The leading developer of entertaining money games, Air Dice Group, announced a new senior-level appointment ahead of its planned expansion in the Latin American region. The company has announced it appointed Rocio Moitiño, an expert in the online gambling sector, to the role of sales director for the LatAm region.

In her role with the company, Moitiño is expected to help propel the growth of Air Dice within different LatAm markets. The announcement is not coincidental, considering that many iGaming companies have seen the potential of the online gambling sector in Latin America. At the same time, Moitiño brings a wealth of industry experience which is undoubtedly going to help her in the new role of sales director for Air Dice.

Commenting on the topic, Moitiño said that she is excited to join Air Dice. She predicted that the company’s quality products and services are going to be well-received by audiences in Latin America. “I was very happy to join Air Dice as their games aim to interact with the player more, driving engagement and reoccurring revenues for partners,” added Moitiño. In conclusion, she predicted that the company will continue to grow in the region, given its games that easily stand out from the competition.

“I’m delighted to join Air Dice, as they have quality products and services that will fit the LatAm markets very well.“

Rocio Moitiño, sales director at Air Dice

Erkki Nikunen, Air Dice’s partner and CBDO, was similarly excited about the new appointment and acknowledged that it comes at an important moment for the company. He pointed out that Air Dice plans significant growth throughout 2023 and beyond.

“The appointment of Rocio, as Sales Director for the LatAm region given her over 10 years in B2B and B2C iGaming, with several companies, and extensive commercial, sales, customer management, and marketing expertise will make it possible for us to achieve our targets in the region for 2023 and beyond.“

Erkki Nikunen, partner and CBDO at Air Dice

According to him, Moitiño’s appointment will help the company establish its presence in strategic markets within the Latin American region. Nikunen stressed that she brings business-to-business and business-to-customer iGaming experience that spanned more than a decade with leading companies within the vertical. Nikunen predicted that this experience will undoubtedly help Moitiño, who, in turn, will contribute to the company’s to growth and help it exceed its planned targets.

Great Canadian Entertainment, the biggest gaming and hospitality company in Canada, announced that the upcoming 2,500-seat The Arena at Pickering Casino Resort venue will be inaugurated by none other than Bryan Adams.

The famous singer and Juno Award winner will perform at the venue on April 26, 2023, celebrating its opening. His performance is scheduled for 8 pm.

Adams Will Perform on the Opening Day

Pickering Casino Resort is Great Canadian Entertainment’s newest venue. Situated a short drive away from Toronto, the property boasts a gargantuan 96,000-square-foot casino area and a Great Canadian Sportsbook. It also has nine distinct restaurants offering a rich selection of dining options and a luxurious 275-room hotel.

The Arena is, as the name implies, an arena that Great Canadian Entertainment will use to host various live entertainment, sporting events and special attractions. The company believes there was no better person to perform on its Pickering Casino Resort’s opening day than Bryan Adams himself.

Known for his thrilling music and stage presence, Adams is a famous musician whose music has achieved number 1 status in dozens of countries. In addition to being a famous performer, Adams is also the Companion of the Order of Canada, has three Academy Awards and five Golden Globe nominations and a Grammy Award, 20 Juno awards, American Music Awards and ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards. With such a track record, it is hardly surprising that Adams is also a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

Loyal Members Will Be Able to Buy Tickets Earlier

Pickering Casino Resort will reward Great Canadian Rewards members with earlier access to concert tickets. Starting March 16 at 10 am ET, members of the loyalty program will be able to purchase tickets for the event. Great Canadian Rewards participants can learn more on the program’s official webpage.

Tickets will become available to the general public a day later. According to Pickering Casino Resort, Adams enthusiasts who are not members of Great Canadian Rewards will be able to purchase tickets starting March 17 at 10 am ET.

As announced by the casino resort, ticket prices will begin at $149 plus applicable taxes and fees.

Anfinson Is Excited to Welcome Adams

Matthew Anfinson, the chief executive officer of Great Canadian Entertainment, commented on the exciting occasion. He noted that his team is glad to have an icon such as Bryan Adams officially open the casino resort and introduce The Arena.

His dynamic performance will be the perfect way to showcase this venue and emphasize our commitment to providing a wide range of world-class events and experiences from concerts to sports.

Matthew Anfinson, CEO, Great Canadian Entertainment

Anfinson is excited about the event and said that Great Canadian Entertainment is looking forward to Bryan’s performance, which will surely generate a lot of excitement.

Gambling advertising is causing serious concern for fans of the Australian Football League (AFL), the findings of the annual AFL Fans Association survey revealed.

