Infinity Gaming Magazine October 2020

InfinityGaming www.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE120

GUSTAF HAGMAN INTERVIEW GAMING + ARTICLES + BUSINESS+ GLOBAL + ONLINE + NEWS+ AWARDS + etc

2

34 SLOT VS SLOT

16

08 GUSTAF HAGMAN INTERVIEW

22 STARTUP A NEW BUSINESS

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.

INFINITY GAMING

3

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 GUSTAG HAGMAN INTERVIEW 15 CHANGES AT CLARION 27 HIGH STREET DISAPPEARANCE WHITE NOISE

41 PHILIPPINES CHANGES 49 PROBLEM WITH FACEBOOK

DANGERS IN A PANDEMIC

+ NEWS & MORE NEWS

28

from the gaming industry

INFINITY GAMING

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

Moving Forward”

PUBLISHING Infinity Gaming Magazine is operated by © Clever Duck Media Ltd ®

Lana Thompson - Editor

Welcome to the latest edition of the In-

on the gaming industry with contribu-

finity Gaming Magazine and I promise

tions this month by, Andrew Cosgrove,

not one word about what we are all still

Lynn Pearce de Freitas, Teresa Tunstall

suffering at present, I refuse to mention

and Tim Cullimore. Now Christina Tha-

it, full stop.

kor-Rankin you may notice is not included, we are working on a new excit-

Now firstly we have a superb interview

ing project which involves Tina and will

from Gustaf Hagman who we have

announce this in the next edition.

known for a long time now and enjoyed his acceptance speech at the 2020 In-

As well as all the above our team have

ternational Gaming Awards for the Out-

also fitted in the very latest news and

standing Contribution. He certainly is

reports from around the world to keep

a character and a good one at that, his

you up to date on everything that is im-

story on LeoVegas is so inspiring, so

portant, what more can you want from

please so read the interview that covers

the leading magazine for the gambling

so much about Gustaf, the company and

industry?

the future.

We also have the virtual Industry Community Awards to mention, we are

As always- “May the Force be with you”

shortly to announce the finalists and

- Star Wars

the awards ceremony will take place in November. Our judges who are a collective of Social Care Workers and Professionals have taken some time to review and decide on the finalists, well it is their first time judging but the finalist list is quite amazing, please do look out for the announcement very shortly.

Regards,

We have again our superb writers offer-

Lana

ing a wealth of experience and insight

INFINITY GAMING

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

5

INFINITY GAMING

6

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

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

multi-national operators and providers, gambling 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.

bility and Problem Gambling training around the world,

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

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

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

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.

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.

INFINITY GAMING

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.

7

Complete iGaming Plaaorm Provider

east

&

west

UK | USA | FRANCE | GERMANY | CYPRUS | MALTA URUGUAY | MEXICO | UKRAINE | SOUTH AFRICA | LATVIA TAIWAN | PHILIPPINES | PERU | ARMENIA

www.betconstruct.com BetConstruct is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission for the provision of gambling sooware under licence number 040767-R-320911-007

INFINITY GAMING

8

Interview with

Gustaf Hagman

CEO and Co-founder - LeoVegas Group

It is a pleasure speaking to you today Gustaf, you are a well known figure within the online gaming industry, but for our international readers can you please tell us a little about yourself and the business you do?

I founded the company together with

the event without having any clue that

Robin Ramm-Ericson in 2011. Our first

I was going to be one of the people to

brand, LeoVegas.com was launched in

be awarded. Many of my colleagues

January 2012. We got an idea of bring-

around the table knew about it but they

ing roulette and other casino games to

hid it well under their smiles. The award

people’s smartphones that were still

was a big honour for me personally, and

quite new back then. Mobile-first was

I see it as a tremendous recognition for

our approach from the get-go. We knew

the whole company, too.

I am the co-founder and Group CEO of

that mobile is the word of the future but

LeoVegas Group which offers casino,

we couldn’t have guessed how big suc-

sports betting, live casino and now also

cess we’d get and how fast it would all

bingo under various brands in many

happen.

markets around the world. Our goal is to offer the best gaming experience for our players as King of Casino.

LeoVegas is a hugely successful brand now, when did it all start and did you believe it would be the success it has been?

Indeed this year at the 2020 International Gaming Awards (IGA) you were recognized for your outstanding contribution to the industry, was that a surprise to you?

Many entrepreneurs say that they enjoy the chase for success more than the success itself, do you agree with that?

There is definitely a “we can always make it better” spirit in me. We have included it even as one of the five values of our company, worded “we chase betterness”. I don’t think I will ever settle to

It was a big surprise indeed! I arrived at

a certain level but always seek improvement and growth. However, I can enjoy moments of success as well.

If you had to point to one moment in time that helped LeoVegas become the success it is now what would be that moment?

In the years 2017 and 2018 we made our first acquisitions by buying companies like Winga, Royal Panda, RocketX and Pixel.bet. That was a defining moment for us since it was a sign we had taken a step to the big league, being a company that can make acquisitions.

INFINITY GAMING

9

How has LeoVegas coped during the pandemic in terms of their staff and business?

Community Awards, that recognizes companies and their individuals for doing more than most in helping others, is this something the company are proud of doing and could you tell us a little of what LeoVegas has been doing?

When the virus hit in the spring we

At LeoVegas we have done our utmost,

switched quite smoothly to remote

of which we believe it has been suc-

work. It was a big effort by many depart-

cessful, to make sure our employees

ments, and I am very proud of how well

settle in well and have all the required

it went. We have continued our pro-

tools to keep on working effectively

jects normally and finished them more

whilst at home.

From these companies we got a great

the more time passes the better they

amount of knowledge and experience,

find the golden mean between restric-

in addition to many talented profes-

tions and protection.

sionals who joined us. With these new ideas and perspectives we truly got new speed in our sails.

This year has been so difficult for so many people around the world, what is your take on the current pandemic and do you think governments around the world are approaching it correctly?

LeoVegas’s business is online so we

or less in the original schedule. Losing

haven’t got hit as badly as many other

sports events in the spring and summer

Maintaining contact and strengthening

businesses have. I feel sorry for many

was obviously a loss for our sportsbook

relationships whilst working remotely

companies who have been struggling,

product but other than that our busi-

can prove to be hard, however we man-

let alone all the people who have suf-

ness has survived the crisis in a decent

aged just that for the Malta office and

fered because of the virus. This is a dif-

way.

globally as one group. Various fun and

ficult time for us all and we need to stay

engaging activities have been adopted

together. It is not an easy challenge for governments either, and I believe that

during this period and we have man-

LeoVegas are nominated in the

aged to have team meetings on a more

INFINITY GAMING

10

Gustaf Hagman Exclusive Interview

Bingo?”

