Caesars Interactive has announced that it took full control of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) mobile application. 

The company has purchased the assets from previous owner, Electronic Arts. The application is available on mobile devices and Facebook and will help Caesars to expand its brand using a famous poker brand. The Electronic Arts’ department that created the application was also completely transferred to Caesars Interactive. 

Currently, the application can be used on Facebook, as well as downloaded on iOS and Android devices, as well as on Amazon Kindle. 

WSOP, the online poker site from Caesars’ 888 that launched in Nevada last week had a rather slow start, data from PokerSouts shows. 

After Ultimate Gaming’s Ultimate Poker, the World Series of Poker is the second regulated online poker site in Nevada. While it had a very smooth launch, it did not do as well as Ultimate Poker did when it launched. 

While Ultimate Poker saw a steady rise to 268 during its first three days, WSOP was actually losing players before recovering to a peak of 152 players online. PokerScout believe that this slow launch is due to little publicity and a good promotion could increase the site’s player base. 

Despite that, the data also shows that WSOP is stealing players from Ultimate Poker, as its player count dropped down 14%. 

Online gambling in New Jersey is now live for two days and people are still experiencing glitches related to geolocation systems. 

Geolocation technology that is supposed to verify players’ locations in order to block anyone trying to access gambling websites from outside New Jersey. 

It appears the systems are still working ‘too well’ and are shutting out players that are within the state. The problem has been known since the trial period started on 21st but operators vowed to fix it for the official launch. Currently, the issue seem to be affecting customers playing at sites belonging to Borgata and Caesars Interactive Entertainment. 

Joe Lupo, vice president of operations of Borgata said the casino is working to fix the problem. “Yes, we are making very steady progress. We recognize some difficulties and are testing and repairing the platform, which we believe are normal for this early in the launch, but are committed to working day and night to provide a quality product.”

Meanwhile, Seth Palansky, a spokesman for Caesars, said that various problems are not caused by the casino’s systems but by users’ machines.

“Things have been overblown thus far. In fact, I would say we have had zero software glitches with our platforms. … The majority of issues we are seeing are on the user end, typically tied to browsers, plug-ins and other programs running at the same time,” stated Palansky. He did however confirm that geofencing did cause some connection problems. “Geolocation appears to be the biggest issue on our end and we are working with our provider to help rectify some of the false positives,” he commented. 

Robert Heller, a gaming industry consultant and president of Spectrum Gaming Capital believes that such issues will not cause long term problems for the New Jersey industry. “I think absolutely, these problems are temporary. The most important thing slowing it down may be that it’s a new business,” he said. 

Caesars Interactive Entertainment has signed a deal with Optimal Payments to offer Neteller services to users of CaesarsCasino, HarrahsCasino and WSOP in New Jersey and Nevada. 

Players in New Jersey and Nevada can now use the Neteller service and Net+® Card stored value offering to safely pay and receive funds for products and services both online and at point-of-sale. 

Marco Ceccarelli, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Caesars said: “Providing safe, secure and convenient payments to our customers is our top focus and NETELLER allows us to do that. We are thrilled to offer NETELLER in both New Jersey and Nevada effective immediately and anticipate this offering will be a popular choice for existing and new customers.”

“Optimal Payments and Caesars Interactive Entertainment have a longstanding partnership that strategically binds our two companies. We already provide CIE with gateway services related to payment processing and now, with the addition of our new NETELLER and Net+ Card stored value offering, we hope to make it even simpler for their consumers in regulated gaming markets to do business with this leader in gaming. We plan to support the company as it rolls out its social gaming offerings in the years ahead,” commented Neil Erlick, executive vice-president, business development, Optimal Payments.

Betfair who lost its partner in Atlantic City when the Trump Plaza closed down has partnered up with Caesars so they can continue to operate under a new six month transactional waiver used by the  New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Previously Betfair where given a temporary license while allowing the company to find a new partner, the six month extension now allows Betfair to either cement a full partnership with Caesars or find a new partner before the six month waiver runs out.

Most observers believe that Betfair and Caesars will join forces in some manner to continue to operate Betfair in New Jersey. One part of the new waiver means that Betfair will have to move their servers into a Caesars casino land based location in New Jersey.

Under the new agreement, Betfair will operate separately from Caesars offering real-money online gambling to New Jersey residents. At present neither Betfair or Caesars are commenting on the new arrangement and whether it will be a permanent deal for both after the six month extension has passed.

Amaya Gaming and a subsidiary of Caesars Interactive have entered into an agreement to provide the Amaya online gaming platform and online casino games in New Jersey. 

"This is an immense win for us, one that should extend our online gaming footprint significantly in the US as well as contribute to our recurring revenue in future years,” said Amaya CEO David Baazov. 

The deal is still subject to licensing and regulatory approvals. Under the agreement, Amaya will be receiving a share of the revenue generated by the New Jersey website and by its licensed online casino games used on the site.

Mitch Garber, CEO of Caesars Interactive Entertainment said: "The Amaya Game Office platform provides us with a turnkey solution which we plan to use to launch CaesarsCasino in New Jersey. It allows us to tailor our product offering and integrate seamlessly with third-party content, manage relationships with our customers and conduct cross-promotional activities with our Caesars hotels."

Caesars Interactive Entertainment has completed the acquisition of Pacific Interactive, the social gaming company that created the House of Fun social and mobile casino-themed games. 

The deal will see over 100 employees of Pacific Interactive and its affiliates in multiple offices around the world retained by Caesars. 

Robert Antokol, CEO of Playtika said: “The acquisition allows us to offer a new quality product to our loyal user base and to attract new users. We believe the talented team at Pacific Interactive not only brings with it a unique product, but will also be a strong addition to the group and add to our market leadership in the category.”

“We are excited to join one of the largest and most successful social and mobile games companies in the world. We are confident that under the Playtika umbrella, we will be able to deliver an even better game experience for our players while at the same time creating great value for our new shareholders,” commented Omri Shitreet, founder and CEO of Pacific Interactive. 

Caesars Entertainment Corporation and International Game Technology (IGT) will be launching the first multistate progressive jackpot network in the US.

IGT has developed the multistate wide area progressive jackpot network Powerbucks which will be launched by Caesars in approved jurisdictions, beginning with New Jersey and Nevada, allowing players from the two states to play for a combined jackpot prize. 

Melissa Price, Caesars Entertainment’s senior vice-president of gaming said: “Together, IGT and Caesars Entertainment own the legacy of creating the most millionaires in the industry; now with Powerbucks, we're creating a whole new level of excitement around winning.”

“We're excited to transform the jackpot experience in partnership with Caesars Entertainment. With Powerbucks, IGT re-imagines casino gaming thrills by creating more winners, more often, across multiple states. We all win when players engage more, and Powerbucks enables our customers to attract more players to casinos with the promise of more jackpots,” commented Eric Tom, senior vice-president of global sales at IGT.