Gambling industry professionals returned to the Sands Expo in Las Vegas for one last time this week, to get their final fix of G2E 2019 expo floor action and conference sessions.
Over the last four days, the major themes at G2E have included strategies for moving land based operators online, how to do a better job of engaging millennials on the casino floor, new sports betting opportunities in the U.S. and responsible gaming.
Most land based operators who wish expand their business online are searching for a partner to help them do so, the exact reason why Europe-based GIG is here at G2E. GIG has a wealth of experience in the online gambling space and offers everything a land based operator needs to successfully launch and monetize an online offering.
“Firstly, we have the experience now. We’ve done it successfully with Hard Rock in both Iowa and New Jersey, we’ve now done it with SkyCity down in New Zealand, so I think there’s an element of security in the choice with GIG”, GIG’s James King shared with CalvinAyre.com.
“I think in terms of our services, we’re not just a pure platform provider, we offer managed services as well, to help support these people because in a lot of instances the offline, the casinos, have no one there that runs any aspect of digital, from CRM management, KYC, media services”, he pointed out.
“So GIG can bring all components that you need and quite literally manage the entirety of your digital presence, at least from the start as you’re launching or growing out”, King added.
Recipient of Global Gaming Awards’ American Executive of the Year, David Lopez is at the forefront of introducing products to the casino floor that appeal to the younger generation. Today we spoke with Lopez in an exclusive interview and learned how AGS is disrupting in table games.
“In the table game space we’re really trying to bring what we see in the slot floor right over into the pit where historically there hasn’t been that kind of excitement”, Lopez explained.
“Now you can win multi-level progressives, you can spin a wheel, win various prizes, sometimes they are not cash prizes, they can be events, sort of catering to younger generation too, so instead of a cash prize it could be watches, it could be a night club experience, it could be a concert, anything of the like”, he added.
Competition Interactive also has a focus on engaging millennials and today we learned how they are innovating in the slots and virtual sports betting space.
“We’re debuting ‘Running Rich Reels’, which is a true hybrid slot machine and video game or skill based game”, Competition Interactive’s Chief Creative Executive Keith Winters revealed.
“This year we decided that instead of producing just a skill game and introducing it to new clientele, we wanted to go to existing slot players and say, we have something new for you to play”, he said.
“So instead of a hard transition, this is sort of a slow transition, so a slow introduction to the video game world, where the skill games is a bonus inside of the slot”, Winters added.
In partnership with Competition Interactive, Virtual Media Group have developed a new virtual racing product, with engaging millennials in mind.
“We’re the first virtual horse racing and virtual sports and racing that is actually pari-mutuel. So people can bet in a pool betting, have life changing pools of 100,000, a million dollars, for a pick 6, pick 3 type bet”, Jonathan Strause, Virtual Media Group’s Charman & CEO shared with CalvinAyre.com.
“Also, players can put their horse into a race, manage their horse on a mobile phone and participate in the races. We have it not only for horse races, but also we have cart racing which is really geared towards millennials. So we’re really trying to expand the audience of a sports book”, he added.
Geocomply, the global leader in geolocation compliance technology, have enjoyed much success in the U.S. market since 2012, yet they also strive to give back to the industry that we all love so much.
This year at G2E, GeoComply with its partners Worldpay Gaming, SG Digital, Sightline Payments, VAIX, Accertify, GameSecure and through individual donations, raised over $45,000 in support of problem gambling at a fund-raising event. GeoComply’s CEO David Briggs shared with CalvinAyre.com why this initiative is so important to him and his team.
“We wanted to raise money for the National Council on Problem Gambling very publically at G2E and from the gaming community because this is a huge event, there is so much money being spent on marketing gambling, but there is a social cost to gambling as well. There is no point in pretending that there isn’t”, Briggs said.
“So as an industry its very important that we put something back and that should, I think, be a part of this show. Its not just about spending money on big booths and having people come and doing deals, its also about demonstrating that we as an industry can use this gathering to raise money and put back things back into the community”, Briggs added.
