What makes Sports Betting so popular?

Sports Betting is popular for 3 universal reasons. I will list and expand on each.

The global appeal of Football, Basketball and Soccer. These three sports have fans from all over the world. The games are played on multiple continents. They have international stars in each of the three. Fans can connect with the players via social media. They develop an affinity for the players and the brand. As a result they are compelled to bet on them when they are watching on television or via live stream.

The Internet- Information can be obtain right at your fingertips. You can get injury reports, points spreads and historical data of how opponents have fared against each other. There was a time when you would have to be in a sports book in Las Vegas to get this type of information. Your second choice would be from your favorite pregame show or weekly periodical. Anyone remember when having Sports Illustrated was a must?  Now you can get it on your PC or phone.

Credit Card and Debit Accounts - Since most of our transactions can be done with the same phone and PC that gives you the info to determine your bet, the accessibility of your credit or debit card will finalize the process. If you wanted to bet a parlay in Delaware, you would have to physically go to the casino or the establishment takes bets. If you have a mobile account that is active in a jurisdiction that accepts bets and you are in that state, you could phone your action in. There are countless off shore accounts that will accept your action but they are illegal. This does not diminish the amount of people that are using them to satisfy the sports betting itch.

           The countdown to NFL Kickoff is 1day away.  How are you scratching your itch?

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Gaming News from Atlantic City

This week ,Atlantic City scored a 3 point shot with the announcement that Revel would be sold to Glenn Straub, the developer from Miami Florida.  Straub said after the hearing he has reached a deal to buy several casinos or former casinos in Atlantic City as part of a $500 million, multi-faceted deal. He said details would be revealed on Saturday, but added, "I've already bought them."
As part of his plans to purchase Revel, Mr. Straub intends to cancel all existing leases and contracts tied to the property, including those with the former tenants and with the operator of the property’s custom-built power plant, its only source of electricity and hot water.
“They have to understand, we can’t have them control our lives,” Mr. Straub told The Wall Street Journal Thursday. Straub's plan is said to include reopening the casino in Revel but on a smaller scale.

Now

A $50 million makeover of The Pier Shops will turn the underperforming beachside mall into an all-American party palace called The Playground, and make it “the music capital of the East Coast,” Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein announced at a long-awaited press conference Wednesday. This will heighten the interest in Atlantic City will additional music and entertainment venues in the center of the Boardwalk. One way, he said, is that his plans call for providing far more views of the beach, ocean and Boardwalk than currently exist. He added that more restaurants and "high-end shops" are planned in addition to the 14 music venues.

 IN THE FUTURE

The target market will be millennials that are single and under 40.  Blatstein has a proven track record based on his success with Northern Liberties in Philadelphia. Night life similar to the Piazza.

The Stars come out at night

Straub and Blatstein share a view that a renaissance is in order for the struggling resort. The revitalization will have less emphasis on gaming and more on food, beverage and retail. Sounds like a mini Las Vegas East. They still need more hotel rooms and a direct route that consist of rail or air travel.  I would like to see another gaming operator enter the market with a boutique casino style. One that has 200 to 500 rooms with no more  than 1000 slots and 70 tables games, including poker. That operator would also engage an online partner to have an I Gaming presence.

 

  

 

 

 

                                                        Anyone interested?

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Online Gaming News from Pennsylvania

On Wednesday, the 1st of a series of meetings took place about the merits and concerns of online gaming in Pennsylvania. It was held at Harrah's Philadelphia by the Pennsylvania Gaming Oversight Committee. This committee is chaired by state Rep. John Payne, R-106, of Hershey. HB 649 was introduced in February by the state rep. It would empower the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to explore online gambling options and to create regulations for any games it approves.



Jan Jones and Ron Baumann testifying before Gaming Committee

The hearing was provided with testimony from Jan Jones Blackhurst, executive vice president of Caesars Entertainment Group. Blackhurst told the committee members that online gambling is already prevalent in Pennsylvania and the rest of the country, even though it isn’t legal. Blackhurst stated,“Today’s reality is that Internet gambling is taking place in all 50 states, almost all of it illegally. It’s an environment that’s ripe for fraud and criminal activity and it provides no tax revenue. However, the online gambling experience in the states where it is legal, has been successful from a regulatory perspective. Minors can't gamble, the vulnerable are protected and consumer protections against fraud are in place." Ron Baumann, general manager of Harrah's Philadelphia ,also testified about the allowing Pennsylvania Casinos to increase agility and speed to market. Bauman also express interest in gaming tax credits that would be used as capital investment incentives. This is consistent with West Virginia and New Jersey.

The I Gaming views of Blackhurst and Baumann were shared on part of the regulatory framework and strong consumer protections to:

• Prevent minors from playing, with robust age and ID checks
• Ensure players within borders with strong geo-location technology
• Tools to deal with problem gambling

In accordance with the report from Econsult for the Pennsylvania Budget and Finance Committee, the annual ongoing potential revenue would mean tax collections of approximately  $43 million applying a 14% tax. The industry is in support of a tax rate of 12%. I Gaming would take off quicker with the industry proposed rate. More promotions related to sign ups would increase the number of people that want to play. This would make Pennsylvania a more appealing place to play than Delaware or New Jersey. There are several additional meetings scheduled for April that will continue the conversation about I Gaming ,fantasy sports betting and gaming on mobile device.

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March Madness is Crazy!!

 

I love this time of year. College basketball on television all day long into the late evening. Great match ups between teams that would never play against each other ordinarily. A one seed vs. a 16 is like David against Goliath. David can only win with divine intervention. The domination of a 2 vs. a 15 is not as prevalent. The 15 has pulled off an upset in the past. Ask Duke.

