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With the World Series of Poker spanning the entire month, June marks the start of the busy season for Nevada poker, and once again, a now-familiar storyline was continued. Even though poker rooms and poker tables are disappearing, poker revenue is on the rise: up nearly five percent in June.

For the month, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) counted 62 poker rooms and 683 tables. Compare that to the 62 poker rooms and 731 tables the state boasted last year. Yet, despite 48 fewer tables than a year ago (a 6.5 percent decline), business is booming.

Nevada poker rooms collected $17.5 million this year, compared to last June’s $16.8 million.

As such, on a per table basis, June 2018 easily bested last year’s numbers:

• June 2017 table average: $22,815
• June 2018 table average: $25,597

2018 live poker revenue in Nevada

3- and 12-month poker room and table trend

Over the last three months, Nevada has averaged 655 poker tables at 63 separate locations. Those rooms generated $53,660,000 over that period, a 9.22 percent increase over the same period last year.

Over the last 12 months, Nevada has averaged 610 poker tables at 65 locations. During that time the state’s poker operators have generated $211,419,000, a 6.3 percent increase over the previous 12-month period.

• July 2017: 63 poker rooms and 724 poker tables
• August 2017: 63 poker rooms and 603 poker tables
• September 2017: 62 poker rooms and 598 poker tables
• October 2017: 61 poker rooms and 572 poker tables
• November 2017: 62 poker rooms and 580 poker tables
• December 2017: 61 poker rooms and 562 poker tables
• January 2018:  63 poker rooms and 568 poker tables
• February 2018:  64 poker rooms and 587 poker tables
• March 2018: 62 poker rooms and 567 poker tables
• April 2018: 64 poker rooms and 595 poker tables
• May 2018: 62 poker rooms and 688 poker tables
• June 2018: 62 poker rooms and 683 poker tables

Poker in Clark County

The NGCB counted 37 poker rooms and 569 poker tables in Clark County in the month of June.

Last year there were 38 poker rooms and 616 poker tables in Clark County.

Once again, fewer tables didn’t hamper revenue, as Clark County outperformed the state as a whole, with revenue up a full five percent Y/Y.

Of the $17,483,000 generated at Nevada poker tables in June, $16,650,000 came from Clark County, which includes the city of Las Vegas.

Poker on the Las Vegas Strip

Clark County makes up the bulk of Nevada’s poker revenue, and the Las Vegas Strip’s poker rooms make up the bulk of Clark County’s poker revenue.

In June the Strip’s 18 poker rooms possessed 379 poker tables and generated $14.1 million in revenue. That works out to 80 percent of all poker revenue in the state.

Nevada poker rooms by the numbers

The largest poker rooms in Las Vegas are mainly found on the Las Vegas Strip:

• Venetian (The Strip) – 37 poker tables
• Bellagio (The Strip) – 37 poker tables
• Orleans (Las Vegas off-strip)- 35 poker tables
• Wynn (The Strip) – 28 poker tables
• Aria (The Strip) – 24 poker tables
• South Point Casino (Henderson) – 22 poker tables
• Green Valley Ranch Casino (Henderson) – 22 poker tables
• Red Rock Casino (Summerlin) – 20 tables

Historical data and trends of poker in Nevada

Here’s a look at several key poker metrics from the UNLV Center for Gaming Research, which has been tracking the number of poker rooms, tables and revenue since 1992:

Year	# of Rooms	# of Tables	Total Revenue	% Change YoY
1992	92	564	74,701,000	-2.57
1993	89	571	70,814,000	-5.20
1994	93	586	71,667,000	1.20
1995	92	574	66,520,000	-7.18
1996	82	539	64,485,000	-3.06
1997	77	490	61,509,000	-4.61
1998	76	526	58,873,000	-4.29
1999	70	546	63,244,000	7.41
2000	68	473	63,064,000	-0.28
2001	65	475	59,673,000	-5.38
2002	57	386	57,791,000	-3.15
2003	58	383	68,276,000	18.15
2004	79	484	98,862,000	44.80
2005	96	701	140,224,000	42.00
2006	106	886	160,929,000	14.77
2007	113	907	167,975,000	4.38
2008	113	913	155,724,000	-7.29
2009	114	905	145,580,000	-6.54
2010	109	920	135,200,000	-7.13
2011	104	872	131,877,000	-2.46
2012	99	809	123,253,000	-6.54
2013	88	774	123,891,000	0.56
2014	79	736	119,904,000	-3.18
2015	76	681	118,023,000	-1.57
2016	73	661	117,753,000	-0.18
2017	71	615	118,455,000	0.60
2018

The post Nevada Poker Report June 2018: Revenue Soars 5% On Back Of Record-Setting WSOP appeared first on .

