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Horse Racing Betting Industry Looking for a Bounce-Back Year

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Horse Racing Betting Industry Looking for a Bounce-Back Year
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While some horse racing was allowed to continue in parts of the USA and Australia as well as in Hong Kong, the sport did not restart after the COVID-19 lockdown in Britain and Ireland until June and this has had a huge impact.

Within the sport itself, attracting new owners is tough given the reduction in prize money while the breeding and sales industries are also reeling.

The chief financial impact of course has been on the betting industry, with virtual products more relevant than ever this year during the lockdown period as betting on major live sports became nigh impossible for a number of months.

Racing Hugely Affects UK Bookmakers’ Profits

While various territories differ in their setup there is a general impact on betting in Great Britain when horse racing is offline, which thankfully is all too rare an occurrence.

Horse racing remains the second most watched and second most gambled on sport in the country behind football, despite the continued relative lack of coverage on general sports apps and TV channels.

The online and especially high street betting firms are affected widely when there are major events cancelled, but never more so in the offices when horse racing takes a bath and this has now left bookmakers looking for what will need to be a major bounce-back year if they are to perform as promised.

Things Could Have Been Worse for Bookies

The period from the end of March to the beginning of June was a nightmare for British bookmakers.

The Grand National is the single biggest betting event in the country, while most money now comes from football bettors and with both of those cancelled profits were down hugely and just at a time when bet365’s leader Denise Coates was sending millions to charity based on how well the firm had performed in 2018-19.

However, things could have been even more devastating. The Cheltenham Festival, a four-day horse racing and betting bonanza in mid-March is easily the biggest betting week of the year with horse racing betting sites in the UK sending out hugely generous bonuses and offers to tempt people in.

The event went ahead this year, despite the fact that the country was very well aware of the presence of COVID-19 and its effects.

That decision alone was vilified in the national and international press, actually to the point of being prejudiced and discriminatory given that the number of people attending and specifically how close they are to each other was often grossly exaggerated.

As well as this, the 50,000 people at both Anfield and Ibrox for football games, the millions on the Tube and the hundreds of thousands allowed the same week to cram into London’s west end theatres appeared to get away scot-free in terms of press disparagement.

Regardless, Cheltenham, owners The Jockey Club, the British Horse Racing Authority and of course the bookmakers were labelled major contributors to the escalating circulation of the virus in March due to their desperation to go ahead with the Festival, or the pressure that was put on people to stage the event and keep the related profits rolling in.

How Bookmakers May Rebound

Despite the major firms having cash reserves and their directors being afforded multi-million-pound bonuses or salaries, the brutal fact here is that when profits have taken a dive for any reason there will be pressure from the top to get some of that money back.

Football punters may notice only a trifling difference, if any at all, but it’s feared that those betting regularly on horse racing will very much be able to detect the layers trimming subtly away add the odds and the overround on horse racing betting markets over the coming months.

While groups such as the Horseracing Bettors Forum are around to keep an eye on things and report what they find, there is no real tangible regulation and so betting firms are essentially free to offer 5/2 on a horse when 11/4 would have been more appropriate, or have their overall book at 110% when 105% may have been the norm.

It is hoped of course that they don’t do this, but it’s feared that something has to give and the major online betting companies will not simply swallow the loss handed it by coronavirus despite there being nothing any of us, especially the simple punter, could have done to stop it entirely.

There is hope for us all though. Credit cards are no longer allowed, which may reduce fees, and nor is advertising during live sport which must have cost a fortune! In the short to medium term then, bookmakers need to recover some cash but there remains hope it won’t be by fiddling the odds.

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ESL FACEIT Group Launches FACEIT League, an Overwatch® Team League Featuring Non-Stop Action for Players of All Skill Levels

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All-new open and inclusive multi-divisional team league offers players more opportunities to compete, with USD $170,000 prize pool and a chance to qualify for the inaugural Esports World Cup

ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), the leading esports and video game entertainment company, today announced the launch of FACEIT League, an Overwatch® team League operated by FACEIT, the world’s leading online platform for competitive gaming. The all-new open circuit invites players of all skill levels across six regions to compete for their chance to win a share of the $170,000 prize pool and secure a seat at top regional slots in the inaugural Esports World Cup (EWC) taking place this summer.

FACEIT League builds on the success of the platform’s long-running Counter-Strike model, which fosters gaming communities through always-on, consistent, and rewarding structured competition and an emphasis on teamwork. An extension of ESL FACEIT Group’s multi-year agreement with Blizzard Entertainment to drive the growth of Overwatch Esports, the new community platform offers players opportunities to go from grassroots play to the world stage.

The response from Overwatch players on FACEIT has exceeded our expectations and illustrates the need for the robust, sustainable structure that we’re building with FACEIT League,” said Warren Leigh, Senior Vice President of Product, Digital Platforms, ESL FACEIT Group. “With over 50 seasons of Counter-Strike experience building some of the most successful grassroots esports ecosystems, having the opportunity to support the Overwatch community with a bespoke program is incredibly exciting.”

