December 29, 2017

The True Story Behind ‘Molly’s Game’ Is Wild

Remember that crazy time when a hopeful Olympian-class skier named Molly Bloom received a debilitating back injury thanks to a lone stick in some snow? The same skier who years later would end up running an illegal, but high-profile gambling ring in LA? The same high-profile gambling ring that hosted celebs like Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio? The same DiCaprio that acted in movie about the Irish mob...but has nothing to do with the actual Russian mob that beat Molly within inches of her life? Oh, and that same life that was nearly destroyed by the FBI that came rushing in to shut her shit down? Remember that time? I sure as hell didn’t, and can still barely believe it after having seen Molly’s Game. Come Christmas Day, this story will be immortalized for everyone else to question thanks to director and writer Aaron Sorkin.

And yes, it’s pretty good, but the movie still left me with questions. In my attempt to understand this story that comes off as some drunkard's fable, I spoke the woman herself, Molly Bloom. I needed the whole thought process behind this scary and insane ride. How has she grown since then? And is Tobey Maguire (aka Spiderman) still the same dick as Molly’s Game shows him to be?



This film was very intimate and very truthful. Almost like a visual diary. What was it like to see those flawed parts of your life displayed so honestly?
Molly Bloom: Aaron Sorkin wrote and directed an extraordinary film. A lot of what makes it so special is that he allowed my character to be me, to be flawed. He allowed for an honest and complex picture of what it’s like to just be a human being and make choices. I gotta say, there’s something very cathartic for me about first coming out with my book, and then telling on yourself and living through that. I kept a lot of the dirt to myself before the film, but after working eight months with Aaron, I really kinda came clean. Between the novel and working with Aaron, I’ve probably did 20 years worth of therapy (laughs).

And you had to have some initial fears about the project before it came out. This was going to be all about you.
Well it was I that pursued Aaron specifically because in writing the book, I had left a huge mess of my life and a big part of that was knowing that my mom had to put her house up just to help me with my legal bills. And my criminal attorney, much like in the film, personally vouched for me for $250,000 that I didn’t have and it saved my butt. So it wasn’t just my life I was trying to save, it was also the people that were important to me. When I took in the personal inventory after the wreckage I had caused, the story itself seemed like the most monetizable asset so that I could be closer to paying these people back. So here I was after writing this book, going around Hollywood asking anyone if they could get me a meeting with Aaron and they’re just laughing at me (laughs). I just wanted to try, so once we met, everything changed once he was on board. He fought hard for this story that wasn’t about a girl that falls in love. It didn’t have cliche themes. He just wanted to tell an honest story and put his career on the line for having us interact at all, because no one wanted to touch this because of the famous people involved. There was a fear in Hollywood.

You could have ruined a lot of lives with what you knew. One of the things that seemed so telling was how much you were willing to fall on your own sword. And good people were telling you otherwise. Where was your resolve coming from?
I made these choices. I made the choice to go into the world of underground poker. I profited from it, and these people enabled me to profit from it. When I met the consequences for those choices, the consequences including losing all of my money and facing jail time. And it really felt like, if I turned around and threw all these people under the bus, I would never have been able to get my integrity back and that would’ve been a life sentence. That didn’t compare to the life sentence of knowing that I made this really terrible choice and ruined lives.

Throughout this whole thing, you had that moral fibre which is honestly weird given the stereotypes of illegal gambling. Like collecting debts for instance, you never resorted to violence. How did you wrestle with those potential decisions business-wise?
Taking full responsibility and accountability was the secret here. I had to do my job properly. Sure, if I had figured out a way to have private investigators get information from banks, I could have found pretty much anything on anyone. So if I was doing my job, there would be no reason that I couldn’t collect. So when someone stiffed me, nine times out of 10, it was my fault. I ate it, I mean what was I going to do? I didn’t have any traditional resources, and I wasn’t a bank so I wasn’t going to intimidate anyone either (laughs). My main responsibility was in vetting these players and making sure they were capitalized, and that was the key to not getting stiffed. The very worst time I got screwed ended up costing me $250,000 and that really hurt. But I wrote the check, what are you gonna do?

Full names were never mentioned too, despite the fact we know about people like Ben Affleck, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire participated in your gambling ring.
Yeah. When I sat down to write a book I was like, how do I do this in a way that still tells a compelling story without doing too much harm. Most of the names were already in the public domain from the Bradley Ruderman ponzi scheme. I got rejected by every publisher except for one because they wanted the real dirt. They knew I had more, and of course I did. But I was like look, I’ll mention the names that have already been mentioned and I’ll give it colour, but I’m not going down that road where I tell things that would sell books but also hurt people in the process.

You really did have that dirt. I don’t generally hang with celebrities but you saw a lot of private sides to them. Did your view of that whole celebrity culture change from before to after this whole experience?
Well there’s that first night when you walk into a game, and being in my early 20s from a small town, and seeing very famous people in the flesh, it’s jarring. It just feels weird. But it normalizes really quickly when you see that people are just people. And very quickly, the game was my startup in terms of building a business. Celebrities were assets to me. And yeah, maybe you and I don’t have this big fantasy about celebrities at this stage, but it matters. People want to sit at a table with them, be close to them, and this was a big draw to the game. The whole system took on a new meaning to me when I was looking at it through the lens of building a business.

And we gotta talk about the instance of you being roughed up by a section of the Russian mob after you turned down an offer for protection. Most people would have left at that point. But you continued with the intent to eventually get out. Honestly, how far would you have gone if the FBI and such never stepped in?
Wow...I think it would have been a really bad ending honestly. That was a really dark thing that happened during the darkest time of my life. I just think that the enemy within me was more formidable than the enemy without at the time because I kept going. I had very little regard for my safety or my life, and I was just like, no, I gotta run more games. Gotta collect more money. Who am I without this thing? I can’t go back to being a nobody. Those things eclipsed basic survival, and I had this really deep, dark awareness that my life was out of control. And as a final blow, there came the FBI...but maybe it was a good thing at the end of the day.

So has your perspective on success or wealth changed since this experience?
Oh my god, absolutely. When I was making the most money, at the top of my game, driving Bentleys and all that, I felt so existentially empty. All these ideas I had as a kid about making a lot of money—about being hyper successful and life being good. I now know that not to be true. And I’m not knocking success or ambition, that’ll always be a part of me, but I know for sure that I did it all wrong in my former life. I know for sure that you have to re-define power as power that comes from within. Success needs to be more comprehensive and attached to something with meaning. What I did was bold, I was damn good at it, and I was successful but none of it was important. It meant nothing. I was enabling people’s addictions and I felt lives come apart. All that external adulation came from growing up with two impressive brothers and a father that was really focused on that idea that I needed to build myself on the outside in. That I needed to seek applause or approval from the world. That’s a sure way to feel really miserable (laughs).

So level with me. Is there any aspect of that life that you still miss?
For a long time...I grieved over [the] glamour of that life. It’s been seven years though, and this is a pretty exciting moment for me. It feels similar in that you take a big risk, and you put in the time, and the stakes are super high while you just wait and see.

What do you want people to take away from your personal story of ups and downs based on where you are now? Let’s put the movie aside.
I would want them to know that when your life falls apart, or it feels like you’re never going to get where you need to go that it’s not over. It’s not even close to being over. Keep getting up and showing up. The human spirit is so resilient and failure teaches you so much. This was the theme for me in 2011, because when this whole thing blew up, there was a deep fear that nothing was ever going to be okay, and now, it’s so much more than okay. There was for a long time. I grieved that life for a long time. But it has been seven years and this is a pretty exciting moment. This is a moment that feels sort of similar in that you take a big risk, and you put in time, the stakes are super high, and you wait and see.

So you did this thing and you were damn good at it, despite that illegal part. What do you plan on doing from here?
I kinda want to take a look at the skill set that I had acquired from this experience and all that I had learned throughout these years and apply it in a way that has actual meaning. Something that centres around what’s important to me. Building a community and collaborating with other ambitious women is a really interesting area to me. I was always able to network and build environments, and a co-working space for women with a digital layer on top is really interesting. And i have to say, not at the exclusion of men. My brand of feminism is not supremacy, it’s equality. But I recognize the power in shared experiences.

So going back to the film, what was that one thing that surprised you the most when seeing your life reflected back on film?
I just...couldn’t believe how someone could take this information I had given, and recreate it so well in such a compelling fashion. Seeing it come to life was amazing. It’s like Aaron was there. He didn’t deviate from the truth. A lot of films in this biopic category play with a lot of creative licenses, and yes, there was some of that in terms of how he dealt with certain composite characters, but the rest was all true. He found a way to weave it all together.

So last question. Did Tobey Maguire ever reach out to you for treating you like shit and essentially asking you to bark like a seal for a tip?
(laughs) No, but it's OK though.

Can you ever look at this guy as Spiderman the same way again?
I haven't even tried (laughs).

December 21, 2017

Slovenian and Croatian police arrest 11 in cross-border raids on match-fixing gang

Slovenian and Croatian polices yesterday swooped on an international match-fixing crime syndicate making 11 arrests after 13 house searches and impounding 15 vehicles in both countries.

Those arrested are accused of organised crime, sports corruption and illegal betting. The charges include multiple counts of fixing professional matches in Serbia, the Czech Republic and Romania.

Slovenian media is reporting that one of those arrested is 43-year-old Dino Lalić, supposedly a member of the criminal ‘gypsy clan’ gang. A former professional goalkeeper who played for several Slovenian clubs, Lalić has been convicted of match-fixing previously but earned a lesser sentence after co-operating with police.

The arrests came after the police had tracked the gang via a number of illegal web betting platforms used to place large bets with Asian bookmakers. Most bets, according to a Europol report, were being placed on the final result of matches.

Using the illegal betting platforms members of the group transferred money through various virtual currency exchanges, including Skrill and Paysafe. Money won via the bets was transferred to an internet bank and then on to different off-shore shell companies.

