The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has just announced that it is suspended PokerStars’ review for application for a special on line gambling license for a further two years. This decision means that the largest on line poker company will be prevented from doing business in the USA for the time being. However, this does not mean that PokerStars does not have a chance at obtaining the license in the future. If circumstances change significantly within this period there is a chance that permission may be granted. The main reason for the decision, as stated by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is that the founder of PokerStars, Isai Sheinberg, is currently under federal indictment. Sheinberg was indicted by federal prosecutors back in 2011 for violating the Illegal Gambling business Act as well as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. However, Sheinberg is not a US citizen and has not travelled to the USA as yet to face the charges. In a recent press statement, Sheinberg announced that he has hired Michael Mukasey, who is as former US Attorney General, as his lawyer. Although steps are currently being taken to readdress the situation, it seems that it may be some time before a solution is reached. Until this time, the ban on trading in the US will remain in place for PokerStars and their US fan base will have to look elsewhere for on line gambling entertainment options.
from
via Casinoreviews

Positions: $RSI 30 03/19 30C
Proof: https://imgur.com/a/swCCMjz
​
*This post is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as investment, financial, or other advice.*
​
TLDR: Rush Street Interactive ($RSI) is the #1 nationwide online casino company and the #3 or #4 sports book depending on the state. Short selling, unwarranted institutional wariness of share dilution and the general market focus on sports book instead of online casino has left $RSI grossly undervalued. A massive blow out at Q4 earnings will result in analyst upgrades and a rapid repricing by market makers and institutions seeking exposure to the emerging sector.
​
**Overview**
"Sports book is really just kind of a warm up in a lot of ways for an online casino where the real money is made" - Niccolo De Masi, CEO dMY technologies
​
Rush Street Interactive ($RSI) operates the BetRivers.com online casino and sports book. They are now fully licensed and operating in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia. They own and operate a casino in New York and already have a New York license making them well positioned for liberalization there. They merged with a dMY Technology Group SPAC on Dec. 31st 2020 with 240 million on the balance sheet to spend on growth.
The online casino business is fundamentally more profitable than sports betting because the average value of a casino player is estimated at $600 while a sports book player could be as little as $20. Estimates put the online casino market at DOUBLE the size of the online sports book market and the online casino industry is really just getting started as more states liberalize.
$RSI is expert at new market entry; they have been first to market in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Colorado and even when they aren't first they are capable of capturing market share in competitive markets such as New Jersey. They also have products which women play which accounts for at least half of the market in online casino. The female market is one that the pure sports book plays miss out on.
Also for some fucking reason they operate a casino and sports book in Colombia (rushbet.co) and may make large expansions into other parts of south America as legalization continues. This means they have the expertise necessary for global expansion in the future although the states remains their primary focus and growth driver.
​
**The Financials and Strategy**
Unlike other companies in the space Rush Street is already profitable in 2020 and has a strong focus on Return On Invested Capital (ROIC). Q3 gross revenue was $71.9 Million. Q4 revenue is going to be a blow out. Combing through state gambling revenue data and breaking that down by market share my estimate is that Q4 revenue could be as high as $120 Million.
Paired with this blow out will be a **guidance raise to $500 Million for 2021**, which is 2/3 of DraftKings 2021 guidance of $750M.
https://imgur.com/a/xkfcayC
​
What is striking when compared to $DKNG is that their advertising spend was only a quarter of revenue in Q3 while $DKNG spent 155% of their revenue. This will change as they begin to focus on growth, but it shows they are very good at getting return on ad spend. This company should actually be valued close to $DKNG based on growth potential once guidance is raised.
https://imgur.com/a/RQQXtGg
​
Their focus on attracting **female gamers** is also important to their long term growth potential. The sports book plays with cross sells to casino such as $DKNG will not be able to grow through the female demographic in the same way. **This cannot be understated** as one of the major strategic advantages of $RSI.
https://imgur.com/a/xzJj26n
​
As I said before I expect their trend of rapid growth to continue for Q4 earnings, certainly going to be a blow out based on looking at state gambling revenue numbers. My estimate is that their revenue will be around 110M for Q4. I also expect guidance to be raised to 500M for 2021 due to strong performance in existing markets and the recently opened Michigan market as well as their sports book launch in Virginia.
https://imgur.com/a/ckTqHhh
​
**Short sellers have entered the chat**
The short interest on $RSI sits at 5.08 M shares as of 01/14/21 representing a 30% increase. Now why would a company already valued at 2.8 Billion and with a comparative valuation of 8-10 Billion compared with $DKNG and $PENN be so heavily shorted at such a low market cap? My conclusion is that an institution with 10s of millions to throw at shorting this stock wants to take advantage of fear of share dilution from warrant calling or to establish a better entry prior to earnings.
​
**Commander in GILF Cathie Wood is Bullish on the sector**
On Feb. 2nd ARK disclosed that they had purchased 620,300 shares of $DKNG. This is extremely bullish for the sector. I am highly confident that after Q4 earnings ARK will be purchasing shares in $RSI as well due its strategic advantages relative to $DKNG and exposure to the female demographic. For such a small market cap company this will be a major catalyst.
​
**Institutions are bullish**
Fidelity has increased their holdings to 14% as of today: https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001793659/8f10b0d8-a3d2-447c-bc75-87587d0a4670.pdf
Alliance Bernstein holds a 6% position reported today: http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001793659/e883778d-e759-4a85-91c1-3242ed110720.pdf
​
**Final notes**
Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, Steelers legend and hall of fame running back, is their brand ambassador... This company knows their target audience and how to appeal to them, likely more 'classic' ambassadors to come to attract even more boomer and Gen X degenerates. Keep in mind these are the gamblers with big money to spend, the average age of an online casino gambler is 42.
This stock has been grossly underpriced due to short selling. The terms of the SPAC deal were not unfavorable and all the insiders held their shares through the merger banking on growth in the market - **management owns 77% of the company**. This is a true value play on a well managed company in an emerging industry with a market size in the hundreds of billions. I plan to hold shares long term.
​
I will post a part 2 breaking down their latest S-1 filing and Q4 revenue by state when they release their Q4 earnings date.
​
Do your own research.
References:
https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/
https://fintel.io/doc/sec-rush-street-interactive-inc-ex991-2021-january-05-18632-947
https://s26.q4cdn.com/794539746/files/doc_presentations/2020/RSI-Investor-Presentation-15-Oct-2020.pdf
https://ir.rushstreetinteractive.com/news/news-details/2020/RUSH-STREET-INTERACTIVE-ANNOUNCES-THIRD-QUARTER-2020-RESULTS-AND-RAISES-FULL-YEAR-GUIDANCE/default.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWEhWuPmzU
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/draftkings-surges-as-stake-bought-by-ark-next-generation
​
Positions: $RSI 30 03/19 30C
I will be adding 3/19 25cs each week until earnings.
Exit strategy: "What's an exit strategy?" - u/deepfuckingvalue

Positions: $RSI 03/19 30C
Proof: https://imgur.com/a/swCCMjz
This post is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as investment, financial, or other advice.
TLDR: Rush Street Interactive ($RSI) is the #1 nationwide online casino company and the #3 or #4 sports book depending on the state. Short selling, unwarranted institutional wariness of share dilution and the general market focus on sports book instead of online casino has left $RSI grossly undervalued. A massive blow out at Q4 earnings will result in analyst upgrades and a rapid repricing by market makers and institutions seeking exposure to the emerging sector.
Overview
"Sports book is really just kind of a warm up in a lot of ways for an online casino where the real money is made" - Niccolo De Masi, CEO dMY technologies
Rush Street Interactive ($RSI) operates the BetRivers.com online casino and sports book. They are now fully licensed and operating in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia. They own and operate a casino in New York and already have a New York license making them well positioned for liberalization there. They merged with a dMY Technology Group SPAC on Dec. 31st 2020 with 240 million on the balance sheet to spend on growth.
The online casino business is fundamentally more profitable than sports betting because the average value of a casino player is estimated at $600 while a sports book player could be as little as $20. Estimates put the online casino market at DOUBLE the size of the online sports book market and the online casino industry is really just getting started as more states liberalize.
$RSI is expert at new market entry; they have been first to market in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, and Colorado and even when they aren't first they are capable of capturing market share in competitive markets such as New Jersey. They also have products which women play which accounts for at least half of the market in online casino. The female market is one that the pure sports book plays miss out on.
Also for some fucking reason they operate a casino and sports book in Colombia (rushbet.co) and may make large expansions into other parts of south America as legalization continues. This means they have the expertise necessary for global expansion in the future although the states remains their primary focus and growth driver.
The Financials and Strategy
Unlike other companies in the space Rush Street is already profitable in 2020 and has a strong focus on Return On Invested Capital (ROIC). Q3 gross revenue was $71.9 Million. Q4 revenue is going to be a blow out. Combing through state gambling revenue data and breaking that down by market share my estimate is that Q4 revenue could be as high as $120 Million.
Paired with this blow out will be a **guidance raise to $500 Million for 2021**, which is 2/3 of DraftKings 2021 guidance of $750M.
https://imgur.com/a/xkfcayC
What is striking when compared to $DKNG is that their advertising spend was only a quarter of revenue in Q3 while $DKNG spent 155% of their revenue. This will change as they begin to focus on growth, but it shows they are very good at getting return on ad spend. This company should actually be valued close to $DKNG based on growth potential once guidance is raised.
https://imgur.com/a/RQQXtGg
Their focus on attracting **female gamers** is also important to their long term growth potential. The sports book plays with cross sells to casino such as $DKNG will not be able to grow through the female demographic in the same way. **This cannot be understated** as one of the major strategic advantages of $RSI.
https://imgur.com/a/xzJj26n
As I said before I expect their trend of rapid growth to continue for Q4 earnings, certainly going to be a blow out based on looking at state gambling revenue numbers. My estimate is that their revenue will be around 110M for Q4. I also expect guidance to be raised to 500M for 2021 due to strong performance in existing markets and the recently opened Michigan market as well as their sports book launch in Virginia.
https://imgur.com/a/ckTqHhh
Short sellers have entered the chat
The short interest on $RSI sits at 5.08 M shares as of 01/14/21 representing a 30% increase. Now why would a company already valued at 2.8 Billion and with a comparative valuation of 8-10 Billion compared with $DKNG and $PENN be so heavily shorted at such a low market cap? My conclusion is that an institution with 10s of millions to throw at shorting this stock wants to take advantage of fear of share dilution from warrant calling or to establish a better entry prior to earnings.
Cathie Wood is Bullish on the sector
On Feb. 2nd ARK disclosed that they had purchased 620,300 shares of $DKNG. This is extremely bullish for the sector. I am highly confident that after Q4 earnings ARK will be purchasing shares in $RSI as well due its strategic advantages relative to $DKNG and exposure to the female demographic. For such a small market cap company this will be a major catalyst.