Concerned about Their Children

The survey conducted among almost 3,000 respondents and reported by The Age revealed that 47% of them believe gambling advertising is the most cause of concern, leaving historically top-ranked umpiring issues and rule changes second and raising more questions about the need for further regulation in the sector.

According to the survey findings, “in addition to the recognized issues of problem gamblers destroying families, there is concern about the normalization and grooming of children as future gamblers due to the sheer volume of gambling advertising” that is bombarding them while watching football.

According to 79% of the respondents, gambling advertising should be banned from grounds, 76% would support a ban from broadcasting, and 62% believe that the AFL should not receive any revenue from gambling advertising.

“Whilst there is some recognition of the need for responsible gambling and fans’ right to gamble on AFL if they wish, there is a clear consensus that the volume of gambling advertising is morally inappropriate and should be banned given the social and family impacts,” the survey stated.

AFL against Further Regulation

Against the idea of further restrictions, the AFL issued a statement reiterating the benefits of its wagering partnership in terms of implementing robust integrity measures and its ability to invest back into the game.

An AFL spokesman also outlined that the league “has strict restrictions surrounding the times that gambling advertising is permitted and have reduced the amount of wagering branding and signage at grounds, [while] players, coaches and officials are not permitted to encourage, induce, advertise or promote betting” on events administered by the league.

AFL’s current sponsorship deal with Sportsbet is worth between AU$12 million ($8.1 million) and AU$13 million ($8.7 million) a year of which 28% is paid to the players. The deal also allows AFL’s partner to use player image rights for promotional purposes.

Devising a ‘Planned Approach’

AFL Fans Association’s president Ron Issko believes that if the league, its various stakeholders, fans and broadcasters sit together, they will be able to devise “a planned approach” how “to reduce the ads over a period of time” initially and eventually eliminate them,” suggesting there will be ways to compensate the AFL for the lost revenue.

The survey comes during the ongoing inquiry into online gambling harm led by Labor MP Peta Murphy and is likely to add fuel to the need for further regulation in the sector while major sports bodies, including the AFL and NRL, are strongly opposing the possibility of new restrictions.

The consortium behind the proposal to build a casino resort on Coney Island released renderings of the future building and amenities if they win one of the three available downstate casino licenses.

Casino, Hotel, Convention Hall

The consortium comprising Global Gaming Solutions (GGS), Legends Global Planning, Saratoga Casino Holdings, the Chickasaw Nation, and Thor Equities revealed Friday their plans for the casino resort it would build on the island that is home to the team from Minor League Baseball (MiLB), the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Named “The Coney Island Casino Resort & Resort Entertainment District Brooklyn,” the project will build just steps away from the Brooklyn boardwalk and beach a new casino with a Las Vegas-style entertainment hall showing visitors performances by top entertainers, a sleek hotel behind the casino and a nearby convention hall to fill the void for a large venue for business events in southern Brooklyn.

The consortium including the co-founded by the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys sports and entertainment firm, Legend Global Planning, initially announced its plans to apply for one of the state’s three available land-based casino licenses in upstate New York in November last year.

Commenting on the project, Robert Cornegy, a former Brooklyn councilman and a consultant with the consortium, outlined the seamless way the new buildings will “blend in with the boardwalk and streetscape,” adamant that the casino resort that, if approved, will appear in-between the aquarium and the Cyclones ballpark will supercharge the boardwalk.

The casino project will also create new jobs for the Coney Island area, serving as a display of the consortium’s “responsibility to bring economic development to underserved communities,” Cornegy pointed out.

Competition Will Be Strong

Gaining the approval for the Coney Island casino resort will be anything but a walk in the park as there is intense competition for the three available upstate casino licenses from other gaming operators, including Bally’s, MGM Resorts, the Seminole tribe, Wynn Resorts, and Caesars Entertainment.

Bally’s is proposing a casino on the Trump Organization’s public golf course at Ferry Point, MGM Resort is part of a consortium with Genting/Resorts World that is expected to submit a bid to expand their offerings to include table games, Mets’ owner Steve Cohen, is eyeing a casino near the team’s stadium in Queens, Wynn Resorts and the Steve Ross-Related Companies is vying for a casino at Hudson Yards, and Caesars, in partnership with the landlord SL Green is targeting a casino in Times Square.

The recent revelations regarding Australia’s top regional regulator point to entrenched deficiencies in its consumer protection systems. The names of nearly 50 people who asked to be banned from gambling never reached operators due to a long-lasting rules oversight. Rising controversy and advocate outrage significantly degraded the regulator’s reputation and undermined its recent recommendations regarding the government’s alternative BetStop scheme.

