Casino & Gaming International: Issue 28

2017 ISSUE 28

WELCOME ::

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Innovation Leads The Way Publisher Jamie Kean jkean@cgimagazine.com Client Services Director Tracie Birch tbirch@cgimagazine.com Editorial Assistant Harry Wainwright hwainwright@cgimagazine.com Production Designer Nancy Rae nrae@cgimagazine.com Circulation Manager Natasha Harvey nharvey@cgimagazine.com Commercial Director Daniel Lewis dlewis@cgimagazine.com Account Manager Nathan Charles ncharles@cgimagazine.com

Editorial Contributors Sarah Harrison, Melanie Ellis, Jocelyn Aqua & Alec Massey, Mor Weizer, Dean Montour, Aleš Gornjec, Pierre Le Marre, Peter Gortvai, Andrew Dagnall, Sabrina Solda, Valéry Bollier, Dr. Mark Griffiths

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he new year, undoubtedly, always seems to begin with a “what

does everyone have up their sleeves this year?” feel about it - and

as ever, organisations from around the globe will be presenting

their latest ideas, creations and innovations to the industry at this

years ICE Totally Gaming Expo in London which sees us also exhibiting as Official Media Partners of the show.

Our first association with ICE as Official Media Partners followed our initial

launch edition way back in 2005 and although the industry has undoubtedly changed a lot over the last 12 years, there will always be a need to be seen,

heard and listened to, and as a strictly editorially led publication, we look forward

to continuing our relationship with all of the commissions, associations,

governments, organisations and events that continue to support us all year

round, many of which have been with us from the very beginning.

And who better to open the publication than Sarah Harrison (Gambling

Commission) who gives us an up to date viewpoint on all things regulatory.

Melanie Ellis (Harris Hagan) gets out the crystal ball and takes a look at what

could be in store in the year ahead whilst Jocelyn Aqua & Alec Massey (PwC) take a look at ‘Internet of Things’ technology.

Mor Weizer (Playtech) joins us for a chat as we discuss the last ten years

since his appointment as CEO with the company, Dean Montour (Mohawk

Online) explains how the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake has brought gambling

into the modern age as an initiative for the benefit of the community of

Kahnawà:ke, whilst Aleš Gornjec (Comtrade Gaming) gives us an in-depth look at

intelligent technology.

Pierre Le Marre (Sure International) explains how security is achievable

through diversification, Peter Gortvai (Cashpoint), Andrew Dagnall (Bettorlogic)

and Sabrina Solda (BtoBet) offer their sportsbetting expertise, whilst Valéry Bollier discusses the arrival of Daily Fantasy Sports.

And finally, Dr. Mark Griffiths (Nottingham Trent University) provides us

with a detailed look at professional gambling, professional video gaming and

esports.

If you’re at ICE, why not come and say hello and pick up a copy of all of our

latest editions. You can find us on stand SD9-B. ISSN 2398-4252

© 2017 Danancy Media Limited. The opinion expressed in each article is the opinion of its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publisher. Any form of reproduction of any content in this publication without the written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited.

You can also connect with us via...

Jamie Kean, Publisher

The next edition (Issue 29) of CGi will be published on 20th April 2017.

CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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Game-Changing Technology

Behind every industry leader is an underlying technology that fuels its growth.

Comtrade Gaming's open software is not just a solution, but a customized response to specific online and land-based business needs. With a focus on operators, vendors and regulators, its objective is more freedom with less complexity.

Your business. Ahead of the game.

www.comtradegaming.com

ICE 2017 N4 - 340

CONTENTS ::

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33

13

17

FEATURES 7

ACCELERATING THE PACE OF CHANGE

13

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN THE YEAR AHEAD?

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BECOMING DATA RICH WHILE USING DATA RESPONSIBLY

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A DECADE OF CHANGE & AIMING TO STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME

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MOHAWKS PLACE A WINNING BET IN JERSEY

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THE MACHINES ARE COMING

Sarah Harrison, Gambling Commission

Melanie Ellis, Harris Hagan

Jocelyn Aqua & Alec Massey, PwC

Interview with Mor Weizer, Playtech

Dean Montour, Mohawk Online

Aleš Gornjec, Comtrade Gaming

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CONTENTS ::

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41

45

59

FEATURES 37

SecUritY throUgh diverSificAtion

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the poWer Behind A compliAnt, USer-centric SportSBook SolUtion

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Betting needS to keep pAce With the digitAl World

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BooSting plAYerS engAgement & loYAltY With A.i. & AUgmented reAlitY

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2016: the YeAr thAt dfS BecAme A threAt…And An opportUnitY

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the pSYchoSociAl impAct of profeSSionAl gAmBling, profeSSionAl video gAming & eSportS

pierre le marre, Sure international

peter gortvai, cashpoint group

Andrew dagnall, Bettorlogic

Sabrina Solda, BtoBet

valéry Bollier, oulalagames

dr. mark griffiths, nottingham trent University

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ACCELERATiNG THE pACE OF CHANGE I

Sarah Harrison chief executive gambling commission

n recent years the online sector has seen developments in technology transform both gambling and sport. With this transformation comes both new challenges and opportunities for the betting industry, how it is regulated and importantly, how consumers are treated. Here, I’d like to discuss why more can be done - more quickly - to put consumers at the heart of everything online operators do.

The remote gambling sector has continued to grow at a rapid pace, representing 33 per cent of Great Britain’s gambling market.

And whilst recent licence and code changes, enforcement action and compliance work are having an impact on how businesses are adapting to the growing needs of the rapidly increasing sector, the pace of change must also quicken.

There is no question that although much of the industry has already been moving in the right direction, a sharper, consistent focus on consumers is still needed.

We want the online sector in Great Britain to be home to the most trusted gambling operators in the world. Where competing with each other means providing the best service, as well as the best odds. Where effective complaints systems are driven by a recognition of the value of consumer feedback. Where licence and code obligations set the minimum benchmark and not an artificial cap on businesses reaching to improve and exceed these.

And where other sectors seek to emulate the customer service standards of your industry.

Ultimately, our vision is for gambling consumers in Britain to have trust and confidence. Not only in that will they get the best prices and the best user experience, but also in that they will be well informed; treated fairly at all times; and kept safe, in particular those who are vulnerable to the risks and reality of gambling-related harm.

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We want to see operators harnessing the same innovation and tools that are used to determine customer profitability, to drive customer protection. There are three areas for change that we want operators to focus on – social responsibility, treating customers fairly and money laundering.

Social responsibility There is no better way to demonstrate a drive to raising standards than through a genuine and public commitment to meeting, and going beyond, the relevant social responsibilities.

We want to be clear about what we are looking for from industry in this area. Clarity of purpose; is the work you are doing on social responsibility aimed at preventing harm or just dealing with it where it was already occurring? Evaluation; in terms of how the industry assesses the impact of measures and share findings. Added value; in terms of whether operators are doing the minimum, or taking their responsibilities further. Customer focus; are businesses considering every aspect of the customer journey? And transparency; are operators open in their dealings with consumers?

Social responsibility and industry actions in relation to these elements were a feature of the Government’s recent call for evidence under the new Gambling Review. This has also been a strong theme in the first year of Annual Assurance Statements

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that HIOs submitted to us. We would encourage operators to starting thinking about what are doing already, and what they could be doing keep up with the changing needs of the sector.

Treating customers fairly Fairness and transparency with players are increasingly important themes. In the past 12 months, we received over 40,000 emails from the public, and nearly 37,000 phone-calls from consumers.

This represents an increase of over 300 per cent on the last two years. The top four areas for consumer concern were around selfexclusion, withdrawal of customer funds, terms and conditions and advertising and marketing.

In each of these areas the theme of treating the customer fairly looms large. Many of these issues are now the subject of our joint work with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The first phase of this work – a CMA investigation using new powers under the Consumer Rights Act that looks into unfair terms and conditions offered by online gambling websites - is already underway.

Linked to this are issues of marketing and advertising, which is why this work with the CMA also includes other partner agencies such as the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Last year we wrote to major companies warning them about marketing and advertising practices following changes made to

REGULATORY ::

<< Fairness and transparency with players are increasingly important themes. In the past 12 months, we received over 40,000 emails from the public, and nearly 37,000 phone-calls from consumers. >> the Licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) last summer.

It’s been very positive to see so many businesses take action to bring their house in order. We will however continue to press on this, as part of the joint work with CMA and ASA, as well as independently, including taking enforcement action where required.

However, beyond almost 80,000 customer contacts with our call centre, around a further 8,000 thousand disputes have been registered with the relevant Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers. Many more complaints are made direct to operators – you will know how many your own customers make.

It is important that consumers have a clear route to redress when things go wrong. We have started a review of the ADR provision in the gambling sector to better understand how effectively consumer dispute have being dealt with. This work will include a review of current practices and requirements on operators to handle consumer complaints.

There is a clear opportunity here for the industry to take a lead. To build on best practice, engage with professional organisations, such as the Institute for Customer Service (who are working with us in our contact centre), and take the initiative to drive up standards in complaints handling and redress. We encourage online operators to seize this opportunity, working individually and collectively, including with trade bodies like the Remote Gambling Association (RGA).

Money laundering Money laundering has also been a significant area of challenge.

Dealing properly with the obligations to manage the risks of business being used for money laundering and terrorist financing is an essential part of reassuring the wider public that the gambling industry operates with integrity and can be trusted.

However, regardless of whether an online operator is subject to those regulations, you will still have duties and responsibilities under the Proceeds of Crime Act and it is important that you are and remain alive to managing the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. Here, we want to encourage the industry to specifically raise its game and be far more curious about the source of customer funds. We want businesses to move away from a leadership culture which puts commercial gain over compliance, and away from a strategy that involves waiting until the source of funds is proven to be illegal before acting.

Where to next?

There is no question that progress has been made. At operator level we have seen the development of harm reduction strategies and gambling management tools for consumers – both consumers who are gambling online and on machines.

At sector level we have seen leadership, for example by the RGA who are working on developing tools that will help operators meet their social responsibility requirements, such as ‘in-play’ messaging for session play limits. Self-exclusion schemes have also been rolled out across many gambling sectors.

“Know Your Customer” is a long and well established principle in gambling regulation, now is the time to take this to the next level. We are looking for online operators to step up the pace of change - in how complaints are handled; ensure advertising is clear; simplify terms and conditions; develop risk management strategies on money laundering; evaluate the impact of social responsibility initiatives - and, working across all these areas, the effective sharing of best practice.

We began a conversation with consumers following the launch of our consumer engagement plan last September. And whilst we have a long history of focusing on consumer needs and working in the wider public interest, we must all recognise that this is an industry that is rapidly changing, where the consumer experience changes as fast as the technologies that they use. We need to, together, ensure that the industry is well equipped to meet the changing needs of sector both now and in the future. :: CGi

SARAH HARRiSON

Sarah became Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission on 1 October 2015.

Prior to joining the Commission, Sarah had worked at Ofgem since 2000 with her last position as a Senior Partner leading the Sustainable Development Division and before that as Managing Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications Director.

Before joining Ofgem, Sarah was the first Chief Executive of ICSTIS, the UK industry regulator for premium rate telephone services. Her earlier career was in public relations consultancy.

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WHAT CAN WE EXPECT IN THE YEAR AHEAD? A

2017?

Melanie Ellis Senior Associate Harris Hagan

t the start of a new year it is always tempting to speculate about what the future might hold and indulge in a little crystal ball gazing - so what can we expect from gambling regulation in Great Britain in

Greater Scrutiny and Higher Regulatory Penalties From the Gambling Commission It is now over two years since Great Britain introduced a “point of consumption” licensing regime. Now that online operators have begun to settle into being licensed and regulated in this jurisdiction, the Gambling Commission has issued a strong call to its licensees to raise their standards, in particular by putting customers at the heart of what they do. This applies not just to new Commission licensees in the online sector, but to longstanding land based licensees as well. It would not be surprising to see another high profile public statement this year, in respect of social responsibility and/or anti-money laundering failings by a large operator. Hopefully, however, by taking the Commission’s call to action to heart operators will be able to head off this possibility.

In November 2016, Sarah Harrison (Chief Executive of the Commission) warned of “the likelihood of higher penalties going forward, in particular where we see systemic and repeated failings”. She also made clear that operators who have previously been warned may not be treated leniently a second time. To put the change of approach into effect, the Commission is expected to begin a review of its Licensing, Compliance and Enforcement policy statement, with a view to removing the current bias towards voluntary settlements rather than regulatory sanctions.

This will begin with a consultation, due to be released in January.

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operators that the Commission does plan to offer discounts on financial penalties for those reaching an early agreement with the Commission.

Review of maximum stakes on FOBTs The (often emotive) debate around Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals continues to dominate the betting industry. At the end of 2016, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport ran a call for evidence in relation to its Triennial Review of Gaming Machines and Social Responsibility Measures. This Review will take place during 2017.

