First Three Online Poker Licenses Handed Out in PA

It was only in July that Pennsylvania casinos were required to submit their online gambling applications, and progress is quickly being made. The first three online casino licenses have been handed out, with Parx, Mount Airy and Harrah’s being the first three venues to be given the go-ahead to launch online gaming services.

PA Poker Partners

Parx Casino is home to the biggest and most profitable poker room in Pennsylvania. So, when it comes to offering online poker services, it is likely going to be the first one to see significant success. The players that already visit Parx Casino to play poker in person will likely sign up to its online poker site.

The company that Parx will be partnering with is GAN, a UK-based gaming operator that runs a number of sites in Europe. The two companies will be working together to build an online gaming platform that will engage Pennsylvanian players. The only drawback seems to be that GAN has focused more on betting and casino games rather than poker so, from a software perspective, the other casino licensees in PA may have an advantage.

One such company is Mount Airy, who has partnered with PokerStars. Together, they will launch PokerStars PA – which will be a tough brand to compete with. PokerStars is one of the most recognised online poker brands in the world so, even though Parx is a more popular land-based venue, its online brand may struggle to captivate local players.

Finally, there’s Harrah’s, which is associated with Caesars Entertainment. As such, the company’s online poker site is most likely to operate on World Series of Poker software. Like PokerStars, this is a widely recognized brand name, so there is going to be some steep competition among Harrah’s and Mount Airy. So, Parx will have to work hard to capture a significant portion of Pennsylvania’s online poker market.

Still a Long Way to Go

While three online casino licenses have been granted, there are still six more applications in need of processing. On top of all this, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will also have to vet the online gaming partners of the local casinos. So, while things are moving along quickly, it is still going to take a few months before Pennsylvania players will have the chance to play poker and other casino games online.

Once everything is all ready to go, Pennsylvania will benefit hugely from the introduction of online gambling. Licensees are required to pay $10 million for their licensing see, and they will be tax 16% on all table games and poker activities. A 54% tax will apply for slots and a 36% tax will apply for sports betting. Daily fantasy sports will be permitted, as well, with a tax of 15%.

Nevada Poker Revenue Way Up

Nevada’s poker market has experienced some big wins lately, as the state has raked in record revenue in June. Revenues have been climbing since the start of the year, and now they are the highest that they have been in almost a decade.

Record-Breaking Revenue

Throughout the month of June, poker rooms throughout Nevada accumulate $17.8 million in revenue, according to documents released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The only time that poker profits have exceed $17 million was in 2007, when they reached just over $17.6 million – so, if things keep going this well, poker in Nevada could see it’s highest-ever profits this year.

The World Series of Poker recently visited Nevada, which is the likely reason for this rise in poker earnings. Over 100 000 poker players came from around the world to play in the tournament, and many spent their spare time at cash game tables. Many players who bust out of the tournament early will end up playing cash games for the rest of the tournament at casinos both on the Las Vegas strip and throughout the rest of the state.

Other games across the state have also seen a jump in revenue, with table games earning an extra 15% over the course of the month for total earnings of $339 million. On the other hand, slots haven’t been performing particularly well, as they saw a 3.3% drop in profits.

Good News for Nevada, Bad News for Las Vegas

Las Vegas casinos also enjoyed a good start to 2018, but things have gone downhill quickly. While Nevada’s overall poker revenue has increased, Las Vegas’ gaming profits aren’t doing so well. Both MGM and Caesars have reported soft numbers for the month of June, which has caused casino stocks to fall by over 20%.

Operators have stated that this kind of decline is to be expected during the summer months. Tourists seem to avoid Las Vegas during this time, as the weather can be too hot too handle, and cooler months are when The Strip thrives.

Casino operators in the city are fighting this decline in profits by cutting costs for visitors. For example, MGM has reduced its room rates in hopes of attracting more guests. Some guests have cited paid parking and increased game odds as reasons why revenue has been on the decline, so it will be interesting to see if operators respond by making changes to those aspects.

Regardless of what the numbers say now, Las Vegas is still on track for a great year. With all of the recent developments with sports betting legislation, the city is sure to bring in extra revenue from punters who want to place wagers on their favourite sports teams.

Justin Bonomo $10 MIllion Win

Justin Bonomo Becomes Biggest Winner in Poker

There are plenty of multi-millionaires in the poker world, and Justin Bonomo has just topped the list. His total lifetime winnings now amount to $43 million placing him just ahead of Daniel Negreanu, who has earned $39 million over his career. Other top earners include Erik Seidel ($34 million), Fedor Holz ($32 million), Antonio Esfandiari ($27 million) and Phil Ivey ($26 million).

Charity Tournament Pushes Bonomo Over Record

The win that pushed Bonomo ahead of Negreanu was the impressive $10 million prize he earned after coming first in the Big One for One Drop poker tournament in Las Vegas. The tournament is played in support of the One Drop charity, which ensures that impoverished communities have sustainable access to clean water. Over the years, the organisation has helped to improve the lives of over a million people across West Africa, Mexico, Haiti and South America.

The buy-in for the tournament is a steep $1 million, $80 000 of which is donated to One Drop while the rest goes to the prize pool. At this year’s Big One for One Drop, over $2 million was raised for the worthy cause.

This is the second One Drop tournament of the year. Just last week, the $1111 buy-in tournament raised an additional $525 000 for the charity. So, just over $2.7 million has been raised in support of this wonderful charity that looks after the lives of those in need.

