Basically, the narrative is that legal offshore Vegas betting sites are fundamentally more prone to being hacked than big-name domestic casinos. Similarly, we constantly hear that users of such offshore sites are fundamentally more prone to being attacked personally and financially than users of brand-name in-state alternatives.

But in reality, this is a completely predictable scare tactic to control where gamblers spend their money. And it works.

In states that have domestic online gambling (casino, sports, and/or poker), the average player is more likely to play with domestic vendors. Things like commercially available gambling apps make the proposition convenient and compelling, even if there are appreciable benefits to gambling with international operators.

But more than the ease of installing an app from the App Store or Google Play store and tying in your bank account or debit/credit card, the main selling point is often one of legitimacy and safety.

Those two things are fundamentally related in the minds of consumers. Hey, these vendors are legal and legit; therefore they’re safe to use. Government regulations ensure that they’re using state-of-the-art cybersecurity protocols, that they employ top-class technical teams, etc.

Meanwhile, offshore sites are presented – by domestic competitors, naturally – as being illegal (they aren’t) and thus unsafe to use in terms of encryption and security technology (they also aren’t).

And then something like this happens.

What’s more, this isn’t the first time a Vegas casino or name-brand “big box” casino has been targeted by bad actors.

The ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware attack of MGM Resorts on September 11 wasn’t even the only casino hack that week. Just days earlier (September 7), Caesars Entertainment had their members rewards program held hostage and coughed up $15 million to get that data back.

At the time of this writing, MGM is refusing to pay up (the amount of the ransom is currently unknown), choosing instead to combat the attack with its own team along with assistance from law enforcement.

However, during MGM’s immediate response, the company’s services – along with many ancillary services – were taken offline. Per Adam Levin, “What the Hack” podcaster and founder of the CyberScout online security service:

“MGM shut everything down in order to stop whatever it was from continuing to wend its way through the system. ATM machines were impacted. Slot machines, digital room keys, electronic payment systems. The casino at one point was reduced to pen and paper.”

Clearly, if you were gambling with an MGM property during this time – even if you were only using the brand’s online gambling services – you were impacted.

Now, there’s a debate to be had about how valuable “personal information” actually is these days. Many online gamblers don’t much care about these kinds of breaches, particularly given the nature of our connected world.

Regardless, though, a breach shows weakness and vulnerability. Even if the stolen data is functionally worthless (or, more likely, totally redundant in the grand scheme), the fact that a venue was bested by bad actors is often enough for those bad actors to extract a substantial amount of money out of said venue.

It’s also bad for marketing in another crucial way.

These big casino companies get plenty of preferential treatment legally in the states and regions where they operate. They don’t usually have monopolies as such, but they have a lot of clout and definitely have all the leverage against smaller vendors.

Their biggest competitors are offshore operators who carry practically zero overhead and offer all the same games they do in the online space. These offshore operators also allow their customers to gamble with crypto, and they usually carry a minimum legal gambling age of just 18-plus as opposed to 21-plus.

But because no amount of lobbying at the state or federal level can criminalize these non-USA sites or police individual access to them (which remains completely legal in 2023, no matter which state you live in), the one angle domestic operators have is to smear offshore operators.

And when attacks like these are made known to the public, the big names lose a bit of that leverage.

That fact is that offshore international betting sites are perfectly safe and secure to use. They also don’t have nearly the deep pockets that domestic Vegas operators do, as these brands are valued in the tens of billions of dollars.

Who’s more likely to pay a ransom? The bigger fish with more to lose.

And who’s more likely to be attacked? The entity that’s more likely to pay.

It also doesn’t help things (for those big fish) that the smaller guys all embrace cryptocurrency on a fundamental level. The majority of offshore gamblers use crypto to bet online, and hackers can’t do much with that. Security is one of the hallmarks of crypto, after all. The stuff is quantum-hacking-resistant.

Another aspect that’s often overlooked when it comes to cybersecurity is identity verification.

When a domestic casino user signs up to gamble online or bets real money in a physical casino, state laws mandate a fairly invasive amount of private data to be collected on each customer. The more private data you have, the more valuable that data ostensibly is to those who mean to steal it.

Online offshore Vegas-style casinos, on the other hand, collect the bare minimum.

All they care about is that you’re at least 18 years old (21+ at some sites) and aren’t playing from a banned region. They don’t require a utilities receipt, they don’t need a bank routing number, they don’t ask for your social security number, they don’t track your movements, you aren’t on security recordings, or anything else.

Most of the data valuable to hackers as leverage is not used, accessed, or compiled by these sites. Some market analysts in the big boys’ pockets pretend this is all some terrible anti-consumer thing, but it isn’t.

These hacks are proof of that.