“The ring developed synergies with other top criminal groups in different countries in order to invest money gained from other serious crimes, including drug trafficking,” said Europol.

As well as the arrests the police seized 35 computers and IT devices, 32 mobile phones, €19,650 in cash, 38,500 of counterfeit euro banknotes and two vehicles.

Investigators first began tracking the crime ring last March, with the Slovenian taking the lead, supported by Europol’s analytical resources and neighbouring police forces. Europol stressed the need for cross-border co-operation in what is becoming a more sophisticated criminal activity.

Sergio D’Orsi, a specialist in Europol’s Analysis Project Sports Corruption, said: “Sports Corruption is a serious crime and a truly global phenomenon carried out by organised crime groups, most often operating cross-border.

“This international investigation has shown the level of sophistication reached by certain criminal networks involved in sports corruption which use new modus operandi to generate large illegal profits and invest money also coming from other serious crimes. International police cooperation is fundamental to disrupt such criminal networks.

Darko Majhenič, Director of National Bureau of Investigations of the Slovenian Police said: “Slovenian Police is committed to pursue corruption in sport and Illegal betting in the region. Cooperation among Europol member countries and support of Europol have helped our skilled investigators to handle the workload. Investigators all over Europe will benefit from evidence gathered today.”

December 12, 2017

Premier League star 'banned by bookmaker after spending £5.5 million in a matter of months'

A Premier League star has been banned from a bookmaker after spending £5.5MILLION in a matter of months, according to reports.

The footballer has not been named but is believed to earn around £100,000 a week.

He was spending upwards of £250,000 a week via online casino games on a popular betting website before the alarm was raised.

The firm, which has not been named either, has now shut down his account.

A source told the Sun on Sunday: "He was deemed a compulsive gambler and it was flagged up to managers.

"The total cash that went through his account was more than £5.5million.

"Most sites love it when punters are depositing such amounts frequently.

"But when someone’s doing it at this rate people get worried."

It comes as a number of footballers have opened up about problems with gambling.

Former stars Clarke Carlisle and John Hartson are among those who agree action must be taken to help addicts.

The Professional Players Federation said earlier this week the situation is at "crisis" point.

The organisation also urged "responsible bookmakers" to ensure sponsorship agreements with a sport include provision for mandatory education for participants about the risks of problem gambling.

November 22, 2017

Unnamed Northern Ireland Bookmaker Arrested for having FOBTs

In a landmark case a bookmaker in Northern Ireland has been arrested for having Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs).

A file has already been sent to the Public Prosecution Service who will decide if the unnamed bookmaker will be charged and go to court for trial.

Currently there are some 600 FOBTs in Northern Ireland who has devolved powers on gaming which differ from the rest of the UK.

In Northern Ireland it is stated that a “Gaming Machine” has a maximum stake of £0.30, however a FOBT currently has a maximum of £100.

The bookmakers in Northern Ireland, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power, Sean Graham, McLean’s and Toal’s argue that FOBTs are not classified as Gaming Machines and so do not fall in to the £0.30 stake.

It is understood that this arrest and case will be a test for the classification of FOBTs in Northern Ireland. The decision is not expected to be a quick one from the Prosecutors Office and if and when the Bookmaker in question will be named.

November 13, 2017

German banks involved in illegal online casino payments

On Wednesday, German newspape Süddeutsche Zeitungand public broadcaster NDR fingered DZ Bank, Postbank, Hypo-Vereinsbank and Wirecard for processing payments from internationally licensed online casino operators, in apparent contravention of Germany’s current gambling laws.

Evidence of the four financial institution’s connections with the online gambling sites came via the release of the so-called Paradise Papers, the latest document dump by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in its ongoing efforts to shine a light on the financial dealings of the world’s 1%.

So far, the banks have issued statements denying that their activities were in violation of current German gambling laws, which prohibit online gambling outside of sports betting.

But the Interior Ministry of the state of Lower Saxony begs to differ, suggesting the banks could be found guilty of facilitating illegal gambling operations, as well as potential money laundering charges, although no one’s so far suggested any such charges are forthcoming.

Among the online operators’ namechecked in discussion of the banks’ activities are Bwin, Tipico, Royal Panda, Casino Club, amid others. Some of these, like Bwin and Tipico, hold online gambling licenses issued by the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, which enacted its own, more liberal licensing regime rather than sign on to the sports-only federal gambling treaty approved by Germany’s other 15 states in 2012.

Germany has targeted international online casino operators in the past by going after these sites’ local customers, but both German and European Union courts have questioned the government’s ability to sanction international sites due to lingering questions over the legality of Germany’s federal betting rules.

Schleswig-Holstein and three other states recently announced that they intended to follow their own path toward online gambling regulation, effectively dooming the revised federal treaty, which was to take effect January 1, 2018, provided it could secure the unanimous consent of all 16 German länder.

Last month, a Federal Administrative Court upheld the constitutionality of Germany’s ban on online casino and poker products, but the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) was quick to issue a statement saying the court hadn’t given thumbs-up to the government’s original plan to issue 20 sports betting licenses, which only left the country in its current state of limbo.

November 08, 2017

Paddy Power unwilling to bet big on US growth plan

Earlier this week, the US state passed laws legalising certain betting activity such as online poker, casino games and betting on fantasy sports leagues. Paddy Power-Betfair has a strong presence in the US — via its TVG online horse racing outlet, its New Jersey-based online casino offering and Draft, a New York-based outlet focused on fantasy sports league betting, which it acquired earlier this year — and has welcomed the move in Pennsylvania.

However, outgoing chief executive Breon Corcoran told analysts on the company’s third quarter earnings call that it is unlikely to usher in a wholesale loosening of US betting laws.

“With respect to sports betting [in the US], in particular, I think we’re probably less bullish than most people. We think there’s an awful long way to go from where we are today to a legalised framework for sports betting that’s accessible to offshore operators,” he said.

“Draft is showing that we can acquire customers that we wouldn’t have acquired through the horse racing business. But, we still think sports betting, as we know it in Europe, is a long way away [in the US],” Mr Corcoran — who is formally leaving the company in early January — added.

Chief financial officer Alex Gersh, however, said that if that opinion was to be proven wrong, the group has substantially more ability than its competitors to invest in the US.

Paddy Power-Betfair’s third quarter trading update showed a 9% year-on-year increase in group revenue to £440m (€502m) and a 7% rise in underlying earnings to £121m. Mr Corcoran called the performance “encouraging” — particularly with the absence of any major football tournament in the late summer months.

Online revenue fell 3%, year-on-year, to £216m and gaming revenue was flat at £60m, with management saying it has no idea when that part of the business will return to growth. Overall, management expects full-year group earnings to be between £450m and £465m. Last year it generated earnings of £400m.

Third quarter retail revenues rose 12%, with the group announcing it has reached agreement — with an unnamed party — for the acquisition of another five UK shops. On a geographical basis, US revenues rose 18% and Australia-based revenues were up 29%. Most of the bets the group took on September’s Conor McGregor/Floyd Mayweather boxing match came via its Australian online avenue.

Woman wins £574,278.41 from £1 bet after she picked 12-match accumulator by choosing teams whose names she liked the sound of

A woman with little interest in football has managed to win £574,278.41 from a £1 accumulator bet.

The unnamed 58-year-old housewife put together a 12-team football accumulator, which she only bets on because she is sick of having to deal with her husband and son watching football on television every weekend.

Most of the teams selected on the betting slip were odds against outsiders. And one of the results only came in during the 92nd minute as Steve Cook scored for Bournemouth at Newcastle.

There was no skill or knowledge involved in the selection process either. Her son read out the weekend's fixtures and the woman picked 12 teams from the sound of their name alone.

Carli Faulkner, the employee from William Hill's Leysdown-on-Sea shop who paid out the bet, said she was delighted for the winner.

Faulkner said: 'It is incredible that the lady got them all up. Usually customers laugh when they see a payout figure on the bottom of their slip like £574,000, but this just goes to show it can happen.

'They will be having a cracking Christmas and I am delighted for them as it's real girl power landing a bet like that. My biggest ever payout before this was around £25,000.'

William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams said: 'Apparently, the lady's husband had been doing the £1 weekend acca since he was 18, so 40 years of practice on football punting.

'His wife started doing the same bet about six years ago, so she certainly had lady luck on her side as her hubby has never had a win anything like that.

'It just goes to show if you can't beat them join them and the payout in this case is absolutely fantastic.

'We wish them well.

'In my 15 years in the business working for William Hill I have never encountered a bigger football win by a female punter for just a quid.'

November 03, 2017

Malaysian gambling crackdown forces Playtech to issue profit warning

Problems in Asia and a troublesome bingo contract have forced gaming and spread-betting company Playtech to issue a profit warning sending the shares plunging by a fifth.

Management at the Isle of Man-based business, which was founded by billionaire Teddy Sagi, said it expected annual profits to be 5pc lower than the bottom end of market expectations, prompting analysts to wipe about €20m (£17.8m) off their full-year earnings forecasts and sending Playtech shares down 218.5p to 768p.

A key problem for the company is understood to be Malaysia, which is presently an unregulated market and has seen its government move to prevent citizens from accessing online gambling sites and mobile apps.

The country’s leaders are considering changes to its Common Gaming House Act 1953 to plug loopholes which enable citizens to gamble online.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is quoted as saying that the government hasn’t decided on whether the change of the law will be in the form of an amendment or if the parliament will craft a new preventive law that will specifically target online gambling activities.

Analysts at Investec predicted the Malaysia issue was responsible for the bulk of the value of the profit downgrade by the company.

Investec added it thought Malaysia represented 5pc of Playtech’s total revenue, which came in at €709m in 2016.

Elsewhere, its contract with Sun Bingo, which involves Playtech providing the technology for the game, has continued to be problematic.