It will be a new category under LeoVegas.com, our flagship brand. It doesn’t have a name of its own but I like the sound of your suggestion!

Why has LeoVegas stepped into the bingo market?

occasional basis. In addition to that ap-

initiatives alongside more come along

preciation packages have been sent

with their own message, however the

to all employees’ households, there’s

end result of it is to keep things going

We have a broader customer base than

been fitness online sessions and health

for our colleagues who are either at of-

ever before, and it is growing rapidly.

awareness talks, a Group-wide quiz

fice or are working remotely.

We wanted to add a social, simple, and fun game for people in all target groups,

every Friday and we contributed to our For us community involvement and

to meet the growing demand for enter-

showing that we do care is an integral

taining games. The global bingo market

The health of our employees and their

part for us. We’ve managed to engage

is worth approximately EUR2 bn, with

families is also of absolute top impor-

our employees in all of our projects as

only 23% of bingo currently being

tance, and with the measures we have

one team, team Leo. We are working

played online.

taken, we are exercising our responsi-

on a daily basis on how we can have an

bility as an employer. We’ve managed

impact on the community, with the aim

to keep in contact daily regardless if we

of encouraging others to join us on this

are working remotely or not!

path, as Leo Cares.

This year we have done our part during

Engagement is an essential aspect in

the covid-19 outbreak, in which we have

the day to day running in any leading

contributed the sum of 10,000 euros to

company, and this is what we are con-

We have had our eye on the US market

the United Nations, donated lunch on a

tinuously working on – in making sure

for some time and we are searching for

weekly basis to front liners in Sweden &

that no contact is lost, fun initiatives are

the right time and way to go there if

Malta and contributed to the purchase

organised – whilst remaining as one of

we decide to do so at some point. We

of ventilators to local hospitals.

the most sought companies by various

are also looking into other parts of the

talents seeking a new career in their

world, like Asia.

community.

We have also kept up with a number

professional life.

of Monthly Initiatives happening locally and even worldwide, such as Pride Month, Pink October, Animal Day, Intnational Coffee Day and Mental Health Week, along much more. All of these

INFINITY GAMING

The Company is very successful with its products across Europe, has the US market interested you and will LeoVegas look at entering it anytime soon?

On to the company a bit more now and most recently you have now launched an online Bingo product, what will it be called “LeoVegas

Mergers and acquisitions are again in the news with the recent agreement to sell William Hill to Caesars Entertainment, what are your thoughts on that deal, and do you

Gustaf Hagman Exclusive Interview

believe more of these will follow?

11

Bingo and their “Foxy” character and Mr Green with their character.

Who came up with LeoVegas Lion and why do you think they seem to resonate with customers?

We know it is probably the hardest time to look into the next year and predict anything with certainty, so instead what would you hope for in 2021 Gustaf?

now, and we have seen a lot of acqui-

Our vision is to be the King of Casino,

First and foremost, I hope that a vacci-

sitions and mergers. I wouldn’t be sur-

and what other animal could represent

nation for covid-19 is ready soon and

prised to see more in the near future

that better than a lion – the king of the

all infected people will recover. Our

but I also believe that the situation will

jungle. Thus when Robin and I founded

company has many exciting projects in

stabilize at some point.

the company, the lion seemed like a

the pipeline for 2021 and I wish they

natural choice, and I am delighted to

get well received by our players. As

see that it’s such a strong character that

we know, after a storm the sun always

it has travelled with us through all these

comes out, so I am hoping that 2021

years. Lion is a powerful animal that

will be a better, healthier and sunnier

gives energy to both employees of the

year for all of us.

I’m sure William Hill considered their decision well and made the right choice. iGaming business has been searching for its shape and form for many years

On something more humorous, it is interesting to think that some of the most successful companies over recent times have used a larger than life character to promote their business, such as Foxy

company as well as our players. A true symbol of “customer is the king”, too.

INFINITY GAMING

We exemplify the very best in British gaming and as such, have an unrivalled reputation, bringing you round-the-clock high-stakes gambling.

American Roulette | Baccarat | Blackjack | 3 Card Poker | Slots 5 H A M I LTO N P L AC E , M AY F A I R , L O N D O N www.lesaclub.com Over 18 years old for casino entry | www.begambleaware.org

GAMING NEWS

13

Adelson Newspaper Comes In Support Of Trump

I

t took some time but eventually Sheldon Adelson has once again come out in support of the current President of the United States Donald Trump. The billionaire owner of Las Vegas Sands and more importantly also the Las Vegas ReviewJournal, has come out in an editorial and backed the 45th President of the US. Adelson backed Trump last time around but has waited till late this time to formally plant his family flag and his millions on to the Trump campaign.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is now the sixth newspaper to come out and support the Commander-in-Chief but it is also the most important given that Nevada is a swing state.

According to the newspaper its support for Trump stems from the fact that Nevada will after the crippling pandemic that is sweeping the country need a President that can create economic growth and jobs and it says Donald Trump is certainly the man to do that given his past record. “For all his flaws, Donald J. Trump stands in forceful contrast to the relentless progressive attacks on this nation that deny and minimize the advances we have made over the decades to better reflect and honour our founding ideals. He deserves a second term,� the newspaper said.

Traditionally newspapers never endorsed either candidate but times have changed as the owners of newspaper have also. With Sheldon Adelson having some $30 billion

wealth his influence and support in huge to a President looking for a second term.

Donald Trump has the newspaper endorsements from Las Vegas ReviewJournal, Apple Daily, Boston Herald, Church Militant, The Epoch Times, and Santa Barbara News-Press.

In contrast presidential candidate and former Vice-President to Barack Obama has a long list of newspaper supporters including influential publications such as the Chicago SunTimes, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post and the Las Vegas Sun. With a month to go until voting Adelson has bet on his man now will he came first in November?

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

MD of Clarion Gaming Moves To New Role

15

US Concessions In Macau Should Be Safe

Kate Chambers who for some ten years was

Managing Director of Clarion Gaming has been moved into what seems a more diluted role in charge of just the land based gambling sector for the event organiser.

In an announcement late last week Chambers and Clarion Gaming announced what they call a more “sharp focus” towards the land based industry only, an industry that has been hugely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement from Kate Chambers on the move she said: “The role will have a sharp focus on land-based gambling and, in particular, I will be looking at how the team at Clarion can best serve our loyal and dedicated customers in a sector that has taken the brunt of the fall-out from Covid-19.

“This will involve cementing the many key partnerships that we have established, forming new collaborative relationships and exploring the creation of new brands and properties to assist the land-based segment of Clarion’s international stakeholder community.

“Clearly, this represents a change of focus for me personally, but one that provides specific and significant challenges that I am looking forward to, not least as the industry prepares for the return of ICE London in June 2021.”

However many industry insiders believe that this move is at best sideways and more a downgrade on her previous role that headed up the entire gaming section.

