Infinity Gaming Magazine March 2021

InfinityGaming www.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE125

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

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14 SOFTSWISS

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38 MANAGER VS THE LIZARD

THE WIG TALK REVIEW

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 WIG 2021 TALK REVIEW 23 BLACKSTONE IN FOR CROWN 27 MIAMI BATTLEGROUND TIM CULLIMORE ARTICLE

28 DIVERSITY 7 EQUALITY 36 THE END OF LOCKDOWN

THE METAVERSE 52 FASTEST GROWING COMPANY

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+ NEWS & MORE NEWS from the gaming industry

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A note from the editor sion Awards, nominations and catego-ries are online to take part in.

Now

also

inside

the

magazine

we have a superb article from our friends SoftSwiss and also a new growing com-pany that you probably not heard of but you are going to very soon, take a look they are called Low6.

Be Authentic Lana Thompson - Editor

As always inside this edition we have our superb writers giving us their ex-perience

and

the

industry

gaming

insight

with

Welcome to the latest edition of the

Cosgrove, Lynn Pearce de Freitas,

Infinity Gaming Magazine and Spring

Teresa

has sprung for us in the northern hemi-

Rankin and Tim Cullimore.

Christina

Tha-kor-

sphere, with Spring brings new life and new hope and we certainly need that as

I mentioned above the WIG Awards

we move further into 2021.

and of course the 2021 International Gam-ing

Awards

has

also

been

nominations

and

The terrible COVID-19 pandemic has

launched

and

hit us all hard, in some countries the

categories

are

rollout of the vaccines is moving quick-

delighted to say our spon-sors and

now open, we are

ly to bring us a new normality, however

supporters are as always su-perb and

politicians as always argue and fight

we will be live face to face on the 29th

and ultimately slow down a process the

July in London to meet once again, I

whole world needs as quickly as possi-

think we all need to get back to

ble, the JAB!

normality and celebrate our battles won over the last twelve months.

On to more positive topics and on the 8th March, International Women’s Day

As always- “May the Force be with

we celebrated with holding our very

you” - Star Wars

first Women in Gaming Diversity & Inclusion Talk, held online it amazed all of

Regards,

us at Clever Duck Media the popularity

Lana

of the one hour event. We had hoped for maybe one hundred registrations, over all we received nearly two hundred and on the day over 125 logged in and at any one time a hundred attendees listened to some inspiring women.

I and the listening audience were so inspired by our speakers and I am sure this will be the first of many such discussions in the future. One the same subject we have now finally been able to secure the 10th September 2021 in London for the WIG Diversity & Inclu-

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The Editor

PRODUCTION Clever Duck Media Centrix@Keys Keys Park Road Staffordshire WS12 2HA UK

on

contributions this month by, Andrew Tunstall,

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

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 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

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

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.

Working closely with the betting and gaming industry, She developed strong links delivering Social Respon-

sibility and Problem Gambling training around the world, Teresa now works independently consulting on all issues relating to Social Responsibility and Problem Gambling.

To contact Teresa regarding consulting please email:

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 Pearce de Freitas Lynn has creatively strategized and implemented B2C and B2B acquisition, conversion and retention marketing campaigns. 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 project-management of conferences, events, presentations, video production, and other activities.

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.

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 about casinos.

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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 renowned conference speaker and also proud to be visiting lecturer at the University of West London College of Hospitality and Tourism.

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THE WIG 2021 TALK tHE LONGEST SERVING EVENT FOR wOMEN WITHIN THE GAMING INDUSTRY Leading figures discussing inclusion, diversity &authenticity

T

he Women in Gaming (WIG) Talk took place on the 8th March recognising and celebrating International Women’s Day. The event was held online because of current COVID restrictions and 175 attendees registered to take part in the hour long discussion.

Clever Duck Media the hosts and organisers of the Women in Gaming Diversity and Inclusion that began back in 2010, celebrating and recognising the amazing achievements within the industry made by women.

At that time there was not one single event within the gaming world that specifically recognised women within the industry, Clever Duck Media started the movement to offer women a platform to learn, be inspired and grow from other leading ladies.

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When launched co-founder of the WIG Lana Thompson said: “We launched the WIG at a time when recognition of women within the sector was not truly rewarded and we felt that the time had come to do the same as our counterparts in other in-

dustries such as the tech and finance sectors had done.”

Now the WIG has grown into not just an awards ceremony but conference, talks and networking, but now with a

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renewed focus on including diversity and inclusion to encompass other areas of our society.

Lana Thompson went on to say: “The WIG is not about singling out women within the gaming industry but offering them a platform to network and learn, it is not men against women but giving women equal rights not just in working standards and opportunities but a chance to be seen and recognised that sometimes does not happen in a mixed sex environment.”

The WIG Talk attracted a record registration from attendees both women and men from Europe, US, Australia and Asia making it a truly international event.

Speaker for the event included Fiona Buckley a Keynote Motivational Speaker, Work Behaviourist, Corporate Trainer, Empowerment & Executive Coach & Thought Leader with some 5 years specialising within the field.

Fiona covered topics such as “How to be visible in an invisible world” a practical talk covering the essential and timely topic of how we can ensure we are visible in an environment where we are mostly working from home.

Having completed a 20,000 word thesis on the subject and worked in a virtual organisation herself for years she shares some practical key advice.

Coupled with her background as a work behaviourist and empowerment coach Fiona say you can motivate yourself, how you can avoid negative impacts of isolation, how to boost your confidence levels and ensure visibility to ensure your career is still on track despite the pandemic.

The Fiona went on to discuss how to “Make friends with your Inner Critic” Learning how to get out of your own way and become your own advisor Fiona said The Inner critic refers to the voices in our head that can turn any situation into a negative one. There are 7 inner critics and when ignored

can act as serious blockers to our selfimprovement and self-development.

It results in us wasting ort energy over analysing many situations like meetings and relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.

Also speaking was Lena Nordin the CHRO at Betsson Group who held a discussion regarding gender and equality. In her talk Lena pointed out that studies show that a company that is more diverse do better in business than those who are not. Lena also pointed out that diversity brings better innovation within a team and company. Lena also said that within Betssons 1,900 workforce there are 64 different nationalities, with 40% of the workforce being women and 39% of all people managers being women also.

More from Lena covered the approval of Betsson employees towards feeling comfortable with their line managers and the company in general having an open policy towards all gender

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The WIG 2021 Talk

and orientation in recruitment processes.

The talk continued with Natasha Whittaker the Director of HR at Microgaming, who discussed the connection between “Embracing Diversity. Powering Innovation” in helping power companies out performs their peers.

In particular Natasha pointed out that diversity is not just about sexual orientation, the colour of your skin and even ethnic backgrounds but also something that is not thought of and that can also be educational backgrounds along with personal experiences.

Unconscious biases were also mentioned by Natasha that had the attendees surprised that such a thing even exists.

Finally but certainly not least was Jennifer Bowman, the Senior Director Marketing at IGT whose chosen topic was “Embracing Authenticity”. Jen-

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nifer spoke of her own experiences, indeed being a foreigner, a woman in gaming and an immigrant.

Jennifer spoke of her experiences moving to Europe and feeling at first vulnerable as one of only two female managers there.

She also talked about how she overcame those challenges and referenced her own “inner critic” that Fiona Buckley discussed early in the talk.

One of the most important messages was to be yourself, be authentic and not someone you are not.

The Women in Gaming (WIG) has been around for many years now, recognising supporting and growing also with the supporters we enjoy having. Now including Diversity and Inclusion the WIG is learning to as society changes and becomes we hope more tolerant.

Over recent years other companies have started their own women in

gaming events, this is of course as recognition of how important women are in the workforce and how successful the WIG has been over the years.

As we are flattered by having a unique innovative idea and growing it to have it replicated by others, that is fine but we ask for them to grow their own identity and values, not to copy the WIG, we have been here a very long time now, we have grown and learnt by mistakes just like everyone else, but what is important is people can see a copy and not an original, just like the women that support the WIG be yourself and have your own ideas and values, people respect that more than just copying off.

The WIG Diversity & Inclusion Awards will take place on the 10th September 2021.

