Counter-Strike could have a minimum age requirement in Australia under a bill proposed by Senator Nick Xenophon?
Australian Senator Nick Xenophon is really a antagonist that is longtime of gambling industry and now he has Counter-Strike skin-betting firmly in his sights.
Xenophon announced this week he intends to introduce a bill to parliament whenever it resumes next month that would classify games like Counter-Strike as gambling, pure and simple.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald that his legislation would prohibit game makers from billing real money for items of varying value whose acquisition relies on a degree of chance. It would additionally establish age that is minimum for many who wish to pay to play, while games would be required to show clear warnings of feasible gambling content.
Games like Counter-Strike: worldwide Offensive (CS: GO), around which a gambling that is billion-dollar has grown up through the trading of designer tools known as ‘skins,’ were ‘insidious’ in their targeting of minors, and the ‘crazy West’ of online gambling, Xenophon stated.
‘Instead of shooting avatars, parents soon find out that [their children] have shot holes that are huge their bank accounts,’ he added, neatly.
Too Late, Mate?
But despite his intentions that are good it may be that the senator is a couple https://myfreepokies.com/pelican-pete/ of years too late. Had Xenophon proposed his legislation in 2013, for instance, he could have nipped the nascent skins industry that is gambling the bud. Instead, he chose to just launch it weeks after Valve, creators of CS: GO, announced that it had been shutting the industry down.
Valve’s skins are colorful and collectible in-game weapons which the company permitted to be traded between players over its Steam platform as a means of creating an in-game economy. But their capability to be transferred to third-party internet sites enabled them to be utilized as digital potato chips in online gambling games. Valve was accused of motivating and also profiting from skin gambling.
Valve’s Ultimatum
Eventually, in mid-July, as legal actions started to fly, the company officially denied it had ever profited from epidermis gambling, and emphasized that people who had were in breach of its terms and conditions.
After that it delivered cease-and-desist notices to at least 23 skin wagering sites, guaranteeing them that their Steam accounts could be terminated if they continued to operate, as it started to dismantle the industry it had inadvertently produced. The sites that are betting Steam accounts in order to transfer skins and the deletion of the accounts would suggest curtains for the industry.
Valve gave the sites a window that is 10-day comply, a deadline that expired on July 29. Many sites have actually appeared to comply with the demand, shutting down ‘temporarily,’ but other people still appear to be operating, two days after their ultimatum, presumably awaiting Valve’s next move.
Atlantic City’s Borgata Now Fully Owned by MGM Resorts with Boyd Gaming Buyout Complete
The Borgata Hotel Casino is now officially an MGM Resorts home. The Atlantic City marina casino had been a venture that is joint MGM and Boyd Gaming since its opening in 2003, but Boyd recently decided to bow out and offer its 50 per cent stake to pay down debt and for ‘general corporate purposes.’
The deal, that was first announced in early June, was completed on August 1.
MGM Resorts has become the proprietor that is sole the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City, after completing a buyout from partner Boyd Gaming. (Image: Star-Ledger file)
Boyd Gaming leaves Atlantic City with $589 million, and nevertheless stands to receive payments that are additional property taxation refunds. The operator received roughly $900 million total in the transaction, but was additionally accountable for its share of the Borgata’s $575 million in liabilities.
MGM Offensive
Paying hundreds of millions of dollars for such a thing in Atlantic City right now might seem ill-advised, nevertheless the Borgata is one associated with the venues that are few switching out strong revenues in the New Jersey resort.
Through June, the Borgata has grossed $337.4 million in casino wins this year. For the other seven properties still in operation, the Borgata’s nearest competitor is additionally its closest neighbor: that is Harrah’s, with $172 million.
The climate that is economic Atlantic City is dismal. The city is broke, four casinos closed in 2014, and town leaders have reached war with those into the state’s money in Trenton who wish to end the town’s video gaming monopoly.
‘ Buy low offer high’ is the oldest piece of investing advice in the guide, and it appears MGM thinks now is the time to buy. The business has 10 casinos in Las Vegas, and has now properties in Mississippi, Illinois, Michigan, and Asia.
It will enhance its US portfolio when the MGM nationwide Harbor in Maryland opens later this and the MGM Springfield in Massachusetts opens in 2018 year.
Dangerous Business
Whenever New Jersey passed a referendum in 1976 to legalize gambling in Atlantic City, few would have most likely theorized that 40 years later on, the city’s hotspot would not be located on the iconic Boardwalk. The glitz and glamour that once accompanied the beach has become located some 10 blocks inland at the Borgata.
When Steve Wynn first conceived the project back 2001, gambling was strong in Atlantic City. The town was at its fourth straight year grossing over $4 billion in casino wins, and while Harrah’s and Trump Marina (now the Golden Nugget) were already found in the marina district, building a $1.3 billion venue ended up being still a risk that is significant.
Wynn eventually abandoned the project and MGM and Boyd played the hand. It’s paid down.
‘While the market continues to see challenges, Borgata has outperformed and differentiated itself while the undisputed leader in the city,’ MGM CEO Jim Murren concluded month that is last.
