Infinity Gaming Magazine April 2020

InfinityGaming www.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE115

TIME TO REFLECT & GO AGAIN

WIG2020 NOMINATIONS GAMING + ARTICLES + BUSINESS+ GLOBAL + ONLINE + NEWS+ AWARDS + etc

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11 INDUSTRY LEGEND

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14 SLOTS OF REFLECTION

20 UNITING HUMANITY

Opinion Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in all external articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Infinity Gaming Magazine Any content provided by our feature writers or authors are of their opinion, and are not intended to malign any religion, ethic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.

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4 EDITOR NOTES Editor welcomes you to the latest edition of Infinity Gaming Magazine.

6 OUR WRITERS Meet our feature writers, the superb writers on our rosta.

08 WIG2020 LAUNCHED 12 START UPS 16 SLOTS ADVICE THE WORLDS END

24 THERE IS DOUBT? 33 THE INFLUENCER LIST

GOING VIRAL

+ NEWS & MORE NEWS

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from the gaming industry

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A note from the editor have seen a huge upturn in new partnerships and innovations, so please do send us your good news, especially at a time we need some.

As for the Women in Gaming Diversity and Inclusion Awards, we have moved this till late in 2020 but will of course look at this as the year develops and hope our lives are somewhere back to

Virus you will NOT WIN”

normal then. HOWEVER the nominations form is live and will remain live

CONTACT US Clever Duck Media Centrix@Keys Keys Park Road Staffordshire WS12 2HA UK Tel: +44(0)1543 478 889 PRODUCTION Clever Duck Media Centrix@Keys Keys Park Road Staffordshire WS12 2HA UK

for the whole time and we are receiving some great nominations. Through ad-

Lana Thompson - Editor

versity comes some wonderful stories and we cannot wait to tell them to you.

On a lighter note we have as always our superb writers Christina Thakor-Rankin,

Welcome to the latest edition of the In-

Teresa Tunstall, Andrew Cosgrove and

finity Gaming Magazine and what a dif-

Lynn Pearce de Freitas offering their

ference a few weeks make in our lives.

superb insights into gaming and the

As we sit wherever we are around our

changing world we now live in.

planet surely not many of us would have thought things would have changed so

The gaming industry is a truly innova-

quickly and dramatically.

tive and inspiring industry and I have no doubt that we will come back stronger

We at Clever Duck Media do not want

and better, but for now we at Clever

to dwell on the terrible loss of life and

Duck Media wish each and every one of

too many of our colleagues who are not

you, STAY SAFE AND WELL.

able to work at present as some 60% of our industry is closed down. We want

Let me leave you with a classic quote

to only wish you all a quick resolution

that seems quite relevant at this time:

to this awful virus wherever you are in the world.

“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re

Many of our online companies are sur-

gonna get.”- Forrest Gump

viving and many if not all are working from home, to this we have a couple of

“To Infinity and Beyond!”

superb collages from Betsson Group on their new office environments, PLEASE

Regards,

if you have images from your new work-

Lana

place DO SEND them to us and will use them in social media and in the magazine.

Across our media platforms we are trying to avoid as much negative news and outputs as possible, we all know what is happening so we prefer to provide more positive news than anything else. We

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The Editor

PUBLISHING Infinity Gaming Magazine is operated by © Clever Duck Media Ltd ® Company Reg. No. 687 1018 (Registered in England) V.A.T reg. no 972 6372 91

Sponsorship Opportunities Colin@cleverduckmedia.com Business Partnerships Svetlana@gaming-awards.com Marketing & Advertising claire@cleverduckmedia.com Editorial Content & PR media@cleverduckmedia.com

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Infinity Gaming Magazine Contributing Writers A magazine is only as good as the content inside and with some of the leading specialists within the gaming industry. With specialised articles covering customer service, the gaming law, new prducts, technology and current affairs with the sector the Infinity Gaming Magazine is delighted to showcase our superb line-up of contributing writers.

Christina Thakor-Rankin Christina is Principal Consultant at 1710 Gaming Ltd, a specialist betting and gaming consultancy, delivering a range of services including licensing and compliance (incl. regulation, money laundering and social responsibility), business start-up, training and strategic reengineering, project management, research, business analysis and development, to start-ups and established multi-national operators and providers, gambling regu-

lators, law enforcement and government agencies, media, and specialist interest groups and associations within the sector, in both established and emerging markets across the world.

www.1710gaming.com

Teresa Tunstall – Independent Gaming Consultant After many years of working in casinos in the UK and on USA ships as a croupier and inspector, Teresa turned from ‘poacher to gamekeeper,’ spending 16 years with GamCare, who offer help and support to those who develop problems with their gambling.

Teresa now works independently consulting on all issues relating to Social Responsibility and Problem Gambling.

Working closely with the betting and gaming industry, She developed strong links delivering Social Responsibility and Problem Gambling training around the world, from Antigua to Moscow, and Auditing in the UK.

To contact Teresa regarding consulting please email: Teresatunstall1@gmail.com

Andrew Cosgrove - Slots Guru Andrew Cosgrove is a seasoned slot operations veteran and certified project manager with over 24 years of hands on experience in Latin America and the Caribbean. Andrew has worked on both the operator and supplier side of casino slots and continues to help clients succeed and exceed customer expectations.

Andrew can be reached at andy.cosgrove@hemingwaycasinoconsulting.com or see http://hemingwaycasinoconsulting.com/

Lynn has creatively strategized and implemented B2C and B2B acquisition, conversion and retention marketing campaigns.

She joined Forwardslash, (an igaming marketing company) as Marketing GM: Creative Studio. She then went on to work for a sportsbetting company to launch a poker room and casino for a while, before being headhuntered to join a startup casino company in Prague, where she worked as the Marketing Operations Manager. Longing for the sea and sunshine, she relocated to Malta to consult for a B2B igaming software development company.

Lynn Pearce de Freitas

Lynn started off her igaming career consulting to LCI, a prestigious land-based casino in the UK, where she was responsible for the online marketing and projectmanagement of conferences, events, presentations, video production, and other activities.

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GAMING NEWS

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Industry Legend Sol Kerzner Dies Aged 84

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ol Kerzner, one of the world’s most innovative hoteliers and casino operator, founder of the Southern Sun hotel group, Sun International and Kerzner International, has died of cancer at the Kerzner family home, Leeukoppie Estate, in Cape Town, South Africa.

Always a maverick, Kerzner was a titan of the hotel and resort industry who redefined the scale and scope of integrated destination resorts worldwide. He was 84.