A Legal Oversight Put Dozens of Problem Gamblers in Peril

Comparatively lower taxation means that nearly all of Australia’s sports betting operators register with The Northern Territory Racing Commission despite operating primarily around the east coast. The regional regulator has been outspoken regarding the country’s gambling-related regulation. It heavily criticized the upcoming BetStop new national self-exclusion register, preferring to continue using its own solution.

However, a recent report by The Guardian Australia uncovered that years of neglect and oversight had severely undermined the effectiveness of NTRC’s system. The regulator recently sent a letter to operators, admitting it had failed to notify them of 48 people who applied for self-exclusion. These cases allegedly remained unresolved for at least five years due to an oversight in regulations.

Each licensee (must) review the list of self-excluded individuals and ensure that any of these persons, not currently holding an account, be immediately noted as excluded.

Northern Territory Racing Commission letter to operators

According to the Commission’s own admissions, gamblers who applied for voluntary self-exclusion before 2018 did not confirm their permission for the regulator to share their details with operators. The oversight makes it impossible to include these people in the register despite their explicit desire, meaning they would remain vulnerable and risk slipping back into their addiction.

The Government Is Testing an Alternative Nationwide System

The controversial revelation sparked outrage among anti-gambling advocacy groups who criticized the NTRC for allowing such a loophole in the law to remain unaddressed for years. The Commission’s self-exclusion system is primitive and cumbersome, relying on spreadsheets and PDF documents supplied to operators who manually cross-reference each new registration.

Tim Costello, chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, decried the oversight, describing the regulator’s customer-protection code as useless. He noted that even the most advanced regulation would have little effect if the authority behind it could not enforce it. The NTRC’s recent failings should give Costello even more ammo in his crusade to overhaul Australia’s gambling ecosystem and ensure enduring customer safety.

The industry and the regulators talk a good game about codes and how they’re updating them and that they are shiny and new, and now we find out they have no teeth.

Tim Costello

Despite the Commission’s criticisms, the federal government’s BetStop solution should address some of the shortcomings of the old system. The new national self-exclusion register is undergoing extensive testing and promises a responsive, automated solution, allowing people to ban themselves from gambling communications to sign-up. However, even the best system requires adequate enforcement, and Australian regulators are yet to prove themselves.

A Southern Nevada casino is now facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly leaving its systems vulnerable and exposing the personal information of hundreds of thousands of customers and employees.

Lack of Timely Notice

Initiated by a California resident who claims his computer was part of a ransomware attack due to the casino security breach, the class action lawsuit accuses the company operating the Rising Star Sports Ranch Resort in Mesquite and The Brook in Seabrook, New Hampshire, of failing to provide the affected with timely and adequate notice, Las Vegas-based 8 News Now reported.

Rancho Mesquite Casino was the victim of a cyberattack in November 2022 during which a hacker accessed sensitive information of more than 200,000 casino customers and company employees, including their full names and social security numbers but it was in December when it sent notices to its clients about the breach.

In a letter sent to those whose personal data was exposed over the course of the several days of the hacker attack and enclosed in the court filing, the company explained that there was “a cybersecurity incident” on November 9 affecting Eureka during which parts of the casino company’s systems “were encrypted by an unauthorized actor.” Eureka Security is an Israeli-based cloud data security provider.

“Upon discovering the incident, we immediately took steps to secure our systems, began an investigation, and a cybersecurity firm was engaged to assist,” wrote the casino company to the affected parties, telling them that “although the investigation is ongoing, we identified certain data that the unauthorized actor accessed during the incident.”

“We began a review of the data and identified that the data included some of your information,” the letter concluded, pointing out that the data exposed to the hacker attack included names and social security numbers. The company also opened a dedicated phone line and offered one year of credit monitoring for those affected.

Negligence and Breach of Contract

The lawsuit accuses the casino operator of negligence, breach of contract and other counts, asking a jury to award monetary damages to the class members for the company’s failure to encrypt their sensitive information, and order the operator to strengthen its cybersecurity defenses.

“Simply put, plaintiff and class members now face substantial risk of out-of-pocket fraud losses such as loans opened in their names, medical services billed in their names, tax return fraud, utility bills opened in their names, credit card fraud, and similar identity theft,” claim the class action lawsuit documents.

The casino operator was repeatedly contacted by the reporting media with a request for comments but did not respond.