FanDuel Adopts Complete Branding Overhaul
FanDuel’s New Look: The DFS giant has gone for a rebrand that is risky but the timing is perfect. (Image: FanDuel.com)
FanDuel amazed a major rebrand to its customers this week. The daily fantasy sports giant has kicked the sloping white-on-black cursive into touch.
In its place is a modern, clean, all-caps logo, and a new company color scheme; blues and whites, completely unrecognizable from its predecessor.
The brand now employs a motif that is new too, a shield, which represents ‘an age-old athletic emblem, to pay homage to history’s strongest leagues, groups, and competitors,’ explained the organization this week.
‘at the unveiling of its new-look website Monday as we move into this next era of fantasy sports, the FanDuel Shield will lead the way,’ FanDuel assured us.
UK Launch
Rebranding is definitely risky, especially a revamp that is utterly comprehensive this one, but the timing is practical. The NFL that is new season not far away. The English Premier League season is planning to start.
Meanwhile, FanDuel arrives to introduce in britain this month and will no doubt be looking to form some partnerships that are strategic sponsorship deals.
Better, then, to get the branding sorted now prior to the players of the ultimate soccer team of choice go running out with the old logo design plastered across their jerseys.
Meanwhile, into the US daily fantasy sports appears at a crossroads, with a handful of states already opting to license and regulate the industry, while hugely valuable key markets like California and New York mulling a similar move, nyc in particular. What better way to represent the bright, new era of regulated, licensed and consumer-protected DFS than with a bright, new identity?
FanDuel Bill of Rights
The company has also unveiled ‘the FanDuel Bill of Rights,’ a commitment to consumer protection clearly designed to restore faith in the industry after the damage caused by DraftKings’ so-called ‘insider trading’ scandal of late last year in this spirit.
In late September DraftKings employee Ethan Haskell inadvertently posted player data online before the commencement of the week’s NFL games, information that the average player has use of only after the weekly line-ups are locked in. In the same week, Haskell had won $350,000 playing on
FanDuel, and suddenly alarm bells were ringing.
DraftKings and Haskell were eventually exonerated by an investigation that is third-party however the debacle prompted increasingly strident calls for more transparency within the industry, particularly with regard to the workings of the two sites’ business models and just who has access to privileged information, and when.
The FanDuel Bill of Rights includes the separation of player funds from operating costs, a ban on third-party scripting tools so that you can prevent sharks from feeding off brand new players in heads-up competitions, as well as the prohibition of FanDuel staff from participating in DFS contests.
Summer Olympics Unlikely to check out Developing World Once More Following Rio’s Shortcomings
Officials say it’s all systems go in Rio de Janeiro, but the issues in bringing this season’s Summer Olympics together could reduce Africa’s drastically chances of ever hosting an Olympics. (Image: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro get underway with the Opening Ceremonies this Friday, August 5, although not everyone is preparing to celebrate. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is understandably frustrated after months and even years of preparation failures on the part of local organizers.
The promised metro system to ease the heavily congested city didn’t come to fruition as planned, the town opted not to ever clean its severely contaminated Guanabara Bay, athlete accommodations are inadequate, and did we mention the Zika virus?
Rio’s inability to prepare for the properly Olympics has been well documented around the world, and it’s been downright embarrassing for the IOC. The anticipated result is that the Olympics are going to be awarded to more stable cities into the years that are coming.
‘The training is the fact that plenty of things can alter in seven years,’ IOC user Dick Pound told the Wall Street Journal.
Odds Against Africa
Tokyo has already been confirmed for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The 2024 host will be announced on September 13, 2017.
After Rio officially welcomes the Summer Olympics, the IOC can check always South America off its list. That leaves Africa as the only continent that is remaining never ever host an Olympics (excluding Antarctica).
Southern Africa was once considered a well liked for the 2024 games, but the country rescinded its bid last year due to financial factors. If Rio might have gone off without any glitches, many think the IOC would have been inclined to use Africa.
But with South Africa out, viable choices are slim to none. No other city in Africa currently has the infrastructure or ability to guide the Olympics.
Sportsbook.ag has Paris as the heavy favorite for the 2024 games at 9/10. La and Rome are both at 3/1, and Budapest is fourth at 10/1.
It is anticipated that Rome’s odds can be longer once the scrutiny that is public over Rio’s mishandling of the 2016 event and IOC officials look for simple sailing waters.
Rio Promises Excitement
Just three times far from the Opening Ceremonies, more press is being given to Rio’s insufficient preparation compared to real competitions that are upcoming.
Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian within the reputation for the games, is returning for his fifth and olympics that are final. But their name is rarely mentioned compared to the buzzwords ‘Zika,’ ‘contamination,’ ‘inadequate,’ and even ‘body parts.’
While the media is notorious for hyping up tales and debate, when it comes to Rio it’s warranted.
Just a week ago, the Brazil Ministry of Justice fired the private security company hired for the Olympics. More than 3,400 protection workers had been expected to work the games, but the business was let it go after Brazil officials said just 500 officers had been hired.
It’s the latest scandal, but perhaps one of the most consequential as crime and terrorism is of utmost concern.
No matter what the excess of controversy, Brazil remains painting a rosy picture.
‘Rio de Janeiro has two main assets, that are its natural beauty while the energy of its people,’ Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes stated week that is last.