Earlier this year Playtech chief executive Mor Weizer admitted it had been forced to spend more money than planned to attract customers and that it was a year behind where it wanted to be with the project.

In its update this week, the company said the contract “remains challenging” partly due to the re-launch of the new Sun Bingo site.

The company’s financial division Tradetech, which serves professional traders, has performed as expected.

GVC drops Turkey operations amid merger rumor with Lads Coral

UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings has disposed of its Turkish-facing business, fueling speculations that it will once again attempt to acquire UK rival Ladbrokes Coral Group.

In a regulatory filing, GVC announced that it sold Headlong Limited to Ropso Malta Ltd., a company backed by investors who run the operation’s IT, for €150 million ($174.9 million).

Headlong accounts for 9 percent of GVC’s net gaming revenues. The Turkish-facing company and its associated business had gross assets of €21 million ($24.47 million) as of December 31, 2016 while its estimated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization totalled €35 million ($40.77 million).

GVC drops Turkey operations amid merger rumor with Lads CoralBoth GVC and Ropso Malta agreed that the payment will be payable on a monthly basis and in a span of five years. They also agreed that transitional service arrangements will take place for no longer than six months following the completion.

With the disposal of Headlong, GVC’s revenue from “grey” markets will fall to around 25 percent.

“The decision to sell Headlong and associated businesses has been taken against a backdrop where, in an increasingly maturing and regulating online gaming world, the Board has concluded it is now appropriate for GVC to further increase its focus on regulated markets,” GVC said in a statement. “In addition, the Board believes that the Disposal will increase the attractiveness of the Group to investors and potential consolidation partners.”

The sale of Headlong, however, has revived rumors that GVC is attempting to acquire Ladbrokes for the third time since last year, according to The Evening Standard.

One of the contentious issues that both GVC and Ladbrokes are reportedly trying to iron out is the former’s businesses in unregulated markets like Turkey. Though profitable, unregulated markets are unstable and subject to sudden clampdowns.

Ladbrokes is basically telling GVC that if the company wants a marriage, then the former has to say bye-bye to unregulated markets.

October 26, 2017

Phil Ivey loses court battle over £7.7m winnings from London casino

The poker player Phil Ivey has lost his court bid to recover £7.7m ( $10.2m) of winnings from a London casino.

The 40-year-old American has been fighting to recover the sum since successfully playing a version of baccarat known as Punto Banco at Crockfords Club in Mayfair in 2012.

The hearing at the supreme court considered whether dishonesty was a necessary element of the offence of cheating.

Ivey had challenged a 2016 majority decision in the court of appeal dismissing his case against Genting Casinos UK, which owns Crockfords. Genting said a technique he used, called edge-sorting, was not a legitimate strategy, while Ivey maintained that he won fairly.

Five justices unanimously upheld the majority decision of the court of appeal, which dismissed his case on the basis that being knowingly dishonest was not a necessary element of “cheating”.

After the game in question, Ivey was told the money would be wired to him in Las Vegas, but it never arrived, although his stake of £1m was returned.

Genting said the technique of edge-sorting used by Ivey, which involves identifying small differences in the pattern on the reverse of playing cards and exploiting that information to increase the chances of winning, was not a legitimate strategy.

Ivey did not personally touch any cards, but persuaded the croupier to rotate the most valuable cards by intimating that he was superstitious.

In the court of appeal, Lady Justice Arden said the Gambling Act 2005 provided that someone may cheat “without dishonesty or intention to deceive: depending on the circumstances it may be enough that he simply interferes with the process of the game”.

There was no doubt, she added, that the actions of Ivey and another gambler, Cheung Yin Sun, interfered with the process by which Crockfords played the game of Punto Banco with Ivey.

Stephen Parkinson, head of criminal litigation at Kingsley Napley, the law firm that represented Crockfords, said: “This is one of the most significant decisions in criminal law in a generation. The concept of dishonesty is central to a whole range of offences, including fraud.

“For 35 years, juries have been told that defendants will only be guilty if the conduct complained of was dishonest by the standards of ordinary, reasonable and honest people, and also that they must have realised that ordinary, honest people would regard their behaviour as dishonest.

“The supreme court has now said that this second limb of the test does not represent the law and that directions based upon it ought no longer to be given by the courts.”

October 11, 2017

Why hurricane-ravaged Barbuda desperately wants to resolve a dispute over U.S. online gambling

As the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda struggles to rebuild after Hurricane Irma, the tiny islands are demanding that the United States settle a long simmering trade dispute that could provide them with millions of dollars for recovery.

The conflict revolves around the U.S. government’s campaign to prevent Americans from gambling at online sites based in Antigua and Barbuda.

Antigua and Barbuda claims that the resulting trade dispute has cost the twin-island nation some $200 million — about four-fifths the estimated cost of reconstruction after Irma.

The conflict dates to the 1990s, when online gambling soared in popularity.

According to the industry website GamingZion, Antigua was the first country to license online casino sites in 1994. At its height, Antigua’s gaming industry employed 4,000 people, including call center employees, marketers and IT professionals, and generated around $3.4 billion annually in revenues, Antiguan officials said.

But concern over the practice, along with pressure from the domestic casino industry, prompted U.S. authorities to crack down, using an obscure law outlawing the use of telephone or wire communications to make bets. Then, in 2006, the U.S. passed regulations cracking down on internet gambling.

Today the industry in Antigua and Barbuda provides jobs for only 300 to 400 people, according to Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

“So the loss is real,” he said.

Antiguan officials said their economy needed an injection of cash now more than ever.

Hurricane Irma ravaged Barbuda, decimating most properties and knocking out water, electricity and telecommunications. All of the island’s 1,800 people were evacuated to Antigua. Most have still not been able to return.

Antiguan authorities estimate rebuilding Barbuda will cost about $250 million.

According to Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda's ambassador to the United States, the U.S. has offered to pay Antigua less than $2 million to settle the trade dispute — a sum that was unacceptable, he said.

“The U.S. by its own policy has actually destroyed a thriving industry in Antigua and Barbuda,” said Browne.

The Caribbean nation has been trying to recoup its losses from the United States since 2003. When the U.S. turned down a request for compensation, Antigua and Barbuda asked the World Trade Organization to arbitrate the matter.

In 2004, a WTO arbitration panel found that the U.S. had violated its trade commitments and Antigua and Barbuda had been wrongly deprived of trade revenue. Over the years, the U.S. has appealed the decision and lost.

The WTO ordered the U.S. to pay Antigua and Barbuda for its trade losses at $21 million a year. To date, the cumulative sum is in excess of $200 million, Sanders said.

The U.S. has refused to pay that sum.

The Trump administration inherited the issue. In a statement to the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in Geneva last month, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it remained “committed to resolving this matter.”

In filings published by the WTO, past U.S. administrations presented various arguments as to why they opposed remote gambling. These include the risk of money laundering, fraud, organized crime, underage gambling and the threat of expanding the number of addicted gamblers.

In a recent interview in the Antiguan capital, St. John’s, Browne criticized the U.S. for claiming the moral high ground.

“As far as I’m concerned they have no moral authority whatsoever,” Browne said. “There’s more gambling in the United States than any other country on the planet. Whether or not it takes place on the internet or in a casino or in a house, it’s gambling. So we do not buy into this nonsensical argument of morality.”

In its filings to the WTO, the U.S. underscored that gambling in America was “confined to particular locations and operates under the most rigorous regulatory constraints.”

Todd Tucker, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute, a Washington-based think tank, said the U.S. had “a good legal case for disregarding the WTO decision.”

“The U.S., under both Democratic and Republican administrations, has argued that the [WTO] appellate body lacks the legitimacy or mandate to refashion what countries and their legislatures agreed to,” Tucker said. “And a lot of anti-gambling activists and religious groups agree with them in this case.”

The Antiguan economy is around $1.5 billion, far smaller than that of a mid-sized American city.

Browne said that “$200 million means nothing” to the United States.His government is willing to accept less, he added. “All we’re saying is that we want something substantive to compensate for the damages over the years.”

Patrick Basham, founding director of the Democracy Institute, a politically independent public policy research organization based in Washington and London, has followed the dispute closely over the years and described it as “a David versus Goliath story.”

“We have a situation with the WTO where the U.S basically founded the club and encouraged all these other countries to join, drafted the rules and everybody signed up,” said Basham, who last month published a report on the matter called “Do As I Say, Not As I Do.” “However, the U.S. seems inclined … to only play by the rules when the rules suit the U.S.”

The WTO authorized Antigua to use other means to recover what it is owed, including breaking U.S. copyright laws. The Caribbean nation could allow the downloading of U.S.-made computer software and Hollywood movies and keep the profits.

In a statement to the WTO in Geneva last month, Sanders, the ambassador, said his government had refrained from taking such action because “we have too high regard for the U.S. owners of intellectual property, who have contributed much to the enjoyment and advancement of the world.”

Browne, the prime minister, said he was concerned that the U.S. might retaliate against his nation using underhanded methods.

“They have sinister ways,” Browne said. “They may say, for example, that there is the Zika virus in Antigua and Barbuda, so don’t travel [there]. We understand those risks, that’s why we haven’t pursued those remedies.”

Tucker, of the Roosevelt Institute, said simply allowing internet gaming and writing a check to Antigua was not necessarily the solution. Citing Antiguan authorities, he said those likely to benefit were financiers in the gambling industry who would claim 75% of whatever settlement is reached.

“Direct aid to the people of Antigua is a much better humanitarian solution,” Tucker said.

Browne was adamant that his country would continue to fight for what it is owed.

“What we’re saying at the end of the day is that you can’t operate on the basis that might is right and trample on the rights of a small state,” he said. “There must be some equity in the system. We love the U.S. We don’t wish harm to the U.S. But don’t treat us with this type of contempt and neglect.”