It might seem ironic or counterintuitive, but if you think about it, it’s nothing but a positive boon for the player.

Now, this isn’t all to say that any old online gambling site is going to be safer than MGM or Caesars. That’s clearly not the case. There are countless online casino scams out there operating in an offshore capacity. But these sites are easy to identify, and if you play with an established operator, there’s nothing to worry about.

So stop worrying and start playing!

Sources: The Washington Post, Engadget

The post Is Hacking More Likely At In-Person Or Online Casinos? first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

Of course, given that most sportsbooks in Vegas are associated with various Vegas casino operations, they hardly need it.

After a tumultuous couple of years (and a particularly chaotic 2020), Las Vegas casinos are finally consistently back on top. The venues seem to be hauling in historically large amounts of revenue month after month, with July being no different. In fact, July saw a record haul in Sin City, with area casinos raking in more moolah than ever.

Per Casino.org:

“The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) reported Wednesday that July gross gaming revenue (GGR) in Clark County was a record $1.208 billion, a 7.5% year-over-year increase. Strip casinos reported GGR of $834.9 million, also an all-time high for the state’s most critical gaming market.

Statewide GGR totaled $1.404 billion, up nearly 7% to mark the richest month in Nevada gaming history.”

This means that 2023 will likely be the biggest year in the history of the international gambling mecca. At least, if you’re not adjusting for inflation. If you do that, we’re all in the red and should never bet on (being in the) black again.

After losing more than 95% year-over-year from 2019 to 2020 (remember that pandemic thing?), Vegas’ bread and butter industry has been charging back. And unless there’s a cataclysm in the next few months where Vegas suddenly becomes the dead, dystopic wasteland it’s usually portrayed as in the movies, the market should set a record for income in 2023.

While the final number is still unpredictable, it’s a dead cert that Nevada will take in more than last year’s record haul of $14.8 billion of revenue, which was itself a massive increase on 2021’s revenue record $13.4 billion.

In all likelihood, $15 billion — possibly even $15.5 billion or even $16 billion — will become the new annual high-water mark.

And again, the height of the US sports betting season (i.e. NCAA and NFL football) is just kicking off.

While it’s true that Las Vegas casinos — and all casinos, for that matter — make the bulk of their money off slots (and to a lesser degree, table games), the increased interest in sports betting will drive more action to said casinos. That is, there’s no reason to think the action on the gaming floor is going to slow down before area casinos shatter last year’s income numbers.

Any notion that the closures of 2020 would bring about the advent of mobile online Vegas casinos sooner than later can be put to rest. We actually thought it was inevitable ourselves, but Vegas has shown without any doubt that physical brick-and-mortar casinos are here to stay.

Speaking of here to stay, at least one recent Vegas institution isn’t.

If the region is going to break its annual revenue record for the third year in a row, it’ll have to do so without the help of ESPN. Of course, that shouldn’t be too difficult. ESPN is irrelevant. We admit to simply using the setup as a segue. (Try that, ChatGPT!)

After three years of broadcasting from The LINQ, a Caesars property on the Vegas Strip, ESPN is packing up and moving its Daily Wager program – which we’ve never seen because ESPN is the most disingenuous gambling “advocate” ever and we have no patience for that – back to ESPN HQ in Bristol, Connecticut.

Scott Clark, VP of ESPN’s Fantast & Sports Betting Content division, explains:

“ESPN created some great content and incredible memories during our time at the Las Vegas studio. With our new ESPN BET deal set to launch this fall, we felt it was best to return to our headquarters. We cannot thank everyone we worked with at Caesars Entertainment over the past few years and we wish them the best into the future.”

If you weren’t aware, ESPN has entered into a $1.5 billion deal with Caesars rival PENN Entertainment.

For PENN, the agreement serves to replace the beleaguered Barstool Sports brand (which has been remanded to the custody of beleaguered founder, Dave Portnoy) with the ESPN brand.

Meanwhile, PENN will provide ESPN with a massive audience in up to 34 states where sports gambling is now legal. The contract is for 10 years, during which time PENN will roll out the ESPN-branded “ESPN Bet” sports betting experience in both physical and mobile capacities.

PENN CEO Jay Snowden had this to say about the partnership:

“This transformative, exclusive agreement with ESPN marks another major milestone in PENN’s evolution from a pure-play U.S. regional gaming operator to a North American entertainment leader. ESPN Bet will be deeply integrated with ESPN’s broad editorial, content, digital and linear product, and sports programming ecosystem.”

Whether or not this helps ESPN’s faltering ratings — and where Stephen A. Smith goes from here — remains to be seen.

Sources: Casino.org, KTNV

The post Las Vegas Casinos Rocket Past Previous July Revenue Record first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

Ironically, even though Nevada is a member of the 22-state association – and even though the conference was hosted in Sin City itself – NV legislators did not attend the event.

