Infinity Gaming Magazine April 2023

THE ONES TO WATCH

IS A MUST FOR

FAIR PAY?

ENTAIN & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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.

22 ENTAIN RESPONSIBILITY

Christina Thakor-Rankin

32 SLOT MANAGEMENT 101 ANDY COSGROVE

38 COMBINIG REAL WORLD

Lynn Pearce

44 PARITY IN FAIR PAY

+ NEWS & MORE NEWS from the gaming industry

A note from the editor

only way is for it to be pushed by those from within.

Our judges will shortly be reviewing those great entries and wish everyone taking part the very best of luck and cannot wait to see the finalists. To this a big thank you to our judges who support this innovative and original event with their own time.

WHY WIG IS A MUST”

The Latest Edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine

Welcome to the latest edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine and as you read this magazine we have just closed the nominations for the 2023 annual charity focused Women in Gaming (WIG) & Diversity Awards which takes place on the 8th June at the stunning Savoy Hotel.

In this edition for the first time ever we have leading companies speak out on why every company should be supporting the WIG Diversity Awards, it is so very important that companies not just say they support diversity and inclusion but show it with putting their people and teams forward for recognition.

Indeed this year we have already seen an increase in the number of entries from more companies which is superb, but we have to keep growing and the

Of course a huge thank you goes to our sponsors who believe in what the WIG Diversity is all about so thank you Digitain, Light & Wonder, IGT, Gamomat, Betsson Group and Pilot Games.

I am told by our team that handles the nominations that we have surpassed the number of entries already with an increase of 17% on the number of companies taking part.

Now on to the magazine and what a bumper edition we have for you, firstly we have some brilliant articles from Christina Thakor-Rankin, Andrew Cosgrove and Lynn Pearce.

Our own reporters looks at the recent report on parity on pay within global industries and where the gambling industry stands there and the latest on eSports and a $38 billion investment in Saudi Arabia.

Enjoy the magazine.

The Editor in-Chief

“To Infinity and Beyond!” Regards, Lana

Lana Thompson - Editor

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 products, technology and current affairs with the sector the Infinity Gaming Magazine is delighted to showcase our superb line-up of contributing

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 re-engineering, project management, research, business analysis and development, to start-ups and

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.

Lynn Pearce

Lynn is an accomplished CMO with over 15+ years of experience in the igaming industry. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated expertise in strategic planning, creative direction, branding, procurement, resource allocation, and staff mentoring. With her deep understanding of the industry and consumer preferences, she has created content strategies that attract, engage, and retain customers.

Lynn’s ability to negotiate, manage, and maintain suc-

Tim Cullimore

From dealer to CEO in the U.K., Europe and North America, Tim has pretty much seen it all in Casino gaming. For over 40 years, from running slot rooms which needed to frisk for guns to the Ritz in Mayfair, arguably the most luxurious casino in the world, Tim has never stopped challenging what we think we know

established multi-national operators and providers, gambling regulators, 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

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

cessful partnerships has helped her create lasting relationships that drive revenue and create value for all parties. She has a keen focus on maximizing revenue potential while effectively managing expenses and consistently driving top-line growth for the companies she has worked for.

Lynn’s data-driven strategies and her talent for leading her teams in executing these strategies have created value for both customers and stakeholders alike.

about casinos.

Tim is a well-respected Consultant to the gaming industry, encompassing project management and operational analysis, as well as representing and advising some key manufacturers within the industry. Tim is a

general manager and CEO

WOMEN IN GAMING ONES TO WATCH 2023

The 8th March 2023 is the date celebrating International Women’s Day and to mark the occasion we have selected nine amazing women from previous Women in Gaming (WIG) Diversity & Inclusion Awards of note. These women have the promise or are leaders in their own company, they were voted by the WIG judges as winners and today, the day we celebrate women all over the world we name these nine leading women to achieve great things within the gaming industry.

Of course the WIG has recognised so many great ladies over the 12 years of its existence and they are all amazing however on this day we highlight just a few to look out for in the year and years to come.

So in no particular order:

in those years and is one to watch as her career progression is certainly on the way up.

tube she her as a rising star within the compliance sector.

Oana-Adina won the Positive Role Model of the Year award in 2022 in what was a highly competitive category showing their in much more to come from this lady.

Josephine Hellström is General Manager at Casumo and won the Young Leader of the Year Award in 2022. Josephine has worked for Casumo which was founded in 2012 and headquartered in Malta, Casumo is an innovative, award-winning and mobile-first online gaming group, providing fun and safe casino and sportsbook products for more than 6 years. Josephine has risen rapidly through the company

Oana-Adina Rusu is currently Head of Group Compliance at Greentube having worked for the company for just over three years beginning in the role as Head of Market Compliance until working her way up to her current role. Oana-Adina studied law at University and Green-

Malin Dahlman won the Positive Role Model of the Year in 2022 in the Operator category, Malin has worked for more than 10 years with

ComeOn Group and in her nomination from colleagues this is what was said: Malin truly deserves this recognition, not only is she a fantastic brand manager taking great care of our highly popular and locally known Swedish brand Casinostugan, she is also a fantastic coworker, role model and leader.

Malin knows this industry inside out, with a long career history as a copywriter, CRM-specialist and brand strategist she has widely spread knowledge across many areas of iGaming. It’s not a coincidence that we call her Wonder Woman. But this is not what is most impressive about Malin, what is truly her strongest superpower is how she is always helping and enabling others, how even on a rainy day (and there’s quite a few in London) spreads a good vibe and makes work more fun for the people around her.

Praise indeed and we can see why our judges voted for this lady, there is much more to come also from Malin and we will be watching to see how she continues her successful career.

Victoria studied at Oxford for law and began her career at IGT as Senior Legal Counsel until making her way rapidly to her current role. Victoria won the Leader of the Year in the Supplier category in 2022 and her background in law promises to see her rise even further within her career.

Victoria Dolan is Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at IGT and has been with the company for nearly 6 years working in the UK.

Kimberley Broad is the Chief Compliance Officer at Games Global for nearly 1 ½ years and previously was Director of Compliance at Microgaming for more than 6 years and has been in compliance for almost 8 years in total. Kimberley won the Inspiration of the Year award at the WIG Diversity Awards in 2022 and in her nomination form the company wrote: It’s with great enthusiasm that the rest of Games Global eagerly await the results of having such an inspirational leader as Kim in their midst. As a passionate professional, Kim will no doubt spur on the development of not just the compliance team, but the business as a whole, as she actively supports the perusal of ongoing education to supplement career development and maintains her open-door policy with the return to the office environment.

Christine Lewis is CEO of Bombay Group which is part of the Yolo Group, Christine was awarded the Innovator of the Year at the WIG 2022, Christine has more than a decade working within the gaming industry in such companies as NetEnt and Pariplay prior to joining the fast growing Yolo Group. She is an inspiration to many others standing as CEO shows that hard work and dedication can pay off in the right environment.

Ciara Nic Liam is quickly becoming a legend within the gaming industry, she works as Gaming Product Director for gambling giant Entain. Before this Ciara worked for Betsson, William Hill, Rank Group and PaddyPower. With some 13 years working in highly respected companies Ciara has built herself a strong CV and has been highly valued

wherever she has worked. In 2022 Ciara was awarded the Employee of the Year at the WIG Awards, no surprise given her excellent work ethic. Many within the gaming industry believe this lady is tipped for a top job in the not too distant future.

