly passed by aggressive private companies who are nimble and have fun exciting brands. Time well prove if is right or wrong.

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CryptoLogic and Betsson: 3 year agreement

Cryptologic after a similar agreement with Bet24, has signed a three-year agreement to license at least nine of its most popular online betting games to Betsson Malta Ltd. The move means Cryptologic’s suite of games will appear on the websites of www.betsson.com, www.casinoeuro.com and www.cherrycasino.com.
The deal will provide CryptoLogic with recurring revenue based on wagers placed by Betsson's customers. Justin Thouin, Vice-President of CryptoLogic, said: "Betsson is the latest customer to sign up to CryptoLogic's games, underscoring the value our innovative and rich content brings to operators worldwide. With every new licensee CryptoLogic not only expands its global reach but also strengthens its base for generating long term revenues."
Betsson offers a wide range of first-class online gambling products and games in a safe and user-friendly gaming environment. Its product portfolio currently includes: Sportsbook, Betting Exchange, Casino, Poker, Games, Scratchcards and Bingo.

Magnus Grinneback, Business Area Director of Betsson.com, said: "We are confident CryptoLogic's highly innovative games will enhance our customers' gaming experience and attract more demand. We look forward to working with CryptoLogic to help us achieve just that."

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Casino Gaming Stock Quotes

 CryptoLogic Ltd,an Internet casino and branded gaming software company reported a narrower fourth quarter loss contributed to lower expenses. A loss of $24.8 million or $1.97 a share has been reported with quarterly revenue down 13% to $9.9 million due to lower contributions from Internet radio and Internet poker businesses.

“2009 was a tough year as a number of adverse factors including a global economic downturn overshadowed the company’s progress in implementing its innovative new strategy to reduce costs and return to growth. At the same time, new business momentum remains encouraging as branded games continue to roll out and hosted casino licensees implement new initiatives. With new licensing activity staying strong and the overall online casino/gaming market showing some improvement, we look to the year with cautious optimism.”

CryptoLogic said they expect to further reduce overhead cost in 2010 by implementing additional measures to streamline operations and lower overall employee expenses.

 

As well as integrating its Cyprus office with existing operations in Malta. As a result of the relocation being completed later this year the company hopes to enhance customer service and back office capability. Staff based in Cyprus are being offered the opportunity to relocate in Malta but rumors suggest the deadline for this has been postponed.

In addition the company is also actively developing gaming content tailored for the rapidly expanding mobile Internet, social networking and 3-D environments with its first 3-D games anticipated to be launched in Q2 2010.

 

WYNN 67.74   +1.85   +2.81%

LVS         17.87   +0.69   +4.02%

MGM 11.27   +0.50   +4.64%

BYI         39.05   +0.39   +1.01%

ISLE   7.76   +0.14   +1.84%

ASCA 16.12   +0.36   +2.28%

PENN 24.26   +0.21   +0.87%

CRYP   3.04   -0.01   -0.33%

IGT         17.10   -0.07   -0.41%

WMS 38.55   +0.20   +0.52%

BYD   8.16   +0.21   +2.64%

PNK   8.54   +0.29   +3.52%

MCRI   8.34   +0.40   +5.04%

RIV           0.00   +0.00    +5.04%

CNTY   2.43   +0.05   +2.10%

 

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Partygaming incentive plan

In accordance with PartyGaming’s long-term incentive plans for Executive Directors, the following awards over the Company’s ordinary shares of 0.015 pence each (“Shares”) have today been granted under the PartyGaming Plc Executive Share Option Plan (“ESOP”) to the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Group Finance Director.
Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer, has been awarded an option over 250,000 Shares and Martin Weigold, Group Finance Director, has been awarded an option over 200,000 Shares. These options vest subject to the growth in the Company’s Clean Earnings per Share over the three-year period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2012. The threshold for vesting, at which 25% will vest, will be 5% Clean EPS annual growth over the three-year period, rising on a straight-line basis to 100% vesting if annual Clean EPS growth equals or exceeds 15% over the period. Each option is exercisable at 310.10 pence per Share and has been awarded at nil-cost. Unless exercised following the satisfaction of the aforementioned performance condition, these options will lapse on 5 March 2020.
This is the third award to be granted under the ESOP to Mr Ryan. The first grant was made in October 2008 over 645,100 Shares and the second award was made in April 2009 over 125,000 Shares. This is the fourth award granted under the ESOP to Mr Weigold. The first award was made in May 2007 over 88,360 Shares, the second award was made in March 2008 over 171,402 Shares and the third award was made in April 2009 over 337,500 Shares.
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Casino online: the new generation

Microgaming is one of the leading online casino software providers in the world, and they have once again struck gold with their Cashapillar slot. The game is a five-reel, 100 pay line slot that can be played at $.01 or $.02 a coin.
The maximum number of coins that can be played is 1,000, equalling $20 a spin. At the lower $.01 per coin, the game can be played at a $10 a spin max. It is inside the game, however, that players are getting lost in the world of caterpillars.
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Gaming Stock News

Ladbrokes The new week of trading is about to begin on the London Stock Exchange and that is good news for gaming company Ladbrokes. The gaming giant had a slight decrease in price to finish last week. On Friday, Ladbrokes stock closed at 145.90. That was a loss of 2.50, or 1.68% for the day.
The company had spent some time as the second highest gaming stock last year, but quickly relinquished that title back to William Hill. For William Hill, it was good news on Friday. Although it was not a monumental increase, William Hill stock rose .40, to 195. While not a bad price, it pales in comparison to the highest gaming stock on the market. PartyGaming has long been the most stable of all the gaming stocks, and Friday the company soared over the 300 mark.
The gain of 8.30, or 2.81%, helped PartyGaming end the week at 303.30, easily the highest of all gaming stocks. PartyGaming spent much of 2009 cleaning up their problems with the US. Once they settled with the US, the company began to expand by acquiring other gaming companies. The successful 2009 campaign has made PartyGaming one of the top investments on the London market.
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