Bb121 digital

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A BITE OF CHERRY: Emil Sunvisson discusses plans for the Swedish operator

WITH COMPLEMENTS: 32Red’s sportsbook reaps benefits from the brand’s sponsorship deals

EXCELLENCE IN IGAMING: Find out what awaits in Berlin this month at EiG ESSENTIAL GUIDE 20

iGAMING NEWS 8

BUSINESS 50

£5.20 (€8.30) • ISSUE:121 • OCTOBER 2014 • www.betting-business.co.uk

False start for Point of Consumption

The country’s biggest bookmakers have started their own Portman Group-style organisation as it looks to counter the negative and inaccurate perception of bookmakers in the media.

REGULATION

T CORAL IS ONE OF THE BOOKMAKERS PUTTING VOLUNTARY RESTRICTIONS ON ITS TV ADVERTISING

New industry group aims to raise standards RESPONSIBILITY

our of the UK’s biggest betting operators are hoping that voluntary restrictions to their advertising practices will underline their commitment to social responsibility, while simultaneously relaxing the constant criticism that the industry is attracting.

Ladbrokes, William Hill, Gala Coral and Paddy Power have all committed to additional restrictions on their marketing from the start of this month, including an end to the advertising of sign-up offers on TV before the 9pm ‘watershed’, a voluntary ban on the advertising of gaming machines in shop windows and a commitment that 20 per cent of window advertising will carry responsible gambling messages.

The four bookmakers have

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he introduction of the UK’s new Point of Consumption licensing regime has been delayed by a month in order to allow the judge presiding over an application for a Judicial Review on the new regulations time to come to a judgement.

The laws are now due to come into force on 1 November, assuming that the High Court does not order another postponement, and the Gambling Commission has re-opened the application windows for those wishing to apply under the transitional arrangements. This means that those who are currently able to provide facilities for gambling in Great Britain will be able to continue to do so after commencement of the Act provided that they apply before the application window closes for the second time on 23 October.

It is the application to the High Court by the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) which has somewhat taken the wind out of the government’s sails as it pushes to get more tax from the online gambling industry. The tweaked Remote Gambling Tax (15 per cent of gross profits) also becomes Point of Consumption on 1 December and the Treasury was no doubt hoping that the new licensing regime will do the heavy lifting when it comes to recouping those taxes.

A statement by the DCMS read: “We remain fully confident of our case, and of the significant benefits to consumer protection that the Act will bring. However, to allow the Judge to reach his judgement without undue time pressure we will be taking the necessary steps to postpone the Act coming into force for one month.”

also revealed plans to create a new independent watchdog, called the Senet Group, which will be headed by an independent Standards Commissioner to hold the industry to account.

Similar in style to the alcohol industry’s Portman Group, the Senet Group is expected to launch in the new year.

In order to get the message across to the public, the bookmakers announced the creation of the Senet Group in an open letter, published as full-page advertisements in the country’s national and regional newspapers.

Ladbrokes CEO Richard Glynn said: “Gambling has long been a leisure pursuit and part of the cultural fabric of the UK, but we are alive to the concerns of the public to keep gambling a responsible and fun activity.”

James Henderson, CEO of

William Hill, added: “The launch of the Senet Group sets a benchmark by which we and the betting industry can be judged.”

Coral CEO Carl Leaver said: “We are listening and taking action today to address public concerns. The creation of the Senet Group marks our commitment to the promises we make to you today.”

Patrick Kennedy, CEO Paddy Power, said: “Putting responsible gambling at the heart of our business is simply the right thing to do.”

The Senet Group itself is being held up as a body charged with monitoring and enforcing compliance. It will be able to ‘name and shame’ or impose fines on operators who breach the new advertising promises.

However, as of yet there are some notable absentees from the list of supporters, ie Bet365,

www.microgaming.co.uk

the Betfred Group and Betfair and all three of these brands would need to be participating in some way in order for the Senet Group to be a true industry-wide initiative.

Whether the removal of signup bonuses from pre-watershed TV advertising will address any of the general concerns about the apparent boom in gambling advertising remains to be seen, although it at least demonstrates that the industry is looking at the perceived problem and trying to come up with solutions.

Given that the upcoming General Election is very likely to feature gambling issues, the Senet Group could well be a valuable lightning conductor for an increasingly knee-jerk political atmosphere which continues to see restrictions placed on a gambling industry which are objectively unnecessary.

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Industry told ‘drop your ego’ to combat match fixing

(ACTION IMAGES / ALEX MORTON)

News

One of the world’s leading authorities on match fixing has a stark message for bookmakers - they need to up their intelligence gathering.

INTEGRITY

he future of modern sport is ‘in peril’ and it is important for its administrators to work alongside the gambling industry in order to fight against sporting corruption.

This is the view of Declan Hill, a journalist and academic who specialises on the topic of match fixing and has written several books on the subject.

Hill, who is one of the keynote speakers at this month’s MIGS 14 - the Malta iGaming Seminar, believes that both sport and gambling should drop their egos and join forces to stamp out the criminal activity.

“I think there’s a lot of ignorance about the gambling industry,” Hill said of the sporting authorities. “The gambling industry has to be a partner in fighting against this, specifically the regulated gambling industry.”

Part of the problem, according to Hill, is that sport seems to have trouble telling the regulated and unregulated bookmakers apart, but is happy to take sponsorship money from either side. “Several sporting authorities are taking money from unregulated gambling,” he explained. “And then they blame the entire gambling industry when there’s a problem. It’s like they can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys. If you can’t do that then stop pointing the finger.

“What we really need to be focused on is match fixing and not ‘illegal betting’. Sports need to tell operators that if they want to sponsor a sport, then they need to follow the rules of the regulated gambling industry. If they don’t do that, then they need to be excluded from being partners.”

Hill is largely of the belief that regulated bookmakers have improved a lot from the early days when it comes to detecting match fixing activity. He said that the early reports of the industry only detecting a dozen fixed games across Europe were ‘cringingly embarrassing’ given that at the time German authorities were uncovering evidence of hundreds of corrupt matches.

While things have improved since then, the industry could go farther in Hill’s view. “One of the first things to do is for people to drop their ego and push up their intelligence gathering.

There tends to be a fair amount of ego

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BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

in a male dominated industry. I see the line coming from very intelligent people that they don’t see many fixes in the market. Of course you don’t see them - it’s because the fixers don’t want to get caught. They spend an inordinate amount of time working out how to evade detection by intelligent people.”

Hill says that the fixers spend more time trying to find ways of avoiding detection by the gambling industry than fixing the actual results themselves. “There’s some really intelligent, sophisticated ways of avoiding detecting,” he commented. “I’m not saying they are geniuses, but they are at least as intelligent as the people looking for their activity. That’s why I think that it’s important for the industry to drop their ego and recognise you are in a competition with them.”

Hill wants sport to really take the bull by the horns and prosecute a senior official on match fixing charges as he believes all the convictions up until know have been on convenient fall guys. He thinks that by taking this

Report finds that rights do not imp A report into the complex relationship between sports and betting in the fight against corruption.

REPORT

report into sporting integrity issues has concluded that sports betting rights are not an effective mechanism for financial distribution to sport and do not improve integrity. The report, entitled Sports Betting: Commercial and Integrity Issues, has been commissioned by the regulated gambling industry to help ‘inform the wider debate’ at a time when match fixing is a hot topic across Europe.

The author Jason FoleyTrain has updated the 2010 report he produced while on secondment (to the betting industry) from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to explore not just match-fixing but the associated commercial and integrity matters that have gained prominence in the interim period.

The report is a comprehensive and evidence-based

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DECLAN HILL: ‘I THINK THE FUTURE OF MODERN SPORT IS REALLY IN PERIL’

to the top, then a clear message is sent out and would deter others from falling into the match fixing trap.

“I think the future of modern sport is really in peril,” he said. “If I had a message for the sporting authorities it would be: work with the regulated gaming industry, stop messing around and put a league official on trial and let’s get cracking.”

resource and analysis that provides a vital insight into the important symbiotic commercial and integrity relationship between the sporting and betting sectors. It also highlights how the growing global sports betting market has led policymakers within national and transnational institutions to be drawn into a complex commercial and integrity debate.

The report covers the attempts of sporting bodies to get direct payment for the use of sports data and because this is contrary to the EU Database Directive, the report suggests that a different approach has been taken for the same means.

It explains: “Sports’ preferred conduit to achieve this commercial aim, commonly referred to as a sports organisers’ betting right, has therefore been repackaged to increasingly incorporate the protection of sporting integrity

as a principal reason behind the establishment of this coveted new betting right. A perceived increase in incidents of match-fixing relating to enhanced access to new betting products has also been used as leverage to support the introduction of this model.

However, a study conducted for the European Commission into sports rights issues has been critical of this approach.

“The Asser report lists numerous practical and legal obstacles to the introduction of a model which would enable sports to determine the events on which betting could take place, with the corresponding remuneration levied on betting operators for that agreement invested in integrity. The reality is that this model does not provide an effective or efficient approach with revenues predominately going to the major sports bodies and where it is unclear that they are being used for integrity, whilst the

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£1m 49s jackpot for Chester punter Thailand-born Jirtchaya Klongjarn, who is studying business at Chester University, has become Britain’s first female betting shop millionaire after winning the 49s jackpot at her local Ladbrokes. The 29-year-old bought two £1 tickets and dropped the jackpot of £1,000,990. Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said: “We couldn’t be happier for our history-making millionaire.”

Paddy Power identifies Andy McCue as its new CEO APPOINTMENT

ANDY MCCUE: ‘WE HAVE A TREMENDOUS TEAM’

THE GAMBLING INDUSTRY ALREADY FUNDS SPORT THROUGH SPONSORSHIP DEALS

hat sports betting mprove integrity

nd betting has questioned what benefits a sports betting right would do

costs associated with the administration of this right are considerable.

“Quite understandably, very few jurisdictions have opted to introduce this flawed mechanism with the majority of government’s opting for alternative and more balanced and efficient approaches which indisputably seek to protect integrity, rather than as a commercial substitute.”

The report also describes how the mutually beneficial commercial association between betting and sport has continued to grow with sponsorship and advertising becoming a significant source of funding for sport. Regulated operators continue to invest significantly in sports broadcasts both in landbased facilities and through new interactive streaming channels as a means to support new betting product innovations and to create greater interaction and engagement with their customers.

RGA chief executive Clive Hawkswood said: “Unfortunately, the sports betting integrity debate

is too often driven by either the illinformed or those looking to gain a commercial advantage. I very much hope that this report will go a long way towards educating opinion formers of the facts of the situation, strengthening their knowledge base and ultimately providing a foundation for progress.”

Khalid Ali, ESSA Secretary General, stated that: “The report corroborates much of what the regulated betting sector has been advancing for over a decade; attacks on the integrity of sport are principally directed by organised criminal groups seeking to exploit the vulnerabilities of sports’ own participants often from poor governance. Regulated betting operators are actually the potential victims of such fraud, immediately questioning the rationale behind the ‘sports right’ approach, which has been widely criticised in a recent report for the European Commission as being inefficient and having numerous practical and operational flaws, along with a number of legal obstacles within the EU.”

ANALYSIS While the report will always be open to the criticism that it was paid for by the ABB, EGBA, ESSA and RGA, it still asks some questions which the sporting authorities seem unable or unwilling to tackle and highlights the fact that the gambling industry actually contributes a substantial amount of money to sports around the world via sponsorship deals. It’s also plain that the industry is far more adept and prepared to invest money in the detection of match fixing than the sports themselves.

The sad fact is that most of sport’s rhetoric around match fixing appears to be more a case of justifying reasons for a new revenue stream rather than a concerted effort to actually tackle the problem.

addy Power has returned to its ‘boot room’ and appointed Andy McCue as chief executive designate ahead of him succeeding the current chief executive, Patrick Kennedy, on 1 January 2015.

McCue, who has also become a director, has been with Paddy Power for eight years and is currently managing director, retail UK & Ireland. He also has responsibility for regulatory and public affairs. He has been a member of the Paddy Power Management Committee since 2009 and leads the group’s online and retail multi-channel strategy.

Chairman Nigel Northridge said: “We are delighted to appoint Andy as the successor to Patrick. He has an outstanding track record and has consistently demonstrated strong leadership across the business as a key member of the Management Committee and in his role driving the regulatory agenda. Andy is the ideal leader to drive Paddy Power’s next phase of growth.”

McCue was long touted as the favourite for the role after Kennedy announced his retirement, but the bookmaker still underwent a comprehensive recruitment process, conducted by the Nominations Committee of the Board, which involved a strong field of internal and external candidates.

Northridge added: “The Nominations Committee undertook a comprehensive international search for the next leader of the business

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and we were very pleased, if unsurprised, with the calibre of the candidates from inside and outside the business.”

McCue joined Paddy Power in 2006 as head of strategy, UK Retail where he devised the strategy that transformed the profitability of the UK Retail business and led its implementation as deputy managing director, UK Retail. In 2009, he became managing director, UK Retail and four years later managing director, retail UK & Ireland.

Kennedy commented: “This is a great day for Paddy Power. Andy will bring energy, strong leadership and a detailed knowledge of the business to the role of chief executive. I look forward to working closely with him over the coming months. The future of Paddy Power is in excellent hands.”

McCue himself said: “I am very excited to be taking on the leadership of Paddy Power. Patrick has transformed the business over the last 10 years, strongly positioning us in attractive markets which are delivering good payback. We have a tremendous team and I very much look forward to working with them to build on that success by continuing to engage customers with the best value, product and brand.”

Paddy Power is the second publicly listed bookmaker this year to appoint a new CEO internally - William Hill’s new CEO James Henderson had been at the firm for decades before finding his way to the top seat.

BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

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BB121-p04-08-iGaming_09/10 07/10/2014 12:56 Page 1

iGaming Given that under the point of consumption laws Bet365 will be paying local tax on its gambling operations anyway, the firm has decided to move them to Gibraltar.

Bet365 makes Gibraltar its licensed gambling hub

LICENSING

et365, one of the world’s biggest igaming operators, has announced plans to move its gambling operations from its home town of Stoke over to the remote gambling jurisdiction of Gibraltar in another bit of good news for The Rock.

Bet365’s online gaming business was already based on the island, but the operator has now restructured its business so that its betting services will also be provided from Gibraltar.

Bet365 was the last major remote operator based in the UK and the firm’s switch offshore should act as a warning to a government no doubt expecting traffic in the other direction with its point of consumption licensing. The company said they had made the move following a review of their structure and having decided to

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make Gibraltar the hub of their licensing.

Fortunately for the people of Stoke, where Bet365 is the biggest employer with around 2,000 staff, there are no redundancies planned.

A statement from the company said: “As part of the reorganisation, Bet365 is augmenting its existing presence in Gibraltar, a jurisdiction that offers a mature and stable environment for international remote gambling operators. Bet365 will now operate its international betting businesses under licences granted by the government of Gibraltar.

“Bet365, which currently holds licences in various territories including Great Britain, Spain, Italy,

ANALYSIS Some commentary around Bet365’s decision has used the term tax evasion, but the real scrutiny should be on the laws that have forced the operator to take this decision to remain competitive. However it is another hugely positive boost for Gibraltar as an igaming jurisdiction, given the gloomy predictions for the future of the island’s gambling sector that were being made once the UK pressed on with its point of consumption licensing. Instead it is the future of the POC regime which now has more questions over it, thanks to the legal challenge of the Gibraltar Betting & Gaming Association.

Denmark and Australia, will also continue with its longstanding policy of pursuing licences in regulated markets and the Bet365 Group, as a whole, remains committed to playing its part in helping to protect the integrity of sport.

“Aside from the staff relo-

cating to Gibraltar, the Bet365 Group will retain a significant presence in Stoke-on-Trent with other existing Bet365 employees remaining there in order to provide various contracted support to the Gibraltar operating hub, including software and technical

support, outsourced customer services and contracted marketing services.”

The Gibraltar Minister for Financial Services Albert Ísola was quoted in the local press saying that it was positive news for the island with as many as 150 jobs being created.

The assertion that Gibraltar is a more stable environment than the UK for gambling operations should cut the UK government to the bone, particularly given the overarching political problems provided by Spain’s claim on the island.

However, that seems to have few implications for the gambling industry, at least in a political sense.

Earlier on this summer the

Supreme Court of Gibraltar approved a cross-border merger between 888 Spain PLC (Gibraltar company) and Apuesta Ganador Online S.A (Spanish Company).

Steven Caetano and Christian Caetano of the commercial team at law firm ISOLAS advised the merging companies in their joint application for a cross border merger under the Gibraltar Cross Border Merger Regulations 2010 and were ‘proud’ to have completed the landmark transaction after working closely with DLA Piper Spain.

Christian Caetano said: “We understand that this is the first such ruling to have been granted by the Gibraltar Courts involving a cross border merger between a Spanish gambling licence holder and a Gibraltar company, and is therefore hugely significant.”

Steven Caetano explained: “This crossborder merger is significant for a number of reasons, not least of which is the specific cross-border nature of this transaction, namely the merger between a Gibraltarbased entity and a Spanish one. Despite the various legal challenges we dealt with in this matter, we are certain that this will have a hugely positive impact on Gibraltar’s legal/ corporate and gaming sector as well as Gibraltar’s growing reputation for high value crossborder transactional work since the enactment of the legislation into local law.”

New team at CasinoFloor.com as it looks to the UK CASINO

asinoFloor.com has appointed a new senior management team that is being headed up by managing director Jack Mizel, who has experience in building companies from the ground up, including the publishing and events company, Profile Pursuit, which sold for US$50m.

Over the last two months, CasinoFloor.com has undergone a complete transformation which has seen its brand profile accelerate sig-

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nificantly. CasinoFloor.com has already proven extremely popular within Scandinavia, and is now

embarking on increasing its presence within the UK market. With its new tag line - ‘The floor is yours’ - the

new team has taken its seven figure marketing budget and devised a strategic acquisition campaign that will include TV advertising, supported by a variety of digital and direct mail initiatives.

Commenting on its plan to increase its market share within the UK, Mizel said: “I have more than 30 years in publishing and marketing with specific expertise in traditional communications.

I’m really excited to be using my knowledge to create exceptional marketing initia-

tives that will see CasinoFloor.com stand out from its competitors.”

The new team includes industry specialists who have been instrumental in getting the new site live after working closely with the company’s software platform, EveryMatrix, to complete the website’s overhaul.

Originally scheduled to take three months, EveryMatrix managed to complete the task in just one month.

Mizel added: “We have combined our knowledge to create a casino and sports

book environment that will engage players the moment they hit the site. We understand what it is that players ultimately want and feel very confident that CasinoFloor.com offers this and a whole lot more.”

The company will be building on its current success within Scandinavia, which was endorsed further when it won “Best New Casino of 2013” by Norskcasino.com, to provide the building blocks of future campaigns within the rest of Europe.

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BB121-p04-08-iGaming_09/10 07/10/2014 12:56 Page 2

Three new licences for Probe

iGaming A new online casino has launched with, it seems, a little inspiration from some of Las Vegas’ biggest casinos.

CasinoCruise is sailing into new waters.

EnergyCasino parent company Probe Investments has been granted three new licences by The Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA), Malta’s iGaming regulatory authority. “After the huge success that EnergyCasino has achieved in Central Europe, we have decided to spread positive energy to other European countries as markets, and the portfolio of EnergyCasino games will be soon updated with hot new titles,” said Marcin Sapinski, EnergyCasino marketing director.

LLOYD APTER: ‘WE ARE ALL VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE LAUNCH’

SWEDEN

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Sweden, Norway, Finland and International German.

It also intends on getting a UK licence. As for the localisation, the firm is working with local affiliates, publisher networks, freelance employees and media agencies.

Affiliate director and partner Lloyd Apter explained why cruises were such a good fit for a new gambling brand: “The demographic is the same in many cases - people with the means looking for quality and luxurious entertainment and are willing to pay for it. There are many casino cruise boats around the world, and most luxury cruise ships offer large and elaborate casinos, this further strengthening the natural cross over between casinos and cruises.

CasinoCruise.com is the perfect connection between these two forms of popular luxury entertainment.”

CasinoCruise is offering monthly luxury cruises and promotions in exotic destinations around the globe as part of the casino’s goal to offer players a true virtual online casino cruise experience. Importantly, it also offers over 600 of all the most

BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

popular online casino games from the top gaming providers.

Players can enter into a prize draw to win a trip for two on a luxury cruise, but they can only get a prize draw ticket for every $50 deposit they make. Obviously, the more money gambled, the more tickets they get and the more chances of winning the grand prize cruise.

The first dream cruise prize involves a six day, all inclusive break on the luxurious MSC LIRICA, with trips to Rio de Janeiro, Buzios, Llheus, Salvador and Rio for the Carnival as well as rooms in the 5 star Radisson Barra Hotel.

Apter added: “We have launched the best online casino experience available together with the most advanced affiliate system and we are working on a strategy to provide players with a unique and fun online gaming experience that will take them on both a virtual and real cruise journey around the world. We are all very excited about the launch and I personally look forward to developing our ‘blue ocean’ online casino marketing opportunity with our affiliate partners.”

ANALYSIS A fully themed casino around a certain hook is a well-trodden path, especially if that path is the Las Vegas strip, so it’s little surprise to see the emergence of online casinos with an embedded theme to help both entertain players and provide some differentiation in a packed marketplace.

While bingo sites have taken on general branding themes, it is the casinos which can really go to town given the core offering tends to be so generic across brands.

Integrating a theme might seem like a good way to immediately turn off a potentially large segment of the market, but it could also easily carve itself a niche in a samey market.

SWEDISH SPORTS LIKE RUGBY WILL BE ABLE TO GET FUNDS VIA KLUBBLO

tickets via Klubblo.se, ensuring their brand gets visibilty.

The deal to deliver bespoke lottery gaming products is a joint venture between media partner Metro and casino operator Cherry, with the games being provided by Yggdrasil Gaming.

Chairman Lars Liljegren, also chairman of the Swedish Fencing Federation, said: “Through this initiative, we are giving Swedish sport new opportunities for funding at a time when both the state and local authorities are holding back on supporting sport. We can also develop new ideas together in a sport driven organisation and fully utilise the strength of the Swedish sports brands.”

Klubblo CEO Lasse Dilschmann added: “We are really excited to deliver this unique opportunity for Swedish sport. Lotteries around the world help to fund certain elements of sport, but Klubblo gives the chance for players to directly choose where their money goes.

“We think this is really going to capture the imagination of the Swedish people and we are confident that it is going to have a significant impact on the funding of both small and large sports clubs and associations in Sweden.”

ACTION IMAGES / PAUL HARDING

CASINO

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he Swedish Gaming Board has given the Swedish Sports Alliance a licence to start Klubblo - a new digital lottery platform on mobile and PCs designed to boost funding for Swedish sport. Klubblo is open to all sports federations and associations within the Alliance for Sport.

The Sports Alliance is currently composed of 27 of the foundation’s sports federations and the two alliance unions, Djurgården IF and Hammarby IF. The Board includes representatives of several sports federations.

Klubblo offers a variety of scratch cards that are played online via mobile phone or PC. The fact that the lottery games are digital means coaches, parents, children and young people do not have to spend time knocking on doors to sell lottery tickets, but can use that time for association development, sports and school work.

The players choose which associations their money goes to safe in the knowledge that any money generated by them will be distributed to a sports club that is close to their heart.

Each federation or association also has the unique ability to easily create custom-specific lottery

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New casino launch a Cruise alta-licensed CasinoCruise. com has launched its operation with the intention of twinning its gaming products with the ethos of a luxury cruise. The firm is using prizes of cruise liner holidays as a way to attract custom in a very crowded market.

CEO Ariel Reem explained: “By combining a unique variety of interesting and dynamic content with a multi-vendor and multi-currency platform we are able to deliver our unique virtual and real-life cruise experience.

“With our huge variety of games for both web and mobile, supported by the convenience of accepting all the important international currencies via the most popular global processing solutions, with full localisation, professional and friendly support and hassle free payouts, we are confident in providing our customers with excellent value.”

