Month: September 2022

This was the second such action undertaken by the regulator over the last four months.

A majority of the machines were confiscated as part of searches undertaken by the URHH. Police officers accompanied URHH representatives on the searches.

The URHH is the only body legally permitted to issue a licence to operate an EGM.

A majority of the EGMs seized were cryptocurrency mining rigs or quiz machines, which the URHH defines as having “the characteristics of a gambling game” and therefore necessitates a licence.

The regulator stated that it “carefully investigates” whether gambling takes place on a device, regardless of the name, visual elements or type of device.

“As these gaming machines have not been issued or granted a valid licence, we consider them illegal,” said URHH general director Dávid Lenčéš. “Our staff actively monitor these machines. Most of them have been seized due to their diligent work. Some have also been seized because of complaints from the players.”

“Illegal operators sometimes try to make the seizure impossible by fixing machines firmly against the floor or the wall.”

According to the country’s gambling act, those that operate illegal gambling machines are liable for a fine up to €250,000 (£218,150/ $247,650).

In July, the URHH created a whitelist for legal gaming sites, to aid consumers in ensuring they are using legal offerings.  

Comments on the subject came from Playtech leadership following the business announcing its H1 results, in which revenue was up 73% year-on-year to €792.3m. Revenue from Snaitech specifically almost tripled to €446.0m.

The supplier had reportedly been considering a break-up of its business, including a sale of the Snaitech arm it acquired in 2018, after plans to sell the entire business fell through. The Playtech board approved an offer from land-based slots giant Aristocrat, but shareholders ultimately rejected this deal.

A group called TTB Partners then announced that it was considering a bid of its own, and received support from Playtech chief executive Mor Weizer (pictured). However, amid changing market conditions, TTB ultimately declined to submit a bid for the gambling technology giant.

However, group chairman Brian Mattingley said that the time does not appear right for Playtech to sell the division, and that instead he was confident that the best strategy was to continue to allow it to grow.

“The growth of Snaitech means we’re under absolutely no pressure to realise the value there, but we will continue to appraise that value, and if the time is right then we would look at returning that value to shareholders,” he said.

“We’re still committed as a board to realising value. At this time, we don’t think the market’s right. The company is in rude health, every division is trading great.

“We can return value by just ensuring our trading continues growing.”

Chief executive Mor Weizer, meanwhile, said he was confident in the future of Snaitech because the online sector in Italy still had plenty of room to grow.

“There is ample room for the higher-margin, less capital-intensive online business to grow in the years ahead,” he said.

Instead of a sale, Weizer suggested the opposite: that the business may instead make an acquisition on the B2C side to grow further in the area.

“We would consider targeted M&A to expand Snaitech and leverage the B2C opportunities we see in the business,” he said.

Weizer did note, though, that this should not be taken to mean the business was looking to buy wherever possible.

“People should not think that Playtech is going on an M&A spree,” he said. “We use the term targeted M&A. But we are in the position to seriously consider it at that time. It gives Playtech lots of strength to consider that in both B2B and B2C.”

However, while Snaitech has been a success, Weizer said the same could not be said of its other B2C brand Happybet. As a result, this brand has been brought under the management of Snaitech.

“It’s no secret that Happybet has been underperforming,” he said. “Having now moved the business under the Snaitech management team we expect to see things change going forward.”

Live casino wars

Weizer also spoke about Playtech’s place in the live casino vertical, which he noted was an area that was continuing to grow quickly and represented major opportunities.

In response to a question on whether Playtech was taking market share from Evolution – comfortably the leader in the live space – Weizer said the business was doing so in regulated markets.

“If you look at it on an apples-to-apples basis, you will see that Playtech is taking market share,” he said. “We have the largest market share in Spain. We’re successful in the UK and Italy.”

Weizer also discussed Playtech’s success in Mexico, with Mexican operator Caliente now representing its largest customer. The model Playtech found in this country – of partnering with the biggest operator in a fast-growing market – was something Weizer said Paytech wanted to repeat.

“The idea is to select a dominant partner in a country and look to grow in that country as the market grows,” he said. “The results, with aligned incentives, can be spectacular.”

According to its H1 report for the six months to 30 June, revenue for the the gaming group was up 73% year-on-year to €792.3m. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 64% to €203.8m, with adjusted post-tax profit up 73% to €94.3m.

