Month: June 2021

Revenue was down from $1.1m in May 2020, but 4.2% higher than the $874,017 reported in April this year.

Video lottery accounted for $732,012 of total revenue in May, while table games revenue amounted to $143,019 and poker rake and fees $35,251.

Player spending on igaming was 125.6% higher than 11.7m in May last year and also 23.6% up from $21.6m in April of this year.

A total of $19.1m was spent on online video lottery and $7.6m on table games during the month.

Delaware Park reclaimed spot in the state’s igaming market after slipping to second in April, posting $451,718 in revenue from $12.4m in wagers.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The poll of 8,000 adults was conducted in 2020. As a result, many trends were influenced by the lockdown and social distancing measures that resulted from Covid-19.

For example, while mobile devices remained the most popular medium for gambling, with 50.3% of players saying they gambled via their smartphone, this was level with 2019, ending a trend of steep increases in mobile gambling.

The most popular vertical for mobile was betting on football, where 62.8% of bettors said they used their smartphone. Lottery, on the other hand, saw the least mobile proliferation, with 43.5% of respondents using their devices to play the National Lottery, and 34.2% for charitable lotteries.

In-play bets, on any sport, were especially popular on mobile, with 74.0% of in-play bettors wagering via their handsets.

Those aged 18-24 and 25-34 were easily the most frequent mobile bettors, while only 14.2% of those aged 65+ were active in the channel.

Laptops, which had been a sharply declining channel for betting, increased in 2020, with 40.1% of gamblers using one to play. Bets on non-sporting, real-world events were especially common on laptops, with around half of bettors so via their laptop.

Though laptop betting saw similar levels of popularity among all age groups, it was most common among those aged 18-24.

Desktop PCs, meanwhile, ended a decline, as 26.1% of players used one to gamble. Again, non-sports events saw the highest level of PC use.

Those aged 65+ were most likely to bet with desktop PCs.

Tablet betting grew to 17.7% but remained below the levels seen in 2018, with in-play wagering especially popular. Meanwhile, 3.3% of players bet using smart TVs, with bets on sports other than football and racing being especially likely to be placed using a smart TV.

Covid-19 also led to changes in where people placed bets. Of those polled, 96% said they placed a bet at home.

On the other hand, betting while commuting – at a time when working from home was the norm – declined from 12% to 10%, while bets placed at work dropped from 15% to 11%.

Despite attendance being restricted or prohibited entirely at sporting events for much of the year, betting at sports and racing venues increased from 4% to 5%, and wagering at pubs also increased, from 7% to 8%.

Overall, 19.8% of respondents gambled outside their home.

The average number of gambling accounts held per customer increased marginally, from 3.0 to 3.2. While 42.6% of customers had just one account and 24.0% had two, 4.5% of customers held ten or more. Younger players were more likely to have many accounts, with 6.8% of those aged 18-24 holding ten or more.

Those who gambled seven or more times in the past week were also more likely to hold a large number of accounts, with only 12.9% of this group holding one account.

Esports betting increased significantly year-on-year, from 6% of 2019 respondents saying they had placed a bet on esports at some point in their life to 9.2% in 2020.

Males were especially likely to bet on esports, with 14% of gamblers doing so. In addition, 7.1% of respondents said they had placed a real-money esports bet and 7.2% said they had placed a skin bet.

The survey also found that 30.3% of gamblers had made an in-play sports bet during the past week, plus a further 30.0% in the prior three weeks, for a total of 60.3% of gamblers betting in play during the previous four weeks.

Younger players were particularly likely to bet in play, with 45% to 25-34 year-olds doing so in the previous seven days.

Net receipts for the month amounted to $6.1m (£4.3m/€5.0m), which was 20.8% lower than the $7.7m recorded in April of this year, marking the second consecutive month of decline in Iowa.

Revenue was up 1,117.4% from $501,062 in the same month last year, though the May 2020 figures were severely impacted by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

Betting options in May 2020 were significantly limited as many sports events were forced to cancel or postpone due to the pandemic, while players in Iowa could only bet online as retail sportsbooks were closed for the entire month.

Online remained the primary source of sports betting income in Iowa, with revenue for the month reaching $4.8m, some way ahead of retail sportsbook revenue on $1.3m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The five-year global agreement will see Messi serve as an ambassador for Hard Rock and its entertainment, hospitality and restaurant properties.

The deal, which forms part of Hard Rock’s 50th anniversary celebrations this year, will also see the operator launch new collection of merchandise inspired by Messi.

