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ADVERTISING: Can non-UK licensed operators still sponsor UK sports teams?

ASIA: MGS getting to the heart of one of the biggest gambling markets on the planet

BETTING NEWS 10

ESSENTIAL GUIDE 20

FINANCE: Analysts talk investment for gambling companies at EIG BUSINESS 42

£5.20 (€8.30) • ISSUE:122 • NOVEMBER 2014 • www.betting-business.co.uk

GBGA to target taxation after licensing challenge fails

GEORGE OSBORNE CAN EXPECT TO SEE A LEGAL CHALLENGE ON THE HORIZON

MARKETING

LEGISLATION

report commissioned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has suggested that the British public are broadly happy with gambling advertising and how it is regulated and that there is no need for any further restrictions. In a report that will no doubt be sidelined by those wanting further curbs on gambling advertising, the Research Works authored piece found: “There was resistance to the idea that advertising for gambling should be specifically targeted for constraint, given that people believed there are many other more obviously dangerous activities which are present in the TV universe (including violence, sexual behaviour and alcohol, all of which are felt to be represented in a wide range of advertising).” The wider review has identified some advertising issues that warrant further consideration, including concerns over whether gambling sales promotions are always clearly and accurately advertised indeed, how ‘Free Bet’ promotions operate looks likely to come under greater scrutiny going forward. There was also an issue, seemingly raised by the ASA itself, about whether some ads indirectly feature themes that link gambling to toughness, resilience and recklessness (all of which are prohibited by the rules). As part of this there appears to be some worry over the use of the phrase ‘bet now’ as a call to action, which the ASA seems keen to address. In fact, the ASA wants to take more proactive steps to challenge potential breaches of the rules not raised by complainants ASA chief executive Guy Parker said: “We’re pleased our decisions are in line with people’s opinions but we’re not complacent: there are areas we need to examine further as part of our commitment to ensure every UK ad’s a responsible ad.”

While the GBGA’s challenge to point of consumption (POC) licensing delayed implementation for a month, it is in place now. he UK remote gambling industry is now, belatedly, operating under a point of consumption regime after the High Court emphatically threw out the claims that the new legislation was unlawful. Despite Mr Justice Green rejecting the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s argument as a ‘clear cut case’, the GBGA seems unperturbed and is fashioning a second high court challenge, this time against the point of consumption taxation measures in the Treasury’s Finance Act 2014. Again, with this due to be implemented on 1 December, it is another race against the clock for everyone’s legal teams. It is unlikely that the Treasury will be as flexible as the DCMS was in postponing its implementation. Justice Green unceremoniously dismissed the GBGA’s case against the new licensing regulations. He said that the point of consumption regime was ‘neither disproportionate, nor discriminatory, nor is it irrational’. He added: “The new regime serves a series of legitimate objectives.

Public not concerned over gambling advertising

There is no reason to doubt Parliament’s judgement that it will achieve a reasonable degree of effectiveness and there is no proper basis for concluding that it is or will be discriminatory in its effects. Further, I reject the submission that the new regime will create perverse incentives and lead to the creation of an illicit market of unscrupulous service providers.” He also dismissed the suggestion that POC was unenforceable. “First, there is no evidence or reason to believe that there will be a major enforcement problem. Secondly, even if there are limitations in the enforcement regime, the government and Parliament were entitled to take the view that the suite of enforcement powers available to the GC would be sufficient, at least in large measure, to meet the licensing objectives. Thirdly, the government has acknowledged that if and insofar as this proves not to be the case that it would review the law and take steps to strengthen enforcement powers.” Perversely it seems that his judgment is what has encouraged the GBGA’s legal team to target the tax regime. Justice Green

freely quoted EU case law, repeating that measures restricting the freedom to provide services cannot be justified ‘on purely economic grounds’. He also mentioned that there was no precise boundaries for this test and as such suggesting that a challenge to the Finance Act would not be so ‘clear cut’ as this one. Another interesting by-product of the new point of consumption laws are the number of operators closing their doors to markets where the regulatory regime is grey at best. The now Amaya Gamingowned PokerStars withdrew from more than 30 countries last month, while other smaller operators pulled out of similar markets across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Other operators reportedly exiting markets include PKR from Italy and Bet365 from Romania. The UK Gambling Commission’s licence requirement for operators to justify the international markets in which they generate more than 3 per cent of revenues has caused most of this concern, although it is unclear as of yet if the regulator would be taking a hard line on this subject.

www.microgaming.co.uk

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News Warring industry sectors failing to communicate REPUTATION

he confrontational nature of the separate sectors of the gambling industry is not doing the business any favours when it comes to dealing with politicians and law-makers, according to Paddy Power director of corporate affairs Catherine Collums. Speaking at last month’s EiG show in Berlin, Collums suggested that the fragmented structure of the whole gambling industry has meant that it has not actually listened to what government has been telling it over the years. She said that each sector had been approaching government determined to give its own message rather than listening to what the politicians wanted. Collums, who has a background in foreign diplomacy, said that she was quite taken aback at the fierce opposition that some sectors of the gambling industry showed to each other in meetings, pointing out that she had been in friendlier discussions with parties that had been previously at war with one another. Collums said that the in-fighting between the different sectors might be explained in part by differing taxation and regulatory regimes, but that it was getting in the way of the industry’s attempts to communicate with a clear voice at a governmental level. Collums added that while the different sectors could usually agree to general principles, when it came down to securing the details there would be numerous disagreements. The clear voice was one of the reasons that William Hill, Ladbrokes, Gala Coral and Paddy Power formed the Senet Group - an organisation inspired in part by the drinks industry’s Portman Group. Chris Searle, a former chairman of the Portman Group, said that the initiative was a good one, but there was a long way to go. “You’re way behind where we were,” he said, “and it’s been a hell of journey to get to where we did.” Providing an outsider’s perspective, Searle said that industries tend to deal with crises when they come along and then go back to the day jobs when they have passed. He suggested, instead, that someone’s day job should be making connections and trying to stop the crises before they happened. He also indicated that the gambling industry should go back to basics when dealing with politicians and work out what it is that they offer society. While he suggested providing leisure entertainment was perfectly valid, he also said that the industry should try to use its mastery of mathematics and its ability to improve numeracy. With an election on the horizon, and several parties already suggesting greater restrictions on gambling, it is important that the industry can show its worth to the country on more than economic measures.

THE PANEL ON REPUTATION AT LAST MONTH’S EIG

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

BHA launches initiative boost competitive raci RACING

On the back of the publication of the 2015 fixture list, which has seen seven more meetings than in 2014, the BHA is introducing steps to address field sizes.

he British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has announced a series of measures designed to address issues regarding the increasing number of uncompetitive, small-field races, although not everyone is happy with the proposals. BHA chief executive Paul Bittar said: “Set against a list of positive developments such as increased prize money, healthy racecourse attendances and the exceptionally high quality of racing at the top end, small-field races have become arguably the biggest challenge facing British Racing in recent years. Not only are they unattractive to punters and customers but they also reflect badly on British Racing when compared with other major jurisdictions, at a time when racing is becoming an increasingly international sport. “The increase in small-

field races is the result of a decline in the number of horses in training of around 1,600 horses since 2008, combined with an increase of around 650 races being added to the race programme in this period.” One of the measures the BHA is to try is the targeted removal of All Weather races and the rebalancing the Flat programme, with around 70 All Weather races to be removed. These races will be removed from the January to March period which is a ‘pinchpoint’ for small-field races at All Weather fixtures. The Chase programme has expanded by over 100 races since 2008 but in the same period the total number of runners in Chases has decreased by over 1,000. In the region of 100 Jump races will also be removed from the race programme, with the vast majority of these races (around 80) being Chases. The BHA will introduce

general restrictions on the number of races per fixture. To prevent the race programme expanding beyond the target limits, all fixtures must now consist of no more than seven races. It also wants to try to optimise its race planning and says that the removal of 170 races represents an investment by the sport in an opportunity to improve the existing programme. BHA will work closely with racecourses and horsemen to ensure that as far as possible the correct races are removed with the objective of redirecting runners from the removed races to other, appropriate opportunities. There will also be a trial of short-notice race removal from January to March on the All Weather of removing at declarations stage any races which attract four or fewer declarations. A full consultation will take place on the current

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New mobile offer

ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

Totesport.com has relaunched its mobile offer, adding full sportsbook capabilities and all totepool bets. Digital operations manager Andy Porter commented: “It’s been a record breaking year for bets like the Scoop6 so we wanted to make sure we only enhanced the customers experience on the mobile.” Head of development Stuart Magowan added: “Horse-racing will always be our main focus and we will look to develop the offering further, but we also plan to introduce a full gaming product which will be the best out there.”

With questions over the impact of the new player tracking measures on higher staking machine players, William Hill is confident that it won’t be too disruptive.

MACHINES

illiam Hill has said that it doesn’t anticipate having to close any more betting shops, despite the new player protection measures coming in for its B2 gaming machines. The bookmaker has already been forced to close down 109 LBOs in response to the increase in Machine Games Duty from 20-25 per cent, but CEO James Henderson believes that should be the extent of the closures. During his firm’s Interim Management Statement, Henderson said that it would be likely that some of the business from the shop closures would be retained at other locations. He explained: “You would expect we would be able to get some of the business from the shop closures. To give you an idea, we redeployed pretty much 90–95 per cent of the staff because there were shops within the vicinity; you would therefore expect the same principle apply to, maybe, some of the lost business. However, I would not be able to gauge exactly how much we are going to get.” Many analysts were keen to gauge the effects that the increased social responsibility provisions will have on the gaming machine income, but Henderson suggested that the expected measures would be implemented with minimum disruption. “In regard to the £50 Journey, I have not modelled what the impact might be; we have only just agreed what the solutions are. I will just quickly go through them: it can be through a loyalty card, or the Bonus Club as we call it; it can be through a verification of an account through a PIN; or you can load cash at the counter. The legislation is imminent and the introduction will be around about April, however, I am not in a position to really gauge what the actual impact might be. If we get it right

atives to racing entry and declarations processes, including analysis of best practice from international jurisdictions, as well as the consideration of a data-based approach to understanding not only what horses are in training at any given time but also what horses are ready to run. The BHA said that the All Weather Championships in their first year produced an uplift in field sizes across the course of the campaign. It is anticipated that the second year of the Championships will have a greater impact as horsemen better understand the opportunities it provides and have time to respond to the uplift in the race programme. Bittar added: “The measures which we outline today are aimed at tackling this issue head on. If successful, the reduction of both the proportion of small-field races at certain times of the year

and the total reduction in the number of small-field races will improve the competitiveness of British Racing, making it more attractive for both the oncourse and off-course customer, and as an international product.” Perhaps not surprisingly, the Arena Racing Company is not happy at the BHA’s approach. Managing director Tony Kelly commented: “The BHA has chosen to focus on shrinking the size of British Racing, regardless of the economic impact on the sport. Using research by Deloitte, the BHA’s own analysis has made clear that cutting races will cost British Racing over £4m per annum (based on 300 lost races) through lost levy, commercial and media rights income. There remains no credible explanation from the BHA, or plan in place, to recover this lost income, even in the medium term.”

THE £50 JOURNEY IS LIKELY TO BE IMPLEMENTED IN APRIL 2015

£50 journey should be ‘okay’ if implemented right and we execute it right, then we will see. It should be okay.” Whether William Hill has already had positive trial on some of the measures or not, the bookmaker seems quite relaxed on their impact considering that around 8 per cent of gaming machine sessions are £50+ and, as Henderson admitted, a ‘much higher’ percentage of profits is made off those higher-level staking customers. The other legislation that the firm has had to deal with is the point of consumption licensing, although Henderson suggested that things died down the closer to implementation it got. He explained: “I think we saw a competitive approach earlier on in the year; it seems to have settled down now and we have not noticed anything in particular from our competition leading up to the point-ofconsumption. Furthermore, we have secured all

the marketing packages that we want so we are in a good position and certainly from a pricing point of view I have not seen anybody act any differently in the last three or four months in the lead-up.” The firm is also anticipating a higher margin for in-play in the long term, but suggested its current 5.8 per cent was probably unsustainable. CFO Neil Cooper commented: “Our normalised guidance on in-play is, I think, 4–5 so obviously we are well above that. I think we have had a good quarter and we should not assume we run forward at that rate.” Henderson added: “As more is done on Mobile we expect to get a better margin from that. It is still above our normalised range so we need to be cautious about that, but as we progress we will put more onto Mobile and that will improve the margin on in-play.”

ANALYSIS William Hill has said that as long as MGD remains at 25 per cent it does not expect to see any further closures ‘for the time being’, but with gambling being a political hot potato and the added complication of a General Election next year, it can be hard to get visibility on the regulatory landscape at times. Given the bookmaker’s confidence that the new player tracking measures will be implemented without any issue, a lot will depend on the findings of the Responsible Gambling Trust’s research into high stake, high payout machines, which is expected on 1 December. There’s going to be a lot more pressure for B2 games to have a stake reduction to £2 and the RGT research will play a key role in whether this will happen or not.

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

BB122-p04-08-iGaming_09/10 05/11/2014 15:30 Page 1

iGaming CIARA NICLIAM, RICHARD RIDGE AND BEN SUTHERLAND ON THE USER & PRODUCT EXPERIENCE PANEL

Marketing spend means NetPlay won’t make forecasts POC

he interactive TV gambling operator NetPlay TV has reported a broadly flat third quarter after ‘unsustainable’ marketing costs triggered by the point of consumption licensing. The firm, which has already suffered an H1 2014 profits decline of 50 per cent, saw gaming revenues of £6.4m compared to £6.5m for Q3 2015. In a statement, NetPlay commented: “The group’s interim results referred to the widely reported unsustainable level of marketing activity throughout the gaming industry driven by the impending point of consumption tax, a trend that has continued into this quarter. Despite the group’s level of marketing spend, it has not achieved the targeted levels of new customers and net revenue expected from this spend. This situation combined with the current trading environment, and the initiation of POC means that the board expects current market expectations to be materially lower than forecast.” The operator added that management has conducted a thorough review of its marketing activity and has developed a new strategy designed to

T Working on the cross-sell more important than ever Given the expense of customer acquisition, operators are focusing more on making sure their existing customers are aware of their full gaming portfolio. SLOTS

he trend for operators to offer different applications for their different product ranges looks likely to end soon as more and more operators concentrate on cross-selling their products: that is the conclusion made by a panel on user experience at last month’s EIG. Ciara NicLiam, Rank Interactive’s Casino, games and live casino product manager, explained that as cross-selling is being built into people’s targets now, the push is for more integration, and that means fewer single product apps. She added that in the past, each of a website’s product tabs may have been run by separate teams irrespective of how they fit in with the other product lines in the business, but that approach is definitely coming to an end. Richard Ridge, senior UX designer at Betfair, suggested that there was still some scope for operators to provide in-house slot experiences in amongst all the generic slot offers across brands. He likened the current role of operators as supermarkets for gaming and added that even the supermarkets offer their own brand product lines amongst all the famous brands. NicLiam said that using their own in house slots would be difficult for Rank as its players want to play the traditional games that they play in the Grosvenor Casinos. Interestingly, over half of Grosvenor’s online customers are also customers at their landbased venues. She added that the company’s challenge is to cross sell the players from these games onto the more profitable games. She did warn, however, that the firm had

not seen a lot of crossover between the social gaming sector and real money gaming, a fact which suggests that there are two different markets and customer demographic after all. Ridge said that one of the interesting challenges for operators lies at the intersection of the game itself and the website or app that leads to it. He believes that at the moment, the transition is somewhat clunky and that players would actually respond more positively to a more cohesive, integrated experience. Ridge also commented that games design should always provide a variety of goals and provide a satisfying experience. Each game needs to be enjoyable in its own right and players should be able to get some entrainment from the game even if they are not gambling any money. Earlier on in the day Martin Kruse, a senior executive adviser at the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies, advised the iGaming industry to make players feel like they are part of a Hollywood story in order to tap into personal aspirations and the increasing convergence with the gaming sector. Kruse told delegates how they can prepare for the uncertainties of future technological disruption: “Increasingly the gambling industry needs to work like Hollywood to build a storyline for people so they think it’s not just about money but also transformational. We are seeing a lot of change from the players outside the market in this regard. They realise that the social element is becoming the bigger thing, and it’s not just about money - it’s about social interaction.”

ANALYSIS One of the big questions is a game’s shelf life or even whether it gets off the ground. Rather than just have a hard-nosed approach that some games make money and some don’t, it was suggested that some games bring more to the bottom line than can perhaps be quantified. By offering a variety and providing a less financially lucrative game in the mix, operators could be attracting customers that spend big on other products. Also, games might have hidden benefits such as SEO properties or be key elements in client reactivation. As Richard Ridge commented: “There is a balance to be had, but it is constantly negotiated.”

deliver improved returns through more cost effective and better targeted marketing spend. It’s not all been bad news for the firm, which saw a 21 per cent increase in new depositing players to 18,853 and a 22 per cent increase in active depositing players to 35,225. Commenting on operating performance, interim CEO Bjarke Larsen stated: “Despite the group’s level of marketing spend, it has not achieved the targeted levels of new customers and net revenue expected. This situation combined with the current trading environment, and the initiation of POC means that the board expects current market expectations to be materially lower than forecast.” NetPlay is currently conducting a search for a new CEO after Charles Butler stepped up into the non-executive chairman role vacated by Clive Jones. Larsen, who only recently been appointed commercial director at NetPlay, has been filling in as interim CEO. Fortunately for NetPlay, Larsen has extensive knowledge of both the company and the wider industry and is supported by a strong management team.

NETPLAY TV’S MARKETING EFFORTS HAVEN’T TRANSLATED INTO REVENUES IN Q3

sales@ingg.com

www.ingg.com

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

sales@netent.com

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More regulation needed

iGaming

Mathias Dahms, founder and CEO BetterBet Sportwetten & President of the new German Sportsbetting Association, has expressed frustration that online poker and casino were still illegal in Germany. He told delegates at EIG that given both poker and casino were at least as big as sportsbetting in the country, there is a real need to regulate the markets.

Digital progression for Rank’s Grosvenor brand

BWIN’S PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN FLAT HEADING INTO WINTER

CASINO

he Rank Group CEO Henry Birch has been optimistic on his firm’s recent advances in the digital gambling sphere after the group announced a 3 per cent increase in like-for-like revenues for the 15 week period to 12 October 2014 driven by the performance of the Grosvenor Casinos brand. Birch commented: “The Group has had a good start to the financial year and I am pleased with the improvements seen in our Grosvenor Casinos brand, particularly in its digital channel, and the actions to strengthen the performance of our Mecca brand are showing some positive signs. “We continue to work on our strategic priorities outlined in our 2014 preliminary results announcement and expect to provide a more detailed update at our forthcoming interims in January 2015.” Among the 5 per cent increase in revenues experience by the Grosvenor Casinos division was a huge jump in digital revenues. Improvements in VIP management, a growing customer base driven by cross-sell from land-based venues and the impact of the Grosvenor Casinos branded live casino (launched November 2013) drove revenues up 71 per cent in the period. Digital revenues for Mecca Bingo in the 15-week period also rose by a more modest 4 per cent driven by the recent TV marketing campaign and a more competitive sign up bonus. The group has five strategic priorities, one of which is to create a compelling multi-channel offer given Rank’s position as one of the few operators with both remote and land-based operations. It explains: “We will build on this position by investing in a range of improvements designed to make it simpler, more convenient and more rewarding for customers to engage with us across multiple channels. These improvements include the development of a single customer account, a single customer wallet and a single customer rewards programme. These are large and complex programmes which will take time to deliver but which we believe will give Rank an important competitive advantage.” The group said its performance in the period has been in line with management’s expectations and the board remains confident in the Group’s prospects for the year. However it is on the lookout for a new managing director of Mecca and, in the intervening period until an appointment is made, Henry Birch is acting as interim Mecca managing director.

