Month: June 2021

Calvi will serve as president and chair for a third term, while Gilles Maillet, sports integrity director at Française des Jeux (FDJ), will replace Rupert Bolingbroke from the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) as vice-chair.

Younès EL Mechrafi from Moroccan Games and Sports and Lori Sullivan of Canada’s Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation were also elected as member of the committee. Sullivan was first appointed to the committee in December last year.

GLMS also announced two members each from the World Lottery Association (WLA) and European Lotteries (EL) that were appointed to its executive committee. 

From the WLA, Michael Fitzsimons of the HKJC and Fàbian Garcia-Saetonne from Uruguay’s La Banca de Quinelas were validated as members, while from the EL, Gilles Maillet of FDJ and Jens Nielsen from Denmark’s Danske Spil were approved as committee members.

“I am delighted and privileged to have been appointed president of GLMS for a third consecutive term and would like to thank all members of GLMS for the renewed trust,” Calvi said.

“We’ve set very solid foundations to drive the success of our association in the titanic fight against match-fixing and to protect sports Integrity worldwide. 

“I’m fully convinced that GLMS represents a tremendous vehicle not only for our association and its members but also for all other key interested stakeholders, our communities, and our society as a whole.”

In April, GLMS revealed that it alerted 23 suspicious matches to sporting governing bodies between January and March this year. Some 16 of the 23 match alerts concerned football matches, with seven alerts being sent to Uefa and four to Fifa.

Lesson #19: The dangers of slots

There are things we should not forget. Real money slots are dangerous. Players can lose money they can’t afford to lose. Players have lost their houses. 

This is a side of gambling we should never lose sight of. 

For me, the first time I knew how badly some gamblers gamble was when I worked for Playtech and got to talking with the person in charge of answering player complaints. 

Players that lost thousands of dollars in one night would write in to ask to take that night back because they were drunk. One person claimed to have lost her house. 

We must never lose sight of what the games are, how some players behave, and how fast things can go wrong.

Lesson #20: For players, social slots are different from real-money slots

The first social slots were based only on real money slots: the graphics, the maths, the themes. 

Then Playtika came along and the first thing they changed was the graphics: The images were more serious, happier, more humoristic, and theme-related images replaced the Royals.

That worked. 

Social players, who could play for free and who could not turn their winnings to real money, played social slots for fun while the same people went to casinos and played slots seriously. 

Players’ expectations are different. 

Later on, math began more fun: faster wins, faster bonuses, faster free spins. 

Later on, more meta games appeared to make the experience even more fun.

In the first few years, real-money slot companies that tried to only mimic their successful slots in social, failed miserably (all but DoubleDown, which got the ‘serious’ players that did not like playing the social slots). 

Social players play for fun and treat it as a game. Real money players have their fun by treating slots seriously. 

Guy Hasson worked for Playtech for three years before becoming Playtika’s content manager, responsible for the content of Slotomania and Caesars Casino. He is now a social slot consultant, specialising in game popularity.

BetMakers struck a deal worth £30.9m (€36.1m/$42.9m) in December last year to purchase the business, shortly after which 99.8% of Sportech shareholders voted to approve the proposal.

The agreement will see BetMakers take control of Sportech’s Global Tote business, which provides pari-mutuel technology and services to horse race betting operators around the world. 

The deal covers Sportech’s racing, tote and digital assets in the US, UK and Europe, including the Americas Tote business, which provides betting solutions, hardware and operational services to more than 200 racetracks, casinos and betting venues.

BetMakers will also take ownership of Sportech’s North America-facing white label digital betting solutions business, which has more than 25 customers on the continent, as well as its UK and European Tote operations, and its Quantum Tote betting engine.

According to BetMakers, the acquisition places it in a strategic position to fully capitalise on growth opportunities in international wagering markets, as well as emerging opportunities in the US market, including fixed-odds wagering.

BetMakers added that the acquisition is anticipated to materially expand its global customer base, technology and geographic reach.

Completion of the deal follows the receipt of a several regulatory approvals, with BetMakers expecting to formally secure a number of other clearances now the acquisition has gone through.