Sabine Müller is the Chief Design Officer at Gamomat and won the Industry Pride of the Year at the WIG Diversity in 2022. Sabine has worked for over 20 years in design and creativity industry and over 3 ½ years for Gamomat. In her companies nomination for Sabine they wrote of

worked for over 20 years in design and creativity industry and over 3 ½ years for Gamomat. In her companies nomination for Sabine they wrote of her; In order to encourage everybody to openly express themselves Sabine has created a format called “What’s hot - What’s not“, training them to be open, and speak on subjects that are important to them. Sabine has also initiated the implementation of the GAMOMAT podcast interviews in which real “GAMOMATIES“ reveal themselves in an extraordinarily personal way.

Gamomat are very proud of Sabine and from her style of work with employees you can understand why.

Laura Peretta works at Betsson as Head of Supplier Relations and won the Young Leader of the Year Award at the 2021 Women in Gaming Diversity Awards. In a recent interview with Laura she said that winning the award “had changed her life”. She says now her colleagues and peers look at her in a more professional manner, that is what it means to win an award at the WIG Diversity Awards. Laura has worked within the gaming industry for nearly 6 years now and almost always for Betsson. She says that the company provide an excellent platform for women and diversity to flourish and grow. We are certain there is much more to come from Laura in the future and the WIG Diversity look forward to one day selecting her as a Leader within the industry.

Leila (Ashton) Goelz is Chief People & Transformation Officer at Games Global and has extensive experience within HR with companies such as The Stars Group

The Women in Gaming Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2023, takes place on the 8th June at the Savoy Hotel and will be the 12th edition of this innovative and original event

and Microgaming spanning some 15 years. Leila’s passion is Human Resources her company wrote of her in her nominations for the WIG Diversity Awards in 2022; Leila believes in the power of transformation; a view she imparts upon all teams with whom she interacts. Acquiring top degrees and accreditations, Leila ensures learning, coaching and development remain at the forefront across all aspects of the business. No stranger to the necessity for continued learning and professional development – regardless of age or position –Leila continues to add strings to her leadership bow through ongoing study and internationally recognised accreditation. Her commitment to seeing her colleagues grow, both as individuals and as members of the business, is both humbling and inspiring.

Leila has not at present won an award at the WIG Diversity, she has attended and supported her colleagues many times at the awards but not at present received an award, which shows you how competitive and amazing the women who win are. But Leila is always ranked highly by the WIG Diversity and it is only a matter of when not if that Leila will be receiving her own Gold Star.

Barbara Batári is Head of Marketing at Just For The Win and has worked at the company for just over 3 ½

years, prior to that Barbara worked for Novomatic. Barbara acquired a Masters Degree in Business prior to launching her career. In 2021 Barbara won the Employee of the Year Award at the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards, showing that this lady is highly valued by her peers at Just For The Win, will it be long before she wins Leader of the Year? Watch this space.

Lena Nordin is Chief HR Office at Betsson Group and is a huge driver and supporter of equality and diversity within not just her company but within the industry. Lena and Betsson helped launch the companies Diversity & Inclusion Network in Malta and in London to huge success. Lena has also helped Betsson with their strategy to focus on employees which has made Betsson one of the best employers within the gaming industry. Lena won the award for Leader of the Year in

Irina Cornides is Chief Operating Officer at Pragmatic Play. Named ‘Leader of the Year’ (operator) at our 2018 awards, Irina occupied executive roles at some of the industry’s fastest-growing gaming brands before bringing her wealth of knowledge and experience to award-winning provider Pragmatic Play. We’ve long been inspired by Irina’s leadership qualities, and we feel she’s in the perfect position at Pragmatic to make an even greater impact.

2021 and has been a strong supporter of the WIG Diversity Awards for many years, we look forward to seeing Lena and all her colleagues again in June.

Alexe Reichert is Director of Creative Services at 888/William Hill & Mr Green, Alexe has worked for Mr Green for nearly 10 years and prior to that Betsson in a career spanning over 11 years. With mergers and acquisitions within the sector Alexe

The Women in Gaming Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2023, takes place on the 8th June at the Savoy Hotel and will be the 12th edition of this innovative and original event

has remained with the enlarged company and held roles from Head of Marketing Operations, Head of Creative Services and now Director. Clearly this lady is held in high esteem with the company and back in 2019 Alexe impressed the judges to win the Leader of the Year Award at the WIG Diversity Awards. Highly skilled, talented, motivated and a true leader were points mentioned within the application for the award.

outstanding role model that will inspire others.” Lucy has always shown those traits and her and Playtech’s support of the Women in Gaming Diversity is testimony to how the company values their people.

of the Year in 2019 at the Women in Gaming Diversity award. Christine has come a long way since her time then at Jackpotjoy, prior to that Christine worked for Betsson and now after three years with Gamesys is Director of Retention for the new owners of Gamesys Bally’s. The WIG Diversity judges know a great employee when they see one and that was 4 years agon now and shows how well Christine has done in the following years.

Lucy Owen is someone has made a huge impression on the industry and most notably Playtech where she has worked for going on 10 years, Lucy has be rewarded for her dedication and talent within Playtech by climbing the career ladder from UK Customer Relations Manager on 2010 to now VP of Commercial at the gaming software giant. In this fast paced and ever changing industry Lucy has shown that you can remain at the same company for a long time and find success so long as you have the talent to succeed. Lucy won the Industry Pride of the Year Award, to win this award the category description says, “This award goes to one exceptional person whose vision, innovative approach and success make them an

Jeriel Bacani, hit the spotlight in 2018 when she won our ‘Hidden Talent of the Year’ award. Starting her gaming career at Microgaming before moving to Bally’s Interactive, Jeriel is now Head of Brand and Communications at leading provider Pragmatic Play. Knowing how driven, intelligent and talented Jeriel is, we don’t think she’ll have to wait long for a second Women in Gaming Diversity Awards win.

Christine Chou is Director of Retention & Player Engagement at Bally’s and won the award for employee

Chu Yook Liew won the Industry Pride of the Year at the 2021 Women in Gaming Diversity Awards, which was a very emotional time for the lady who is Creative Director & Design Studio Manager at Greentube. This lady lives for design and apart from her 8 years plus in various design roles at Greentube Chu has worked 16 years within the design industry. This ladies path to success has been as challenging as anybody’s could ever be, her story and her road to where she is know was told to an emotional audience in 2021, Chu is an amazing and inspirational women and a truly deserving recipient of Industry Pride.

Jennifer Bowman is the Senior Director Marketing at IGT and has worked for the company for an amazing 23 years, in fact this lady has only worked for IGT in the gaming industry, now that is loyalty! Jennifer began in the role of Data Coordinator back in 2000 with the

company and has progressed all the way to her current position, there is certainly not much Jennifer does not know about her company and indeed the industry. Back in 2021 Jennifer was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution to Gaming at the WIG Diversity Awards, her story of where she started out in life and the huge challenges this lady faced are remarkable and to make it to a senior Director within a multi-national company is testament to her strength and character.

Lena Yasir Vice President at Pragmatic Play, is an ardent supporter of the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards. Winner of our ‘Leader of the Year’ (supplier) award back in

2018, she has since helped to build a hugely successful international team at Pragmatic Play, one of the leading game suppliers in the industry. Her passion for supporting equality, diversity and inclusion across the industry is second to none.

