Admin, Author at BestCasinos.co.nz

A Mobile-First Bingo Product to be launched

July 21, 2019 by Admin

A brand new mobile-first bingo has been launched by Nektan, the multi-focused iGaming platform and service, and you can now access the game across the developer’s network’s white label casino sites and play for real money.

Provided by the team at Pragmatic Play, this new product has served to further expand Nektan’s vast product portfolio for online and multiple players. The game, especially for mobile play offers a responsive in-game lobby. You will also find a broad selection of mini-games you can have fun with.

Greater Variety for Casino Players

Nektan has been working to expand its portfolio and has announced this new development in order to demonstrate its readiness to invest in its products. This, in order to support the ‘commercial ambitions of its white label operating partners’. The firm has said that the new games will appeal to all players in all markets around the world, as well as across all sectors of players and levels of preference.

Nektan chief operating officer, Jane Ryan, further noted that the launch of bingo games allows her company’s partners to gain and maintain a brand new player segment. She elaborated on this by stating that it also adds to the player’s gaming session new levels of choice and variety.

Ryan said she is confident that the mobile-first user interface and in-game lobby of the new bingo product will drive mobile traffic rates even higher as the majority of the firms’ players are mobile-based. The company is looking toward increasing its incremental gaming revenues for its partners as well as aligning itself with new bingo-focussed companies.

Reports of Slow Q3/Q4 Growth

Nektan recently issued another pre-close trading update, which revealed significant revenue growth. Even so, for this summer, the firm fell slightly short of its profit projections. In its announcement, the company stated its expectancy to deliver double-digit year on year revenue growth in the period ended June 30, 2019. In addition to this, they hope to see a significant reduction of loss in terms of EBITDA compared to 2018’s results.

Nektan noted that due to slower trends in its Q3 & Q4 periods, the goal of EBITDA to break-even this year would not be achievable. Ongoing effects of strict UK regulations when it comes to player verification and gambling marketing tactics are reported to have been among the factors to have impacted its first-time deposit results.

NZ Banks Restrict Gambling on Credit

July 14, 2019 by Admin

Credit cards have long been used as a widely popular and globally accepted iGaming payment method. However, this might not be the case for much longer. It has now been confirmed that within the next few months, major banks and credit agencies across New Zealand might restrict credit card payments pertaining to gambling-related services and products.

In December last year, ANZ Group became one of the world’s first companies to have introduced a new limit on any payments made to online gambling portals using credit cards. Following this measure, the firm’s New Zealand division has initiated discussions with stakeholders in the nation’s gaming industry in a bid to implement its own reasonable restrictions on wagering on credit.

Macquarie Implements New Limits

Just last week, prominent Australian bank Macquarie banned gambling using credit cards for residents Down Under. The bank has become the first major financial institution in Australia to do so, and it is expected that more banks will follow suit over the coming months. According to Macquarie, banning credit card usage for gambling was intended to protect its customers’ best interests.

Head of Personal Banking at Macquarie, Ben Perham, further elaborated that the blocking of transactions registered under a lottery and gambling merchant code, along with putting a cap on cash advance balances, are just a few of the crucial steps his organization has taken. Perham says that these moves will support the ‘financial wellbeing’ of the bank’s customers – while presumably also protecting them from the potential harms of excessive betting.

Opposition to Credit Gaming Grows

Using credit facilities to gamble is a practice that has been widely opposed by numerous social groups across Australia, New Zealand, and various parts of Europe as well. Opponents of the practice warn that gambling on credit could encourage excessive gambling habits while forcing addicts into a situation in which they might battle to repay what they owe, let alone the interest accrued.

Across the pond in the UK, the Labour Party has recently demanded a ban on the usage of credit cards for any gambling-related payments as well, becoming part of a growing trend.

With all this said, considering that credit cards are one of the global iGaming industry’s most widely used (and widely trusted) online payment methods, players and operators alike might find themselves scrambling to find new, similarly secure and convenient options through which to make deposits and withdrawals. Luckily, numerous other reputable eWallets and systems are available to fill the potential void that credit card payments might soon leave in their wake.

Boogie Woogie Like it’s the 70s Again with Village People Macho Moves

July 8, 2019 by Admin

Remember when you got yourself all glammed up in your bellbottoms, platform shoes with heels for days and hair as big as a disco ball to boogie the night away? Well, a revisit to those 70s glory days is on its way! Yip, Spin Palace will be unveiling the new Village People® Macho Moves online slot game, which brings back those heady days to the Spin Palace online casino! The get-down starts on June 25, 2019!

Get your groove on with Village People® and coin it big time!