Continual fall in poker revenues stifling Bwin.party While sportsbook benefited from the World Cup, the other gaming channels have struggled in the third quarter. It’s all as planned for Bwin. CASINO

win.party has reported a Q3 performance ‘in-line’ with expectations, but the firm’s gaming side of the business has continued to struggle. The company saw its casino net revenue down 3 per cent with higher cross-sell from sports, offset by a soft poker performance and the loss of the Greek market. Indeed, poker net revenue was down a huge 25 per cent, although the firm said there has been sequential growth since the end of July. Even bingo net revenue dropped by 1 per cent despite a solid performance in the UK as the Italian operations underperformed. Total group revenue for Q3 2014 was actually up 2 per cent to 148.7m euro, and this figure jumps up to 4 per cent if the Greek market is removed from results. The company’s decision to exit Greece has meant that revenue from nationally regulated and/or taxed markets represented 56 per cent of total revenue. CEO Norbert Teufelberger said: “Our overall revenue performance in the third quarter was in-line with our

expectations whilst Clean EBITDA margins have benefited from our previously announced cost savings. We continue to make good progress on expanding our mobile footprint and our presence in nationally regulated and/or taxed markets and we remain confident about the full year outlook. “Our transition to a labelled organisation structure is well-advanced and we remain on course to achieve our target of 15m euro of incremental savings next year. As we enter the seasonally strong fourth quarter we are continuing to launch a number of new products including the latest version of our mobile sports product that will also include embedded casino games.” Bwin.party continues to expand its casino portfolio and added 26 new games in the third quarter, six of which are available on mobile. The amount wagered actually increased by 8 per cent to 1,784.2m euro, driven by increased cross-selling from sports-betting, but a drop in the average gross win margin to 3.5 per cent from 3.8 per cent reflected a shift in games mix towards table games and this meant that average daily

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

revenue was down 3 per cent to 527,200 euro. The 25 per cent decline in poker to 17.5m reflected yearon-year declines earlier in the year, but the company seems a little more upbeat now. It explained: “Since the end of July 2014, poker trends have improved, driven by a series of product upgrades with the focus on mobile as well as measures to improve the overall player mix and a more attractive tournament schedule. “More recently, revenues have benefited from the integration of our technology platforms in France during September. The integration was accompanied by the launch of the latest version of our poker software for bwin customers as well as the launch of new mobile extensions on both Android and iOS. Approximately 7 per cent of poker’s gross gaming revenue came through mobile and touch in September 2014 versus 3 per cent a year earlier and whilst we have seen good growth through this channel, year-on-year declines elsewhere meant that average net daily revenues fell by 25 per cent in the third quarter to 190,200 euro.”

ANALYSIS Of course some of the biggest problems for a multinational operation such as Bwin.party are the shifting political sands. The firm admits: “Whilst the position in Germany, the group’s largest market, remains unclear, we were pleased to have been approved to receive a licence for sports betting, although it is not yet possible to operate using this licence as the whole licensing process as well as the regulatory framework itself are subject to legal challenge.” The company is also looking at ‘an attractive commercial regulatory framework’ in Bulgaria while expecting an additional 500,000 euro with the implementation of VAT on French poker revenues in the new year.

HENRY BIRCH, RANK CEO AND ACTING MD OF MECCA

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BB122-p04-08-iGaming_09/10 04/11/2014 17:36 Page 3

Social games partnership extended Japanese social and mobile game developer gloops has announced the extension of its official social gaming partnership with Manchester United. Hideyuki Ikeda, gloops chief executive, said: “Through our social game ‘European Club Team Soccer Best Eleven Plus’, we at gloops hope to increase the number of football and Manchester United fans, as well as providing entertainment to more people with our various games.”

iGaming Intertain has secured a deal which will see the firm gain operations in the lucrative Scandinavian online gaming market.

EARLIER THIS YEAR INTERTAIN ACQUIRED COSTA BINGO OWNER MANDALAY MEDIA

ACQUISITION

anadian gaming group The Intertain Group is to consolidate the market further after agreeing to buy Maltabased operator Vera&John for 81m euro, with a potential of another 10 per cent should the firm perform to certain standards. Earlier on this year Intertain, which is behind the Intertops and Intercasino brands, acquired The Mandalay Group for a potential £60m and this latest purchase is to help the firm diversify from the UK online bingo market. Intertain revealed that it has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire Vera&John parent company Dumarca Holdings Limited using 44.5m euro in cash and 36.5m euro in common shares. The earn out period requires Vera&John to generate EBITDA over 10.1m euro in both 2015 and 2016, with a bonus payout cap of 8.1m euro. Based on current runrate results, the company said it expects to make the full Earn Out payment. John Kennedy FitzGerald, CEO of Intertain,

Intertain sorted for Vera&John explained the rationale behind the deal: “Vera&John provides immediate accretion and meaningful operating cash flow to our business and gives us access to the growing Nordic markets. Furthermore, Vera&John has developed and owns a fully-integrated, proprietary software offering, giving us future flexibility with respect to our business. Vera&John also has a mobile platform, including a leading mobile casino, with 35 per cent of their expected 2014 sales being generated through this growing medium.” Dumarca Holdings director Dan Anderson added: “We are very excited about this transaction and feel both parties bring excellent value going forward. We reviewed alternatives to this deal and felt Intertain was the best partner, given their aligned interest and excit-

ANALYSIS According to H2 Gambling Capital, the Nordic region interactive casino market grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 36.6 per cent from 2003 to 2013. As this compares favourably to the World CAGR of 14.2 per cent during the same period, it is obvious why Intertain was interested. H2 Gambling Capital also suggested that win per adult in 2014 is expected to average 350 euro across the Nordic region, respectively, versus 137 euro for Europe as a whole.

ing growth prospects. We are committed to this partnership as shown in our material ownership in Intertain going forward.” Vera&John will give Intertain a fully-integrated global online casino, operating in 11 countries with three core brands: Vera&John, Vera&Juan and Vera&John Social. Vera&John generates approximately 75 per cent of its sales from the Nordic region, which will give Intertain access to a growing and large market. Intertain is also inter-

ested in the firm’s high cash flow conversion. Given favourable tax treatment, low maintenance CAPEX and negative working capital requirements, Vera&John has historically achieved an operating cash flow to EBITDA conversion rate of approximately 100 per cent. Intertain is also happy to inherit an experienced and aligned Management Team. As part of the Acquisition, Intertain will be acquiring approximately 103 employees, including the senior

management team of Vera&John. The management team has extensive experience in the field of online casinos and has a track record of growing Vera&John. The management team and founders of Vera&John will also be aligned with Intertain, given that they will own approximately 13 per cent of Intertain on a fullydiluted pro forma basis. They will also be incentivised through the Earn Out provision and employment compensation, which will be tied directly to Vera&John’s and Intertain’s financial results. The acquisition is subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence and negotiation and settlement of definitive documentation, which is expected to be completed in December 2014, as well as regulatory approvals.

Atari hits gambling sector with social casino SOCIAL

ame developer Atari has launched Atari Jackpots in partnership with FlowPlay, the virtual world expert and the creator of Vegas World. The Atari-themed virtual world brings casino-style play to an online, multi-player game – with classic Atari brands including Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, and Missile Command. As the first release ofAtari Jackpots, users can expect additional games and elements in the coming months. Atari Jackpots features a full suite of virtual currency casual casino games and social environments, all featuring Atari favourites. In the Centipede-themed poolside area, players can chat in a giant indoor ball pit, and get up close and personal with the one and only iconic Centipede. The Breakout dance club offers a social environment where players can exchange Asteroids Bonus Charms, which increase virtual currency payouts while

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

playing casino games. Upon entering Atari Jackpots, players will be drawn into a virtual casino with slots branded from Asteroids, Breakout, Centipede, Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Tempest, Gravitar, and Crystal Castles. Additional single- and multi-player games have also been incorporated including blackjack, video poker, solitaire, and bingo. A Centipede-branded version of soli-

taire, and Bonus Charms inspired by Atari favourites will be incorporated in the coming months. Atari Jackpotswill be available worldwide in several languages including English, Portuguese, Romanian, and French. Fred Chesnais, chief executive officer at Atari, Inc, said: “This first release of Atari Jackpots is a step into online casinos, leveraging the rapidly growing interest in social

casinos to offer a fun experience. We wanted to engage rapidly with our loyal fans, get their feedback in order to decide upon the additional features to be released to further improve the Atari Jackpots experience.” Derrick Morton, CEO of Atari’s technology partner FlowPlay, added: “The entrance of an iconic gaming company like Atari into the social casino space speaks volumes to the direction of the gaming industry. Millions of people around the world are engaging in casino-style games through a virtual world environment. With Atari Jackpots, users can play the casino games they love, branded with the games they grew up playing.” Atari Jackpots is the first of several upcoming initiatives that Atari is pursuing within the online gambling space. The company has also partnered with Pariplay to develop a real-money gaming product, Atari Casino, which is currently in development and scheduled for release in late 2014.

iGAMINGBRIEFS BITCOIN BLACKJACK

BitCasino.io has announced a new bitcoin blackjack table - the first of its kind in bitcoin gaming – to complement its 200+ HD bitcoin games. Players can bet from 1mBTC (roughly 40 US cents) up to 600mBTC (US$230), playing up to five hands at once. This new bitcoin blackjack game builds on BitCasino.io’s successful first nine months of operation, acquiring over 50,000 players and paying out thousands of bitcoin, including a recent 65BTC (US$25,000) jackpot win in October. The casino has also undergone a full redesign, providing an improved user experience and allowing players to get in on the action through their mobile. MR GREEN TO FIGHT TAX DEMAND

Malta based igaming operator Mr Green & Co is set to challenge an Austrian tax liability of DEK 100m (£8.5m). The operator’s Austrian tax challenge relates to 2011 tax laws which required all online casino operators to pay 40 per cent on gross gaming revenues generated by Austrian players. Mr Green & Co believesthat the online casino tax legislation fails to comply with Austrian constitutional legislations as well as EU directives. Tommy Trollborg, chairman of the Board of Directors for Mr Green & Co, commented: “We are contesting this liability to pay taxes, However, the implications of losing such a legal process are so far reaching that Mr Green has chosen to inform about the self-disclosure to the Austrian tax authorities.” MOBILE CONTRIBUTES 29 PER CENT

Figures from research firm MECN suggest that on average operators generate 29 per cent of their total online revenue (across all segments/verticals) via mobile channels (using Q2 / H1 2014 figures). Best practice is found at Paddy Power where 52 per cent of the revenue comes via the mobile channels, followed by Norsk Tipping with 42 per cent. The firm also found that on average the operators analysed generate 43 per cent of their total online betting stakes/revenue via mobile channels over the same period.

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BB122-p10-14-Betting_09/10 05/11/2014 16:01 Page 1

Betting Non-licensed operators could still advertise in the UK

Betfred works on smarter mobile marketing messaging

Those brands who decided to duck out from the UK point of consumption licensing may still be able to advertise. ADVERTISING

alternative arguable position that blocking access to British consumers is sufficient) will be wholly reliant on that operator having appropriate and effective measures in place to block access to British consumers if they are to avoid committing an offence of unlawful advertising. “In addition to the legal risks indicated, the Commission has policy and operational reasons for its opposition to non-remote advertising (for example, shirt sponsorship) of unli-

ators and the carriers of advertising as to who is and is not able to advertise. This is important because without such clarity compliance and enforcement of the advertising provisions would be more complex and costly; costs borne by the licensed industry through their fees.” Law firm Olswang has suggested that the stipulation that it be made clear that the service is not available in GB does not have a clear legal basis, so even this caveat may yet be removed. ACTION IMAGES / ALEX MORTON

ne of the main reasons behind some operators applying for a GB licence under the new point of consumption regulations may now be moot as the Gambling Commission has now suggested that non-licensed operators may be allowed to advertise under certain conditions. Previously the Commission has maintained that non-licensed operators were not allowed to advertise or sponsor teams and events, even if the operators themselves did not take any UK customers. In a letter to sports governing bodies last week, the regulator said: “We are aware that in some cases commercial partnership arrangements (which include sponsorship) are in place between sports clubs or bodies and remote gambling operators who do not hold a Commission licence (i.e. those who purport not to be making services available to consumers in Great Britain). Those operators cannot in our view advertise their betting services without both making it clear in the product as advertised and in reality that betting is not available to those in Britain.” The Commission is still seriously opposed to the practice, warning that those accepting sponsorship ‘risk assisting unlicensed operators provide gambling facilities illegally to those in Britain’. In an updated FAQ, it added: “The Commission also notes that blocking technology is not 100 per cent reliable and that it is possible for consumers to circumvent blocking measures; sports clubs carrying advertising from unlicensed operators (and taking the

“Sports clubs would, of course, be expected to take their own legal advice but, as stated before, we would strongly encourage sporting organisations with existing commercial relationships, in their own interests, to take effective steps to ensure that such of their sponsors as do not hold an operating licence issued by the Commission block access to British consumers and have made it clear that their betting product is not available to those in Britain. “It is not for the Commission to seek to prescribe how unlicensed operators communicate with potential customers via their advertising but we believe that there would be a real risk of an offence being committed if those advertisements did not make clear that the particular product was not available to consumers in Britain.” ANALYSIS

FIRMS WITHOUT A UK LICENCE SUCH AS SBOBET CAN SEEMINGLY SPONSOR CLUBS AGAIN

censed remote gambling. These include ensuring that those advertising remote gambling in Britain are all subject to the provisions around reporting suspicious betting activity and the general player protection framework. A general presumption against nonremote advertising of unlicensed gambling provides greater clarity to oper-

In a statement clarifying the issue, the Commission stated: “Our letter to sports governing bodies was aimed at providing guidance to those bodies and their members in the context of the transition to the new licensing regime and alerting them to the risks of inadvertently committing the offence of advertising unlawful gambling.

The about turn is a pretty major one and seemingly stems from the fact that a legal challenge would probably find that illegal gambling would not be advertised if all UK players were blocked. Of course it is the blocking of the UK players that is key and the Gambling Commission has squarely put the ball in the court of the bodies carrying the sponsorship/advertise to police this eventuality. The tone of the regulator’s advice suggests that it won’t hesitate to punish any transgressions in order to make its point and essentially make it a question of whether taking a non-licensed brand’s money is riskier than it’s worth.

MICHELLE LIVINGSTONE: AN ADVOCATE OF DEEP LINKING IN MARKETING MESSAGES

MOBILE

etfred’s focus on the mobile platform has been paying dividends in recent times, according to its CRM Manager Michelle Livingstone, who was speaking on the subject of retention strategies at last month’s EiG show in Berlin. Livingstone revealed that the firm has seen a 17 per cent growth in mobile sportsbook since 2013 and that 60 per cent of its games revenue comes from the mobile platform. Over the past 16 months Betfred has poured resources into mobile operation, as it’s through this platform that the bookmaker is enjoying increased interaction with its audience. Livingstone said that while Betfred is not forgetting its web-based players, especially as they have a good lifetime value, those who switch to mobile use Betfred products for an extra half day on average, meaning that investment in this area is very much justified. Betfred has also found that the churn rate for players after entering its app once or twice was 80 per cent and so decided to revamp its customer journey in order to reduce the churn. The operator also discovered that players who had opened the app within the previous two

days were 75-80 per cent more likely to respond to marketing messages than players who had not accessed the app for 15+ days. Livingstone added that by using greater customer segmentation, ie separating out players via favourite sport but also via certain habits and typical times of play, the company managed to double the success of its marketing messaging despite cutting the number of messages sent out by a huge 75 per cent. She added that while push messaging via the app was a very strong method of communication, it was also very intrusive and that Betfred apps always asked the users if they would permit push messaging rather than alienate a potentially good customer. She explained that deep linking in marketing messages that takes people straight through to the betslip was a key factor in their success. Livingstone revealed that Betfred found that the earlier a customer engages with the website before a sporting event, the more financially lucrative it was for the bookmaker, and that follow-up offers on unused marketing messages helped boost response rates considerably.

sales@ingg.com www.ingg.com

10 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

BB122-p10-14-Betting_09/10 04/11/2014 17:39 Page 2

Boost for GVC

Betting

GVC Holdings, owner of the Sportingbet brand, has said that it achieved a 24 per cent increase in NGR for Q3 and that trading is strong across all major territories and brands, reflecting the company’s focus on achieving a World Cup legacy through its brand-building and marketing initiatives over the last year.

ACTION IMAGES / JASON CAIRNDUFF

ANALYSIS GERMANY ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES TO HAVE WON DURING THE WORLD CUP

Ladbrokes wants more bookmakers to join Senet

Many analysts still sceptical about Ladbrokes would point to the fact that the World Cup should have given the bookmaker a boost anyway, but there was growth away from this summer’s premier football tournament. In Q3 the group generated stakes of £33.9m on the World Cup, an increase of 44 per cent over the 2010 event and a strong overall gross win margin of 28.0 per cent. But excluding the World Cup, group net revenue would have still increased by 10.0 per cent; UK Retail by 3.8 per cent and Digital by 16.8 per cent. The World Cup also had a positive performance on telephone net revenue (up £2.9m) and high rollers (up 41.4 per cent).

On the back of a positive Q3 performance, Ladbrokes has also called for other operators to join the fledgling Senet Group. RESPONSIBILITY

adbrokes CEO Richard Glynn has said that he hopes other bookmakers will join the Senet Group, the new standards body which hopes to address social responsibility concerns through shared best practice and voluntary restrictions. At its launch in September, Senet comprised of Ladbrokes, William Hill, Paddy Power and Gala Coral, but there is a view that the majority of the industry would need to get behind the organisation to ensure it carries sufficient authority. The operators has already agreed to self-impose a 9pm watershed on ‘sign-up’ offers in the new year and it will no doubt have another initiative when the Responsible Gambling Trust publishes its research programme next month. The

research aims to determine whether data can assist in identifying customers exhibiting characteristics that could be associated with problem behaviour. Glynn made the comments after Ladbrokes announced a positive performance for its Q3 operations, which saw a 13 per cent increase in group net revenue, and group operating profit almost doubling to £33.0m. “Ladbrokes is on track,” Glynn said. “The major operational improvements completed in H1 are now delivering growth. Our performance in the World Cup and throughout Q3 demonstrate that we are competing successfully and winning customers. In Digital, our sportsbetting offer continues to perform well with net revenue up over 50 per cent

driven by mobile. In Gaming we are encouraged to see a return to growth. In UK Retail, our focus on football continues to deliver good growth. Our gaming machines performed ahead of our expectations while we have, simultaneously, enhanced standards in social responsibility.” He added: “We entered the final part of 2014 with a competitive and attractive offer. We have achieved much operationally in 2014, with further opportunities to drive revenue in 2015 and beyond. Q4 has started in line with our plans and, with usual sporting results, we will deliver full year results in line with our expectations.” Sportsbook amounts staked increased by 21.6 per cent driven by another quarter of strong performance in mobile where actives increased by 80

per ceny and stakes by 113 per cent. Sportsbook gross win margin was 8.9 per cent benefitting from a strong World Cup in H2, which had a gross win margin 18.5 per cent, and better football results compared with Q3 2013. Again the final phase of the World Cup helped Ladbrokes Retail business, with a Q3 gross win margin of 32.6 per cent. The improved football results also delivered OTC net revenue growth of 6.3 per cent and an overall gross win margin of 17.0 per cent, up 2.1 percentage points up on Q3 2013. However OTC staking declined by 7.9 per cent, impacted by higher football margins and a continued decline in staking on horseracing. However, for the first three quarters of 2014 OTC staking was up 0.5 per cent.

Sports betting delayed in New Jersey again USA

he US state of New Jersey has had its plans to permit sportsbetting put on hiatus by US District Judge Michael Shipp after a challenge by four of the country’s biggest sports. The judge issued a temporary restraining order based on a request by the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The leagues’ lawsuit against the state to permanently prevent it from allowing sports betting will now proceed. New Jersey governor Chris Christie signed a law on 17 October that effectively repealed the state’s ban on sports wagering and allowed sports betting at racetracks and casinos, which is when the sports leapt into action. “This is a temporary order while the core issues surrounding sports wagering in New Jersey are fully considered by the court,” Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for Christie, said in a statement. In an opinion read in court, Judge Shipp said the leagues had demonstrated they would be ‘irreparably harmed’ if sports betting was allowed. “More legal gambling leads to more total gambling, which in turns leads to an increased incentive to fix plaintiffs’ matches,” he said. The decision is bad news for New Jersey, which earlier this year lost a constitutional challenge to the federal law that bans state-sponsored sports gambling. Strangely though, the judge also extended the ban to other sports, such as soccer, even though the effect of betting on football on the integrity of the appealing sports is tenuous at best. Monmouth Park, a thoroughbred race track in Oceanport, had planned to offer sports betting the following Sunday, using betting technology partner William Hill, but that too has been delayed.