The firm is targeting the ‘International English’ markets - Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, as well as

Klubblo launches with sporting angle

Age verification is a high stakes game When it comes to age verification, the stakes have never been higher for online gaming companies. Tough legislation means failure to prevent under 18s from registering can lead to heavy fines, loss of trade and irreparable brand damage.

Thankfully, Callcredit Age Verification enables online gaming companies to check identity and date of birth quickly and accurately. So you can keep out age cheats and stay on the right side of the law.

To find out more 0113 388 4300

www.callcredit.co.uk/gaming

gaming@callcreditgroup.com

BB121-p04-08-iGaming_09/10 07/10/2014 12:57 Page 3

Mobile jackpot dropped

iGaming

A 24-year-old player on LeoVegas.com has won 2.5m euro (£1.95m) playing NetEnt’s Mega Fortune Touch. The winner said: “I can’t believe it, I mean, I saw the screen on my mobile but I still can’t believe it. Almost 23m Swedish Kronor and I’m only 24-years-old, it’s totally insane. Now I’m going to invest the money to make sure I’m set for the future, and of course go out and celebrate with my friends. A big thanks to Leo Vegas.”

‘It is all about understanding what the player wants’ INTERVIEW

s there much crossover between your online operations and your landbased business?

Not really at the moment because of the regulatory situation in Sweden which means that we’re not allowed to promote our online offering through our land-based business. At present, they are two very different businesses, although the heritage and strength of the Cherry brand has undoubtedly helped our online brands.

If, or hopefully when, online gaming is regulated in Sweden there will be the opportunity for us to crosssell strongly between online and land-based. But for us it is all about understanding what the player wants and delivering a service that makes them keep coming back for more.

Online is definitely the key growth area for Cherry and we have seen online revenues increase almost 40 per cent year-on-year. Our land-based business has also grown, but the market is declining and we’ve only been able to achieve this through acquisitions and taking players from our competitors.

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your site more engaging is beneficial.

The distinguished gentleman and mountain gorilla named Uncle Cherry form a key part of the new, updated CherryCasino brand and they are a strong marketing tool for us to acquire new customers and keep our current customers entertained.

Emil Sunvisson, CEO of gambling operator Cherry, talks to Betting Business interactive about his firm’s plans for the year. Cherry, once part of a wider group including Betsson and Net Entertainment, is also Sweden’s largest ‘restaurant casino’ operator.

You’ve recently teamed up with the Sports Alliance: are you hoping for similar deals with other organisations in the future?

We feel there are some really interesting opportunities in the lottery vertical. It has been dominated by the big monopolies for years and there is room for agile and dynamic companies to come in and shake things up a little.

iGAMINGBRIEFS 32RED GOES WILD

32Red Plc has acquired the UK customer database of the Go Wild casino from Go Wild Malta Ltd as more firms distance themselves from the UK market ahead of the point of consumption tax.

Commercial director Matt Booth explained: “This acquisition fits well with our growth strategy for the UK market. The migration of players from Go Wild to 32Red is a low-risk and seamless transfer as both businesses utilise the Microgaming platform and games content. Players will continue to use the same login and passwords to access their accounts and we will be active in showcasing the 32Red experience to these newly acquired players.”

TABLE TOP SALE

Ultimate decision to leave New Jersey market

Alderney licensed Daub Limited has acquired the bingo and slots assets of Table Top Entertainment. Daub Ltd now operates across six brands; Kitty Bingo, Lucky Pants Bingo, Spin and Win Casino, Jackpot Café, King Jackpot and Jackpot Liner with sites available on mobile/tablet as well as online. Daub’s Zak Cronje said: “This is a superb opportunity for the Group. This acquisition gives a substantial opportunity to leverage the existing businesses offering the best in bingo, slots and propriety bonus game features. With a full range of unique content and two more sites planned to launch later this year, we are very well placed in this growing market.”

NEW JERSEY

LOCUS SHUTS DOWN OPERATIONS

tablet products have performed particularly well. We see tablet as a crucial technology for the business in the future and we have invested heavily to make sure the experience for the How has Cherry adapted to player is as good on a tablet the mobile market? as it is on a PC or mobile, if We have seen strong growth not better. in mobile over the past Many other suppliers couple of years and our have tended to simply resize

ltimate Gaming, the first online gaming operator to legally go live in the US, has exited the New Jersey market after terminating its contact with Trump Taj Mahal Associates LLC. In truth, Ultimate Gaming has been left high and dry by the failure of the casino itself - Trump Taj Mahal Associates LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier in the month and the state law says that online operations need a land-based equivalent.

Ultimate Gaming accused its partner of multiple contract breaches and said it was owed US$1.5m by the casino’s parent company and had not been paid in

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their mobile games to tablet dimensions, but this provides an inferior experience, especially as you are limited with what you can do on a mobile screen. Cherry provides its players with tabletspecific products and we have been really pleased with the take up and feedback we’ve had from our customers.

You have both a gentleman and a gorilla as mascots for some of your gaming brands.

How useful are these for market differentiation?

Players like characters and it can add a different dimension to your casino. There are obviously lots of online casinos out there and anything you can do to standout from the crowd and make

net gambling operations, taking in $4.9m from online customers so far this year.

At the other end of the table, Borgata and PartyPoker, have taken $30m so far.

Tom Breitling, chairman of Ultimate Gaming, added: “We are grateful to the State of New Jersey and the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for allowing us to be one of the first companies to bring online gaming to the citizens of New Jersey and appreciate their leadership as one of the first states to allow more than two months. us. Unfortunately, as they online gaming. We are Marc Falcone, Ultimate’s say in poker, we were not working closely with the senior vice president, said: dealt a good hand.”

Division of Gaming Enforce“We wish things would have Ultimate was ranked last ment to ensure a smooth turned out differently for out of New Jersey’s six inter- transition for our online

BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

What are Cherry’s objectives for 2015?

We’ve had a strong first half of 2014 and our key objective for the remainder of the year and 2015 is to continue growing the online side of our business. That is where the future of Cherry lies.

As its main investor, we are also delighted with how Yggdrasil Gaming is going and are looking forward to continuing that progression over the next year. With so many big name operators signing in such a short space of time, and with a number of other deals in the pipeline, these are very exciting times.

gaming customers as we wind down our New Jersey operations.”

It has been a tough year for land-based casinos in Atlantic City, with Trump Taj Mahal the fifth casino to announce that it will be closing its doors. Even Donald Trump is in court trying to get his name taken off the two failing Atlantic City Casinos that bear his name, even though he owns 10 per cent of the parent company. Trump is suing Trump Entertainment Resorts, because it has allowed the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal to fall into disrepair, ‘tarnishing his personal brand and confusing customers’.

Locus Gaming Isle of Man Limited, operator of mobile-based Jack Gold Casino, has ceased trading. The firm had hoped to fashion a sale to a third party in order to keep the business running, but it appears that the anticipated deal has not come to fruition via reports that the company has applied for voluntary liquidation.

Given its Isle of Man Licence requires the ring-fencing of customer funds, the directors have made it ‘totally clear’ that there is no risk at all to customer funds which are fully protected.

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BB121-p10-14-Betting_09/10 07/10/2014 11:39 Page 1

Betting Ladbrokes Life campaign largely escapes censure

Punter refuses record £320,000 cash in … and loses FOOTBALL

Betfair customer has been offered what is thought to be the biggest cash in offer yet, but the punter didn’t take up the option and the bet ended up a loser.

Playing the new Colossus Bet HDA15 via the exchange, the punter had a £500,000 jackpot and potential £500,000 bonus riding on Manchester City beating Roma in the Champions League.

The ticket had a Cash-In offer of over £320,000 but the player decided to Cash-In just 10 per cent of the ticket, banking £32,000 before the City match kickedoff, through Colossus Bets’ unique Fractional Cash-In feature.

The player had paid £4,374 on the ticket with all his different permutations, but only had a City win for the Champions League tie at the City of Manchester Stadium, with Francesco Totti’s equaliser costing the brave punter £450,000 and a crack at a £450,000 bonus. The punter even resisted a Cash-In offer of TOTTI’S GOAL £241,000 at half-time COST A when the game was all PUNTER A square.

POTENTIAL Bernard Marantelli, £900,000 Colossus Bets founder and CEO said: “We are a little bit gutted for the Betfair customer who was so anyone who can go one better close to becoming the first than our Betfair player.” player to take down our The £1,000,000 HDA15 is a HDA15 since we launched the weekly 15-leg pool bet with a bet at the start of the season. Home-Draw-Away format “Having Cashed-In 10 per comprising a minimum cent of the ticket the player at £500,000 win fund and a least walks away with £32,000 minimum £500,000 bonus - not quite the life-changing both numbers net of deducseven figure sum it could have tions. Any winners of the win been, but not bad from a losing fund will have a free pick on bet. Our HDA15 always has a the outcome of one further guaranteed minimum prize football match the following fund of £1,000,000 and that is week, to try and land the on offer every weekend to £500,000 bonus.

Given the difficulty that the gambling industry has had finding the right balance between marketing an entertainment product but not making it glamorous, aspirational or sexy, Ladbrokes appears to have done quite well.

MARKETING

he innovative Ladbrokes Life marketing campaign, which contained the first dedicated TV advertisement to promote responsible gambling, has been largely given a clean bill of health by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) despite attracting 98 complaints.

After an exhaustive investigation into the campaign, which featured four TV ads, six poster ads, four video-on-demand (VOD) ads and a video on the Ladbrokes Youtube channel, the ASA found that two of the posters breached guidelines and should not be shown again, but the rest of the campaign was responsible.

The ASA commented: “We acknowledged the need to market gambling products and services carefully, in order to minimise as far as possible the likely impact of such ads on children, young persons and other vulnerable persons such as those with a history of gambling addiction. However, in this case we were satisfied that the particular content and presentation of the ads, which presented responsible betting as part of a range of social activities,

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was unlikely unduly to encourage gambling amongst such consumers.”

The ASA said that the TV, Youtube and VOD ads portrayed gambling as one of a range of activities performed by a group of friends and that ‘on balance’ it was satisfied that the overall attitude towards gambling expressed in the ads was not an irresponsible one. It explained: “In reaching that view, we noted the absence in the ads of any scenes appearing to show gambling to excess, gambling as an addiction or pressure on characters to engage in gambling. Whilst the characters were shown to enjoy betting together, that act was only one of a number of activities depicted and we did not consider that it was given undue emphasis within the ads or that it alone, rather than the group’s social life as a whole, was proposed as a unifying factor bonding the characters together.”

The main problem for the two censured posters was that in the context of the whole campaign they would probably not be seen as irresponsible, but away from the rest of the narrative it could be a different story. The ASA said:

“We considered that the statements, when isolated from the story presented in the TV, VOD and Youtube ads, would likely be understood as endorsements from Ladbrokes directly about individual approaches towards gambling that were each epitomised by the person pictured. We considered, in that context, the statements in ads, “WHEN YOU WIN IT’S SKILL - WHEN YOU LOSE IT’S BAD LUCK” and “ONCE IS LUCK - TWICE IS TALENT”, condoned an irresponsible attitude towards gambling and thereby breached the CAP Code.”

Meanwhile, Betfair has had a run in with the ASA, with similar mixed results.

Where the exchange operator fell foul of ASA rules was in its promotion of ‘money back’ and ‘full refund’ promotions without adequately flagging up that this would constitute conditional credit rather than cash. However the ASA said that Betfair’s claim to give money back on all markets ‘with qualifications’ was not in breach of the code.

In a busy month for the ASA with the gambling industry, Luxury Casino was also told not to re-use

a direct mail campaign in its current form. The promotion promised ‘£1,000 FREE’ but it wasn’t clear that this was a match bonus and while the mailer said T&C’s apply, there was no other mention of the ‘significant’ terms and conditions.

ANALYSIS Given the wide ranging and envelope pushing nature of the Ladbrokes Life campaign, the bookmaker should be feeling quite pleased that the majority of the promotion was carrying a responsible message.

Ladbrokes believed that most consumers would see the ads, viewed as a whole, as depicting snapshots of the life of a regular group of friends, would recognise the dryly humorous tone and would not interpret them to encourage an irresponsible attitude towards gambling. It seems that the ASA has by and large agreed. If Ladbrokes has cracked the code, then perhaps this is a turning point for the gambling industry and the ASA.

ACTION IMAGES / JASON CAIRNDUFF LIVEPIC

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sales@ingg.com www.ingg.com

10 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

BB121-p10-14-Betting_09/10 07/10/2014 11:39 Page 2

666Bet steps up to the oche

Betting German licences delayed as bookmakers set up Association

Online bookmaker 666Bet is the new Official Betting Partner of the SINGHA Beer Grand Slam of Darts. Barry Martin, CEO of 666Bet.com, said: “This is another important step for 666Bet as we see darts as the perfect sport to target new customers. We are already heavily involved in football and boxing partnerships, so darts was the logical next sport for us.”

Another push for New Jersey sports betting USA

he long running battle

by New Jersey’s lawmakers to legalise sports betting in the state has taken a positive step after the Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee voted unanimously to repeal all statutory prohibitions on sports betting.

The legislation is likely to be passed by both the

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MATHIAS DAHMS IS THE INAUGURAL DSWV PRESIDENT

11 operators have joined forces to create the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV). It’s got its work cut out.

believes it has the wherewithal to legalise retail betting, which will give a boost to its ailing casino sector as well as the state’s racetracks.

State Senator Raymond Lesniak, a keen supporter of sports betting, is trying to introduce a bill as quickly as possible and is optimistic that he’ll be able to place the first legal sports

GERMANY

he regulation of the German betting industry under the Inter State Treaty has been delayed after the decisions of the Hesse Ministry of the Interior and Sport in its issuing of licences was challenged in court.

Several of the firms who missed out on the 20 licences have made an appeal to the Administrative Court in Wiesbaden, which has decided to temporarily halt the awarding of concessions by way of an interim court order.

One of the bookmakers who didn’t get a licence was Tipico, which operates over 850 Tipico betting offices in Germany and employs up to 5,000 people in total. Jan Bolz, CEO of Tipico, commented: “We welcome Wiesbaden’s Administrative Court’s decision to halt the awarding of concession, and see in it a confirmation of our fundamental objections against this whole procedure.”

It appeared that Bolz was fully prepared for this course of action. When the names of the 20 successful licencees was announced, he appeared quite relaxed: “Of course we deem this decision to be extremely questionable; however, we

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do not attach much importance to it. As of yet, this decision has no impact on our operational business, since we will now take the predetermined course of legal action, through which we are very confident of succeeding.”

The successful brands are Cash Point, Admiral Sportwetten, ODDSET, Oddsline Entertainment, Primebet International, Electra Works Ltd (Bwin), Digibet Ltd, Bet-athome.com, Ladbrokes, Bet90, Deutsche Sportwetten, Personal Exchange International (Centrebet), Polco Ltd (Betfair), Intermedia, Bernd Hobiger, RULEO Alpine Country, Racebets International Gaming, Albers Wettbörsen Deutschland, IBA Entertainment (Bet3000) and Star Sportwetten However, Tipico argues that the limitation to a total of 20 licences constitutes a violation of European law.

Licences will not be effective until the final or legally binding decision has been taken.

But the issuing of the licences has emboldened the industry into founding the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) in Berlin. The most important issue for the DSWV is said to

be a legally stable sports betting regulation for Germany, but the new organisation also aims to act against game manipulation, gambling addiction and black markets. The DSWV sees itself as a central contact partner for the public, especially for stakeholders from the areas of politics, sports and media.

Peter Ramsauer (CSU), chairman of the Committee on Economics and Energy Affairs in the German Bundestag, has welcomed the founding of the DSWV: “This association is an enrichment and a strong ally in the war against illegal gambling and addiction.”

Professor Martin Nolte, Head of the Institute for Sports Law of the German College of Physical Education Cologne, added: “The DSWV represents the positions of sports betting organisers and agents in Germany. It ensures transparency, information, and surely improvement of the sports betting market regulation.”

During the founding ceremony at the Federal Press Conference Centre, DSWV president Mathias Dahms criticised the present legal uncertainty: “The current situation is untenable. Our goal is to remove the legal

uncertainty and to ensure safe betting, both for consumers and providers.”

FDP-vice president Wolfgang Kubicki supported Dahms: “The pressure must be increased or everything will remain the same. The more support we get from the industry, the better.”

ANALYSIS It could be argued that the founding of the DSWV is long overdue given the continuous battles in Germany. All the eleven founding members own sports betting licences in Schleswig-Holstein and/or are in the final round of the nationwide sports betting licensing process. All DSWV members pay corporation and additionally sports betting taxes. This year (up to and including August 2014) the minister of finance received 150m euro from betting taxes alone. This should help give the DSWV some gravitas when dealing with the power brokers, even if the organisation is looking to break the state’s betting monopoly.

NJ GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE

Assembly and Senate and signed into law by governor Chris Christie. However, America’s four largest professional sports leagues and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are already challenging the legislation in federal court. And if that’s not enough the Christie administration also is taking action, even before the measure is enacted.

The sports leagues, consisting of the NCAA, NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB, argue that the authorisation of sports gambling in New Jersey would ‘irreparably harm amateur and professional sports by fostering suspicion that individual plays and final scores of games may have been influenced by factors other than honest athletic competition’.

While New Jersey fell foul of federal law in its attempts to legalise online sports betting, it still

bet in New Jersey next month.

However, the state wants to make sure it’s not going to run aground on federal law again and has asked for confirmation that it can repeal its sports betting laws and not be in violation of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA).

The sporting bodies have instead asked District Judge Michael Shipp to deny New Jersey’s request for clarification.

A similar bill was scuttled in August when Christie surprisingly refused to endorse it, but Lesniak is confident that won’t be the case for the latest attempt. “I expect the governor to sign it this time around. If he wants to have sports betting in New Jersey, and I believe that he does, I believe that he will sign it. The future of Atlantic City and our racing industry needs it.”

Cloudbet launches bitcoin betting via mobile MOBILE

loudbet has launched its new bitcoin sportsbook designed specifically for mobile phones and tablets. This new sportsbook has been built in full with mobile devices in mind, with every aspect optimised specifically to provide Cloudbet customers with the smoothest betting experience possible.

Operating since 2013, Cloudbet has put itself at the

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forefront of the bitcoin gaming industry with a commitment to creating a cutting edge bitcoin gaming environment. The operation is supported by cold-storage security technology, and 2step authentication. The introduction of a new mobile sportsbook to complement the recently launched mobile casino now brings a complete gaming experience to players’ mobiles no matter

12 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

where they are in the world.

Cloudbet’s mobile sportsbook offers an extensive range of betting options across a wide variety of sports, including 1x2, handicaps, money lines, totals, and props. Players have the ability to bet live in-game, and to multiply their winnings with accumulators. Viewing markets and placing bets is extremely simple and intuitive due to the use mobile-

specific menus and design features. Further, as the first sportsbook built on Facebook’s React view engine and a Node.js backend, navigation is lightning fast even under heavy loads.

“Players are going to love our mobile book,” said Dennis Laudrup, Cloudbet’s head of marketing. “We have focused on that sports fans like to watch a game and place live bets on the move

from a mobile device whether it be from a bar, a friend’s couch, or even inside the stadium. Our development and design team has put a lot of work into making this truly the best mobile book out there, and we’re sure that customers will notice the difference. This is only the first phase for us and we have plans to add more features over the coming months.”

Cloudbet’s mobile sportsbook offers full mobile banking facilities that allow users to deposit and withdraw bitcoins directly using only their mobile devices. A single account allows players to access the desktop sportsbook, desktop casinos, mobile casino, and new mobile sportsbook. 2-Step Authentication is also available for added security.

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BB121-p10-14-Betting_09/10 07/10/2014 11:40 Page 3

Age concern

Betting

Bookmaker Coral has introduced an age gate screen on its Twitter account to help protect under-age users of the platform. Tania Seif, head of social marketing at Coral, commented: “The introduction of automated age verification on Twitter is a significant advancement in helping us ensure that we prevent under-age followers from viewing tweets from Coral.”

CASHIER NOT GUILTY OF COLLUSION

Bar One taking matters into its own hands Rather than continually rely on a third party to help drive business in its independent betting shop chain, Bar One Racing set up its own bureau service.

THE BUREAU SERVICE FROM BAR ONE RACING IN ACTION

IRELAND

rish independent bookmaker Bar One Racing is demonstrating that sometimes it is worthwhile taking a risk in the betting business. At the start of last year, managing director Barney O’Hare decided to take his business into his own control and set up a bureau service for his 20-strong betting shop estate.

Rather than rely on a potentially disinterested supplier, O’Hare wanted to be able to differentiate the Bar One Racing offer from the corporate bookmakers, while at the same time keeping up with the standard they had set in a very competitive market. O’Hare had identified the shop’s screens as the key communication tool to customers and decided that it was in the firm’s interest to take control of this channel.

However, running a bureau service for 20 shops was a tough business case and Bar One Racing decided that it would open up the service to other independent bookmakers who would benefit from the

I

independent betting shop perspective that Bar One Racing was able to provide.

Bar One Racing’s Heather Glenn explained: “The great thing about the screen system is that there’s a lot of flexibility with it. It’s not as laborious a task to instantaneously put up new markets and have things changed, so that means that you can actually engage with the customer in a better way. Something could happen right now and we could respond to that immediately.

“It allows us to deal with things as they happen and offer something to the customer as it happens. It’s a live interaction which gives the customer more confidence because even if they don’t have a bet they may still well have an affinity with the subject.”

Indeed, there was such great demand that the Screen One Bureau service now powers 200 independent betting shops, some owned by firms with a far larger estate than Bar One Racing’s. Glenn suggested that this is because the team at Bar

One Racing are far more in-tune with their customers than other external providers. “When you are in the business and know the business, you’re very well placed to actually provide a good service,” she explained. “You know what the customer needs.”

Bar One Racing’s, Screen One Bureau is powered by MRG Systems’ BIDS5 product which contains many automated features designed to release the studio operator to monitor the system and stimulate interest in other revenue generating markets. Bar One Racing can fully integrate its services into the BizTech Arkle EPOS systems and is also compatible with A Bet A tills.

Glenn commented: “MRG has been very helpful, great to work with and very accommodating. We were one of the first customers with this system so they were very hands on and worked directly with us. It took us six months to fully bed in and there was a lot of work that went into it, but it has ended up worthwhile.”

ANALYSIS At a time when betting shops are dependent on so many disparate information providers, not least two racing channels, presenting the data in a simple package to customers is as important as ever. Indeed, Heather Glenn believes she could see a tweaked system working in the UK, even if the market is not quite as competitive, currently, as the value orientated Irish sector. “I believe there is scope for bringing this to the UK, in a revised version of what we are currently doing in the Irish Market. We already have the team in place, so it would just be the case of developing a UK style service to accommodate bookmakers in the UK.”

Sky Bet brings racing to football fans CROSS SELLING

orseracing broke new ground at Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club last month, when the £160,000 Ayr Gold Cup was shown at half-time during the Club’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Blackpool - a trial which was hailed a resounding success.

In conjunction with the Football League’s title sponsor, Sky Bet, Scotland’s most famous Flat race was broadcast by Racing UK on the concourse screens and two big screens at the American Express Community Stadium.

It was the first time horseracing had been shown live at half-time at a Football League match.

The 25,000 crowd could bet on the race through Sky Bet via Sky’s free WiFi service, The Cloud, which reported a fivefold increase on its average click-through rate,

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via the WiFi landing page advert. The bookmaker offered all account holders a promotional code advertised on the day to avail a free £5 bet.

Sky Bet’s David Tweed commented: “We had hun-

14 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

dreds of Brighton & Hove Albion fans taking up our free bet offer, and many others watching the action unfold - so together with our partners we’ve definitely added something extra to the match-day

experience. We’re already looking forward to building on this offering.”

Clive Cottrell, marketing director at Racing UK, said: “Supporters enjoyed a pint and a pie while gathered around the screens on

the concourses, and the racing also looked fantastic as a spectacle on the big screen. The hope is that other clubs will sit up and take notice and this halftime entertainment will be rolled out across other stadiums.”