October 03, 2017

Las Vegas gunman was high-stakes gambler who stayed at casino hotels for months at a time

He liked to bet big, wagering tens of thousands of dollars in a sitting. He owned homes in four states but preferred staying in casino hotels, sometimes for weeks at a time, as he worked the gambling machines.

He grew up the son of a convicted bank robber who was constantly running from the law. But in his own life, Stephen Paddock, 64, had kept his nose clean until Sunday night, when he suddenly unleashed a firestorm of bullets from his casino hotel room, killing at least 59 people and injuring more than 500 more on the Las Vegas Strip.

"If you told me an asteroid fell into Earth, it would mean the same to me. There's absolutely no sense, no reason he did this," his brother Eric Paddock said in an interview outside his home in Orlando, Florida. "He's just a guy who played video poker and took cruises and ate burritos at Taco Bell. There's no political affiliation that we know of. There's no religious affiliation that we know of."

After the shooting, officers found Stephen Paddock dead with 17 guns on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, where he had arrived Thursday.

Police believe Paddock acted alone in executing the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Eric Paddock said he knew of five guns his brother kept in his safe but was shocked that a rapid-fire weapon was used in Sunday's shooting.

He said Stephen Paddock didn't hunt and barely shot his guns, once taking Eric's children on a skeet-shooting trip paid for by the casinos.

In the final years of his life, Stephen Paddock was living out his retirement in quiet obscurity. He liked country music, relatives said, and went to concerts like the Route 91 Harvest festival where he killed so many Sunday night.

He was worth more than $2 million, relatives said. Before retiring, he made a small fortune from real estate deals and a business that he and Eric Paddock sold off. He traveled a lot and had millions of free airline miles.

At various points of his life, Stephen Paddock worked for defense contractor Lockheed Martin and as an accountant and property manager. As a retiree, he had no children and plenty of money to play with. So he took up gambling.

"It's like a job for him. It's a job where you make money," said Eric Paddock, adding that his brother could lose $1 million and still have enough to live on. "He was at the hotel for four months one time. It was like a second home."

He recalled one time when the entire family took over the top floor of the Atlantis at the casino's expense.

His brother was very particular about the games he played. "It had to be the right machine with double points, and there has to be a contest going on. He won a car one time," Eric Paddock said.

"He's known. He's a top player. He's the small end of the big fish."

Over the past two decades, Stephen Paddock had bought and sold properties in several states, including California, Nevada, Florida and Texas, where for a time, neighbors said, he lived with his mother. Public records show Paddock at one point owned two planes and was a licensed pilot. He also had a fishing license from Alaska.

He told neighbors he was a professional gambler and a prospector, and he appeared to favor buying homes in retirement communities. At one point, he and his longtime girlfriend, Marilou Danley, were living in at least three retirement communities, property records show. Neighbors said the couple seemed almost itinerant, leaving the properties empty for long stretches as Paddock visited his casinos.

Donald Judy, who was his next-door neighbor in Florida until two years ago, said the inside of Paddock's home "looked like a college freshman lived there." There was no art on the walls and no car in the driveway. Just a dining chair, a bed and two recliners. Paddock was constantly on the move, carrying a suitcase and driving a rental car whenever he stayed at the community near Cocoa Beach.

"It looked like he'd be ready to move at a moment's notice," Judy said.

Judy said he never flashed his wealth, often wearing khaki cotton pants, with a polo or other collared shirt, and never driving anything nicer than a standard rental car.

A little while after living there, Paddock left Judy a key and asked him to keep an eye on the rarely used house and to borrow any tools he might want. Judy said there were no drugs or parties, nothing unusual except for Paddock's gambling.

"They did seem to always stay up till midnight and sleep in till noon," Judy said. "They always seemed to stay on Vegas time."

Then, as quickly as he had appeared, Paddock put up a for-sale sign, Judy said. "He never said much about it, just said they were moving back to Vegas."

Police in Texas and towns Paddock lived in in Nevada said they could find no records of run-ins with the law involving him.

California records show that Paddock married a woman named Peggy Okamoto in 1985. They divorced in 1990 citing "irreconcilable differences." In recent years, Danley had become his girlfriend, relatives said.

Authorities said Danley was out of the country at the time of the shooting and was located in Tokyo. She is not considered a suspect.

At one point, Danley worked as a high-limit hostess for Club Paradise, a rewards program in the Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, Nevada, according to her LinkedIn profile. In a statement, Atlantis officials said she has not worked for the casino for several years.

Diane McKay lived next door to Paddock and Danley at their Reno home until July, when McKay moved away. Danley wasn't forthcoming about her life, and Paddock was unfriendly, McKay recalled. She only saw him in the mornings, when he went to the clubhouse to work out.

"He was weird. Kept to himself," said McKay, 79. "It was like living next to nothing. . . . You can at least be grumpy, something. He was just nothing, quiet."

The couple kept their blinds closed, but sometimes Paddock would open the garage door, revealing an enormous safe the size of a refrigerator.

Paddock's father, Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, described on a 1969 wanted poster as "psychopathic'' with suicidal tendencies.

He escaped from prison that year and, according to news accounts, was not captured until 1978, when he was nabbed while running a bingo parlor in Oregon.

Stephen Paddock was the oldest of four boys. Eric, eight years his junior, was the youngest, with two in between: Bruce and Patrick.

Their father died a few years ago, but Eric Paddock grew up thinking their father was already dead. He found out otherwise when Patrick went to the Air Force Academy and was told his father was a decorated veteran and still alive.

"We didn't grow up under his influence," Eric Paddock said. "I was born on the run in Tucson. My dad was about to be arrested for robbing banks."

FBI agents interviewed relatives Monday, including Stephen Paddock's mother, who is in her 90s and spoke with him two weeks ago, Eric Paddock said. Five days after Hurricane Irma hit Orlando, Stephen Paddock texted his brother to see whether relatives had been affected.

Eric Paddock said he did not know of any mental illness, alcohol or drug problems in his brother's life. He said he had no clue whether Stephen had gambling debts or was financially troubled.

By Monday night, after an entire day dealing with FBI investigators and reporters camped outside his house, Eric Paddock said he and other relatives were still struggling to process the atrocity carried out by his brother.

"When we talked about a month ago, I can't believe he was planning this," he said, squeezing his eyes closed. "But he must have. It takes time."

What he knows about his brother doesn't fit with Sunday's massacre of innocents.

"Something broke in his head is the only thing possible. Did he have a stroke?" he said. "I'm hoping they cut open his brain and find something. There's a data point missing."

September 26, 2017

Dubai investor accuses ex-Amaya CEO David Baazov of fraud

Former Amaya Gaming CEO David Baazov is being sued by a Dubai investor who claims Baazov fraudulently used the investor’s name to build support for an Amaya takeover bid.

On Friday, La Presse reported that KBC Aldini Capital president Kalani Lal had filed a lawsuit in Dubai in January accusing Baazov and his longtime financial services partner Canaccord Genuity of fraudulently using Lal’s name and signature to boost Baazov’s late-2016 bid to acquire Amaya.

Last November, Amaya announced that Baazov, who had parted ways with the company several months earlier to defend himself against criminal charges of insider trading, had made a C$24 per share offer to buy a controlling stake in Amaya and take the company private.

To support his bid, Baazov filed papers with the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) stating that he’d lined up $3.65b in financial commitments from four investment firms, including the Dubai-based KBC Aldini Capital.

However, within a week of Amaya’s announcement, Lal informed CalvinAyre.com that “neither KBC Aldini nor any of its related entities are involved in this transaction.” The following day, Baazov retracted his claim regarding KBC Aldini’s involvement, and Baazov’s proposed Amaya acquisition quickly fell apart.

Knowledge of the KBC Aldini lawsuit came via Quebec securities regulator Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), which brought the insider trading charges against Baazov and two other Amaya-connected individuals in March 2016.

Last December, an AMF investigator contacted KBC’s Lal, who repeated his claim to have never heard of Baazov or Amaya prior to the SEC filings. Lal apparently asked Cannacord to provide him with a copy of the letter allegedly sent by KBC pledging its financial support, but Lal never received a copy.

The AMF report indicates that “KBC’s clientele is predominantly Muslim, meaning that KBC will never invest in a gaming business, otherwise it will lose all its customers.” Lal reportedly received many calls from KBC clients who’d heard about the alleged Amaya connection, and this had caused Lal “a lot of worries.”

Earlier this week, La Presse reported that the AMF’s raids on individuals connected with their Baazov investigation had uncovered a document in which Baazov allegedly agreed to hold the majority of his Amaya shares on behalf of his brother Ofer aka ‘Josh’ Baazov and Ofer’s longtime online gambling business partner Craig Levett. The AMF also claims to have email communications in which Ofer is referred to as Amaya’s real owner.

Baazov’s criminal trial is expected to get underway in November, but if this week is any barometer, we can expect a steady drip of damning information to leak out of the AMF offices in the weeks to follow.

Amaya, the parent company of online gambling giant PokerStars, rebranded as The Stars Group earlier this year, in what was widely viewed as a means of distancing the company from the increasingly negative media narrative surrounding its former CEO.

Labour Plan to Levy Tax on Gambling to Fund Treatment of Addicts

The United Kingdom has witnessed a significant rise in the number of problem gamblers in the recent times. According to a report published by the Gambling Commission, more than 2 million people in the UK are addicted to problem gambling or are at a risk of developing an addiction. The report reckons that the number of ‘above-16’ problem gamblers has increased by a third in the last three years, indicating that nearly 430,000 people are victims of this serious addiction.

This certainly suggests that the government isn’t doing enough to tackle the issue. The pace of change has been slow, and the government needs to be more proactive in addressing the issues. The risk of men becoming problem gambler is 7.5 times more than women. In the light of such rising gambling addiction, the government has finally taken a significant step to address the problem of problem gambling.

