When will US citicens have access to NETeller again?

Optimal and Caesars Interactive sign agreement for US market

Optimal Payments to provide Caesars Interactive Entertainment with payments and related services for its entry into US regulated online poker market
London, Monday 29 October 2012 – Optimal Payments (LSE: OPAY), a leading global online payment provider, has signed an agreement with Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. (“CIE”), a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Corporation, to provide payments and related services as part of CIE’s entry to the U.S. regulated online poker market.
Under the agreement, subject to any necessary regulatory approvals, Optimal will supply CIE with gateway services related to payment processing, fraud management and related services.
“This is a ground breaking deal for Optimal Payments and demonstrates our ability to provide real value to globally renowned, land-based gaming operators and their leading brands, as the first step in our strategy to capitalise on the regulated U.S. market” said Joel Leonoff, President & CEO of Optimal Payments.

Optimal announces 2012 interim results, showing strong first half growth

Strong first half growth, on track to exceed full year market expectations
Wednesday, 19 September 2012 – Optimal Payments Plc (LSE: OPAY) (“Optimal Payments”, the “Group” or the “Company”), a leading online payments provider, today announces its results for the six months ended 30 June 2012.
Highlights

• EBITDA ⁽¹⁾ up 76% to $11.2m (H1 2011: $6.4m)
• Revenues up 37% to $78.9m (H1 2011: $57.4m). Fixed costs marginally down following headcount reduction in Q1.
• Profit before tax $1.7m (H1 2011: loss of $4.1m).
• Strong organic growth from NETBANX Straight Through Processing division (“STP”), up 68% to $61.9m (H1 2011: $36.9m) with continued strength and growth in Asia.
• NETELLER Stored Value (“SV”) revenues down to $16.2m (2011:$18.0m ⁽²⁾) principally as a result of the fallout from Black Friday⁽³⁾ in H1 2011.
• Initiatives undertaken in H1 have produced improved results in second half to date. Major investment in NETELLER SV platform now complete and cost base aligned.
• US online gaming opportunity taking shape.
• Strong demand from existing customers and from new customers won during the first half including Ford Credit, Hockey Canada and Rona. Commercial agreement signed with Lotus F1 Team.
• Strong H1 revenue exit run rate positions the Company for further growth in second half and on track to exceed the market consensus full year expectations.

Commenting on today’s results announcement, Joel Leonoff, President & CEO, said:
“The combination of NETELLER and OP Inc. has produced a multi-faceted payment product offering and positioned the emerged business Optimal Payments Plc to benefit from a rapidly evolving online payment market. Our efforts have resulted in a fully integrated and right-sized business with an efficient cost base. Our operationally geared business model, continued focus on product development and R&D, along with our strong presence in the internet payment market have combined to produce significant organic revenue and EBITDA growth.
Our H1 results and strong foundation position the Company well for further growth in H2. The online payment industry continues to consolidate and the Group should benefit from the expected significant growth in both the online and mobile commerce markets.
We see substantial opportunities to provide innovative solutions to merchants and consumers in both the NETELLER eWallet and NETBANX straight through processing divisions. Our R&D focus has positioned Optimal Payments with timely and innovative offerings to take advantage of opportunities in the fast moving marketplace. Additionally, our product strength and long standing experience in the online gaming space positions us well to take advantage of online payment opportunities evolving in the US. The NETELLER brand, which was a market leader in the US prior to UIGEA being enacted, as well as our leadership experience in straight through processing and risk management, should allow Optimal Payments to regain a substantial position in this re-emerging regulated US market.”

Chilli Poker is dead

As reported at iGaming Business all players at Chilli Poker will be forced to migrate to Poker770 - another iPoker which is owned and run by Playtech website.

All the folks at Chilli Poker will now spend their time trying to satisfy Bally, the US Entertainment giant. After they stole the affiliates their players. This is a quote from the e-mail sent to affiliates:

As an affiliate of Chilipoker.com.com you will receive commission for players referred to us up until the 29.2.12. From the 01.03.12, Chilipoker.com will automatically update the Chilipoker software to Poker770 completing the migration to the new platform. Hence you will not be able to earn any further commission from Chilipoker.

Bally buys Chilli

Bally today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chiligaming LTD’s Business-to-Business iGaming platform. This technology solution will enable casino operators to choose “best-in-class” for wager-based and play-for-free applications.

“This acquisition provides an open, cloud-based platform for Bally Technologies to offer an integrated traditional and online casino solution to operators worldwide,” said John Connelly, Vice President of Business Development at Bally Technologies. “Equally as important, Bally Technologies has also obtained an experienced team of industry veterans from within the online gaming industry, which will help our customers optimize their use of this platform.”