Go to www.gaming-awards.com/wig For more details

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OPINION

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Football Index Falls Into Administration

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etIndex Limited the operators of Football Index have entered administration following the previous weekend uproar by investors on the restructuring of players values to try and save the company.

The entire platform is now suspended and there is no indication if it will ever re-emerge after administrators Begbies Traynor took over the business.

In an announcement by the company on Thursday 18th Marcg Football Index said, “after discussions with ‘external’ legal and financial advisors, the decision was made to help find an ‘agreeable way forward.”

The company went on to say, “Until such time as the administrators are in office, the platform will remain suspended and no trading or payment transactions, such as deposits and withdrawals, will be possible,” ‘Once in office, the administrators will be in contact with customers, creditors, and other stakeholders.

This interim step of suspending the platform is merely to ensure that everyone’s rights are preserved in relation to funds held by BetIndex Limited.’

The platform that is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission and had extensive advertising budget are also sponsors of Queens Park Rangers Football Club, there is no update on

whether the football club will continue to advertise them at present.

Over last weekend Football Index completely changed their terms and conditions resulting in players on the platform value dive to be worth just pennies when before were worth several pounds.

At the time of the terms change the company said it was to, “protect the long-term sustainability of the platform.”

It has been reported that many of the investors have lost thousands in the fall of Football Index when the platform restructured the value of its football traded players.

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Key Features and Trends for SoftSwiss Game Aggregator in 2021

C

hoosing and integrating the right gaming content is vital for any online casino. Firstly, an operator needs to consider and pick the best providers and the most relevant and entertaining games among those available on the market.

It is crucial for casinos to have a wide variety of games, to constantly update and expand the game lobby, in order to attract and retain players’ attention. Since the right game content gives a competitive advantage, most online casino operators partner with multiple game providers or work alongside a knowledgeable game aggregator for access to a vast variety of different games.

Getting game content for an online

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casino is a time-consuming process of negotiation with game providers.

First, the conditions of the deal have to be agreed and then a technical integration of the gaming software carried out . That is where a Game Aggregator comes to save the day.

A game aggregator helps casino operators by granting access to a large amount of game studio content simultaneously with just one integration, instead of connecting each game studio one-by-one.

What is the SoftSwiss Game Aggregator?

The SoftSwiss Game Aggregator is a one-stop solution for all online casino websites. It partners with over 70 game studios globally, providing

more than 11,000 different games.

This extensive portfolio can be added to any gaming software platform through simple one time API integration. A simple API and automated tests help to make the integration very quick and straightforward. SoftSwiss Game Aggregator record integration was on the third day after signing the contract. Furthermore, the solution has a unique customer service model, providing ongoing technical support, as well as a personal account manager with SoftSwiss. Some may also call it a “casino games hub” or a “game aggregation platform”, providing a stable environment with zero downtime deployment.

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Since October 2020, the Game Aggregator has reached several exciting milestones such as surpassing 100 million euros GGR (now approaching 150 million), as well as the number of bets going over 3 billion euros (fast approaching 3.5 billion). The SoftSwiss Game Aggregator works with a wide variety of currencies, including cryptocurrencies and social casino tokens.

Trends and Future of Crypto Gambling The Game Aggregator also provides access to more than 3,000 games that support crypto in-game. According to the recent 2020 SoftSwiss Game Aggregator corporate report, cryptocur-

rency gambling traffic saw a threefold increase in that year compared to 2019. This growth keeps on gaining momentum.

The SoftSwiss Game Aggregator supports several of the most popular cryptocurrencies, but the undoubted leader was and still is bitcoin with a dominating 90%, and other cryptocurrencies (ETH, LTC in second and third place respectively) holding the remaining 10%. Country-wise, the SoftSwiss Game Aggregator statistics highlighted strong crypto usage all around the world, with increasing interest in Canada, Russia, and Latin America.

It is no secret that casino games successfully coexist with sports and esports betting, so it is hard to imagine online crypto casino projects without dice games. In 2020, the SoftSwiss Game Aggregator mainly focused on cooperation with crypto-dice projects, inviting them to diversify their content with slots and live games.

The key distinctive features of crypto projects are increased speed and transparency of all types of transactions: from deposit or withdrawal of funds to the actual game process, which usually incorporates Provably Fair technology.

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SoftSwiss Article

Perhaps one of the most important aspects for players when choosing a casino is the ability to quickly withdraw their winnings, so crypto projects do outrun fiat ones here. The second important aspect is transparency. Provably fair is very rarely spotted in fiat casinos, however, it is the gold standard for crypto casinos.

What is the future of online gambling in 2021?

Fiat and crypto gambling are two independently developing segments with different goals and audiences, and it is at the moment practically impossible to say that one of them may replace the other in the near future.

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statistics.

About SoftSwiss: SoftSwiss is a widely-acclaimed iGaming expert and the very first online gambling software company to start working with cryptocurrencies. SoftSwiss as a brand appeared in July 2009 in Minsk, Belarus. Today SoftSwiss is a recognized industry leader in iGaming software solutions development. The company has an international team, which counts 500+ employees and has an official presence in several countries.

To date, the SoftSwiss client network counts more than 100 iGaming brands working on the SoftSwiss Platform. Projects powered by SoftSwiss receive numerous awards and accolades from industry media.

Being a leading-edge iGaming provider, SoftSwiss steadily enhances the product portfolio with continuous innovations and increases the quality of its services, providing customers with first-class industry solutions.

SoftSwiss. Winning Combination.

Nevertheless, the rapidly growing popularity of cryptocurrency as a means of payment is leading to rising interest in crypto gambling, a market previously dominated by fiat. Bitcoin is no longer something exotic. So, in the coming years, we can expect to see more gaming studios supporting cryptocurrencies in their games, as well as casino operators integrating new crypto payment methods for their players. This also means that we will see a growing share of crypto in the SoftSwiss Game Aggregator

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Women in gaming…

Honestly, it was never an issue for me.

By Tim Cullimore

A

s I write this it is International Women’s Day 2021, and as my favourite radio station plays excellent music from new and old female artists it got me thinking about Women in Gaming and how this is definitely something to celebrate. After all, the two women I have loved and admired the most, my wife and my mother, just happened to be female, and I have great hopes that my 10-year-old daughter will be the first world president, so no arguments from me.

But it got me thinking about all the women I have worked with throughout my career and in many respects

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Women in Gaming is just, well, gaming.

Starting 40 years ago there was always at least one manager who was female, and often the majority of them were. Provincial casinos especially have always seemed to me to be equal opportunity employers. First of all, when I joined the Ladbrokes dealer training school in the 1970s there were more females than males, and this after a stringent weeding out process for technical ability and arithmetic acumen. As I joined the gaming floor after completing the training there were more female inspectors or games supervisors than

males, excepting for the Punto Banco pit team, which strangely remained a purely male environment for a little while, at least until I became pit boss and changed things.

Although in the early 1980s there may have been in the wider world fewer females in positions of responsibility, within the 4 walls of the casino a culture of gender egality reigned, with the first female shift and gaming managers appearing, followed not long afterwards by many female General Managers.

When I became Chief Executive of the Ritz Club Casino I was delighted to see that fully half of the senior

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gaming managers were female, and that my number 2, the gaming director, was a very capable and talented lady.

As a young man in the ‘80s when I was partying my way around the Caribbean, sorry, that should read working as a dealer on cruise ships, at least as many managers were females as were male. And the top person in Blankenberge, Belgium where I worked in 1990 was a lady. When I arrived in Paris to work in the casino at Enghienles-Bains, the whole American games team was female, as was half of the management team.

During my time with TCS the number

of General Managers in the U.K. who were female seemed to have grown even more, whether in the provinces or London. Requiring hard work and resourcefulness, there seems to be something in the role that lends itself to being non-gender specific.

One lady who is Casino Director for a massive project in the Mediterranean, is one of the most capable and may I say, fearsome managers I have ever come across, and a delight to work with due to her professionalism.

So why is the Casino industry so attractive to women in the first place.

Well, more than one colleague has pointed put that working nights is a great help when juggling childcare,

and the casino is a very safe environment to work in, unlike some other night-time leisure industry workplaces such as nightclubs and bars.