Final notes
Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, Steelers legend and hall of fame running back, is their brand ambassador... This company knows their target audience and how to appeal to them, likely more 'classic' ambassadors to come to attract even more boomer and Gen X degenerates. Keep in mind these are the gamblers with big money to spend, the average age of an online casino gambler is 42.
This stock has been grossly underpriced due to short selling. The terms of the SPAC deal were not unfavorable and all the insiders held their shares through the merger banking on growth in the market - **management owns 77% of the company**. This is a true value play on a well managed company in an emerging industry with a market size in the hundreds of billions. I plan to hold shares long term.
I will post a part 2 breaking down their latest S-1 filing and Q4 revenue by state when they release their Q4 earnings date.
Do your own research.
References:
https://www.legalsportsreport.com/sports-betting/revenue/
https://fintel.io/doc/sec-rush-street-interactive-inc-ex991-2021-january-05-18632-947
https://s26.q4cdn.com/794539746/files/doc_presentations/2020/RSI-Investor-Presentation-15-Oct-2020.pdf
https://ir.rushstreetinteractive.com/news/news-details/2020/RUSH-STREET-INTERACTIVE-ANNOUNCES-THIRD-QUARTER-2020-RESULTS-AND-RAISES-FULL-YEAR-GUIDANCE/default.aspx
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQWEhWuPmzU
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/draftkings-surges-as-stake-bought-by-ark-next-generation
Positions: $RSI 03/19 30C
I will be adding 3/19 25cs each week until earnings.
Exit strategy: "What's an exit strategy?" - u/deepfuckingvalue
Forgot to add: http://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001793659/8f10b0d8-a3d2-447c-bc75-87587d0a4670.pdf Fidelity just doubled their position to almost 15%

Esports Entertainment Group Inc, an esports entertainment and online gambling operator, has submitted their application for a gaming licence with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. They believe that will become the first esports-vertical focused sportsbook with a state license in the US.
Comments from the company
Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group, said in a press release:
“This is our first gaming license application in the US, and once approved, we believe we will be the first esports-vertical focused sportsbook with a state license in the US. According to a study from data firm Interpret, over 50% of U.S. esports fans said they are likely to engage in esports betting so we are confident that demand will be strong. We are ready to move quickly with our esports-focused wagering platform rollout once the DGE permits us to do so, which we expect in the second quarter of this year. Securing access to what is currently the largest market for sports betting in the US will provide a strong advantage as we look to expand into additional markets in the US moving forward. We look forward to updating our stakeholders on continued progress on these initiatives in the months ahead.”
More on Esports Entertainment Group
Esports Entertainment Group, or EEG, is a licensed online gambling company like Unikrn or Luckbox that focuses on the growing esports betting sector, their biggest claim to fame is that they are the only esports company listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol GMBL. In fact, on Monday they saw their stock surge. At the time, there was no explanation for the sudden surge in the stock value but it is clear that it was in anticipation of the announcement of the New Jersey gaming licence application.
As an international sportsbook, they operate offices in New Jersey, the UK, and Malta. They offer a Player-to-Player (P2P) wagering system that allows esports bettors the ability to bet against one another in support of their favorite ePremiere League (ePL) teams.
The news from earlier this week is huge for the company and I believe they will just contine to grow in this rapidly emerging industry.
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice, please do your own research!

Hello all!
Something that popped up on my radar since I invested into Draftkings. As title says, sports betting with pretty good foothold in Canada. Per an article i got through TD, says they've applied for betting in New Jersey.
I'm long on Draftkings, and while i wouldn't want to see a lot of competition... dkng trades at 50-60$ and FUNFF is at .80 at the moment. Small jump of 15% this morning, consolidating at .80 at the news, but could snowball in the short term! here's text of the article:
"Canadian online sports betting platform, announced Wednesday it had engaged gaming law firm, Ifrah Law PLLC, to pursue entering the U.S. through a licensing strategy.
What Happened: FansUnite plans to expand rapidly this year into the U.S., starting in New Jersey. In a press release, the company said the decision is due to interest in its sports betting and iGaming solutions from casino and gambling operators in the U.S. FansUnite will be working with Jeff Ifrah, founder of Ifrah Law, to pursue expansion.
Ifrah is a lawyer who is well known for his legal involvement in the North American iGaming industry.
Why It Matters: Online sports betting has become a big deal during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns as casinos have been closed or open with limited capacity. Sports fans in the U.S. and in Canada have moved online to continue their gambling and multiple online betting companies have caught the eye of investors.
I'm in at 4,000 shares at .8 -- Didn't see any other posts about this, so figured I'd share!
Good lookin website
https://fansunite.com/

Esports tournaments have dominated the sports industry outstripping all traditional sports events both in terms of viewership and prize pool. In 2019, the League of Legends championship drew a larger audience than the Super Bowl!
Today, Esports Entertainment Group (GMBL), an esports entertainment and online gambling operator, announced it has submitted its gaming license application with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. New Jersey is currently the strongest market for sports betting in the US and the New Jersey gaming industry has enjoyed exceptional growth in recent years. They took the national lead for monthly sports wagering last August with $668 million in bets, and each month since has set a new record, with December reaching nearly $1 billion. December was the second straight month the Garden State topped $900 million in total sports handle.
This is the company’s first gaming license application in the US, and once approved will be the first esports-vertical focused sports book with a state license in the US. Securing access to what is currently the strongest market for sports betting in the US, providing a strong advantage as Esports looks into expanding into additional markets in the US moving forward.
This move comes as Esports Entertainment is planning on launching player vs. player betting in New Jersey as part of their strategic growth through acquisitions and new product launches.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/esports-entertainment-group-files-nj-130000548.html
Disclaimer: Please do your own research, this is not investment advice!

Highlight: At the end of January Esports Entertainment Group's VIE.bet and SportNation.com Brands were granted eligibility to Operate in 150 Jurisdictions Globally Through Malta License.
Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMBL), is an esports entertainment and online gambling operator, that recently announced their VIE.bet and SportNation.com brands are now approved to market and operate their services in more than 150 jurisdictions globally through the Company's Gaming Service License issued by the Malta Gaming Authority in April 2020.
"This move greatly expands the reach of our VIE.bet and SportNation offerings," commented Grant Johnson, CEO of Esports Entertainment Group. "We are particularly excited to see the team at SportNation bring their marketing expertise and innovative rewards system outside the U.K. for the first time. Our initial focus will be on South and Central America and Northern and Eastern Europe, together representing a substantial multi-billion-dollar opportunity. These initiatives also provide tremendous cross-selling opportunities through our previously announced acquisition of Malta-licensed Lucky Dino. Lucky Dino's assets will give us a substantial foothold in multiple new jurisdictions where esports are extremely popular, while bringing us 30K monthly active casino players and a greatly strengthened tech stack."
Esports Entertainment Group acquired the SportNation brand through its July 2020 acquisition of Argyll Entertainment, a fast-growing, innovative gaming company with an award-winning rewards program and exclusive sports and gaming content.
The Company's proprietary VIE.bet offering is the only esports-focused wagering platform operating pursuant to Tier 1 gaming licenses. In addition to the Malta license, the Group holds gaming licenses in the UK and Ireland with a pending license in New Jersey expected in the first quarter of 2021 through a partnership with NYSE-listed Bally's Corp.
About Esports Entertainment Group
Esports Entertainment Group, Inc. is an esports and online gambling company. The Company operates a number of entities across three key pillars: 1) esports entertainment and infrastructure, 2) esports wagering, 3) iGaming. The Company maintains offices in New Jersey, the UK and Malta. For more information visit www.esportsentertainmentgroup.com.
Disclaimer: This is not investment advice, Please do your own research!

-Golden Matrix, a B2B gaming and sports betting software platform provider with a turn key solution to all customer needs for successfully operating and maintaining an online gaming/sports betting website.
-Golden Matrix has recently filed an application for a Nasdaq Capital Markets Uplist with approval pending.
-Golden Matrix and Playtech announced a collaboration agreement that has just kicked off this month including GMGI's all new Esports & Peer2P apps.
-Golden Matrix reached an agreement with Amelco Gaming to distribute Amelco's leading international sports betting software white labeled in the APAC Region.
-Knutsson Holdings Invests $5M with GMGI purchasing 1 Million shares at $5.00 each.
What is Golden Matrix?
Golden Matrix Group GMGI is a very unique part of the online gambling industry that doesn't get much recognition compared to the actual sports betting companies and casinos, such as Draftkings DKNG or BetMGM. Draftkings for an example is a front-end operator Business to Consumer (B2C), they are what the consumer sees on the app. Where on the other hand, GMGI is the back-end white labeled software platform, Business to Business (B2B). GMGI has everything provided to convert a land based brick and mortar casino to an online casino, including everything from data analytics, games, game management, payment gateways, currencies, languages, 24/7 tech support and more. So what I'm trying to say is Golden Matrix has everything required to setup an online casino or sports betting application. With what's going on in the world today, an online presence is a must. So this is how GMGI and GAN type companies differ from the rest of the online gaming world, as their work is mainly behind the curtains, but are needed in order to run an online casino or sport betting platform.
Seeing Golden Matrix is not a front-end B2C retail casino, they do not have to pay hundreds of thousands or even millions to advertise. As a matter of fact they don't have to pay anything, which in turn keeps the operating expenses nice and low. They make their money by setting up operators at no cost and make their money licensing the front-end casinos, usage, and providing services. It's much more low key, and they don't have to be the bank like all the front end companies such as Draftkings, BetMGM, Bet365, etc...
Continuous Revenue Growth
Here's a brief summary on Golden Matrix's more recent growth. Just since last January (2020) they have grown their operators (Casinos) from 150 to 457 of them today, a 205% Increase, and Registered End Users from 1.5M to 3.9M today, a 160% Increase in the same time frame. Those numbers to me show solid company growth, and the quarterly financials reflected from this growth as Q1 Revenues were $882K, Q2 $1.04M, Q3 $1.49M, and Q4 is expected to exceed $1.7M as quoted by Golden Matrix. Those quarterlies show me that they have grown their revenues by nearly double in the year 2020. I'm expecting these revenues for last year will total approximately $5.1M+ and can do another easy double in 2021 if not more $10.2M+ On top of all this solid core growth GMGI has also been able to maintain profitability for the past nine consecutive quarters, while growing out their top end numbers. The gross profit last quarter (Q3) was 58% and the net income was only roughly $40K. In my opinion this is a good thing considering the competition GAN who trades in the Nasdaq, lost $4.1M during that same third quarter. Profit is profit, which is an complete rarity in this sector. I'm looking forward to seeing the Q4 numbers on or before the March 15th 2021 deadline.