The Village people have left a lasting impression on popular culture. Their outrageous costumes and deliciously catchy tunes have stood the test of time. Let’s face it. It remains impossible to keep your toes from tapping, whether you were there to experience the 70s disco era in all its glory or not, when you hear their classics, ‘’Y.M.C.A’’ or ‘’In the Navy’’.

Inspired by the band’s 1978 hit song, ‘’Macho Man’’, Microgaming brings you a zippy new spin on dance classics where you’re zapped away on a retro ride to one of the most beloved decades in pop history! The slot’s makers have nailed the look and feel of the 70s clubbing scene with 3×9 reels, wild tiles, unique features in the Free Spins round and spot-on recreations of Village People® characters to ensure a real blast of a time.

Hit the disco dance floor and step out a big winner!

Village People® Macho Moves base game is comprised of 6 reels. Above each reel is one of the iconic band member characters. Each of these muscled symbols come with their own wild meter. As you play, these can be filled up by landing on VP wilds, which gets you nearer to that particular character’s Free Spins feature. More than this, it also converts the reel it lands on into wilds. The chances of making matches and landing a win are now increased. Unlocking the bonus feature involves collecting 5 tokens for each macho man, with each of them busting out a dance move during the 5 free spins.

The Construction Worker: A bet multiplier which builds up your winnings will come your way when you earn the Construction Worker’s Free Spin’s round. You will enjoy between 2x and 20x with this random multiplier. These are granted in the Free Spins round before each spin.

The Cowboy: Before each respin our Cowboy places between 2 and 12 disco ball Wild tiles randomly on different places of the reels. You’ll be riding into some major wins with this character all guns blazing!

The Cop: Your generous man in blue will award you with 1 to 3 Wild Reels. As with The Cowboy, The Cop randomly places these Wild Reels shortly before each spin in the Free Spins round. The whole reel is full of wilds, which is a ticket given by your Cop to some big wins!

The Native: The Native’s Free Spins round will also help you rack up your winnings. After placing 2 Wild Reels in the far-right reels, for every additional spin, it moves them one space to the left.

The Biker: You’re in for the ride of your life with The Biker in the Free Spins round. Here, all low-paying symbols are substituted for each free spin with a high-paying symbol i.e. the sunglasses the vinyl records, 8-track, the microphone or the disco shoes.

The Sailor: Prepare to set sail for some major wins with this character’s the Free Spins round, where before each spin you will get between 1 and 3 wild tiles— they’re set in place for the rest of the free spins round. The more Free Spins you take, the more winning shores up!

Get down to your Village People® favourite tunes while you win!

In addition to all of the above, Village People® Macho Moves offers you a selection of 5 of Village People’s best all time tunes from the VP Jukebox, making sure you never lose your groove as you play. The slot’s look and feel enhances the experience of the game with onscreen graphics like the thumping speakers, a bright dance floor, and the Village People® themselves. It will all feel like you’re grooving in a 70s disco hall while you rack up those wins!

With 15 different paylines you can use to land winning combinations, the game will most definitely take off with gamers everywhere. The two kinds of wilds give your chances of winning a major boost and, of course the opportunity to earn those lucrative Free Spins with one of the Village People® characters. The slot has bet limits of 0.20 – 25.00, high volatility and a hit rate of 24.336 percent. Don’t wait. Scoot over to Village People® Macho Moves and get yourself in a winning groove!

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Win the music experience of a lifetime with Leovegas Casino

June 17, 2019 by Admin

From now until 7 July 2019 you have the opportunity to win the music experience of a lifetime by playing at LeoVegas Casino, where each new week brings you the chance to win a tailor-made music experience or cash.

All you need to do is play the qualifying promotional games for a chance to win!

Here’s how it works:

The Leo Festival runs for four weeks and during each week you will have the opportunity to grab a share of prizes. Collect as many ticket entries as possible for the weekly prize draw.
For every $50 you wager on any of the casino games in the Promotional Games section you will be awarded 1 entry ticket into the weekly prize draw.
Each day you will have the opportunity to win up to 10 entry tickets into the prize draw. Remember: Only real money wagers will count towards the Leo Festival promotion!

The Leo Festival is all about music so you can enjoy playing the very best music-themed slots while grabbing your entry tickets into the prize draw. There are 10 promotional games and they include: Banana Rock, DJ Wild, Guns ‘n Roses, Holy Diver, Jammin’ Jars, Jimi Hendrix, Motörhead, Sabaton, Spinal Tap and The Final Countdown.

At the close of each week, the tickets are reset to zero to give you a new opportunity to play the promotional games for a chance to grab entry tickets and win.

Weekly Prizes:

At the end of each promotional week, two random players are chosen from those who qualified. These two winners will each receive the prize of a music trip of their choice valued up to €5000.

