Archives February 2024

Hastings Exposition and Racing, the group which operates horse races in Hastings, has cancelled the plans to open a horse racing casino in this Nebraska city. According to KSNB, the group operated by Brian Becker plans to move the racing license to Ogallala in Western Nebraska.

2024 Racino Launch:

According to the source, Hastings Exposition and Racing group has already submitted a 2024 racing license application to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission indicating the group’s intention to launch a multi-track Quarter Horse ”racino” in Ogallala instead of Hastings. The company reportedly intends to partner with Elite Casino Resorts in building a 174-acre racetrack and casino site in the Western Nebraska city. The same source reports that the value of the development is estimated at $100 million.

Hastings Location Repealed:

The decision to move the license to another site comes after the Hastings City Council repealed in January the measure passed to allow a casino and racing facility in north Hastings. Instead, the council awarded the permit to Prairie Thunder LLC and West Fork, Inc. to use the property for a racing facility. A Hastings city spokesperson reportedly shortly said that the casino was a business decision.

The group therefore decided to apply for the racing license for the Ogallala site. According to Nebraska Examiner, Brian Jorde, the Hastings company’s spokesman said that the company is awaiting the commission to “get that teed up and approved [and] get going.”

Jorde reportedly also said that the move will be “doing everyone a favor” as the group will expand in the region that seems neglected by the industry.  As Nebraska Examiner reports, Jorde said: “Western Nebraska always gets shut out. Our plan is to get this up and going in Ogallala and then get up and going in Gering and have a Quarter Horse circuit between the two locations.”

$100 Million Project:

As indicated above, Hastings Exposition and Racing and its partner Elite Casino Resorts intend to build a 5/8 mile track with up to 400 stalls just south of Interstate 80 near Ogallala. The facility will also feature a casino resort with a 180-room hotel and a gaming space which will include 640 slots, 20 gaming tables, and a poker room, as KSNB reports. The same source reports that the new Ogallala resort will be named Lake Mac Casino Resort and Racetrack.

If the Hastings Exposition and Racing group is awarded the racing license by the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission after the recent developments, the group and its partner may be able to launch the Ogallala project soon to bring casino gambling in Western Nebraska, after the state reportedly widely approved casino gambling in 2020.

Online casino fans will have a new site to visit soon, as Aspire Global International LTD is preparing to launch Casiplay. The new online casino has obtained licensing via the UK Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority, ready to offer gaming in several regions including the UK, Canada, Austria, Norway, Ireland and Germany.

Quality Content:

The new site will feature only the best content, with more than 400 games on offer. Software providers in the mix include NetEnt, Microgaming, Realistic Games, Nextgen Gaming, Amaya, Evolution Gaming and more. Players will have access to popular slot titles at the site including Starburst, Gonzo’s Quest, Book of the Dead, and Butterfly Staxx, among many more!

The online casino offers instant play via web browser on desktop and mobile device. Mobile players can access the casino with an Android and iOS devices, easily taking gaming on the go. The content will be offered in several languages including English, Finnish, German, Norwegian and Swedish.

According to Casiplay…

Players will have access to quality customer support options, including live chat, telephone and email. All languages offered by the site are offered via support. Members of the site will be able to contact support any time, easily answering questions or concerns.

Banking and Promotion Information:

At Casiplay, there are several banking options in both the deposit and withdrawal category. For deposits, players can choose to use Visa, MasterCard, Entropay, Wire Transfer, Neteller and a host of other solutions. The list for withdrawals is shorter, but includes the traditional methods that players favor including Skrill, Visa, MasterCard, Wire Transfer, Neteller and more.

For new members of the site, the welcome bonus will include extra spins. Players will earn a bonus worth up to €800 plus 100 extra spins divided into four groupings. The first deposit is a 100% match worth up to €200 with 30 extra spins on the Starburst game while the second deposit offers a 50% match worth up to €200 with 20 extra spins on Starburst.

The third deposit offers a 50% match worth up to €200 plus 20 extra spins on the Book of the Dead with the final deposit offering a 100% match worth up to €200 with 30 extra spins offered on the Gold King slot game.

Casiplay should be opening soon and online casino players have much to enjoy once the brand is live!