Nasdaq Capital Markets
Golden Matrix filed an application to uplist onto the Nasdaq Capital Markets on August 27th 2020, and are still currently pending approval as it seems to be a very complicated and tedious task jumping all the way from OTC Pink Sheets to Nasdaq. Us GMGI long shareholders have seen many tasks from the company performed over the past 5+ months that come out in 8K filings, such as amending financial reports to Nasdaq formatting, and even creating a audit committee to meet qualifications just as of last week (01-26-21). As for now Golden Matrix is still a hidden gem as much of Wall Street doesn't know about GMGI or can't trade GMGI due to many buying restrictions. I think soon this will change and no longer be hidden with the arrival of up list.
Playtech and Golden Matrix Deals
Playtech and Golden Matrix went began a collaboration agreement around the end of November 2020 that is set to kickoff sometime this month (February). You can find this easily under recent GMGI news right on the company website. What the deal consists of is beneficial to both of them, as Golden Matrix newly designed and built a Esports betting app, Peer2P Betting Games, and a new Artificial Intelligence System (AI-X). Golden Matrix is letting Playtech PTEC.L use and distribute these applications and software exclusively to all of their new and future customers. Playtech is a market leader when it comes to gaming software and technology. Playtech granted non exclusive rights to distribute their most popular games including live dealer games, slots, table games, bingo, and poker to Golden Matrix's 450+ current operators throughout their APAC Region territories. This deal will be very beneficial for Golden Matrix as their foot print will reach the U.S. and European territories through Playtech, who is all over the world, and some states in the U.S. including very popular New Jersey. I expect we may see a significant increase in the top and bottom line growth for Golden Matrix through this significant collaboration deal.
Amelco Sports Betting Distribution Deal
One more recent larger deal was made with Amelco who's out of England U.K. and basically it gives Golden Matrix distribution rights of their premium sports betting software platform where they will offer it throughout their territories in the APAC Region to their 450+ Operators and future ones as well. I think this is a major deal because they will now become a stronger company by providing both Igaming and Sports Betting software vs just having igaming alone. I think this will not only attract more usage from the current 457+ operators and 3.9M end users, but will also have more future operators wanting to do new business with Golden Matrix being a dual distributor of both Igaming and Sports Betting. More customers equals more revenues, which is what we all want to see from any good growing company.
GMGI Obtained a European Gaming License
Golden Matrix recently acquired a Alderney Gaming License in which their CEO Brian Goodman sold to the company though another privately owned company that was holding this license. He sold this license at cost to Golden Matrix. From my understanding there's many benefits to owning this license, and it's not easy to obtain. Playtech their newly partner also holds this same gaming license, along with many other big name casinos. It seems as if GMGI will be expanding from just the APAC Region alone, and now into the European Region as well. Us shareholders didn't receive a lot info on the exact game plan, but it sounds like some expansion into the European Region. I'm looking forward to hearing more about their game plan hopefully in the near future. Europe is the largest gambling market in the whole world, and right under it is the Asia Pacific Region. Let's see what this European Alderney Gaming License has in store for us in the near future.
$5 Million Equity Investment
Just last week Golden Matrix announced they received a $5M equity investment from a strategic Swedish based gaming investor Knutsson Holdings AB. They purchased one million units which consists of 1M restricted shares at $5.00 USD each, and a warrant with a exercise price of $6.00 a share. They only can exercise the warrants once the GMGI share price exceeds $10 a share for a minimum of 10 consecutive trading days. This was all announced when we were trading around $5.50 a share and will only only dilute the outstanding share count from 21.7M shares to 22.7M shares (4.4%) which is minor. This deal brought me that much more confidence in GMGI, because not only did this investment firm valuate the company currently over $5 a share, but they know its worth more as they have been around the block dealing with gaming companies since 1963 (50+ years). They are also the largest shareholder of popular company NETENT who was recently acquired by Evolution Gaming, and are invested in many other gaming companies. Check them out. This deal puts GMGI outstanding shares to 22.7M with a super low share float that's under 12M shares and a low market cap around $116M USD while currently trading in the low $5 a share price range. Ask yourself this one question, if Knutsson Holdings doesn't even get to purchase their other 1M shares for $6M until the price exceeds $10 a share, don't you think they have good confidence GMGI will surpass this price in the near future? I very well believe so, as they have solid growth, and many new business deals into play for this Quarter (Q1) and beyond.
Possible Acquisitions On The Horizon
I personally have very high expectations for Golden Matrix this year including a up list approval onto the Nasdaq Capital Markets Exchange, major new revenue growth from the partnerships mentioned earlier, and of course building their core business stronger then ever. Also if you checkout all the last dozen press releases from the company, the CEO has mentioned several soon to be announced partnerships and possible synergistic acquisitions many times. Now with Golden Matrix sitting on a pile of cash on hand ($10M+) and staying profitable for the past nine consecutive quarters and counting, they could be in a great position to acquire something beneficial for the companies overall top and bottom line growth. I'm keeping my eyes peeled open short term to see what they do on their next move with $10M+ cash, no debt, and being cashflow positive, which is a rarity in this sector as most are bleeding millions of dollars in losses quarter after quarter! I believe with the current $116M Market Cap, 22.7M Outstanding shares, Low <12M share float and the anticipated future growth, this share price around $5.00 is undervalued and a true bargain BUY.
My Position
I hold a long position of GMGI here, and plan to continue holding for the next 3-5 years as the online gambling industry is expected to grow exponentially for quite some time with more and more legalization throughout the U.S. and many other locations. Online gambling will only continue to grow larger and larger yearly. Do some DD on GMGI and you may become a long shareholder like myself.
Note: All of the info provided above including financials can be found on the Golden Matrix website in the investors section.
WWW. GOLDENMATRIX .COM

Team has been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, holding key positions at, and transacting with Scientific Games Corp, Inspired Gaming Group, FOX Bets, Ocean Casino Resort, Resorts International Holdings, PokerStars, DraftKings, Mohegan Sun, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, Harrah’s Entertainment, Tropicana Entertainment, Inc., TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming, Facebook, Inc, Wynn Resorts, Dubai World/MGM Resorts
Here's all the Bios. These guys are stellar! TEKK closed at $10.30 today. Still cheap!
If you don't like to read... you don't like to make money!!!!
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Matthew Davey — Chief Executive Officer and Director
Mr. Davey has over 25 years of experience within the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming ecosystems, as well as experience in the public sector. He is an experienced public company executive officer and board member. He has served in executive management positions across the gaming technology arena. Over the course of Mr. Davey’s career, he oversaw more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led.
Most recently, Mr. Davey was Chief Executive Officer of SG Digital, the Digital Division of Scientific Games Corp. (“Scientific Games”) (Nasdaq: SGMS). SG Digital was established following the purchase by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Limited (“NYX”) (formerly TSXV: NYX), where Mr. Davey served as Chief Executive Officer and Director. The NYX acquisition provided Scientific Games with a vehicle to significantly accelerate the scale and breadth of its existing digital gaming business, including the strategic expansion into sports betting. In his capacity as Chief Executive Officer of NYX, Mr. Davey developed and implemented a corporate strategy that generated strong revenue growth. Mr. Davey shaped company strategy to focus on digital gaming supplier platforms and content that provided various gaming operators with the underlying gaming and sports betting systems for their online gaming business. In 2014, Mr. Davey oversaw the initial public offering of NYX, and his experience in the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries helped NYX recognize momentum as a public company. After the public offering, from 2014 to 2018, Mr. Davey oversaw seven acquisitions which helped establish NYX as one of the fastest growing global B2B real-money digital gaming and sports betting platforms. These acquisitions included:
• OpenBet: In 2016, NYX completed the $385 million acquisition of OpenBet. This was one of the more complex and transformative acquisitions that Mr. Davey oversaw at NYX. Through securing co-investments from William Hill (LSE: WMH), Sky Betting & Gaming and The Stars Group (formerly Nasdaq: TSG, TSX: TSGI), Mr. Davey was able to get the acquisition from Vitruvian Partners completed successfully, winning the deal against much larger and well capitalized competitors. By combining two established and proven B2B betting and gaming suppliers, NYX was well positioned to provide customers with exciting player-driven solutions across all major product verticals and distribution channels. This allowed NYX to become the leading B2B omni-channel sportsbook platform in the market and the supplier to over 300 gaming operators globally with an extensive library of desktop and mobile game titles, including more than 700 on NYX platforms and more than 2,000 on the OpenBet platform.
• Cryptologic/Chartwell: In 2015, NYX completed the $119 million acquisition of Cryptologic and Chartwell. The acquisition provided NYX with more than 400 titles of additional leading gaming content, a broader customer base, and direct exposure to PokerStars and Intercasino, part of the Gamesys Group (LSE: GYS) — two of the world’s largest online casino offerings.
• OnGame: In 2014, NYX completed the distressed acquisition of OnGame, a premier poker content, platform and service provider. This acquisition provided NYX with one of the best poker products in the industry, access to several regulated jurisdictions, and a valuable talent pool that was instrumental in the growth of NYX. The addition of OnGame further established a path for NYX to continue its growth in both European and U.S. markets.
These acquisitions, together with meaningful organic growth, increased NYX’s revenue from $24 million in 2014 to $184 million annualized in 2017. During that time, Mr. Davey helped build NYX to have over 200 customers in the global gaming industry and a team of 1,000 employees. Mr. Davey’s success at NYX ultimately led to its sale to Scientific Games for $631 million in 2018.
Mr. Davey joined Next Gen Gaming, the predecessor to NYX, in 2000 as the Vice President of Technology, was appointed as Executive Director in 2003 and named Chief Executive Officer in 2005. Prior to that, he was the Senior Consultant for Access Systems, a company that specializes in the provision of back-end software for licensed online casinos. Prior to joining Access, Mr. Davey worked for the Northern Territory Government specializing in matters pertaining to the internet and e-commerce along with roles in the Department of Racing and Gaming. Mr. Davey received a Bachelor of Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Northern Territory University, Australia (also known as Charles Darwin University).