A Very Good Year for Bonomo

Bonomo’s winnings this year have mostly contributed to his record-breaking earnings. So far, in 2018, he has won $25 million, including a $4.8 million windfall at a high roller tournament in Macau and a $5 million win in Las Vegas. With 24 cashes over the course of the year, he has averaged $1.03 million per win – and, since we’re only halfway through the year, his cashes amount to almost $126 000 every day.

While he has earned the most so far, this number is not an indication of Bonomo’s total worth. The figure only considers his winnings and neglects to include his buy-ins. So, it still remains to be seen who is actually the richest player in the poker world.

Bonomo is just 32 years old, so he has plenty of time to keep climbing the ranks. Daniel Negreanu, who is second on the All-Time Money List, is 42 years old while Erik Seidel, who is third, is 58. If Bonomo continues to earn at this rate, he will certainly go down in history as one of the most successful poker players.

responsible-gambling-receives-boost

Responsible Gambling Receives a Boost

In a move that is expected to be adopted worldwide, the UK Gambling Commission is considering banning the use of credit cards for online gambling purposes.

The move has been welcomed by many who have campaigned for responsible gambling and tighter regulation of payment methods. Using credit cards has long been seen as a problem which can affect the more vulnerable gambler as it allows players to max out a card and use money which they cannot afford to play with all too easily. Removing credit options would mean that players would only be able to gamble with their own money.

While there will still be ways to circumvent the proposed changes, it will still make it more difficult to use a credit limit in order to gamble. It is believed that these measures will prevent more people from building up huge debts as a result of gambling.

In Great Britain online gambling has seen a huge rise in profit for operators and it is estimated that most companies saw a year on year profit increase of 10% in 2017. The industry as a whole saw profits of over $6 billion for the year. There are believed to be 9 million British citizens who regularly gamble online.

The move would not directly affect any online casinos or gambling websites having to make changes, nor would it affect any foreign players, including those from the US, who use any British-based gambling websites. It would purely be down to British banks and credit card companies to ensure that their customers’ cards were unable to be used to finance any online gambling activity.

It might seem like a challenging rule to implement, but there is a precedent elsewhere. Within the last decade Norway implemented a similar idea, but in that case, Norwegians were unable to use debit cards or bank transfers for payments to gambling institutions as well.

The Norwegian law change led to many customers using e-wallets and other alternative payment methods in order to gamble but is believed that stopping the impulsive nature some players had a tendency to adopt when gambling helped decrease the amount of gambling debt citizens built up.

In a UK Gambling Commission report it stated: “We will consider prohibiting or restricting the use of credit cards and the offering of credit but will explore the consequences of doing so. For example, the danger of some consumers switching to more risky and higher cost payment methods such as payday loans.”

The proposal is still in the discussion stages and there is no official date as yet for any kind of timeframe in which any changes would be implemented, although experts believe that it could well happen at some point within the next year.

Worldwide there are tens of millions of players online and the proposed change could well force other countries and other gambling authorities to take similar action which would affect many more players.

native-american-trive-lose-gambling-revenue

Native American Tribe Lose Gambling Revenue

The Pojoaque Pueblo tribe in New Mexico have suffered a huge setback as over $10 million in gambling revenue was seized by federal agents at the weekend.

There had been years of disputes between the state of New Mexico and the tribe regarding revenue and the two parties had failed to agree on a new gambling compact when the previous one expired in 2015. The US attorney permitted the tribe to continue with casino operation after this point with the provision that the two parties maintained a dialogue and came to a mutual agreement.

This placed the gambling activities of the Pojoaque Pueblo people in very murky waters and they were aware that they would be hit with a bill at some point. What they perhaps didn’t expect was to have to forfeit the entire balance of their account, which was shown to be $10,128,847.42 at the end of January this year.

It had been agreed that the tribe should open a bank account in which to set aside the appropriate amount of revenue which should be paid in tax to the state following an agreement being reached, but it seemed they only had the one account. An agreement was eventually reached in 2017 and then a new dispute was started over who would keep the money which had been set aside. The Pojoaque Pueblo believed they should keep the money for economic development of the tribe and the state of New Mexico wanted tax revenue.

The Department of Justice stepped in and ruled that all of the money made during the two-year period in which there was no agreement was technically as a result of illegal gambling activity – despite the previous ruling which allowed them to continue to operate. The DoJ ruled in the state’s favour, saying that the tribe could not be expected to be granted a two-year absence from tax responsibilities and ordered payment of the full amount.

The tribe were understandably upset at having to give up the revenue, not just for the two-year period in question, but for several months following an agreement being made. They had followed the initial agreement to set aside a specific amount for payment and an audit could easily have shown how much was actually owed for the period. The Pojoaque Pueblo operate two casinos in the state, both north of Santa Fe, and the new gambling compact stipulates that they must pay the state 8% of all revenue. This is higher than the previous compact and the tribe believe that they should not be penalised at the new rate for the two-year period when no compact was in place.

The Pojoaque Pueblo people have not yet decided whether or not they wish to appeal the ruling, as it could ultimately cost them money they don’t have if it is not overturned. With a gambling compact in place they are expected to continue their casino operations in the state of New Mexico and they hope to bounce back from what can only be seen as an unfortunate event.