Bet365 signs on for another three years ookmaker Bet365 has extended its sponsorship of the two day Bet365 Meeting at Sandown Park Racecourse for a further three years. Taking place at the end of April each year, the two day festival features the Grade 1 Bet365 Celebration Chase and Grade 3 Bet365 Gold Cup Steeple Chase. 2014 saw the first year of a new format, Bet365 Flat Friday and Bet365 Jump Finale on the Saturday, which was hugely successful and will be continued. Rupert Trevelyan, London regional director,

ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

MARKETING

The Jockey Club, said: “We are delighted to announce that we will be working with Bet365 for a further three years on a fantastic meeting that both launches Sandown Park’s Flat season, and celebrates the official end of the Jump season.

12 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

BET365 HAS PARTNERED WITH SANDOWN PARK FOR ANOTHER THREE YEARS

“Bet365 has shown a real commitment to this meeting for many years – first sponsoring it in 2008. This new agreement will take their involvement to ten years by the running of the 2017 meeting, and Sandown Park is immensely grateful for

their support.” Steve Ibberson of Bet365 added: “It has been a real pleasure working with Sandown Park, helping to evolve the bet365 Meeting into one of racing’s signature events. The time and effort from all those

involved in driving the improvements have been considerable and it now stands as a true celebration of racing marking the official end of the Jump season. We look forward to working with Sandown Park for a further three years and propelling the Bet365 Meeting to even greater heights.” Meanwhile Irish bookmaker BetBright has announced that Cambridgeshire FA has become the latest partner of its Grassroots football fund raising scheme, BetBright Grassroots. The fundraising initiative sees the sports betting operator donate a £40 bounty to football sup-

porters of Cambridgeshire non-league football clubs who register and deposit £25 on BetBright.com. Commenting on the new partnership with Cambridgeshire FA, a BetBright company statement said: “This partnership will further consolidate our position as staunch supporters of the Grassroots game at every level throughout the nation. The start of September saw BetBright Grassroots reach over £50,000 paid out to grassroots clubs from every corner of the UK. This figure is now closer to £65,000 with new clubs signing up daily to benefit from the scheme.”

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Barnes signs new contract

Betting

Titanbet.co.uk has signed former Liverpool and England star John Barnes as a brand ambassador for their new UK-facing sportsbook. Spokesman Russell Yershon said: “I’m confident John will have great resonance among football punters who remember his mazy runs in one of English football’s most successful teams. More importantly, he will give us a platform to position ourselves in the UK market alongside the more established players.”

Australian Government to investigate impact of offshore bookmakers

BETTINGBRIEFS CORAL ON THE APP

A new national working group will be established to tackle the increasing impact of illegal offshore wagering on Australian racing and sports. AUSTRALIA

he Australian Wa g e r i n g Council (AWC) has warned that piecemeal reform of Australia’s wagering laws would not stem the flow of business to nonlicensed operators after the announcement of a new national working group to tackle the increasing impact of offshore wagering on racing and sports. The new Illegal Offshore Wagering Working Group will be established under the Australian Government’s Gambling Industry Advisory Council and will include representatives from the racing industry, professional sports and wagering organisations. AWC chief executive Chris Downy echoed the recent calls by Tabcorp chair Paula Dwyer for a federal ban on unlicensed offshore operators from taking Australian bets, but warned that, such a step is only one of a number of necessary reforms to the Interactive Gambling Act 2001, if it is to be effective into the future. Downy commented: “For

some time, AWC members have been warning governments of the dangers posed by black-market, offshore operators. Illegal offshore operators (and local SP bookmakers) pay no product fees or taxes in Australia and have no commitment to policies of responsible gambling or harm minimisation for clients. They do not have information sharing agreements with racing and sporting bodies to assist in the detection of unusual or suspicious betting activity. The online wagering industry in Australia plays a vital role in both the funding and the protection of the integrity of Australian racing and sport. The industry must be regulated in a way that ensures its competitiveness in a global environment.” Federal Minister for Social Services Kevin Andrews said the working group saying it was critical to stamp out illegal offshore wagering: “There are significant numbers of illegitimate offshore operators already targeting Australian racing and sport and it is vital that

an effective regulatory regime be introduced to address the serious integrity and revenue risks that they pose. “It is also important to discourage any Australianbased operators being tempted to relocate offshore in order to avoid the obligations to racing and sporting bodies that they face under existing Australian laws. There are already Australian headquartered organisations that are operating in this way by basing their betting operations in unregulated international jurisdictions including in the Pacific and Asia regions.” Premier of Victoria and Minister for Racing Denis Napthine added that it was in bookmakers’ interests to pay the product fees as it helps keep racing healthy. “Wagering revenue streams are important contributors to the funding of racing and sports facilities, implementation of integrity measures, prize money and participant payments and other operational costs. “It is unfair that legitimate Australian-based and regis-

DENIS NAPTHINE: ‘WAGERING REVENUE STREAMS ARE IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTORS’

tered bookmakers pay the product fee required of them by racing and sports bodies while offshore bookmakers effectively pirate Australian product.” The working group will be asked to provide recommendations through which the Australian Government, State Governments and/or racing and sports bodies can minimise the threats of unauthorised offshore wagering. A final report including recommendations will be provided to the Federal Government through its Gambling Industry Advisory Council in 2015. Napthine commented: “The working group will be asked to examine the regulatory regimes in international jurisdictions that may have an application within Australia and to also look at all other technological and legislative options available.”

ANALYSIS It appears that Australia is going through the phase of working out how to police the offshore market with all the problems that brings. AWC, which has members such as Bet365, Betfair, Ladbrokes, Sportsbet, William Hill and Unibet, has some strong views on what needs to be changed – and it’s not all restrictive. It includes the introduction of mechanisms for transaction blocking by financial institutions or IP blocking by internet service providers; and the adoption of a ‘platform neutral approach to online in play betting, permitting Australians to bet on live sporting events online as well as over the telephone or in retail outlets’.

Unibet adds protections to its Twitter feed

CHANGES IN FORTUNA

Czech sports betting operator Fortuna Entertainment Group has announced the departures of CFO Michal Vep ek and CMO Zden k Lang after an agreement with the firm’s majority shareholder. Both will continue to head their respective departments until the end of the year, while gradually handing over their agendas to their successors. Vep ek said: “After nearly five years with the company, I have decided to take up a new challenge in my career.” Lang added: “Fortuna has over the past three years transformed from being retail-oriented to internet-oriented. Serving as a member of the Fortuna management team during this period has been a compelling professional and personal experience for me.” MGD INCREASE MAKES HART STOP

SWEDEN

nibet has become the latest sports betting operator to strengthen its player protection initiatives by launching an age verification monitor to its English language Twitter feed. Twitter followers are now required to enter their date of birth in order to follow the operator’s Twitter feed, latest news and player promotions. Unibet management has followed the same player protection initiatives undertaken by William Hill and Gala Coral, who in September announced that age verification monitors would be implemented throughout their social media channels. The Swedish bookmaker has also posted a record quarter performance seeing net profits for Q3 dou-

Coral has launched a Football Jackpot app for iOS and Android. The Coral Football Jackpot app is a digital version of the Football Jackpot coupons that are have been available in Coral’s 1,800 shops since the start of last season. Users of the app will have the option of making their own selections of choosing a random ‘Lucky Dip’ option. Matt Prevost, marketing director for Coral Interactive, commented: “Following the huge success of our new Coral Football Jackpot pool product, we’re now very excited to be taking the next step and launching the Football Jackpot app for our online and mobile customers.

figure of £14.1m. During the period the Swedish operator had recorded its highest rate of active customers, reporting active player numbers of 573,000 - up 25 per cent on Q3 2013. Unibet senior management confirmed that increase player activity had been aided by major sporting events such as the 2014 World Cup and improved player offerings on Unibet product verticals. Unibet said it will conUNIBET CEO HENRIK tinue to focus on optimisTJÄRNSTRÖM ing its player experience and engagement throughout its gaming verticals, bling to £16.5m because of £80.4m. The operator was and the operator pointed high levels of player activity able to record gains in all out to new ‘native’ prodduring the period. performance indicators ucts such as Spin City Unibet Group witnessed during the Q3 period with a which it had launched for a 25 per cent increase in positive EBITDA of £21.7m its mobile casino. gross win revenues to far higher than last year’s In its Q3 performance

14 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

statement, Unibet confirmed that it would continue to invest in its native poker vertical, which has established popular European live event – The Unibet Open. Commenting on corporate performance, CEO Henrik Tjärnström said: “Despite absorbing a 45 per cent increase in betting duties, Unibet delivered a 54 per cent growth in EBITDA compared with last year which shows the scalability of our business model. Unibet’s focus on re-regulated markets demonstrates that it is possible, with sustainable market conditions, to drive efficiency and increased profitability while reducing overall corporate risk.”

Windsor-based independent bookmaker Hart of Racing has closed because of the increasing tax burden on the betting shop. Owner Dawn Philips said she could no longer maintain operations under new retail betting tax regimes which sees a 25 per cent rate of MGD introduced next year. Philips told the Royal Borough Observer: “I feel sorry for the community. For a lot of the people here it was a lifeline for them to come in on a Saturday, get out of the house, have some tea, coffee and biscuits and bet on the racing. It was nice for people, especially those that live on their own and that has been taken away from them.”

BB122-p16-18-Politics_09/10 04/11/2014 12:03 Page 1

Politics The industry is working with Merseyside Police to help prevent crime in betting shops before it happens.

Merseyside Police launches campaign against LBO crime

CRIME

etting shop operators and Merseyside Police have launched a campaign called ‘Robbery - Odds on you’ll get caught’ to drive home the message in the run up to Christmas that people who rob or commit a crime in a betting shop will be caught and jailed.

‘Gamble Watch’ is a cooperation between police, environmental health, Gambling Commission, betting shops, amusement arcades and bingo halls, who are all working together to prevent business robberies and share information. Posters and leaflets have been distributed to every business of this type across Merseyside in the run to Christmas to educate staff on how to report suspicious behaviour and ensure they have maximum security measures in place. This follows meetings between the police and betting shop to share information about incidents of crime and identify ways of working closely to tackle and prevent them from taking place. Chief Inspector Jenny Sims, who is leading the police’s response to retail crime, said betting shops, convenience stores and off-licences were not the easy targets that crimi-

nals thought they were. She said: “Criminals who target bookmakers are facing increasingly lengthy prison sentences for very little reward indeed. The betting industry and police in Merseyside work very closely together to ensure only the bare minimum amounts of cash are accessible at the premises and security measures are always used. The end result is that between April and August, we only had seven betting shops robbed in Merseyside and the amount stolen was around £50. However, the offenders in those cases will face in the region of five or even ten years in prison when caught so my question to them would be: is it really worth it because the odds are you will get caught.” The force has teamed up with all the large bookmakers in the county to launch ‘Gamble-watch’ where information about anything from the latest security measures to how staff can better identify suspicious behaviour in their shops is shared and acted on. Sims added: “Business robberies are not victimless crimes. Many of our bookmakers are run by local people who just want to earn a living and provide for their families. The person serving behind the counter could be someone’s mum, sister or grandmother

yet these criminals think nothing of pointing a gun at them and screaming at them to open the till or safe. Some of these people will be left permanently traumatised by such an incident so it is important that we keep working with the betting industry and the local communities where these criminals hide to continue to reduce the number of robberies here on Merseyside.” Peter Craske of the Association of British Bookmakers added: “Betting shop operators want customers and staff to be as safe as possible and we are pleased to work with Merseyside Police on this campaign. We want to be clear - if you try and rob a betting shop and put customers and staff at risk, the odds are you will be caught. “This includes having high quality CCTV images which help the police catch criminals and provide evidence in court cases. All our members work to the guidelines set out in the Safe Bet Alliance, which is a national set of guidelines to prevent robberies of betting shops. The work of the alliance has won awards and been endorsed by the Association of Chief Police Officers, and we want to work closely with the police and local authorities to protect our customers and staff.”

ANALYSIS Local link-ups with crime prevention groups have proved effective for the industry in recent times. Official police stats show that The Safe Bet Alliance, which sets guidelines for betting shops to prevent and reduce crime, has really proved effective - not only did it lead to a 60 per cent reduction in robberies of London betting shops in the first two years after it came into effect, figures published earlier in the year show betting shops have among the lowest level of high street business crime. Of course statistics don’t always tell the whole story, but any initiative educating would-be robbers that, contrary to general belief, betting shops aren’t hugely cash rich environments is to be welcomed. After all, who wants to risk a prison sentence for a couple of hundred quid?

Winnings to be forfeited for those who break self-exclusion orders SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

he Gambling Commission is seeking views on whether excluded people should have any winnings held back if they break their own exclusion order. The Responsible Gambling Council, an Ontario-based independent non-profit organisation dedicated to problem gambling prevention, have recently published a report about the withholding of winnings as part of self-exclusion agreements. It sets out the rationale for a policy of disallowing winnings from gamblers who are self-excluded from gaming venues as follows: “At an intuitive level, it makes sense that if self-

excluded gamblers could not keep their winnings, they would be less inclined to breach their bans. After all, winning money is one of the most common reasons that people cite for gambling at casinos.” While leisure gamblers tend to view winning as a potential benefit but not the primary reason to gamble, but this is not the case those who gamble compulsively. The RGC report comments: “These individuals are much more inclined to see gambling as a way to acquire money. The practice of disallowing winnings from self-excluded individuals is intended to take

16 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

away a prime motivation for breaching a self-exclusion agreement.” Advice from the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board seems to back this up: “Operators could be required to check anyone who claims a large payout against their database of self-excluded persons, with this, and other consequences of breaches, need to clearly be spelt out in the self- exclusion agreement.” This has led the Gambling Commission to propose a social responsibility code provision that would require winnings to be withheld from those who have breached a

self-exclusion agreement, and the regulator is looking for industry feedback. The Commission commented: “The benefit of this measure would be to provide individuals who had selfexcluded with a disincentive to breach their agreement. To be effective, the practice would need to be widely publicised and transparent to anyone entering into a selfexclusion agreement. Gambling companies should seek to ensure they did not benefit financially from breaches of self-exclusion, however, for example by donating the winnings and the stake to charities.”

European Commission takes action over Swedish betting laws SWEDEN

he European Commission has referred Sweden to the Court of Justice of the EU in relation to two disputes over Swedish legislation for gambling services. In November 2013 the Commission asked Sweden to take action to ensure compliance of its national rules with EU law in the areas of online betting services and online poker services, but the Commission has said it does not consider the Swedish reactions to these requests as satisfactory. A statement by the Commission said: “Consequently, Sweden is referred to the Court of Justice for imposing restrictions on the organisation and promotion of online betting services in a way which is inconsistent with EU law. The Commission considers that the way that the Swedish exclusive right system for sport betting is organised is inconsistent with the aim of achieving the public policy objectives of preventing problem gambling and criminal activities and lacks the necessary state control. Changes to the Swedish gambling law in order to make it compliant with EU law have long been envisaged but never implemented.” In the second case, the referral to the Court of Justice is based on restrictions on the provision and promotion of online poker games. The Commission is of the opinion that the exclusive right holder is not subject to adequate control by the Swedish authorities and that the restrictive policy in the area of poker games is not consistent as the Swedish authorities tolerate the unauthorised offer and promotion of poker games. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) consider this something of a breakthrough because it is the first time that the EC has taken a Member State to Court over its online gambling legislation. A number of other pending cases are ready to be referred and in November 2013 new infringement proceedings were additionally opened. Maarten Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA, said: “EGBA fully supports and commends the EC for taking this decision. This is a breakthrough that shows a strong commitment to upholding fundamental European freedoms. Sweden was given many years to bring its legislation into conformity but regretfully there was little commitment to change.” He added: “EGBA fully expects other Member States to soon be referred to the Court. There is a long list of pending cases that are ready to be taken to Court. No Member State regardless of its size should be exempt from scrutiny. However, EGBA stands ready to support any Member State that now decides to reform their legislation to ensure compliance with EU rules.”

MAARTEN HAIJER: ‘EGBA FULLY SUPPORTS AND COMMENDS THE EC FOR TAKING THIS DECISION’

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B2 cut still possible

Politics

UK culture minister Ed Vaizey has not ruled out cutting B2 stakes to a maximum £2. In a recent Parliamentary debate he said: “It is certainly our intention to keep an open mind on this issue. The government will consider all the relevant evidence fairly and openly and will act accordingly.”

RGA presses for action against restrictive Greek laws

POLITICSBRIEFS LEVY WOULD YIELD AN EXTRA £10M-£30M

According to the RGA, the only viable long term market for online gambling in Greece is one that is open to multiple licensees. But OPAP still holds all the cards. GREECE

he Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has outlined its concerns about the Greek online gambling regime at the Greek Gaming Conference and has made the case, instead, for the introduction of an open, regulated and fairly taxed market that would be to the benefit of both the government and Greek consumers. The RGA has consistently stated that the only viable long term market for online gambling in Greece is one that is open to multiple licensees who can provide the value, choice and range of products that are demanded by consumers. This is the only way to ensure that customers get the protection of a Greek licensing system and the Greek government can benefit from taxation paid by licensed operators. When the Greek authorities partially opened up the online gambling market in 2012 they allowed 24 EUlicensed gambling companies to provide online sports betting legally. It is estimated that they will pay

almost 50m euro gross gambling revenue tax to the Greek state in 2014. Greek customers, therefore, already have a range of operators to bet with and have been protected through a robust licensing regime. Now the Greek authorities, in what the RGA claims is a move designed to shore up the privatisation of OPAP, are intending to close down the 24 operators and create an online sports betting monopoly for OPAP. The RGA believes the European Commission should have considerable concerns where markets are closed down without good reason. Sue Rossiter, director of projects and policy at the RGA, said: “The current situation for online gambling in Greece is damaging to the reputation of the Greek regulator and government. It puts customers at risk by encouraging them to use unlicensed operators if they do not want to be restricted to the limited offer of OPAP. That will inevitably deny the Greek government millions of Euros in gambling and associated taxes.

“Holders of the 24 temporary licences have demonstrated that a well regulated regime has benefits for all concerned. An extension of this limited freedom to a fully regulated and taxed market can only widen those benefits.” The RGA argued that the Greek government has consistently failed to implement its own laws to open up the online gambling market. Current legislation allows for the full opening of the online gambling market with licensing of online gambling operators but it has been limited to 24 temporary licences which are now under threat of removal. It added that the Commission must at least have suspicions that the motivation for not offering licences for online gambling in the past two years had nothing to do with consumer protection but was designed to sell the government’s shares in OPAP shares at the highest possible price. The RGA said that OPAP has been granted the monopoly without the proper tendering process

ANALYSIS Given the European Commission has finally started to make moves against Sweden, it could be a good time to start pressing home the case for progression on other infringement cases. And if the Commission won’t do it, the industry will. As Sue Rossiter warned: “In the absence of constructive progress to introduce an open, transparent and fair online gambling regime in Greece, the RGA will be relying on all legitimate options at its disposal, including legal challenges to the EU and the Greek courts, in order to get to a legal, clear, workable and fair resolution.”

and that even if a monopoly could be justified this means that other potential bidders have not had the opportunity to compete for the licence. It also pointed out that OPAP is a long established and successful business in Greece, but it is very inexperienced in the field of online gambling and it is not credible to suggest that it is better placed to protect

consumers than companies who have been active in the sector for many years. The fact that the Greek government has not followed the correct European Union procedure for the implementation of legislation and has delayed responses to requests for information, should also be a warning signal to the Commission as far as the RGA is concerned.

MEP refutes calls for betting type restriction INTEGRITY

mma McClarkin, MEP and member of the Culture and Education Committee, has spoken out against suggestions that the restriction of bet types will help counter match fixing. Writing in issue 15 of the EGBA newsletter, McClarkin dismisses the idea that it’s the types of markets that tempt the criminals. She said: “Sports can only be protected from match-fixing if the sports betting market is regulated and transparent. The regulated market needs to be attractive and offer what customers are looking for. Unjustified restriction to the betting offer has the negative effect of driving con-

MEP EMMA MCCLARKIN

sumers to the unregulated sector and increasing the threat to sports’ integrity. Something we must protect for sport, industry and fans alike.” McClarkin said that

18 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

MEPs have been shocked by the recent reports suggestion a high number of fixed matches. “Evidence from law enforcement bodies, such as Interpol and Europol, along with

independent research indicate that the principal danger comes from organised crime based outside of Europe. These criminals often use unregulated websites and operate with

criminal networks inside of Europe to collude with corrupt sports people to fix games. Many of us were shocked by the finding of Europol last year when it uncovered a criminal network involved in trying to fix an alleged 380 football matches across Europe.” She said that while European operators and regulators were working well to counter the menace of match-fixing, more was needed. “Co-operation between the EU betting industry, sports bodies and law enforcement agencies must be extended to other parts of the world as match fixers often operate across borders and continents making investigations more of an operational challenge.”

