Weekly Live Casino News Roundup #9

Bet365 Named as Swede’s Favourite Operator

Last Friday (the 11^th) Sweden’s online gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, released their annual report on the Nordic nations gambling behaviours. As a whole, Swedes have been gambling slightly less (about a percent point per year) each year since 2013. However, this year the number of Swedes that have gambled for money at least once in the past 12 months remained the same as last year’s figure – at 66%.

At the top of the nation’s preferred casinos and sportsbook operators was Bet365, with a solid 3% of the market. One point behind them was Unibet, and then on 1% shares were PokerStars and Betsson. These may seem like fairly small figures to you, and you’d be right. The reason for that, is Swedish players overwhelming preference for state run operators when it comes to online gambling. Svenska Spel, which had a monopolised market until fairly recently, was way out ahead with nearly 60% of the market share.

It’s still early days for international operators in Sweden though, so we’ll see how this pans out in a few years!

Win a Caribbean Casino Cruise with Unibet

Speaking of operators popular in Sweden, one of our perennial favourite live casino providers, Unibet, is running a generous live casino challenge throughout mid-January. Simply finish top of the turnover leaderboard (no mean-feat) in Unibet’s live casino from today (the 14^th of January) to Sunday the 20^th, to win your ticket on board.

This Caribbean cruise with a difference, offers the winning player (and guest) seven nights of accommodation and food aboard a luxurious ship traversing the Caribbean. Also included are return flights to and from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and entry into a £5000 physical casino tournament to be held onboard the boat.

Oh, a positions two to five on the turnover leaderboard also get a nice £250 cash bonus too. Not a bad way to see in January eh?

Police Make Breakthrough in 5-Dimes Murder Case

We tend to purposefully shy away from covering legal grey-area US-facing live casinos here at LiveDealers.com. Just like we would for ourselves, we want you to be sure you’re gambling at a completely legit site. However, this was a mysteriously morbid story we just had to touch on.

5-Dimes is one of the most long-lived of these ‘grey area’ sports-books and live casinos, operating out of Costa Rica for nearly two decades now – and with a site that looks like it came out 1998 to match. However, they do remain fairly popular with US gamblers who are unable to play legally online from their home state.

In a sad development in their history, the owner, one William Sean ‘Tony’ Creighton, was kidnapped and most likely murdered after disappearing on his way home from the 5-dimes offices last September. This week, police raided several properties in Costa Rica and arrested nine individuals in connection with the case.

Let’s hope all concerned are bought to justice as soon as possible. 5-Dimes has continued to operate ‘as normal’ since Mr Creighton’s disappearance, according to an official statement.

Playtech Wins Best Live Studio at Romanian Gambling Awards

The Casino Life and Business Awards, hosted by the magazine of the same name, are styled as one of the ‘highlights of the Romanian gambling industry’s social calendar’. Live casino developer Playtech must have certainly been thinking so, as they and their Romanian division picked up double gongs at the fancy awards bash in Otopeni.

On the night, Playtech won awards for ‘Best Technology’ and ‘Best Live Studio’. To those in the know, this might come as no surprise – as one of Playtech’s five worldwide live casino studios is located in Bucharest.

“We’re delighted to be recognised by Casino Life and Business magazine and its readers for our work in the Live Casino arena. Technological innovation and a focus on first-class player experience have always been at the heart of our offering, so this success underlines the value of that investment to players and licensees alike. Being able to offer native-speaking dealers… has been a significant game-changer” said a Playtech spokesman.

You can try Playtech’s award winning games out for yourself at variety of online casinos including PaddyPower, BGO and William Hill.

Leo Vegas Offering Magic Combos on Live Roulette

Finally, we have this great live casino offer from LeoVegas that makes good use of their private live dealer table technology. From Sunday the 13^th of January, until the 17^th, players at the Leo Vegas Live Roulette table between 16:00 to 22:59 will have many chances to win £50 bonuses.

Just win three straight up bets on the special Leo Vegas bonus numbers, from a minimum bet of £2, to bag yourself £50 cash – up to three times per day! This week, 13^th to the 17^th, the lucky numbers are:

• 0 Green
• 13 Black
• 7 Red

The last promotional period runs from Sunday the 20^th to Thursday the 24^th (same times) and, in in honour of Leo’s seventh birthday, the bonus numbers will be:

• 7 red
• 17 black
• 27 red

Players can win up to three bonuses, but only on each number once. You have to opt in, via the Leo Vegas promotional page (link below) in order to win. Only players from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, India, Canada and New Zealand are eligible.

Best of luck!