Business/Financial
Lumia 1020 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 Search Interest Betting Odds Released
The new Bitcoin prediction market website, Predictioius.com, has released betting odds on the new Lumia 1020 vs. Samsung Galaxy S4 search interest on July 20, 2013.
Early pricing had Lumia as a “buy” at 5.20 and Samsung as a “sell” at 4.80.
Macau Remakes Gambling Landscape
(Associated Press) Most people still think the U.S. gambling industry is anchored in Las Vegas, with its booming Strip and 24/7 action, a place where years of alluring marketing campaigns have helped scrub away the taint of past corruption.
Zynga Pays New CEO $5 Million Signing Bonus
(Associated Press) - Struggling Web game maker Zynga gave new CEO Don Mattrick a $5 million signing bonus and stock awards valued at $40 million to lure him away from his previous job overseeing Microsoft's Xbox console for video games.
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Vancouver to Open Later This Year
(Las Vegas) - Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas is pleased to welcome Hard Rock Casino Vancouver to the Hard Rock Hotel and Hard Rock Casino (HRHH) family and looks forward to the unveiling later this year.
Reputable for its unrivaled offerings influenced by the love of music, the announcement of the Canadian property follows shortly after the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was selected to be the brand new casino offered in Sioux City, set to open summer 2014.
Carbon Poker Looking Closely at Bitcoin
A rep for Carbon Poker, the flagship Internet poker room on the Merge Gaming Network, has confirmed that the company is looking very closely at offering the anonymous digital currency Bitcoin as a payment option.
Bitcoin IPO Planned as Winklevoss Twins Plan to Sell at $20 Million Shares
(Reuters) - The Winklevoss twins, who famously alleged that Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg stole their website idea, have revealed plans for an IPO that will give investors exposure to the value of digital currency Bitcoins.
Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, which is designed to operate like an exchange-traded fund, will initially sell $20 million worth of shares, with each share worth a fraction of a Bitcoin, a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed on Monday.
Mark Pincus Steps Down as CEO of Zynga
NEW YORK (Associated Press) -- He's not heading out to pasture, but the CEO of "FarmVille" maker Zynga Inc. is stepping aside as the troubled online game company looks to revive itself and lift its stalled stock price.
Mark Pincus will be replaced on Monday, July 8, by Don Mattrick, who was most recently head of Microsoft's Xbox division. Zynga said Monday that Pincus, who founded Zynga Inc. and named it after his American bulldog in 2007, will stay on as chairman and chief product officer.
Sheldon Adelson Puts Pressure on Spain to Restrict Online Gambling
Sheldon Adelson has demanded that online gambling be restricted in Spain as part of a deal to build Europe’s largest casino in Madrid.
From Casino Choice:
Macau Gambling Revenues Up Despite China Woes
(Reuters) - Gambling revenue in Macau rose 21.1 percent in June year-on-year, buoyed by a steady flow of wealthy mainland gamblers eager to place their bets in the Chinese controlled casino hub.
June revenue stood at 28.3 billion patacas ($3.54 billion), according to government data released on Monday. Analysts had forecast June growth in the world's biggest gambling market, to be up 18-21 percent.
GOP Bigwigs Adelson, Trump Won’t See Eye to Eye on Internet Gambling
With news breaking Monday morning that Atlantic City’s Trump Taj Mahal will soon unveil its own real money online gambling site, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson can’t be too happy.
Bulls Pile on Zynga: Calls Outpace Put by Margin of 6-1
Zynga is looking good, despite a few bumps in the road, this according to Schaeffer’s Blog.
GigaMedia Enters Social Gaming Market
(Taiwan).- Online gambling corporate GigaMedia has announced that it is to enter the social casino games market following a closed beta test on a suite of new game titles in over 200 Internet cafes across Taiwan. The company has unveiled a new portfolio of proprietary social casino games that include slot, poker and dice offerings and could begin commercial operation in as little as four weeks.
Sands of Las Vegas: Analysts See Shares Reaching $62 Million
Analysts at Imperial Capital see the recent sell-off of Las Vegas Sands Corp creating a buying opportunity for investors.
They rate the stock as “Outperform” and forecast the share price reaching as high as $62. It currently sat at $51.38.
Las Vegas Sands Recommended by Analyst: Discouraged by Poker Players
Good news for investors who have their money in the Las Vegas Sands (LVS) as investment banking firm Craig-Hallum recommended a long position in shares of the company. This comes at a time when a growing number of poker players have called for a boycott of the Sheldon Adelson owned property.
Macau Casinos Exposed to China’s Credit Woes
China’s credit crunch resulted in a number of Macau casino stocks getting hammered on Monday.ntee, rendering most non-nut draws essentially useless.
Atlantic Club Counters PokerStars Appeal in Ugly Failed Acquisition Case
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Associated Press) — The PokerStars website entered into a contract to buy an Atlantic City casino with "their eyes wide open," and now has to live with the consequences of the failed deal, the casino said in court papers.
