Two years after Crown Resorts’ Melbourne property came under government review, and following the acquisition by Blackstone Group, the flagship casino has been deemed fit to retain its license and continue to operate, overcoming a difficult regulatory spell that necessitated strict government supervision because of breach of anti-money laundering laws.

VGCCC Pleased with Progress and Ongoing Efforts

Much of this is now in the past, with the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), a hardened regulator which emerged precisely because of omissions in the previous watchdog’s model, deeming the Crown Resorts property as suitable to carry on. The VGCCC allowed itself rare praise of the property, calling the “systematic failings” of Crown Melbourne a “thing of the past.”

But ongoing suitability will be significantly demonstrated by how Crown responds to instances of operational failure, not by their total absence.

VGCC chair Fran Thorn

VGCC chair Fran Thorn has spoken about the long process that the property and the regulator undertook to ensure that all regulatory benchmarks are met in full and conscientiously. Crown Resorts has confirmed that it will continue to work towards the betterment of its operations and achieving better sustainability.

“Over 10,000 pages of documentation have been submitted and 770 remediation activities have been delivered to our state regulators, fundamentally rebuilding our organization from the inside out,” Crown CEO Ciaran Carruthers said, indicating that the property has been actively working on clearing up its name.

Crown Resorts will also be paying $294 million worth of fines that have to do with the breaches of AML law, or some AU$450 million.

Too Big to Fail but Not Excused from Responsibility

Crown Melbourne is almost “too big to fail” as authorities seriously debated whether the property should lose its license altogether, but in the end, it was deemed that the adverse economic impact would only compound the matter. The property also remained vigilant over its name being misused by bad actors.

Crown Melbourne is the biggest private sector employer to operate out of a single location in the state, employing some 11,500 staff members, which gives it some bargaining leeway. Regardless, VGCCC’s attitude over the past two years suggested that the regulator would not have hesitated to pull the trigger if it had been forced to shutter the company’s license over non-compliance, however.

Recently, Crown Resorts conducted an internal investigation looking into alleged wrongdoings by CEO Carruthers who supposedly allowed patrons who were escorted out by security back in. These allegations proved false.

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Next-generation data-informed business-to-business provider of casino games aimed at disrupting the market with headquarters in Malta and Krakow, Kalamba Games, has announced the release of Blazing Spirit Hold and Win. 

The fresh 5×3 slot counts 25 pay lines and it is packed with animal symbols in light of its nature theme. The game follows the launch of Diamond Bounty 7s Hold and Win at the end of August after the introduction of Wilds From the Crypt at the start of the same month. 

Blazing Spirit Hold and Win Metrics Overview

• Reels: 5
• Rows: 3
• Paylines: 25 
• RTP: 96,62%
• Max win: –
• Bet: min: 0.5, max: 100
• Volatility: High 
• Release date: September 18, 2023

Bonuses and Personalized Gaming Experience via the Hyperbet Mechanic 

One of the main highlights of the new game that packs well-designed symbols of eagles, horses, and owls is the Hyperbet mechanic that allows players to customize their experiences and boost the chances of reaching the free spins round. This can be done by changing their original bet amount according to their needs. For even more enhanced replayability, the slot offers two more bonuses. 

To trigger the Hold and Win bonus, players must land a minimum of six Cashpots during the base game. The bonus offers three respins as a reward. Each new Cashpot that is seen landing will retrigger the spins. 

To further increase the win potential of the game, players must land at least four different jackpots. Players get an additional prize when they manage to completely fill up the reels with the same Hold and Win symbols.

A minimum of three scatter symbols are needed to trigger the free spins round. The round brings players 10 free spins. During the same round, one additional spin will be awarded for each new scatter seen landing on the grid. 

At the same time, all the low-paying symbols will be removed from the gameplay. The Hold and Win bonus can be triggered during the free spins round as well. Chief commercial officer and co-founder Alex Cohen commented on the two bonuses and players’ “ability to win one of these whilst already playing through a thrilling free spin round.” Cohen further called the Blazing Spirit Hold and Win slot one “full of surprises” while expressing confidence in engaging players with its fiery nature.

The game also offers wolf wild symbols and Cashpots featuring instant prizes tied to them. Players must land four or five symbols during the base game to receive their cumulative prize.  

At the end of July, Kalamba Games also announced it would join the provider to develop a crash game in the form of Deep Rush.

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The leading provider of games for the iGaming industry, Pragmatic Play, announced the release of its latest slot. On Monday, the company confirmed the launch of Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways, the 10th addition of its popular Big Bass series.

Slot fans familiar with the famous Big Bass franchise know that the games feature an evergreen fishing theme. The latest slot game follows that tradition but elevates further the thrill and excitement by bringing the Hold & Spinner feature.

