State gaming regulators gave preliminary approval Thursday to a marketing agreement between Golden Gaming and Gibraltar-based 888 Holdings in which the tavern operator could deliver its customers as online poker players to a website that includes Treasure Island.
Under terms of the exclusive marketing agreement, Golden Gaming can sign up customers from its three Pahrump casinos and its 40 wholly owned statewide taverns operations to play online poker on a planned website that will be operated by 888 Holdings, parent company to 888poker.
Golden Gaming would share in a percentage of the gaming revenues with Treasure Island and 888 Holdings.
“It’s unique and allows Golden Gaming to market 888’s platform to its customers,” Golden Gaming attorney Michael Alonso told the Gaming Control Board.
Alonso said Golden Gaming does not have any role in the operation of the website, and is only a marketing vehicle to deliver players. He told regulators the agreement is a way for 888 Holdings to expand its online gaming operation into the locals market and Pahrump. The customer base for Treasure Island, which is owned by Phil Rufin, is the Strip.
Golden Gaming is expected to market the 888 website through various interactive programs and other means.
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No one can say for certain how much New Jersey’s online gaming market will actually be worth.
State regulators, lawmakers, casino industry insiders and Wall Street analysts have estimated Internet wagers could generate as much as $1.2 billion in gaming revenues in the first year — roughly 40 percent of what Atlantic City’s 12 casinos collected in 2012.
That’s one reason Internet gaming providers have hopes for a seat at the table.
The state has outlined an aggressive schedule. Regulations have been drafted and the Casino Control Commission wants to see cards in the air — or on computer screens — by Thanksgiving.
New Jersey has restricted operation of online gaming to Atlantic City’s casinos, which have until June 30 to line up their website technology partners. The state set a July 29 deadline for completed applications to the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
Anyone missing the deadlines could be sidelined until next year.
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Weekly bulletin from OnlinePokerReport.com for June 24th …
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STORIES WORTH WATCHING
#1. New Jersey – With a weekend deadline for potential licensees to announce partnerships, expect a flurry of activity – and possibly even the announcement of a casino sale agreement – in the next few days. Keep a close eye on Station / Ultimate Gaming, who have hinted they’ll be live in New Jersey at launch, and also the Trump properties.
#2. DiCristina – The general sense of observers is that the DiCristina hearing went well for poker players. Read a synopsis of the hearing at TwoPlusTwo (start at post #18) and at Diamond Flush, and then read Grange’s sober assessment of exactly what impact a favorable ruling would have on the legal status of online poker in the United States. There is no firm timeline for a decision, which could come as early as this week.
#3. Sheldon Adelson – The LVS CEO raised the hackles of online poker players with an opinion piece at Forbes slamming online gambling regulation and a follow up interview with Bloomberg. Expect more information / insight in the days to come into why Adelson is choosing to publicly attack an industry he once embraced at this particular point in time – and perhaps another blast from Adelson.
… + THE WEEK THAT WAS
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OPR OUTPUT
On this week’s Rabbit Hunt, Mark and I cover Adelson’s slam of online poker, WSOP happenings of note and the DiCristina hearing.
And here’s the latest installment of OPR’s comprehensive Online Poker in the States, providing regulatory updates for all relevant states in the U.S..
PICKS
#GoodRead – Kim Lund articulates the Migratory Patterns of Online Poker Players in an interesting piece over at QuadJacks.
@Follow – Great land-based casino coverage from David McKee over at @StiffsGeorges.
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Get in touch
Chris Grove / [email protected] / @OPReport / Google + / Skype: chrisgrove404 |
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State gaming regulators are looking into the relationship between 2-week-old Internet poker website Ultimate Poker and an unlicensed service provider used to identify new players.
In an email, Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said gaming agents are working with officials from Ultimate, which is majority owned by Station Casinos.