Robin Chhabra — President
Mr. Chhabra has been at the forefront of corporate acquisition activity within the digital gaming landscape for over a decade. His prior experience includes leading corporate strategy, M&A, and business development at two of the global leaders in the digital gaming industry, The Stars Group (“TSG”) and William Hill, and a leading supplier, Inspired Gaming Group (Nasdaq: INSE). Mr. Chhabra served on the Group Executive Committees of each of these companies. From 2017 to May 2020, Mr. Chhabra served as Chief Corporate Development Officer at TSG and, from 2019 to August 2020, he also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Fox Bet, a leading U.S. online gaming business which is the product of a landmark partnership between TSG and FOX Sports, a transaction which he led. During that period, Mr. Chhabra led several transactions which transformed TSG into the largest publicly listed online gambling operator in the world by both revenue and market capitalization and one of the most diversified from a product and geographic perspective with revenues of over $2.5 billion. Mr. Chhabra’s M&A experience is extensive and covers multiple global geographies across the digital gaming value chain and includes the following:
• TSG/Flutter Entertainment Merger: In 2019, Mr. Chhabra led the TSG M&A team that was responsible for TSG’s $12.2 billion merger with Flutter Entertainment (LSE: FLTR). The merger between TSG and Flutter Entertainment is the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date. The combination created the largest publicly listed online gaming company with approximately 13 million active customers and leading product offerings, which include sports betting, online casino, fantasy sports and poker. The combined entity includes some of the world’s most iconic digital gaming brands such as Fanduel, Fox Bet, Sky Bet, PaddyPower, Betfair, PokerStars and SportsBet. TSG/Flutter Entertainment is one of the most geographically diverse digital gaming and media companies with leading positions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany and Georgia.
• TSG/Sky Betting and Gaming (“SBG”): In 2018, Mr. Chhabra led the acquisition of SBG from CVC Capital Partners and Sky plc, Europe’s largest media company, in a transaction valued at $4.7 billion. At the time of the acquisition SBG was the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom and one of the fastest growing of the major operators having doubled its online market share in three years. The acquisition of SBG provided TSG with (a) greater revenue diversification, significantly enhanced expertise and exposure to sports betting just ahead of the judicial overturn of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) by the U.S. Supreme Court, (b) a leading position within the United Kingdom, the world’s largest regulated online gaming market, (c) improved products and technology as a result of the addition of SBG’s innovative casino and sports book offerings and a portfolio of popular mobile apps, and (d) expertise in deeply integrating sports betting with leading sports media companies, positioning TSG to create more engaging content, deliver faster growth and decrease customer acquisition costs.
• William Hill (LSE: WMH): At William Hill, from 2010 to 2017, Mr. Chhabra served as Group Director of Strategy and Corporate Development where he led several transactions which contributed to William Hill’s transformation from a land-based gambling operator in the United Kingdom to a leading online-led international business. Mr. Chhabra led William Hill’s entry into the U.S. sports betting and online lottery markets with the acquisition of four businesses, including the simultaneous acquisitions of three U.S. sportsbooks, Cal Neva, American Wagering and Brandywine Bookmaking, in 2011 for an aggregate purchase price of $55 million. These businesses ultimately led William Hill to achieve a leading position in the U.S. sports betting market with a market share of 24% in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Chhabra played a key role in structuring William Hill’s successful joint venture with PlayTech Plc (LSE: PTEC) in 2008. The combined entity created one of the largest online gambling businesses in Europe at the time of its formation and led to William Hill’s buyout of Playtech’s interest for $637 million in 2013. Prior to the transaction, William Hill had struggled in its attempt to establish a strong online gaming platform and a meaningful presence outside the United Kingdom.
Mr. Chhabra has also successfully completed four transactions worth over $1.2 billion in Australia, the world’s second largest regulated online gambling market, and various partnerships in Asia. Additionally, he completed several technology and media related transactions, including William Hill’s investment in NYX, where he worked with Mr. Davey on NYX’s transformational acquisition of OpenBet.
Prior to working in the gaming sector, Mr. Chhabra was an equities analyst and a management consultant. Mr. Chhabra received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Eric Matejevich — Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Matejevich is a seasoned gaming executive with extensive experience in both the online gaming and traditional casino industries. From February to August 2019, he served as Trustee and Interim-Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Casino Resort (“Ocean”) (formerly Revel Casino, which had a construction cost of $2.4 billion) in Atlantic City, where he successfully led the management team through an ownership change and operational turnaround effort. Over the course of seven months, Mr. Matejevich managed to reduce the property’s weekly cash burn of $1.5 million to an annualized cash flow run rate in excess of $20 million.
Prior to Ocean, from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Matejevich served as the Chief Financial Officer of NYX. At NYX, he focused his efforts on integrating the company’s many acquisitions and multiple debt refinancings to simplify its capital structure and provided liquidity for growth initiatives. Additionally, Mr. Matejevich was instrumental to the executive team that sold NYX to Scientific Games for $631 million.
Prior to NYX, from 2004 to 2014, Mr. Matejevich was the Chief Financial Officer of Resorts International Holdings and later, from 2011, also the Chief Operating Officer of the Atlantic Club Casino, a property under the Resorts International Holdings umbrella — a Colony Capital (NYSE: CLNY) entity. As Chief Financial Officer, he provided managerial oversight for all finance functions for a six-property casino company with annual gaming revenue exceeding $1.3 billion, 10,000 gaming positions, 7,000 hotel rooms and over 11,000 staff members during his tenure. Mr. Matejevich led the transition effort to integrate a four-casino, $1.3 billion acquisition from Harrah’s Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR). As Chief Operating Officer of Atlantic Club, he lobbied for and was successful in obtaining the first internet gaming legislation passed in the United States. The Atlantic Club was the sole New Jersey casino proponent of the legislation.
Prior to serving in various gaming positions, Mr. Matejevich was a Vice President of High Yield Research for Merrill Lynch, where he managed the corporate bond research effort for the gaming and leisure sectors and marketed high yield and other debt transactions totaling $4.8 billion. Mr. Matejevich received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from The Wharton School and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.
Our Board of Directors
Morris Bailey — Chairman
Over the past 10 years, Mr. Bailey has been a leader in turning around Atlantic City, as well as being among the first gaming executives to embrace online gaming and sports betting in the United States. In his efforts, Mr. Bailey partnered with two of the largest digital gaming companies in the world, PokerStars, part of the Stars Group, and DraftKings (Nasdaq: DKNG). In 2010, Mr. Bailey bought Resorts Atlantic City (“Resorts”) and initiated a comprehensive renovation which allowed for the property to be rebranded and repositioned. In 2012, Mr. Bailey signed an agreement with Mohegan Sun to manage the day-to-day operations of the casino. In addition to Mohegan Sun’s operational expertise and ability to reduce costs via economies of scale, Resorts gained access to their robust customer database. Soon thereafter, Mr. Bailey and his team focused on bringing online gaming to the property. In 2015, Resorts established a platform to engage in online gaming by partnering with PokerStars, now part of the $24 billion Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR), to operate an online poker room in Atlantic City. In 2018, Resorts announced deals with DraftKings and SBTech to open a sportsbook on-property and online. For 2020 year-to-date, Resorts has performed in the top quartile in internet gross gaming revenue in New Jersey. Mr. Bailey’s efforts in New Jersey helped set the framework for expansion of online sports and gaming throughout the United States.
In addition to his gaming interests, Mr. Bailey has over 50 years of experience in all facets of real estate development, asset M&A, capital markets and operations and is the founder, Chief Executive Officer and Principal of JEMB Realty, a leading real estate development, investment and management organization. Mr. Bailey has notable investment experience within the energy, finance and telecommunications sectors through investments in the Astoria Energy Plant, Basis Investment Group and Xentris Wireless.
Tony Rodio — Director Nominee
Mr. Rodio has nearly four decades of experience in the gaming industry. Most recently, Mr. Rodio served as the Chief Executive Officer and director of Caesars Entertainment Corporation (“Caesars”) (Nasdaq: CZR), one of the world’s most diversified casino-entertainment providers and the most geographically diverse U.S. casino-entertainment company, from April 2019 until its acquisition by Eldorado Resorts, Inc. in July 2020. Mr. Rodio led Caesars through its $17.3 billion merger with Eldorado Resorts, one of the largest transactions in the gaming industry to date. Additionally, Mr. Rodio was instrumental to Caesars’ expansion into the digital gaming industry and oversaw the implementation of new digital segments such as its Scientific Games powered retail sportsbook solution that now operates in various states throughout the U.S. From October 2018 to May 2019, Mr. Rodio served as Chief Executive Officer of Affinity Gaming. Prior to Affinity Gaming, he served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Tropicana Entertainment, Inc. (“Tropicana”) for over seven years, where he was responsible for the operation of eight casino properties in seven different jurisdictions. During his time at Tropicana, Mr. Rodio oversaw a period of unprecedented growth at the company, improving overall financial results with net revenue that increased more than 50% driven by both operational improvements and expansion across regional markets. Mr. Rodio led major capital projects, including the complete renovation of Tropicana Atlantic City and Tropicana’s move to land-based operations in Evansville, Indiana. Each of these initiatives, among others, generated substantial value for Tropicana. Ultimately, Mr. Rodio’s efforts at Tropicana led to its sale to Eldorado Resorts in 2018 for $1.85 billion. Prior to Tropicana, Mr. Rodio held a succession of executive positions in Atlantic City for casino brands, including Trump Marina Hotel Casino, Harrah’s Entertainment (predecessor to Caesars), the Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort and Penn National Gaming. He has also served as a director of several professional and charitable organizations, including Atlantic City Alliance, United Way of Atlantic County, the Casino Associations of New Jersey and Indiana, AtlantiCare Charitable Foundation and the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality & Tourism. Mr. Rodio brings extensive knowledge of and experience in the gaming industry, operational expertise, and a demonstrated ability to effectively design and implement company strategy. Mr. Rodio received a Bachelor of Science from Rider University and a Master of Business Administration from Monmouth University.
Marlon Goldstein — Director Nominee
Mr. Goldstein is a licensed attorney with nearly 20 years of experience in the gaming space. He joined The Stars Group (Nasdaq: TSG)(TSX: TSGI) in January 2014 as its Executive Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary until his retirement from the company in July 2020 following the merger of TSG with Flutter Entertainment, PLC (LSE: FLTR). Mr. Goldstein also previously served as the Executive Vice-President, Corporate Development and General Counsel of TSG. Mr. Goldstein was also the senior TSG executive based in the United States and was one of the primary architects of TSG’s strategic vision for its U.S.-facing business. During his tenure, TSG grew from an approximately $500 million market-cap company to an approximately $7 billion market-cap company through a combination of organic growth and strategic mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Goldstein participated in numerous M&A transactions and capital markets offerings at TSG, including several transformational transactions in the digital gaming industry. Notable transactions in which Mr. Goldstein was involved include:
• TSG/Flutter Merger: In 2019, TSG merged with Flutter for a $12.2 billion transaction value, the largest transaction in the digital gaming industry to date.
• TSG/Fox Bet Partnership: In 2019, TSG entered into a partnership with FOX Sports to create FOX Bet in the U.S., a leading U.S. online gaming business. Wall Street Research estimates an approximate $1.1 billion valuation for Fox Bet post-partnership with The Stars Group.