Roger Matthews, commercial director at The Cloud, added: “Our vision when we built the WiFi network for BHAFC was to enable fans to be connected throughout the stadium and this is a great example of how a good WiFi service can increase fan engagement and entertainment within the grounds.”

Tom Gorringe, head of marketing at Brighton & Hove Albion, said: “The fans seemed to enjoy the race and we’ve had some excellent feedback. We look forward to working further with Racing UK, Sky Bet and The Cloud in promoting this half-time innovation.”

A Ladbrokes cashier who paid out £6,000 to a customer who placed bets when the result of the races were already known has been cleared of committing fraud.

Trudy Dabreo had denied accepting 25 bets over a five-day period between the end of August and beginning of September last year. Ipswich Crown Court heard that Dabreo, who had worked for 10 years at Ladbrokes in Brandon, took £300 in stake money for races which had either finished or were about to finish and where the result was clear. Prosecutor Simon Gladwell said the customer involved had pleaded guilty to fraud and was awaiting sentencing.

SCOTS BREAK RECORD

William Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe said Scottish referendum ‘broke all political betting records’. He explained: “We took £3m on the outcome and the industry some £10m - this is more than the last General Election and US Presidential Elections combined, and the equivalent of the amount of money gambled on a high profile televised Premier League match.” William Hill had made No their odds-on favourite, with the odds fluctuating from as short as 1/12 to as long as 2/5.

Sharpe added: “We’re happy with the outcome as a Yes result would have been financially painful.”

LADBROKES FORCED TO PAY OUT TWICE

A man has successfully taken Ladbrokes through the civil courts for £900 winnings on a bet in 2011. Gary Bernard from Bideford lost his betting slip, which someone else found and claimed the winnings themselves.

This man was reportedly arrested and charged with fraud by false representation. But the day before the trial in December 2012, the Crown Prosecution Service dismissed the case due to lack of evidence. Bernard then took his claim to Barnstaple County Court and won back £1,260 plus interest. A spokesman for Ladbrokes told the North Devon Gazette: “We are disappointed at the decision, particularly as Ladbrokes has essentially been defrauded by the person who collected the bet, using the original slip.”

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BB121-p16-18-Politics_09/10 07/10/2014 11:45 Page 1

ERBERT LIVEPIC

RACING.JPG

Politics BHA agrees on fixture list process

Way ahead of the Halloween deadline, the next Levy Scheme has been quietly and efficiently agreed.

RACING

54TH LEVY SCHEME • Betting shops to pay 10.75 per cent of

gross profits on British Horserace Betting Business (BHBB) • Independent bookmakers (100>LBOs) will pay an abated rate for shops (to a maximum of 30) that have gross profits on BHBB of less than £57,257

• Each telephone and/or internet operator

will pay 10.75 per cent of its combined gross profits on BHBB • Each spread betting operator will pay 2.15 per cent of its gross profits on BHBB • Betting exchanges will pay on a basis equivalent to 10.75 per cent of its gross

profits, defined as gross commission on BHBB deducted from winnings • Each on-course bookmaker will pay a fixed contribution of £240 • Each bookmaker conducting BHBB on Point-to-Point and/or Harness Racing and/or trotting events will pay a fixed contribution of £192

54th Levy Scheme expected to yield £74.3m LEVY

ANALYSIS

ext year’s Levy Scheme has already been agreed between bookmakers and horseracing, despite the major changes that the industry is expected to see before the new scheme kicks into gear.

The 54th Levy Scheme is very similar to its predecessor in that it requires most bookmakers to pay 10.75 per cent of its profits on British Horserace Betting Business (BHBB), although there is further relief for the smallest betting shop operators.

The Bookmakers’ Committee’s estimate of 54th Levy Scheme yield, added to Betfair’s estimated £7.8m contribution, is £74.3m - this current Levy is expected to yield £74.6m.

Once again, the four largest

This could well be the last Levy agreement in this format given the several consultations being carried out over the future of the Levy.

While the existing mechanism will probably take longer to sort out than the end of the 54th scheme in March 2016, it seems very likely that remote bookmakers will be thrust very firmly into the existing set-up when (if?) the point of consumption tax is in full swing in the UK. While racing hopes that this will give the sport another little windfall, bookmakers are pointing out now that it should reduce payments for those that have supported racing for over 50 years.

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retail bookmakers (William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and Betfred) have agreed to continue the underwriting of a combined contribution payable through the statutory Levy of not less than £47.5m in the 54th Levy Scheme period.

Levy Board chairman Paul Lee said: “The agreement of the 54th Levy Scheme provides certainty and stability for all parties and is very good news all round. I am particularly grateful to the Bookmakers’ Committee for making its detailed recommendations as early as September and for the constructive approach taken by Racing’s appointees to the Board. I would also like to thank the four largest retail bookmakers for their commitment to maintain their underwritten contribution at the same level as applies to

the 53rd Levy Scheme.”

Bookmakers’ Committee chairman Will Roseff said: “I am delighted that the Bookmakers’ Committee, representing all bookmakers large and small, was able to submit recommendations for the 54th Levy Scheme upon which all its members agreed.

Today’s unanimous endorsement by the Levy Board is further evidence of bookmakers, Racing and the Levy Board working together productively and augurs well for the future.”

British Horseracing Authority CEO Paul Bittar, added: “Racing’s representatives welcomed the Bookmakers’ Committee putting forward recommendations in good time ahead of the 31st October annual deadline along with continuation of the Levy underwrite which pro-

vides certainty of key expenditure including prize money and integrity services. Our attentions are now focused on the government’s consultation on fundamental reform or replacement of the Levy and establishing a modern relationship with an evolving betting industry, and we will continue to work actively with bookmakers to this end.”

The Flat Rate Rebate for the smallest betting shops has increased to £1,100 from £758 for the first 30 shops and increased to £500 from £191 for any beyond that. To qualify for this rebate, LBOs would need gross profit on BHBB of less than £60,000. Marginal relief will also be available for LBOs with profit between £60,001 and £60,999., although no relief can be claimed on LBOs with gross profit on BHBB over £61,000.

Nothing rotten in ‘state aid’ of Denmark TAXATION

n EU ruling into the Danish gambling taxation regime has found that the EU state-aid rules have not been breached just because the state has set its online taxation at a lower rate than its bricks and mortar level.

The ruling provides more grist for those trying to persuade the UK Treasury to lower its remote gaming tax from the unwieldy 15 per cent of gross profits which is implemented across the board.

Regarding the two cases (T-601/11 Dansk Automat Brancheforening v. Commission & T-615/11 Royal Scandinavian Casino Århus v Commission), the General

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CLIVE HAWKSWOOD: DECISION IS ‘VERY ENCOURAGING’

Court of the EU found that the applicants did not demonstrate that they were directly and individually affected by the tax measure. As a result, Member States can adopt a differentiated tax regime for online gambling with the view to designing an attractive market that is able to compete in the international online gambling market.

16 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

It would seem that the judgment implicitly accepts the arguments put forward by the Danish government about the need to channel Danish consumers towards the regulated online gambling market.

The Court limited itself to deciding whether the applicants, who are land-based gambling operators, were directly and individually affected by an earlier deci-

sion by the European Commission. In both cases, the Court reached the same conclusion: “The applicant is therefore not individually concerned by the contested decision.”

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) argues that this means that the implementation of an internationally competitive tax regime that is critical in safeguarding the public policy objectives pursued by the Danish Gambling Act 2012 is now clearly in compliance with EU law.

CEO Clive Hawkswood commented: “It is very encouraging to see that the EU judicial body upholds the Commission’s decision which recognises that tax regimes for online gam-

bling cannot be considered in isolation and have to be viewed within the context of international competition. Although this decision relates solely to tax, we believe that a similar rationale should apply across the board to all aspects of online gambling regulations and that this can be done without undermining very legitimate public policy objectives, such as safeguarding consumers and keeping gambling crime-free. This ruling will undoubtedly help us make the case for workable and competitive licensing regimes as more and more EU Member States open and regulate their online gambling markets.”

he Board of the British Horseracing Authority has approved the process by which the pool of BHA Fixtures will be allocated to racecourses as part of the compilation of the 2015 Fixture List. The new, more clearly defined process which is intended to remain in place for a minimum of three years - is based on a combination of prize money investment and ‘sporting performance’.

Under the system, which has been developed in consultation with racecourses and horsemen, the performance of racecourses in relation to their commitments to prize money and their record in terms of sporting performance, measured by field sizes, number of small field races and betting performance, will be assessed individually.

Each racecourse will be given a rating based on their prize money and sporting performance which, in turn, will determine how many meetings from the pool of around 175 BHA Fixtures they will be entitled to receive. The model is designed to ensure a level playing field and to enable the allocation of BHA Fixtures to be spread among a greater number of racecourses than has been the case previously.

A racecourse will not be eligible for any BHA Fixtures unless certain baseline criteria are met, which includes being signatories to a Prize Money Agreement with the Horsemen’s Group.

Ruth Quinn, director of Racing for BHA, said: “The objective of the fixture allocation process is to ensure the fairest possible distribution of the relatively small number of BHA controlled fixtures. In identifying the most appropriate process we wanted to achieve the optimum impact on the performance and behaviour of all racecourses. We also wanted to ensure we addressed the ongoing concern about field sizes and the need to reduce the number of uncompetitive races.

“We believe that the criteria which apply under this system will bring benefits across the entire racing programme, as we expect that racecourses will seek to ensure they are providing the best possible racing and product year-round in order to enhance their competitiveness in the allocation scheme in future years.”

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Time extension

Politics

The Gambling Commission has extended the deadline by which software suppliers need a licence 30 January to 31 March 2015. The Commission says that “this additional period will give time for software suppliers to apply for a licence as they are not covered by the transitional arrangements but they should make preparations for their licence applications well in advance and by the end of this year.”

Match fixing measures need enforcing by Member States

Council wants government action on offshore operators

A long-winded route has finally seen European states agree on some provisions about protecting sport from corruption.

AUSTRALIA

he European Sports Security Association (ESSA) has welcomed last month’s Council of Europe’s Convention on match-fixing, which aims to prevent the manipulation of sports results.

However, ESSA secretary general Khalid Ali has said that the real key will be in the enforcement of the measures within the report. He commented: “Crosssector and cross-border partnership working has been an issue that the betting industry has continually promoted as a key facet in the fight against betting related match-fixing and we therefore support the important focus on this area in the Convention.

“However, whilst there are many positive provisions in the text, it can only be as effective as the associated compliance and enforcement mechanisms employed by each stakeholder, most notably the sports sector and its associated governance, rules and regulations.”

The Convention made a series of statements for Member States to accept, one of the more interesting ones being that the ‘manipulation of sports competitions may be related or unrelated to sports betting’.

Ali continued: “The Conven-

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tion is principally focused on addressing the danger to sport and to the regulated betting markets from match-fixing, which primarily emanates from organised international criminal gangs, corrupt sportspeople and the unregulated betting sector.

As one of the potential victims of that criminal activity, the regulated betting sector welcomes the aims of the Convention, however, it is important that it does not impose any unnecessary restrictions that could drive consumers to the unregulated markets.”

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the Remote Gambling Association (RGA) have also been broadly supportive of the Convention, suggesting that it represents a relatively positive and potentially significant development in the fight against sport and betting related fraud.

But there are still some questions over compatibility with EU law. EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer stated: “The Convention rightly addresses match fixing as a cross border issue that requires international cooperation. It is our hope that it will further set the tone for a more effective cooperation between all stakeholders to eradicate

match fixing. However, we are aware that the CJEU has rightly been asked to provide its opinion on the compatibility of the definition of ‘illegal sports betting’ with EU law, and consider that the application of at least this provision should be postponed until the CJEU has provided legal clarity.”

RGA chief executive Clive Hawkswood added: “The Convention discussions were at times challenging, with pressure from some stakeholders to introduce a sports betting right and even blanket restrictions on certain bet types. The regulated betting sector worked hard to explain why measures of this kind would not make any material difference to the integrity of sport.”

“The fact those provisions were not included is testament to the constructive policy adopted by the Council of Europe’s secretariat and many of its Member States. What we have now is a relatively balanced and workable framework, which rightly seeks to reflect the range of existing national regulatory frameworks rather than replace them.

However, there are still a small number of areas that we believe could be improved upon and we hope there will be opportunities to review them in due course.”

KHALID ALI: ‘THERE ARE MANY POSITIVE PROVISIONS IN THE TEXT’

ANALYSIS Not everyone is particularly pleased with how the convention has concluded, even if many of the industry’s trade associations feel that they have been somewhat successful in getting some of the more damaging phrases out of the EU process for now. Malta in particular has already asked the question whether the Convention’s definition of ‘illegal sports betting’ (all sports betting activity whose type or operator is not allowed under the applicable law of the jurisdiction where the consumer is located) is contrary to articles 18, 49 and 56 of the European Treaty. As with most things in Europe, this issue still has a long way to run.

New anti-money laundering advice for remote operators CRIME

he Gambling Commission has issued a new advice note on Money Laundering, with specific guidelines for online operators. It is intended to assist remote operators in determining to which body or Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) known or suspected money laundering activity should be reported, and when.

Remote operators licensed by the Commission are required to: • report suspicious activity to the FIU in the country in which the remote gambling equipment is located, if that FIU is in a member of the Egmont group and the country has not excluded or prohibited remote gambling • in all other cases, report suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency (NCA) • provide the Commission with

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18 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY NEEDS TO BE REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL CRIME AGENCY

the NCA or, where available, the relevant FIU unique reference number of the suspicious activity report (SAR) within five days • seek consent to proceed with a ’prohibited act’ from the NCA for transactions involving British customers.

The offences of money laundering and the duty to report under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 apply in relation to the proceeds of any criminal activity, wherever conducted, including abroad, that would constitute an offence if it took place in the UK. However, a

he Australian Wagering Council has highlighted a recent report by Australian media into offshore operator Betjack while calling for the lawmakers to tighten up regulations. The Council, which represents firms such as Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes, Sportsbet, William Hill Aust Group and Unibet, has also warned Australian gamblers that they will be the ones to suffer if they take their business offshore.

The report suggested that BetJack was struggling to pay out to its customers and was being investigated by Racing Victoria. The Council said that unless state governments commit to a crackdown on the operations of illegal offshore wagering service providers, then more Australians face losing their money and risks to the security of their personal and financial information.

Chief executive Chris Downy, stated: “Sadly, the details of Betjack’s operations come as no surprise to the Australian Wagering Council. We have been warning governments of the need to crack down on these illegal betting providers for some time. Most people don’t realise that it is illegal for operators who are not licensed and regulated within Australia to offer their services to Australians. Yet, every day, Australians risk not only their money but also, the security of their personal and financial information betting with these offshore cowboys.

“It is especially worrying that, whilst licensed in Vanuatu, Betjack may be staffing and operating a sales office locally”.

Bernard Saundry, chief executive of Racing Victoria, has also called on the federal government to take action against Betjack and other offshore operators. He told the Sydney Morning Herald: “They are parasites who have been paying no returns to the Victorian racing industry for the use of our product, nor are they complying with our integrity requirements as approved wagering operators are obligated to do through information sharing and compliance.”

The Council added that the proliferation of illegal offshore operators highlights the need for government reform of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, which it argues ‘no longer reflects the current state of technology or advances in global harm minimisation measures’.

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EUROPE

person does not commit an offence where it is known or believed, on reasonable grounds, that the relevant criminal conduct occurred outside the UK and the relevant conduct was not criminal in the country where it took place.

The betting industry in the UK was recently admonished by the Gambling Commission over its money laundering controls.

Bet365 in particular was fingered for its overreliance on anti-money laundering processes in the banking system. This latest advice note from the Commission is no doubt an attempt by the regulator to lay down some strong guidelines on a complicated subject ahead of the implementation of the point of consumption licensing.

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Betting Business Interactive Edition

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2 B

Essential guide to ..

Attendance up Clarion Events also revealed a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in operator groups and a doubling of individual operators who had signed up a month ahead of the show.

First-timers EiG will feature a higher proportion of new and first time exhibitors than ever before; 30 per cent of exhibiting companies appearing in Berlin will be making their debut appearance at EiG.

CROWDFUNDING

Portfolio director Kate Chambers said: “We promised to deliver growth in operators at EiG 2014 and the numbers speak for themselves. Over 250 operators from 54 operating groups are signed up to date, representing significant growth year-on-year.”

VIEWPOINT

BIG BRANDS LIKE ZIPCAR RELY ON THE CROWD

October 2014

Delivering on promise

Clarion white paper predicts big crowd

A new start with a new location Andrew McCarron s a long term attendee at EiG, from Nice to Barcelona to Milan to Copenhagen and back to Barcelona, it’s not difficult for me to get excited about what the latest instalment in Berlin has in store.

In many ways Clarion has ripped up the rule book and started again with its approach to the conference, which is probably where the unusual ‘freedom’ theme has come from, so any existing preconceptions have already been discarded before stepping onto the plane.

Of course, the organisers have not been stupid and discarded some of the more successful elements of the show – the Start-Up LaunchPad returns in all its glory; a heady mix of Dragon’s Den, X-Factor and Gaming’s Got Talent, together with the ‘ask the audience’ voting mechanism from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

But it is also a very different industry attending EiG this year. It feels a more sober, more responsible, more grownup sector now than compared to the seemingly wild west years of yore. I suppose the imposition of whopping great taxes and licensing requirements means that a mature response to business is probably necessary. For a sector built on providing fun and entertainment, we need to make sure that all our edges are not knocked off.

Let’s not forget our bolshiness - it’s what got us here in the first place.

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30 SG Gaming has signed a machine deal with Carrigill Bookmakers

32 Playtech aids La Gazzetta dello Sport launch GazzaBet

36 Inspired supply Gala Coral Group with multichannel mobile content

40 Callcredit Information Group lifts two trophies at the Database Marketing Awards

The gambling industry will be re-shaped by the crowd funding phenomenon, according to a white paper from Clarion Events and GamCrowd.

e

Bay, Zipcar, Airbnb, LinkedIn: some of the 21st century’s fastest-growing businesses are built on the power of the crowd now the concept has come to the gambling industry following the launch of GamCrowd.com.

According to a free white paper published jointly by Clarion Events and GamCrowd, the betting and gaming specialist equity crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform, crowd services will re-shape - and greatly benefit- the sector.

Crowdfunding is thought to be worth $10bn worldwide in 2014, with equity crowdfunding accounting for $700m of the total.

We believe that the introduction of a gambling industry-focused service allows innovation to thrive and gives start-ups a better chance to grow by pitching easily and directly for investment to a large network of potential backers.

Meanwhile, the overall crowdsourcing market is already estimated to be worth $2bn and betting and gaming businesses can benefit from the concept by subcontracting tasks in a cost-efficient manner to a highly qualified and experienced global workforce.

The joint Clarion-GamCrowd white paper

looks at how crowdsourcing also boosts flexibility and scalability, speed to market, reach and originality.

“As an early adopter of new digital concepts, processes and technologies, the gambling industry is perfectly placed to benefit from the introduction of crowd platforms and services,” said Chris North, chief executive officer of GamCrowd. “In no time, crowdfunding and crowdsourcing will play an integral, everyday role across the spectrum of betting and gaming. This white paper looks at the crowd in detail and should provide a valuable resource to everyone from the smallest supplier to the biggest operator.”

GamCrowd is running the Start-Up Village at EiG 2014, produced by Clarion Events, where innovation will be a key theme of the conference that will be held from October 21-23.

Nick Hares, managing producer at Clarion Events, said: “The crowd has a huge part to play in the future of our industry, particularly when it comes to fostering innovation and supporting start-ups. We have drafted this white paper alongside GamCrowd with the aim of setting the agenda and sparking debate at EiG.”

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o ... EiG KNOWLEDGE

EiG covering topics from loyalty to differentiation to future scenarios This year’s EiG show at the Berlin Arena between 21-23 October features a more eclectic knowledge base than ever before. ocial media and digital innovations have opened up new dimensions for gaming industry companies that want to understand their consumers more effectively, according to Clive Humby, a pioneer in customer retention.

Humby, the co-founder of dunnhumby and chief architect of the Tesco Clubcard programme, will be speaking at EiG 2014 in the Arena Berlin where he will lead an ‘Outside-In’ bloc session that will look into lessons that can be learned by the gaming industry about customer loyalty.

“With social media, electronic wallets, new payment methods and mobile phones, new models are emerging that can allow a

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loyalty activity to take place without the need for an explicit scheme,” Humby said.

“This is worth exploring for digital players.”

At the Outside-In bloc session Humby will be exploring how the gaming sector can benefit from strategies that have been applied successfully in other customer-facing industries, and giving attendees a better understanding of the reasons that customers use services and how they can lead to better business strategies.

“There are similarities between the gaming sector and supermarket sector. Customers visit reasonably often and spend is highly driven by behaviours and the motivations of customers, creating a rich understanding of customer motivations.

“Understanding behaviour can shape the strategy of a business and set the agenda for the business to develop in many ways. The long-term benefits of trying to understand customer behaviour are particularly important in a highly competitive industry.”

Another delegate ‘very much looking forward’ to speaking in Berlin, is Jason Trost, CEO of the betting exchange SMarkets.

Trost is appearing in the sportsbetting section on 3pm on Wednesday, alongside Gaming Economics’ Lee Richardson and the Racing Post’s Richard Thorp.

Trost commented: “I’ll be talking about product development in football betting and how a company can stand out and differentiate themselves. Back in February we introduced a new feature called Dangerball, which managed our live football markets without the need for a delay. Since then we’ve been experimenting with different options in an attempt to optimise this management service, and this has now developed into a feature called InstantMatch which overs live betting without any delay.

“In Berlin I’ll be speaking about the different options that are currently available for firms to differentiate their football products, as well as the multiple benefits that can be achieved by doing so.”

One of the other intriguing sessions at EiG is ‘The Future Scenarios Planning Project’, a joint co-operation between the Atlantic Lottery Corporation and Clarion Events, which is offering a structured thought and planning

CLIVE HUMBY WAS ONE OF THE BRAINS BEHIND THE TESCO CLUBCARD

journey with a step-by-step approach to assessing all the on-going trends and how they will project into the future.

With increasing levels of connectivity around the world and the pervasiveness of computers, smart phones and tablets, a different generation of players are searching for more enhanced gaming and gambling experiences. In response to this demand there has been a significant amount of speculation across the industry on the potential impact of disruptive technologies, innovative delivery platforms, social gaming, digital entertainment, player preferences, technology adoption rates, big data, payment mechanisms and the internet of connected things.

All of these variables will affect the nature and content of gaming in all parts of the world, and the project is hoping to provide a map through the change.

The project has already launched a free white paper by Phil Holmes, vice president, transformation, Atlantic Lottery, and the outcomes of the Pre-EiG Industry Working Group will be presented on Tuesday 21 October in Think 2024.

sales@bit8.com www.bit8.com

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Essential Guide to ... EiG NET ENTERTAINMENT

SCHEDULE

The march of mobile

Making a personal programme of activity

Simon Hammon, chief product officer at Net Entertainment, discusses how the mobile channel continues to shake up the market.

The rise of mobile and tablet gaming has been relentless. Mobile accounted for 13 per cent of NetEnt’s revenues in Q2 of this year, with our Touch games portfolio growing rapidly. Mobile has been one of our core focus areas during the last few years and, through consistent investment in technology and innovation, our mobile portfolio has become one of the company’s most successful business areas.

As mobile and tablet devices become more affordable, the mobile game format continues to grow. This year we’ve launched more Touch games than before. Many of these are some of our most successful desktop games that we’ve redesigned for tablet and mobile formats. This is a reflection of the insatiable demand for mobile games. Another reflection is the increase of pooled jackpots with huge pay-outs coming from mobile. Recently a Swedish player won 2.5m euro from our pooled jackpot game Mega Fortune Touch.

Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6 has caught everyone’s attention.

A 4.7in screen and improved functionality means players are able to enjoy a better gaming experience while playing NetEnt games.

