Each week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most interesting stories. This time, we take a look at Ukrainian targets, a California Supreme Court triumph and France’s online poker ecosystem skyrocketing.
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France’s online poker ecosystem skyrocketed during the year’s second quarter, with overall revenue during the period declining six per cent year-on-year largely due to a 56 per cent drop across online sports betting.
As the country’s overall online gambling market closed at €323m for the quarter, poker’s 126 per cent rise to gross gaming revenue of €142m during Q1 helped push H1 revenue to €758m, an eight per cent increase from 2019’s figure.
The rise in poker is lauded as “the most significant increase recorded over a quarter,” with active player accounts participating in online poker games during the quarter surging 68 per cent to approximately 1.1m.
The average spending per active player account also increased sharply in Q2 2020, recording a 24 per cent nudge to reach €134 compared to €99 in Q2 2019.
2011
Red Rock Resorts has welcomed a long-awaited California Supreme Court ruling that clears a major hurdle in the development of a casino near Madera, California, alongside the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians.
The court ruled that former Governor Jerry Brown acted within his authority when he concurred in a pair of federal decisions in 2011 that led to the approval of two so-called ‘off-reservation’ tribal gaming projects in Madera and Yuba counties.
The decision will allow the North Fork Rancheria to move forward with the design, financing and construction of its long-awaited project north of the city.
“This ruling has been a long time coming for the tribe and we are thrilled to be able to move forward with them on this very attractive project,” said Bob Finch, executive vice president and COO of Red Rock Resorts. “We expect that the tribe will be announcing more details regarding the casino in the near future.”
The legal case dates back almost a decade, while the tribe’s pursuit of the casino development initially agreed in 2003 with Las Vegas-based Station Casinos.
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Gambling harm solutions platform Gambless has launched in the UK via an exclusive partnership with online lotto betting site Lottoland.
The app is designed to spot and prevent harmful behaviours when it comes to online betting, and provides a number of resources for vulnerable customers who are at risk of gambling addiction, including diagnostic tests to flag risk factors and problem behaviour.
Furthermore, Gambless also provides articles and tips on safe betting, coping skill techniques and an emergency chat feature to help users rationalise their thoughts in a moment of crisis.
Gambless is now available to download via Lottoland UK’s website as well as from both the Apple and Google app stores. Currently, the following psycho-educational courses are available, Emotional Intelligence, Anti Stress, Anti Loneliness, Problem Gambling – part 1 & 2.
2285
Slotegrator has outlined its strategy for conquering the Ukrainian market, as the country looks to finalise its regulatory frameworks after President Volodymyr Zelensky formally signed the ascension of Bill-2285D last month.
Despite suggesting the “heated controversy” remains over some vital parts of the law, the content aggregator reassured that “unsettled issues shouldn’t be seen as a warning sign by operators and casino equipment or game content suppliers who are genuinely interested in taking their front-row seats in the gambling arena”.
At present, the Ukraine Gambling Law establishes that the government will form a regulated marketplace for the eight gambling disciplines of land-based casinos, online casino, retail sports betting, online sports betting, slot machine halls, online poker, totaliser contracts and lotteries.
The firm says that it “kept close tabs on the Ukrainian gambling industry’s road to regulation,” and is buoyed by Zelensky keeping an eye on developments which analysts have labelled a “historical event” for a country where gambling had been prohibited for almost a decade.
2021
Veikkaus anticipates that completion of the Uros Live Arena, which will house the firm’s new Casino Tampere outlet, to be ready for inauguration by December 2021.
Hoping that the casino will become “a trendsetter of the European casino world as a builder of a responsible gaming environment and a new type of an arena casino,” the entity will employ in the region of 80 staff members with recruitment starting step by step at the turn of the year.
Staff will be trained with a “special focus” on responsibility and personalisation, with all slots and table games at Casino Tampere to be subject to full authentication.
The same system and the same tools for the self-control of gaming will already be adopted at Casino Helsinki during the spring of 2021.