“The successful completion now allows us to continue to execute the next stages of our global strategy,” BetMakers’ managing director Todd Buckingham said. “It is not often that such compatible international wagering assets become available in our industry. 

“Accordingly, BetMakers views this acquisition as a pivotal step in seeing the business become the centre of global wagering. We intend to continue to expand in all regions where we see complementary synergies for our business that fits this vision. 

“I am delighted that we have been able to reach this significant milestone and I now look forward to integrating these transformational international wagering assets which we expect will unlock enormous benefits for BetMakers.”

The deal come after BetMakers last month also submitted a non-binding proposal worth AU$4.0bn to acquire Tabcorp’s wagering and media business. Under the deal, Tabcorp would receive AU$1.0bn in cash, which BetMakers said it would raise through debt financing, and AU$3.0bn in BetMakers shares.

Entain and private equity giant Apollo Global Management have also lodged proposals with Tabcorp in recent weeks.

The state’s igaming revenue came from total stakes of $3.31bn. This level of handle also surpassed the previous record set in March 2021, and was up 2.1% on April’s figure.

The record igaming revenue led to the highest recorded tax receipts from the vertical as well, at $27.3m.

Online slots and table games achieved new records in both revenue and handle in May. Slots revenue came to $67.2m, up 73.2% from May 2020, on stakes worth $1.77bn. Table games, meanwhile, brought in $31.4m, up 153.2% year-on-year, as players staked $1.54bn.

The state’s leader in igaming revenue was Hollywood Casino at Penn National, placing first in both slots and table games with $25.4m and $15.7m respectively. Hollywood Casino offers both its own casino brand and a DraftKings casino skin.

Read the full story on iGB North America

EGBA members from 14 EU states have written to European Commissioner Thierry Breton about the issue, in an attempt to establish a more coordinated approach to regulating a European gambling market estimated to be worth €100bn per year.

The inaugural Expert Group, made up of representatives from several European gambling authorities, was disbanded in 2018 despite the fact that it EGBA said it was widely considered a success by most regulators.

EGBA also pointed out that disbanding the group meant that there was now no framework for co-operation across the €100m European gambling market. It added that many issues in gambling such as money laundering and illegal gambling are cross-border issues.

The group was used as a forum to share information and best practices for market regulation.

EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer said: “There is currently no EU framework for gambling regulators to even communicate, let alone to jointly tackle the big issues affecting Europe’s online gambling sector. Most of these issues are cross-border in nature and require common solutions. 

“We therefore welcome the strong commitment to regulatory cooperation and call to action from the majority of Europe’s gambling regulators. The message to the European Commission is clear: both gambling regulators and the sector itself are united in support of the Expert Group and call upon the Commission to reinstate the Expert Group.” 

Sportradar said McCreary brings over three decades of business, legal and executive leadership experience to the company, as it continues its growth and affirms its standing as a multi-vertical data and technology supplier.

McCreary has served as Fiserv’s chief legal officer, chief ethics and compliance officer and corporate secretary since 2013, with responsibilities including directing the company’s worldwide legal, ethics and compliance activities.

She was also instrumental in Fiserv’s M&A activities, including its acquisition of First Data.

Prior to joining Fiserv, McCreary was a partner with international law firm Bryan Cave LLP, and also served as managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco office.

Sportradar said McCreary has extensive experience representing clients in a broad array of complex commercial matters, transactions, disputes and investigations.

“We’re delighted to welcome Lynn to the Sportradar team,” said Sportradar’s global chief executive, Carsten Koerl.

“The depth and breadth of her legal, business and leadership acumen will prove invaluable to us as Sportradar enters its next phase of exciting growth.”

McCreary added that she is “thrilled to join Sportradar, which sits at the exciting intersection of sports entertainment and technology.

“I look forward to working closely with Carsten and the team as we further accelerate Sportradar’s growth in this dynamic industry,” she concluded.

McCreary is also a board member of insurance company NMI Holdings, and chairman of the board of governors of Washburn University Law School, as well as serving as a trustee of the university.

Real Dealer’s games consist of clips of dealers and gameplay of table games, which the supplier says creates an immersive experience for players. The clips are developed with professional actors and directors and then integrated in RNG gameplay.