“Over the past five decades, the Hard Rock brand has grown to become one of the world’s most recognisable and beloved brands, with a café, hotel or casino located in 68 countries,” Hard Rock chairman Jim Allen said.

“As we reached our 50th anniversary milestone, we knew that we needed to partner with an icon to help us celebrate in a new and unexpected way, and there was no better choice than the legendary Lionel Messi.”

Read the full story on iGB North America.

The report, titled An Optimum Betting Market: A Regulatory, Fiscal and Integrity Assignment, examines 20 jurisdictions representing regulatory guidelines across six continents and can be read in full here.

It is the result of a collaboration between the IBIA and H2 Gambling Capital.

According to the report, the global betting market generated $74.1bn in revenue in 2019 from $490bn in turnover, which represented 16% of all gross gambling win for the year. This market is set to grow exponentially, with the report labelling betting as the fastest growing gambling segment.

It also revealed that betting’s growth rate is double that of the ambling industry as a whole over the next five years, growing at 6.3%. Casino is set to grow at 3.0%, gaming machines to decline by 0.3%, bingo and other games to grow by 4.1% and lotteries to grow by 2.3%. This means the gambling market as a whole will grow by 2.7%.

By 2025, turnover is set to reach $767bn, while revenue is projected at $106bn.

Statistics also outlined the rise in revenue from fully regulated markets. The report revealed onshore licensed betting’s share of the market grew from 57.7% in 2012 to 73.6% in 2020, and predicted that this number will rise further to 76.6% by 2025.

The licensed offshore sector, meanwhile, is set to declined as locally regulated markets continue to become more common. Despite making up 42.3% of the market in 2012, the offshore licensed sector made up 26.4% in 2019 and is set to account for 23.4% in 2025.

In addition, the report evaluated the steady growth of online betting over the last several years. Online betting accounted for more than 45% of all gross betting win in 2019, and is set to rise in the next four years.

In 2020, due partly to the effects of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) on retail betting, online betting is set to overtake land-based for the first time. From there, projections indicate it will not relinquish this advantage.

The report predicted that in 2025 online betting will make up $62bn of all global gross betting win, compared to a projected $45bn from land-based.

“In 2020, H2 calculates that online betting will account for more gross win than land-based for the first time,” the report said. “Although this was primarily due to the enforced closure of retail
betting shops during the pandemic, online is forecast to remain the dominant channel going forwards.”

Within online, mobile betting overtook computer betting for 2019 and is expected to hold this position, growing to more than 60% of the online market.

Breaking down betting revenue into sports and racing, sports is expected to extend its share of the market frther, having first made up a majority of revenue in 2016. In 2019, sports made up $41bn to racing’s $33bn. For 2025, sports is expected to bring in $69bn and racing $38bn.

“Racing (horses/dogs) has traditionally been the main betting product, but sports betting has been growing substantially faster than race betting for a number of years,” the report said.

Football makes up just over half of sports betting revenue, while looking forward, American sports such as basketball are expected to see significant growth in their share of the market.

Asia is by far the largest betting market, bringing in 47.2% of revenue in 2019, compared to 36.3% for Europe and just 6.7% for North America in 2019. However, by 2025, North America’s market share is expected to grow to 12.0% while Asia will decline to 43.2% and Europe 34.3%.

Pre-match betting’s share of the market has declined as in-play became more prominent, but it still makes up a majority of online betting revenue and the report said this will continue to be the case going forward.

Under the multi-year agreement, BetMGM will launch its mobile sports betting app in the state.

The app can be accessed throughout Washington DC, but local restrictions mean players can only place mobile bets when located within a two-block radius of the MLB team’s Nationals Park stadium.

The partnership will also see BetMGM open a branded retail sportsbook at Nationals Park later this year.

In addition, BetMGM’s integration with MGM Resorts’ M life Rewards program will allow customers to redeem their gameplay for experiences at MGM Resorts properties across the US.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Lesson #17: Understanding the players’ experience 

It took quite a few player interviews and speaking with a lot of people to understand how slot players really experience the game. 

As someone who does not play slots for fun, it was hard in the beginning of my career to understand how people could watch 12 to 13 characters (five of them sometimes just letters) and keep their interest over a long period of time. Sure, there’s the winning and losing aspect of course. But graphically, that didn’t feel enough for me. 

After speaking to enough players, though, I understood that players experience the theme, and therefore the graphics (the background, the symbols, the animations) as a world. They sink into that fantasy world as an escape. And the meager number of symbols is enough for them to go into that world. 

