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InfinityGamingwww.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE JULY2015
BONANZA
GAVIN ISAACS
2 jULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
GAVIN ISAACS
PAUL SWADDLE
WOUTER SLEIJFFERS
President & CEO of Scientific Games
Our new expert on all things App
CEO of Fnatic
08
46
40
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.
3JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
6TH WOMEN IN GAMING
WAHT’S NEXT FOR PLAYTECH?
All the winners and photos from the evening
Christina Thakor-Rankin superb article on
the future for the software giant.24
12
4 EDITOR NOTESLana welcomes you to the June edition of
Infinity Gaming Magazine.
6 OUR WRITERSMeet our feature writers, the superb
writers on our rosta.
08 GAVIN ISAACSThe man of the moment
12 6TH WIG AWARDSwhat a night to remember
34 IS IT NECESSARY?Professor Nelson Rose with another superb
article on gaming law.
38 CASINO LEGENDKirk Kerkorian dies age 98
35 THE APP MANPaul Swaddle joins the team
46 A FNATICWouter Sleijffers interview
51 NEWS & MORE NEWSfrom the gaming industry
4 jULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
What a night the 5th June was in Lon-
don at the stunning Jumeirah Hotel in
Knightsbridge, firstly congratulations to
all the winners and also to the superb
women and men that came and sup-
ported them, you are all winners.
Our biggest ever attedance and the
most inspiring of ladies that attended. A
big thank you to our sponsors that make
it all possible, thank you Playtech and
Play’n Go.
Have to say it was the latest night of
all when we finally toddled of to sleep
at 3.30am, thank you for that Jennifer
Bowman (you know who you are)!
OK, we have an amazing bonanza of a
magazine for you this month, the man
with the golden tough, Gavin Isaacs
comes and updates us on life at Scien-
tific Games and so much more in that
interview. Also Wouter Sleijffers the
A note from the editor
Welcome to the July edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine and we survived another WIG Awards, just!
Get ready it’s nearly
time for a lie down,
summer is here and we
all need a relax!
new CEO of Fnatic tells us about this
amazing company and indeed industry
he works in.
We have a new feature writer, Paul
Swaddle the CEO of Pocket App will up-
date and enlighten us on all this APP.
Plus articles this month from Tina Tha-
kor-Rankin, and the lovely Professor
Nelson Rose. Of course all the latest
news, views and updates.
Enjoy the magazine.
So, “To Infinity and Beyond!”
Regards,
Lana
the Editor
Lana Thompson - Editor
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Christina Thakor-RankinMartin R. BairdJohn Edmunds
Andrew Tottenham
JJ Woods
Professor Nelson Rose
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Company Reg. No. 687 1018(Registered in England)V.A.T reg. no 972 6372 91
ADVERTISING:Sponsorship [email protected]
Business [email protected]
6 jULY 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.
Paul Swaddle
John Edmunds
A self-confessed ‘gadget geek, Paul Swaddle has been working at the lead-ing edge of mobile technology for the past 15 years. He co-founded Pocket App in 2011 to bring the creative and technical development elements of mobile technology together under one roof. This unique approach continues to differentiate Pocket App in today’s increasingly competitive landscape.
Working across a range of communica-tions disciplines such as acquisition, loyalty, retention and customer develop-ment, Paul understands the importance of a strategic and coordinated marketing approach, particularly between on and off-line communications. In the past de-cade he has enabled brands as diverse as Kellogg’s Fruit Winders, Barclays and Loaded magazine to get the best out of mobile.