The reason why is plain: Nevada strongly opposes online casino gambling.

While the state long ago approved online sports betting and online poker, these are comparative cottage markets.

Yes, players turn an incredible handle betting on sports and playing in online poker tournaments, but the dramatic majority of that money goes back to the players.

The house take on these games is tiny, and – in the case of sports betting – isn’t even guaranteed. It’s not unusual for a major domestic Las Vegas sports betting site to take a quarterly loss. If a big underdog scores a major upset, the book can go into the red.

A strong Vegas betting operator might rake in $10-20 million a year in profits. A major Vegas gambling casino makes that much in a month. There’s really no comparison. And Nevada lawmakers – as well as the Vegas casino lobby – understand this.

Sports betting and poker are viewed as “gateway” activities that actually draw more action to the gaming floors at Vegas hotel casinos, where high-margin games like slots and blackjack and roulette reign supreme.

Won some money betting on the Chiefs this past Sunday? Hey, that’s “found money”! Why not go bet some of it at the tables and really make a killing? And while you’re there, why not book a nice comfy suite, take in a few first-class meals and shows, and exit through the gift shop?

Anything that keeps people out of Vegas casinos by making casino games conveniently accessible online is going to be a non-starter at the legislative level.

Remember, Nevada doesn’t even have a lottery. That’s how big slots and table games are for the state.

iGaming Is Clearly The Future…Right?

Now, there’s no question that iGaming is popular. It’s available in six US states to date, and that’s not counting the legal online Las Vegas-style casinos that operate outside US borders and serve American gamblers nationwide.

Of course, we don’t have “official” numbers for the revenue generated by international venues. But we do have the numbers for the six states that host domestic iGaming. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

“[Gross] gaming revenue for iCasinos from January through November 2022 is up 36.3 percent year-over-year to an estimated $4.5 billion. That’s on top of a 138.9 percent increase from 2020 to 2021.”

According to Howard Glaser of Vegas game provider Light and Wonder, who spoke at the NCLGS conference:

“iGaming is the single most successful launch of a casino product in the history of the United States, if not globally. … In the last 12 months, in just six states, [they did] $5 billion in gross gaming revenue. If you think of the gaming market as a whole, $50 billion in U.S. commercially, that’s about 10 percent of the market and that’s six states compared with every state in the U.S. that has commercial casinos.”

There’s no denying that iGaming is a massively popular market.

COVID Impact On Physical Casinos

There’s also no denying that online gambling got a major boost in establishing consistent clientele during the casino COVID lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.

Part of the calculus on the part of the casino lobby in Nevada is that such draconian lockdowns – which gutted Vegas revenue by over 90 percent at the height of the measures – are unlikely to be repeated in the future.

That may or may not be, and it’s a gamble.

For the iGaming advocates, it’s a gamble these casinos shouldn’t take. And to their credit, if such lockdowns become a reality every other year, it’s more likely that the powers that be in NV will change their tune going forward.

Fear And Loathing Of Market Cannibalization

But just as there’s no denying the above, there’s no denying this fact, either:

Ready access to Vegas online casinos in Nevada would decimate the foot traffic to brick-and-mortar casinos, particularly among locals.

Yes, Vegas is a tourism hub, but it’s also where NV residents in and around the Las Vegas area go to gamble. And to eat. And to take in shows and concerts. And to spend a weekend – with, of course, a big emphasis on “spend.”

In gross gaming receipts alone, Las Vegas casinos average over $1 billion per month. Annually, that amounts to more than twice what the entire current US-based iGaming market brings in.

And most of that online revenue is tied to physical gambling venues and counts toward their overall retail receipts.

Casinos in states with legal iGaming make notably less revenue at their retail sites because of all the action at their online sites.

It’s not a complete wash, because there is a contingent of gamblers that will only gamble if everything is as convenient as possible (i.e. online).

But when accounting for total splits, it’s clear that iGaming isn’t bringing in an extra $5 billion annually. In other words, their online revenues cannibalize their retail revenues.

Downmarket Impact Of Vegas iGaming

So far, we’ve only discussed the gambling aspect. What about the downmarket economies of Las Vegas? What about all the hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues, tourist traps, shops, malls, and so on?

Those revenues – which would also plummet if a significant number of players stick to online gambling instead of in-person gambling – is tougher to divine out, and estimates vary.

On the low end, Vegas and its ancillary markets rake in $36 billion per year. On the high end, the Las Vegas tourism industry brings in upwards of $64 billion per year.

This – the “grand scheme” – is what the city and the state are protecting by avoiding the push for online casino gambling.

Legal iGaming To Stop Illegal iGaming

Advocates of online gambling in the Vegas market are quick to point to issues other than revenue, of course.