This is why the popular slot themes are escapist or nostalgic. This is why the variety in symbol choice is important: it needs to capture as many aspects of the world as possible.

This is also why I prefer not using Royals, but adding symbols that belong to that world: To allow players to sink deeper into the fantasy world. 

Lesson #18: Players connect to the characters

There were a lot of lessons to be learned moving from Playtech to Playtika, back when Playtika was just beginning. 

There were many reasons Playtika grew its monthly players to five million that quickly with only virality rather than advertising. One of them was that its original art director and chief executive knew a few things others didn’t. 

When players see the symbols of the slot, they see a world. As they play, they sink into that world.

When they see faces, they connect to them.

They like seeing a handsome man. They like seeing a beautiful woman. And to connect to them, the players need to see the characters’ eyes. The faces have to be big enough so that the eyes can be big enough so that the players can connect to them. 

When that happens, the players connect more deeply and the game’s retention goes up. 

It’s a small thing, but a huge advantage if you know you should do it.

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.

The initial August deadline has been pushed to 15 October 2021. Crown said it remains fully co-operative in relation to the Royal Commission, chaired by Raymond Finkelstein QC.

Crown’s executive chairman Helen Coonan said: “As Executive Chairman, I have made clear that any shortcomings identified by the Royal Commissions will be addressed. The Board and I are committed to making Crown a stronger, more transparent and respected company.
“We have initiated a sweeping program of significant reforms, enhancements and personnel changes. We cannot change the past, but we can be absolutely steadfast in the approach we take to driving the culture and transparency of the company into the future”.

The state government first announced its investigation into Crown in February, following a New South Wales enquiry that found Crown unsuitable for a license in Barangaroo.

The New South Wales scandal – which found that Crown facilities and accounts were being used for money laundering and raised questions about work with junkets that had ties to criminal groups – led to the resignation of Crown’s former chief executive Ken Barton in February, with further senior resignations following.

Coonan then took over as executive chairman, filling Barton’s role while continuing to serve as chair of the board of directors, until a permanent chief executive can be appointed.

The operator said that through this new platform, “users will be able to place a bet at the best bookmaker price without having to understand exchange betting”.

“We believe the industry needs to be opened-up and far more transparent for everyday punters and professional gamblers like,” BetConnect founder and chief executive Daniel Schreiber said. “Our new platform is built to deliver this, ensuring the proposition is accessible and far easier to use for the mass market whilst also enabling pros to get their bets matched.

“Whilst our look and feel has become more aligned to a modern sportsbook look, our underlying ethos and core proposition remains very different. What we have created is a unique proposition in the market that is pushing the boundaries and challenging the status quo, but at the same time can be easily understood.”

Since its launch in 2018, BetConnect has obtained 20,000 customers, and has seen more than £240m worth of bets matched.

“I have been blown away by BetConnect’s success since launch and am very proud of

what the team has built as we launch our latest platform,” Schreiber added.

“We have made huge strides and grown incredibly quickly in our first two years, but to scale and have a wide-ranging impact for all punters we needed to build on our core foundation by simplifying the platform so that it’s accessible to all. This marks an exciting new phase for BetConnect and we look forward to bringing transparency, choice and fairness to more and more punters in the years ahead.”

The operator also said it planned on offering a number of new markets later this year, including esports in the second half of the year.

ESIC said received it evidence alleges that Oleksandr Shyshko, chief executive of CS:GO team Project X, has an active esports betting account and “placed numerous bets on highly suspicious Project X matches.”

In addition, ESIC said Shyshko “made accurate pre-match bets on the outcome of the Virtus Pro v Akuma match in the CIS RMR.” This, it said was especially suspicious given that 14 teams in the CIS region signed onto a statement alleging that Akma had cheated in the competition by obtaining information related to their opponents’ positions on the game map.

The integrity body has referred evidence gathered from its Suspicious Betting Activity Network to the game’s developer, Valve.

Through analysing betting and client information, match, player and prior behaviour data as well as other relevant information, ESIC has concluded that match fixing has potentially been committed.

ESIC commissioner Ian Smith said: “While ESIC has not undertaken a full investigation into the detail, extent, and validity of any particular instances of match-fixing behaviour and the perpetrators of such behaviour – information on hand would indicate that this is a matter worth investigating further.

“Certainly, if ESIC did have jurisdiction, we would have opened a full investigation based on what we already know. ESIC has therefore referred the evidence available to us to Valve for further consideration.”

Earlier this year, ESIC fined CS:GO team Vitality $10,000 for unsporting conduct.