The Women in Gaming Diversity & Inclusion Awards 2023, takes place on the 8th June at the Savoy Hotel and will be the 12th edition of this innovative and original event

888 Post Annual Results With Online Sales Suffering

888 Holdings has reported its full yearly results to the end of December showing a drop of 3% in revenues to £1.9 billion in like for like sales last year, this the company says was due to its proactive investment in enhanced player safety measures.

Online revenues suffered a 15% fall in revenues offsetting a return to normality in its 1,400 retail outlets as the effects of COVID dissipated.

Last year the company acquired the European assets of betting company William Hill from Caesars Entertainment for almost £2 billion and the effects of that remained as 888 posted a loss of

£115.7 million for the year compared to a profit of £59 million in 2021.

However when removing the costs of that acquisition the company had a pre-tax profit of £80.5 million which is still 10% lower compared to the previous year.

Lord Mendelsohn the chairman of 888 Holdings said, “The combination with William Hill transformed the group and brought together two exceptional and complementary businesses to create one of the worlds leading betting and gaming businesses.”

January this year the company said it had investigated shortfalls in its Middle East VIP program

and would affect the company’s revenues by £25 to £30 million.

“The group’s financial performance in the period primarily reflected the extensive actions being taken to drive higher standards of player protection,” Lord Mendelsohn said.

“While recent compliance issues in the Middle East were very disappointing, they have underlined the importance of our enhanced and proactive risk management framework.”

Although the results for 888 were disappointing the company now says that for this full year it expects no further hits to its performance.

Leading Gaming Brands Speak on Diversity

The Women in Gaming (WIG) Diversity & Inclusion Awards will take place on the 8th June at the stunning Savoy Hotel in London, celebrating and recognising the diverse and inclusive culture companies have within their business.

To understand why the WIG Diversity is so special and why hundreds enter every year, we asked our sponsors to explain themselves why the WIG Diversity is so special and why they support the event.

We asked Gamomat for their thoughts on why they have sponsored:

Diversity is deeply embedded

women’s achievements.

in GAMOMAT’s code of conduct. These principles made it an easy decision to sponsor the event since the WiG is the standout diversity event in the gaming industry. We know the rich potential women are capable of achieving if they are given genuine support. WiG is a wonderful way to celebrate

Collaborating closely with founders Lana and Colin along with the rest of the Clever Duck Media Team makes it even easier to support. Everything works smoothly and their passionate commitment to the women’s cause in iGaming is evident in every aspect of the organisation. Creating a culture of teamwork that is free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination is of paramount importance for our industry to attract the brightest talents.

“We live strong values at GAMOMAT and view diversity as a resource. That’s why we are determined to support initiatives like the WiG Diversity Award. Together we will raise awareness of diversity in our industry and give women

the recognition they deserve.” Dr. Alexandra Krone, Managing Director at GAMOMAT

Next we asked IGT for their

thoughts on why sponsoring and supporting the WIG Diversity is important to them:

For more than a decade, IGT has been a sponsor and ardent supporter of the Women in Gaming Diversity (WiG) awards program. Representatives from the multinational company state that the program aligns with IGT’s

commitment to uplifting women and other underrepresented groups in the workplace and supports an important, company-wide initiative.

“Valuing and protecting our people’ is one of the key priorities driving IGT’s Sustainable Play initiative, a global effort that we formally unveiled at ICE earlier this year,” said Wendy Montgomery, IGT SVP Global Marketing, Communications and Sustainability. “IGT embraces opportunities such as the Women in Gaming Diversity Awards to recognize our high-performing employees and highlight the contributions of our female leaders. For more than a decade, the WiG awards have provided an additional platform for IGT to honor top talent at all levels of our organization while casting an industry-wide spotlight on the contributions of female leaders in the sector.”

IGT employees have been honoured in WiG program awards for many consecutive years. Most recently,

IGT’s Victoria Dolan and Jennifer Bowman were recognized as “Ones to Watch” within the industry due to their leadership and contributions within the sector. Similarly, in 2022 Dolan was named WiG’s “Leader of the Year,” and in 2021, Shondra Deloach-Perea was recognized for “Innovation in Employee Engagement” and Bowman was honoured with the “Outstanding Contribution” award.

this event, we can demonstrate our commitment to these values. Additionally, we are excited to be part of an initiative that celebrates outstanding female professionals who can inspire and serve as role models for younger women working within the industry or aspiring to join it.

As a company, Betsson Group is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion within the online gaming industry. That’s why we’re proud to sponsor the ‘Women in Gaming, Diversity and Employee Wellbeing Awards’. These awards align with our mission to create a more inclusive and diverse industry, where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.

We believe that by sponsoring

At Betsson Group, we acknowledge that diversity is fundamental to the success of our industry. Therefore, we are pleased to once again support the Women in Gaming awards. We hope that this event will encourage other organisations to follow our lead and actively promote

diversity and inclusion not only within their own workforce but also beyond.

Digitain Speaks out on Why They Support the WIG

Supporting Statement

Digitain as a business has expanded to a global workforce of over 2,400 highly skilled and experienced team members. We proudly state that over 58% of the company’s product creators are Women In Gaming.

The business, while a technology provider, is fully committed to a people-first vision throughout our brand DNA and values, whose cornerstones are customer centricity, loyalty, and passion in everything we do.

Employee Policies

Digitain is a committed multicultural, inclusive employer, across multiple geographical regions.

The business continues to invest heavily in personal and interpersonal development programs, mentoring, upskilling, and the well-being of its people.

A recent anonymous survey for employee satisfaction resulted in a score of 93%, which is a testament to the continued efforts of the Digitain People and Culture Team.

In terms of proactively, the business has a dedicated HR manager per department who closely works with teams. One-to-one meetings are held every six months and are carried out to collect feedback from employees and address it to direct managers for continuous improvement.

We have also created environments

whereby; team members are welcome to address any ideas that may affect company growth. We collect ideas and implement or adapt specific HR programs according to the feedback loop.

Positive leadership and management

Onboarding meetings are an essential part of the Digitain culture.

Everything starts with onboarding meetings on the first day of the employee joining Digitain. During onboarding, the new staff member has the opportunity to know the company’s vision and the achieved milestones and, in general, get knowledge about products/services, the culture, and the office/ department environments.

At Digitain, each manager is responsible for keeping a healthy and joyful working environment and acting as a mentor, coach, and buddy to create an open, friendly, pleasant, and non-confrontational workplace.

We have the opportunity and allocated budget to have gatherings/ parties with our departments twice a year and smaller events throughout the months. This helps us to know each other better and in a dif-

ferent environment.

Occasionally, employees have the chance to know the founder of Digitain in person. We have “Breakfast with Mr. Vardanyan” titled meetings where they meet and chat not business related but like basic questions to know him better and the vision for the future.

Demonstrated focus on diversity and inclusion strategies

Digitain is a committed multicultural, inclusive employer and ensures its responsibility to create a safer environment to support active WIG policies.

The business has active policies to ensure a gender-balanced workforce, and we proudly state that 58% of the company’s product creators are Women In Gaming.

For a greener environment, and sustainability standpoint, Digitain’s offices afford the latest structural efficiencies for ergonomics via green spaces, for well-being, air recycling, and waste recycling to reduce carbon footprint.

North Carolina Sports Betting by 2024

Online betting in North Carolina could be legal by 2024. This was after a bill was approved by committee yesterday and moved to the House where it will be voted on.

Rep Jason Saine introduced the bill, which looks to start online sports betting from January 8, 2024. This amendment is seven days later than his previous sports betting bill. Another change sees the deletion of dog and horse racing. More funding will also go to UNC system schools which don’t play in the FBS.

