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Spanish Players Looking Forward to Arrival of Winamax

A recent survey of Spanish online poker players indicates that Winamax will be warmly welcomed when it joins the pan-European joint liquidity market. The French operator has responded by publishing a web page promising events and promotions likely to result in a challenge to PokerStars´ current dominance.

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PGCB Temporary Sports Betting Regs Appear To Leave Mini-Casinos High And Dry

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) took its first big step towards regulating sports betting on Wednesday. The group drafted and approved temporary sports betting regulations for the Keystone State.

Why does the state need temporary regulations?

Well, the main purpose they serve is to give casinos a framework to work off of as they put together sports betting applications. Category 1-3 casinos are eligible to apply for the $10 million Sports Betting Certificate. Additionally, interested casino groups can also apply for the interactive license that allows for mobile sports betting.

What are in the temp sports betting regulations?

The temporary regulations mostly feature broad strokes about the sports betting industry. PlayPennsylvania posted the complete regulations online. You can read them here.

To be honest, there is not much to see. The regulations are generally pretty vague. The document outlines some key definitions and what is necessary for an application. That is about it.

Reading through the regulations though, there can be some reading between the lines. For example, the $10 million fee and the 34 percent tax rate are not explicitly mentioned. While it is not a given those numbers will change in the future, leaving them open to interpretation potentially gives the law some wiggle room.

Do temp regs leave mini-casinos out in the cold?

Another interesting observation from the regulations is where sports betting facilities can be located. Per the temporary rules, these facilities need to be physically connected to the area’s gaming floor. There is an exception for Category 1 racinos though. These racinos can locate their sports betting facilities at the track itself, pending approval from PGCB and the Racing Commission.

What does not seem to get an exemption is mini-casinos. For the past few months, it has been up for debate whether or not these new Category 4 casinos could serve as sports betting facilities. Given the stipulation about being physically located on property and next to the gaming floor, it seems, at least for now, like satellite casinos will only have slots and table games.

What is the next step to launch sports betting?

Now that the regs are posted and approved by PGCB, the next big step will be applications. The properties get a head start assembling their applications based on these regulations. However, the official application packets are not available just yet.

Expect PGCB to release the official applications shortly. Once a property turns in an application, PGCB has 120 days to evaluate it, including running all the requisite background checks.

Pennsylvania and Mississippi are currently the only states with temporary regulations. Other states have laws in place to potentially offer sports betting. For now, at least, Pennsylvania is a bit ahead of the field in terms of progress. The head start is nice, but PennLive reports the PGCB is not committing to any sort of timeline for sports betting.

The hope is certainly to be ready to go in August in time for football season. At this pace, that is certainly possible. However, considering how slow going some other elements of gambling expansion has been so far, nothing is a given.

The post PGCB Temporary Sports Betting Regs Appear To Leave Mini-Casinos High And Dry appeared first on Play Pennsylvania.

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Found in Yonkers: MGM Buys Empire City Casino To Enter NY Market

After years of hunting, MGM Resorts International has found a new home in New York.

This week, MGM announced plans to acquire the Empire City Casino in Yonkers for a total consideration of $850 million. The buyers will pay another $50 million if the property receives a table games license before the end of 2022. Most of the money will be fronted by MGM Growth Properties, a real estate subsidiary that leases casino space to its parent company.

Although these plans date back several years, there’s never been a better time to move into the NY casino business. The state is pressing toward legal online gambling and sports betting, and MGM has regional ambitions in both verticals.

The parties expect the transaction to close in the first quarter of 2019.

MGM casino + NYC market

When MGM takes over operations, it will have access to the largest population center in the US. At least 20 million people call the NYC metropolitan area home.

This purchase has been a long time coming for MGM. The group was part of the conversations surrounding the 2013 upstate casino expansion, but it was publicly opposed. CEO Jim Murren said the plan was “flawed” by neglecting the downstate areas facing the strongest competition. MGM instead proposed a $1.5 billion property in NYC, which never materialized.