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
7JULY 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 jULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Industry Pride of the Year
Alicia Gleeson
Crown Melbourne
Outstanding Contribution
Teresa Tunstall & Stella Dalton
GamCare
Affiliate Manager of the Year
Caroline Klytseroff
Leo Vegas
Affiliate Team of the Year
Leena Raty & Unibet Team
B2B Excellence Award
Nadine Thys
Playtech
Employee of the Year
Ana Gomez Arenas
PokerStars
Excellence in Customer Service
Shahnaz Aziz
Rational Group
Hidden Talent
Fayan Pourisa
Net Ent
Industry Achiever of the Year
Sylvia Dietz
IGT
01
01 04 07
02 05 08
03 06 09
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
WOMEN IN GAMING AWARDS WINNERS 2015 - THE AMAZING WOMEN OF THE YEAR
9JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
WOMEN IN GAMING AWARDS WINNERS 2015 - THE AMAZING WOMEN OF THE YEAR
Innovator of the Year
Therese Carlzon
Mr Green
Inspiration of the Year
Mel Camilleri (right)
William Hill
Leader of the Year (iGaming)
Ebba Arnred
Play’n Go
Leader of the Year (land based)
Marieanne Carmody Weir
Aspers Group
Marketing Excellence Award
Emma Loveday
Sun Bingo
Star of the Future
Lydia Barbara
Microgaming
10 13
11
16
12 15
10
11
12
13
14
15
14 16 Team of the Year
Lyn Salmon & Rank Team
10 jULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
11JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
We are the Champions!The line-up of winners from the 6th Annual Women in Gaming Awards
12 jULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Judge asked to open report on possible ties with Sands and Triads
The Steve Jacobs case against Las Ve-
gas Sands for wrongful dismissal that
now dates back to 2010 took another
twist this week when two organisations
requested that a Nevada Judge unseal
a private investigators report into the
casino company having connections to
the Asian crime lords within the Triads.
Guardian News & Media and the Cam-
paign for Accountability have filed mo-
tions to unseal the report, which was
filed as evidence in the Steve Jacobs
case for wrongful dismissal as CEO of
Sands China.
Both the international news agency and
The Campaign for Accountability, which
focuses on corporate disclosure poli-
cies, say the so-called Vickers report is
of public interest.
Both say they want to see the report
because they believe it might help de-
termine if Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon
Adelson used money linked to overseas
criminal activity for election donations
to the Republican Party where Adelson
is a huge donator.
The nonprofit’s director, Anne Weis-
mann, said the group’s suspicions are
“based on what we know about what the
report was supposed to accomplish.”
She said the report’s author, private in-
vestigator Steve Vickers, specialized in
looking into organized crime activity by
Chinese triads.
“Mr. Adelson’s alleged close ties to il-
legal and corrupt foreign practices raise
very serious and credible questions, not
only about possible corruption in the
Nevada gaming industry, but also about
whether those practices have financed
his campaign activities and whether he
has used the anonymity of campaign
contributions to launder illegally ob-
tained foreign funds,” according to the
motion from the group filed by Las Ve-
gas attorney Allen Lichtenstein.
The Judge in the case Elizabeth Gonza-
lez is expected to consider a date when
the arguments will be heard for and
against opening the report. At present
no comment has come from Las Vegas
Sands.
Goa gambling ships to move
speculation leading to rumours con-
tinuing and with the latest refusal from
Grant Bowie to discuss it further will
lead to observers to believe there may
be some truth to the deal.
13JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Goa gambling ships to move
Rumours last week that MGM and
Wynn Resorts were in a potential ne-
gotiation to merge has continued this
week as Chief Executive of MGM in
Macau Grant Bowie refused to answer
questions on the possible merger.
Mr Bowie told reporters in Macau: “This
report was mere speculation and frank-
ly we don’t comment on speculation. I
don’t think it does us any good to con-
tinue these discussions.”
Speculation over the possible merger of
Wynn Resorts and MGM surfaced when
a well-respected trader said that there
were talks of a deal between the two
gambling giants to merge.
Both companies so far have not come
out and flatly denied the
The Goa government is likely to shift the
offshore casinos from Mandovi river to
Aguada bay across the city of Panaji.
“Government is seriously considering
relocating all the four offshore casinos
to Aguada bay,” state tourism minister
Dilip Parulekar said. The state govern-
ment had in its recent decision short-
listed four locations to move offshore
casino vessels from Mandovi river near
Panaji, where they are currently sta-
tioned.
Macau MGM boss refuses to discuss possible merger
Parulekar said that the offshore casino
vessels could not be moved to other
places like Zuari, Chapora and Sal,
which were shortlisted, due to severe
constraints. The offshore casino owners
had earlier agreed to shift the vessels to
new location, if the state government
provided them required infrastructure.
The minister said the government is
mulling over the possibility of providing
infrastructure required for operating the
offshore casinos at Aguada bay. The off-
shore casinos being operated in Mando-
vi river has evoked strong reaction from
various quarters. Social activists have
been demanding to shift the vessels
away from Panaji while highlighting ill-
effects of casinos on the state’s culture.