Also, there was, and I hope still is, a certain glamour to working in such an environment, which many of us, both men and woman, find alluring. I have witnessed many tense situations in casinos, and I have often felt, rightly or wrongly, that a female manager defuses the situation, whether the client is of either sex, more effectively than many men. I remember attending an excellent conflict resolution course when I worked at the Casino de Montreal, with lots of role playing presented by professional actors, and without exception the females among

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About us London Gaming, through its senior management, has been a trusted advisor and consultant to land based and on-line gaming operators for over 10 years.

LONDON GAMING What we do Specialising

in

restructuring,

defined

term

operational

management, compliance and procedures, AML and social responsibility coaching, and pan-European legislative matters.

Our directors have individually over 40 years experience of on-line and land based gaming, earning a reputation for delivering cross-channel solutions.

tim.cullimore@londongaming.co.uk

Contact number: +44(0)7826857931

Tim Cullimore Article

us came out at the top of the class.

This principle also applies to the female security operatives working in the casinos I have managed. Never was the question raised about their efficacity, even when the going got very tough, as it inevitable does.

The two biggest casino groups in the U.K. have women at the top of their gaming departments, and the same could be said of France’s biggest group until recently. Moreover, I have never attended a seminar in Las Vegas without there being a strong female representation of senior gaming managers.

So as I said, Women in Gaming is a sign of strength running through our industry, and for my part it has been

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a normal state of affairs for as long as I can remember, but that isn’t to say there are still not great injustices done in some corners of the business. If I want my daughter to have an equal say in how future businesses are run, we must be vigilant against biases, conscious or unconscious.

“Luck be a Lady” sang Frank, and who am I to argue with him?

New heads of UKGC It has been announced that the Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission, Neil McArthur, is leaving his post immediately, and as we know the Chairman, Bill Moyes, leaves at the end of the year. This is a great opportunity to appoint people who have a

grasp of the business, an appetite for a mature and measured dialogue with all those involved and a vision for a consolidated approach for the future of all aspects of the industry. When I was a child my mother always said I was an optimistic and positive young man. Perhaps those two aspects of my character have never left me, but in this case they may be rather misplaced.

Read more from Tim Cullimore each month only in the Infinity Gaming Magazine

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GAMING NEWS

Penn Shares Rise On Barstool Success

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Blackstone Offer For Crown Resorts Too Low With the news yesterday that Crown Resorts were approached by Blackstone Group for an entire purchase of the shares valuing the casino operator at around $6.2 billion, it now seems unlikely that the US private equity firm will be successful at the bid.

Blackstone that owns 9.9% of Crown Resorts stock already believed the offer was generous giving a 19% premium on the current value.

However since the news was released Crown Resorts have neared that valuation with their shares soaring.

Indeed it was only three years ago that Wynn Resorts were reported to have approached Crown to acquire their full stock amount with a bid of around $8.5 billion and that ultimately failed.

Analysts in the US believe the rise and rise of Penn

National Gaming shares are now too high with the expectation that the companies sports betting product Barstool. Penn’s sports betting app is already operational in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois and by the end of this year will feature in another ten states.

A lot of the excitement surrounds Barstool and the rise of shares for Penn focuses on the success in Pennsylvania where it has already reached number three in revenues compared to its competitors.

Predictions value sports betting in the US to reach $40 billion a year in turnover, but Penn’s competitors have a fall back like Wynn Resorts who have Macau and the same can be said for MGM Resorts, both of these companies are also surging ahead with their own sports betting business in partnerships with iGaming operators mainly from the UK. As the US opens up the major players are all saying they want 15% to 20% of the sports betting market, those acquiring Penn National shares believe that will happen for Barstool, however there are so many leading players betting on a share rise now is way too early to be prudent.

Analysts know that with the current troubles of the Australian casino operator their shares recently have dipped dramatically and it is thought Blackstone knew this and wanted to get it while they were still low. However with the price increasing the question is will Blackstone come back with another offer?

Cambodia Casino Revenues Fall By Over Half The Cambodian casino industry suffered a 53% drop in revenues according to the countries Ministry of Economy and Finance. Tax revenues fell during the 2019/2020 period because of the global pandemic hitting the gaming industry forcing closures.

For the previous year tax revenues from casinos stood at $85 million but fell to $40 million the following year because of COVID-19.

Deputy Director Ros Phirun of the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in releasing the figures: “As we’re all too well aware, the Covid-19 epidemic began in late 2019 and persists to this day. It’s pulverized all economic sectors, and the casino industry has sustained a crippling blow as well. “

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Building the Metaverse – the race is on!

By Lynn Pearce de Freitas

I

was reading the Roundhill Investments mailer recently, where they were announcing the huge success of the Roblox direct listing, which was utterly amazing, as their explosive growth during the pandemic last year provided the perfect storm for their phenomenal success, with over 170 million children and teens in the U.S playing on their gaming platform, resulting in revenues increasing 82% to $925 million. However, the line they used in their report was what caught my eye: “one of the only publicly traded pure-play Metaverse type companies” as Roblox allows users to create their own games. There was no shortage of demand for the stock, in fact, volume was so hot on day 1 that Roblox now trades at nearly 50x TTM revenues.

Moving on to Esports and Gaming Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny recently cited the company’s goal to “invest in

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building the metaverse” and the need to have “great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences. In 2020 Epic Games hosted Travis Scott’s concert in Fortnite, and that drew 27.7 million viewers. While other companies are still debating the Metaverse, Epic is just going out and building it, one big event at a time. In observing that pursuit, there’s the very real possibility that Fortnite, the video game that became a global phenomenon, that turned celebrities into players and players into celebrities, has been building the foundations of the Internet’s future right before our eyes.

But what exactly is the Metaverse?

And why is everyone rushing to be in on it? I had an idea that it was going to be the new super-charged internet, with communities and digital avatars, as the word has been bandied about since Neal Stephenson wrote the science fiction novel “Snow Crash”

in 1992, and that big tech has been racing to be first to market with their products for a good few years now - but how different exactly would it be to the current internet and social media communities we find ourselves in. It seems everyone has their own version of what they believe the Metaverse is, or will be, so I guess it is open cards for now. There are a number of seriously influential and highly talented people who have taken the time to try to make meaning of the concept of the Metaverse – including the danger of big tech taking control of user data.

Mathew Ball, Epyllion Industries – said in his recent article on the Metaverse, says: “too much of the Metaverse remains unclear for us to have strong convictions on who will lead it or how they’ll get us there. And in truth, it’s most likely the Metaverse emerges from a network of different

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platforms, bodies and technologies working together and embracing interoperability.” Maybe it will become The Great Reset, who knows!

So who else has been getting in on the game of building this new Metaverse?

In 2019 Facebook announced their version of the Metaverse, called Facebook Horizon, describing it as a new social world and an environment where users could spend tons of time!

Facebook has said the product will always be free. However, the more I read, the more it sounded like Second Life – which became a niche product and well, I have no idea what happened to that or if it is still around, quite frankly. The problem with Facebook, in my opinion, is that they will find many ways of monetizing the experience and I fear they will bombard it with advertising – you may end up being part of one of the biggest web metaverse, but you will lose your freedom – or leave and lose whatever you have built within Horizon.

People will increasingly hear the term “metaverse” as firms invest in bringing precursors of it to life.

A wide range of companies are investing billions of dollars in the physical and digital infrastructure necessary to bring persistent virtual worlds into being—from 5G to virtual-reality spaces.

I believe that in the gaming industry, we are well positioned to building the Metaverse, as we have been working towards this end for many years – just think about the additional tools we have been handed recently, from the next-level video game streaming service Google is building at Stadia, to UGC platforms like Roblox, and increasingly socially powered video games like Fortnite – the pieces are coming together right now.

In addition, the vast majority of games are massively multiplayer and community-driven, and players thrive off this social experience. Through chat features, in-play and player-to-

player interactions, you could really make the player engage with gamification and this immersive Metaverse you are building, leading to higher levels of retention and loyalty. You should also make it economically viable with easy methods of access to payments.

The Metaverse should be a place that you can and want to visit over and over – and still return to the same world, giving players a sense of security. You need to give players a sense of identity. You need an underlying social fabric. It must be vast and diverse. The experiences need to be immersive, and they have to be frictionless to the player base.