No details were given by Clarion Gaming on who would replace Chambers as Managing Director of Clarion Gaming or if the role with be filled at all or a dedicated person would be installed as head of Online Gambling also.

With Clarion Gaming flagship expo the ICE Gaming Expo in London having to be postponed twice already is Clarion Gaming looking to find a new chief to run what the company says is the biggest gaming show on earth?

Brokerage firm Sanford C. Bernstein Ltd has said in a note to investors that it is highly unlikely that any US owned concessions in Macau could lose their right to operate casinos resorts when the next round of tendering process for licenses in June 2022.

Although it seems likely that the tendering process maybe extended to 2023 because of the huge impact COVID-19 has on the industry in Macau the brokerage firm said that: “We view the scenario where one or more of the U.S. casino operators lose their gaming concession to be remote, unless the [U.S.-China] relationship sours significantly further and we see directed action against U.S. businesses in China, which would raise risk levels in Macau as well.”

Currently China and the US are at loggerheads with their own trade deal and relations have worsened over recent times, however any thought that China may use the US companies in Macau to bargain or pressurise the US government on the trade deal seems highly unlikely

Macau Golden Week Down Half From Last Year According to the latest figures by the Macau’s Public Security Police figures for the entire Golden Week Holiday, one of the biggest holidays in the Chinese calendar numbers in Macau were down 50% compared to the same period in 2019.

Although a huge drop in numbers some analysts predicted a great drop and at one stage during the holiday week figures looked like a 87% drop, but the later part of the week boosted those numbers.

INFINITY GAMING

16

White Noise

By Tim Cullimore

Here is a phrase that is new to me from the UK Gambling Commission’s report on gambling harm: “Customers with EMERGING VUNERABILITY.�

C

an anybody tell me what that means please? I guess we could say that anyone who first registerswith a gambling site has Emerging Vulnerability, or the prospect of. A friend sends you a link to a sports betting app when you are a football match; you may be experiencing Emerging Vulnerability.

You are at a casino with friends and think you might like to play a slot for the first time. Once again, are you experiencing Emerging Vulnerability?

tunates who really need serious help will get lost in the white noise of form filling, reporting and overzealous administrative tasks.

If everybody who partakes in a gaming activity can be considered as someone who might, in the relevant circumstances, succumb to gaming harm, then absolutely everyone must be considered as a potential victim, and the cases of those unfor-

The tragic case of Jack Ritchie, a 24-year-old British person who took his own life having failed to keep under control his gambling addiction will, due to the insistence of his parents, go to a full legal inquest.

I sincerely hope that the presiding

INFINITY GAMING

When front line employees and compliance departments see risk at every turn it is inevitable that the nuance between a player who is suffering from harm and a player who is spending a little more than the average amount of their disposable income on gambling will be lost.

judge will be able to take the emotion out of the investigation into why Mr Ritchie took his own life, and consider how raising barriers to playing on regulated sites has little influence on the damage experienced by the small minority of players who,to the point of harm, become addicted.

As my travels around Europe have been curtailed due to the Corona Virus, I have not been able to see the extent of advertising by gaming companies on televisionin countries other than the U.K. What I find remarkable when I watch from home is the strength of the message propagatedby the major online providers encouraging players to be aware of the dangers of getting in over their heads. When watching my

17

team, the mighty Leeds United, play on TV the advertisements promoting player protection far outweigh those promoting the actual product. All of them speak openly and honestly about how they, the gambling firms, recognise that some people can suffer from gambling harm, and they encourage the use of technology within their apps or on their websites to limit the amount being played, or the time being spent on the games. I am trying to imagine how TV advertising for alcohol would look if the lion’s share of the messages was to do with the harm alcohol does to individuals and society. Should I feel that a practise that I enjoy, and which is after all legal and regulated is so dangerous as to invoke trepidation in its users?

Now, some may say that this sort of advertising is all well and good when the player is in a state where they are receptive to these messages, and I agree. However a player who is in the full flow of addiction will put aside

any rational thoughts about what is best for them or their family, going so far as to forego eating or other actions vital to their well being in order to keep playing. But the constant nudge of the messages will have a positive influence on the vast majority of players, perhaps even those who are said to be “Customers with Emerging Vulnerability”.

But once again I must turn to the impending legislation designed to limit playing and spending. Introducing obligatory obstacles will only reduce the play of those who are at little risk in the first place and will eventually reduce their enjoyment of the game as well. Let us concentrate on the needs of those in most danger and have fully funded help and support programmes in place.Sadly, Mr Ritchie understood full well his condition, long term treatment would have been invaluable, putting a clock on his game wouldn’t have made a difference.

My respect for my fellow columnist Teresa Tunstall knows no bounds, and over the many years we have known each other she has dedicated herself to helping others. I do though wonder sometimes , and Teresa could answer this better than I, if some of those who listen and give help to problem gamblers couldn’t have a more industry based background, rather than an academic one, to share their knowledge of gaming processes.

Perhaps these could be retired professionals who could give a sympathetic ear, and dispel some of the more outlandish notions inveterate gamblers may have.

The following anecdote will be familiar to anyone who has worked in casinos and has had a conversation with a regular player outside of the confines of the casino, perhaps over dinner or a coffee. (PTO)

INFINITY GAMING

OVER A CENTURY OF HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

Tim Cullimore at London Gaming Dal Negro distributor for UK phone: +44 (0)7826857931 mail: tim.cullimore@londongaming.co.uk

Tim Cullimore Article

In one of the European countries where I worked, a retired lady I knew loved to play the slots. As far as I knew she played within her resources as her career as a legal secretary had been long and successful. She played several afternoons a week in the same casino and had her favourite games, Aristocrat’s fantastic Chicken 2 being one. She would tell me about the comings and goings of the casino, she knew the names of all the staff and management and would chat about them as if they were old friends, which indeed they had become. She also noticed other things going on in the casino that concerned her.

She told me that the slot managers always knew beforehandwhen a jackpot was going to hit, as they would at all times come out of their offices to be on the slot floor before the bells and whistles went off. She was also convinced that the staff knew when a slot was going to hit a big win because they would try and move her

19

from the machine to leave it free for one of their more favoured guests.

Now, she was playing in a casino in a very strictly regulated jurisdiction, and I explained the technicalities of the security of the machines, their certification by independent gaming laboratories for complete randomness, and that the staff and management were licensed and regularlychecked by the gaming authorities.

Despite receiving all this first-hand knowledge of the operations of a slot floor she, a very intelligent woman, was still not 100% convinced, and on our next meeting would tell me how she missed out on the progressive due to being purposefully distracted by someone from the casino.

The point being that even the most rational players can become irrational when they look for reasons other than chance for their losses. Any innovative approach to interacting on a personal basis with vulnerable players should

be welcome. Don’t let them get lost in the white noise of futile legislation.