The larger screen will allow our creative teams to implement the best and most innovative features available.

Touch was upgraded to the 2.0 version in July 2014 and has been an instant success. This updated version means that those using Windows phones and tablets can now play our games and

everyone has the option to play best-in-class casino games in either portrait or landscape – whatever the preference. Another new feature is the availability of ‘Quick Spin’ and ‘Autoplay’ in the game settings.

Later this year our seventh branded title, The Invisible Man, will reach the market. This is very exciting as it is our first desktop game to be developed in HTML 5. The technology promises to be a major stepping stone for NetEnt as it allows us to simultaneously deliver games for both desktop and mobile. It’s important though to note that not all subsequent releases will be developed in HTML 5. This shift in mechanic will come later on.

The mobile sector is expanding owing to greater broadband penetration, new distribution channels and increasing familiarity with technology among the population. Mobile still accounts for only a relatively small proportion of online casino, but is growing rapidly across mature and regulated markets, and there is a huge amount of potential in this area.

If you’re eager to know more about our Touch games and give them a spin, come visit us at our stand #735 at EiG where we will be focusing on mobile.

LAUNCH PAD

Five start-ups selected for the LaunchPad The successful LaunchPad initiative at EiG will see five more start-up companies making their pitch to the industry. larion Events, organiser of this month’s EiG (Excellence in iGaming) 2014 event, have revealed the five finalists for the popular Start-Up LaunchPad competition.

Asylum Labs, Betify, Fresh8 Gaming, DiscountIF and RiftSino VR have been selected from more than 30 applicants and the final ‘longlist’ of 10 names to secure their places at the final, which will be held at 11:00 CEST on Day Three of EiG 2014 on 23 October at Arena Berlin in Berlin, Germany.

All five will pitch their ideas to an expert panel of judges before facing a Q&A session in a room full of iGaming industry executives. The winner of the 2014 competition will be selected by an audience vote using the EiG mobile networking app. The finalists also having the opportunity to showcase their company at the Start-Up Village with a stand on the EiG show floor.

The judges in the competition will be Mark Blandford, partner at Burlywood Capital; Evan Hoff, partner at Velo Part-

iG aims to provide an exclusive and intimate environment giving delegates the space to have meetings and connect with fellow iGaming professionals. There is plenty of free time allocated in the agenda as well as scheduled events from Speed Meets, Under the Microscope roundtables, socials and once again the return of the Official EiG party.

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ELEMENT WAVE’S DOROTHY CREAVEN WILL BE SPEAKING AT THE LAUNCHPAD

ners; Ian Hogg, chairman of GamCrowd; Anthony McAuslan, director of gaming at RoyalWins; and Hilary Stewart-Jones, partner with DLA Piper.

Dorothy Creaven, the founder and CEO of Element Wave, will kick off the competition by speaking about her company’s experience of winning last year’s Start-Up competition. “It was a very competitive and exciting process, right from the application process through to the pitch. I’m re-

ally looking forward to seeing the candidates this year and hearing their pitches, and also talking about what winning last year’s competition has meant for us,” Creaven said.

Chris North, CEO of GamCrowd, the crowd-funding platform co-hosting the Start-Up Zone at EiG, and Nick Hares, managing producer at Clarion Events, said: “We were delighted by the strength of the field of entrants to this year’s competition and would like to thank everyone who took the time to prepare and submit their entry.”

EiG has also announced the return of ‘The Pitch’, which will give professionals the opportunity to literally pitch their ideas to the world’s leading iGaming professionals. In the quickfire event, twelve companies each get a 15-minute slot to pitch their latest product, system or service to some of the most influential figures in the global digital gaming industry. After completing the pitches, the EiG audience gets to vote for their favourite using the new EiG Networking App.

Tuesday 21 October Speed meet as part of the Outside-In Sessions, which are structured to feature a talk by an outside-industry expert with relevance to the digital gaming industry followed by a discuss session between the expert and key iGaming executives and a Speed-Meet event whereby everyone who attended can meet each other and network.

• 10.15 – 11.00 Meet in the registration area on Tuesday, 21 October • 13:00 - 13:30 New to the gaming space and feeling lost? Content tour for start-ups, first time EiG attendees & new entrants in the gaming world will take place at the Start-Up Village • 13.30 - 14.00 Searching for inspiring trends and new ideas? We will personally introduce you to all the start-ups at EiG at the Start-Up Village • 14:00 - 14:30 Speed Meet at the Start-Up Village where new entrants and established players get to meet and make new contacts • 16:30 - 18:00 EiG Networking Drinks in Arena Berlin • 19:00 – 21:00 Trend-setters and start-ups in the digital world, the leading investors, venture capitalists and international gaming operators come together for an evening of networking

Wednesday 22 October • 18:00 - 21:00 Regulators and the industry converge for an evening of networking

• 21:00 - till late EiG Official Party Delegates can also start connecting before EiG has even begun with the EiG app.

Meet and chat with other attendees, create a personal programme of activity and take part in the EiG social buzz feed. Once delegates have registered for EiG, they will be sent details on how to access the networking app.

To download the app: visit the Apple App Store or Google Play Store – search for TotallyGaming, or visit ddut.ch/eig. The app is available for iOS, Android and HTML.

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Essential Guide to ... EiG IGT

MICROGAMING

POC must be viewed as ‘opportunity rather than a constraint’ Betting Business caught up with IGT commercial director of interactive Leigh Nissim ahead of this month’s EiG. e are in the middle of an important phase for the industry. The World Cup was a huge revenue driver, but now we are facing the prospect of POC. What influence will this have on IGT Interactive’s operations?

The upcoming point of consumption (POC) tax will materially challenge our industry’s status quo.

The new regulations will be game-changing - margins will be squeezed across the value chain, some operators will stop taking bets from UK players, and we are likely to see greater consolidation as a result - but we must view this event as an opportunity rather than a constraint. That is certainly how we have prepared.

At IGT, we’re fortunate in that our business is geographically diverse, so whilst the UK is our largest interactive market, growth in regulated markets over the last two years will somewhat lessen the financial impact of the tax. It’s also a good opportunity to review our operations, ensuring that we’re working as efficiently as possible, focusing on growth and transitioning from legacy arrangements that could benefit from refinement.

Ultimately, IGT will work harder than ever to deliver value to our customers, enabling them to drive additional growth and value. To achieve this, they will need better, more innovative games, accompanied by comprehensive game marketing support, and provide an ever-improving user experience. Ultimately, POC should benefit the player.

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IGT has made good progress in Italy recently. What can you tell us about your growth the market?

Italy is an important, growing market and is a focus for our business. We increased our presence there in August by launching our portfolio of rgs mobile games for the first time, with a roll out across all our customers planned in the next few weeks.

The deal is noteworthy in its own right and it also means that we have now enabled customers with our mobile games across all regulated markets in which we are active. In addition to Italy, IGT Interactive rgs mobile games are now live across the UK, Belgium, Denmark, British Columbia and New Jersey.

And what about another evolving market, North America?

New Jersey is still in its early stages but, with 34 desktop titles and 12 mobile titles live, we have assumed a leading position and our revenues continue to grow. After a relatively slow start, we’re really seeing our mobile volumes pick up and drive the market forward. I’m particularly impressed with the product improvements our customers are making to the user journey; their product offerings and the technologies underpin the entire experience and each is making a real difference to the customer experience. People often forget this market has only existed for less than a year, so it still has a long way to go.

In Canada, Cats, Cleopatra and Wolf Run were the first of a wide selection of IGT games to launch

on British Columbia Lottery Corporation’s (BCLC) mobile site, Playnow.com. BCLC was IGT’s first customer in the country, and our first lottery partner, to go live on rgs mobile. Canada continues to be an important focus for IGT and with a developing and exciting interactive market operated by the licenced state lotteries – we expect more positives from this market.

What do you see as the main trends in the industry at the moment?

‘Mobile’ is the term that has been on everyone’s lips for a long time now and mobile and tablet has firmly established itself as a force. In established markets, mobile now accounts for just under half of our interactive gambling. Of course, sports betting is a major reason behind this success, but our gameplay in New Jersey includes more than onein-three transactions on mobile, so clearly there is an appetite in all markets and across all verticals.

Another trend that we’re particularly proud of is our record on game convergence - IGT brings the best games from the casino floor to online and mobile devices in regulated markets and the number of our convergent titles available across land casinos and online stands at 44. Last year alone we launched nine casino floor hits online.

How about as we move towards and into 2015?

Convergence has already built up considerable momentum and the advancements in digital technology and gambling regulation will further enable players to enjoy consistent gaming experiences across all channels. Plus, as more countries and territories open their borders to igaming, it is more important than ever to act globally and think locally.

The fact that at IGT we are consistently setting daily transaction records across our data centres in Alderney, Canada, New Jersey and Gibraltar gives an indication of the burgeoning popularity of interactive channels and a converged environment.

Microgaming plans to raise the bar in Berlin Neill Whyte, head of product channels at Microgaming, discussed the igaming software developer’s plans for EiG and beyond. t’s October and that can only mean one thing in the gaming industry EiG is here. But this year the event has a fresh new look and a brand new location!

We’re very excited that this year’s EiG will be in Berlin, Germany’s capital and largest city. It’s a location that captivates visitors with its contemporary and vibrant style, so it presents the ideal setting for us to host our operators, meet with clients and greet prospective customers. It’s going to be a busy few days!

Although EiG is on the move, one thing remains the same: Microgaming will once again be sponsoring the renowned bar, the networking hub for the three-day event. The Microgaming bar will remain the place to grab that all important morning coffee before the back-to-back Think sessions kick in, and the perfect meeting location throughout the show.

Next to the bar will be a dedicated Microgaming demo area, occupied by a range of the latest devices (and a giant iTab), to showcase our cutting-edge content across desktop and mobile. We’ll have our landbased machines there too, highlighting our cross-platform capabilities.

With over 700 games and 1,200 variants, there’s plenty we can showcase. But many attendees will be most excited to see our latest blockbuster online slots, Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park, which launched this summer and are stunning in design and jam-packed with compelling features.

There’s also our Mobile games portfolio, the largest in the industry, compatible with the broadest range of mobile and tablet devices, including those running on the latest flavours of Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Our portfolio now boasts 65 HTML5 games and 75 Android games, and that number increases every month!

Our Multi-player games collection is also growing and in October we will be releasing our Playboy Multi-player online slot. We’ve taken our original Playboy online slot and added some social elements to the game, including chat functionality and player competition. This opens up the world of Playboy to a completely new player base, and this community slot will form an ideal acquisition tool for our operators. Our Playboy Multi-player online slot will be on display throughout the show.

This addition is one of many we’ve made over the past year to our Multi-player product; we’ve been releasing new content on a monthly basis, alongside some mega network tournaments, in line with some key sporting events. Throughout the summer we had our Reels De Janeiro tournament, with a 175,000 euro prize pool, and in September we delivered a 100,000 euro Argyle Open network tournament, to coincide with the golfing action at Gleneagles. We don’t just add new content - we add timely content.

Last, but certainly not least, EiG provides the opportunity for us to showcase our leading solutions for regulated markets. Through Prima Networks Limited, Microgaming’s software is live in countries such as Spain, Denmark, Italy and Belgium, and our presence is increasing. In May of this year, Microgaming games, through Prima Networks, were formally approved and certified by Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Interior, and launched immediately with operator OnlineCasino Deutschland, the first Schleswig-Holstein licensed operator to go live in the German market.

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The Isle of Man - the natural home for start-ups and established companies alike In an advertorial ahead of this month’s EiG show in Berlin, the Isle of Man argues that there are many facets that go into making a successful egaming jurisdiction.

The new, revamped, EiG is the last major gaming event to take place before the full (delayed) introduction of the UK’s new gaming licence regime. This legislation has affected a number of the decision criteria that companies use to determine where they will be based. Margin pressure has increased substantially and we have already seen a substantial increase in M&A activity.

There are still, however, substantial opportunities for new innovative products created by exceptional entrepreneurs. Not only will start-ups need to carefully consider where to place their IP, development and operations capabilities but the boardrooms of long established gaming companies will be debating if their financial position can be protected and improved by moving parts of their organisations to a different home.

There is no obvious ‘right’ answer to where to locate as many factors need to be borne in mind which are specific to each individual company and the only way to ef-

fectively look at the question is holistically.

Minimising taxation, whilst a key factor in all decisions will be different depending upon which markets a company targets and how much of their business is B2B or

operator, especially if the CEO likes to sleep soundly each night without concerns about customer access and satisfaction.

The Isle Of Man has an extensive track record of providing the right environment

B2C. Start-ups can, however, protect future profits and earnings by placing their IP on the Isle of Man at a very early stage. Quality, continuity and the price of power supply and telecommunications are vital to every

for gaming companies to flourish. We are proud to be the jurisdiction where gaming software giants Microgaming and Playtech have set up their Headquarters and of course where PokerStars grew from very

humble roots and just 4 staff on the Island to a $4.9 billion world leader.

The Isle of Man stand in Berlin will be manned by our Business Development professionals, our world respected regulator and representatives of Professional Service Providers to answer any questions that you may have. These providers will cover areas including company establishment and corporate structures, tax and business consultancy, IP and legal issues, data centre provision, payment services, and government support.

Our Department of Economic Development will also be hosting a lunch at 2pm on the opening day with presentations addressing: “How an offshore jurisdiction can help Start-Ups to establish and grow” on Day 2 at 3pm. We will also welcome you to our stand (Number 737) to hear about innovations from both Government and our Private Sector partners including our first mover approach to the acceptance of Digital Currencies such as Bitcoin.

ISLE OF MAN. WHERE YOU CAN FIND A WINNING BASE FOR YOUR E-GAMING BUSINESS The Isle of Man is home to many of the world’s leading gaming brands and software developers, which is no surprise when you consider that the Island offers: Ŕ Government support and commitment to the gaming sector Ŕ 100% player protection Ŕ No hidden costs Ŕ Fast licensing process Ŕ Low duty based on Gross Retained Profit Ŕ Low-cost operating base Ŕ World-class resilient IT infrastructure Ŕ $PNQFUJUJWF 5BY 1BDLBHF Ŕ Skilled staff Ray Davies, e-Gaming Development Manager Tel: + 44 (0)1624 682365 Email: ray.davies@gov.im

www.whereyoucan.im/egaming

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Essential Guide to ... EiG BIT8

PLAYTECH

Reduce operational costs using Artificial Intelligence

William Hill extends deal with Playtech Bingo Network

Dr Angelo Dalli, Bit8’s CEO, discusses the role that AI can play in operations.

The gaming industry is experiencing a trending increase in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to gain competitive advantage, with early adopters and innovators using AI is to reduce operational costs, as algorithms can function on a 24x7 basis without needing breaks or shifts unlike their human counter-parts.

AI algorithms also never lose focus and can be setup to perform time-consuming and repetitive analyses that provide valuable insight without ever getting bored or fatigued – which is another advantage that leads to operational cost reduction as operator staff are taken out of the laborious parts of the operational loop, allowing them to concentrate on the more critical matters that need human attention.

In the Bit8 platform, AI technology is utilised throughout the inbuilt risk management framework, which can be used to limit and identify operational and financial risks to the operator. The platform marketing tools can be used to mitigate the risks, by offering bonuses, tailored tournaments and promotions and using

“

the recommendations engine, campaign management tools and the loyalty and experience points to nudge players in the right direction. Every operator has a unique operational context and while the AI technology used can be identical, the precise settings and rules created are what makes each operator unique – effectively teaching the AI system the knowledge acquired by that operator over time.

AI algorithms utilise ideas from the financial services industry, decision support systems and big data analysis for a

wide variety of retention and risk reduction activities. The overall risk of an operator can be calculated via player behaviour analysis together with a simulation of each player’s likelihood of achieving the various offers that are currently available.

The risk exposure forecasting is coupled with a budgeting system that limits the maximum risk from a single action, providing a safety net that works in tandem with other risk management tools such as anti-fraud and anti-bonus abuser detection systems.

Forecasting of player behaviour and risk exposure is also a significant area where advances are being made rapidly. For example, in the Bit8 platform, the system tries to predict who are the likely players that will be eligible for a particular bonus together with a simulation of what circumstances can lead to them achieving it. The advent of AI algorithms that monitor the entire behaviour of all players to identify opportunities to reduce costs can lead to significant operational improvement, giving operators an edge over their competitors who do not use AI technology.”

BETCONSTRUCT

Experience of operating sets BetConstruct apart Would you buy a car from a carmaker who never drove one?

Then why would you buy a gaming solution from someone who never operated one? That is the question that BetConstruct is asking operators looking for gambling software. ver ten years ago, the company from which BetConstruct developed started out as an operator of a land-based betting shop, later adding an online version and finally becoming a full-fledged online gaming operator offering the whole range of gaming products.

The invaluable experience gained throughout the decade, coupled with the ability to set the right priorities and have a clear vision helped BetConstruct become a leading supplier of advanced gaming technologies, with close to 100 partners and a number of regional offices worldwide.

To succeed as it did, BetConstruct made its first and foremost priority to empower its partners to compete and succeed in the grueling battle for gaming consumers.

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Along with providing the state-of-the-art gaming technology, BetConstruct has made a promise to service and support its partners at any time and on short notice.

BetConstruct partners are safe in the knowledge that they are backed up by a large and sophisticated organisation, with hundreds of traders, software developers, risk managers, support specialists, marketers, and other professionals ready to respond immediately and deliver high quality solutions.

Be it the very robust and cutting-edge Sportsbook, RNG or Live Dealer Casinos, Virtual Betting, Financials, Poker or Skill Games - BetConstruct has developed its solutions to deliver what the players want.

With over 18,000 live games covering

over 50 sports, the company believes its sportsbook offering is peerless. To uphold the integrity and reliability of its service, BetConstruct not only creates the markets and compiles the odds, but also ensures that every game is monitored by traders and risk managers. The fully managed sportsbook solution allows operators to serve their customers through all channels - online, mobile, in betting shops and casinos.

Being a company with global outreach, BetConstruct knows that in order to provide better service and operational support to its partners, it must be close to them.

With that in mind, BetConstruct has recently opened a number of regional offices with more to come. Today, BetConstruct specialists in Cape Town, London, Los Angeles, Lima, Malta, Minsk, Riga and Yerevan are on stand-by to address any issues their partners may encounter.

BetConstruct believes it is ready to power up any business and that regardless of how successful they are, BetConstruct can help them achieve even more.

Playtech will be heading to Berlin celebrating an extension of its bingo deal with William Hill. illiam Hill has signed a new, longterm, multi-year extension to its existing bingo contract with Playtech, the world’s leading multi-channel gaming software and services supplier.

The well-established Playtech licensee has put pen to paper on an extension to its current bingo deal further enhancing the long-standing relationship both companies have had for many years.

The award-winning Playtech Bingo Network offers the largest liquidity pool of any regulated bingo product on the market with more than 70,000 players and up to 20,000 concurrent users across William Hill Bingo and Playtech’s other network bingo licensees. It also offers millions in jackpot prizes with the network due to fund around £5 million in guaranteed jackpots in the fourth quarter of this year and into Q1 2015.

Licensees have access to the most cutting-edge mobile and tablet product on the market; the only true multi-channel, on the go, 24/7 range of products where players can, for example, begin playing in a bingo club continue the experience on their travels and switch to their laptops, mobiles and/or tablets devices when at home. The Playtech Bingo offering also comes complete with the best performing cross-channel slot games with retail favourites now mirrored online and on mobile.

The Playtech Bingo team have decades of both retail and online bingo experience offering licensees the choice of either running the operation themselves or managing it as a service.

James Curwen, director of gaming, William Hill, said: “We’re very pleased to have renewed our bingo agreement with Playtech and the highly experienced team there. We look forward to working together to grow the business even further.”

Dan Phillips, COO, Playtech Bingo, said: “We’re delighted that William Hill, one of Playtech’s most established partners, has agreed to renew its contract.

This is a real endorsement of our marketleading, multi-channel bingo product and the industry’s biggest and best performing bingo network.”

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BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

SPORTRADAR

Hong Kong FA signs long term monitoring partnership with Sportradar Sportradar’s security division has been in hot demand this year.

More than just a leading publisher Consulting Corporate Identity Creative Marketing Crisis Management Design Events Exhibitions Market Research Public Relations

he Hong Kong FA has signed an agreement with betting fraud monitor Sportradar under which the company’s Fraud Detection System (FDS) will provide the Hong Kong FA with ‘unrivalled intelligence’ about global betting on over 100 games per season until July 2017. The agreement was also a topic of discussion as both the Hong Kong FA’s Mark Sutcliffe and Sportradar’s Darren Small provided delegates with valuable insights into possible solutions as part of the Soccerex Global Convention’s panel on match-fixing.

In the year that the Hong Kong FA celebrates its centenary, CEO Mark Sutcliffe travelled to Manchester England to sign the agreement which will see Sportradar’s system cover all 113 games of Hong Kong’s Premier League, League Cup, Community Shield, Senior Shield, FA Cup and Play-offs each season.

In addition to Sportradar’s director of integrity Darren Small, Sutcliffe was joined on the Match-Fixing Panel by chair of the Interpol Integrity in Sport Steering Group John Abbott and the chief executive of The International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS) Europe Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros. The panel, which immediately preceded the signing of the agreement, allowed both organisations to expand on how the FDS will work to deter match-fixers in the context of a gen-

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eral discussion on how football and relevant stakeholders can collaborate to safeguard the integrity of the game worldwide.

Speaking immediately after the panel, Small said: “As part of our commitment to providing our clients with 24/7 coverage of football worldwide, Sportradar opened its first Asian office in Hong Kong. So it is incredibly exciting for us to add our ‘local’ FA from Hong Kong to the list of associations who will not compromise on integrity. It was a really proud moment for me to be able to discuss our shared commitment to safeguarding football with Mark before the eyes of some of the most important stakeholders and decision-makers in global football”.

Sutcliffe added: “It has really been impossible to ignore the credibility and reputation of Sportradar’s Security Services both in the region and internationally. So to have the FDS monitoring all our professional level football is reassuring and to have that in place for three seasons underlines our own commitment to keeping our competitions safe.

Soccerex is the forum where football meets and to be able to put pen to paper here in Manchester and to be able to show our resolve to our fellow football leaders attending the match-fixing panel this morning was an opportunity the Hong Kong FA could not miss.”

Publishing Social Media Video GB Media Marketing Services provides a complete communications service. With a management team boasting decades of international industry experience, GB Media is the only company of its type in the gambling space, employing teams of designers, marketers, journalists and business development executives.

For more information please call John Sullivan +44 (0) 1204 396 397 or email jsullivan@gbmedia.eu

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Venetian Macao 18-20 November 2014

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for the world

For more information and to book your place at Asia’s ‘must attend’ enquiry@macaugamingshow.com visit gaming exhibition contact enquiry@MacaoGamingShow.com, www.macaugamingshow.com or telephone MacaoGamingShow.com +853 6363 0080 or +852 6329 6008 PRC hotline: +86 180 6387 4408

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

Supporting Organizations

博彩監察協調 局 Direcção de Inspecção e Coordenação de Jogos

Event Co-Organisers

Event Contractor

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Retail B2B Retail Listings

B2B content R et ai l

www.sis.tv info@sis.tv

gaming B2B machines

Virtual appointments at Inspired Inspired Gaming Group has bolstered its Virtual Sports team with the recruitment of Mark MacCombie as business development director, Al Sayce as account director and Neil Brookes as product manager. Steve Rogers, SVP of Virtual Sports and Mobile at Inspired, commented: “Underpinning the success of the Virtual Sports division is a very hard-working and passionate team, but to keep growing and supplying market-leading products we need to keep strengthening the team with industry experts and fresh ideas.”

MARK MCCOMBIE, AL SAYCE AND NEIL BROOKES

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SUPPLY

www.inspiredgaminggroup.com sales@ingg.com

www.tab.at Better games through innovation

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” THE NEW TERMINALS IN CARRIGILL’S SHOP IN DEWSBURY, RECENTLY REFITTED BY RUFUS

Carrigill signs four year deal with SG

Carrigill Bookmakers won’t need to look for a new gaming machine provider until 2018 after signing a deal with SG Gaming.

