News
Responsible Gambling Week hailed a huge success
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Responsible Gambling Week 2018 has been hailed as a resounding success, with the #RGWeek18 hashtag generating almost 20 million impressions during the campaign.
The slogan for the week was ‘Let’s Talk About Responsible Gambling’ and the objective of the campaign was to spark a national conversation. Social media channels were identified as the best way of communicating messages about how to gamble responsibly to the widest possible audiences. Meanwhile, more than 127,000 staff at over 11,000 gambling venues and online sites in the UK and Ireland provided advice to customers and staged charity events to publicise the campaign.
The social media campaign generated 19.3 million impressions on Twitter and Facebook, compared to 7 million during last year’s Responsible Gambling Week, and was led by operators in every sector of the industry and joined by leading football clubs and racecourses. Additionally, Strictly Come Dancing contestant and former England cricketer Graeme Swann endorsed the campaign on Instagram, alongside Team GB hockey gold medallist Sam Quek, in a campaign sponsored by Clarion Gaming, which was designed to reach beyond regular gamblers and generated hundreds of thousands of impressions.
The English Football League (EFL), sponsored by Sky Bet, gave strong support to the event with advertisements appearing in every match programme on the weekend during Responsible Gambling Week and messages on big screens, while many of the 72 clubs promoted responsible gambling videos on their social channels. Swansea City’s players wore a special shirt, featuring the campaign logo, for their match against Rotherham, whilst players from Middlesbrough and Preston North End recorded videos sharing the campaign’s key responsible gambling matches, which were pushed out on their social channels. Several Premier League clubs also supported the week including Crystal Palace, Huddersfield, Watford and West HHhhHam United, whose players warmed up in Responsible Gambling Week training tops before their match against Tottenham.
Ascot racecourse backed the campaign with a series of initiatives at its televised meeting during Responsible Gambling Week. Every runner in the 3.30 race wore co-branded Bet With Ascot/RGW saddle cloths, and the winner’s podium and Parade Ring were branded with campaign logos while all staff at the meeting wore Responsible Gambling Week badges. Other racecourses, including Chester and Bangor-on-Dee, also supported the campaign and adverts were published in race cards at every meeting in the country.
The charity, GamCare, ran training courses in Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, London and Hull for professionals working with young adults and children, while in Ireland, the Dunlewey Centre ran a series of responsible gambling workshops and The Irish Bookmakers Association hosted a drop-in day in Leinster House. Customers who needed further help or information were referred to GambleAware, an independent charity which funds research, education and treatment, or the Dunlewey addiction services in Ireland.
Responsible Gambling Week was organised by the Industry Group For Responsible Gambling (IGRG), which through its member trade associations covers online, amusement arcades, bingo clubs, bookmakers and casinos. The campaign took place in the UK and Ireland and was supported by The Irish Bookmakers Association, Irish Amusement Trade Association, Horse Racing Ireland and both the Irish Greyhound and Horse Racing Tote.
During the week, John Hagan, chairman of the IGRG, held a drop-in event at the House of Commons, outlining the campaign to MPs and peers. He also moderated a successful breakfast briefing, organised by EGR Compliance, which was attended by more than 100 guests. The panel was made up of Helen Rhodes, director of safer gambling at the Gambling Commission, Anna Hemmings, chief executive of GamCare and representatives from operators, Sky Bet and William Hill, and event sponsors Genius Sports.
Jackpot Joy Group plc sponsored advertisements at London Undergound stations, ensuring the campaign was brought to the attention of hundreds of thousands of commuters.
John Hagan, Chairman of the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling, said:
“I would like to thank all the operators and other companies in the industry for their wholehearted support for Responsible Gambling Week. Thanks to their support, and the involvement of so many football clubs and leading racecourses, we successfully sparked a national conversation about what it means to gamble responsibly.
“The #RGWeek18 hashtag garnered 19.3 million impressions this year, a fantastic achievement, especially when compared to last year’s figure of 7m impressions. The campaign demonstrated that when operators from every sector come together to promote common messages across their networks they can make a real impact.