I am excited! I have this picture of a giant gaming theme park Metaverse, with amazingly diverse experiences, with plenty of scope for individual creativity and a never-ending stream of interactivity.

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GAMING NEWS

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Miami Battleground For Gambling Expansion

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he son of a billionaire developer wants to change the states gambling laws so they too can get in on the action.

Jeffrey Soffer, the son of Donald Soffer the billionaire real estate developer who wants to build a casino under their Fontainebleau Miami Beach brand, however Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber has already hired a legal team to stop this happening.

Local news company Local10 are quoting Dan Gelber saying: “What they are going to want to do apparently is take casino licenses, take gaming licenses, gambling licenses that exist right now in parimutuels — slot machines, card games, and things like that — and allow them to become portable.”

The Soffer family that operate the development company Turnberry Associates are keen to develop casinos in Miami and now with Trump also in the mix things are heating up in

Florida as a new gambling bill is being drafted and could revealed later in March.

Opposition to expanding gambling in Miami fear that this time governor Ron DeSantis and a large portion of lawmakers could make expanding gambling a reality.

However there are powerful forces again the expansion including Indian Tribal gaming groups and many point to the plans by Genting Group to develop a resort and failed and it looks like both parties are gearing up for a battle again to expand gambling in the area.

The news follows a report Eric Trump is looking also to have the gambling laws updated in Florida.

The Washington Post reported that Eric Trump wants to do that a decade of professionals and lawmakers has failed to do and get Florida to allow for casinos.

In the report it is quoting Eric Trump the son of former US President Donald Trump to allow for the Miami Doral Golf Resort to develop a casino to help with plummeting revenues at the Trump owned property.

Although no such legislation has been drafted or even talked about at legislative level it is understood that state Senate President Wilton Simpson wants to bring forward a law that would allow property developers to grant gambling licenses without any approval from local government.

Donald Trump has always had a good relationship with current Florida governor Ron DeSantis but the likelihood any such legislation would pass lawmakers is as one gaming consultant said, “more chance of Florida declaring independence.”

At present only racetracks and tribal reservations are allowed to have gambling or casinos.

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Diversity & equality: why is it so hard?

By Christina Thakor-Rankin

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lack History Month, International Women’s Day, and a clutch of awards ceremonies - the diversity, equality, and inclusion bandwagon is back in town!

But this year things feel a little different: maybe it’s because of the pandemic shining a spotlight on inequalities in society and its impact on women in the workplace; or maybe its Black Lives Matter and on-going conversations about diversity in sport and entertainment; or maybe it’s the polarisation of politics and society and the coming of age of Generation Z; or maybe it’s just a culmination of all these things and more. Whatever the reason(s) this year the conversation has felt bigger, wider, and louder than ever before this century. In fact, it feels like talking aboutdiversity and

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equality has become quite fashionable – trendy even.

This is good news. The first step to action is words. Identifying and discussing the challengesissues, considering the issues, and then implementing solutions. So, does this mean that we can finally, (fourteen years after the first Women in Gaming event) start to look forward to an industry that is more diverse, equitable and inclusive.

In some ways yes. In others less so.

Certainly, we are making progress - but this progress is off-set against some very real challenges for which there is no instant or immediate fix.

by, members of society. Regular people who are the product of their social, economic, cultural,and environmental backgrounds, who bring their thoughts, behaviours, habits, and prejudices into the workplace.

But workplaces also have the power to influence and change individuals.

Workplace culture, colleagues from different backgrounds and cultures, or adapting to fit in with a new team, can all encourage change in individual, which can then be taken back into and help change society - and this is where betting and gambling can play its part, and starting by focusing on just three things.

And these are challenges that we cannot overcomealone. The gambling sector does not operate in a vacuum. It is part of, and populated

Firstly ‘self-interest’. Broadly speaking, people are only really interested in things which have a direct impact on them, or where they can easily

29

empathise with or relate to a situation or

purpose washing. Tick the box, and then

by doing ‘something right’–but possibly

circumstance. For example, it is difficult

go back to ‘Business As Usual’ for the

everything else wrong?

for someone who has not experienced

rest of the year.

discrimination to fully understand what it feels like, or its multi-layered impact.

Most likely this was a clumsy rendering What is changing is that purpose wash-

of a genuine sentiment, but the point is

ing doesn’t wash anymore, and a per-

if the industry wants to play it’s part it

This year #IWD saw its usual champi-

ceived or actual lack of authenticity

starts with seeing, measuring, and giv-

ons and championing of women, but

can and will backfire. This year we had

ing voice to individual achievements

there also seemed to be an increase in

comments, posts, and interviews from

in a way which focuses on the achieve-

companies and individuals jumping on

a whole host of individuals not his-

ment and not diluting it based on gen-

the bandwagon -waxing lyrically about

torically associated with supporting

der, or other point of difference.

their commitment to equality. The mo-

women. For example, one of the com-

tivation seemed to be avoiding the risk

ments was ‘she’s still there… (so) must

Secondly‘biology’. It is a fact that wom-

of being perceived as apathetic, disin-

be doing something right’. The reason

en have children. It is also a fact that

terested bystander, or sexist, by doing

for mentioning this is because I do not

these children need looking after. This

nothing. So, they did something. The

ever recall ‘must be doing something

typically falls to the mother, who unless

same as happens with PRIDE every year.

right’ used in relation to a man in this

she has access to the help and support

Organizations that would not normally

way before. Usually the ‘something’ is

that offers her the luxury of a choice

give employee sexual orientation a first,

a ‘thing’, or quite often, several things.

between taking time out or returning to

let alone a second thought, are some of

They did a thing justifying the admira-

work, a career break work is inevitable.

the first to get the rainbow flag out for

tion, not some nebulous, vague ‘some-

fear that doing nothing might see them

thing’ with its implicit connotation of

branded as ‘homophobic’. Essentially

managing to hang onto a job somehow,

PTO)

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Christina Thakor-Rankin Article

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This then has repercussions in any number of areas, from generalised perceptions of women in the workplace, to impact on individual personal development and career progression.

This evidence of this is there for anyone who wants to see it. In those parts of the world where co-parenting is established practice or childcare freely available for working parents there are far more women leaders and gender equality in the workplace less of a concern. There is also greater gender parity across those traditionally male occupations, such as tech and engineering, in those parts of the world where extended families or home help (and a natural source of support for child-care) are the norm.

For example, China and India where there are almost as many women in tech and STEM related professions as there are men, and the United Arab Emirates which recently became only the fifth nation to launch a mission to Mars by a team that is 80% female and led by, Sarah al-Amiri, a 33-yearold computer engineer.

China, India, and UAE may not be perceived as the most progressive nations in the world when it comes to diversity and inclusion,but there is a clear lesson here for the industry - if we want women to have the same career opportunities as their male counterparts, we need to be better at supporting working mothers (and fathers) and care givers.

And thirdly, internationalisation. This sector comprises organizations and companies from every corner of the globe, representing a myriad of cultural and social views, attitudes, and practices. Some of these organizations will be based, or originate, in a part of the world that is secular and takes a ‘progressive’ approach towards gender and diversity in the workplace, whilst others will be based in,

or originate from a part of the world where religious or more traditional cultural views are the norm.

These cultural and social traits will naturally be mirrored in the workplace resulting in a mixed sector, where some will have very few (if any) women in decision-making positions, to others where women are very much on top (such as bet365 and more recently Entain and BetFred).

As long as we have this spectrum of cultures and views the conversation will continue to be relevant, but this third challenge is also the one that is the easiest to overcome. All of these organizations, irrespective of local cultures and customs, are businesses driven by the bottom line. If we can show the industry how diversity,

equality, and inclusion links backdirectly to profit (not just for bingo and slots, but just as much for sports betting and e-sports) they will start to change and everything else will follow: child-care facilities or vouchers will go from being a cost to value that allows them to retain and develop top talent long-term; and the more women we have the more normalised it will become and the easier it will be to talk about them in the same way as we do men.

The business case for diversity has now been proven several times over – get this message across and everything else will follow.

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Together,

make the Globe Better

GAMING NEWS

French Operator Out Of Japan Casino Running

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Buzz Bingo Largest Stakeholder Sells up Buzz Bingo’s largest investor Caledonia Investments has sold its stake in the company to asset management fund Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) for what Caledonia say is a “nominal fee”.