Players of Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways will see standard 10 to Ace card symbols, along with fishing-themed symbols, including a fishing rod and a fishing tackle box, among others. The release of the new slot comes after earlier this month, Pragmatic Play unveiled Pub Kings, a Viking-themed slot game with 20 paylines, RTP of 96.08% and a maximum win of 5,000x.

Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways Metrics Overview

• Rows: 6
• Reels: 6
• Paylines: 147,456
• RTP: 96.07%
• Volatility: High
• Bet: Min/Max Bet: 0.20/250
• Max Win: 20,000x
• Release date: August 28, 2023

The Latest Slot Brings Engaging Features

Irina Cornides, Pragmatic Play’s chief operating officer, shared her excitement about the new Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways slot game. She revealed that the latest game from the popular franchise is the most thrilling within the series so far. Finally, Cornides said: “With an enhanced free spins round that introduces retriggers with multipliers for the first time, the gameplay is supercharged by the Hold & Spinner feature and the star power of Megaways to create plenty of opportunities for players to reel in big prizes.”

“It’s an honor to be able to introduce the tenth title in Pragmatic Play’s popular Big Bass franchise – and it’s an epic catch!“

Irina Cornides, chief operating officer at Pragmatic Play

Recently, Pragmatic Play forged a partnership with Super 7 in Mendoza, Argentina. Under the terms of a new content deal, the iGaming provider agreed to power the operator with games.

But what can the players of Big Bass Hold & Spinner Megaways expect? The game offers the popular tumbling mechanic that removes winning symbols from the reel, allowing new symbols to fall in their place, creating a potential for subsequent wins. This mechanic can be boosted further by the game’s Mystery symbols, granting a chance for even bigger payouts.

To access the free spins round, players need to land three or more Scatter symbols. The free spins game offers an extra feature that grants a chance for a multiplier of 2x, 3x and 10x to be awarded along with additional spins.

The highlight of the new game is the Hold & Spinner feature. Online players can access the feature by landing three or more Coin Money symbols. “These Coins lock to the grid, awarding three respins and adding the value of each subsequent Coin to the total win,” explains Pragmatic Play.

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A brand new 3 Oaks Gaming title has hit the market. The distinguished distributor, which is also behind titles such as Dragon Wealth, just announced the expansion of its beloved Hold and Win series with a new fairytale-themed slot game called More Magic Apple.

More Magic Apple Metrics

• Rows: 4
• Reels: 5
• Paylines: 25
• RTP: 95.57%
• Volatility: Medium-High
• Max win: 7,420x
• Min/Max bet: 0.20-30

A New Addition to the Magic Apple Series

As the title suggests, More Magic Apple is a sequel to the supplier’s famous Magic Apple slot game. The new title brings back familiar concepts while adding a plethora of new elements, allowing the game to stay fresh.

In a game of More Magic Apple, players will venture into a mythical forest. They will collect symbols of castles, magical apples and beloved fairytale characters.

The castle symbols serve as scatter symbols. Collecting three or more such symbols will trigger Free Spins mode. The forest will darken, the wild symbols will increase in price and the chances to win will increase as well. Collecting more castles will award extra free spins.

Collect Magical Apples to Win

Collecting magical apples can open the way to a very special bonus game where players can multiply their winnings and/or win one of four in-game jackpots. To access the bonus game, players need to collect six or more apple symbols in a single spin.

The title features the Hold and Win feature, which is activated during the bonus, an extra row will appear on top of the reels. The new row contains Plus, Multiplier and Gold Booster symbols that can greatly improve the prizes players earn.

The Plus modifier adds its value to all symbols underneath. The Multiplier, meanwhile, increases the value from its dedicated reel. Finally, the Gold Booster provides an upgrade to a Bonus symbol, making it easier to score big wins.

In addition, apple symbols stick to the reels during the Hold and Win game, making it easier to score winning combinations. In case a player fills all cells with apple symbols, their payout will be doubled.

Lucky Players Can Strike a Jackpot

In addition to everything else, More Magic Apple players can win one of four jackpots, ranging from a modest Mini jackpot to a Grand Jackpot of 5,000x the bet.

Sebastian Damian, 3 Oaks Gaming’s managing director commented on the release, saying that the new title fits perfectly into the company’s existing portfolio.

As ever with a Hold and Win slot, we have made significant, yet subtle, changes by adding a booster row to this title, giving players an awesome opportunity to boost winnings thanks to three different modifiers.

Sebastian Damian, MD, 3 Oaks Gaming

3 Oaks recently expanded its team, welcoming Yuriy Muratov as CBDO and Victoria Vashukevich as head of account management.

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