Infinity Gaming Magazine - May 2015 Infinity Gaming Magazine
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Transcript of Infinity Gaming Magazine - May 2015 Infinity Gaming Magazine
50
Finalists announced end of April
pages of news,
articles and information
for the gaming industry
WIG6 IS COMING
GAMING + ARTICLES + business + global + ONLINE + NEWS+ APPS + AWARDS + etc
THE ONLYMAGAZINEYOU NEED
InfinityGamingwww.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE MAY 2015
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2 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
ZEUS FEATURE
WOODS TALK
JUSTIN CHAMBERLAIN
What could a Greek God have to do with Gaming?
Andrew Rosewarne Director of Gaming NMi
Infinity talks to the CEO of Core
Gaming
02
21
08
Opinion Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in all external articles are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official
policy or position of The Infinity Gaming Magazine Any content
provided by our feature writers or authors are of their opin-
ion, and are not intended to malign any religion, ethic group,
club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.
3MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
WOMEN IN GAMING AWARDS
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATIONS
The 6th Annual awards ceremony coming in
June
Martin R. Baird and another superb article
on acquiring skills for life.38
42
4 EDITOR NOTESLana welcomes you to the new look
magazine, a new format after 5 years.
6 OUR WRITERSIt has always been our pleasure to enjoy
the superb writers on our rosta.
13 PARIS CASINO?Could the French capital be ready to legal-
ise casinos?
18 DUTCH ONLINENew Dutch Minister promises to move
online gambling onwards.
20 LESSONS FROM INSURANCEProfessor Nelson Rose with another superb
article on gaming law.
24 AUSTRALIAN GAMBLINGAustralians will gamble $6 billion a year
says new study.
34 JOHN EDMUNDSWe catch up with new writer John Ed-
munds about some tips for new spiring
executives in the industry.
41 CYPRUS CASINOFirst license to be issued by February 2016
says government.
49 CAESARSStruggling casino giant asks for more time
on bankruptcy hearing date.
4 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
We hope you are all enjoying the fab
weather we are all having and managed
to fit in a round of golf here and there
and watch the Masters. What a sur-
prise on the winner and an outstanding
young talent.
Our industry is not short of young tal-
ent and we have been busy with prepa-
rations for the 6th Women in Gaming
Awards and received some outstanding
nominations and will announce finalist
shortly.
Do not forget to join the Wig evening -
industry Networking event for Business
women.
A note from the editor
Welcome to the May edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine, we hope you like the new look.
Get ready it’s nearly
time for the 6th
Annual Women in
Gaming Awards.
In this issue of the magazine we are
delighted to bring you interviews with
Justin Chamberlain CEO of Core Gaming
who tells us why Core Gaming is a real
deal and Andrew Rosewarne Director of
Gaming at NMi.
And so it keeps coming with our superb
line-up of contributing writers from
Martin R. Baird, Christina Thakor-Rankin
and JJ Woods, John Edmunds and Pro-
fessor I Nelson Rose all offering expert
opinion.
So, “To Infinity and Beyond!”
Regards,
Lana
Lana Thompson - Editor
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Christina Thakor-RankinMartin R. BairdJohn Edmunds
Andrew Tottenham
JJ Woods
Professor Nelson Rose
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ADVERTISING:Sponsorship [email protected]
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6 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Infinity Gaming Magazine Contributing WritersA magazine is only as good as the content inside and with some of the leading specialists within the gaming industry. With specialised articles covering customer service, the gaming law, new prducts, technology and current affairs with the sector the Infinity Gaming Magazine is delighted to showcase our superb line-up of contributing writers.
Martin R. Baird
John Edmunds
Martin R. Baird is chief executive of-ficer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a Boise, Idaho-based consulting firm to the global gaming industry that is dedicated to helping casinos improve their guest service so they can compete and generate future growth and profit-ability. Robinson & Associates is the world leader in casino guest experi-ence measurement, management and
improvement. For more information, visit the company’s Web sites at http://casinocustomerservice.com and www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com or contact the company at 208-991-2037. Robinson & Associates is a member of the Casino Management Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming Association.