The son of Russian immigrants, Kerzner was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1935. The youngest of four and the only son, Sol was a working class boy from a rough neighbourhood but he would grow up to become one of the most influential entrepreneurs in South Africa. Having founded the country’s two largest hotel groups – Southern

Sun and Sun International – Kerzner would go on to achieve international prominence with groundbreaking resorts that helped transform the tourism industries not only of his home country but of Mauritius, The Maldives, The Bahamas, Dubai and other important international destinations.

The complexity and sheer determination of the man is only hinted at by the fact that at the age of 12 Sol played with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra while, in the same year, he took up boxing – initially for reasons of self-defense in the tough Bez Valley suburb where he grew up and, later, as a serious sport.

Almost needless to say, by the time he graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a degree in accountancy, Kerzner was varsity welterweight champion.

For someone who lived much of his life in the public eye, Kerzner was a surprisingly private person and although many of his former colleagues and partners will attest to this remarkable man’s fighting spirit and grit, few knew that Sol also had a softer side.

Kerzner’s career in hospitality began in 1962 when he decided to leave the accounting profession and purchased The Astra, a small inn in Durban, South Africa. Kerzner quickly transformed this rundown establishment into one of the most popular hotels in the area, a success that whetted Sol’s insatiable appetite for innovation and demonstrated a trademark ingenuity that would define his 60-year career.

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GAMING NEWS

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10 more towns approve betting locations

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en towns in New Hampshire have voted to legalise sports betting in their communities, providing the state with a stable of potential locations for retail sportsbook establishments.

Residents of Salem, Derry, Hudson, Pelham, Hampton, Newmarket, Belmont, Rollinsford, Hinsdale and Seabrook approved allowing a physical spot in town for sports wagering.

The towns of Milford, Littleton, Lincoln, Swanzey and Woodstock defeated the measure, while Pembroke is due to vote on it Saturday.

As per the state law, the New Hampshire Lottery Commission will work with DraftKings to vet and review possible sites and ultimately pick no more than 10. In addition to the 10 towns that voted in this round, 6 cities approved sports betting last fall.

Jim Morgan, Derry Town Councillor, said he would like to see the town become an anchor for sports betting traffic, which he believed would help the town’s economy.

Morgan said, “The Derry Town Council appreciates the voters of Derry

and their decision to pass sportsbook in Derry. We look forward to keeping a close eye on this and working with the state to bring a location to our community.”

In a bid to identify the areas of the town where a sports betting establishment could be located, Derry has already updated its zoning ordinance – this could either be in the well-developed commercial centre on or around Manchester Road, or the under-developed section of Bypass 28 by Ryan’s Hill south to the Windham border.

Now that Hudson voters have approved the measure, town selectmen Chairman David Morin said he hopes the state considers Hudson due to its proximity to Massachusetts and easy access to nearby highways.

Morin said, “Our town vote confirmed that the town and the residents were willing to allow it within our borders.”

The option of hosting a sportsbook retail location was more popular in some communities than others. For instance, the measure passed by more than a 2-1 margin in Salem,

while Rollinsford passed it by just 28 votes and Newmarket passed it by 51 ballots.

Mobile sports wagering has been active since Dec. 30. By Tuesday, there had been more than 1.8 million bets totalling $45.3 million, with 40,906 registered users.

6 cities had voted to legalise hosting a sports betting location last fall: Manchester, Laconia, Claremont, Franklin, Somersworth and Berlin.

With the cities and the new towns giving a thumbs up, the state now has 16 communities to decide between.

Charlie McIntyre, the executive director of New Hampshire Lottery, said in a statement, “With 10 more communities voting to allow sportsbook retail locations within their communities, we can continue to identify potential locations for physical sportsbooks.”

As per the Lottery Commission, Londonderry, Candia and Windham residents voted to approve Keno gaming, adding to a state-wide list of 89 communities.

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Slots of reflection for creating a brighter future How we can learn from the past and use today’s tragic pandemic to build a brighter and stronger future for both slot machine and Casino operations

By Andy Cosgrove

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he Coronavirus has already changed our daily lives and will inevitably change the way we live in the future. On hearing about the recent news that Las Vegas Casinos have been closed down in order to slow down the spread of the disease I couldn’t help but reflect on this unprecedented situation and the devastating effects it’s having on so many lives. I asked myself how we can better prepare for such unforeseen events and what can we learn from the past, and the present, in order to create a better future. Casinos can be a great place to play and work but as anyone in operations will tell you they’re far from perfect and, in many cases, limited by what they can do by both internal and external factors beyond their control. So, what’s so out of control in the present and how can we improve on it and build

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a better future starting today?

• Out of control issue number 1 Customer service. Not so long ago I was in a UK land-based casino where the staff didn’t greet me, they didn’t make eye contact or smile, and the management were busier talking to each other than to the customers. On another occasionin the Caribbean I was visiting a competitor’s casino and when I needed assistance, there appeared to be nobody available to help me, or anybody that knew how to help me. When nobody is held accountable and nobody is in charge, the tendency is for the situation to get worse, so why do so many operators still ignore the effects of poor customer service?

• Out of control issue number 3– Over regulation. In a particular jurisdiction

the maximum payout allowed on a slot machine inside a land-based casino is 10k for stand alone slot machine and 20k for progressive slots.

Within the same gambling jurisdiction, I can play online slots and win a life changing million-dollar Jackpot!

Isn’t this known as unfair competition? In the very same jurisdiction, I can also go into a supermarket and win a multi-million-dollar jackpot just by playing the lottery! Other regulators over tax operators as they see Casinos as cash cows that will effortlessly fill their coffers which, in turn, has directly resulted in the closure of casinos.

• Out of control issue number 3 – Lack of innovation. I was talking recently to a casino GM about who their main casino equipment suppliers were, and they informed me that

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they only use one. When I enquired as to why, they informed me that they had used the same company for 30 years so didn’t see the need to change. A valid argument perhaps, but not in favor of innovation as the casino looked as tired as the carpet.

In another casino, the tech manager commented that, “we’ve always done it this way.” Ouch!

• Out of control issue number 4 – Bad management. I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the greatest minds in the business and am also good friends with some living legends. They wear greatness effortlessly, show respect and practice both integrity and professionalism with everybody they meet. They seek to learn as much as they seek to share their knowledge and know the

importance of great leadership. On the other side of the coin I’ve worked for some real ego’s that didn’t listen to advice, acted like dictators, expected loyalty but gave nothing in return but the blame game when revenues took their inevitable plunge.

• Out of Control issue number 5 – The Pareto rule. It’s a well-known fact that 80% of casino profits come from 20 % of its players and that’s a great statistic but what about the other 20% of profits that come from 80% of the players? I’ve had marketing directors tell me that they don’t care about them and that they would rather not have them at all than have to put up with their discontent and constant complaining!!!

reflect on how to improve these, and many other out of control issues and really come together to create a better future for the Casino business.