The industry has broadly agreed with the UK government’s estimate that any additional yield from extending the horserace betting levy to overseas betting operators would roughly fall between £10m to £30m per annum. The government used these figures in its consultation on the subject and minister for gambling Helen Grant has revealed that ‘such estimates as were received in consultation responses generally fell within that bracket’. She added: “The government will be publishing its response to the consultation in due course.” However she warned that the figures were guesswork as there is currently no centrally collected and publicly available comprehensive dataset of offshore remote operator profits on which to base an estimate. UK MEETS COUNCIL OF EUROPE MEASURES

The UK government has revealed that it has reviewed Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 in the context of negotiations on the Council of Europe’s draft convention to combat the manipulation of sports competitions. Lord Gardiner of Kimble commented: “The government concluded that Section 42 as currently drafted, together with other fraud and corruption offences already on the statute book, gives prosecutors the tools required to deal with the circumstances that might constitute match fixing.” Among the other measures that Kimble referred to are The Fraud Act 2006 and the Bribery Act 2010. NEW MALAYSIAN GAMBLING LAWS

Malaysian Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail has stated that his Chamber is set to submit a proposal to amend and update Malaysian laws with regards to online gambling. Gani Patail made the statement whilst addressing an audience at the Malaysia Legal Training Institute. Current Malaysian regulations sees all forms of gambling being governed by the Common Gaming House and Betting Acts. Gani Patail stated that current regulations needed to be reviewed and reworked in order for Malaysia to combat illegal gambling and protect its online consumers. He said: “The current laws cover gambling, but not virtual gambling. The problem is that many illegal gambling activities are done online. We need to have a new set of laws or amend the old laws.”

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Spanish operator Codere has signed up for Betradar’s Live Channel Retail

FootballPools.com moves onto NYX Gaming Group’s Open Platform System

Microgaming releases its third product featuring Playboy branding

Fresh 8 Gaming wins the EiG StartUp LaunchPad competition

Betting Business Interactive Edition

November 2014

Make Mine Macao Located deep in one of the hotbeds of online gambling, even if the legality of the activity is questionable in some jurisdictions, the Macao Gamming Show & Summit is aiming to provide answers to operators Essential Guide 20

Return of the MarginMaker Optima IS, the international betting and gambling software developer, has signed a deal with The Bookmakers Technology Consortium (BTC) to support, maintain and develop BTC’s MarginMaker2 betting and e-gaming platform. 26

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BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

Essential guide to ... Opening times

Supporting body

Key debate

The second Macao Gaming Show is being held on 18-20 November at the Macao Venetian. The event opens at 10am every TV spot day and runs until 5pm (4pm on the final day). The Macao gaming MGS has been showing a TV Summit runs alongside the advertisement across a number of exhibition. Macao’s most luxurious apartments and commercial buildings as part of its ongoing promotional campaign. The 10 second broadcast will appear in over 40 buildings, to 50 TV units in total, as part of an arrangement with Road Media.

The Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) has been confirmed as yet another department from the Special Administrative Region to throw its full support behind the event. The MGTO promotes Macau’s tourism products and services in order to attract diverse visitor sources for Macau.

Nick Nocton, a director at law firm Jeffrey Green Russell Ltd, is one of the panel of experts discussing the iGaming Regulatory Issues and Challenges at the Macao Gaming Summit.

IGAMING

VIEWPOINT

MGS highlights importance of iGaming sector

Bringing the online regulation debate to the heart of Asia

There has been an increased focus on the igaming sector at this year’s Macao Gaming Summit as the Asian market becomes an even more interesting place to do business.

Andrew McCarron

Gaming is a ‘key focus’ of the Macao Gaming Summit, according to the event’s organisers. 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. He explained: “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 licences in Asia, iGaming in the rest of Asia will move along this route eventually. “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 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.” Confirmed speakers include: Nick Nocton, director at Jeffrey Green Russell Ltd; Robert Stocker, gaming practice leader at Dickinson Wright PLLC; Richard Schuetz, commissioner at California Gaming Commission; Reinout te Brake, founder and chairman at iQU; and Matthew R. Brown, director of business development at Iverson Gaming. Zhang added: “We have a clear message for potential visitors and exhibitors, MGS 2014 will be the place to actively engage with what is a multi-million ‘grey

area’ in the Asian market. With this in mind we are actively recruiting international and Asian-based iGaming exhibitors, and expect more to join before we open our doors in November.” Professor Zeng Zhonglu, Professor at Gaming Teaching and Research Centre of Macao Polytechnic Institute and president of the Asia Pacific Association for Gambling Studies, has confirmed his attendance as a speaker to the event. Professor Zhonglu’s presentation, ‘Research on Effects of Distance and Time on Localisation of Gaming Destinations’, will be a discussion on the future of the casino industry based on location theory and adaptation theory, sourced from personal research. “We are very pleased and honoured to have such an illustrious expert speaking at the Conferences,” Ira Iskandar, conference manager, confirmed. “As a renowned author of academic texts, Pro-

fessor Zeng Zhonglu’s in-depth knowledge of gaming and tourism in Macao will provide invaluable gaming insight to delegates of the Summit, and his presentation on the Effects of Distance and Time on Localisation of Gaming Destinations is sure to be a highlight. We look forward to receiving him and his attendance adds to an already expert body of speakers.” Professor Zhonglu commented: “Casino gambling is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and with the competition between casino destinations intensifying, investors and governments need to be aware of the new reality and be prepared for it. “[The aim of the MGS talk] is to understand how the future development of the industry has important implications for casino investors and for governments who wish to use the casino industry to stimulate local economy.” ROSS ZHANG: ‘MGS WILL BE AN IMPORTANT GATHERING PLACE FOR IGAMING PEOPLE’

he addition of igaming as a really key part of this year’s Macao Gaming Show and Summit is an interesting development and an acknowledgement in the region that the online gambling industry is here to stay - even if it isn’t actually permitted in some of the region’s markets. While Singapore has recently made moves to regulate its online gaming operators, the fact that there is a thriving online industry in the Philippines shows just how strong the pure business and economic case is for permitting online gambling. The fact that the Macao Gaming Show has so much local government backing means that the online gaming sector has a chance to show its professional side to politicians who hitherto might not have been particularly interested in changing their perceptions of the industry as a Wild West environment. This can only be viewed in a hugely positive way and could be the seed that develops into a healthily regulated market someway down the line. The current black/grey market situation is full of pitfalls reputationally for the industry (see The Guardian’s recent attempts to blacken the name of Bet365 over the Chinese market and the constant problems from match-fixing allegations which always seems to emanate and then return to the same areas in Asia). But the one constant across all these markets is the extensive and continuing demand for online gambling and given the region’s predilection for gaming entertainment, politicians would be well advised to recognise this is unlikely to be quelled, no matter what bans they put in place. A regulated regime may provide some winners in an operational sense, but it will also bring in tax dollars and ensure levels of social responsibility, probity and general standards that at the moment can only be imagined. Or witnessed in other, regulated markets. MGS is providing a good platform to discuss some of these matters in the heart of an area where it is a big concern and for that the industry should perhaps support the endeavour and get involved with the conversation.

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MGS 2014 INDUSTRY One of Asia’s key gaming figures, Jay Chun, thinks that local expertise helps make MGS stand out from other shows.

Independence is the driver for MGS success story ay Chun, chairman of the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association, believes that the key drivers behind the MGS success story is its independent status and its ability to represent the Asia gaming community with integrity and authority. Expanding on why he believes MGS is the leading event of its kind in Asia, Chun said: “Fundamentally MGS is the only show that is truly representative of the Asian gaming industry. You just have to look at our panel of event organisers, supporting organisations and co-organisers which include Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association (MGEMA), Direcção de Inspecção e Coordenação de Jogos (DICJ), Macau Trade and Investment Institute (IPIM), General Association of Administrators and Promoters for Macau Gaming Industry, Associação de Mediadores de Jogos e Entretenimento de Macau, Macau Jockey Club, Macau Slot , and Macau (Yat

Yuen) Canidrome Company Ltd to see how authentic our credentials are.” He added: “With respect to other organisations, the MGS organisers are part of the fabric of Macau and not from the United States or Europe. Those behind MGS are considered ‘insiders’ of the Asian gaming industry and will be heavily supported by the regional players. There will be Asian gaming executives at MGS that wouldn’t go to other shows that are perceived as being organised by ‘outsiders’. An exhibition is nothing without exhibitors and visitors will have access to the very best exponents in their fields. We will also have events and features including the Slot Experience Centre as well as the Macao Gaming Summit both of which provide powerful additional reasons to attend. Simply MGS is by Asia and it is designed to appeal to the world!” Organisers have confirmed that as of early October, the MGS 2014 floorplan features a contracted list of 122 exhibitors

drawn from Asia and beyond, a figure which represents a substantial 20 per cent year-on-year increase. In addition to receiving widespread commercial and government support from within Macau, MGS has also attracted a distinguished international line-up of thought leaders who will be appearing at the Macao Gaming Summit. The three day conference will be focussing on key gaming topics and how they impact both established and emerging nations including Japan, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Korea, Sri Lanka as well as Macao. As well as having direct access to the international gaming community’s leading developers and innovators, visitors attending November’s Macao Gaming Show (MGS) will also be able to experience the latest offerings from a range of non-gaming organisations drawn from sectors including leisure, technology and hospitality. Such is the growing status enjoyed by MGS

in Asia, delegates will be able to explore products as varied as wine exchanges, crystal engineers, precious metal traders, LED specialists and mobile retailers, all from non-gaming brands that have chosen to take booth space at the ‘By Asia For The World’ event. Ross Zhang, MGS event operation manager, believes the number of non-gaming brands wanting to take space at November’s event is a clear indication of the power and growing influence of the MGS brand. He explained: “Of course our primary objective has been to bring the leading names in gaming to Macao in November and to this end we have been extremely successful attracting companies from Asia and beyond. Significantly, the power of the MGS brand has now permeated sectors which run parallel to gaming and I am delighted that we have been able to accommodate them in a way that is complementary to the main event, which is gaming.”

MOBILE

SLOTS

MGS App gets updated

Slot Experience Centre to provide feedback

New sections have been added to the MGS App, making it an even more useful tool for delegates. een to keep the visitor experience as up-to-date as possible, the organisers of the Macao Gaming Show have revealed an updated version of its MGS App. The new version features a brand new ‘General Information’ section, which will allow quick access to the most important information on MGS, while new updates allow visitors to easily locate exhibitor booths via the weekly updated floorplan, add interesting items to the bookmark, and directly update personal agendas. Ross Zhang, MGS event operation manager, said: “We are pleased to announce the updated version of the MGS App., which our team has developed to ensure the Macao Gaming Show experience is as seamless as possible. Utilising the latest developments is a big part of what we do here, so we want to make sure visitors are given as much up-to-

date information as possible.” Discussing the need for an update, Zhang added: “After the MGS App’s initial release, our development team identified a number of ways in which we could add to the user experience, and by adding a ‘General Information’ section and allowing quicker access to information, and giving people an easier route to find exhibitors via the floorplan, we have been able to offer visitors a wider number of tools so they can make the most of their Macao Gaming Show experience.” The dedicated MGS mobile App. has been designed to assist visitors with up-todate information on the latest goings on at the show, as well as speaker, attendees, exhibitors and special events information, and tools to help navigate the extensive timetable of events. The updated app. is available to download by searching MGS in iTunes Store/Google Play.

xhibitors of the November show have been invited to attend the MGS Slot Experience Centre (SEC), where they will be able to install one or more gaming machines and get valuable feedback on game play from invited casino VIP players, casino slot directors and managers, slot professionals, and general players who will ‘test drive’ each machine. Testers will also vote on their favourite games, and the exhibitor with the highest score will win an inshow award that MGS will award at a special presentation ceremony. MGS will also provide statistics and feedbacks collected from players to each company, which it says will help to give insights on games, and serve as input for future game enhancement. Maggie Kou, assistant event manager, said: “We are sure that this will be a great and rewarding experience for our exhibitors and VIP players alike, and welcome all contributions to our Slot Experience Centre. If you are interested in installing machines at the SEC, or would like further information, please get in touch as soon as possible so that we are able to assist.”

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BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

Essential Guide to ... MGS 2014 EXHIBITION

NETWORKING

Igaming Networking Party to make a Splash The official MGS Igaming Networking party is being organised by the Sports Betting Community and Asia Gaming Brief. GS has announced that gaming news specialists Asia Gaming Brief and Sports Betting Community are hosting the Official iGaming Networking Party at Macao Gaming Show on Tuesday 18 November 2014. The event sets the stage for AGB and SBC to break new ground by holding their first Asia Gaming Social in Macau, as the party preludes the iGaming track of the Macao Gaming Summit. Frank Scheungel of SBC Asia said: “We’re very excited about teaming up with MGS for what should prove to be a great night. SBC’s and AGBrief’s Asian networking parties in Manila have been extremely popular because of the way they provide the opportunity to network with others in the industry in a relaxed and sociable atmosphere. We’re confident that holding one alongside the Macao Gaming Summit will attract even more of the region’s key players.” The event is being held at the spectacular Splash venue in the Four Seasons Macao and is free to attend thanks to the support of the event sponsors. Alongside headline sponsor MGS, the event is also being sponsored by EveryMatrix, BetConstruct and Play’nGo. The involvement of these brands means that there will be an enjoyable night of networking for the iGaming industry in Asia. Anyone wishing to attend the event has been advised to pre-register their interest on the SBC News or the AGBrief websites to ensure their place at the event. SBC and AGBrief have a long running collaboration in throwing popular industry networking parties in Asia. Last September over 200 industry professionals gathered at one of Manila’s hottest nightspot. Dubbed the “Monsoon Meetup”, the name proved fitting as guests watched torrential rains covering the city on the outside, while drinks were flowing freely on the inside at the prestigious 71 Gramercy Nightclub and lounge in Makati.

Companies line up on the MGS show floor Some of the sector’s recognisable brands are preparing to join the show floor in Macao this month. he iGaming community is coming to Macao with the announcement that four of the sector’s most prominent brands will be exhibiting at the Macao Gaming Show. At the event, iGaming specialists BetConstruct (#AD37), Betsoft (#AB20), Golden Race (#AP37), and Game Play Interactive (#AF20) are joining a large number of land-based gaming exhibitors in presenting their latest and most innovative products to the international gaming community. “With the land-based and iGaming sectors converging at such a rapid pace, this is an exciting time for gaming as a whole,” a spokesperson for MGS said. “MGS represents the perfect opportunity to bring operators from across both sectors together in the world’s largest gaming market to explore partnership opportunities, examine products and discuss the future of the iGaming sector as it relates to land-based gaming.” Mark McKeown, VP sales & marketing at Betsoft, explained: “The Macao Gaming show has established a dominant position as a platform for the introduction and demonstration of gaming products and services. Therefore, Betsoft naturally sees MGS as a tremendous opportunity to support existing clients in the Asian markets and also to establish a presence and raise awareness for new customers.” Malta-based software solutions provider Golden Race said that it will be bringing two main products to the Macao show; Golden-Box and Golden Online, as well as debuting four new titles Golden-Bikes, Golden Fight, Golden Karts and Live Lotto. CEO Thomas De-Bruyne said that the show is the perfect opportunity to ‘get new customers and leads, gain invaluable feedback on its

products, and make new relations and collaborations’. Betsoft Gaming recognises the importance of the Asian market to its clients and also the potential for growth and the optimisation of product delivery and service. Specifically, Betsoft can add value in the areas of graphics, for which it has a huge team of artists that produce animations and graphics on par with major motion picture studios that can be customised for local markets; Mobile where it releases broadly two games a month on a platform that fully supports iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile; and Innovation, leading the industry in the introduction of video files to games, expanding icons and bonus functionality. Gameplay Interactive provides engaging gaming experiences for players, which consists of many online gaming products including Live Dealers Casino, 3D Slot and Games, Lottery, Sportsbetting, and P2P games such as Poker Mahjong. Gameplay Interactive’s wide array of 2D and 3D Live Dealers Casino table games including the all-time favourite Baccarat, 7Up Baccarat, Dragon Tiger, Sic Bo, Roulette, Blackjack and 3 Pictures are developed to bring the ultimate live streaming tools and the best of the land based gaming experience to the player. BetConstruct is a leading international developer and provider of online and land-based sports betting and gaming solutions founded in 2003. The company develops and provides its clients with software including on and offline sportsbook solutions, poker, live dealer, skill and casino games, while focusing on providing affordable, cutting-edge solutions for small and medium sized betting companies, enabling them to compete and succeed against the biggest in the business.

SPLASH AT THE FOUR SEASONS MACAO

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BettingBusinessInteractive • FEBRUARY 2014

INSPIRED GAMING

AsiaPac expansion and opportunity Harmen Brenninkmeijer, SVP Asia and strategic markets at Inspired Gaming Group, discusses his firm’s reasons for exhibiting at MGS. aming markets are opening up all across AsiaPac. For the governments in question, there is a huge opportunity to implement and operate new legislation and technical standards that protect players and generate tax revenue. No wonder Asian nations like Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam are all poised to legalise and or clarify the rules related to the casinos and take on the established hubs of Macau and Singapore. For us, the process is education and micro engagement. Inspired is actively working alongside countrywide regulators and local partners, such as AGTech, DFNN and others throughout Asia to educate them and expedite the implementation of new regulations. To date, our focus been on the smaller location and route operations. Inspired’s Virtual Sports are established and proven

in the online and mobile space in Europe, particularly with major bookmakers and lotteries, making it incredibly attractive to Asian markets, to driving structured, compliant incremental revenue. Currently, Virtual Sports lottery products are supplied to the National Sports Lottery (NSLAC) in China through AGT, AGTech’s joint venture with Ladbrokes. The Virtual Motor Racing rapid draw lottery game “Lucky Racing” has been live in 1,700 lottery-betting shops in the Hunan Province since 2011 and is the best performing lottery product in Hunan. Inspired’s Virtual Football game, known locally as ‘e-Ball’, is now live in 2,500 venues in Jiangsu Province - the largest sports lottery market in China. Inspired has also just announced the long-term agreement of its Virtuals in the Philippines with the DFNN Group of Com-

panies, to provide various Virtual Games to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation approved locations across its authorised and regulated land-based retail betting locations nationwide. The Virtuals will initially be going live in selected venues, with a view to commencing a full rollout across the Philippines. Inspired has over a decade of experience in launching its Virtual Sports into new markets. From a standing start, it’s Virtual Sports have supported the development of a 1bn euro p.a. market in Italy in just one year - generating 10m bets per month across retail, online and mobile channels. Online and mobile expansion in Asia is going to be vast in 2015 and beyond. In-

spired has been leading the industry charge for mobile. Inspired was one of the first suppliers in the industry to launch new games simultaneously on VLT, online and mobile. Some of Inspired’s operator customers are already reporting that their virtual income on mobile is over-taking their virtual income on desktop. Inspired supplies its Virtual Sports for all platforms. Additionally, earlier this year, Inspired launched its first HTML5 slot game, White Knight, for mobile and online. Inspired’s HTML5 games are delivered to operators via its Remote Gaming Server, Virgo™, which can be easily integrated with existing platforms and connected to their infrastructure.

SUMMIT

Talking shop on the Asian gaming world

The Asian Gaming Summit has an extensive range of experts speaking across a variety of topics. he Macao Gaming Summit is set to feature over 20 unique sessions focusing on the Asian gaming world. The 2014 Summit, whose theme is ‘Asian Gaming: Looking beyond the Horizon’, will feature a specially curated selection of sessions and speakers, including the Asia-Pacific regulatory environment; the future of gaming in Macao and beyond; opportunities in Asia-Pacific as well as updates on mature, emerging and future markets; the latest developments in i-Gaming and organisational best practices.