Lockdown Dreams Travelling has always been a major plus for me whilst working in our industry. And now that none of us are doing much travelling at all I have been thinking back to my younger days working on the cruise ships out of Florida in the eighties. Miami Vice was all the rage and leaving a dark wet Leeds on a cold November night, arriving the next day in sun-soakedMiami is one of the greatest memories of my life. It was such a long time ago, but I can still recall the smells and taste of Southport Raw Bar, or the first beer of the day at Lime Tree Beach.

Funnily enough I don’t remember too much about the actual work, how strange is that? And regarding the social life on the cruise ships, as Jimmy Buffet kind of sang, “It Was Always 5 ‘o’ Clock Somewhere”.

INFINITY GAMING

NOMINATIONS OPEN www.gaming-awards.com

22

Starting up a new business in a pandemic & working remotely is not for the faint-hearted

By Lynn Pearce de Freitas

H

aving just read that Microsoft will be allowing employees to work from home on a more permanent basis, got me thinking about the pros and cons of working remotely, and how difficult it has been employing new staff and trying to gauge which one of the candidates would be the best company fit.

According to Warren Buffet, when speaking at the company’s annual meeting in May, he said “When change happens in the world, you adjust to it.”

I think that is a fair comment from the master of business himself, however, there will be certain elements missing in that scenario which may prove difficult, particularly for new staff joining companies and missing out on the daily social interaction, where a lot of the learnings actually take place.

INFINITY GAMING

According to Reed Hoffman, (Netflix), he seems to see more negatives than positives coming out of remote working, and I agree to a certain extent. The interaction and culture of the company is as important as the work environment and I wonder how newcomers will adapt and be integrated into the company without the day-to-day activities, like walking over to a colleague, or a senior staff member and asking for advice. It is much easier to slide your chair over to someone to grab a quick soundbite on your new idea, or to walk into your superior’s office to get feedback on a project that you are working on, than to set up a meeting via Zoom or Skype in someone else’s busy day.

That unplanned and spur of the moment kind of interaction is missing, and that is what contributes so much to learning and growing, being innovative and building relationships and culture.

Working remotely has been forced on most of the older, more established businesses and is one of the reasons that I believe they will not survive after the pandemic. Service levels have dropped significantly and bots have become more prevalent – and irritating, to say the least – it seems to me that most bots have been designed to lessen the load and call-time of remote workers and it is getting more and more difficult to reach an actual live person, alienating the customer base in the process.

There is also the issue of trust. In the gaming industry, there have always been certain divisions of the companies that have worked virtually, like art studios and software development teams. However, these divisions have generally always worked together in different regions, within an office environment, due to the confidential and hugely competitive

23

nature of online gaming, where the slightest shift in margins can make or break a company. I wonder how this has affected the relationship between management and staff, now that most of these staff members have had to work from home. In addition, anumber of these staff probably struggle with having to deal with their own internet providers to deliver bandwidth, in order for them to fulfil on their daily tasks, and sometimes these costs can be quite exorbitant to the average worker. Then there is the added pressure of feeling as though you have to be at your desk at all times, in case your immediate boss decides to check up on you to ensure you are working and reaching your deadlines – if he/she calls and you do not answer immediately, does the trust go out of the window? I believe it does, to some extent, it’s human

nature, particularly if you are new to the company, as it can be difficult to prove your loyalty, when never having met the person that you are reporting to – in real life!It’s not easy!

Having gone through the startup process right in the middle of the pandemic, working with remote staff over a number of continents and different time zones, and pitching to investors simultaneously – all via Skype and Zoom meetings, has been quite an experience – and not one I would recommend lightly.

Right now my team and I are about to go live with 3 amazing brands, targeting various regions around the world and we are having to employ staff to fulfil on important roles, from Country Managers to heads of departments and other core staff. I have person-

ally interviewed the most incredibly talented and skilled people, but I am having difficulty in determining the company fit over Skype calls. The process takes so much longer, as generally on the first call the candidates are loathe to show their faces, and it takes a number of calls before some of them are willing to do so, and I do not blame them for feeling that way at all. It’s like inviting a complete stranger into your living space! On the other hand, I like to have visual contact with people right away, as I feel it builds trust a lot quicker and eye contact is especially important to me.

At the end of the day, I know we will make the right decisions and we will go from strength to strength, working remotely for now and looking forward to the day we can share an office together!

INFINITY GAMING

Awesome gameplay, smart design, creative storytelling.

This is Eyecon

Introducing Eyecon’s Megastar Tournaments.

Available across all Eyecon games. You decide which games and when.

Mix it up with as many games as you like in one tournament.

One tournament.

Mega possibilities.

eyecon.com

GAMING NEWS

27

Ninety Year Old Business To Disappear From UK High Streets

W

illiam Hill the UK bookmaker which was originally founded in 1934 when gambling was illegal but opened its first legal betting shop in Park Lane London by using a loophole in the law that restricted cash bets so instead took credit only wagers, will almost certainly disappear from the UK high street following the acquisition by Caesars Entertainment for £2.9 billion.

William Hill confirmed a bid by the US casino giant would be recommended to shareholders and Wednesday 30th September it was confirmed that Caesars will acquire the total assets of the UK based bookmaker.

However Caesars Entertainment have already said that they would look to offload all William Hill UK and Europe based retail outlets as it wants to focus on the burgeoning US sports betting market.

That will mean the Name “William Hill” that has stood above betting shops for over ninety years will be gone and currently the favourite to buy the 1,400 strong portfolio of betting shops is Betfred.

It was almost certain when Caesars Entertainment put in a bid that it would be accepted given that the US casino giant already holds a 20% stake in William Hill US operations under an exclusive agreement there.

Should William Hill have possibly considered the alternate bid from Apollo Asset Management Caesars said that it would almost certainly remove its agreement with William Hill on its Sports Betting business at Caesars properties.

It will also mean that William Hill will become an online entity only in Europe and the US except for the sports betting halls that Caesars Entertainment will host within their casino resorts.

William Hill has for a few years now wanted to break into the US market as it saw its future there with expansion, it has now got its wish but at the cost of losing its identity in the UK.

INFINITY GAMING

28

THE DANGERS OF GAMBLING IN A PANDEMIC

By Teresa Tunstall

T

here is no doubting that Online business has now taken over allowing us to buy whatever we want from the comfort of our own cosy homes.

Now however,investors in the City of London are working hard flogging goods directly to the public online.

This is a worrying time for those working in the City and the word is that right now is too risky and is best to let these businesses settle for a while maybe six months then take another look.

The same cannot be said about the gambling and betting world which has been enormously affected by Covit-19 and the ensuing Lock down

INFINITY GAMING

which has resulted in casinos closing at 10pm. In my 15 years working in various London casinos meeting friendly and polite customers (even when they were losing) evenings were for them a socially relaxing time.