Just as Vegas lottery advocates clamor for the contributions to education funding such a lotto would provide, iGaming bulls point out the following (per the Las Vegas Review-Journal, emphasis added):

“[iGaming] proponents say revenue generation is not the only benefit of internet casinos. They say law enforcement can track and stop illegal online operators easier, which the American Gaming Association is pressing for.”

This argument is misleading and disingenuous.

There are very few “illegal online operators” in Nevada – or, frankly, anywhere else in the US.

For a gambling operator to illegally offer online casino games, their electronic games must be based inside the United States and hosted on US-based servers.

Because online casinos require a significant technical backend, this isn’t something a local cabal of two-bit criminals can put together. These would have to be large operations, which means they’d be easy to root out regardless of any future law enforcement tools allegedly derived of newly legal Vegas gambling online.

Tools, it should be noted, that could (and probably already do) exist otherwise.

Here, these iGaming advocates are conflating local black-market bookies with black-market online casino operators.

There are plenty of illicit online sports betting services out there, as local bookies act as middlemen using otherwise legit online services. But there are virtually no illegal online casinos.

In the US, there are no laws against gambling with offshore betting operators. These sites operate fully within the confines of the law. Sites like Bovada Casino, Slots LV Casino, BetOnline, and MyBookie are safe and legal to use.

What’s more, many of these sites – such as Bovada and Slots LV – already don’t accept Nevada residents. This is part of a so-called “gentleman’s agreement” that these operators have with NV state gaming regulators.

This entire argument is specious nonsense and won’t convince anyone who is actually familiar with Vegas gambling laws.

Solving The Problem of Problem Gambling

The second point pro-iGaming advocates make for legalizing online casino games in Las Vegas is this:

“Compulsive problem gamblers can set limits online and responsible gaming programs are easier to implement.”

Again, more nonsense.

Compulsive gamblers can already limit their participation at retail casinos, as the state has a voluntary exclusion program baked into its legal gaming framework.

If anything, this position seems to claim that online casinos are more resistant to problem gambling than brick-and-mortar casinos. But you can bet that if Vegas iGaming were legalized, you’d get the exact opposite argument ad infinitum.

It’s much easier to believe that the convenience of the online game would make it easier for problem gamblers to problem gamble. And besides, all the top international online Vegas casinos already have voluntary exclusion policies in place.

In other words, the advocates here are obfuscating existing laws and safeguards to trick folks into thinking this isn’t exactly how everything has worked for years.

Don’t misunderstand – We’re big proponents of online gambling ourselves. We greatly prefer playing Vegas-style online slots, Vegas blackjack games, roulette games, and other amusements over the rigamarole of playing in person.

But we’re also rather fond of the brick-and-mortar gambling industry, and we’re not interested in seeing the Vegas Strip become an empty, bedraggled 1990s-era Atlantic City ghost town full of sad White Elephants with crumbling facades.

It’s simple, really: If you live in Vegas and want to gamble, hit up a local casino. If you can’t be bothered and just want to play online, hit up one of the sites featured in our Vegas online casino reviews.

The post Don’t Expect Las Vegas Online Casino Gambling Any Time Soon first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

Today Las Vegas pumps out an incredible $62 billion annually in tourist revenue, and while the gambling and brothel reputations of Sin City were earned way back during the California and Nevada gold and silver rushes of 1849 and 1850, it was not until the Mafia arrived from the East Coast that Vegas began to fully blossom into the gambling mecca it is today.

But if President Herbert Hoover had not approved the go-ahead for the building of the Boulder Dam, later renamed the Hoover Dam under the Truman administration, the Las Vegas we know and love today may not even exist in its present form. Construction of the dam began in 1931, and the population exploded from 5,000 to 25,000 in Las Vegas. The instant influx of the largely male workforce with no entertainment immediately drew the attention of both Mafia crime lords and Mormon financiers and businessmen.

Mob-controlled Las Vegas showgirls and casinos descended upon the hard-working Hoover Dam construction workers that had plenty of cash and plenty of time to spend. Intelligent Las Vegas, Nevada officials wisely legalized gambling in 1931, and Fremont Street began the cornerstone foundation of the world’s premier gambling destination with casinos like the Las Vegas Club and the Apache Hotel. The Wild West atmosphere was still so pervasive that it wasn’t until 1931 that Fremont Street was actually paved, becoming home to Las Vegas’s first traffic light.

That traffic light must have been the green light signal for the East Coast mob to move into the city, and by the time Southern Nevada Power first delivered electric power from the Hoover Dam, with the brilliantly lit Las Vegas as its first customer, organized crime became the foundation of many casinos in the city.

