This week’s casino news starts off with a notable gaming acquisition as Evolution Gaming has announced a big move. Let’s take a closer look at this and two other key stories:
Evolution Gaming Agrees To Deal To Acquire Ezugi
Casino provider Evolution Gaming announced last Wednesday that it has agreed to a deal to acquire mobile and web gaming provider Ezugi. The deal is focused around Evolution Gaming’s goal to expand and develop its live-dealer online offerings through Ezugi’s technological innovation and expertise.
The deal was announced as a $12-million all-cash agreement with the possible addition of a maximum consideration of $6 million. The transaction is expected to be finalized early in 2019 with a series of attached conditions.
Ezugi, which is based in Riga, Latvia, currently runs nine studios with 20 games for online operators, betting shops and land-based casinos. The firm has established itself in South Africa, Latin America and Europe, plus the specific American states of Oklahoma and New Jersey. It is aiming to increase its global reach into various strategic markets. Ezugi is projected by industry analysts to add two to four percent to 2019 revenues and bump up stock prices next year.
Record 290 Casino Customers Split Bingo Payout
You’ve probably heard about split pots when it comes to bingo but nothing like this.
At the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino on Monday, November 19, something special happened: 290 people split a bingo jackpot. A total of 44 game balls were drawn without eliciting a winner. A call of G-53 finally drew “Bingo!” shouts in the room and there turned out to be 290 shared winners, a very uncommon occurrence in casino-based bingo.
What’s shocking is that this wasn’t any type of special or unique bingo event. The crowd wasn’t unusually large. Instead, this is just one of the rarest occurrences you’ll ever hear about in this normally nondescript casino game.
According to local Milwaukee TV station WISN, the odds of this happening were one in 1.5 million. The payout wasn’t large either as it was a modest $500. Had it been shared among the 290 bingo players, each would have taken home a whopping $1.72. Graciously, the casino stepped in to give each player a $25 minimum prize, which meant that the casino did in fact kick in quite a bit to boost the prize pool to $7,250. That’s nearly 15 times the $500 listed jackpot.
MGM Springfield Casino Earnings Fall Sharply
The MGM Springfield Casino has been open for a few months now and while the initial revenues were strong, the casino has taken a step back in October.
According to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the MGM Springfield pulled in just over $22.2 million in gross gaming revenue, over $7 million from table games and $14 million from slots. Most businesses wouldn’t be concerned with those types of numbers but the issue is not the overall amount but the trend.
September earnings were just under $27 million in gross revenue, meaning that the drop from September to October was roughly $4.7 million.
All eyes will be on the November report to see if October was just a hiccup or if this casino – which is located off the beaten path – is already losing traction.