14 jULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
Casino legend Kirk Kerkorian dies at 98Kirk Kerkorian, the billionaire credited with helping transform Las Vegas into a gambler’s paradise, has died aged 98.
Kerkorian, who made fortunes with ma-
jor stakes in movie and auto companies,
passed away in Los Angeles on Monday
15th June, announced by MGM Resorts
International, the casino giant he found-
ed.
Born into an Armenian family in Fresno,
California, he always took chances on
business to great success.
He gambled on airline travel, Hollywood
pictures and the auto industry making a
fortune of $4 billion estimated last year.
But he will be remembered most in Las
Vegas, where he developed the first ca-
sino resorts on the famous Las Vegas
strip.
Kerkorian kept building his casino em-
pire well into his 80s, overseeing the
$4.4 billion purchase of Mirage Resorts
from rival Stephen Wynn in 2000 and
buying the Mandalay Resort Group in
2004 for $4.8 billion.
Kerkorian did not give up his board seat
at MGM International until 2011, when
he was appointed chairman emeritus
only weeks before his 94th birthday.
At the time of his death, he held 18.6
percent of the company through his
Beverly Hills investment company
Tracinda, making him MGM’s biggest
shareholder.
“Mr. Kerkorian was a quiet but powerful
force behind the transformation of the
Las Vegas Strip into one of the world’s
most popular tourist destinations,”
MGM Resorts said in a statement.
“He was also a generous humanitarian
who donated hundreds of millions of
dollars to charities worldwide.”
Kerkorian was born in 1917 to Arme-
nian immigrants who found fleeting
wealth during the raisin boom of World
15JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
War I, only to lose it a few years later.
After his family moved to Los Angeles,
Kerkorian dropped out of school after
the eighth grade, and worked odd jobs
as a newspaper delivery boy, a bouncer
in a bowling alley and an amateur boxer.
During World War II, he went to Canada
and joined the Royal Air Force, deliv-
ering unarmed Canadian bombers to
European bases on “suicide runs” for
$1,000 a trip.
After the war, he started a small charter
Los Angeles-Las Vegas air service, which
he sold in 1968 to the TransAmerica
Corporation for $85 million worth of
stock.
In the meanwhile, in 1962 he bought 30
hectares (80 acres) across from the Fla-
mingo hotel in Las Vegas for $960,000.
He rented the land to the developer of
what became Caesars Palace.
In 1969, on another plot, Kerkorian built
the International, at the time the world’s
largest hotel, and then topped that in
1973 with the larger MGM Grand.
In 1986 Kerkorian sold that hotel, which
was renamed Bally’s, and built a new
MGM Grand, which opened in 1993 with
another record-setting 5,000 rooms.
His wheeling and dealing was not con-
fined to Las Vegas. He bought and sold
the legendary MGM studios in Holly-
wood three times. He first combined it
with United Artists, which he then sold
to Ted Turner in 1986.
Turner’s financial woes saw him resell-
ing much of the company back to Ker-
korian, who then sold the studio again
in 1990, this time to Italian financier
Giancarlo Parretti.
Kerkorian recouped the studio after Par-
retti defaulted on his loans in 1996. He
sold MGM a third time in 2005, to a con-
sortium backed by Japan’s Sony.
In the auto industry, Kerkorian accu-
mulated a large stake in Chrysler in the
mid-1990s and launched a takeover ef-
fort that ultimately failed.
He was a quiet but
powerful force behind
the transformation of
the Las Vegas Strip into
one of the world’s most
popular tourist destina-
tions
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In 2006, he built up a big position in
General Motors and made an effort to
push the U.S. auto giant into an alliance
with Nissan-Renault. That failed, and
Kerkorian sold his stake.
He turned his attention first back to
Chrysler, with a failed bid, and then
Ford. In the latter he took huge losses
after the industry crashed in the 2008
economic crisis.
Kerkorian was known for being private,
and was compared to the recluse How-
ard Hughes.
But he told a Las Vegas newspaper in a
rare 1999 interview, “I’m far from being
reclusive. I have 30- or 40-year friend-
ships that I prefer to meeting new peo-
ple. I go to an occasional party, but just
because I don’t go to a lot of events, and
I’m not out in public all the time doesn’t
mean I’m anti-social or a recluse.”
Kerkorian was married three times and
is survived by his daughters, Tracy Ker-
korian and Linda Ross Hilton Kemper,
and by three grandchildren, MGM said.