The investment company that bought into Gala Bingo in 2015 which was then rebranded in 2019 to Buzz Bingo for £240 million just prior to the merger of Coral’s merger with Ladbrokes.

French gaming operator Groupe Partouche has

lost out in its bid for inclusion in the selection process to operate an integrated resort in the city of Nagasaki. The Japanese city government announced its shortlist naming Oshidori International Holdings Ltd, Casinos Austria International Japan, and the Niki Chau Fwu Group as the final three.

The bingo operator went through a £40 million makeover of all its ninety one venues on the rebrand which was supported by Caledonia but in 2020 when the global pandemic forced the closure on its entire estate the company announced that 26 of its bingo clubs would not reopen.

Caledonia also supported Buzz Bingo during the summer of 2020 with a £20 injection of capital to keep the brand going.

In total five companies applied for the selection process and now that the city has decided the next stage goes to what is termed “competitive dialogue” which will take place in May this year and then the final decision will be made in August on who will represent Nagasaki for the chance to gain one of three integrate resort licenses in the country.

Once that is complete all those cities applying will have to wait till spring in 2022 to apply to the countries government and it is expected the cities will be named in 2023 with construction starting in or around 2025.

With Japan still not guaranteed to get to development with opposition parties and a majority of the public not in favour of casino resorts it is yet to be seen if any of those casino operators applying will ever get to break ground on building a resort.

However with the UK’s third national lockdown Caledonia decided not to support the business for a requirement of extra funding to keep the business afloat.

In the announcement Caledonia did not disclose the amount Buzz Bingo was sold for but as of February this year Caledonia said their investment in Buzz Bingo was valued at “nil”.

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GAMING NEWS

Cambodia & China Ignore Online Gambling

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New Casino For Nepal Announced Nepal continues to be a very attractive destination for leisure operators and the latest news that two more have been given permission to open new resorts and one with a new casino.

Reports in the region say that India’s Lemon Tree Hotels has secured permission to develop an 80 room hotel, restaurants, a spa, swimming pool, fitness centre and casino.

Even thou Cambodia banned all forms of on-

line gambling in 2019 either to its own citizens or externally the city of Sihanoukville on the southern coast is still seeing online gambling operations in the form of live streaming content.

Back in 2019 when the ban was announced the city was overtaken by operators offering their content to Cambodians and Chinese gamblers from across the border, however that has now reduced significantly but it still remains.

Lemon Tree Deputy Managing Director Rattan Keswani said on the announcement: “Nepal is not just a country with which we, as a nation, have close personal ties, but is also a region that we feel holds immense business and tourism potential, with its scenic locales and stunning mountains,” he went on to say, “The planned casino, which will be built adjacent to the hotel, will be an added USP and provide an exclusive offering for our guests.”

The Biratnagar hotel is scheduled to open in 2023 for Lemon Tree Hotels and is focussed on the Indian tourist market.

The reason being that without those operators the casinos there and the local economy would falter, with the COVID-19 pandemic still restricting gamblers to casinos and only locals gambling and those online operators bringing in revenues for the stricken casinos.

So the government is letting it continue in the small city of some 70,000 for the time being or at least until the tourist economy recovers. To this even thou China has only recently warned of stronger penalties for online operators offering their services to Chinese nationals it goes on but is being watched to ensure it does not grow again to unmanageable levels.

Indeed it is reported that most of the online operators there are backed or protected by senior level politicians in Cambodia and so for the short to medium term both Cambodia and their biggest beneficiary to the country China are turning a blind eye to the operations until recovery is underway following the global pandemic.

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The end of Lockdown forever?

By Teresa Tunstall

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o more struck at home in Lockdown!However, the Government has decided that Betting shops and pubs will be the last activity to open in the UK.Restrictions will be relaxed further in England as the Prime Minister outlined plans for a significant return to normality by Christmas.

Boris Johnson said he was “hoping for the best and planning for the worst” as he outlined the next stage in his Government’s Covid-19 recovery roadmap.

Under the new guidelines, people are allowed to use public transport for more journeys immediately and will be encouraged to return to work from August.

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This momentum gave me the opportunity to go back in time looking through otherhistoric gaming papers.

One of the biggest changes was when Betting shops were legalised 1960, before then there were ‘runners’ who would go round picking up personal bets.

In particularly Nick,19 years old who wrote from prison after being sentencedto 3 years and 8 months, he continued, “Gambling made my life so very unhappy when I lost, I had to win my money back.”

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“I was always worried where could I get money for my next bet?”

We kept in touch until the prison doctor stepped in to help him understand his problem gambling.

The one thing that Lockdown has bought us to recognise is that although casinos and betting shops in the UK are closed it’s easy to gamble on Online almost any ware in the world. Many players switch to various countries playing late into the night because struck on Lockdown was another reason to escape from life and you might actually win! However, it’s important to always look to play on gaming sites endorsed by the

UK Gambling Commission who give advice and support when playing gambling gets rough. Unfortunately, since Lockdown occurred gambling statistics have increased incredibly with gamblers big losses and little money available for families. The consequences of family breakups can be disaster for families and friends causing misery and unhappy particularly for children.

Many years ago, I was working as a croupier in Les Ambassador’s Club Casino.At the time Robert Maxwell was a great Entrepreneur business man always involved in buyingup businesses especially newspapers.

When it came to gambling Maxwell only ever played roulette playing 3 roulette table’s he also had an interesting strange stance.

He would cover the roulette table with all his gaming chips however each table was positioned beside a majestic white marble column, Maxwell would stand hiding behind the column just his profile showed listening to the spin of the roulette ball.

If he won it was all smiles other-wise he was miserable and would rush to the next roulette table to place more chips.

Croupiers were instructed not to spin the ball on any roulette tables until Mr

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Teresa Tunstall Article continued

Maxwell had finished placing his bets. once this was completed, he would hide behind the next column repeating the same behaviour peeping out to see if the ball had dropped, running from roulette table to roulette table.

At that time Les Ambassadors was a privately owned club however rumour on the casino floor was the casino club was up for sale. It was a Monday early evening when Robert Maxwell entered the casino, without doubt he had knowledge the sale that was about to happen.

He was playing on my table, hurriedly racing across the casino floor placing his bets then returning back to me when his ball had dropped at which point none of his ‘numbers’ were winning so I moved forward to clear his chips he immediately grabbed my arms holding them up I was shocked and angry, touching a member of staff was considered unacceptable I thought.

I was horrified, turned to my Italian Inspector for support, still Maxwell

hung over the casino table not allowing anything to be touched he ignored me but incredibly he spoke Italian directly to my Inspector while I stood awaiting to clear his chips.

It seemed like forever before the Assistant Manager arrived, he was German so the conversation continued with Robert Maxwell in German, I was still awaiting an outcome. Finally, our top Manager a Frenchman appeared, this had to be the last conversation and it would be in French, I knew none of the three languages spoken.

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Maxwell Communications Corporation (MCC) and Mirror Group holdings.

Read more from Teresa Tunstall each month in the Infinity Gaming Magazine

When all the conversations were finished, my Italian inspector turned, “pay Mr Maxwell.” Neither my Inspector nor I knew how much to pay him as he hadn’t won any money! A couple or roulette chips were moved on to his favourite number.

Many years later came news of a planned meeting with the Bank of England, highlights that in the days before his death in November 1991, Maxwell, a former Labour MP, was facing mounting pressure over the financial position of his companies,

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42

Slots manager versus the lizard

By Andy Cosgrove

You tick all the boxes, you attend all the right seminars, your histograms are a thing of beauty! So why are your slots results so tediously average?

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ome slots managers go through life doing what’s deemed as appropriate by those who yield power and so that’s how they measure success. Their ultimate dream, their deepest desire, their benchmark of excellence and achievement is nothing more, nothing less than just mundane, stuffy appropriate. They do just enough to satisfy their bosses without moving out of their comfort zone. They go to great lengths to avoid words like controversy and objection. They are usually technically excellent, their slot machines look immaculate, their check lists are ticked to near perfection and the organization

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and cleanliness of their tech shops is something even the most prestigious Six Sigma master black belt would be proud of, but are they really managers?