Regulators, operators, management, suppliers, innovators and customers need to work together to provide a better future for the industry that we feel so passionate about. Below are some possible solutions to the out of control issues that affect the brand image of the casino business on a daily basis.

• Opportunity for issue number 1 – Customer service. The world’s most successful Casino brands take great pride in maintaining their excellent customer service standards and go to great length’s (and expense) to make sure they stay nothing short of

Now is a unique opportunity to

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Slots of reflection for creating a brighter future (continued)

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excellent. Successful operators know and respect the importance of customer service and the effect it has on the bottom line so you could say they take it rather seriously. Effective and ongoing training and evaluation techniques are essential to maintain the consistent levels of customer service that only the most successful operators achieve.

• Opportunity for issue number 2 – Over regulation. Over regulations can and will limit a casinos ability to compete with their online counterparts as well as land-based casinos in other jurisdictions. You know, they type of jurisdictions where people will travel for hours by plane, boat, car or train to reach in order to live the ultimate Casino entertainment experience, get a healthy return on their entertainment investment and maybe even get lucky and win a life changing jackpot along the way.

What’s not to like? Regulations should be designed to enable operators to compete on a level playing field and regulators should work together with operators to ensure that regulations remain relevant and that they reflect the constant changes and challenges within the industry • Opportunity for Issue number 3 – Lack of Innovation. I’ve been making an annual trip to Las Vegas for at least the past 15 years and they innovate, innovate and then they innovate some more. How else did a once upon a time frontier town became the entertainment capital of the world?

The best operators make innovation a part of their company mindset, their values and their day-to-day operations. Operators that practice innovation on a consistent and regular basis ultimately become successful while others….do the same thing that they have done for the past 30 years! I know where I would rather be!

• Opportunity for Issue number 4 – Bad management. Great management starts from the top and a good boss will always lead by example, empower employees and stimulate growth by seeing opportunity in failure and by creating an army of leaders. A motivated and engaged staff is one of the main differences between an “okay” (will never come back) response and a, “Wow, I was blown away by the experience” response (I’m already making plans to return next weekend). Which response would you prefer?

• Opportunity for Issue number 5 -The Pareto rule. It’s extremely shocking (but also very much a reality) that a casino would hire anybody with the “I choose to ignore the 80% of my players” kind of attitude, never mind giving them the title of Director. Successful GM’s and marketing executives recognize the importance of accommodating all their player’s no matter the size of their ADT. Different reward strategies need to be developed for each customer segment, but a personalized customer service experience should be for everyone.

Conclusion: Excellence in customer service will make your operation a success. Relevant changes in regulation will allow operators to become more competitive. Greater and consistent levels of innovation will take your operation to a whole new level of customer satisfaction and help you exceed financial targets. Stronger management will create an army of leaders and last, but not least making all of your player’s (and not just the Pareto 20% rich ones) feel valued and like part of your casino family will keep your operation successful today and better prepared for the future. Stay safe.

MY MINI-BLOG - Andrew Cosgrove is a seasoned slot operations veteran and certified project manager with over 24 years of hands on experience in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Andrew has worked on both the operator and supplier side of casino slots and continues to help clients succeed and exceed customer expectations.

Andrew can be reached at andy.cosgrove@hemingwaycasinoconsulting. com or see http://hemingwaycasinoconsulting.com/

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GAMING NEWS

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BBIN Launch New Water Charity Drive

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GB Charity, a charity brand established by BBIN, has launched a series of interactive audio-visual events in recognition of World Water Day on March 22. Through interactive video and social media games, users around the world are invited to experience the importance of safe water and the severe consequences the global water crisis poses to those living in it every day. As part of this initiative, TGB Charity is also supporting Water.org, an international nonprofit organization, donating $50,000 USD to help bring safe water to families in need around the world.

The event will be promoted across global media networks and free to participate on TGB Charity’s official platforms for two months starting in March. The interactive video is about one-minute long and aims to deliver the message that water is limited, hard to access and polluted for people around the world and how each issue impacts daily life.

The storyline is designed in a parallel universe where each person has only one bucket of water to use every day, thus inviting people to think deeply about their water consumption during their daily routines and activities.

The plot unfolds differently depending on the choices made at the key parts of the storyline. In addition, AR filter games are also made available on TGB Charity Facebook page.

Through fun and engaging interactive experiences, TGB Charity hopes to draw more public attention to the global water crisis.

Water.org is an international nonprofit organization that empowers people in need with access to safe water and sanitation through affordable financing. It was co-founded by celebrity Matt Damon and water expert Gary White. Different from the way that many charities operate, Water.org utilizes a micro-lending model to break down the financial barrier to water and sanitation.

Partnering with local financial in-

stitutions, Water.org helps connect families in need with small loans.

Families use these loans to install a water or sanitation solution, such as a water tap or toilet, in their homes.

No longer needing to wait in long lines or walk miles each day to collect water, time, energy, and other resources can be invested in school, work, and family – giving many the opportunity to break from a cycle of poverty. It is a proven and powerful solution that has changed more than 26 million lives around the world.

In the future, TGB Charity will continue to draw public attention to global issues related but not limited to the environment, education, children, sharing love and warmth to the world and give beyond through each of its events.

TGB Charity’s Interactive Video, “Imagine a Life Without Clean Water” https://tgbcharity.com/waterapocalypse

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The pandemic is global and unites humanity as one giving rise to some positive outcomes

By Lynn Pearce de Freitas

B

eing a naturally upbeat and positive person, always looking for the silver lining, the happy ending, the perfect solution, I struggled initially to take the coronavirus as seriously as I should have, especially since my parents are most vulnerable due to their advanced age. Only in the past few weeks as more and more actual facts about the disease began to filter through all the fake news and advice, did I realize how much this terrifying disease would affect all of our lives, on a global scale,whichcurrent generations have not witnessed before.

I then did some research, to find out how the different generations were reacting to the coronavirus and who was taking it the most serious of all.

It appears that older generations – like the Baby Boomers, who are now

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the “at-risk” generation, do not like to think of themselves as “old”, so they tend to worry about their children and grandchildren more than their own health.

concerned about their families, but as the breadwinners, they are also concerned about how they are going to be paying the bills in these tumultuous times.

Millennials are already stressed out to such an extent that they seem to not be able to accept anything more – so they appeared to “stare down” this new threat and continued to go to restaurants or bars a lot longer, before accepting the self-isolation advice to stop the spread of the virus.

So how to find the positives in all of this?

There are some that are glaringly obvious! Some reports estimate that China’s quarantine has saved more than 100 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere – and in Venice the canals and waterways are looking absolutely amazingly crystal clear in the absence of diesel-powered boats and gondoliers! The pictures coming through online are truly beautiful – you can even see the fish swimming around in the waters.