U.K. Labour plan’s tax

U.K.’s opposition Labour Party has now decided to impose a compulsory tax on gambling companies for the treatment of gambling addicts. Gambling companies are failing to favor a system that calls for 0.1 percent of profits as voluntary contributions. This amount should be utilized in helping people who bet in an uncontrollable manner. The deputy leader of the party, Tom Watson, will tell delegates about this levy at its annual conference on Tuesday in Brighton, southern England.

Mr. Watson believes that “gambling addiction is an illness” and it’s time to take the issue seriously. The party’s review will also look into the ability of NHS to provide the required mental health services to problem gamblers who have become prey to this addiction. The Gambling Commission’s report defined gambling addiction as “gambling to a degree that compromises, disrupts or damages family, personal or recreational pursuits”.

The Association of British Bookmakers expressed that it supports an approach that is based on evidence, thus facilitating the idea of Mr. Watson. Labour also says that the extra sum will be required to boost the capacity and infrastructure of hospitals. Moreover, the NHS also requires funds to hire extra staff outside the agency and extend social care to patients.

The party has vowed to increase spending on the NHS by hiking income tax by 5% for people who earn the highest. A winter bailout is also proposed to be funded through this. Gambling companies target low-income people or those who have quit gambling because it proves profitable for them. The new tax proposes to stop this abuse of power and trust.

September 25, 2017

How to fix match-fixing

In 267 AD Nicantinous and Demetrius, two teenage wrestlers, had reached the final bout in a prestigious competition in Egypt. Their fathers struck a deal. For the price of a donkey, Demetrius would “fall three times and yield”. The signed contract is the earliest surviving record of a sporting competition being stitched up for financial gain.

Today, match-fixing is a vast global enterprise. The pickings are rich. Around $2trn is wagered on sport each year, mostly with online bookmakers who enable punters to evade national anti-gambling laws. Around one game in 100 is thought to be manipulated across a range of sports.

Modern fixing is a more subtle affair than that of Nicantinous and Demetrius. It often involves manipulating the odds in live betting while a match is under way. Arranging for a cricketer to score poorly, say, or a footballer to be sent off at a certain point, or a tennis player to lose a particular game, allows bettors to predict how odds will move and lock in a profit much as insider traders beat the stockmarket. Athletes troubled by conscience can always tell themselves that a few wild swipes of a bat or a run of double faults are victimless crimes.

If punters willing to place illegal bets were the only victims, fixing might not matter so much. But they are not. Much of the profits go to violent gangsters. Among those defrauded are corrupt athletes’ innocent team-mates, legal bettors and ordinary fans, who pay to see a real contest, not a sham.

Sports administrators cannot be relied on to lead a clean-up. Some are themselves suspected of corruption—witness allegations of bribery in the choices of hosts for the football World Cup and Olympic games. And many seem to fear that revealing the scale of match-fixing would provoke a crisis of confidence. Little time or money is devoted to educating athletes about fixers’ methods, or to monitoring wagers to spot the suspicious betting patterns. Some of the cases that have come to light were uncovered by police investigating racketeering, not sports officials going after fixers. The governing body for tennis, dogged by suspicions of match-fixing, does not employ enough officials to have one at every professional event.

As more games are televised, more is bet on minor competitions, where players earn less and are therefore easier to corrupt. And as new sports gain popularity, the fixers will move in. They are already active in competitive video-gaming. Women’s cricket and football are likely to become targets, too.

Say it ain’t so
To squeeze the fixers, governments need to do two things. The first is to legalise gambling, which is banned in many countries. Fixers need deep, liquid betting markets to profit from their crooked bets. If honest punters turn to legal bookmakers, fixers will follow, and authorities will find it easier to spot them at their work. The second is to pass laws against match-fixing which recognise that the evidence may consist of statistical analysis. Many countries have no match-fixing laws at all. When one corrupt player is caught and banned, the moneymen simply move on to the next.

Billions of people follow sport for the pleasure of seeing skilled athletes strive for victory and to share in the thrill of a fair competition. If the fixers are allowed to run the show, it will cease to be worth watching.

September 15, 2017

Innovation and technology hub announced by Ladbrokes Coral

Ladbrokes Coral have announced plans to unite its sports and technology teams to bring customers an continually improved betting experience.

Named LC2 and located at Here East, which formerly housed the London 2012 Olympic media team, on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 140 staff of both brands are charged with delivering a range of products such as CRM, ePOS and digital sportsbook platforms.

Graham Calder, Ladbrokes Coral CIO said: “With the creation of LC2 our goal is to deliver excellence for our customers by leveraging the best digital technology, to hire the best digital talent to build the best digital future.

“With our passion for sports, we can’t help but be inspired by the great sporting legacy that comes with being a part of the Olympic Park.”

Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East, added:, “As Here East continues to draw in innovators from more and more sectors, Ladbrokes Coral’s new digital product development centre fits well within the campus.

“Their newly joined up sport-technology team builds on Here East’s reputation as a centre of innovation for established companies and start-ups to collaborate, test new ideas, prototype new products and learn from each other’s expertise.”

August 31, 2017

Japan to limit online gambling

The Japanese government to limit the current online betting of racing events to help stem the concerns over gambling addiction, with the introduction of integrated resorts in the country for the first time which will happen sometime shortly after 2020 concerns over a rise in gambling addiction has risen.

At present gambling is allowed on horse, powerboat, bicycle and motorcycle racing and one of the measures will be to remove ATM machines from venues where betting is allowed to stop impulsive gambling.

“It is essential to carry out measures to prevent people from falling into unfortunate situations due to (gambling) addiction,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.

Other measures to limit gambling addiction will be discussed following the report by the government which will be released later next month.

888 to pay almost £8m for 'failing vulnerable customers' and addicts

Online gambling firm 888 has been ordered to pay of over £7.8m for not helping vulnerable customers to limit the damage of their gambling addictions.

The Gambling Commission on Thursday said that, due to a technical failure in 888’s systems, over 7,000 customers who had chosen to self-exclude from their casino, poker or sports betting platform were still granted access their accounts on 888’s bingo platform.

Self-exclusion is a facility offered by gambling sites for people who have decided that they wish to stop gambling – in some cases because they fear they have become addicted – for at least six months and wish to be supported in their decision to quit.

The commission said that in 888’s case, the issue went undetected for “a prolonged period of time” which meant that customers were able to deposit a cumulative total of £3.5m into their accounts, and then continue to gamble, for over 13 months.

888 did have a self-exclusion procedures in place, but their system was “not robust enough and failed to protect potentially vulnerable customers”, the commission said.

“Safeguarding consumers is not optional. This penalty package of just under £8m reflects the seriousness of 888’s failings to protect vulnerable customers,” said Sarah Harrison, chief executive of the commission.

In addition to the overarching charges, the commission also said that 888 had failed to recognise “visible signs of problem gambling behaviour displayed by an individual customer, which was so significant that it resulted in criminal activity”.

In that particular case, the customer staked over £1.3m, including £55,000 stolen from an employer.

Over more than a year, the customer placed a significant number of bets and gambled, on average, three to four hours a day.

“The lack of interaction with the customer, given the frequency, duration and sums of money involved in the gambling, raised serious concerns about 888’s safeguarding of customers at-risk of gambling harm,” the commission said.

"The 888 sanction package will ensure those affected don’t lose out, that the operator pays the price for its failings via a sum that will go to tackling gambling-related harm, and that independent assurance will be given to see that lessons are learnt,” Ms Harrison said.

The £7.8m sum includes repayment of the £3.5m of deposits made by those customer who had chosen to self-excluded and it also includes compensation of £62,000 to the employer from whom money was stolen in that one particular case.

The commission said that a further £4.25m would be paid to a socially responsible cause with the idea that it helps finance measures to clamp down on gambling-related harm.

For “future assurance”, the commission said that it had also ordered an independent audit of 888’s processes relating to customer protection.

888, in a statement, said that it fully cooperated with the commission throughout this process.

It said that it “regrets the historic failings highlighted by the review and accepts the conclusion of the review”.

It also listed a number of changes and improvements that have been put in place to prevent similar occurrences in future.

“The review process has pushed 888 to enhance its responsible gambling technology and policies and leaves it well placed to continue to succeed in an environment where it will engage with customers in a way that those customers and regulators will demand going forward,” the company said.

Sports advertising could it be cut?

Could advertising on television especially around sporting events be curbed by the UK government? With the recent announcement from the UK Gambling Commission that as many as 2 million people were either problem gamblers or a risk of addiction and then the front page newspaper coverage of the dangers of gambling it could spell the end of current advertising during live sporting events that manage to air before the 9pm watershed time that normally gambling adverts are not allowed.

A storm is gathering. “We would be mad not to take notice of that growing background noise of concern,” says Clive Hawkswood, the chief executive of the Remote Gambling Association.

Soon there will be a review of sports betting advertising by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and many feel some new restrictions could come into force to please those campaigners that want a total ban on all gambling advertising.

There is already a president for banning all gambling adverts during sporting events, in Australia the Prime Minister said the government would move to ban all gambling advertising on television before 9pm.

Those opposed to gambling advertising say that it has got out of hand, too many adverts now during the breaks are gambling focused and with the gambling industry spending £1.4 billion on advertising since 2012 it is hard to disagree. Also opponents point to football clubs now having gambling firms as their shirt sponsors, in total 9 of the premier league teams have gambling companies as their lead shirt sponsor.

The popularity of sports in the UK and predominately football is a huge draw for a gambling company to have their brand recognised by the mass market, but is it time that gambling firms hold back a little before the government take measures against sports advertising?

August 18, 2017

Japan start public hearings on Integrated Resorts

Japan has started month long open public hearings on the future of casino resorts in the country with comments accepted on how the government will shape how casinos with operate in the country.

