Each year the Malta iGaming Seminar brings together Maltese based operators, suppliers and the regulators to educate the iGaming world on what this jurisdiction has to offer. The conference spans across two days and includes a poker tournament on the first evening and a pool party at the conclusion of the event, undoubtedly the highlight.
Contrary to popular belief, this seminar has a lot more substance to it than you would think. What may appear on the surface as just an excuse to party, the sessions were informative, funny, and certainly went above and beyond the subject of Malta. Testimonials from Malta based operators were broken up by regulatory debates and updates, SEO presentations and other goodies which kept the conference room so full that extra chairs were called in last minute in order to accommodate the crowd.
Mikael Pawlo of Mr. Green gave an excellent testimonial from a corporate and personal perspective of what Malta has to offer. While Mikael clearly loves his ties to this island, he delivered a hilarious presentation that touched upon the eccentricities of the Maltese culture and the fact that everyone here always has a cousin that can fix your problem, whatever it may be. Your car broke down? Someone’s cousin can fix it. You need a doctor? Someone’s cousin is a doctor. You want shirts made? My cousin does that. Orrajt? Orrajt.
One of the best panels of the entire event was the regulatory debate covering the concept of a harmonized framework across Europe. The representatives from Alderney, Italy and Malta plus moderator AJ Thompson all agree that the likelihood of a unified European or global regulatory structure is pretty close to impossible. Robin Le Provost also pointed out that the liberalization of singular European markets will destroy smaller operators and lead to several “super operators” who have deep enough pockets to cover licenses in all the regions. He predicts there will be massive changes in the industry over the next ten years.
Something that really stood out at this event was the organizers’ efforts to interact with attendees and keep them involved throughout the two days. During presentations, the audience was asked to vote on certain matters using remote devices planted at each seat, something I had never seen before at an iGaming event. The poker tournament was popular and everyone clearly had a lot of fun at the pool party whose gracious hosts kept guests entertained and “hydrated” for eight hours straight.
All and all the Malta iGaming Seminar was well received by all attendees and everyone was particularly impressed with the LGA’s participation from the moment the event kicked off until it wound down at the pool. It is very obvious that the LGA’s passion for Maltese presence in the industry is strong and that everyone here plans to continue the fight for the success of the iGaming industry in Malta and beyond.
