Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING JUNE 2018 12 CHINESE ONLINE POKER and board game company Ourgame International Holdings Ltd – owner of the World Poker Tour and one of China’s leading poker application operators – has revealed that six employees of its subsidiary Beijing Lianzhong Co, Ltd have been detained by authorities in Henan Province for using the company’s platform to “engage in personal activities contrary to the SIX OURGAME EMPLOYEES ARRESTED AS CHINESE POKER APP CRACKDOWN GAINS STEAM Aristocrat spins big in 1H18 with 28.5% revenue surge Slot machine giant Aristocrat Leisure saw its revenue soar by 28.5% to AU$1.58 billion in the six months to 31 March 2018, driven by strong growth in the group’s Americas and digital business plus “further lift in performance” in the ANZ region. Continuing its upward momentum, Aristocrat also saw its operating revenue jump 33.6% to AU$1.64 billion, while EBITDA grew 28.9% to AU$642.9 million. Profit after tax increased 2.8% to AU$256.5 million, with NPATA growing 32.5% to AU$361.5 million. Discussing the results, CEO and Managing Director Trevor Croker said, “Aristocrat has delivered another period of strong growth and operational performance, built on outstanding talent, product, technology and improved front- end execution. “The strong 32% profit improvement over the six months to 31 March 2018 demonstrates the soundness of our strategy whilst highlighting our broadening ambition as we make substantial progress expanding our addressable market across both digital and land-based segments.” Aristocrat revealed that the number gambling laws of the PRC.” In a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Ourgame said that six employees had been arrested and are “subject to potential prosecution by the public security bureau of Henan Province.” However, the company was quick to distance itself from the individuals, adding, “None of these six individuals is a director of the company. The company has established a committee to look into this matter and engaged external PRC legal counsel to report to the relevant public security authorities regarding preliminary evidence found relating to such employees’ behavior. “To the extent that any authorities in Henan Province or elsewhere in China request the group’s cooperation, the group will cooperate fully with any such requests. Following their investigation of the situation, including discussions with the relevant authorities, the Company’s PRC legal counsel has opined that the purported illegal activities were related to the personal actions of the relevant individuals and do not involve any illegal actions on the part of the group.” The arrests of the six employees come just weeks after Chinese authorities announced that poker will no longer be recognized as a competitive sport and banned the promotion of Texas Hold’em via social media applications. of total daily active users on its digital platforms had increased six-fold in the period to 8.3 million, while American operations saw an AU$42.9 million improvement in post-tax profit.