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MOSTLY HARNESS? Webis is further investing in its US business WatchandWager
LIVE AID: What the live casino product range can bring to online operators
IBAS: why bookmakers should be vigilant as the customer is not always right
ESSENTIAL GUIDE 18
BETTING NEWS 14
COMMENT 32
£5.20 (€8.30) • ISSUE:119 • AUGUST 2014 • www.betting-business.co.uk
Henderson takes the reins at William Hill
IGT swallowed up by GTech in $6.4bn deal M&A
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William Hill has once again returned to its ‘boot room’ for a new CEO, with James Henderson stepping into some big shoes. ew William Hill CEO James Henderson has acknowledged that there will be a short-term hit to business once the point of consumption tax and changes to Australian regulations are implemented, but he is already making plans for the future. Henderson, who was named as Ralph Topping’s successor last month, has taken the big chair after 29 years at the company, his latest role being group director, operations, with oversight for the UK retail business, online, William Hill Australia and William Hill US. He commented: “My immediate priorities are to sit down with the team and discuss what the future looks like for William Hill, both from an organic point of view, building on the fantastic foundations we’ve got, but also looking at what opportunities might present themselves over the next two or three years, and making sure we’re in the right place to be able to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.
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“There are a number of things that will drive the business forward. I’m a great believer in multichannel activity. I don’t think anybody’s got it right, and we’ve already started on that road, but I absolutely fundamentally believe we can improve in that area.” Chairman Gareth Davis commented: “James’ established relationships, both with the strong cadre of senior managers and within the wider industry, ensure he is the best person both to sustain the momentum William Hill has achieved under Ralph and to progress further the digital and international diversification of the group.” Henderson hasn’t been slow to make some changes in William Hill’s Australian business, where he has recently been heavily involved. Tom Waterhouse has been installed as CEO of William Hill Australia, which encompasses the Sportingbet and Centrebet brands as well as tomwaterhouse.com. As part of this announcement, the firm has also made an early settlement
asino slots developer IGT has entered into a ‘definitive’ merger agreement with Italian gaming giant GTech S.p.A. in a deal worth US $4.7bn (£2.8bn) in cash and stock and the assumption of $1.7bn (£1.0bn) in net debt. IGT’s extyensive game library and manufacturing and operating capabilities combined with GTTech’s gaming operations, lottery technology and services, will create the world’s biggest endto-end gaming company. The transaction is currently expected to be completed in the first or second quarter of 2015. IGT CEO Patti Hart commented: “We are extremely pleased to reach a definitive merger agreement with GTTech as a result of our exploration of strategic alternatives to increase shareholder value. This outstanding combination of two global leaders redefines the future of the gaming industry. Together we are uniquely positioned to provide the industry’s broadest and most innovative portfolio of best-in-class products, solutions and services.” GTTech S.p.A. CEO Marco Sala said: “This transaction is transformational for our business. With limited overlap in products and customers, the combined company will enjoy leading positions across all segments of the gaming landscape. It will increase our global scale and with a full suite of offerings and robust customer relationships across the client spectrum, the new company will be uniquely positioned to take advantage of the ongoing convergence across global gaming market segments. Our expertise across these segments and greater ability to invest in R&D will improve player experiences and benefit our government and business clients.” While the deal has been struck remarkably quickly given the size of the two companies, there are still some issues to iron out, not least an investigation by shareholder rights attorneys at Robbins Arroyo LLP into whether the board of directors at IGT has undertaken a fair process to obtain maximum value and adequately compensate IGT shareholders.
NEW WILLIAM HILL CEO JAMES HENDERSON
of its acquisition of the Tom Waterhouse business, paying £2.8m in cash for an early earnout. The firm said settling the earn-out ahead of schedule further improves William Hill Australia’s operational and fiscal flexibility following the successful systems integration of tomwaterhouse.com into William Hill Australia in April 2014. Meanwhile, Ralph Topping is finally leaving the company he has worked at for over 44
years; his last six years in charge probably being the most successful in the bookmaker’s history. He commented: “As a ‘one company man’ I am naturally a big supporter of William Hill and its people, so I really wish James and the rest of our management team all the success in the world in continuing to take the company forward.” Henderson added: “Under Ralph as chief executive, the group is in the best competitive shape I have ever known and he has created, in my view, an unrivalled team with an outstanding track record. Whilst we face challenges as an industry, there are also plenty of opportunities to keep strengthening William Hill by further diversifying our revenues and continuing to build a responsible, sustainable business.”
www.microgaming.co.uk
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News
ON-COURSE BOOKMAKERS FAILED TEST PURCHASING ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC
HARRIET HARMAN: ‘GETTING TOUGH WITH THE PREMIER LEAGUE AND BETTING COMPANIES’
Labour wants more betting money for sport
If Labour gets its way then the betting industry will be have to fork out for grassroots sports, despite the £1.4bn a year it will soon be providing to the Exchequer.
England out of Br
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ust a week after the Labour Party suggested that it would distance itself from the tax and spend philosophy, shadow culture secretary Harriet Harman revealed plans to bring a new levy to the betting industry in order to ‘fund grassroots sport’. Harman said: “Our consultation looks at a number of ideas which aim to boost investment in community and grassroots sports by getting tough with the Premier League and betting companies, bringing back two hours of sport at schools a week and encouraging more people to take part - girls as well as boys. We need strong government leadership to create a long term innovative plan for sport and that is what this consultation seeks to do.” Clive Efford MP, Labour’s shadow minister for sport, added: “If we are going to get more people active then we have to empower the people who do most of the work in our communities to have more influence over how we plan, organise and deliver sport and physical education at local level.
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“Increasing participation is not something that can be dictated from central government. We have to agree on a long term set of objectives and then all play our part in achieving them.” The fact that Labour is considering aping the horseracing betting levy for other sports should be an eye opener for a start. The previous Labour government tried for almost 10 years to get the horseracing Levy abolished - it was even a manifesto pledge in 2001 and found that its status as a, yet unchallenged, state aid mechanism meant that any changes would have to be carried out very delicately in order not to be censured by European Commission. It appears that no-one in the party has passed on this experience to Harman, however, and the proposal has been put forward as if it is a simple solution. It seems that it is being pressed more by Efford, however, who has already pushed hard for more restrictions on B2 gaming machines after being briefed by a lobby group. Efford, who somehow
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avoided any role in government during Labour’s stint in power, said that Labour thinks that businesses that make money from sport should contribute to sport. He added: “We are consulting on whether we should introduce a levy on betting, including online betting, to fund gambling awareness and support for problem gambling but also to improve community sports facilities and clubs. “It’s my preference that the income from the levy went into a general pool to help grassroots sport and from which the respective sports would draw their future elite sportsmen and women. Football gambling online and in betting shops is now far larger than horseracing gambling and yet it does nothing to help the sport itself. I think they have a moral obligation to help the industry from which they make billions, and the results could be dramatic.” The consultation also revisits the issue of money in dormant betting accounts, and whether the cash can be used improve community sports facilities
and clubs. It invoked the 2010 Foster report on sleepers and said it would work with the industry to establish what mechanism can achieve this ‘as a priority’. Grassroots sports would appear to be more hampered by government-sponsored sell off of school playing fields and cutting of local council grants, which is why the betting industry is somewhat bemused that this problem is being laid at its feet. It already contributes more than £1bn to the Treasury, with a further £400m expected to be raised next year through the point of consumption taxes and an increase in Machine Games Duty. Ladbrokes director of external relations Donal McCabe said the betting industry was not a ‘bottomless pit’ for politicians to raid. “As far as we are aware no bookmaker or betting operator ever closed a community sports field or club, so we are not sure why an extra tax is being proposed on an industry already facing two tax increases and which pays out over 65 percent of all its earnings in taxes and levies.”
WORLD CUP
It was a positive World Cup for bookmakers overall, but a bit more participation from England would have made things more interesting.
he World Cup in Brazil left bookmakers feeling bright, despite three of the fancied teams making the semi-finals and a lack of shock results as the knockout stages progressed. Pre-tournament, mobile betting was expected to be the key battle-ground for operators and the reality was no different. Attention now turns to the 2014/15 Premier League season, which begins this month. Ladbrokes’ David Williams believes the main disappointment was England’s failure to capture the public’s imagination, dampening betting enthusiasm somewhat at a critical time in the tournament. “Overall it was great but England’s early exit saw some enthusiasm evaporate out of the market,” he said. “It’s an inescapable truth that when England flop, a lot of infrequent punters switch their attentions to other sports. Their inability to escape their group left a bit of a hole.
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Underage betting concerns On-course betting operators are being warned that they must do more to prevent underage gambling after every track bookmaker approached in a test purchasing operation served a 16-year-old without asking for proof of age. The on-course bookmakers who failed this test have been advised about their conduct and required to improve their policies and procedures for preventing under age gambling. Commission director Matthew Hill said: “The industry must do better or operators are likely to find themselves facing formal sanctions.”
KLOSE AND MASCHERANO WERE FEATURED IN AN UNUSUAL STAN JAMES BET
John Kelly to head up Ladbrokes’ Social Responsibility Committee ORGANISATION
ookmaker Ladbrokes has followed through with its commitment to take its social responsibility obligations to the highest echelons of the company by establishing a new Social Responsibility Committee to help the plc Board oversee the delivery of a socially responsible approach to providing betting and gaming services. The committee is comprised of senior independent director John Kelly as the chair with non-executive director Christine Hodgson, group chair Peter Erskine, and chief executive Richard Glynn in attendance. The Social Responsibility Committee will sit at least three times a year and will monitor and report to the Board on the adherence to and development of Responsible Gambling policy across all areas of the business. It will also assess performance against other key social responsibility targets. Company experts will be asked to attend the Committee on a regular basis and the Committee will work closely with the Remuneration Committee on developing key performance indicators which will be used to ensure that responsible gambling is reflected in Executive remuneration. Commenting on the formal establishment of the Social Responsibility Committee, Erskine said: “We have always placed responsible gambling and social responsibility at the heart of our business and the establishment of the Committee formalises this approach and reinforces its importance to the future of the business. “It is clear that trust in bookmakers has been impacted by negative publicity and lobbying in the last year, and while we may believe that much of the concern is ill founded, we accept that it is only by our actions will be able to win it back. The Social Responsibility Committee, chaired by John Kelly with a wealth of experience and knowledge of the gambling industry, is a significant step in this process.” Kelly certainly does have significant expertise in this area. While heading up Gala Coral, he was one of the key movers in establishing the Gambling Industry Charitable Trust in order to demonstrate the industry’s maturity during the passage of the Gambling Act. After as many changes in appearance as the Doctor from Doctor Who, the Trust is still going under its latest guise of the Responsible Gambling Trust. In fact, Ladbrokes was also instrumental in the formation of the Trust, with then CEO Chris Bell championing the development. The establishment of the Social Responsibility Committee with a heavy emphasis on responsible gambling is part of the fulfilment of Ladbrokes’ announcement in February that it would establish such a committee, link executive remuneration and responsible gambling from 2015 onwards and utilise the data from its Odds On loyalty card to learn about at risk behaviour.
ACTION IMAGES / LEE SMITH LIVEPIC
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and elimination takes wind f Brazil betting bonanza “Netherlands were the only pre-tournament outsider (33/1) to make the semifinals and three of the big four were there in the shake-up so it certainly wasn’t the month of shocks we’d have hoped.” Fortunately, there were several draws during the tournament, enough to put a smile on any bookie’s face. “We always love to see draws at 90 minutes in the knockout stages and the top goalscorer market was superb, so we’re hardly grumbling and a lot of our energies went into making sure our mobile product was punching its weight. The numbers suggest we got it right. “It was a thrilling month but with one of the worst Royal Ascots for bookies sandwiched smack bang in the middle of it, it needed to be.” Jonathan Wright, head of trade at Boylesports, said the event accrued a 15 per cent gross margin and is unlikely to be surpassed. “Given the early group stage where results were unfavourable - the first draw came in match 13 - thank-
fully results after the group stages were very profitable and are unlikely to be matched in future tournaments. “Eight draws in the last sixteen matches of the tournament, of which six were goalless more than compensated for the poor start.” Turnover was up 13 per cent on South Africa 2010 where kick off times were more conducive to retail than Brazil. Wright added: “But the development and continued growth in Mobile betting within non-retail meant unique business was up 15 per cent on the same comparable competition.” Average bet size at Boylesports was 12 per cent down on 2010, but slippage was up due to more Bet in Play access in the more recreational markets, especially Both Teams to Score and othergoal markets. The company continued to run its Double Bubble Offer where the first goal scorer price was doubled if the selected player scores first within the first twenty minutes of the game. This
was introduced at the start of last season for all Premiership & Champions League fixtures. Wright said: “This increased FPTS betting by 220 per cent and the overall cost was accounted for within our overall gross margin.” Looking ahead to 16 August, Wright said that the current Boylesports odds suggest it will be a two horse race between Chelsea and Man City (15/8 and 23/10 respectively). Man Utd, Arsenal, and Liverpool all representing decent value at 5/1, 6/1, and 9/1. He added: “Given the heightened transfer activity across Domestic & European Leagues of the back of the summer event Ante -Post interest has been high. The LVG factor at Man United and the transfer money from Suarez which Liverpool has swiftly invested have counter balanced the Chelsea, Arsenal and Man City market dominance. This has resulted in solid field money for all leading clubs in the betting.”
ANALYSIS The run of draws in the knock-out stages help bookmakers claw back any losses made from the goal-crazy group stages where the popular ‘both teams to score’ bets came in with a worrying regularity. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence of unusual bets too. A punter placed a £5 bet with Stan James in Lincoln for Germany to lead at half-time in the World Cup Final, and then Argentina’s Javier Mascherano gives away a penalty by fouling and injuring Muller, leaving Klose to miss the spot kick. Given the punter snapped up odds of 400/1 on this unlikely scenario, it is little wonder that bookmakers ended up filling their boots.
PETER ERSKINE: ‘TRUST IN BOOKMAKERS HAS BEEN IMPACTED BY NEGATIVE PUBLICITY’
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iGaming Bwin.party paves way for more cost cutting Bwin.party is still sifting through the merger and finding lots more efficiencies, allowing it to trim down its operational expenditure. BUSINESS EFFICIENCIES
win.party is continuing to identify cost savings as the firm aims to streamline its business further as it continues to focus only on regulated markets. The company said that not only is it on course to deliver 20m euro in savings this year, but it expects to deliver another 10m euro and as such now has confidence for the full year outlook. If that’s not enough, the Board has also identified further potential cost savings to be delivered in 2015. In a trading statement, Bwin.party said: “In addition to the savings from integrating our technology platforms in France and Italy, we are in the process of reshaping a number of areas of our business, further details of which are expected to be made available at the time of the half
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year results.” Revenue performance in the three months to 30 June was mixed with solid performance in sports, which grew year-on-year, partially offsetting a soft performance in poker and casino. Bingo remained broadly flat versus the previous year despite challenging competitive conditions in the UK and Italy. CEO Norbert Teufelberger said: “Trading in the second quarter was mixed with revenue a little softer than expected but Clean EBITDA margins were slightly better than expected. While the decline in the dotcom poker market in the period also affected our casino business, the impact was mitigated by an uplift in player activity in sports betting in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, largely driven by the FIFA World Cup. “The UK bingo market has
remained highly competitive ahead of the introduction of a point of consumption tax later this year, but our Foxy Bingo brand has maintained a leadership position and our new mobile offering has been well received.” He added: “As expected, the start-up losses in New Jersey, ISP blocking in Greece and the absence of domain sales in the first half have impacted both the revenue and Clean EBITDA performance versus the prior year. However, we are taking steps to improve operating performance, simplify decision-making, reduce complexity and costs and, as a result, remain confident about the full year outlook.” In what the firm described as a ‘challenging backdrop’ of the World Cup and the traditionally slow second quarter, Bwin’s poker business declined
NORBERT TEUFELBERGER: ‘TRADING IN THE SECOND QUARTER WAS MIXED’
again in several key territories. In terms of player numbers, the dotcom network has performed relatively well although in the US the current size of the market in New Jersey remains below initial industry expectations and this has held back the performance of all operators. The recent launch of new mobile products including sit ‘n’ go tournaments on iOS and Android have been well received by customers and the company aims to launch other new products in the third quarter of 2014. Bingo delivered a ‘solid performance’ in the period with Bwin sustaining its leading market positions in both the UK and Italy despite aggressive marketing campaigns from competitors.
While casino has been impacted by the declines in poker, improved cross-sell from sports betting has helped to minimise the overall impact on revenue in the period. The launch of 40 new games in June 2014, 10 of which are also on mobile, has increased the breadth of offer and more third-party and in-house developed games are planned soon. In sports betting, Bwin saw increases in player activity in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets, primarily driven by the FIFA World Cup. While overall betting volumes were down year-on-year, reflecting the loss of Greece, increased gross win margins mitigated the impact on revenue.
ANALYSIS Mobile/touch continues to grow strongly for Bwin.party - in fact, it is becoming somewhat of a godsend for the group. In the three months to 30 June 2014, mobile represented approximately 35 per cent of sports betting gross gaming revenue (up from 21 per cent) and 21 per cent of gross gaming revenue overall (up from 9 per cent). This is typified by the new Foxy Bingo mobile app which has helped to drive both player volumes and revenue in the UK and 80 per cent of new player registrations in June came through mobile and touch compared with 16 per cent a year ago.
Big increase in new customers for NetPlay TV GAMING
roadcast gaming firm NetPlay TV has recorded a 5 per cent increase in total net revenue to £7.4m for Q2 on the back of a 38 per cent increase in new depositing players and the number of total depositing players jumping by a third to 37,691. Net revenue derived from its SuperCasino brand was slower in the latter part of the quarter, although this was caused by the FIFA World Cup and a slight reduction in marketing for the televised gaming show on Channel 5. However, the firm said that this
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drop was mitigated in part by a strong start to the quarter and the directors expect revenues will return to similar levels as those seen at the beginning of the quarter now the World Cup has finished, especially with a review of marketing planned. For the first time, over half new customer registrations have come from mobile or tablet. In addition 36 per cent of net revenue was generated through mobile and tablet in the quarter, compared to 26 per cent for the same period in 2013.
With the new UK laws on the horizon, NetPlay TV is making moves to make sure it is ship shape ahead of any changes. The firm explained: “As announced at the group’s final results, there are a number of efficiencies that the Group can take advantage of to mitigate against the ‘Point of Consumption’ tax proposed to be introduced in December 2014. During the quarter, the company has begun preparing itself accordingly; this involves consolidation of certain locations and other cost base efficiencies.”
sales@ingg.com www.ingg.com
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sales@netent.com
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Svenska Spel wants casino
iGaming
Reports suggest that Swedish monopoly operator Svenska Spel has made a direct application to the Swedish Government for permission to launch an online casino product. The firm is looking to diversify the product range over the coming months after the introduction of new responsible gambling measures saw profits drop by 6.2 per cent.