It turns out that Gen X – often referred to as the “sandwich generation” (due to the fact that many of them are caring for their children and their parents) – have little choice but to care deeply. They have also previously been hard hit by 9/11 and the 2008 stock market crash. Not only are they

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In Italy, we are seeing videos of people singing together from their balconies, gym instructors are getting their neighbors to exercise daily by giving them lessons from their open spaces – the community spirit is thriving in the face of this onslaught.

Medical institutions around the world are working together to combat the virus, which isa rather unusualoccurrence, but good news for all of us for the future.

Scientists from Canada and the Netherlands have made medical breakthroughs collaborating. In Toronto, a team of researchers managed to isolate the agent responsible for the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, which will help researchers around the world develop better diagnostic testing, treatments, and vaccines.

According to Dr. Rob Kozak, clinical microbiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre: “Researchers from these world-class institutions came together in a grassroots way to successfully isolate the virus in just a few short weeks”. It demonstrates

the amazing things that can happen when we collaborate.”

Since this is a “crowd disease” people are self-isolating and re-connecting with their friends online, via Facebook, WhatsApp, FaceTime, Twitter, WeChat and other channels.

From my own perspective, being part of the gaming community and knowing friends in many regions throughout the world, it has been great catching up with so many people, who have messaged me to find out how I am doing and vice versa, so for the first time in a very long time I have spoken to friends that I have neglected due to work pressure – life has been getting busier for all of us and this situation has now forced us to slow down and take stock of our lives, hopefully for the better.

People are reading again – books that they purchased years ago, but never had the time to read. Others are redecorating their apartments. Some of my friends are learning how to cook, others are taking solitary walks in na-

ture – it seems everyone is doing the kind of thing they really want to do but never seem to find the time for. I asked a friend of mine in Prague what the self-isolation meant to him and he responded by saying that it is allowing him to spend time with his loved one and he is enjoying this so much, as the past year he spent most of his time travelling for business - now he is having online meetings, which are more productive anyway!

Companies globally are realizing that their workforce can work remotely and be trusted to get the job done, which is a real eye-opener for a lot of these companies, who were just a short while ago hugely averse to allowing their staff to work from home.

Hopefully they will see the value in this and allow it to continue going forward.

I honestly believe that by the time the coronavirus pandemic is over, the world as we know it will be a better place.

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GAMING NEWS

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Detroit casinos revenue increases

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he Michigan Gaming Control Board has announced revenue numbers for the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino, and each of them is doing pretty good – the month of February continued to bring strong revenues to Detroit casinos.

The Detroit casinos reported a total revenue of $121.7 million for the month, which is a 6.3% improvement year on year and doing 1.5% better than the $120 million collections seen in January. Overall, revenues are up by 6.7% for the first 2 months of 2020, as compared to 2019 numbers.

The best figures out the 2 were reported by MGM Grand Detroit, bringing in a 6.4% increase to $52.6 million in revenue. Motorcity and Greektown both saw gains too, the former bringing in $40.5 million for a 4.7% improvement, and the latter taking $28.6 million for an 8.3% increase.

The overall impression was that

Michigan was happy with this performance, collecting $9.9 million in taxes from gaming. That is a healthy improvement over the $9.3 million made in collections last year. Along with this, the 3 casinos paid $14.5 million to the city of Detroit.

Now that sports betting is coming to Detroit, all of these numbers promise to improve further for the month of March. As promised, the Michigan Gaming Control Board had gone ahead and approved the three casinos to accept in-person sports wagers starting March 11 at 1:00 pm. MGM and Greektown planned to start as early as possible, while Motorcity has decided to delay their first sports bet until the start of the day on Thursday, at 10:00 am.

MGCB executive director Richard Kalm told reports after the meeting, “I think it’s going to be great for Michigan’s casinos. I think it’s going to drive market activity. There’s not a lot of margins to make a lot of money at sports betting per se, but it will

drive traffic in the casinos. So, they’ll be able to market other amenities: hotel rooms, drinks and other gaming that goes on.”

The approval meeting was used by all 3 casinos to announce their final plans for sports wagering. MotorCity will operate 54 kiosks and 6 betting windows, Greektown is planning to go with 28 kiosks and 4 betting counters, and MGM Grand will operate 16 kiosks and 6 betting windows.

Kalm did not get into making any predictions on how much volume sports betting will bring, but he believed it has to be good. He said, “We can only look at other states, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It has raised the number of people that go to the casino, and Detroit’s a big sports town. There’s always a lot of sporting activities going on with four major-league teams in town. I do believe there’s going to be a benefit to the casino and driving traffic into each as well.”

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The End of the World…… or not

By Teresa Tunstall

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s I sit here writing I feel the need to bet–something I rarely do - that without doubt someone somewhere is busy writing a book about how the Coronavirus will be the plague that will mark the end of all mankind.

However, don’t run to the nearest air-raid shelter yet! China and South Korea have already seen an end to our fears and many professors worldwide are busy creating a vaccine in an attempt to beat the Virus and/ or at least make a lot of money for themselves.

Meanwhile, Las Vegas is in shutdown, joining land based casinos in cities around the globe. If there is no longer the ringing sound of slot machines, or no more the sight of

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the ball spinning around the roulette wheel, then where will players go to get their gambling kick?Is this the end of the world and therefore gambling? No way,of course not! This is when Virtual, Remote and Online casinos and slots will come to the fore although they are not for everyone; big players will likely switch to their mobiles with e-sports and continue their gambling habit.

In other news, Mr GreenOnline (bought by William Hill) has been hit with a £3m penalty for failing to protect gambling addicts. Online betting company Betway has also been hit with a record penalty of £11.6m for failings over customer protection and money-laundering checks.It failed to freeze the account of a customer who

won £50,000 and gambled it away before depositing thousands more.

The company amazingly accepted a 10-year-old document showing a £176,000 claims payout as satisfactory evidence of source of funds for a customer who deposited more than £1m. There are many gamblers who present evidence of funds but it’s obvious thatthese are not always checked for reliability or truth.

Rightfully the Gambling Commission said the company did not have ‘effective procedures’ to check that customerswere using legitimate sources of money, and were made to conduct an investigation whichhad uncovered “systemic failings”.

Teresa Tunstall Article

Mr Green is the NINTH company to face penalties as part of a probe by the Gambling Commission into safeguarding failures by various Online forms of gambling such as Remote casinos, betting, football and gamblingall of which showed poor and weak measures to prevent money laundering. Additionally they employed staff whose job was to encourage people to play for higher and longer gambling stakes.The Gambling Commission stated the investigation had also revealed “inadequate management oversight;” adding that a probe “into responsible Personal Management License holders” was continuing and definitely required at this time.