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Some form of action in relation to FOBTs is likely to be recommended following the review and a key area of consideration is whether maximum stakes on FOBT machines should be reduced from the current £100. The decision on this critical point ought to be entirely evidence based, but unfortunately it is just as likely to be a political decision and the outcome is, therefore, impossible to predict.

Tightening restrictions on advertising The DCMS Review mentioned above will also consider evidence in relation to gambling advertising. It has been reported, although

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<< It has been reported, although not officially stated by the Government, that serious consideration is being given to restricting all gambling advertising to after the 9pm watershed. >> not officially stated by the Government, that serious consideration is being given to restricting all gambling advertising to after the 9pm watershed. This would mean removing the exceptions which enable bingo to be advertised before the watershed and sports betting around coverage of sporting events.

The window for respondents to the call for evidence was short, and it is difficult to predict whether any evidence will have been submitted which would persuade the Government to take this step. However, it would be surprising if some form of additional restriction on advertising were not imposed, again given the political pressure to do so.

Some clarity on regulating eSports There is no doubt that eSports will continue to grow in popularity in 2017, both in terms of those taking part in competitions and those betting on their outcome. Following receipt of responses to its Discussion Paper on “Virtual currencies, eSports and social gaming” the Commission is likely to publish a position paper and/or guidance note on these issues in the first half of 2017. This will almost certainly conclude that products offering betting on eSports to customers located in Great Britain require a remote betting operating licence, whether bets can be placed in real money or a virtual currency which is capable of being exchanged for real money.

In relation to operators offering customers the opportunity to take part in an eSport for prizes, the Commission’s conclusion is likely to be that the licence requirement depends on the nature of the eSport in question, in particular the extent to which it includes an element of chance. This will inevitably leave some operators remaining unsure as to whether they should hold a licence from the Commission, but the Commission will be reluctant to set one rule which applies to such a wide variety of products.

Clarity on the licence requirements of eSports products presents an opportunity for those already holding the required licences, who are well placed to capitalise on the growing popularity of these products.

CJEU to rule on Gibraltar tax case The Court of Justice for the European Union is currently considering Gibraltar’s case regarding the UK’s decision to impose a 15% point of consumption tax on all gambling revenue from UK residents, and a decision should be forthcoming at some point

this year. The CJEU’s ruling on this point will provide some clarity on the vexed question of Gibraltar’s status within the UK and the EU, as well as whether the UK government is entitled to impose a tax on operators based in other member states.

And finally…

This article would not be complete without a mention of the “B” word. Article 50 will almost certainly be triggered by the end of 2017, if it does not happen in March as promised by Theresa May. This still leaves Britain’s departure from the European Union two years off, so online operators licensed in Great Britain can continue to enjoy the (admittedly limited) benefits of being part of an EU jurisdiction – such as the ability to argue that they have the freedom to provide their services to customers located in member states whose gambling regimes have been held to be in contravention of EU law. These benefits are, in any event, being eroded by the introduction of EU law compliant point of consumption licensing regimes. The impact of Brexit on gambling operators may, in reality, be limited to the results of a potential general economic downturn and further devaluing of the pound.

2017 promises to be another eventful year, both for the gambling industry and more generally. In general, regulation appears to be tightening which can present challenges for operators, but also opportunities to meet requirements in innovative ways and stand out from the competition. So here’s wishing you a successful and prosperous year, may you continue to live in interesting times... :: CGi MELANiE ELLiS

Melanie Ellis is a senior associate in the gambling law team at Harris Hagan. After graduating from St Hilda's College, Oxford in 2003, Melanie trained as a barrister before joining Harris Hagan in 2005 and qualifying as a solicitor in 2008.

Melanie has developed expertise in dealing with all aspects of gambling law advising major casino operators, online betting and gaming operators and start up companies. She has advised on establishing operations in the UK and in offshore jurisdictions, on issues relating to advertising in the UK, on lotteries and prize competitions and 'due diligence' on the licensing aspects of corporate acquisitions. She regularly contributes to gaming law publications.

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BECOMiNG dATA RiCH WHiLE USiNG dATA RESpONSiBLY

Jocelyn Aqua

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Jocelyn Aqua & Alec Massey pwc

he Internet of Things is Poised to Transform the Gaming and Hospitality Sectors—Businesses That Integrate Security and Privacy Protections Will Have an Advantage.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term used to describe both the interconnection of physical devices containing sensors and the ambient data generated by them. IoT-enabled devices transmit and receive data to provide gaming and hospitality businesses with detailed, accurate and timely information about patrons and premises. Sensors can be deployed to measure nearly everything from the number of people in an area of a room to the quality of the air. Some sensors, depending on the device and its purpose, have the potential to gather and transmit personal information about a specific individual or information that can later be used to identify specific individuals. This data can be collected and analysed, including in real-time, to generate value by improving operational and compliance-related decisionmaking, enhancing customer service, and boosting business performance. Simply put, IoT advancements will better enable casinos and hotels to gain personalized insight about customers, which will allow them to serve those customers more effectively.

As IoT technology becomes increasingly ubiquitous, the gaming and hospitality sectors are poised to profit greatly from IoT products and services. Although these benefits will make IoT a disruptive economic force in 2017, those who invest in and utilize IoT will need to address the security and privacy risks associated with collecting, storing and using data flows of personal information acquired from the use of IoT-enabled devices.

A New Paradigm for Patron Data Data continues to be increasingly valuable to gaming and

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hospitality companies, and some IoT pilot programs are starting to demonstrate this value by improving the customer experience, providing new insights into customer behaviours, or lowering operating costs. For example, some casinos and hotels are using beacons to track patron movements on properties, adding smart sensors in the rooms, and, as evidenced by one high-end resort, deploying in-room virtual assistants to attract customers by improving the quality of their customized room experience.

Although IoT is still a relatively new phenomenon, these initiatives signal an accelerating trend towards IoT investment to elevate performance and meet growing expectations for enhanced, more personalized services.

As casinos and hotels look for ways to improve their businesses with IoT technology, they should consider opportunities such as the following: In-Room Improvements: Properties can use sensor technology combined with established customer preferences to allow properties to tailor the in-room experience for each customer, enabling pre-set controls of, among other things, room lights, temperature, curtains and television. Technologies that signal the presence or absence of a patron can be used to lower energy costs by turning off room lights when customers are not present.

Targeted Marketing: Facial recognition and radio frequency (RF) technologies allow for improved understanding of a patron’s activities on premise in order to better understand movement patterns, customer likes and dislikes, and where specific customers spend time on the property (e.g., on gaming floor, in retail shops, in restaurants, at other various amenities.) With such granular information, casinos can improve their offerings as well as their ability to recognize their best and most profitable patrons and increase the effectiveness of marketing and rewards programs.

Anti-Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing Compliance: Properties can leverage recent advances in video technology, including certain facial identifying information, to capture and analyse patron transactions. These capabilities have significant anti-money laundering (AML)/ Title 31 implications for the industry, which traditionally has struggled to monitor the play and behaviours of hundreds of patrons simultaneously on their gaming floors. A December 2016 decennial evaluation of antimoney laundering and anti-terror financing activities in the United States by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body, recently reported huge improvements in compliance with regulatory and federal reporting obligations by the casino and gaming industry. However, FATF noted that improvements in detection and information sharing must be a key industry priority moving forward.1 Responsible Gaming: Casinos can improve enforcement of gaming restrictions on banned or self-excluded patrons by using IoT-enabled facial recognition technology that improve casinos’ abilities to identify individuals and alert security when banned patrons make gaming transactions. Stronger responsible gaming practices often are viewed by the industry as a prerequisite to further expansion of gaming in the United States.

Security and Privacy Implications These opportunities to become data rich have the potential to generate significant business value. However, when the collection

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and use of IoT data includes personal information about customers, including information that identifies a specific individual or information that can be subsequently linked to identify a specific individual, businesses must consider the data privacy and security risks associated with processing this information. In the United States, state and federal governments are increasingly attuned to security and privacy risks from businesses that acquire such “personally identifiable information” (PII) about customers without consideration of the laws and regulations relevant to its collection, storage and use.

Some state and federal laws limit the online collection of certain sensitive personal information such as biometric information (Texas, Illinois) and the personal information of children (e.g., Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)) and these may apply to data collected by casinos and hotels.

Generally, however, the security and privacy of personal information stored online is regulated pursuant to state and federal consumer protection and safety regulations. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plays a primary role in regulating information privacy and data security, using its broad authority to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive trade practices. The FTC (and comparable state agencies) bring regulatory actions against companies that violate specific data protection laws; collect, store or use personal information in ways that are not transparent to consumers, are unfair, or diverge from stated

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governance programs that can be tailored to address emerging security and privacy needs resulting from new data collections or uses, minimize risk, and leverage value from this data.5

Company Considerations Gaming and hospitality companies should not miss out on opportunities to use data in innovative ways, and those that implement IoT solutions while managing privacy and security risks associated with handling personal information can improve customer relations, increase business performance and advance regulatory compliance. Businesses should weigh privacy and security risk on a sliding scale, balancing reasonable privacy and security practices with the level of sensitive personal information being collected, stored and used. As the sensitivity of personal data increases, the privacy and security controls should be more rigorous and the purpose for collection more substantial.

Privacy and security risks associated with IoT devices can be challenging. Some IoT-enabled devices have been introduced into the marketplace with little security, and malicious actors can take advantage of these vulnerabilities to enable unauthorized access and misuse of personal information, or to facilitate attacks on other systems. Failure to secure personal information, which results in harm to consumers, can subject businesses to state and federal litigation, or regulatory enforcement actions in the United States and abroad. Similar risks can occur for companies that enable the collection or use of personal information in ways considered to be “unfair” or “deceptive.” The following recommendations can serve to balance this risk when assessing new IoT opportunities:

practice; or fail to maintain strong data security practices. When considering data collected by new technologies such as IoT, the FTC will also consider the widely-accepted concepts regarding fair information practice principles discussed below, and industry best practices.

The FTC published a seminal report in 2015, “Internet of Things, Privacy and Security in a Connected World,” which recommends best practices for IoT related to data security and privacy based on long-standing privacy principles for evaluating programs that affect individual privacy.2 Other guidance relevant to IoT includes best practices and recommendations related to privacy and facial recognition technology, artificial intelligence, and securing IoT devices.3 More recently, in January 2017, the Online Trust Alliance, with input from over 100 stakeholders, including manufacturers, developers, vendors, consumers and policymakers, updated its best practices and voluntary code of conduct related to security and privacy of connected technologies (IoT Trust Framework).4 The Framework provides recommendations to address security and privacy risks of devices, supporting applications, and related backend or cloud services for the entirety of their IoT lifecycle. Although the lack of comprehensive, prescriptive legal and regulatory requirements creates some ambiguity for businesses trying to maintain adequate and responsible data privacy and security standards, it also affords companies the opportunity to establish data-use

Data Security and Integrity: Businesses should implement strong data security controls for devices, their related applications and any backend cloud services, with increased protections commensurate with the sensitivity of personal information being acquired. For example, devices that collect sensitive PII, such as biometric data, should have greater security controls than smart thermostats, although even thermostats have the potential to reveal information about individuals such as when a home is occupied. Security controls should be implemented during the design of any IoT infrastructure or the acquisition of IoT services, and should ensure that personal information is secure in transit to and from a device, in storage online, and when it is shared with third parties. Devices should remain secure even when they are no longer in service to prevent unauthorized access to personal information. Businesses that rely on third-parties to process personal information should ensure that they have equivalent data security standards. Security safeguards should also include appropriate identity and access management protocols to prevent both internal and external unauthorized access to data.

In addition to data security, companies should take steps to ensure the integrity and quality of the data collected.

Transparency, Notice, and Choice: Businesses should be transparent about collection, storage and use of personal information and should offer clear and conspicuous notice online and at a premises where IoT technology that is collecting PII is being employed. This may include signs that clearly identify the presence of video collection as well as instructions on where to find more information regarding the company’s purpose for

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collecting such data, their data retention policy, and deidentification practices. Providing consumers with choice is particularly important when collecting sensitive PII, although businesses are not generally responsible for providing consumers with choice options where the collection or use of data aligns with reasonable consumer expectations. For example, use of video surveillance is expected on a casino floor or at an ATM. Further, data that is not PII and cannot be used to identify a specific individual does not require the same level of notice or choice.

When a business increases its collection or use of personal information, it should provide notice of its changed practice.

Additionally, consumers generally should be given a means to inform businesses when information about them is inaccurate and needs to be corrected.

Data Usage and Minimization: Businesses should consider the type of personal information required for business needs and should limit its collection, storage and use of such information to intended objectives. When considering new means to leverage data, businesses should, at the outset, consider how personal information will be used and assess methods for minimizing collection or use of unnecessary PII. Some PII collected may be retained and used as effectively in a de-identified format. This protects individuals and limits the exposure of the company.