Caesars’ announcement that it is expanding sports betting to its casinos in New Jersey and Mississippi was good news for its technology partner Scientific Games.

One aspect of the story that went virtually unmentioned is that Scientific Games is an American company.

The other major deal announcement came from MGM, which is entering a 25-year joint venture with GVC to take advantage of interactive gaming opportunities in online casino, poker, and sports betting.

GVC is a British company. And that’s not surprising, since the majority of online gaming operators and gaming technology suppliers are not US companies.

As part of the deal presentation by MGM and GVC, the companies presented slides explaining what they were each bringing to the deal. The GVC’s slide ranks it number one among its peers by annual revenues as an online gambling operator.

Market leaders in the gambling industry

The other eight companies GVC compares itself to are:

• Bet365—British
• PaddyPower Betfair—British
• William Hill—British
• The Stars Group (incl Sky Betting and Gaming)—Canadian
• Kindred Group—Swedish
• Betsson—Swedish
• 888 Holdings—British
• Jackpotjoy (owner of Intertain)—British

Not a US company in sight. If we expand our list of gaming companies to those involved in gaming technology, we might expect a greater US presence. After all, the US leads the world in IT:

• Kambi–Swedish
• IGT—Italian
• SBTech—Isle of Man
• SportRadar—Norwegian/Swiss
• BetGenius—British
• Mionmi—British/international
• CG Technologies—USA
• Scientific Games–USA

Finally, an American company! CG Technologies operates in Nevada. It is licensed as the operator of the CG race and sports book. It also provides technology to partners such as the Atlantis Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Scientific Games owns a few other gaming technology companies whose names are familiar:

• NYX Gaming Group Limited
• WMS Industries
• Barcrest
• Bally Technologies

Scientific Games created the first secure instant lottery ticket in 1974. Since then, it has grown into a multi-billion dollar company with a NASDAQ market capitalization of over $4.5 billion. The company calls Las Vegas, Nevada home base. Scientific Games employs around 9,500 people worldwide.

Why is the US so far behind?

The Europeans seem to dominate online gambling either as operators or technology suppliers. With a few honorable exceptions such as Scientific Games, American companies and even Chinese companies don’t get a look in.

Gambling has long been illegal in China. Resultingly, its largest companies have generally stayed away from the area. Companies like Tencent, which have a major ownership stake in esports titles have tried to keep out of the real-money gambling business.

In 2016, Caesars sold its online gaming business to a consortium of Chinese companies fronted by Alibaba founder Jack Ma. The one piece of the business which stayed in Caesars’ hands was WSOP.com, the real-money online poker site active in New Jersey and Nevada.

In the US, the barriers to developing an online gambling business have been the Wire Act, PASPA, and the UIGEA.

The Wire Act has now been re-interpreted to apply only to sports betting with the result that states can legislate to establish their own online casino and poker games.

PASPA has been overturned by the US Supreme Court, so now states can add sports betting to their online portfolios.

Tide turning for US gaming companies

The spread of legalized gambling is making it more attractive for the banks to revise the blanket anti-gambling transaction policies enacted post-UIGEA. Easier deposits and withdrawals make it more likely that casual US bettors will get online.

In short, many of the barriers that prevented US companies from becoming global online gaming players have now been dismantled.

The online gambling market may be dominated by foreign companies, but the expansion of state-regulated sports betting could change all that.

Mergers and acquisitions to take US casino companies into the online space are something to look out for over the next couple of years. Within a decade, it may no longer be unusual for a US casino company to partner with a US online technology provider.

The post American Online Gambling Is A Long Way From Being All-American appeared first on Play USA.

WSOP.com returns to the forefront of the regulated United States online poker tournament scene when the second Coast to Coast Classic starts on Friday, Aug. 3. The first rendition of the Coast to Coast Classic put $1.015 million in guarantees up for grabs and the sequel deposits $1.095 million across 36 events.

The Coast to Coast Classic II runs from August 3-12.

