Month: July 2021

With the licence, Kalamba will distribute 15 games to local Greek gaming suppliers.

The collection will include some of Kalamba Games’ most popular titles, such as Ducks till Dawn, Griffin’s Quest and Blazing Bull, along with titles from its Joker series.
This approval is the latest in several European market developments for Kalamba Games, which recently received certification in Croatia and also entered the Spanish and Italian markets.
“It’s always a notable achievement to enter into new territories and adds to the increasing number of regulated markets that Kalamba now serves directly,” said Giles Lucas, chief commercial officer at Kalamba Games.
“Bullseye, our legacy-free RGS platform is strategically key in meeting the ever-increasing regulatory requirements across multiple geographies. Supporting our partners with rapid, cost effective development and efficient deployment of unique content to regulated markets is the cornerstone of Kalamba’s Bullseye technology platform.”

The HGC opened for license applications in October 2020, after a bill was passed in October 2019

which allowed two licensing options to become available- one for online betting and another for offering games of chance.

The bill also sanctioned the use of Random Number Generator (RNG) games, a move encouraged by the threat of legal action against an earlier draft of the bill that prohibited RNG offerings.

In recent months, Greece has offered licenses to several operators, including recent issuances to NetBet, Aspire Global’s Pariplay, GoldenRace and Betsson.

In today’s igaming landscape, there is a huge amount of competition, making it difficult for existing operators to remain relevant and new operators to gain traction. As the industry evolves, it’s becoming more important to offer customers tailored gaming experiences to attract and retain their interest. 

Fortunately, with the right approach, supported by technology, comes the opportunity to engage customers with content that resonates. This is the view of Dario Arruda, chief executive of The Mill Adventure. 

Arruda drew on the company’s positioning in the marketplace as a start-up and the insights they’ve gained along the way.

Re-entering the igaming sphere as a start-up requires having a strong grasp on new and innovative technology and less reliance on archaic systems. This level of agility allows start-ups to easily identify processes that hinder success.

“As a start-up – we are in a privileged position of examining the igaming industry with a fresh and unique perspective and having the courage to question the efficiency of current processes,” he says.

A significant factor affecting revenues for online casinos, according to Arruda, is promoting outdated and insubstantial content, and archaic, manual efforts to populate these game lobbies.

The Mill Adventure is on a mission to challenge and inspire the way that igaming businesses operate, specifically around automation, compliance and adaptability. 

While sticking to existing processes might feel like a secure bet, operators should take an inquisitive and open-minded approach to personalisation if they want to truly evolve with the times.

Learn from the best

When it comes to personalisation, there are a few companies to take inspiration from. Streaming giants such as Netflix and Spotify have revolutionised the way people consume content through personalising the experience. 

“Personalisation is one of the pillars of today’s most successful media and entertainment companies such as streaming service giants. Both have mastered a level of personalisation that is both efficient and seamless – successfully transforming one product into multiple variants meant to satisfy every unique customer’s desires and needs,” says Arruda.

“We believe in the same insights and approach that drive these brands and believe that our own reimagining of similar technologies and strategies could usher in a new level of optimisation and growth for igaming businesses.”

This is what inspired The Mill Adventure to launch its own solution, SmartLobbies, which, like Spotify and Netflix, uses artificial intelligence to personalise the experience for users.

Trust the data

With dozens of game launches every month, customers may feel overwhelmed at the choice, according to Arruda.

Arruda explains that sometimes, less is more. With The Mill Adventure’s AI-powered solution, SmartLobbies, game recommendations are uniquely crafted based on data-driven insights.

“We are able to curate a unique games’ list for each player by combining information about the users themselves, games metadata, and past interactions between the users and games such as habits and preferences.”

Eliminating the time spent browsing means less friction, boosting engagement and player retention. With a fully tailored offering of games, customers can dive straight in and start interacting with the content on offer.

“The downside to having seemingly limitless games coming out regularly is having to scour through a continuously growing content catalogue – taking away from time that could be used enjoying the games themselves. One of the key features of our SmartLobbies is the insight-based, and data-backed recommendation of games,” he says.

A casino lobby that provides real-time metrics around game popularity in different markets, customer habits and so forth, is one that empowers operators to respond to these trends as they see fit. The use of BI allows these trends to be responded to in real-time, when they are the most relevant. With this in place, it’s possible to work smarter and not harder.

