The monthly handle was 3.9% ahead of the existing record of $99.5m, as well as 31.2% up from $78.8m in March 2022 and 18.9% ahead of the $87.0m spent in February this year.
Players wagered $93.4m online as well as $10.0m at retail sportsbooks across the state.
Before his new role at Kindbridge, Farahi was the chief operating officer at Monarch Casino and Resort and also held the role of executive chairman of software company Quick Custom Intelligence.
Farahi’s appointment comes as Kindbridge is expanding its reach across the US. The company said that Farahi’s knowledge of licensing across multiple jurisdictions will aid this expansion plan.
“We are excited to have David on board as our executive chairman,” said Kindbridge CEO and founder Daniel Umfleet. “His expertise and leadership will be instrumental in advancing our mission to provide the highest quality behavioural health services to those in need.”
Farahi said that he was “thrilled” to join Kindbridge and to help improve the lives of people struggling with gambling disorders.
“I look forward to leveraging my experience in the gaming and healthcare industries to help Kindbridge continue to innovate and provide the highest quality care for its patients,” Farahi said.
In May 2022, Kindbridge announced that it would make a number of new strategic appointments to the company’s board. The appointees included Brianne Doura-Schawohl, founder and CEO of government relations at gambling policy consultancy firm Doura-Schawohl Consulting.
Last summer Adriaan told me that he had been thinking about this concept a lot: that the only thing you could really control in your life was your outlook on things.
I found that to be one of the most profound thoughts anyone had ever shared with me, and I think it best sums up his philosophy – which is a valuable lesson that he bequeaths his friends and all that knew him. To embrace Adriaan’s philosophy, and live each day to its fullest, with exuberance, levity, joy and hope is his gift to us all.
That outlook gave Adriaan an enviable life that took him from sailing single-handedly across the ocean multiple times and accidental camel wrangling in Australia, to the slopes of the Alps and the beaches of Mauritius.
His vast interests outside of igaming ranged from Lamborghinis, to a blog on the best buffalo wing joints in Canada, to a personal blog at adriaan.com, which he bought in 1996 making it one of the oldest on the internet.
He was, of course, known as a true legend in the igaming industry. The original legend. He was one of the first, and one of the most active members of the igaming community.
His long career stared with him helping develop and run the International Lottery in Liechtenstein Foundation/PLUS lotto, which in 1995 took the first online gaming transaction ever. Through the lottery Adriaan supported charitable causes both at home in Liechtenstein and internationally.
When Adriaan left the lottery he used his skills as a programmer and strategic thinker, combined with his vast experience and position as an industry icon, to involve himself in over a dozen projects at some of the igaming industry’s most successful enterprises.
If life is a treasure, dispensed one coin each day … then he spent generously and invested wisely.
But Adriaan will best be remembered for his unwavering commitment to his philosophy – which made him both a magnet and anchor for all who knew him. To count myself among his best friends is a privilege.
If life is a treasure, dispensed one coin each day … then he spent generously and invested wisely. His treasure yielded a life of love, friendships, relationships, excitement, adventure and a jolly good time for all those around him.
The whole iGB team sends our sympathies to Adriaan’s family, friends and colleagues. We invite anyone else from across the industry that would like to pay tribute to get in touch to help us commemorate him.
The licences will bring both developers in line with a change in regulations from 1 July, whereby providers of games require licence from regulator Spelinspektionen to continue offering content in the country.
Stakelogic’s licence covers its classic and video slots games, while its live dealer subsidiary, Stakelogic Live, will also be able to work with licensed operators in Sweden.
“Sweden is an important market for us, and we are thrilled to be among the first to secure a supplier licence for both Stakelogic and Stakelogic Live,” Stakelogic chief executive Stephan van den Oetelaar said.
“We are super focused on regulated markets, so securing this approval has been a priority for us and we are delighted to be among the first round of providers to have been given the green light by the regulator.”
Meanwhile, Jelly will also be able to continue to supply its slot games to licensed operators. The new Swedish licence adds to the permit that the developer already held in the UK.
“We have some very strong titles set to roll off our production line in H2, and to be able to make these available to licensed operators in core markets, such as Sweden, is a major driver of growth for the business,” Jelly chief operating officer Phil Collins said.
“Operating in regulated markets is key for Jelly; it gives the company further credibility and recognition and opens the door to new operator partnerships.”
Stakelogic and Jelly join a raft of other developers to have secured approval in Sweden in recent weeks, with other suppliers licensed in the country including Octoplay, state-owned former monopoly Svenska Spel and Comeon brand Co-Gaming.
The gaming software licences are to be a requirement for any B2B business who continues its relationships with operators in Sweden.
The new requirement – which was passed by the Swedish legislature in November – is intended to help throttle the development of the black market in Sweden by restricting the unlicensed operator sector’s access to providers.