Ira Iskandar, conference manager, said: “We are pleased to announce that the Macao Gaming Summit now features over 20 ‘must see’ sessions, with an array of subjects and speakers aimed at giving attendees a deep and powerful understanding of the Asian gaming world. “The Summit forms an important and complimentary motivator for attending the Macao Gaming Show and is eagerly anticipated by delegates and exhibitors alike. Our program has been tailored to meet the knowledge

needs of gaming professionals wanting to do business in the Asia Pacific region.” Inspired Gaming Group’s Harmen Brenninkmeijer, senior vice president, Asia and strategic markets, is the latest thought leader to confirm his participation at November’s Macao Gaming Summit, which runs alongside Macao Gaming Show. Brenninkmeijer will be moderating a series of iGaming panels, which will cover a comprehensive range of topics from ‘Tapping into the Lucrative Chinese Market: the Chinese

consumer, gaming behaviour, and trends’, to iGaming in the Asian cruise ship sector. Iskandar added: “With a collection of the World’s foremost thinkers and experts on the Asian gaming market already confirmed, and with more to be announced, the Macao Gaming Summit is fast shaping up to be a must attend event for gaming professionals wanting to learn more about the key issues relating to iGaming in Asia. I believe there will be a depth of iGaming knowledge not previously shared in Macao.”

Venetian Macao 18-20 November 2014

By Asia

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.

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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.

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BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

Retail B2B Retail Listings

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49’s switch

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The 49’s teatime draw has switched to its autumn/winter timing of 12:49pm and 4:49pm. SIS’ Helen Scott said: “Bettingshop operators tell us that they are busier at 4:49 in the winter than at 5:49, so, like last year, we are happy to change the time of the draw to suit the demand.”

SMP Security Systems promoted its range of safes at the Bookmakers’ Trade Show, including its Community and Concept ranges. There are eight different models in the Community range which are designed to protect cash and valuables from unauthorised removal in either commercial or domestic situations.

BetConstruct has opened North American offices in Los Angeles and Las Vegas to expand the company’s footprint in the regulated states as well as the Indian Country with a platform that allows land-based operators to build a database of online players and gain the expertise they’ll need to operate real money online gaming.

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After signing a deal to take control of GTech’s well-regarded MarginMaker product line, Optima IS has signed its first UK deal. ptima IS, the international betting and gambling software developer, has signed a deal with The Bookmakers Technology Consortium (BTC) to support, maintain and develop BTC’s MarginMaker2 betting and egaming platform. This service had previously been provided to the BTC by the lottery and e-gaming systems giant GTech. Earlier this year, Optima and GTech announced a deal by which Optima IS acquired rights and business from GTech in order to support current MarginMaker 2 customers and to commercialise and continue the worldwide development of the award winning e-gaming and betting platform. Jacob Curciel, CEO and founder of Optima, said: “We are very excited to work with the members of the Bookmakers Technology Consortium which have demonstrated a vast experience in the bookmaking industry, a clear strategic direction and a direct approach to business in general. The BTC

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board have explained very interesting plans to us that will be developed during the coming months. At Optima we are committed to work hand by hand with them to ensure that all the BTC members will count with the best technologies available in the market to support and power their businesses. We will deliver our innovative and robust first-class products, part of Optima’s MM2 and services portfolio, allowing the BTC to compete at the highest level in the challenging UK market, on the retail, web and mobile channels.” Howard Chisholm, director of the Bookmakers Technology Consortium, said: “The BTC is committed to the ongoing development of the MarginMaker2 platform which is undoubtedly the ‘Rolls Royce’ of EPOS systems for UK and Irish independent bookmakers. We are extremely pleased to have partnered with Optima who have considerable experience managing and developing the MarginMaker2 platform. “The directors are looking forward to working with Optima to enhance the func-

tionality of the system for the benefit of all the members of BTC. A major benefit of moving to Optima for supply of the MarginMaker2 software is an immediate reduction in the cost of new installations, we anticipate a significant increase in take up of the BTC services following this announcement.” When the licensing deal for MarginMaker was announced, Paul Mears, GTech vice president interactive and sports betting commercial, said: “This agreement ensures that GTech’s existing commercial customers using MarginMaker will receive high-quality ongoing support from Optima, enabling GTech to focus on implementing its next-generation sports betting platform for large-scale commercial and World Lottery Association customers. Optima’s staff has excellent experience with betting and gaming, is passionate about MarginMaker technology, and has demonstrated a commitment to excellence throughout this process.”

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CONTENT

Codere takes Betradar Live Channel panish operator Codere has signed up for Betradar’s Live Channel Retail for 100 outlets across Spain this year, with the intention to connect further estates in 2015. Betradar’s Live Channel Retail includes a wide range of international media rights, such as the Serie A, French Ligue 1 and Coupe de la Ligue, DFB Cup, US Major League Soccer, German and Spanish Basketball leagues and several international ATP and WTA Tennis tournaments covering a minimum of 12 to 16 hours every day. Joern Anhalt, managing director media rights at Sportradar, commented: “We are pleased to extend the partnership with our long-term customer Codere with the Live Channel Retail. This collaboration is another confirmation of the high demand for our entertaining and revenue-driving retail live betting product which combines live sports broadcasts with live odds and live statistics.” Ángel Fernández Fernández, marketing director at Codere Apuestas said: “We’re delighted to be adding the Betradar Live Channel to our retail offering. We’re always looking at ways of providing our customers

with new and entertaining products. The Betradar Live Channel powerfully combines live sports pictures with live sportsdata even in off-peak hours and brings a new distinction to our current portfolio. “Codere Apuestas works every day at the forefront of the entertainment industry with a strong customer orientation. Maintaining this leadership also implies being at the forefront of innovation and the company has achieved this not only offering new additional services to its customers, such as the Betradar Live Channel, but also due to the strategy that the company has driven through other recent developments like its mobile app and the American races offer.” In the meantime, Betradar has fully redesigned and upgraded its Live Channel Retail. The new version captivates through its extended statistical and betting stimulating widgets, plus a fresh and state of the art TV-look and feel to increase the attractiveness for consumers and therefore the turnover potential of betting shops. The concept of the Live Channel Retail, a unique combination of live motion pictures, live odds and live statistics, has proven and remains unaffected with a polished design.

GAMING MACHINES

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Inspired’s Bucks hit Italy

Getting Linked

nspired Gaming Group has launched Jungle Bucks on its Open VLT platform in Italy. The game is SOGEI and AAMS approved and is now available to Italian players in VLT venues across Italy. Jungle Bucks is a jungle themed slot game that has achieved number one status in many markets including Latin America and Norway. Vitaliano Casalone, president of Inspired Italy, commented: “Inspired is thrilled to announce the addition of Jungle Bucks to its multi-game VLT library. Given the extraordinary response Jungle Bucks has received from other countries, we are confident that it will be a hit with Italian players.”

ink Integrated Security Systems made its debut at the Bookmakers’ Trade Fair with its innovative security system which is already installed in Coral Racing and Betfred betting shops. The low-cost system provides a live audio link to a central security centre to advise betting staff when an incident happens in shop. Staff are issued with individual alarms which when triggered puts the shop in contact with the security centre. If a robbery is in progress then the centre will record proceedings and alert the police, if it is a different disturbance then the operative can address staff or indeed the whole betting shop through the speaker in an attempt to diffuse the situation or obtain information.

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BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

Sportsbook

“” It’s inspiring to be able to work with The Football Pools and provide a fully integrated offering for the UK market.

David Flynn EVP business development NYX Gaming Group

Football Polls moves to OPS FootballPools.com has moved into onto NYX Gaming Group’s Open Platform System, NYX OPS as part of the operator’s business modernisation strategy. Conleth Byrne, managing director at The Football Pools, explained: “We have been delighted with NYX’s professional, flexible and progressive approach and the quality of the products and services delivered.”

ACTION IMAGES / JOHN SIBLEY LIVEPIC

INTEGRITY

UEFA renews Sportradar agreement

UEFA’S GIANNI INFANTINO

A new four year deal will see Sportradar continue to offer its Security Services to Europe’s main football governing body. EFA, European football’s governing body, has extended its relationship with Sportradar by signing a new four-year agreement. The agreement, announced at the Leaders Sport Business Summit in London, will see Sportradar’s Security Services provide UEFA with betting movement information from over 30,000+ matches across Europe per season, together with additional consultancy. Sportradar has been monitoring betting movements on European football matches since 2006 and the renewal of the agreement will see Sportradar use the market-leading UEFA Betting Fraud Detection System (BFDS) to monitor the top two professional football leagues and domestic cup competitions in each of UEFA’s 54 member associations until the summer of 2019. The renewal

will also see UEFA add Sportradar’s Fraud Prevention Service e-learning tutorials for the first time. The tutorials will be rolled out to all teams and players participating in the UEFA’s Men’s and Women’s Under-19 and Under-17 final tournaments during the next four seasons. “For UEFA, the fight against match-fixing is a top priority because an attempt to fix a football match strikes right at the soul of our sport,” said UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino. “We are aware via the UEFA Betting Fraud Detection System that 0.7 per cent of the 30,000+ matches monitored annually present some suspicion, but even one match is one too many. Among the services available to tackle this menace, the UEFA Betting Fraud Detection System is simply the best monitoring solution, and this longstanding partnership will help us to continue

being vigilant and effective in safeguarding our sport for future generations.” Sportradar CEO Carsten Koerl added: “UEFA were one of our first partners and in the last eight years, they have constantly helped us refine our system and increase its effectiveness. Today’s renewal, in front of some of the most important decision-makers in sport gathered here at Leaders, is a real statement of intent from UEFA and we are proud that they continue to see us as a powerful deterrent to those who would manipulate football results. By adding our elearning tutorials to the services we provide to UEFA, we will be able to front some of UEFA’s key preventive measures, aimed in this case specifically at the most talented youngsters playing in Europe”. Italy’s Lega Pro has also renewed its longstanding partnership with Sportradar, which

will continue to both monitor the Lega Pro leagues and provide its educational Fraud Prevention Service (FPS) workshops until the end of the 2017-2018 season. To underline this commitment and the importance of the partnership to Lega Pro, the official match ball for the leagues will carry a new, combined logo, with the words “Lega Pro-Integrity”. Mario Macalli, president of Lega Pro, said: “The seamless, global monitoring of the global betting market, paired with the education of our players, managers, executive staff and referees has been instrumental in changing awareness and behaviour. In the coming weeks, the ‘Lega Pro Integrity Tour’ will target the clubs taking part in our ‘Championship of the Municipalities’ and will show once again to our fans and stakeholders that we are fully committed to honest football.”

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BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

POOL BETTING

£1,000,000 HAD gets first jackpot winners

New cycle

olossus Bets, operator of mega jackpots football pools, has seen the first winners of its £1,000,000 HDA after just eight weekends of its operation. The wins came just a week after a player narrowly missed triggering the jackpot when Manchester City failed to beat Roma in the Champions League. 2.5 tickets have gone one better and scooped the pool, with each full ticket receiving £200,000 for their £2 stake, a return which is significantly bigger than a bookmaker equivalent acca on the same matches. On top of the £430,000 paid out on the accumulator, the £500,000 bonus leg also saw another £250,000 won after six tickets correctly predicted Barnsley to beat Bradford. The highlight of the bonus round was a ticket costing just 40p which added £50,000 from the bonus leg to the £20,000 already secured from the win fund jackpot. Three other tickets also scooped £50,000 each from the bonus fund and two tickets, both of which had been

Intralot Italia gets Inspired nspired Gaming Grouphas announced its eighth Italian concessionaire live with its Virtual Sports - Intralot Italia. Intralot Italia will be dedicating one of its two channels, to broadcast Inspired’s extensive Virtual Sports library of games. Available games include football, horses, trotting, tennis, motor racing, speedway, greyhounds and cycling. The channel will be broadcast across 550 locations across Italy. Vitaliano Casalone, presidente of Inspired Italia, comments: “InVITALIANO spired has seen phenomeCASALONE nal growth in the Italian market over the last year. Our success is largely due to the research we have undertaken to understand the Italian player, and the content that we have developed to address their preferences. The breadth of sports and our leadership in Virtual Football makes us a natural choice for Italian concessionaires.”

ermantiahas launched its new virtual game - Cycling. Virtual Cycling follows a track cycling sprint format known as keirin sprints. The 2km race effectively comes down to a sprint over the last lap. Cycling is powered by V+ Media Platform, which globally delivers end-to end content broadcast solutions for Retail, Online and Mobile. Vasilis Zoupas, Vermantia head of virtual games, stated: “Vermantia is already a trusted partner for virtual games in licensed gaming markets of Europe and Latin America. The new Cycling game, with its strong appeal in the Asian market, will allow the company, to expand the current library of games, and grow its Virtual gaming footprint globally.”

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VIRTUAL

50 per cent Cashed-In, won £25,000 each. Bernard Marantelli, Colossus Bets founder and CEO, said: “It’s great to see punters turning small stakes into life-changing prizes - and a £70,000 football jackpot from a 40p ticket is a fantastic achievement. Our Fractional Cash-In option has also been put to excellent use, enabling one player to take a big five figure sum off the table for half of his bonus pick before a ball was kicked in the bonus leg match.” The £1,000,000 HDA15 is a weekly 15 leg pool bet with a Home/Draw/Away or 1X2 format comprising a minimum £500,000 win fund and a minimum £500,000 bonus - both numbers net of deductions. Any winners of the win fund will have a free pick on the outcome of one further football match the following week, to try and land the £500,000 bonus.

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DATA New deal imminent IS Bettinghead of product Marc Thomas has revealed the content distributor is on the cusp of signing a new data deal. The firm already supplies racing and football data to the market. Writing on the SIS blog, he said: “I see the move into sports data as key to our ambitions in the digital market - and we will push on to devise new and exciting products from around the world. We are close to securing a deal with another sporting body and there are others in our sights which will broaden even further our digital offering to bookmakers.”

CONTENT New Germany head for Perform igital sports content group Perform, has appointed Dirk Ifsen as managing director for Germany. Ifsen has been promoted to the role from his previous position at Perform as managing director for Opta’s German operations, which he held from 2010. Ifsen commented: “[Germany] remains a key market for the company and my team and I are strongly focussed and committed to continue to build the company’s operations in the country. Perform already works with some of the largest media companies in Germany to deliver the highest quality sports digital content, advertising solutions and editorial, and we look forward to building upon this success.”

SYSTEM

Levbet wins The Pitch evbet.net CEO and co-founder Jake List has said the firm was excited to win The Pitch at EiG. Levbet’s presentation about developing sports betting in the image of financial market trading was judged to be the best out of the 10 on offer. List commented: “We were excited to win the pitch at EIG because it is a big step in gaining industry validation. Sports betting is

not exactly an outside the box thinking sector, so achieving positive recognition of new concepts by our peers gives us a lot of momentum going forward. We see that the opportunity to trade odds like we trade stocks is becoming highly alluring.”

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Finnplay takes on BetConstruct etConstructhas become the latest third-party software to be integrated into Finnplay, with the company already linking up with Ezugiand BetSoft Gaming. Under the agreement, Finnplay will resell BetConstruct’s managed sportbooks services to its own customers. Suren Khachatryan, chief executive of BetConstruct, commented: “With the recent Fifa SUREN KHACHATRYAN World Cup and accelerated growth in mobile sports betting, demand is at an all-time high for scalable and customised sportsbook software to allow operators to innovate and differentiate their brands.”

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Microgaming is releasing its third product featuring the immensely well-known Playboy branding. icrogaming has released its Playboy Multi-player online slot and will celebrate its launch with a network-wide competition in November. Microgamingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s licensing partnership with Playboy began in February 2013, with the launch of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first branded Live Dealer studio, which was followed up by the Playboy online slot and now a multi-player version of the slot. Microgaming has taken its existing Playboy online slot (single-player version) and adapted it to a 5 x 3 reel, 20 fixed payline Multi-player community slot. Players will still be presented with the same characters, animations and soundtrack from the original online slot, but they will play alongside five other players and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the added social element of chat functionality, enabling players to discuss gameplay. Moreover, Multi-player Playboy also includes a bonus thermometer, which, when kept active in the base game, allows players VIP access into the exclusive free spins

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feature. James Ford, product manager for Microgamingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s multi-player games, commented: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Playboy is one of the most recognisable brands in the world - it has 97 per cent unaided global brand awareness. So to be able to bring our popular Playboy online slot to Multi-player is very exciting. It is an ideal acquisition tool and provides our operators with a fantastic opportunity for creative and engaging marketing campaigns.â&#x20AC;? Matt Nordby, Playboyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president, global licensing says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We value our partnership with Microgaming and are delighted to build off of the success of the Live Dealer product and online slot to further enhance our offering with a Multi-player online slot. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another great way for online players to experience the exhilarating world of Playboy.â&#x20AC;? Meanwhile, the Microgaming powered Quickfire has entered into an agreement with development partner Betdigital, the developer of gaming content for online, mobile, interactive TV and land-based gaming platforms.

Betdigitalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arrangement with Quickfire will see land-based titles launch online, in both Flash and HTML5. Superpots Bar-X is set to be added to Quickfire by the end of the year, and will be accessible to the largest online gaming distribution network built on the Quickfire platform. Heath Samples, Betdigital CEO, commented: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Adding our content to the Quickfire platform will significantly strengthen our position in the marketplace. It enables us to work with Quickfireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vast customer base and deliver our content to an entirely new audience. At Betdigital we want to work with the best - thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we chose Quickfire.â&#x20AC;? Neill Whyte, head of product channels at Microgaming, added: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Quickfire, powered by Microgaming, adds specialised, third party gaming content, to deliver the most extensive range of games to operators. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re delighted Betdigital wanted to work with Quickfire to bring their land-based titles online; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be a popular and strategic addition to the platform.â&#x20AC;?

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SLOTS Red hot slot from Yggdrasil ggdrasil Gaminghas launched a new high roller game featuring exploding symbols. Pyrons, from the Greek word for fire, takes a classic mechanic to new levels by offering a x20 multiplier that makes even the smallest win significant. Fredrik Elmqvist, chief executive of Yggdrasil Gaming, said: “We try to make all of our games different but similar at the same time and I’ve no doubt this new one will go down just as well as the others.” Pyrons is now the sixth slots game to roll off the Yggdrasil production line, all of which now support 17 currencies and 11 different languages.

MOBILE Leo takes on iSoftBet asino games provideriSoftBethas made its collection of HTML5 games live with the award winning mobile casino operator LeoVegas. Johan Styren, CEO of LeoVegas Gaming, said: “LeoVegas is all about leading the way into the mobile future. This exciting partnership with iSoftBet is further accelerating our momentum and adds great value to our consumer promise of always delivering the best mobile gaming experience.” Luci Apostolou, iSoftBet’s sales manager, added: “The hard work and dedication from LeoVegas in securing this deal has been really appreciated and we believe that the introduction of iSoftBet games is a great coup for both parties.”

PLATFORM

BetConstruct to launch NYX OGS in its suite etConstruct has signed a deal with NYX Gaming Group to launch NYX OGS within its online casino gaming suite for both PC and Mobile devices. David Flynn, EVP of business development for NYX Gaming Group, said: “I am thrilled to make an agreement with BetConstruct. They are making great strides with their Sportsbook platform solution and have a strong focus and growth within the mobile space. This fits extremely well with our NYX OGS offering and I look forward to growing our business together.” Suren Khachatryan, chief executive of BetConstruct, commented: “With mobile as a focus, adding the PC and mobile games offering from NYX OGS makes a perfect match with our strategic direction. NYX OGS has an excellent offering of content from proven providers.” Meanwhile, NYX’s Australia based slots studio NextGen Gaming, has launched its exclusive new Judge Dredd slot game with Gala Coral. NextGen had announced earlier in the year an exclusive licensing deal which allows for the creation of games featuring the popular 2000 AD character. Judge Dredd stories have for over 37 years generated

millions of fans worldwide through comic books, graphic novels, role-playing games, video games and movies. In this latest adventure, players utlise NextGen’s popular Superbet to enable maximum wild action in both the base and free games. David Johnson, commercial director at NYX Gaming Group, said: “I’m delighted Gala Coral have been able to leverage

Judge Dredd as a first to market opportunity via NYX OGS. Judge Dredd’s infamous no-nonsense style of law and order married with NextGen’s proven premium, repeat play slots expertise will make for a blockbuster title. Judge Dredd will be available in all formats across our industry’s widest distribution network, and initially to our NYX OGS partners.”

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cause of this, and that we now offer players a site where they can immerse themselves in casino slots.”

Coral joins Obodo customer list obile gambling content developer Odobohas announced its latest HTML5 game distribution deal with Coral Interactive. In addition, Coral gains the benefit of Odobo Play, a unique game discovery channel that helps developers to market their games directly to customers. Julian Jarvis, chief business affairs officer at Odobo, said: “Coral Interactive is a substantial gain for us and our developers. We’re thrilled to have another established name join the Odobo Marketplace.” Angus Nisbet, gaming director at Coral Interactive, added: “Odobo has fantastic games available that come from a diverse range of developers. We’re pleased to be gaining access to its titles and have been so impressed to date that we have commissioned bespoke content via Odobo.”