Businesses should assess whether new data uses of PII diverge from current stated practice, or would be considered appropriate or fair to most consumers (and their regulators). For example, decisions to employ facial recognition technology to meet federal regulatory AML and terrorist financing reporting requirements may be considered more acceptable than for broad marketing purposes. Businesses should also establish and maintain appropriate retention and disposal practices for personal information when it is no longer being used.

Foreign laws or regulations: Businesses must also be mindful of the possible application of foreign law, which may be triggered depending on the location where personal information is stored or the type of information collected. For instance, a new European general data protection regulation (GDPR) will come into effect in May 2018 concerning the protection of personal data, including employee data and customer data.6 The law will apply directly in all 28 Member States of the European Union (EU) and in countries within the European Economic Area (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), and will have extraterritorial application for businesses that have significant involvement in the processing of EU personal data. Many casinos and hotels may be particularly susceptible to the arduous requirements (and significant financial penalties) of the GDPR based on their international footprint. Additionally, data security and privacy laws recently have been written or updated in several countries in Asia and South America, and may be relevant to businesses that are acquiring personal information through IoT services and storing such data in those regions. If applicable, hospitality and gaming businesses will need to consider the privacy and security requirements for transferring personal information to the United States, and may need to adopt certification frameworks to cover these data flows, such as the EU/U.S. Privacy Shield, the APEC Privacy Framework, or other contractual arrangements that adopt foreign data privacy and security requirements.

Businesses that have established enterprise-wide privacy and

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security controls are better able to apply them quickly when introducing new IoT-enabled capabilities and are more effective at moderating privacy and security risks. By integrating privacy and security considerations though a data-use governance framework, businesses should be able to take advantage of new analytic capabilities to safely monetize data and become “data rich.” :: CGi Footnotes 1) http://www.fatf gafi.org/publications/mutualevaluations/documents/mer-united-states-2016.html 2) https://www.oftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/federaltrade-commission-staff-report-november-2013-workshop-entitled-internet-things-privacy/150127iotrpt.pdf 3) https://www.ntia.doc.gov/files/ntia/publications/privacy_ best_practices_recommendations_for_commercial_use_of_facial_reco gnition.pdf ; https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/pdf0205-startwithsecurity.pdf; https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Strategic_Principles_for_Securing_the_Internet_ of_Things-2016-1115-FINAL_v2-dg11.pdf 4) https://otalliance.org/initiatives/internet-things; http://otalliance.actonsoftware.com/acton/attachment/6361/f008e/1/-/-/-/-/IoT%20Framework%20Resource%20Guide.pdf 5) http://www.pwc.com/us/en/increasing-it-effectiveness/publications/creating-business-value-with-data-usage.html; http://www.pwc.com/us/en/increasing-it-effectiveness/publications/assets/pwc-leveraging-data.pdf 6) http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/files/regulation_oj_en.pdf

JOCELYN AQUA & ALEC MASSEY

Jocelyn Aqua is a Principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and focuses companies on the intersection of privacy, cybersecurity and regulatory risk in the emerging technology sector. Jocelyn joined PwC with over 20 years of public and private sector experience, including 15 years with the Department of Justice (DOJ), where she held a number of senior level policy and enforcement positions, most recently as Senior Component Official for Privacy, National Security Division (NSD) for which she was responsible for reviewing NSD data systems to ensure compliance with federal data privacy and cybersecurity requirements, and represented DOJ in negotiations with the EU on data protection and information sharing. Jocelyn is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/G).

Alec Massey is a lead director in PwC’s Risk and Regulatory consulting practice for hospitality, gaming, and leisure clients. He has 14 years of experience advising clients in these sectors on the strategic, operational, financial, and regulatory risks impacting their businesses and has authored papers on a diverse set of topics including Games of Skill, gaming’s evolving regulatory landscape, iGaming’s fight against money laundering, and the travel industry in Cuba.

CEO iNTERViEW ::

A dECAdE OF CHANGE & AiMiNG TO STAY AHEAd OF THE GAME W

e are delighted to welcome one of the longest serving CEOs in the industry, Mor Weizer of Playtech, who in 2017 will be celebrating 10 years at the helm of Playtech.

CGi: Mor, thank you for joining us. Before we look back over the last 10 years, how would you describe the last 12 months?

MW: The business continues to go from strength-to-strength with strong progress in our primary gaming division with new licensees and renewals securing future growth and our financials division positioned for sustainable growth. This, coupled with the continued implementation of our M&A strategy with the acquisitions of BGT, Quickspin and ECM this year means we remain confident of strong growth in the short and longer term.

interview with Mor Weizer ceo playtech

CGi: How has the industry changed in the decade you have been CEO?

MW: The industry is one of the most dynamic and fastest changing sectors there is, but I would say that the two biggest factors have been regulation and technology, both of which change at an increasingly fast pace. Keeping up and anticipating trends in technology while innovating and also doing the same when it comes to regulation is key from our perspective. In technology terms, for example, the way games and gaming products are created, delivered and distributed has changed enormously in the last decade, particularly with the huge surge in mobile and app usage. This process is speeding up and becoming easier and more efficient every year and we are at the forefront of delivering that software, content and services CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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:: CEO iNTERViEW

<< Our challenge is always to grow our revenues and footprint across all products while at the same time maintaining the high standards we set ourselves in terms of working closely with our licensees to offer them the best products and deliver even better results year-on-year. >> to our licensees in order for them to remain competitive and differentiate as much as possible. In regulatory terms the shift away from dot.com to regulated markets has meant a tougher and more competitive marketplace, but equally one that is far safer and better served for consumers.

CGi: How would you describe the M&A activity taking place?

MW: The market has, and continues to, consolidate as it matures and as regulation and countries regulate their own regimes and implement their own taxation frameworks making it less cost effective and harder for smaller players to operate and compete. On the flipside, as leaders in regulated markets, this is a big opportunity for Playtech to continue to innovate and lead in established and maturing countries as well as expand into those that are regulating or soon-to-be regulating.

Our M&A strategy has always remained the same and we continue to implement it in the same manner. We identify and acquire the best and most innovative companies we feel will enhance the group and our overall offering and proposition.

This year we have acquired Quickspin; one of the most innovative and exciting games manufacturers there is, BGT; the leading self-service sports betting terminals and sports software company and ECM; one of the best bingo suppliers. Each acquisition will further improve and strengthen our already best0in-class Omi-channel offering.

CGi: Tell us more about the acquisition of ECM Systems?

MW: ECM is the UK’s leading supplier of specialist hardware, software and support for the retail bingo industry, including major operators Gala Leisure, Mecca Bingo and the leading independent bingo operators. It has a leading position within the bingo hall sector, including its extensive range of handheld devices that enable players to enjoy a digital experience within a familiar retail environment.

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The acquisition is a significant step towards strengthening and expanding our Playtech ONE Omni-channel offering within the bingo sector and builds on our already leading position in the market including the UK’s largest bingo network and largest selection of best-performing Omni-channel content, promotions and jackpots and enables us to provide Omnichannel solutions to operators by connecting their retail and online operations as well as providing a platform to supply Playtech content all using one customer account and one wallet.

CGi: What does the Ladbrokes and Coral merger mean to the business?

MW: We supply both operators and continue to deliver groundbreaking, best performing Omni-channel technology and results for them across their retail estates and online and mobile offerings. The proof is in their annual and quarterly results which continue to perform above expectations and show positive signs of continued growth.

The merger only serves to strengthen the already fantastic and well-established relationship we have with the management team there and you can expect to see further growth and product extensions as time goes on.

CGi: Casino makes up a large section of Playtech’s revenue, do you expect this to continue?

MW: Casino remains a core part of our offering across the network, in platform and smart, BI-enabled casino software and technology and innovation, games content creation, deployment, delivery and distribution. However, we have an extensive offering of diversified products not just in the gaming market but also now in financial trading and we believe that the changes and improvements we have made to this division of the business will lead to further, sustainable, long-term growth.

CEO iNTERViEW ::

CGi: Playtech has launched a number of network promotions in 2016. How have they gone?

MW: They’ve been a great success and our licensees have hugely benefited from them.

We launched two £250,000 giveaways with the last one going live on 12th December and running for 21 days across the festive period.

At the beginning of this year we announced our partnership with Warner Bros. Consumer Products for DC branded content, including 1960’s Batman Classic TV Series, Superman I (1978), Superman II (1980), Green Lantern (2011) and Man of Steel (2013). The promotion is showcased some of the spectacular Super Hero slot games and present players with the opportunity to win some gigantic cash sums.

The massive giveaway follows the success of our Age of the Gods™ network promotion in June this year, which was launched to coincide with the company’s legendary series of progressive jackpot slot titles.

Batman & The Joker Jewels and Batman & Catwoman Cash were the first two titles in the Super Hero slot game series to be launched, where players help the Caped Crusader take on two of Gotham City’s toughest Super-Villains. The two slots boast eye-popping artwork, classic footage and catchphrases from the iconic 1960’s Batman Classic TV Series.

In both games, and in every DC branded title, players can also trigger one of four progressive DC Super Heroes Jackpots on any spin, including the mega DC Super Heroes progressive jackpot game that is linked to every slot in the spectacular series.

CGi: What are the biggest challenges Playtech has faced over the last year?

MW: Our challenge is always to grow our revenues and footprint across all products while at the same time maintaining the high standards we set ourselves in terms of working closely with our licensees to offer them the best products and deliver even better results year-on-year.

CGi: Playtech is the pioneer of Omni-channel gaming – what is the future of Omni-channel?

MW: Players increasingly consume their games across multiple channels and devices and at whatever time of day or night.

Their expectations of ease of use and of seamless gameplay no matter where, when or on what they are playing is higher than ever. Add to this the fact that they require more on-demand personalisation, recommendations and instant access to their favourite products and games and we can see that Omnichannel delivery will only become more prevalent and important in the years to come. We have pioneered this approach and continue to invest and deploy innovative solutions for our licensees.

CGi: How big a challenge is recruitment?

MW: Recruitment and finding the best talent possible is always a challenge, especially when we have so many offices in such

diverse parts of the world. We are, however, very fortunate to have some of the best experts who have been with us for many years and that are hungrier than ever to develop market leading technology for our growing network of global licensees.

BGT founder Dr Armin Sageder has been appointed CEO of our new Playtech BGT Sports division. This brings together Playtech Sports companies BGT, Geneity, Mobenga, Unilogic and Playtech’s internal Sports Trading team and contains more than 600 employees based in Nicosia, Malmö, Vienna, London, Bremen and Sofia.

Headquartered in Cyprus, Armin will assume responsibility for all of Playtech BGT Sports’ business and customer relations and establish and lead a team to manage the division.

Playtech BGT Sports’ vision is to create a fully integrated, best-in-class sports betting technology solution by drawing on the overall business’s expertise and capabilities, together with a tailored, managed service proposition to suit any bespoke customer requirements.

It will provide a one-stop-shop betting offering based on Playtech’s innovative and unique Omni-channel platform technology. The platform will provide customers with a seamless betting experience across all channels and devices including over-the-counter, Self-Service Betting Terminals (SSBTs), online and mobile. Moreover, Playtech BGT Sports will cater for differentiated sports betting solutions for both anonymous and registered customers across retail and digital channels.

The combination of Playtech’s ‘brick to click’ strategy, delivering a true Omni-channel experience, and leveraging Playtech’s industry-leading IMS management solution, will result in the company delivering the industry’s leading, cuttingedge sports offering and experience for its global licensees and their players.

CGi: How do successful companies in the gaming industry distinguish themselves from their competition?

MW: We strive to always lead, be the best and grow, but this must be done in the right way. Commercial success is not only about growing our business, but also about the way we do business. We do this in a responsible and measured way, and consider our licensees and their customers at every step of the journey. It is excellence in these areas that sets businesses apart and maintains their position at the top. :: CGi

MOR WEiZER

Mr. Mor Weizer serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Playtech Inc. and has been the Chief Executive Officer of Playtech plc since 2007. Mr. Weizer has considerable international sales and management experience in a hi-tech environment and extensive knowledge of the online gambling industry. Previously he served as the CEO of one of Playtech's subsidiaries, Techplay Marketing Ltd which oversaw licensee relationship management, product management for new licensees and the group's marketing activities.

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OpERATOR’S ViEWpOiNT ::

MOHAWkS pLACE A WiNNiNG BET iN JERSEY T

here are three thousand miles of ocean between the Channel Island of Jersey and Kahnawà:ke, the Mohawk Community in Canada which I’m proud to call to home. Yet a transatlantic partnership has been forged across that distance that both empowers my community and provides jobs and revenue to the people of Jersey.

dean Montour ceo mohawk online

Kahnawà:ke Let me begin by telling you something about my Community.