XLMedia snaps up Scandinavian network
While 888 and Spin Palace have had their hands slapped by the ASA, Sky Bet and Channel 5 have been exonerated.
AFFILIATION
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SPIN PALACE WAS ADMONISHED BY THE ASA
ASA rules against another 888 advert MARKETING
88Casino has found itself in hot water for its advertising once again by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a complaint that a free £88 promotion, run on the London Underground, was actually just an offer of a maximum £20 cash. Under the terms of the free £88 offer, any free play winnings needed to be wagered 30 times before withdrawal and that this was then capped to £20 and the complainant challenged whether ad was misleading. The ASA concurred: “The ASA understood that individuals signing up for the offer would be awarded £88 ‘free play’, but that their winnings were restricted to a maximum of £20, and had to be wagered 30 times before any remaining balance could be withdrawn. We noted, however, that the ad simply stated ‘£88 Free’, and whilst smaller print at the bottom of the ad stated ‘T’s & C’s [sic] apply’, it did not provide any further information. “We noted that the ad was untargeted and that a number of consumers might not be familiar with online betting or 888.com, or common practices such as wagering requirements. We considered that the restrictions imposed regarding winnings and withdrawals was significant information which would inform an indi-
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LMedia plc, a specialist in igaming affiliate and acquisition marketing, has acquired a leading Scandinavian website network within the online gaming sector for a cash consideration of US$2.3m. The acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive during the year ending 31 December 2014. The network reviews a large number of online casino and poker websites, mainly in Denmark, generating high value added content. This enables it to refer significant amounts of customers to its partner brands. The acquisition represents an attractive opportunity for the group, offering a complementary geographic footprint to XLMedia’s existing Scandinavian presence and extending its reach into Denmark, a fully regulated market. The acquisition follows two acquisitions of domains in the North American market during H1 2014, also aimed at extending into new territories and further establishing a presence in fully regulated markets. The group said it will continue to buy domains and websites as part of its ongoing growth strategy as well as continuing to evaluate an increased presence in fully regulated markets. CEO Ory Weihs commented: “Since our IPO in March this year, we have continued to make good progress with positioning XLMedia to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in the online gaming sector. This acquisition represents a complementary fit for our business, strengthening our reach in Scandinavia and providing entry into Denmark, a fully regulated territory.” Meanwhile, XLMedia chairman Chris Bell, the former Ladbrokes CEO, is pleased with XLMedia’s performance in the first half of the year. He said: “Our core business remains very strong and we are making good progress with our strategy across the board.” The company expects to report record revenues in the first half with an increase of at least 22 per cent compared to the equivalent period in 2013. Overall performance is ‘in line with market expectations’.
vidual’s understanding of the offer and their decision whether to sign up or not, and so should have been stated in the ad. Because the ad did not make clear that those restrictions applied, we concluded that it was misleading.” The ASA said that the ads must not be shown again in their current form, but had positive words to say about 888: “We welcomed 888Casino’s willingness to amend their ads, and advised them to ensure they clearly presented any significant information relating to an offer in future.” Meanwhile, Spin Palace Casino has also been told not to run an online ad stating: “£1000 FREE. 1st deposit - 100 per cent Match Bonus. 2nd deposit - 25 per cent Match Bonus. 3rd deposit - 50 per cent Match Bonus”. The complainant said it wasn’t clear that any bonus had to be recycled before being withdrawn, and the ASA agreed. It explained: “No further details of the offer were given in the ad itself. Text that was two clicks away, however, stated ‘The Welcome Bonus is then subject to 50 times playthrough before it may be withdrawn’. We considered it was crucial to consumers’ understanding of the offer that they would have to wager their Welcome Bonus 50 times before any winnings could be withdrawn as cash. We consid-
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ered that condition was so significant that it needed to be presented clearly in the ad itself. Because it was not, we concluded that the promotion was misleading.” Not all firms before the break were censured though; both SkyBet and Channel 5 were cleared of breaching gambling advertising guidelines. An unfortunate piece of scheduling by Channel 5 saw ads for Rush Poker Mobile and Supercasino.com run during breaks for ‘My Spiral into Debt Hell’, which contained a section on online gambling. Despite 13 complaints, the ASA commented: “We acknowledged that the ads for online gambling were incongruous with the programme content, but considered the scheduling of those ads around the programme was not irresponsible, or an unsuitable juxtaposition that was likely to cause distress or offence to viewers.” Meanwhile, one person challenged whether a SkyBet offer of a ‘free matched bet’ was clear enough that the stake would be deducted from any winnings. However, it seems that the ASA didn’t think too long about this one. It said: “The headline banner stated ‘T&Cs apply’ and the terms and conditions were set out below the banner. The ASA therefore considered that the terms and conditions of the offer would be clear to consumers.”
ANALYSIS Perhaps it’s a result of being one of the biggest gambling advertisers in the country, but 888 does find itself on the wrong side of ASA judgements an inordinate amount of time. In the last four years, the ASA has had to rule on 13 issues (11 of which were upheld), informally resolved another 14 and also pulled the operator up on a breach of database regulations. This is far more than Paddy Power during the period, which goes out of its way to be provocative. Several of 888’s shortcoming have been technical as the gambling industry has got to grips with the new advertising regime, but the ASA must be sick of the sight of the casino operator. Although, the operator at the same time must be sick of the sight of the small print.
CHRIS BELL: ‘CORE BUSINESS REMAINS VERY STRONG’
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888 up
iGaming
Online operator 888 is confident in its performance for the first half of 2014. In a trading update, it said: “During the first six months of the year, 888 has continued to deliver a very strong performance and anticipates announcing EBITDA for the period significantly ahead of the comparable period in the prior year.”
iGAMINGBRIEFS STAN JAMES INCENTIVISES ITS BETTING CUSTOMERS TO TRY ITS OTHER GAMING PRODUCTS
‘Live casino demonstrates complete transparency’ Stan James chief marketing officer Ben Colley, discusses the rise of live casino, soon to be mobile and tablet friendly, retention rates, and the challenges posed by the point of consumption tax. INTERVIEW
an you describe Stan James’ Live Casino product and how it has developed in recent years with casino and games apps? Our Live Casino product has exceeded expectations over the two years since launch. We have a longstanding relationship with Amaya, which supplies the service, and its continual improvement to the product - including moving their studios from the Far East to Europe - have benefitted us immensely. The next big move for us it to launch our mobile and tablet live casino, something we expect to achieve within the coming months.
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Is it hard to build up loyalty online or does the brand speak for itself, even in relatively new markets? While our brand is clearly most well-known amongst UK and Irish punters, you will find that with a product such as live dealer, the trust element is immediately prevalent owing to the nature of how the hands are dealt. It’s quite simply a nofrills video camera allowing for complete un-ambiguity to users of the service. There is not to say the outcomes are any different to our certified random number generators for the graphical-based table games, but in terms of building up trust in perhaps, new markets, the live casino
demonstrates complete stand alone in their own transparency from the Stan- right. They are industry leading and have an approJames.com brand. priate CRM campaigns built As regards retention rates, into the attraction. We have do you find that poker and found that an increasing casino players also bet on part of the database is now football or horse racing, and pure Casino play, although how do you entice them to from a business perspecdo so? tive, we prefer all of our cusHaving started life as a tomers to enjoy all of our sportsbook, we still find services. that the path of least resistance to our casino and With the forthcoming point games product is by making of consumption tax in the UK appropriate incentives to and the Irish Betting Bill, sports bettors to come and have you any concerns try out other about how regulation will StanJames.com products. impact business? However, more recently we The point of consumption have de-lineated these ver- tax will present challenges ticals from an advertising in that the majority of Stanpoint of view and allow James.com business is from products such as Casino to the UK. The broader issues
and concerns have been regurgitated ad nauseam, so without adding to that, it is now more important than ever that we look at ways of growing our business in the face of these fresh challenges. Unfortunately, the Live Casino will not escape the point of consumption tax. Although it is important to continue to grow areas that are less expensive to maintain so that we can continue to offset costs with increased revenue. All of our Casino and Games products would be important contributing factors to this requirement. LIVE CASINO Essential Guide 18
32Red posts another record performance FINANCIAL
nline casino operator 32Red has seen a 20 per cent increase of Net Gaming Revenue increased to £15.2m for the six months ended 30 June 2014. The figures are again a record for the firm, thanks to a stellar performance at the firm’s flagship 32Red Casino. Casio gross gaming revenue was up 19 per cent to £20.7m, with active casino customers of 50,890 up 20 per cent on H1 13 and the number of new casino players up 35 per cent to 23,566. Casino player yield was stable at £400. Ed Ware, CEO of 32Red, said: “We are pleased to report yet another record performance for our busi-
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ness, spearheaded by 19 per cent growth in the 32Red casino. The initial results from our recently launched 32RedSport, which provides players with seamless access to a premium online and mobile sports betting product, have also been encouraging.” In Italy GGR from the 32Red Italian Casino was up 130 per cent to £1.05m and NGR up 94 per cent to £0.51m. A total of 3,084 new players were recruited in the first half (H1 13: 1,435) bringing the total number of active players to 5,793 (H1 13: 1,887). However, 32Red has decided to refrain from increasing marketing levels in Italy ahead
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of ‘positive changes in the regulated market due at the end of 2014’. Ware commented: “We are happy with our investment in time, relationship building and spend in Italy. This is an important territory for the 32Red brand and we are working with people in the region to make advertising and marketing to Italian players more effective for us. The regulatory changes we look forward to are in relation to the announcements made by the large and credible software and content suppliers who say they are removing support of unlicensed operators in Italy by the end of this year.”
ED WARE: ITALY ‘AN IMPORTANT TERRITORY FOR THE 32RED BRAND’
US DEMAND SLOWING
The State of New Jersey reported declining igaming revenues for a third consecutive month in June. Igaming figures published by the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) reported total revenues down 9.5 per cent month on month to $9.5m (£5.6m). The DGE reported that online casino contributed $7.5m (£4.4m) of total revenues, with online poker supporting revenues of $2m (£1.2m). From launch to the end of June a total of 378,564 igaming accounts have been created in New Jersey, up 7.8 per cent from the 351,136 accounts created as of May. UNIBET PLAYER HITS JACKPOT
NetEnt has paid out a 5.6m euro (£4.4m) jackpot - among the largest recorded in Sweden - to a 62-year old winner from Karlstad playing Mega Fortune on Unibet.com. It is the third time a player has unlocked the jackpot on Unibet, playing NetEnt’s Mega Fortune. The winner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was playing the game alone at home on a laptop at the time of hitting the jackpot. Pooled jackpots are very popular with players. Mega Fortune currently holds the Guinness World Record for the largest ever jackpot pay-out from an online slot game of 17.9m euro (£14.2m) from January 2013. EMOTIONAL ADVERT
BetWay is promoting is mobile brand BetWay Vegas in the second advert of its TV campaign. The ad is around half a minute in duration and features a boardroom setting of the directors of a casino company discussing their new competitor; BetWay Vegas. Rather than solving the issue the board, which is made up of Elvis lookalikes and too many cowboys hats, end up overly fascinated with the new product. The ad agency told Marketing Live: “Online gambling is now just another part of the entertainment mix, so brands need to start relating to their audiences on a human, approachable, emotional level.”
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BB119-p10-14-Betting_09/10 01/08/2014 11:21 Page 1
ACTION IMAGES / JOHN SIBLEY
Betting World Cup provides GVC with new player foundation FOOTBALL
A Gambling Commission investigation into events at Sittingbourne Greyhound Stadium has unearthed wider concerns about the sport’s infrastructure. GREYHOUNDS
he Gambling Commission has highlighted concerns over the strength of the SP system for greyhound racing following an investigation into suspicious betting activity at two tracks late last year. The investigation found that some forecast and tricast odds were being manipulated by the SP mechanism and brought to light a number of compliance failures in licensed personnel operating at Sittingbourne Greyhound Stadium. However, the biggest worry is that the Commission has identified that the system for setting the SP ‘may be inherently fragile and vulnerable to the risk of manipulation’. While the Commission said that it accepts that at many tracks that vulnerability is likely to be mitigated by the competence of those operating the system, and the effectiveness of the policies and procedures they have put in place, where those may be lacking, as was the case with some of the operators connected with the relevant Sittingbourne races, manipulation must be considered a realistic possibility.
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The regulator said: “There is a significant public interest in the long term sustainability of greyhound racing both as a sport and entertainment enjoyed by many people and as a betting product. Such sustainability is likely to depend on maintaining public confidence. “In that light, the Commission welcomes the commitment made by the Bookmakers Afternoon Greyhound Services (BAGS), with the support of the Greyhound Board for Great Britain, to reinforce, as a matter of urgency, the contractual obligations and controls that underpin the integrity of the current system. Whether or not more fundamental reform is required in the longer term will be a matter for the betting industry.” The Commission started investigating after it received reports from a number of licensed operators regarding suspicious betting activity on two greyhound races that took place at Sittingbourne towards the end of December 2013. Suspicion was based on the unusually high volume of forecast/tricast multiple bets on the Sittingbourne races, across a number of retail premises in Great
Britain with similar or identical stakes and selections. Questions were raised about a potential connection between the off-course bets and the make-up and strength of the on-course market for the races in question due to the apparent drift in prices and returned starting prices (SP) of the successful selections for the above bets, providing the largest two forecast dividends on the 12 race card. The Commission’s investigation brought to light a range of compliance failures on the part of a number of individuals involved in setting the SP at the track, and resulted in enforcement action, including the imposition of financial penalties and licence conditions. In one case the operating licence was surrendered where the Commission’s findings indicated it would otherwise have been revoked. One operator received a warning and other operators received formal advice to conduct. All on-course bookmakers have now been encouraged to ‘take the opportunity’ to review their own business practices to ensure they are not also at risk of regulatory action.
ANALYSIS Popular bookmaker Gary Wiltshire was one of those censured by the Commission, with conditions put on his operating licence and a fine. Sittingbourne’s operator Cearnsports also received a warning from the regulator. The Greyhound Board for Great Britain (GBGB) conducted a rigorous investigation into the races and found that the races themselves were not manipulated. However, while the Commission is not pursuing criminal offences against any individual, it said there remains a degree of ‘undispelled concern’ about the integrity of the markets on the races, a matter over which GBGB has no control.
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ACTION IMAGES / CARL RECINE
Concerns over ‘inherently fragile’ greyhound SP system
VC Holdings boss Kenneth Alexander has cited the Wold Cup in Brazil as ‘the foundation’ for recruiting new playing customers and intends to build on the advantage. In its first World Cup running the Sportingbet brand, the summer tournament helped sports wagers in the first six months of 2014 rise 38 per cent to 693m euro. The firm said the World Cup was a ‘resounding success’ in terms of recruiting new customers and generating increased revenues for the group on the back of increased but effective marketing investment. In terms of customer recruitment over 81,000 customers were added in the quarter, and 35,000 in the month of the World Cup alone, providing a springboard for further growth in the group. CEO Alexander commented: “I am delighted to announce another record quarter and half-year for revenues and an increase in the quarterly dividend. The World Cup has provided the foundation for additional recruitment of funded customers and the Group is now in an excellent position to continue growing strongly. This success and growth reflects the tremendous efforts from the talented and motivated staff we have at GVC, all of which have bonus plans aligned to the dividends declared to shareholders.” The record results for the second successive quarter saw an 11 per cent increase in total NGR to 54.8m euro on the same period in 2013, with total revenues for the six months ending 30 June up 45.4 per cent to 105.1m euro. The underlying comparisons to 2013 are even stronger as the impact of currency headwinds was around 50,000 euro per day. The results in Q2-2014 were of course boosted by the 54 games of the World Cup held in June in Brazil which not only made a current year contribution to profitability but is expected to leave a legacy of greater market penetration, significantly more customers and a stronger and more diversified revenue base. The back end of the World Cup also continued strongly with average NGR per day of 736,000 euro up 61 per cent on the same period last year and provided an aggregate sports margin percentage of 11.6 per cent.
THE WORLD CUP WAS A SUCCESS FOR GVC
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Mobile pushes SkyBet’s buttons
Betting
SkyBet has cited the success of its mobile betting platform as the driver for year on year business growth during last financial year. SkyBet reported revenues of £183m during the past year, which represents an increase of 18 per cent on the previous 12 months. This was boosted by the ‘significant’ customer take up of its mobile betting services during the period, with the number using the mobile betting service increasing by 29 per cent.
European Convention drops sports betting right argument
KHALID ALI: ‘A LONG AND CHALLENGING PROCESS’
Australian bookmakers banned from restricting punters AUSTRALIA
RIGHTS
SSA, the sports security association, believes that it has achieved a major victory by quelling talk about a sports betting right in Europe. The ‘Convention on the manipulation of sports competitions’ has recently been adopted by the Council of Europe, and despite concerns otherwise, ESSA secretary general Khalid Ali explained: “The industry has worked hard over the last couple of years to work constructively with policymakers on the Council of Europe’s proposed text, most notably including the removal of the promotion of a sports betting right, an approach which has been widely criticised by a recent report for the European Commission. This has not been easy to accomplish given the staunch position taken by some stakeholders, however, it was one of our red lines and we managed to push it through.” Ministers from around 50 countries are expected to sign the new convention next month at a conference in Switzerland, a report that has been hailed as ‘a significant step in the fight against organised crime and unethical behaviour in sport’. Secretary general Thorbjørn Jagland said: “This new international agreement represents a major step forward in safeguard-
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William Hill signs five year machine extension
ing the integrity of sport and sports ethics.” The Convention calls on governments to adopt measures, including legislation, notably: • Prevent conflicts of interest in sports betting operators and sports organisations; • Encourage the sports betting regulatory authorities to fight against fraud, if necessary by limiting the supply of sports bets or suspending the taking of bets; • Fight against illegal sports betting, allowing to close or restrict access to the operators concerned and block financial flows between them and consumers. Sports organisations and competition organisers are also required to adopt and implement stricter rules to combat corruption, sanctions and proportionate disciplinary and dissuasive measures in the event of offences, as well as good governance principles. ESSA had teamed up with the RGA, EGBA and ABB, to provide a lot of detailed evidence to support their position along with positive engagement and debate on that basis. Ali commented: “It has been a long and challenging process but where policymakers have in many instances begun to understand the realities of this issue and where our sector is actually
GAMING MACHINES
illiam Hill has shored up its long term gaming machine supply deal by signing a fiveyear extension to its existing partnership with Inspired Gaming Group. The deal covers the supply of serverbased video lottery gaming machines and virtual sports. The new contract also includes over 4,000 additional Eclipse cabinets in William Hill’s 2,400 licensed betting offices. The premium four-screen Eclipse cabinet comes complete with a digital topper and an interactive touch and swipe SmartDeck player
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12 BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014
new rule brought in by Racing New South Wales will see bookmakers compelled to take bets from punters. From 1 September 2014, online bookmakers with a turnover of more than $5m a year will be required to stand to lose a minimum amount of $2,000 (Metropolitan races) and $1,000 (Non-Metropolitan races) on any single fixed odds wager on NSW Thoroughbred races. The rule has been brought in amidst growing negative coverage on bookmakers ‘restricting winning clients’ and the racing authority has just completed a consultation on the matter. Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys said: “Racing NSW is confident that the conditions are fair and practical for all parties, whether they are wagering operators, professional punters or recreational punters. All punters should be able to place a legitimate bet on NSW Thoroughbred races and should not be discriminated against by having their accounts closed or bets refused simply because they are successful.” The new rule says that wagering operators are not to take actions such as closing a punter’s account, refusing to open a punter’s account or placing restrictions on a punter’s account solely to avoid complying with the minimum bet limit conditions, but can close them for other ‘legitimate’ reasons. The Australian Wagering Council (AWC) has labelled the decision by Racing NSW to proceed with the implementation of a minimum bet rule on wagering service operators as policy delivered via press release. AWC chief executive Chris Downy said: “The AWC is disappointed that many of the concerns raised during the consultation process have not been addressed adequately in the formulation of the new policy.” It points out that it will have an effect on competition and prices for the ordinary punter, it is tricky to enforce as it requires operators to trade with clients with whom they do not wish to trade and its practical workability in an online environment. Such a rule, were it to be implemented in the UK, would cause many bookmakers to revisit their operations, given the widespread practice of restricting accounts linked to arbers among others. The NSW rule will likely be an interesting study in the law of unintended consequences.