 

What I don't care for is the speculation of the last 4 in, last 4 out. The selection committee has to explain why certain teams were not selected. So to spend energy wondering who will get in and who will be left out a month before is a waste to me. No disrespect to ESPN and Joe Lunardi.

LAS VEGAS in the NIGHT

The best place to watch the tournament is in Las Vegas. If you can get a seat at the sports book. you are in a gambler paradise all day. The games start at 9:00am their time. You have to be up early but it's worth it. Some books let you reserve an area for your group for a fee.

 

 

MGM GRAND

I 'm not thrilled that some novice may be in line in front of me and not know how to bet. This is why they have parlay cards dude. Make your wagers the night before. You can do me a favor and be in line after me.

 

I am enamoured with the parity that the tournament has. Any game that is a match up from 4-12 thru 7-8 has a chance to win. This is straight up. If you are in Vegas, you may want to look at a money line bet if you like the underdog. Look at teams that have upper classmen and go seven or eight deep. The experience will prevail if the game is close.

What really makes me mad is I 'm not going to Las Vegas this year. 1st time in last 6 years, I 'm missing round one. If they had sports betting in New Jersey, this would be a mute point. I could ride down to Atlantic City or use a sports betting mobile app to pick my winners. But since I can't, I must resort to picking against other people. I'll be in a bracket pool that I won't win because someone will pick a 13 seed that will go to the elite eight. I will have that same team exiting in the 1st round. Then the block pool for the championship game will be won by someone who doesn't even follow college basketball. Another 20 bucks donated to someone I hardly know.

    Have you notice the range of emotions I have displayed writing this?  I'll close with a video.

                                         That why March Madness is CRAZY!!!


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Top Five News and Views of 2015

 Happy New Year!!! Have a great 2015

If Chris Rock can do it, so can I.

 

 

These are my top five press releases of 2015 from the major players of their respective industries. Each of these are revelations of what to expect in gaming, media and entertainment.

 

In its December magazine, Forbes has profiled Amaya Gaming Group CEO David Baazov, detailing his bold 2014 acquisition of privately held poker operator Rational Group (owners of PokerStars and Full Tilt). The magazine labels the young CEO of Amaya Gaming Group, as the new ‘king of online gambling’ having pulled off an incredible industry coup. The igaming and sports betting industry will further await the highly anticipated launch of Amaya Gaming’s sports betting and casino product, as the firm looks to broaden its online gambling product inventory.

Comcast now offers an Internet Plus package with everything that constitutes "the basics" for $49.99 a month for 12 months. It also offers free access to Comcast's Xfinity TV Go app, which allows for streaming and viewing on a TV set, tablet or other mobile device.
AT&T's U-verse, the fastest growing TV provider in the country, is embracing the idea of moving to a universal watching experience.
It offers a TV Everywhere app, which allows customers to take AT&T content with them on mobile devices, tablets and computers.
"We kind of see it as complementary," said John Blinkiewicz, assistant vice president of U-verse TV marketing. "As we continue to grow customers, we see them using our TV everywhere as a complement to their TV service."
Boosting Internet speeds and expanding networks has become a huge focus for AT&T and Comcast, which could help both the cable providers and the non-traditional TV streaming services.
"As TV has grown up, so have the devices. We need to serve customers where they want, when they want," said Blinkiewicz.

Verizon Communications Inc. has approached AOL Inc. (AOL) about a potential acquisition or joint venture with the Internet company to expand its mobile-video offerings, people with knowledge of the matter said.
Verizon hasn’t made a formal proposal to AOL, and no agreement is imminent, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
Merging AOL’s programmatic advertising technology -- the automated buying and selling of ads online -- with mobile video content can help Verizon catch up with AT&T Inc. (T) as wireless providers enhance their offerings. AT&T last year struck a $48.5 billion deal to acquire satellite TV provider DirecTV.
A joint venture would also focus on advertising technology, one of the people said. Verizon is seeking expertise in three areas: online content, mobile video and advertising, one person said. The company also has held talks with several of AOL’s peers about how to bolster those businesses.
The programmatic ads platform could be paired with a future online-video product, two people said.
With a takeover, Verizon would also gain AOL’s 2.3 million paying members and Internet brands including the Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget. It’s unclear if Verizon is interested in those media properties, which draw more than 200 million unique visitors a month, the fourth-most in the U.S., behind Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Facebook Inc., according to November data from researcher ComScore Inc

Google is a powerhouse, but it's a powerhouse in transition.
In 2014, Google's search engine -- the largest in the world -- continued to dominate the market. In the US, the company has 67 percent of the search market on desktop computers. Globally, it's a $50 billion business in revenue annually.
Google has been making big investments in YouTube, its premier online video platform. The company has fought to keep its top creative talent on the service, especially as rivals like Facebook and startups like Victorious aim to crowd YouTube's turf.
There's good reason for that investment. YouTube gets more than a billion unique visitors every month and streams about three months' worth of video to viewers every minute. eMarketer predicted that video ad revenues from YouTube in the US would hit $1.13 billion by the end of 2014.

Summit in Philly

Forbes has chosen Philadelphia as the permanent home of its 30 Under 30 Summit - a gathering of young entrepreneurs that organizers hope will become the nation's most elite networking event for the next generation of business and political leaders.
The announcement Monday was timed to coincide with the release of the magazine's annual "Forbes 30 Under 30" list, a who's who tally of 600 entrepreneurs and leaders under age 30 that seeks to be as buzzy as its annual billionaires' list.
Forbes' 30 Under 30 Summit made a four-day debut here in October, and Forbes officials toyed with the idea of moving the fledgling confab to a different city each year. The decision to stay in Philadelphia was made after several months of negotiations between Mayor Nutter and top Forbes officials.


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