Kahnawà:ke is one of five Mohawk territories located in Eastern Canada and the State of New York. With 9,000 residents living in 19.5 square miles just 15 minutes’ drive from downtown Montréal, Kahnawà:ke has the third-largest population of any indigenous territory in Canada. Kahnawà:ke’s governing body, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke, is widely recognised to be a progressive, urbanised, leader in asserting the community’s rights to self-governance and exercising jurisdiction over its ancestral lands.

It is well known that long before the European colonisation of North America, the Mohawks used gaming as an alternative to hostile conflict or war, and as a peaceful dispute resolution mechanism between communities. Hundreds of years later, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, through the creation of Mohawk Online, has brought this ancient activity into the modern age as an initiative for the benefit of the community of Kahnawà:ke.

Mohawk Online Since 1999, Kahnawà:ke has been actively and transparently involved in internet gaming as regulator and facilitator. However, until recently, the community had never operated a gaming business itself. That changed in 2015, when the Mohawk Council

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Pow wow dancers take part in Kahnawake 26th Annual Echoes Of A Proud Nation Pow Wow in Kahnawake reserve.

:: OpERATOR’S ViEWpOiNT

of Kahnawà:ke launched Mohawk Online, a unique socio-economic online gaming initiative to raise revenue to fund essential services and special projects for the benefit of the Mohawk people of Kahnawà:ke. There are three parts to this initiative: The first part is that Mohawk Online became the B2C licensed operator of the online gaming site Sports Interaction, a website which provides online sports book, casino, poker, and fixed odds gaming products. Secondly, Mohawk Online chose B2B egaming provider Avid International to supply a total suite of products and services for our brand—Sports Interaction.

Thirdly came the issue of regulation. Although Mohawk Online is licensed by the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (“KGC”), both Mohawk Online and Avid International wanted an alternative licensing jurisdiction to ensure regulatory redundancy.

After looking at numerous possibilities, Jersey was chosen as Mohawk Online’s licensing and regulatory jurisdiction. Given the close working relationship between the KGC and the Jersey

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Gambling Commission, it was a perfect fit.

Initial discussions for the partnership took place at ICE—the International Casino Exhibition—where Avid International and Mohawk Online first discovered the Jersey offering. But why was the Channel Island the right location to enhance this innovative, indigenous socio-economic project?

Mohawk Online isn’t just another gambling business.

Mohawk Online has a duty towards the Mohawk Council and the people of Kahnawà:ke themselves that puts us in a unique position of responsibility in the industry. Our operating integrity has to be beyond question through an on-going commitment to the highest levels of professional conduct. Such a commitment immediately demonstrated through an operator’s choice of regulatory regimes.

Regulation and Governments As local policy makers have addressed the often disruptive impact of egaming, the popularity of offshore regulation has declined.

OpERATOR’S ViEWpOiNT ::

<< Today, the world’s two largest gambling economies aggressively block the services of overseas providers while nations of the largest trading bloc have abandoned the single market completely when it comes to egaming. >> But offshore regulation still has plenty to offer our industry. Local market intervention has fragmented egaming regulation, destabilising the industry. Online companies have had their businesses undermined by unpredictable governmental responses that have, at times, been protectionist, disjointed and uncoordinated.

Today, the world’s two largest gambling economies aggressively block the services of overseas providers while nations of the largest trading bloc have abandoned the single market completely when it comes to egaming. Discord and deharmonisation leads to regulatory and economic inconsistency, driving up operating costs, damaging profits, and putting jobs at risk.

By contrast, the stable and consistent approach of offshore jurisdictions gives operators the chance to forward plan and consider a bigger picture; especially when an offshore jurisdiction’s regulations are of sufficient breadth and depth to encompass the compliance demands of a range of geographical markets.

Jersey Jersey is a jurisdiction well-versed in commercial regulation, operating one of the largest, most highly-regulated financial sectors in the world, supported by a professional services industry whose employees advise across major financial centres such as the City of London, Hong Kong and Wall Street. Its 50,000 working residents contribute to a £3.6 billion economy, generating more GDP per person than anywhere else in the world.

As a former regulator myself, I recognised in Jersey the combination of a solid framework of controls with the determination to actively implement policies and procedures through continual compliance monitoring. This gave the assurance I needed that Jersey was serious about egaming regulation and that licensees under the Jersey Gambling Commission would be investing their time and energy in earning and maintaining trust through a complete and unconditional submission to transparency and proper scrutiny.

Cost-Effectiveness I spoke earlier about Mohawk Online’s unique mission and its duty as a socio-economic initiative for the benefit of the Mohawk people of Kahnawà:ke. This is a great responsibility, especially when weighing up the high cost of running an egaming business.

For this reason, tax efficiency was an essential component of the business model – especially when we partner and transact with companies in the UK and Europe. Jersey offered the most robust, clear and coherent strategy for corporation tax and VAT in line with our financial objectives.

Mind and management control has to be in the regulatory jurisdiction in the modern age and Jersey is easily reached with frequent direct flights from the UK. The Island boasts a large pool of talent, particularly in compliance, and this made finding highly experienced money laundering compliance and reporting officers an easier task. We quickly found office space that was competitively priced, scalable and of a quality that you’d expect to see in the centre of Montreal or Toronto. We were also able to access world-class data services providers in the Island and the Island’s inward investment team, Locate Jersey, provided exceptional levels of support throughout the entire set-up process.

The Jersey Gambling Commission As a former Chairman of the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission, I have been very impressed by the Jersey Gambling Commission (“JGC”). It was clear from the outset that they really understand our industry, the lessons to be learned from its short history, and the requirements of an effective regulatory framework. Elements of our operation also fall under the supervision of the Island’s financial regulator whose involvement and support has taken our compliance with Financial Action Task Force recommendations to new levels by improving our understanding our business risk and internal compliance monitoring and aligning our operations with the latest EU Directives. In addition, licensing in Jersey enables us to report any suspicious activity to Jersey’s Joint Financial Crimes Unit, further enabling us to meet all of the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force in relation to our industry.

Jersey is adaptive and forward thinking and we found the Jersey government to be very responsive and accessible throughout the entire process, as evidenced by the Island’s response to UK point-of-consumption tax. As it became clear that the white list was ending, the JGC, backed by ministers, relaunched their offering to the market with a new, lowered licence fee. The new model recognised that white list licenses have lost their premium and fees would be better spent by operators on maximising their investment in staff and infrastructure on the Island instead. Recognising our commitment to establishing local CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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:: OpERATOR’S ViEWpOiNT

mind and management costs, the JGC reduced the considerable financial burden by lowering its fees, making it easier for us to immediately invest in the Island. That was a very smart move and took our relationship with Jersey from strength to strength.

Proper regulation with active and consistent enforcement is only way to achieve a healthy, successful and responsible industry.

Operators cannot do this alone. They are exposed to the competitive forces of the free-market, where the short-term creation of shareholder value too often overrides a firm’s duty of care to its customers and the public at large. A conscientious CEO can try to fight this economic reality but they won’t last long in their job. Legal restrictions and higher taxes tend to destabilise the regulated market and encourage unregulated underground businesses to thrive; only regulators can properly balance commercial forces and their social impact. Jurisdictions such as Jersey are the future and will help navigate the way forward for our industry.

Regulation’s Importance in the Growth of Egaming Mohawk Online wanted a regulator that is focused on ensuring that its operators embrace their duty of care to customers; whose regulatory approach is calibrated on where the industry is going, rather than where it has come from.

At Mohawk Online, we look at this from two perspectives.

From an industry perspective, because regulation in the early days of our industry was so loose, we can sometimes fool ourselves that we have reached an acceptable level of professionalism and maturity. This isn’t the case and we must look to our regulators as we work to get ourselves in shape for the challenges of tomorrow.

From our own perspective, Mohawk Online is fully aware of the great levels of trust placed in us by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke and the people of Kahnawà:ke themselves. The people of Kahnawà:ke are our own people, our own nation. We owe them, and all of our people that preserved our way of life in the generations that came before us, and all those generations in whom we place our trust in the future, the very highest of standards in our business dealings.

About Kahnawà:ke - One of five Mohawk territories in Eastern Canada and the State of New York (the Mohawk Nation is a Member of the Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy). Kahnawà:ke means “place by the rapids”.

- Located on the south shore of the St Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada.

- Area: 19.5 square miles.

- Population: Approx. 9,000.

- Third-largest population of any indigenous territory in Canada.

- Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke is the recognized governing body for Kahnawà:ke.

- Kahnawà:ke’s right to engage in gaming is recognized and affirmed through Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act of Canada 1982.

About Mohawk Online - Mohawk Online Limited is a company created and owned by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke on behalf of the

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community. Operational since 1 October 2015.

Head corporate office is in St Helier, Jersey, with a branch office located in Mohawk Territory of Kahnawà:ke.

Avid International Limited was selected as the exclusive B2B service provider for Mohawk Online, with which it has a strong relationship.

Mohawk Online is the B2C licensed operator of the Sports Interaction website (www.sportsinteraction.com) and brand.

Licensed and regulated by the Jersey Gambling Commission and the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission.

Mohawk Online has been fully vetted and approved by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, which is the supervisory body for anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing controls.

About Sports Interaction - Mohawk Online is the licensed operator of the Sports Interaction brand.

- Sports Interaction provides online sports book, casino, poker, and fixed odds gaming products.

- Sports Interaction only accepts players from Canada.

- Intended for the recreational player because moderation and responsibility are key values of Mohawk Online and Avid International, who both understand the need to raise the profile of responsible gaming, addictions awareness and education.

About the Jersey Gambling Commission - Established in 2010, the Jersey Gambling Commission is responsible for the regulation of commercial and charitable gambling in Jersey, with the exception of the Channel Islands Lottery. The JGC has set a competitive schedule of fees based on the cost of regulation, which is clearly set out at www.jgc.je. :: CGi

dEAN MONTOUR

Dean Montour is the CEO of Mohawk Online Limited, and was appointed to the position by the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke in 2015. Prior to his appointment, Dean was Chairman of the Kahnawà:ke Gaming Commission (KGC) from 2008 to 2015. During this period, the KGC enhanced its regulatory and continual compliance framework as well as its processes and procedures for the creation of a logo certification programme; the expansion of the KGC’s internal capacity in the areas of IT; comprehensive dispute resolution process; player self-exclusion procedures and the establishment of new and more significant relationships with regulatory authorities with jurisdictions the Antigua, Malta and Alderney, as well as exchanging letters with the State of New Jersey.

Previous to his involvement in the iGaming industry, Dean had 14 years’ experience working with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke in different management capacities including the Capital Unit, Director of Lands, and Implementation Coordinator of Quebec/Kahnawà:ke Relations.

TECHNOLOGY ::

THE MACHiNES ARE COMiNG W

AleĹĄ Gornjec general manager comtrade gaming

ithin the gaming industry, the digital transformation is a multi-step journey with interconnected goals all programmed to drive product evolution. While once accredited with taking a conservative, rather than impulsive approach, gaming is dawning upon an era that will demand an evolutionary coupling between intelligence technologies and business evolution. This latest phase does not seek to unify the industry, but rather establish dominant competitors through machine learning capabilities available on the most forward-thinking platform and system solutions.

Ultimately, the goals of this new-age technology do not lie in its capabilities, but rather in the implications it will have on how the industry develops.

Since the digital transformation of the gaming market, big data works as the industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new currency in attracting, retaining and extending player relationships. When we consider the necessity of gaming systems, software and platforms (the tools that are meant to capture player-based information), customer data then becomes the social and business foundation of the gaming environment. With this in mind, collecting user information is no longer enough to survive in a global information market. Operators must be to work with a technology that is able to store, analyse and act up on player data at near the speed at which it is communicated to the operator. The areas in which we see the most groundbreaking improvements: marketing and business intelligence.

In the past few years, monitoring player activity advanced to such an extent, that marketers, business development managers and directors of operations can no longer single-handedly manage and implement the data-based conclusions that have appeared. Big data eďŹ&#x20AC;ectively brought machine learning and cognitive technology to the forefront due to the complexity that CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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:: TECHNOLOGY

is associated with the level of information that we as an industry acquired. Internal stakeholders cannot effectively react to the changing landscape and the systems and platforms that are necessary to conduct online and land-based gaming practices exceed the limits of human cognitive abilities. This means the new wave of technology is upon us: cognitive platforms and intuitive systems that respond to data sets and not data samples.

Currently, the industry is witnessing the first evolutionary steps in cognitive technology in the form of automised processes and machine learning. As innovation emerges, advanced systems and platforms will supplement industry knowledge and experience to increase brand sophistication and player analysis.