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After a long battle, ESSA and its fellow trade associations have been successful in persuading that a sports betting right is totally unnecessary. the victim not the perpetrator of betting related match-fixing. “Along with much of the tenet of the text, fundamental issues for our sector such as the promotion of restrictions on betting and bet types have consequently been significantly softened. It now merely proposes a limitation on sport betting ‘where appropriate’ and following consultation with the national sports organisations and sports betting operators. This is somewhat different from earlier versions where imposing restrictions were part of a sports betting right. There is no reason to believe that countries which do not impose such restrictions will seek to as a direct result of signing the Convention, nor are they required to do so under the terms of the text.” Ali was also pleased that there was more more flexibility in the scope and application of the convention and said that the approach has evolved into something that reflects rules already in place rather than attempting to change them. He said: “Imposing a single regulatory approach across jurisdictions was never going to be a viable approach and the text instead provides what could be seen as a minimum standard which regulators and their licensed operators in many European countries will already met or exceed.”
panel with OpticV video buttons, in addition to the two primary HD widescreens. Inspired has already deployed over 10,000 Eclipse terminals in under 12 months with major operators including William Hill, Paddy Power and Betfred. Luke Alvarez, founder and CEO of Inspired, said: “William Hill is one of the world’s leading gambling companies and it’s a testament to the quality of Inspired’s innovation and operational services that we have renewed and extended our long-term partnership for a further five years. “We recently announced
ANALYSIS The removal of the concept of a prescribed Sports Betting Right in an EU document is an important one; had it been retained then Member States would find such a mechanism far easier to implement. Of course, the Convention is not perfect; ESSA would have liked the definition covering illegal sports betting be different and more reflective of problems caused by unlicensed bookmakers outside of Europe. What effect the Convention will have in this area remains to be seen and the fact that it is a ‘living document’ means that some undesirable notions may yet find their way back in. But ESSA believes that overall the Convention provides a ‘relatively balanced and workable set of provisions’, and that is no mean feat in Europe.
a new desktop and mobile content deal with William Hill’s Online business and look forward to innovating across all of William Hill’s channels to provide its players with more entertainment, whilst using new technology to identify and protect vulnerable players.” Inspired has also announced a game development partnership with Ian Livingstone, one of the founding fathers of the UK games industry. As cofounder of Games Workshop he launched Dungeons & Dragons in Europe and coauthored the multi-million selling Fighting Fantasy gamebook series.
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BB119-p10-14-Betting_09/10 01/08/2014 11:26 Page 3
12bet sponsors Tigers
Betting RORY ANDERSON
Webis Holdings’ sportsbook arm has decided to pursue a local licence in the UK in order to comply with the new laws.
Isle of Man licensed Asian bookmaker 12BET is the new shirt sponsor of Hull City. The sponsorship is the largest in the club’s 110-year history and will run until the end of the 2015/2016 season. 12BET Europe CEO Rory Anderson said: “The Tigers’ give us a great Premier League platform to engage our target audience around the world.”
BETTINGBRIEFS
Betinternet plumps for UK licence
FORTUNA BUYS INTRALOT’S CZECH OPERATION
THE CAL EXPO OPERATION TURNED A PROFIT IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS
REGULATION
etinternet is one of a growing number of brands that has been pressed into getting a UK gambling licence in order to offer its services to a large slice of its existing customer base. Parent company Webis Holdings revealed in a trading update ahead of its annual results that the company has committed to applying for a UK licence under the new point of consumption laws and expects it to proceed smoothly. It explained: “Webis’ position as an existing licence holder in the Isle of Man gives it an option to apply for a ‘continuation licence’ under this legislation, which is designed to offer a continuity of business for UK resident customers during the licence application process.” However, it is changing legislation in another jurisdiction which is causing it a bit of a headache at the
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moment. The changing government perceptions towards online gaming in Singapore, one of betinternet’s main Asian markets, meant that the operator was ‘obliged to curtail’ some of its casino and gaming activity from February. A reduction in card authorisations from Singapore and some unfavourable football results in the latter part of the European football season also had an impact on the overall gross margin achieved. The firm added: “The board continues to monitor the possibility for regulatory changes in Singapore and our advisors remain close to the review process. There has been no official notification of the possible extent of any changes or any associated timeline. Notwithstanding, we have reduced the sportsbook’s exposure to this jurisdiction, as we have been able to attract a greater proportion of sports betting activity from other regions.”
Overall, betinternet saw turnover continue at a similar level to the previous year, although the external challenges in the second half have resulted in a lower overall full-year margin than anticipated. However, results during the recent football World Cup tournament in Brazil were generally favourable for betinternet and achieved an encouraging margin. In Play Tennis, where betinternet offers customers a unique product and pricing, has also shown significant growth. Webis’ standout performer at the moment, though, is its US pool betting operation WatchandWager, which experienced good turnover growth for the full year, boosted by new player activity into the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Swedish pools. The firm said: “Both these outlets provide us with a competitive first-mover advantage over other international operators and are
part of our growth strategy to secure further global licences and agreements. Following these successes, the board has agreed to further investment in the pool wagering division, concentrating on recruiting additional staff and further improvements to the watchandwager.com platform. The board is confident that this additional investment expense will translate into enhanced profitability in the near term, justifying the commitment to compliant operations in regulated jurisdictions.” Watchandwager’s harness racetrack operation at Cal Expo even turned a profit, despite its original acquisition was intended for leverage with other US racetracks and the local regulators. Indeed WatchandWager and partner racetrack groups now actively involved in discussions on legislative change within online gaming in California.
ANALYSIS Betinternet is only one of many operators in previously white listed territories having to get a local UK licence now. Indeed, 12Bet, also based in the Isle of Man, is also going down that route after investing in a significant sponsorship deal with Hull City FC. The changes in the Singapore market are also a blow to a firm with a decent Asian following. However, the fact that the board is considering restating its reporting currency to United States dollars to ‘more accurately reflect currency exposure’ perhaps signposts that most of the company’s resources are pointing over the Atlantic.
Spreadex predicts mainstream financial betting SPREADS
pread betting and fixed odds operator Spreadex has seen profits rise by nearly 30 per cent according to the latest financial accounts filed at Companies House. The firm, which offers sports betting and financial trading from one account, posted profits before tax of £18.5m from turnover of £35.4m for the year ending 31 May 2014. The spreads operator has seen rapid growth in recent years and posted pre-tax profits of £14.4m from turnover of £29.4m last year. The figures come before the company enjoyed a record month of new sign-ups and bet numbers in June due to the World Cup, plus volatility in the financial markets. Spreadex managing director
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14 BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014
Jonathan Hufford commented: “An expanded range of sports and financial markets for customers to trade on plus continued product and platform upgrades have helped us go from strength to strength. “Our philosophy of putting the customer first has seen us named as the best spread betting firm for customer service for three years in succession in the Investment Trends awards and we believe this has also helped our client base grow to record numbers.” Spreadex said it has put particular focus on expanding its in-house IT development team and also recently signed a £1.2m deal with Computacenter to install a private cloud solution incorporating 40
terabytes of storage to cope with the firm’s rate of expansion. The company plans to launch further financial trading products later this year that it hopes will help keep customer and bet levels growing. Hufford added: “Financial spread trading is becoming more mainstream and being adopted by investors as a way to gain leveraged access to trade the markets while avoiding stamp duty and Capital Gains Tax on profits. “The ability to go short as well as long is also another attraction, while the option to trade via a credit limit, subject to client status, as well as being able to place sports bets from the same account is also proving very popular among our customer base.”
European bookmaker Fortuna Entertainment Group has acquired Intralot Czech s.r.o., a firm that owns 2,500 lottery terminals for numerical games and instant lotteries offered by Fortuna. The bookmaker will continue in cooperation with the mother company Intralot, mainly in the area of software and apps development for the lottery terminals. Radim Haluza, CEO of Fortuna Entertainment Group, commented: “Acquisition of the Intralot Czech branch has been an integral part of restructuring of our lottery project. In a short period of time, it will enable us a faster growth of profits and overall, a more flexible development of our lottery products.” HUGE WORLD CUP FOR BETSSON
Betsson has revealed that the total gross turnover in the company’s sportsbook during the World Cup amounted SEK 827m (£71.4m). The World Cup final accounted for SEK 38m (£3.3m) of turnover, compared with the average turnover during the tournament of SEK 12.9m (£1.1m) per match. Magnus Silfverberg, CEO and president for Betsson, said: “It’s encouraging to see that an average match during the World Cup was almost as big as the Champions League final. The World Cup has exceeded our expectations and the strong customer intake together with the high reactivation of existing customers bodes well for the future.” REVENUE GROWTH SLIP
MECN’s Online Gambling Benchmarking report found that revenue growth in the industry has dropped from 21 per cent in 2012 to a still impressive 9 per cent in 2013. However, MECN contends that this shows the industry is now ‘all grown up’, and like other industries, it has to contend daily with increased competition, pressure on margins. MECN said that this explains why 75 per cent of industry executives stated in a recent survey that the focus of their work in the future will be on improving existing operations rather than on exploring new revenue sources.
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BB119-p16-18-Politics_09/10 01/08/2014 10:36 Page 1
Politics Stakeholders keen to see MOSES implemented
MARC ETCHES: ‘INDUSTRY NOW NEEDS TO DEVELOP THE TECHNOLOGY NEEDED’
LOBBYING
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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its ‘licence conditions and codes of practice’ (LCCP). Marc Etches, chief executive of the Responsible Gambling Trust, said: “This project shows that the gambling industry has the appetite to look at itself and ask what more it can do to improve the way it looks after problem gamblers. The industry now needs to develop the technology needed to enforce selfexclusion, look into what legal restrictions there may be, and better understand the most effective methods of self-exclusion. We have identified these areas as research priorities and it is for the gambling industry to show their continued commitment by implementing the highest standards in their respective codes of conduct.” The review also revealed that there are limits to the extent that existing research can offer new insight into the current challenges related to self-exclusion in Great Britain. Most studies relate specifically to a particular product or jurisdiction, rely on weak research designs, draw from self-selected samples and were completed more than five years ago when technology and the gambling landscape were considerably different to that which currently exists. There were, however, some
consistent findings indicating that in order to improve effectiveness, self-exclusion protocols should be: • actively yet strategically promoted; • quick and simple to implement; • administered by attentive, well-trained staff; • attracting sufficient investment in resources and technology to improve enforcement; • comprehensive rather than isolated in coverage (where feasible). Evidence from other jurisdictions suggests that promotion of self-exclusion is generally weak in gambling venues. Expectations for operators regarding what constitutes reasonable attempts to promote self-exclusion should be more prescriptive, which would also facilitate auditing and evaluation. Enactment (and reinstatement) should be simple and convenient, remotely accessible, discreet and minimise further exposure to gambling products. A long–term focus for improving enforcement is the evaluation of efficient options to use technology (e.g., card-based options or biometrics) to improve detection of breaches. However, more short-term options with potentially fewer costs, such as withholding winnings, may also be worthy of further investigation.
ANALYSIS The report, while recommending MultiOperator Self-Exclusion Schemes (MOSES), identified that there are a lot of technical, operational and legal issues to be dealt with before any effective mechanism can be introduced. Interestingly, it also said that there needs to be ongoing identification and trialling of technology to facilitate the enforcement of selfexclusion - including facial recognition technology. It also recommended some investigation into industry and player perspectives on more innovative approaches to selfexclusion such as disentitlement options or product-specific exclusion and to better understand post-exclusion behaviour among gamblers.
Responsibility focus for new Dutch Gaming Bill HOLLAND
arja Appelman, director of the Dutch Gaming Authority the Kansspelautoriteit, has told delegates at the Gaming in Holland conference that she expects the parliamentary process over the country’s impending online gaming legislation to be completed by January 1, 2015. “It is up to us as the Dutch Gaming Authority to translate the new legal
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framework into practical procedures, processes and guidelines,” she explained. While Appelman said she could not reveal full details of the bill, she said the Dutch Gaming Authority was working closely with other regulators around the world. “Online gaming operators work in international markets, and we know that you don’t want to have different technical standards between markets,” she said. “We
16 BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014
new trade organisation which aims to be a strategic body for the UK gaming sector has been launched. The Gambling Business Group (GBG) encompasses members drawn from the pub, bingo, AGC, FEC, online, LBO and casino sectors, and has industry heavyweight and former BACTA national president Nick Harding as its chairman and respected senior gaming executive Peter Hannibal as CEO. The subscription-based organisation has different membership rates based on annual turnover and embraces a broad spectrum of companies from multinational PLCs through to SMEs. Explaining the role of the GBG, Hannibal said: “Our objective is to provide a strategic voice for gaming in the UK in a way in which individual trade associations are unable due to their remit, which, by definition, has to be very specific. We are complementary to trade associations and many of our members subscribe to their own trade groups across gaming and various professions working for gaming companies.” He added: “One of our unique strengths is the ability to talk about all machine types, high stake and low stake gaming and across all sectors. We have already held some extremely useful and productive meetings with the Gambling Commission and we are committed to contributing to a more open and progressive dialogue with our regulators. The GBG membership is clear about the very real challenges which lie ahead and the need to engage with key stakeholders in a positive way. “The objectives for the Gambling Business Group are purposely concentrated on improving the business environment for its members, which includes engaging with government thinking, helping to shape the political agenda and protecting the long term future of the companies and people working within the Industry. Key areas of focus are regulation and legislation, government policy and of course social responsibility.”
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Multi-Operator Self-Exclusion Schemes (MOSES) are recommended to tackle problem gambling, and operators themselves seem keen.
oth gambling operators and those that treat problem gambling believe that improving on the current self-exclusion mechanisms should be viewed as a priority in order to keep down problem gambling rates. A survey by the Responsible Gambling Trust found that the majority of respondents from gambling businesses and treatment providers believed the industry needs to ensure selfexclusion is irrevocable within the agreed period, improve information sharing between gambling operators, improve the standard of training for staff, and ban marketing to problem gamblers who have excluded themselves. The survey, which also reviews the academic evidence regarding self-exclusion, was conducted by the Self-Exclusion Group of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board and the Responsible Gambling Trust. The group spoke to around 30 stakeholders in the gambling industry and amongst gambling treatment professionals and asked them how effective self-exclusion has been as a form of harm minimisation in gambling. The report is expected to inform the forthcoming review by the Gambling Commission of
New ‘strategic body’ for UK gaming industry
have been co-operating with other gaming authorities and exchanging best practices in an effort to harmonise, where possible, the technical and administrative procedures. I hold the opinion that such cooperation is absolutely necessary.” Appelman said consumer protection would be at the top of the regulatory agenda, and that the Dutch Gaming Authority is currently working with
the Ministry of Security and the Ministry of Public Health to create a detailed list of operational requirements for licensed operators, which will include a self-exclusion clause. “Operators have the legal responsibility to monitor and analyse the behaviour of their consumers and intervene with harmful gambling behaviour,” she said. “We will set a minimal level of processes and require-
ments operators will have to adhere to, in order to ensure safe and responsible gaming for Dutch citizens. “The gaming authority is working on the documents regarding the licensing procedure. As soon as it is ready, we will make our requirements public, so that operators will be able to see exactly how we have translated all those requirements in practical procedures.”
NICK HARDING IS THE CHAIR OF THE GAMBLING BUSINESS GROUP
BB119-p16-18-Politics_09/10 01/08/2014 12:18 Page 2
Online application extended The Gambling Commission has launched an addition to its online application service which allows operators to apply for a non-remote licence or make amendments to an existing non-remote licence via its website. The move further improves the online services provided by the Commission. Applicants can navigate through the application in a way that reflects their business model and individual circumstances by providing the option to skip questions that are not applicable.
