Gambling – Page 10

Pennsylvania Records $184.9 Million in Online Gambling Revenue in February 2024

The online gambling market in Pennsylvania is rapidly growing, which is proven by the fact that revenue smashed the records in February, even though other states recorded a year-on-year decrease in revenue.

Online gambling revenue

pennsylvania_igaming_revenue_reaches_record_dlr184_9m_in_february_ According to the report, Pennsylvania generated $184.9 million in online gambling revenue in February.

Overall, the revenue was $499.1 million. Compared to the same period the previous year, an increase of 9.3% is recorded, since in February 2023 the revenue was $456.8 million. However, in January 2024, the total revenue was $464.4 million, so February recorded a decrease of 1.6%.

The main source of revenue in Pennsylvania is still retail slots which generated $202,7 million. The revenue was slightly decreased, but the growth is recorded when considering the number of slot machines decreased from 25,708 to 24,962.

Land-based table games also had a successful period, since the revenue generated from them was $76,6 million, representing an increase of 2.9%. In 2023, the Pennsylvania online gambling market reached a revenue of $131.6 million. Compared to that, total iGaming revenue grew by 40.5% to $184.9 million in 2024.

Online slots generated $125.9 million, 35.6% more than in the previous year, while online table games earned $56.6 million, which represents an increase of 56.7%. Online poker wasn’t as popular as it used to be in 2023, since it generated $2.4 million, 8.3% less than in the year before.

Industry leaders

The casino that saw the highest revenue is Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course. Its online gaming operations earned $77.3 million in February, 36.8% more than in the same month of 2023.

The second place took Valley Forge Casino Resort, which generated $44,8 million. The casino operations saw significant growth since the revenue increased by 63.0%. Rivers Casino Philadelphia took the third place, with $29.3 million and an increase of 11.4%.

Sports betting revenue

On the other hand, sports betting isn’t as popular as it used to be in 2023. When it comes to total revenue, it decreased by 30.0% annually, and in February 2024 it was $30.3 million. The online betting sector saw $28.2 million, and retail revenue was $2.1 million.

However, the total handle increased by 10.4%, and in February it was $661.7 million, while in 2023 that number was $599.5 million.

A leader in the sports betting industry was Valley Forge Casino Resort and its partner FanDuel that earned 17.7 million in revenue. The second was Hollywood Casino at the Meadows and DraftKings, with $7.7 million in revenue, and Hollywood Casino Morgantown and BetMGM were the third with $1.2 million. Video lottery terminals saw a decline of 2.4%, with a revenue of $3.2 million, and fantasy sports decreased by 5.2% to $1.3 million.

Source: Fletcher, Robert. “Pennsylvania iGaming revenue reaches record $184.9m in February”. iGaming Business. March 20, 2024.

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Spanish Online Gambling Market Records an Increase of €315.3m in Q4

The Spanish online gambling market is growing, and according to the recently published report, the online gambling revenue in the country grew to €315.3 million (£269.8m/$342.0m) during the fourth quarter of 2023, which represents an increase of 0.6% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The total deposits increased as well.

Most popular games

spain_online_gambling_revenue_edges_up_to_e315_3m_in_q4 But the growth hasn’t been noticed only on an annual level – compared to the third quarter, gross gaming revenue increased by 3.6%.

The main source of revenue was casinos, and it seems its popularity among the Spanish players is increasing even further over time. Casinos brought in €171.3 million, which is 54.3% of the total revenue earned in the fourth quarter in the whole of Spain. The popularity of slot games increased in this key European market, so the revenue generated from slot games increased by 25.9%, while live roulette games earned 15.3% more than was the case before.

Sports betting was also incredibly popular among Spanish players. According to iGaming Business, the revenue generated from sports betting was €114.7 million, which is 36.4% of the total amount collected. Poker generated €25.4 million, which is 8.1% of total revenue.

On the other hand, it seems that poker tournaments aren’t as popular as they used to be. A decrease of 0.5% was recorded compared to the previous period, while poker cash had a negative variation rate of 7.0%.

Spanish players love bingo as well, so bingo generated €3.8 million, which is 1.2% of the total revenue. On top of that, contests earned about €50,000.

Deposits and marketing activities

Players were willing to spend a lot of money on various online gambling activities, so the total was €1.04 billion when it comes to the money the players deposited in their accounts during the fourth quarter, which marks an increase of 9.4% compared to the same period in 2022.

There were 1,269,585 active accounts every month on average, which is 6.9% more than in 2022. But it seems these revenue figures were pulled by old players, since the number of new accounts created dropped by 2.3%, as the monthly average was 129,207 accounts.

The operators have spent €113.0 million on various marketing activities, which is 5.3% more than in 2022. Promotions took €53.0 million, €45.2 million was spent on advertising, while €14.0 million was spent on affiliates. Sponsorships took €750,000.

In Q4, Spain recorded 78 licensed active operators. A total of 49 were licensed for casino games, 43 for sports betting services, nine of them offered poker, three bingo games, and two contests.

Source: Fletcher, Robert. “Spain: online gambling revenue edges up to €315.3m in Q4”. iGB. February 27, 2024.

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French Regulator ANJ Warns About Illegal Gambling Sites

french_regulator_issues_warning_over_illegal_online_casinos_on_facebook_2 L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), a gambling regulator from France, works hard to prevent illegal gambling in the country. The regulator recently warned all players about the fraud that is occurring in the industry: various illegal gambling operators use the brands of popular licensed operators to advertise their services on social media platforms, especially Facebook.

Risks for players

That way, even those looking to gamble legally can be tricked into placing illegal bets. Now, the regulator has joined forces with Meta to monitor and resolve the issue.

