Atari to launch alt-coins, expand online casino options with Pariplay

World Casino News

Atari to launch alt-coins, expand online casino options with Pariplay

Atari, the legendary arcade game developer of old, quietly confirmed earlier this month that it plans to create a digital currency known as Atari Token. The plan was first mentioned in December but the most recent press release brings some clarity and names a development partner. Atari SA took a 17.5% stake in Infinity Networks Ltd and have licensed their brand to the Gibraltar-based firm. The companies will build a digital entertainment platform on the blockchain with Atari Token acting as currency. Atari noted that it made no cash disbursement in the deal that will see virtual reality and game world creator veteran Ron Dimant, and pioneering derivative trading platform creator Daniel Doll-Steinberg advising. The Infinity Networks platform is still under development. Stock prices for the Paris-based company spiked over 50% after the announcement. According to Bloomberg, other companies have seen their stocks soar after jumping into cryptocurrencies. A formerly unprofitable company once known as Long Island Iced Tea saw its stock value shoot up 183% in one day in December 2017 when it rebranded as Long Blockchain Corp. The long-struggling Eastman Kodak Co., once the world leader in photography but unprepared for the disruption of digital imagery, saw their value go up in a bizarre twist last month as well. Kodak announced that it had partnered with a company to offer a service on the blockchain that pays for paparazzi photos. Kodak stock climbed 245% in two days on the news. Atari also announced that it is expanding its partnership with online casino game developer, aggregator, and platform provider Pariplay to allow gambling with cryptocurrencies. The two companies began working together in late 2014 with the launch of Atari Casino which featured real money gambling games such as Asteroids and Centipede. Online video slots featuring Atari themes and images are now available to all operators using Pariplay services. The latest Atari/Pariplay release was Pong (pictured above) which the companies announced just a few weeks ago. Some of the best online casinos found at leading UK review sites such as www.casinoreviews.co.uk, like NetBet, use Pariplay services. In October 2016 NetBet became the first UKGC licensed casino to accept Bitcoin transactions. Atari said that they will launch a variety of new online casinos with Pariplay that will all accept bets in real money or any of the currently popular cryptocurrencies. All of the new sites will feature Atari/Pariplay slots.  After the first token is established they will launch a second currency, the Pong Token which will be 'dedicated to crypto-casinos and usable on these gaming sites.' A Reuters brief on the project states that details about the launch of crypto-casinos will be announced soon. Atari Chairman and CEO, Frederic Chesnais said: "Blockchain technology is poised to take a very important place in our environment and to transform, if not revolutionize, the current economic ecosystem, especially in the areas of the video game industry and online transactions," according to a Nasdaq GlobeNewswire statement issued in French. It's unclear if the Atari Token will make much of a splash in a pool of more than 1,500 alt-coins already in existence with a total market cap of over half a trillion dollars, but it could well be the impetus the company needs to break out of being perceived as a relic.    

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Pala Casino announces summer entertainment headliners

Casino City Times

Pala Casino announces summer entertainment headliners

Ahead of the opening of its swimming pool, bar and outdoor restaurant, the casino has unveiled its celebratory lineup.

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La Serena mayor to lobby for a change to casino legislation

World Casino News

La Serena mayor to lobby for a change to casino legislation

In northern Chile, the mayor for the city of La Serena has reportedly revealed that he intends to begin lobbying for a change to existing federal legislation that has prohibited his historic community from hosting a casino. According to a Sunday report from G3 Newswire citing a story from the local El Dia newspaper, Roberto Jacob declared that it is ‘unfair’ that some Chilean cities are permitted to host casinos and as a result receive approximately $8.4 million every year in tax benefits while others are prohibited from taking advantage of the same opportunity. Under current federal legislation, no casino in Chile may be located within 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) of a counterpart and this stipulation has prevented La Serena from hosting such an establishment. This is due to the presence of the Enjoy Coquimbo facility in the neighboring port city of Coquimbo while the smaller Ovalle Casino and Resort sits only 51 miles away in the mountainous area just north of the community of Ovalle. Jacob reportedly stated that he has already received support for his plan to bring a casino to La Serena from local councilors and soon intends to begin discussions with federal legislators from every one of the nation’s many political parties. Referring to the current state of affairs as ‘a tremendous injustice’, he purportedly asserted that his city should be able to join the fellow Chilean tourist resort city of Vina Del Mar in hosting a casino. “I am glad that they have it but why can’t La Serena have a casino, which is a tourist city, just because of the famous restriction of 60 kilometers,” Jacob reportedly told the newspaper. The second oldest city in Chile after being established by Spanish explorers in 1544, La Serena is home to approximately 150,000 people but sees this population double every summer as tourists travel from across the country to enjoy the area’s white sandy beaches and numerous recreational activities. The community is moreover the capital of the nation’s Coquimbo state with Jacob reportedly proclaiming that a casino would help the region to attract even more visitors. “This is the same as supermarkets,” Jacob reportedly told the newspaper. “People say why so many but there are clients for them all. Therefore, it will be profitable in any case and increase the number of tourists that arrive in the city.”