Once operators have more time on their hands, they can spend more time developing their brand’s core identity, optimising customer journeys, and less time bearing the burden of operational tasks.

Beyond personalisation

Personalisation and automation goes beyond just driving efficiency, rather it allows casinos to continually expand their customer base. Having the infrastructure in place to enter new markets saves operators the tiresome task of continually updating and reviewing existing processes 

 “Compliance and adaptabilityalso underpin all our solutions – ensuring a remarkably safe environment that is fully compliant with relevant gaming regulations and standards. Our solutions are also built to be seamlessly adapted to different jurisdictions,” explains Arruda.

“We have decided to take on a path of automating whatever we can and championing the strategy of employing optimized solutions that lead to higher margins while requiring fewer resources.”

“Our ability to conceive such ambitious projects such as SmartLobbies or ‘Netflix for casinos’ and successfully execute them into a fully operational solution notwithstanding various jurisdictions and technical challenges is what defines our unique position in the industry,” he concludes.

The Big Step, which has called to remove gambling ads from football in the UK, said it’s estimated that over 20m people will watch the fixture, including millions of children.

While advertisements may not be shown during live sport itself if aired before the 9 pm watershed under the “whistle-to-whistle ban”, ads are permitted to appear during coverage before a match starts, as well as after the watershed.

The Big Step said that it had been disappointed to see gambling advertising during ITV’s coverage of the UEFA European Football Championship since it began last month, and that the promotion of gambling “will undoubtedly have caused gambling-related harms”.

“As a charity supporting bereaved families, we know all too well the devastating damage that gambling can cause every day. We can only hope that ITV changes its position on this to prevent further suffering for many families up and down the country,” it said.

It pointed out that it was looking forward to seeing the England squad take on Denmark on Wednesday, but that it is no exaggeration to state that millions of children will be tuning in to watch the game.

It therefore requested that ITV suspend gambling advertising for the duration of the broadcast, and not just within the whistle-to-whistle timeframe.

“There is no excuse to show a single gambling advert in front of the whole country, especially when there will be such a young and susceptible audience viewing,” The Big Step concluded.

The Big Step aims to see an end to all gambling promotion, especially in football. It has already garnered the support of several professional teams, including League Two’s Forest Green Rovers, who joined the campaign’s call for an end to gambling advertising in football in May.

At the time, Forest Green Rovers chairman Dale Vince OBE said of gambling advertising: “For me, the fun already stopped.  This is an abuse of football and of football fans.”

In his new role, Craven will support Allwyn’s bid for the fourth National Lottery licence in Great Britain, working alongside bid chair Sir Keith Mills.

Craven joins Allwyn having previously spent six years as managing director of UK gambling group The Tote, while he also had a spell as chief executive of gaming software business World Gaming.

Earlier in his career, Craven also co-founded digital media business UPC/Chello and will bring a significant amount of broadband and digital content services experience to Allwyn.

“National Lotteries are needed now more than ever,” Craven said. “In Sazka Group’s other markets, they have driven footfall on the high street whilst making a real difference in local communities. That’s why the opportunity to become the CEO of Allwyn, and hopefully he National Lottery, was impossible to turn down.

“Throughout my career in the global gaming sector, I’ve always focused on how technology can be used to improve the customer experience, whether that be in-store or online. Not only does this mean making games fun and exciting, but I passionately believe that technology is the best way to safeguard customers.”

Mills added: “Any business that wants to grow its customer base must be able to demonstrate a credible plan to invest in and deploy the latest technology. David’s phenomenal track record in software, broadband and gaming gives him an excellent understanding of this, which will only provide yet another huge boost to our application to run The National Lottery”.

Craven’s appointment comes on the back of a number of high profile recent appointments to Allwyn’s advisory board to support the licence bid.

Aside from Mills, Allwyn last month added psychologist and Professor of Behavioural Addiction Dr Mark Griffiths to its advisory board, alongside technology entrepreneur Brent Hoberman, former global chief executive of Syco Entertainment Charles Garland, and the managing director of Twitter UK, Dara Nasr.

Sazka set out its intention to bid for the National Lottery licence in October last year and faces competition from Italian lottery operator Sisal and India’s Sugal & Damani. Incumbent Camelot also completed the Gambling Commission’s Selection Questionnaire, but has not yet announced if it is bidding for the tender.

