As far as iGaming awards ceremonies go there usually isn’t more of an accolade that you can acquire other than an eGR Award. It’s little sister, the eGR B2B Awards, is the precious version that feels like if it ever tried to out-trump the older sister they’d get a right old kick in the…well you get what we’re saying.
Before the meal had got started, the PA system had announced that we’d been transported back to the EGR B2B Awards 2007 (Steve McClaren as host, brolly in hand)
Chelsea Football Club will be hoping that the EGR B2B Awards aren’t the only ones being handed out at Stamford Bridge this year but if they were to employ Richard Keys to hand them out then the jokes would not be aplenty. The MC of the evening was warmly received but it was hard not to feel slightly cringe-worthy at the big man’s vast array of jokes – that numbered about…one. It was a smashing joke though!
As for the awards themselves, Playtech, Microgaming, and Dragonfish all picked up two awards each with the rest of the extensive array of awards spread around anyone who’s anyone in the services and software/network world.
The most exuberant celebrations of the night belonged to IGT who followed up a chorus of “smash it keysey” with one of the recipients grabbing host Keys by the gluteus maximus for their celebratory pose.
The full list of award winners on the night were as follows:
Acquisition Partner of the Year – LiveSport
Retention Partner of the Year – PokerStrategy.com (Highly Commended – smartFOCUS)
Recruiter of the Year – Esanda Recruitment
Corporate Services Provider of the Year – Largilliere Finance
Datacentre of the Year – Continent 8 Technologies
IT Partner of the Year – Zeus Technology (Highly Recommended – iMEGA Technology)
Fraud and Compliance Solution of the Year – iovation (HC – Featurespace)
Innovation in Payments Solutions – CQR Payment Solutions
Payments Company of the Year – Skrill Holdings
Regional Payments Solution of the Year – Moneta.ru
Onshore Lawyer of the Year – Olswang
Services Rising Star of the Year – Featurespace (HC – GameOn Marketing)
Affiliate Software of the Year – NetRefer
Affiliate Network of the Year – Income Access
Innovation in Bingo of the Year – Cozy Games
Bingo Network of the Year – Playtech
Bingo Supplier of the Year – Dragonfish
Live Casino Supplier of the Year – Evolution Gaming
Innovation in RNG Casino Software – Net Entertainment
RNG Casino Supplier of the Year – Playtech
Innovation in Slot Provision – Microgaming
Slot Provider of the Year – IGT (HC – Ash Gaming)
Innovation in Sports Betting Software – Bet Tracker
Sports Betting Supplier of the Year – OpenBet (HC – Zukido)
Sports Betting Rising Star of the Year – EveryMatrix
Lottery Software Supplier of the Year – GTECH G2
Skill Games Supplier of the Year – GameAccount Network
Software Rising Star of the Year – Mobenga
White Label Partner of the Year – NeoGames (HC – EveryMatrix)
Poker Software of the Year – Dragonfish
Poker Network of the Year – Microgaming
Mobile Supplier of the Year – Mfuse.
The last words were left to Keysey who, after not reminding us of his favorite phrase already, reminded us that “I think we’ve smashed it.”
