GTECH poker app is all thumbs; GAN inks Konami; IGT eyes New Jersey

gtech-wla-net-ent-gameaccount-network-konami-igtGambling operators are taking full advantage of the media spotlight afforded by the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) currently underway in Las Vegas to announce their future plans, particularly those relating to the US market.

On Monday, gaming supplier GTECH began displaying its new poker platform, which includes a mobile version for the iPad designed to appeal to a generation raised on keying in data without using traditional typing fingers. GTECH says the app’s total functionality can be accessed purely via the use of one’s thumbs, a feature GTECH claims is an industry first, although there have been many online gambling apps that have earned the designation as being ‘all thumbs.’

GTECH also announced a deal to provide casino games to World Lottery Association (WLA) members via the GTECH platform, courtesy of Swedish gaming software outfit Net Entertainment. Net Ent has agreed to supply GTECH subsidiary Spielo with a range of casino games, which will be made available to GTECH’s WLA clients on a deal-by-deal basis. The deal follows July’s pact in which Net Ent agreed to provide game content for GTECH’s Italian-facing Lottomatica.it site.

GameAccount Network (GAN) has struck a deal with the US division of Japanese developer Konami Gaming that will allow GAN clients to enjoy Konami’s real-money and free-play content by early 2014. GAN USA president Julius Patta said Konami’s “robust catalog” would be appreciated by GAN partners in regulated markets like Italy and the UK “and, in due course, markets like Spain and New Jersey.” In July, GAN reportedly inked a deal to supply casino content to the rumored pairing of the Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City and UK betting exchange Betfair (although neither the Plaza nor Betfair has yet to publicly confirm the deal) when New Jersey’s online market opens in November.

International Game Technology (IGT) is also hungrily eyeing New Jersey, and Tuesday brought confirmation that the newly blue IGT would be bringing its Remote Game Server technology to the Garden State’s online gambling market. IGT already has a well-established physical presence on at least half the Atlantic City casino floors, and now plans to serve “multiple licensed operators” in the online realm.