The certification comes after the supplier said it saw success with its games in the UK and Italy.

Real Dealer’s offering in Spain will begin with its Real Roulette series, featuring a number of different dealers.

Chief product officer Shane Cotter expressed the company’s excitement towards expanding to this new market.

 “Spain is an important market and one that we have identified as offering tremendous opportunities when it comes to our games, which we believe will be hugely popular with players,” he said.

“Real Roulette will allow operators in Spain to offer their players a totally new experience that delivers high levels of entertainment and never seen before authenticity. This is because our games capture the enticing atmosphere of the casino floor combined with the ease of online play.

“Securing certification in Spain is a milestone moment for Real Dealer Studios and we look forward to integrating our games with our operator partners over the coming weeks and months.”

Year-on-year comparisons were not possible as the state’s four commercial casinos licensed to offer sports wagering were closed for all of May 2020 due to novel coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions in New York.

Casinos were not permitted to reopen until September of last year, with retail sports betting suspended until the relaunch.

However, figures released by the New York State Gaming Commission did reveal an increase from the $1.3m generated by the four casinos in April this year.

Rush Street’s Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady led the way in May with $641,102 in total sports betting revenue, ahead of the del Lago Resort and Casino in Waterloo and its DraftKings sportsbook on $555,855.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The level of channelisation, or players who used operators which are licensed by the local regulator, was up slightly from 88% in 2019, but showed a significant increase from 69% in 2012 when the market was liberalised.

According to the report, in Europe only the UK, Italy, the Czech Republic and Spain have a higher rate of channelisation than Denmark.

The report also showed that gross gaming revenue (GGR) across all verticals in the jurisdiction was down 6.5% in 2020, at DKK9.17bn (£1.05bn/€1.23bn/$1.47bn). Previously, the regulator had published figures for all verticals besides lottery.

Of the total GGR given, the biggest contributor was the lotteries industry, which brought in DKK3.20bn, down 0.1% on 2019’s figure. Next, online casino brought in DKK2.45bn, a slight increase from DKK2.35bn in 2019, whereas sports betting was down 8.9%, at DKK2.29bn.

Slot machines brought in a significantly reduced sum, down 29.3% to DKK986m, while land-based casinos’ contribution fell 31.7% to DKK239m.

The report showed that in 2020, Denmark had a total of 771 licensees offering gambling, as well as 360 further non-profit lotteries which are reported to the Gambling Authority but do not require a licence.

The regulator held 375 permits for non-profit lotteries in 2020, along with 325 permits for slot machines, 35 for online casino including 3 revenue limited licences, 23 for sports betting including 4 revenue restricted permits, and 9 for land-based casinos.

The report showed how the jurisdiction’s total GGR corresponded to Denmark’s gross domestic product (GDP), as a way of measuring the gaming industry’s performance against the economy more broadly.

In 2020, GGR accounted for 0.39% of Denmark’s GDP, which was a reduction compared to 0.42% in 2019, however the figure has remained stable between 0.39% and 0.43% since 2012.

The average spend on gaming per person came to DKK37.80 per week in 2020, compared to DKK40.62 in 2019.

The market share spent on online gaming compared to land-based increased to 59% last year, compared to 54% in 2019. This figure has been steadily growing from around 31% in 2012, and may have been accelerated last year by land-based closures caused by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Of the online spend, 64% came from customers using mobile devices, up from 60% in 2019.

The largest demographic group which made up Danish online gambling customers was men aged 26-35, accounting for 23% of online players. Overall, men made up 76% of online gaming accounts, while women held the remaining 24%.

This represents a significant change from 2019, when women held just 19% of online gaming accounts in Denmark.

The report showed where Denmark ranked in Europe in terms of average spend per capita, showing that the country comes in seventh place for the jurisdictions that spend the most money on gaming per adult in 2020.

Its average annual consumption of DKK2,086 per adult put the jurisdiction behind all the other Nordic countries – Norway, Finland, Iceland and Sweden – as well as Malta and Ireland, in spend. However, Denmark was still ahead of the UK, Italy and Cyprus, which make up the rest of the top ten gaming spenders per capita in Europe.