FACEIT League will offer multiple seven-week seasons each year, maximizing the number of opportunities for players in North America; EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, North Africa), Oceania, and South America to compete. The circuit caters to all levels of players, from fledgeling first-timers to experienced teams, presenting more opportunities to showcase raw talent and help them practice, improve, and qualify for in-person events with substantial prize pools. The Regular Season 1 takes place from April 29 to June 9, with the winning teams progressing to the Playoffs happening from June 10-23. Teams will then compete for a coveted $170,000 FACEIT League cash prize, as well as higher division promotion and a seat across EMEA, North America, Oceania and South America slots at the Esports World Cup taking place this Summer 2024.

Divisions for each region will be split into Master: Road to Esports World Cup; Expert, Advanced, and Open, with an Advanced division available for players from EMEA and North America. Expert and Advanced divisions will only be accessible via invitation to the top players based on their Elo rating, which starts based on players’ in-game ranks.

Registration for the FACEIT League Season 1 opened on Monday, March 25 at 5PM CET/4PM GMT, and ends on Thursday, April 25 at 5pm CET/4pm GMT. For more details on the FACEIT League structure and prize pool distribution, visit: faceit.com/en/league-pass/ow2

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COSY UP WITH WILD WINS AND MAGIC MULTIPLIERS IN LUCKY CUSHIONS BY BOLDPLAY

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Get ready to put your feet up and ease into a world of cascading wins in Lucky Cushions by Boldplay – the brand-new cluster pays slot where perfect pillow placement can result in players landing consecutive wins on each and every spin!

Played across an expanded 8×8 gameboard, action takes place in front of a cosy backdrop littered with colourful cushions and players will need to put together clusters of matching icons to trigger a symbol cascade. Whenever this happens, all cushions featured in the cluster will be removed from play as new ones drop from above to fill their place, potentially creating additional payouts.

What makes Lucky Cushions comfortably stand out from other cluster pays slots, however, is its exciting bonus features. Firstly, on each new round, players will notice that one non-wild icon will be selected at random to receive an additional multiplier. Any cluster wins that this special symbol appears in will see the regular win boosted by the multiplier value for even better rewards.

On top of that, the game’s wild symbol not only substitutes for all regular icons to complete winning clusters, but when it does, all matching cushions elsewhere on the reels will also be removed, potentially triggering an improved cascade. This effect can also stack after each new cascade, with players able to land consecutive wins on each game round.

To make those well-furnished wins even easier to come by, whenever a spin takes place where no clusters appear and there’s a matching symbol in one of the adjacent reel spaces, it will magically swap positions to complete a cluster and give players an additional chance to start a cascade.

Speaking on this cosy new addition to the Boldplay slot catalogue, Head of Design, Marcus Taylor said: “With its cascading reels, wild wins and big-money multipliers, Lucky Cushions is comfortably the most exciting cluster pays slot we’ve developed so far and we think players are going to love settling in for a session where multiple prizes are available on each and every spin.

“Featuring an expanded 8×8 gameboard, second-chance wins and a pair of rewarding in-reel bonus features, Lucky Cushions is an innovative addition to our line-up that’s perfectly optimised for mobile devices, making it’s a must-have title for all online operators who offer Boldplay slots.”

 

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Introducing Tower Rush – The latest Turbo Game Release by Galaxsys

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Galaxsys, a leading game studio in the gaming industry, is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest turbo game, Tower Rush. The game offers players a thrilling gaming experience with its innovative gameplay mechanics and exciting bonus features.

The Procedure of Conducting the Game and the Winning Options

Tower Rush challenges players to strategically place building floors on top of each other, aiming to achieve the highest possible odds. With limitless potential for stacking floors, players can create an endless chain of structures while avoiding collapses. Successfully placing a floor results in winning corresponding odds, while a collapse leads to a loss.

The Procedure of Making Bets in the Game

To start the game, players specify their bet amount and press the “Build” button. Floors are dropped from above, and successful placement results in winnings. Players have the option to cash out or continue building. Multiple successful placements increase winnings exponentially, while a collapse allows players to start a new round.

About the Game:
In Tower Rush, the goal is to avoid collapses and secure wins by successfully placing each floor. When players successfully place the floor, the winning odds for each new floor will be multiplied by one another, and upon cashing out, the bet amount will be multiplied by this cumulative odds value.

Main Highlights:

  • Up to 3 Unique Bonus Floors: In the game, there are three different ways to receive bonuses: Frozen Floor, Temple Floor, and Triple Build.
  • Unique Game Concept: Tower Rush introduces an original gameplay concept that sets it apart in the iGaming industry.
  • Dynamic Animations: As we put player satisfaction at the heart of all the design decisions, the game is designed in a way that is the most convenient for the players, both visually and functionally.
  • Bonus Systems: FreeBet and FreeAmount promotional tools provide an option to reward bonuses to the players, with the terms set by the operator.
  • Provable Fairness: We only use the most reliable and high-end Random Number Generator technologies to ensure true randomness.

Tower Rush is a unique turbo game, offering players up to three unique bonus floors, an original gameplay concept, dynamic animations prioritizing player satisfaction, and an advanced bonus system, all backed by provable fairness and latest innovation technologies.

For more information about the game please visit galaxsys.co/

 

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