Saying that Howard had already made her mark on the industry before her appointment at tribe-owned Wondr Nation would be an understatement.
She began her career with Caesars in 2000, where she remained for nine years in a number of roles, working her way up to the regional director of marketing for Southern Nevada.
Her next foray was to International Game Technology, where she held several roles over six years, and finally her three-year tenure as vice president of brand marketing and digital at Foxwoods Resort Casino, a company operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe.
The shift from being a Foxwoods employee to partner and supplier was not one Howard found difficult. Rather, she sees the bigger picture: the benefit it holds for tribal relations.
“For me, it’s been a pretty easy transition,” she says. “Being part of the Foxwood leadership team, I always looked at opportunities globally for the tribe. Now that we have the opportunity to really deliver on that, I have a unique vantage point.”
Howard explains that the marketing and digital experience she honed at Foxwoods allowed her to view her new role from a unique perspective.
“Because I led marketing and digital, and I know what the team and I expected from a supplier, it’s very easy to deliver on that promise to them,” she says. “Also, some of the initiatives that I led on the digital side – for example, for social – I carried with me.
“Now I’m delivering some of those things, just now as a managed service for the tribe. From that standpoint, I think it’s been a seamless transition.”
Howard’s grand plan to develop Wondr Nation involves partnering with other tribes and technology companies. She says that events like ICE London help to advance this strategy.
“What we want to do is to create an ecosystem of somewhat tribally focused partners,” she explains. “It’s important they understand the unique and specific needs of the tribes, and then we can help educate them on the best ways to work with tribes, as well as bring those solutions to other tribal organisations and even smaller casinos to bridge that gap.”
“ICE is a very big part of that, because you have so many great potential suppliers and partners right here.”
But whether all tribes are fully receptive to the online betting and gaming space is a moot point.
In Connecticut, Foxwoods is active in the online sports betting and casino space, launching its offerings in the state in October 2021 alongside DraftKings. One month later, both Foxwoods and DraftKings opened a permanent retail sportsbook in the state.
While situations in states like Connecticut have somewhat led the charge, tribes continue to lean more towards land-based gaming.
“Part of it is just wanting to better understand the supplier landscape,” she says. “In many cases, especially in California, there’s been a contentious relationship between potential suppliers and partners, and tribes. That’s one of the things that we feel are slowing up opportunities.”
But it’s not a case of looking for someone to blame. Howard says the situation depends greatly on regulation in each state, as well as tribe-on-tribe relationships.
“It depends on the regulatory environment, the tribal compacts, and the relationship with the regulator and the elected officials in that state,” she explains. “It also depends on the overall relationships between the tribes.”
“In many cases, it’s layers of things that need to get pulled back in order to move forward.”
This, coupled with a sometimes confusing regulatory environment, can cause issues for tribes.
“I think that’s been a little bit of the challenge, just figuring out how do you get out of the minutiae and pull back and say, ‘OK what do we want to do? And what is the best path for this?’”
But Howard is optimistic on the outlook for tribal relations in the US. From her perspective, the situation must be approached with understanding to ensure a successful partnership.
“I think a big piece of it, which we’ve seen in California and other markets, is working together,” she says. “Part of that is once again understanding the relationship and what the specific needs of the tribes are.”
Crucially, all parties must be knowledgeable on how the tribes operate, particularly with regard to their community-driven approach.
“With the tribes, it’s not just about the financial aspect, it’s also about the community,” Howard explains. “It’s about making sure that the solutions in place are additive to their way of life, additive to building generational wealth, and figuring out if there’s a path forward to creating opportunities for tribal members.”
Some aspects of the relationship between tribes, regulators and operators are out of the industry’s hands. But for Howard, flourishing in the tribal gaming space is determined by who’s playing the game.
Bunchberry Limited, Mobile Incorporated Limited and LeoVegas Gaming were all flagged for breaching of Standards 4.08 and 4.09, which relate to a requirement of licensees to secure approval for all slots from an independent testing laboratory.
Mobile Incorporated was also ruled to have breached Standard 1.22, where the uncertified games it provided were from suppliers that are not registered with the AGCO.
Under the multi-year deal, which marks PrizePicks’ first agreement with a major US sports competition, the operator will serve as a partner of the series from the 2023 season.
PrizePicks will have a VIP presence at a number of marquee events throughout 2023, during which Nascar will celebrate its 75th anniversary, starting with the Nascar Cup Series Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.
The German sports betting raids took place yesterday (20 April) and followed two-and-a-half years of undercover investigations related to the operator, with allegations including suspicion of forming a criminal organisation, offering illegal gambling and withholding wages in reference to undeclared work.
