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

SUPERB

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

CONTACT USClever Duck MediaNewmarket 20 Centrix@KeysKeys Park RoadStaffordshireWS12 2HA UKTel: +44(0)1543 478 889 claire@cleverduckmedia.com

PRODUCTIONClever Duck MediaNewmarket 20 Centrix@KeysKeys Park RoadStaffordshireWS12 2HA UK

PUBLISHINGInfinity Gaming Magazineis operated by© Clever Duck Media Ltd ®

Company Reg. No. 687 1018(Registered in England)V.A.T reg. no 972 6372 91

ADVERTISING:Sponsorship OpportunitiesColin@cleverduckmedia.com

Business PartnershipsSvetlana@gaming-awards.com

http://www.betconstruct.com

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 johnedmunds1975@gmail.com.

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

madia@cleverduckmedia.com

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)

http://www.mrgreen.com

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 johnedmunds1975@gmail.com.

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 johnedmunds1975@gmail.com.

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

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