Slot managers as described above are victims of the lizard brain syndrome and if your bosses goal is to avoid problems rather than focusing on success, then stop reading before you get ridiculed and thrown under yourself made bus of inevitability. If you’re one of the infinitely curious or enjoy a heated debate along with a healthy dose of controversy, then continue reading and start resisting your inner lizard.

Who is the illusive character they call the lizard? The lizard has been around since the beginning of time and is like a daemon that stops us from achieving greatness. The lizard is constantly scared, hungry, angry and it’s only ambition is to eat, breed and be safe. The lizard brain cares only about what others think because status is everything and they crave the acceptance of the crowd. They avoid conflict, shy away from disagreement and will always run for cover when the going gets tough. The ancient Greeks described the lizard as another being living inside of us, the inside part of you that makes you feel anguish and gets

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you to shut up, put your blinkers on and do what you’re told. The lizard stops your genius from shining and prevents you from writing your own script instead of living the inevitable tragedy of the procedures manual.

How will I recognize when the lizard is on the offensive? In order to successfully resist your inner lizard, it’s important to be aware of their inevitable presence. The lizard is a cunning wizard who appears when you least need them, making them difficult to detect. If any of the following happen, your lizard brain is in control and you should resist before you dig yourself a hole that will scare away your ambition and make success become

synonymous with avoiding failure: • Your boss has a theory that lowering the slots payback percentages by 4 percent across the board will increase coin in and attract more customers and you agree.

• Your floor supervisors spend most of their time taking to each rather than to the customers. You ignore this while choosing to say nothing in order to avoid possible confrontation and any negative comments about your leadership skills.

• The marketing department decides it might be a good idea to give away $100 in free play to all hotel guests

with the theory that they will play it, lose it and then play more of their own money. You don’t agree with this but because the marketing manager is a ‘can do no wrong’ friend of the boss, you decide to remain silent.

• Your slot attendants are ready to quit because of a change in policy that wiped out 75% of their tips overnight and all you do is offer sympathy instead of doing your job and defending your team.

How do you get your lizard under control and transform average into greatness? To become a great slot manager technical ability is an essential requirement of the job. However,

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Andy Cosgrove Article (continued) your technical abilities alone will not secure your success. You lizard brain knows this and will do everything in its book of tricks to disrupt you vision.

It will invent illnesses, create distractions and sabotage your best ideas in order to keep your genius locked away. A true leader laughs at the lizard, torments the lizard and learns how to beat the lizard at it’s own game by doing the exact opposite of what the lizard wants by making success their new best friend no matter the obstacles the lizard throws in their way. Following are some tips your lizard will definitely not like: • Don’t fear failure – It is said that it took Thomas Edison over a 1000 failures before he gave us light and changed the world. His teachers at school said he was “too stupid to learn anything” and he was even fired from his first two jobs for being “non-productive.” His initial failures didn’t hold him back, his persistence and resistance against his lizard brain took him from a nobody to the history books, so what are you waiting for?

Failure is how we learn, so tell yourself that failure is just another bump in the road to success, embrace it and encourage others to do the same. Using failure to your advantage will have your lizard running for the hills and success knocking at your door.

• Feel comfortable with the uncomfortable – Inevitably it’s impossible to know everything and for your lizard brain, the less you know, the better. However, it’s a well-known fact that without venturing outside of our comfort zone we literally stand still in time and space. Dealing with the unknown can cause our anxiety levels into overdrive but anxiety is nothing more than fear about fear, it’s imaginary although your lizard brain will tell you otherwise. Stepping outside our comfort zone is part of the reaching our full potential process as

45

individuals and as part of the human race. When you turn being comfortable with the uncomfortable into a habit for long enough it becomes as natural as breathing, touching and blinking. When this happens, your lizard has already lost.

• Question everything – In the short term, keeping quiet and being a ‘yes man’ might earn you a few brownie points with your boss and keep your lizard happy, but it will gradually erode your character, lose you the respect of your peers, and ultimately transform you into just another zombified lizard king tragedy. Imagine what life would be like if Nikola Tesla hadn’t invented the induction motor, if the Wright brothers hadn’t built the first airplane and if Charles Fey hadn’t invented the Liberty bell slot machine. The greatest inventions start with the need to solve a problem and between the idea and success there are inevitably a lot of questions.

Start asking yourselfhow, why, what and where at every opportunity.

Question conventions, traditions, technology your boss, your staff…. and the list goes on. Your lizard won’t like it but who’s in charge?

• Lead from the front–A leader is not a great friend of the lizard simply because leaders have to take action, they can’t afford to fear the unknown.

Great leaders know their lizard and they make peace with their daemons and keep them in check. Leaders always have a dynamic plan, they take risks, learn from their mistakes and lead from the front by inspiring others to reach their own full potential by clarifying expectations, encouraging their team to accept responsibility, get involved and chase excellence at every opportunity. This is where the strength of the team defeats the lizard resistance at every turn.

bate, hates innovation runs away from change and will attempt to crush your ability for critical thinking with a passion. Your lizard wants to make your plans, control your destiny, keep you in shackles and write your script, so what are you going to do about it?

The good news isthat it’s never too late to fight back, so act now, defeat your lizard and achieve the greatness that you always knew was possible.

-----

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 go to: http://hemingwaycasinoconsulting.com/

Conclusion: Your lizard detests de-

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GAMING NEWS

47

UK Gambling Commission Chief Leaves Job

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eil McArthur, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, has announced that he will be leaving the organisation after nearly 15 years. He joined the Commission in 2006 and was General Counsel before rising to the role of Chief Executive in 2018.

During McArthur’s tenure as Chief Executive, the Gambling Commission has gone through a significant period of change as it equips itself to meet the challenges of regulating a rapidly changing and increasingly digital gambling market. Neil has overseen strengthening of protections against gambling harmsthrough the banning of gambling on credit cards; through enhanced age verification checks; and, most recently, through new requirements to build in protections to the design of online products. He has led moves to ensure that those impact-

ed by gambling harms have their voices heard in the Commission’s decision making, culminating in the recent establishment of the Lived Experience Advisory Panel. Over the last 12 months Neil has also successfully navigated the organisation through the challenges that the global pandemic has brought.

Commenting on his departure Neil McArthur stated: “I am proud of everything the Gambling Commission has achieved during my 15 years with the organisation. We have taken significant steps forward to make gambling fairer and safer and I know that I leave the organisation in a strong position to meet its future challenges. With a review of the Gambling Act underway now feels the right time to step away and allow a new Chief Executive to lead the Commission on the next stage in its journey.”

Chairman of the Gambling Commission Bill Moyes commented: “On behalf of the Board I would like to thank Neil for his many years of commitment and service to the Gambling Commission. A lot has been achieved during his time here and Neil can rightly feel proud of the organisation’s progress during his tenure as Chief Executive.”

The Gambling Commission will shortly begin the process of recruiting a Chief Executive for an interim period. This will allow the successor to current Chairman Bill Moyes, whose term of office ends later this year, to appoint a permanent Chief Executive. Whilst that recruitment process is ongoing Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Gardner and Chief Operating Officer Sally Jones will jointly become Acting Chief Executive.

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GAMING NEWS

UK City Bans All Gambling Adverts

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Genting To Open Las Vegas Resort This Sum-

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ristol City Council in the South West of England has become one of the first ever districts in the UK to totally ban any advertising towards gambling, alcohol, high sugar content foods and payday loans.

The council said it was “the most complete policy of its kind,” it is reported that the council will lose around £150,000 in lost advertising in its spaces a year but says the move is the most comprehensive restrictions on advertising in the UK. With implementing the ban which will cover the council’s social media channels, advertising within museums and libraries, customer service outlets, bus shelters and the council’s seventeen advertising hoardings.

Bristol’s Deputy Mayor said on the decision: “We take the health of our residents seriously and have been working with our local public health experts for some time to find ways to support the health of our citizens.

“One of the ways we intend to do this is to restrict the most harmful types of advertising from city centre banners, digital screens and bus stop adverts.

“By putting people’s health first, we have made Bristol’s policy one of the strongest in the country, leading by example and showing willingness to take a potential hit on our income in order to support people’s health and wellbeing.”