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In the past I trained staff who worked on all different forms of betting and gambling. The most interesting were the staff working with high spenders: these players were offered hospitality outings at Ascot, Aintree and Cheltenham Racecourseto name but a few. In fact I was invited to Kempton Park Racecourseby a betting company whereat the entrance sat a uniformed inspector.When he was told that I worked with problem gamblers he ushered me in saying, “Welcome, there’s a few here who need your help.”I was taken in to see the company’s stand and as I approached it to my horror and to the anguish of my escort I saw a father balance his baby on the counter whilst he searched for his

betting money. Such stupidity wasn’t even challenged!

Going back to those staff whose job it is to look after specific gamblers - generally VIP’s–they said that they liked chatting to gamblers. In particular they enjoyed meeting invitedcustomers to ‘Special days out,’mostly to Ascot races and how they often developed good relationships. However, one girl did tell me that after two years of regularly talking to one such player he refused any contact except on the phone. I asked if she knew why he particularly wanted to be incognito? Avoiding eye contact she said, “We’re not allowed to ask such questions and in any event I know he wouldn’t answer.”

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Teresa Tunstall Article

S

taff working with VIP’s sometimes come across those who for various reasons don’t want to gravitate too closely to a person within any particular company, but of course there are other players who enjoy speaking to staff. One woman who was a regular gambler spent copious amounts of time speaking with staff and when I enquired as to whether she had a gambling problem the reply was that they thought she was just lonely.

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South London. The shop was quiet until someone who was obviously a regular customer turned up.Bizarrely the manager appeared to be very nervous and it transpired later that the customer had won £9000, but as the safe only pays out at certain times I realised why the manager was edgy… he hadn’t wanted me to see such a large sum being paid to this gambler.

“The actions of Betway suggest there was little regard for the welfare of its VIP customers or the impact on those around them. The treatment and handling of high-value customers is a significant piece of that work and operators are in no doubt about the need to tackle the issue at speed.” said the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission continued, “as a result of a lack of consideration of individual customers’ affordability and source of funds checks, the operator allowed £5.8m of money to flow through the business which has been found, or could reasonably be suspected to be, proceeds of crime.As part of our ongoing programme of work to make gambling safer, we are pushing the industry to make rapid progress on the areas that we consider will have the most significant impact to protect consumers.” For the sake of information,the Gambling Commission has issued more than £20m in penalties since 2018.

By the way, at one point I was asked to do a check on a company’s betting offices and consequently one late afternoon together with a colleague visited a shop in Catford,

However, we in the UK have much to be thankful for especially when you hear that the head of the Gambling Commission in Bulgaria has been detained by prosecutors. This is

Now I know we can’t expect staff to chat in depth with a player but it begs the question as to why in this particular instance she wasn’t directed to someone who could help her in the battle against loneliness?

the second time theyhave raided the Commission in the space of two weeks amid fears of connections to organised crime.

In January prosecutors raided the Sofia offices of Nove Holding, a company owned by controversial Bulgarian businessman Bozhkoy, who is thought to be the mastermind behind much criminal activity. It’s no coincidence that Nove Holding has diversified interests and owns several of Bulgaria’s largest bookmakers and lottery operators!

After the raid prosecutors stated that Bozhkoywas facing seven separate charges which included leading an organised crime group, extortion and attempted bribery. Although no longer in Bulgaria, Bozhkoy also ran Lottery Bulgaria and their National Lottery; it is said that he is in the United Arab Emirates.

Finally, I wish you all a safe and restful time over the next month or so and hope to catch-up with you all soon. see you in the next issue!

READ MORE from Teresa Tunstall only in the next edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine.

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GAMING NEWS

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PokerStars Founder Pleads Guilty in US

I

sai Scheinberg, the founder of PokerStars has pleaded guilty in the US to one charge of running an illegal online gambling business.

himself in to US agents. He was taken into custody and appeared in court where he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The charges date back to the infamous 2011 “Black Friday” where the US government effectively shut down all online poker in the US and caused the collapse of the then giant Full Tilt Poker business that showed without money flowing in from US players it was effectively bankrupt.

Bail was set at $1 million and Scheinberg, however it is all but certain that the founder of what is still the world’s largest online poker platform will not serve a day in prison.

However PokerStars paid all players and in the end settled all debts of its competitor at Full Tilt.

Scheinberg was in Switzerland and following negotiations with US Federal law enforcement decided to fly to New York and voluntarily handed

Olga Zverovich, the federal prosecutor in the case at the time told the court that, “We have an agreement in principle on the basic terms.” Meaning that an agreement is in place and the formality of the arrest and bail is effectively to remove the arrest warrants from Isai Scheinberg and to allow him access to future travel in the US.

Although pleading guilty to the one charge could mean a 12 to 18 month jail term, that may be reduced even further and then served on parole for a limited time.

A spokesperson for Mr Scheinberg said, He’s pleased to put the matter behind him, notably, all PokerStars players were paid back immediately and Mr. Scheinberg played an important role in ensuring that all of the players from other sites were repaid as well,” In 2014 PokerStars was acquired by Amaya in a deal worth nearly $5 billion, currently PokerStars is again being sold to Flutter Group who already own Paddy Power and Betfair.

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GOING VIRAL........

We are currently faced with the worst peacetime crisis in living memory.

By Christina Thakor-Rankin

I

n the space of a few weeks the world has gone from normal to teetering on the brink of one of the biggest global recessions imaginable. People are dying, markets are crashing and businesses (and business sectors) are teetering on the brink of collapse.Whilst the full extent of the impact remains to be seen, and largely depends on how quickly the world gets to grips with the pandemic, what is already clear is that there are some business sectors that will be hit significantly harder than others.

In particular, those businesses that rely on disposable consumerincome for their survival such as, fashion, lifestyle, travel, leisure, entertainment, gaming and gambling.

The success and survival of the bet-

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ting and gambling industry is based upon a fragile and complicated ecosystem of people, public opinion, politics, perception and pockets at the best of times. Thebalance is so delicate that even seemingly smallchanges can have a significant impact.

The lack of interest in gambling amongst the younger generation has already had an impact on the landbased casino sector amidst a plethora of headlines bemoaning the missed opportunity of the millennials, and conference panels discussing the challenges of engaging Generation Z. Whilst higher license fees and tax hikes from governments looking to plug national deficits coupled with advertising bans and restrictions

on bonus and promotional activity driven by the altruistic desire to protect players and minimise harm have increased the cost of doing business whilst simultaneously restricting the scope of doing business.