The first layer of process simplification lies in content curation, with platforms and systems creating customised player presentations on the basis of aggregated data sets and personalised suggestions. This form of deep learning will find order and reason to understanding abstract patterns and create anticipatory customer service that adjusts itself to micro-level activity. Responses will surpass the current “predictive” status and fall under intuitive programming. The defining factors with intelligent technology is that its activity is empirically derived from both complex and varied data and contains high accuracy even on negligible and scarce information.

Platforms such as iCore, now more than ever, perceptively targets players to sharpen industry practices and optimise the digital gaming experience. Features such as content curation, bonus targeting and predictive customer service improve platform sophistication and understanding player decisions. iCore, now more than ever, perceptively targets players to sharpen industry practices and optimise the digital gaming experience.

Following the player journey, we reach targeted marketing campaigns, including bonuses and loyalty programs. Alongside multi-level customer segmentation based on several variable categories, the forthcoming generation of cognitive technology will experiment with product mix, recommendation engines and campaign variations. Gaming technology will no longer be a single dimension product with elementary processes, but a rational operational addition with purposeful actions. Platforms and systems will understand conversions and automise the marketing experience. The word “automisation” will no longer be associated with uniformity, but strategy and modifications to meet personal expectations.

The only way to approach data collection is through customisable business intelligence system and the ways in which companies refine CRM system intuitive creates an almost “objective” format to understanding player behaviour and curating dynamic content. Player relationships are evolving in a way that are already defined by cognitive functionalities in business and marketing systems. General operator solutions include an autonomous and self-driving marketing automation.

Features such as content curation, bonus targeting and predictive customer service will improve brand sophistication in regards to understanding player decisions. The advancement in marketing algorithms will become a key differentiator in terms of how a system will collect customer data, reason with machine learning and act to influence player responses. The focus within cognitive functionalities is more than process automisation, but leveraging player data to create behavioural targetting.

A common misconception with this degree of artificial

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intelligence is the elimination of the in-house marketer. In reality, cognitive technology will manage the routine tasks whereas marketers will continue to work on understanding the customer, assessing their needs, studying the gaming environment and positioning the brand.

The intelligent-technology experience is now the personification of it's user, having advanced from mass-market campaigns to the space of one-on-one personalisation efforts.

Along the leaders of the advanced player-centric platforms include Comtrade Gaming's iCore, which recognises and sleekly record activity, compartmentalise diverse user preferences and respond intelligently to their anomalies and individual behaviours.

Through perceptive technology, this form of predictive player intelligence supports and literally defines acquisition models, responses to campaigns, audience segmentation and player lifetime value. Through benchmarketing, trending and tracking, cognitive technologies can in turn focus on four of the main areas

TECHNOLOGY ::

that attribute to the most dynamic benefits: market penetration (targeted strategies for bonusing), product development (multichannel experiences), market development and diversification (product extensions).

Managing marketing activity in the form of intelligent technology creates profound effects with business processes and business intelligence capabilities. While Comtrade Gaming's iCore Enterprise Gaming Platform and sCore Gaming Management System already include predictive modelling, reporting and analytics still remain focal points in how the gaming industry shapes and adjusts its strategies. Reporting brings order to information while analysis creates action. Current products fall under both intelligent and analytic systems and through each variation move from reactive to proactive analytics. Industry demand for real-time dashboards is supported through high interest in the iCore product offer, but the path to success lies in decision automation. In an article on “Why Machine Learning is

the new Business Intelligence”, CIO Magazine explains “you want to get to a place where the system is proactively informing you, not just what might happen but what you can do about it.”

Internal responses to machine-gathered data should create a series of pathways and solutions to reaching a financial or marketing endpoint in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Each year there is an increasing emphasis on responsible gaming and fostering cooperation between gaming regulatory agencies and their industry counterparts. Integrity is the backbone of regulated markets and, responsible gaming measures are an integral part of our multi-channel products. Even fraud can be mitigated with intelligent systems assess individual player patterns and recognise fraud tactics.

As technology continues to work alongside human potential to diminish the gap in functionality and complex processing mechanisms, internal stakeholders will become increasingly reliant on time-sensitive data and swift reactions to optimise landbased and online game offering. High-level success do not only include platform and system strength, but the quality of data gathered from player activity. Overall, it is a process of business intelligence, customer acquisition, campaign programming and multi-channel offers that cognitive technology will enhance to curate player journeys and experiences.

To place less emphasis on this form of technology advancement is to deny its ability to increase market share, drive the bottom-line, increase customer loyalty, brand operations and evolve business.

This also aligns with our machine learning capacity as well as the responsible gaming module that is engrained within both land-based systems and online platforms. Predictive customer behaviour is very much bound to preventing fraud and data breaches. By monitoring financial activity, card usage and playing patterns monitoring within our platforms is not only reactionbased but anticipatory. It recognises within these types of products that artificial intelligence can simultaneously monitor, control and diagnose anomalies and effectively manage all connected processes. Machine learning is more than a marketing benefit, but an all-inclusive feature that smoothly manoeuvres through business mechanisms. This year's industry focus will highlight how the platform can create financial value through the high degree of customisation offered by intelligent platforms infrastructure.

The digital evolution is nothing new, but it helps drive consistent strategy that improves customer experience and assures top-line growth. Investing in new technologies to optimise traditional know-how only energises current and emerging business models. To summarise, it the combination of strategy and technology that drives the digital movement. :: CGi ALEš GORNJEC

Aleš Gornjec founded the Comtrade Group's gaming division and serves as Comtrade Gaming's General Manager.

Comtrade Gaming is an independent software supplier to the gaming industry that delivers open gaming platforms, casino management systems and professional services to both online and land-based sectors.

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dATA & SECURiTY ::

SECURiTY THROUGH diVERSiFiCATiON R

pierre Le Marre data centre Account manager Sure international

eputable iGaming operators want to give their customers the best possible experience and that means running services through robust and resilient networks, with diversification being one of the most effective ways to achieve this. Pierre Le Marre, Data Centre Account Director at Sure International explains how security can be achieved through diversification.

In the two decades that have seen iGaming develop into a major global industry, small offshore jurisdictions have developed as attractive destinations for operators. Many offer competitive corporate tax rates whilst others provide excellent connectivity combined with specific data protection legislation that make it advantageous to store data in servers based on islands such as Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man. Another benefit that is often overlooked, is the opportunity to “mix and match” the islands by using their world-class connectivity to your advantage. Whilst all three operate as separate entities, the reality is that they are very similar and exist within an environment that facilitates working between them.

From a regulatory perspective, each island has strong and respected regulatory regimes in both the iGaming and financial services arenas. Although technically different, the many similarities mean that a firm operating in Guernsey (regulated via Alderney), will not be thrown any regulatory surprises should they choose to also operate from Jersey or the Isle of Man. By choosing the optimal location mix for staff corporate offices, gaming servers, duty and regulation specific to their business, operators can leverage a unique blend of specific advantages only available when each location is combined.

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financial stability, low tax environments, high quality regulation, distributed data centre solutions, telecoms resilience and, perhaps most importantly, experienced staff.

Regulation and Infrastructure It’s important to understand that irrespective of the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man form neither a part of the UK nor the EU. Each jurisdiction recognises the common values underlying their regulation of remote gaming and as such, has Memorandum of Understanding's (MoUs) in place with multiple iGaming jurisdictions to provide a formal basis and framework for cooperation, including for the exchange of information and investigative assistance of providers and remote gaming services.

The MoUs also address issues such as cloud regulation, the recognition of the use of financial institutions located in the territory of each jurisdiction for gaming transactions and the recognition of national certification bodies and player liquidity.

From an infrastructure perspective, operators will be able to provide their services to multiple iGaming jurisdictions (providing a MoU is in place), reducing the need to duplicate their physical equipment in each jurisdiction, thus significantly reducing complexity and cost.

Individually, these offshore jurisdictions have a great deal to offer but iGaming businesses will find that a multiple jurisdiction approach in which the islands are seen as providing the same proposition, can be even more fruitful.

It is understandable that firms may not wish to have both their live operations and their DR facilities on the same, relatively small island but why look to the UK or EU, with all their attendant legislation and regulations, for an alternative site? If you are a company operating from Guernsey or the Isle of Man then it makes sense to site the backup facilities in Jersey. Similarly, if you are setting up operations today, why not consider a blend of two or more jurisdictions?

The clear advantages that come with operating from more than one jurisdiction have helped focus the development of Sure International’s unique tri-island offering. Its success has enabled dozens of companies to benefit from the islands’ independent legal, regulatory and taxation environments, as well as their technical capacity and expertise.

Three islands, one network Sure’s expertise is in the delivery of communication solutions that are designed specifically for individual businesses. Our triisland network is underpinned by four undersea cable systems that link the Isle of Man to the UK, and the Channel Islands to both the UK and France. Both the UK and France use the HUGO fibre connections that connect the Channel Islands to Paris, London and the rest of the world.

In the Channel Islands, we offer site-to-site fully resilient undersea circuits of <2 milliseconds, enabling firms to operate real time live-live or live-DR environments that are usually only available within one geographic location. Capacity is more than catered for with five 10Gb links between the islands, UK and France, currently carrying 40Gb of traffic. With three 10Gb links connecting the IoM to the mainland. Naturally, that traffic is only expected to grow with time and so the use of DWDM

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hardware ensures the system is futureproofed and capable of expanding capacity to multiple 100Gb’s.

As with other telecom operators, Sure has worked to simplify its network and so operates a converged IP/MPLS core.

By moving to an optical mesh architecture, we’ve increased capacity whilst maintaining the fast-recovery capabilities associated with ring networks. The single MPLS network enables us to focus wholly on Cisco as our equipment supplier, creating a uniformity that wasn’t possible with multiple suppliers and also optimises our network management capabilities.

Hosting centres are available in all of the islands, with fullservice proprietary tier 3 facilities (PCI-DSS/ ISO27001 accredited) in the Channel Islands and a tier 3 co-location facility in the Isle of Man that’s operated by a trusted third party. Our data centres all operate to the highest levels of security, ensuring our clients’ equipment and data is wellprotected whether they are physically holding servers in the data centres or are using our IaaS platform.

Gaming operators need to know that they can rely on the uptime that their clients demand. We’re proud to be able to offer guarantees of 99.999% uptime, a figure that’s enabled not only by the technology we use but also the 24/7 monitoring we offer via our permanently staffed NOC. Protecting our clients’ data is Arbor DDoS protection capable of mitigating DDoS attacks. The system secures the high bandwidth gateways at the network’s edge and keeps malicious data far from the core and our clients’ systems.

Above this, we’ve deployed an integrated high capacity Off-Net cloud-based solution powered and managed 24/7 by Arbor.

The security cloud solution is capable of mitigating attacks in excess of 1.5Tb/s, so our clients remain online even when their systems are under heavy attack.

The Sure International tri-island network may be unique in the iGaming industry for the seamless stitching together of three jurisdictions into one coherent and highly functioning network. Whether a given iGaming operator wants to maintain its onshore hub using an offshore jurisdiction as a backup facility, or prefers to fully offshore its operations - possibly sharing them between jurisdictions. The Channel Islands / Isle of Man, tri-island offering is in reality, a resilient multiplejurisdiction network that’s capable of hosting any and all elements of a successful iGaming operation. :: CGi

piERRE LE MARRE

Pierre Le Marre is Sure’s Data Centre Account Manager across the Bailiwick of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. Having originally trained as a Data Centre engineer before moving to a client-facing role, Pierre has the technical expertise and commercial awareness to help his eGaming clients realise the value of hosting their data in an offshore environment.

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THE pOWER BEHiNd A COMpLiANT, USER-CENTRiC SpORTSBOOk SOLUTiON T

peter Gortvai head of B2B, Business development cashpoint group

aking a look at the sports betting landscape from a bird’s eye view, buzzwords such as “regulation” and “compliance” are continually gaining more significance and momentum within the industry and whenever new applicable laws are introduced in a given jurisdiction, these changes can severely impact the situation for operators, creating both short and long term threats, unless they’re outsourced wisely.

There seems to be a steady and clear trend developing for the sports betting and online gaming sector as a whole to be more regulated in terms of compliance. Regulations in many countries show that governments are increasingly seeing the need to regulate this industry - but the real challenges and opportunities for operators will be to deal with these efficiently.

Although there are several B2B suppliers on the market, choosing a partner with extensive operational experience, insight and relevant certifications could be a key game changer.

In this article I wanted to describe the actual and future challenges and some of the solutions we have taken at Cashpoint Group to cope and comply with.

Looking back over the last 20 years, we initially started in Austria before steadily expanding into other countries in Europe.