The shared liquidity between Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey proved to be a success in the first few months of the agreement and WSOP.com is shooting higher in the post-World Series of Poker months.

New high reached in regulated online poker

The Coast to Coast Classic I set a record for the highest guarantee in regulated online poker history. The $200,001 guaranteed main event brought in a prize pool of over $250,000 thanks to 526 total entrants.

Pierre ‘P_aire_146’ Deissler won the event and the $61,411 first-place prize. Second-place went to Pennsylvania’s Brian ‘XcrazylegsX’ Frasca, who went on to cash in the WSOP Main Event.

On August 12, a new record will be set. WSOP.com is guaranteeing a prize pool of $250,000 for the Coast to Coast Classic II Main Event. The $500 buy-in remains the same as in May.

The winner of the tournament receives a large score and a piece of poker hardware. WSOP.com is awarding the Champion’s Belt to whoever emerges with the Coast to Coast Classic II Main Event win.

More big guarantees on the schedule

The Main Event is the major draw and WSOP.com supplemented their number-one attraction with other fruitful events.

August 5 features the second-largest guarantee on the Coast to Coast Classic II calendar. The $320 Sunday Special has a $100,000 prize pool minimum attached. This event is a staple on the new WSOP.com schedule and is a favorite to put up to double the guaranteed prize pool in the middle.

For those with relatively expensive tastes, a $1,000 High Roller on August 7 comes with a fancy $85,000 guarantee. The tournament plays in the Six Max format. The High Roller runs the same day as the $250 buy-in $35,000 guaranteed Tuesday Showdown.

Smaller buy-ins are represented on the docket beginning with the first event of the Coast to Coast Classic II calendar. On August 3, the $50 Kick-off event dumps $30,000 off at the starting gate. The same night, the $30 Deepstack has $20,000 to work with when play opens.

Win your way in with All Access Freerolls

WSOP.com is giving back to the player pool via freerolls during the Coast to Coast Classic II. On August 1 at 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time, the $11 Entry Pass Tournament takes place with prizes awarded just for entering.

All who register receive a $10 tournament ticket and seven Freeroll Tickets to be used for freeroll events in Step 3 of the promotion.

The top nine players in the Entry Pass tournament get another prize. Places 2-9 gain one more $10 tournament ticket. The winner is showered with a $320 tournament ticket, or, the effective value of a Sunday Special seat.

All Access Freerolls for the Coast to Coast Classic II take place at 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time every night from August 2-8. The top four players in the freeroll each night receive a $50 Coast to Coast Classic II tournament ticket.

The final freeroll is on Aug. 9 with $200 guaranteed in prizes.

Coast to Coast Classic II Schedule

Event	Date	Buy-in	Guarantee	Time (ET)
Kick-off [R&A]	August 3	$50	$30,000	6:00 PM
Friday’s Deepstack [R&A]	August 3	$30	$20,000	7:00 PM
Friday Fight [Knockout]	August 3	$150	$10,000	8:00 PM
PLO – The Omaha 100 [R&A, 6 Max]	August 3	$100	$15,000	9:00 PM
Deepstack & Super Addon	August 4	$30	$20,000	6:00 PM
Saturday Startup [1x Re-entry]	August 4	$50	$15,000	7:00 PM
Saturday Night Shuffle Up [Re-entry]	August 4	$150	$35,000	8:00 PM
Saturday Jumpstart [R&A, 4 Max]	August 4	$50	$25,000	9:00 PM
Sunday Special [Re-entry]	August 5	$320	$100,000	6:00 PM
Sunday’s 6 Max [R&A]	August 5	$50	$25,000	7:00 PM
Sunday Funday [Re-entry]	August 5	$100	$20,000	8:00 PM
Fast Flight [R&A, Turbo]	August 5	$30	$15,000	9:00 PM
The Classic 50 [R&A]	August 6	$50	$15,000	8:00 PM
Little Monday [R&A]	August 6	$30	$20,000	9:00 PM
8×8 [8R, 8 Max, Turbo]	August 6	$88	$15,000	10:00 PM
High Roller [Re-entry, 6 Max]	August 7	$1,000	$85,000	8:00 PM
Tuesday Showdown Special [Re-entry]	August 7	$250	$35,000	9:00 PM
Turbo Tuesday [R, 6 Max]	August 7	$50	$15,000	10:00 PM
Wednesday Warmup Deep$tack [R&A]	August 8	$20	$15,000	7:00 PM
Classic Freezeout	August 8	$100	$20,000	8:00 PM
Wednesday Biggie [Re-entry, Super Turbo]	August 8	$75	$15,000	9:00 PM
Thursday 2AND1	August 9	$30	$15,000	7:00 PM
Chips Chips Chips [Re-entry, Deeack]	August 9	$75	$17,500	8:00 PM
Thursday’s 6 Max [Re-entry]	August 9	$100	$25,000	9:00 PM
Friday Kickstarter [R&A]	August 10	$30	$20,000	6:00 PM
Deepstack [Freezeout]	August 10	$100	$20,000	7:00 PM
TGIF [Deepstack & Super Addon]	August 10	$50	$25,000	8:00 PM
Friday Fight II [Knockout]	August 10	$75	$10,000	9:00 PM
Deepstack & Super Addon	August 11	$30	$20,000	6:00 PM
Saturday Night 30 [R&A]	August 11	$50	$20,000	7:00 PM
The Classic 100 [Re-entry]	August 11	$100	$25,000	8:00 PM
The Omaha 50 [R&A, 8 Max]	August 11	$50	$10,000	9:00 PM
Main Event [Re-entry]	August 12	$500	$250,000	6:00 PM
Sunday One Day [R&A]	August 12	$11/$11/$22	$22,222	7:00 PM
Classic Freezeout	August 12	$215	$25,000	8:00 PM
Closeout Deep$tack [Re-entry, Turbo]	August 12	$100	$25,000	9:00 PM