EU player protection measures a ‘small step’ forwards
MICHEL BARNIER: ‘WE MUST BETTER PROTECT ALL CITIZENS’
The EU appears to have made a good fist of its player protection standards for Member States regulating online gaming. PRINCIPLES
he Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has described the new EU recommendations to help Member States provide a high level of consumer protection for online gamblers as a ‘small step in the right direction’. The Commission’s Recommendation sets out a number of principles that Member States are invited to take up in their gambling regulations: Basic information requirements for gambling websites, in particular to ensure that consumers are provided with sufficient information to understand the risks related to gambling. Commercial commu-
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nication (advertising and sponsorship) should be carried out in a responsible way. Member States should ensure that minors are not able to gamble online, and that rules are in place to minimise their contact with gambling, including through advertising or promotion of gambling services whether broadcast or displayed. There should be a registration process to open a player account so that consumers have to provide details of age and identity for verification by the operators. This should also enable operators to keep track of player behaviour and raise the alarm if nec-
essary. Ongoing support should be available to players to prevent gambling-related problems, by equipping them with tools to keep gambling under control: possibilities to set spending limits during the registration process, to get information alerts about winnings and losses whilst playing, and to take time out from gambling. Players should have access to helplines they can call for assistance about their gambling behaviour, and they should be able to easily exclude themselves from gambling websites. Advertising and sponsorship of online gambling services should be more
socially responsible and transparent. For example, it should not make unfounded statements about chances of winning, exert pressure to gamble, or suggest that gambling resolves social, professional, personal or financial problems. Member States should ensure that training is provided to employees of online gambling operators interacting with players to ensure they understand problem gambling issues and are able to liaise with the players appropriately. Vice-President Michel Barnier, responsible for Internal Market and Services, commented: “We must better protect all citizens,
and in particular our children, from the risks associated with gambling. We now look to the Member States, but also to online gambling operators, to match our ambition for a high level of consumer protection throughout the EU in this fast growing digital sector. The recommendation delivers one of the core elements of the Commission’s 2012 action plan on online gambling services.” RGA’s chief executive Clive Hawkswood said: “Despite our reservations about a very small number of the recommendations , we are fully supportive of the thrust of the Commission’s work and the reasonable and proportionate
approach it has adopted towards consumer protection. We look forward to continuing our discussions both with the Commission and, crucially, with individual Member States as they consider whether and how to implement these proposals. “These recommendations are a small step in the right direction which we hope will spur a further opening of the market across the EU. However, any changes flowing from them will of course be at the discretion of Member States and therefore we are still a very long way from achieving anything that looks like a real internal market for gambling services.”
sales@bit8.com www.bit8.com
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Betting Business Interactive Edition
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August 2014
25 SKS365 is to get terminals for its land-based operations from TAB-Austria
26 Betradar has adapted its BetPal system to cater for a new sport: basketball
28 GameAccount Network is offering casino operators the chance for perfect iSIGHT
30 Lorna Coniglio-Burrows thinks the Isle of Man is still a ‘go-to’ jurisdiction
Essential guide to First movers Playtech was one of the first suppliers to provide a live dealer product back in 2003 and was soon followed by the now closed CasinoWebCam via CWC Gaming.
Behaviour patterns
TV breakthrough
32Red CEO Ed Ware said that live casino players behave differently: “There are slight differences in the profile of a live casino player versus one that regularly plays RNG games, but we try to make sure everybody is treated like an individual.”
A key development in the UK was the change in ‘teleshopping’ regulations to include gambling in 2009. This opened the door for NetPlay TV’s Supercasino operation on Channel 5.
BITSTARS
Ensuring dealers are smart enough Bitstars is a member of the increasing number of gaming sites offering transactions via bitcoin and the operator has just dipped its tow into the live casino market for the first time. Nick Vedaski, head of casino operations at Bitstars, explains why. ou’ve recently added a Live Casino suite to Bitstars - was there demand from your customer base or is it a drive to offer the full spectrum of gaming opportunities? Both of these factors have contributed to our latest addition. Offering a live casino option widens our target audience and the level of entertainment they can expect in return. It also contributes to giving more choice to our existing players, especially the ones seeking for a brick-andmortar casino experience while still using bitcoins. This is an excellent opportunity for us as we continue to build our brand and expand our offering. We believe that Bitstars’ live casino concept will prove extremely successful in the bitcoin world, particularly in our current English speaking markets. In just a few years the bitcoin gambling space has developed rapidly and the competition out there will continues to get more competitive and crowded. However in saying this, our players have learnt that they can count on us to be the first in the industry with any breakthroughs and just like this deal, we will continue to add much more original products in the future to really provide the best selection of casino
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games to our players and provide them with the best bitcoin casino experience around. What were the key functions you were looking for when searching for a supplier? As with every other partnership we have secured so far, we made sure that the supplier was reliable and could offer an innovative solution. Being a bitcoin casino, the supplier also needed to support this digital currency. We also made sure that the dealers were attractive and smart enough to satisfy our customers and keep them coming back for more. What do you think players find most appealing about the Live Casino experience? Live casino allows a player to interact with dealers just like being in a real casino. They can experience the real feel of fun such as seeing the roulette wheel spin or being dealt real cards. This raises the level of satisfaction for every player, especially those who want more than just digital graphics when enjoying their play. Do you think the Live Casino product helps add confidence to a player base which might have some reservations about Bitcoin?
Confidence of a player boils down to who is offering the service. At Bitstars.net this helps us dearly as we have demonstrated that we take our business and the way we support bitcoin very seriously. The more bitcoin merchants take this industry seriously, the bigger bitcoin will become. The addition of powerhouse names that accept bitcoin in every field of their business such as Dell and Expedia, will surely help the cause. Why are there so many bitcoin based gaming sites springing up at the moment? The Bitcoin iGaming vertical is very new and has been showing significant growth lately. As with every new industry there are many new start-ups, even more when you consider the fact that costs to enter this market are relatively lower compared to those of traditional online casinos. We can already foresee further rapid growth of this industry in the months to come and the adoption of bitcoin will surely increase. Many players will surely anticipate all the advantages of bitcoin gambling which very much resembles the brick-and-mortar casinos where you can instantly cash in to the table and cash out when you leave, whilst maintaining a certain level of privacy.
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to ... Live Casino LOCUS GAMING
VIEWPOINT
Waiting for a virtual breakthrough
Don’t forget about the community gaming experience
Ed Andrewes, CEO of mobile casino operator Locus Gaming, discusses the challenges that live dealer products face away from the desktop. s the Live dealer product as popular on mobile as it is on desktop? What are the most popular games? We started offering live dealer tables at our casino expecting players to enjoy them as much on their tablet as on the desktop, which has pretty much proved the case. The take up on smartphones has been slower in terms of the number of unique players, their average deposits and wagers. Undoubtedly the issue with smartphones has been the size of screen against the amount of real estate required to effectively display a live dealer product. Our supplier has done a really good job with its latest iPhone offering and since this was launched we are seeing a steady pick up.
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What are the major issues in presenting live casino on mobile? The mobile experience has proved challenging compared to the live dealing offering on tablet. The reduced screen size makes it difficult to accommodate all the elements (ie. a roulette wheel, a dealer, the betting table and the chat window); often the connection to mobile is via 3G or 4G giving latency issue for streaming and it is not easy to provide a video stream specific for certain screen sizes and resolution. What happens if connectivity is lost during a hand? There are a number of ways of addressing this issue, however, the policy we have is that if a player has placed a wager on an outcome while sitting at the table and they lose connectivity (ie. close the
browser or poor reception), their bet will still stand whether a winner or loser. The player is then able to see a rerun of the hand or spin and is also able to reconnect to the lobby and join the same table again straight away. What’s the next big development you’d like to see in the live dealer space? We would like to see virtual reality become more than just a concept. For example, a tablet could turn in to a virtual roulette wheel within your own home, while a group of people are betting from their own mobiles or tablets on the same spin. Are tablets the perfect platform for live dealer products? We think that the tablet is the future device of gaming across the board for all products and live dealer is a good example of this. There is a view that, at the moment, tablets are more of a ‘shared device’ rather than a ‘personal device’ which does not necessarily lend itself to gaming. However, I think that more and more everyone will want to have an individual tablet for themselves and the touchscreens functionality will offer a more compelling gaming experience. Live dealer is perfectly suited to tablet - there is enough space on the screen and operators can use the touch screen functionality to offer a better experience for the player. Furthermore live dealer usage on tablets will grow as video and network technologies get better.
BODOG
Bodog in the Zone for innovation A slight twist in dealer behaviour has allowed Bodog to developed a live blackjack game which can take unlimited players while providing a fast hand turnaround. nnovation is tricky when it comes to games that are centuries old, but the new interactive interface provided by the internet, especially via live dealers, means that new twists are still possible. One of the firms still pushing the boundaries of how to offer live casino games to customers is Asian-facing operator Bodog88. The company has recently developed Zone21, a slightly different take on the classic Blackjack game which allows speedy hand turnover to unlimited players in exchange for an unusual method of dealing. Essentially in a head to head game between dealer and customer(s), the dealer continues to add cards to the player hand until its busts, hits Hard 21 or six cards - and the players at home are given the opportunity to stick at each juncture. While one player may stick on 18, another player may choose to wait for the next card. If that was an Ace, then they might stick. Another player might decide to twist again and bust with a six. This was the one ‘hand’ that provided three different outcomes for three different players and no waiting. The dealer then deals their own cards until it hits 17 or above or busts. Bodog’s global PR director Ed Pownall ex-
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plained: “The amount of players trying the game is very encouraging - stakes are low at the moment but that is to be expected with anything this new and unique, players are testing the water at the moment.” Pownall said given the market is homogenised, it is important to try something different in order to stand out to customers. He thinks there could be more innovation in live dealer products. “The problem and the solution are the same thing; it’s hard to stand out as product offerings are very similar but as a result anything you do that is different stands out a mile. We are certainly trying to innovate all the time and recently we’ve added Zone Baccarat, Parlay Baccarat, Zappit Blackjack, and now Zone 21 so we hope we are keeping are offering interesting and different while making sure we are on top with ‘parity products’ too. “In the case of Zone 21 we are looking at a patent process as we believe this to be something that stands out from other operators and we are keen that it stays that way. In the case of Zappit Blackjack, that is a third party supplier and has his own copyright - we have an exclusive licence at the moment. Other games and ideas can certainly be copied and you rely on
BODOG’S INNOVATIVE ZONE21 GAME
the first mover advantage to a certain extent. If you take the Recreational Poker Model we introduced a couple of years ago virtually every poker room has now copied elements of that system.” He denies that the rush to copy is a disincentive for R&D though. “As long as you are consistently doing it - players then come to you looking for what’s new. It’s no good if you get one good thing and think you’ve done the job for the foreseeable future. In every industry resting on your laurels is fatal. Look at Samsung v Apple even 18 months ago it would’ve been unthinkable that Apple’s position could be usurped, so you never know. If we can make similar waves in casino as we have done in poker then the future is going to be very exciting indeed.” Pownall said that live dealer is the key product in Asia, with Baccarat especially popular, but the RNG casino is catching up. He explained: “RNG is certainly growing all the time and longevity of the industry will bring further trust in RNG products as time goes on. Whether it will ever overtake is hard to answer… if it does it will be a long way down the road.”
Andrew McCarron hile we’ve been struggling to cram all the live dealer features on the mobile unit, perhaps we’ve been going about it the wrong way. As Ed Andrewes alludes to on these pages, instead of going smaller, we should go bigger. Much, much bigger. Take inspiration from Netplay TV’s broadcast output and through a big spectacle on a huge television and have all viewers connect to the experience via apps on their individual mobile phones. Encourage people to host their own casino nights at home, with operators offering a dedicated casino night programme where they offer an eclectic mix of gaming products and given a polished sheen by a dedicated, sophisticated casino host who can interact between games and explain things to even the greenest gambler. Encouraging people to host casino nights at home, in exchange for a special pack or even an affiliate deal, is only the same mechanism is Tupperware parties or Anne Summers evenings. Let’s face it, if selling sex toys in suburban living rooms can be deemed as socially acceptable, then why not fun and sociable gaming sessions? Race nights are already a recognised night out and that’s usually using footage of races from the 1970s. It’s time to extend the practice into the 21st century by combining the feel of a night out with television programming. And these days, with the advent of devices such as Google Chromecast that easily allows you to put a browser up on a TV screen, it’s not as if the television regulations apply. A full gaming programme streamed via a channel on your existing website can easily be shown on TV by hosts. Hosting casino nights could become as mainstream as throwing a barbecue, getting everyone around to watch Eurovision, or even doing a pub quiz. Even if the parties were restricted to virtual money, at least it will be a good showcase for the product and would work to demystify it to the uninitiated. And the next step - hiring out cinema screens and providing a 3D broadcast to patrons, and one of the few times where it would be socially acceptable to use your mobile at the picture house. All too often the industry has, understandably, thought make it smaller, make it more discrete, make it more personal. But there is scope for going the other way as well and reducing the stigma of online betting. Imagine the buzz if one of your party scoops a 36/1 shot on the roulette wheel! Everyone can feel the thrill of the win that way and create a real feelgood vibe around the product.
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Venetian Macao 18-20 November 2014
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for the world
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MGS is back and even better!
Feature rich
Now’s the time to book your attendance at MGS 2014 18th – 20th November. MGS is the only show that is truly representative of the Asian gaming industry. And the only event to earn the title ‘by Asia, for the World’.
Visit the highly acclaimed Slot Experience Center. Gain invaluable knowledge at the Macao Gaming Summit. Promote your brands on MGSTV.
Come and see the entire gaming industry Gaming Equipment & Accessories. Gaming Promoters & VIP Clubs. Casino Fixtures & Fittings. Promotional Services & Memorabilia. Food & Beverage. Entertainment & Performance.
MGS means business
The best networking in Asia Invaluable business networking opportunities. Get to know potential business partners in a relaxed and casual atmosphere.
And we will even help pay your way! The Macao SAR Government is once again offering attractive subsidies to qualified buyers from air fares to hotel accommodation, making MGS the key annual meeting hub for casino procurement teams.
Exhibiting at MGS makes fantastic business sense. Reach out to casinos, integrated resorts, regulators and gaming affiliated businesses. 83% of MGS visitors are either decision makers or have direct input to purchasing decisions. An overwhelming majority (99%) said they would be returning to MGS in 2014.
Event Organiser
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Essential Guide to ... Live Casino MICROGAMING
NET ENTERTAINMENT
More tables, new features, additional platforms
New branding possibilities Pierre de Boer, director of live casino at Net Entertainment, explains the firm’s vision for the live casino product.
A High Definition approach is one of many innovations that Microgaming has tried to incorporate into its Live Dealer range. icrogaming’s Live Dealer product incorporates High Definition video streaming and multi-language support. The Live suite recreates the casino experience by combining real-time footage of dealers with a virtual interface that provides auto-bet functionality, multi-table play and full statistical analysis. This state-of-the-art software is used by leading operators such as 32Red, 188Bet and Nordicbet. Microgaming’s Live Dealer games include Baccarat and multi-player Baccarat, Roulette and multi-player Roulette and Blackjack. These games are also available via Quickfire, Microgaming’s open platform, which enables operators’ access to gaming content via a simple and hassle-free integration process. Microgaming is also home to the exclusive and unique Playboy Live Dealer; the world’s first branded Live Dealer offering. To represent the brand’s trademark style,
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the studio features dealers dressed in the signature Playboy bunny costume and an atmosphere which evokes the original famed Playboy Club. The Live Dealer studio encompasses Baccarat, Roulette and Blackjack games. Launched in February 2013, the firm said it is proving very popular with operators and is seen as an effective tool to acquire new players. Always looking to develop its Live Dealer offering and bring something new to the table, Microgaming has been busy making a series of enhancements to its product. One development has been the introduction of Multi Table across its Live gaming tables, designed for those players who are looking for faster betting action and increased gameplay. Accessible via the Casino lobby, the feature enables play on multiple games concurrently on a single window. Players can choose between a combination of Baccarat and Roulette; this cutting-edge feature will be a certain hit amongst high rolling players.
In addition, Microgaming has expanded its Live Dealer offering with the opening of another new live studio. The number of live tables available to operators’ players has increased significantly in the past 12 months. Last, but certainly not least, to complement its existing mobile Live Dealer product, which includes both HTML5 and Native versions, Microgaming has launched an iPad specific Live Dealer product, developed in HTML5. Both Baccarat and Roulette are available and these games can be easily embedded within an operators’ website for tablet-specific play.
BETCONSTRUCT
Localisation makes dramatic improvement Among the many product lines available from BetConstruct is a dynamic live dealer casino. A spokesperson for the firm explains how it was developed. hat is Live Dealer Casino? Simply put, it’s the most dynamic, absorbing and customer engaging of all online gaming verticals. It offers operators a far greater opportunity to enhance the whole player experience by bringing the intimacy of dealer/player interaction from the casino floor and into the player’s living room. The outcome amounts to much better results through greater player acquisition and retention. Another benefit is that Live Dealer Casino is a great tool for cross selling additional products. Advanced Live Dealer Casino products are proven to dramatically increase operator’s customer base by allowing thorough localisation. Player’s average spend is considerably higher on the live dealer tables than on the tables controlled by the random number generator. In certain cultures the live dealer casinos are the only acceptable options. BetConstruct has had its live dealer solution in the making for quite some time. We planned to build it to the chroma key (Green Screen) model from the onset. This decision enables us to offer more affordable branded solutions to operators and allowed BetConstruct to better effect its studio design and layout During the past year the industry has seen the onset of multitable play capability, allowing players to finally open all the games on a single screen with the problem of ‘reliable bet reconciliation’ finally beaten - a huge step forward. Likewise, we have
ive Casino’s popularity in the industry is increasing and we estimate clear doubledigit growth in the coming years. Since January 2013 we’ve used our industry expertise and invested a large amount of time and resources into building what we, and our partners believe, to be the best Live Casino studio, technology and offering on the market today. Our product has generated a great deal of interest and helped sign contracts in a short space of time, and we’re continually adding new agreements as operators look to increase revenues and participate in this fast growing casino segment. Our existing customers find it particularly easy to start offering Live Casino as most of the integration is already done through our CasinoModule. NetEnt’s vision for Live Casino is the same as it is with all our products; to drive the online casino market through better games. Our Live Casino product meticulously replicates the bricks-and-mortar experience in an online environment and the player feels as if he is in a real casino. It is a stunning gaming experience with HD quality streaming, low latency, excellent branding options for our customers and innovative gameplay. One innovation that has proved extremely successful is our Live Common Draw Blackjack. This product solves the classic hurdle known from competing offerings with limited seat capacity at Blackjack tables. This product allows an unlimited number of players to simultaneously enjoy the popular game with traditional Blackjack rules at its heart. This is great for operators, as they never have to turn away players due to lack of seats. Another popular feature is being able to securely take bets while the ball is spinning on roulette tables. This unique detail increases bets per round, for the benefit of operators, and adds to the players’ overall experience by replicating a commonplace landbased casino feature which is central for the seasoned player. The NetEnt Live Casino also offers new branding possibilities for operators. Branding a Live Casino was previously an expensive exercise as it meant that the operator had to invest in dedicated tables - this has now changed. With our state-of-the-art broadcasting technology, branding is added digitally through blue-screen technology. This allows us to offer a more affordable solution to our operators as well as increasing the innovation and flexibility.
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seen a move towards increasing production values by taking advantage of advancements in resolution and bandwidth optimisation, slow motion and the utilisation of camera software. Across the entire estate of live dealer providers we have witnessed an increase in games portfolios and a move by the largest providers to finally upgrade their game functionality to include features such as bonus options and add more player friendly products. Obviously, development in mobile has really set the tone for providers as it has been very market driven. Mobile has become an essential delivery channel for most of the gaming verticals and the live dealer casino could not lag behind.
sales@microgaming.co.uk www.microgaming.co.uk/live
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Retail B2B Retail Listings
B2B content R et ai l
Bet promotion
BGT Maltese
SIS has launched a new series of short videos on its FACTS service to boost the popularity of key bettypes, with punters provided with an easy guide to the Tricast and Lucky 15 bets. BGT has started a trial with a casino operator in Malta to explore the potential appetite for sports betting in the local market. The setup consists of the complete BGT retail solution including terminals, tills, shop-TV and customer cards.
www.sis.tv info@sis.tv
gaming B 2 machines B R et ai l
Sky takes PRD Sky Sports Digital Media (SSDM) is now a distributor of official British horseracing PreRace Data (PRD), joining the Press Association, SIS and Timeform as partners with the Racecourse Data Company
(RDC).