The bill already has 52 co-sponsors. Up to 12 sports betting operators will be granted a licence, at a cost of £1 million and which will last five years. All revenue made from gambling will be taxed at a rate of 14 per cent.

Sports betting in the state is to be regulated by the North Caro -

lina Lottery Commission, and it is this team who will also issue the licences.

Licensed sports betting in North Carolina was almost ‘a thing’ last year when a similar sports betting bill got all the way to the House of Representatives. This was following a successful reading in the state’s Senate. The North Carolina House of Representatives approved the online sports betting bill, SB 38, on second reading by a vote of 51-50 on the final night of the 2022 session. But its later bill, SB 688, was later voted down by just one single vote.

Even then an amendment to the bill took out the right to bet on college games. When it comes to distributing revenue earned from betting on college sports, the Olympics, professional sports and eSports, the biggest winner, at $2 million per year, is gambling addiction and treatment provision.

Second highest amount of $1 million annually is to go to the state’s Division of Parks and Recreation to allow them to buy youth sports equipment.

Seven state universities would receive $300,000 each year to boost the coffers of their athletic departments, while the Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council would be given money to distribute to worthwhile schemes.

Although the tax rate has been set at 14 per cent of adjusted gross revenue in Saine’s bill, promotional bets and bonuses would be tax deductible in 2024. But as the year’s progress, the rate at which these are tax deductible will continue to decrease until the year 2026 – to the extent that by the beginning of January 2027 there will be no such deductions available.

How Entain & Social Responsibility Are Re-Defining ‘Grey’

By Christina Thakor-Rankin

At the start of the year

Entain announced the Company’s intention to expedite it’s exit from unregulated (also referred to as or ‘grey’) markets, reaffirming the commitment made in 2020 when the Company rebranded from GVC to Entainand move which many saw as a clear line drawn between the old grey market days of GVC and the new Entain world of a regulated markets of the future and the US.

On the face of it the headline: ‘Acceleration of unregulated market exits‘ seems fairly straight forward -Entain is speeding up its exit from ‘grey’ markets. It’s only when you look closer at the detail of the announcement that a slightly different position emerges.

The full text of the announcement starts with, ‘From today, the Group

will accelerate this process by exiting its few remaining markets where there is no clear path to market liberalisation via domestic regulation.’This is not exiting all grey markets, but only those where there is no talk about regulation. The words ‘clear path to market’ suggesting a defined or confirmed commitment to regulation with an indicative timeline (as has been the case with most jurisdictions that have moved towards a regulated market) and implying that where this is not the case, the Company will exit.

The next sentence, however, explain that,‘The Group… will remain in only a small number of markets where

it expects changes in regulation will enable it to obtain domestic licenses in due course.’This is an interesting choice of words‘expects’ and ‘in due course’ are subjective and allow room for interpretation. In theory this could be read to mean ‘the Company will stay active in the market as long as there is a reasonable chance that regulation is on the horizon in the future’ but with no real defined end in sight.

The announcement then goes on to say that,‘With the exception of these markets, 100% of the Group’s revenue will now be from domestically regulated markets where it is licensed.’- so in fact, 100% of revenue will not be from regulated markets, it will be 100% minus the percentage that comes from ‘these markets.’

The release closes with a reassurance to shareholders and investors that,‘net gaming revenue and EBITDA impact from these closures is relatively small and will have no effect on current expectations.’. The Annual Report 2022 indicates that £359.9m of overall revenue comes from the ‘Rest of the World’ and the accompanying footnote states that ‘Rest of the world is predominantly driven by the market in Brazil and Canada.’Basically, where the headlines suggests a fast extra-

dition from unregulated markets, the detail suggests that in reality, the Company intends to stay in unregulated markets provided there is a fair chance of that market regulating.

This is noteworthy. Not because of the paradoxical nature of announcement, or the sheer brilliance of the wordsmithery of the announcement. It is noteworthy because what Entain appears to have done is redefines the established definition of a grey market.

Traditionally, a grey market has been a jurisdiction(country) where the law on gambling has not been black and white, but slightly ambiguous, leaving room for interpretation and/or little risk of prosecution. The term came into common usage in the early days of the .com era when the advent of the inter-

net and online gambling took legislators and regulators by surprise, as whilst most countries hadsome form of law or regulation around gambling, that might have included telephone betting, none included gambling via the internet.

Faced with this vacuum, some jurisdictions, such as the United States brought in laws (UIGEA)to completely ban online gambling; others such as Gibraltar, Alderney, and Malta set themselves up as (.com) online hubs; the UK adopted a white list; and some like Germany appeared to give tacit approval through the acceptance of taxes relating to online gambling from operators targeting the market. The rest, (the majority) became varying shades of grey based on a combination of culture, religion, existing laws and regulations, and the likelihood of or risk of prosecution.

But that was over 20 years ago. Since then much of the world has moved towards some form of regulation (permissive or prohibition) and implemented enforcement measures ranging from payments and ISP blocking, to public black-lists, and the most effective of all, fines and sanctions for operating without a licence - leaving operators with very few ‘grey’ markets in the original sense.

What the Entain announcement seems to have done is provide an updated definition of a ‘grey market’ from a market where the law is ambiguous toa market where an operator expects changes in regulation will enable it to obtain domestic licenses in due course. This is not a ‘grey’ market, this is something very slightly different.

Whether and how this holds up to scrutiny only time will tell, but in the meantime it gives operators something of an insight into how one of the biggest brands in the world intends to tackle

the thorny territory of profitable but unrelated markets, and allow them to follow suit.

Whilst on the subject of things that are grey, or maybe not, there is a new growing ‘grey area’ that has emerged over the last year or so within regulated markets.

The increase in social responsibility and safer gambling measures such as mandatory deposit limits, verification and affordability checks and limits for online operators has impacted on both operators and customers, has seen an upsurge in players returning to the land-based sector in some jurisdictions. Regulators in many jurisdictions have placed a focus on enhanced social responsibility and player protection measures for online (mobile) betting, but have not applied the same synchronicity to the land-based or non-remote sector - leaving a gap, a void, a vacuum.

Customer who do not want to disclose

or share information about themselves, their circumstances or their income, or have hit an online limit, have been quick to exploit this ‘grey’ area by shifting to walk-in land-based gambling premises as the obvious solution. It is early days, and no doubt regulators will be quick to address this gap, but for now we have something of a ‘grey’ area caused by a gap in the regulation.

Of course, neither of the above situations meet the established definition of ‘grey’, one being an anticipation of regulation and the other already been regulated. Probably we will continue to think and refer to them as grey, but maybe an updated definition deserves an updated description for something that is a bit grey, but at the same time not really grey, something the fashionistas call ‘griege’ - complicated colour that changes under different conditions.

Gaming

Swedish Gaming Regulator Issues More Licenses

Another nine providers have been issued with software licences by the Swedish gaming regulator Spelinspektion.

It brings the number of licenced providers in the Swedish regulated market to a total of 12 to date.

Companies who received the five-year licences, at a cost of SEK120,000 per license, were igaming providers Arland Gesellschaft Fur Informationstechnologie Mbh, Hacksaw and two of it is subsidiaries (Hacksaw Operations and Hacksaw Studios). Also on the receiving end of licences were Everymatrix Software, Yggdrasil, Relax Gaming and Thunderkick. Only last week three licences were handed out to Synot Games, Norkkoping AB and Skill on Net.