The governor for the American state of Wisconsin has reportedly signed a new gaming compact with the Oneida Nation that is to allow the federally-recognized tribe to launch land-based sportsbetting within its casinos and affiliate locations.

According to a Thursday report from local television broadcaster WLUK-TV, the agreement inked by Governor Tony Evers (pictured) was worked out via months of negotiations between the tribe and the Wisconsin Department of Administration’s Division of Gaming and must now be approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission before the expiration of a 45-day deadline.

College cut-out:

The source detailed that federal approval would subsequently allow the Oneida Nation to offer markets on a range of professional sports in addition to ‘event wagering’ on action from such entertainment as nationally-televised award programs and professional sports league drafts. However, the deal does not purportedly cover local collegiate sports and would additionally prohibit wagering on the outcome of public elections or contests featuring participants under the age of 19.

Further facets:

Fellow Wisconsin broadcaster WBAY-TV used its own report on the matter to explain that the Oneida Nation is responsible for gambling-friendly establishments around the northern city of Green Bay including the 36,000 sq ft Oneida Casino, which is the official casino of the Green Bay Packers franchise of the National Football League (NFL). It disclosed that the new gaming compact will moreover permit the tribe to operate wagering kiosks and allow patrons at select locations to place bets using their mobile devices.

Financial far-sightedness:

Tehassi Hill serves as the Chairman for the Oneida Nation and he reportedly described the new gaming compact as ‘a great testament to intergovernmental agencies working together’. He purportedly went on to proclaim that ‘tourism is an important component of Wisconsin economy’ and that his tribe will now be working to ensure its facilities continue to contribute towards the overall economic recovery of ‘The Badger State’.

Reportedly read a statement from Hill…

“When we engaged with the state of Wisconsin by signing our first gaming compact in 1991, 30 years ago, we were a reservation with a struggling but growing economy. Since that time, we have grown tremendously and can provide a better quality of life for our people and those who live on and around our reservation.”

Desired date:

Hill reportedly finished by divulging that the Oneida Nation now hopes to have launched sports wagering by the time the 102nd season of the NFL kicks off from September 9 and will be constructing a permanent sportsbetting lounge at its Oneida Casino, which is situated directly across the street from the Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Airport.

In a move that expands its presence in Europe’s largest market, Oryx Gaming has partnered with leading iGaming innovator Jumpman Gaming, making its content available across the operator’s extensive online network of UK brands.

The new alliance, which according to the Bragg Gaming Group (NASDAQ: BRAG) subsidiary, marks a “significant step forward” for its UK presence, allows it to provide the operator and its many iGaming sites with its exclusive remote gaming server (RGS) content…

…including material developed by its own in-house studios such as the newly established, Bragg-powered, Atomic Slot Lab, as well as its tier-one partner studios, Gamomat and Golden Hero, which together offers popular features and jackpots intended to effect engagement and retention.

Key To Progress:

Explaining the significance of the new partnership, Kris Kukula, Managing Director for Jumpman Gaming, said their goal is to “continue disrupting one of the most competitive industries in the world” and signing agreements like this one with Oryx “is key” to their progress.

“Our sites stand apart from the competition thanks to the variety of content and proprietary gamification features they provide. This differentiation is propelled further when we make new, quality content available to our players through premium partners.”

Founded in 2012, the Guernsey-based operator boasts one of the most rapidly-growing networks of sites in the UK, and since its inception has built and maintained 100-plus brands on behalf of multinational partners. The company combines its know-how with innovative designs and gamification to provide a market-leading online bingo and casino offering.

UK Status:

Also commenting on the tie-up, Chris Looney, Chief Commercial Officer for Bragg, said…

“Jumpman’s stable of sites offers Bragg a comprehensive new avenue to grow our status in the UK and we are delighted with the way this agreement propels our message in the market. While we’re already well established in the UK, strengthening our presence with new partners like Jumpman is essential to maintaining our position.”

Bragg Advances:

The new partnership is the latest in a series of commercial advances by Bragg Gaming Group, including the recent addition of its content to a trio of SkillOnNet’s operator brands, making titles from its exclusive slots portfolio available to the operator’s customers PlayOjo, SpinGenie and SlotsMagic online casino brands in the Canadian provinces of Ontario. That, after just weeks earlier inking a content distribution agreement with 888casino on the first day of the regulated market opening in Ontario.