• TSG/Sky Betting & Gaming: In 2018, TSG acquired Sky Betting & Gaming, the largest mobile gambling operator in the United Kingdom at the time, for $4.7 billion.
• TSG/CrownBet and William Hill: In 2018, TSG simultaneously acquired CrownBet and William Hill, two Australian operators, for a total of $621 million in a multi-part transaction.
• TSG/PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker: In 2014, TSG acquired The Rational Group, which operated PokerStars and Full Tilt and was the world’s largest poker business, for $4.9 billion.
Through his ability to legally structure large and complex transactions, Mr. Goldstein was integral to TSG’s vision of becoming a full-service online gaming company. Additionally, he assisted in structuring TSG’s capital markets activity, which generated liquidity for acquisitions and strengthened its balance sheet.
Prior to joining TSG, Mr. Goldstein was a principal shareholder in the corporate and securities practice at the international law firm of Greenberg Traurig P.A., where he practiced for almost 13 years. Mr. Goldstein’s practice focused on corporate and securities matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and financing transactions. Additionally, Mr. Goldstein was the founder and co-chair of the firm’s Gaming Practice, a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys representing owners, operators and developers of gaming facilities, manufacturers and suppliers of gaming devices, investment banks and lenders in financing transactions, and Indian tribes in the development and financing of gaming facilities.
Mr. Goldstein brings experience and insight that we believe will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target business. Mr. Goldstein received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Emory University and a Juris Doctorate with highest honors from the University of Florida, College of Law.
Sean Ryan — Director Nominee
Mr. Ryan is a digital media and technology operator with extensive global experience in online payments, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile ad networks, digital games, enterprise collaboration platforms, blockchain, real money gaming and online music. Since 2014, Mr. Ryan has been serving as Vice President of Business Platform Partnerships at Facebook, Inc. (“Facebook”) (Nasdaq: FB), where he leads a more than 500 person global organization that manages the Payments, Commerce, Novi/Blockhain, Workplace and Audience Network businesses. Prior to his current role, Mr. Ryan was hired in 2011 as the Director of Games Partnerships to lead and grow the global Games business at Facebook. While the Director of Games Partnerships, Mr. Ryan focused on re-shaping Facebook’s games and monetization strategies to derive more value for Facebook, its users and its partners, including the addition of a Real Money Gaming offering in regulated markets. Mr. Ryan’s team helped accelerate a major trend in engagement through cross-platform games and therefore the opportunity to increase users through establishing games on multiple platforms. Prior to joining Facebook, Mr. Ryan created the new social and mobile games division at News Corp, an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by Rupert Murdoch. While at News Corp, Mr. Ryan led the acquisition of Making Fun, a San Francisco social-game start-up, that created News Corp’s games publishing division.
Before joining News Corp., Mr. Ryan founded multiple digital businesses such as Twofish, Meez, Open Wager and SingShot Media. Mr. Ryan co-founded Twofish in 2009, a virtual goods and services platform that provided developers with data analytics and insights for individual application’s digital economies. Twofish was later sold to online payments provider Live Gamer, where Mr. Ryan served on the board of directors. From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Ryan founded and led Meez.com, a social entertainment service combining avatars, web games and virtual worlds. The white label social casino gaming company Open Wager was spun out of Meez and was later sold to VGW Holdings, Mr. Ryan also co-founded SingShot Media, an online karaoke community, which was sold to Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: EA) and merged into its Sims division.
We believe Mr. Ryan’s experience will be valuable to a potential initial business combination target and would provide an expanded perspective on the digital gaming landscape. Mr. Ryan received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Roche — Director Nominee
Mr. Roche has more than 40 years of experience in the gaming industry as a regulator, advisor and independent auditor. Mr. Roche joined Ernst & Young (“EY”) as a partner in 2003 and opened its Las Vegas office. He was subsequently appointed as the Office Managing Partner and Global Gaming Industry Market Leader. In 2016, Mr. Roche relocated to the EY Hong Kong office to supervise the expansion of the EY Global Gaming Industry practice in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Roche has been integral to numerous transactions that have shaped the current gaming landscape, including:
• Wynn Resorts (Nasdaq: WYNN) initial public offering: Mr. Roche was the lead partner on Wynn Resort’s initial public offering, which raised $450 million in 2002.
• Harrah’s Entertainment/Apollo Management Group & Texas Pacific Group: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory advisory services on the buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company at the time, for $17.1 billion.
• Dubai World/MGM Resorts: Mr. Roche headed the regulatory and due diligence advisory services to Dubai World in its approximately $5.1 billion investment in MGM. Dubai World bought 28.4 million MGM shares, or 9.5 percent of the casino operator, for $2.4 billion. It then invested $2.7 billion to acquire a 50% stake in MGM’s CityCenter Project, a $7.4 billion 76-acre Las Vegas development of hotels, condos and retail outlets.
• MGM Growth Properties (NYSE: MGP) initial public offering: Mr. Roche provided tax and structural transaction services to MGM Resorts in the creation of MGM Growth Properties, a publicly traded REIT engaged in the acquisition, ownership and leasing of large-scale destination entertainment and leisure resorts. MGM Growth Properties raised $1.05 billion in its 2016 initial public offering.
Mr. Roche also directed EY advisory services to boards and management teams for profit improvement and technology related initiatives. In addition, Mr. Roche provided advisory support to the American Gaming Association on several research projects, including those specifically related to sports betting, the revocation of The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) and anti-money laundering best practices in the gaming industry. Equally, he has assisted government agencies in numerous international locations with enhancing their regulatory approach to governing the industry especially in the online gambling sector.
Prior to joining Ernst & Young, Mr. Roche served as Deloitte’s National Gaming Industry Leader and as the co-head of Andersen’s Gaming Industry Practice in Las Vegas. In 1989, Mr. Roche was appointed by then Governor of the State of Nevada, Robert Miller, to serve as one of three members of the Nevada State Gaming Control Board for a four-year term, where he was directly responsible for the Audit and New Games Lab Divisions. As a board member, he spent a substantial amount of time assisting global jurisdiction regulators enact gaming legislation in the design of their regulatory structure. During his career, Roche has been involved in numerous public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. His background includes providing casino regulatory consulting services to casino licensees and to federal and state agencies including the National Indian Gaming Commission and the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, and industry associations such as the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association.
We believe Mr. Roche’s highly regarded reputation as a gaming auditor and advisor in the gaming industry will be valuable for us and a potential business combination target. Mr. Roche is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and is licensed by the Nevada State Board of Accountancy and Mississippi State Board of Public Accountancy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Southern California.

Investing News Morning Roundup – January 4, 2021
Welcome to 2021! What will the year bring? Given the strange trip that 2020 was, prediction for the coming year are….challenging. For sure, there will be vaccines and stimulus, other than that, it’s tough to imagine….
A Google union? The Alphabet Workers Union has launched
Employees at Google and its parent Alphabet (GOOG) announced the formation of a new union, the Alphabet Workers Union. The new union said it will be open to all workers and contractors irrespective of role or classification. It said it will collect dues, have paid staff and elect a board of directors. The effort is being backed by the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union. The move comes as part of the CWA’s effort to unionize tech workers in a program it calls CODE-CWA. Googlers who opt to join the new union will also be part of the local CWA Local 1400. “We will hire skilled organizers to ensure all workers at Google know they can work with us if they actually want their company to reflect their values,” said Dylan Baker, a software engineer at Google. Silicon Valley has largely avoided unionizing efforts and a success at Google could portend a shift. The new union did not say if it will seek majority support among workers, did not say if it would seek to be recognized by Google and did not lay out a platform of issues it would focus on, yet.
Can I get that content? Roku in talks to acquire Quibi’s content catalog
Quibi launched in April with $1.75 billion in funding and a plan to produce high-end content for mobile phones. Its short life can be summed up in two words-crash and burn. The service shut down in October, unable to gain traction with viewers. Roku (ROKU) sells the most popular streaming player in the US and recently has been expanding into content. Roku launched the Roku Channel, an ad-supported app that features content from other producers. Roku is in talks with Quibi to buy its catalog of premium content. Such a deal would give Roku exclusive programming for the first time. Content like Quibi’s would be an important step in Roku’s desire to build its own content base. The news was reported by WSJ, but no financial terms were reported. Roku is in talks to license Quibi’s content for seven years.
A bet on online gambling-MGM Resorts trying to acquire Britain’s Entain
Wanna bet online gaming will keep growing strong? MGM Resorts International (MGM) does. MGM is seeking to acquire Entain (ENT), owner of the British gambling brand Ladbrokes. MGM presented an £8.09 billion takeover proposal, equivalent to $11.06 billion. Entain chuckled at MGM’s offer, balking at its undervaluing of Entain. Entain has previously been offered $10 billion. MGM has the financial backing of its largest shareholder IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC) in making the bid. MGM presently gets a small percentage of its revenue from online gaming. A deal for Entain would create one of a few companies in the world with significant online and bricks and mortar gaming business. Entain is demanding a higher valuation before considering any offer and wants further information on the strategic rationale for a combination of the two companies. MGM and Entain are already working together. Since 2018, they have become exclusive partners on BetMGM, a small but growing online-gaming company both parties recently additionally funded. BetMGM, which uses Entain’s technology and MGM’s licenses and brands, is operating in more than 10 states, including Nevada, New Jersey and Indiana.
Applied Materials ups bid for Kokusai Electric to $3.5 billion
Applied Materials (AMAT) hiked its bid for Kokusai Electric by 59% to $3.5 billion, making its main shareholder KKR & Co. (KKR) very happy. The deadline to close the deal was extended an additional three months to mid-March. Applied Materials is the largest manufacturer of the machines that produce semiconductors. Applied’s original offer was $2.2 billion. The increase in the bid reflects the growing demand for chipmaking gear and the strong earnings prospects the combined companies will have. In a statement Applied Materials said the company “believes that the acquisition will provide substantial value for Applied’s shareholders. Over the past 18 months, Applied has observed a more favorable long-term outlook for the overall semiconductor equipment market, including positive trends in the memory market.” Applied said it is working on getting approval from Chinese regulators for the acquisition.
Brookfield announced bid to take Brookfield Property Partners private
Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM) announced an offer to take Brookfield Property Partners private in a $5.9 billion deal. Brookfield Asset owns about 60% of Brookfield Property Partners and is offering a 15% premium for the stake it does not own. Brookfield Property Partners has a market value of about $13.8 billion. The offer is being made due to the fact that Brookfield Property Partners consistently traded at a discount to its assets. Brookfield Asset’s CFO said, “We believe that is has been consistently for more than just the past year. We believed it would be a premium offering to the market given it has a unique global portfolio and some of the highest quality real estate in the world. But is has consistently struggled to trade at its net asset value.”