With over 16 years’ industry experience building high-performance teams and successful businesses around the world, John Edmunds is passionate about ena-bling people and technology deliver su-perior business results. As Chief Market-ing Officer at FutureLogic, John was at the heart of FutureLogic’s digital trans-formation from hardware supplier to software solutions provider and subse-quent acquisition by JCM Global. As an experienced thought-leader, strategist and writer, John is a regular contributor
to numerous gaming publications and has been guest speaker on technology discussion panels and industry forums in Buenos Aires, Las Vegas, London and Toronto. John works with technology companies in the US and UK helping deliver su-perior business results and connecting start-ups and lower middle-market firms with private equity development and growth capital. John can be reached on +1.818.398.8028 or [email protected].
general manager and CEO
JJ WoodsJJ Woods Director of Operations found-ed and set up Atlantic Casino Consult-ants which consults Worldwide, He is also an expert on the Irish Gaming Market and the impending Casino Legis-lation. He was born in Ireland but left in the Seventies to live in London and for a career in Banking that lasted nearly four years after which he joined the Casino Industry in London where he trained and has over the last 30 years been involved
in the setting up, design, management, and opening of Casinos Worldwide.
JJ is also an Author on Gaming and has written for several magazines, spoken at gaming conferences was selected as a Judge for the World Gaming Industry awards and has appeared on TV and Ra-dio discussing Gaming issues. He can be contacted through the website... www.atlanticcasinoconsultants.com
7MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Christina Thakor-Rankin
Professor I. Nelson Rose
Christina is Principal Consultant at 1710 Gaming Ltd, a specialist betting and gaming consultancy, delivering a range of services including licensing and com-pliance (incl. regulation, money launder-ing and social responsibility), business start-up, training and strategic re-engi-neering, project management, research, business analysis and development, to start-ups and established multi-national
operators and providers, gambling regu-lators, law enforcement and government agencies, media, and specialist interest groups and associations within the sec-tor, in both established and emerging markets across the world.
www.1710gaming.com
Prof. Rose is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on gambling law, and is a consultant and expert witness for governments, industry and players. His latest books, INTERNET GAMING LAW (1st and 2nd editions), BLACKJACK AND THE LAW, GAMING LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS and GAMING LAW IN A NUT-SHELL are available through his website, www.GAMBLINGANDTHELAW.com.
#191 © Copyright 2013, I. Nelson Rose, Encino, California. All rights reserved worldwide. Gambling and the Law® is a registered trademark of Professor I. Nelson Rose, www.GamblingAndTheLaw.com.
general manager and CEO
Would you like to feature here?Infinity Gaming Magazine is always look-ing for new feature writers, if you have something to say and feel the global gaming industry would be interested then drop us a line and we can explain the benefits of working with a global reaching industry publication.
Fore more details on becoming a feature writer contact Paul Jordan our Editor at
Infinity Gaming Magazine Contributing WritersA magazine is only as good as the content inside and with some of the leading specialists within the gaming industry. With specialised articles covering customer service, the gaming law, new prducts, technology and current affairs with the sector the Infinity Gaming Magazine is delighted to showcase our superb line-up of contributing writers.
8 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Dutch Minister promises movement on internet gambling regulationThe newly appointed replacement Klass DiJkhoff has promised to ensure that online gambling regulation and licensing will continue forward while he is in office.
Following the resignation of Fred Teeven
the former Nederland’s Secretary of
State Justice in regard to allegations
of misleading the parliament in a com-
pensation claim in 2001 to a convicted
drug trafficker the newly appointed re-
placement Klass DiJkhoff has promised
to ensure that online gambling regula-
tion and licensing will continue forward
while he is in office.
Fred Teeven widely regarded as the cre-
ator of the Nederland’s online gambling
bill retired following the allegations
and fears amongst supporters for on-
line gambling in the country were that
it would now be stalled have be laid
to rest following DiJkhoff’s announce-
ment.
Speaking to Dutch media DiJkhoff
stated that his office was committed to
completing and processing the regula-
tion of online gambling. The new secre-
tary said that he supports all the provi-
sions that have been put forward by his
predecessor.
It is understood that some 200 online
gambling operators have expressed
interest in taking part in any legalised
online gambling that is allowed in the
country. Estimates say that over 1 mil-
lion Dutch nationals play online with
unregulated online gambling sites at
present.
I am committed to com-
pleting and processing
the regulation of online
gambling. The new secre-
tary said that he supports
all the provisions that
have been put forward by
his predecessor.
9MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Safecharge & Tain sign deal
Pennsylvania state representative Tina
Davis had introduced a third online
gambling bill for review after state Rep-
resentatives John Payne and Nick Micca-
relli introduced their bills also this year.
However the Davis bill has a few lit-
tle added differences to the other two,
moth notably it would only allow state
players to gamble online once they have
physically registered with a land based
casino within the state and checks have
been done to approve their participa-
tion with online gambling.
This is not the first time an idea like this
has been considered, California Assem-
blyman Mike Gatto introduced such a
measure in his bill but was strongly crit-
icised for it as the logistics were difficult
to implement.
Both Davis and Paynes bills allow for
total online gambling where Miccarelli’s
only allows for online poker. The new
bill by Davis would charge operators a
28% tax rate and a $5 million license
fee for three years and a renewal would
be $500,000 for another three years.
“Considering efforts across the country
to legalize internet gaming, it is impera-
tive that we maintain the integrity of our
gaming industry amid inevitable federal
pre-emption and competing states,” Da-
vis said.
SafeCharge has announced it has sealed
a partnership deal with TAIN AB, a turn-
key solution provider for the e-gaming
industry.
TAIN a developer of platforms and on-
line gaming solutions since 1999, has
recently opened up a number of new
international markets. Thanks to Sa-
feCharge’s network of alternative pay-
ment methods, TAIN will now give its
White Label licensees access to a va-
riety of local and alternative payment
methods.
Via these methods, TAIN will be able
to markedly boost its reach, optimise
conversion rates, and (of course) to
generate higher revenues. SafeCharge
was selected to provide payment ser-
vices and risk solutions because of its
strength in fraud prevention, payment
processing and rapid integration. On top
of the payment facilities, a special fraud
screening profile has been designed for
TAIN according to the company’s risk
Pennsylvania sees third online gambling bill introduced
“A responsible internet gaming sys-
tem must be created in order to pro-
tect Pennsylvanians and the success of
the established gaming industry in the
Commonwealth, which has generated
more than $7 billion in state tax reve-
nue, and created more than 16,000 jobs
statewide.”
Although the new bill has supporters
observers believe the best chance of
success will come with the Payne bill,
Payne is the chairman of the House
Gaming Oversight Committee, meaning
that his bill may have the best chance.
management strategy. These fraud pre-
vention rules are processed in real-time
allowing TAIN’s risk team to instantly
handle transactions that are flagged for
Manual Review or Rejected, thus cutting
the rate of chargebacks and eliminating
potential fraud attacks.
“Our partnership with TAIN to improve
the player’s deposit and withdrawal ex-
perience is well aligned with its strategy
to continue to deliver technologies for
an improved conversion funnel,” com-
ments David Avgi, CEO, SafeCharge.
“TAIN is a key partner to collaborate
with as both companies are technology
driven service providers and this op-
portunity enables us to further extend
the reach of our technologies.” Chris-
ter Fahlstedt, CEO, TAIN: “SafeCharge
is our partner of choice as it provides
advanced technologies and applied
expertise in the eGaming market. This
collaboration will both reduce the fraud
risk to our licensees and
boost their sales revenue
by enabling them to offer
fully localised payment
services including the ac-
ceptance of applicable
local payment methods
from their players.”
10 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
US online gambling market estimates slashedMorgan Stanley has lowered the valuation of the US online gambling market following delays in legislation
Morgan Stanley has lowered the valua-
tion of the US online gambling market
following delays in legislation in many
states that are considering legalising
online gambling in some form or an-
other along with the potential low risk
of online gambling again being ban-
ner nationally by the RAWA supporters
which the bill is currently being heard
in committee.
In total Morgan Stanley has cut the es-
timate by almost half from $5 billion by
2020 to just $2.7 billion.
“Legislative processes continue to be
slow as lawmakers remain unconvinced
that online gaming is currently worth
the hassle for limited tax revenue,” Mor-
gan Stanley wrote in their report. “We
continue to believe that there is a mate-
rial runway for growth, but results have
been disappointing.”
According to the report the firm believe
that by 2020 thirteen more states will
join the online gambling industry in
the US making up the estimated $2.7
billion. However at the current rate of
states implementing legislation to al-
low for online gambling many observ-
ers feel that number is ambitious unless
a major political shift is made towards
supporting online gambling more.
11MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Casinos Austria online gambling revenues fall
It is expected thou that Monday will
New research has shown that Australia
will generate over $6 billion a year in
gambling revenues by the end of this
decade. Fuelled by a growing Asian
market and a VIP market moving to new
locations IBISWorld the market research
company say that Australia has the po-
tential to generate $6.2 billion a year by
2021.
“IBISWorld believes the opening of
these new casinos is reflective of
strength in an industry being bolstered
by high levels of domestic spending as
well as increasing levels of foreign gam-
bling dollars,” it said.
Australia has not had a new casino
since 1996, when the Reef Hotel Casino
opened in Cairns, IBISWorld senior in-
dustry analyst Spencer Little said.
However with James Packer building his
$1.3 billion Barangaroo on Sydney Har-
bour resort and the $8.2 billion Aquis
Great Barrier Reef Resort on the Gold
Coast the estimates of revenues reach-
ing $6 billion a year may not be that far
from reality.
“Both groups have signalled their in-
tention to build luxurious, resort-style
casinos to attract wealthy VIP gamblers
Casinos Austria which has been relying
on their online gambling business for
their profits over recent years has seen
a decline for the first time in 2014 after
releasing their annual figures.
The online platform win2day dropped
1.6% in revenues for the year with
management attributing the decline to
stronger competition even thou the firm
operates the only legal online business
in Austria. However many overseas op-
erators offer their services to national
players in which is seen as a grey area
on legality.
However the good news for the gam-
bling operator is that their lottery busi-
ness which earns the most profit for the
company saw sales rise in 2014 by 2%
to 586 million euros.
Australia to generate over $6 billion in gambling revenues
Casinos Austria which has been relying
on their online gambling business for
their profits over recent years has seen
a decline for the first time in 2014 after
releasing their annual figures.
The online platform win2day dropped
1.6% in revenues for the year with
management attributing the decline to
stronger competition even thou the firm
operates the only legal online business
in Austria. However many overseas op-
erators offer their services to national
players in which is seen as a grey area
on legality.
However the good news for the gam-
bling operator is that their lottery busi-
ness which earns the most profit for the
company saw sales rise in 2014 by 2%
to 586 million euros.
from south-east Asia,” Mr Little said.
The resorts will both be up and running
by 2019 and the estimates for making
the $6 billion will all depend on the
success of both resorts.
12 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
All too often operators
are driving the race to
the bottom by aqueez-
ing the games develop-
ment community on
margins and thus select-
ing content that they
can get at the best price
Interview with Justin ChamberlainCEO of Core Gaming
Justin many thanks for speaking to us, can we start off by asking you what is Core Gaming and how did it come into existence?
CORE Gaming is a HTML5 games devel-
opment studio serving regulated online
gaming markets, historically by devel-
oping and mobilising third party con-
tent, but with our focus now shifting to
proprietary games content.
We develop table games, slot games,
Scratchcards and now Virtual Sports prod-
ucts, which we distribute across platform
providers that serve the market such as
Openbet, VF, GTS, and now through our
RGS platform partner - GECO
The company specialises in the mobile business, who are your cus-tomers?
We develop mobile content for third
parties such as Williams Interactive, Big
Time Gaming, Mazooma, and we serve
that content to operator customers such
as Sky Vegas, William Hill, Ladbrokes,
Paddy Power amongst many others.
How competitive is the sector now?
13MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
CORE GAMING HQ JUSTIN CHAMBERLAIN
Core Gaming based in the midlands and not London, the company take a different look at business.
The flamboyant CEO of mobile games developer CORE GAMING relaxes on his pool table.
Extremely. The operator has an abun-
dance of choice when it comes choos-
ing slots content and game contents
providers, some of that choice we re-
spect and admire, others not so much,
but that doesn’t seem to sway an opera-
tor in their selection process.
All too often operators are driving the
race to the bottom by squeezing the
games development community on
margins and thus selecting content that
they can get at the best price.
Some operators are also choosing to ei-
ther development content in house, or
selecting single games developers for
bespoke relationships.
All of this makes selling good content
harder than ever but we feel we will be
heard above the noise by focusing on
quality relationships, and quality games
designed with passion and purpose.