Then there are those changes which appear to embody the maxim ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’. For example, thereduction in stakes on fixed odds betting terminals (the ‘crack cocaine’ of gambling) inbetting shops in the UK a couple of years ago resulted in the largest number of high street betting shop closures in recentyears. The visible political impact was greater player protection. The partially visible economic impact was the loss of jobs, and wider economic impact on any

31

business going to the wall. The almost

industries, but especially so for one al-

businesses will weather the storm,

invisible social impact was the loss of a

ready struggling with the challenges of

some will not, navigating the challenges

‘safe’ space for many older and other-

public scrutiny, increasing regulation,

specific to their industry. Thedifference

vulnerable men who didn’t play the ma-

tightening margins and dwindling cus-

between the betting and gambling sec-

chines, but did find the betting shops a

tomer numbers in a hugely competitive

tor and other industries however is that

refuge and lifeline against social isola-

marketplace.

it is caught between a rock and a hard

tion and loneliness, or for those whose

place.

funds or pensions didn’t stretch to both

The restriction of movement of people

heating and food,a warm place to spend

and lock-down of all non-essential ac-

Firstly, the postponement of sport-

the day in the colder months. The same

tivities have hit all businesses, includ-

ing events has effectively shut-down

could be said of women and bingo halls,

ing land-based betting and gambling

sports-betting operations across the

and many other gambling establish-

operators across the world. Even if it

entire world. Hitting the pause button

ments where the primary reason for

were possible to move around, or op-

on football in Europe has impacted on

visiting is not gambling. And his applies

erators are able to move customer to

operators not just in Europe, but also

not just to the UK but to similar estab-

online channels, many consumers will

Africa and Asia where European leagues

lishments the world over.

prudently be keeping their money in

account for the majority of revenue, as

their pocket against a backdrop of busi-

well as stalling the nascent US sports-

The current pandemic is set to be a test

nesses going bust in these uncertain

betting market.

of the ‘survival of the fittest’ for many

times. The harsh reality is that some

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INFINITY GAMING

Christina Thakor-Rankin Article

And uncertainty around how some of the competitions and leagues will be settled makes it very difficult to accurately forecast payouts and settlement, making planning or the future a challenge. The cost to the industry of the English FA and other leagues pronouncing the 2019/20 season ‘null and void’ does not bear thinking about.

The only way to try and mitigate against almost certain disaster is for both sportsbooks and other land-based gambling operators to push customers to gambling products online, however this is not so straight-forward in a world of increasing social responsibility and regulation. An industry which is already in the public’s bad books needs to think long and hard before trying to encourage customers to lose money gambling at a time of such economic instability, and in the face of warnings from regulators to take more care that customers looking to break the tedium of self-isolation or address financial insecurities do not turn to gam-

bling as an easy escape or win.

This does not mean do nothing. It is important to maintain a relationship with customers, but in a way which befits the current climate.

Operators can (and should) continue to provide fun and entertainment, but only where this can be delivered in a bubble of enhanced social responsibility and player protection measures that are mindful of the current pressures and stresses customers are facing. They should consider dialling down the marketing and advertising, whilst looking at how existing technology such as online chatrooms and forums could be re-purposed to provide support groups and chat communities for those in isolation, whilst those who offer streaming could broadcast old matches, games and races for entertainment only. Others still could follow the example of Joe Asher, CEO William Hill US, and donated their salaries or bonuses to furloughed employees.

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We have to be realistic and accept that some operators will not survive the pandemic, but those that do will need all the goodwill they can muster in order to build themselves up again on the other side.

This industry internationally is at a crossroads for the reasons already cited. Nothing will destroy it faster, or more effectively,than stories about unscrupulous gambling operators trying to turn an international crisis to their commercial advantage.

If it is to get through the current crisis, it needs to keep a cool head and a clean sheet and come together to ensure that the actions of one bad apple do not let the whole side down.Right now, more than ever before, it needs to place reputation before revenue, and like every other industry and business sector in the world it needs to be seen to be doing the right thing - for the right reasons.

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GAMING NEWS

35

Nigeria gambling corruption

C

orporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the autonomous body charged with the responsibility to regulate the formation and management of companies in Nigeria, and the Nigerian National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), established through the National Lottery Act of 2005, have struck a new partnership to fight “unscrupulous companies” in the country’s gambling industry.

Both the organisations have agreed to work closely for assessing licence applications from potential lottery operators as well as to “plug leakages” in the system.

Director General of the NLRC, Lanre Gbajabiamila said, “This collaboration has been long overdue. Our mandate is to regulate lottery, sports betting and gaming activities in Nigeria. Our Commission can only do so much on its own because of the way the industry has grown and continues to grow.”

Registrar General and Chief Executive

of the CAC, Abubakar Garba said the commission had, in the past, experienced problems regarding registration of lottery operators and hoped that the collaboration would prevent these issues in the future.

In January, the NLRC had prohibited the operation, promotion and sale of tickets of all unapproved foreign lottery games after the commission observed multiple instances of operators failing to honour players’ winnings.

Garba said, “We have had issues in the past with the registration of lottery companies. This made us revisit the earlier requirement that approval in principle must be obtained from the NLRC before such registration”.

“But we have been mindful of the need to properly regulate these companies. Generally, as an agency, we have dispensed mostly with the approval in principle because of delay in the process. Instead of asking for approval in principle, we will create database for the NLRC so that from

the comfort of your office, you would be able to verify whether a company is registered with us as a lottery company”, he explained.

Gbajabiamila added that the two organisations were already working together to scrutinise potential lottery operators but will now step up these efforts.

“Since I assumed office two years ago, we have, together with the CAC, been tackling frivolous business names to confirm whether they are registered with the CAC or not,” Gbajabiamila stated.

Gbajabiamila went on to say, “The NLRC took it upon itself to first of all vet applications through the CAC, which in turn, sent them back to us for confirmation. I believe that is the spirit of working together as Federal agencies to ensure the mandate and preaching of Mr President Muhammadu Buhari on anti-corruption and leakages are taken care of.”

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GAMING NEWS

37

GBGC begins discussions to change LCCP

G

BGC the British Gambling Commission has initiated discussions on potential changes to the LCCP (licence conditions and codes of practice), mostly to modify the methods which licensees must use to report key events.

Overall, the Commission has proposed changes to 17 articles of the LCCP – the consultation started on 26 February and will continue until 20 May. The phrase “Ensure that the Commission is provided [with information]” concerning offences under the 2005 Gambling Act or breaches of the LCCP will be removed.

The regulator said this was to emphasise that, “responsibility for meeting the licence condition rests with licensees, not third parties”.

A new licencing condition was announced, requiring licensees to report any cases of organised money lending they come across.

Licensees would no longer have to inform the Commission of investment, which is not by way of shares

subscription, but now would have to tell the Commission if someone in a high position takes on a different senior position at their company.

License holders would no longer have to notify the regulator of receipt of compliance assessment reports from regulatory or government bodies.

A new condition was added, requiring licensees to notify the Commission of actual or potential breaches of Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds rules.