“I’m very proud of this agreement between our two companies,” said Alexandre Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Chiligaming. “We are excited to develop our technology, knowledge, and experience with Bally to bring the best value for land-based casinos.”

A significant value of Bally’s new iGaming platform solution is that Bally Systems customers will have integration with their Bally slot-management and casino-management systems (ACSC™, SDS™, and CMP™), as well as the Bally Business Intelligence™ solution – giving casinos a single view of their patrons and powerful, enterprise-wide analytics.

“This flexible iGaming platform will enable casino operators to leverage their land-based gaming operations with a unified view of players’ trends and behaviors,” Connelly said. “The ability to perform multi-channel promotions, bonusing, and player-tracking across Bally’s mobile, online, and traditional platforms is now a reality.”

Chiligaming offers a comprehensive plug-and-play iGaming platform, application software, and interface for the global gaming market and is expected to enhance Bally’s position and expedite the Company’s entry into the interactive market.

“The design of our iGaming platform is that it is cloud-based, open, and interoperable, which means that our casino customers will have the ability to choose best-of-breed poker, slot, and table products to use in conjunction with the platform, while having a deep integration with our proven Bally land-based systems,” said Bryan Kelly, Bally’s Senior Vice President of Technology.

The acquisition of Chiligaming’s iGaming platform follows Bally’s recent purchase of a Remote Gaming Server (RGS) for online integration of Bally’s deep library of proven casino-gaming content; the formation of a new Bally Interactive division; and its 2011 acquisition of MacroView Labs, the casino industry’s largest provider of custom mobile apps and mobile websites.

Golden Nugget and Chili Gaming are working together

HOUSTON, Feb. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Golden Nugget and Chiligaming are proud to announce that they are entering into an online gaming partnership, with a free-play website due to launch within the next Quarter. Golden Nugget has selected Chiligaming as its exclusive online gaming partner in anticipation of the legalization of online gaming in the United States.

Chiligaming’s proprietary iGaming platform, which enables it to connect to any poker platform or gaming content provider, is a central feature of its US proposition and is designed to both facilitate swift entry into the market and maximize options for the Golden Nugget as the US regulatory and vendor landscape takes shape.

"Chiligaming is thrilled to partner with Golden Nugget, which has a very strong brand presence across the US," said Alexandre Dreyfus, Chiligaming's CEO and Founder. "With its Las Vegas, Laughlin and Atlantic City properties, it is ideally and uniquely positioned for all of the online developments that lie ahead." According to Golden Nugget’s Chairman and Owner, Tilman J. Fertitta, “We started an intensive process approximately nine (9) months ago and looked at more than a dozen internet gaming companies and selected Alex and Chiligaming because they were experienced in online gaming in Europe and demonstrated incredible passion, talent and knowledge which our team found to far exceed their competitors. We believe that online gaming is inevitable in the United States and that the Golden Nugget will be well positioned to compete when US laws allow for online gaming.”

Poker Player Wins $175k Bad Beat Jackpot

It's every poker player's nightmare to lose a hand of Hold'em while holding bullets and flopping quad Aces. But for Poobah it was a dream come true: On February 7th, the online poker player popped the Bad Beat Jackpot, which had skyrocketed to well over $500,000. Poohbah originally opened his online poker account at less than a week ago.

"The latest Bad Beat Jackpot win will go down legendary," stated Michael Harris. "Not only did a brand new player pop our $500k Bad Beat Jackpot, but sharing in the prize pool is one of our frequent Bad Beat Jackpot winners, proving that anyone can win this game."

It happened at a 6-max table in a faceoff against online poker player toptrainer, who won the hand with a straight flush. Poohbah takes home $175,232,10, and the winner of the hand, toptrainer, left the table with a healthy $116,809.70.

It's all part of the ongoing Bad Beat Jackpot game!

But it's not just the recipient of the bad beat who walks away a winner when the jackpot hits. The winner of any Bad Beat Jackpot losing hand stands to win 20% of the jackpot, and those who participated in the dealt hand will share 10% of the jackpot (30% of every jackpot goes to reseed the next big one).

NETELLER launches new VIP and loyalty reward incentives

LONDON, England - Tuesday 7th February 2012 - Optimal Payments Plc (LSE: OPAY), a leading provider of online payments, is pleased to announce the launch of an exciting update to its VIP programme and the introduction of a loyalty reward scheme for its NETELLER members.