And while it was openly known that mobsters and gangsters controlled and secretly owned many Las Vegas businesses and gambling dens, the East Coast bosses were happy to keep a low profile. That all changed in 1946 when known Jewish gangster Bugsy Siegel, with help from fellow mob boss Meyer Lansky and respectable Mormon bank backing, built The Flamingo in 1946.

20 years later, an eccentric billionaire germaphobe stayed at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. The noted American financier and aviation industry king Howard Hughes was so concerned about germs that when faced with leaving his room, he instead purchased the entire hotel. With a fat bankroll, he quickly bought out organized crime in many venues, and single-handedly began the metamorphosis of the city’s reputation from crime-based to corporate respectability.

This was the beginning of the end for Mafia and mob casino ownership in Las Vegas, and the start of big business conglomerates owning and running the city’s casinos, resorts, and hotels. Baby boomer entrepreneurs began the Megaresort Las Vegas era that we experience today back in the 1980s, and the current Las Vegas now offers a more family-oriented entertainment and casino gambling experience as the world’s most popular gambling hotspot that include some of the most luxurious vacation spots at 5 star Las Vegas Hotels and Resorts.

The post Building Las Vegas – From Gold Rush, Mob Controlled to Corporate Mega-Resorts first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

In just over two years, Karas had gambled, wagered, and prognosticated that baby bankroll into an incredible $40 million fortune. Not bad for an uneducated former waiter who used to shoot marbles as a starving kid just to earn enough money so he could eat.

Arriving in Las Vegas with only his dilapidated vehicle and $50 in his wallet, Karas exploited Las Vegas’ legal gambling to the tune of $17 million in only six months playing pool and poker. He moved to the famous Binion’s Horseshoe as a base of operations and started playing games of pool for $10,000 to $40,000 a pop.

The self-taught Karas also beat Hall of Fame poker players like Johnny Moss, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, and the three-time World Series of Poker champion Stu Ungar consistently during The Run. While Karas is the pinnacle of Las Vegas gambling royalty, there are countless others who over the years have forced the house edge in Las Vegas to surrender.

Their desire to risk it all for spectacular wealth paid off, and their stories linger in the back of our minds every time we head to Sin City. On March 21, 2003, a soft-spoken 25-year-old Los Angeles software developer decided to vacation in Las Vegas. Smart move.

A bold $100 Megabucks slot machine spin delivered the largest single-person jackpot in Las Vegas history when the Excalibur slot machine he was playing paid off a 16.7 million to one bet for a staggering $39,710,826.36 (that’s $39 million folks). On January 26, 2000, a 37-year-old hard-working Las Vegas cocktail waitress and slots player named Cynthia Jay-Brennan won $34.9 million on a similar Megabucks machine at the Desert Inn.

A mere 14 months earlier, a retired 67-year-old flight attendant from Las Vegas decided to spend $100 on a slot machine at the Palace Station. As so many gamblers do, she got hooked and went way over her $100 budget. It is a good thing she did because when she was considering quitting after gambling $300, the wheels rolled around on yet again another jackpot-paying Megabucks machine that rewarded her tenacity with $27.5 million. The anonymous flight attendant also hit a $680,000 jackpot on a Wheel of Fortune slot machine at the Palace Station.

For all you high-rollers out there, William Lee Bergstrom proves that gambling at extremely high levels requires ice water in your veins. Bergstrom once walked into Binion’s in the 1980s with a suitcase loaded with $770,000 in cash and bet it all on the Don’t Pass craps line. An agonizing three rolls later the shooter crapped out, Bergstrom doubled his money to $1,540,000 and hit the door.

And any discussion of incredible Las Vegas gambling successes has to include the amazing Stanley Fujitake. On May 28, 1989, the regular at the California Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas bellied up to the craps table and picked up the dice. For an unbelievable but documented 3 hours and 6 minutes encompassing 118 straight winning rolls, Fujitake helped himself and his fellow craps players to more than $1 million of the hotel’s money.

From amateurs to seasoned veterans, Las Vegas provides a siren’s song that is hard for gamblers to resist, but these amazing Las Vegas gambling winners prove sometimes riches are just one decision away.

The post “The Run” From $50 to $40 Million, Biggest Winners in Vegas Gambling History first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

Back in 2012 Phil Ivey was enjoying some high-stakes Punto Banco (a form of baccarat) at Crockford’s Casino in London. Before he was through, the talented card player best known for his WSOP Texas Hold ‘Em exploits had taken more than £7.7 million ($12.3 million) of the casino’s money. The news hit Twitter and social media, just about everyone commented what a great all-around card player Ivey must be, and the story died. That was until Crockford’s withheld payment, and claimed that Mister Ivey was using an “edge sorting” strategy to receive an unfair advantage in the game, something that casinos consider cheating.