Our initial track record and geographic development was gaining significant market share in German speaking territories, followed by expanding into additional new jurisdictions. These new regions naturally came with several market specifications and requirements that an operator had to comply with. In order to meet these new market regulations compliance directives, we developed our own proprietary sportsbook platform that has been refined and evolved into a truly robust and CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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multi-jurisdictional platform. Given our extensive operational experience in the heaviest regulated markets we have steadily developed one of the most flexible and fully proprietary system on the market. The key and unique point of differentiation of our platform lies in the capability to cope and master even the toughest regulatory changes via configurable settings.

Given these core capabilities, the next step and strategic direction for the company, to leverage the heritage, was to establish and add a second pillar to the business by providing compliant, fully managed sportsbook solutions for other omni and multi-channel operators. We have always placed emphasis of complying with regulations and at the same time we have we managed and endeavoured to develop the platform further, by increasing and optimizing the comprehensive betting content, functionality, delivering a compelling end-user experience We have established a versatile sportsbook platform with extensive and highly configurable betting content and functionality all the way down to specific market level settings.

Popular betting features such as “cash-out” and integration of live-video stream functionality have also been finished successfully and are now part of the sportsbook platform. eSports and virtual betting products are all elements that a platform should be able to provide as well, of course, only activated in the respective regions if compliant and permitted by law.

In some areas, the path becomes quite narrow to provide both innovative and exciting entertainment while at the same time being fully compliant. To explain, the real complexity starts when each territory requires varying settings, such as different player protection mechanisms, specific user limits, payment directives and making sure that no betting options are offered that might be prohibited in a particular jurisdiction. A fully proprietary system should bring complete flexibility to handle future challenges and product development needs. Our dedicated in-house software development enables focus and clearly eliminate dependencies on third-party platform partners, which would otherwise create a lag for time-to-market, another valuable competitive advantage.

In terms of specific examples where we’ve put our compliance muscle to work is in Germany that has more than 30 different laws and regulations. Glancing at another particular region to highlight is the heavily regulated Danish market with one of the world’s toughest regulations. A highly organized and large authority keeps a close eye on active operators ensuring that regulations are kept. We have successfully entered that market with our active licence. Cooperation with testing labs is also a big point on everyone’s agenda since especially UK and Denmark require detailed testing procedures. Valid licenses and certificates in all the regions that we operate in, prove that

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the systems have the capabilities to conform as needed. Apart from a strong focus in producing systems that perfectly suit the punters needs and cope with regulatory bodies, in 2006, we were the first sports betting company that decided to operate its business with ISO 27000 standard. Some years later in 2010 the choice was then made to run for a certificate that encompasses the whole group of companies. The certificate was awarded in record breaking time, within less than 5 months from the day the decision was made. A certificate like that has since become a strong advantage in many of the well-regulated countries helping to speed up licensing time frames and necessary audit time frames to keep licenses.

The B2B offering that we provide to current and upcoming clients for a fully managed solution automatically comes with a clear strength and legacy since it has repeatedly demonstrated flexibility of its platform, particularly in the field of compliance and regulation. In addition to that, the sportsbook point-of-sale devices, as part of the portfolio include unique features to appeal to its end-users. As an example, this can be achieved via an unprecedented delivery method and unique format of its hardware product. Taking a look at the retail channel, the new BetBook self-service terminal, illustrates an exceptional and refreshing design for its customers. Especially the smart phone inspired 9:16 format of its touch-screen terminal is very popular among end-consumers.

Comparing it to the trends in the new media, the BetBook model, a point of sales device provides a perfect blend between the retail segment and mobile smart phone revolution.

So looking ahead, our philosophy remains to keep innovating and continue to provide sports betting in a safe, regulated and responsible way, which of course is naturally extended to our current and future B2B partners. :: CGi

pETER GORTVAi

Peter Gortvai is Head of B2B, Business Development at Cashpoint Group. Peter has previously worked in the gaming industry at bwin.party with responsibilities in the B2B division. Prior to that his experience includes commercial roles in the ďŹ nance and telecom industry.

Cashpoint was founded in 1996, and since 2006, it has been a member of the Gauselmann Group; it operates retail betting shops, online businesses, and B2B operations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mainly in the markets of Germany, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, and the United Kingdom â&#x20AC;&#x201C; under its prime brands, Cashpoint and XTiP. More information can be found at www.gauselmann.de or www.cashpoint.com

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BETTiNG NEEdS TO kEEp pACE WiTH THE diGiTAL WORLd A

Andrew dagnall ceo Bettorlogic

ccording to recent figures, online turnover for the retail industry grew by 17% in the UK last year whilst shop spending fell by nearly 5%. It’s a trend that should surprise no one as it’s an industry ideally suited to online transactions, especially amongst the young. Online betting has witnessed similar migration from shop to digital but the two industries are poles apart when it comes to customer experience.

The retail industry has been far more proactive in helping customers find what they want because they know that if you are not engaged immediately, you are likely to lose interest. Initially, during the sales season you’d find items you’d like and then become frustrated when your size was out of stock. Today you can search by size, use virtual assistants, have all your necessary payment details stored, use an efficient returns service and receive meaningful communications. It’s the type of service that is sadly lacking when it comes to betting.

At Bettorlogic, we are constantly looking at the betting experience because our business is built on the premise that those who bet are looking for a reason to have a bet. We are constantly delivering reasons to have a bet, before and during events, and over a typical weekend our software will generate in the region of 7,500 reasons to have a bet.

What consumes us at Bettorlogic is how those reasons are delivered to the customer and that part of the process is often beyond our control because whilst marketers might buy our service, often it’s the development team who decide how and where it will be displayed and that decision is influenced by their resource allocation. One answer to this problem was to improve our IT delivery by investing in our own offshore development company which has enabled us to create a pool of talent who are fully conversant with betting and gaming. That expertise is being CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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recognised as more of our clients use the resource for non Bettorlogic related development. Sportsbooks are often constrained because they don’t own their main product – the sportsbook – and therefore are often beholden to a third party to keep pace with any developments in the digital world. Two key developments will be personalisation and how consumers Many predict that the way the internet is used will undergo dramatic change in the next few years. Social media is in decline, email and texting may well become redundant, Facebook messaging is currently more popular than Facebook. Sportsbooks

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were slow to adopt social media and therefore likely to be late adopters of any new trends where messaging is a key interactive component. How the interaction is built and delivered will depend on how well a company knows it’s customer.

The biggest single advantage that the betting and gaming industry has over other industries is data. The average bettor will transact far more often than a retail customer and therefore a sportsbook can know far more about their customers than other businesses and yet few utilise data in any meaningful way. At Bettorlogic, we are profiling customers based on their

SpORTSBETTiNG ::

<< Based on the data we have seen, if a customer places 20 bets with a sportsbook there is a greater than 60% chance they will place 100 bets. >> transactional data so that our clients can message on a far more personalised basis. But if that messaging is via traditional means such as email and text, then it’s effect is likely to diminish.

Customised banners are one means of communicating directly to clients. Currently we have a banner scheduling system that allows clients to place content within the banner that is geo specific and time sensitive to the sporting schedule of the day. On a typical Saturday, banners can display compelling reasons to bet around the major football matches at the optimum time before games get underway and then highlight in-play reasons to bet as matches unfold. Bettorlogic knows before games start what will be the match situations likely to induce a bet and therefore predefined banner content is ready for display as and when those situations occur. Other significant sporting events are treated similarly such as NFL, tennis and Rugby Union.

These banners will become personalised and at what level will be determined by customer analytics. As well as telling us what events a customer likes to bet on; the type of bet; frequency, staking and win amount expectation, the bet history also informs us what the relationship may be between pre-event and in-play betting. Are they related? Is the customer likely to increase their exposure or hedge their position? What effect does a goal have and how time sensitive might that be? What triggers a cash out and when is the best time to push a notification? Is the customer in danger of becoming disengaged because of a poor recent run and is it best to leave them alone or tailor a promotion specifically for them?

Opening channels of communication in the relationship between sportsbook and player is increasingly important. Betting is a hard sell, even to those who do bet. There’s little differentiation in the product, no brand loyalty and you’re expected to part with cash and, from the sportsbook perspective, ideally get nothing in return. Then there’s a moral turpitude to betting- an activity that a person might once have dabbled in but are far too sensible to do so for any length of time once they realise that not every betting slip is lined with gold. With such reasoned views on the futility of gambling, it surprises me that so many people do bet in some form or other – apparently twothirds of adults in the UK will have a bet during the year and in 2014 there was an average household spend of £166.

Whilst many might confine their “betting” to the lottery, it’s still a significant number of adults that the industry can attract to betting but that may become more difficult in the UK as Parliament considers reforms on betting terminals and restrictions on advertising. Thus sportsbooks have become ever more

aggressive in their quest for new customers with promotions that bear close resemblance to free money. New customers can often bet a football team to win at odds 20 times greater than they actually are.

It costs approximately £180 to acquire a new betting customer and if a sportsbook is operating at a generous margin of 10%, it means they need to generate approximately £2,000 in turnover from a new customer which at average staking converts to around 400 bets. From the transactional data that Bettorlogic looks at, we know that about 15% of new customers will place that many bets so clearly there is a lot of wastage in customer acquisition. New customers should be managed with effective content as an enhancement to the betting experience rather than just left to their own devices.

Based on the data we have seen, if a customer places 20 bets with a sportsbook there is a greater than 60% chance they will place 100 bets. Clearly maximising the value of existing clients is an important consideration and some sportsbooks do this much better than others. Most of what is marketed to me is completely irrelevant because it fails to reflect the what, when and why of my betting behaviour and therefore emails, SMS and other forms of digital marketing are largely ignored. Compared to other “selling” industries such as retail, sportsbooks have much to learn.

For example, I’ve never understood why I’m not informed when the horse I’ve backed is a non runner, if I was I might be inclined to back another runner.

Whilst creating personalised banners and widgets with content that reflects a customer’s bet preferences is an effective way to communicate one to one with a customer, changes in the digital landscape may well influence how sportsbooks change their offering. Visitors expect to get where they want to go digitally with the minimum of travel whether it be in an app or online. The rise of messaging services will potentially, make that journey far smoother and easier and at Bettorlogic we are working on a product to do just that. Already the retail industry is embracing these developments and we would hope the betting and gaming industry are not that far behind. :: CGi

ANdREW dAGNALL

Andrew Dagnall is the Founder & CEO of Bettorlogic which provides its range of services to sportsbooks around the world. www.bettorlogic.com

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BOOSTiNG pLAYERS ENGAGEMENT ANd LOYALTY WiTH A.i. ANd AUGMENTEd REALiTY A

recent study confirmed how the combination of technology and entertainment are crucial to attract and retain players to a brand. At the same time, professionals speaking during recent gaming exhibition conferences and panels highlighted the relevance of a clever omnichannel platform to provide operators with deep data analytics, automation and personalization of offers while creating meaningful experiences for users that attract them to play. At this point you might ask “What should the licensee do to retain his players and keep them loyal to his brand?”. First of all, he needs to set the player at the centre of his business strategy. Secondly, he can take advantage of effective technology tools to drive unprecedented tactics of retention and infinite personalised marketing campaigns.

Let’s gain some insight into these 4 new Tech marketing tools...

Sabrina Solda chief marketing officer BtoBet

Artificial Intelligence: to better know the player, his preferences and build behavioural marketing campaigns The Artificial Intelligence meets the demands of any kind of operator, whether it is an established, fully operational company or a start-up. It radically changes all facets of the operator’s activity by sustaining and guiding him to make the best decisions for the management, acquisition and retention of players.

Nowadays, with improvements in technology and software being applied to big data analytics, the possibility of predicting users’ behaviour and players’ actions is a reality and a platform based on Artificial Intelligence can offer considerable benefits: •

Through algorithms, it provides an immeasurable amount of key player information, such as the player happiness level, type of player (e.g. whether he is VIP), and what kind of segment he belongs to.

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<< We must consider that there are several factors which a consumer takes into consideration before taking a decision. A bettor’s decision making is affected by his behaviour and that is exactly how the behavioural segments are targeted. >> •

Thanks to the system’s intelligence, licensees can independently access the player data, enabling a dynamic segmentation of gamers according to their behaviour.

•

The system’s intelligence also offers the possibility to know the player’s activity in terms of geo-localisation.

All these functions allow operators to diversify the action on different types of users and to easily build the best strategies, specific promotional activities and more effective ad hoc marketing campaigns.

We must consider that there are several factors which a consumer takes into consideration before taking a decision. A bettor’s decision making is affected by his behaviour and that is exactly how the behavioural segments are targeted. Additionally, by adjusting the rules to his advantage, the licensee is always updated with critical information and is ready to lead the business strategy in its best interest.

The Recommendation engine: essential solution to retain players.