GAMING MACHINES
JenningsBet looks into Infinity www.inspiredgaminggroup.com sales@ingg.com
www.tab.at Better games through innovation
B2B marketing R et ai l
SG Gaming has extended its supply agreement with leading independent bookmaker JenningsBet. ndependent bookmaker JenningsBet has extended its supply agreement with SG Gaming for gaming machines. The fouryear deal extends the 14-year partnership between the two companiesthrough to July 2018. As part of the agreement, the entire JenningsBet estate will receive SG Gaming’s Infinity terminals, which offers customers an enhanced playing experience through its 21.5” HD screen, an upgraded sound system, and an interactive video button panel. SG Gaming was the first machines provider to introduce a video button panel into the UK Licensed Betting Office sector two years ago. The ongoing partnership means JenningsBet will continue to offer customers
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B2B signage systems R et ai l
www.mrgsystems.co.uk sales@mrgsystems.co.uk
access to content developed by SG Gaming’s in-house development team, as well as new titles from its sister company, WMS Gaming, ultimately providing customers a leading gaming machine offer. The SG Connect division of SG Gaming, a field-based services division which provides end-toend support service, will continue to provide self-service betting terminals to the JenningsBet estate. Greg Knight, co-managing director of JenningsBet, said: “Our partnership has been important to the growth and success of JenningsBet over the past 14 years. SG Gaming has always been our machine provider of choice - not just because of our long standing relationship, but also because of their innovative content, popular titles and cabinet selection.” Phil Horne, group managing director of SG Gaming UK, said: “JenningsBet has been a partner since 2001, and is the largest independent estate in which we operate our terminals. Our relationship goes all the way back to 2001, which makes them one of our longest-serving customers. I am thrilled that we will continue to work with JenningsBet
over the coming years. The partnership has been a success because we have established a terrific mutual understanding, which enables us to deliver first-class content and terminals to the JenningsBet estate.” Julian Knight, co-managing director of JenningsBet, commented: “SG Gaming’s services have proved vital to our business, in particular the first-class operational support they provide us. Their marketing and promotional support has also been invaluable. I am confident SG Gaming will continue to be the best partner for our business and will help us achieve our targets over the coming years.” Horne added: “SG Gaming is proud to be a champion of independent Licensed Betting Office operators such as JenningsBet. More than any other provider, we know they value a complete support package to complement the terminals we provide. Installation of the Infinity cabinets to the JenningsBet estate is scheduled to be completed by July 2014, and we will work closely with JenningsBet to provide a staff training programme, and marketing support to promote the launch of the new machines.”
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David Ross Fabrications Ltd Metalwork supplied from our designs or your own. 7YV[V[`WL [OYV\NO [V WYVK\J[PVU (SS Ä UPZOLZ For example:
TERMINALS
PlanetWin365 takes on TAB terminals AB-Austria has been selected by SKS365, a rapidly expanding betting, gaming and media company from Austria, to supply its growing land-based operations with gaming terminals. Just a few months after testing, the SKS365 Group has experienced ‘excellent feedback’ from its PlanetWin365 stores and players. Siegfried Dattl Jnr, managing director at TAB-Austria, is excited to have added SKS365 as a new client: “SKS365 has an excellent product portfolio and we are very proud to add our Go4Gold machines to their services.” SKS365 Group employs more than 200 people in six countries. Since its foundation in Innsbruck in 2009, they have opened major offices in Vienna, London and Belgrade. The firm’s Florian Bernsteiner explained: “Prime areas for operation continue to be Austria and Belgium.” TAB-Austria is a manufacturer and provider of self-service terminals and offers a wide range of cabinet solutions to supply companies to expand land-based operations. Dattl added: “We pay particular attention to our customer’s needs and requirements to make the player experience more exciting and let the terminal work faster when players get busy. Our aim is to create unique machines that maximise clients’ profits and identity.”
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LIVE BETTING Supabets goes Live frican sports betting company Supabets has expanded its in-play betting offer to 15,000 live matches per month by integrating Betradar’s Live Betting Solutions. The expanded in-play betting offering is now available within Supabets’ online and retail betting business. In addition, Supabets has successfully integrated the Betradar Live Channel in 60 retail betting shops across Africa. Supabets’ CEO, Phillip Anastassopoulos, said: “With the integration of Betradar’s in-play products we guarantee an entertaining live betting solution customised to satisfy the needs of all
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Bet slip dispensers Light boxes-wall and freestanding External ashtrays Magnetic wall boards Swivelling Tower with Poster Frames Pelmet Lights Upstands Floor bins with or without logo Paper Racks Pen dispensers Leaner legs
Coupon Dispensers Poster Frames Racing Post Holders Machine Tables Bandit Screen Posts Window Display Legs Stainless Steel Handrail Systems TV Gantry Systems LCD TV Brackets Plasma TV Brackets
SPECIALIST SUPPLIERS OF METALWORK TO THE BETTING INDUSTRY FOR OVER 16 YEARS UNIT 1E PECKLETON LANE BUSINESS ESTATE PECKLETON LEICESTER LE9 7RN TEL;01455 823721 FAX;01455 828339 EMAIL;davidross7@btconnect.com www.davidrossfabrications.co.uk Photographs courtesy of Coral Racing & Chisholm Bookmakers
sports enthusiasts. The partnership with Betradar has significant strategic value to Supabets’ vision statement, as well as future portfolio expansions, as demonstrated by the integration of the Live Channel into our retail business.”
TOTE Independent integration Bet A has finalised a deal to allow British and Northern Irish bookmakers to bet into the UK Tote pool with its new integration: Tote Express. The specialist supplier, which services operators in the UK and Ireland as well as 22 global territories, has released new software which will go live soon. In doing so, it will allow over 500 regional bookmakers to offer customers betting on popular products including the Tote Scoop6 and Tote Jackpot. A Bet A operations manager Jason Hardman said: “Modern EPOS systems like ours help to level the playing field for independents. It’s great that our customers will soon experience the same pool betting opportunities as those in the bigger chains.
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kevin@eagoco.com.tw
www.eagoco.com.tw
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Sportsbook
“” We are delighted to be streaming the Bonus Hour every Saturday and giving the customers of Totepool.com and Betfred.com the opportunity to watch quality previews.
John Haddock CEO, Betfred
SIS gets into the stream Broadcaster SIS is using its digital streaming platform to provide a new service to both the Betfred and Totepool websites. SIS is delivering live pictures of the “Betfred Bonus Hour”, normally seen on Betfred TV in betting shops, to Betfred.com and Totepool.com. Online punters can view the Bonus Hour thanks to SIS’ multi-platform streaming capability, which offers low-latency, high quality channels geared for the betting industry.
ACTION IMAGES / PAUL CHILDS LIVEPIC
DATA
Sportradar feeds Onefootball with data
Berlin-based Onefootball is taking its soccer data feeds from Sportradar for the foreseeable future. portradar has confirmed the integration of its soccer data feeds into the Onefootball application for mobile devices. With coverage of over 100 countries, 240+ soccer leagues and 40 languages, Sportradar provides a broad soccer coverage in the market. From now on, Sportradar’s Live Scores, Live Sports Centre and Statistics solutions will be integrated via XML feed into the Onefootball app. Onefootball relies on Sportradar’s data to fulfil its business’ target of increasing its worldwide soccer coverage for an expansion into the international mobile sports application market. Sportradar’s sales director Andreas Meyer commented: “We are proud that Onefootball has decided to integrate
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Sportradar’s soccer data into its application. With our broad variety of globallycovered tournaments and multi-language support, we are confident we will provide Onefootball with high quality data that helps Onefootball to further strengthen its position in the global market.” Onefootball CEO Lucas von Cranach said: “With the integration of Sportradar’s soccer feeds - both pre-match and live we are now able to provide our users with an even wider coverage of international soccer leagues. Accuracy, quick data delivery and the broad global coverage have made us choose Sportradar.” Meanwhile, sister firm Betradar has launched its live trading interface BetPal for basketball. Having launched football and tennis previously, the service is now
available for the three major betting sports. BetPal is a live trading tool that allows bookmakers to trade matches based on Betradar’s proprietary mathematical algorithms and combines user friendly interfaces for odds managed with all relevant trading information such as live monitoring of market prices and alerts for market deviations. The product is rounded up with Betradar’s live data service which provides the basis for live trading for up to 15,000 events each month. BetPal is the perfect way of automating live trading operations while keeping control of in-running prices where necessary. The service allows complete flexibility and sportsbook operators can choose whether to fully rely on Betradar’s Live
Odds or to take control themselves at any point in time during a match. In addition, operators can create and trade any additional match and market in an easy way. Sportradar managing director sales Erik Lorenz said: “The extension of the BetPal live trading interface for basketball is a further completion of our market leading live betting services. Our clients can choose all levels of automation from trading based purely on our live data, relying on our Live Odds service, trading matches via BetPal based on our live data and algorithms or completely outsource their trading by using our Managed Trading Services. This combination of services is unrivalled in the market and provides our clients a maximum degree of flexibility in their daily operations.”
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SYSTEM
PLATFORM
B2B Sportsbook Listings
B2B betting platform S po rt sb
Sporting Solutions integrated SB Technology (UK) Ltd has signed terms with Sporting Solutions to integrate its data services to create a comprehensive and compelling managed sports betting service. Any new or existing FSB Tech customer will now benefit from Sporting Solutions’ in-play data services pre-configured and fully integrated into its cutting edge sportsbook platform. Simon Trim, managing director at Sporting Solutions, said: “We’re really excited to be continuing the expansion of Sporting Solutions’ award winning pricing and data services. Thanks to this latest partnership with FSB, operators looking for a fully managed solution can enjoy Sporting Solutions’ unparalleled pre-match and in-play coverage.”
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SIMON TRIM
French growth rance-Pari’s B2B arm Sportnco enabled the group to post a profit of 190,000 euro for the first half of the year. Royalties and fees doubled over the period, from 250,000 euro in the first H1 of 2013 to 500,000 euro in H1 2014. This strong growth is due to the increase in activity of all customers who use Sportnco’s betting platforms as well as the launch of three new platforms during Q2 2014: one in France for Zeturf Group (www.zebet.fr), one in Malta (www.zebet.com) and one in Belgium for PMU Group (www.eurotierce.be).
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Hole new game etric Gaming’s SuperLive Golf markets have launched with Redbet Gaming Ltd, a subsidiary of international media conglomerate Bonnier Group AB. SuperLive Golf renders an unprecedented level of match interaction, with up to four hundred wagers offered per round. Typically following select marquee groups, SuperLive provides wagering opportunities on a wide array of engaging markets, such as who will win the hole, total combined group score and individual player propositions, including stroke-by-stroke betting. Andreas Ternström, CEO of Bonnier Gaming AB, said: “Today, live betting is almost never truly ‘live,’ as bettors must typically still wait for final match results before their wagers are graded. SuperLive changes all of that - allowing in-game bet-
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MarginMaker powering Betfred’s Australia business Tech has been selected to provide the technology platform to support Betfred’s launch of its new Australian interactive sports betting operation. GTech’s MarginMaker platform supported the launch of Betfred’s sportsbook product in May 2014. The initial sports betting launch included the mobile sportsbook, with online and racebook launches to follow in the coming months. GTech has been the primary supplier to Betfred in the UK for more than 10 years. Betfred established operations in Sydney and Darwin under a Northern Territory Gaming Commission licence. GTech International senior vice president and chief operating officer EMEA Declan Harkin commented: “GTech is very excited to extend our partnership with Betfred into the Australian market. This is the first such
foreign venture we have worked on together, and we hope it is the first of many.” Betfred Australia managing director Luke Brill said: “We tasked GTech and Betfred’s front-end development agency, Degree 53, in developing a new stand-alone system with a localised offering for the Australian market. They both rose to this challenge and delivered a sports mobile product on time and within budget, working seamlessly with the Betfred teams in both the UK and Australia to very strict deadlines, through every time zone and continually going that extra mile to ensure the product was ready.” He added: “We are delighted to have now launched our sports-only mobile site for the FIFA World Cup. This is the first of a multiphased approach to the Australian market. The mobile site will soon be followed by stand-alone apps and then our full website and with racing.”
ting to finally reach its full potential.”
Philippines. The networking event, co-organised by Sports Betting Community and Asia Gambling Brief, is to be held on 4 September, once again at 71 Gramercy in Makati. Last year saw 150 senior igaming executives treated to a firework display at the high rise venue, as well as free food and drink. Also sponsoring the event is First Cagayan, the local gaming licence provider.
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MARKETING OtherLevels signed up etfred.com has chosen mobile marketing and analytics platform OtherLevelsto power the brand’s native mobile messaging campaigns that reach more than 100,000 subscribed players. “Mobile is an ideal platform for sports betting and wagering, but we were tasked with helping Betfred.com accelerate their mobile efforts and bring them up to par with a well established email and SMS program. So the challenge was complicated and layered,” said Ramsey Masri, CEO of OtherLevels. “Mobile devices can deliver news that is critical to making good bets in a timely fashion. However, that insight has to be actionable and incentivised through welltested and well-timed notifications.”
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PHILIPPINES EveryMatrix sponsors Manila networking night latform provider EveryMatrix is one of the main sponsors of next month’s ‘Monsoon Meet-up’ Social in Manila, the
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CONTENT Milton arriving this month
shley Milton is to join the Board of streaming firm Perform as chief financial officer on 18 August. Milton’s appointment was originally announced in May, but he has had to work out his notices as CFO of GroupM EMEA, the media investment division of WPP, the world’s largest advertising and marketing group. Milton commented: “I am very excited to be joining Perform as it looks to consolidate its impressive achievements to date and focusses on its next phase of growth. I look forward to working with the team to deliver this sustained growth and to realise the Group’s undoubted potential.”
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making sense of the gaming industry
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iGaming Piggy back NetEnt has launched two new games, Lost Island and Piggy Riches Touch. Simon Hammon, chief product officer of NetEnt, commented: “Players are in for a real treat with these two releases that combine all our hallmark features to help stand us out from the crowd.”
BiG sponsor Microgaming is the headline sponsor for the forthcoming BiG Sports Dinner on 10 September at The Dorchester Hotel in London. CEO Roger Raatgever said: “The BiG Sports Dinner is a unique event within the gaming industry and we are privileged to be a part of it.”
Proper Sicbo Fans of the traditional Chinese game of Sicbo will have another version to play when using software provided by EntwineTech. Spokesman Ian Dunning said: “Sicbo is an ancient Chinese game that provides excitement and lots of different betting opportunities to players.”
Widening portfolio SBTech has added significant premium casino and virtual sport content to its eGaming platform through agreeing new strategic partnerships with providers Net Entertainment, Betsoft Gaming, iSoftBet and Kiron Interactive, in addition to Microgaming which is already integrated.
SYSTEM
GameAccount has perfect iSIGHT A robust Casino Management System is one of the many facets of GameAccount’s revamped iSIGHT system. ameAccount Network, a leading developer and supplier of enterprise-level B2B gaming software and online gaming content, has announced the commercial launch of the next generation iSight Back Office. The newly re-engineered iSight Back Office will empower operators of GameAccount’s GameSTACK enterprise Internet gaming solution to comprehensively manage their customers’ accounts and implement cutting-edge marketing promotions designed to encourage increased visitation to any casino operator’s property. The comprehensive redesign initiative of iSight Back Office was aligned to the needs of United States’ operators; from enhanced bonusing functionalities, deeply integrated marketing and reporting tools, and robust Casino Management System integration controls courtesy of iBridge. GameAccount’s patent-pending iBridge, part of the GameSTACK Internet Gaming System, links to any third party CMS enabling casino operators to implement diverse marketing promotions across desktop and mobile Internet devices capable of being redeemed online or on-property. GameAccount is committed to continuing to enhance the iSight Back Office following this month’s major release to ensure operators have the most advanced patron management suite in the marketplace. Among the highlights are: Next-generation iSight Back Office now live in the United States market and support-
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ing both virtual currency-based Simulated Gaming and real money Regulated Gaming. One back office supporting two distinct business models prior to and post-regulation of Internet gaming. iBridge patent-pending framework links the Company’s GameSTACK Internet Gaming System to various proprietary and third party casino management systems, business intelligence tools, and loyalty club programs. iSight Back Office grants casino operators the ability to devise an Internet gaming experience driving online players to their casino properties through cutting-edge online-to-property marketing promotions. Newly integrated messaging and bonusing capabilities for in-casino real money gaming via GameSTACK Internet gaming system. Integrated cash-in/out interface capability, enabling operators to deposit and withdraw from their online accounts via the operator’s existing on-property cage infrastructure. Relevant for both real money Regulated Gaming and enabling patrons to purchase virtual credits while on-property for the purposes of undertaking Simulated Gaming at home or on the move via mobile devices. The iSight Back Office supports on-property Internet gaming and location-specific mobile marketing. Casino operators can implement diverse promotions of their iGaming offering triggered by patrons’ presence in precise zones created within the casino
DERMOT SMURFIT
property. This innovation is enabled by the Company’s GameSTACK Internet Gaming System and SENSE3 mobile gaming solution working with easily-deployed on-property infrastructure and all managed via the iSight Back Office. Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GameAccount Network commented: “The iSight Back Office is the product of our internal development team working hand-in-glove with casino operators in the United States to design a single customer management and marketing promotions system driving online players back into the operators’ casino properties. Back office systems are not all alike. All too often an iGaming provider’s back office
seeks to ring-fence online players away from land-based casino operations. Our back office system offers compelling convergence capabilities learned from hardearned experience of creating online-toproperty ecosystems where playing online for virtual money becomes as natural as playing on-property for real money. Which iGaming back office to embrace is the single most important decision for any US casino operator when seeking to deliver their business online. Our unique back office is now demonstrably driving adoption of our enterprise iGaming solutions among sophisticated US casino operators looking to commit to a single core technology platform.”