Ivey Enjoyed “An Advantage Which the Game Precludes” – High Court Judge John Mitting

The High Court in London ruled that Ivey had given himself “an advantage which the game precludes.” That was the ruling from Judge John Mitting, who found that the casino was totally justified in withholding Ivey’s winnings. Edge sorting is the practice of exploiting flaws of certain card manufacturers which allow you to distinguish low cards from high ones by viewing the side edge of the cards.

Ivey is obviously a global celebrity and gets extra special treatment at most casinos. When he and his beautiful Asian associate entered Crockford’s on the night in question, they requested and were seated at a private, high-stakes baccarat table. Ivey began immediately betting as much as £150,000 ($241,000) on each hand. After initially losing, he began to win hand after hand.

Obviously, this could never occur through a Vegas style online poker environment or any type of Vegas online casino destination as you have to be able to physically see the deck of cards in order to achieve this type of result. Even live dealer casino games could not provide this type of advantage despite the fact that real cards are used.

Incredible Concessions Were Granted Ivey, and He Took Advantage

If that does not sound like cheating, you may need to hear the whole story. Ivey’s associate asked that the dealer turn high valued cards in the deck 180 degrees. Ivey had requested and also received a specified brand of playing cards. Ivey’s explanation at the table was that he had superstitious reasons for wanting to play with the deck set a particular way.

Because of the cut of the cards on one side, and the way high cards and low cards in that particular brand’s Punto Banco deck are printed, it is sometimes possible to be able to designate low cards from high ones when you view one edge over another. In a game where your intent is to form a hand closer to 9 than that of the banker or dealer, knowing whether the next card is high or low is of extreme and obvious importance.

Ivey “Disappointed” With High Court Ruling

After the High Court ruling, Ivey said he was “disappointed”, but appreciated the fact that the ruling judge noted he was a truthful witness. And honestly, neither the casino nor Ivey have really disagreed too much on what happened. The casino claims that edge sorting is an illegal activity, but if so, why did they allow Ivey to choose a specific deck and have it aligned in a manner which would give him the upper hand?

Ivey has never admitted he was “cheating” in any manner. He simply claimed that he was using “a legitimate strategy” that exploited “Crockfords’ failures to take proper steps to protect themselves against a player of my ability.” As reported by the Washington Post and other reputable news outlets, the judge perceived Ivey’s strategy as cheating. Since the wealthy young card player never realized the $12.3 million in winnings, this is probably not as hard a blow to take as it appears. But the hits might just keep on coming.

Borgata Makes Similar Claims, Sues For $9.6 Million in Punto Banco Winnings

The Borgata in New Jersey has sued Ivey for more than $9.6 million that he won and was paid, also in 2012. Around the same time, he was exploiting the edge-sorting technique in London, he hit the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa over several visits in Atlantic City and was paid his winnings. In April 2014 the casino sued Ivey and is now pointing to this London High Court ruling as proof that Ivey intentionally cheated.

The incident in New Jersey occurred over 4 different baccarat sessions between April and October of 2012. As was the case in the London lawsuit, the Borgata has named Missouri-based card manufacturer Gemaco Inc. as liable for breach of contract, fraud, conversion, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, and racketeering. On both occasions, Ivey was accompanied by female Cheng Yin Sun, who gave instructions to the Punto Banco dealers as to how Mister Ivey wanted the cards positioned.

The post Phil Ivey Loses $12.3 Million Lawsuit, Borgata Casino to Sue For $9.6 Million first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

Borgata partnered up with bwin.Party to run its software, and the 2nd or 3rd largest online poker provider in the world, PartyPoker, runs a single site that shares player pools with BorgataPoker. Those 3 online gambling entities enjoy a couple of things that Ultimate Gaming did not – excellent brand identity and a top-level partner to handle the back-end management of the operation.

Is Ultimate Gaming’s Departure An Early Warning Sign For New Jersey iGaming?

With recent casino closings in New Jersey, sliding traffic across most online gambling sites in that state, and a less than rosy immediate forecast, does Ultimate Gaming’s departure spell doom for the New Jersey and virtual gambling market? After all, their Nevada online poker operation is very successful. So why didn’t it work in New Jersey?

Aside from the above argument that their competition was exceptional, they also were up against quantity as well as quality. New Jersey offers 14 different cyber gambling choices for its residents, and also claims one of the smallest populations of any US state. That combination was going to make it difficult for any “late to the table” Internet gambling company trying to establish a toehold in the state.

Ultimate Gaming Snags Just $4.9 Million in 2014 NJ Gaming Revenue

To give you an idea of the numbers, Ultimate Gaming earned just over $4.9 million all of this year. In 2014 so far, the Tropicana itself has taken down over $14 million in table game revenues. And that is without offering an online poker room. Those big 3 operators mentioned earlier run more than half of the websites which offer Internet gambling options to New Jersey residents.