The post WSOP.com Announces Over $1 Million In Guarantees For Coast To Coast Classic II appeared first on .

The first stop on the PokerStars Moneymaker PSPC Tour is just days away. The tour commemorating the 15th Anniversary of Chris Moneymaker’s improbable path to becoming the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion kicks off at Stones Gambling Hall on Aug. 4.

Each stop on the tour will feature an $86 buy-in Main Event, a nod to the buy-in of the online satellite Chris won on PokerStars that started his WSOP journey.

In addition to the prize-money, PokerStars is hoping to uncover another Moneymaker by juicing the prize-pool with a $30,000 Platinum Pass to the inaugural $25,000 PokerStars Players No-Limit Hold’em Championship that will take place in the Bahamas in January 2019.

“The tour is designed to give players the chance to emulate Chris’ win back in 2003 when he turned $86 into $2,500,000 by beating 838 players at the WSOP Main Event, sparking the famous ‘Moneymaker Effect’,” a PokerStars’ press release stated.

The Moneymaker PSPC tournaments aren’t just about poker, they will also be experiences.

Team PokerStars Pro Jason Somerville announced that Run It Up will be covering the first stop of the tour live from Stones with the help of Daniel Negreanu and Joe Stapleton.

All three are also expected to play in the event.

New event announced

Somerville also announced that a Moneymaker PSPC Tour event has been added to the Run It Up Reno schedule in October. The new stop brings the current count of Moneymaker PSPC Tour events up to 10.

“As a child of the Moneymaker boom, I credit much of my career to Chris’ massive victory in 2003 and it’s amazing to celebrate the 15th anniversary of his win by awarding a Platinum Pass at October’s Run It Up Reno. I’ve always admired Chris as an incredibly hardworking and humble ambassador of the game and I can’t wait to honor his achievement in Reno this fall,” said PokerStars Ambassador Jason Somerville.

According to PokerStars, the Run It Up Reno event will award two Run It Up Warriors with a Platinum Pass.

Moneymaker PSPC Tour schedule

Date	Venue	Location
Aug. 4-5, 2018	Stones Gambling Hall	Citrus Heights, Calif.
Aug. 26, 2018	Lucky Chances	Colma, Calif.
Sept. 9, 2018	Foxwoods Resort Casino	Mashantucket, Conn.
Sept. 15, 2018	MGM National Harbor	Oxon Hill, Md.
Sept. 22, 2018	Gardens Casino	Hawaiian Gardens, Calif.
Sept. 23, 2018	Talking Stick	Scottsdale, Ariz.
Sept. 30, 2018	PokerStarsNJ.com	Online
Oct. 7, 2018	Mohegan Sun	Uncasville, Conn.
Oct. 10-14, 2018	Maryland Live	Hanover, Md.