G Gaming has signed a fouryear contract with independent Carrigill Bookmakers. The new long-term partnership, which makes the supplier Carrigill’s machine provider of choice, will see thedelivery of Infinity and Vision cabinets to all Carrigill shops. In addition, Carrigill will benefit from a comprehensive support programme for independents, which includes marketing support, promotions, best practice guidance, and tailored staff training.

The new partnership offers customers access to a range of exciting content developed by SG Gaming’s in-house development team, including a number of popular titles from the portfolio of WMS Gaming, its sister company.

Phil Horne, managing director of SG Gaming, said: “Following ongoing discussion with Carrigill, it became clear they were attracted to our strong content offer-

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B2B signage systems R et ai l

www.mrgsystems.co.uk sales@mrgsystems.co.uk

ing, overall support package and our ability to help drive cashbox revenue.

“Better than any other provider, SG Gaming recognises that independents require a complete service that is tailored to their specific needs. We understand that, particularly for independents, it is vital that providers offer a complete package which offers comprehensive support across all aspects of customers’ businesses.”

Bill Carrigill, managing director of Carrigill, commented: “We were particularly impressed by their bespoke offering, including services such as marketing support and staff training, in addition to exceptional operational infrastructure, technology and content. All those factors were important in convincing us to change supplier. “[The] support programme will be invaluable to us on an ongoing basis. They have a good reputation as providers of ex-

cellent operational support, content and project management. This is a new and exciting chapter in the history of Carrigill. Although only installed for a few weeks we have already seen an upturn in revenue across all sites from the new machines and are fully of the belief that this upward trend will continue.”

SG Gaming has also just released two WMS Gaming titles on its terminals - The Wizard Of Oz: Over The Rainbow and Black Knight.

Rick Mountney, director of content development, commented: “With sister companies like WMS Gaming and Williams Interactive, we are excited to offer new exciting gaming titles on gaming machines and to allow our customers the opportunity to further develop their online gaming strategy in line with the content titles they already have available in land-based venues.”

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BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

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:

TERMINAL

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

Coral in-play thanks to OpenBet betting terminals.

Adrian Thompson, Group IT director at Coral, said: “Coral is determined to ensure innovation across all channels whilst also providing our players with a seamless user experience, OpenBet’s work on the Coral Connect project together with the in-shop BIP solution allows us to do just that.

“Choosing OpenBet as our partner for this multi-channel project was an easy decision, with their market-leading sportsbook and expertise together with that of Coral’s, along with their unrivalled open platform to integrate seamlessly with third party systems, it has allowed us to continue to drive the business forward. This partnership demonstrates the value we place on our continuing partnership with OpenBet.” Jeremy Thompson-Hill, chief executive officer of OpenBet, said: “We are extremely pleased to be extending our longstanding partnership with Coral, following on from our work on Coral Connect, the BIP Terminal demonstrates our commitment to continuously develop and evolve to provide Coral, and all our other customers, a set of marketleading products that helps drive their business forward. The BIP Terminal truly brings live betting to the high street whilst offering a seamless bet in-play experience for retail.”

NUMBERS

RACING

49’s on the move

Enhanced service from Racing UK

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IS is alerting betting-shop customers that the 49’s teatime draw is set to switch to its winter slot. The draw, held at 5.49pm in the summer, will revert to 4.49pm from Monday, 27th October. The

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49’s draw takes place twice a day each day, with the earlier draw held at 12.49pm. SIS will flag up the change via its text-screen systems and channels.

A spokesman for 49’s said: “We asked the question last year about 5:49 all year round and the feedback from LBOs was that the shops are busier at 4:49 in the winter than 5:49, so we are happy to change the time of the draw to 4:49 from 27th October.”

nternational residential subscribers to horseracing broadcaster, Racing UK, can now watch via a multi-platform, live streaming and seven-day catch-up service, courtesy of Simplestream. The enhanced service enables viewers to subscribe to watch Racing UK live and on-demand, across computers, mobiles and tablets, via Simplestream’s proprietary Media Manager solution. Director of marketing Clive Cottrell, said: “Given the many time-zones around the world, the new Racing UK international service allows viewers the opportunity to watch the very best horse racing at a time and place convenient to them. The service offers high-quality streaming which adapts to internet speed.”

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

JEREMY THOMPSON-HILL

ookmaker Coral has selected to roll-out OpenBet’s new Bet-InPlay (BIP) Terminals, tabletbased application, which will give shop customers the same instantaneous betting opportunities that, to date, have only been available online.

OpenBet’s BIP Terminal is a softwareonly solution, delivered using the SiteBuilder platform. Designed for running on any self-service touchscreen tablet device, BIP enables cashless wagering on a range of betting opportunities available within the Coral retail shops.

Providing Coral with a seamless live betting offering in its retail estate, the BIP Terminals are linked up to the recently launched in-shop customer funds card, Coral Connect. With the ability to change the displayed content dynamically, OpenBet’s BIP Solution brings the power of online systems into the retail environment. Coral customers can be authenticated via a simple NFC (nearfield communication) card and pin system.

OpenBet’s BIP Terminals is the first cashless in-play wagering application available on the UK high street in the Coral shops, and because it works without a cash mechanism, it means it has lower overheads compared to traditional self-service

Coupon Dispensers

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Sportsbook

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B2B Sportsbook Listings

Access wants £700m Perform B2B betting platform Streaming company Perform Group is fighting a takeover bid by one of its major shareholders. Access Industries Group, which already owns around 42.5 per cent of Perform, wants the rest and is willing to pay 260p a share. Perform’s independent directors has urged minority shareholders to reject the £701.6m takeover offer, claiming it undervalues the company.

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PLATFORM

B2B marketing S po rt sb

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B2B mobile S po rt sb

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Playtech launches betting brand for Gazzetta

Leading Italian daily sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport has launched GazzaBet an online sports betting portal and mobile offering developed in partnership with Playtech. imed to coincide with the new national and international football seasons, Playtech has launched GazzaBet for La Gazzetta dello Sport, enabling the sports newspaper to offer an easy and secure way to bet on sports and events selected and approved by Italian regulator AAMS. In a five-year deal, that includes an option to renew for a further five years, Playtech will manage the gaming platform and provide RCS MediaGroup with its innovative online and mobile sports betting and gaming software, products and marketing services under the brand GazzaBet.it.

The launch of GazzaBet marks RCS MediaGroup’s first entry into sports betting and provides a safe and transparent user experience backed both by the La Gazzetta dello Sport brand - a hallmark of reliability and integrity - and the technological expertise offered by Playtech, the leading provider of innovative multi-channel, turnkey sports and gaming solutions.

This also marks Playtech’s first entry into the Italian sports betting sector with its technology providing a cutting-edge alternative to the software currently being

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news & B2B analysis S po rt sb

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making sense of the gaming industry

used in the market.

The online and mobile sportsbook offers a comprehensive range of advanced features, with a unique offering in the industry that includes up-to-the-minute sports betting news, detailed statistics and expert tips provided by a betting content specialist. The mobile optimised site is designed to provide the best user experience on the market and caters for a wide range of devices and operating systems.

The decision to launch the site came in part from a recent survey carried out by research institute Gfk Eurisko that found a

strong interest in online gaming among players and Gazzetta’s readers.

Alessandro Bompieri, general manager of RCS MediaGroup’s Media Division, said: “We are extremely pleased to be in a position to offer such a new service - within a regulated market - to our passionate readers, many of whom have been waiting for a sophisticated sports betting website for a long time. We are very proud of our offering and, as of today, of a portal like GazzaBet that is secure, protected and advanced thanks to the extraordinary experience of Playtech.

“GazzaBet is a further step in our pipeline of sports entertainment digital products and services and follows the successful recent releases of the Gazzetta Gold app and the new Gazzetta website.”

Shay Segev, COO of Playtech, said: “This is a landmark deal for Playtech and cements our position as the leading supplier of sports and gaming technology and services in regulated markets. We are extremely excited to be partnering with such an iconic sports news brand and the potential it has to drive market growth for both parties.”

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BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

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INTEGRITY

Sportradar educating Italian footballers on integrity

SBTech to offer Kiron iron Interactive has concluded an agreement to provide SBTech with exclusive virtual sport content for its eGaming platform. The agreement with SBTech will extend its gaming portfolio to offer virtual sports to its clients’ online gaming platforms and land-based retail outlets. Kiron’s products will also be made available on SBTech’s premium mobile sports betting platform for delivery to players mobile phones on both IOS and Android devices. SBTech’s CEO Itai Zak explained that the aim was to offer online and landbased operators a one-stop shop to keep up with a rapidly diversifying market with the very latest in mobile and online gaming to ensure that their players enjoyed a firstrate online and mobile gaming experience.

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Lega Serie A has kicked off its national integrity tour with a press conference and first educational workshop, delivered to the youth teams of Inter Milan FC and AC Milan. The tour, delivered by fraud prevention and detection service providers Sportradar, will provide a tailored integrity program to all 20 Serie A TIM clubs this season.

Lega Serie A, one of the most popular and successful leagues in European football, has brought UEFA’s partner on board to develop the education workshops and deliver them, but also to provide elearning tutorials for each member of the Lega Serie A club teams to go through and complete. In terms of content, the workshops will help participants understand why match-fixing is a growing problem, how fixers make their approaches and what the consequences of fixing are, using real-life case studies. The e-learning tutorials will support and supplement the workshops, ensuring that each participant understands what they have learnt and is comfortable with the information.

Lega Serie A president Maurizio Beretta underlined the tour’s focus on youth players: “Thanks to the partnership with Sportradar, Lega Serie A marks a very important goal to protect integrity in football today. The future of Lega Serie A is bright and exciting and nowhere is that clearer to see than in the youth academies run by our 20 clubs. At Lega Serie A, we take our responsibilities towards all our footballers, in particular toward the young players, very seriously: they count on us to develop them and protect them - to let them become the best they can be. This tour being delivered by our integrity partners Sportradar is the manifestation of our full commitment to the Serie A TIM players of the future.�

Sportradar’s managing director integrity and strategy Andreas Krannich concluded: “In recent years, we have found the Italian

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SPORTRADAR HAS BEEN AT THE SAN SIRO TO SPEAK WITH THE YOUTH TEAMS OF INTER AND AC MILAN

ACTION IMAGES / MATTHEW CHILDS

sports stakeholders to be particularly proactive when it comes to match-fixing detection and prevention, so we are not surprised that Lega Serie A have shown themselves to be leaders in this area. Prevention is about more than a slide show or a booklet. This two-tier package of Fraud Prevention Services, involving interactive workshops and personal e-learning tutorials, means that the league and the clubs can take confidence in the fact that those destined to excite Serie A’s fans today and tomorrow have understood the importance of this fundamental issue and its impact.�

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Sportsbook TIPPING

AFFILIATES

PRICING DAMIEN DUFF’S PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA WILL GENERATE SOME INTEREST IN THE ALEAGUE

Tipping competition launched acing UK, in conjunction with The Sun, is on the search for viewers who can blend top tipping and peerless punditry and are not afraid to display their talent before 50,000 viewers and two million readers. Viewers are invited to send in preview video clips, no longer than 30 seconds, of a pre-selected race. The most entertaining will be shown every Saturday on Racing UK

Freebets.com bags the Baggies remier League Football Club West Bromwich Albionhas signed a deal which will see Freebets.com become the Baggies’ Official Digital Betting Partner for the next two seasons and Freebets.com will enjoy a range of branding opportunities, coupled with sponsorship of the club’s East Stand.

Freebets.com will also benefit from significant advertising and branding presence at The Hawthorns on matchdays during the campaign, access to hospitality facilities, and an online presence on wbafc.co.uk.

Adrian Wright, sales & marketing director for West Brom, said: “We envisage our partnership with Freebets.com in the online betting market will create a host of exciting opportunities for both parties. We are delighted to present our supporters with an Official partner that will offer both excellent value and

a personal service.”

Freebets.com managing director Iain Coward added: “It’s a very exciting time to be getting involved with West Bromwich Albion after their acquisition of 11 new players in the summer, and we’re thrilled to have signed this partnership with an ambitious Premier League club.”

Founded in 2009, Freebets.com has since become a large online betting service and affiliate, offering hundreds of exclusive sign-up offers with bookmakers, as well as news, previews, tips and betting tools to inform and engage punters.

The company already has a strong presence in horseracing, as an official betting partner of both Cheltenham Racecourse and the Arena Racing Company, and sponsors the prestigious Trophy Chase at Cheltenham in January.

FC’s Stamford Bridge stadium on 6 November. Managing director Andreas Krannich commented: “Since 2005, our Sportradar Security Services have gone from strength to strength.

To be listed among such important stake- ANDREAS KRANNICH holders and service providers is an honour and is one we could not have achieved without the support and backing of our partners and the hardwork of our team, working out of various offices around the world. We are absolutely committed to supporting football around the world and we hope that after securing our ISO Certification and being invited to various key industry panels on integrity and match-fixing, we can add one or both of these awards to our list of recent achievements.”

number of senior positions at GTech, including president and chief executive officer of GTech G2 and group senior vicepresident for corporate development & strategy. Metric’s chairman Louis Castle described Bali as an extraordinary addition to the Metric team: “He is an enormously well-respected industry veteran, who brings ATUL BALI to the table nearly two decades of outstanding leadership experience. We are lucky to have him.”

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THE SUN’S TEMPLEGATE TIPSTER IS WELCOMING COMPETITION

on our Mark Your Card preview programme with a winner to be selected each week for a six-week period. The six winners will then be invited to Kempton Park for the grand final - and each will be charged with previewing and reviewing one race apiece. The overall winner, will be decided by a viewers’ poll.

PLATFORM BetFIRST gets mobile BTech is to provide Belgium’s BetFIRST with an online and mobile sports betting platform. Lionel Lammens, managing director of BetFIRST, commented: “As Belgium’s leading online and land based operator, it’s crucial we give our players the best betting experience available. SBTech have repeatedly demonstrated their experience in taking operators to the next level, even in tightly controlled markets such as ours. Their solutions for online and mobile will give us unique added value, help us grow faster and provide our loyal players with an even better betting experience.”

SBTech CEO Itai Zak was delighted by the new partnership:”BetFIRST is yet another highly respected operator chosen to use our superior platform because of our constant innovation and proven experience in regulated markets.”

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RECRUITMENT SECURITY Metric on Bali Sportradar up for two gongs portradar’s Security Services have been shortlisted in two separate categories for the 2014 Football Business Awards, which will be hosted at Chelsea

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ports wagering software developer Metric Gaming LLC has appointed industry veteran Atul Bali to its recently launched advisory board. Bali is the president of the Games Division at RealNetworks Inc., having previously served as the president and CEO of Aristocrat Technologies Inc. Bali has also held a

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Recruitment drive ffiliate operator Better Collective is looking to improve its marketing team by recruiting three experienced marketing managers for its bettingexpert website.

The firm is looking for a manager for each of its three regional teams - Northern/Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southern Europe & Latin America. Marketing director Andreas Phillipsen commented: “It is crucial for us to attract and retain skilled employees. We offer a great working environment in our charming office located in the middle of Copenhagen and a salary that matches your qualifications. The working environment is lively and characterised by a pioneering spirit and a global vision.

Everyday is different and we never quite know what tomorrow brings.”

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ACTION IMAGES / PAUL CURRIE

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GPS extends its reach across Europe and Asia

uper Soccer Oddsfeed and Abelson Info’s new and improved GPS System has added a huge range of goalscorer markets to its cutting edge product. Clients now have up to 18 scorer-based markets to choose from, all delivered via a single API. Abelson Info handles comprehensive resulting, with most markets settled in-running. An improved algorithm allows clients to take either a margin-free or margin-inclusive price for all 18 markets and with individual client settlement rules catered for, the firms believe that this really is the only complete goalscorer data feed.

Oddsfeed’s Jeevan Jeyaratnam commented: “The UK market - always leading with innovation - has been streets ahead of its European/Asian cousins with regards to individual player betting. This trend shows no sign of abating and as a result Super Soccer Oddsfeed’s 2014-2015 coverage is greater than ever.

“Increased TV exposure spurs punter interest levels and so we have added full coverage of the Dutch Eredivisie. The Dutch league is an ideal medium for attracting wagers due to the higher than average goals per game (gpg) ratio. The 2013-2014 Eredivisie season saw 3.2 gpg, whereas this season is currently running at 3.5 gpg (63 games played). Contrasting this with the 2013-2014 English Premier League (2.77 gpg), Spanish La Liga (2.75 gpg), Italian Serie A (2.73 gpg), French Ligue 1 (2.45 gpg) and German Bundesliga (3.13 gpg), only the German league comes close. Higher scoring leagues appear attractive to the punter, but the goal expectancy quotes are also higher. This information is fed into our algorithm which ensures that the GPS client’s margins aren’t compromised by a higher scoring league.”

BT Sport’s comprehensive Australian ALeague coverage begins again this month.

With weekend morning kick-offs and a smattering of former European stars plying their trade ‘down under’, this league looks set to be a popular one for betting. Super Soccer Oddsfeed has now picked up the ALeague for the first time, with the squads and player statistics currently being entered into the player database.

Damien Duff and David Villa, both now turning out for Melbourne City, are just two of many familiar faces likely to bring in additional interest to this league. The extended GPS coverage now provides a complete goalscorer offering for matches throughout the day.

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info@kironinteractive.com www.kironinteractive.com

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iGaming Betfair running Net Ent games Björn Krantz is ‘very pleased’ at the collaboration between NetEnt’s and Betfair’s integration teams which resulted in a quick launch: “I am sure Betfair’s players will enjoy the entertainment experience that NetEnt’s game portfolio offer and I look forward to our future partnership.”

CasinoEngine hits 2k

Hot slot Microgaming is releasing its Red Hot Devil online slot in October - a five reel, 25 payline game with a devilish theme. Red Hot Devil goes live to Microgaming and Quickfire operators on 8 October 2014.

EveryMatrix’s CasinoEngine is now able to offer 2,000 games with the launch of Yahtzee, developed by Williams Interactive. EveryMatrix chief executive Ebbe Groes said: “EveryMatrix continues to have the operator in focus with an ever evolving CasinoEngine product.”

Empire gets Simulated GameAccount Network has launched a ‘Simulated Gaming’ website for Empire City Casino of New York. Simulated Gaming enables free-play and paid-play virtual currency-based internet gaming experience that will generate incremental income both online and on-property by integrating with on-property guest experiences as well.

SLOTS

Targeting the frequent slot player Fredrik Elmqvist, CEO at Yggdrasil Gaming, discusses his firm’s ambitions with Betting Business interactive. ggdrasil is one of the more unusual names in the igaming sector - what was the thinking behind the brand?

We wanted to create something that was more memorable than the existing combinations of Play, Bet, Net, Tech and Gaming.

It is quite rare to use B2C brand name strategies in the B2B market, but we like to think differently and challenge conventions where possible.

The downside with a unique name like Yggdrasil - obviously apart from the pronunciation; it is pronounced [ig-drasil] by the way - is that you don’t get as many predetermined natural brand associations at the beginning as you do with Bet, Play or Gaming. However, when you focus on filling the brand, and the company for that matter, with a clear vision and culture, then it gives you the chance to stand out in what is a crowded and pretty formulaic marketplace.

The name Yggdrasil comes from Norse mythology and is an immense tree of life.

Given our combined Norwegian and Swedish owners we wanted something that represented our Viking past as we embarked on this new venture.

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What do you think makes Yggdrasil’s games stand out from the rest?

There are a number of elements, from sound to game mechanics, the use of graphics to game styles, as well as aspect ratio and the combination of all these components together. We target the frequent slot player with the type of content that they de-

mand and we probably have a slightly higher variance than other similar providers.

We only launched our first slot in December and I genuinely feel that the industry as a whole has been impressed with our games. That was certainly the feedback I got during ICE and we now have six slot games and we will be growing this portfolio of the coming months.

Another differentiator for us is that we are targeting the lottery vertical head on with our lottery studio in Malta and our range of instant lottery products. Our Lotto7 daily draw progressive jackpot has a huge amount of potential for operators who haven’t either considered or mastered the opportunities with lotteries.

Given the potential upheaval caused by the UK’s POC licensing, you’ve opened up an office in Gibraltar. How difficult a decision was that?

We see Gibraltar as a key strategic base for us to target tier one operators that aren’t necessarily just UK-focused. We have signed partnerships with all the major operators in Malta, so for the business to grow and for us to achieve greater scale we need to find new markets.

We also supported the GBGA’s objection to the UK’s new licensing regime as it makes absolutely no sense and is effectively a restriction on the freedom to provide services.

You’ve already got several offices dotted around Europe - are there any further expansion plans?

Actually we only have three offices, but we do have dedicated partnerships in two other countries in Europe, so they are more like virtual offices. We have a preliminary plan to expand further, but this is pending a few further developments. Towards the end of the year we should be able to announce if this is going ahead, but yes, we are certainly planning to expand.

What do you feel is the most exciting European market at the moment for igaming from a personal perspective?

To respond to this slightly differently, I think that the European market as a

whole is very interesting and exciting at the moment. The regulatory changes that are on the horizon means suppliers and operators need to have their plans and platforms in place if they are to succeed.

Clearly the biggest players in the market are using this time to embrace all the regulations, as long as it means there are entrance barriers for the new players.

However, agile companies like Yggdrasil have had the chance to develop platforms that meet the requirements of customers and regulators alike. The future definitely belongs to the agile.

www.pyrons.com

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iGaming B2B iGaming Listings

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2B gaming software developer GameAccount Network has announced the extension of an existing partnership with a ‘major undisclosed US casino operator’ to deploy the SENSE3 Mobile Casino real money gaming experience for existing patrons on-property. Customary in the regulated land-based US casino industry, the identity of the operator remains embargoed prior to all regulatory approvals being obtained by the parties.

The GameSTACK Internet Gaming System deployed on-property for the operator will deliver Simulated Gaming nationwide, real money On-property Mobile Casino gaming together with an immediate upgrade to real-money internet gaming upon passage of relevant State legislation.

It is expected that GameAccount Net-

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work and the operator will launch real money On-property Mobile Casino experience in Q1 2015 subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GameAccount Network, commented: “2013 saw GameAccount launch New Jersey regulated real money intra-State Internet gaming. 2014 saw the launch of Simulated Gaming nationwide in the United States and 2015 will see the launch of On-property Mobile Gaming for real money. On-property Mobile Casino gaming is the natural evolution of Internetbased gaming for US casino operators. We are delighted to have been chosen as the provider of On-property Mobile Gaming for a major US casino and will seek to deliver this innovative solution for the operator as soon as possible in 2015.�

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volution Gaming, the world leader in video-streamed Live Dealer gaming, has launched a dedicated live casino environment for Full Tilt. Full Tilt is best known as one of the world’s leading poker brands and is now expanding its offering of casino games.

The Full Tilt dedicated environment, created within Evolution’s Riga studios, includes three live blackjack tables and one live roulette table. All tables will be available to players on a variety of platforms, including computers running both Windows and Macintosh operating systems, and also iOS and Android mobile devices.

fruits and glimmering gems bring an exotic jungle feel to the spinning reels. Simon Hammon, chief product officer of Net Entertainment, comments: “Go Bananas! is a great addition and another example of driving the online casino market forward through better games.�

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SLOTS Banana suprise etEnt has launched its latest video slot Go Bananas! to satisfy players’ insatiable appetite for top quality games. Go Bananas! is a 5-reel, 20-line game set in a colourful tree house deep in the tropical jungle overrun with cheeky monkeys. Juicy

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William Hill goes Wild extGen Gaming, the Sydney, Australia based slots studio of NYX Gaming Group, has released Gorilla Go Wild to William Hill Vegas; the latest partnership title developed between the two businesses. Will Mathieson, slots operations manager at William Hill, said: “Slot games with high production values and deep feature enhancement as seen in Gorilla Go Wild are key to extending player lifetime, by providing an immersive and entertaining gaming experience. I look forward to working with NextGen on future slots games and concepts.�

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Gala Coral takes Inspired mobile content nspired Gaming Group has signed a deal with Gala Coral Group for the supply of multichannel mobile content, via its Remote Gaming Server (RGS), Virgo. Inspired will be integrating Virgo into Gala Coral’s gaming platform across; coral.co.uk, galacasino.com and galabingo.com to enable exclusive Inspired and Gala Coral multi-channel games to be launched across all of Gala Coral’s channels.