The Recommendation engine creates an intelligent connection between the platform and the player’s behaviour. Advanced technology and the artificial intelligence allows licensees to register users, monitor and verify their preferences to provide them with the ultimate personalized player experience. Additionally, it can personalize the gaming offer according to each individual player’s needs and requirements. It gives the perfect opportunity to choose what players want and how they want it, which invariably leads to increased customer loyalty. An additional tool to consider is the push notification, which can be geo-localized and communicate to the player different information or promotions in relation to his location. Through crosschannel data analysis tools, the licensee can monitor the player behaviour and preferences and at the same time can improve player retention strategies and cross-channel services. In this way, the operator can activate bonuses valid through all the channels and the system calculates wagering requirements on cross-channel activities.

Loyalty programs calculate loyalty points on all channels.

The quality of the user experience can be improved by the multichannel recommendation engine. A Sportsbook and gaming recommendation engine is able to present the player with the sports

events and games he is more interested in, independent of the channel he uses - retail, mobile or pc – with the possibility to suggest to the player additional events to put on his coupon, offering him an enhanced and totally personalized service.

All these examples show how an Omnichannel solution can allow the betting shops to move from a passive offer to a symbiotic service where the player lives an advanced gaming experience and the operator acquires real time cross channel information; extremely useful to analyse the player activity and consequently to improve the service, propose tailored promotions, increment retention and the new acquisitions process.

A clever Omnichannel approach puts the players at the centre, independent of the channel the player chooses for gambling and is able to track the player’s actions anywhere; mobile, online or in shop.

Moreover, It can provide operators cross channel data analysis tools on which he can work on retention strategies and improved services.

New technology tool: Augmented reality to drive effective marketing strategies.

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that layers computer-generated enhancements atop an existing reality in order to make it more meaningful through the ability to interact with it. AR is developed into apps and used on mobile devices to blend digital components into the real world in such a way that they enhance one another, but can be easily differentiated. AR technology is quickly coming into the mainstream. It is used to display score overlays on telecasted sports games and pop-up 3D emails, photos or text messages on mobile devices. Leaders of the tech industry are also using AR to do amazing and revolutionary things with holograms and motion activated commands. Augmented Reality is appealing, boosting the popularity of bets and increasing user engagement and retention. By adding an AR layer over a real world, the environment becomes a new reality, a new dimension where one can offer bonuses, advertise new games, odds, sport events, share information in a more attractive way and all within the environment itself.

Instant messages, email and other notifications are no longer enough to attract and retain your players. They have become techsavvy and demanding, which is why operators must be updated regarding new trends in the gaming industry. Augmented Reality is earning a lot of media and players’ attention and is promising CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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tremendous growth. Considering the trust the bettor feels today towards a shop assistant, this feeling can be translated towards a virtual assistant, arising from augmented reality, communicating, knowing the single punter’s preferences and anticipating his desires, proposing events and bets, using the Recommendation engine that completely fits his interest. Augmented Reality marketing strategies, a multidimensional experience, online and in shop, represents an important step forward to make the customer feel like the protagonist and special.

Virtual assistant to add value to the gaming experience First of all, what is a virtual assistant? Generally, it is considered by individuals as well as companies who work remotely, to be an independent professional, providing a wide range of products and services, through a variety of business backgrounds, but most have experience earned in the "real" (non-virtual) business world.

In this case, we are talking about something completely new in the gaming industry: a virtual person, with a voice and a body that can guide players during their betting actions. How? Employing a Virtual assistant through the Augmented Reality, operators can add value to their platform, guiding their players and helping them enjoy the multidimensional gaming experience. Players can live an extremely appealing hyperreality gaming journey, feeling the sensation of being special, deeply understood, the protagonist of their tailored gaming.

The Virtual assistant plays on the role and the relationship between punters and assistants in the real, land-based shops. Considering the

trust the bettor feels today towards a shop assistant, this feeling can be translated towards a virtual assistant, arising from the augmented reality, speaking, knowing the single player’s preferences and anticipating his desires, proposing events and bets that completely fit his interest. This multidimensional experience, online and in shop, represents an important step to make the customer feel special. The proposal of Bonus hunting and Push notification through the voice of the Virtual assistant, and Odds comparison, are all crucial elements that add immense value to the gaming offer and the corresponding gaming experience.

We have developed and implemented all these tools that are ready to be launched at ICE 2017. :: CGi

SABRiNA SOLdA

As BtoBet Chief Marketing Officer Sabrina plans and implements BtoBet’s inbound marketing strategy to drive awareness and demand in the global market. She has over 15 years of experience working closely with multinational advertising agencies and has enjoyed a successful career as a Marketing and Communications manager for many companies in the iGaming industry.

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2016: THE YEAR THAT dFS BECAME A THREAT…ANd AN OppORTUNiTY T

he term ‘Daily Fantasy Sports’ (DFS) appeared in 2016, for the first time, in the mouths of iGaming leaders. Most were curious about it, however they did not direct enough attention towards deeply analysing the depth of the change that would occur in the near future.

Because 2016 was an extremely rich year for the DFS sector, it makes sense to look at the major events and attempt to foresee the consequences they may present for the incoming year.

Valéry Bollier ceo oulalagames

Year 1 in Europe 2016 will be remembered as the official birth year of DFS in Europe.

After years of hesitation, the iGaming operators finally began to realize that DFS was fulfilling the exact needs of the new generation with regards to skill and social games, and that not responding to these increasing needs could eventually lead to a critical situation. To put it frankly, a small number of them have already begun to realise that it is wiser to adopt Fuji’s strategy and to avoid Kodak’s passive one!

Several iGaming operators were also not ready to accept the simple fact that Big Data may very well drive some customers away. Who would want to play directly against the house that creates the odds and that, thanks to Big Data, knows the outcome of the matches? Sports betting operators have now gradually begun to realise that DFS is a dangerous substitution product for their activity.

The reality is a lot more serious than that because DFS is far more than just a substitution product; it is a game changer!

Most iGaming Operators in Europe also believed that DFS worked in the USA by default, because Sports Betting was forbidden oversees. Their hasty and incorrect conclusion was that CGiMAGAZINE.COM

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DFS would therefore never work in Europe.

The arrival of DraftKings and FanDuel in the European market was also a definite change. The DraftKings European customer database increase in 2016 is the best piece of evidence to show that iGaming operators’ theory was most certainly incorrect.

This monumental shift then raised the question: would the iGaming sector simply allow these giant DFS operators to snatch up their sports betting customers one by one, or would they react?

The arrival of a DFS B2B offer, such as OulalaNetwork.com, was comforting news for the iGaming sector. Thanks to these new turnkey (and API) solutions, there is no longer the need for them to invest a substantial amount in order to combat in a market of which they have limited knowledge and experience. Instead, they can simply shop around and select the product that would best fit their positioning.

We therefore saw the first iGaming operators signing deals with DFS networks in most European countries. This movement may have begun on a small, intimate scale in 2016 but it is certainly quite easy to predict that it will increase exponentially in 2017.

Why are we so sure? Simply because DFS is not just a threat but also a great opportunity to solve one of the biggest issues in the iGaming sector: loyalty! Any iGaming operators wishing to create a long term relationship with customers based on loyalty can now simply and swiftly integrate a DFS game to their offer.

Thus, even the iGaming operators with no interest in a sense of history will understand what DFS has to offer: loyalty undeniably leads to higher profitability!

USA: a year of reconstruction In the States, after a legal annus horribilis in 2015, 2016 had been the year of reconstruction. 10 states have already agreed upon the fact that DFS is a skill game and created a specific legislation for it. It is still currently an on-going process; very few states, such as Nevada, for obvious reasons, will forbid DFS. The US DFS market is therefore normalizing itself, and a proper legal frame is progressively protecting the integrity of the ecosystem. This is a necessity for the sake of the sector in the long term and we see it as a healthy new start for the sector in the USA. The other major event was the recent announcement of the merge between the two American giants: FanDuel and DraftKings.

The results of this merger may be very different in the two parts of the Atlantic. In the States, this merger might close the market and small operators will most likely struggle to fight against such an overwhelmingly powerful group. A massive merger on a mature market usually means that there is no more space for small operators.

On the contrary, it is promising news for the European market, since combining forces will help raise awareness for our young sector.

We, the new European DFS sector, need them to lead the way and they are placing themselves in the exact position to do so.

On a market in such an early phase of development, a merger has a boosting effect!

The rest of the world is adopting DFS DFS is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. The amazing success

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of Daily Fantasy Cricket in India shows, for instance, that it has already gone far beyond being a purely US sport for their domestic market. We, Oulala, have already signed B2B deals in 3 other continents (South America, Africa and Australasia) and we can see a strong rising interest from operators all over the world.

Legislation: Malta is leading the way One of the main issues that DFS operators faced in Europe was the lack of a proper legal frame. By default, DFS was, in many countries such as England and France, considered to be a sports betting activity. This could have been a serious obstacle for the market’s growth since the respective nature of the two games is radically different. The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) was the first legislator to understand the urgency of the need, and in the next couple of months, Malta will be launching the first skill game licence in Europe. This is great news for the sector and there is no doubt that Malta will become the epicentre of DFS in Europe.

Conclusion: The BIG Thing in Europe If 2016 was the birth year of DFS in Europe, 2017 will be the year that will see DFS expand tremendously.

Many iGaming operators will respond to the need and will likely integrate a DFS game in their offer in 2017. Some will do so because they will see it as a motivating opportunity (likely only a minority), while the other will do so to annihilate the major threat of seeing younger customers defecting to a new type of competitor (the big American DFS operators).

Either way, they will soon begin to offer a DFS product to their customers and this is what we must remember: If 2016 saw DFS as “the NEXT big thing”, in 2017, DFS will be “THE big thing”! :: CGi

VALéRY BOLLiER

Valéry Bollier has over twelve years of experience in the iGaming industry. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences and seminars, as well as a contributor to various B2B publications. Equipped with a passion for Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), Bollier is the co-founder and CEO of Oulala.com, a revolutionary fantasy football game which was launched three years ago.

SOCiAL RESpONSiBiLiTY ::

THE pSYCHOSOCiAL iMpACT OF pROFESSiONAL GAMBLiNG, pROFESSiONAL VidEO GAMiNG & ESpORTS T

he convergence of digital technologies, sport, and gambling industry has multiplied the possible combinations of products that, having originated in one field, have evolved into something different.

This article briefly examines eSports and gambling, as well as a brief examination of the convergence between professional gambling and professional video game playing.

dr. Mark Griffiths professor of Behavioural Addiction international gaming research Unit nottingham trent University

Professional video gaming and professional gambling To date, professional competitive video gaming and professional gambling have not been widely researched or recognized in the academic literature (Faust, Meyer & Griffiths, 2013). Professional competitive gaming comprises players who regularly compete in tournaments organized and run by the gaming community, often for large monetary gains. This is similar to professional gamblers (such as professional poker players) who also regularly compete in tournaments and make a career out of their gambling skill.

Numerous studies have demonstrated the benefits of gaming including improved spatial cognitive benefits, prosocial behaviour, and skill development (e.g., Green & Bavilier, 2007; Greitemeyer & Osswald, 2010; Spence & Feng, 2010). Studies have also suggested that video games can provide an enriched medium for strategic problem solving in both video gaming (Hong & Liu, 2003; Shaffer, 2006) and gambling (Parke, Griffiths & Parke, 2005). Other studies support the differences between novice and advanced levels of play in video games. For instance, research has demonstrated measurable differences between novice and expert game players, the latter group often demonstrating enhanced short-term memory, executive control/self-monitoring, pattern recognition, visual-spatial abilities (e.g., object rotation), and taskswitching efficiency, along with more efficient problem-solving skills (e.g., Andrews & Murphy, 2006; Boot, Kramer, Simons,

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<< Over the past few years, the popularity of eSports events has grown enormously. Such events typically involve professional video game players competing in multiplayer video game competitions. >> Fabiani, & Gratton, 2008; Hong & Liu, 2003; Van Deventer, & White, 2002). There have also been writings on professional gambling (particularly poker players) highlighting a wide variety of transferable skills that can be learned and/or enhanced including critical evaluation, numerical ability, pragmatism, interpersonal skills, problem-solving, goal orientation, face management, and self-control (Parke et al., 2005; Griffiths, 2007).

Professional video gaming has the potential to change the dynamics and motivations of gaming. For instance, if a player can make a financial living and career from playing a video game, it becomes an occupation rather than a hobby. This raises interesting questions about the role of context in excessive gaming and potential addiction (Griffiths, 2010). When video game players are capable of financially supporting themselves from their play, this matter becomes more complex. For example, how would one categorize a professional video game player who was making over £100,000 per year playing video games, but was also experiencing social difficulties as a result of excessive video game use?

When it comes to professional video gaming (and likewise professional gamblers such as poker players), many players will play excessively and spend hours and hours every single day either practicing or competing. For many players, their whole life is dominated by the activity and may impact on their relationships and family life. However, this does not necessarily mean they are addicted to video gaming or gambling because the excessive game playing is clearly a by-product of the activity being their job.