It will be mandatory for all providers to the Swedish gambling market to have licences by July 1 this year. So far 60 providers have applied since March 1 this year when the licences first became

available. The consultation period for the licences was back in May 2022.

Gustaf Hoffstedt is secretarygeneral of the Swedish trade association Branscheförenigen för Onlinespel (BOS).

He said: “I perceive that there is a generally positive attitude towards B2B permits from both the industry and Spelinspektionen.”

“Possibly there is a deviating picture of expectations in that we on the part of the industry have lower expectations that this will really be able to block the larger outflows from the Swedish licensing system.”

Sweden first introduced B2B licencing last year after the policy was endorsed by the Ministry of Finance (Finansdepartementet) and became part of the Swedish Gambling Act.

On introducing the policy, the regular explained “The purpose of introducing the requirement

is to increase channelling and thereby discourage illegal gambling.”

“Unlicensed game operators must not be able to use suppliers who manufacture, provide, install and/or change game software for game operators who have a licence in Sweden.”

“The requirement for permission affects both the actors who manufacture, provide, install and/ or change game software as well as the operators who provide online games.

“However, the technical requirements for the game as well as the requirements for game consumers will still lie with the operator that provides the game.”

He added: “Because there is already an established land game software development, and taking into account the proposed levels of fees, the proposals are judged to have only a marginal impact on conditions of competition.”

$38 Billion, Saudi Arabia & eSports Capital of The World

By Staff Reporter

With planned investment of around $38 billion over the next five or so years, Saudi Arabia is set to become the eSports capital of the world.

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and his government have already ploughed millions into their Public Investment Fund (PIF) for eSports and video games, buying up shares in Nintendo, Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts. Earlier this year Savvy Games Group – owned by the PIF - became the biggest equity holder in Chinese Tencent Holdings’ eSports company VSPO. Saudi Arabia also owns giant eSports tournament organisers FACEIT and ESL.

And it’s not just in the online

world that Saudi Arabia is making a splash. Looking at world sports in general there was the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour last year. The eight-tournament event incensed the US Professional Golfers’ Association but with the backing of the Public Investment Fund behind it, that didn’t really matter to organisers of LIV.

The appetite for hosting real life matches, eSports and gaming is high throughout the Middle East. Abu Dhabi has signed with Chinese game publishing and e-sports company SAWA Group to bring a gaming library to Arabic speakers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This is by virtue of its partnership with AD Gaming.

And who could forget the global

audience that the FIFA World Cup 2022 brought to Qatar? The event wasn’t gaming based, of course, but it did boost the country’s hospitality sector and place it on the world stage –proving it has the infrastructure to host giant sports tournaments in the future.

During the World Cup Qatar managed to launch a gaming facility in order to capitalise on all theworld attention and increased tourism. A joint initiative between Qatar Esports Federation and Quest Esports of Doha, local tournaments were held for online matches such as FIFA, Fortnite, Dota 2, CS: GO and PUBG Mobile. Meanwhile, Qatar is also getting a name for hosting successful F1 Formula racing tournaments.

Dubai featured Indian Premier League cricket last year and, at the same time, is proving itself another big player in Middle Eastern gaming and eSports. The Dubai Esports Festival (DEF) is a 12-day event which last year attracted 14.2 million visitors. Gamers from around the world fought for up to $2m in total prize money. Minecraft and Honor of Kings were two of the more popular games.

Dubai is also set to launch a Gaming Centre at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) in a bid to boost the e-sports industry there. The DMCC already plays host to around 50 gaming companies, such as developers, tournament organisers and even eSports teams. A series of games are tournaments are already being discussed for the future.

With all this interest in the region, it’s not surprising then that last year the Middle East drummed up enough enthusiasm to host the first MENA Gaming & E-Sports Summit. This year’s conference will be held in Dubai in June.

According to the Conference organisers there are currently more than 377 million gamers in the Middle East – 90 per cent of them belonging to Gen Z. Of that figure, around are 21 million gamers live in Saudi Arabia. Analysts at Niko Partners say that accounts for around 58 per cent of the Saudi Arabia’s population. That’s not too far behind America, with 66 per cent of the population gaming regularly.

The figures forgaming in MENA just keeps on escalating. The region reported annual growth of 25 per cent last year. It means the Middle East now makes up 3.2 per cent of global gaming revenue. This is expected to grow by 56 per cent by 2026, with worth for the region of around $2.79 billion.

But back to the Middle East and Saudi

Arabia’s Savvy Games Group. The company have a strategy which focuses on game publishing and development. Their own game publishing company is already in development. With an 8.3 per cent share in Nintendo, Saudi is now the biggest shareholder in the company outside Japan. It holds a similar number of shares – 8.1 per cent – in Giant Swedish gaming company Embracer Group.

Serkan Toto is CEO of the consulting group Kantan Games Inc. He says: “Saudi Arabia acts with a sense of urgency here and wants to be in as many meaningful deals as possible — ahead of other countries that might jump on

the bandwagon later.”

The plan of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and his team is to encourage leading gaming companies to help set up Saudi’s gaming publishing empire in the Middle East and North Africa. Another idea is to develop new IPs.

“Part of our mandate is to help partners and other companies come to Saudi and choose Riyadh over some other place to establish a publishing business or distribution business to serve the region,” explained Savvy’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Ward.

The former Microsoft executive is keen to make Riyadh the biggest gaming hub in the region. To the extent that he is convinced Savvy will succeed in attracting players to new gaming and esports venues. This is via the currently non-profitable ESL. Ward is confident though that, like F1 racing in recent decades, gaming can also easily become mainstream.

As for the development and publishing side of gaming in Saudi, home grown talent is weak. This is despite the establishment of the Saudi Esports Federation’s e-sports academy back in 2017 – an organisation focused on providing professional gamers and expanding the industry in the region. At the same time,

AD Gaming’s Train the Trainer programme has produced more than 50 professors and 500 students in universities throughout the United Arab Emirates to date. These individuals will, in

turn, help produce the next generation of game players and developers.

Bahrain has local accelerators’ Flat6Labs who, together with gaming community Unreal Bahrain, runs boot camps for rising gaming talent. A game development course is on the syllabus at the country’s Polytechnic.

But training and educating skilled individuals in the sector can take time. Just ask Saudi Arabia. In a bit to speed things up a bit, Savvy has currently earmarked $13 billion with the sole purpose of acquiring a game publisher to help bring forward its far-reaching future ambitions.

With the help of Nine66, the company is set to localize and publish up to eight games, around half of which are already availableto play now.

There is one hurdle that may be difficult

for Saudi Arabia to overcome though. The country’s government is known throughout the western world for it is human rights abuses, including its antiLGBTQ+ laws and it is tendency to treat women as second-class citizens.

Riot Games’ League of Legends European Championship pulled out of a partnership with Saudi’s smart city Neom due to a backlash. Similarly, a petition from 13,000 fans caused Ubisoft to move its Rainbow Six Siege eSports tournament from the Emirates.

Explaining its decision in a press release, Ubisoft later said: “We want to stress that the safety and wellbeing of our event’s participants and staff is always our primary concern, and we are proud of what Rainbow Six Siege represents as a world where diversity, inclusion and acceptance are at its core.”

Slot Management 101

Slots of strategy or not!

By Andy Cosgrove

Some casino managers can’t tell the difference between a strategy, a goal, and a hot tip they got from a friend of a friend on how to get rich quick!