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B2B iGaming Listings
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Nyx OGS expansion continues yx OGScontinues its rapid expansion with a content portfolio agreement with Scandinavian games supplier Thunderkick. The partnership means that Thunderkick’s games are now accessible by a number of Nyx OGS customers. Sven Grip, Thunderkick CEO, commented: “We are happy to be able to contribute to this network with our high quality games. Together Thunderkick and Nyx can reach out and bring exciting player experiences to a wider market.� David Flynn, EVP business development for Nyx Gaming Group, stated: “Working together with new innovative gaming suppliers and bringing them to the market quickly, is a key part of our strategy for Nyx OGS.�
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LIVE GAMING Evolution rolls out Danish Live Casino for Danske Licens Spil volution Gaming has launched a unique online Live Casino for Danske Licens Spil in Denmark. The new service commenced live rollout last month with Live Roulette and Live Blackjack tables hosted at Evolution’s Malta studios. Søren Schneider, head of Casino, Poker & Games at Danske Licens Spil, stated: “Creating a dedicated environment within Evolution’s Malta studios has allowed us to strengthen our already market-leading brand online and be first to market with a 100 per cent Danish Live Casino.â€? Fredrik Osterberg, chief commercial officer at Evolution, added: “We are very proud to launch the first ever native speaking dealer Live Casino for Denmark on behalf of Danske Licens Spil.â€?
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SLOTS Realistic Games signs deal with PocketFruity.com
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ritish firm Realistic Gameshas agreed a deal to deliver content to the online casino PocketFruity.com. Their collaboration will see a roll-out of Realistic’s complete portfolio of slot and table games. ANDY HARRIS
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Greentube acquires Bingocams from Dazzletag ovomatic-owned Greentube, the developer and provider of skill games has acquired Bingocams - one of the most popular and innovative online bingo platforms - from Dazzletag Entertainment Limited. The Bingocams integrated web platform combines online bingo with social media and video. Players can engage each other via two or three person private webcam chats during game play, thereby re-establishing the traditional social element of live, in-person bingo. “Bingocams is a welcome addition to the Greentube line of iGaming solutions,� said Thomas Graf, CEO of Greentube. “This acquisition marks another major step forward for Greentube and further enhances Novomatic’s position of significance within the ever expanding new world of online gaming.� Dazzletag revolutionised the online bingo industry when it introduced its no-download
Bingocams application. The platform offers players a wide range of bingo games in a friendly, interpersonal environment that includes live chat among players and live chat with hosts. In addition, Bingocams offers a patented Live Win Moment that provides a visual playing experience that captures the social spirit of live bingo. “This is a very exciting day for Dazzletag Entertainment Limited and we are delighted to join the Novomatic Group of Companies,� said Marin Muyser, managing director of Bingocams. “We believe there is a substantial opportunity to leverage our existing business now that we are part of the world’s leading gaming company. We have always aimed to roll out our unique bingo software internationally and with Novomatic’s/Greentube’s global presence we will be able to accelerate this strategy substantially.�
Andy Harris, Realistic Games’ commercial director, said the shared history of the two organisations, and the commercial success of PocketFruity.com were particularly appealing. He added: “That combined with the track record they’ve got of establishing a number of extremely successful online brands makes the deal very attractive.�
branded to Saucify. The new name was chosen because it represents the company’s ethos of dynamism, originality and speed to market, and differs from the many bland brands within the gaming industry. A Saucify spokesperson stated: “The name is a perfect fit for what we have done for the last eight years and what we intend to continue doing in the future spicing up the gaming market with some of the best casino content available on desktop and on mobile.�
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Unibet goes live with Yggdrasil Gaming nibet is now live with Yggdrasil Gaming’s casino games content. Yggdrasil Gaming specialises in slots, lottery games and pooled progressive jackpots. Unibet is the largest operator Yggdrasil Gaming has partnered with to date and is also one of the fastest growing businesses in the European regulated gaming market. Yggdrasil’s portfolio contains a variety of popular casino games including highroller video slot Winterberries, the Jokerizer slot and Lotto7. Fredrik Elmqvist, Yggdrasil Gaming CEO, said: “This is our biggest live launch to date. We are also very happy to launch our games during the World Cup where a great sportsbook such as Unibet has a lot of traffic.�
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FREDRIK ELMQVIST
Casino games provider BetOnSoft undergoes rebranding
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he casino games provider, BetOnSoft, has announced that it has re-
Cross-platform Casino Solutions www.greentube.com N O V O M AT I C - W I N N I N G T E C H N O L O G Y Marilyn Monroe Photos ŠRenaissance Road Inc. 7+( +2)) ‹ +RIIZRUOG //& ‡ 7+( +2)) DQG '$9,' +$66(/+2)) DUH WUDGHPDUNV RI +RIIZRUOG //& DQG DUH UHJLVWHUHG LQ WKH 8QLWHG 6WDWHV DQG RWKHU IRUHLJQ QDWLRQDOV 8VHG XQGHU OLFHQFH IURP 0; 'LJLWDO //& $OO ULJKWV UHVHUYHG
B2B publications iG am in
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B2B software iG am in
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www.inspiredgaminggroup.com sales@ingg.com
CRM Gaming Rewards offers new rewards catalogue to Caesars customers aesars Entertainment UK has relaunched its Player Rewards loyalty programme and partnered with Gaming Rewards to create a new range of rewards, both physical and digital, for their UK customers. The agreement is for a multi-phased programme that will continue to develop over the coming months. Nick Grimshaw, director of loyalty at Caesars Entertainment UK, said: “The excellent Gaming Rewards platform coupled with the exciting new range of rewards will be very popular with our players.� “Gaming Rewards is very proud to have won this business with such a well known brand within the gaming world,� stated Gaming Rewards director Jeremy Coleman.
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sales@microgaming.com www.microgaming.com
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Back office Ukash recognised
Sponsorship deal
Sportradar certified
Online cash payments provider Ukash has been featured in the Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200. David Hunter, Ukash CEO, said: “2014 has been a fantastic year of recognition for Ukash.”
Optimal Payments has become the official sponsor of Crystal Palace Football Club for the next two seasons. Optimal Payments will use the platform to raise the global awareness of its award-winning Neteller service.
Sportradar’s Security Services have been officially certified ISO 9001. The certification audit was undertaken by TÜV Thuringia at the Sportradar offices in London and found that the Quality Management System of Sportradar’s Security Services met all ISO international standards.
ternational access from the licences available and the associated tax and duty regimes. For example, an operator may wish to separate their IP from their B2C and B2B trading activities. They may also be required to segregate different elements of their business into separate games offerings and markets to compliment the licences they may hold. The Isle of Man is home to a number of international professional partners who can provide structuring and taxation advice. Whilst the Isle of Man licence may in some cases no longer be the ‘one stop’ solution within today’s more complex international
regulatory regime, it should strongly be considered as a potential base from which to launch a multi-jurisdictional, multi-licensed corporate operation that operates legally across the globe and takes advantage of robust tax and duty mitigation strategies. You should also consider the space available on the Island and the ease of transport links into the UK and further afield together with the standard of infrastructure. Coupled with a very pro-business government and generous grant scheme the Island provides a significant opportunity for new and indeed existing businesses wishing to expand their international capabilities.”
Norder joins Yggdrasil Yggdrasil Gaming has opened a new office in Gibraltar following demand for high quality casino and lottery games content from a number of tier one operators in this jurisdiction. The company now has offices in Malta, Poland and Gibraltar.
REGULATION
Isle of Man retains egaming framework advantages Lorna Coniglio-Burrows, head of gaming development at SMP Partners Limited, asks whether the Isle of Man can still be considered a “go-to” jurisdiction for e-gaming businesses in the wake of UK Point of Consumption Tax and as the regulatory landscape constricts across Europe? At SMP Partners we believe the answer to the key question is ‘yes’, however, we recognise that the days of holding one ‘international’ licence to operate globally no longer exist. But we also consider the Isle of Man to be a key component of any multi-jurisdictional licensing strategy and an ideal jurisdiction in which to base e-gaming operations. So what does the Isle of Man have to offer? In terms of our business proposition the following remains unchanged: • Independent financial jurisdiction with a close association with the UK but an independent political and fiscal environment • 10+ years’ experience in regulating the e-gambling sector • A strong, internationally recognised licensing regime • A quick and straight-forward licensing process and a flexible and pro-business regulator • A cluster of professionals with experience and knowledge of the sector • A first class technical environment with an abundance of capacity into the UK and international markets
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• An advantageous tax regime • An attractive working and living environment with associated corporate and personal tax benefits The challenge facing the Isle of Man, and for that matte,r all of the other previously ‘white listed’ jurisdictions will be twofold: firstly, that we are seeing a global trend to introduce domestic legislation that requires an operator wishing to promote its online gambling proposition within a country and to accept players from that country to hold a specific country licence and pay domestic taxes. Secondly, that the Isle of Man is not a part of Europe and the European Economic Area, which means that it cannot benefit from European regulation that might require a licence holder to base their operations and house their technical infrastructure within a European country. However, we do see an opportunity for the Isle of Man within this more sophisticated and complex international regulatory arena. Once we accept that operators can no longer hold one licence to operate globally we must consider how to structure our business and its various operational elements to secure maximum corporate benefit and in-
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B2B
BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014 Editor: Andrew McCarron Email: am@sjc.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1457 867 683 Managing editor: Ken Scott Email: ks@sjc.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1273 699 900
Advertising sales: Neil Judson, Email: njudson@gbmedia.eu Tel: +44 (0) 1204 396 397 Fax: +44 (0) 1204 392 748 Ad Production: Dave Roderick Email: gdk@sjc.co.uk
Contributors: John Samuels, James Walker, Alex Lee
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Fax: +44 (0) 1204 392 748 Subscriptions: Sarah Haworth, Email: shaworth@gbmedia.eu Editorial & Production: Tel: +44 (0) 1204 396 397 20 New Road, Brighton, BN1 1UF, UK Fax: +44 (0) 1204 392 748 Tel: +44 (0) 1273 699 900 Advertising & Subscriptions: Publishing Director: GB Media Corporation Ltd John Sullivan Bolton Technology Exchange Email: jsullivan@gbmedia.eu 33 Queensbrook, Bolton BL1 4AY, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1204 396 397 Tel: +44 (0) 1204 396 397 Fax: +44 (0) 1204 392 748
SECURITY
Opinions expressed in this publication should not be regarded as the official view of GB Media Corporation Ltd, except where stated. Views, opinions and recommendations contained in this publication are put forward for consideration only. No action should be taken in reliance upon any such views, opinions or recommendations. Neither GB Media Corporation Ltd nor contributors accept any responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person howsoever caused or arising as a result of or in consequence of action taken or refrained from in realiance on the contents of this publication.
DATA
Notes for contributors: BBi welcomes the submission of articles for consideration by the editor with a view to publication. Submission of an article will be held to imply that the article contains original unpublished work which GB Media Corporation Ltd may lawfully publish. All submissions are made at the owner’s risk. © GB Media Corporation Ltd, 2014 All rights strictly reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission given, full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source must be given.
B2B Back Office Listings
B2B ball pens ffi ce B ac k O
NetRefer opens new London satellite
Betfair adopts Jumio’s Netverify
erformance marketing software provider NetReferhas opened a new office in London. This decision follows an internal restructure intended to ensure NetRefer can continue to progress and excel across its various fields. Raphael Arnold, group CEO and founder, stated: “The new office in Chiswick Park, brings us closer to our clients whether based in the UK or via the extensive travel links.” In addition the campaign ‘Let’s explore a better way’ has been undertaken which, Arnold explained, ‘is not only about us as a business but more importantly about our clients and how best we can support them in order to achieve even greater successes’.
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End-to-end US solution ecure Tradinghas launched the first end-to-end compliant transaction platform for US online gambling operators. ST-1 manages each step of the transaction process and provides support for operators by carrying out extensive gambling checks and it achieves complicated legislative compliance amongst other tasks. Kobus Paulsen, CEO at Secure Trading Group, said: “We’ve managed to create the ideal platform for gambling operators, allowing them to seamlessly operate in the new US gambling landscape. We believe our solution can cause a step-change and enable operators to easily set up and succeed in what will soon be a burgeoning market.”
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etfairhas announced that it is now using Jumio’s Netverify customer verification and on-boarding solution. The Netverify solution uses customers’ mobile device cameras, or webcams, by using them for ID scanning; a more efficient method by which to satisfy Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements and reduce fraud. Catherine Hickey, EMEA sales director at Jumio, said: “More and more of the top operators are integrating Jumio into their customer verification processes. Betfair is the latest operator to use Jumio not just to meet Know Your Customer requirements but also to deliver a quicker and slicker customer experience”.
Twitter integration for Glow
CONSULTANCY Gaming consultancies join forces
SYSTEM
wo global gaming consultancies, Tottenham & Coand Spectrum Gaming Group LLC, have teamed up to help private clients and governments worldwide navigate the increasingly complex global gaming industry. Both have experience in providing clients an extensive range of gaming-related services and solutions. Andrew Tottenham, founder of Tottenham & Co, commented: “Having a presence in the modern gaming world requires knowledge of gaming operations, regulations, cultures and economies on multiple continents.” Spectrum managing director Fredric Gushin added: “Combining the expertise of two international firms into one entity will create new opportunities for our clients, who cannot afford to stand still while the world changes rapidly.” ANDREW TOTTENHAM
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Intralot strikes deal in Georgia ntralot Inchas signed a contract with the Georgia Lottery Corporation for a Central Monitoring and Accounting System, and related products and services. The initial contract is from 2015 until 2022. In total, around 6,000 locations and over 26,000 amusement machines will be monitored through Intralot’s iGEM Central Monitoring System. Tom Little, president and CEO of Intralot Inc noted: “We are honoured by Georgia Lottery’s trust in Intralot and are very pleased to be the strategic partner that will assist the Georgia Lottery in implementing its strategy for monitoring and accounting for the coin operated amusement machines from the very beginning.”
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CONTACT: SALES AT HAINENKO LIMITED Tel: 020 8882 8734 Email: sales@hainenko.com EST. 30 YEARS
B2B events ffi ce B ac k O
The Bookmakers’ Trade Fair 2014 October 9th 2014 at Wolverhampton Racecourse
MARKETING
low Digital Mediahas announced its official Twitter integration and Ads API partnership. Glow founder & CEO, Damian Routley, said: “Our mission is to help brands to better engage with their customers, in order to do this we need to build close links with the best partners where those audiences can be found. Including the Twitter Ads API into the Glow Machine is a major step towards realising this.” This development follows Glow’s recent expansion into APAC and continued growth across the EMEA and North American markets.
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CallCredit brings Poland closer to home rganisations operating in Poland can now understand Polish consumers better than ever before using Callcredit Information Group’s newly rebuilt Cameo Poland system. Callcredit’s 2014 Cameo Poland release classifies and segments consumers using a vast array of refreshed source-datasets including age, gender, property size, family composition, income, occupation and tenure. Polish corporations can now understand exactly who their customers are and where they are located using Cameo’s 48 descriptive categories and 10 discriminative marketing groups. Additional Cameo overlay variables are available allowing key factors such as presence of children, adult age, household income and access to technology to be understood. To provide clients with the most granular segmentation system possible, Callcredit has created bespoke postcode geography for Poland containing over 88,000 zones. Callcredit’s Cameo consumer intelligence is available for over 40 nations across the globe. Organisations in sectors such as retail, financial services, telco, utilities and automotive benefit from the system which assists in increasing customer acquisition/retention rates, selecting optimal branch locations, developing informed communication strategies and identifying profitable cross-sell opportunities. With a population of 38.5m, Poland has the 10th largest economy in Europe which includes seven cities with a population above 400,000. The International Monetary Fund expects the Polish economy to grow more than twice as fast as the Eurozone average between 2014-2020. Martin Bradbury, international client services director at Callcredit, said: “We are delighted that Callcredit’s latest version of Cameo Poland will allow for better customer understanding and a stronger return on marketing spend. “Callcredit has combined comprehensive source datasets with a new bespoke level of geography to provide marketers with access to Poland’s most powerful and granular consumer segmentation system yet.”
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t. +44 (0) 1624 678 888 e. sales@continent8.com w. www.continent8.com
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Comment ACTION IMAGES / PAUL CHILDS LIVEPIC
The need for speed Heath Samples is the CEO of Betdigital, a firm which specialises in providing third party content to LBOs, and he has seen a huge clamour for a quicker supply chain to be established.
istorically it seems to have taken between 12 and 14 months for new entrants to deliver games into LBOs, which was way too slow given the immediacy of the market online. Betting shops were falling behind the curve, so we meticulously examined the process and discovered we could significantly shorten the time taken to reach the market. This was no easy task; indeed, we ended up having to create our own proprietary software platform System X, but it does mean that a much more respectable 12 week lead time is now achievable. It seems that the demand for such a truncated waiting period was coming from both ends of the supply chain. It was high among bookmakers wanting to get the edge on the competitors and likewise with game developers wanting another channel for their product. The ability to take games to LBOs in a reduced time increases competition within the market and strong success rates back this up. In such a competitive environment players have plenty of choice, and the better games soon rise to the top. Speeding up the delivery process means more games are accessible to encourage competitiveness. Against a backdrop of a maturing gaming space, it’s imperative that operators provide fresh games and we are in the prime position to lend our services. Being able to extend your offering to LBOs adds to companies portfolios and consequently drives revenues. Betdigital’s successes have been built around
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GRID (Game Rapid Integration & Development) and SystemX, the industry’s first truly cross-platform gaming engine. The ability for back end solutions to plug into a plethora of land based platforms only aids growth. Further positives are that the solutions are not just limited to the UK and presently also work in South America, Australia, and Italy. There are many that believe a one-sized fits all approach works for all channels, but that is not necessarily true. While we have developed a feature on SystemX that enables us to take a game that is purely mobile or desktop in one country and turn it around for LBOs, it’s not a cut & paste job by any means. We make it a point to assist throughout the process to make sure the maths model is correct and to help customers get the most out of a partnership. Attention to detail like this can mean a South American offering can suddenly be accessible for UK players on a variety of gaming machine profiles. Again this is not an easy development and we pull on over 50 years of accumulative experience in the gaming world. It helps immensely when reworking a model that works in Australia for the UK market to ensure all technical and gameplay requirements are heeded. We’ve taken speed to market to heart and the market has responded we’ve even had takeover offers on the strength of the work we have done so far. By focusing on the speed to market, we have found operators and suppliers both keen to be involved.