While reported post-tax profit was an encouraging €71.4m, this was down considerably on the €401.9m accrued in the first half of 2021 when the business saw a significant gain realised on options embedded in its agreements in the Americas.

Mor Weizer, Playtech’s chief executive, said: “I am delighted with the positive start that the group has made in the first half of 2022, delivering a financial performance ahead of our expectations with significant strategic and operational progress made against our objectives.

“Our success in the period was powered by our B2B business in the Americas and Europe, alongside yet another excellent contribution from Snaitech. We continue to make great strides in executing our US strategy, launching with Parx Casino in Pennsylvania, signing several exciting deals with leading global and US brands and progressing additional licence applications. The Americas remain one of the group’s biggest growth drivers, with continued strong revenue growth in Mexico as well as Brazil complemented by new launches and partnerships in the US, Canada and Peru.”

Snaitech revenue was up 182% year-on-year to €446.0m, which was also an increase on the most recent pre-Covid year of 2019. While online was down 5% to €117.5m, Playtech said that this was still a “resilient online performance” with retail premises now fully open. Retail and gaming machines took in revenue of €312.7m, compared to just €23.4m during the Covid-impacted start to 2021.

Adding in its white-label B2C offering, including Sun Bingo, total B2C gaming revenue was up 148% to €487.3m. Adjusted EBITDA was up 143% to €126.6m.

B2B growth

Playtech said very strong growth within regulated markets helped to deliver B2B revenue of €312.0m in the first half of the year, growing 17% (13% at constant currency).

Europe, excluding the UK, grew 39% at constant currency to €92.2m driven primarily by an impressive start at Holland Casino within the newly regulated Netherlands market. Americas continued to perform well with revenues of €69.8m and 37% constant currency revenue growth. Playtech said Caliente in Mexico remains a key driver for strong revenue growth in the Americas, and it is also excited by the significant opportunities afforded by the soon-to-be-regulated Brazil market.

Asia revenue declined 22% due to competitive pressures and the impact of lockdowns in parts of the region in the period, while the group incurred a bad debt provision of €15.4 million in H1 due to collection delays.

B2B gambling generated EBITDA of €77.2m, which was up 7% on H1 2021.

Weizer added: “We have navigated significant disruption and uncertainty in the period due to well-reported geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures. For this, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of my Playtech colleagues for their hard work in the face of adversity.

“The macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain given geopolitical tensions and inflationary pressures, however we have seen our excellent performance in H1 continue into H2 and expect to see continued strong results from both our B2B and B2C businesses. As such, we are confident about Playtech’s prospects for the remainder of 2022 and beyond.”

Following the reporting period, Playtech completed the sale of its financial trading division Finalto to Gopher Investments for an enterprise value of US$250m. This sale is part of the group’s simplification strategy, as it focuses on the B2B and B2C gambling.

During the year, Playtech itself had also appeared as if it could be sold, as Asia-based investment group TTB Partners considered a bid following the collapse of an offer from Aristocrat. However, despite the support of Weizer, TTB declined to submit a formal offer.

Gross internet gaming and sports betting receipts from commercial and tribal operators for the month was comfortably higher than $113.1m in August of 2021 and also 4.5% up from $148.2m in July this year.

Online gaming gross receipts climbed 34.2% year-on-year to $130.9m, while internet sports betting adjusted gross receipts also increased by 113.0% to $24.0m, with wagering handle rising 13.8% to $218.8m.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Led by co-founder Ben Clemes, the hub will build on GiG’s presence in the US, with the business having been operational in the country since 2018.

GIG initially powered the Hard Rock brand in New Jersey before investing more into the US and expanding North American operations to accommodate each of its business units. GiG Media alone is licensed and operating in over 19 states.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

Mount Airy #1 LLC, operator of the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Monroe County, was fined $160,000 for allowing individuals under the age of 21 to gamble at the casino.

This included an 18-year-old male who gambled at two different slot machines, an 11-year-old female who played at 10 slot machines while both parents were present and cashed two vouchers; and two 13-year-old girls who gambled at slot machines with their mother.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

BetMGM will be featured on Football Night in America (FNIA) in a range of content including a weekly segment hosted by former NFL quarterback Chris Simms and sports betting and fantasy sports pioneer Matthew Berry.