Inspired will be providing Gala Coral with cross-channel slots games, and a number of exclusive titles designed specifically for Gala Coral players. Via Inspired’s Virgo RGS, Gala Coral will also have access to selected third-party titles.

As Virgo is integrated with the Inspired Open VLT Core platform, it can easily host white-label offerings, as well as quickly integrate content from external developers through its Open API. Gala Coral’s own land based and mobile games development team also plan to launch their own games through the Open API from early 2015.

Luke Alvarez, founder and CEO of Inspired Gaming Group, commented: “This announcement is an exciting milestone for our growing mobile business. We were one of the first suppliers in the industry to launch new games simultaneously on VLT, online and mobile in the UK. “Inspired is focused on the future of mobile - leading with HTML5 games, developing seamless UX experiences and designing for a wide range of handsets. Players are responding well to our latest releases, with our Freespins+ games proving very successful.

We look forward to building on this success with our latest partner Gala Coral and delivering yet more innovative gaming to wider audience of mobile users.�

Mark Kemp, e-gaming director at Coral, added: “Inspired’s Virgo RGS is an exciting opportunity to further enhance our already leading multi-channel mobile gaming content, supported by our Connect single wallet that is available to Coral customers in all of our channels. This partnership is a great step for us in many ways as it adds Inspired’s latest successful mobile releases, the development of new and exclusive multi-channel games and making Coral’s own innovative machines games available to our customers on mobile. Coral is focused on continuing to lead in providing our customers with the best multi-channel machines and mobile gaming experience in the industry.�

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Back office

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Carsten Koerl CEO, Sportradar

REGULATION

‘Our position is well balanced’ Peter Greenhill, CEO of Isle of Man’s eGaming division, talks about the jurisidiction’s place in the global world of remote gaming. ow has the market responded to your announcement earlier this year regarding digital currencies?

We have already had over 20 companies setting up business on the Isle of Man specifically targeting this sector. These include exchanges where digital currencies can be bought and sold for fiat currencies as well as software and hardware suppliers. In addition, we held the inaugural “Crypto Valley Summit” on the Island on the 17th and 18th September which attracted over 80 “C” level executives from digital currency businesses all over the world. Brock Pierce, known to many as the father of digital currency, described the Isle of Man in his afterdinner speech as “The new world capital for encrypted technologies”. Since the event, many more companies are in the process of joining us here on the Island.

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Data agreement Sportradar and international sports marketing company Infront Sports & Media have announced an agreement under which Sportradar will increase its live streaming offering by a further 4,000 sporting events, including the Indonesian Super League (ISL) the TBF Basketball League, the EHF EUROS and the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships.

Do you think that you are ahead of the curve on this initiative?

Whilst several countries have stated that they can see the benefits of digital currencies and want to appear to be “Bitcoin Friendly”, the Isle of Man is at the forefront of actually doing something about it! Our legislation changes are on track to keep crime out, protect the individual and to only attract the top level of companies who agree with these principles. We are doing it now, not just saying we will.

On the pure gaming question, what advantages does the Isle of Man have for firms targeting the UK? Looking at this question holistically our UK facing licensees would point to a number of factors behind their decision to base

their operations and staff on the Isle of Man. From a technical perspective: The quality, reliability and comparatively lower price of both our power supply (we export power to the UK!) and our telecommunications infrastructure (two self-healing (SDH) fibre optic rings to the UK and Ireland and an additional two-way fibre optic cable to the UK) Multiple Protocol Labour Switching (MPLS) networks offering high capacity fully managed and flexible connectivity internationally Multi terabits cable capacity World-class data centres offering industry leading Distributed Denial Of Service (DDOS) mitigation solutions Senior executives can sleep well at night without worrying if their ability to accept bets may be compromised by power or telecommunications issues.

From an economic perspective: Corporation tax 0% No capital gains tax, No stamp duty, No inheritance tax, No death duties Worldwide VAT solutions Personal allowances of £9,500 for a single person and £19,000 for a married couple Income tax rates with a standard rate of 10 per cent and higher rate 20 per cent, as well as a tax cap of £120,000 - £240,000 for a married couple And from a business friendly and quality of life perspective: Business friendly government A firm, fair and approachable regulator One licence only required for all product types Generous financial support for start-ups and relocations to the Island

Extremely low crime rate A safe home for businesses and families Excellent health care and educational standards Superb sporting facilities Very easy and quick commuting A country that operates like an extended family with a real sense of community spirit What is the biggest challenge for an e-Gaming jurisdiction at the moment?

As a direct result of the new UK legislation we expect that it will be much more difficult for start-ups without a real USP to gain traction and be profitable. In addition, it is inevitable that a number of existing companies will be unable to meet their goals and may be forced to either sell up or close down. On the Isle of Man, however, we are seeing an increase in very well-funded new companies and those with really innovative intellectual property (IP) which they are registering here.

The UK Gambling Commission is currently wrestling with the balance between player protection of funds and freedom to operate.

How confident are you that the Isle of Man has struck the right balance?

We are extremely confident that our position is well balanced. To simply ask licence holders to put customer funds into a “Number 2 account” is no guarantee whatsoever that those funds will made available to the players rather than the liquidator in event of a failure of the licensee. We have a range of solutions that our licence holders can use that give the proper level of protection whilst allowing a sensible degree of freedom to operate.

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BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 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

LICENSING Malta finds Genii’s class enii - a new gaming technology provider focused on building the next generation online gaming platform - has been awarded a Class 4 Remote Gaming Licence by the Lotteries & Gaming Authority in Malta.

Genii boasts a portfolio of over 125 online casino games which are either available individually (games only) or as part of a full solution offering. The games portfolio is cross-platform, and available within native download applications for Windows or Mac or with no download and playable in any web browser. Dinesh Choudree, CEO of Genii, said: “It’s been a long road, but we’re over the moon that we’ve now got our Class 4 licence from the LGA and are live with our first operator.”

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TERMINALS

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

based-gaming and online client server solutions for interactive video terminals in both Norway and Italy. Its TruServ platform is well-established and accredited for the Italian market. Shay Segev, COO and head of retail, Playtech, said: “We’re delighted to be acquiring Aristocrat Lotteries, furthering a key element of Playtech’s retail strategy. Playtech’s multi-channel solution means that this content can be deployed across any location and delivered through any device as well as allowing operators to cross-sell their customers into digital channels.”

PAYMENTS Catalyst takes payment atalyst Gaming Corporation has chosen to leverage Secure Trading’s ST-1 transaction platform, as part of a strategic partnership to optimise acceptance rates in North America and other regulated markets. Catalyst actively manages a group of gaming companies and has an impressive portfolio of investments in a range of gaming technologies and infrastructures.

Secure Trading’s end-to-end compliant payment solution manages each step of the transaction process, from customer identification, registration and deposits to withdrawal and back office management. It also offers a variety of different payment options and a network of acquiring banks to choose from. The integrated payment platform, which is licensed in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, is now available to Catalyst’s group companies.

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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.

FRAUD Call Credit awarded redit referencing and marketing solutions provider, Callcredit Information Group, has picked up two titles at the Database Marketing Awards; Outstanding Data Provider - B2C and Outstanding Marketing Services Provider. Zoe Palethorpe, data assets director at Callcredit said: “It

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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.

is fantastic to have our name alongside so many worthy opponents and to win just topped the evening off. We are delighted to have won both the ‘Outstanding Data Provider of the Year - B2C’ and the Outstanding Marketing Services Provider which have come after a lot of hard work and determination.

There are not many data service providers that can illustrate a continued track record of growth, innovation, service and success like we have.”

LOYALTY

Betdigital gets Goldify in shops ontent and systems developer Betdigital has risen to the challenge of integrating GTech’s unique Goldify game into Coral’s Licensed Betting Offices (LBOs) with spectacular results. Oxfordbased Betdigital integrated the game using SystemX, a proprietary platform that allows rapid-fire integrations of just 12 weeks - up to five times faster than alternative systems. Coral’s Rich Barr added: “Goldify has been a great performer in Europe, and we wanted to offer the game to our UK customers without jeopardising any of the hallmarks that make the game so popular. The LBO FOBT sector is flying, and working alongside Betdigital has delivered hugely impressive results.”

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Lotteries deal laytech is to acquire Aristocrat Lotteries for 10.5m euro in cash from Aristocrat Leisure Limited. Aristocrat Lotteries is a leading supplier of server-

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GameAccount and DEQ team up Emerging markers deal alixa, the payments service provider wholly owned by bwin.party, has established a 50:50 joint venture with Millicom, a leading international telecommunications and media company dedicated to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa.

The joint venture, which comes just three months after Kalixa acquired the PXP Solutions card payment processing business, ‘represents a significant step in continuing to build externally generated business volume and revenue’. The joint venture will develop a payments service provider for Africa and Latin America. Operations are scheduled to begin in Colombia and Brazil later this year with Kalixa and Millicom each making an initial investment of US$4m and appointing two directors each to the joint venture’s board.

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ameAccount Network has entered into an agreement with DEQ Systems Corp, a leading provider of table game bonusing, jackpot and loyalty solutions. The agreement is to launch DEQ’s table game content enabled for regulated real money internet gaming and virtual currency-based Simulated Gaming focused on the Italian and New Jersey regulated Internet gaming markets and Simulated Gaming deployments for US casino operators.

Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GameAccount Network, said: “DEQ brings recognised, authentic table games from casino properties, with a particular relevance in key Asian markets, for distribution online. We’re delighted to work with DEQ to bring their selected table game titles online in the United States for both real money and Simulated Gaming, for Simulated Gaming in Asian markets and in Europe’s major regulated real money Internet gaming markets.”

Joseph Bertolone, president and CEO of

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DEQ, added: “We are very pleased to have entered into this agreement with GameAccount Network. This is a strategic part of our table game content product roadmap. Partnering with an established, respected and expert partner who will deliver our game content online into both real money and brick and mortar Simulated Gaming customers is essential to drive revenues.”

GameAccount Network has also announced the extension of Simulated Gaming into Australia in partnership with a consortium of major land-based Australian community clubs following dialogue with relevant Australian regulators. Customary in the regulated land-based Australian casino industry, the identity of the clubs within the consortium remains embargoed prior to commercial launch.

It is expected that GameAccount Network and the Consortium will launch a Simulated Gaming entertainment experience in Q1 2015 subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

BB121-p42-44-Comment_09/10 07/10/2014 09:47 Page 1

Comment A period of investment Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GameAccount Network, comments on his firm’s H1 results, a period which saw a 60 per cent drop in net revenue to £4.2m and an EBITDA loss of £400,000.

The first half of 2014 has continued the period of investment for GameAccount, and, performance to date is in line with our expectations. Following a transformational year in 2013, GameAccount has continued to position its business to capture growth in online gaming markets, particularly in the US. The first half of 2014 saw the launch of key products across our offering, in particular Simulated Gaming, together with a number of significant commercial and strategic developments.

Following our launch of real-money gaming in New Jersey last year, the launch of Simulated Gaming across the United States has been another innovative step for the business. Simulated Gaming represents a US market opportunity estimated at $250m in 2015 which is immediately addressable and not contingent on the pace of regulation.

We contracted with Foxwoods Resort Casino in 2013 which contributed to revenues in the first half of 2014.

Year to date we have contracted with a further four casinos including Osage Casinos, Parx Casino, Empire City Casino and an undisclosed multi-State casino operator which will begin to contribute to revenues in Q4.

Initial performance metrics for Simulated Gaming are significantly ahead of expectations and the prospects for this business are exciting. We have today also announced the launch of Simulated Gaming in Australia and are uniquely positioned to capitalise on the opportunities in this market.

Real-money gaming in New Jersey and the pace of regulation in the US market has been slower than expected but we are confident in the long-term prospects for realmoney gaming in the years ahead. For 2015 we believe that the opportunity for GameAccount Network with Simulated Gaming will substantially compensate for the slower than expected pace of the development of realmoney gaming in the US. Our investment in the business continues and we have grown our team and expanded our technical expertise, US infrastructure and gaming content portfolio in the first half. Consistent with our commitment at IPO, we were also recently awarded a patent for our iBridge Framework which will protect and benefit the business as we grow in the US market.

Our first half revenue from gaming system sales was down year-on-year however we are actively engaging with multiple potential system buyers and we remain confident in our ability to continue to deliver on sales of our gaming system to casino equipment manufacturers although the timing of such sales remains uncertain.”

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42 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

Looking back on where we first me et out the paper hats.

Man the Party Poppers.

Hand out the penny whistles. String up the toy donkey to be bashed by sticks which have become oddly popular over the past few years. Betting Business is 10 years old this month.

October 2004 saw the very first Betting Business launched to coincide with the now defunct Betting Show at the NEC in Birmingham and flicking through the pages of that first issue reveals some interesting issues that appear to go hand in hand with the industry.

There was concern over FOBTs with the forthcoming Gambling Act causing a big period of introspection for the industry and accusations that the agreed FOBT Code, as it was, was having a stifling effect on creativity on the game design level.

There was a data rights issue over racing in Doncaster, there was a warning on the soaring cost of regulation, a discussion on what the industry was going to do when the Levy Scheme ended, a new £1m football

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bet, ideas to prevent betting shop robberies, political debate over racing integrity and IBAS was settling disputes over next manager betting.

There was also an oddly prophetic piece about SIS investigating the potential of a second LBO channel. I wonder if this gave racing the idea for Turf TV. It’s also quite a shock to see how dated the 2004 mobile phone looks compared to its current incarnation.

On the flip side there was also a whole host of acronyms no longer with us.

ARGO - The Association of Remote Gambling Operators, which eventually merged with iGGBA - the interactive Gaming, Gambling and Betting Association - to form today’s RGA. In Ireland we had the IIBOA, the Irish Independent Betting Office Association. BETA, the Betting Exchange Trade Association, which popped up ahead of the Gambling Act and worked very hard to make sure there was no punitive regulation on the exchanges, and then disap-

peared again once Betfair released it could do all the lobbying by itself. We also had the BHB - The British Horseracing Board - which eventually merged with the Horseracing Regulatory Authority (HRA) to become the BHA. What was also apparent back then, in the heady preGambling Act days, was the rich diversity of bookmakers in the market. Alongside the William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral and the recently renamed Betfred, there was Totesport, Easy Racing, Jack Brown Bookmakers, Reuben Page, StanleyBet, Victor Chandler, Swift Bookmakers, Pridmore Bookmakers, Diamond Bookmakers, Stan James, Sporting Options, Blue Square, Venture Bookmakers, Bet Direct, Corbetts, Needwood Racing, Boylesports and a Paddy Power yet to make a dent on the UK high street. Market consolidation in the face of rising regulatory costs and demand has seen that vibrancy and choice reduced massively in the retail business and is about to do the

BB121-p42-44-Comment_09/10 07/10/2014 09:47 Page 2

“It needs to play the role of Thomas a Becket, but with a different ending.”

Paul Leyland of Regulus Partners has some alarming advice for the Senet Group

What The Papers Say W hile betting operators are aware of football’s image concerns, some suspect the game’s bodies are using the advertising issue as leverage in their campaign for a right to levy a fee on football bets, which operators strongly oppose.

But betting operators accept they face public pressure to soften their advertising content. Some privately admit they may have to row back not just on free bets to new punters but incentives to existing ones such as “money-back specials”, weakening their ability to hold on to customers.

The fresh concerns over gambling advertising come as the industry launches a charm offensive to counteract a toughening stance from politicians and the public.

the first 90 days of betting within any given account. But it’s not all good news - as a general rule, online gamblers tend to bet across different accounts on different activities, and will often switch accounts to get new promotional offers and bonuses. And if you start digging even deeper, you will begin to discover that not all gambling is created equal. Online poker players, for instance, tend to display more rational betting patterns than their peers, reducing their gambling as their percentage of loss increases.

Whether or not you agree with gambling, the fact that it has become more commonplace and less socially taboo means that the psychological barrier to entry is now much lower. If we’re really concerned about protecting those most vulnerable, it’s up to all of us - marROGER BLITZ keters, players and society - to take Financial Times responsibility, and ensure that we’re giving ourselves enough scope to play When psychologists investigated the without putting those most at risk in behaviours of online gamblers over the harm’s way. course of several months, they found that their gambling behaviours NATHALIE NAHAÏ decrease over time, especially within Marketing Week

The Daily Mirror’s decision to lead its front page on Saturday with a picture of Wigmore Hall at the moment when a vet put a gun to his head at Doncaster last weekend caused widespread anger and distress within racing. Those who were closest to the seven-year-old felt it most keenly but many thousands of racegoers and armchair fans of one of the most admirable Flat performers of recent years shared their disgust.

What it did not do, despite the Mirror’s feeble attempt to justify its decision, was spark a “debate” about the morality of racing. That, in theory, was the reason why the paper ran with the story, with pictures provided by the extremist animal rights campaigning group Animal Aid. A trawl through Twitter, though, suggests that the number of racing fans who have decided to row in with Animal Aid and turn their back on the sport is negligible when set against the number of racing fans who have decided to turn their backs on the Daily Mirror.

GREG WOOD The Guardian

Join the ADR march: Arbitration for all!

same online.

The unexpected delay in the point of consumption licensing laws, thanks to the intervention of the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s Judicial Review, may bring some brief respite, but in the long run the UK government is after the online industry’s pound of flesh and will likely get it. After all, there are very few votes to be lost with the general public by squeezing what are viewed as vice industries.

What we do have today, though, is an industry increasingly aware if its social obligations. It was around ten years ago that the gambling sector launched what is now the Responsible Gambling Trust (going through far too many acronyms and identities along the way) and we’ve got to the point where firms as large as Ladbrokes are embedding social responsibility into their management teams and remuneration packages. Now if we’d predicted that in issue 1 ten years ago, I’m not sure we would have been believed.

DR might sound like a German political party, but, as most will be aware, it actually stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution.

New legislation in the form of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 will soon be with us (after a short delay), bringing with it the need for offshore-based operators who want to offer a betting service to GB residents, to provide and to nominate an independent third party adjudication service for their customers.

It goes without saying that IBAS stands ready and able to assist any operators who are looking for a body

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ACTION IMAGES / JOHN SIBLEY

n met

John Samuels of IBAS channels his inner activist and discusses the changing requirements around Alternative Dispute Resolution and why it will become even more important in the future.

BETTING OPERATORS WILL HAVE TO KEEP COMPREHENSIVE TIMING RECORDS

to carry out this task.

Similarly, new European legislation (the EU Directive on ADR) will soon encourage all businesses, service providers and retailers (e.g. even dry cleaners, ticket agencies, supermarkets, funeral parlors, foreign exchange operators etc) to make available an ADR service to help consumers with a grievance receive an independent opinion without the cost and bureaucratic burden of legal action.

As the current proposed ADR legislation stands, a consumer can legitimately raise a dispute with an ADR provider at any stage up to 12 months after initial

efforts to resolve the matter amicably have failed.

This clearly puts a requirement upon all betting operators to ensure that comprehensive records, e.g. audio recordings of telephone calls, CCTV images, EPOS images and translation details, price logs, off times and results data etc. are kept for at least 12 months, to enable any dispute to be dealt with satisfactorily. And this does not only apply to operators own records, but also the need for operators to keep credible independent data especially when off times/goal times are germane to the dispute.

Also importantly, many

operators’ terms and conditions may also have to be changed to allow for the fact that disputes can be raised up to 12 months after the bet was struck/after the event time.

EU ADR legislation, when adopted into British law, will place a number of new requirements on the current IBAS process; for example, as things stand currently proposed, both parties will have the right to see all the documentation and evidence provided by the other party.

Clearly the subject of ADR is one to be seriously considered by those responsible for Customer Service and Compliance matters.

BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014 43

BB121-p42-44-Comment_09/10 07/10/2014 09:48 Page 3

Comment

“Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.”

Danish physicist Niels Bohr (1885 - 1962)

Managing the mobile user Mark Gibson of mkodo discusses the success of mobile gaming and what operators need to do to ensure the best mobile player experience. obile is now ‘front and centre’ in most operators’ minds when it comes to betting and sportsbook. This prominence and value has been achieved through the relatively early adoption of the mobile channel by betting operators (compared with other sectors such as retail).

Focus for growth of the channel has been, to a large degree, on the development of in-play betting opportunities. In-play betting is key in the success of mobile and as such bets are likely to be single driven (given timedelay and price changes).

Mobile is situationally suited to such immediate actionbased user experiences.

However, as mobile matures and more players use the channel for their everyday betting, operators would do well to focus on identifying means to increase their margin on mobile. Mobile already tends to deliver a slightly higher gross win margin, as players are less likely to ‘shop’ for the best price than they might be online. A substantive leap for betting margin may be found in encouraging and enabling the easy placement of multiple-leg bets. Promotion and adoption of such multiples may help to embed this type of bet, or ‘purchase behaviour’, amongst a proportion of their sportsbetting user base.

There are a couple of things to consider in this process related to mobile.

First, a multiple requires the player to consider more than one outcome in more than one event. The operator should not lose sight of the fact that the player probably wants to make their selections from a single view and place the bet as quickly as possible. So, the focus on the speed-to-bet is as important

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‘I’d prefer to call this a reasoned wager’ The man who placed the UK’s largest political bet - £900,000 on the Scottish Referendum returning a No vote - spoke to the BBC, explaining the process behind the huge bet.

This was not a r e c k l e s s gamble. Losing this money would have seriously hurt. But I wouldn’t have lost my house although maybe my wife would have had something to say about it.

I’d call it responsible gambling. And my main advice would be ‘don’t try this at home’. But I’d prefer to call this a reasoned wager. For me it was almost an investment.

I made the bet in four instalments but I’d always planned to wage £900,000.

I staggered it in the hope that the odds would improve closer to the time they didn’t. The best I got was 1/4. So for every £4 I bet, I’d get £5 back.

So although I received a cheque for £1,093,333.33, my actual winnings were just under £200,000.

The first time I walked in to the William Hill I tried to place a bet of £400,000. The bookies weren’t set up to take it. They could only process £9,000 deposits at

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a time so it would have taken almost a whole day of separate transactions.

By the time we organised a better solution the next day, the odds had worsened.

I’ve had a career in finance in which I’ve had to make projections and limit risk as much as possible.

These were my savings, my money, but I felt I’d done enough research to be sure of the outcome. It was a decision taken in conjunction with my wife. And although I bounced a few ideas off other friends, nobody else knew what we were doing. But really I stumbled into this wager.

This is not something I’ve done before.

I’m a bit of a data geek and information nerd. I was trying to look at what the impact might be of Scottish independence. I’m a committed unionist. So I wasn’t purely an impassionate observer. But while my interest in the topic came from the heart, the analysis of the data was hardheaded.

What blew my mind was

44 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

the amount of data available. Poll after poll after poll asking every possible question across generations. You have an exact insight into what is important to local Scots. You can look at this data and make some interesting predictions, which is what I did.

Analysts may have considered it too close to call at times but I guess I’m a bit more of a risk-taker. Nevertheless, by June there had been something like 85 individual polls and not a single poll had actually had a Yes outcome.

I also looked at historical precedents. The 1995 Quebec referendum in Canada followed a very similar pattern. The separatists were behind in the polls. Then on a popular upswing of self-determination they took the lead going into the actual vote.

But then on the day there was a seven percent reverse and the separatists lost.

So I trusted my analysis. You might think I’d be sweating on the day of the

vote - or especially when the polls showed a Yes vote lead.

It’s normal to have selfdoubt, it wouldn’t be human not to, but it never took longer than a few minutes of reflection to convince myself again that I’d made the right conclusion.