Does Core Gaming focus on solely the UK or Europe business or fur-ther?
To date our business has been solely
focused in regulated European mar-
kets, however we have recently struck
a deal with a licensed Chinese Lottery
Operator, Sunlotto, which will witness
our products gaining market share
in China in late 2014 and beyond.
This deal is considerable for CORE as
it will place our products into one of
the biggest and exciting markets in the
world in late 2015. We also of course
continue to monitor the most exciting
emerging market opportunities and we
may well make investments in those
markets as and when the regulatory and
technical frameworks and deployed in
those markets.
Interestingly Core Gaming is not London based unlike so many oth-er gaming companies, what is the reason for being based in the mid-lands?
The reason is historically we, as a busi-
ness, grew up in the midlands so to
speak. We have been based in this
area for the past 8 years and when we
14 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Justin ChamberlainCEO of Core Gaming
ENGINE ROOM
Developers and designers at Core Gaming offices in Knowle West
Midlands hard at work with the latest rpojects
migrated our skill sets to HTML5 there
seemed no reason to relocate.
Is there an advantage not being located in London, apart from the office cost?
The midlands actually serves us very
well and the advantages over a London
location are numerous, including; much
lower overheads, within 100 miles of
several international airports, and sev-
eral major cities within a 50 mile radius
offering all of the amenities, services
and facilities that London can offer.
Most importantly we have very rich tal-
ent pool to pull from within a 50 mile
radius and testament to this is the fact
that I grew the business 10 fold over
2012/13 increasing the staff count from
4 to 40 people in under 2 years. For all
the negative portrayals of the Midlands
when compared to power houses such
as London I think it actually offers a
great deal to prospective employees of
CORE Gaming and offers a fantastic life-
style choice.
The company started in 2007 how has the business changed in that time Justin?
The company has changed only in re-
spect of what programming languages
we use, and the size of the business
itself. The core values of the company
of remained constant throughout, being
15MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
CEO
Justin Chamberlain explains exactly why Core Gaming are in the lead when it comes to Mobile development of games.
that of developing class leading content
and serving our customers to the very
best quality and standards we can.
Mobile development is there a lim-it to how far it can go or is it really only our imagination that stops us?
Developing for mobile actually presents
us many limitations, screen size limita-
tions, broadband speed restrictions and
the constant battle against the ever
changing landscape of mobile operat-
ing systems, new browser and new de-
vices of course.
But in terms of developing great com-
pelling content, no there are no limits
other than our imagination for sure! We
are constantly trying to challenge the
norm, push the boundaries, create, in-
novate and experiment with both game
play and logic, game mechanics, maths
profiles, creative approach and audio in
an attempt to stand out from the crowd.
Only recently Core Gaming re-ceived their new UK Gambling li-cense, what does that mean to the company?
Gaining the license allows us to com-
pete with our peers in the game de-
velopment community but with the
endorsement of the UKGC as a body
recognising CORE as an established,
trusted and proven member of the com-
munity.
What are the secrets to developing a great game for people to play and engage in and what are the dan-gers of developing a bad game?
The secret, I am not sure! And if I did
know I wouldn’t be spilling the beans
for a publication interview of course.
What we like to do at CORE in order
to develop a great game is listen to our
customers, what do they like, what do
they want for their customers etc. They
all have different requirements and
different ideas of what makes a great
game, we try to listen.
From there we work with the customer
to develop the game experience they
want to see, which to date has proved a
successful recipe for us.
Is the companies strongest area slot games?
Traditionally yes, but we have recently
diversified our portfolio this year with
table games such as Roulette, Black-
jack, 3 Card Brag, with Scratchcards,
and most importantly of all with Virtual
Sports games.
We have an extremely unique approach
with Virtual Sports technology that will
witness CORE bringing true exciting
innovation to this lucrative market in
2015.
Is the companies strongest area slot games?
(Continued overleaf)
17MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
We have been approached on the sub-
ject of Social many times over the past
3 years but the answer has always been,
and will remain to be, no. We under-
stand and know our strengths and it
has taken me 8 years to get the recipe
right for a successful games develop-
ment business in the real money gam-
ing space.