With the closure of almost half of Atlantic City's casinos, Newark set to vote on gambling and casinos or racinos in almost every state, it seems as if the reasons for the very existence of Atlantic City are in serious jeopardy.
Israel Joffe
Atlantic City, once a major vacation spot during the roaring 20s and 1930s, as seen on HBOs Boardwalk Empire, collapsed when cheap air fare became the norm and people had no reason to head to the many beach town resorts on the East Coast. Within a few decades, the city, known for being an ‘oasis of sin’ during the prohibition era, fell into serious decline and dilapidation.
New Jersey officials felt the only way to bring Atlantic City back from the brink of disaster would be to legalize gambling. Atlantic City’s first casino, Resorts, first opened its doors in 1978. People stood shoulder to shoulder, packed into the hotel as gambling officially made its way to the East Coast. Folks in the East Coast didn't have to make a special trip all the way to Vegas in order to enjoy some craps, slots, roulette and more.
As time wore on, Atlantic City became the premier gambling spots in the country.
While detractors felt that the area still remained poor and dilapidated, officials were quick to point out that the casinos didn't bring the mass gentrification to Atlantic City as much as they hoped but the billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs for the surrounding communities was well worth it.
Atlantic City developed a reputation as more of a short-stay ‘day-cation’ type of place, yet managed to stand firm against the 'adult playground' and 'entertainment capital of the world' Las Vegas.
Through-out the 1980s, Atlantic City would become an integral part of American pop culture as a place for east coast residents to gamble, watch boxing, wrestling, concerts and other sporting events.
However in the late 1980s, a landmark ruling considered Native-American reservations to be sovereign entities not bound by state law. It was the first potential threat to the iron grip Atlantic City and Vegas had on the gambling and entertainment industry.
Huge 'mega casinos' were built on reservations that rivaled Atlantic City and Vegas. In turn, Vegas built even more impressive casinos.
Atlantic City, in an attempt to make the city more appealing to the ‘big whale’ millionaire and billionaire gamblers, and in effort to move away from its ‘seedy’ reputation, built the luxurious Borgata casino in 2003. Harrah’s created a billion dollar extension and other casinos in the area went through serious renovations and re-branded themselves.
It seemed as if the bite that the Native American casinos took out of AC and Vegas’ profits was negligible and that the dominance of those two cities in the world of gambling would remain unchallenged.
Then Macau, formally a colony of Portugal, was handed back to the Chinese in 1999. The gambling industry there had been operated under a government-issued monopoly license by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. The monopoly was ended in 2002 and several casino owners from Las Vegas attempted to enter the market.
Under the one country, two systems policy, the territory remained virtually unchanged aside from mega casinos popping up everywhere. All the rich ‘whales’ from the far east had no reason anymore to go to the United States to spend their money.
Then came the biggest threat.
As revenue from dog and horse racing tracks around the United States dried up, government officials needed a way to bring back jobs and revitalize the surrounding communities. Slot machines in race tracks started in Iowa in 1994 but took off in 2004 when Pennsylvania introduced ‘Racinos’ in an effort to reduce property taxes for the state and to help depressed areas bounce back.
As of 2013, racinos were legal in ten states: Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and West Virginia with more expected in 2015.
Tracks like Delaware Park and West Virginia's Mountaineer Park, once considered places where local degenerates bet on broken-down nags in claiming races, are now among the wealthiest tracks around, with the best races.
The famous Aqueduct race track in Queens, NY, once facing an uncertain future, now possesses the most profitable casino in the United States.
From June 2012 to June 2013, Aqueduct matched a quarter of Atlantic City's total gaming revenue from its dozen casinos: $729.2 million compared with A.C.'s $2.9 billion. It has taken an estimated 15 percent hit on New Jersey casino revenue and climbing.
And it isn't just Aqueduct that's taking business away from them. Atlantic City's closest major city, Philadelphia, only 35-40 minutes away, and one of the largest cities in America, now has a casino that has contributed heavily to the decline in gamers visiting the area.
New Jersey is the third state in the U.S. to have authorized internet gambling. However, these online casinos are owned and controlled by Atlantic City casinos in an effort to boost profits in the face of fierce competition.
California, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Texas are hoping to join Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey and the U.S. Virgin Islands in offering online gambling to their residents.
With this in mind, it seems the very niche that Atlantic City once offered as a gambling and entertainment hub for east coast residents is heading toward the dustbin of history.
Time will tell if this city will end up like Detroit. However, the fact that they are losing their biggest industry to major competition, much like Detroit did, with depressed housing, casinos bankrupting/closing and businesses fleeing , it all makes Atlantic City’s fate seem eerily similar.

Throughout the year (or half-year… I bought in February) I’ve pointed out a lot of flaws in the MyTeam segment of the game, much to the chagrin of those who think that the sun rises and sets on 2K’s MyTeam and that it’s the pinnacle of enjoyment for all concerned.
What the detractors do not understand is that the criticism is borne out of a profound love and respect for the NBA and wanting to see it properly represented in a video game.
Now that the game is dead, I compiled a list of all the issues I would hope the devs would look at and maybe implement in time for my possible return with 2K22 because, in its current incarnation, there is no way I am going to be anywhere near 2K21. I said the same thing at the conclusion of 2K19, however, when the game went on sale in February, I acquiesced and purchased as friends in this very thread were praising the Evo, Position Lock and Offline Content added this year. Right after purchasing, the Glitched and Out Of Position cards kept dropping and we all discovered that the blog 2K published at the onset was a veiled lie and we were all duped.
Anyway, here are the issues in no particular order.
BADGES ORDER
Such a relatively easy fix. There are 75 badges in total and they are static. Have them in an order and stick to it. If I am comparing GOAT LeBron James to Prime LeBron James, I should be able to view them side by side and easily discern what badges are missing from Prime that are added to GOAT. But this is not the case. The same badges appear in different orders depending on the card making it extremely difficult to compare. This is a 1/10 in terms of how easy it is to fix yet makes an impact of 7/10 to quality of life.
DEVALUED SET REWARDS
On June 25th, players looking to lock in for Zion Williamson, one of the most dynamic rookies in years, had to pay close to 2 million MT for the card. A better version of Zion came out for .3% the cost 5 weeks later. The cards for the original set were still holding value (albeit about half the original 2 million purchase price) so people were still paying an exorbitant amount for Zion the day before he was available for 6k. And because Zion was a lock-in reward, a lot of people were left with a 1.5 mil tab (on average) for a card they’d never use again after only 5 weeks. It was disrespectful to the consumers and forethought should be exercised in how 2K spaces out its content.
In a similar manner, after having no opals since they became prevalent in March, Damian Lillard got one on July 10th and then a better one on July 31st. The cost associated with this is minute compared to Zion but the principle is the same. No one wants to invest in a card and see its value tank so rapidly.
DE/RECOMISSIONED SERVERS
From the moment the focus shifted to 2K21, the long load times in between games, to return to the menu were very noticeable from about late July. It’s obvious that 2K recommissioned 2K20 servers to 2K21. This should not happen until the player base has also gone to 2K21 and should be ratioed accordingly.
As an aside to this, the disconnects from MyTeam weren’t as bad this year, but still more than acceptable for a multi-million dollar company like 2K.
ABILITY TO RECORD AUDIO IN GAMEPLAY
I am not sure the legal ramifications of why this is not so, but there are many times people record video and post out of context. There are multiple cases of abuse from the opponent and because when recording gameplay the opponent’s audio is not recorded there is no proof to report to either 2K or Sony/Microsoft. This would go a long way to cleaning up the toxicity as just knowing the option exists to be recorded and reported will serve as a deterrent to the profanity and slurs that are prevalent in the online portion of the game.
OPTION TO CANCEL WALKOUTS DURING PACK OPENINGS
Late in the cycle, no one wants to watch diamonds and amethysts walk out with all the animations. There should be a button to cancel it, so that even at the beginning, when people are elated to see an amethyst, they can still cancel if the walkout is “not their thing”
TRIPLE THREAT OFFLINE DIFFICULTY
After getting to 750 wins, the difficulty in offline Triple Threat increases to HOF. The last prize on the board is at 1,000 wins, and after that, there are only the same prizes everyone whether you have 1 win or 5,000 wins has (i.e. whatever is in the vault, changed bi-weekly.) The option should exist for those who have already grinded 1,000 wins, to change their difficulty to what they’re comfortable with, as they are on unequal footing chasing vault opals with people on 300 wins who are playing at All-Star difficulty and could conceivably get into the vault a lot more often as the game is easier.
If the vault opening odds were increased for higher difficulties, this would be a good payoff, but this is not the case which brings me to:
NERFED VAULT ODDS
As it stands, since they changed the vault prizes to 10 tokens, 5k MT and 4 opals, the vault opening odds have been horrendous at an anemic 19%, as opposed to the 44% before (I have numerous posts proving vault odds). Nerfing the odds when the prizes are better is devious. Consequently, even though the prizes are better than they used to be so too are what is available in packs/auctions/rewards at that time. As such, the odds should remain static and should also be displayed!
ABILITY TO SET GENERIC COURT/UNIFORMS FOR ONLINE PLAY
One of the most toxic things to encounter in games is the combination of black home uniforms, black court and the black ball. We know the community does this on purpose, specifically to annoy. There should be an option for those with black ball, court and uniforms to see their screen as they designed their court/uniforms, but the online opponent to see a generic 2K home white jersey and generic 2K regular parquet court with an orange ball.
Alternatively, if this programming is beyond their ability, they should just bar home uniforms from being darker than yellow and not allow blended colours (for instance, if you have a black court, then you cannot select any of the dark coloured balls for your team, or to put it another way, they will only display the light coloured balls when you are selecting the ball after the court. If you select the ball first and then attempt to select a blended, rather than a contrasting court colour, it will bar you from doing so. The court and the ball are in the same screen, therefore 2K could easily build that logic in there.
WHITE AWAY UNIFORMS IN SPOTLIGHT
This was a pretty big oversight when they put the Lakers away whites in some spotlight challenges, thereby creating the problem of 10 players on the court wearing white. Most people, like myself, backed out, changed our home uniforms to something dark and replayed the game. However, we all lost 13 contracts to do so. The MT hit was minor, but it’s the principle of the matter.
UNREALISTIC EVO’S
Evo’s were new so they may have used this year to tweak the formula and near the end of the year, guys like JR Smith, Jalen Rose, Walt Frazier, Elton Brand etc had very reasonable evo’s. The major exceptions to the late evos were guys like Kristaps Porzingis and Yi Jianlian: giants that needed 100 steals, Carmelo Anthony and Lance Stephenson who needed a lot of blocks with low block ratings, and perhaps the worst of all – Dikembe Mutombo who needed 1,500 three point attempts, where, the only way to get that is to actively sabotage your team’s gameplan and victory chances.