Revamp of slots review site opular slots review site Gamingslots.com was relaunched last month with a brand new design and a number of extra features. Carl Blackley from Gamingslots believes that the relaunched website will ‘greatly improve’ the visitor experience: “Plans to relaunch Gamingslots.com began back in 2013 and have involved input from the entire Gamingslots team and several regular users of the website. We also reacted to market demand and we strongly believe that the user experience has been greatly improved be-

CORPORATE

GameAccount boss honoured ameAccount Network CEO Dermot Smurfit has been honoured at the prestigious 2014 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme which recognises the achievements of Irish entrepreneurs based in locations throughout the world. Smurfit was named runner-up in the International category, an achievement of which he was understandably proud: “To be shortlisted alongside such an elite group of business leaders and then to finish runner-up, is a further honour not just for myself but for the entire GameAccount Network team working out of our UK, Italian and US offices. There’s no doubt that we can look forward to the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead with a large measure of confidence and excitement.”

obile gambling technology and platform provider Nektan is to raise £4m by floating on AIM. Executive chairman Gary Shaw explained: “Nektan’s mobile gaming focus, along with its innovative and disruptive technology, means that the company has a very exciting growth opportunity in the regulated global gaming market. We have a strong commercial pipeline and clear growth strategy and the management team is looking forward to the next phase of the company’s development, creating significant value and growing the business. “The IPO will provide us with the transparency to expand our business commercially and the capital to develop our platform and further invest in our product development to expand our leading mobile gaming suite to capitalise on opportunities in regulated global gaming markets.”

DERMOT SMURFIT

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making sense of the gaming industry

risk B2B management ffi ce B ac k O

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New GTECH website

Gamesman tops

MBO for Enetpulse

GTech S.p.A. launched its new integrated website at www.gtech.com. The site provides customers, investors, and the industry with a single source of information about GTech’s complete end-to-end solutions across all channels.

Component manufacturer Gamesman is celebrating after four major customers ranked the firm top for quality, on-time delivery and customer service. MD Mark Smith commented: “This is very much a team achievement and I look forward with confidence to our next big opportunity to showcase what we do at ICE in February.”

IMG Media has sold Enetpulse ApS to an MBO. IMG Media will keep the Official Tennis and Badminton data rights with related contracts and clients while Enetpulse will keep servicing the technical set-up for a further 12 months period.

PAYMENTS

Nothing cryptic about success of currency regulation The Isle of Man’s ground breaking decision to regulate crypto currencies has already seen a score of companies setting up there. he Isle of Man is now home to 20 crypto currency businesses just a few months after law-makers on the islands announced plans for a regulatory framework for crypto currencies. Among their number is CoinCorner, which developed a digital currency exchange and payment engines for crypto currencies, GoCoin and BankToTheFuture. So ingrained has the concept become that even the islands pubs now accept Bitcoin payments. The inaugural Crypto Valley Summit was held on the Island in September; a two day event attended by over 170 Bitcoin entrepreneurs and enthusiasts, government and private sector representatives from around the world who convened to discuss the future of digital currencies. Peter Greenhill, the island’s CEO e-business development, commented: “The Isle of Man sees that major benefits could emerge from the acceptance and growth of digital currencies and we see its adoption as a natural progression in the transfer of value

PETER GREENHILL

globally. “Whether Bitcoin itself will be the only (or main) digital currency of the future is very much open to debate depending upon whether existing payment solution providers try to implement their own alternate versions, but growing acceptance and usage is inevitable. This growth combined with the establishment of other cryptology technologies based on the block chain will produce a major impact on society, in general, and especially the e-gaming industry.” Greenhill has said there are real parallels between how the crypto currency sector is developing and the early days of igaming and that this has enabled the government to take an informed and pragmatic approach to registration and ultimately regulation. He explained: “This is not only attracting the participants, but their supporting technical ecosystem. This further enhances the digital diversity of the Island, with participants that can (and will) create products and services that are not just dependent on the

regulatory or taxation framework, but exist here because of both the clustering and testbed capabilities. We already have a diverse mix of crypto currency gaming operators, exchanges and compliance specialists, and are getting more enquiries every week from a variety of different companies.” The government is also acknowledging the risks posed by digital currencies and have outlined firm policies on security and control. This includes the appropriate anti-money laundering requirements and the opportunity for Bitcoin customers to put their currency in ‘cold storage’ away from the business’ central accounts. Security is being further enhanced by the potential introduction of “multi-signature control technology”, where a transaction requires the signature of more than one private key for the Bitcoin to be spent. The potential introduction of insurance against loss through fraud or hacking activity, as has been recently announced by AON, will also help to minimise risk to the individual.

BB122-p32-33-b2bBackOffice_Layout 1 05/11/2014 16:05 Page 2

B2B

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 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, Joe Ewens, Chris Webster

EXHIBITION GameAccount take Simulated Gaming opportunity to G2E An invaluable opportunity to showcase the huge strategic and commercial benefits of GameAccount Network’s Simulated Gaming offering to an international audience of key opinion-formers’ is how Dermot Smurfit, CEO of GameAccount Network, leading developer and supplier of enterprise-level B2B gaming software and online gaming content, described the company’s highly successful showing at G2E in Las Vegas. Coinciding with the announcement of a Simulated Gaming website for Empire City Casino, which was confirmed on the opening day of the show, the potential for casino operators to effectively lift their casino floor and represent it online, with all of the associated benefits of increase patron visitation on-property and the generation of meaningful levels of new income from an online channel, was one of the key discussion points at the expo. Dermot Smurfit stated: “Enabling bricks and mortar casinos in the United States to move online is a core element of our mission statement and G2E certainly enabled us to have the conversations we were looking to have and with the right people. “Simulated Gaming and the award of a US patent for our iBridge Framework which enables the complete integration of an Internet Gaming System with a landbased casino's rewards points program, created a real buzz at the show as operators realised the benefits in a yet to be regulated environment. It not only enables operators to offer engaging online gaming to complement the live experience, but it also puts those brands in pole position for when online real money gaming goes live. “We also premiered our pioneering iBeacon technology used for on-property gaming, which when combined with our class leading content represents both a strategic and an immediate commercial opportunity, benefits which resonated with those casino operators visiting our stand and the many meetings we held with operators dur-

‘

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

ing our time in Vegas.” • GAN was honoured at the inaugural EGR Italy Awards where it was short listed for the prestigious Software Supplier of the year. Launched to recognise and celebrate the achievements of online gaming operators and service providers from the regulated Italian market over the previous 12 months, Dermot Smurfit said: “The last 18 months have been defining in terms of performance, particularly in Italy, where content provided by GameAccount from the world’s leading land based slot manufacturers has driven performance across the market.”

SYSTEM Iforium teams up with Vermantia ermantia has signed an agreement with Iforium, a next generation gaming solutions development firm. Under this agreement, Vermantia will integrate its proprietary gaming platform in Iforium’s Gameflex Casino Engine, further enriching the choice of premium gaming content available via their multi-vendor casino and bonus solution. Vermantia’s platform integration onto Gameflex will permit operators rapid and direct access into Vermantia’s expanding portfolio of virtual games, slots and instant games.

TESTING Bright Srpska for NMi Mi Gaming has announced accreditation from the Republic Administration for Games of Chance to test online and land-based games in the Republic of Srpska. The latest appointment advances the laboratory’s capacity in Eastern Europe following accreditations in Croatia, Bulgaria and a recently extended scope in Latvia. Julian Borg-Barthet, business development manager for the NMi Gaming Division

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.

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.

ADVERTISING

Fresh 8 wins LaunchPad resh 8 Gaming has won the EiG Start-Up LaunchPad completion, an accolade that reinforces the company as the leading innovator in the gaming ad-tech space. Andrew Sharland, MD of Fresh 8, won the dragons-den style competition at the EiG conference in Berlin with a robust performance outlining the company’s recent commercial success alongside the innovation of the core ad-tech product. Fresh 8 brings semantic understanding to sports betting and gaming advertisers, publishers and affiliates. This enables truly contextual advertising with minimal effort from the publisher. As Sharland pointed out all it requires is ‘embedding one line of code’ on the publisher site, and the Fresh 8 platform takes care of the rest. David Sargeant, advisor to Fresh 8 and founder at iGaming Ideas, agreed: “Fresh 8

commented: “Achieving accreditation in all regulated gaming markets is foremost in our objectives as we strive to exceed the expectations of our customers. Securing the entire Balkan Peninsula to enable our clients to launch their brands is high on our agenda.”

FINANCIAL

Optimals integrates with Demandware nline payment provider Optimal Payments is now a Demandware Link Technology partner and has launched its Netbanx Payment Cartridge. Providing

DAVID SARGEANT

are the first ad-tech company to offer truly contextual advertising. The auto-generated ads are both contextual to the content of the page they sit on, and to the relationship between the customer and the advertiser. This is the first gaming ad-technology that is mobile led, working across all web channels and native apps.” Sharland highlighted the success the company has had at converting customers on behalf of their partners with some impressive figures. “Not only are we getting a magnitude increase in conversion for new customers we are also adding value to existing customers, aiding retention and reactivation.”

an integrated link between Demandware Commerce and Optimal Payments’ Netbanx payment gateway, Optimal Payments offers DANNY Demandware clients a CHAZONOFF global payment acceptance and fraud management solution.

Neonet gets Aquis access eonet, the independent agency broker and execution specialist, has announced that it is providing access for clients to Aquis Exchange, the subscription-based European equities exchange. “We are very pleased to welcome Neonet as a new Member of Aquis Exchange,” said Graham Dick, head of sales & CRM at Aquis Exchange.

www.continent8.com

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BB122-p36-38-Comment_09/10 04/11/2014 14:37 Page 1

Comment The sweet smell of success

andrew mccarron viewpoint adbrokes’ should be applauded in its efforts to give its retail betting estate a refresh and set it apart from the rest of the competition. A design agency has been brought in to help reinvigorate its high street betting offer, using innovative features such as scent marketing, astroturf and mobile phone charging areas. While aspects of this have been done before (notably Stan James had a shopfit which installed astroturf instead of carpet), Ladbrokes has been keen to pull all strands together and get behind a concept that might not sit easily with more down to earth bookmakers. The first stores to try out the new experimental and digital features will be situated in central London with the firm’s Strand shop already up and running. Some of the changes to be included are the more obvious replacement of static posters with digital content and the installation of an event area, where customers can watch the latest sporting events on a big screen in an attractive, theatrical environment. The new stores will also include additional features such as a coffee area for refreshments, Wi-Fi zones and phone chargers will be offered to those who need them. The whole remodelling of the shop is designed to create a more welcoming atmosphere for the customers. The key to the pitch though is that the look of the shops’ interior is to be inspired by sport stadiums, with features such as exposed brick, to make the whole experience of visiting the store as immersive as possible. The betting company will even inject a scent of turf into their shops to give the customer the feeling they are really at a

sporting event. According to a report, scent marketing has become a very popular marketing approach over recent years, with 85 per cent of customers triggering positive nostalgic feelings from specified smells within a consumer environment. Ladbrokes has just got to be careful which olfactory emotion they want to trigger, as there are plenty of ones to avoid in sporting venues, from the toilets at lower league football grounds to the stables at the racecourses! One of the more old school betting shops near where I live has a distinct aroma as well, although that is less of a marketing scheme and more a by-product of the two or three cats that seemingly live in the shop. Although, in a way, this bookmaker has differentiated itself from the cutting edge, glass fronted high street equivalents. This betting shop is so determinedly traditional that it has the least welcoming front door I think I’ve ever seen on a retail establishment and on first entry I was surprised to see SIS screens and not an Extel blower. The only real nod to 21st century betting was the two B2 gaming machines sitting incongruously next to a bowl of cat food. Interestingly though, it’s always had customers whenever I have visited. How long before we see fully themed betting shops as bookmakers go that extra mile to set themselves apart from the local competition offering more or less an identical experience? Ladbrokes’ attempts to invoke the spirit of a sporting ground is just one small step towards the full blown Vegas effect, with gondoliers competing with Egyptian Pharaohs just to take your weekly Lucky 15. Some waggish commentators might say that given the slump in Ladbrokes’ share price over the years, the company should perhaps be putting more efforts into actual bookmaking. However, the firm’s retail betting division has been particularly robust over this time, with its digital division causing the most heartbreak for investors. By pursuing an experimental approach in the retail section, Ladbrokes might yet hit a winning formula to drive the industry forward.

36 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

POC challenge is only one Anna Mathais of licensing experts Joelson Wilson examines the recent developments in the UK’s attempts to introduce point of consumption licensing.

he UK gambling industry and its regulator have seen lots of changes over recent years but the proposed introduction of POC regulation is one of the most controversial yet, hotly debated among operators, regulators and the legal community On 10 October, Mr Justice Green, sitting at the High Court in London, handed down his eagerly anticipated judgment in the Judicial Review case that had been brought of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 by the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association. He rejected the GBGA’s arguments out of hand, in what he described as a ‘clear-cut case’. Despite this it was a surprise that the GBGA did not ask the Judge for permission to appeal, but it appears that they have now switched their attention to challenging the taxation part of the regime rather than the licensing. The upshot is that the new point of consumption regulation of online gambling in Great Britain should belatedly now be in force - after the delay caused by this first

Judicial Review. The judgment is extremely comprehensive, covering as it does 96 pages following two days of legal argument. The Judge agreed with the UK government that the documentary evidence it had amassed since 2010, when it started to consult on bringing point-of-consumption licensing of online gambling about, provided ‘a strong and consistent justification based upon consumer protection and the protection of public order’. To that extent, he appears to have dismissed the claims of those in the industry who say that the new legislation is motivated by the desire to raise tax revenue via the new 15 per cent remote gaming duty which will apply from 1 December, depending on the success of the new challenge from the GBGA. Of the various grounds advanced by the Claimant, the Judge found that the new legislation was neither disproportionate, discriminatory nor irrational. He said: “The new regime serves a series of legitimate objectives. There is no reason to doubt Parliament’s judgment that it will achieve a reasonable degree of effectiveness and there is no

proper basis for concluding that it is or will be discriminatory in its effects. Further, I reject the submission that the new regime will create perverse incentives and lead to the creation of an illicit market of unscrupulous service providers… My conclusions in relation to the decision of Parliament to adopt the new legislative regime apply equally to the position of the GC in relation to implementation.” The Judge similarly had no time for the arguments of those who fear that the new law will prove impossible to enforce, giving three reasons why he found that

BB122-p36-38-Comment_09/10 04/11/2014 14:39 Page 2

“Big data is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it...” Martin Kruse of Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies invokes Duke University’s Dan Ariely to push home the point about hype over Big Data

ACTION IMAGES / JASON CAIRNDUFF

IS FALCAO STILL A MONACO PLAYER FOR BETTING PURPOSES?

Bookies also guilty of ambiguous terms John Samuels of IBAS says bookmakers can’t stand in judgement of their ambiguous punters when many of their markets are hardly watertight. recent article featured ambiguously written bets, one of the major banes of the industry. Is it a 3 or 5? Does he want Dundee or Dundee Utd? Is that a tricast or a forecast? What is that squiggle on the slip, does it say ‘match bet’? The list goes on. Often the bookmaker is right to be suspicious and to question the integrity of the bet author, albeit there are many occasions when the badly written slip is not an intentional attempt at ambiguity or con. But, what happens when the boot is on the other foot and it is the bookmaker who has offered and taken bets on a market where the conditions are ambiguous? Not possible, or a rarity you may say. But this seems to be happening increasingly often. And when such occasions do arise one possibly cannot blame customers for having the same mind-set as bookmakers, and believe that the ‘error’ or sloppy wording was an intentional effort by the bookmaker to have two bites at the cherry and to have some wriggle room in denying payment. Some recent examples: Will England keep a clean sheet in the Group stages of the World Cup? Does this mean a clean sheet in all of the three games, or just one clean sheet in any one of the games? Will Falcao be a Monaco player after the Summer Transfer Window? - Does a transfer simply mean a

y one of many for industry this would not be the case: “First, there is no evidence or reason to believe that there will be a major enforcement problem. Secondly, even if there are limitations in the enforcement regime, the government and Parliament were entitled to take the view that the suite of enforcement powers available to the GC would be sufficient, at least in large measure, to meet the licensing objectives. Thirdly, the government has acknowledged that if and insofar this proves not to be the case it would review the law and take steps to strengthen enforcement powers.” But what does this decision mean in practice? The past months have been spent ensuring that those who qualify for continuation rights got their operating licence applications in on time - the deadline for this was extended until 23 October to reflect the fact that the implementation of the Act had been pushed back. Attention is now shifting to gambling software suppliers. An amendment to the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) from 31 March 2015 will

require B2C operators to obtain gambling software only from suppliers who are themselves licensed by the Commission. We are urging operators to start work on their applications now, due to the large amount of information required. Of course, submitting the licence application and hopefully seeing it granted is only the start. As well as being liable to the new point of consumption gaming duty and having to pay an annual contribution to fund research, education and treatment surrounding problem gambling, new GB licensees will have to comply with the Gambling Act and secondary legislation, notably the requirements of the LCCP. The Commission is currently consulting on measures that will toughen up the social responsibility requirements of the LCCP considerably. It proposes additional burdens on licensees in terms of making responsible gambling information available to customers, being proactive when it comes to customer interaction and being flexible about selfexclusion. The Commission seems intent on bringing in a National Online Self-Exclu-

sion Scheme and new requirements to report on problem gambling and controls within gambling businesses designed to tackle it. Another question is: What else do the GB regulators have in store for the industry? With further reviews in the pipeline on gambling advertising, remote gambling and software technical standards and the provisions of the LCCP relating to anti-money laundering and other aspects of crime, and the upcoming implementation of the EU Directive on Alternative Dispute Resolution, it’s fair to say that, for those remote operators who are about to be licensed in GB for the first time, there will be many challenges ahead if they are to stay on track in an everchanging regulatory landscape. Disclaimer - The views expressed on this page are given without any assumption of responsibility. If in any doubt as to your own personal circumstances you should seek advice from a solicitor experienced in this are of the law.

change of clubs (including a loan) or does the player’s registration need to be moved from one club to another? Could it be argued that a loan does involve transferring the player’s registration, albeit on a temporary basis? ‘Will there be a goal in the 75th minute+?’ - Does this mean a goal from and including the 75th minute, or just from the 76th minute onwards. ‘Will a thunder storm knock out power on the Pyramid Stage’ - Given the actual recent scenario where power was turned off for safety reasons by the Glastonbury festival organisors, due to an imminent storm, how should the market be settled? How many snow days will there be where all turf racing is abandoned? During the period in question there were many times when it snowed, then over night the snow froze due to a drop in temperature. But it was not snowing when meetings were subsequently abandoned, and the official reasons given for the abandonments was ‘frozen ground’. How should bets be settled; was the racing indeed lost due to snow or to frost? How many minutes of extra time will there be? How should bets be settled if the fourth official shows extra time of 3 minutes on his display board but in fact, and for various reasons, there are 5 minutes of extra time actually played. Are the above just exam-

ples of sloppy wording and a failure on the part of the bookmakers involved to second guess what problems their wording may cause? Or is it, as those affected customers would have it, an attempt by some bookmakers to have it both ways? So, maybe time for market makers and operational executives to dispel with the management mantra akin to ‘Move fast and break things’, put in vogue by Facebook executives. Basically meaning ‘go for it and we will worry and about and solve any problems that might happen later’. Instead, maybe ‘let’s give this new initiative/market some thought and try to foresee the problems before they arise’. Or as the current Facebook management mantra now seemingly has it ‘let’s still move fast but with a stable structure’. In other words, ‘let’s be a little more cautious with our innovations and try to second guess or foresee any problems’. Finally, and not wishing to get too legalistic, now that betting transactions are subject to contract law, some IBAS adjudications have considered the legal concept of ‘Contra Preferentum’ which allows that where plausible ambiguity exists in the contract (or bet on offer) the law favours the interpretation best suited to the party that is offered the ambiguous contract and hence the one who ‘suffers’ from its ambiguity.