In the first part of this two part series, we discussed what a bad strategy looks like and how even the best of intentions and eloquently crafted goals can quite easily spiral out of control into a catastrophichurricane of disastrous decisions and financial hardship. In this second part of the series, we’re going to discuss what a good slots strategy might look like and the importance of accurately framing the key opportunities that you wish to exploit as opposed to throwing around slogans that you hope somehow symbolize progress. Successful leaders are constantly creating new strategies and adjusting the space between goals and objectives. They have their ear close to the ground, listen to

their customers, keep their eye on the competition and forge new sources of advantage that build on existing strengths to produce the kind of leverage that rivals will struggle and fail to keep up with. The following is anexample of a good slots strategy with a built in analysis of why it worked:

The problem: Low rate of repeat visits after major events – Major events such as rock concerts can easily fill a hotel and potentially generate a lot of extra revenue for the casino both before and after the event. One such Hotel attracted many famous artists, yet slots revenues failed to impress, and the owners of the resort noticed the shortfall and demanded a stronger performance from the casino, and

rightly so. The casino leadership team were puzzled so asked for a root cause analysis and a strategy that would maximize any events revenue making potential moving forward.

The diagnosis: I started with a root cause analysis that generated the following results:

1. Not enough time was spent promoting the event with casino customers prior to the event, especially with those customers who had to travel long distances to be there.

2. No incentive to come back to the casino after the event.

3. No cross promoting of the event with the Hotel& parent company before and after the event.

4. The wrong kind of KPI’s were being used to measure success.

Clear

and sustainable guidance:

After defining and measuring the key issues affecting revenues, the discussion turned towards creating clear and sustainable guidance that should include the kind of flexibility that builds on success. Guidance is used to channel actions in the right direction without writing the detailed instructions on how to reachyour final destination. It’s a little like using a GPS, that provides you with two roads to get you from location A to your home. The roads represent constraints and if you don’t follow at least one of the roads you aren’t going to make it home any time

soon. You may take a wrong turning, but just like a good guiding policy, if you follow the road map, you’ll soon find yourself back on track. After further discussion with the leadership team, we designed the following guidance:

1. Promote events at least 3 months prior to the event with a focus on both VIP players from outside the area and player club members living within driving distance.

2. Create incentivesthat attractplayer’sinto the casino before eventsand encourages them toreturn to the casino post event.

3. Cross promote events with the parent company and hotel in the months leading up to a promotion and ramp up the onsite marketing activities during the days imme-

diately surrounding events with a focus on adding additional value to the customer experience and strengthening the brands reputation.

4. Design metrics to measure reinvestment levels prior to events; to track play, visits and retention levels during and after events, and to compare performance to similar marketing campaigns post event with a focus on continuous improvement.

Lights, camera and action: Strategy without action is nothing more than words, and no matter how colorful your slogans, or how clear your objectives, word’s won’t fill empty seatsbecause only through achievable actions will your strategy yield the expected results. In project management the action part of strategy is known as the delivery phase and it’s through coordinated actions that you strategy comes to life,even if it means making difficult decisions. After much debate with the leadership team and using the previously mentioned guidance, we came up with the following actions:

1. Action: Promote the event at least 3 months prior to the event. Through managing a well-planned campaign, the leadership team created awareness to give people plenty of time to make travel plans where necessary.This approach, along with a sequence of coordinated actions resulted in a much higher response rate and a healthy 40% increase in coin in on the high denomination slots which is where 80% of the slots revenue was coming from.

2. Action: create the right kind of incentives. On this occasion, two types of promotions were used:

• Players who achieved a minimal amount of ADT the day before the event were rewarded with a cash back incentive based on a % of their play which was redeemable the next day and only after the event had finished. This increased repeat visits in the casino by an impressive 45% over the 3 day period

• Players who redeemed their cashback after the event were automatically entered into a prize draw which took place the same evening. The added incentive contributed towards an even better that expected experience for both the customers and the management team resulting in player’s staying for longer and generating more revenues for the casino.

3. Action: Cross promotion: with so much to offer the leadership team agreed that this part of the strategy made perfect sense and came up with the following:

Qualifying customers were offered the VIP experience including meals at the hotels signature restaurant, free event tickets golf, spa, hotel stays and all carefully crafted to each player’s preferences. Not only did this enhance the Hotels reputation of being able to cater to VIP guests,it also increased their level of play, VIP visit frequencyincreased and there was an impressive growth in VIP numbers. Customer service ratings also saw a huge improvement for both the hotel and casino.

4. Action: The right kind of KPI’s. Before launching any marketing campaign it’s essential to first calculate how many, and what segment of player’s you need in the casino to pay for the marketing campaign and make a healthy profit.Otherwise, you could end

up losing money as a result.Other essential KPI’s include results by customer segment, and customer service ratings. Working without KPI’s is like leaving your house without a destination and expecting to reach it! On this occasion the management agreed on the following KPI’s.

• ADT – Average daily theoretical. This is especially important for VIP player’s as sometimes making a profit means spending more which, in turn results in lower margins and a higher level of risk. On this occasion the volume of play was high which offset the risk so the weekend was a huge success.

• Results by segment – this allowed the leadership team to target, monitor and evaluate the promotion and use the data in real time to make faster and better informed decisions. It also provided valuable insight on the best way forward which is essential to define which areas need to be expanded upon.

• Customer service: On this occasion the Casino already had an effective system for training, monitoring, measuring and improving customer service. As a result, the

customer service scores consistently performed above both industry and company standards.

Conclusion – Strategy isn’t a goal, or a mission statement and strategy isn’t a fixed target. Strategy is the application of strength against weakness and the first step toward applying that strength is to correctly define the key challenges standing between success and oblivion. Diagnosis is only a small part of strategy because to build on success and create new sources of advantage you also need guidance and action. When the three come together, truly remarkable results can be achieved and who knows, it might even make your boss happy!

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 is available to help you succeed and exceed customer expectations via contracted consultancy services. Andrew can be reached at andy.cosgrove@henimgwaycasinoconsulting.com or seehttps://hemingwaycasinoconsulting.com/

Playtech Announce Record Earnings for 2022

Playtech have reported record earnings for last year – thanks to increased B2B activity in the Americas and Europe, in particular.

The gambling software provider, which also operates in financial trading markets, rounded off 2022 with a 33 per cent hike in group revenue. Their year-on-year figure jumped from €1.2m to €1.6bn.

Their adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) was up 28 per cent. That made a total figure of €405.6m – a Playtech record.

The company’s CEO, Mor Weizer said: “2022 was a year of considerable strength for Playtech, in which we delivered record revenues and EBITDA, ahead of market expectations. All parts of the business contributed to this performance, with B2B powered by Europe – excluding the UK – and the Americas, and B2C’s impressive performance underpinned by Snaitech.

“We have started the new financial year well. In spite of the continued macroeconomic and political uncertainty, [we] remain confident in our future prospects.”

And it wasn’t just in the B2B sector that UK-listed company made financial gains. Consumer sales – including Italian sports betting and gaming firm Snaitech – were also up compared to 2021. Snaitech and white label jumped 48 per cent to an annual €983.1m. Adjusted EBITA increased from €177.9m last year to €245.4m for 2022.

Despite celebrating increased profits and acknowledging a strong start to this year, Playtech executives said they were uncertain as to what future months might bring. This was in reference to the continuation of the war in Ukraine and inflationary pressures. The company currently has 6,600 employees in 26 countries.