I simply wouldn’t jeopardise that now
and divert our skillsets into a market
that a) we know very little of, b) is in my
opinion mature already, and c) many
bigger and higher profile names than
CORE have tried and failed at, burning
tons of cash on the way.
The UK, Sweden and maybe Malta are the three hotbeds for develop-ment of gaming by supplier and developer what makes those re-gions so far ahead than other Euro-pean countries?
UK I think personally is due to the fact
the we brits are an entrepreneurial
bunch generally speaking, and when
you also consider that we have a very
mature gaming market from the tradi-
tional land based industry, that has led
to a vibrant and exciting games devel-
opment community in the UK.
As for Sweden, I hold the Swedish in
very high regard with respect to the
quality of gaming content that comes
out of that country and recently asked
the CEO of a Swedish games developer
why so many great games and studios
come out of the country. The response
confirmed what I thought was the case,
that being that the Swedish spend many
months of the year in the dark, literally,
and gaming therefore become a pre-
dominant past time during long dark
winter months.
From that past time an incredible devel-
opment community has developed and
matured over the past 10 years or more,
and long may it be the case because the
content coming from that part of the
world is exceptional and keeps us all on
our toes.
As for Malta, I have no idea other than to
perhaps guess that it’s something to do
with the amount of Swedish people that
now live there due to the online gaming
industry!
How do you see Core Gaming mov-ing forward this year and in the coming few years?
Having built a business and reputation
on developing other peoples content,
CORE is now focused on original con-
tent creation from 2015 onwards. We
already have a suite of successful prod-
ucts in the market and we are develop-
ing 20 more games for live environment
this year alone.
Some very big productions slots, more
table games, Scratchcards and Virtual
Sports games are just some of the ex-
citing and innovative games the market
will see come out of CORE this year and
into 2016.
If you could have one wish to help your business what would it be?
A 32 hour day!
18 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Hanging with our writer & consultantJohn EdmundsJohn Edmunds joined our family of contributing writers last month, this month we find out a little more about the gaming industry veteran.
What attracted you to the gaming industry?
It was more luck than judgement as I
happened to be in the right place at the
right time. On leaving Liverpool Univer-
sity in the UK, I was lucky enough to get
a place on Mars’ Management Training
Program which provided trainees the
opportunity to work in different parts of
the business. One of these placements
was with Mars Electronics International
(MEI), recently acquired by Crane Pay-
ment Innovations (CPI) where a Busi-
ness Development Manager position
came up selling coin accepters and bill
validators to operators across Northern
Europe. At this time MEI were seeking to
launch their new Cashflow SC bill vali-
dator into the European casino gaming
market and I was asked to lead the sales
efforts. Since then I’ve been having a lot
of fun in many different roles at both
MEI and for the last 10 years at Future-
Logic, helping build sales and grow their
gaming businesses. Even when oppor-
tunities outside the industry come up,
it’s very difficult to ignore the energy,
innovation and personalities there are
in gaming.
Who was the most important men-
tor in your career?
Throughout my career I have been very
fortunate to have worked with a number
of extremely talented individuals who
have shared many lessons about busi-
ness and life. On occasion, the lesson
Think win - win -win - Businesses prosper
when all sides benefit
JOHN EDMUNDS
Industry veteran and gaming consult-ant John Edmunds offers some tips on success
About John Edmunds
With over 16 years’ industry experience building high-performance teams and successful businesses around
the world, John Edmunds is passionate about enabling people and technology deliver superior business re-
sults. As Chief Marketing Officer at FutureLogic, John was at the heart of FutureLogic’s digital transformation
from hardware supplier to software solutions provider and subsequent acquisition by JCM Global. As an expe-
rienced thought-leader, strategist and writer, John is a regular contributor to numerous gaming publications
and has been guest speaker on technology discussion panels and industry forums in Buenos Aires, Las Vegas,
London and Toronto.
John works with technology companies in the US and UK helping deliver superior business results and con-
necting start-ups and lower middle-market firms with private equity development and growth capital. John
can be reached on +1.818.398.8028 or [email protected].
With over 16 years’ industry experience building high-performance teams and successful businesses around
the world, John Edmunds is passionate about enabling people and technology deliver superior business re-
sults. As Chief Marketing Officer at FutureLogic, John was at the heart of FutureLogic’s digital transformation
from hardware supplier to software solutions provider and subsequent acquisition by JCM Global. As an ex-
perienced thought-leader, strategist and writer, John is a regular contributor to numerous gaming publications
and has been guest speaker on technology discussion panels and industry forums in Buenos Aires, Las Vegas,
London and Toronto.