When the polls showed the Yes campaign in the lead, my wife did come in with the newspapers and said: “Now what?” So yes it was nervous. But a surge by the Yes vote was in my predictions, followed by the subsequent bargaining, promises of more powers and the unleashing of Gordon Brown.

It meant that even on the night of the vote I wasn’t nervous. I went to sleep at 23:00 and woke up as if it were any typical day.

Although it did help that the last poll I’d seen before going to bed showed a 5446 split in my favour. But this is not something you should do lightly. It was not a ‘feckless gamble’, as some have suggested.

as ever, and composition of a multiple bet from a single view on mobile will significantly increase usability.

Depending on the userbase, it may also be possible to pre-compile multiples and ‘give it a name’ - taking three outcome/event combinations offering a standard price but calling it, for example, a TV Special. It is also worth noting that operators should be flexible towards adapting presentations specifically designed around easy multiple selection within a 1-x-2 market, to other significant market types where sub 2.0 prices are commonplace.

A good example would be Under/Over 2.5 market - a very popular market and one where players are likely to make multiple selections to create a better return; as long as the journey is easy enough. The addition of legs to a bet has an established likely benefit to margin with every selection added to the bet - it makes sense to enable this behaviour on markets where it suits.

Second, using notifications can be a great means to prompt players to engage.

This can work just as well for occasional and regular players, but the prompts and calls-to-action should vary.

Segmentation of your messaging-push can yield dividends and offer the opportunity to target less regular players with recommendations that tend to deliver superior margin.

Whether you have an app or not, remember mobile messaging - SMS is still a hugely successful means of reaching users and will enable you to reach nonapp users (likely to be a significant segment) with similarly context u a l , time-sensitive promotions.

BB121-p46-50-Business_09/10 07/10/2014 12:02 Page 1

Business Shareholders in GVC Holdings can now enjoy the company’s successful World Cup performance even more than they expected.

KENNETH ALEXANDER: ‘GVC IS NOW IN A VERY STRONG POSITION’

Widerstrom leaving Gala Coral to seek his Fortuna APPOINTMENT

er Widerstrom is to leave the Gala Coral Group in order to take the role as the new chairman of the Management Board and CEO at European bookmaker Fortuna Entertainment Group.

Widestrom, currently managing director of Gala Interactive, will be taking over the position in the fourth quarter.

Widerstrom’s main goal is to develop Fortuna’s multichannel strategy: “I am very happy to join the Fortuna team. The Fortuna Entertainment Group is very well positioned to become the undisputable leader in the regulated Central European sports betting and gaming sector with the most trusted and exciting multi-channel betting and gaming brand.

I am delighted to have got the opportunity to lead the Fortuna organisation in these exciting times.”

Widerstrom will be replacing Radim Haluza, who will stay with the business until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition. He said: “Fortuna is in a very good financial shape and is enjoying a high level of trust and credibility of the investors. I have enjoyed three successful and exciting years in Fortuna and wishing the company and the new management team all the best.”

Fortuna is banking on Widerstrom’s strong track record and international experience of successfully managing companies in the sport betting and gaming sector, FMCG and telecommunications.

Apart from Gala Coral Group where he managed the Gala Interactive business as managing director, he successfully led as CEO the international online betting and gaming company Expekt.com, held senior group executive positions at the global online betting and gaming group bwin.party as well as the group COO position at PartyGaming.

While working for Expekt.com, bwin.party, PartyGaming and Telenor he managed activities, amongst others, in Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Baltic countries.

P GVC shares World Cup gains with special dividend SHAREHOLDING

VC Holdings is bullish about the performance of its operations this year, so much so that the firm has announced a special dividend for shareholders.

Chief executive Kenneth Alexander announced in GVC’s interim results that the company is to pay out a total quarterly dividend of 15 eurocents, up 43 percent on same quarter last year. It also takes the cumulative dividends payable in calendar year 2014 up to 55 cents, representing a 96 per cent increase over the prior year.

Wagers for the first half of the year are up 38 per cent to 694m euro and while sports margin for the period dropped from 10.3 per cent to 9.9 per cent it didn’t stop a 44 per cent jump in Net Gaming Revenue to 105m euro.

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Alexander said: “GVC operates in numerous markets in both casino and sports betting and as a group is well diversified and highly cash generative.

GVC is now in a very strong position with exciting growth prospects as we continue to develop our market leading in-house sportsbook and mobile platform. The group remains highly confident for the outcome of this current financial year and this confidence is reflected in the enhanced dividend that we have announced.”

Alexander said that the firm had enjoyed an excellent 2014 so far, with a very strong performance during the World Cup, which has built on the success of the complete restructuring of the Sportingbet business that GVC acquired in 2013.

He added: “GVC’s commitment to highly cash generative markets does not

however come at the expense of investing in the future. GVC will continue to invest and develop its inhouse sportsbook and mobile technology to maximise the group’s growth prospects and generate the cash crucial to its aggressive dividend policy.”

GVC has already developed its sportsbook platform to give significantly greater latency, response time and volume capability.

In the last quarter the uptime has been 99.999 per cent, handling over 4,000 concurrent events, more than 100 per cent higher than the same period in 2013. The number of sports bets placed per day during Q2 averaged 212,000, up 27 per cent.

The relative mix between sports NGR and other revenues has remained relatively static at just under 50 per cent, but in-play now amounts to 70 per cent of

wagering, and mobile was around 22 per cent, up from a low base of 8 per cent in the first half of 2013.

The firm also has a wide reach. Its Latin American business is one of the market leaders for sports betting, but it has also been extending its geographical cover through its recent 15 per cent investment in the Scandinavian start-up venture Betit. This venture has quickly captured meaningful market share in the Scandinavian online casino market across its brands since its launch.

Alexander added that the group was continuing the trend into the second half of the year: “Operationally, current trading across all measures is at least 20 per cent higher than in 2013, with deposit values up 22 per cent on Q3-2013 and active and new depositing customers up 30 per cent on the same period last year.”

ANALYSIS GVC said that its special dividend allowed its shareholders to participate in the company’s ‘successful World Cup performance during which, customer acquisition accelerated, sports margins were strong and systems proved very robust’.

Giving out regular and enhanced dividends is a good way to reward shareholders who are not put off by the company’s operations in markets where other listed gaming operators fear to tread in order to retain a squeaky clean reputation. GVC is clearly making huge inroads in many different markets, a strategy which should reduce the risk of any sudden change in market conditions.

Paf looking more closely at responsible gaming MANAGEMENT

he Åland gaming company Paf has put more emphasis on its social responsibility obligations with the recruitment of four new members to its management team. One of the new faces on the team is responsible gaming manager Daniela Johansson, and she has been joined by general counsel Sara Eriksson, head of consumer experience Andreas Perjus and head of systems and services Tuomas Bergström.

Anders Sims, director of communications at Paf, commented: “Responsible gaming has always been a driving force in our organisation, but by expanding the management team to include the responsible gaming expertise of

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46 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

ANDERS SIMS: ‘WE ARE RAISING PAF’S AMBITIONS’

Daniela Johansson we are raising Paf’s ambitions even further. By placing responsible gaming issues at this level, we ensure that the question of responsibility is always a pri-

The organisational changes mean that the management team has grown in size from seven to ten people.

Johanna Backholm, deputy CEO and director of human resources at Paf, commented: “It is so gratifying that we can lift up our internal expertise in this way. With this new management team composition Paf is poised for further expansion and growth.”

Paf’s new management team now consists of the following members: CEO Anders Ingves, Johanna Backholm, director of MaRe Stefan Rumander, director of Land & Ship ority in our business decisions.”

Jukka Nikula, Anders Sims, direcThese new internal appoint- tor of finance Johan Rothberg, Sara ments have been made in the wake Eriksson, Tuomas Bergström, of director Anders Wiklund’s deci- Daniela Johansson and Andreas sion to leave the management team. Perjus.

Whatever your market, we speak your language 3DUWQHU ZLWK RQH RI (XURSHâV ELJJHVW VSRUWVERRN DτOLDWHV EHWWLQJH[SHUW D %HWWHU &ROOHFWLYH FRPSDQ\

For more information please contact: marc@bettercollective.com

BB121-p46-50-Business_09/10 07/10/2014 12:03 Page 2

Hogg joins GamCrowd

Business The land-grab for customers ahead of the implementation of the point of consumption taxation in the UK is having a negative effect on ARPU for Netplay TV.

Ian Hogg has become chairman of fundraising organisation GamCrowd.com, bringing a wealth of expertise across online, TV, egaming, retail betting, poker, and racing. “I have very high hopes for GamCrowd and am incredibly excited to be taking up this position,” said Hogg. “It is still early days for crowdfunding and crowdsourcing but you only have to look at companies like Kick Starter, People Per Hour and Lending Club to see the scale of the industry.”

ALMOST HALF OF NETPLAY’S CUSTOMER REGISTRATIONS COME VIA A MOBILE OR TABLET

POC causing ‘unsustainable level of marketing’

MARKETING

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etplay TV, the interactive gaming firm, has blamed the incoming point of consumption tax for a hike in customer acquisi-

tion costs.

The operator said that its total marketing expenditure for the first six months of the year increased by 6 per cent to just over £7m and while this helped drive a 24 per cent increase in new depositing players, it expects marketing costs to drop soon.

In its interim results statement, the firm explained: “As a result of the expected incoming point of consumption tax, the company believes there has been an unsustainable level of competitor marketing and bonus offers which in turn has had the effect of lowering ARPU in the period. The company expects marketing levels to normalise and even fall once POC is in place at the end of H2. The group continues to believe that POC is a manageable challenge and ultimately creates an opportunity for Netplay.”

While Netplay boasted some good underlying figures, there was also a

29 per cent increase in active depositing players, net revenue was up very slightly at £14.5m and profit before tax for the period halved to £1.2m.

NetPlay TV’s Charles Butler said: “The period has been one of adjustment for the sector as a whole and notwithstanding this, we are pleased to be reporting increased levels of both new depositing players and active depositing players, an illustration of the success of our marketing strategy. In addition, we are pleased to announce that due to the continued strong cash position of the Group, the board is increasing the interim dividend payable to 0.22 pence per share. We have worked hard during the period in preparing the business for the six months ahead, ensuring it is well positioned post the impending legislative changes.”

Mobile and tablet has continued to perform very strongly for the firm with almost half of all customer registrations coming via a mobile or tablet device which in turn contributed 36 per cent of total net revenue.

Mobile net revenue has been dom-

inated by casino during the first half, however, the group’s mobile sportsbook is expected to be launched in H2 bringing with it another driver for continued growth in this area.

The firm added: “There will be further enhancements to the mobile user experience throughout H2 2014 with more available content and player specific bonus features. This is expected to increase player retention and lead to higher player values.”

Throughout H1 the group initiated the roll-out of a new single wallet functionality across all platforms which allows the company to deviate from traditional bonuses to much more granular and targeted campaigns. It reported that initial user testing has shown that this is proving effective.

It added: “Our statistics show us that customers interacting with our services on both desktop as well as mobile/tablet have the highest ARPUs (currently over four times greater than just desktop players) and therefore the cross selling between devices to customers with the intention of increasing overall player values will be a focus in H2.”

ANALYSIS There are a number initiatives that Netplay TV said it can use to mitigate the impact of the point of consumption laws. The group has started preparing for the new POC regulation by undertaking a consolidation of overseas locations, aligning software and commercial contracts to take into account the tax and said it will continue to review further consolidation opportunities throughout H2. The firm’s recent diversification into sportsbook as part of the Vernons acquisition is also gaining traction and while the contribution is currently relatively low there is an opportunity for this part of the business to grow rapidly especially once the mobile application and website is launched.

SPORTECH TOLD TO PAY BACK £93M

Football pools operator Sportech has been told to pay back £93m to Customs, after the latest twist in the company’s long running battle around ‘overpaid VAT’ on its Spot the Ball game. The Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) has ruled in favour of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs in HMRC’s appeal case. This follows the initial ruling last year of the First-tier Tribunal in Sportech’s favour, and the payment by HMRC to Sportech of £93m in June 2014. Sportech has been given until 15 October 2014 to decide whether to seek permission to appeal. Following this judgment, Sportech is required to repay the money received to HMRC in due course.

CODERE RESTRUCTURES DEBT

Embattled Spanish gambling operator Grupo Codere has reached a financing agreement with shareholders and creditors that will see a restructuring arrangement for its 1.1bn euro (£850m) debt. Spanish business news source stated that bondholder had taken control of Codere operations and assets, making it feasible for the operator to reach new financing terms. The deal was reached with 80.2 per cent of Codere Euro debt holders, consisting of private equity firms and hedge funds.

Under the new terms of operations, Codere’s creditors will swap existing debt for 675m euro in newly issued bonds and a 253m euro loan, Codere said in a regulatory filing.

MOMACO BUYS BETBUTLER DATABASE

HK deal extension for WatchandWager POOLS

tially will be to selected account holders and shortly thereafter to be opened up to all USA clients via its website watchandwager. com and mobile product.

This two year contract provides for the ability to actively promote the HKJC product over the longer term and consequently the financial impact to WatchandWager operations from this deal is expected to be significant.

Ed Comins, president of WatchandWager.com LLC, said: “We are proud for the HKJC to award WatchandWager a contract for the next two racing seasons.

Racing in Hong Kong offers integrity, consistent field sizes and the huge pool liquidity that The 2014/15 HKJC racing 2015. WatchandWager will access many of our customers are season commenced on Sunday 14 the HKJC betting pools via its Tote seeking. We expect a great season September at Sha Tin racecourse, provider, AmTote International, of racing at Sha Tin and Happy and will run through to 12 July based in Maryland, US. Access ini- Valley for our players.”

SHA TIN RACECOURSE

ebis Holdings subsidiary WatchandWager.com LLC has signed a further two year agreement with the HKJC Horse Race Betting Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, to provide access to the HKJC parimutuel pools. WatchandWager, which conducts US licensed advanced deposit pool wagering and racetrack operations, was the first US based wagering operator to link directly into the HKJC pools during the 2013/14 racing season.

The operation proved to be a success both technically and commercially for both parties and this new two year contract for HKJC racing seasons 2014/15 and 2015/16 underlines the fact.

W

48 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

Curacao based Momaco has acquired the player database of bankrupt sports betting broker BetButler for the sum of £1.

The Gambling Commission had announced that it has revoked BetButler’s remote operating licence ‘having considered all the available information’.

However, this was weeks after the website stopped operating at the end of August. The Commission had been monitoring Bet Butler since April when players first encountered problems in withdrawing funds from the company.

Ironically this came quickly on the back of BetButler buying up the assets of another failed operation - Bodugi, which the Gambling Commission had also been working closely with.

BB121-p46-50-Business_09/10 07/10/2014 12:47 Page 3

Block listing

With a very strong casino offering, 32Red thinks it now has the sportsbook to complement the portfolio.

CASINO

asino operator 32Red has revealed that its sportsbook is performing well, even as the group was once again reporting record revenues. For the first half of 2014, 32Red saw a 19 per cent increase in gross gaming revenue to £22.6m, a 20 per cent rise in net gaming revenue to £15.2m and a 22 per cent jump in EBITDA to £2.2m. Despite these stellar figures, profit before taxation for the period was actually down £100,000, or 7 per cent, to £1.2m.

CEO Ed Ware commented: “We are delighted to report yet another record performance with 20 per cent growth in net gaming revenues leading to a 22 per cent growth in EBITDA. It is very important to us that the quality of our service and the experience we provide to our players keeps pace with the growth in the business.

“The recently launched 32Red Sports betting site is performing well and complements our growing sponsorship in British horseracing and our exciting partnership with Rangers Football Club. Current trading is strong and I look forward to a good finish to 2014.”

The 32Red casino remains the

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ACTION IMAGES / GRAHAM STUART

Ladbrokes has made an application to the UK Listing Authority and the London Stock Exchange for a block listing of 300,000 ordinary shares of 28 pence each to be admitted to the Official List and to trade on the London Stock Exchange. These shares will be issued and allotted under the Ladbrokes plc OWN Plan.

32Red sportsbook off to a good start amid record casino revenues

SPREAD

appointments

increased levels of new and active players.

Revenues from 32Red mobile casino are up 124 per cent and now represent 32 per cent of total casino sales compared to 17 per cent in 2013. GGR from the 32Red Italian Casino is up 130 per cent to £1.05m and NGR up 94 per cent to £0.51m.

32Red reported that the second half of the year has started strongly with GGR for the first 12 weeks up 23 per cent on the same period in 2013. The Board continues to

years in the role.

He will be replaced by CEO Charles Butler, who will continue to work alongside the rest of the Executive team in supporting them to drive the business forward. This has left recently appointed commercial director Bjarke Larsen as Interim CEO while the Board conducts a search for a replacement for Butler. Larsen has extensive knowledge of both the company and the wider industry and will be supported by a strong management team and the Board.

CHARLES BUTLER

imon Ip has become the new chairman at The Sretiring Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) replacing Brian Stevenson. Ip has been at the operator over 30 years and served in many senior management positions. Joining him as deputy chairman is Anthony Chow. Both board members will serve a minimum of three year terms before revision of the company’s board, which would be set for 2017 Annual General Meeting. Ip commented: “It is going to be a very exciting year for the Club as we celebrate our 130th Anniversary of serving the Hong Kong

progress its growth strategy, through increased and targeted marketing and maintaining its reputation for ‘unrivalled customer service’.

Interestingly, the board believes that 32Red has commercially viable opportunities to grow both organically and by making acquisitions in the sector. The firm added: “As the regulatory landscape continues to evolve we remain encouraged by developments in potential new markets, both in Europe and the US.”

community. We shall continue to achieve excel- Boss Media and Bwin Games lence in our operations and to elevate still further (formerly Ongame), has developed extensive experiHong Kong’s high standing in world racing.” ence and expertise in both ediatech Solutions, European independent the online and retail gaming real money platform provider, has extended sectors. He is taking over the its team with the addition of Pedro Lopez as position from Metric’s head of client services. Based at the head office founder, Martin de Knijff, who in Madrid, Lopez takes over the immediate man- will remain a director and agement of the national and international Client assume the role of Metric’s PETER BERTILSSON Partner team as well as adding further valuable head of business and product management experience to the support team development. and the wider business development functions.

He commented: “Metric Gaming is one of the Pedro joins Mediatech from Casino Gran most innovative companies I have seen in my Madrid where he held senior positions in both twenty years in this industry. It has been a pleasCustomer Services and Marketing. He said: “I ure serving as Metric’s Chairman, and I am have been working with Mediatech solutions as thrilled with this opportunity to take over the a client for the past four years and value their reins as CEO and help this company reach its full technology and approach. I am bringing my oper- and tremendous potential.” ational experience to bear on the shared vision eanwhile Louis Castle has taken over the of creating an outstanding customer experience chairmanship at Metric Gaming. Castle was and I am confident we can set an industry benchpreviously Shuffle Master’s chief strategy officer mark in this area.” and also served as vice president of studios at aymarkets AB, the specialist OTC deriva- Zynga Inc, CEO of InstantAction, Inc, vice presitives, fixed income and commodities market dent of creative development at the Los Angeles systems provider, has appointed Stu Taylor, studio of Electronic Arts, Inc, and co-founder of CEO of Algomi as a non-executive director. Westwood Studios, an entertainment software Peter Fredriksson, CEO of Baymarkets, said: company that was subsequently acquired by “The management of Baymarkets are delighted Electronic Arts. to welcome Stu to the team. His reputation and Castle said: “Metric Gaming has developed track record in the Fixed Income sector is widely some uniquely compelling recognised in the marketplace and his enthusi- technology and continues to astic input will be a tremendous asset to the push the envelope of sports company as we continue to build our presence wagering innovation. I very across Europe.” much look forward to using my experience in gaming and as-Vegas based Metric Gaming LLC has entertainment software to appointed its chairman Peter Bertilsson as contribute to Metric’s ongoing the company’s new president and chief execu- success.”

LOUIS CASTLE tive officer. Bertilsson, who had top roles at

M here are some weighty changes at interactive Tchairman gaming firm NetPlay TV with non-executive Clive Jones stepping down after five

M

B

L

pread betting firm IG has reported a 9 per cent drop in revenues for the first quarter to £85.6m, something the firm ascribes to low levels of market activity. For the three months ended 31 August 2014, also saw a 3 per cent drop in active clients and a 6 per cent drop in revenue per client.

IG explained: “The first three months of the company’s year were particularly quiet in the financial markets, with volumes and volatility close to historic lows and the continuation of recent weakness in forex activity. The majority of the year-onyear difference occurred in June, which was unusually strong in the prior year.”

Revenue was behind in all of the geographic regions, as the extremely quiet backdrop impacted performance. In the UK an 8 per cent drop in active client numbers was partially offset by an increase in average revenue per client. In Australia revenue was 10 per cent down on the prior year period, although flat against the fourth quarter of last year. In Europe, active client numbers grew by 9 per cent, despite with the relatively quiet market, although this was ‘more than offset’ by the fall in average revenue per client.

In Rest of World, the continuation of weakness in the forex markets impacted Japan and Singapore, where revenue was down by around 30 per cent; but this was partially offset by strong year-on-year growth in South Africa.

IG added: “The company will progress several initiatives through this year, as part of its long-term diversification strategy, with the aim being to make IG the default choice for active traders globally. It will continue to develop the stockbroking offering, including adding the ability for clients to use their equity assets as collateral against shorter-term leveraged trading, and commencing a targeted international roll-out. IG will also progress its licence application in Dubai.

“The company is also applying significant effort to enhancing and maximising its mobile offering across the globe and to developing and refining its web presence. By successfully executing on these initiatives the company believes it can deliver the next phase of its growth.”

S 32RED NOW SPONSORS RANGERS IN THE SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP

core of the business, generating 95 per cent of underlying GGR in the first half of the year. 32Red increased its investment in marketing in the first half and recruited 23,566 new players compared to 17,459 in 2013. The strong growth in new players, allied with improved player retention and reactivation activities, resulted in a 20 per cent increase in total active players to 50,890. The firm said that it was particularly encouraging to see player GGR yields remain steady at around £400 given the

IG revenues hit by ‘close to historic lows’ in market activity

BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014 49

Around the World in Eighty Days

DISCOVER Vo y a g e s E x t r a o r d i n a i r e s

ICE is where it happens

A key date in our events calendar

We would never miss the ICE show

The most important international show of the year

DISCOVER AT www.icetotallygaming.com ICETOTALLYGAMING.COM EXCEL, LONDON 3RD - 5TH FEB 2015

AFFILIATE PROGRAMMES, ASSOCIATIONS, AWPS, BETTING EXCHANGES, BINGO EQUIPMENT, CASH HANDLING, CASINO MANAGEMENT, CCTV, CHIPS, COMPONENTS, CONSULTANTS, CRM, EPOS, FOBTS, FRAUD, LOTTERY, MEDIA, MOBILE, ONLINE, PAYMENT, POKER, RECRUITMENT, REGULATORS, ROULETTE, SECURITY, SLOTS, SOCIAL GAMING, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, SPARES, SPORTS BETTING, TABLE GAMES, VIDEO, WIRELESS

BB121-p52-53-Agenda_09/10 07/10/2014 12:22 Page 1

ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

Agenda Gaming focused bitcoin conference launched CURRENCY

new conference focusing on the roles between bitcoin and igaming has been launched.

Bitcoin4iGaming will take place on the 24 November 2014 at Dexter House in London, which aptly was the Royal Mint from 1809 to 1968 where all coins in the United Kingdom were minted.

Currently Bitcoin and other crypto currencies represent a very small percentage of iGaming revenues.

However, the opportunity for operators is big with clear advantages such as providing the means to target any person worldwide with little to no friction, 0 per cent chargebacks and positively no fraud. It is not surprising then that the iGaming industry is focused on this rapidly expanding niche.

With the attention Bitcoin is attracting from the iGaming sector, organisers are expecting to attract 250 delegates from the iGaming, Bitcoin and investment sectors, and this will be the first time these groups have been brought together. As well as a full day of in-depth conference sessions, organisers have also promised a Bitcoin breakfast boot camp, a dedicated exhibition of Bitcoin providers and enhanced networking events. This will ensure that no matter what level of knowledge or experience delegates have in the virtual currency market they will get incredible return on their investment of both time and money.