Half a decade later, though, the group has managed to plant a flag in the Big Apple. Murren says the Empire City purchase aligns with MGM’s regional roadmap.

This acquisition represents an excellent opportunity to further solidify our presence on the East Coast, and in particular, expand our reach into the high-density New York City region. We believe this transaction enhances our free cash flow profile and presents attractive future opportunities for the Company, and we look forward to welcoming the Empire City team and guests to the MGM Resorts family.

That presence on the East Coast is getting pretty substantial. Having historically focused on Las Vegas and China, MGM is turning the eastern US into its new frontier:

  • 2016: Buys Boyd Gaming out of Borgata to take full ownership of NJ casino
  • 2016: Opens MGM National Harbor near Washington D.C.
  • 2018: Sets August grand opening date for MGM Springfield in Massachusetts
  • 2019: MGM Empire City? MGM New York?

The group also owns casinos in Mississippi, Michigan, and Illinois.

Expanded NY gambling in MGM’s sights

Although the press release doesn’t mention online gambling or sports betting, they’re part of the underlying plan. MGM already operates an online casino in New Jersey and a sports betting platform in Nevada, and it would jump at the chance to carry both into a new market.

NY sports betting is only a matter of time, it seems. The activity is already legal at the four commercial casinos, and pending legislation would expand permissions to racinos like Empire City. Lawmakers adjourn in a few weeks, though, so time is getting tight.

NY online gambling also seems like a sure thing, but it’s been that way for too long. Lawmakers have considered the issue for several consecutive years without managing to come together so far. Optimism is waning once again as the 2018 calendar drips away.

Maybe the addition of a giant like MGM will help move the needle? The group will no doubt lobby for expansion, and regional competition provides a growing incentive to keep up. Pennsylvania and NJ have each legalized these modernized forms of gambling.

The Empire City purchase means MGM is suddenly part of the horse racing industry, too. And the horse betting industry. The track still hosts year-round harness races, and pari-mutuel wagering has been conducted on site since the 1940s.

It’s also worth noting that Empire City is in the district of Gary Pretlow, the state’s top Assemblyman on gaming issues.

More on MGM’s new property

The 100-acre patch of Yonkers beneath Empire City is less than 15 miles north of Manhattan.

The Rooney family, which also own the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, has owned the property since 1972. The five sons of patriarch Art Rooney are the sellers in the deal with MGM.

The NY horseracing landmark first opened in 1899 as the Empire City Race Track. The current casino name is a throwback to the original, but the track has been Yonkers Raceway for decades. It set a handful of harness racing purse records during its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s.

Yonkers Raceway began its transformation into the Empire City Casino in 2006. A $225 million expansion added more than 5,000 slot machines, along with electronic table games like Blackjack and Roulette. Since the property falls under video lottery laws, the minimum gambling age is 18 years old.

Obviously, the local market provides the primary incentive for the buyers.

MGM has properties all over the world, and with the exception of Shanghai, none of them are in markets as large as New York City. Yonkers is the fourth-largest city in New York, essentially an inner suburb of NYC proper. The press release says Empire City’s footprint reaches 16 million eligible gamblers. 

The property generated net revenue approaching $600 million last year, returning more than $300 million to the state.

Photo by LEE SNIDER PHOTO IMAGES / Shutterstock.com

The post Found in Yonkers: MGM Buys Empire City Casino To Enter NY Market appeared first on Play NY.

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Negreanu, Obst Top Bidding Wars As $25K Fantasy Draft Opens WSOP Action

The popular  World Series of Poker $25K Fantasy Draft took place at ARIA in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday night — just hours before the series kicked off at the Rio. A total of 15 teams pooled their money together to participate in one of the most noteworthy events of the pre-WSOP festivities. The number represented almost a 100% increase over the eight teams who played in 2017.

Daniel Negreanu runs the league each year and took the initiative of bringing more teams into the fold by making an offer that benefits teams and charity.

There were a few teams who entered on behalf of this offer, including 2016 WSOP bracelet winner Chase Bianchi.