Following the hearings the debate will move to lawmakers on what will be allowed and what will not, given that half of the nation is still opposed to the opening of casino resorts the coming month will be very interesting on how they will be restricted.

Some of the topics that will be covered in the hearings are the limit on casino space in resorts, tax rates on operators, a potential ban on ATM’s in casino resorts to limit impulsive gambling and a limit on the amount of visits local residents can make to a casino.

International operators who are eyeing the Japanese gaming market are concerned that their growth could be limited if the government make too many restrictions towards gaming.

During the hearings casino operators are also allowed to make observations and comments on the process which is held in Tokyo.

Many involved in the gaming industry application process to build integrated resorts fear the potential $25 billion a year revenues in Japan could be dramatically lower if too many restrictions are imposed.

Playtech BGT Sports momentum continues with BoyleSports extension

Playtech BGT Sports has agreed a deal to extend distribution of its self-service betting terminals (SSBTs) with BoyleSports.

As part of the agreement, another 325 of the terminals will be deployed within the Irish operator’s 225-strong estate, doubling the number to over 1,000 in the last 12 months.

Individual shop SSBT density will increase once the additional terminals have been installed, with many of the operator’s best performing shops hosting in excess of five SSBTs as they look to build upon their operating objective to offer their customers an all-encompassing service through a variety of modern mediums.

Dr. Armin Sageder, CEO of Playtech BGT Sports, said: “Our partnership with BoyleSports has been very successful since our initial deployment, and our second extension to the deal this year proves the strength of the product for the Irish customer base.

“Many shops will host more than four terminals, which illustrates that customers are seeing the tangible benefits of the machines, which have been shown to greatly add incremental revenue and increased margins, without the threat of cannibalisation to the over-the-counter product.”

Jenna Boyle, Head of Retail at BoyleSports, said: “Customer feedback for the increased offering provided by PBS’ SSBTs has required us to greatly increase the number of them across our estate to keep up with demand.

They have helped us generate record-breaking SSBT football betting turnover, and the significant incremental revenue each one generates has led to us making the decision to further increase the average density in our shop in order to further enhance our market leading retail offering.”

This agreement comes just four months after a similar deal extension, which saw PBS provide an additional 200 terminals to BoyleSports.

August 17, 2017

The National Lottery found out the hard way how moronic consumers can be

You would think marketers would have worked it out by now. But many appear still to live in a perfect rose-tinted bubble in which communications are seen as a clarion call, brands are something that people want to fall in love with, and consumers are positive, upbeat citizens of the world who can’t wait to get inspired by purpose and consumption and buying stuff.

That’s how things probably look in most marketers’ Powerpoint presentations. But a dose of market orientation would change everything. You remember market orientation? It’s the core concept of marketing and can be neatly summarised with the mantra: ‘You are not the consumer’.

I prefer to take it further with clients and point out that they are, quite literally, the least qualified people on the planet to see their product or service the way that their consumers do. If you make the product you can’t see it from the customer perspective. Similarly, if you work in an agency your view of campaigns and brands and customers is total bollocks. You work from the comfortable part of the spear – the pointy end is totally different.


Campaigns are not clarion calls that unite a nation and change attitudes. They are little nudges that play on existing attitudes and interests and just do enough to turn the dial in our favour. Sure, we have our case studies where a single ad changed the world: Wonderbra, Guinness, Marmite and so on. But for these epic moments of impact there are thousands of channel-changing, page-turning, screen-swiping failures.

What’s more, these ads – the ones that interrupt the morning music or absorbing late night movie or interesting news feed – are despised. People hate advertising. They tolerate it but, offered a red button, would exterminate it tomorrow.

Brands aren’t loved by anyone either, other than the marketers who manage them. Most of these marketers live a virtual reality existence of brand love and corporate purpose. These marketers have forgotten that the fact they spend their lives working on a brand does not make up for the brief seconds of time it takes up in the consumer’s life.

Most brands are totally ignored. A few have a tiny dollop of salience, which proves enough to win market share. Still fewer have genuine meaning for customers. But this vision of consumers establishing relationships and love for brands is over-wrought marketing horseshit – the wet dreams of marketers that never actually hang out in the supermarket aisle, or listen in to call centre staff, or stand in the rain while consumers trundle past their hot new visual merchandising in that shiny big window that no-one notices.

Consumers are not consumers – only marketers think of them that way. They are people; people who view consumption, for the most part, as a mundane and necessary part of a much more interesting existence.

They don’t think that toilet paper is innovative. They don’t think their toothpaste says something about their personality. They don’t give a fuck about the brand purpose of the lightbulb they try, swearingly, to screw into the socket of their bathroom ceiling. And despite all the bright, aspirational, stock-art faces that populate marketing Powerpoint slides with the title ‘target consumer’, most of them are cynical and unpleasant. Many are total dickheads.

Now don’t take any of this to be negative. It’s realistic. And don’t assume that means campaigns and brands cannot work on consumers. Of course they can. But marketing enjoys a much harder task and less likely success rate than most would have you believe. A lot of it depends on not taking a rose-tinted view of everything, but using market orientation to understand the real situation.

Of course, that rarely happens. Instead we continue to ride our pink unicorns through the candy-coated world of marketing, building ridiculous campaigns that push for unrealistic brand goals from target consumers who do not actually exist outside of Powerpoint decks projected on a screen above a Starbucks somewhere off Charlotte Street.

Take, for example, the wonderful new work of The National Lottery and British Athletics at the London World Championships. In an attempt to “unite athletes and fans as one” the new “digitally led” campaign created an official hashtag for the British Athletics team: #Represent.

If you live in marketing land then the whole idea provides an inspirational, beautiful vision of athletics bringing together a nation and uniting people of all interests and orientations. You probably think the ad will work. You believe it will connect people to British athletics. You can see consumers being inspired by the #Represent campaign.

That’s why you also create a social media campaign in which these suddenly excited consumers can share their inspiration with others and demonstrate just how much they have united with British Athletics, as The National Lottery did. What could be better than a digital tool that allows people to select their favourite athlete, the one they connect with most, and add a personal message of inspiration and support on a board held by the sportsperson in question? And then, best of all, they can share it with other equally engaged fans and unite with them too. All in one massive, positive, entirely unrealistic vision conjured up by marketers who don’t get it.

What you get instead is a sudden reality shot from the real, cynical and entirely moronic world of the consumer. They don’t care about athletics. Or uniting with athletes. They really only care about having a laugh and being a dickhead.

And so the #Represent campaign became, for a few brief hours, before it was swiftly yanked from the public consciousness, a window into the gap between how marketing sees the world and how it really is. Rarely does the juxtaposition present itself so clearly.

Collected at the top are some of the (less offensive) messages that the #Represent campaign generated. I will not comment on them. Feel free to feel shock, anger, humour, disgust or any other emotion. But also feel the distinct separation of marketing and reality.

The messages are not pleasant but I encourage you to navigate them and take a long, hard whiff of market reality. Use them as strategic smelling salts the next time someone puts up an image of a smiling clip-art consumer, or talks about engagement or brand love or any of the other horseshit that pervades our industry.

Everything else might be wrong about the #Represent campaign, but the word itself is perfect.

How gambling has replaced beer on Premier League shirts this season

The season began with Emirates Airlines against Thai duty free giant King Power. Saturday’s games included the clash of the Malta-based bookmakers, ManBetX against Ope Sports, and another all-gambling clash when Kenya’s SportPesa take on England’s very own Bet365.

Premier League shirt sponsorship has changed beyond recognition since the days when Queens Park Rangers promoted Classic FM and Blackburn Rovers McEwan’s Lager. Just as the league itself has modernised, globalised, a magnet to foreign interest and foreign money, the shirt sponsorship market has followed.

This season will see just four UK-based brands on Premier League shirts, the lowest number in history. And, not unconnected to that, it will see nine bookmakers as shirt sponsors, one down from last season’s record of 10.

Looking at the changes in shirt sponsorship over time shows how clearly the market has changed. When the Premier League started, in 1992-93, the biggest sectors for shirt sponsorship were consumer electronics, with six deals, and beer, with four, according for research for The Independent by Ken Berard. Electronics and beer remained a steady presence through the 1990s before dwindling in the 2000s. Last season there was just one beer sponsor, Chang Beer on Everton’s shirts. They have now been replaced too, and this year, for the first time in Premier League history, there will be none.

The story of the second half of the Premier League era has been the story of gambling replacing alcohol as the sector that dominates its shirts. When BetFair first appeared on Fulham’s shirts in 2002-03 it felt quirky but now it is utterly commonplace.

Alcohol was synonymous with the first decade of the Premier League, which had Carling as its title sponsor from 1993 to 2001. But while beer partnerships are still part of the fabric of English football, those brands do not take quite the same direct approach as they used to. “The market reflects a changing dynamic among alcohol brands,” explained Tim Crow, CEO of leading sports marketing firm Synergy, “as beer brands have moved away from shirt sponsorship.”

The Portman Group is made of Britain’s leading alcohol producers and three years ago they brought out a new sponsorship code advising brands to be responsible in their sponsorship of sports, in part because they do not want to be seen to be marketing to children. Of course all Premier League teams have their own alcohol partners, but those brands have now stepped back from shirt sponsorship itself.

Into that space, gambling firms have moved. It is easy enough to see why it is an attractive move for them. With global viewing figures higher than ever, a shirt sponsorship is a fairly cheap way to reach millions of people all over the world. “The Premier League is a global advertising platform because of its reach,” Crow explains. “As a global advertising campaign for a brand, shirt sponsorship can be a cost-effective media buy.”

The big six clubs are so famous now that their shirt sponsorship deals are appropriately expensive. Chevrolet pay an estimated £53million to sponsor Manchester United’s shirts, Yokohama Tyres pay £40m each year to Chelsea. But while the top clubs charge a premium, for the smaller 14 it is a buyers’ market. Their shirts will cost in the mid-single figures of millions for each year. Not a big price to pay to be seen all over the world.