John works with technology companies in the US and UK helping deliver superior business results and connect-
ing start-ups and lower middle-market firms with private equity development and growth capital. John can be
reached on +1.818.398.8028 or [email protected].
19MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
has been pointed out to me in advance
by someone who’s generous enough to
want to prevent me tripping up. Other
lessons have been more painful where
the learning is to avoid making the same
mistake again.
But over the last 16 years there have
been two people who stand out as hav-
ing taken the time to want to smooth off
my rough corners, share their advice and
give me self-confidence when they saw
that I needed it. The first is Jim Brendel,
now Chairman of Suzo Happ Group. Jim
saw something of a rough diamond in me
in 2004 and was instrumental in my move
to FutureLogic to set up and run their Eu-
ropean business, Jim continues to provide
advice and friendship which I value with
equal measure.
The second is Eric Meyerhofer, now CEO
of Gamblit. As President, CEO and more
recently Chairman of FutureLogic, Eric
has been a great coach and mentor over
the last 10 years, helping focus my en-
thusiasm and channel my hard work into
building what became a highly profit-
able International business for Future-
Logic. More recently, this culminated in
my move to the US as Chief Marketing
Officer for FutureLogic Inc. where I had
the opportunity to get to know the US
side of the FutureLogic’s business and
be on the successful sell team for JCM
Global’s recent acquisition of Future-
Logic. get to know the US side of the
FutureLogic’s business and be on the
successful sell team for JCM Global’s
What do you most enjoy about your job/the gaming industry? What is the most challenging part
I most enjoy working with my colleagues
to help customers solve their business
challenges and grow their top and bot-
tom lines. Ideally this is through the
company’s products and services but
more importantly it is finding a way to
provide added value to their business.
As the market contracts, competition
intensifies and companies end up work-
ing twice as hard for half as much. To
stay ahead, companies must innovate
and broaden their value proposition.
Whilst we are seeing a consolidation
across the industry we must not forget .
Can you offer some advice for ad-vancing your career to someone just getting started in gaming?
• Listen, understand and learn
– Listen to and understand what other
people need and want and learn from
other peoples’ successes and failures.
• Be proactive – Step up, reach
out and be the person who injects en-
ergy, drive and urgency.
• Have a vision – Be clear about
where you want to end up and how you
plan to get there.
• Prioritise – Take on too much
and prioritise what’s most important.
You can do anything but not everything
so prioritise the most important.
• Think win-win-win – Businesses
20 MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Industry Pride of the Year
Hodan Fourie & Michaela Michaylova
PokerStars & Unibet
Affiliate Manager of the Year
Melanie Hainzer
Leo Vegas
Affiliate Team of the Year
Carly Sawers
PokerStars
Excellence in Customer Service
Melissa Zalbeigi
Betsson
Hidden Talent of the Year
Elizabeth Dutton
Playtech
Industry Achiever of the Year
Joanne Jones
The Ritz Club
Innovator of the Year
Emma Loveday
News UK
Inspiration of the Year
Cath Riley
Grosvenor Casinos
Leader of the Year (iGaming)
Maria Hedengren
NetEntertainment
01
01 04 07
02 05 08
03 06 09
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
WOMEN IN GAMING AWARDS WINNERS 2014 - WHO WILL BE THE WINNERS THIS YEAR?
21MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
WOMEN IN GAMING AWARDS WINNERS 2014 - WHO WILL BE THE WINNERS THIS YEAR?
Leader of the Year(land based)
Dubravka Burda
GTECH
Star of the Future
Bea Stevens
Aspers
Marketing Excellence Award
Nora Felin
Mr Green
Team of the Year (iGaming)
Linda Arbman
Mr Green
Team of the Year (Land Based)
Fiona Regan & the HR Team
Grosvenor Casinos
The roll of honour for WIG Win-
ners 2014. Will you be standing proud
on the 5th June at the 6th Annual
event?