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Wisconsin man wins $1.23M jackpot at the Freemont in Las Vegas

World Casino News

Wisconsin man wins $1.23M jackpot at the Freemont in Las Vegas

One Wisconsin man staying at the Freemont Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas reportedly hit an International Game Technology (IGT) (NYSE: IGT) “Wheel of Fortune” jackpot valued at $1.23 million. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that according to a statement from the Boyd Gaming-owned property, the Fremont guest hit the life-changing jackpot at approximately 6:40am last Sunday after having reportedly made a $2 bet on the “Wheel of Fortune” Double 3x4x5x Pay game. The most recent jackpot is reportedly the second one at the Freemont in less than seven months. According to the news agency, a guest identified only as Rodolfo T. hit for $11.8 million on IGT’s Megabucks on Aug. 8 at the hotel and casino located on 200 Fremont Street. IGT progressive jackpots can be paid out either over a number of years in annual installments or offer a lump sum payment that is less than the actual jackpot. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, the Fremont Hotel opened on May 18, 1956 as the tallest building in the state of Nevada The property was opened at a cost of $6 million and at the time had 155 rooms and was owned by Ed Levinson and Lou Lurie. The property was expanded in 1963 and in 1976 before Sam Boyd purchased it to add to his Boyd Gaming group properties in 1983. Located in downtown Las Vegas, the Freemont is part of the Freemont Street Experience and now features 447 rooms and suites, along with 32,000 square feet of gaming space, 1,000 slots, video poker or keno machines, 24 table games, live keno, and Race and Sports Book. The Freemont’s sister casinos in Las Vegas include the California Hotel Casino on Ogden; Main Street Station Casino Brewery Hotel on North Main Street; the Orleans Hotel & Casino on West Tropicana Avenue; Gold Coast Hotel & Casino on West Flamingo Road; Suncoast Hotel & Casino on Alta Drive and Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall on Boulder Highway.

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Winamax Could Roll Out Shared Online Poker Tables within Next Two Months

Casino News Daily

Winamax Could Roll Out Shared Online Poker Tables within Next Two Months

French online poker operator Winamax will need around two months to join the Western Europe-wide shared online liquidity project. The poker room is currently licensed to operate in its home country and recently received the go-ahead form the local gambling regulator, ARJEL, to share liquidity in the countries that participate in the scheme.

Winamax has already applied for the necessary license to operate in Spain but the country’s regulatory body, DGOJ, is yet to issue it. In Italy, the French operator secured its presence through the acquisition of the existing license of online gambling website bet-at-home. It is also waiting for approval to enter Portugal. The country has kept PokerStars the only licensed operator in its poker market for over a year now.

However, the Portuguese Official Journal published the technical standards framework for shared liquidity this past Friday, which practically means that locally licensed operators can now merge their Portuguese player pools with those in the other participating countries. It is believed that SRIJ, the Portuguese gambling regulator, would now admit more operators to the local market. Winamax and partypoker have already expressed interest in the Portuguese poker environment. It is yet to be seen whether 888poker, another major poker operator, would show appetites to expand its footprint to Portugal.

As to when Winamax will be able to merge its player pools, Emilio Domingues from Spanish-language poker training website EducaPoker said on Twitter that bureaucratic procedures would probably delay the poker room’s launch in the other participating countries. However, the French operator is expected to eventually go live with shared poker tables in Spain and France within the next two months.

Once Italy publishes its own technical standards framework, Winamax will also be able to go live in that country, as well, and to merge its Italian pool with those in the other partnering countries in the shared liquidity scheme.

PokerStars and Shared Liquidity

It seems that the world’s largest poker room will have a couple of months during which it will be the sole participant in the shared liquidity project. PokerStars rolled out Franco-Spanish tables in mid-January. Its PokerStars Europe network quickly became the third largest in terms of cash game volumes and one of the largest in terms of overall traffic.

At the time of writing, there are 12,758 players online on PokerStars Europe. As many as 683 of them are playing cash games. The 24-hour peak stands at 4,983 cash game players.

It is yet to be seen when exactly PokerStars will open its network to Portuguese players now as the country has officially joined the shared liquidity project. However, given the fact that it rolled out its Franco-Spanish tables on the very day when Spain authorized shared liquidity through a publication on its Official State Gazette, the operator will probably be almost as quick to include players from Portugal.

The post Winamax Could Roll Out Shared Online Poker Tables within Next Two Months appeared first on Casino News Daily.