So far, ANJ has found about 400 illegal websites, which resulted in 137 user accounts on Facebook being blocked. The main operators that were used for illegal operations were Barrière and JOA groups. The profiles of these operators have been created and their brand image was used to attract potential customers to the illegal website. They also created mobile apps that players were led to from Facebook images.

Online casinos aren’t legalized in France. However, some operators are allowed to offer online sports betting and horse racing betting services to French players. Also, land-based casinos that have appropriate licenses are also legal.

According to ANJ, players are at huge risk due to betting on illegal sites. They risk not being paid when they win, as well as various payment frauds and the risk of stealing personal data.

The regulator commented: “If in doubt about the legality of the gambling site on which you are about to bet, consult the list of sites approved by the ANJ. You can also consult the blacklist of sites that have been administratively blocked by the ANJ. We invite anyone who notices the presence of fake advertisements to report them.”

Worth of illegal betting market

In December 2023, ANJ said that the illegal betting market in France was worth up to €1.50 billion (£1.28bn/$1.62bn), which is more than 10% higher than the wagered amount in the country on a yearly basis.

According to research conducted by ANJ, 510 illegal websites are active. About 60% of all traffic comes from 21 of them.

PwC published a study with concerning data: the gross gaming revenue illegal casinos earned is somewhere between €748m and €1.5bn, which is between 5% and 10% of total gambling in France. The record was set in 2022 when it was €12.9 billion.

Source:

“French regulator issues warning over illegal online casinos on Facebook”, igamingbusiness.com, January 31, 2023.

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Casino Crime Round Up: San Jose Gambling, Prostitution Raid Leads to Arrests

Five suspects were apprehended after a North San Jose, Calif., raid of an illicit gambling operation this week.

San Jose Police Department cruiser, pictured above. Police officers raided an illegal gambling operation. (Image: *San Jose Spotlight*)

Authorities also seized 33 guns, about 20K in cash, 150K rounds of ammo, and some 500 pounds of suspected marijuana during Wednesday’s court-ordered raid.

The arrested suspects are Saolepea Liu, 42, of Antioch, Calif., as well as Nido Nguyen, 35, Phuong Nguyen, 44, Windie Pratt, 41, and Anai Garcia, 24, each of San Jose.

Each was booked on charges at Santa Clara County Jail. Specific counts weren’t immediately released.

The investigation began earlier this month when San Jose Police Department (SJPD) officers were tipped off there was an illegal casino operating in several units in a commercial building on Autumndale Drive in North San Jose.

It turns out there was more than illicit gambling occurring at the site. SJPD officers said they uncovered illegal drug sales and prostitution, according to San Francisco TV station KRON.

Women who were victims of sex trafficking at a brothel in the building were provided resources and assistance following the raid, KRON reported based on a SJPD statement released on Friday.

The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are possible.

Over $2K Robbed from Casino

A Bozeman, Mont. man was arrested this week after allegedly holding up a small gaming facility and burglarizing a gas station.

Duane Cantwell, 50, was charged with a count each of robbery and burglary after the theft from Bozeman’s Montana Lil’s Casino on Wednesday night.

A female clerk at the business claimed the bandit grabbed her as she tried to count money.

Please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me. I have children who need me,” she pleaded with the robber.

He then ordered her to hand over the loot and said he wouldn’t harm her if he got the cash.

He fled the business after being given $2,126, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

He drove off in a white Ram 1500 pickup truck. His photo was captured on a surveillance camera.

Cantwell also allegedly burglarized a Town Pump gas station administrative office in Belgrade, Mont. on Wednesday night.

He entered the office by climbing through ceiling tiles. The office was “trashed,” police revealed. But it’s unclear if anything was stolen.

On Thursday, police had identified Cantwell as the suspect. They spotted his pickup truck at Montana’s Gallatin County Fairgrounds. He was found inside a nearby camper and apprehended.

He was booked at Gallatin County Detention Center. His case was turned over to local prosecutors.

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Parliament to Approve the New Gambling Bill in Curaçao

A significant step towards the new gambling regulation in Curaçao has been taken. The bill for the gambling regulation is submitted to the authorities, and now the parliament is supposed to decide whether it will approve it or not.

Significant changes in the market

regulation- There are various changes for the currently licensed operators as well, so the Ministry of Finance issued a notice to inform them about the transition to the new system in order to ensure smooth operation.

The changes will be overseen by the National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK), a new regulation body that will be established soon.

There will be a variety of changes, but the most important are changing the license types and establishing new fees for operators.

The operators won’t be able to register for sub-license through the Curaçao Gaming Control Board (GCB) anymore after March 31, and all operators that aren’t registered won’t be able to operate.

The portal was opened on September 1, which greatly shortened the whole application process. The operators were able to apply for licenses from November 1, and it could process new applications and register the operators who had already received their licenses.

The applications in progress will continue after March 31, while licensees will continue operating under a provisional license.

If the operators haven’t applied for the direct license before March 31, they will be able to continue operating under a sub-license or wait for LOK to be enacted, when they are obligated to apply for the direct license.

According to the new law, all licenses were renewed.

Digital Seal regulation

All operators who got their licenses before January 1 will be able to show the Digital Seal they got from the GCB on their website. Also, the applicants who have already submitted their applications will be able to do the same. The policy related to showcasing the Digital Seal will be released in the future.

The first announcement of the new Curaçao regulations happened in July 2022, and work on the process started in January this year.

New legislation has great support among the country’s government and regulators. Sixiènne Jansen, legal advisor to Curaçao’s Ministry of Finance, said that the first potential date for releasing new updates was September 1. Javier Silvania, Curaçao’s minister of finance, also supported the LOK and the new regulations, saying back in September that it would prevent the grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force in the country.

Source: “Curaçao gambling regulation bill enters parliament”, December 19, 2023.

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