ShareRegulators in the Netherlands have issued the first 10 online gaming licenses to kick off the country’s new, officially legalised era.
Over recent months, unlicensed operators have been informed that they must cease and desist offering services to customers in the Netherlands or else face heavy financial penalties. There is also the additional threat of being blacklisted from the licensing process in the future.
Shrewd Operator
PokerStars has only just recently pulled out of the Dutch market, preferring to stick around until the last minute. This might have banked them a little bit more rake but they’re no doubt rueing the fact that GGPoker played the smart game by pulling out early and now they are the happy recipients of one of the new licenses.Betfair is another industry giant that is facing a several month ban, only pulling out of the region on September 30, the day before the threat of heavy fines became enacted. Both Betfair and PokerStars are subsidiaries of Flutter Entertainment who will no doubt be pushing to return both brands to the Netherlands as soon as possible.
Triton Poker Partners with Kraken
Triton Poker has signed a partnership deal with the cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken. The firm best known for its Super High Roller events will be advertising Kraken on its new YouTube series Triton Million: A Helping Hand for Charity.The series will recap the 2019 Triton Million which had an eye-watering £1,050,000 buy-in to become the most expensive poker tournament ever. Aaron Zang collected £19 million for his victory, which is still today the largest single payout in poker tournament history. The Covid-19 pandemic prevented a rerun of the event in 2020 and 2021 but don’t rule out this record being beaten next year.
There are now whispers in the community that Triton could be about to launch its own digital token, possibly accepting it as payment for future events. Who knows where this could lead with many copycats no doubt coming along.
MGM Resorts Completes Sale-Leaseback Deal for Aria and Vdara
Only a couple of days after taking control of Cosmopolitan’s operations from Blackstone, MGM Resorts bought Infinity World's 50% stake in CityCenter for $2.12 billion giving them ownership of the Aria and Vdara resorts.MGM then completed a sale-leaseback agreement for $3.89bn with Blackstone to lease the properties back for $215 million per year in rent. This continues the company’s asset-light strategy after already selling multiple properties to Blackstone in recent times.
Nevada Casinos Continue to Post Strong Revenue Figures
Nevada casinos have posted strong figures again for the month of August. A total of $1.165 billion was pulled into the coffers, extending a six-month streak of 10-figure gross revenue.In July a total of $1.35bn was won from gamblers, setting a new record as the tourism sector continues to recover. August’s figure represents a 20% jump from the same month in 2019.
With the World Series of Poker in town for a couple of months, it’s possible that the record will be beaten again this year. European tourists are predicted to return in November, all but guaranteeing a healthy increase in revenue for all of the city.