However, it could perhaps be argued that they are addicted to their work (and in this case, their work comprises video game playing or gambling).

Workaholics have been conceptualized in different ways. For instance, Griffiths (2011) noted that workaholics are typically viewed as one (or a combination) of the following. They are (i) viewed as hyper-performers, (ii) work as a way of stopping themselves thinking about their emotional and personal lives, and (iii) are over concerned with their work and neglect other areas of their lives. Some of these may indeed be applied to competitive gamers and professional gamblers (particularly the reference to ‘hyper-performers’ and the fact that other areas of their lives may be neglected in pursuit of their ultimate goal).

Research appears to indicate there are a number of central characteristics of workaholics. In short, they typically: (i) spend a great deal of time in work activities, (ii) are preoccupied with work

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even when they are not working, (iii) work beyond what is reasonably expected from them to meet their job requirements, and (iv) spend more time working because of an inner compulsion, rather than because of any external factors (Griffiths, 2011). Again, some or all of these characteristics can be applied to professional video gamers and professional gamblers.

As noted above, professional video gamers and professional gamblers are likely to play for extended periods of time and sacrifice other areas of their lives if they have the potential to make a living from their chosen profession. This single-minded dedication may become a problem for some players because the goal of becoming a professional gambler or video gamer is often unrealistic. There are currently no accurate statistics relating to the number of professional gamblers or gamers, but anecdotal evidence suggests that only a very small percentage of the total number of gamblers and video gamers generate sufficient income to support themselves financially. Although viability may change in the future (as the opportunities to make money from gambling and video gaming diversifies), at present, the great majority of players have little chance of becoming successful and financially independent professionals. For this reason – i.e., the motivation to become professional – players may be more susceptible to excessive use than the average gambler or video game player.

Additionally, even successful professional video gamers and gamblers are likely to play for extended periods of time, as playing less than eight hours each day could mean that they are not practicing enough compared to other professional players. Those who treat problematic gamblers and video game players need to keep this factor in mind.

Professional gambling and video gaming, as with gambling and video game playing more generally, has psychosocial advantages and disadvantages and is thus an important area to consider when evaluating the gaming area in all its forms as a whole. It may be critical to include questions about professional gambling and gaming (and context more generally) in measures evaluating the degree, extent, and “addictive” potential of gambling and video game use. Furthermore, it would appear essential for psychologists to inquire about professional gambling and gaming in a clinical interview during which a client reports gambling or playing video games. If clients turn out to be professional gambler or video gamer, this will likely distinguish them in many ways from a person who simply gambles or plays video games excessively for fun and/or escape.

SOCiAL RESpONSiBiLiTY ::

Gambling on eSports Over the past few years, the popularity of eSports events has grown enormously. Such events typically involve professional video game players competing in multiplayer video game competitions. This includes many different genres of professional video game playing including (amongst others) RTS (real time strategy) games, FPS (first-person shooter) games, and MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games. While there is great controversy about whether video gaming should be classed as a sport, the growth and promotion of eSports via online streaming platforms (the most notable being Twitch) has become increasingly noticeable (Popper, 2013).

Betting on eSports (i.e., professional video gaming) has also increased in popularity over the last few years and has given rise to allegations of unregulated and underage gambling. The eSports market is large. According to a 2016 report by Superdata, professional eSports is growing exponentially and is worth an estimated $612 million (US) a year. Furthermore, Eilers and Krejcik Gaming estimate that real money betting on eSports betting will reach $10 billion (US) by 2020 (Wood, 2016). Hibai-Gonzalez and Griffiths (2016) have observed that the professionalization and ‘sportification’ of this entertainment form has brought sportsworld elements to it including stadium-like facilities, cheering stands, sponsors, big financial rewards, and competition. Instant replays, jumbotrons (i.e., super-huge television screens), and referees add to the sport dramatisation. In some notorious cases, prizes have gone beyond the $10 million [US] threshold in a

packed arena housing 73,000 fans (Wingfield, 2014).

Sportification is the process of incorporating the logics of sport to non-sporting contexts (e.g., poker, eSports; (McMullan and Miller [2008]). This can materialise in many ways but most commonly occurs when (i) other industries capitalise on the positive attributes of sport (e.g., popularity, engagement, or sanity and health inferences); and (ii) non-sport fields try to increase the entertainment and playability of their products and their association with joy and excitement.

Twitch, the online platform that streams live video gaming, informs its’ advertisers that it has 100 million monthly viewers, who watch for an average of 106 minutes a day (Melbourne & Campbell, 2015). Betting on eSports presents new challenges. As Melbourne and Campbell (2016) observed in relation to betting on the game Counterstrike: Global Offensive (CSGO): “Gambling – licensed, regulated, and by adults – is generally accepted in eSports. There is growing concern, though, that teenagers are being attracted to different forms of betting facilitated by third-party providers. One such platform is CSGO Lounge (an independent site not affiliated with Valve Software, which develops the game itself). The site allows spectators to bet in-game add-ons known as skins – weapons, tools and the like – on the results of matches. Not all skins are created equal, and the rarity of some means they can cost hundreds of real dollars on marketplace sites like SkinXchange.com. The temptation is too much for some”.

Put simply, skin gambling is the use of virtual goods and items

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(typically cosmetic elements that have no direct influence on gameplay) as virtual currency to bet on the outcome of professional matches. Melbourne and Campbell also claim on the basis of interviews with industry insiders that underage skin gambling is a “huge problem”. Justin Carlson (lead developer of SkinXchange) claims there are “countless” parents whose children have used their credit cards without their knowledge to buy skins and bet on gaming on other sites. Although anecdotal, Carlson claims that some minors have “racked up hundreds or thousands of dollars in skins on ‘SkinXchange’ just to lose them all on some betting or jackpot site”. It’s clear that people trading skins in eSports has grown over the last few years and various regulators around the world – such as the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC, 2016) – are considering regulation and says it is an “emerging product” and an “area for continuing future focus”.

One of the complicating factors for eSports gambling is that while cash is the currency for many gamblers, there is a growing trend towards the use of virtual currencies, or ‘in-game items’ (Cleghorn & Griffiths, 2015), which according to the UK Gambling Commission (2016) can be “won, traded, sold or used as virtual currency to gamble with and converted into money or money’s worth”. These, according to the UKGC, “include digital commodities (such as ‘skins’) which can be won or purchased within the confines of computer games and can then be used as a form of virtual currency on a growing number of gambling websites”. No academic research has examined underage skin gambling but this is an issue that is unlikely to diminish over the coming years.

It is also worth noting that this massive interest in eSports followed by a massive audience has led most major betting operators to include eSports in their daily gambling offer.

However, the singularities of eSports market pose new challenges that conventional online betting sites struggle to address. Suraj Gosai, co-founder of Blinkpool, an eSports dedicated betting platform highlighted the two main problems: in-play betting limitations and odds algorithmic programming (Bracken, 2016).

For in-play betting to be viable, companies need to get access to reliable, instantaneous, and unambiguous data that can settle bets and separate winners from losers.

Data companies like Perform do that in sport, and betting operators rely on their data to offer in-play action to gamblers.

The problem in eSports is that actions are not as quantified and standardised as in real-life sports. To counteract that, Blinkpool created a computer vision technology that extracts data from real-time action and promotes hyper-contextual opportunities, that is, 10- to 45-second in-play betting mini-markets concerning very specific developments in the narrative of the games.

Odds programming in sports betting is fundamentally based on historical data from hundreds of thousands of games, from which each factor (home advantage, table position, head-to-head, etc.) is weighted in to determine the probability of an event occurring. In the fixed-odds betting market, the bookmaker makes available to bettors that probability plus a benefit margin. When placing a bet, an individual bets against the probability that the house has predicted. This is not yet feasible in eSports because the historical data are scarce and the modelling is complex.

Companies are circumventing this problem by offering exchange betting rather than fixed-odds. This method comprises peer betting, that is, bettors do not bet against the house but between

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one another. This way, the house gets a commission from winning bets and operates a much less risky business (Bracken, 2016).

Concluding Comment The future of professional video gaming and betting on eSports is uncertain from both a regulatory perspective and from the perspective of examining the psychosocial impact of such activities. The gambling and video game industries are always two steps ahead of the regulators, legislators, policymakers, and academic researchers. Therefore, the field is in a constant state of flux and needs monitoring closely for further change in an evolving market. While there can be many positives (financially, psychologically, and skills-wise) at an individual level, there are some potential downsides concerning adolescent engagement and excessive use across the lifespan that require protective measures to be put in place by both operators and policymakers. :: CGi References Andrews, G., & Murphy, K. (2006). Does video game playing improve executive functioning? In M. A. Vanchevsky (Ed.), Frontiers in: Cognitive psychology (pp. 145–161). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

Boot, W. R., Kramer, A. F., Simons, D. J., Fabiani, M., & Gratton, G. (2008).

The effects of video game playing on attention, memory, and executive control. Acta Psychologica, 129, 387–398.

Bracken, G. (2016). We hope to be the home of eSports betting. Gambling Insider.

Available from: https://www.gamblinginsider.com/indepth/1909/we-hope-to-be-the-home-of-esports-betting Cleghorn, J. & Griffiths, M.D. (2015). Why do gamers buy ‘virtual assets’?

An insight in to the psychology behind purchase behaviour. Digital Education Review, 27, 98-117.

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Hong, J.-C., & Liu, M.-C. (2003). A study on thinking strategy between experts and novices of computer games. Computers in Human Behavior, 19, 245–258.

Lopez-Gonzalez, H. & Griffiths, M.D. (2016). Understanding the convergence of online sports betting markets. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, in press.

McMullan, J. L., & Miller, D. (2008). All in! The commercial advertising of offshore gambling on television. Journal of Gambling Issues, 22, 230-251.

Melbourne, K. & Campbell, M. (2015). Professional gaming may have an underage gambling problem. Bloomberg, September 7. Available at: thttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-07/professionalvideo-gaming-has-an-underage-gambling-problem Parke, A., Griffiths, M., & Parke, J. (2005) Can playing poker be good for you? Poker as a transferable skill. Journal of Gambling Issues, 14. Located at: http://jgi.camh.net/doi/full/10.4309/jgi.2005.14.12 Popper, B. (2013). Field of streams: how Twitch made video games a spectator sport. The Verge, September 30. Available from: http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/30/4719766/twitch-raises-20-millionesports-market-booming

Faust, K., Meyer, J. & Griffiths, M.D. (2013). Competitive gaming: The potential benefits of scientific study. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 3(1), 67-76.

Gambling Commission (2015). Explaining our approach to social gaming.

Located at: http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/Gambling-dataanalysis/Social-media/Explaining-our-approach-to-social-gaming.aspx Gambling Commission (2016). Annual Report 2015/16. Birmingham: Gambling Commission.

Green, C. S., & Bavilier, D. (2007). Action-video- game experience alters the spatial resolution of vision. Psychological Science, 18, 88–94.

Greitemeyer, T., & Osswald, S. (2010). Effects of prosocial video games on pro social behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 211– 221.

Griffiths, M.D. (2007). Exploring gambling practices in work and educational environments, Casino and Gaming International, 3(1), 17-25.

Griffiths, M. D. (2010). The role of context in online gaming excess and addiction: Some case study evidence. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 8, 119–125.

Griffiths, M.D. (2011). Workaholism: A 21st century addiction. The Psychologist: Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 24, 740-744.

Griffiths, M.D. (2016). Can virtual reality be addictive? Virtual Reality News, June 28.

Available at: http://www.virtualrealitynews.net/news/2016/jun/28/can-virtual-reality-really-be-addictive/

Shaffer, D. W. (2006). How computer games help children learn. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Spence, I., & Feng, J. (2010). Video games and spatial cognition. Review of General Psychology, 14, 92-104.

Superdata (2016). eSports Market Report. Available at: https://www.superdataresearch.com/market-data/esports-market-brief/ VanDeventer, S. S., & White, J. A. (2002). Expert behavior in children’s video game play. Simulation & Gaming, 33, 28–48.

Wingfield, N. (2014) In e-Sports, video gamers draw real crowds and big money. New York Times, August 30. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/31/technology/esports-explosionbrings-opportunity-riches-for-video-gamers.html?_r=0 Wood, J. (2016). UK Gambling Commission: We’ll work to minimize risks from emerging esports betting markets. Esports Betting Report, July 19.

Available at: http://www.esportsbettingreport.com/uk-regulatorsaddress-esports-betting/ dR. MARk GRiFFiTHS

Dr. Mark Griffiths is Professor of Behavioural Addiction at Nottingham Trent University, and Director of the International Gaming Research Unit. He is internationally known for his work into gambling and gaming addictions.

He has published over 550 refereed research papers, five books, 130+ book chapters and over 1000 other articles. He has won 15 national/international awards for his work including the US National Council on Problem Gambling Lifetime Research Award (2013).

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