Launches and sign-ups 11 April 2012
Launches and sign-ups from the egaming industry in the last seven days (5 April to 11 April 2012).
Manitoba to launch gaming site
Province is sixth to offer regulated egaming, including poker and casino games.
Canadian province Manitoba has partnered with British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) to offer regulated online gambling to its residents for the first time.
BCLC, in conjunction with existing software and gaming platform supplier OpenBet, will design and develop the new egaming site as well as provide testing services. The province of Manitoba currently offers retail lottery tickets and sports betting. In addition to casino and poker, sportsbetting and bingo may also be available when the site launches next year, a statement by OpenBet said.
Manitoba Lotteries, the province-owned corporation that owns and operates casinos in its capital Winnipeg, as well as the province’s Video Lottery Terminal (VLT) network, will operate the egaming offering, while the site will be regulated by the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission. OpenBet’s platform and products are currently used by BCLC, Loto Québec and the Atlantic Lottery Corporation and will service Manitoba from its office in Montreal.
Michael Graydon, President and CEO of BCLC, said: “We are creating a new revenue stream for BCLC by leveraging our experience and the expertise of our best-in-class vendors and providing these services to another jurisdiction.”
PokerStars “working on” Zoom for mobile
PokerStars is “working on” developing a mobile-ready version of its fast-paced poker product Zoom, the operator’s director of new platforms Jeffrey Haas has revealed.
Haas made the comments on the Two Plus Two poker forums earlier today, although he was unable to specify a timeframe for the launch of such an offering. He added that “Our intent is to make our mobile game available in more countries, but I can’t comment on when that will occur.”
PokerStars’ mobile app is available on Apple and Android devices for customers in the UK and Italy, and a recent update included iPad 3 compatibility.
Zynga “in talks” with Wynn Resorts
Social gaming giant Zynga is reportedly in talks with Wynn Resorts over a potential egaming partnership, sources in the States have revealed.
The New York Post reports that Zynga is currently discussing a deal which would see the companies create a real-money gambling offering following the passage of US regulation, but does not specify whether this would be on a federal or intrastate basis.
This follows comments made by Zynga’s founder and CEO Mark Pincus (pictured) at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in early March, where he described real-money gambling as “the perfect fit with virtual goods and social games.”
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
GVC disposes of Betaland
GVC Holdings has announced that it has it has sold its Betaland brand to a third-party company for “a nominal sum” after deciding that the returns from the operation “no longer justify the risks involved.”
Betaland has been bought by GVC New Limited “ a company not affiliated in any way with the operator, but also registered in Malta. Under the terms of the deal, the holding company will change its name to something totally unrelated to GVC Holdings within two years.
Fast Poker goes live on Unibet
Unibet has become the first operator to go live with Relax Gaming’s ‘Fast Poker’ product.
Other poker sites, including Betsson and iGame, will launch the offering in the near future after their respective agreements with Relax were announced earlier this year.
GBI Racing to launch in Denmark and Canada
GBI Racing has signed deals with Canadian racetrack operator Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG) and former Danish monopoly Danske Spil, which will see British and Irish horse racing broadcast in Canada and Denmark for the first time.
Under the terms of the deal, races shown via the GBI Racing channel will now be screened on Canada’s Horse Player Interactive TV, and customers will be able to place bets on horse racing meets at WEG’s racetracks.
Entepulse signs tier 1 tennis deals
Enetpulse has signed a number of multi-year tennis data deals with tier one operators bet365, William Hill and Paddy Power just a few months after the exclusive global supplier of ATP & WTA data secured a five year exclusive deal with the governing bodies of the men’s and women’s professional tennis tours in September last year. Data is supplied directly from the ATP and WTA’s central scoring system.
Denise Coates, joint chief executive of bet365 said: “bet365 remains committed to offering the fastest and most comprehensive in”play experience for our customers. The addition of the complete and official ATP & WTA live scoring tennis data via Enetpulse takes our In-Play tennis service to a new level both in terms of speed and coverage.”
Play’n GO signs deal with Tatts subsidiary
Swedish software developer Play’n GO has announced a deal to supply UK-facing operator Quicksilver “ operated by Talarius Ltd, a subsidiary of the Australian Tattersalls Group “ with mobile and casino games.
Under the terms of the agreement Play’n GO will provide Flash games for Quicksilver’s online site, and HTML5 products for its mobile offering. Commenting on the deal, the company’s technology director Nick Pearson said: “We”© are “©delighted “©to “©be “©working”© with”© Play’n “©GO”© to make “©their”© wide”© range”© of “©mobile”© slot”© games “©available “©to”© our”© customers.”©”©
Microgaming has released a portfolio of flash games for April, including new video slots Karate Pig and Tiger Vs Bear Siberian Stand-off.
Entwinetech has signed up ToteDaddy for its live dealer casino games.