Genting has said that their casino resort in Las Vegas which is now 90% completed will open this summer come what may. Resorts World Las Vegas which is Genting’s first resort in Las Vegas at a cost of $4.3 billion is nearing completion says Scott Sibella the president of Genting in the US. In an announcement he said: “We hope Covid is behind us. If COVID isn’t behind us, we hope it is less restricted. But we’re opening next summer either way.”

He went on to say that construction, which is around 90% complete, is “rapidly moving forward.”

Las Vegas has just been told that from today casinos are allowed to operate now with 50% capacity from the current 35% allowed and Genting are hoping that the figures rises further as COVID-19 rollout vaccine helps ease infections in the state.

Genting says that the new resort will create some 6,000 jobs once operational and with Las Vegas having been hit hard by the global pandemic many in the state hope that the COVID-19 virus is in retreat.

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GAMING NEWS

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Small Majority Of UK Voters Oppose Govt. Betting Limits

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small majority of voters believe politicians should not set arbitrary limits on the amount they are able to bet, a new poll has revealed.

The YouGov survey was carried out as the Gambling Commission continues its affordability consultation, amid calls for a £100 limit on the amount that punters can lose in a month.

The issue is also expected to be considered as part of the Government’s ongoing Gambling Review.

But according to the poll of 1,683 British adults, 51 per cent are opposed to limits set by politicians, compared to just 27 per cent who support them.

Critics have said that setting affordability limits could slash over £60 million pounds from the amount of money horseracing receives from the betting levy.

The YouGov poll – which was commissioned by the Betting and

Gaming Council – also found that 59 per cent of UK adults agree that “if there are too many limits placed on people to bet”, they will shift to the unlicensed and illegal black market, compared to 10 per cent who disagree.

A report by PwC last month revealed that the number of British punters using black market sites to place bets has increased from 210,000 to 460,000 in the past two years, while the amount staked with unlicensed operators had doubled from £1.4bn to £2.8bn.

Black market sites have none of the safeguards required in the regulated sector, such as ID and age verification checks, the ability to set deposit limits and safer gambling tools.

The BGC also commissioned a series of focus groups, which were mainly held so-called “Red Wall” seats across the Midlands and the north of England, to find out their views on betting and wider cultural issues.

In all, 20 took place in Long Eaton, Mansfield, Dudley, Walsall, Warrington, Doncaster, Oldham, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Stoke, London, Richmond-on-Thames, Birmingham, Durham, Wakefield, Blackpool and St Helens between November and February.

Many of these areas were among the 50 seats across the North, Midlands and Wales which switched from Labour to the Conservatives in 2019, helping to hand Boris Johnson an 80seat majority.

In a rebuke to the anti-gambling lobby, who accuse the industry of “normalising” gambling, they showed that betting is already a normal social and leisure pastime for millions of Brits.

They also found that voters in those seats are wary of post-Covid mission creep, with the state wanting to impose more control on how they live their lives.

INFINITY GAMING

52

The fastest growing UK sports tech company

you never heard of YET!

How £50 turned into a £50 million valued company

L

ow6 a UK sports technology company, celebrated reaching a significant milestone in their young journey, accumulating over 100,000 total new users onto their platform. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Low6 became the official pool betting and pick’em partners of more than 30 rights holders across the UK, including; UFC, PDC World Darts, Glasgow Rangers RC, Sunderland AFC, and British Superbikes.

Their innovative pick’em games have swept across the UK onboarding GenZ and Millennial sports fans through mobile gamification. Chances are high, you’ve probably already

played one of their club-branded picks games, without even knowing it.

Why haven’t you heard of them?

That’s the key to their exponential growth – remaining behind the scenes – literally. Low6 offers sports rights-holders a white-label product that’s branded to look like it was produced by the actual sports team itself. Traditionally, betting companies arepromoted as a “third-party betting partner” across a club’s fanbase. Low6 offers sports teams a branded app with a seamless integrated branded experience. The response from fans is a telling story, since new user regis-

tration has exponentially increased since the pivot to B2B. “Most of these clubs have built up a really strong and avid fanbase across their socials,and solely communicate club news-related content, scores, statistics to their fans, not fully realising the additional monetary opportunities an engaging audience has to offer. We offer an opportunity to monetise that audience on social media through a gamification partnership with Low6. A typical sports fan demonstrates strong brand affinity towards the football club itself, by rebranding our product to that familiar sports team brand,it provides a sense of authenticity and not the feeling of being ‘sold to” by a third party partner”, stated Josh Turk, Chief Marketing Officer of Low6.

Whilst all football clubs lost revenue from ticket sales during COVID-19 – a main revenue driver amongst smaller football clubs - Low6 offered football clubs a branded pick’em game they could monetize and raise funds across their social fanbase while matches were played behind closed-doors.

INFINITY GAMING

53

Word-of-mouth spread swiftly across UK

solution he had developed for sports-

back of a gas receipt, basic fundamen-

football club owners and stakeholder-

books. Priority Sports Marketing SMS

tals of a horse racing game they could

sof a UK sports tech company helping

offered Punters an alternative to bet-

test among people that day. It was quite

football clubs earn revenue during the

ting inside retail shops. Jamie’s SMS in-

simple – select a horse in each of the 6

pandemic. Low6 saw an influx of 20+

bound marketing solution offer punters

races of the meeting, with the objective

new partners signed up, onboarding

the ability to “text” in their horse selec-

of finishing with the combined lowest 6

100,000 new users onto the Low6 plat-

tion to a sportsbook via their smart-

horses. You were rewarded points based

form in the last few months.

phones. An innovative solution at the

on the position your horse finished. 1pt

time, for onboarding the mature sports

for finishing first, 2pts for second, 3pts

Although the tech-savvy team at Low6

punter who had yet gravitated towards

for third and so on. The Lowest 6 score

has gained much traction within the

modern “mobile online betting apps”.

would take home the cash prize – and

innovative sports betting market, this

thus the very first iteration of the ‘Low6’

wasn’t always the case for this young

At the time, Jamie had successfully

start-up and itstwo co-founders. From

launched numerous official rights-hold-

its humble beginnings, an extremely

ers apps in horse racing, and football

“It was thought of nothing more than

“low-tech” pen and paper operation, 2

across the UK, and the two began brain-

merely an entertaining way to pass the

mates set out to forever change the way

storming the opportunity of applying

time at the races and act as a test case

sports fans bet on sports.

his SMS betting across all of his digital

to see if people actually engaged with

app partners. There was a growing de-

this game concept. 10 people decided

This is a tale of two sports entrepre-

mand among rights holders to maximize

to join us from within the VIP box, a

neurs, who transformed £50 of pocket

their opportunity with their opted-in

mixture of ladies and gents, all pitched

money at the races into a £50million

and engaged SMS subscribers.

in £50 cash on to the table, forming a

valued sports betting technology company in just a few short years.

game was born.

£500 prize pot.

Jamie had the existing relationships with Football clubs and racecourses,

Everyone had a blast with it. The amaz-

Like every great story, this one also

while Wayne brought the experience

ing part was the lady who won, had no

started in a pub.Soon-to-be great mates

of managing numerous bookmaker bet-

knowledge of racing, and her horse se-

and future Low6 co-founders,Jamie

ting shops. All that was missing, was an

lection on the last race placed first while

Mitchell and Wayne Stevenson, metfor

idea for a new game to sell to the rights

no one else had made that prediction.

the first time over a pint of beer in the

holders.

She exclaimed to us that evening ‘this

White Horse Pub at Chester Racecourse, May 2016.

was the greatest game ever invented!’”, A few weeks passed, and the two later

recalled Jamie Mitchell, now CEO USA of

met in person for the second time, when

Low6.

Jamie Mitchell, at-the-time owner of

they both were invited to attend raceday

Priority Sports Marketing, was pitching

at Haydock Park in the same corporate

Wayne Stevenson, a veteran sportsbook

box. Prior to entering the racecourse

operator, his innovative inbound SMS

gates, the two quickly scribbled on the

(PTO)

INFINITY GAMING

54

Not only was there a winner for “lowest points” but Wayne and Jamie also had a prize for last place or in this case the the highest total points. Fans would be engaged up to the last race of day, since either way, there was some sort of outcome that could win you a prize.