I feel that a 10pm finish is ridiculous as I’m sure that some players could head for unlicensed, secret casino games.

In my support years, I remember taking a call for help from a man who’d lost his weeks wages. We discussed his situation I asked where he was playing. ‘Brixton,’ he retorted, which shocked me, “but there are no casinos in Brixton,” I said. He replied, “there are if you know where to go.”

I genuinely believe the decision that all casinos must close at 10pm will cause more troublesome issues in the UK and particularly for the police whose job is to control them.

I mentioned my previous support life. At one point we had a contingent group from the Singapore police force, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Community Development & Sport and the Director of Policy & Operations from the Ministry of Home Affairs who were visiting us in London. At this time Singapore only had one casino but were looking to allow a second casino to open.

They were keen to enlist our knowledge and support experiences, in

29

particular helping those who were enmeshed in gambling addition along with problems regarding their ensuing gambling debts. It was an interesting afternoon where they picked our brains on issues to do with how things were handled in UK. What followed was that the Las Vegas Sands opened in 2010 and became the second casino in Singapore.

However, the first casino Marina Bay Sands, has now come under investigation by state authorities and the US Department of Justice, for its handling of employee transfers. Furthermore, it recently settled a law suit with a gambler for $6.5 million who claimed

casino workers transferred money out of his account without his authorization. It was probably the tip of the iceberg as authorities in Singapore say there’s more money that might have been transferred unlawfully.

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, is experiencing the deepest recession in decades due to Covid-19.

I have a personal interest in what is happening in New Zealand as my daughter has happily lived there with her family for the last 6 years. But the reality is that it’s much more controllable over there with a population of 5 ½ million. As a matter of interest you may have seen Noel Edmonds

was known for years as ‘Mr Blobby,’ on UK television. Allegedly it seems he bought a house in Auckland despite owning £1.3 million to UK Banks. Arron Banks, an unscrupulous insurance mogul who tracked him down, after Edmonds was seen on television out there. Mr Blobby had better be careful!

Thief comes in many forms.Recently I have experienced situations where two friends separately scanned into revealing their bank cards details whereupon money was stolen from their accounts. One of them, (PTO)

INFINITY GAMING

30

Ring in the Riches!

Get ready for exciting, edge-of-your-seat anticipation with Fortune Gong™ Dragon and Fortune Gong™ Phoenix Video Slots. Packed with four progressive jackpots, this game will have your players ringing for riches.

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

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

INFINITY GAMING

Teresa Tunstall Article continued

a woman, was in tears and refused to leave her bank until the manager eventually came to speak with her. It transpired that a substantial amount of money - £6000 – was stolen from her online account but happily she was reimbursed. It wasa shock to me upon discovering that many pensioners have been targeted out of their life savings; they were enticed by phone callers inviting them to invest in spurious companies. In fact it transpired that one company made 107,000 calls in four months! These calls were aimed at older vulnerable folks with pensions saving and were coaxed by these unscrupulous companies to part with their account and pin numbers.However, the Watchdog, Financial Conduct Authority traced the two companies ‘CPS Advisory,’ one of whose Directors turned out to have ‘form,’ meaning he had been in police trouble. The second company, ‘We Claim U Gain,’ had previous been fined £100,000 for PPI nuisance calls…… one of the directors opened up his own company ‘Nationwide Energy Services,’ and surprise, surprise he went on to be fined £125,000 for yet even more PPI calls.

Are you wondering what actually happened to these disgraceful companies, was anyone barred from acting as a director? It’s a sad indictment to discover that one was fined £130,000 which was cut to £104,000 for prompt payment!! This type of behaviour is totally unacceptable these despicable people shouldn’t be allowed to practise again and should be barred from being Directors again. The responsibility lies with the Watchdog, who are able to exert legal punishment, otherwise it seems these crooks are able to get away with it.

Finally, last but not least the Gambling Commission’s ban on credit card gambling has been welcomed by charities, campaigners and financial services as a positive step towards stopping gamblers playing with money they do not have.

It came into force April this year and also means that mortgage lenders face have been pressured to participate.

31

Mobile Banking app., which instantly blocks payments to gambling outlets.

Thus, credit cards cannot be used and it takes 48 hours to ‘unfreeze’ them!

Just under 400,000 people in the UK are considered to be ‘problem’ gamblers while 1.8 million people are thought to be ‘at risk’ gamblers, according to a report by the National Audit Office. Furthermore, some 800,000 people used a credit card to gamble in 2018, according to UK Finance.

It is feared that problem gamblers may turn to the extreme measures, such as re-mortgaging their propertiesso that they can consolidate their gambling debts or raise more money to feed their habit. The banks etc., now take more stringent steps to ascertain the reasons for said further finance in order to negate addition problems and indebtedness.

On that note I wish you all a calm time with no covid-19 infection for anyone.

Then can we can all rest peacefully.

So far: Barclays, HSBC UK, Nat West and Halifax, have taken up the cudgels can ‘freeze’ gambling by using a

INFINITY GAMING

THE INDUSTRY

COMMUNITY AWARDS CATEGORIES

Below a list of the categories for both operators and suppliers to enter, full deďŹ niions are available on the website.

Best Employees Support Award

ABOUT

Clever Duck Media are proud to present a new innovaave

Business Connnuity Award

awards programme for the ennre gaming industry, both

Business Hero Award

online, land based and globally recognising those

Community Award

companies and individuals that have gone above and beyond in tackling major issues due to the global pandemic.

Corporate Wellbeing & Health Award Innovaaon Award O utstanding Individual Award Sustainable Business Award

Sponsored By

https://gaming-awards.com/community-engagement-awards/

GAMING NEWS

33

888 Indicates Interest In William Hill’s Eruopean Business

8

88 Holdings which has just announced vastly improved results over expectations has said that it would be very interested in any sale of William Hill’s European assets, meaning if Caesars decided to sell off the European online gambling arm it would take part in the bidding for it.

Caesars Entertainment has had an offer of £2.9 billion accepted by the Board at William Hill and although it has to be agreed by shareholders the deal is almost certain to go ahead and finalised in the second quarter of 2021.

The US casino giant has already indicated that once the deal has been

completed it would look for a buyer for the UK and European arm of its business and focus solely on the US market. Many believed this just to be the retail business of William Hill and this is still a question mark, however 888 Holdings has already indicated that if this was also the online gaming business in Europe then they would be extremely interested.

Indeed 888 along with Rank Group tabled an offer for William Hill back in 2016 but were rebuked and the following year 888 went again on its own for William Hill but once again failed. So the interest from 888 has always been real from the company guided by CEO Itai Pazner.