The period of time in which Personal licence holders must report key events will be extended. The annual returns reporting period will be shortened to be within 28 days of the financial year-end, creating a deadline of 28 April, instead of 42 days.

Customers placing such wagers will no longer be considered breaching any regulations on betting or misuse of inside information, as opposed to simply rules about irregular or suspicious gambling. The changes would introduce standardised reporting formats for suspicious betting, which

the Commission hopes would “improve efficiency in data collection.”

The Commission would no longer require operators to notify the Commission about people they have authorised to offer pool betting in racing or football. The section of reporting key financial events such as winding-up orders and bankruptcy was amended to list all of these events more briefly.

Social responsibility code would be altered to allow the Commission to specify the form and manner in which inspection results involving underage gambling are provided to it. Overall, the regulator will now collect less data, but more that deals with prevention of gambling-related harm.

The Commission would no longer require breaking non-GB data by sport and game category, for the number of gaming machines sold or gambling software data to be reported by title. The regulator also hopes to publish Industry Statistics within 6 months of the end of the reporting period, as opposed to 7-8 months.

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GAMING NEWS

39

Major Operators Warn Of Covid-19 Impact for the Year

O

ver the last week most of the major online gaming companies have issued warnings and reports on their current and future trading given the current situation regarding the widespread effect of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

With over 220,000 cases of the virus now reported in the world and some 9,000 deaths many countries are taking strong measures to counteract the spread.

Now in the UK all professional sporting events are now closed for what is the foreseeable future.

Operators such as William Hill that have both a retail and online presence have announced that they expect reduced EBITDA by £100 million to £110 million for the year and

that could increase weekly by some £35 million IF their retail outlets are closed for a significant period (currently they remain open).

Ulrik Bengtsson William Hill CEO, said: “We are taking action to maintain our operational capability, to secure and enhance our liquidity and to ensure we are in a strong position to resume full operations when the sporting calendar returns to normal.”

At the GVC Group they also said that their EBITDA will be reduced by £130 million to £150 million if all the major sporting events are cancelled for the year.

Kenny Alexander the CEO of GVC said: “While we do not underestimate the challenge presented by Covid-19, GVC is in a robust position to manage the impact on our operations.”

The company also said that their impact on closing their own retail outlets would have a similar reduction of that as William Hill.

Another operator who relies on 78% of its business in sportsbetting online, The Flutter Group also said it feared profits could fall for the year by some $110 million to $135 million.

However one operator that is bucking the trend at the moment is The Stars Group, their CEO Rafi Ashkenazi has reported a slight improvement on expectations so far for the first quarter of 2020 both within the UK and Internationally.

However they do expect a major impact on their sports betting markets should the virus continue to close major sporting events.

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TCSJOHNHUXLEY Open Letter To Industry - G2E Asia

T

he unfolding coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis has significantly affected the world as we know it. As countries work to contain the spread of the virus, many governments have banned large events, mass gatherings and in many cases, enforced full lock downsuntil the situation is bought under control.

The organiser of G2E Asia, Reed Exhibitions, has decided to postpone the show until the end of July, however even these new dates are far too close for any exhibitors to be able to think about taking part. To exhibit at a trade show takes months of painstaking meticulous preparation. With so many businesses in lock down for indefinite periods along with global travel restrictions, it will take some time to re-establish normal working

levels and the appetite to travel will be limited for many.

As we emerge from this crisis we will all need to pull together to support each other and our industry, but we need to ensure our decisions are also based on the safety, health and wellbeing of our customers and our employees. Having consulted with our customers, it is our firm belief that very few operators outside of Macau will want to, or be able to attend a show in July, even if it could go ahead at that time. We face challenging trading times and if customer volumes are significantly reduced along with the difficulty of moving products around the world, we have to ask ourselves if this trade show is commercially viable.

TCSJOHNHUXLEY has approached Reed Exhibitions to reconsider their revised dates and defer the show until Q4 or cancel it entirely. Unfortunately, these requests have fallen on deaf ears. “To go ahead with the show under these circumstances is a ludicrous combination of sheer folly and corporate profiteering,” adds Tristan Sjöberg, Executive Chairman of TCSJOHNHUXLEY. We are therefore encouraging other exhibitors and industry professionals to take a stand and advocate for the show to be moved to the end of the year at the earliest.

This is the time for us all to work together in highlighting to Reed the need for a sensible approach that is workable, yet beneficial for everyone.

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42

Ring in the Riches!

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Also featuring The Prize Disk®, offering multiple ways to win on any spin, increasing player excitement and engagement.

© 2018 IGT. Except where ownership is otherwise identified, the trademarks used herein are owned by IGT or its affiliates, may not be used without permission, and where indicated with a ®, are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Artwork, descriptions, game play, photographs, videos, and other product details depicted are subject to change.

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GAMING NEWS

43

The Industry Influential Women of 2020

A

s we enter 2020 and look at who will show the leadership and innovation within our industry both online and land based, The Women in Gaming Diversity has revealed the most influential, innovative and inspiring ladies within our business.

As we all know the gender gap is still there with the most recent survey by “Gender Imbalance in Business” shows that: 35% of women hold junior level roles within the

Media and Online sector, 25% represent mid-level management, which is the same proportion in Senior level roles also, BUT the big disparency is at the most senior level where CEO’s live, there is only 13% of women in those positions.

good.

However below we celebrate the women that not just have made the highest peak in business but those leading the charge to show that women in all levels have made a huge impact on their business for

See the next page to see the full list of influential ladies that made the 2020 Influencers of the year.

The list below is in alphabetical order only and does not represent any other order of importance, but shows the most influential women within the entire gambling industry.

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Influential Women of 2020 - The List

The List

T

he list was compiled through a range of metrics, their time at the companies, their rise within the companies, their activity within business, any activity supporting women within their business, of course their influence in their region (geographically) and this is only the first “LIST” and an annual list will be updated and improved on in future

lists.