“We were updating points after every race on a piece of paper. Everybody in the box was engaged and fixated on the points leaderboard we had hashed out on a piece of paper”, stated Wayne Stevenson, now CEO Europe of Low6.

Going back to what they originally set-out to do, using Jamie’s innovative SMS platform, developed by Priority Sports Marketing, they rolled out variations of the game across multiple racecourses via texting in your selections for that specific weekend race.

They offered a free to play game for a chance to win inventory like shirts, tickets and signed memorabilia every Friday and Saturday.

INFINITY GAMING

A punter would text “Win” to a specific phone number, then get an automated reply with the form for the Low6 specific racing event. The punter would then text back their selections.

Jamie and his misses Kate would receive the texts via their desktop platform of the user’s selections and input them into a tidy excel sheet.

The game grew in popularity, mostly by word-of-mouth and before they knew it, they hit their first contest with 1000 entries, all the while never spending any money on marketing.

It was then that the lightbulb went off simultaneously in their heads; “If we could get the rights holders to market this game to their fans on our behalf, we’d have half a chance of making this Low6 game real and be able to compete with a traditional bookmaker”.

“It was that initial experience in the corporate box, playing against your mates, earning bragging rights,‘that social element’ and excitement we

wanted to capture inside an app that could be downloaded from any app store”, stated Wayne Stevenson.

It was at that point co-founders Jamie Mitchell and Wayne Stevenson officially formed the business as it stands today “Low6”.First item on the agenda, raise some seed money so that they didn’t have to manually score all the races every weekend by hand. They decided to develop an app that could automate all the scoring.

Jamie Mitchell commented;“ When Low6 first began, we manually had to score every game, every Friday and Saturday night.We had to watch on TV where the horse finished and then literally go ‘okay horse 1 finished first, horse 2 finished 7th… we had to mark down all the results from each individualhorse, then go line-by-line on that excel sheet tocalculateeveryone’s points to score our game. We couldn’t afford any sort of data feed.

55 We were operating on a shoestring

it did demonstrate was the increasing

ey. We spent hours upon hours devel-

budget. We did deals where we were

demand to play the game. I would have

oping this 68-page pitch deck for inves-

on a wing and a prayer, we literally were

to monitor our email inbox for shipping

tors. Once completed, we needed to get

raising funds from friends and close

details from our winners, and then I’d

ourselves in front of the proper inves-

acquaintances weeks after we were

wake up on Monday head to the post

tors. I built a list of all the VCs in the area

required to pay for services. It wasreal

office and send all the winners their

from what I could find on the internet

touch-and-go for the initial 12-months”.

prizes”, stated Wayne.

and then just blind emailed them all a

When the two partners finally solidi-

Jamie, commented“We’d get the odd

fied a deal with PA for horses and grey-

callout from customers ‘This is Scam,

hounds, that provided a true real-time

You never sent me my shirt!’ and I’d ring

Every now and then one would respond

feed that displayed all the finishes, they

Wayne;‘What happened to his shirt?’

back and say sure come on over. We

quickly realized they didn’t setup or

and Wayne would respond,’ oh bloody

were getting turned down everywhere

connect the feed to any type of auto-

heck, I must have forgot that one”, and

we presented but finally, a proper and

matic scoring for the user leaderboard.

he’d have to head back to the postal of-

large investment house accepted a

fice and ship the winner their shirt.”

meeting. We were very excited about

request individually to meetup in per-

Wayne Stevenson recalls, “I remember

son and introduce our idea.

this opportunity. As we started to pre-

it like yesterday, we finally had our first

It was a typical entrepreneur story, new

sent, 15 pages in they stopped us and

feed come in. It came in… and then… oh

business, hand-to-mouth, in the thick

said, your deck is just too long. We have

bloody hell, we hadn’t sorted out how to

muck, shoestring budgets – they sur-

to stop this meeting.”

connect the feed into our leaderboards.

vived on pulling favours from all sorts.

So Jamie,and of course, the misses Kate,

After failure to secure any funding, they

had to stay up all night to score the final

It was a technology company built upon

seeked out North American funds to

race results.”

early days of pen and paper. Pretty

see if there was any interest. One re-

funny that’s how it all got started, but

sponded that they were somewhat in-

Jamie Mitchell laughed, recalling that

when they did get a little bit of money

terested but told us that they couldn’t

day as well “All the feed did was bring in

behind them, they always invested it

figure out how to even digest a deck of

the colours and the names of the hors-

into building more automations into the

that magnitude – 68 pages. Since it was

es, but we still couldn’t score anything.

app. They always invested back into the

in best interest of the North American

We had to stay up all hours of the night

product first.

company to have the deck redesigned,

and update our leaderboards. But at

they tasked their Chief Marketing Offic-

this point we had reached a significant

When asked to look back at the early

er Josh Turk (who later joined Low6 as

engaging audience, and people were

days, would they have done anything

CMO later that year) to work with them

checking the leaderboards all-through-

differently, the two founders burst out

on downsizing the pitch to a realistic

out the night to see where they were

in laughter and exclaimed at the same

size. Josh Turk, having extensive expe-

placing in real-time. We couldn’t just

time “Yes, most definitely Yes! We would

rience working with investor decks for

do it at the end of the night, so we had

have done so many things differently”.

publicly listed companies, captured the

to go through every single racecard, as

Low6 vision within a small compressed

results poured in,we would score it all

They both agreed, it would have been

manually. And if we were late, trust us,

easier to raise all the money upfront

we heard about it right away. The phone

first prior to building bits and bobs at a

“With our new 10-page deck, we then

calls, social media messages would start

time, creating a monster-hybrid of mis-

presented back to potential UK inves-

flooding in.”

match technologies stacked on top of

tors and Boom! We raised 1-million on

each other.

the spot, before we even left the build-

Scoring wasn’t the only issue to arise for

visual 10-page pitch deck.

ing of our first investor presentation”,

the two.Until more money was raised,

“We literally had the worst investor

the other important elements of the app

deck known to mankind – it was 68 pag-

reverted back to the old fashion ways,

es long. We had done okay raising some

Today, Low6 is a regulated UK gambling

such as shipping out all the prizes to the

seed funds from our personal networks.

pool betting company, valued at over

winners. Winners would have to email

We were being drip-fed money to cover

£50 million and have recently raised

their address to receive their prizes.

costs. So that meant a couple thousand

over £14 million in funds scheduled to

quid here and there. We finally decided

IPO later this year.

“ It was an absolute nightmare, but what

stated Jamie.

to head out to raise some proper mon-

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

Fox Corporation To Increase Stake In FanDuel

57

Scientific Games Report $569 Million Year Loss

The Fox Corporation is lining up a move to in-

crease their stake in FanDuel as the company sees the huge potential for sports betting in the US. Rupert Murdoch the media tycoon who controls Fox already has an involvement in FanDuel and Fox Bet through a previous arrangement with the Stars Group prior to their merger with Flutter Entertainment.

Indeed Fox Bet was developed for the media company but has not grown in the way that FanDuel has and now Mr Murdoch wants more of the action in FanDuel.

According to reports the Fox Corporation will increase their stake in FanDuel by some 20% later this year through an agreement with Flutter. Mr Murdoch and his company already is one of the largest stakeholders of the Flutter Group with a 2.5% share of the online gambling firm worth £650 million.

With sports betting in the US growing rapidly and FanDuel being the largest operator in the US already it is clear that Fox Corporation see it as a great opportunity. At present Fanduel is larger by revenues than their second and third placed competitors combined.

Scientific Games reported their fourth quarter and full annual earnings with a $90 million loss for the final quarter of the year with revenues of $762 million, which was better than predictions of $719 million for the quarter.

The gaming supplier full year result showed a loss of $569 million on revenues of $2.72 billion.

Barry Cottle, CEO and President of Scientific Games, said, “While 2020 certainly had unforeseen challenges, I couldn’t be more proud of our team for successfully navigating through them.

The strong execution coupled with the diversity of our business enabled positive cash flow. As we start off the year, I am truly excited about the team, products, and game franchises that should enable share gains, deal wins, and opportunities to enter new genres. The executive team and our Board are working purposefully to transform our Company, capitalize on the evolving industry trends and deliver outsized returns to our Shareholders.”

INFINITY GAMING