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014 37

BB122-p36-38-Comment_09/10 04/11/2014 14:39 Page 3

Comment

“Manipulating people is what’s so fun about poker. I love that you can just look into someone’s eyes and lie - and it’s perfectly acceptable.” American actress Cheryl Hines

Pseudoprohibition is not the answer

What the papers say

In a piece for the Politics Home website, William Hill’s head of public affairs and UK compliance Andrew Lyman wants politicians to support a gambling regulation framework that ‘reflects reality’.

come from the back of the field to save his job. And he now appears to be romping home. There was a good bit of uplift from the World Cup but more importantly, with a bit of Israeli help, the company’s digital and gaming platforms are doing what they are meant to do. The biggest danger now is a Labour government viewing sin taxes as a means of funding some favourite extravagances.

We need a sensible approach to gambling policy whatever the makeup of the next Parliament. Everyone agrees that gambling is a morally and socially contentious issue. It is also fertile ground for campaigning local and national politicians to work with. Witness Parliamentary exchanges where it has to be said that the debate is relatively fact free, but big on anecdote and righteous indignation. In 1961, farsighted politicians such as the then Home Secretary “RAB” Butler determined that gambling was better provided by licensed and regulated operators; as opposed to illegal suppliers. Such thinking gave rise to legalisation of betting shops. These principles hold good today. When a betting shop, which services a local estate closes, it is not long before an illegal bookmaker is to be found in the local pub. Just take a look at what happens in Northern Ireland on a Sunday where there is a strong sporting calendar, but betting

“

shops are closed! Even in areas where some politicians argue that there are ‘too many’ betting shops there are still illegal gaming machines in the back rooms of cafes and social clubs. The provision of illegal poker games (above stake and prize limits) remains a real issue as the line between the regulated and non-regulated sector has been blurred. I have never had any faith in the doctrine which suggests that limiting regulated supply stops demand. That is pure theory and not a reality in inner city areas. Betting shops profits have been relatively flat for a number of years. What has changed over the last decade or more is that greater revenues have come from gaming machines and football betting as interest in horserace and dog race betting has declined. Betting shops have had to remain relevant for customers; many of whom are part of a technology generation. Even the likes of the National Lottery in its monopoly position has had to adopt; with its growth now being provided by

Peter Greenhill, CEO of Isle of Man’s eGaming division, reflects on a new city and an unusual location for a revamped EIG. he Isle of Man was out in force at the new look EiG in Berlin with a huge 12 companies licensed on the island represented on our stand, which had a prime position near the Microgaming Bar (another one of our major licensees). A new venue always brings some teething problems and the Berlin Arena was no different. It’s an interesting space which apparently hosts raves at weekend and as such might not be immediately geared up for an event the size of EIG. Certainly it would be nice to see some more food options next year; we might be compelled to bring our own bratwurst kitchen to attract people to the stand. Just small details than can be easily rectified in hindsight. The change from Barcelona to Berlin was very noticeable, but it

hew! Richard Glynn, the chief W executive of the Queen’s bookies Ladbrokes, has had to

scratch card sales and online ‘instant’ games. Land based gambling demand will always be there. Indeed it provides significant central taxation (for social allocation) and in the case of the National Lottery indirect funding for grass roots sport. The commercial gambling industry understands that whilst the level of problem gambling in the UK is low by international standards (and probably falling) that there will be a relatively higher percentage of problem gamblers accessing all gambling services. In fact research shows that most problem gamblers use multiple products. That is why, rather than driving gambling underground, it is important for politicians to create a framework which reflects reality and allows for licensed and regulated operators to meet demand. At the same time operators should be identifying and interacting with addictive, problem and at risk gamblers and signposting them into counselling and treatment services. The other important element is to provide clear customer infor-

Time for EIG to strike the right balance

seemed that the industry embraced the differences somewhat. We saw lots of people that we wanted to see. There were start-ups there that we were pleased to meet and operators both known and previously unknown to us. Added to these were also some of the industry most interesting lawyers, accountants, advisors and regulators, with whom it’s always useful to catch up. The challenge for Clarion now is to strike the right balance between conference and exhibition. While in the past EiG has used the foundation of its conference tracks to attract people paying a

38 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

premium, the new look format was more of a hybrid with lower ticket prices offset by greater emphasis on the exhibitors. As an exhibitor I would have liked to see more emphasis on the represented companies, given the back-to-back nature of the conference sessions. Having said that, the quality of visitor was very high in Berlin and I have absolutely no qualms with the quality over quantity approach. I was very pleased with some of the people we got to speak to on our stand; several good opportunities for the island presented themselves. We had people literally from all around the world; from the Far East to the Americas

mation about gambling products and the provision of tools to allow gamblers to control their own behaviour such as ‘set limits’ functions on gaming machines and ‘self-exclusion’. The betting industry have now made a strong commitment to promoting responsible gambling, providing data for independent research and being part of the solution. This includes a commitment to setting self-regulatory standards through the Senet Group. This is a complex issue which could be made worse- not better- by a sweeping political gesture. Of course there will be some who will maintain that limiting supply, limiting stakes per se or closing betting shops is the answer. However when one applies logic, historical experience and objective analysis to the issue then solutions, which are tantamount to a return to prohibition, are not the answer. There are no votes in liberalising gambling, but there is also major downside risk in over regulating or prohibiting it.

and all over Europe. Plus the session we did providing advice for start-ups was very well attended. One of the topics that we were continually being asked about was the status of the digital currencies and how we are approaching their regulation. The whole development of crypto-currency is very interesting as it has been happening across the e-commerce board. It’s almost mirroring the development of e-gaming. We’re attracting operators and suppliers to those operators, software houses, hardwire suppliers, consultants and compliance people. We’ve virtually got a full eco-system already, which is how the gambling industry progressed on the island. It’s been fascinating to experience again and we’ve realised that a sensible approach to regulating the sector could really work for us. I fully expect to discuss the digital currency topic again at next month’s IMGL Masterclass on the island and the following KPMG Isle of Man eGaming Summit. I’m also looking forward to speaking at the bitcoin4igaming conference in London at the end of the month, which should see me through to the new year.

ALEX BRUMMER Daily Mail

ith horse racing, my ethical W coping strategy has been a combination of justification (the horses love racing; they’re well looked after) and a belief that adults should be free to make decisions about how they live their life and the risks they take, extending both to making decisions about gambling and entering the racing profession. Even as I write this, though, I am aware of the flaws in the arguments, especially as they relate to gambling and the possibility of addiction, but also indirectly providing the incentive for young jockeys to put their lives at risk. Some fans make the decision to accept their club or sport has made a mistake and continue to support it nonetheless. The decision of where the line is, of what can be tolerated and what is just too much, is one each sport fan has to make for themselves. ERIN RILEY The Guardian

egrettably unless repealed, the R new gaming law will also have implications for online sports betting providers as well as online casinos, which will need to have the United Kingdom licences in order to be allowed to accept bets from UK players. Because of these changes considerable costs have been forced upon operators to comply and this amounts to millions which in the end has to be charged to UK players in higher fees. Let us for a moment compare the situation in UK with that prevailing in Germany, where in the last few weeks one could notice some bookmakers pulling out from such markets. Greedy governments which squeeze more juice from betting operators find that when imposing exorbitant taxes the burden is simply not sustained by many operators or it becomes too complicated to pass to the customers. Since the new tax law specifies the location of the consumer, some bookmakers could possible pull back also from the British gambling market. ANKE BOECKMANN Malta Today

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BB122-p40-42-Business_09/10 04/11/2014 17:32 Page 1

Business Sporting Best results boost ever quarter William Hill for Playtech SUPPLY

INTERIMS

ndustry supplier Playtech has said that its business has accelerated from first half of the year to give its best-ever quarterly performance in Q3. The firm saw a 28.6 per cent increase in revenues for the quarter to 116.5m euro (£93m). Chie executive Mor Weizer commented: “The strong growth seen through the first half continued through the third quarter resulting in the strongest-ever quarterly performance, driven by our flagship casino, including mobile and Live, sport betting, landbased revenue and services. “During the quarter we launched innovative live casino offerings for both Skybet and RAY, along with a powerful web and mobile sport offering for the newly launched GazzaBet website for RCS Media in Italy. This represents the first phase of a full turnkey solution, and we expect to launch casino and mobile casino in due course. “We started to deliver on our turnkey strategy with three licensees moving their UK-facing activity to the Playtech white label structure, strengthening our position as a key provider and demonstrating the financial and operational benefits that can be achieved by using our turnkey offering.” Playtech’s senior management have also stated that it will renegotiate supplier terms with its operators, in order to prepare its igaming technology and provisions network for the changes in market conditions that will be applied by the imminent Point of Consumption (POC) tax. Speaking after the Q3 corporate performance presentation, CFO Ron Hoffman said that the company had begun to re-negotiate with its key clients. Hoffman stated that the UK amendments to supplier terms had become a priority for Playtech’s UK strategy and operations. Hoffman claimed that Playtech would offer to absorb some of the 15 per cent tax impact to UK operators’ bottom lines, when the POC tax comes into play. Weizer added that Playtech would review its licensees’ positions, with smaller operators set to struggle in 2015. Playtech said it will offer smaller UK operators the ability to offer UK online betting and gaming services under Playtech’s B2C licence.

illiam Hill’s online operations are providing the group with a third of its revenue, although the bookmaker’s retail estate still provides the bulk of company revenues at 57 per cent. In its interim management statement, the firm recorded a 23 per cent increase in group net revenue for Q3 and a jump in operating profit of 89 per cent. Of this, the online operating profit was up 126 per cent, with wagering up 18 per cent, and retail’s operating profit was up 31 per cent, driven by strong gross win margin and ongoing machine strength. Chief executive James Hen-

PLAYTECH LAUNCHED GAZZABET IN THIS QUARTER

40 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

derson commented: “The group performed strongly in Q3 driven by both favourable sporting results and the continued development of our UK and international businesses. The period saw good gaming growth in both major channels and sports net revenue growth significantly boosted by a favourable year-on-year swing in win margin. Positive sporting results in the quarter, including a strong end to the World Cup, have moved us close to or ahead of normalised gross win margins on a year-to-date basis. “Looking beyond the effect of these sporting results, the underlying performance across the Group is good. Online gaming continues to benefit

ACTION IMAGES / LEE SMITH

A dash of World Cup interest and generally better sporting results has boosted the William Hill bottom line.

THE WORLD CUP HAS BOOSTED WILLIAM HILL’S Q3 FIGURES

from our investment in mobile and Sportsbook turnover growth remains healthy, with in-play turnover growth a par-

ticular feature, up 35 per cent in Q3. In Retail, net revenue growth of 9 per cent reflects a favourable sports margin, the

Robust predictions for UK online gambling industry A new report by GamblingCompliance Research Services (GCRS) predicts that UK online gambling is set to break £3bn, despite POC. FORECAST

rowth in Britain’s online gambling industry is expected to remain robust, with turnover set to break £3bn in the next two years despite the government’s point of consumption tax (PoC). A new report by GamblingCompliance Research Services (GCRS) estimates that the net gaming revenue (NGR) of Europe’s largest online market rose by 12.2 per cent to £2.31bn last year. From 1 December, operators will be subject to a 15 percent tax hike on all bets placed online in the UK, in a move which is expected to raise around £400m for the Treasury in its first full year- legal challenges notwithstanding. Yet GCRS estimates that online gambling revenues will climb 11.4 percent to £2.58bn in 2014, before rising by a further 10 percent to £2.83bn in 2015 and 13.6 per cent to £3.22bn in 2016. Daniel Stone, head of data content at Gambling Compliance, said: “Britain’s online gambling market has enjoyed an uninterrupted run of double-

JACKPOTJOY OPERATOR GAMESYS IS THE TOP GAMING OPERATOR IN THE UK

digit annual growth since the turn of the century - and this looks likely to continue into the first two years of the PoC regime. “But the market share analysis contained in the report shows just how crowded the online space is in the UK. With companies forced to reassess their business models in light of the imminent tax hit, the fight for new customers and share of wallet has never been more intense.” The report, released last

month, reveals that William Hill retained its status as Britain’s leading online operator in 2013, capturing 14.5 per cent of the total market. The company’s number one status is under increasing threat from Bet365 however, after the Stoke-based firm boosted its overall share by 2.4 per cent to 13.7 per cent last year. Global online market leader Bet365 is estimated to have extended its lead at the top of the UK sports betting market too, capturing a quarter of

player spend in a vertical which hit £1bn in NGR terms in 2013. William Hill is second in the sports betting rankings having overtaken Betfair. Yet the most recent data suggests that the betting exchange pioneer is now fighting back, having enjoyed a stellar World Cup on the back of growth in its mass market-orientated sportsbook. In other sectors, the continued decline in the popularity of online poker and slower gains in bingo-led gaming mean that UK gaming growth is set to be sustained by the online casino segment. UK-derived online casino NGR is forecast to rise at 13-15 per cent year-on-year from £621m in 2013 to £927m in 2016. JackpotJoy operator Gamesys, with an estimated 13 per cent share, was top of the UK online gaming segment in 2013, after pushing William Hill (11.9 per cent) back into second place. Yet Gala Coral also earns a share of the plaudits after its share of UK gaming grew to roughly 8 per cent in the first half of 2014 from an estimated 5 per cent in 2012.

BB122-p40-42-Business_09/10 05/11/2014 16:12 Page 2

Strong growth at Net Ent Net Ent CEO Per Eriksson is celebrating another record quarter with revenues increasing by 41.8 per cent. He said: “We signed seven new customer agreements and we saw a strong underlying growth with existing customers. It is pleasing that our investments within mobile games are performing so well and growing strong. Mobile games represented 16.5 per cent of the quarter’s revenues.”

benefit of the World Cup and a strengthening of machine gross win growth rates, despite the impact of 82 shop closures during

World Cup betting. Mobile Sportsbook turnover grew 38 per cent and accounted for 48 per cent of the total sportsbook turnover in the period. In-play and pre-match turnover grew at 35 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively and the gross win margin in Q3 was ahead of our longterm expectation at 9.4 per cent (7.8 per cent for the year-to-date). Retail’s strong net revenue growth was reflected in both OTC and in gaming machine net revenue. Although OTC staking was slightly down in the quarter, this was more than offset in revenue terms by the benefit of positive football results. William Hill has also decided to roll Inspired’s Eclipse gaming machine to the second half of the estate having seen good growth. Gross win per machine per week was 8 per cent higher at £921. As ever with retail, a key factor is operating costs, but William Hill said it was managing them in line with expectations. The group opened 14 shops in the period and closed four in the normal course of business, plus an additional 82 as part of the planned closure of 109 shops following the increase in MGD. Online gaming net revenue (comprising 87 per cent Casino, 8 per cent Bingo, 5 per cent Poker) continued to grow strongly, benethe quarter.” fiting from Willaim Hill’s investThe 18 per cent increase in ment in mobile gaming together sportsbook wagers for Q3 was no with a wider differentiated doubt boosted by two weeks of product range.

ANALYSIS One of William Hill’s growing strengths is its international business, with its Australian business adding 7 per cent of revenues and other markets contributing another 3 per cent. As James Henderson noted: “In Italy, we became number one in online sports betting in July with a 14 per cent market share and in Spain we have further increased our online sports betting market share to 20 per cent. William Hill US has continued to show growth in both wagering and profits. We continue to monitor closely potential developments in land-based sports betting in New Jersey.”

BUSINESSBRIEFS GAMESYS EXTENDS H5G DEAL

High 5 Games and Gamesys have finalised a second agreement to bring H5G titles to the global gaming market after the success of High 5 Games and Gamesys’ New Jersey partnership which has H5G slot games on TropicanaCasino.com and VirginCasino.com in the state of New Jersey. H5G will now be integrating its remote game server VAULT with Gamesys’ UK-based online platforms, in addition to Gamesys’ New Jersey online platforms. Lee Fenton, chief operating officer at Gamesys, said: “This extension in our relationship will enable us to continue to deliver the best range of content to our players whilst ensuring a completely fun, safe and quality online gaming experience.” IMPERUS ACQUISITION

Gaming-technology platform developer Imperus Technologies Corp is buying Tel Aviv-based social-game developer Diwip Ltd for up to US$100m. Once completed, the acquisition will give Imperus control over Best Casino, one of the higher-grossing games on mobile and Facebook. Mobile gaming generated $16bn in consumer spending worldwide last year, and social casino games are one of the biggest reasons for that. Diwip’s recent growth has been impressive, going from revenues of $7.8m in 2011 to $28.3m in 2013, with 24m registered customers across its numerous games. DIRECTOR’S NEW ROLE

Betfair Group has announced that Leo Quinn, a non-executive director of the company, has tendered his resignation with QinetiQ Group plc to take up his appointment as chief executive officer at Balfour Beatty PLC on 1 January 2015.

sales@bit8.com

www.bit8.com

BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014 41

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Sportech appeals tax decision

Business The first companies to use the new GamCrowd funding mechanism have been announced, with Betify and Fenway Games leading the way.

Sportech has announced that it has lodged an application for permission from the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) to appeal to the Court of Appeal in relation to the VAT repayment claim on the ‘Spot the Ball’ game. In September, HMRC won an appeal which meant that Sportech was required to pay back a £93m rebate and the Football Pools operator has unsurprisingly decided to appeal this decision.

Betify and Fenway Games launch on the GamCrowd platform

appointments SAMUEL HUBER: ‘BETIFICATION IS THE NATURAL PROGRESSION’

CROWDFUNDING

ambling industry crowdfunding organisation GamCrowd.com has launched the first start-ups, Betify and Fenway Games, on its equity crowdfunding platform. CEO Chris North explained: “Betify and Fenway Games prove that innovation is alive and well in the gambling industry. Launching both companies simultaneously demonstrates the breadth of portfolio opportunities offered by the GamCrowd platform. “The two companies are two entirely different propositions, Betify is a more developed product requiring a greater level of backing, while Fenway Games might appeal to investors looking to get involved in a project at an earlier stage Betify is a mobile app that allows users to set or receive challenges from their friends and win rewards, such as tech products and vouchers or trips and experiences, if their challenge becomes popular in the community. The network can be exploited by businesses wanting to target new locations, engage with users, encourage loyalty and promote their products in the Betify reward centre to boost

ANALYSIS The different stages of funding that the two companies on the GamCrowd platform are at shows the flexibility of the crowdfunding platform and suggests that the new funding initiative is working hard to provide a variety of opportunities to its investors. With industry veteran Ian Hogg now fully on-board as its chairman and an eye-catching turn at last month’s EiG Expo in Berlin helping organising the Start-Up LaunchPad event, GamCrowd might be about to prove its real worth to the industry. Given the general reluctance of outside investors to put money into the gambling sector, especially for start-ups, GamCrowd could well become an essential step for innovative new companies.

sales. Analytics help brands learn about customer interaction with their products, key demographics, viral spread, return on investment, and other metrics. Betify has already raised £185,000 via incubation and seed funding rounds. Through GamCrowd, it is looking to add another £300,000 in return for 15% equity from investors, as it prepares to launch. The company plans to drive revenues through B2B contracts with brands that will subscribe to its premium content and B2C sales to individual users who will spend on in-app purchases. The app soft launched on September 22 and has more than 200 members and five strong B2B prospects. “Gamification has proven to be a successful tool in rousing engagement and now betification is the natural progression,” said Samuel Huber, founder and CEO of Betify. “It is said that 90% of a brand’s fol-

lowing never interact with the content Betify helps solve the problem of how to stimulate the passive majority of social media followers. “The unstoppable success of the #icebucketchallenge highlights the huge potential for a challenge-based platform like Betify. We bridge the gap between businesses and consumer services by providing a strong incentive - actual products that can be won - for users to get involved with brands.” The second company, Fenway Games, is a developer of real-time, mobile and social products that operate during live sporting events and offer a high turnover of wagering opportunities. Its flagship title, SwitchPlayed, allows small-stakes bets to be placed in-play, to predict what will happen next in a football match, from a shot, goal, red or yellow card, foul, save, offside or penalty. Players can compete in league

tables, achieve bragging rights, chat live over social media and win extra credits based on performance. Peter Gough, founder and CEO of Fenway Games, said: “Fenway Games produces unique, easy-to-understand playing experiences. Our games, like SwitchPlayed, tap into the emotions that fans experience while they are watching or listening to live sport. We feel that there is an uncatered-for market between social and sports betting to which our games are perfectly suited.” The company’s predicted revenue streams are through in-app advertising, virtual goods purchases and customer conversion to mobile sportsbook. Fenway Games is pitching for £50,000 of investment to fund product build, data feed subscriptions, marketing, design and consultancy, ahead of a projected go-live in February 2015.