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Report shows Boulder Strip best for slot players

World Casino News

Report shows Boulder Strip best for slot players

In late January, the Nevada Gaming Control Board released its statewide gaming win statistics for last year, which reported a 2.8% increase for the state’s nonrestricted locations, from $11.26 billion in 2016 to $11.57 billion in 2017. “Nonrestricted” properties are defined as any venue that has more than 15 slot machines. So while the report counts the big casinos, it doesn’t figure in the state’s more than 2,000 bars & restaurants, convenience stores and supermarkets that have some slots. The Las Vegas Review-Journal made note of some interesting takeaways from the Gaming Control Board’s year-end gaming win report. Keep in mind that “gaming win” refers to the casino’s take, not the player’s. Statewide, casinos on the Strip had the highest slot win percentage at 8.04%, which means that in 2017, casinos paid players 91.96% of what went in. The Boulder Strip in Southern Nevada, meanwhile, had the lowest win at 5.53%; the best for players. The Nevada Gaming Commission defines the Boulder Strip to include the Boulder Hwy., as well as all of the casinos in the city of Henderson. Downtown Las Vegas had the biggest change in slot win percentage since 2016, where it was up 0.28 points to 7.34% from 7.06%. In Southern Nevada, Laughlin had the highest table game win percentage at 19.41%, while North Las Vegas had the biggest increase in win percentage at 14.97%, up 2.19 points from 12.78%. By slot denomination, penny slots were the biggest revenue generator, for the most part, because the market is full of them. On 54,754 machines, the state’s Gaming Control Board reported win of $3.17 billion. The state’s 70,568 multi-denomination machines won $3.13 billion. At 12.07%, Megabucks machines had the best win percentage on slots. The $25 slots were the best for players, with a win percentage of 4.97%. There are still more blackjack tables on casino floors, with 2,582 statewide than any other table game. Roulette was a distant second at 457 wheels. Blackjack managed $1.21 billion in win, an increase of 5.4% from 2016, with casinos at a 14.8% win percentage. The state’s 382 Baccarat games, which had a 12.7% win percentage, produced $1.15 billion, a 5.6% decline from 2016. It might be worth a trip to the Boulder Strip for slot lovers.

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Dominique Mosley Wins WSOP Circuit Seminole Casino Coconut Creek $3,250 High Roller

Casino News Daily

Dominique Mosley Wins WSOP Circuit Seminole Casino Coconut Creek $3,250 High Roller

Dominique Mosley, originally from North Carolina but currently residing in Florida, won the highest buy-in event on the schedule of the WSOP Circuit Seminole Casino Coconut Creek stop. The player snatched his first gold ring from the series and a first-place payout of $75,480 for winning the $3,250 High Roller.

The tournament drew 74 entries. The field included local recreational players, traveling grinders from here and there, and poker professionals, including Mosley himself. The overall prize pool of $222,000 was split into payouts for the top eight finishers.

The tournament was played over two days. The second day kicked off with nine players who were just a single elimination away from the money bubble. Mosley was third in chips at the time cards were thrown in the air for Day 2 play. Maurice Costigan,who won his seat into the event via a satellite, and Martin Ryan, who vied for WSOP Circuit gold ring number six, were the only two players ahead of the eventual winner at that time. Costigan went out in seventh place and Ryan fell in fourth.

What turned out to be Mosley’s most important hand was dealt namely during four-handed play. The player confronted Mike Dwyer in that pivotal hand to eventually win it. Mosley assumed the chip lead shortly after and never looked back.

The 31-year-old poker pro played heads-up against Matt Stout. The two-handed duel lasted several hands, during which Mosley left his final opponent with no chance to improve. On what turned out to be the last hand in play, Mosley limped in on the button and Stout raised. Mosley three-bet and Stout shoved for his last 700,000.

Mosley snap-called and tabled [Ac][Kh] to Stout’s [Ad][Jc]. The board ran out [6c][3s][2d][5h][7s], securing the pot and the title for Mosley. His opponent received $46,702 for his deep run in the event.

Mosley’s Career

Mosley has been playing poker professionally for some time now. The player currently lives in South Florida to take advantage of the region’s thriving poker scene. Commenting on his poker preferences, he said that he prefers playing Pot-Limit Omaha to two-card formats. “A Pot-Limit Omaha specialist”, he would call himself. However, the player does not lack skills in two-card games, as well.

Mosley’s cash from the $3,250 High Roller was his second from the WSOP Circuit series. He also previously cashed in eight WSOP events. His overall winnings from both series currently amount to more than $229,094.

The WSOP Circuit Seminole Casino Coconut Creek stop is entering its final days. Day 2 of the $1,675 Main Event is set to be played today when players will set the official final table. Nine-handed action will resume tomorrow when the winner will be determined to mark the end of the WSOP Circuit’s Florida stop. The tournament featured a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million which was improved significantly due to great interest.

A prize pool of $1,240,500 will be split among the top 90 finishers. The winner will receive nearly $242,000 for their efforts.

The post Dominique Mosley Wins WSOP Circuit Seminole Casino Coconut Creek $3,250 High Roller appeared first on Casino News Daily.

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