It is unlikely that Rank Group would again join with 888 in a bid for the European assets of William Hill and also very unlikely that 888 would want William Hill’s retail business, but the online arm of the company is certainly something 888 with its healthy profits and revenues would certainly go for.

That is what Itai Pazner, chief executive of 888, said, the company was “in a good position to make acquisitions”. “We are going to look at any asset that can be relevant for us, and within that list, if that opportunity to buy William Hill’s assets comes our way that could be relevant for us.”

INFINITY GAMING

34

Slot Manager vs Slots shift manager Essential Dialogue Part 3 Essential dialogue and dealing with difficult conversations are critical if you want your operation to remain focused,competitive and productive, and here’s why you can’t achieve success without them:

By Andy Cosgrove

I

n part two of Essential Dialogue we concentrated on conversations with the marketing manager. In part threeI would like us to take our essential dialogueexchangedirectly to the casino floor level and hold a manager to subordinate conversation with our distinguished colleague theslots shift manager. Some might say thatdeliberating the topic of essential dialogue using such a meagre subject as the slot shift manager is barely worth writing about at all, but I find that this kind of assumption can be very misleading because it’s the slots shift manager who spends a significant amount time interacting with customers, which makes this particular kind ofdialogue even morerelevant in the sense thatif you find yourself without customers,you

INFINITY GAMING

may have already failed at practicing essential dialogue and whoever hired you as a manager could possibly need replacing.

With casinos everywhere experiencing sharp drops in customer counts the need forengaging in essential dialogue and accountability conversations is greater than everascasino operatorstoil to remain relevant in a highly competitive market.Subordinates require increased amounts of guidance and reassurance, meaning that slots manager’severywhere will inevitably find themselves having these types ofsometimes uncomfortable conversations on a much more frequent basis.Fortunately, true leaders know that it is essential to continue to empower, motivate and reassure their staff so that they con-

tinue to deliverthe kind of consistentand engaging experiences that their customers demand regardless of the operating environment or complexity of current challenges.The bad news is thatthe road to success can be a bumpy ride,so it’s essential to counterbalance distractions,cut out the noise and remain laser sharp focused.

The price of inaction and avoiding essential dialogue can, and will result in possibly irreversible consequencesso the following examples of essential dialogue could prove useful for stopping your slots revenues falling off a cliff and your slots shift manager running for the panic button:

35

COMMUNICATION – “All staff needed to attend the new mandatory AML training program and you’ve known about and been reminded of this for the past month.Not a single employee from slots turned up for the training! How can you explain this?” When left unchecked this serious lack of communications and accountability between shift managers can carry with it severe consequences for the operator such as fines and even criminal charges.

In this case emotions will be running high so before even starting to use essential dialogue in an attempt to change these behaviors, it’s crucial to make the shift managers feel safe enough to talk about what happened beforehand as they could easily resort to silence or violence and ruin any chances of reaching a lasting solution.

The bottom line here is that a competent slots shift managershouldn’tneed to be reminded of the importance of communications and accountability as they know that they would letting themselves and the company down by playing a dangerous game of pass

the blame. It’s imperative for slots manager to use essential dialogue correctly with the shift managers to ensure that communication is used effectively to change attitudes, increase productivity and ensure that there is never a gap between intent and behavior.

PRODUCTIVITY– “According to recent systems reports a growing quantityof slots have been rejecting bills after each drop which is having a negative effect on revenues. This fact was confirmed on in the daily shift report, but nothing has been done to solve the issue, why?” player will get frustrated if the machine they want to play doesn’t accept bills. Most will move onto the next machine and think nothing of it, but many will take it as a sign that the entire slots department doesn’t care about them and that’s the kind of problem your competitors dream about!Lack of productivity can come from a lack of motivation or a lack of ability so it’s essential to understand which sources of influence are caus-

ing the slot techs to neglect their duty and the shift managers not to follow up before moving forward. To accomplish this, it’s essential to encourage the free flow of information. We all enter a conversation with our own views, theories and experiences but when the conversation is free flowing, we are exposed to more accurate and relevant information and are able to use essential dialogue to maintain productivity by making better informed decisions.

TRUST – “I requested the floor supervisors performance evaluation reports by 12pm today as I needed to review them before a 2pm meeting with the GM. You didn’t deliver and made no effort to contact me. How can I trust you going forward?” Broken trust will cause a fast decline within multiple areasof your operations including motivation, productivity and revenues. Broken trust can also encourage behaviors such as poisoning of the work culture, sabotage, controlling hierarchies,

INFINITY GAMING

36

POWERING AN

INDUSTRY-LEADING ECOSYSTEM Scientific Games is a committed game-changer, playmaker, innovator, and partner, exclusively offering the industry’s broadest portfolio of products that work together to create an evolving entertainment ecosystem.

CONTENT / TECHNOLOGY / SOLUTIONS

ScientificGames.com

All ® notices signify marks registered in the United States. © 2019 Scientific Games Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

INFINITY GAMING

Slot Manager vs Slots Shift Manager (continued) intense micromanagement and let’s not forget the exodus of your best staff.Therefore, you could say that trust needs to be taken seriously.

Trust has a high cost because without it, people can easily lose purpose and sense of priority. Without these two key requirements for achieving extraordinary results, the chances of reaching even your worst case scenario projected results diminish significantly. Essential dialogue can be used to regain broken trust by not focusing on the person but by focusing around the issues that caused trust to be broken and once these issues have been identified you will be in a better position toestablish mutual purpose, clarify expectations, and commit to a strategy for regaining trust and improving results.

ACCOUNTABILITY – “you were late for the fifth time this week and you co-worker missed her ride home.

You didn’t call in and we had to pay for a taxi. How do you explain your lack of accountability?” A leader who fails to deal with accountability issues such as broken commitments, violated expectations and unacceptable behavior won’t be considered a leader for very long so it’s important to identify potential red flags early on before they effect performance, as the longer you wait to confront accountability issues, the greater a victim you become of your own silence. Before starting an accountability conversation, make sure you know the facts and understand the circumstances surrounding them. Once you’ve identified the gap in performance your next step is to make the other person feel safe, establish mutual respect, explain the gap and and use essential dialogue to motivate the other person to understand their error and work towards the design and implementation of anactionable planfor improvement.

SUCCESS– “To be successful we

need to work as a team and hold each other accountable but judging by recent customer service scores and performance evaluations, success will remain an illusion. How will we ever achieve our goals if we set ourselves up to fail before we start?” - Success takes focus, coherence, communications, organization and yes, you guessed it, teamwork.