They also claim contracts with the biggest casinos in that state. That combination is going to make it extremely difficult for even a well-known brand name to chip away at market share in the Garden State. And even the smaller virtual gambling sites are being handled by experienced companies. For instance, Golden Nugget joined Bally Technologies for its NJ online gambling venture, with Trump Plaza allowing the experienced European gambling provider Betfair to run its operation.

Taj Mahal Owes Ultimate Poker $1.5

Some industry analysts and others have wondered aloud how much the impending bankruptcy of the Taj Mahal had on Ultimate Gaming’s decision. The Taj owes Ultimate Poker $1.5 million and has not paid the company in months. That website also had to handle its own promotion, since their proposed deal for advertising on the property was not accepted. Operating as a stand-alone entity made things difficult from the start for Ultimate Gaming, the recent slowdown in the industry in that state did not help, and battling 3 experienced and established Internet gambling operations meant an uphill climb all the way.

Senator Lesniak’s PokerStars Announcement Didn’t Help

It probably did not overjoy Ultimate Gaming execs that NJ Senator Lesniak has stated publicly that PokerStars is only “weeks, not months” away from receiving licensing for an iGaming operation. Ultimate Gaming was last in state revenue, and the PokerStars announcement just meant more bad news for the company. Since PokerStars went from possibly entering in 2015 to probably receiving New Jersey licensing by Thanksgiving, Ultimate Gaming was smart to cut their losses and make the announcement when they did.

When states like Rhode Island and West Virginia decide to offer Internet gambling, a young up-and-coming portal like Ultimate Poker may be perfect. Those smaller states are limiting the number of websites that deliver virtual gambling options, now that they have had time to use New Jersey and Nevada as online gambling guinea pigs.

The post Ultimate Gaming Pulls Out of New Jersey – Virtual Deck Stacked Against Them? first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

According to casino employees, the couple had only been playing the game for 5 minutes when they watched in amazement as the reel symbols lit up for the jackpot win. The MGM Grand Casino is extremely happy for the couple and has been looking forward to this payout for nearly 20 years. Lady Lucky was indeed smiling upon Walter and Linda Misco on their trip to Las Vegas!

When the MGM Grand Casino Hotel opened in 1993, there were approximately 50 Lion’s Share slot machines present as an homage to their MGM lion mascot and icon. There is now only one of these machines left, and it hasn’t paid out its progressive jackpot in nearly two decades, rendering the total at over $2.3 million at the time of this writing.

This single slot machine has become one of the most popular sights on the strip, and according to MGM management, it is played at least 5 times as much as any other slot machine on the property. It is celebrated by players daily and has earned its own following slash fan club, as well as its own set of superstitions (which comes with the territory when you’re talking about die-hard slots aficionados).

It is probably the most famous casino game in Vegas, with loyal players who have been trying to win that jackpot for over a decade. Players have been known to stay at the game for more than 6 hours at a time, with a steady line of hopefuls waiting for as long as it takes for their shot at the game.

There are even stories of people becoming good friends with other players as they all wait for their turn, and nurturing those friendships through regular encounters waiting in line. A lot of the game’s “groupies” are dedicated to devoting at least a portion, if not all of their gaming session to the Lion’s Share on a regular basis.

The reason players are so committed to returning to play this particular game is because there is a belief that the machine is ‘due’ to pay out soon. Most experts don’t believe in that concept, stating that each spin is completely random and independent of every other spin, hence all spins have an equal chance of winning.

Most players can’t kick the notion that the Lion’s Share jackpot payout is ‘due’ after nearly 20 years of quietly growing to its multi-million dollar status. Some players don’t believe it is ever going to pay out, while other players, such as the well-known Wizard of Odds, believe that there is something amok with the game due to some personal experiences he has had playing.

There are reports of players who have developed superstitious rituals that they execute during gameplay, as well as players who believe they need to play at a certain time of day. The devoted slots fan is typically a little superstitious, and the followers of the Lion’s Share are no exception.

You will see a visit to this game mentioned on ‘must-do’ lists from travel websites that help you plan Vegas vacations, as well as families who have passed the torch from father to son in their quest to hit the winning spin. The Lion’s Share slot machine has its own Facebook page and Twitter following, and jackpot figures and gameplay are tracked by multiple websites and blogs.

So why is this old slot machine still around when there are so many newer technology options? Nevada law dictates that it cannot be decommissioned until it has paid out at least 75% of the money that has been paid into it, which would require someone to hit the jackpot. Casino management denies that the slot machine has had its odds manually adjusted or reconfigured in any way, or that any type of tampering has ever occurred, though certain industry professionals do not agree.