The beginning of the year ones like Isaiah Thomas, Serge Ibaka, Bob McAdoo etc. were long grinds and expected to be such, but by the time most got the requirements, better cards were available for a lot cheaper and they didn’t make sense anymore. Better balance needs to be struck. As I said, evos were new this year, so they get a pass on this one. I assume next year will be better and upon my return in 2K22, practically perfected.
“NO MORE GOOFY LINEUPS”
This one is a quote from their blog, and is the most egregious bait and switch they’ve done. Trumpeting the viability of point guards like Chris Paul and Isiah Thomas and then abandoning the concept to cater to a meta that they themselves created (despite claiming the consumers want this) was their biggest MyTeam sin this year, tied with the proliferation of opals.
Skirting the legalese by NOT giving Andrei Kirilenko a PG card (he was specifically mentioned in the blog as a PG we wouldn’t see), but doing so to 15-20 other players in the Glitched/OOP/GOAT series effectively damaged the game and set it right back to the major problem of 2K19 that they themselves identified. The hypocrisy is real…
CORNER 3’s
When the most expensive and desired cards in the game like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh can’t shoot corner 3’s because of a wonky base, it’s either to change their base or fix the base itself. This was stupid and lazy.
LACK OF TUTORIAL FOR A LOT OF IN-GAME OPTIONS
Who knows what “Wall Up” means? What about “Pass And Screen Away”? What about the Defensive Settings? If I set Hedge at “Catch Hedge” does that negate “Help Defense” set to No? The community has figured out a lot of these things, but there’s no tutorial or explanation screen for the myriad of in-game options that make a huge difference to gameplay. And experimenting with certain things, doesn’t yield the same results if the players are changed or the plays, or the opponent’s gameplan etc. It’s hard to experiment with that many variables and even the constants can vary.
COACH SETTINGS
There is no reason these shouldn’t “stick” for online play as they do for offline. In offline play if you take off the Coach Adjustments it stays off. It does not do so for online. You have to pause and remove it every game, thereby using up one of the precious pauses and annoying your opponent.
The other settings that do NOT stick even in offline, should. If every game the Defensive Settings default to 2K’s default, why can’t it default to what I changed until I change it again, or until I “reset defaults”? I should not have to go into Defensive Settings every single game and change on-ball = tight, off ball = tight, on-ball screen = go over, Help Defense slider set to 0 etc. The camera stays on what I set, why can’t the other settings?
It’s unnecessary time wasted for both my opponent and myself.
THE AMOUNT OF GALAXY OPALS (THE REAL ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM)
There are 281 opals at the end of the game. There were 91 last year. The total player cards went from 1,861 to 1,945 so whereas the total cards changed showed a 4% increase, the highest tiered card showed a 208% increase. That is way unbalanced.
This 281 opals represent 229 different players with opals (therefore 52 players had multiple opals) and include cards that evo to opal but not those that DD to opal. We have ended up with 22 GOAT cards (effectively rated 100 as opposed to 99 for opals)
On top of limiting the Opals and GOATs to cards that really deserve them in real life, they also need to revamp the tiering system to better space out the cards so there are not 281 crammed into the same tier, with little to differentiate them other than a Sherlock Holmes level of investigation into their stats/badges.
I propose the following tiers and ratings:
1-10: BRONZE
11-20: SILVER
21-30: GOLD
31-40: EMERALD
41-50: SAPPHIRE
51-60: RUBY
61-70: AMETHYST
71-80: DIAMOND
81-90: PINK DIAMOND
91-99: GALAXY OPAL
100: GOAT
This tiering system allows the same tiers to be spread over 100 rankings as opposed to the 33 currently in operation (68-99) so there is that much variation to play with to properly evaluate cards.
You would have a Trae Young and Devin Booker opal rated 91 and a Donovan Mitchell rated 92 and a Prime Dwyane Wade rated 98 and right there you’d be able to see that Wade is way better than Spida, Booker and Trae, as opposed to now where they’re all rated 99 and it’s clearly not the case that the cards are anywhere close to equal.
I’d also suggest that not just attributes inform ratings, but also badges. So the badges would be weighted by their rank (Bronze, Silver, Gold, HOF) and added to the total score of the attributes to determine final ranking and tier. Some level of investigation would still be required to determine if the 91 opal guy with 10 HOF badges is equal to the other 91 opal guy with 10 HOF badges because one has Range Extender and the other has Ice In Veins (hint – the former is better)
This segues into who should and shouldn’t get an opal. Most would agree that 281 opals is too much and undermines the integrity of the source history.
Eddy Curry, Alex Caruso, Tacko Fall, Jonathan Isaac, Nicolas Batum, Jaren Jackson Jr. etc are not names your mom recognises. She probably knows who Shaq, Kobe, MJ and LeBron are though. I’m not advocating that only the biggest stars get opals (actually those 4 I named did, and should, get GOATs) but we want a comfortable medium where the casual fan can recognise and agree that Gary Payton, Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady deserve opals because they were multiple-selection All-Stars and are still recent enough that people know who they are. And then guys like Walt Frazier, Jack Sikma, Dennis Johnson and Mel Daniels also deserve opals. These are guys the average young fan may not have heard of but SHOULD hear about because they were awesome in their time. And part of this should be learning about the history of the NBA, otherwise, why bother licensing Earl Monroe’s name and likeness? I’m not really sure many people who watched basketball when Earl won in 1973 are playing 2K now. Even the biggest NBA historian, Bill Simmons, only knows about a lot of the players who are in MyTeam because of his teenage son.
So let’s try to have some standards when it comes to opals. If they’re retired, then they should have been 5 time All-Stars; if they haven’t, dealer’s choice. Giannis and Kawhi have only been to 4 ASG’s but we know more are coming and they absolutely deserve opals.
Same with Moments. If a fringe guy like TJ Warren goes off like he’s doing in the Bubble, he should get an opal Moments card. He should NOT get an opal in a random Flash pack anytime else.
Based on the 5 All-Star rule for retirees, I’d also add that this would have to be post-1965. A guy who made 8 All-Star teams when the league was only a couple teams and the competition wasn’t the best due to prejudices of the era, wouldn’t qualify for an opal. But the following guys are in the game this year and all would have under my amended rule:
John Havlicek, Moses Malone, Bob Lanier, LaMarcus Aldridge, Dave Bing, Willis Reed, JoJo White, Walter Davis, Joe Dumars, Richie Guerin, Lou Hudson, Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Daugherty, Gail Goodrich, Tim Hardaway, Al Horford, Marques Johnson, Sam Jones, Sidney Moncrief, Rudy Tomjanovich, Wes Unseld, Paul Westphal and George McGinnis.
65 guys got opals that never went to an All-Star Game and these were the most offensive (excluding the Players Club ones which were clearly useless, basically ingratiating themselves to current role players). But the rest of these guys are role players at best and would be hard-pressed to even qualify for a pink diamond.
Alex Caruso, Anthony Edwards, Bol Bol, Cameron Reddish, Cole Anthony, Corey Maggette, Dino Radja, Eddy Curry, Gerald Green, Gheorghe Muresan, James Wiseman, Jaren Jackson Jr., Jason Williams, Jeremy Lin, John Collins, Jonathan Isaac, Kyle Kuzma, LaMelo Ball, Lance Stephenson, Larry Hughes, Michael Beasley, Michael Porter Jr., Mohamed Bamba, Nick Young, Nicolas Batum, Onyeka Okongwu, Patrick Beverley, RJ Hampton, Richard Jefferson, Stacey Augmon, Tacko Fall, Thon Maker, Tony Allen, Yi Jianlian.
You’ll see I included all the Next prospects. They shouldn’t be in the game at all. If you’re going to put the rookies into the prior year, what’s the point of the next version of the game? If they dropped Zion, Ja and RJ Barrett opals in 2K19, not much reason to rush into 2K20, is there?
UNREALISTIC OPAL ATTRIBUTES
We all know this one. Shaq shooting limitless 3’s being one example. Eddy Curry being anything other than wasted potential being another. If Shaq can have a 90 3-ball, why can’t John Stockton be 7 feet tall? They mess with every attribute/skill but leave the vitals untouched. So basically they’re putting a Shaq skin on a Stephen Curry player. If you buy Shaq, it’s because as a fan in real life you want to do Shaq things, not Curry things. If you buy Curry, you’re not expecting to score via skyhooks in the lane. Let the players be who they are, because as mentioned above with Earl Monroe, why license them if they’re not gonna be anything close to their real life counterpart?
Take that same Shaq and call it John Smith and people would still use it if it was that good, so why not do that? The reason is that they are relying on name recognition for the sales and it’s another bait and switch.
STATIC PRIZES
In September 2019, 300 MT on the TTO prize board can help. In June 2020, it does not. As the cards get better and more expensive the MT and token prizes should ascend in parallel. Not exactly a 1:1 ratio (the inflation can be a little more than the income but not that much more.) This includes the daily login prizes and the daily agenda. No one will be enticed to win a Domination game by 20 using 3 Heat players for 350 MT in June. They’d barely be enticed in November.
Speaking of prizes:
TTO BOARDS NOT FIXED AT HIGH WINS
No one wants to grind through win after win with crappy prizes, only to reach the final board model (Wins 8-10) and see crappy prizes there too, with 4 and 5 balls available to bounce around for 500 MT. Once someone gets to 12 wins in MTU they’re guaranteed a POTM, but once one reaches 10 wins in TTO they’re exposed to random rubbish that more often than not ends in disappointment.
Make Boards 8-10 have a floor of 500 MT as the lowest reward (in those blue side trays) and have guaranteed 10 tokens in the yellow middle trays and randomised good prizes in the two bottom green trays (packs/players/5k MT etc)
TOKEN REWARDS
Biggest disappointment for token hoarders was the rewards in the token market this year. When tokens debuted in 2K19, the prizes were spectacular and better or comparable to currently available cards. Therefore, those who grinded tokens hard could have a Base 11 James Worthy or Bob Pettit to flex with, or dominate with Wilt, Clyde, Vince, AI, Butler, Elgin, Mitch, Mikan, Embiid, McHale, Walt, Payton etc. HUGE and recognisable names. Multiple all-star selections for each one of those! Scalabrine was the only “undeserving” token reward. But the token reward opals had 14 big stars.