LONDON - 2015 JUMEIRAH CARLTON HOTEL - LONDON
GAMING APPAWARDS
The International
NOMINATIONS OPENING SOON
LONDON - 2015 JUMEIRAH CARLTON HOTEL - LONDON
GAMING APPAWARDS
The International
NOMINATIONS OPENING SOON
B etfair enjoyed a 21% rise in revenues for the last year standing at £476.5 million, with prof-its up by 53% at £94.3 million compared to the
previous year. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), which exclude the £19.2m spent on the government’s point of con-sumption tax (POC), of which UK customers spent £120 million on the Betfair site, which was well ahead of the forecast of £102 million. Betfair has had an “excellent year”, said chief executive Breon Corcoran. “The business now operates at pace and our people have a strong will to win.” Over the past 12 months, the company has successfully increased active customer numbers by 52% to 1.7 mil-lion and introduced many new users to online gambling, with customer acquisitions up 65%. Much of the rise on profits and revenues was down to the increased marketing spend by Betfair of £28 million. The firm also managed to transfer 100% more customers from sports betting over to online gambling through a cross selling programme. The company said that 70% of its sports betting rev-enues are generated by mobile, along with the US arm of Betfair which showed a profit of £16.8 million a rise of 53% from last year. Betfair said that £50 million in revenues for the year went on political bets such as the Scottish referendum and the UK general election.
GAMING NEWS
Betfair annual
profits rise 53%New Galaxy phase not as strong as hoped
Galaxy Entertainment Group announced at its an-nual general meeting that the recently opened new phase of Galaxy Macau last month was not as strong as expected in revenues.
Chairman Lui Che Woo said to reporters in Hong Kong that the new resort phase, “is satisfactory, but not as good as what we expected.” He also said that gaming would be impacted even further should the no smoking rule extend to VIP Rooms.
The new project’s performance “will be better in the next one to two months,” said Galaxy Vice Chairman Francis Lui, adding he was happy with the perfor-mance of the non-gaming elements at its new prop-erties such as its hotel bookings and dining outlets.
“Be patient, we believe the scale, facilities and services of the second phase are the best,” he said. Business should improve in July and August, compared with June which is an exam season for students, he added.
Some good news for Galaxy was that in June so far they are the leading company of market share in Macau with 25% in gaming revenues, taking over Sands China that now sits at 22%.
19JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
A s Royal Ascot begins this
week the bookies will be hop-
ing for a bonanza with Wil-
liam Hill alone expecting to turnover
some £30 million alone
over the next five days
of racing.
Indeed there are two
major racing calendar
days the bookies look
forward to, The Chel-
tenham Festival and
Royal Ascot. This year
mobile gambling will
be the enjoy the big-
gest increase in betting
as the platform offers
punters the quickest
opportunity to place a
bet.
With the new POC tax
from the UK govern-
ment and betting shops on the
decline suffering from the huge
increase in online betting companies
such as Ladbrokes are hoping for a
very good week. Also the latest ru-
mours on Ladbrokes are that a private
consortium for £1.6billion or Paddy
Power will show their hand and make
a formal offer some time shortly after
the Ascot meeting.
Insiders believe that the private con-
sortium could trump Paddy Power in
acquiring Ladbrokes with a bigger of-
fer and also at the same time a solid
focus on strengthen-
ing its online pres-
ence. It is not clear
who is leading the
consortium bid but
rumour has it that it is
a former senior execu-
tive from Ladbrokes.
With new Ladbrokes
boss Jim Mullen’s
strategy for the busi-
ness to be announced
at the end of June
which is likely to fo-
cus on its digital and
online operations, this
will be the time when
an offer is most likely
to be made.
New player in Ladbrokes takeover?
GAMING NEWS
New CEO of UKGC named
The UK Gambling Commission
(UKGC) has announced that
Sarah Harrison will become
their new CEO from the 1st October
once she leaves her current role at
energy watchdog Ofgem. Harrison
will actually join the UKGC on the
7th September as a Commissioner
and then when outgoing CEO Jenny
Williams leaves on the 1st October
Harrison will assume the role fully.
Philip Graf, Chair of the Commission,
said: “I am delighted that Sarah is
joining the Commission and look
forward to working closely with her.