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Come bet with us at BanFOBTs.com he Guardian found itself hoist by its own petard last month after one of its readers, not unreasonably, pointed out that its general anti-gambling stance, as shown by a long term run of negative coverage of LBO gaming machines, was somewhat at odds with the operation of its spangly online sportsbook, branded Go Wager. A reader, one John Thompson, had been upset to get an advertising email from the newspaper promoting this site on Boxing Day. Thompson scolded the ‘socially responsible newspaper’ for sending such an unsolicited email at a time when people would be ‘be facing up to the debts induced by Christmas spending’. That a) Boxing Day is one of the biggest days for gambling in the country and has been for many decades, and b) surely rampant consumerism is actually at fault for this misery, is by the by. The Guardian’s anti-gambling coverage is part of its ‘society-led’ editorial policy (and as such a big marketing tool for the publication) so why on earth has it launched its own sportsbook? Presumably it’s because its marketing team, tasked with finding ways to monetise content, has discovered that around 60 per cent of the country like a bet. This is
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andrew mccarron viewpoint
despite the number of Guardian readers surveyed who think the company should not carry advertisements for gambling has risen from 38 to 52 per cent, but you would almost expect that given the coverage that the industry has received from the Guardian over the past 12 months as a morally reprehensible pastime. In the paper’s defence, Jo Burns - head of e-commerce – replied to Thompson: “We fully accept your point that gambling can cause a problem for some, however we also know that many of our readers show interest in online sport content and engage in gambling as a recreational part of that digital experience. We only market sports betting on the sports pages of the newspaper and website and we do also believe that it is the choice of the individual whether to participate in the form of activity.” Let that last clause sink in a little. ‘We do also believe that it is the choice of the individual whether to participate in the form of activity’. Aye - only if it means money for you though. This from a paper that wants to protect deprived areas from betting shops and thinks the best way of investigating problem gambling is to obtain a bunk load of stats from a campaign pressure group and regurgitate them
uncritically. The message appears to be - don’t bet with bookmakers, bet with us. The Guardian is not alone in this of course. The Sunday People shares its website with the Daily Mirror, which doubles up as a bingo operator and a partner for pool betting product ‘Goal Time’. The Daily Mail pimps its bingo product on its main navigation bar and more than happy to take Coral’s advertising money in its sports pages. But at least The Guardian is finally wrestling between the dichotomy of practising what it preaches and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Go Wager enterprise was told to go forth. The Guardian Media Group has already taken the pyrrhic decision to abandon sex line advertising (albeit 10 years ago) at the cost of £350,000. Given that ‘the interactive betting service does not currently make that sort of revenue’, would suggest that the brand is on borrowed time. Even without the moral maze dilemma, it is a wonder how long the Go Wager website would have survived anyway given that its only publicity was internal and that it was almost invisible on the Guardian’s Sport website anyway. A decision to ‘do the right thing’ might just disguise a decision forced on them by performance anyway.
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“We can’t help but admire the foresight of Rory’s dad and his pals a decade ago.” Jessica Bridge of Ladbrokes is magnanimous in the face of Gerry McIlroy’s £200 bet that his 15 year old son would win the Open Championship within 10 years at 500/1.
Sometimes the customer is wrong John Samuels of IBAS discusses the difficult job shop staff have when more savvy punters are trying to get one up on them, through fair means and foul. y articles in Betting Business attempt to highlight the areas that are the main reasons for disputes, and the rules that have been devised to cover and deal with them. Most of the disputes that we at IBAS deal with have tended to cover bets where genuine mistakes have been made, both in the placing and/or acceptance of bets. But as I am sure the reader is well aware, there are some, particularly in the retail sector, who deliberately go out of their way to deceive, and to at least get more than one bite at the cherry. For instance, writing the bet in a deliberately ambiguous fashion. For example, numbers such as 1 and 7, or 2 and 7, or 4 and 6, or 3 and 5 can, if enough imagination is applied, be written in such a way that a fair to average conman can make a good job at making them appear the same. Then, the same conman convincing an unsuspecting betting shop employee that a genuine slip of the pen has been made and that the bet is on a winning number. It is not just ambiguously written selections that are a problem; customers knowingly placing related contingency bets, where the single odds are obtained for two selections in a double, in a bet where the success of the first leg contributes significantly to the success of the second, is another bane of the industry. There are also many other types of cons, and some of these are even boldly advertised and openly discussed on certain publicly accessible websites. Here is an excerpt from one such site, where the con of a deliberate understaking on a bet is proudly discussed: “I used to work for XXXXX and heard of a customer (a man in his 70’s) who used to place 1p comb forecast doubles, through the card and selecting 4 dogs. He’d pay for as if he’d only picked 3 dogs.
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BE WARY OF THE WRITTEN BETTING SLIP
Of course you couldn’t capture them in Epos. So the dopey bird would manually settle them, without realising the bet was way understaked. He’d win hundreds a week. When she phoned up the nearest shop to confirm it, she would just quote the results, and check the amount was right!” “That’s quite interesting - I wonder if the man genuinely knew he was understaking or not?” “I can see how this kind of thing could happen: I know the odd mathematically challenged member of staff that this would probably work with.” As you can see, betting shop staff are not always held in the highest regard by those seeking to take advantage of their mistakes. Consequently I would suggest that staff should have no reservations when they are confident that they have spotted such a con and should show no hesitation in settling the bet 100 per cent to the bookmaker’s rules, without discretion. Consider also a bet where the customer has discussed his intentions with staff, a price is obtained or confirmed from Head Office trading, but when the written bet is put across the counter to be processed it is not read too carefully and it is written in such a manner that it can be interpreted in more than one way. If the way that it has been discussed is the winning one then the bet is paid with not much further scrutiny. If the alternative interpretation is the winning selection then the claim is made, with the denial that any such (unrecorded) conversation ever took place and that the instructions of the slip are clear and obvious. Maybe it goes without saying, but the message is clear and it should go out to all retail staff that sometimes the customer is not always right. Staff should be aware, some supposed mistakes and handwriting anomalies are not always what they appear to be, and are not always genuine slip ups.
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Bally finalises acquisition
Business
Supplier Bally Technologies has completed the acquisition of online social casino company Dragonplay Ltd. Launched in 2010, Dragonplay ranks among the 10 top-grossing game developers in the social casino genre with 700,000 daily active users and nearly 3m monthly active users across all platforms.
IG continues growth despite market conditions
appointments
SPREADS
pread betting firm IG has seen a slight increase in profits over the past 12 months, up 1.3 per cent to £194.7m, on a 2.4 per cent increase in net trading revenue to £370.4m. The performance is somewhat at odds with the markets as May marked a 25-year low in forex volatility and came close to 25-year lows in equity volatility, and these conditions have continued into the early part of the 2015 financial year. IG said that clients reduced activity levels in these conditions; however, the firm did reach record levels of client money in the final quarter. At the year-end, client money deposits were 4 per cent higher than one year before and 11 per cent higher than two years before. Chief executive Tim Howkins commented: “This was a good year for IG, with growth in revenue, profit, cash generation and dividends. Importantly, we also made strong progress on our strategic objectives, designed to deliver the next phase of our growth. We will continue to make significant investments in initiatives, this year and beyond, to deliver sustainable growth into the future.” Net trading revenue in the UK was 3.3 per cent ahead of the prior year at £192.7m. Active client numbers were down by 13.2 per cent in the year, although this was balanced by average revenue per client increasing by 19.1 per cent. While the uncertain economic backdrop continued to make client recruitment challenging, the fall in client numbers was primarily a function of management actions to ‘de-emphasise’ clients with the very lowest levels of trading activity, including raising the minimum deposit level to £100. An annual study of the UK’s retail leveraged-trading industry, released towards the end of 2013, showed that IG’s market share of spread bettors had fallen from 44 to 41 per cent and its share of CFD traders had risen from 32 to 34 per cent. Although IG is still the clear market leader in both categories, with the
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ameAccount Network has underlined its ambitious growth G plans by installing a new commercial team which combines a strong academic background with experience gained from both
A flat market usually means a downturn in financial spread betting, but IG thinks that if it can make money in these conditions then it can really cash in when they become more favourable.
TIM HOWKINS: ‘A GOOD YEAR FOR IG’
ANALYSIS IG appears to be in a good position, despite the rather flat economic conditions in which a spreads firm could expect to struggle. Chairman Jonathan Davie commented: “There has been much recent discussion and comment about the historic low levels of volatility. Our excellent results have been achieved despite these volatility headwinds which have adversely affected so many financial services firms in the past year. It is impossible to forecast volatility levels into the future, but I have no doubt that our management team will be able to take full advantage of the business opportunities that will arise, and give our clients the leading execution service they have come to expect.”
second-placed providers in each category holding shares of 6 and 7 per cent respectively, the firm said that the precise numerical conclusions are ‘increasingly less relevant in the context of our focus on active retail traders, who generate a more significant share of revenue’. The operator’s focus in this regard contributed to a fall in the overall size of the market from 104,000 to 93,000. The firm added: “We have now completed the technology development and internal testing that enable us to offer our executiononly stockbroking service as part of our comprehensive share-trading package in the UK. In July, we began
an external pilot programme within our UK client base, with the aim of carrying out a full UK launch in September 2014.” Chairman Jonathan Davie also paid tribute to the company’s resilience in its 40th year. “We have grown our revenues in virtually every one of those 40 years and have achieved that against a broad range of market and economic backdrops bull and bear markets, the 1987 crash, the dotcom frenzy, the most recent financial crisis - and through cycles of boom and bust. Our operating model and risk management have been thoroughly tested and have proved highly resilient.”
Crowdfunding firm launches own campaign amCrowd, the gambling-specific crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform that launched with a fanfare in early 2014, has decided to ‘practice what it preaches’ and has launched a crowdfunding campaign of its own. The company is looking to raise £200,000 for 10 per cent of the Equity in the company on its own platform. CEO Chris North explained the reasoning behind the campaign: “We have been very keen from the outset to fund this via our own platform, we want to experience what we are encouraging start-ups to go through, test both the platform and concept
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for ourselves and bring in a wide range of shareholders who we hope will support the business.” GamCrowd is an all-or-nothing equity crowdfunding site so if the money isn’t raised within the 60 days’ timeframe that the company has chosen then any pledges are returned. Investors need to be registered on gamcrowd.com by having completed a questionnaire and signed a declaration that they are sophisticated investors or High Net Worth investors. They will then JONATHAN get accessHUFFORD: to the GamCrowd pitch ‘FINANCIAL SPREAD TRADING IS financial video, business plan and BECOMING MORE MAINSTREAM’ projections. The platform gives
potential investors the chance to ask the founders questions about the business [these are all made public so other interested parties can share the same information]. North added: “The process of asking and answering questions exposes the start-up to ‘the crowd’ often making positive contributions to the plan. The investors get to build a relationship with the company which will hopefully lead to on-going support for the business.” As Betting Business went to press, GamCrowd had raised 93 per cent of its target with a month to go.
within and outside the gaming sector. Led by commercial director Daniel Lindsay, who joined GameAccount in September 2013, the new team comprises; Sara Di Finizio, country manager Italy, alongside commercial managers Federica Faggiano and Camilla Folkeson. Underlining the strength of the team, Lindsay said: “We have recruited from a variety of backgounds in order to achieve a complementary balance of experience and skill sets. Sara Di Finizio, our country manager Italy has a background in technology and marketing and is a graduate in Marketing Communications working from Rome. “Federica holds a Bachelors degree in Foreign Languages, Economics, Tourism and Communications and is responsible for managing existing regulated .com accounts and ensuring our operating partners can deploy the very latest range of content from the extensive list of slot providers in the GameAccount portfolio. “Camilla holds a Masters degree in Marketing & Business Administration and is responsible for driving overall business development outside of North America including the roll out of GameAccount’s unique Simulated Gaming products to land based operators. She joins from a Swedish eGaming operator where she had overall responsibility for marketing.” DANIEL LINDSAY
Rank Group has appointed Colin Cole-Johnson to the new Tices,heposition of group director of digital and cross-channel servwith responsibility for leading the company’s digital activity. He has held senior positions in the gaming industry, including director of gaming for William Hill, where he was responsible for their £200m+ digital gaming business and director of gaming at Ladbrokes. Cole-Johnson will join Rank on the 24 September 2014 and will report directly to chief executive Henry Birch and will sit on the Rank Group Executive Committee. He will work closely with Mark Jones, MD Mecca and Phil Urban, MD Grosvenor Casinos. Cole-Johnson said: “I am delighted to be joining the Rank Group at what I see as a very exciting time in its evolution. Rank has fantastic assets and brands and has the potential to substantially grow its business across all channels.” COLIN COLE-JOHNSON
he BHA has started the process of finding a number of new TRecruitment directors and has appointed specialist search firm Sports International to identify candidates for the future Board. The new directors are expected to be in place by the end of the year, marking the next step in the evolution of British Racing’s governing and regulatory body, established in 2007. Andrew Merriam, currently an independent regulatory director, will take over as senior independent director and Ben Gunn will continue on the Board as independent regulatory director. Four directors, who were due to stand down this year, have agreed to extend their contracts to help with the transition. Morag Gray, with BHA since its inception, Justin Wadham, a Director since 2010, and Mark Johnston and Bill Farnsworth, currently nominated by the shareholders, who all reach the end of their terms in 2014, have agreed to extend their contracts in order to assist with the important transition. BEN GUNN
nnovative casino games developer Yggdrasil Gaming has Icasino appointed Ulf Norder, who joins the fast-paced games and content supplier as business development director. Norder’s most recent role was with SHFL Entertainment where he spent two years in their senior sales team. Prior to joining Tain he was sales manager at the Enet Poker Network and has spent the last decade in commercial gaming roles within some of the industry’s best known suppliers including Evolution Gaming, Tain and the Cake Network. Fredrik Elmqvist, chief executive of Yggdrasil Gaming, said: “Ulf’s appointment and the opening of a new office in Gibraltar is great news for the business following a year of sustained growth.”
INSIDER KNOWLEDGE INTO THE iGAMING INDUSTRY 11 - 12th November 2014 The Hilton Malta - St. Julians Providing a platform for the discussion of trending topics in the iGaming industry, this year’s sixth edition of the Malta iGaming Seminar will have a host of eloquent speakers providing participants insight into this dynamic, growing industry. Join us on the 11th and 12th of November 2014 and tap into the opportunity of networking among the key players. For more information, visit www.maltaigamingseminar.com /maltaigamingseminar
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ACTION IMAGES / ANDREW COULDRIDGE LIVEPIC
Agenda
Ante Post: What the bookies say After a brief respite from football, the industry is gearing up for the new season, but there is a real appetite for other top class sport as well. ith memories of Brazil still lingering in the mind, football fans now focus their attentions on the returning domestic season. Leading oddscomparison site Oddschecker revealed BetVictor to offer the best prices most often for English and European football over the past two seasons and a case of more of the same ahead of the 2014/2015 campaign. A football-less July will have left punters chomping at the bit to get stuck into the new season and BetVictor have an abundance of markets ahead of the new season. Chelsea head the market as 7/4 favourites for the Premier League title, whilst Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (7/2) shades favouritism over Robin Van Persie (4/1) to be the league’s leading marksman. After excellent meetings at Newmarket and Goodwood we head north for York’s four-day Ebor Festival and Kings Stand winner
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the 9th. Spreadex is the only bookmaker to offer both football fixed odds and football spread betting, with every Premier League game traded in-play, meaning there are a myriad of football bets for even the most discerning punter to choose from. As well as the odds on the matches themselves, we’re expecting plenty of business on our popular Season Points markets, which allow customers the chance to buy or sell on a predicted season points total for their club, with the spread updated after every game during the season allowing punters to open or close bets at any stage JACK MILNER during the campaign. Public Relations Away from the football, other BetVictor highlights in August include the 4th and 5th England v India Tests, fter a lull in July following the the US PGA Championships, conclusion of the World Cup, York’s Ebor Meeting and the US the start of the new football season Open tennis. will take centre stage for Spreadex sports clients in August with the ANDY MACKENZIE Premier League kicking off on the Marketing communications manager 16th and the Football League on Spreadex Sole Power the 3/1 favourite for the Nunthorpe Stakes. Trainer Eddie Lynam has dominated the sprint division this summer with success in all three G1 sprints with his pair of ‘Powers’ - who’s to say they’ve finished yet? Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy won the 143rd Open Championship at Hoylake and was subsequently cut to 5/6 (from 14/1 pre-tournament) with BetVictor to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award and is the 7/1 favourite to win the final Major of the season in this month’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.
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ugust sees the return of the footA ball season in Scotland and what an amazing one we are in for. Unbelievably, next season the most exciting league won’t be the Premier League but the Championship where Hibernian, Hearts and Rangers are all in this year. Scottish football has had its ups and downs recently but this situation is the craziest yet. And with just one guaranteed promotion spot it could be a long way back for some. Andy Murray gets a chance to make up for his Wimbledon disappointment with the US Open. He was in such great form for the first week that it looked like the industry were facing another multi million payout. Hopefully, he can get back on track at Flushing Meadow as this has been a poor season by his standards. PAUL PETRIE Director McBookie.com
My Diary: Daniel Schwartzkopff As the founder of BetVIP.com, one of the world’s first licensed Bitcoin-only sportsbooks, Daniel Schwartzkopff not only has business to attend to, but also his studies. he next few days are an opportunity to take stock at BetVIP after a hectic few weeks of World Cup action. Coming just a couple of months after our launch, football’s biggest tournament was a baptism of fire for our traders and a real test of our systems. But I’m pleased to say everyone and everything passed with flying
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colours. We took bets from all four corners of the globe, ranging from hardened bitcoin enthusiasts to crypto-currency novices. As you’d expect, some players were seasoned punters who knew their way around a sportsbook. Yet more excitingly, others were gaining their first taste of sports betting
by using bitcoins rather than fiat currencies to have a flutter. The seamless nature of transactions using bitcoins allows for rapid deposit and withdrawal. This in turn leads to retention challenges for us as an operator, but I’m confident the product is so good that people will come back having enjoyed the experience. If they tell their friends, then even better. When they do return, they’ll feel the difference with us upscaling both our operation and premises here in Cape Town. We’re also involved in exciting talks with potential casino partners at the moment, not to mention investors who are looking to help us accelerate our already impressive business growth. Central to that growth is finding Bitcoin media partners who can help us recruit new customers to the world’s first licensed
bitcoin-only sportsbook. We’re also on the hunt for bitcoin enthusiasts and sports betting aficionados who want to join the revolution. If numbers keep growing as they are, recruitments will need to match it. These new employees as much as anybody will help us spread the word that there is an alternative to the traditional sportsbooks, with their expensive transaction fees and slow payment processing systems. I’ll be saying much the same at various conferences and meet-ups I’ll be attending over the next few weeks. And, if I can find time in my packed schedule, I’ll be doing my best to finish my honours year at the University of Cape Town where I’m studying Chemical Engineering. It’s not what most people would associate with the life of an average student!