10 13
11
14
12 15
10
11
12
13
14
15
15
GREAT PLACE TO PLAYGREAT PLACE TO WORK
Rational Services Ltd, Douglas Bay Complex, King Edward Road, Onchan, IM3 1DZ
NO AGENCIES – DIRECT APPLICATIONS ONLYFor full details of our vacancies and details on how to apply, please visit www.rationalgroup.com/about-us/careers
If you have a passion for excellence, there could well be a place for you on The Rational Group team. The Rational Group employs industry-leading practices in customer service, product development, payment security, game integrity and player fund protection, and also holds more online poker licenses than any other e-gaming company. We apply the same high standards to looking after our people: The Rational Group is currently ranked the 14th best large company to work at in the UK by the Great Place to Work Institute.
The Rational Group operates gaming and related businesses and brands including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the European Poker Tour. These brands collectively form the largest poker business in the world comprising online poker games and tournaments, live poker competitions and poker programming created for television and online audiences.
2014_2372 HR iGaming SP - Newsletters EN.indd 1 17/10/2014 17:38
GREAT PLACE TO PLAYGREAT PLACE TO WORK
Rational Services Ltd, Douglas Bay Complex, King Edward Road, Onchan, IM3 1DZ
NO AGENCIES – DIRECT APPLICATIONS ONLYFor full details of our vacancies and details on how to apply, please visit www.rationalgroup.com/about-us/careers
If you have a passion for excellence, there could well be a place for you on The Rational Group team. The Rational Group employs industry-leading practices in customer service, product development, payment security, game integrity and player fund protection, and also holds more online poker licenses than any other e-gaming company. We apply the same high standards to looking after our people: The Rational Group is currently ranked the 14th best large company to work at in the UK by the Great Place to Work Institute.
The Rational Group operates gaming and related businesses and brands including PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the European Poker Tour. These brands collectively form the largest poker business in the world comprising online poker games and tournaments, live poker competitions and poker programming created for television and online audiences.
2014_2372 HR iGaming SP - Newsletters EN.indd 1 17/10/2014 17:38
C aesars Entertainment Corp the bankrupt oper-ating division of the gambling giant is to ask a Chicago bankruptcy court judge to extend
their reorganization plan by another six months. The casino part of the company that has a mountain of $18 billion debt wants to wrestle itself free of much of that with their exclusive plan that would be set forth to creditors. At present the company has until May 15th to deliver a recovery plan for the operational part of the busi-ness but lawyers say that because of the 173 business entities, dueling creditor groups, legal challenges and a pending investigation from the court-appointed ex-aminer looking into the company’s past transactions, it would be impossible to deliver by the current date. If granted that would allow Caesars until the 15th No-vember to announce their plan and give creditors until January to make comments and any opposition to them. The judge in the case will hear Caesars request on the 29th April and make a decision sometime after that.
GAMING NEWS
Caesars ask for 6 more months to deliver recovery plan
Bwin.party show loss for 2014
Bwin.Party announced its annual results for 2014 showing a decline of 29% in its online poker busi-ness which was instrumental in the online gambling company showing a loss for the year.
The struggling online firm which is in talks with at least one investor over a takeover showed a pre-tax loss of €97.7 million compared to a profit of €44.9 million in 2013. Revenues sank to €611.9 million for 2014 compared to €652.4 million the year earlier.
However the company has said that they have reached their goal of reducing costs by €30 million in 2015 and aim to reduce by another €15 million this year.
So far this year the company said its betting vol-umes are ahead of last year, but adverse results were not increasing profit margins making a 12% drop on profits already for the year.
Abbiati hires Angus NobleAngus Noble has been appointed Sales & Com-mercial Director at Abbiati the casino equipment manufacturer.
Mr Noble has been a consultant for some two years and previously was Commercial & Manufacturing Director for nearly 10 years at TCSJohnHuxley. “I am proud, delighted and very excited to be join-ing Abbiati at this time. The Abbiati brand is one of the finest in the industry and I very much look forward to playing my part in the further develop-ment and growth of this terrific company.” Said Mr Noble on the role.CEO Giorgio Abbiati commented: “We are very pleased that Angus has agreed to join us as we strengthen our senior management team. Follow-ing our recent strategic review we are looking to sharpen our commercial focus across all our markets and areas of our business and this key appointment is a major step along that road.”
23MAY 2015
INFINITY GAMING