We are making significant progress
in our aims to raise standards in the
gambling industry, empower con-
sumers to manage the risks of gam-
bling and to build partnership and
understanding of gambling issues.
Sarah has a wealth of experience
in regulation along with social and
consumer policy and communica-
tions – she is well placed to lead the
Commission into its second decade
as the regulator of commercial gam-
bling in Great Britain.”
Harrison commented: “I am very
pleased to be appointed Chief Exec-
utive of the Gambling Commission,
and look forward to the challenges
of keeping gambling fair and safe
and regulating an industry which is
changing rapidly with technology.”
21JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
S peculation over the possible merger of Wynn Re-sorts and MGM surfaced when a well-respected trader said that there was talk of a deal between
the two gambling giants, indeed because of that Wynn shares rose some 7% before the weekend. But why would either company want to buy the other? There is some history for Wynn in wanting back some of his resorts he lost in 2000 when he was forced to sell part of his empire to MGM Resorts when Mirage was bought out for $4.4 billion. However MGM carries a lot of debt $12.5 billion and Steve Wynn never likes carrying that kind of debt even if he was to become CEO of the merged company. Not just this but Wynn Resorts are growing with two new resorts coming in the next few years so why would they want to merge? Wynn likes to cater for the top end of the market and certainly not all MGM resorts not that. However MGM buying Wynn Resorts would look more likely, Wynn has a much better balance sheet, is the smallest of the two companies, BUT the question of Steve Wynn wanting to sell up his empire is highly unlikely. Many see the rumours as that, it would be a huge surprise should either company carry this through to a merger, but then again it would create a huge gambling company stretching from Las Vegas, over North America and into Macau. Watch this space but the clever money is on a no deal.
GAMING NEWS
Wynn & MGM in merger talks?
Austrian government to ban poker outside casinos
The Austrian government will ban all forms of poker games from outside of licensed casinos from 2020 it said in a statement, however Casinos Austria wanted the ban to be enforced as early as 2017 but has welcomed the new measures
In the statement the government plan to limit poker to licensed casino operators or electronic lotteries like win2day and WINWIN machine operators.
The law will allow for poker games to be played in pubs across the country but with limits such as a maximum of 100 players who pay €10 or less and those tournaments in pubs can only be held once in each quarter of the year. The new ruling will mean clubs such as the Concord Card Casinos will be outlawed which is welcomed by Casinos Austria and the casino giant also called for stricter prosecution laws for those who continue to ignore the new rules when they become law.
23JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
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
J apan has a 50% chance of passing a bill this year legalizing integrated resorts in the country, says Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Asia Praveen
Choudhary. The comments were made at the recent G2E Asia conference and in the same week. Fitch said in another report on the prospect of Japan passing legislation “We think there is a better than 50-50 chance that an IR [integrated resort] bill passes this year; however, we do not think an IR can open by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We think the most likely scenario is that gaming regulations look similar to Singapore’s, with limited licences and an entrance fee levied on locals.” The firm also said it expected there to be only two licesnes issued which could generate a combined rev-enue of $6 billion annually. “This assumes 500 table games and 3,000 slot ma-chines each and respective win per day rates of around US$14,000 and US$600. This is above roughly US$5.5
billion being generated by Singapore’s two IRs,” said the Fitch report.
GAMING APP NEWS
Japan 50% chance of passing gambling bill this year
Pennsylvania ready for online gambling this year
The smart money with online gambling observers and consultants is that Pennsylvania will be the next state to legalise online gambling, even thou Shel-don Adelson is spending fortunes trying to stop the state passing legislation this year.
However State Senate Republicans want a way out of having to increase taxes to help plug the huge hole in public spending debt and see online gam-bling as the alternative. It is not the first time either the state has done this back in 2004 Slot machine gambling was legalized to help reduce property taxes.
With a recent report saying that online gambling could generate as much as $100 million in state taxes the option again may well go with legalising online gambling as opposed to raising public taxes.
“There’s definitely a competitive aspect to it,” said Casey Long, a policy staffer for Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, one of the sponsors of the gambling measure. “Two of our neighbouring states, New Jersey and Delaware, have implemented online gaming, and I think that it’s important that Pennsyl-vania keep up with what other states are doing in the gaming industry.”
“It’s certainly preferable to any sort of tax increase that the governor may be proposing that this time,” Long added.
25JULY 2015
INFINITY GAMING