Lead image courtesy of Carlos Monti/PokerStars

The post Moneymaker PSPC Tour Kicks Off At Stones Gambling Hall Wednesday, Aug. 4 appeared first on .

The NBA just named MGM Resorts International as its first official gaming partner. As such, MGM now has a leg up on its competitors for professional basketball.

In a 3-year, $25 million deal, MGM will receive access to NBA intellectual property. The intellectual property includes signage and other materials identifying MGM as the official betting home for the NBA.

MGM will be the only gaming company to receive official data directly from the NBA for now. However, the deal is on a non-exclusive basis.”

In addition to the money, the NBA will also receive real-time account-level information about bets on NBA games.

“As the landscape for sports betting in the U.S. continues to evolve at a rapid pace, MGM Resorts is a proven gaming leader for us to work with on this groundbreaking partnership,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in a press release. “Our collaboration will result in the best possible gaming and entertainment experience for consumers through the use of accurate, real-time NBA and WNBA data, and our collective efforts to maintain and enhance the integrity of our games.”

In announcing the deal, Silver stressed the need for compensation regarding its data releases to gaming companies. This deal sets a precedent for future valuations of similar data deals.

NBA did not get an integrity fee from MGM, though

Somewhat surprisingly, the deal did not include a provision for integrity fees moving from MGM to the NBA. The NBA has long argued for payments to compensate the leagues for their data and to ensure the integrity of sports contests.

For a time after the demise of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), it seemed that the leagues planned to stonewall the gambling industry on issues like data and access. In other words, the leagues sought to control their products even after the withdrawal of PASPA’s legal obstacles.

Furthermore, the businessmen behind the leagues saw that rivers of money might pass by their leagues like ships in the night. So, the NBA helped to innovate the integrity fee.

An integrity fee would amount to a tax on sports betting handle that states would collect and pass onto the leagues. The concept for integrity fees is that the increased wagering on sports creates a greater danger for players, coaches, referees, and other related personnel.

The fee would go to cover increased enforcement and employees who could monitor any incidents of wrongdoing. Silver later shifted the terminology to call it a royalty.

NBA and gaming may be learning to coexist

Integrity fees have been a non-starter for many state governments. However, according to Forbes, as many as four states may be considering integrity fees as a part of their sports betting legislation.

With this announcement, it seems clear that Silver is now moving towards a cooperative relationship with gaming operators, rather than an antagonistic one. It would also seem that the NBA now sees the profit motive on the data side, rather than just by virtue of its existence or some notion of the integrity of games.

Ironically, MGM will be the official sports betting location for the WNBA, but will be unable to offer action on all the games. MGM is also the owner of the WNBA’s Purple Aces. As such, Nevada sports betting regulations stipulate the company cannot offer action on the team.

MGM continues to stockpile relationships

The announcement in New York is now the fourth major announcement related to MGM in the last three days. MGM is piling up strategic partners in an effort to seize control of the nascent US sports betting market.

Even prior to the news, the NBA had several points of contact with MGM, including through MGM’s primary sponsorship of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

In the past few days, MGM almost simultaneously revealed partnerships with two major gaming companies. The first of those partnerships was with British online gaming company GVC.

GVC agreed to provide MGM with a platform for its sports betting. In exchange, GVC, which owns bwin.party and Ladbrokes, has a way to open its US presence wider.

GVC is primarily a European power. However, the new US market has generated interest from several international gaming companies in the last two months.

MGM also agreed to an access swap with Boyd Gaming for online casinos. Boyd and MGM have properties in 15 US states, and not all of them are the same.

The agreement will allow both companies to access the missing states via the other’s license. This ability is of key importance to MGM, who will now be able to offer sports betting in Pennsylvania. Boyd is closing a deal to take over ownership of Valley Forge Casino Resort.

On Jul. 30, MGM announced that its sports betting operations in Mississippi would commence on Aug. 1. Both Beau Rivage in Biloxi and Gold Strike in Tunica will be available. Both sportsbooks will be ready for college football season on Aug. 25.

It is now clear that MGM is not going to allow themselves to go quietly in the new US markets. It’s probably not a shock that one of the world’s largest gambling companies threw its hat in the ring so definitively.

Photo by Ververidis Vasilis / Shutterstock.com

The post Nothing But Net: MGM Scores First Major Sports Betting Deal With The NBA appeared first on Play USA.