Over the weekend, Ultimate Gaming, parent of Ultimate Poker, said in a statement through a spokesman that on Thurday , it “discontinued” using services from Iovation. The company according to poker news resources, was linked to a 2008 online cheating scandal that brought down Ultimate Bet, which is not related to Ultimate Poker.
Burnett said Iovation was not a registered service provider with Nevada but the company’s services were utilized by CAMS, an Nevada-approved service provider.
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From OnlinePokerReport.com for the week of March 18th …
3 STORIES TO WATCH THIS WEEK
#1. The Revolution Network is dealing with two unresolved stories – one regarding lengthy payment delays to a skin and one regarding a possible software bug related to hole cards – as the Lock-fronted network continues to lose ground.
#2. Empire (State) Poker: NY’s tentative step toward regulated online gambling will thrive or die between now and April 1st, the deadline for the state’s budget. Gov. Cuomo seems open to the idea, but we should get a good sense of what support the initiative actually has in the days ahead.
#3. IL and PA. This week could pass with no movement in PA, where a few soft deadlines for the introduction of an online gambling bill have come and gone. But the pressure for legislative progress on the larger issue of casino expansion is significant in IL and should result in a quicker timetable for online poker – one way or the other.
+ THE WEEK THAT WAS
RECENTLY FROM OPR
A quick FAQ on Full Tilt repayment. And Marco Valerio’s interview with Salim Adatia, CEO of GLI Interactive – the company behind software testing in Nevada. Plus an update to my Illinois FAQ to reflect last week’s changes to the bill’s “bad actor” clause.
PICKS
#GoodRead – The New York Times has a good write up of the uncertain environment surrounding daily fantasy sports. Much of it should sound familiar to followers of online poker.
@Follow – @Pokeraddictnet. Often first to news on U.S. facing rooms + regulatory developments at the state level.
Station Casinos LLC posted its third consecutive profitable quarter on Tuesday. The locals gaming company’s bottom line continued to benefit from its aggressive marketing efforts, despite a competitive Las Vegas market and a sluggish economic recovery.
The privately held company also announced it will acquire a 50.1 percent ownership stake in Fertitta Interactive LLC, which operates Ultimate Gaming. Fertitta Interactive launched Ultimate Gaming’s free-play site on Facebook earlier this year, with a real money site expected to launch in Nevada by June 30.
Marc Falcone, executive vice president and chief financial officer with Station Casinos, declined to disclose the purchase price. He expected the all-cash deal for Fertitta Interactive to close by the end of the month.
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Three companies were granted interactive gaming licenses by the Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday as the lineup for the state’s potential online poker market grew more crowded.
Commissioners licensed Boyd Gaming Corp. the Golden Nugget ownership and Fertitta Interactive – which includes the owners of Station Casinos and operators of Ultimate Fighting Championship – to launch online poker websites as soon as the technology is approved.
The website can be accessed only by people age 21 and older playing on computers or mobile devices within Nevada.
Boyd Gaming Executive Vice President Bob Boughner told gaming commissioners the company believes online poker in Nevada will be a $180 million a year business and would damage the state’s live poker business.
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Fertitta Interactive LLC on Tuesday announced it will launch its real-money and social gaming company, Ultimate Gaming, an online gaming business it has been developing since its October acquisition of CyberArts Licensing LLC.
“We view it as a global opportunity,” Tom Breitling, chairman of Fertitta Interactive, said during an hour-long presentation . “We believe the timing is right to enter the world of online gaming, so we are doing so with Ultimate Gaming.”
Breitling said its free-play poker game, Ultimate Poker, will be released Friday on Facebook, with a promotional campaign to begin July 7 during Ultimate Fighting Championship 148, a pay-per-view event.
He said Ultimate Gaming is UFC’s official online gaming sponsor.
The Las Vegas-based company will launch real money poker in Nevada as soon state gaming regulators approve pending manufacturer, service provider and operator licenses, Breitling said. That should be by the end of the year, he said.
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