A

Ante Post: What the bookies say With the new major racing day bedding in, the sport of horseracing can enjoy October a lot more than it used to thanks to the Qipco British Champions Day. acing fans have plenty to look forward to this period, with Qipco British Champions Day now established in its mid October slot.

Doncaster brings the curtain down on the domestic turf action, but the second All Weather Championship kicks off, and international highlights include the Breeders’ Cup and Melbourne Cup. There’s an equal feast for football punters in the coming weeks. Chelsea have set the early pace in the Premier League, while Manchester United have got off to a shaky start under Louis Van Gaal, but the clash between the two teams in late October will take top billing. The Champions League group stage continues, while the home nations are in Euro2016 qualifying action.

Elsewhere, the F1 season draws to an exciting, and

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possibly bad tempered, climax, whilst we’re guaranteed tears, tantrums and fake tans as reality TV heavyweights X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing dominate the prime time schedules.

DAVID STEVENS Head of PR Coral

The football season is in full swing with some great action taking place in the next month for Sky Bet punters.

The race for the Premier League title is already turning into a two-horse race with 8/13 favourites Chelsea and defending champions Manchester City (11/4) the only teams attracting money in the Sky Bet trading room.

The battle for qualification for the knockout stages of the Champions League also takes centre-stage with fivetime champions Liverpool taking on holders and 7/2 favourites Real Madrid the

pick of the group matches involving English clubs in the next month.

There’s also the European Championship qualifiers, a whole host of European action and the Sky Bet Football League so it’s easy to see why stakes on football betting are up 24 per cent this year.

Newmarket hosts the climax of the flat racing season with the QIPCO Champions Stakes where the Adrian O’Brien-trained Australia, winner of the Derby and the Irish Derby, is Sky Bet’s 15/8 favourite to land the spoils, while 5/1 shot Sole Power bids for the Sprint Stakes. The Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita and Melbourne Cup also highlight a terrific month for racing punters.

Meanwhile, the golf season reaches its climax with two valuable events in China, the BMW Masters and the WGC HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, when a

number of the successful European Ryder Cup team will take part.

The battle for the F1 drivers title is likely to go down to the wire with Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg battling it out for honours. The duo are in action in Russia and the USA this month.

STEVE BRAMLEY Sportsbook content manager Sky Bet

those massive pots. Will anyone be able to beat the USA’s standing dish Wise Dan in the Mile?

The UEFA Champions League is approaching crunch-time with each British club vying for a place in the last 16. Two giants of European football Liverpool and Real Madrid, with 15 European Cups between them, face each other home and away.

Back on home soil, all eyes are on Louis Van Gaal’s stuttering Manchester United.

The Red Devils face Chelsea at Old Trafford on 26 October before heading to their noisy neighbours the following weekend. The Red Devils haven’t enjoyed the best of starts, but Van Gaal’s attacking options mean they have been enthralling to watch with goals flying in at both ends.

Horseracing’s biggest Flat meeting of the season takes centre-stage on 18 October with Champions Day at Ascot. Star names Olympic Glory, Australia and The Grey Gatsby are set to lineup and it promises to be a cracking day of betting action. We’ll have it covered from starting gate to winning post. Over in the United States, the Breeders’ Cup is always a fan’s favourite. RUSSELL YERSHON Expect a strong European Head of UK Sportsbook contingent to challenge for Titanbet.co.uk.

£12k+ raised at inaugural BiG fundraiser CHARITY

he BiG Foundation Sports Dinner, the only sports dinner in the betting and gambling industry, raised over £12,000 from the raffle and auction alone in its inaugural year.

A total of 250 attendees were entertained by an illusionist, DJ and, most unusually, former Liverpool star John Barnes doing an impromptu rendition of his rap from World in Motion. £2,000 alone was pledged by some gaming executives to join Barnes on stage

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while he performed his legendary World Cup rap.

Richard Hogg, director of BiG, commented: “The responses both during and post event have been amazing. Those in attendance commented that they simply loved every minute

52 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

of help to run more events, and the enquires from potential new sponsors, has clearly shown the demand for this project.”

Rugby star Austin Healey hosted the event that aims to improve and enhance the quality of life of injured, sick, or terminally ill indiof the evening. It was always viduals globally, with a my intention to create an focus on the healing power event, which was different of sport. to anything else in order to The Dorchester Hotel, really drive the fund raising. Mayfair provided the locaThe fact that the existing tion for the evening’s festivsponsors are already ities, which was attended wanting to discuss the by high-profile guests future, the numerous offers including high jumper

Dalton Grant, and Italian football legend Marco Tardelli. Rugby stars such as former player, Rory Jenkins, and current Wasps players, Andrea Masi and Carlo Festuccia as well as half of the Esher RFC first team added to the glamour.

A number of former Hong Kong Rugby players turned up to add to the nostalgia as well as Angus ‘Statto’ Loughran.

Other activities included the Microgaming, Avalon II Sword in the Stone competition and an auction for a wide range of luxury sport-

ing gifts and memorabilia chaired by Fabian Hines.

There were two key industry awards, including; BetConstruct-sponsored ‘The Best Sports Betting Campaign’ and ‘The Best Use of a Sporting Star in a Betting Campaign’. These went to Unibet and Sportbet.com.au (Paddy Power) respectively.

The charities involved on the night were Restart Rugby, Meningitis Now, The Lord’s Taverners, The Injured Jockeys Fund, and the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK.

BB121-p52-53-Agenda_09/10 07/10/2014 12:22 Page 2

Clarion calls Hares Nick Hares has joined Clarion’s successful gaming division as conferences event manager. Reporting to head of content, gaming, Ewa Bakun, he will have responsibility for delivering high profile gaming brands including EiG, ICE Conferences, GiGse, and WrB. Hares said: “This is a great opportunity to join a division of Clarion which is at the forefront of redefining the Conference experience and ensuring that the format evolves in order to engage with contemporary business users.”

As one of the fastest growing events in the calendar, the Macao Gaming Show is pulling out all the stops to attract people to this year’s show.

ROSS ZHANG: ‘THE REST OF ASIA WILL MOVE ALONG THIS ROUTE EVENTUALLY’

EVENT

rganisers of the Macao Gaming Summit, which takes place at the Macao Gaming Show (18-20 November, 2014, Venetian Macao), have once again highlighted the importance of iGaming to the November event, saying that it will be a ‘key focus’ at the 2014 show.

Ross Zhang, MGS event operation manager, said that although iGaming is not yet regulated in Asia, MGS is the perfect time to start to network with international operators and debate the pros and cons of the regulatory framework in Asia.

“Following last year’s inaugural event, and with Europe and particularly the US, starting to regulate iGaming, with only the Philippines having clear laws and issuing iGaming licenses in Asia, iGaming in the rest of Asia will move along this route eventually,” Zhang explained. “So getting a head start is important, and MGS will be an important gathering place for iGaming people to network and find new contacts and new business leads. This year, we have devoted most of day two of

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iGaming a key focus at the Macao Gaming Summit the summit to iGaming and have already confirmed nine expert iGaming speakers to the event, with many more to be confirmed still. This is a key focus for us all at the Macao Gaming Show and we hope you will join us in the discussion.”

Confirmed speakers include: Nick Nocton, director at Jeffrey Green Russell Ltd; Robert Stocker, gaming practice leader with Dickinson Wright; Richard Schuetz, commissioner at the California Gaming Commission; Reinout te Brake, the founder and chairman of iQU; and Matthew R. Brown, director of business development with

Iverson Gaming.

MGS organisers have also issued an international invite to exhibitors attending the November exhibition to participate in its upcoming ‘Technology and Market Trend Development on Electronic Gaming Machines and Electronic Table Games’ Conference event. The discussion, held in association with the Macao Polytechnic Institute (IPM), is an educational program curated for IPM students in its Gaming Management Program, who will attend MGS and be given a series of talks by MGS attendees.

Ira Iskandar, conference

manager at Koelnmesse, the event and conference management partner of MGS, called the session a ‘great opportunity for delegates and exhibitors to familiarise the next generation of gaming professionals with your products and technologies’.

“We are calling on all interested exhibitors who would like to participate in this groundbreaking event, which aims to familiarise the upcoming generation with the modern gaming industry and give them a taste of what to expect upon graduation, to get involved and register their interest. We welcome any and all support, and are

Clarion invests in slots events C larion Events, whose Totally Gaming brands include ICE, ICE Conferences, GiGse and the new look EiG which opens in Berlin this month, has acquired a majority interest in the Slot Academy and Slot Summit events created and run by respected industry personality Lucien Wijsman.

The agreement, which was ratified in London this week, will see Lucien Wijsman retain a significant shareholding in the ‘Slot’ brands as well as an executive position on the board.

Julian Graves, managing director, Clarion Events Gaming Division, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this deal with Lucien which will see him remain fully and intensively involved with the business, delivering training, developing content and nurturing a cohort of expert trainers. Lucien enjoys a well deserved reputation throughout international gaming

for delivering best in breed training through his Slot Academies and a mix of training, practical demonstrations, expert insight and invaluable networking through his Summits. Both brands are international in their reach with recent training conducted in Canada, Suriname, Colombia, Romania and Italy with Summits taking place in the remainder of 2014 in Lille, France and Bogota, Colombia.

“From the outset of our discussions, which began a year ago and continued through ICE 2014, it was obvious there was a clear fit between Lucien’s vision and Clarion’s event and research brands which when brought together would allow us both to offer a wider range of services, extend and deepen our global operations network, add value to our customers’ businesses and enable us both to enhance the relationships we have developed. Additionally and just as importantly, Lucien Wijsman brings to our gaming portfolio a deep understanding of the industry which will help the team deliver more effectively at all levels of the business.”

Lucien Wijsman stated: “I have been a great admirer of what Clarion has brought to the industry both in terms of launching new brands, nurturing existing brands and in the case of ICE re-launching

looking to make this an educational endeavour for the students involved.”

MGS has also said it will be providing further assistance to international buyers looking to apply for a Macao SAR Government travel and accommodation subsidy with the appointment of a dedicated member of staff to help facilitate applications.

Under the government scheme, which is part of the Direccao dos Servicos de Economia’s (DSE) Exhibition Stimulation Program, buyers can be subsidised with up to 50 percent of the round trip transportation expense to and from Macau and up to three nights’ accommodation costs redeemed at local hotels.

MGS co-ordinator Mary Li, who will be helping to facilitate subsidy applications, said: “This is a progressive and welcome initiative from the DSE and we want to ensure that qualified buyers from across the globe are able to attend what is fast shaping up to be Asia’s most significant gaming exhibition, no matter what the size of their organisation is.

“There is a real sense of energy and anticipation in the build-up to the second MGS and we want to help facilitate applications to the Macao government if possible. The scheme is an important part of Macao’s commitment to ensuring all buyers, no matter the size of the company, are able to attend important global exhibitions such as the Macao Gaming Show and we are certainly encouraging anyone interested in attending the show to get in touch to discuss this opportunity.”

a brand and turning it into what it is today, the world’s biggest and most favourite gaming event. Both the Slot Academy and the Slot Summit are very personal to me and I feel totally comfortable that we share the same vision and confident that our agreement will enable us to take the two brands to the next level. As Julian said there is a natural fit, we both have a ‘can do’ philosophy and perhaps most importantly we share a commitment to and a passion for this industry. I very much look forward to the next stage of the fantastic journey I embarked upon 10 years ago but now as part of what I consider to be the best team in gaming.”

The first Clarion/Lucien Wijsman events are Slot Summit, France Lucien Barriere, Lille, 2527 November and Slot Summit, Colombia, Hilton, Bogota 10-12 December.

LISTINGS MONTHLY BRIEFING

OCTOBER 6-8 2nd Annual BiG Africa Summit 2014, Emperors 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 Internacional Barcelona (CCIB), Spain 27-28 Mobile & Tablet Gambling Summit USA 2014, Bally’s Atlantic City, NJ, USA 30 – 2 November Summit of iGaming, Malta (SiGMA), InterContinental Bay Arena, Malta NOVEMBER 5-7 Arizona Indian Gaming Association Expo 2014, For McDowell Casino, AZ, USA 6 ad:tech New York, Javits Centre, New York, USA 10-11 Mobile & Tablet Gambling Summit Europe 2014, Hilton Tower Bridge 11-12 6th Annual Malta iGaming Seminar (MIGS) 2014, Hilton Hotel, St Julians, Malta 17 Remote Gambling Association AGM, Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London 18-20 Macao Gaming Show, Venetian Macao 24 eGR Operator Awards 2014, Roundhouse, Camden, London 24 Bitcoin4iGaming, Dexter House, London 25-27 Slot Summit, France Lucien Barriere, Lille 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 10-12 Slot Summit, Colombia, Hilton, Bogota 25 Christmas Day JANUARY 13-15 EAG International, ExCeL, London FEBRUARY 2-4 ICE Conferences, ExCeL, London 3-5 ICE Totally Gaming, ExCeL, London 3 London Baby Networking Party, TBC 4 Fire & Ice, TBC

BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014 53

BB121-p54-55-Analysis_09/10 07/10/2014 12:27 Page 1

Analysis Paddy Power enhanced loo Affiliate Freebets.com has a new analysis on enhanced odds offers that are proving popular in the market, and it seems that Paddy Power is leading the way yet again. addy Power remains on top after clinching back-to-back Enhanced Odds Bookmaker of the month accolades following industry analysis by Freebets.com. The punter friendly firm which was also top in our inaugural enhanced odds report conducted in July, continued to welcome new customers with irresistible price boosts throughout August and once again beat Titanbet to the punch, while Winner made its first appearance in our top three.

The return of the domes-

ACTION IMAGES / JOHN SIBLEY LIVEPIC

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TOP TEN UK HORSERACE POOLS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

TOP TEN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

TOP TEN MONEYBACK OFFERS BY CHANCE Ladbrokes - Racing: If 2nd to Dermot Weld Horse at Galway Paddy Power - Football: If Sturridge scores anytime v Man City SkyBet - Racing: If favourite wins Goodwood 1.55 SkyBet - Racing: If favourite wins York 2.05 Paddy Power - Football: If Arsenal fail to qualify v Besiktas Paddy Power - Football: If Ballotelli scores anytime v Tottenham Paddy Power - Rugby: Challenge Cup Final pick your own Money back bet365 - Greyhounds: Sky dogs 2/1 Coral - Greyhounds: If second by a length or less on live Sky race Paddy Power - Football: If Hazard scores anytime v Everton

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com . Data for August

(1) bet365 (3) William Hill (4) Paddy Power (5) Betfair (6) Betfred (-) 888sport (7) Winner (2) Stan James (10) Coral (-) Betway

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com. Data for August

Chart supplied by: Totepool. Data for August

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Paddy Power - Football: If Sturridge scores anytime v Man City Paddy Power - Football: If Arsenal fail to qualify v Besiktas Paddy Power - Football: If Ballotelli scores anytime v Tottenham bet365 - Greyhounds: Sky dogs 2/1 Paddy Power - Football: If Hazard scores anytime v Everton Paddy Power - Football: Pick your own Money back Paddy Power - Rugby: if forward scores first try Paddy Power - Rugby: Challenge Cup Final pick your own Money back Paddy Power - Football: Choose your own refund trigger Boylesports - Tennis: If Murray wins US Open

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com . Data for August

for the world

GBR - Colossus Bets - The £10,000,000 Colossus - E12,745,300 SWE - V75 -Farjestad- E11,953,366 ESP - La Quinella - E5,854,852 GBR - Classic Pools - E3,823,590 GBR - Colossus Bets - World Cup Pick6 - E2,549,060 SWE - V86 - Eskilstuna- E2,159,339 GBR - Goal Millions - E1,274,530 GBR - Colossus Bets - The £1,000,000 HDA15 - E1,274,530 SWE - V64 - Arjang - E1,003,498 EUR - Marathon Toto - E299,478

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 September

TOP TEN RETAIL BETTING EVENTS

TOP TEN MONEYBACK OFFERS BY VALUE

By Asia 54 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014

TOP TEN GLOBAL POOLS

BOOKMAKERS FOR MONEYBACK OFFERS (WEB & MOBILE)

York - Betfred Ebor Goodwood - Betfred Mile York - Darley Yorkshire Oaks York - Clipper Logisitics Stakes York - Fillies’ Stakes Handicap Goodwood - 32Red Cup Goodwood -King George Stakes York - Sir Henry Cecil Stakes York - Lowther Stakes Goodwood - Nursery Stakes

tic football season in August saw many of the enhanced odds revolve around the big kick-off. There were still a number of offers relating to other sports such as horse racing, golf and tennis, but it was the beautiful game that took centre stage.

Enhanced Odds offers, sometimes also known as Price Boosts, are becoming an increasingly popular means of online bookmakers acquiring new customers. Many firms now use such promotions to either accompany or replace the more traditional free bet welcome offers altogether.

Here at Freebets.com, we

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Horseracing - The Betfred Ebor Handicap Stakes, York Domestic Football - Manchester City v Liverpool Golf - PGA Championship, Valhalla GC, Louisville Horseracing - The Stewards’ Cup, Goodwood Tennis - US Open Tennis Championships, Flushing Meadows International Cricket - England v India, 5th Test Domestic Football - Tottenham v Liverpool Horseracing - Great St Wilfrid Handicap Stakes, Ripon Rugby League - Leeds v Castleford, Challenge Cup Final, Wembley Cricket - T20 Blast Finals Day, Edgbaston

Chart supplied by: Betfred. Data for August

Venetian Macao 18-20 November 2014

BB121-p54-55-Analysis_09/10 07/10/2014 12:27 Page 2

TOP TEN BETTING EXCHANGE MARKETS

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wer stand out with its look

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Int. Cricket -Sri Lanka v Pakistan (1st Test) £43,316,025.78 Int. Cricket -Sri Lanka v Pakistan (2nd ODI) £42,268,572.04 Int. Cricket -Sri Lanka v Pakistan (2nd Test) £29,212,125.88 Int. Cricket -Sri Lanka v Pakistan (1st ODI) £25,612,127.52 Int. Cricket -England v India (2nd ODI) £24,237,594.56 Int. Cricket - Australia v South Africa £24,206,003.44 Int. Cricket - England v India (4th Test) £24,023,151.00 Int. Cricket - Jamaica v Trinidad & Tobago £21,332,017.34 Domestic Cricket - Hampshire v Lancashire £20,512,953.60 Int. Cricket - West Indies v Bangladesh (1st ODI) £19,615,423.86

Chart supplied by: Betfair. Data for August

TOP TEN TOP 10 BOOKMAKERS FOR ENHANCED ODDS OFFERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Paddy Power Titanbet Winner Ladbrokes Betfred Totepool Coral BetVictor 888Sport Betview

Data for August. Sorted by value excluding free bet payback. Chart supplied by: Freebets.com

decided to investigate which online betting operators provided the best proposition to any customers making use of any such promotions. In order to do so we devised a formula to factor in the maximum allowed stake, enhanced odds offered and probability of the punter placing a winning bet. It is on this basis that we decide which offer is best and in turn, which offer costs the bookmaker the most money.

The value of the enhanced offer depends on the level of odds enhancement, the maximum stake and the probability of the offer being claimed. To illustrate a £10 maximum stake enhanced odds offer was offering 4/1 on Arsenal to beat Man City, and the normal odds at the time of the offer for this bet were 2/1 (equivalent to 33 per cent probability), the expected cost to the bookmaker of someone taking up this offer would be the

enhanced odds (4/1 - 2/1 = 2/1 enhancement) x £10 x 33 per cent probability = £6.66.

This is the measure we have used to calculate which offers will cost the bookmakers the most, and are really are providing the best value to the punters.

Our four main findings for this month were: Paddy Power ranked August 2014 Enhanced Odds Bookmaker of the Month ahead of Titanbet in second place and Winner in third Betfair Sportsbook’s ‘12/1 Arsenal To Win The Community Shield’ offer is rated Enhanced Odds Offer Of The Month for August 2014.

Paddy Power offered the largest odds enhancement in August with their ‘30/1 Liverpool To Win Premier League’ offer.

Football was responsible for the majority of enhanced odds offers in August by some distance with 87 per cent being focused on the

TOP TEN SPORTS SPREAD MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

International Cricket - England v India 4th Test International Cricket - England v India 5th Test International Cricket - Sri Lanka v Pakistan 1st Test Domestic Football - Man City v Liverpool Domestic Football - Burnley v Chelsea International Cricket - Sri Lanka v Pakistan 2nd Test Domestic Football - Sunderland v Man Utd Golf - USPGA Championship Domestic Football - Arsenal v C Palace Domestic Football - Newcastle v Man City

Chart supplied by: Spreadex. Calculated on volume of bets. Data for August

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Chart supplied by: Spreadex. Calculated on volume of bets. Data for August

(1) Over/Under (2) 1x2 (3) Asian Handicap (4) 12 (9) Both to Score (5) Correct Score (8) Draw no bet (6) European Handicap (7) Halftime/fulltime (10) Double Chance

Chart supplied by: bettingexpert Based on data from 12,524 tips in English language section Data from August

RESPONSE TIME (SECS)

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(2) 1X2 (1) Over/Under (4) Asian Handicap (3) 12 (6) Both Teams to Score (5) Correct Score (9) Double Chance (7) HT:FT (10) Draw No Bet (8) European Handicap

Chart supplied by: Based on data from 39,995 tips. Data from August

Bet365 - 0.69 Betfair Sports - 1.30 BetVictor - 1.59 Totesport - 1.92 Ladbrokes - 2.02 Betclic - 2.31 Sky Bet - 2.48 Paddy Power - 3.18 Betfred - 3.42 William Hill Online - 3.61

Chart supplied by: Gomez. Data for August

TOP TEN FOOTBALL BETTING WEBSITES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(2) Bet365 (1) Betfair Exchange (3) BetVictor (4) Paddy Power (5) William Hill (6) Coral (7) Skybet (8) Ladbrokes (-) Betfair Sportsbook (9) Stan James

Chart supplied by: Oddschecker. Calculated on market share of betslip clicks from Oddschecker.com Data for August

TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BOOKMAKERS (ENGLAND) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(1) Pinnacle (2) Bet365 (-) 12bet (9) 188bet (5) Bwin (3) William Hill (4) Coral (6) Unibet (10) Ladbrokes (7) Betway

Chart supplied by: bettingexpert Based on data from 12,508 tips in English language section Data from August

TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BOOKMAKERS (GLOBAL)

TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BET TYPES (GLOBAL) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Germany 30, Daily Wall Street, Daily UK 100, Daily Spot, EUR/USD Germany 30, Sep Spot, GBP/USD SPX 500, Sep US Tech 100, Daily Sep Wall Street, Sep Spot, AUD/USD

TOP TEN ONLINE SPORTSBOOK PERFORMANCE

TOP TEN MOST SELECTED BET TYPES (ENG)

TOP TEN FINANCIAL SPREAD MARKETS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

sport ahead of horse racing with just 7 per cent Paddy Power’s penchant for presenting would-be customers with an attractive proposition saw the Irish firm crowned Enhanced Odds Bookmaker for the second consecutive month in August.

The bookie’s ‘30/1 Liverpool To Win Premier League’ offer was rated as the biggest enhancement for August 2014, while also being the fourth best offer of the month when factoring in the likelihood of a first time punter placing a winning bet. Last month Titanbet and Betfair Sportsbook were snapping at Paddy’s heels for the award, but the former was some way behind the tongue-incheek bookmaker on this occasion. Once again, Paddy Power’s preference for paying enhanced odds as withdrawable cash as opposed to topping up price boosts with free bet funds helped to retain top spot.

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(1) Pinnacle (2) Bet365 (5) Bwin (3) Unibet (4) William Hill (-) 12bet (9) 188Bet (7) Ladbrokes (8) Betway (-) Mybet

Chart supplied by: bettingexpert Based on data from 39,944 tips in English language section Data from August

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BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2014 55

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