This year, other than the 3 at launch, every subsequent update posted lesser players (other than Tim Duncan). Admiral, Grant Hill and Penny were huge stars and set a precedent about the calibre of player to expect. Josh Smith, Richard Jefferson, Bol Bol, John Collins, Mo Bamba and Nicolas Batum were decidedly less so. The last update took forever and was the biggest disappointment with 7 new opals, none of whom were All-Stars other than Gilbert Arenas, who most people already had for free and weren’t wasting 750 tokens for a minor upgrade (i.e. his shot is the same and all he’s good for is his shot)
They threw tokens at us a lot more this year and gave us a lot less for them. Last year 14/15 NBA greats, this year 6/19 (Hill, Robinson, Penny, Duncan, Parker, Beal)
Last year, guaranteed GOAT for 1,750, this year 33% gamble to get a piece of a GOAT (Rashard for KAJ) for 1,000. This would be even more of a letdown if the token rewards weren’t so bad it made the gamble enticing.
MY TEAM UNLIMITED – STRESS AND SWEAT
Once a week there are two multiplayer challenges. Other than that, the only 5-on-5 competitive mode for online play is MTU. Due to the “all or nothing” design of 12-0, the play was anything but casual, with players using every devious tactic to win the game, culminating in the infamous lineup glitch that ultimately shut down MTU for weeks until 2K stepped in and banned people.
MyTeam is desperately in need of a mode that is both competitive and casual. Something along the lines of “Win 20 out of 30 games in a month” for 100 tokens or something like that (opals later in the year etc.) This would allow players to try different lineups and not stress over a single loss since they don’t need a 12 win streak to get the prize. MTU in its current incarnation can stay, but there needs to be a third multiplayer option.
There are so many variations and possibilities and the 20 in 30 is just one suggestion. Greater minds than mine can come up with others but specific lineup restrictions would be a great insertion for weekend events in the third mode (8 Celtics required, or 5 diamonds maximum or something).
ONLINE MATCHMAKING
Overall cheesing is a thing. We know this. Even the YouTubers across the Atlantic were doing it and as such, the disciples accepted this method as gospel and propagated it hard. Lower your overall by giving all the minutes to low level players and dominate with your one or two beasts like Giannis or Kareem.
This works. But it does nothing to promote parity and fairness for the opponent who is legitimately running an all-ruby/amethyst/diamond lineup because he just started and this is what he can afford. And he won’t be able to afford or even striving for more than this, because the first time someone in Dublin runs up on him with GO Giannis and blows through his entire team, he’s not going to get an upgrade to his rubies, amethysts and diamonds… he’s going to go play The Last Of Us II and delete NBA 2K20.
INSTANT TIMEOUTS
For offline play, one of the most annoying things is pressing the button for a timeout and having to view all the animation and coaches on the benches etc, when all you are doing is trying to instantly move your players fatigue’ from 64 to 70. There should be an option for an instant timeout that immediately raises stamina and has the guy ready to inbound the ball in less than 2 seconds.
TAKEOVER GUIDES
Tell us what we need to do to get Player X to get Takeover Y. The guesswork shouldn’t be part of it. If I have to boost his SWB to XX to get Slasher Takeover, I should know this, not have to experiment. If I need him to be Sharpshooter, what do I need to get his 3 point attribute to? If I want him to be Lockdown what’s the plan? Stop keeping this a secret!
JUMP BALL AFTER CHALLENGES (OFFLINE)
After winning a coach’s challenge, it goes to a center court jump ball. Problem is the camera is stuck on the coach’s expression and we can’t win the jump because the action starts before the camera switches back. Pretty big bug that a QA team should have identified. This occasionally, but rarely, also happens on inbounds, resulting in your pressing the inbound button and having it be intercepted.
ON-GROUND TIE-UP
When a ball is stolen and the thief falls to the ground exposing the ball, pressing X does not pass it, instead your player lies on his back, waiting on the opposing team to come and hold the ball, resulting in a jump ball. The only way out of this situation shouldn’t be calling timeout.
LAZY COMPOSITION OF CPU TEAMS
In most of the challenges, the CPU team is not going to have the 8th and 9th men on (for example) the 1979 Sonics title team. That’s fine. But this results in the starters playing minutes for the full game and showing no signs of fatigue at all. If the CPU doesn’t want to sub in John Brown #97, then the guys on the court should start missing shots because they’re tired. This is not only for historic teams. A team from last year (Brooklyn Nets) in Dwight Spotlight Game 16 has D’Angelo Russell play the full game of 7 minute quarters regardless of score.
AUCTION HOUSE ERRORS
This is clearly a direct result of their inadequate servers but the amount of errors when attempting to access the auction house, and the inability to set correct filters to see cards now posted at 4 hours, is a major hurdle for people using the auction house to increase their MT. They need more processing power to see the full range of cards posted and if they can’t? Well, maybe they have too many cards in the game…
These same auction house errors that result in a guy getting 300k for a 800k card because it disappeared after the first bid, leave VERY bad tastes in consumers’ mouths.
INABILITY TO SET A BENCH
In the minutes of team composition, you can set minutes for all your players. This is what should be used by the CPU if I use the quick in-game menu to select BENCH. There are 5 starters and 8 bench players. If I have minutes on only 5 bench players that all fit into one of the 5 positions, send them on when I click bench. I don’t want Shaq (who I have at Position #13 with no minutes set and on the team in case KAJ and Yao get into foul trouble or I need a bigger PF) coming in at center to back up KAJ when I set minutes for Yao on the bench.
The “Bench” option looks for the first person in your lineup to fill each spot, based on their highest level and THEN on a reverse alphabetical order by team. Therefore, if you have only 2 PG’s on your bench and one is Steph and the other is Giannis, they’re bringing in Steph when you click BENCH because the Warriors comes first (reverse alphabetically) before the Bucks (close to last.) Using the same example, if you had Giannis and Ben, it will take Giannis. Ben is the last PG because 76ers is last reverse alphabetically. Stupid and lazy.
INABILITY TO CHANGE IN-GAME ONLY SETTINGS IN THE PAUSE MENU
I’ll try to explain. In every game I crash both the offensive and defensive boards. This is available as an in-game option in the quick menu and as an option in the timeout menu, but not an option in the pause menu. I have to pause at the beginning of each game anyway to change defensive settings and I’d prefer to adjust ALL my settings there, including the Hawks 2018 Freelance I am running (not assigning the Hawks 2018 Freelance to a slot and then having to select it in-game)
All too often when the game actually starts, when you’re adjusting the in-game settings, the opponent will score on you. And in close MTU games this could be the difference between a victory and a loss
PASSING LANE STEALS
When I am passing to a player, one assumes in real life, since he’s running at an angle, he’s watching and waiting on the pass and should collect it if I have all the required HOF passing badges and attributes. What one does NOT assume, is that the defending player, who has his back to the play, can stick out his hand at the precise moment and collect the ball like a magnet. This is not realistic.
This also goes for the stupid CPU teammates who after I press the ball to pass, cut to the basket resulting in an interception because now there REALLY is an opponent facing me because the idiot teammate just ran behind him putting the opponent in a direct line between the passer and recipient.
CUSTOMISABLE CHARACTERS
I don’t know whose bright idea it was to take Dwight Howard’s Evo which represents his 16 year career and model it after his 1 year Lakers appearance with the spiked blonde hair. There should be an option for us to change the skins on our players, so two people could have the exact same LeBron card but one has a headband and wears #6 and the other doesn’t and wears #23.
Customisable skins are a staple in EVERY loot box game and I don’t know how 2K missed it. I don’t even care if they monetise it. I don’t mind paying 3k in endgame to change my Kareem from his GOAT look to a bald KAJ wearing goggles. As long as the monetising is not to change but to acquire the different skin (meaning I’m not paying 3k to change it back to its default, like the damn MyCareer haircuts in 2K19)
CITY COURTS
Currently only Brooklyn’s City Court (and maybe one or two others that I can’t recall) can be triggered by wearing the City uniforms. Only if it’s a home uniform does it work. As a Utah fan I’d like to get Utah’s city court. Every team that uses city courts pair them with their city jerseys even though they’re home and the jerseys are classified as “away”. 2K needs to bring these courts into MyTeam in the same manner that you can trigger them in MyCareer.
CUSTOMISABLE STATS – TOP RIGHT OF SCREEN
Currently it will show the Points, Assists and Rebounds of the player you are currently controlling along with useless grades (A- etc) in categories I don’t even remember because they’re useless to the point of amnesia.
These should be customisable. Get rid of the category grades and expand to steals, blocks and 3’s. Allow 6 stats and allow us to choose them. This is very important during evo’s. Sometimes you need a triple double with a PG and want to know how many steals you have without going to the box score.
TEAM SHOOTAROUND
This should not be limited to a selected team lineup. Since I am trying out/shooting around with one card at a time this should be selected directly from My Collection. This is particularly helpful when I get a new GOAT Giannis and want to try him out and then quickly change to OOP2 Giannis to compare shots, speed, sigs etc. I can’t load up two Gianni in the same lineup so to do this would involve leaving shootaround and coming back with another team that has the other Giannis. At this point there would be no point in comparing since I can’t remember the first Giannis from 5 minutes ago.
GALAXY OPAL PACK ODDS
There were odds floating around earlier in the year about percentages of pulling a particular tier. They have proven that to be poppycock because when the entire pack was guaranteed opals (like NIB), the majority of the players were pulling Jokic, Kemba etc and very few pulling the highly desired cards like Kawhi, Ben and AD. So the pack odds aren’t just different per tier, but different per player.
ABILITY TO CREATE LINEUPS FROM COLLECTION SCREEN
Oftentimes when searching through your collection, you may come across a player and say “yeah, I want to try him out”. There should be an option to press a button that says “Add To Lineup” which would bring up the lineup screen with the 8 teams, then you select the lineup and drop him on whoever you want to replace or into a new lineup if necessary, then when you press the back button it returns you to your previous screen where you were viewing your collection so you can put the next guy in via that method.
OFFLINE/ONLINE CARDS
For those who play offline only there should be a market for them to buy new cards directly with MT from the market. These cards would be offline ONLY. Online cards can be used for both, but offline is offline only.
For instance, Throwback Moments drops with GO Gerald Wallace and GO Greg Oden and D Wesley Johnson. I can buy offline unsellable versions of the opals for 5k and the diamond for 1,500k. I can not sell them back for those prices, because then I would be able to break even and use the reclaimed MT to shop for other cards on auction that I can use in both online/offline. If I buy them, they’re there for good. Like Reward cards. They also wouldn’t count to Collector Level.
It’s basically for collectors and historians. Online players don’t wanna use Xavier McDaniel in July anyway, so no one pulls the packs and he becomes rare enough to price himself out of an offline player’s budget. This way offline players can play with who they want.
CONCLUSION
All right. I think that’s it. I think I covered everything, but if I didn’t, please feel free to add anything in the comments.
Hopefully some dev or 2K employee reads this at some point and takes some of the points and incorporates into a future iteration.