Last week Playtech invested in a minority equity ownership stake

in Hard Rock Digital (HRD). This is the interactive gaming and sports betting division of Hard Rock International and Seminole Gaming.

The deal will see HRD licensing Playtech slots, random number generator and live dealer table games via their existing offerings. This will be made available in Canada and the US.

Playtech, which was founded in 1999, has signed long-term commercial agreements with fellow UK company HRD to supply its products and services on a revenue share basis. It doesn’t however expect to see any real profits from the deal until the 2024 financial year.

The company recently made a partnership deal with Dazn Bet. The latter was formed last year to offer casino titles, table games and live casino offerings to the UK. They also plan to expand to Spain, Germany and Italy as the company grows.

COMBINING REAL WORLD EXPERIENCES WITH VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY

By Lynn Pearce

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are two of the most exciting technologies in the world of computing today.

VR technology creates a completely immersive, 3D environment that simulates, or completely replaces the real world, and mostly requires a headset to be worn. All three types of VR, from non-immersive, semi-immersive, full immersive or a mixture of them, are also referred to as extended reality (XR) and provides three types of virtual reality experiences for different levels of computer-generated simulation.

AR, on the other hand, overlays digital information on top of the real world. AR experiences are often accessed through a mobile device, which is used to view the real world through the device’s camera.

AR elements are then added to

the real-world view, creating a hybrid reality experience. Both technologies have come a long way since their inception, and they have the potential to revolutionize many aspects of our lives.

The concept of VR dates back to the 1960s, when computer scientist Ivan Sutherland and his student, Bob Sproull created the first head-mounted display system called the “Sword of Damocles” mainly for medical, flight simulation, automobile industry design, and military training purposes. It was a very basic system that projected simple graphics onto a

screen in front of the user, but it laid the foundation for more advanced VR systems.The term “virtual reality” was coined by Jaron Lanier, founder of VPL Research.

Over the years, VR technology has continued to evolve, with the development of more sophisticated head-mounted displays, tracking systems, and software. In the 1990s, VR technology began to enter the mainstream, with companies like Sega (Space Harrier 3D) and Nintendo (Virtual Boy) releasing consumer VR gaming products. However, these products were largely considered failures

due to high costs and limited capabilities.

AR, on the other hand, has a more recent history, with the first AR system being developed in the early 1990s. It was a system called the Virtual Fixtures, which allowed users to overlay digital information onto real-world objects. The technology was primarily used in industrial settings, such as in the design of airplanes.

Today, VR and AR are being used in a wide range of applications, from entertainment and gaming to education, healthcare, and military training. VR systems like the Oculus Quest 2 and the HTC Vive Pro offer users a highly immersive experience with high-resolution displays, motion tracking, and realistic audio. AR systems like Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 and the Magic Leap One enable users to overlay digital information onto the real world, allowing for new and innovative ways of interacting with our environment, particularly

in the travel industry.

Interestingly,most people would prefer the VR environment without the pain-inducing headsets, and I believe the sooner we can have a VR and AR experience without headsets, the better!

I was introduced to VR technology recently that does not require headsets. My team and I were shown a demo on VR and AR that was truly mind-boggling! The developer showed us his personal living room leading to his front door on one side, the fireplace in the middle and another door leading into other rooms within his apartment. He signed one of my team members up as an Avatar on the call and invited him to walk into his real-world living room through an app, where he was able to walk around it and open the front door to walk outside – all without a headset!

He also showed a weird semitransparent door hovering on his

real grass, which my team member could walk through and he suddenly found himself at the beach – in the real world! Perhaps this is not new to other developers or virtual reality development companies, but it certainly impressed the team and I greatly!

Within the gaming industry, VR has become a popular platform, with games like Beat Saber, Half-Life: Alyx, and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners providing a truly immersive experience.

There are quite a number of top B2C gaming companies already offering various experiences in virtual and augmented reality for their customer base.

One of the top poker gaming companies allows users to play poker in a fully immersive environment with other players from around the world. In addition, the game also features augmented reality elements, such as displaying players’ real-life images and allowing them

to use hand gestures to interact with the game.

From another top casino operator, their virtual reality casino features over 40 slot games in a fully immersive environment, allowing users to explore the casino and interact with other players. The casino also features augmented reality elements, such as displaying players’ social media profiles and allowing them to communicate with each other via chat.

One of my favourite sports betting operators has an augmented reality app that allows users to place bets on real-life sporting events, by overlaying virtual betting options onto the real world. Users can also access statistics and other information about the events through the app.

Severaligaming brands that use AR and VR technologies also incorporate avatars (digital representations of users) into their experiences. Avatars can enhance the social and immersive aspects of AR and VR experiences, allowing users to

feel more connected to the virtual environment and other players. If you’re looking to create a unique experience for your igaming brand, incorporating avatars into your AR or VR experience could be a great way to do so.

Overall, it would appear that the future of VR and AR is bright, and as you can see, there are already several B2C igaming brands that are using both AR and VR together to create unique and engaging user experiences. However, there is always room for more innovation and creativity in this field, and B2B software developers are steaming ahead with these and other new technologies in igaming right now, developing games which run on the iCloud instead of computers or consoles, making the technology more accessible to customers across the world.

In addition, the continued development of haptic technology (which simulates touch and other sensations) and gesture recognition (a technology that allows users to control digital interfaces using

physical gestures, such as hand movements or body motions), will also enhance the VR and AR experience, making it feel even more immersive and realistic.

For example, you could explore creating custom game environments, implementing unique gameplay mechanics, or integrating cutting-edge technologies like haptic feedback or gesture recognition. The possibilities are endless, so it’s worth exploring different options to create an experience that stands out from the rest.

In conclusion, VR and AR have come a long way since their inception, and they are poised to revolutionize many aspects of our lives in the future. From entertainment and gaming to healthcare, education, travel and more, these technologies offer exciting new ways of interacting with our environment and each other. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative and exciting applications in the years to come.

The Importance of Certifications

As interest in gambling continues to grow, it’s no secret that the industry is coming under increased scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators around the world. The frequency and severity of fines seems to be growing, and public perception has taken a hit via a pattern of negative attention from major media outlets.

In response, companies that operate in this space have largely stepped up their efforts to promote safer gambling practices. And certifications have become increasingly important for operators seeking to gain trust and credibility in the eyes of regulators, customers, and journalists alike.

At SG:certified, we believe that safer gambling certifications are more than worthwhile; they’re outright imperative to the future of the industry.

Our mission is to help our clients achieve their certification goals,

and we believe that our expertise and experience can be a real asset for any operator looking to build a safer, more responsible gambling environment.

1. Demonstrate a commitment to safer gambling

First and foremost, certifications are a way for gambling operators to demonstrate their commitment to trustworthy, responsible gambling practices.

With global regulators becoming increasingly strict about compliance and transparency, certifications are a way for operators to show that they view these issues seriously and are taking concrete steps to protect their customers.

2. Build trust with licensing bodies and regulators

Secondly, certifications help operators build trust with licensors and regulators.

Going hand-in-hand with the

broader crackdown, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for operators to procure licences in new jurisdictions. By obtaining certifications from trusted third-party organisations, operators can demonstrate to regulators that they are serious about complying with the basic rules and regulations governing online gambling.

This might be especially important for smaller companies and newer operators, who still need this sort of infallible guidance as they implement their own safer gambling programs.

3. Attract new customers

Certifications can also help operators attract new, more loyal customers.

4. Build a better workforce

Another benefit of this type of proactive resolve is the potential to build a better team of workers.