Real-time betting odds on FNIA’s scoring ticker will also be showcased, while Peacock Sunday Night Football Final, an NFL post-game show produced by NBC Sports, will include BetMGM betting lines that proved prominent during the game.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

No surprise, as predicted, that Starburst is back to the top, reeling from its brief fall from grace, which happened to coincide with the game’s 10-year anniversary. Perhaps this was a decisive shot across the bows of Starship NetEnterprise, however.

The iconic game’s lead has been narrowing for months and the short-lived toppling seems to have stirred the Pacman subsidiary into action. Two not-quite-so-new entrants to the charts from NetEnt were the other real movers this month.

Fruit Shop Megaways joins stablemate Fruit Shop in the top 20, whilst another hit from a few years back, Blood Suckers, gouged out a spot too, both titles elbowing out 9 Pots and 9 Masks from Games Global on their way up. A handful of new titles popped up briefly into the top 20 mid-month, including Black Bull (Pragmatic Play), Amazon Kingdom (Just For The Win), Cats Of The Caribbean and Pile Em Up (Games Global), but it’s the back catalogue from NetEnt that’s hitting the mark.

Top 20 games by distribution

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Product managers at Pacman HQ might have been happier with new titles vying for a place in the Slots Rich List but revenue is revenue and they won’t be too disappointed that their share of content was grown by a couple of golden oldies. Moreover, we’ve seen before that NetEnt play the long game with their slow-burning rather than flash-in-the-pan titles.

Performance data on a single game is useful for understanding the impact of account management activities, game marketing programs, or game features recently incorporated. When you take a broader and longitudinal view of complete product catalogues across the universe of 2,000 operator sites, real trends start to emerge.

In a world of game proliferation, the pressure is on to produce more and/or better titles, to secure the best distribution deals with aggregators or the highest site positions with operators. And there are plenty of tools at their disposal: other than game output vis a vis quality choices, studios can offer exclusivity periods for distributors, operator branded products, or improved rates in return for featured positions and game promotions. For the big titles, game promotion via affiliates can be used to generate more ‘pull’ from consumers at the other end too…

Biggest studio dealmakers

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When large businesses aren’t stifled by bureaucracy, their size can be deployed to matter. Whether it’s the scope to offer a multi-country, multi-operator, multi-studio, multi-vertical, omni­-channel deal, or just the size of their networked jackpot, they simply have more of these tools to deploy. When big organisations really do walk the talk of their management speak, those ducks can line up and square the circles that turn the dials and needles, proverbially speaking.

What we may be witnessing is Evolution flexing its muscles and leveraging those size advantages better. As we noted back in July, whilst our sector continues to grow, it’s not obvious if you’re doing better or worse than your peers. It’s unashamedly commercial, yes, but the nice thing about game distribution profiles is that they provide an early barometer of changes afoot.

If Gonzo gets a new lease of life in the absence of a new spin-off, then we know that NetEnt are rattling their cages. There may even be a bit of intergroup rivalry at play: while NetEnt’s current output is overshadowed by Red Tiger and new kid on the block, Nolimit City, why not play to your strengths and flog the real hits harder?

On the deals front, PariPlay recently added Smartsoft Gaming, Topspin Games, and Arcadia Gaming Solutions to their portfolio and thus remains head and shoulders above other aggregators as the busiest distributor. Meanwhile, Apparat Gaming signed up distribution partner EveryMatrix this month and so remains top studio dealmaker – ahead of even newer and noisier neighbour, Beter.

Biggest aggregator dealmakers

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* Please note these are live charts which update every month so please ensure the month of September 2022 is selected in the drop-downs to match the analysis

**The interactive games chart at the top excludes live games and table games. Game rankings are determined by the number of game appearances on the casino homepages of more than 2,000 casino sites. To access many other charts including game rankings, live and table games, positions on subpages or to filter game performance by game theme, game feature or by operator type, get in touch with our partner, egamingmonitor.com. Egamingmonitor covers 40,000 games, 1,300 suppliers and 2,000+ operators. 

***Data on deals by month was collected from April 2020 onwards and the rolling chart reflects current dealmaking performance, i.e. how many deals were signed over the last 6 months. Note that only deals either a) on company websites or b) in the gaming press or c) reported to us by studios and aggregators, are collated. Deals between studios & aggregators (and aggregators & operators) from all time are available via egamingmonitor.com.

