Launches and sign-ups 19 November 2014
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (13 November to 19 November 2014)
Ladbrokes relaunches bingo with £3m prize pool
Ladbrokes says it has “ticked all the boxes” for its revamped bingo product that has launched on Playtech’s Virtue Fusion alongside a £3m prize giveaway.
The bookmaker has collaborated with Playtech to completely overhaul its bingo site, which has included a redesign of “every element” of the product following feedback from regular users.
“We are now able to offer our players a state-of-the-art bingo experience that we believe will mark us out as the best in the business,” Josefine Fox, head of Ladbrokes Bingo, said.
“We think we’ve ticked all those boxes and hope our players are as pleased with the results as we are,” she said.
Betfair partners with Golden Nugget in New Jersey
Betfair has secured its long-term future in the regulated New Jersey egaming market by entering a partnership with land-based operator Golden Nugget, pending approval from the New Jersey regulator, eGaming Review can exclusively reveal.
The deal will see Betfair use the Golden Nugget’s interactive gaming permit to continue operating its BetfairCasino.com site to players in the state, after former land-based partner Trump Plaza closed its doors in September.
Online operators are required to partner with a land-based Atlantic City casino, under state gaming regulations.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) stepped in to help safeguard Betfair’s future by allowing the online operator to continue using the Plaza’s licence despite its closure, but said it needed to find a new bricks-and-mortar partner.
William Hill makes “personalisation” play with OpenBet deal
William Hill has extended its partnership with sportsbook platform supplier OpenBet as part of its shift to a “differentiated” and “personalised” customer experience.
The operator, which has partnered with OpenBet since 2008, will continue to use OpenBet’s platform for a further three years until 2017.
London-based OpenBet said the agreement has a renewed focus on collaboration with William Hill in order to give its client “greater technological flexibility”.
Over the past year William Hill has revealed it is working on a complete overhaul of its customer-facing websites, dubbed internally as ‘Project Trafalgar’.
Amaya sportsbook on track for 2015 launch
Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov (pictured) said the company continues to “invest heavily” in developing its proprietary Full Tilt-branded sportsbook with a launch expected in the first half of 2015.
Speaking to investors after the Toronto-based firm reported its Q3 results on Friday, Baazov said the company intends to use some third-party services but would develop the “key differentiating factors” in-house.
“The business intends to leverage third-party services for non-differentiating components while we continue to control the loyalty program, customer service, and other key differentiating factors of the business,” Baazov said.
There had been suggestions that Amaya had ditched plans to build a propriety sportsbook while various reports last week linked the firm to a takeover bid for bwin.party.
Nektan signs US-facing mobile JV
Mobile gaming supplier Nektan has formed a joint venture with online and land-based slots developer Spin Games to bring in-venue mobile gaming to the US market.
The 50/50 joint venture enables land-based operators to introduce new game content that can be played on both slot machines and mobile devices in-venue.
Nektan said it already had deals in place with three land-based operators in California and Nevada.
“We are delighted to be forming a joint venture with Nektan and feel our combined technology and expertise will allow us to exploit the opportunities in the North America gaming market,” Kent Young, CEO of Spin Games, said.
Playtech’s iPoker rolls out source-based rake
Playtech’s iPoker network is aiming to roll out its “revolutionary” new rake allocation method to its dot.it and dot.com networks in January, eGaming Review has learned.
The new method, dubbed source-based rake (SBR), has been trialled by the firm in the Italian market since July with a number of licensees running a simulation of SBR in order to evaluate its performance.
eGR understands the results have been deemed a success and iPoker will introduce SBR to the dot.it market on a permanent basis as of 1 January 2015, at which point it is also aimed to be introduced to the dot.com network.
The introduction is set to be phased, however, with iPoker’s Spain and France-facing networks set to wait beyond January.
PokerStars strikes second California deal
PokerStars and parent company Amaya Gaming have struck a deal with the powerful San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, who previously lobbied for a bad actor clause in California, to supply them with an online poker platform as soon as it is legal to do so.
The deal with the tribe is the second signed by PokerStars in California, having already joined forces with the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and three of the state’s largest card rooms – the Commerce Club, the Hawaiian Gardens Casino and the Bicycle Casino – back in April.
San Manuel’s decision to join the PokerStars coalition may come as a surprise to some, as the tribe had previously lobbied in favour of so-called “bad actor” language to be included in online poker legislation that would have barred Stars from licensure in the state.
“We are pleased to join this coalition,” Lynn Valbuena, chairwoman of San Manuel, said. “We are convinced that the various interests must work together if we are to be successful in establishing a well-regulated environment and the best-in-class internet poker industry for California.”
Churchill Downs acquires Big Fish Games for $885m
Horserace wagering operator Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) is set to acquire social games publisher Big Fish Games in a deal worth up to US$885m (£560m).
The Kentucky-based company will acquire Big Fish for an initial $485m on a cash-free/debt-free basis, as well as a potential earn-out payment of up to $350m and $50m bonus payment to Big Fish CEO Paul Thelen.
Goldman Sachs is acting as financial advisor to CDI and JPMorgan as lead on the financing of the acquisition, the price of which was based on a multiple of approximately 8.5x Big Fish’s adjusted EBITDA of $57.3m for the 12 months ended 30 September 2014.
“The acquisition of Big Fish and our entry into the rapidly growing mobile and online games industry gives us new products, new customers, new geographies and new sizeable growth opportunities,” Bill Carstanjen, CDI chief executive, said.
Comtrade Gaming partners with Blueprint Gaming
Comtrade Gaming has announced a supplier deal with Blueprint Gaming. Comtrade Gaming’s iCore, The Enterprise Gaming Platform is being integrated with Blueprint Gaming’s RGS, which includes popular titles such as Plants versus Zombies, Wish upon a Jackpot and Casper.