Fortune Ox

What is Fortune Ox?

Cleopatra’s Barge opened in September 1970 in what is now the Nobu Hotel tower, replacing the earlier Nero’s Nook lounge. The 180-seat lounge featured as its centerpiece a “floating” stage designed as a replica of the vessel aboard which the Egyptian queen is said to have bewitched Mark Antony.

The pleasure craft, installed in a shallow lagoon, featured a gold-painted, topless figurehead that extended far into the public walkway. Guests quickly turned rubbing the statue’s golden breasts for luck into a classic Vegas tradition; staff regularly repainted the most-touched areas.

Vital Vegas ranked the display No. 4 on his 2014 list of “10 Things You Can Rub for Good Luck in Las Vegas Without Getting Arrested,” a list that featured three other Caesars Palace entries: the hand of the Caesars statue (No. 1); Joe Louis’s boxing gloves (No. 8); and the toe of Michelangelo’s David replica (No. 9).

The barge itself never actually floated, by the way. That was just a myth. It sat on a fixed platform that created a mild rocking motion. That piece of Vegas engineering, like the statue’s original perch, is now history.

What is Fortune Ox?

Nikos Konstakis (pictured above), president of OpenBet, described the acquisition as “a natural extension” of the company’s ongoing strategy to serve operators in the most regulated and demanding markets. 

He emphasised lotteries were a pivotal focus area for future growth, saying they “remain the core focus of our growth strategy, and OmniLogic has built a strong reputation in this sector through long‑standing customer partnerships and a deep understanding of their requirements”.

Founded by Vicente Torrejón and Dávid Márk Gábor, OmniLogic has developed a reputation over more than a decade by delivering sportsbook technology to regulated lottery operators and members of the World Lottery Association (WLA).

What is Fortune Ox?

The DIA worked directly with class 4 gambling operators (commonly known as pokies trusts), and discovered ‘widespread issues’ such as cases where money that should have been available for community grants was instead spent on society expenses, such as the purchase of additional gaming machines.

Vicki Scott, the DIA’s director of gambling, said the investigation had delivered significant results, while stressing that work to improve compliance and ensure communities received their share of gambling proceeds would continue.

“Most operators have worked constructively with us to address historical issues and improve their practices,” Scott said.