Online gambling is becoming bigger and bigger business, as anyone who watches football on television knows. In 2014 football revenues exceeded those for horse racing for online bookmakers in the UK and the gap has continued to grow since.

While only Bet365, who sponsor Stoke City and BetWay, who sponsor West Ham United, target the UK betting market, there has been a recent rise in investment from foreign bookmakers. They are far less interested in the UK markets, and more in the global audience the Premier League provides. That is why Sport Pesa, ManBetX, Fun88, LeTou, M88, Dafabet and Ope Sports – brands not especially well-known in the UK – are now seen on our televisions every weekend, during the segments of football that break up the adverts for British bookmakers.

While there is some criticism from the marketing industry that shirt sponsorship is a very “blunt instrument” ill-suited to reaching a targeted audience, there is little doubt that the sponsors themselves are happy with their investment. A source close to one such deal said that the sponsor found it to be “incredibly effective”, not just through the shirts on the players themselves, but the LED exposure around the pitch and even fans wearing the shirt all over the world.

But there is also a concern that, not for the first time, English football has sold out to the highest bidder. There are times when a Premier League match, whether live or on television, can look like an advertising channel for the gambling industry.

In June this year the Football Association ended its sponsorship deal with Ladbrokes, deciding that it was not appropriate for a governing body to have a gambling partner, in the light of the Joey Barton ban. In doing so the FA gave up an estimated £12m. That moment could yet mark a change in English football’s relationship with gambling money. Or, as the tide of cash comes in, and the clubs keep saying yes, it may not.

August 12, 2017

England Bans Betting in Soccer, but Not for ‘The Lizard’

They call Tony Bloom “The Lizard” in poker circles. But the Lizard is more than just a gambler.

For the first time in more than three decades, the soccer club Mr. Bloom owns, Brighton & Hove Albion, has been elevated to the Premier League. That means one of the best-known leagues in soccer now counts one of the most prominent soccer gamblers among its owners.

Star Lizard Consulting, which was set up by Mr. Bloom’s associates to provide support for his betting syndicate, operates like a quantitative hedge fund. About 200 employees — traders, software engineers and analysts — focus on helping Mr. Bloom’s syndicate make data-driven bets on soccer and other sports. He did well enough to purchase a controlling stake in Brighton for nearly $130 million in 2009, back when the struggling club was in League One, two notches below the Premier League.

Betting is ostensibly banned by the Football Association, the governing body of soccer in England, which recently banished a Premier League player for 18 months for gambling.

But the association told The New York Times it also has a set of unpublished rules for Mr. Bloom and other owners involved in betting.

Louisa Fyans, an F.A. spokeswoman, said in an email that when the association updated its rules in 2014, it took into account that some owners had significant gambling interests.

“These clubs would be materially impaired by the F.A.’s position on betting,” she said, so the association created “provisions whereby those individuals could continue to have both an interest in football clubs and in betting companies/entities but subject to very stringent rules and reporting obligations.”

The association declined to share those provisions. The Premier League did not respond to requests for comment.

In the United States, a man like Mr. Bloom, a hybrid of high-rolling gambler and sports team owner, is unheard-of, and would run afoul of the typical sports league bylaws. The appetite for mixing sports and gambling waned nearly a century ago, after eight baseball players were accused of trying to fix the World Series. Even allowing a major sports team, the Oakland Raiders, to move to Las Vegas represents a cultural shift in America.

But the blending of gambling and sport is accepted practice in Britain, where winnings aren’t taxed. Mr. Bloom’s ascension has caused barely a ripple, even though his soccer gambling and poker playing career has been well chronicled.

Part of the reason is that Mr. Bloom is not alone. Dozens of clubs are sponsored by betting firms. The family that owns a betting platform called Bet365 also owns the Stoke City football club, which plays in the Premier League. Matthew Benham, who runs a similar operation to Star Lizard called Smartodds, owns the Brentford football club, which plays in a league between League One and the Premier League.

Both Mr. Bloom and Mr. Benham are known for bringing a data-driven approach to their pursuits.

“Tony is a hugely mathematical and analytical type of person, so clearly he looks at numbers as a means of gaining confidence in decision-making,” said Paul Barber, Brighton’s chief executive, adding that his team had its own data and scouts apart from Star Lizard.

While his team’s players “are aware that Tony is a professional gambler,” they are more interested in his poker skills, Mr. Barber said, adding, “Some of them like to play cards.”

Chris Bonett, an integrity officer at U.E.F.A., European soccer’s governing body, described Mr. Bloom as an ally.

“I know there is an ethical argument, should betting companies be in sports, but we are in a free market,” he said.

Star Lizard and other organizations have provided information to the European governing body for years to help it detect fixed matches, and have formal agreements in place to do so.

“I think they are on our side, because a fixed match defrauds the betting company first and foremost,” Mr. Bonett said. “With Star Lizard, we have a relationship that has been going on quite some time.”

In a statement, Star Lizard said, “Tony’s betting is beyond reproach in terms of integrity,” adding that their knowledge “of how the betting markets should play out before and during the match are incredibly valuable to the anti-match-fixing work carried out by numerous football authorities.”

A representative of Star Lizard also said that Mr. Bloom did not bet on Brighton.

Sam Tomlinson, a partner at the London office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said the firm had audited Star Lizard “to confirm their compliance with the applicable F.A. regulation” and filed those audits with the association. “That’s probably as much as I can say.”

Mr. Bloom, 47, grew up with the team. His late grandfather Harry Bloom served as its vice chairman in the 1970s.

“He also had a big love of gambling and betting,” Mr. Bloom said last year, at the opening of a stadium restaurant he named in his grandfather’s honor, adding, “Through the blood it came into me, and I was fortunate enough to be successful at that.”

Mr. Bloom, who is known as the lizard “because ice-cold blood allegedly flows through his veins,” as one article about him put it, has thrown himself into the club, even drinking with merrily chanting fans on a train after a match.

His gambling business is far less visible. Star Lizard operates like a hedge fund, but is not based in a stately Mayfair townhouse. Instead, Star Lizard can be found in the Camden Locks, in a bohemian neighborhood known for drug raids, food hawkers, throngs of tourists and a devotion to Amy Winehouse.

Mr. Bloom’s name doesn’t even appear in Star Lizard’s business filings. It does show up on an affiliated company, Blue Lizard Consulting, which he gave a nearly $30 million interest-free loan last year, records show.

Inside Star Lizard’s headquarters, there is a cafeteria that provides three meals a day, a gym, pool tables, a dart board and a library. There are traders and analysts, but the real focus is on data. A recent posting by the company’s recruitment manager suggests how much Star Lizard outguns normal bettors: “We are currently expanding and need a number of software developers and support staff with skills in C# / F# / Java / Python / Full Stack Development / DevOps,” it read.

A more recent entry is Stratagem, a London-based firm that operates a sports hedge fund.

“We take in lots of data,” said Charles McGarraugh, Stratagem’s chief executive and an ex-Goldman Sachs trader, from the prices on various betting lines to data from games underway to “less structured data from sports journalism or social media.”

“It’s like a firehose, and at the other end what you want to get out is a one or a zero for a buy or a sell.”

Much of the action for such bettors comes as odds shift even after a game has begun.

Mr. Bloom speaks very little about his betting strategy. His soccer team is another matter. While he said he now had to “make some tough decisions” in his ownership role, watching the games is “the same as when I was watching 40 years ago.”

“In those 90 minutes,” he said, “I just love it like any other fan.”

August 02, 2017

Bulgaria’s National Lottery picks Kambi for ‘High Expectations’ 7777.bg sportsbook

Nordic Nasdaq-listed industry sports betting platform provider Kambi Group Plc has confirmed that it has entered a services agreement with Bulgarian licensed gaming group National Lottery AD.

The agreement will see Kambi become lead betting platform and technology provisions supplier for National Lottery AD’s digital gaming brand 7777.bg, which is considered Bulgaria’s most popular lottery and gaming destination.

Last year, 7777.bg added a sports betting product to its portfolio, however, in order to meet growth objectives, National Lottery AD had decided to upgrade to Kambi’s sports betting provisions.

Licensed by the Bulgaria’s State Commission on Gambling, 7777.bg has an established customer base in excess of 2 million registered players.

Kristian Nylén, CEO of Kambi, commented on the partnership: “We are delighted to be partnering with the National Lottery AD in Bulgaria. We share the same vision, which is to supply the best sports betting to 7777.bg’s customers; one that is engaging, entertaining and safe”.

Nylén further notes National Lottery AD’s high ambitions for 7777.bg’s sports betting product, which aims to quickly become the lead online destination for Bulgarian betting consumers

“The 7777.bg brand is at the very heart of gaming in Bulgaria and is widely respected and popular across the numerous verticals in which it operates. We are very excited by 7777.bg’s growth plans to gain the number one position in all its verticals in Bulgaria. With the power of the Kambi Sportsbook and 7777.bg’s impressive customer base, together we will build a sustainable market leading proposition.” Nylén added

“The signing of the National Lottery AD fits well with Kambi’s strategy of targeting Tier 1 operators and market leaders in regulated markets, which can bring us and our operators increased market share and strong revenue growth.”

The deal represents Kambi’s second major client win in as many months. In June, the company announced a partnership with Colombia’s Corredor Empresarial S.A., Latin America’s largest private ‘games of chance’ network. Kambi will provide its scalable sportsbook solution to the operator’s new BetPlay brand.

Looking forward to the start of the partnership Milen Ganev, Marketing Director of National Lottery AD commented: “We are known to work with only the highest quality providers and Kambi is just that. We do this clearly and purely to serve our end customers and to give them the ultimate experiences they deserve. Together, we believe this partnership will support our mission to become the country’s leading provider in sports betting experiences.”