The draft presided in a small conference room at ARIA filled to capacity with hopefuls looking to put together the “dream team” for 2018. A diverse unit assembled with fun groups of players drafting together.

Rules for the Fantasy Draft are simple. Each team is given a bankroll of $200 to fill eight roster spots in an auction-style draft. Once a team completes their roster, they are free to leave. An auctioneer kept an order on the picks and the draft itself wrapped up after close to four hours of wagering.

Team Martins (Jesse Martin, Dan Zack, Chris Klodnicki) and Team #FTGB (Anthony Zinno, Alex Foxen, Ryan Riess) were among the think tanks.

Bianchi, long-time drafter Dan Fleyshman, and defending Fantasy League champion Mike Leah are some who bid solo in the room.

Big names go for big money

The increased player pool for 2017 led to higher demand for the best quality of candidates. Negreanu’s draft number is consistently in the neighborhood of $100 and he went for even more last night.

An early bidding war broke out between Team Go Barstool (Brent Hanks, Remko Rinkema, Eric ‘Barstool Nate’ Nathan) and Team Vanbex (Victor Ramdin, David ‘ODB’ Baker’, Mark Gregorich) for Negreanu’s services.

Go Barstool refused to back down and claimed Negreanu for a whopping $131. That number represents the most money ever spent on a player since the $25,000 Fantasy League started in 2011.

The salary cap figure put a large dent in the rest of Go Barstool’s spending ability and they went into the shadows until later in the draft.

Perennial WSOP Player of the Year contender James Obst went off the board soon after Negreanu to another extreme figure. Obst almost topped Negreanu’s record-breaking number and settled at $129 to Mike Noori. As the bidding for Obst leveled up, an ostensible coincidence took place with Obst walking into the draft room to hear his name up for grabs.

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Polarizing figures net $50

Phil Ivey and Chris Ferguson’s profile played a large role in how the draft shook out. Ferguson was the last player off the board in 2017 and gained Todd Brunson 188 points for the $1 investment. Brunson made sure to obtain Ferguson for the second year in a row and paid some markup with $50 delivered on the defending WSOP Player of the Year. The next pick for Brunson went to Phil Hellmuth for $71.

Ivey’s name came up halfway through the drafting period. Eric Wasserson stood as he ratcheted up the price for Ivey versus a game Noori. Based on Wasserson’s determined manner to obtain Ivey, he may have some insight into a rough idea of what Ivey’s schedule will be. Wasserson also shares a friendship with Negreanu.

Defending champion uses unique strategy

Leah won the 2017 league in his first year picking. An avid fan of fantasy spots and overall game strategy, Leah came in with a plan to defend his title. Leah shot early to grab himself and Adam Owen for a combined $163 and then sat back for almost two hours before taking another player.

“I thought correctly that the top-tier players would go for more money than in past years because there’s less to go around and there’s more competition for them,” Leah said. “We were hoping to get two of our favorite five guys for $180 and then fill out the rest of the team with sleepers. When I got myself for $77, I was hoping to fit [Obst] in. We had a $30 max bid and the guys we were saving for went past that bid.”

The sleepers selected by Leah went uncontested as he obtained Kenny Hallaert, Steven Wolansky, Mohsin Charania, Joao Vieira, and Rob Campbell for $1 each.

This group fits into the what Leah believes a well-rounded roster that can hit all of the right marks to gain points.

“I was looking for guaranteed volume,” Leah confirmed. “People that are going to be playing a ton of events, bracelet-hunting, having a chance at the big No Limit field bonuses and then also having some $10,000 Mixed events in there. We were looking for high ceilings and low floors. I think every person that I drafted or bid on was someone that I was comfortable with there.”

And they’re off…

The first event of the WSOP schedule starts Wednesday with the $10,000 Super Turbo Bounty set to offer some early points. Among the new selections for 2018 who may compete are Joe McKeehen, Ari Engel, and Jerry Wong.

Baker’s ‘ODB League’ is open for all who wish to draft a team of their own for $500 using the prices established in the $25,000 League.

The official $25,000 Fantasy League website has the complete list of all players and rosters for 2018.

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