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Teddy Sagi Offloads Entire Stake in Playtech

The Israeli billionaire has sold his entire stake in the gambling company as US activist investor has been urging Playtech to sever ties with its founder

Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi has sold out of his holding in online gaming provider Playtech, a company he founded himself nearly two decades ago.

Through a placement by Brickington Trading, Mr. Sagi has sold around 15.2 million ordinary shares, equivalent to 4.8% of the company. Brickington Trading is a wholly owned subsidiary of Globe Invest, a trust of which the Israeli billionaire is the sole beneficiary. With the latest sale of Playtech stock, Mr. Sagi has offloaded his entire holding in the online gambling company and has put an end to his involvement in it. He was quoted saying that he wishes Playtech “every success in the future”

Earlier this month, the businessman sold nearly 5 million shares, equivalent to 1.6% of the London-listed company’s issued capital.

Mr. Sagi founded Playtech in 1999. The company specializes in the provision of solutions for the online gambling industry. Playtech floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2006. Since its flotation, it has grown tremendously through acquisitions. The company currently employs more than 5,000 people and has offices in 17 countries. With estimated market cap of around £1.4 billion, Playtech is member of the FTSE 250.

The company has had a bit of a hard time lately as its shares have halved in price over the past year on the back of two profit warnings.

At a price of 450 pence per share, Mr. Sagi has collected the approximate amount of £68 million from the sale of his final 4.8% stake in the company. Prior to Playtech’s flotation, the businessman owned more than a half of the company. However, he has sold down his controlling stake in the company bit by bit over the past several years, saying that he wants to diversify his business portfolio and pursue new endeavors, primarily in the real estate and technology sectors.

Mr. Sagi has recycled the proceeds from the sale of Playtech shares to buy London’s Camden Market and Dutch developer of shared office spaces for startups and entrepreneurs Brack Capital, among others.

Investor Pressure

News about Mr. Sagi cutting ties with Playtech emerge shortly after The Times reported that American activist investor Jason Ader of SpringOwl Asset Management has penned a letter to the directors of the gambling technology giant to express his concerns about the Israeli businessman’s involvement.

According to Mr. Ader, Mr. Sagi’s colorful past, has had a negative impact on Playtech’s value and the company’s ambitions to expand to the United States. The activist investor has referred to the fact that Mr. Sagi was sentenced to prison in his homeland back in his early twenties on insider trading charges.

It emerged earlier this year that Mr. Ader has quietly built a 5% stake in Playtech. The investor is known for playing a key role in GVC Holdings’ acquisition of fellow online gambling operator bwin.party in 2016.

It is believed that Mr. Ader is now pressing for Playtech to dispose of its financial businesses and focus on its gaming operations. In previous comments on his involvement in the gaming tech company, the US investor has said that Mr. Sagi still being part of the company was “a negative” for it and that he did not have “a sense that the future of the company includes Teddy Sagi.”

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Nevada regulators approve deal with sportsbook operator

Nevada gambling regulators have approved a settlement with a troubled sportsbook operator that has admitted to taking unlawful bets and making inaccurate payouts. The Nevada ...

Sports Betting Arrives in Rhode Island in Historic Year for US Gambling Industry

Rhode Island becomes eighth state to offer legal sports wagering in an eventful week for the US betting industry

Sports betting is coming to Rhode Island starting Monday, November 26, at Twin River Casino in Lincoln. The state will thus become the nation’s eighth one to be offering legal sports gambling and New England’s first one in a landmark year for the US gambling industry.

The Rhode Island General Assembly enacted a sports betting law back in June, and legal wagering services were expected to commence by October. However, delays of different nature pushed back the start of sports betting to the end of November.

The announcement about the official start of sports betting in Rhode Island arrived as the latest big news in an eventful week for US sports betting. Pennsylvania’s first wagering facility opened doors a few days ago. A new sportsbook was launched in West Virginia, as well. The state’s first legal betting operations commenced in late August.

Twin River Casino officials have previously said that the property will begin offering sports betting to its customers around Thanksgiving. As it can be seen they have almost lived up to that promise.

Sports betting operations will commence at the casino at 3 pm local time on Monday, when House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, and Twin River Worldwide Holdings Chairman John Taylor Jr. will place a ceremonial first bet.