What success doesn’t comprise of is broken commitments, multitaskers, the blame game, responsibility dodgers and violent dictators. The above example exposes multiple accountability issues from different levels of the organization that clearly need to be dealt with urgently. An effective slots shift manager would never let an issue as serious customer service get out of hand by monitoring reports and working with each member of staff on a one to one basis to ensure they have the correct motivation and abilities to do the job beyond expectations. In this situation it’s essential that the slots manager establish mutual purpose as without it, success will remain an illusion. It’s also important to motivate those involved to discuss the problem openly by sharing ideas in order to fully understand the circumstances surrounding the issues and introduce more effective change.

37

Natural consequences should also be made clear such as: without excellent customer service revenues will decline.

CONCLUSION –The slots department needs to work together if success is to remain a consistent part of the casino operation, and by using essential dialogue it’s possible to improve relationships, increase potential and use different opinions to your advantage by making the best possible choices when the stakes are high and before your shift managers start running for the hills.

----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/

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

39

Pilot Games PiCON conference kicks off in November Pilot_ad_PRINT.pdf

1

06/10/2020

10:39

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

P

ilotGames.com the ground– breaking producer and operator of innovative pull tab games has been hosting the annual e-gaming PiCON conference since 2015 for current charity customers, players and bar owners. The day-long popular annual event has grown yearly and regularly attended by over 500 hospitality entrepreneurs and business owners each year.

The PiCON event offers great opportunities for everyone to network and learn more about current Pilot games, new innovative products coming to the market in the next year to help boost revenues and raise money in support of charity and local communities.

Each PiCON event features an Exhibitor Hall showcasing our Distributors and vendors who have affiliations with Pilot/the Charitable Gaming

industry and representatives of state agencies.

A PiCON typical event schedule consists of: Continuing Education, live Pilot TV broadcasts, Pilot presentations, Happy Hour networking, dinner and entertainment to wrap up the event. PiCON event entertainment has included The Beach Boys, Blues Brothers, Morris Day and the Time and in 2020 (rescheduled for 2021), our entertainment will be Willie Nelson.

This year’s PiCON event was originally scheduled for August, but plans have changed due to COVID. So to keep everyone networking PiCON decided that (while not in love with virtual events) that it is vital to continue to deliver event in a virtual format.

new product showcases, break-out sessions on various topics that will be of interest to virtual event attendees.

More importantly, we will explain how you can entertain your customers and at the same time help local charities.

PiCON will focus on our new games, new Pilot HD products and PlayerConnect. Event attendees will be able to download PilotGames.com Player Connect app and play a demo version of tournament games as an introduction to Pilot Games Championship Series 2020.

To keep up with event tradition PiCON will wrap up with a musical event and Q/A featuring Willie’s son, Lukas Nelson.

PiCON this year will have a truncated version, lasting about an hour. With

INFINITY GAMING

40

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

Philippines Opening Gambling To Local Market

41

Greece Accepts Online Gambling Applications

Greece are ready to accept applications for online gambling, the Hellenic Gaming Commission said that the process for applications from shareholder, executives, manufacturers, suppliers and certification organisations is now available to process on online.will be offered on the 1st December.

Could the Philippines be readying to allow

locals to play online gambling? Reports locally suggest gambling regulator the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) are preparing a report to the government on such a possibility.

The Philippines has seen revenues from both land based casino revenues fall off a cliff since the COVID-19 pandemic began with a 95% drop.

Indeed in the second quarter of this year total revenues from casinos stood at $47 million.

Online gambling revenues are also half what they were with income from the country’s Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs) at just $6 million a month. Also thirty three of the sixty licensed POGOs have already left the region and the regulator believes

At present there are two available licenses to apply for online games of chance and sports betting. In January this year the Greek Ministry of Finance completed its gambling regulations for the online industry after being approved by the parliament in October last year.

A sports betting license will cost €3 million and any other online games license will be €2 million with both having to pay 35% tax on their gross gaming reven

Bank Australia Bans Credit Cards For Gambling The Bank Australia has joined the list of credit card issuers that will from December ban all transactions linked to gaming and gambling, currently Macquarie Bank, Suncorp, Bank of Queensland and CUA have banned the use of its card for such transactions and now Bank Australia has done the same.

revenues will not recover anytime soon.

PAGCOR regulates and raises taxes through gambling to serve the government with funds for national building projects, with revenues falling the idea inside PAGCOR according to reports is that the only way to revive revenues is to allow locals to play online and

However some supporters of online gambling in the country questioned the move asking if this is removing the right of people to decide how to spend their money with one such person on twitter saying, “will unhealthy foods be next, will McDonalds be banned?”

in casinos.

No official word has come from either the regulator or government but some suppliers for the online industry already believe the opportunity is there and are readying for when that time comes.

Bank Australia said on the move: “We’ve engaged with our stakeholders and tested our position through research with customers, the overwhelming majority of whom support blocking gambling transactions on credit cards.”

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

43

Tipico & Century Casinos Partner For Colorado

GVC Holdings Gain Four Licenses In Germany

Century Casinos has announced that it has fi-

Online gambling operator GVC Holdings has announced that it has been awarded 4 German online licenses, it is expected those licenses will be implemented in early 2021 the company said.

nalized an agreement with Tipico to become the company’s third internet sports betting operator partner in Colorado. The Company, through a subsidiary, has already obtained its master license with the State of Colorado. Tipico will complete the necessary application and approval process with the State of Colorado and will operate an internet and mobile sports betting application under the Tipico brand.

“Tipico is thrilled to partner with Century Casinos, a highly respected name in North American casino entertainment, to bring our fully mobile sports betting experience to Colorado and introduce sports fans throughout the state to our brand and proprietary technology,” said Adrian Vella, Managing Director, US Business, Tipico.

As part of GVC the licenses were given to Ladbrokes, Gamebookers, bwin and Sportingbet.

The new licenses are subject to the following restrictions in Germany, that being players can only gamble €1,000 but on a special request players can raise the limit to €10,000 per month if agreed by authorities.

On top of this a maximum of €30,000 can be gambled in one month but by only 1% of the operators player base but due diligence and other certain criteria but be met.

GVC said on the licensing issues: “The licences have been issued with immediate effect. However, the timing for implementation of the terms attached to the licences are yet to be formally agreed and GVC is working with the regulator on an implementation plan with terms expected to

GVC Improved Results & Expectation

The online sportsbook operations agreement with Tipico is a 10-year agreement that includes a one-time market access fee being paid to the Company on contract signing, plus a minimum annual revenue guarantee and a percentage share of net gaming revenue payable to the Company each year.

“We are very excited to be partnering with Tipico Sportsbook, one of the top sports betting companies in the world, and we look forward to a long and prosperous relationship. The Colorado Division of Gaming has done an excellent job launching Sports Betting and we believe Colorado will be an ideal market for Tipico as they continue their expansion and growth in the United States,” said Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos.

GVC who own brands such as Ladbrokes, Coral and Bwin have announced their third quarter results and at the same time said that the full year figures will be better than expected.