“I hope this has paved the way for more collaboration across the industry to promote best practice and set common standards around every aspect of responsible gambling. I know from my conversations with MPs, at the parliamentary event we held during Responsible Gambling Week, that this will be seen as an important and welcome development”.
Anna Hemmings, chief executive of GamCare, said:
“Responsible Gambling Week demonstrates that positive collaboration across the industry can have real benefits.
To make gambling activities as safe as possible we need to have more conversations about gambling in general, as well as helping customers understand the tools which are available to help them stay in control of their gambling, providing information about risks in a clear and accessible way, and ensuring that if someone wants to take a break they can step away easily for as long as they want to.
GamCare was pleased to support the Week through our Youth Outreach Programme, helping those who support young people to have honest conversations about gambling in a broader range of contexts. We’re looking forward to an even bigger impact in the years to follow.”
ABOUT IGRG:
- Established in 2014, the IGRG promotes socially responsible gambling within the British gambling industry, in support of the three licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005.
- The IGRG comprises the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB); British Amusement Machine Association (BACTA); The Bingo Association (BA); National Casino Forum (NCF); and Remote Gambling Association (RGA).
- IGRG’s member associations represent some 640 operators and 8,500 licensed premises, reflecting the spectrum of gambling businesses.
Source: European Gaming Media
Latest News
What makes Turbo Games’ provably fair games so special?
A partnership between game developer Turbo Games and iGaming solution provider and aggregator Slotegrator began in November 2022 via the APIgrator game integration solution. Since then, the collaboration has been developing successfully — and now it’s time to analyze what made it successful.
Turbo Games has noticed how the new technologies spreading throughout the industry can work for the good of brand transparency and player loyalty: “We can already see how blockchain technology has made it possible to make betting checks more accessible to players. All you need is a blockchain-hash and a decoder service. We think we will continue to move in this direction. Many traditional online casinos do not offer the possibility to check the bet. Sooner or later we all have to come to this. Perhaps the development of artificial intelligence will help here, because we are already seeing its involvement in all spheres of human life.”
Turbo Games specializes in provably fair games. Provable fairness is a concept where players can verify their wins or losses using blockchain technology — the outcome of the game is dictated by a smart contract and is absolutely random, barring the possibility of any human involvement. Using cryptographic hashing algorithms, the gambling site and the player’s device both generate seeds (random strings of numbers). Players receive a key that allows them to check the results; if the results are the same as the game round they witnessed, it proves that there was no foul play.
According to statistics from Turbo Games, the audience for provably fair games is mostly between 18 and 25 years old. However, there are also players aged 35-40 who prefer traditional games but would like to try something new, and have turned their attention to provably fair games.
There are good odds that the technology of provably fair games will become more popular, if not even commonplace, because it gives players a feeling of transparency and proves that the business is trustworthy without the need to search through dozens of reviews. Whereas many innovations in iGaming simply add entertainment, provable fairness addresses security concerns and reassures players that they’re not being exploited, which is invaluable.
Provably fair games are beneficial for both players and online casinos. Vadim Potapenko, Head of Sales at Turbo Games, comments: “It often happens that the users are not satisfied with the result, because gambling is not only about big wins, but also possible losses. By allowing them to check the fairness of a bet, we make life easier for platforms and players. Of course, this allows us to communicate with partners and users that we work honestly and that’s why they should trust our games.”
Ayvar Gabidullin, Business Development Manager at Slotegrator, adds that “this type of game is now becoming more and more popular and has great potential for both players and game providers in the future. On the part of the player, the advantage is that the player can always be sure that his game is fair and he can independently check any of his bets. And for the game provider, this also simplifies the process of implementing casino games, since now it will not be necessary to obtain the appropriate certificates from independent laboratories before launching new games, they can immediately enter the market with these games and where anyone can check the result and make sure that that there is no cheating with players. Many game providers are starting to look towards this type of game. And as far as I see, many operators are starting to think about adding these games.”