Note: Winners will have the opportunity to trade the prize package for a cash alternative should they wish to do so.

The prize includes:

Return flights for two
2 nights stay at a 4* hotel
2 VIP tickets to a musical event

The €5000 Tournaments

During the Leo Festival there will also be €5000 added to promotional games every Monday and Sunday between 16:00 and 20:00.

How to win:

Play any of the promotional games during the qualifying time period.
For every €1 you win on these slots between 16:00 and 20:00 on Monday and Sunday you will be awarded 1 point towards the leaderboard.
The more points you have, the higher you’ll climb up the ranks and the bigger your chances are of winning.
At the end of the promotional period, the €5000 will be divided among the top players on the Tournament leaderboard.

Good luck!

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Scientific Games Partners with All-In Diversity Project to Establish Global Standards in Gaming Industry

May 30, 2019 by Admin

Scientific Games, a Las Vegas-based technology company, recently announced its official partnership with the non-profit endeavour, the All-in Diversity Project. The aim of this collaboration is to ensure a population of equality, diversity, and inclusion in the tech industry workplace.

Scientific Games plan to strengthen the reach and impact of this vision by working with additional partners, likely other tech companies. But before that happens, All-in’s first steps will be to determine what the diversity expectations in the gaming industry are like. Once these factors have been decided, the hopes are that a global standard will be founded and maintained.

Gaming industry evolving at a rapid pace

Katharine Anderson, Scientific Games’ director of diversity and inclusion, said in a statement on behalf of the company that they were proud to be involved in the ‘trailblazing endeavour’ and that with the gaming industry expanding at such a rapid pace, diversity in the work environments was essential. She concluded that the purpose of All-in was to secure inclusive opportunities for every individual that contributes to the gaming world.

Scientific Games as the founding firm would regularly communicate with other members of the initiative to ensure no blind spots were overlooked, and to help keep track of progress in the global industry. Ultimately, the main purpose of the initiative would be to act as a central data resource from which all participating operators and suppliers can quickly and easily determine best practices for diversity in their own areas.

More than just lip service

Co-founder of the initiative, Kelly Kehn, also expressed her delight at how things were unfolding and heaped praise on Scientific Games for deciding to get involved. She said it was outstanding to see a gaming organization go beyond lip service to walk the talk in the challenges of all-inclusive work environments, not just in the gaming sector, but all sectors across the world.

The next step

Whether more powerhouse technology companies step up and throw their weight behind the initiative is yet to be seen. The hopes are that the biggest players will decide to partner and add real power to this bold step in the right direction towards true workplace inclusion and equal opportunity. We will hear more as the story unfolds.

Skycity expands online gambling portfolio with Gaming Innovation Group deal

May 21, 2019 by Admin

SKYCITY Malta Limited, a subsidiary of New Zealand based SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (SKYCITY), recently acquired an online casino solution plus gambling licence in a long-term agreement with Gaming Innovation Group inc. (GIG).

Based on the agreement, the solution includes the technical platform, fully managed services, gaming content, front end development, CRM, compliance and marketing. The gambling site will be operated from Malta on behalf of SKYCITY and will be available to all NZ gambling consumers. In addition, GIG will support the growth of the new online casino through its cutting-edge technology, flexible architecture and industry know-how.

The launch of the online casino offering is planned for Q3 2019, so GIG does not anticipate much of an impact on its revenues this year. The partnership is however expected to make a significant positive contribution to GiG’s revenues from 2020 onwards.

Graeme Stephens, Chief Executive Officer of SKYCITY has this to say about the newly forged collaboration: “SKYCITY is delighted to be partnering with GiG to establish an online casino offering, based in Europe. Growing and diversifying our earnings is a key component of our group strategic plan and developing an online presence to complement our existing land-based casinos in New Zealand will enable us to offer an enhanced gaming proposition for customers. GiG are an exciting and innovative technology company with best-in-class teams, systems, platforms and products and importantly share our focus on responsible gaming and host responsibility. We look forward to working with Robin and the team as we enter an exciting phase of growth at SKYCITY.”

SKYCITY is a listed company renowned in the tourism, leisure and entertainment industry. It is the largest of its kind in New Zealand and has casino gaming facilities in both New Zealand and Australia. At present SKYCITY owns four of the six land-based casinos operating in New Zealand. It’s vision is to be the leader in gaming, entertainment and hospitality in its communities. One of the cornerstones in its corporate responsibility mission is the importance of responsible gaming.

All gambling which takes place in New Zealand is regulated by the country’s Department of Internal Affairs. The general expectation is that the country will regulate online casino gambling in the foreseeable future.