July 27, 2017

How much does Philippines’ Online Gambling Contribute Towards PAGCOR’s Revenues?

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is a government-owned agency established in Metro Manila, Philippines, for the operation of floating casinos and slot clubs in major cities across the country. The agency also supervises and regulates private casinos, bingo parlors, and e-gaming cafes in the region. PAGCOR, as a corporation, is registered under the Office of the President of the Philippines.

Ever since it was established, PAGCOR has been establishing gaming pools and conducting casino games across the country. PAGCOR is expecting an amount of P6 billion as tax revenue from online gaming parlors. Moreover, the corporation is considering a move to limit the number of operators to 50 owing to a probable oversupply of players in the market. This also shows that online gaming has immense potential, with gamblers operating right from their home.

The casino operators and gaming regulators in the Philippines reported a one-quarter increase in profits in the beginning of 2017. But figures released by PAGCR reveal its revenue from online gambling increasing by 8.4 percent every year to P28.3 billion in the half year ending June 30. However, PAGCOR’s profit rose by 24.9 percent to P3 billion. PAGCOR’s contribution to the government treasury amounted to P13.4 billion.

The year-over-year increase in revenue was slower in the second quarter due to the temporary shutdown of gaming operations after the gun attack at the Resorts World Manila in June. However, the agency is now considering a complete transition to a regulatory role. But the casinos reported a revenue of P5.2 billion and slot machines a revenue of P6.1 billion. Income from electronic bingo was P4.4 billion but its licensed private casinos added a revenue of less than P9.5 billion.

The Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) reported income of less than P1.1 billion in the first quarter. PAGCOR hopes that the POGO program would generate an income of $120 million eventually. The tax rate on revenues from RNG games remains pegged at 2% but operators would have to pay a sum of $150K as Monthly Minimum Guarantee Fee (MGF).

The POGO program was initiated as a part of the government’s efforts to foist tighter supervision over operations, which were overlooked by authorities in the Philippines’ special economic zones. PAGCOR would also be deploying monitoring teams to ensure that POGO licensees comply with regulatory requirements.

Aspiring Cop Caught Stealing $125,000 Worth of Chips in the CCTV of Melbourne’s Crown Casino

A man by the name Gunawan Akay had been recently caught by a CCTV camera, stealing over $125,000 in casino chips from the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Following trials in the local court, Akay was sentenced to community correction.

The 38-year-old guy was slapped with a sentence of two years for robbing the casino off $125,000 worth of gaming chips in December last year. Akay later pleaded guilty in the court of law for attempting to grab 25 chips of $5000 each while playing in the Maple Room, an exclusive gambling room featured at the Crown Casino.

The CCTV footage revealed that while the casino employee was busy dealing the hand, Akay dexterity reached out to a pile of casino chips and grabbed a handful before escaping from the room and trying to flee in a taxi.

Claire Quin, the County Judge, stated that Akay had been struggling with a grave financial crisis that might have been the motivation behind carrying out this unsophisticated crime. While sentencing Akay to the two-year community correction order, the judge announced that the former had grabbed the gambling chips from a table in the Maple Room and rushed out of the casino in a bid to flee.

Sources reveal that a terribly guilty Akay lost nearly all of his gambling chips in his attempt to run away and eventually tossed the remaining three chips into the Yarra River in a state of excessive panic. A member of the Gold Signature Crown Rewards, Akay was a regular at the Crown Casino and had been playing with his partner’s cash for over six hours when he planned the doomed attempt at stealing the gambling chips.

In a series of events that led him to commit the amateur crime, Akay had recently witnessed a bank foreclosure on a majority of his properties and was trying to make some money in order to ensure that he and his girlfriend did not have to leave their home due to eviction.

Following the completion of the trial proceedings, Judge Quin remarked that Akay had been terribly contrite and had acknowledged his accountability for the crime, showing that he might have great prospects at early rehabilitation. As per the order, Akay will have to perform supervised work for a total of 150 hours during his correctional stay.

El Gordo

IIn the early 2000s, Costis Mitsotakis of Greece met a Spanish girl named Sandra del Pozo. They fell in love, and not long after, bought a small RV, left Greece and headed to Spain. Their destination — Sodeto, a town in the northeast corner of the country, where Sandra’s grandmother lived.

Sodeto is one of about 300 little farming villages that the dictator Francisco Franco built in Spain in the 1950s, in an effort to bring people and agriculture to isolated places. All the towns built during this time look similar, and Sodeto is no exception — there’s a church in the center of town and one bar, which is also the one restaurant, which is also the one place to hang out. The houses are the color of sand, and each has a red-tiled roof. About 200 people live in the town.

Sodeto is not the kind of place that makes news. But all that changed in 2011 when almost everyone in this little village won a piece of the biggest lottery jackpot in Spain. By chance, Costis Mitsotakis had found himself in the luckiest town in the world.

In the United States, as far we know, an entire town has never won the lottery. Sometimes large groups do win together, but more often than not, lotteries jackpots in the U.S. are divided by just a few people.

In Spain, they do the lottery differently. First of all, it’s a country-wide obsession — about 75% of Spaniards buy a ticket. There’s more than one lottery in Spain, but the one that Spaniards are the most passionate about is “La Lotería de Navidad” (“The Christmas Lottery”). This lottery has taken place every year since 1812.

For better or worse, lotteries have long been considered by governments as useful ways to raise funds for public programs. But lotteries were, and still are, thought to be regressive taxes on the poor. Karl Marx called them a sinister instrument of the state, designed to dupe the poor into believing there was an easy way out of poverty. The church found lottery play to be blasphemous and superstitious. In 1826 the British outright banned the lottery for nearly a hundred years.

And in 1862, Spain responded to the criticisms as well: by re-designing their national lottery so that it wouldn’t take as much money from the poor. The government thought if the they set the price of tickets high, only rich people would buy them. But that’s not what happened. People began “syndicate” playing, or playing in groups. The lottery became more popular than ever.

In the Christmas Lottery, any number from 00000 to 99,999 can win. It’s very expensive to own an entire number, so organizations will buy a share of a number and then sell off even smaller shares to individuals — five euro shares, two euro shares, etc. Thousands of people may own small fractions of the same number. The smaller the share you have, the less you get of the total jackpot if your number should win.

Making it expensive to own a number outright has turned the lottery into a huge social event. Local organizations sell tickets at a markup for fundraisers. Most Spaniards end up with a stack of tickets — all different tiny shares of different numbers that they’ve been talked into buying.

The numbers go on sale in the summer for the drawing on December 22nd. It is held in Madrid, in the same theater and the same way every year. There’s a stage, holding two giant golden orbs, containing balls with the numbers and prize amounts. After the balls drop, two children sing the numbers and prize amounts in a kind of Gregorian chant. The whole event lasts for hours.

Everyone waits for the biggest prize of the day – “El Gordo” ( the fat one). The “El Gordo” prize is often worth close to a billion dollars. As soon as the El Gordo-winning number is announced, reporters scramble to find out in what part of Spain it was sold.

And on December 22, 2011, it was the people of Sodeto, Spain who held the winning number.

The winning tickets had been sold all over Sodeto by The Housewives Association — a group of women who host parties and activities in town. The association sold tickets, door to door, for six euros. Five euros for the lottery ticket, one euro for their fundraising.

Maria-Carmen Lambea from the Association had chosen the winning number. When she heard that they had won El Gordo, she started calling friends. No one could believe it. Soon everyone was gathered on the plaza. Each six euro ticket the house-wives had sold was worth 100,000 euros.

Ana, the bartender had won, Paco, the farmer, and his wife Marisol won. Rosa, the mayor of the town had won. It seemed that every single resident of the small town of Sodeto had won a piece of El Gordo. The people of Sodeto were not the only ones to win on the number 58,268 in 2011. A few thousand other people also had small shares of the number — mostly scattered around in towns nearby. The total jackpot that year for EL Gordo was about 750 million euros, but it was divided by thousands of people. In Sodeto – the people who bought more tickets got more money, and everyone got at least 100,000 euros.

Everyone, except one. Costis Miksotaksis. Somehow the housewives had missed him when they went knocking on doors.



Six years later, Costis still lives in Sodeto. He and Sandra have parted ways, but remain friends. When we asked if he felt any regret or jealousy, he laughs. “No, nothing,” he says — because Costis feels he got something that day too. He’s a filmmaker and he’s been documenting how the town has responded to this sudden wealth. He believes the town has become a little more insular since the win — more focused on the nuclear family and less on the community as a whole.

But Maria-Carmen doesn’t believe the town has changed that much. Sodeto is a town of farmers, and some of them installed new irrigation systems, or bought new tractors. Some people added modest additions to their homes, but nothing extravagant. It’s been a wonderful thing for everyone in this little working-class town, says Maria-Carmen, to live without the worry of debt.

And that’s the thing about this syndicate style lottery: unlike the Powerball Jackpot in the United States, which heaps hundreds of millions on one or two winners, the money from the Christmas Lottery gets divvied up among thousands of people.

The people who win El Gordo don’t generally win enough to buy mansions and yachts. They win enough to pay off their debts and buy a Honda civic. The lottery brings wealth to a whole geographic area, and distributes it relatively evenly, at least among those lucky enough to have a ticket.

Economists have long struggled to figure out why people play the lottery. It’s not a rational investment The odds of winning the big jackpots are terrible — worse than any other form of gambling. But in Spain, it’s pretty obvious why people play this lottery. It’s the social thing to do. You buy because you don’t want to be that one guy who doesn’t win. You don’t want to be Costis. The lottery organizers actually exploit this fear in their advertising each year.

The Housewives Association, now officially called the “Women’s Association,” continues to choose a number each year for the Christmas Lottery.

The women used to knock on doors for months to sell the tickets, but now the people come to them, and tickets sell out in a few days. “They were lucky once and they could be again,” people say, and no one wants to be left out.