As part of this process, Sazka in April announced it was to bring together its UK operations under the new ‘Allwyn’ corporate identity.

The business has been approved to supply its services in Ukraine by the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries in Ukraine (KRAIL).

The B2B licensing allows suppliers to offer their services in the newly-regulated market once tax legislation has been determined by lawmakers. Under the new bill which was passed and signed into law in August last year, land-based casino gaming, bookmaking and slots will be legal but casinos must only be located in hotels.

Following the relaunch of gambling in the nation, the Cabinet of Ministers in Ukraine approved the licensing conditions for B2B licenses for gambling suppliers.

Stakelogic’s suite of games has also been approved by the Malta Gaming Authority, Romanian ONJN and the British Gambling Commission.

The licensing will see titles such as Black Gold 2 become available to Ukraine-licensed operators in addition to the supplier’s live casino offering featuring blackjack and roulette.

“The Ukrainian market has been on our radar for some time, with leading CIS market experts tipping it to be the territory with greatest potential in the region. We are delighted to announce that the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries in Ukraine (KRAIL) has reviewed our business offering and awarded us one of the first B2B licences in the country. 

“Our past experiences working with the regulators in other, strict territories such as the UK, ensured we were prepared for all eventualities in Ukraine and we’re pleased to announce that we passed all the requirements laid before us,” said Stakelogic chief executive Stephen van den Oetelaar.

The online casino developer also recently completed its acquisition of Serbia-based software developer Smart&Applied and online games casino Hurricane Games.

The Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy examined bill 2713-D for the second time, after amending it in May. The bill is set to complement the country’s Gambling Act, which became law almost a year ago, allowing for betting, online casino, slot halls and land-based casinos at hotels.

Having already made a number of changes to the bill, including replacing a system of different tax rates between 10% and 30% for different verticals with a single 10% tax rate, the additional amendments were more minor.

One change the committee made supplemented its earlier decision to remove a clause to temporarily triple licence fees until a nationwide monitoring system comes into effect. As some operators – such as early licensees Parimatch and Cosmolot – have already paid these higher licence fees, the amendment version of the bill clarifies that these extra payments will be counted against future renewal fees.

In addition, the law changed details regarding the country’s tax on gambling winnings. Winnings of more than UAH480,000 (£12,700/€14,900/$17,600) within a year may be taxed at 18%, but the committee’s amendments now mean that for casino and slot players, losses may now be deducted from winnings if they occur within the same 24 hour period.

The National Bank of Ukraine is also instructed to examine maximum cash limits for land-based casinos, in order to ensure robust anti-money laundering practices.

The bill is now set to receive a second reading, where it may be passed and sent to President Volodymyr Zelensky to become law.

Collins joins Jogo after stepping down as managing director of betting and gaming at media giant News UK in February, a role in which he oversaw brands such as the Dream Team fantasy football league, Sun Bingo and Sun Racing.

At the time, Collins, who joined News UK in November 2019, said he was looking to pursue a new start-up opportunity.

As well as helping to launch Gaming Realms, Collins also co-founded founded Cashcade, the online bingo business behind the leading UK brand Foxy Bingo.

“I’ve been hugely impressed with the quality of Jogo Global’s products, as well as the company’s vision to bring positive changes to the casino industry,” Collins said. “In my new role, I’m very much looking forward to supporting the team in building a successful business that is operational across all key gaming markets.”

Jogo Global chief executive David Marcus added: “Bringing Simon’s superior expertise and wide range of contacts to Jogo Global is hugely important for the company’s future development and we couldn’t be happier.

“We’re an ambitious young company and truly believe that our innovative and advanced products will drive business growth for the world’s leading operators. With Simon on board, we’re now ready to take the next step and push Jogo Global forward to new heights.”

The bill, signed by Kenyatta on 29 June, initially set to bring back a controversial 20% excise tax on betting stakes.

This tax was increased from 10% in 2019 in a move that led to operators Sportpesa and Betin leaving the market, on the back of a different dispute over another 20% tax on stakes.

However, in its amendments to the 2020 Finance Bill, the country’s Finance Committee proposed removing the tax entirely, arguing that by pushing operators out of the market, the tax increase had in fact meant the Treasury collected less tax income.

This change was ultimately approved by Parliament and signed into law by Kenyatta, who had previously expressed strong opposition to the industry. However, the Treasury vowed to reintroduce the tax in the near future.