Raids were carried out by police from the German regions of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen, Berlin, Saxony and Bavaria, as well as authorities in Malta and Croatia. Raids took place at premises across all these regions, though the focus of the effort was Cologne.
In a joint statement issued by the Prosecution of Organised Crimes (ZeOS NRW) and the State Criminal Police Office for North Rhine-Westphalia, investigating authorities executed over 100 search warrants and six arrest warrants during the raids.
More than 100 private apartments, betting shops and other business premises were raided as part of the effort with over 900 emergency services personnel. The operation focused on locating evidence and securing cash and valuables.
Six male main suspects between the ages of 34 and 60 were arrested, while police said the investigations, in particular the evaluation of evidence located during the raids, are ongoing.
Though the identity of the operator was not disclosed by police, German newspaper Bild said the raids in Cologne took place at the headquarters of Tipster.
The newspaper, which published photographs of the raids taking place, said that the effort lasted a number of hours and included police trying to gain access to a secure vault at the location.
Tipster has been active for more than three years, offering customers a wide range of betting options across a number of sports and competitions.
The German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) also acknowledged news of the raids but also noted that the operator of interest to police was not a member of its organisation.
“The DSWV has learned today from the press about the large-scale police operation against a provider of sports betting in Germany,” the DSWV said. “This provider is not and has never been a member of the DSWV.
“We have no knowledge beyond the information disseminated in the press. The DSWV and its members support effective enforcement against providers who are not willing to regulate, because such action by the authorities will gradually dry up the black market and steer sports betting customers to legal providers.”
The announcement was made by Platkin in front of industry members and regulators at the East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City.
The new standards follow online and sports gambling’s rise in popularity in the state. DGE reports that March 2023 gaming revenue rose by 17.8% compared to March of 2022.
Rebuck notes that the uptick in sports wagering and online gaming has made a considerable impact.
“In the face of that boom, we have a duty to protect the public from advertising that could be misleading or harmful. And for those in the grip of gambling addiction, we need to offer as many exit ramps from their condition as possible,” he said.
Among the gambling ad standards introduced by Platkin and Rebuck were new online and sports gambling advertising measures. These included openly displaying the 1-800-GAMBLER hotline in ads, barring wording such as “guaranteed wins” or “risk-free” bets and offering easy and quick ways to opt-out of direct gambling advertising.
To bolster New Jersey’s existing voluntary self-exclusion program, DGE will provide a video-conference option to easily self-exclude without leaving the home.
DGE also plans to create a 24/7 hotline to answer questions regarding the self-exclusion program and process.
Notably, the Attorney General confirmed in his announcement the addition of a senior level position within the DGE dedicated to responsible gaming.
The new responsible gaming coordinator will deal with concerns around responsible gaming and protect and advance state initiatives.
The position is to be filled by an experienced attorney and will report directly to the DGE director.
Attorney General Platkin hails the impact of this new role.
“By establishing a dedicated, senior level position within the Division of Gaming Enforcement to focus on responsible gaming, we are sending a clear message that we take this work seriously – and so should the industry,” he said.
Keith Whyte, executive director of the National Council on Problem Gambling congratulates Platkin and Rebuck on their advancements.
“The initiatives announced today further bolster responsible gambling protections and reduce barriers for people seeking help,” Whyte said.
The regulator warned that such activities, where real estate or cars were given away as part of a lottery, are considered games of chance, and that neither private individuals or business associations can legally organise these games in any way
The STFHZ emphasised that the law states that a game of chance is any game in which the player becomes entitled to a monetary or other prize in exchange for the payment of money, where the winning or losing depends solely or predominately on chance.
The Authority made clear that loopholes – such as the ticket to participate being given as the real purpose of a product purchase like a book or t-shirt – were not valid excuses of getting around the law, and these games would still be considered unlicensed lottery organising.
The regulator said it was aware of “telling” signs these ventures were disguised games of chance, such as players receiving their money back if the draw does not go ahead, or if the price of the product is higher than would be considered normal.
Another sign that these enterprises are games of chance is that the lottery is only held if a certain number of products are sold. The STFHZ said that conditions do not occur with real promotions. The Authority also said that the participation of a notary does not make this kind of lottery legal.
“The SZTFH strictly sanctions the organisation of such lotteries, and may impose administrative fines of HUF 500,000 to HUF 100 million on the organiser,” said the regulator.
“This activity can also serve as the basis for criminal prosecution, because anyone who regularly organizes illegal gambling is punishable by up to three years in prison for a crime.
“In the case of an advertisement promoting unlicensed gambling, the advertiser, the advertising service provider, the publisher of the advertisement and the person featured in the advertisement may be jointly fined at least HUF 10 million.
“In unlicensed gambling, the player participates at his own risk, the Authority does not have the authority to enforce the handing over of prizes, and the enforceability of claims in court is also doubtful.”