Bitcoin Exchange Mt.Gox: US Consumers Can Put Cash In But Not Take Cash Out
Virtual currency Bitcoin’s largest exchange, Mt.Gox, has suspended transfer withdrawals in US Dollars for the next two weeks citing unmanageable volume.
Mt.Gox controls nearly 70 percent of the Bitcoin exchange market.
Mississippi Approves Ameristar Casinos Acquisition by Pinnacle Entertainment
Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE:PNK) announced today that the Mississippi Gaming Commission unanimously approved the Company's proposed acquisition of Ameristar Casinos.
Casino Shares Get a Haircut: Boyd Gaming Down Nearly 9 Percent
Wall Street had its single worst day of the year today (June 20, 2013) with the Dow down 350 points at closing.
The gambling sector overall saw similar declines with Boyd Gaming down nearly 9 percent on the day closing at $10.84.
Las Vegas Sands fell 4.6 percent to close at $53.88.
We’re Not in Kansas Any More: Zynga Acquires Spooky Cool Labs
Zynga has purchased Spooky Cool Labs and the 40-person talent pool that comes with the acquisition.
Spooky Cool Labs consists of the following tech geniuses, a la TechCrunch.com:
If You Can Get People to Buy Virtual Farm Animals, You Can Do Well at Online Poker
Jeff Macke of Yahoo Finance writes that the world’s biggest online poker site, Zynga, could buck the trend thanks to legalized “real money” online poker in the US.
Ladbrokes Cutting Up to 100 Jobs
(Reuters) - Ladbrokes said as many as 100 employees at its headquarters in Harrow could lose their jobs as Britain's second-largest bookmaker transfers a number of roles to its operation in Israel, set up as part of its agreement with gaming software developer Playtech.
In March, Playtech and Ladbrokes, which has struggled to keep up with the online offering of UK market leader William Hill, finalised an agreement for the former to advise and assist the bookmaker with its digital services for an initial period of five years.
Revel Casino in Atlantic City Exits Bankruptcy
CAMDEN, N.J. (Associated Press) — Revel will be getting a new start soon — with new owners.
A bankruptcy court judge on Monday approved the Atlantic City casino's Chapter 11 reorganization plan that wipes out most of its debt and provides new money for it to operate.
Judge Judith Wizmur gave the OK to Revel's plan to grant an 82 percent ownership stake to lenders in return for canceling $1.2 billion worth of debt.
DOJ Freezes Accounts Between Bitcoin Exchange and Dwolla: Maryland Center Stage
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday froze accounts belonging to one of Bitcoin’s most prominent exchanges, Mt. Gox.
Lock Poker Exploring Bitcoin Options
One of the largest US-facing online poker rooms has confirmed they are exploring a Bitcoin payment platform. This is the biggest online gambling company to date that has announced plans to offer the digital currency.
“We are indeed looking at Bitcoin as an alternative (payment solution),” Lock Poker Founder and CEO Jennifer Larson tells Gambling911.com.
PokerStars Calls Off Purchase of Atlantic Club Casino
Overnight Gambling911.com reported that an initial contract between PokerStars and the Atlantic Club Casino had expired. On Wednesday it was confirmed that Stars has backed out of the deal to purchase the financially strapped Atlantic City-based casino.
Atlantic Club CEO Michael Frawley issued a statement confirming that the sale was “terminated in accordance with its terms.”
Zynga Upgraded From ‘Sell’ to ‘Hold’ After Disastrous Week
Following a huge decline in its share price this week, there was a little ray of hope for Zynga Inc. Friday as TheStreet Ratings upgraded it from a “sell” to “hold”.
That development comes following Zynga reporting stronger than expected earnings per share for the past quarter.
Zynga Shares Were Down Another 6 Percent Thursday
After falling 10 percent in after hours trading Wednesday, social gaming company Zynga witnessed another 6 percent drop in its share price heading into Thursday afternoon.
The company's surprise profit in the first three months of this year was overshadowed by reported revenue decline, a drop in the number of users and a lower-than-expected second-quarter forecast.
Revenue fell 18 percent to $263.6 million, from $321 million.
Analysts, on average, had expected revenue of $264.5 million, according to FactSet.
Zynga Shares Drop More Than 10 Percent in Extended Trading
NEW YORK — (Associated Press) - Zynga Inc.'s surprise profit in the first three months of the year got overshadowed by a revenue decline, a drop in the number of users and a lower-than-expected second-quarter forecast.
The online game maker's stock fell more than 10 percent in extended trading Wednesday after the first-quarter results came out.
Bet365 Family Coates Become Britain’s First Gambling Billionaires
Congratulations to Peter Coates, 75, his daughter Denise, 45, and son John, 43. The Coates family are about to become Great Britain’s first billionaires of gambling.
The elder Coates started Bet365 while his daughter is widely credited for building the brand’s online presence.