Here are the ladies that made the 2020 Influencers list in alphabetical order: Chryssa Amanatidou – Group Corporate Affairs Director at Intralot Ebba Arnred – CMO at Play’n GO Rachel Barber – CTO at IGT Britt Boeskov, Chief Experience Officer at Kindred Jennifer Bowman – Senior Director Marketing at IGT Hiu-Yu Vanessa Chan – Vice President, Business Development, Greater China & Asia Pacific IGT Stephanie Cheung – EVP and Chief Legal Officer at Melco Resorts & Entertainment Denise Coates – CEO at Bet365 Tracey Cohen – Director of Marketing at TCSJohnHuxley Irina Cornides – Chief Commercial Officer at Gamesys Group Melanie Hainzer – Chief Marketing Officer at Rootz Helen Hedgeland – Managing Director at Evolution UK Therese Hillman – CEO at NetEnt Pansy Ho – Co-Chair at MGM Macau Deb Krupinski – Vice President – Insights and Analytics at Scientific Games Siobhan Lane – Chief Commercial Officer Gaming Division at Scientific Games Ciara Nic Liam – Director of Product Gaming at Betsson Group Lucy Owen – Commercial Director & Head of Account Management at Playtech Alexe Reichert – Head of Marketing Operations at Mr Green Limited Brigid Simmonds – Chairperson at Betting & Gaming Council Paris Smith – CEO Pinnacle Sports Melissa Summerfield – Chief Commercial Officer at Pragmatic Play Shelly Suter-Hadad – CEO at Casumo Akiko Takahashi – Executive Vice President & Chief of Staff to Chairman and CEO – Melco Resorts & Entertainment Paddy Tang Lui Wai Yu – Executive Director/Board Member Galaxy Entertainment Kostandina Zafirovska – CEO at BtoBet

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47

Blue Ridge Appoints Maarten Baltussen

B

lue Ridge rannounced today that Maarten Baltussen has been named General Manager of Europe. Baltussen will lead Blue Ridge’s efforts to help retailers, wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers across Europe solve challenges around shifting customer demand preferences and volatility with suppliers.

The Blue Ridge Supply Chain Planning platform includes the Demand Planning, Inventory Optimization, Sales & Operations Planning and the recently launched Price Optimization solution—helping customers reduce operational costs, improve service levels, and assure product availability to customers without creating a costly inventory surplus.

Blue Ridge’s current European customer base includes grocery wholesaler K. Ekrheim, retailer Spar Kjøp, telecommunications operator Tele2 AB, technical wholesaler Tess AS and Wine & Spirits logistics distributor Vectura AS.

Before joining Blue Ridge, Baltussen was the Chief Revenue Officer at leading supply chain optimization provider ICRON. He has 24 years of professional experience in global, complex software sales and projects across a number of industries, as well as business processes in different cultures and countries. He has spent most of his career in supply chain planning at international leading software companies like Blue Yonder (JDA Software), SAP and Infor. He also founded Intellogic, and the company grew under his leadership, focusing on business intelligence dashboards for the logistics vertical.

“Maarten will expand our strong presence in the Nordic region into the rest of the European continent, where we continue to see increasing demand for supply chain planning solutions,” said Jim Byrnes, Chief Executive Officer, Blue Ridge. “Maarten will be responsible for driving all activities in the region, including initiatives with our partner Inventory Investments AS, using both direct and indirect channels.”

Baltussen’s leadership in Europe will help the wholesale distribution industry as they solve problems

around predicting shifting consumer preferences, managing disruptions from economic trends, volatility with suppliers and pricing in an environment with increasing costs and unpredictable tariffs. The industry collectively saw a year-over-year sales growth of 8% last year, which shows that there is certainly the potential for more growth through better forecast management.

About Blue Ridge Blue Ridge cloud-native platform supply chain solutions empower leading distributors and retailers to more accurately forecast demand, capture more sales, slash costs and accelerate profits by combining intelligent science and automation.

In a world where the only constant is change, Blue Ridge provides more certainty, more speed, and more assurance – so companies can see the why behind the buy and respond faster to the unexpected. That’s why major retailers and distributors rely on Blue Ridge for a more foreseeable future. For more information, go to www.blueridgeglobal.com.

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GAMING NEWS

49

Pragmatic Play Unveils…..

P

ragmatic Play, the content provider to the gaming industry, has significantly expanded its Live Casino portfolio.

The provider launched two variants of the land-based favourite, Baccarat. The game has all the features expected of the table game, with a Pragmatic Play twist. Players have access to clear statistical trends showing the total pot and quantity of players for Player, Banker and Tie bet fields, as well as offering a number of side bets.

All Baccarat tables come in the Regular Mode, but players can switch to No-Commission Mode at any moment during the game, by just pressing the Super 6 button available on the interface. The Super 6 side bet can be won if the Banker beats the Player with a total of 6

points, paid at 15:1 with any other outcome representing a loss.

Pragmatic Play’s Speed Baccarat takes the traditional style of play and elevates it to a whole new level.

Giving an increased air of excitement, every game round takes just 27 seconds. The betting time is limited to 12 seconds and the cards are dealt face up as soon as the betting time is over. Speed Baccarat creates a feeling of continuous action and excitement.

Roulette Macao enhances the supplier’s array of roulette titles, aimed at evoking the feel and gameplay of luxurious land-based resorts around the globe. Broadcast from Pragmatic Play’s live studio with 4K camera technology and having all the game features players have come to expect, this latest addition joins other

popular language-centric titles in the ever-expanding Live Casino offering.

Lana Bleichyk, Live Casino Operations Manager at Pragmatic Play, said: “We are continually looking at ways to innovate and expand our Live Casino portfolio and we have achieved this through the addition of these titles. Baccarat is a highly popular live casino game, despite its simplicity, so we are looking forward to seeing big engagement with this one.

“With the creation of a fast-paced live casino title, Speed Baccarat, we endeavor to appeal to players who enjoy the immersive nature of a traditional casino, coupled with the accessibility of a modern day, mobile experience.”

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Relax Gaming signs international deal

R

elax Gaming, the iGaming aggregator and supplier, has partnered with BetVictor to supply its extensive portfolio of proprietary and third-party casino games.

by Relax Gaming with major brands in the online casino arena, and the supplier continues to expand its network of Silver Bullet and Powered By partners as part of its growth strategy.

at BetVictor, said: “We were impressed with Relax Gaming’s simple aggregation model and diverse portfolio, featuring quality content that will be a great fit for the BetVictor brand.

Under the terms of agreement, Relax Gaming’s rapidly expanding library of in-house developed slot games, including popular titles Temple Tumble, Snake Arena and Money Train, will be available to the Gibraltar-based online casino across the multiple markets in which it operates. Premium content and latest releases from Relax’s partner studios are also set to launch across BetVictor’s channels.

Daniel Eskola, Relax Gaming CCO, said: “BetVictor is a well-established online casino with a solid history in the sector and we can’t wait to see signature titles from Relax Gaming’s portfolio live on its online and mobile channels.

“We are always looking to expand our offering with fresh new titles that appeal to various customer profiles and the addition of Relax’s broad range of online casino games will help us achieve that goal.”

The partnership with BetVictor is the latest in a flurry of deals signed

“With BetVictor’s growing international presence, this deal will allow us to service a range of markets and further expand our geographical reach.”

Relax Gaming provides its partners with a roster of over 1000 casino games, including high-quality aggregated content from selected Silver Bullet and Powered By studios together with innovative proprietary products.

Turlough Lally, Director of e-Gaming

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