While not all players are 100% convinced that the game is on the up and up, the majority believes that the Lion’s Share slot machine game is destined to go down as a Las Vegas legend, and will be a treasured part of Vegas life regardless of whether anyone finally wins that jackpot or not.

Take your shot at some vegas online slot jackpots and play at some of our recommended reputable casinos.

The post Slots Players Pining After Their ‘Lion’s Share’ of the Multi Million Dollar Jackpot That Hasn’t Hit In Nearly 20 Years first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

As you can imagine, that did not make him a popular man in the eyes of online poker, sportsbook and casino gamers. And it might cost Adelson and his company’s shareholders to have him express that opinion publicly. Thousands of online poker fans are currently organizing a boycott of Adelson’s Venetian Casino and Resort, a 14,000 square foot home to 59 poker tables. The embattled CEO stated that “as a father, grandfather, citizen and patriot of this great country” he is “adamantly opposed to the legalization and proliferation of online gaming

He also directed comments towards legislation currently pending in both Pennsylvania and California that would legalize online gambling in those states. Thanks to a Department of Justice reversal in late 2011, gambling online in some form has already been legalized in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware. Obviously, the CEO and owner/operator of several brick-and-mortar casinos in Nevada, other states and around the world would only take such a harsh stance if he believes enough players will choose the online version to the physical experience.

As such, he stated that online gambling profits in a Las Vegas style casino atmosphere will only come at the expense of physical casinos, and also cost jobs. He made no mention of the job creation which will be needed for regulating online gambling experience, creating the infrastructure, websites and game testing labs, nor the higher profit margin created by an online casino as opposed to a traditional casino building.

Also, many online gamers choosing a virtual Vegas gambling experience are presented with generous and free welcome bonus money simply for signing up to a website and opening a money account, a benefit unmatched in the “real world” experience.

Adelson went on to rail about the “possibility of underage children finding ways to place online wagers,” but at least one California attorney that specializes in law governing Internet and interactive gaming disagrees wholeheartedly with that claim. Attorney Martin D. Owens called Adelson’s concerns and objections “preposterous”, and his opinion is mirrored by John Pappas, president of the Poker Players Alliance.

His company includes more than 1 million members who are pro-online poker, and he called Adelson’s concerns “baseless.” He pointed out that since every action by every player can be recorded and tracked in real time, Las Vegas style online gambling is a “regulator’s dream” and age verification can easily be addressed on the Internet better than in a physical casino.

The post Online Gamblers Boycott Venetian After CEO Blasts Internet Gambling first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.

The well-known and Las Vegas-centered World Series of Poker brand has now entered the fray in the Silver State, officially launching real money Vegas style online poker options through their WSOP.com website on September 19. Let us take a look at the first week of play on the site, and see how WSOP online poker was received.

Compared to the launch of the Ultimate Poker website back in April, WSOP.com had a respectable and comparable opening. A peak of 113 cash players was on the site in the first 24 hours after throwing wide its virtual doors, and over the first seven days of availability, the website averaged 47 players every day.

World Series of Poker officials said they will not be signing poker pros as website advertisers or sponsors, WSOP satellite qualifiers can be found on the new website, and after Nevada residents checked out the free play options the site had been running for a few weeks, player suggestions led to several changes that WSOP made.

New Omaha game options have been added at several different financial levels, as well as extra multi-player games and tournaments. The website received a 24-hour peak during its first week of 416 players on the site at the same time, an excellent representation of the support it is receiving.

And when the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event gets underway in Las Vegas in November, advertising and name recognition will probably boost traffic significantly. WSOP owner Caesars Interactive Entertainment has announced they will have definite tie-ins on their online poker website for following and tracking the Main Event WSOP tournament.

While Nevada is world-renowned as a major gambling destination, the population in that state is smaller than next-door neighbor California, and several other states who are pushing for legalized online poker play. However, New Jersey has already passed legislation that would allow it to partner up with the player pools offered by other legalized online poker states, and Nevada recently did the same.

This could boost numbers in both of those states, and an agreement of some kind between those two states has been in the works for a few months now. Player verification is handled through GPS technology and IP address verification from a player’s smartphone or computer, and there are age verification technologies in play as well.

Players located outside of Nevada can also join in the fun, as they can view the lobby and sit at play money tables as well. The site has put into effect a dormant account policy, which will affect your WSOP Player Points and cash balances. WSOP Points will expire after three or six months of inactivity, due to certain criteria. Players can cash out from anywhere, and do not have to be physically located in Nevada.

The new online poker site in Las Vegas opened with very little to no advertising, but World Series of Poker officials are gearing up for a media blitz tied into the live WSOP poker tournaments this year.

The post Recapping Week 1 of WSOP Real Money Online Poker Play in Las Vegas first appeared on Vegas Gambling Online.