The NETELLER VIP experience recognises our members who use the eWallet frequently, and now we're introducing new "tiered" levels to take that experience even further, with greater benefits the more you use your eWallet.With four levels, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond, our VIPs will benefit from VIP fraud guarantees and multiple currency accounts, automatic reward points earned on all transactions, and discounts on foreign exchange fees.At the higher levels, members will have access to dedicated VIP managers, VIP chat, flexible transaction limits, deposit discounts, free withdrawals and next day payouts guaranteed (in certain countries).The full details are available on our dedicated VIP website.

Today also sees the launch of the NETELLER Reward Points scheme, a loyalty programme available to ALL NETELLER eWallet members.Once registered, every NETELLER member will earn points for all money transferred into and out of their NETELLER eWallet.These points can be exchanged for a wide range of products from the NETELLER online rewards store, gift cards and NETELLER cash-credits (funds into their NETELLER eWallet).In addition, each member earning Reward Points will be entered into a prize draw to win up to 36 million points (equivalent to US$30,000) before the end of February 2012.The Reward Points scheme is available in three languages, English German and French.

Mark Jeffrey, Managing Director of NETELLER, said: "We recognise that our VIPs are extremely important and we've improved our VIP programme to make their experience with NETELLER even better.This programme brings many benefits to our frequent, high-volume users, particularly in account servicing and fee reductions.We're also excited about the launch of our new Loyalty Rewards programme which provides benefits to all our members, whatever they use their NETELLER eWallets for."

To open a NETELLER eWallet and take advantage of the new Reward Points programme, visit the NETELLER website

Latin Series of Poker announces a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool in its first 2012 live poker event

Lima, Peru – February 3, 2012 - Organizers of the Latin Series of Poker (LSOP) announced today that they will guarantee half a million dollars in their first Live Poker Event in 2012. The Texas Hold'em tournament will be held from June 5th to June 10th at the Atlantic City Casino in Lima, Peru.

The LSOP has also announced that its $500,000 Main Event will feature a re-entry methodology destined to attract the "who's who" of online and live poker. The buy-in for this event has been announced to be $1,500+150, which gives the players a great value on such a high guarantee.

Qualifiers for the LSOP are now live on the Winning Poker Network, including fast-growing sites Americas Cardroom, BetCRIS, and TruePoker. In February alone, The Winning Poker Network is guaranteeing 13 prize packages, spread out over 13 separate events. Each package is valued at $3,500 and includes: the $1,500+150 Main Event buy-in; round-trip airfare up to $1,000; 5-night hotel accommodations in Lima, Peru; and airport-Hotel-Airport transportation in Lima.

US-poker players have been craving land-base poker tournaments ever since the Aruba Poker Classic ended its run in 2009. LSOP management noted that Winning Poker Network is the ideal online poker site to feed players to the LSOP tournament. In 2010, the network's core sites stepped up to the plate by sending players to the Punta Cana Poker Classic, which is now heading into its third year.

More information on the Latin Series of Poker and a full schedule of Super Satellites for the land-based tournament can be found at www.LSOP.com.

About the Latin Series of Poker (LSOP):
The LSOP is a poker company with over 10 years of experience in both online and live poker events. Born as an initiative to promote, encourage and enhance Poker as a competitive Game/Sport throughout Latin America. Our mission and goal is to provide the poker community with quality and professional live poker events and give everyone the chance to learn, play and love Poker in a trusted, professional, led by the best poker organization in the industry today.

EiG 2012 to take residence at its spiritual home

Clarion Events has confirmed that 11^th annual EiG, the definitive conference and exhibition for the European iGaming sector, will be moving back to its spiritual home at Fira Barcelona, Spain and will be held over the 16th, 17th and 18th October 2012. The news, which has been released in the week prior to ICE Totally Gaming, follows discussions with a cross section of EiG stakeholders who were unanimous in their desire for EiG to ‘move back home.’

Kate Chambers, Portfolio Director responsible for EiG believes the decision to relocate will provide a platform for EiG to take the next step forward in its development. She explained: “EiG is a feature-packed, value-laden learning and networking event which has been successfully serving the needs of the European iGaming community for over a decade. All of the people who have been associated with EiG from day one, speak about Fira Barcelona in exalted tones and there’s a real affinity with the venue and of course the host city.

“EiG is their event and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to deliver on their wishes. EiG is where the elite of the industry meet and do business: where better to do that than in Barcelona, one of Europe’s most sophisticated cities? We are all looking forward to the move and the team has been exploring a range of initiatives to enhance further the opportunities EiG provides for networking, learning and improving business. The move to Fira Barcelona also sits comfortably with the legislative timetable which will see the opening of the Spanish iGaming market pushed back to June/July 2012, just months prior to EiG 2012.”