Just like customers, employees of this industry have grown more discerning about which companies they’re willing to attach themselves to. An operator who demonstrates their commitment to their customers’ well-being is more likely to attract interest from leading members of the workforce who are likewise concerned about driving this industry toward a safer and more sustainable future.

Let SG:certified guide you toward a sustainable future

At SG:certified, we believe that the future of the online gambling industry depends on a firm commitment to safer gambling practices, and we’re committed to helping our clients achieve these types of certifications.

We realise that achieving the appropriate responsible gambling certifications can be a daunting task. There are dozens of them to choose from, making it difficult to know which ones are even relevant for your business. Do you need a Gamcare certification? Would an RGCheck or ECA certification help you move toward your goals?

We offer a comprehensive suite of services to help our clients navigate any certification process, from compliance assessments and gap analyses to ongoing training and support.

Our approach is tailored to the individual needs of our clients, and we work closely with operators to ensure that they are meeting the highest standards of safer gambling. SG:certified is here to help every step of the way, and we’re committed to providing our partners with the highest level of service and support.

We strive to be the absolute experts in this arena.

We have a thorough understanding of the regulatory landscape and the challenges that gambling operators face. Our team has years of experience working with gambling operators around the world, and we’ve built a deep knowledge of the complex and ever-changing landscape. We’re committed to staying up-to-date with the latest developments in the industry, and we’re constantly working to improve our services and support.

We believe that providing a safer

gambling environment is not just a necessity but an opportunity. As regulators continue to crack down on the industry and customers become increasingly aware of the risks and challenges associated with online gambling, certifications can be a way for operators to demonstrate their commitment to responsible gambling, attract new customers and better workers, and build trust with regulators.

We also understand that responsible gambling is not just about slapping a badge on your website. It’s about creating a culture of safer gambling throughout your organisation. And SG:certified is committed to helping you get there.

Schedule a free consultation with our team to learn more about our services and how SG:certified can help your organisation along its journey to certification.

The gambling industry - parity on fair pay who is top and bottom

Female and working in the gambling industry? Then you will no doubt be far happier working for the likes of Betfair, William Hill and Entain than say Grosvenor Casinos or Genting Casinos.

Why? Because the first two companies are happy to regard you on a par with your male colleagues – certainly in terms of what your work is worth to them, financially. The latter two companies, not so much.

In other words, Betfair and William Hill are the companies who hardly differentiate between male and female employees when it comes to salary. And, actually, in the case of Betfair women are paid more than men with a pay ratio 0.9 per cent in favour of the fairer sex. At William Hill the difference is barely worth mentioning – just 0.9 per cent in favour of men.

The male to female fair pay statistics start to fall though when you begin to look at other com -

panies such as Entain Marketing. There men have the upper-hand with salaries 3.8 per cent higher than those given to women, which is thou much better than other industry sectors but Grosvenor Casinos pay men 5.8 per cent more than their female colleagues. Go to Genting Casinos though and the difference is really starting to creep up. Men there are paid as much as 8.5 per cent more than their female counterparts.

BBC report highlights continuing disparities:

The disparities came to light in a report published this week by the BBC. It looked at pay grades in middle-ranking incomes across a range of UK industries, from gambling to banking, construction, insurance and education. To be fair to the gambling industry as a whole, it was one of the more equal payers.

The worst offending companies forpay disparity are in the Banking and Finance industries. There the gap between womens’ and mens’

salariessits at around 22.1 per cent. Admittedly that has narrowed over the years – but only by a mere 0.4 per cent. An equally big offender is the Construction industry where the gap in salary between the sexes is also 22.1 per cent. Even in Public Institutions, the gap favours men, with 8.9 per cent of them receiving a higher salary.

In total eight out of 10 businesses pay men more than women for doing the same job. Of those rare companies which pay women more than men,

some of the more outstanding amongst them include Airbus Operations with 17.7 per cent higher female salaries, outsourced payroll company Azebra Pay at 16.9 per cent and delivery services DHL at 12 per cent.

Worst company offenders across all sectors included Easyjet with a discrepancy of 47.3 per cent in favour of men, Lloyds Bank with 40.9 per cent and, following closely behind, Savills with a male to female pay gap of 40.5 per cent in favour of men.

The data was gleaned from the government’s Gender Pay Gap Service website, on which 10,217 employees had taken part. Under UK law all companies with 250 or more employees must list their gender pay gap figures.

One of the most striking findings of the report is that, despite continued campaigning for equal salaries between men and women in recent years, the gap remains

exactly the same as it did around six years ago – a discrepancy of 9.4 per cent. Alarmingly for women, the gap actually increased between 2018 and 2021, reaching a peak of 10.9 per cent around 2020.

Jemima Olchawski, chief executive at the Fawcett Society, said action plans were needed so that employers knew what steps to take to ensure pay parity between the sexes in their employ.

“Reporting is a good way of identifying pay inequalities, but taking action is key,” she said.

Women climb to higher positions within industry

When it comes to pay disparity there are, of course, exceptions in most industries – especially when it comes to those at the top of the salary chain. Take Bet365 director Denise Coates, for instance. There are, of course, exceptions in

In January it was revealed she received an annual salary of more than £200m in the year to March 2022. This was in addition to around £50m in dividends. The former accountant - who founded the website Bet365 website in Stoke-on-Trent more than 20 years ago - is regarded as one of the highest paid company bosses in the world.

She is quoted as once saying: “I was convinced early on that gambling would work well on the internet. It is private, accessible and allows you to present a huge range of betting opportunities to customers.”

A year earlier, in 2021, Entain’s newly-appointed CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen picked up an annual salary of £2.53m. The gender gap pay disparity at the top then, isn’t the same as it is in the middle and lower levels of the gambling industry, it appears.

And certainly, a report by the All-In Diversity Project last year showed an increasing number of women getting onto all-important boards in the gambling industry. A rise of 10 per cent to 29 per cent of females were appointed onto boards, in fact. That sounds encouraging but it has to borne in mind that women make up only around 20 per cent of those in top positions within the gambling industry.

More men than women work in gambling industry

Meanwhile, the same data collected by the All-In Diversity Project showed there were more men in the industry overall - 55 per cent compared to 43 per cent female (one per cent was those who described themselves as non-binary).

Christina Thakor-Rankin, Board Advisory Co-founder of the All-In

Diversity Project, and a principal consultant at 1710 Gaming, believes the reason there are more men in the gambling industry today, could be down to the growing popularity of sports betting.

She added: “One theory is that the balance in the gaming industry is shifting from casino, historically the leading product, where women have traditionally enjoyed parity, to sports betting, which is still much more male-focussed.”

Maria Naveira Sund, Senior Vicepresident of Engineering at Kambi, the Swedish sports betting platform provider, says she has seen “more women than ever in senior leadership positions.”

Sund’s experience is backed up by Emma Blaylock, CEO of software developers and consultants Pretty Technical. She says half of her

management team are women. They got their jobs, she reports, because of their ability and experience. In other words, it had nothing to do with positive discrimination for females.

But Sarah Blackburn, Founder and Director of iGaming marketing and PR agency GameOn Marketing, warned: “I think there is a lot of talk around diversity and inclusion but I’m not sure quite how much real action is going into empowering the women within businesses outside of recruitment, gender pay gaps and social gatherings.”

“It’s crucial that… that they are truly making a difference to help shape our industry for the better when it comes to diversity and inclusion – and I’m not just speaking about gender equality.”