The online gambling firm said that third quarter revenues rose 12% compared to the same period in 2019. On the back of these results the company has raised expectation for the full year earnings to between £770 million and £790 million. Previously the company said that full year expectations would be in the £720 million to £740 million.

Even thou the gambling firm said that the new rules in Germany would negatively impact the profits for GVC by £70 million, it at the same time posted better than expected results in the US market with their tie-up with MGM Resorts.

Sales there were well in front of predictions with $150 million to $160 million expected this year.

The Company has already signed two other in-

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

45

BBIN & TGB Support Children’s Sanitary Education in India

B

BIN’s charitable brand TGB Charity, is now working with SAATH and Unipadson a new project to promote the understanding of health and sanitary knowledge. TGB Charity donates US$ 60,000 and host over 100 workshops in the campuses in Gujarat, India, where children learn the correct knowledge about health and sanitation. Meanwhile, 12,000 reusable sanitary pads are given away on-site to girls, preparing them for the upcoming physical and mental transformation.

activities. Until 2020, TGB Charity has focused its efforts onvarious fields, endeavoring to make significant difference to the world. Education is one of the majortopicsthat TGB Charity values highly. Through working with local institutions, TGB Charity promotes health/sanitary education and decrease the chance of girls’ dropping out and suspension from school due to menstruation. In the future, TGB Charity will continue to draw public attention to global issues, sharing love and warmth to the world.

As a leading iGaming software supplier in Asia, BBIN has been working with non-profit organizations to raise the public awareness towards charity through fun and meaningful

SAATH, a non-profit organization in India, has been contributing to children’s rights to education and lives; meanwhile, they provide residents health care,employmentconsultancy

and skills impartation. Unipads, a reusable sanitary pads company, focuses on corporate social responsibility — providing women job opportunities and improving their quality of life, and empowering the rural areas with health education in knowledge and resources.

Official website of TGB Charity https://www.tgbcharity.com/ Official website of SAATH https://saath.org/

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

New Playboy Owner Looks At Online Gambling

47

Sazka Challenge Camelot For UK Lottery

The Sazka Group which is Europe’s largest lottery operator has formally made a bid to run the UKs national lottery. Currently operated by Camelot since it began back in 1994 Already Sazka Group are busy hiring a UK team to work with partners to ensure a strong bid that the company hopes will wrestle the license from current operator Camelot when their license expires in 2023.

Mountain Crest, a New York-based special

purpose acquisition company (SPAC) has agreed to pay $381 million for the Playboy brand and products. In the deal Mountain Crest has offered $10 per share for the controlling 23.9 million shares in the famed brand that over recent decades has fallen from its pinnacle in the 70s and 80s.

However the special acquisition firm that uses to acquire such brands as a way to access public markets. In the deal Mountain Crest has promised to plough into the business some $58 million to help develop and expand the company.

Also the acquisition firm said that with Playboy having partnerships with gaming firms Scientific Games and Microgaming it could very well look into further acquisitions in the online gambling sphere, along with highlighting such firms as 888 Holdings, PointsBet, and RummyCircle.com.

Mountain also said it would look to enter other markets such as beauty and grooming, sexual wellness, and style and apparel.

How the company that has spent $381 million on Playboy has the strategy to turn the fortunes around on a brand and its style that seems to have had its time will be very interesting to see.

With operations in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and the Czech Republic covering lotteries and also the major shareholder in Casinos Austria the firm is tipped to be the strongest opposition to Camelot.

Robery Chvatal the chief executive of Sazka said on the bid: “As a leader in operating lotteries across Europe, Sazka has made no secret of the fact that we would be thrilled to operate the UK National Lottery.

“The UK National Lottery is a national treasure with a proud 26-year history. Now it is looking forward to the next decade and how it can best serve its customers in a world so disrupted by digital transformation, the fourth industrial revolution and Covid.

Profits Soar At 888 & Special Dividend Offered Annual profits for 888 Holdings are expected to be at the top end of expectations said the company on a conference call today to investors. Indeed the online gambling firm said there would be a special dividend helped by the growth in the US, more players choosing online gambling during the pandemic and elite sports resuming allowing for sports betting.

In the companies first half results it showed a rise of 56% in profits compared to the same period in 2019, helped by a similar 56% rise in daily revenues from 1st July to 28th September in the third quarter.

INFINITY GAMING

GAMING NEWS

49

Have We Fallen Out Of Love With Facebook?

W

e live in a media world where we are told what is happening right now, social media has developed into the news portal of “what is real right now” but has it and has much of social media been hijacked by professional companies that decide how you should think and more worryingly vote.

By our very name, Clever Duck Media means we live in the media world and constantly review and search in all the social media outlets, but as we do so it is hard not to notice that certain opinions and stories appear more and more especially when an election comes around.

Most recently our reviews and searches on Facebook have seen a huge increase in political opinions towards the US and how what is supposed to be a platform for your average joe to put images and thoughts now seems more and more like a radical opinion based storyboard.

Over the last summer when reviewing Facebook the posts were mostly benign, people making the most of a global lockdown because of the pandemic, it was full of amusing ideas on how to pass the time and how loved ones communicated in those difficult times.

on the now infamous British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica which was exposed at trying to influence voters, UK residents have wised up to this tactic, but have we and have those firms like Cambridge Analytica just changed their strategy?

Of course during the build up to any election there will be more and more chatter on social media about people’s opinions, but how do you or can you separate the real from the fake? The simple way is keep off those platforms and make your own decision based on performance of those candidates, but we all know that is not going to happen.

But now into the Autumn more and more posts are focussed on the US elections and how we believe “normal people” feel on either Donald Trump or Joe Biden and there are some truly radical points of view. The question is are these true and reflective posts or again marketing and lobbying companies plotting their agendas on social media?

So maybe we should all take those posts and tweets for what they are someone else’s opinion be it from people themselves or professional firms trying to form your opinion.

Hopefully at least in the UK following the revelation during Brexit in 2016

Only a couple of years ago when you went on Facebook you would see

But given this, what use are social platforms like Facebook anymore if you really can’t believe anything on there is real and not fake?

friends and people you know post their stories and life events, but now more and more random people with their opinions are showing up and your original friends and acquaintances are disappearing, why is that?

One reason for sure is that especially Facebook is losing millions of people on the platform, people do not see relevant anymore to them, obviously Facebook has to make money and adverts on any platform are accepted but it’s the narrative on Facebook that seems to put people off.

Before they used to say that only the younger audience has moved away from the platform and middle aged are still on there, not so true now, we are seeing a huge drop off even at that age bracket.

Maybe we have had enough of social media in that style now, Facebook was an amazing concept that linked the world to each other’s stories, but now it seems that more and more that it is being used in different ways and none of them are positives for us to believe in anymore.

INFINITY GAMING