It eventually did bring the 20% stake tax back with this year’s finance bill, when it was first presented to Parliament in May.

However, the Finance Committee again rejected the tax rate. This time, it proposed lowering the rate to 7.5%, but allowing the tax to apply to lotteries as well, rather than only betting. 

The committee had collected evidence on the bill from a number of stakeholders, including Sportpesa, which argued that using turnover as the base for the excise tax was contrary to the excise duty law. The operator pointed out that the law states that the excisable value of services should be “the fee, commission or charge payable for services, or open market value”.

The Finance Committee said lowering the tax rate would help keep players on licensed sites.

“The committee observed that the proposed rate of excise duty on betting is too high and may end up not achieving the intended revenue as most players will opt for international platforms for their betting activities,” it said.

This proposal received its third reading in Parliament and was passed last week, before the country’s president signed the bill into law.

After the tax was repealed last year, Sportpesa returned to the Kenyan market, under a new licence held by a business named Milestone Games. However, this itself caused controversy as regulator the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) argued that Milestone did not have the rights to use the Sportpesa brand.

Ultimately, a High Court ruling allowed Sportpesa to once again take bets.

Data from April’s summary showed that 34% of betting integrity reports came from betting operators. A further 20% came from sports governing bodies, while 15% came from bet monitoring and data suppliers, and 10% from other regulators and national platforms.

The remaining reports, at 21%, came from other sources including the Gambling Commission’s confidential reporting line, non-Gambling Commission licensed operators, law enforcement agencies and members of the public.

By sport, football received the most integrity reports, accounting for 44% of the total. Tennis received 21% of reports, while esports accounted for a further 20%. Other sports made up 15% of the total reports made.

This differed from the last published snapshot, for September 2019, when 51% of reports were from football, 30% tennis, 5% horseracing and 14% other sports.

The regulator added that reported events in April came from more than 25 non-Great Britain countries.

This marks the first report of its kind since the introduction of a new rule from 1 April, stating that all gambling licensees are required to provide the regulator’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) with details of betting integrity related issues in a standardised format.

The requirement follows amendments made to the Commission’s Licence Condition and Codes of Practice on 31 October, 2020.

In addition to the April integrity snapshot, the Gambling Commission has published its updated Sports and Sports Betting Integrity Action Plan for 2021, which was first produced in 2015 and is updated annually.

The Action Plan outlines Britain’s approach to managing the risks to betting integrity, and sets out how members of the Sports Betting Integrity Forum (SBIF) aim to protect Britain’s reputation for being a safe place to enjoy sports and sports betting.

The 2021 plan builds on the SBIF’s work to date, but priority actions this year will reflect additional risks to integrity brought about by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, as well as changes resulting from the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The SBIF’s website has also been redesigned with a view to making it more user friendly, and to provide a platform where betting integrity related resources can easily be located. Resources include a sports betting integrity training module which had been developed to provide an educational resource for the wider British betting industry.

The Gambling Commission said the SBIU is collaborating with key sporting and government stakeholders to provide integrity support for the rescheduled 2020 UEFA European Football Championship.

Should the meeting go ahead on 15 July, Gopher – a Playtech minority shareholder – has urged the technology group to vote against Barinboim Group’s offer – as recommended by advisory group Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS).

Gopher sought to clarify some misconceptions about its $250m offer for Finalto.

As well as confirming that the $250m is ring-fenced and immediately available, the company also stressed that it is confident that it would receive the necessary regulatory approval. It also believes that its offer is “on materially equivalent terms” to Barinboim’s proposal, meaning that negotiations can be entered into swiftly.

The Barinboim consortium’s initial offer was sent in May after lengthy negotiations with Playtech. The $185m deal would rise to as high as $210m if certain conditions were met.

A statement from Gopher Investments said: “As the Board noted in their Announcement, the consortium’s offer remains subject to shareholder approval at the general meeting and approval of regulatory authorities. There can, therefore, be no certainty that the consortium’s offer will proceed to completion.

“Gopher urges the Board to adjourn the general meeting and engage in discussions with Gopher to proceed towards a recommended transaction that delivers materially better value to Playtech’s shareholders. An adjournment of the general meeting for a short period of time does not preclude the Board from proceeding with the consortium’s offer and provides both the Board and shareholders with optionality.”