PlayUp has announced it has entered into a business combination agreement with the special-purpose corporation, with the transaction expected to close by Q1 2023.

In a statement, the SPAC outlined its vision for PlayUp: The operator will offer a comprehensive suite gambling products including daily fantasy, sports betting, slots, table games, casino games, esports, lottery and sweepstakes – rather than focusing on a narrower array of verticals. It pointed to the company’s 56% year-on-year increase in revenue from 2021-2022 as evidence of the business’s basic competence.

IGAC CEO Christian Goode elaborated on this strategy in a statement accompanying the announcement.

 “Currently, there is no platform that allows consumers to access every type of betting product through one single sign on,” he said.

“Generally, industry competitors have chosen to focus on one product or another. IGAC and PlayUp have the same shared vision: to bring the global online betting industry the most comprehensive suite of traditional and innovative betting products from all over the globe together into one app.”

“The transaction is expected to provide PlayUp with access to fresh capital to continue expanding its vision of a true single destination for the future of online betting.”

IGAC has said that it spent nearly two years looking for acquisition targets before settling on PlayUp –  and that IGAC’s regulatory experience combined with the operator’s technological platform would create a “compelling” partnership.  

PlayUp CEO Daniel Simic also explained what the company intended to do with the increased access to capital:

“PlayUp believes this transaction will enable us to continue investing in our proprietary technology and deliver on our aspirations to be the unrivaled entertainment and betting platform of the future.”

“We envision a world where our players can enhance their experience betting on the products they already love plus interact with the next generation of immersive betting products that embrace newer technologies such as AR and VR,” he said.

IGAC chairman and former deputy-governor of Illinois Bradley Tusk added: “We are excited about this transaction because we believe PlayUp is the closest to achieving our shared vision for the future of online betting – a platform that offers consumers any type of digital betting they want, from one app and one digital wallet, anywhere in the world where it’s legal.”

The news follows PlayUp’s July announcement that it had entered into a strategic review to consider “alternatives” to its strategy at the time – including the potential sale of the business.

The operator has had a complicated history with acquisition: the business’s planned sale to cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in 2020. Leadership blamed then-US CEO, Laila Mintas, claiming she contacted FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and told him that PlayUp was “not clean” and had “systemic issues”, following a dispute with her employer.

The incident led to PlayUp filing a restraining order against Mintas in Nevada court. However, the order was later overturned – with the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholding the lower court’s judgement that that PlayUp had not proven “the likelihood of success on the merits” when the case itself is judged.

Golden Crown Pty Ltd, corporate licensee of the Leeton Hotel in the Riverina region, and its director Trent Middleton were each fined $14,000 following an investigation by Liquor & Gaming NSW.

Hospitality and Racing chief executive Anthony Keon said these were serious breaches of the state’s gaming laws and the penalties send a clear message to other venue operators who do not comply with NSW’s requirements for the operation of gaming machines.

“These restrictions are in place to reduce risks of gambling harm by limiting the amount of time patrons can spend playing gaming machines,” Keon said.

“The Leeton Hotel showed a repeated disregard for the law along with the well-being of its patrons who were placed at greater risk of gambling harm.”

“As this penalty shows, venues who fail to abide by gaming machine trading hours can expect to be caught and face the full force of the law.”

The hotel operates 14 gaming machines and is authorised to trade until 1am Monday through Saturday and 10pm on Sundays.

Liquor & Gaming NSW reviewed the hotel’s gaming activity and found that between April and October 2021, its gaming machines had been operated outside these hours on at least 40 separate dates, mainly in the early hours of Saturday or Sunday mornings and after 10pm on Sunday nights. The profit derived from the illegal trading was about $9,305.

When interviewed, Middleton said he believed there was a 45-minute grace period for gaming following cessation of trade.

Both Middleton and Golden Crown pleaded guilty to breaches of the Gaming Machines Act, and Middleton told the court that he had donated the profit accrued through the unlawful operation of the machines to charity.

Each party was convicted and fined $14,000 with a further total of $10,800 in costs awarded.

In sentencing, the Local Court Magistrate said the “primary mischief caused’ was “a failure to ensure harm minimisation compliance” and that the offending was not trivial or isolated in terms of volume.