Last August, PokerStars and Oracle Red Bull Racing announced they would continue their sponsorship partnership to release a fresh Red Spade pass after the first one was launched in March of the same year. Then, Formula 1 fans were allowed to take part in a series of free rolls for a chance to scoop up a limited edition pass that would bring them event tickets, extra fan benefits, and exclusive access to F1 experiences.

Now, the two parties have announced an extension of their agreement for the 2023 season, marking their second year with a fruitful collaboration. Accordingly, PokerStars will keep promoting its international brand using Formula 1 after it agreed to continue to sponsor the Oracle Red Bull Racing team. 

Right in Time for the New F1 Season

The extension of the agreement was officially secured right in time for the official start of the fresh F1 season last weekend. Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen with support from its Team Partner Honda won the pole position, closely followed by Sergio Perez who came in second at the Bahrain Grand Prix. 

According to the joint statement issued by the two parties, PokerStars will make a comeback to racetrack while ready to hand out even more rewards for F1 aficionados, share promotions, fresh content, and competitions for the chances to win “unforgettable experiences at some of the season’s most hotly anticipated races.” 

PokerStars will use its official YouTube channel to present never-before-seen footage behind the scenes during important races. PokerStars Red Spade Pass which was a big hit last year will also be making a comeback this year, letting PokerStars players enjoy unique experiences.

PokerStars’ Embrace the Race program consisting of race weekend rewards is also part of the partnership extension. The program features a brand-new Chicane Cash Drop, along with Spin & Go Races, Odds Boost on Sports bets, and even a Casino Weekend Races Leaderboard.

The PokerStars Partnership, an “Ace Move for the Team” 

As explained by Red Bull’s team principal, Christian Horner, their partnership with PokerStars has represented an “ace move for the Team.” Horner spoke about PokerStars’ commitment to innovation and entertainment which he called a “winning formula” that rightfully matches their own set of values in F1. 

The same high-coverage F1 partnership helped the operator of some of the most popular online poker sites have its brand be exclusively featured on strategic locations including drivers’ race suits and pit crew helmets, Red Bull 19 car’s halo, the inner cockpit, and the rear wing end plate. 

Flutter’s director of partnerships, public relations, and consumer engagement, Rebecca McAdam Willetts, called their first year of collaboration “an incredible first year” while expressing delight to enter the 2023 season with additional rewards, extra content, and even more engaging experiences meant to propel their partnership even more. Willets also praised Oracle Red Bull Racing’s ethos and vision which have helped the two partners reach audiences with similar views and passions. 

Allwyn, a leading multi-national lottery operator, has completed the acquisition of the Camelot Lottery Solutions Group. The deal was announced in December 2022 and highlights Allwyn’s ambition to foray into the US market.

With the deal now complete, Camelot LS Group and the companies it encompasses are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Allwyn. For reference, Camelot was previously owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.

Allwyn noted that it has not planned any changes to the Camelot LS Group leadership as of now. According to the former company’s statement, Camelot LS Group will continue to enhance the performance of the lotteries it supports.

Camelot LS Group is based in Chicago and will provide Allwyn with access to the US gambling market – a market that Robert Chvátal, chief executive of Allwyn and Camelot UK, has always viewed as an important part of his company’s future.

The acquisition will further reinforce Allwyn, which is focused on building better lotteries that focus on innovation, technology, efficiency and safety. The company always seeks to return as much money as possible to good causes, while providing players with engaging and safe experiences.

Allwyn Has Been Steadily Consolidating Its Power

The current announcement comes a month and a half after Allwyn’s acquisition of Camelot was greenlit by the United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission, allowing the former company to proceed with the deal.

Allwyn’s lottery-first approach has cemented it as a leading brand in many European countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece and Italy. Thanks to its efforts in pushing the limits of what lotteries can be, Allwyn successfully secured the license to operate the United Kingdom’s National Lottery.

Unfortunately, Camelot, the incumbent National Lottery operator, was not happy with the UKGC’s decision and tried to dispute it. The lottery company took matters to court, preventing the regulator from awarding the license to Allwyn.

The clash between Allwyn and Camelot lasted for a few months before the latter company gave up and canceled its challenge. This allowed the UKGC to officially hand the Fourth National Lottery License to Allwyn, cementing the Czech company as Camelot’s successor.

However, Allwyn was not keen on waiting until Camelot’s tenure is over. Instead, the lottery giant announced its decision to acquire Camelot and be in charge of the National Lottery right away. The deal was eventually greenlit by the UKGC, securing Allwyn’s reinforced presence in the UK.