Bragg’s first partnership deal with SkillOnNet in the UK was in early January this year, and taking multiple brands live in Ontario demonstrates the popularity and the demand for its premium product offering across the globe.

Maltese online casino games developer, Playson Limited, has announced that it will be kicking off a special week-long campaign from tomorrow that is set to offer 200 video slot aficionados the chance to take home a share of €30,000 ($33,160) in cash.

The Sliema-headquartered firm used an official Thursday press release to detail that its Clash for Cash leaderboard tournament is to run from tomorrow until February 12 in association with its network of partner online casinos that could include the likes of LootCasino.com, BritishSpins.co.uk and Casumo.com.

Controlled conditions:

Playson explained that its Clash for Cash promotion will exclusively utilize ten of its innovative games including the five-reel Red Chilli Wins, Book of Gold: Symbol Choice, Fruit Xtreme, Solar Queen and Book of Gold: Classic while awarding real-money players with ten leaderboard points for every €1 ($1.10) that they win. The firm confirmed that this online casino campaign is to moreover feature a minimum €0.50 ($0.55) or equivalent wagering requirement although any triumphs are to contribute to a competitor’s final tally even those that are hit during qualification rounds.

Slot satisfaction:

Licensed by authorities in the United Kingdom and Malta, the developer used the press release to pronounce that video slot aficionados can additionally amass Clash for Cash points via its Rome: Caesar’s Glory, Burning Wins: Classic 5 Lines, Book of Gold: Double Chance, Crystal Land and Legend of Cleopatra games and track their overall progress via a special leaderboard.

Read a statement from Playson…

“We’re taking players on a treasure hunt with our first tournament of the year, Clash for Cash. Between February 5 and February 12, we’re giving 200 Playson fans the chance to win a share of the massive €30,000 prize pool by playing ten of our latest slots.”

The new head for the gaming regulator of the Philippines has reportedly announced that his organization is to lead a collaborative campaign that will endeavor to crack down on crimes associated with the operation of online gambling websites.

According to a report from Inside Asian Gaming, the Wednesday revelation from Alejandro Tengco came after the Philippine National Police last week detained 43 Chinese nationals in Angeles City that had allegedly been smuggled into the country by a firm holding a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) license, Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Incorporated. The source detailed that this news prompted the country’s newly-elected President, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr, to request the fresh clampdown to be headed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCor) regulator.

Fresh figure:

A former vice-mayor for the Bulacan Province city of Malolos, Tengco is reportedly a long-time friend of President Marcos and last month replaced Andrea Domingo as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the state-run PAGCor watchdog. The new regulator purportedly disclosed that Lucky South 99 Outsourcing Incorporated is one of two firms holding a POGO license in Angeles City with authorities having later arrested this company’s 33-year-old human resources manager, Chen Yi Bien.

Definitive determination:

Tengco reportedly also declared that PAGCor is to now work alongside government departments including the Philippine National Police, the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation in order to combat ‘illegal POGO-related crimes’ as well as a recent rise in the numbers of kidnappings linked to local online gaming operators. The regulator purportedly went on to divulge that this swell includes two workers who were last month rescued from a POGO-licensed iGaming enterprise in the central Luzon city of Mabalacat.

Reportedly read a statement from Tengco…

“The information we received is that these alarming incidents of kidnapping came from the ranks of illegal operators. While it will be a challenge to all participating agencies, the good thing is that we are receiving information as to where these illegal operations are located and, with the help of everybody, we will be able to zero-in immediately.”

Rotten reputation:

Tengco reportedly pronounced that ‘the image of the country’ and of the Marcos Administration is being ‘tarnished by these illegal incidents’ and that there had already been 15 POGO-related kidnapping allegations through the first eight months of 2022, which represented a year-on-year rise of some 25%.

The statement from Tengco reportedly read…

“If these kidnapping incidents and other illegal activities persist, it is clear that not only will we cancel the licenses of POGO operators but the entire industry may be affected by whatever decision will emanate from the national government. So let us help each other solve these issues the soonest.”