ORGANISERS TO RIP UP THE RULE BOOK
EiG 2014 will pioneer new methods of connecting with business leaders, which includes deploying the unique space at Arena Berlin to full advantage. Kate Chambers explained: “The space at Arena-Berlin is very different from what the industry has been used to previously. We believe fundamentally that an environment that can inspire and excite is an important point of difference. “As well as Outside-In, where thought leaders from outside the industry bring their expertise to bear, we have also created features such as Think 2014 and Think 2024 which look at current thinking and projecting for ten years on, Speed-Meets at which attendees can spend time with likeminded professionals, an insight to high-tech Berlin presented by one of our headliners, content tours for EiG virgins where debutants will be given personal introductions to exhibitors - there’s a long list of opportunities which we’ve brought together into a three day content rich, immersive, mind liberating experience.” PORTUGAL DEVELOPMENT
The office of His Excellence the Secretary of State for Tourism, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, has confirmed his attendance at October’s Excellence in iGaming show. Secretary Nunes will take to the stage on Wednesday 22 October to expand further on Portugal’s plans for the regulation of online gaming and to share his thinking with iGaming’s elite gathered in Berlin. START-UP LAUNCHPAD
EiG’s focus on fresh thinking and innovative solutions offers start-ups the space to showcase, in front of the digital gaming industry, their approaches to gaming and the opportunity to gain recognition and attract investment. The acclaimed competition has seen numerous start-ups throughout the years rising to success following the Launchpad and this year will once again see five companies being preselected from the submissions to take part in the competition in Berlin. Submissions are now open for this year’s iteration. HUMBY OUTSIDE-IN
Clive Humby, chief architect of Tesco’s acclaimed Clubcard and segmentation programme and co-founder of dunnhumby, the world’s leading customer science company, will be participating as an Outside-In speaker at EiG 2014. A specialist in customer retention, Humby will apply his knowledge and experience in retailing to gaming’s challenge of retaining customers in what is a promiscuous and dynamic market.
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Summit goes stateside The Mobile and Tablet Gambling Summit has moved across the Atlantic to bring together the leading US and European mobile gambling operators and land casinos to tackle the critical challenges slowing the rate of growth in the US. The event is being held on the 27-28 October at Bally’s Atlantic City.
GB Media becomes commercial partner to MGS The Macao Gaming Show has selected Betting Business interactive publisher GB Media to spearhead its commercial operations in key regions around the world. B Media (GBM), publishers of the industry leading international gaming titles International Casino Review, Betting Business interactive and Coinslot International, has secured a prestigious commercial contract covering stand sales and associated exhibition and conference sponsorships for November’s second Macao Gaming Show (MGS). The agreement covers key regions comprising Europe, USA, Central & South America, the Middle East and Africa, all of which are being handled by GBM on an exclusive basis. Marina Wong, general manager and event director of MGS, said: “GB Media enjoys an excellent reputation across all gaming sectors and throughout all geographical regions. The number of companies they have existing positive relationships with plus their knowledge and reputation in all markets makes them the ideal commercial partner. We look forward to building upon the very productive media partner relationship that is already in place and to build on the success achieved by the first MGS in 2013.” John Sullivan, director at GB Media said: “I am honoured and delighted that GB Media has been selected by MGS to fulfil this important commercial role. The GBM sales team is working closely with its counterparts in Macau with a shared objective of making Macao Gaming Show the most prestigious and respected business gaming show in Asia.” After the tremendous success of MGS 2013 which saw almost 8,000 international visitors walk through the doors of the Venetian Macao to meet with 102 exhibiting companies, MGS has established itself as the chosen meeting place for exhibitors, operators, managers and buyers interested in doing gaming business in Asia. MGS 2014 will also feature the Macao Gaming Summit which will see speakers and gaming industry experts from around the world discussing and debating the important issues confronting the Asian gaming industry. MGS has also received the support from two influential government departments. Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) and Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) have agreed to be the supporting organisation for MGS. Their support is regarded as a great motivator and an endorsement of what the organisers have achieved in promoting the healthy development of the gaming industry as well as the meetings, incen-
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A record 156 nations attended ICE 2014 tives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry in Macau. It is also recognition of MGS’s efforts in supporting the government policy plan of diversifying the Macau economy, helping to raise the international profile of Macau as an undisputed centre for the gaming industry and a leading destination for MICE. Jay Chun, chairman of Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association (MGEMA), the organiser of MGS, said: “As the only gaming exhibition to receive these endorsements, we are honoured and extremely proud. IPIM is a government agency designated to promote trade and investment activities of the territory. Last year, MGS attracted 102 exhibitors and 8,000 visitors, many of them came from overseas. With support from IPIM, we hope that MGS 2014 can attract more international gaming companies to do business in or invest into Macau. The high profile that MGS has built on the international stage is recognised as being of great importance to the economy. With more business people traveling to Macau, it helps to create better trade opportunities and open channels for international co-operation. “DICJ has very close involvement with our industry. They provide guidance on the definition and execution of the economic policies on gaming to the Chief Executive of Macau SAR. Gaming is now the pillar industry in Macau and of course it is fitting to have a leading exhibition which knows the local industry and represents it on the world stage. The success of the gaming business in Macau is primarily due to the policy support by the governments of the People’s Republic of China and Macau SAR. Once again, we are honoured to have received the support of DICJ.”
MONTHLY BRIEFING
Exhibition Centre, Glebe Island, Australia
AUGUST 5 Annual Tribal Gaming & Compliance Update, Reno, NV, USA 11-13 OIGA Conference and Trade Show 2014, Cox Centre, Oklahoma City, OK, USA 11-13 Gaming Racing & Wagering Australia (GRWA), Swissotel Hotel, Sydney 12-14 Australasian Gaming Expo 2014, Sydney
SEPTEMBER 8-9 eGR Mobile Power Summit, South Lodge Hotel, West Sussex, UK 9-12 10th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues, Helsinki, Finland 10 BiG Sports Dinner, The Dorchester, London 16-17 eGR US Power Summit 2014, The Montage, Laguna Beach, California, USA
LISTINGS
30-2 G2E Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Las Vegas 30-2 Responsible Gaming Seminar, Florence, Italy OCTOBER 1-2 15th Annual Conference on Problem Gambling, Albany Marriott, NYC, USA 3-4 The Third Russian Affiliate Congress and Expo, ‘Sokolniki’, Moscow, Russia 6-8 2nd Annual BiG Africa Summit 2014, Emperors
espite the difficulties caused by a London-wide transport strike, ICE Totally Gaming 2014 succeeded in attracting attendees from a record 156 nations, a statistic which puts the world’s biggest gaming event amongst the elite of UK-hosted exhibitions. The figure, part of a comprehensive external audit commissioned by ICE, underlines the brand’s status as the only truly global event at which exhibitors can engage with buyers from every conceivable gaming jurisdiction. Reflecting on the stand out statistic, portfolio director Kate Chambers said: “I think these stats show that ICE is most definitely the world’s favourite gaming exhibition. We worked hard on our communications campaign and once again raised the bar in terms of the resource and the investment we allocate to attracting buyers to ICE Totally Gaming. The spread of attendees in 2014 stretched from Belarus to Brazil, Cambodia to Curacao and Vietnam to Venezuela, clear and compelling evidence of the reach of our marketing which engaged directly with over 200,000 potential visitors, featured adverts in 90 print and digital media channels and also included an integrated social media
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Palace, Johannesburg, South Africa 9 Bookmakers’ Trade Fair, Wolverhampton 13-16 SPORT IMMERSION: The Sports Betting MasterClass, European Lotteries, Hotel H10 Roma Città, Rome 21 – 23 EIG Expo, Berlin 21-22 Balkan Entertainment and Gaming Expo 2014, Inter Expo Centre, Sofia, Bulgaria 23-26 Barcelona Affiliate Conference (BAC) 2014, Centre Convencions
campaign.” She added: “Our task now is to develop further the undoubted international appeal of ICE Totally Gaming and in the process deliver another vintage edition at our home in ExCeL London. Following the announcement that IMA 2015 is being postponed due to pending changes in the gaming law, we look forward to hosting large numbers of German gaming operators as we did in similar circumstances in 2013. Buoyed by the experience of 2014 the entire ICE team is focused on delivering another successful blockbuster event for all sectors of the international gaming industry.” The audit also confirmed that ICE 2014 attracted a total of 23,506 attendees of which 56 per cent were from outside the UK, 79 per cent were key decision makers, and 38 per cent were either classed as CLevel executives or Directors. Attitudinal research conducted by an independent agency at ICE showed that 88 per cent of respondents rated their overall show visiting experience as either excellent or good with 86 per cent classing ICE as a ‘must-attend’ event. 89 per cent of respondents rated the quality of the 515 ICE exhibitors as being either excellent or good.
Internacional Barcelona (CCIB), Spain 27-28 Mobile & Tablet Gambling Summit USA 2014, Bally’s Atlantic City, NJ, USA NOVEMBER 5-7 Arizona Indian Gaming Association Expo 2014, For McDowell Casino, AZ, USA 6 ad:tech New York, Javits Centre, New York, USA 11 6th Annual Malta iGaming Seminar 2014,
Malta 18-20 Macao Gaming Show, Venetian Macao 24 eGR Operator Awards 2014, Roundhouse, Camden, London 26-28 National Association for Gambling Studies (NAGS) 24th Annual Conference, Jupiters Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia DECEMBER 2 Tribal Gaming Regulatory Update, New Mexico, USA
BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014 37
BB119-p46-47-Analysis_09/10 01/08/2014 12:38 Page 1
ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC
Analysis
Sportec Totepoo Sportech’s US technology and general expertise around pool betting has seen the firm secure a new supply contract with Totepool. oyal Ascot may have dominated the Tote’s markets in June, but the major news last month was the fact that the organisation is investing big in new systems for the parimutuel operation. Sportech’s Racing & Digital division has been selected by Tote-owner Betfred to provide a comprehensive suite of new betting
R
TOP TEN RETAIL BETTING EVENTS
TOP TEN BOOKMAKERS FOR MONEYBACK OFFERS (WEB & MOBILE) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Paddy Power (2) bet365 (4) Betfair (3) William Hill (5) Stan James (8) Betfred (7) BetVictor (6) Winner (-) Sky Bet (10) Ladbrokes
Chart supplied by: Betfred. Data for June
Chart supplied by: Freebets.com. Data for June
TOP TEN SPORTS SPREAD MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
International Football - The World Cup, Brazil Horseracing - The Derby, Epsom, Sat 7th June (Racing) Horseracing - The Wokingham Stakes, Royal Ascot, Sat 21st June (Racing) Horseracing - The Royal Hunt Cup, Royal Ascot, Weds 18th June (Racing) Horseracing - The Gold Cup, Royal Ascot, Thurs 19th June (Racing) Tennis -Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Wimbledon Golf - The US Open, Pinehurst No 2, North Carolina Horseracing - Diamond Jubilee Stakes, Royal Ascot, Sat 21st June (Racing) International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka, 1st Test International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Headingley
International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka 2nd Test International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka 1st Test International Cricket - West Indies v New Zealand 1st Test International Football - France v Honduras International Cricket - West Indies v New Zealand 2nd Test International Football - England v Italy International Football - Spain v Chile International Football - Brazil v Mexico International Football - Uruguay v England International Football - Brazil v Croatia
Chart supplied by: Spreadex. Calculated on volume of bets. Data for June
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Germany 30, Daily UK 100, Daily Wall Street, Daily Spot, EUR/USD Spot, GBP/USD Spot, AUD/USD Germany 30, Sep SPX 500, Sep Gold, Daily Aug Wall Street, Sep
Chart supplied by: Spreadex. Calculated on volume of bets. Data for June
for the world
GBR - Colossus Bets - The £10,000,000 Colossus - E12,610,300 SWE - V75 -Halmstad- E9,011,246 GBR - Classic Pools - E3,783,090 ESP - La Quinella - E3,137,060 GBR - Colossus Bets - World Cup Pick6 - E2,522,060 SWE - V86 - Lindesberg - E1,988,103 GBR - GBR - Goal Millions - E1,261,030 SWE - V64 - Bollnas - E1,199,271 GBR - Scoop6 - E809,616 SWE/RUS - Stryktipset/Soccer13 - E406,326
Chart supplied by: Colossus Bets Calculated by biggest pools/guarantees over a week’s period during the month. One entry per bet type. Data for July
TOP TEN ONLINE BETTING MARKETS
TOP TEN FINANCIAL SPREAD MARKETS
By Asia 38 BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014
TOP TEN GLOBAL POOLS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
International Football - England v Italy International Football - Uruguay v England International Football - Brazil v Croatia International Football - Brazil v Mexico Horseracing - Epsom Derby International Football - Brazil v Chilie International Football - Spain v Netherlands International Football - Germany v Portugal International Football - Germany v Algeria International Football - Spain v Chilie
Chart supplied by: BetVictor. Data for June
Venetian Macao 18-20 November 2014
BB119-p46-47-Analysis_09/10 01/08/2014 12:39 Page 2
SPONSORED BY MACAO GAMING SHOW
rtech to provide pool with new system
TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BET TYPES (GLOBAL) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Over/Under (2) 1X2 (3) 12 (4) Asian Handicap (5) Correct Score (6) Both Teams to Score (8) HT:FT (7) European Handicap (10) Double Chance (9) Draw No Bet
Chart supplied by: Based on data from 40,000 tips. Data from June
TOP TEN UK HORSERACE POOLS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ascot - Ascot Gold Cup Ascot - Investec Derby Ascot - Diamond Jubilee Stakes Ascot - Coronation Stakes Ascot - Ribblesdale Stakes Ascot - Albany Stakes Ascot - King Edward VII Stakes Ascot - Queen Alexandra Stakes Ascot - Hardwicke Hurdle Ascot - Buckingham Palace Stakes
Chart supplied by: Totepool. Data for June
technology products to its Totepool business. The ten year contract is expected to be worth over £9m in total revenues. Under the agreement, Sportech will replace Betfred’s entire existing tote systems with its state-of-theart Quantum System. It will also provide a new digital framework for betting on mobile devices, online and at self-service terminals
through its proprietary betting technology, Digital Link. Ongoing maintenance and support will be provided for the duration of the agreement. The integration of the Quantum System and other Sportech betting products will allow Betfred to simplify its betting systems by consolidating operations under one provider, while also making Totepool products
available for distribution to worldwide tote markets. The new betting technologies will significantly enhance the customer’s betting experience, whether they are at a racecourse or betting shop, online or mobile, in the UK or international. Sportech has invested heavily to improve the quality of its technology over the last two years, and this agreement with Betfred follows a number of significant new contract wins which include Penn National Gaming, the largest racecourse and casino group in the US, and Danske Spil, the Danish state controlled gambling operator. Ian Penrose, chief executive of Sportech, said: “Sportech processes $13bn of bets annually for racing customers in 25countries, and now I am delighted we are able to add the UK Tote and Betfred to our list of partners. Betfred has a number
TOP TEN BETTING EXCHANGE MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka (2nd Test) £48,624,239.88 International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka (1st Test) £44,581,802.62 Indian Cricket - Kolkata v Punjab £40,701,883.96 Tennis - French Open Nadal v Djokovic £39,984,948.88 Tennis - French Open Sharapova v Halep £37,984,371.40 International Cricket - West Indies v New Zealand (3rd Test) £31,094,395.20 Tennis - French Open Sharapova v Bouchard £30,074,204.28 International Football - Brazil v Croatia; Match Odds £28,340,253.94 International Football - Uruguay v England £28,207,780.64 International Cricket - England v Sri Lanka (5th ODI) £28,019,559.24
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Pinnacle (2) Bet365 (3) William Hill (10) Coral (9) Bwin (-) Unibet (6) Betway (-) Mybet (-) 188bet (5) Ladbrokes
TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BOOKMAKERS (GLOBAL) (1) Pinnacle (2) Bet365 (3) Unibet (4) William Hill (5) Bwin (10) Mybet (6) Ladbrokes (8) Betway (-) 188Bet (-) Betclic
RESPONSE TIME (SECS) WORLD CUP WEEK 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Over/Under (2) 1x2 (3) Asian Handicap (4) 12 (5) Correct Score (6) European Handicap (9) Halftime/fulltime (8) Draw no bet (7) Both to Score (-) Double Chance
Chart supplied by: Based on data from 13,922 tips in English language section Data from June
(1) Bet365 - 0.65 (3) Jenningsbet - 1.25 (4) Betfair Sports - 1.36 (5) Ladbrokes - 1.65 (4) (6) Sky Bet - 1.75 (7) Totesport - 1.84 (2) BetVictor - 1.90 (8) Betclic- 2.05 (-) Gamebookers - 2.61 (9) Betfred - 2.61
Chart supplied by: Gomez. Data for 15-21 June
TOP TEN ONLINE SPORTSBOOK PERFORMANCE RESPONSE TIME (SECS) WORLD CUP WEEK 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Bet365 - 0.64 (2) Jenningsbet - 1.16 (7) BetVictor - 1.21 (4) Betfair Sports - 1.35 (5) Sky Bet - 1.72 (4) Ladbrokes - 1.84 (6) Totesport - 1.94 (8) Betclic- 2.06 (-) William Hill - 2.36 (10) Betfred - 2.47
Chart supplied by: Gomez. Data for 22-28 June
TOP TEN ONLINE SPORTSBOOK PERFORMANCE RESPONSE TIME (SECS) WORLD CUP WEEK 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Bet365 - 0.61 (2) Jenningsbet - 1.17 (4) Betfair Sports - 1.26 (3) BetVictor - 1.34 (6) Ladbrokes - 1.78 (5) Sky Bet - 1.96 (7) Totesport - 2.02 (9) William Hill - 2.19 (8) Betclic- 2.21 (10) Betfred - 2.56
Chart supplied by: Gomez. Data for 29 June - 5 July
TOP TEN ONLINE SPORTSBOOK PERFORMANCE
TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BET TYPES (ENG) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Chart supplied by: bettingexpert Based on data from 39,998 tips in English language section Data from June
TOP TEN ONLINE SPORTSBOOK PERFORMANCE
TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BOOKMAKERS (ENG)
Chart supplied by: bettingexpert Based on data from 13,920 tips in English language section Data from June
Chart supplied by: BetVictor. Data for June
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
of ambitious plans, and we are pleased to be able to assist them to improve the customer experience for Tote betting on UK Horseracing.” Philip Siers, managing director of Totepool said: “The new Quantum System, coupled with the Digital Link and G4 modules will anchor our tote offering going forward, and with the additional flexibility and market reach it gives us, we expect significant growth in our pools products. I am confident that this strategic partnership will be good for both our businesses, and I look forward to next year when the initial system will be delivered. “This is a major investment for Totepool, and it demonstrates our further commitment to horse racing, and a desire to see our pools betting operation, lead the way in technological innovation and racecourse service.”
RESPONSE TIME (SECS) WORLD CUP WEEK 4
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(1) Bet365 - 0.63 (3) Betfair Sports - 1.20 (2) Jenningsbet - 1.22 (4) BetVictor - 1.46 (5) Ladbrokes - 1.67 (6) Sky Bet - 1.80 (7) Totesport - 1.98 (9) Betclic- 2.01 (8) William Hill - 2.36 (10) Betfred - 2.56
Chart supplied by: Gomez. Data for 6-12 July
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BettingBusinessInteractive • AUGUST 2014 39
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