Pragmatic Play strengthens agreement with LeoVegas

May 12, 2019 by Admin

Malta-based Pragmatic Play, one of the leading software providers for video slots and live casino, has further deepened their relationship with LeoVegas Gaming Group.

Under the terms of the new deal, the inclusion of video slots Wolf Gold, Chilli Heat and Mustang Gold is to be rolled out on further brands, hot on the heels of the launch of the first brand on its proprietary multi-brand platform, operating under the collective name ‘Brands of Leo.’

Melissa Summerfield, Chief Commercial Officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “This agreement marks a big step in the right direction for us as we continue to bring defining experiences to players.

“We hope to continue to enjoy a long and rewarding relationship with LeoVegas as we continue to outperform the competition.”

James Ford, Head of Casino at LeoVegas said: “We are delighted to have boosted our offering with the addition of Pragmatic Play’s games to brands such as Pinkcasino.co.uk, 21.co.uk, and BetUK.com.”

About Pragmatic Play

Pragmatic Play is a leading content provider to the iGaming industry and offers a multi-product portfolio of innovative, regulated and mobile-focused gaming products. Their games library contains unique in-house content consisting of over 100 proven HTML5 games, available in all currencies, 26 languages and all major certified markets. The company strives to create the most engaging and evocative experience for all our customers across a range of products, including slots, live casino, and bingo.

LeoVegas Easter Spin Party Promotion Still On

May 7, 2019 by Admin

Did we say Easter in May?

Yes, you read it right, the Easter Adventure continues at LeoVegas Casino, and you can still take full advantage of Easter treats until Sunday the 12th of May!

How To Enter

All you need to do is make a deposit to your casino account to qualify during the promo period.
Your deposit must be made with real money via your desktop, tablet or mobile device.
Each day, you could be one of 250 lucky players to receive up to 100 free cash spins.
The spins will be awarded on a different slot game each week.
If you are one of the lucky spins winners, you need to claim them within 8 hours after they have been credited, and can be used within 3 days after being claimed.
Any winnings derived from the free spins are not subject to any wagering requirements – meaning they can be withdrawn instantly!

Every day will bring a new opportunity for you to make a deposit and see if you are one of the 250 lucky winners. Make sure you check out your ‘My Offers’ page after 15:00 each day to see if you’ve been chosen as one of the lucky cash free spins winners.

Not yet a LeoVegas member?

If you’re not a member at LeoVegas Casino yet you can start by creating your free casino account. Once your account has been setup you can start making daily deposits to win your share of daily free spins!

What are you waiting for? Join the party now!

Good luck!

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SkyCity To Launch iGaming Service

March 27, 2019 by Admin

Local Kiwi casino firm, SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited, has reportedly announced that it will be launching an iGaming service by year end. Considering such operations are currently illegal in its home nation, the firm is facing official opposition form New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

European host

According to the New Zealand Herald newspaper, SkyCity’s Communications GM, Colin Espiner has revealed that the service will probably be hosted in Europe, in lieu of the fact that most online gaming ventures are based there, and that it will most likely be run by a subsidiary in association with an already established tech partner.

Kiwi Market

The Herald further reported that the online service will target international players, although domestic punters may be able to get access by disguising their location via VPN software. The casino also intends to employ Search Engine Optimization technologies to lure foreign customers, since it will be banned from advertising its envisioned iGaming enterprise to New Zealand online casino players

Taxes

In the hopes of deflecting any criticism, Espiner announced that his firm intends to donate up to $27 million a year to the NZ government via a voluntary goods and services tax. Should this be refused, it was purportedly disclosed that the cash would then go to the company’s own trust program.

Ultimately, Espiner divulged that his firm expects the start-up costs for such a venture will likely yield little to no profit in its first year, but that any later proceeds will be repatriated and subjected to local taxes.

MONOPOLY Live is on its way!

March 23, 2019 by Admin

LeoVegas is excited to announce that it will be one of the first operators to launch MONOPOLY Live from 28 March 2019, and it will be available 24/7.

The game, created by Hasbro and Evolution Gaming, is an online version of the classic Monopoly board game, combining elements from Evolution’s Dream Catcher to spice things up.

Game features

MONOPOLY live will feature Evolution’s money wheel that includes “CHANCE” segments for instant wins and multipliers, and players can also activate the exciting 3D MONOPOLY bonus game where they can collect great prizes.

More early releases

Other Evolution Live Casino games you can look forward to before its general release date include:

Super Sic Bo – an exciting variant of the classic dice game enhanced with random multipliers. Available from 11 April.
Deal or No Deal – based on the popular TV Show, set for release in May.