Wagering services will initially be provided at a temporary facility on the third floor of the casino complex. Officials have called that temporary facility Phase 1. Customers will be serviced there while the main sportsbook is under development.

At first, gambling customers will be able to place wagers on US-based games. International competitions such as English Premier League and other European leagues are expected to be added later. Patti Doyle, a spokeswoman for Twin River Casino, has also said that “more exotic” bets will also be available in the betting lounge at a later date.

Under Rhode Island’s newly adopted sports betting law, gamblers will only be able to wager at physical sportsbooks. Online and mobile betting were not included in the state’s sports gambling framework.

Estimated Economic Impact

According to estimates, the state will collect $11.5 million in tax revenue from sports betting through the end of the fiscal year on June 30. The above-mentioned amount is significantly less than the original projection for tax revenue of $23.5 million that was based on the previously announced October 1 launch of Twin River Casino’s sports betting operation. The state expects to get $27.3 million in tax revenue next fiscal year.

Under Rhode Island gambling laws, legal sports betting operations are taxed at 51% on betting revenue.

According to projections, Rhode Island’s two Twin River casinos will annually handle $814 million in wagers. Twin River Casino in Tiverton is expected to launch its sportsbook sometime in December. The Tiverton casino complex opened doors to the public on September 1. Aside from an 85,000-square-foot gaming floor, it also features an 84-room, three-story hotel, and multiple entertainment options.

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MGM, Wynn tamp down Boston casino intrigue

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Throwback: Phil Ivey vs Tom Dwan on Million-Dollar Pot

David Tuchman, who specializes in sports commentating for football and poker, recalls the awesome moments he witnessed as he commentated on a remarkable hand between Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan. It was in the Full Tilt Poker Million Dollar Cash Game around nine years ago that there were only three men, namely Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius battling it out at a poker table as midnight drew near. David Tuchman, renowned poker commentator, fondly described his personal experience about the [...]

Kevin Gerhart Wins Debut WSOP Circuit Gold Ring at Planet Hollywood

A Pot-Limit Omaha expert takes down the only PLO event on the schedule of the WSOP Circuit Planet Hollywood stop

Pot-Limit Omaha specialist Kevin Gerhart has won earlier this week his first WSOP Circuit gold ring by taking down namely a PLO tournament at Planet Hollywood. The player, who hails from Ohio but now resides in Las Vegas, emerged victorious in the $400 Pot-Limit Omaha Re-Entry for a cash prize of $10,493 and the gold piece.

The two-day tournament saw 106 entries register to create a prize pool of $34,980. The final 12 players received a share of that prize pool.

Gerhart was one of the four players who bagged chips at the end of Day 1 of the event to progress into its second day. The eventual winner had the third largest stack at the time Day 2 action kicked off. However, he told WSOP Circuit staff after his victory that he had had a feeling that it would be him and the start-of-the-day chip leader, Mesha Zakharov, who would play the heads-up. The two players indeed ran into each other at the tournament’s finale to determine who would take home the gold ring and the first-place prize. Zakharov was too going for his first gold ring from the series, but it was not meant for him this time and he had to settle for a second-place finish.

Pot-Limit Omaha Specialist

Pot-Limit Omaha is Gerhart’s favorite poker game and he has been playing it a lot over the past several years. The player told WSOP staff that he has been trying to play as many PLO tournaments as possible. He won a PLO tournament and finished runner-up in another one in the months prior to his victory at Planet Hollywood.

The player attributes his success in that particular game to his good feel for PLO as well as to the fact that most of his opponents are less experienced. Gerhart went on to say that it is much harder to find information on PLO than it is on No-Limit Hold’em.

Of his plans for the rest of the Planet Hollywood series, the brand new WSOP Circuit champion said that he had originally intended to play the Main Event over the weekend, but after his triumph, he decided to try to snatch a bit more points for the Casino Championship race by playing a few more tournaments. The player who accumulates the most points by the end of the stop will secure a seat into the season-ending $1 million guaranteed Global Casino Championship.

However, Gerhart will have to play No-Limit Hold’em tournaments until the end of the Planet Hollwood series, as its schedule does not include any other Pot-Limit Omaha events. It is to be seen how the player will cope and whether he is just as good in No-Limit Hold’em as he is in the poker game he loves so much.

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