Investors need to be carefully targeted FINANCE

ark Jones has succeeded Phil Urban as M managing director for Grosvenor Casinos, leaving the Rank Group searching for a new MD for Mecca Bingo. Urban has left to join pub group Mitchells & Butler. CEO Henry Birch said: “Over the last five years, Mark has successfully led Mecca Bingo, stabilising our retail business and overseeing the growth of our digital operation, establishing meccabingo.com as a leader in its market. In addition to his time at Rank, Mark has a wealth of experience in the leisure industry and I know that he will be able to take Grosvenor Casinos, which is already a strong and well-established business, to the next level.” MARK JONES

Responsible Gambling Trust has Tjoinheannounced that Professor Chris Brady is to the charity as an Independent Trustee. Professor Brady’s appointment follows the decision of Liz Barclay to stand down as Senior Independent Trustee. Chris Brady is Professor of Management Studies at Salford Business School, University of Salford. His expertise in football business and finance will add to the Responsible Gambling Trust’s knowledge-base in the important area of gambling in sport at a time when the relationship between gambling and sport, particularly through advertising, is garnering greater public interest. Professor Jo Wolff, who chairs the Responsible Gambling Trust’s Research Committee, has agreed to assume the role of Senior Independent Trustee. ucy Buckley has been promoted from marLstrategy keting director to a new role as director of and communications at virtual sports and gaming machine developer Inspired Gaming, in recognition for her contribution to the business over the last four years. In her new role, Buckley will be working as part of the executive team to refine and document Inspired’s corporate and divisional strategies, define key milestones, and track progress towards both short-term and long-term business objectives, as the business expands into new markets and product segments. She said: “I look forward to the challenges ahead as I start my new role at Inspired and embark on a part-time MBA at Cass Business School in London. I also look forward to playing a more active role within the global gaming industry.” LUCY BUCKLEY

ompanies looking to attract external investors need to target the potential shareholders carefully, as only a select few are interested in funding companies in the gambling industry, according to David Shapton of Akur Capital Speaking at last month’s EiG show, Shapton added that many potential investors will only invest in an already profitable business, but if they were to get in any earlier then the firm would need to have the potential to be a game changer, something that the incumbents were not already doing or were unable to do. Dawid Myslinski of Nordic investment bank Redeye said that another key factor for his firm when looking to back start-ups was the people behind the company seeking funding. He suggested that investors look for people with a proven track record of entrepreneurship with other successful ventures already in the bag.

42 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

pass the first test. Myslinski suggested that investment via crowd funding was not usually the best test of a company’s success given that the crowd by its nature doesn’t scrutinise business propositions as closely as VC investors. Shapton even suggested that companies would not get the type of support and expertise from crowd funding than they would with larger investors. Jens-Philipp Klein of Berlin-based Atlantic Internet said they only funded start-ups in the local area, where they can keep in close communication with their DAVID SHAPTON, DAWID MYSLINSKI AND JENScompanies. He also added that the team at PHILIPP KLEIN ARE QUIZZED BY ATLANTIC the company is the most important factor, LOTTERY CORPORATION’S PHIL HOLMES and the more disruptive the technology He conceded that this wasn’t particu- the better. He added that KPIs in the early larly helpful for first time entrepreneurs, stages of funding were not important but but added that if people have already the firm encouraged its companies to managed to attract funding from friends develop the product to get to market as and family as well as some seed invest- quickly as possible in order to obtain feedment then that at least showed they could back and refine the product that way.

portsbook platform provider FSB TechnolSits new ogy (UK) Ltd has installed Richard Thorp as Business Development Director. Thorp, who has worked in a variety of senior roles within the gaming industry for almost 20 years, is charged with managing FSB Tech’s commercial efforts and sales pipeline. Thorp was previously head of b2b operations at Racing Post; head of marketing at Better Bet and sportsbook manager at Blue Square. He began his career in the industry as a shop manager at Ladbrokes and Admiral World of Betting. He said: “I’m delighted to have joined such a fast-growing and dynamic business and look forward to discussing our trader-designed sports betting service with potential new clients over the coming months.”

Whether your market is low stake high volume gaming, remote, land-based casinos, bingo, betting or amusements there’s only one publishing house that’s really connected. The publishing division of GB Media is responsible for the award winning titles International Casino Review, Betting Business interactive and Coinslot, as well as the ofﬁcial ICE catalogue. For a unique window on the world of gaming, simply contact us on +44 (0) 1204 396 397 or email us at jsullivan@gbmedia.eu.

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BB122-p44-45-Agenda_09/10 04/11/2014 14:53 Page 1

Agenda ACTION IMAGES / PETER CZIBORRA

KPMG finalises eGaming Summit line-up PMG Isle of Man has announced the speaker line-up for its fifth annual eGaming Summit, which includes major international industry experts as well as key representatives of the local eGaming cluster. This year’s Summit features something of a departure from the usual structure, as it commences with a smaller, invitation only International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL) Master Class at the Claremont Hotel on Monday 10 November, which will feature Richard Schuetz, Commissioner of the California Gaming Control Commission. The main Summit programme will commence on Tuesday 11 November at the Villa Marina and will incorporate two additional IMGL masterclasses. The day’s events will once again open with a welcome address, this time kindly provided by Chief Minister Allan Bell, which will provide an overview of the Isle of Man Government’s approach to supporting and growing the Island’s globally renowned sector. Quirino Mancini, Partner at SCM Lawyers, will then discuss the controversial image of gaming in the face of the media and public opinion and what, if anything, the industry is doing to redress it. A sector specific update will follow, during which the Department of Economic Development’s Director for e-business Peter Greenhill and chief executive of the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission will address the challenges and opportunities facing today’s local sector. Following the morning coffee break, Eric Benz and Ben Robinson of global cryptocurrency payment gateway, GoCoin will discuss the potential marriage of gaming operators and cryptocurrencies, after which KPMG’s Head of eGaming Archie Watt will join representatives from the sector’s leading payments providers to moderate a discussion entitled ‘Dodging the Brussels Bullets - Payment Processors’ Priorities’. The first IMGL Master-classe will then tackle the implications of operating in part-regulated and non-regulated online gaming markets, with Wulf Hambach of Hambach & Hambach, join panelists Susannah Fitzgerald QC and Nick Nocton of Jeffrey Green Russell. Paul Leyland of Regulus Partners will then present ‘50 Shades of Grey: Point of consumption licensing and the future of the dot com model’. Bill Gantz of Dentons US LLP, Massachusetts, will join in the final master-class, with a panel including Bill Mummery of Celton Manx, Hilary Stewart-Jones of DLA Piper and Ernest C. Matthews IV, President/General Counsel at ISI - Maritime/Islands to moderate a discussion on the US regulatory scheme and the emerging market issues. Closing words will be provided will be provided by KPMG’s Director Responsible for eGaming, Russell Kelly. He said: “As the KPMG eGaming series grows in scope and renown with each passing year, our job of creating an engaging and outstanding line-up of speakers gets easier and easier. This year’s addition of three IMGL Master-classes, populated by some of the global industry’s most celebrated figures, is testament to the Summit becoming a key calendar event. I have confidence in the 2014 Summit becoming KPMG’s best yet and would like to open invitations to what is certain to be a great day of sharing knowledge, strategy and insight, and building a stronger community in the process.” The Summit, the fifth annual event to be staged on the Isle of Man, will be held at the Villa Marina on Tuesday 11th November. Attendance is by invitation only.

Ante Post: What the bookies say As a busy sporting year gets closer to its end, there is no sign of any slow down in the range of strong betting opportunities available to punters. ans of National Hunt racing are well and truly in clover throughout November with Cheltenham’s Paddy Power meeting flanked with excellent cards at Haydock for the Betfair Chase and Newbury for the Hennessy Gold Cup in subsequent weeks of top-class racing thereafter. Whilst the festival clearly holds-sway as the pinnacle of the season, the three-day feature at the track is far from lacking in quality and BetVictor have seen plenty of interest in the trio of Present View, Buywise and Uxizandre for the PP Gold Cup, after their respective pipe-openers in the past few weeks. Liverpool v Chelsea is the stand-out Premier League fixture of the month as Brendan Rodgers’ side continues to struggle to adjust to life without Luis Suarez. The Reds have bitten off more than they can chew with the Uruguayan’s replacement Mario Balotelli being just as controversial, but nowhere near as talented. As well as struggling domestically, the Reds now have three games to prolong their Champions League campaign after two defeats in their opening three games. Andy Murray qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals with success in the Valencia Open, however Murray has yet to get past the semifinals stage of the competition and all eyes will be on Novak Djokovic attempting to seal a third straight Title at the O2 Arena in London.

JACK MILNER Public Relations BetVictor

ovember is a huge month for sport with the N Autumn rugby union Tests and Sri Lanka v England one day series both taking on extra significance in the eyes of punters as they asses the progress of the respective England teams ahead of the Rugby World Cup and Cricket World Cup next year. The season-ending tennis World Tour Finals at 44 BettingBusinessInteractive • NOVEMBER 2014

the 02 suddenly also has a bit more shine to fixed odds and spread betting punters given Andy Murray’s recent return to form while racing enthusiasts will already be counting down the days to next year’s Cheltenham as the jump season gets into full flow following the end of the flat. Of course that’s without mention of the staple football diet enjoyed by the majority of Spreadex punters, with England’s latest World Cup qualifier against Slovenia squeezing among the ongoing Premier League and Champions League in-play action. All-in-all, we’re expecting another busy period for the Spreadex sports room. ANDY MACKENZIE Marketing communications manager Spreadex

ngland play their final game of the year on 15 Eagainst November in a European qualifying match Slovenia and England are 2/7 to win the match. That is alongside the fact that they are 1/8 to win their qualifying group and 1/100 to make it through to the tournament as a whole. On 22 November Tyson Fury takes on Dereck Chisora and while it may not be of the same magnitude as Froch vs Groves, it will be an interesting bout nonetheless. Fury is 4/9 to win with Chisora 7/4 but it is the Londoner who looks the value bet looking impressive in his previous fights against Kevin Johnson and Ondrej Pala. The Jump Season is really kicking in to gear and one horse who might be worth following at Cheltenham at their November meeting is Buywise, who looks a very progressive chaser. He is trained by Evan Williams who is firing in the winners, he’s had a spin over hurdles which should have brought on his fitness and he’s versatile regarding ground conditions. One to look out for. JOE CRILLY Press officer William Hill

RICHARD SCHUETZ, COMMISSIONER OF THE CALIFORNIA GAMING CONTROL COMMISSION

BB122-p44-45-Agenda_09/10 04/11/2014 14:53 Page 2

Bet Beats in Vegas iGaming North America (iGNA) will be adding something new to the line-up for its 2015 conference, taking place on the 14-16 April in Las Vegas, a band made up of industry names. Sue Schneider, one of the iGNA partners, said: “We realised in chatting to folks in the business that there were some who had musical talents unknown to many. So we decided to pull together an opportunity to showcase some of that talent.”

LISTINGS

Early clamour to register for ICE Totally Gaming

MONTHLY BRIEFING

Last year ICE had attendees from a record 156 nations - Clarion is hoping to improve on that international appeal in 2015. egistration for ICE 2015 has gone live with in excess of 1,000 international gaming professionals reserving their tickets at www.icetotallygaming.co m in the first 72-hours of the system being activated. The ICE Totally Gaming website has been designed to reflect the creative campaign for 2015, which invites the industry to embark on its own Voyages Extraordinaires and ‘Discover’ the world of gaming amongst the 500+ exhibitors at ICE. New features of the 2015 site include an updated Media Hub, enabling journalists to access all information and images relating to the event, as well as enhanced exhibitor browsing, a bespoke ICE Confer-

ences micro-site, and an indepth visitor support section. Jo Mayer, marketing director responsible for ICE, said: “In 2014 we succeeded in attracting a total of 23,506 attendees to London, an achievement which represented our fifth consecutive year of growth. However, there’s a saying in this business about ‘only being as good as your last event’. As such our philosophy is based on instilling a culture of continuous improvement and the investments made in the brand creative and how we present the brand online, in the process delivering a cleaner and quicker user experience, are important elements of that culture.” ICE 2014 had attendees from a record 156 nations, a

statistic which puts the world’s biggest gaming event amongst the elite of UK-hosted exhibitions. The statistic, part of a comprehensive external audit commissioned by ICE, underlines the brand’s status as the only truly global event at which exhibitors can engage with buyers from every conceivable gaming jurisdiction. Clarion has also unveiled its campaign for ICE 2015. Inspired by the pioneering work of French novelist, poet and playwright Jules Verne and his epic stories of adventure, the campaign invites the industry to embark on its own Voyages Extraordinaires and ‘Discover’ the world of gaming which will be at ICE in London. The world’s favourite gaming event is

on course to eclipse the 2014 success story when an independently audited 23,506 attendees from a record 156 nations travelled to London to see the 515 exhibitors who chose ICE as their international shop window. Kate Chambers, who is responsible for the Totally Gaming portfolio which as well as ICE includes EiG (Berlin, October) and GiGse (San Francisco, April), believes that the campaign captures the essence of ICE and the unique benefits that it delivers stakeholders. She said: “Each year we work extremely hard in partnership with our creative agency to produce a campaign which is impactful, imaginative and relevant to the brand. Jules Verne is

probably most famous for the adventure novel Around The World in Eighty Days: ICE enables attendees to travel around the entire land-based and online gaming world in just three days, a feat which no other event on the gaming calendar can match. “Thanks to the imagination and creativity which ICE exhibitors apply to their presentation at the event, ICE has also become an adventure where gaming professionals and entrepreneurs discover new suppliers, discover ground breaking technologies and discover those landmark products which have the potential to transform the way the industry does business. I am pleased to say this is an epic campaign for what is an epic event.”

Open Space informing GiGse agenda AMERICA

rganisers of next year’s GiGse, which is being held on 21-23 April in San Francisco, are promising a ‘transformational experience’ following the unique output generated by the first GiGse Advisory Board meeting, which was held using the innovative ‘Open Space’ format favoured by many of the world’s most progressive organisations. Convened in Las Vegas across 28-29 September, the 40 strong Advisory Board, which comprises respected industry thought leaders including GamCrowd’s Ian Hogg, Susan Hensel of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board; Nevada Senator Greg Brower; and David Licht, chairman of the All American Poker Network, made huge advances identifying over 40 themes the industry feels passionate about and which will consequently form the basis of the GiGse programme moving forward. Much of the success of the two half day Advisory Board meeting has been attributed to the adoption of ‘Open Space Technology’, a format which has no formal or pre-

determined agenda, instead empowering participants to create the agenda for themselves and to self-organise the discussions which arise. Ewa Bakun, head of content for gaming at Clarion Events, explained: “Open Space Technology originated in the US and has been used in different formats since the early 1980s. It works most effectively when certain conditions are met including business issues that stakeholders are genuinely passionate about, and where there is a real sense of purpose both of which, I’m pleased to say, apply to the GiGse brand. I am

delighted that we made such fantastic progress in such a short period of time and that there is such a ground swell of positivity towards the GiGse brand.” This view was echoed by Valerie Spicer, executive director at the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, who commented: “I found that the engagement and interaction of the open space concept was what has been missing in the many conferences I attend. The ability to discuss important topics with a group of professional stakeholders was not only informative, but left me feeling as though I had achieved something and gained

something - that is a valuable take away.” Luisa Woods, director of online and internet marketing at Tropicana, added: “I have to say I was initially sceptical of the proposed format, but the outcome very quickly changed my thinking. The ‘self-organising’ structure of the meetings meant that I was always gathering to discuss topics I’m passionate about and that are critical to our business. Also it meant that the other participants in each session were similarly engaged and focused.” Bakun concluded: “The methodology used at the GiGse Advisory Board Meeting and the free flowing discussions has enabled us to identify the themes the industry is really passionate about. I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to the 40 members of the Board who made such an invaluable contribution to the process. A Book of Proceedings will now be published to gather the conclusions, share them with the wider industry and serve as a basis for the GiGse 2015 agenda.”

NOVEMBER 2014 5-6 Russian Gaming Week Sochi, Russia 5-7 IMGL 2014 Autumn Conference, Florence, Italy 5-7 Arizona Indian Gaming Association Expo 2014, For McDowell Casino, AZ, USA 5-6 ad:tech New York, Javits Centre, New York, USA 10-11 Florida Gaming Congress, Miami, Florida, USA 10-11 Mobile & Tablet Gambling Summit Europe, Hilton Tower Bridge, London 11 KPMG eGaming Summit, Isle of Man 11-13 SAGSE Latin America, Buenos Aires, Argentina 11-12 6th Annual Malta iGaming Seminar (MiGS) 2014, Hilton Malta 18 MGS iGaming Networking Party, Macao 18-20 Macao Gaming Show, Venetian Macao, China 24 BitCoin4iGaming, Dexter House London, UK 24 eGR Operator Awards 2014, Roundhouse, Camden, London 25-27 Slot Summit, France Lucien Barriere, Lille 26-28 National Association for Gambling Studies 24th Annual Conference, Queensland, Australia DECEMBER 2014 2-3 Tribal Gaming Regulatory Update, Isleta Resort & Casino, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA 2-4 Future iGaming, America Square Conference Centre, London, UK 8-11 The 41st Annual Symposium on Racing & Gaming, Westin La Paloma Resort, Tucson, Arizona JANUARY 2015 18-20 Affiliate Summit West 2015, Paris Casino Las Vegas, USA 31 – 3 FebruaryLondon Affiliate Conference 2015, London Olympia, London, UK FEBRUARY 2015 2-4 2015 New Horizons in Responsible Gaming Conference, Vancouver, Canada 2 8th Annual International Gaming Awards (IGA), Savoy Hotel, London, UK 3-5 ICE Totally Gaming, ExCel Conference Centre, London, UK 3 London Baby Sports Betting Community Networking Party, London 26 iGaming Legislative Symposium, Sheraton Grand Sacramento Hotel, Sacramento, USA

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Analysis ACTION IMAGES / JULIAN HERBERT LIVEPIC

Monitor journey SciVisum is a web performance monitoring company that works with high street brands to ensure their websites are delivering the service their customers would expect. ver the past year SciVisum has been looking at the betting business and recently conducted a survey showing how the betting companies faired during the football World Cup. The World Cup, however, is just a side show when compared to the busi-

TOP EIGHT MOBILE JOURNEY AVAILABILITY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Bet 365 - 99.95 Ladbrokes - 99.79 Totepool Betting - 99.61 SportingBet - 99.50 Betfair - 99.32 BetFred - 99.26 Stan James - 98.96 William Hill - 98.90

TOP EIGHT MOBILE JOURNEY CONSISTENCY (SD) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Chart supplied by: SciVism. Data for September

TOP TEN BOOKMAKERS FOR ENHANCED ODDS OFFERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

BetFred - 0.18 SportingBet - 0.20 Paddy Power - 0.29 Sky Bet - 0.31 Stan James - 0.34 William Hill - 0.63 Bet 365 - 0.67 Bet Victor - 0.99

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com. Data for September. Sorted by value excluding free bet payback

Doncaster - St Leger Doncaster - Portland Handicap Ayr - Ayr Gold Cup Newmarket - Cambridgeshire Haydock Park - Sprint Cup Doncaster - Napoleons Handicap Doncaster -OLBG Park Stakes Newbury - Dubai Duty Free Handicap Haydock Park - Old Borough Cup Ascot - RARC Handicap

Chart supplied by: Totepool. Data for August

By Asia

for the world

46 BettingBusinessInteractive â&#x20AC;˘ NOVEMBER 2014

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

SportingBet - 76 Sky Bet - 139 Bet Victor - 147 Bet 365 - 166 William Hill - 228 Ladbrokes - 233 Coral - 247 Betfair - 323

Chart supplied by: SciVism. Data for September

TOP TEN UK HORSERACE POOLS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(3) Winner (1) Paddy Power (9) 888Sport (8) BetVictor (4) Ladbrokes (-) William Hill (-) Racebets (2) Titanbet (7) Coral (6) Totepool

TOP EIGHT MOBILE AVERAGE JOURNEY - STEP SIZE (KB)

TOP TEN BOOKMAKERS FOR MONEYBACK OFFERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

(3) Paddy Power (1) bet365 (2) William Hill (4) Betfair (6) 888sport (5) Betfred (7) Winner (8) Stan James (10) Betway 9) Coral

Chart supplied by: Freebets.com. Data for September

Venetian Macao 18-20 November 2014

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