Bovada under fire in Arizona, Tabcorp cuts jobs, Fernandez leaves Aristocrat Gaming

Much has transpired this week in the world of gambling. For starters, Casino Guru welcomed the two new judges for the upcoming Casino Guru Awards 2025, Duncan Garvie and Monica Shafaq.

Responsible gambling

In a similar vein, Casino Guru presented the Safer Gambling Week 2024 webinar, titled "The Art ofBlocking: Self-Exclusion Tools" in which it gathered some of the most prominent leaders in responsible gambling.

The webinar was hosted in collaboration with BetBlocker, and part of the broader framework of Safer Gambling Week 2024.

While on the subject of responsible gambling, Mindway AI and Casino Guru reported another success worth celebrating – the successfully concluded Gamalyze campaign meant to help casino players evaluate their risk-taking and gambling behavior.

Thanks to the Gamalyze game, players were able to test their gambling behavior in a fun, engaging, anonymous and free setting. A total of 10,479 visitors on the Casino Guru homepage started the game, and 7,116 games were completed pointing out the success of the initiative and its ability to engage with customers.

In the meantime, GamCare hailed the introduction of the statutory levy in the United Kingdom at a time when calls to the country’s helpline by people experiencing gambling-related distress have been mounting. The levy is meant to raise significant funding for research, treatment, and intervention initiatives.

Laws & industry

This week saw Hector Fernandez, a long-standing chief executive at Aristocrat Gaming, vacate his post for what was at first an unnamed competitor. However, it soon after transpired that Fernandez will be accepting a job at the merged entity between IGT and Everi Holdings Inc.

This week also saw the UK Gambling Commission Chair, Marcus Boyle, vacate his position. He will stop representing the regulator as its Chair come January 31, 2025, and will be succeeded by Bill Moyes.

Once again in the United Kingdom, a Labor candidate for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat, Kevin Craig, has been cleared of wrongdoing vis-à-vis his betting on the outcome of the general election held earlier in 2024.

Craig had wagered on him to lose, but the amount involved was too small to merit further investigation, the UK Gambling Commission concluded.

In the meantime, Tabcorp has announced that it is laying off about 200 people from its workforce, or 10% of the total headcount. This is part of the current chief executive’s plan to reinvent the company’s corporate structure and make it leaner and more efficient.

Playtech in the meantime has launched its first live casino offering in Finland in collaboration with Veikkaus. The partnership will see a number of popular casino games implemented into the portfolio, among which are Mega Fire Blaze Roulette, Adventures Beyond Wonderland, Spin a Win, The Greatest Cards Show, Blackjack and Roulette.

BetMGM has expanded its content offering in Ontario by teaming up with Push Gaming. The supplier will now deploy its games in the Canadian province, but also seek to consolidate the partnership with another launch in the United States, where BetMGM will be Push Gaming’s exclusive partner.

Bovada, a prominent offshore operator, has been targeted in Arizona. The Arizona Department of Gaming revealed that it had served a cease-and-desist letter to the website, ordering it to stop offering access to Arizona citizens at once.

Bovada has faced many similar restrictions across the United States in recent months, with multiple state regulators targeting it.

In the meantime, LeoVegas has launched its Sportsbook in the German market. The group continues to expand its local footprint after it successfully rolled out its online casino platform earlier this year.

The voice of the industry

This week was also interesting for other reasons. For example, Eventus International has outlined the SPiCE Central Asia 2025 event, revealing more details about the upcoming gathering.

AffPapa, a popular media company and the host of the iGaming Club series, has also put forward a new interesting video interview format – "Beyond iGaming," which follows the lives of people who work in the industry.

Meanwhile, ICE has revealed more details about the upcoming ICE X World Gaming Gala which is taking place on January 19 next year.

HIPTHER has also revealed the full agenda for its upcoming Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025. More updates about the event will be forthcoming.

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