What do players in 2023 need? The iGaming industry is all about reputation and trust. Players have a huge number of platforms to choose from, making them pickier and pickier. There’s an abundance of forums where players leave reviews, so if players view a brand as untrustworthy, there are plenty of places they can share their opinion. Provable fairness not only stops that from happening, it provides evidence to the contrary, giving players something else to talk about.
Slotegrator also recommends investing time and effort into localization and creating an effective and detailed marketing strategy — before trying provably fair technology players need to get to the platform, and there is no acquisition without marketing.
ABOUT SLOTEGRATOR
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
More information: https://slotegrator.pro/
ABOUT TURBO GAMES
Turbo Games — a provably fair games provider that belongs to Turbo Stars company — has an ambitious goal to establish widespread recognition throughout the iGaming world. Even though it is young, the company consists of professionals who have been working on the brand for over five years and are even planning to introduce a new brand for a wider audience soon.
Turbo Games also works in Europe, India, and South Africa, where the company sees the most potential and expects the same “hype” as in Brazil.
The portfolio of Turbo Games consists of 21 titles, including well-known games like Mines, Crash X, DoubleRoll, Hi-Lo, and Plinko. The studio releases a game every month. However, not all games are developed from scratch. Wicket Blast and Spin Strike, the last two releases, are based on cricket and the Indian Premier League. Crash X remains the most popular fast game in the Turbo Games portfolio, and the studio reports that crash games enjoy stable levels of popularity. Overall, the main focus of the brand is provably fair games.
More information: https://turbogames.io/
Baltics
Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
Looking to take your career to the next level in the games industry? Then, Nordic Game Talents is the place to be! Games Factory Talents has teamed up with Nordic Game to bring you Nordic Game Talents.
From Oct 27-29, the online and interactive event is dedicated to recruitment and career building in the creative & games industry within the Nordic region. The event empowers participants to be part of a bigger community and motivates them to explore new paths in achieving their career goals.
Hiring creative & games studios – Supercell, Funcom, Panzerdog, Tactile Games, Gamecan, Fingersoft, Dazzle Rocks, Redhill Games to name a few from the Nordic region will be participating in the event. These studios will share information on their latest projects, work culture and what it takes to be part of their team. The individual games associations from Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Estonia will share insights through live sessions on the booming games industry in their respective countries. Career development topics pertinent to job seekers like – How to have a successful first interview, Creative Portfolio reviews will also be discussed.
Experienced game industry professionals and individuals beginning their careers from around the world are welcome to join the event. One-to-one interviews with the hiring studios can be scheduled through the event platform. A great opportunity to get to know the studios and network with game professionals from around the world.
Participating in the event
As a job seeker attending Nordic Game Talents, take a few minutes to fill out a simple registration form. After filling the registration form you will receive a link to the online event platform – PINE, to join the event on 27th October. Participants joining Nordic Game Talents will also receive a free-of-charge pass to the Nordic Game Conference.
To view the complete agenda, please click here and to learn more about the event please visit Games Job Fair
About Games Factory Talents
A Helsinki-based talent attraction agency dedicated to the games & creative industry. Our services include direct recruitment, organizing game job fairs and managing a community of game industry professionals through our GameDev Talent Board.
To learn more about Games Factory Talents visit – Games Factory Talents
810 THE SPREAD
Cumulus Media Launches 810 THE SPREAD, the Bay Area’s First Sports Station Focused on Sports Betting
Cumulus Media (NASDAQ: CMLS) announces that it has launched the Bay Area’s first Sports radio station focused on sports betting, 810 THE SPREAD. The new station brings sports and sports betting news, information, and insights to the burgeoning and underserved sports betting audience in San Francisco. 810 THE SPREAD will deliver behind-the-book perspectives from experts in a highly entertaining and engaging format. 810 THE SPREAD goes live today on the legendary 810am frequency that has been the 80-year home of historic Talk Radio KGO-AM. Cumulus San Francisco also launched the station’s new website at www.810thespread.com. Kevin Graham, Program Director of Cumulus’ sister sports stations KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT, adds Program Director duties for 810 THE SPREAD.
Larry Blumhagen, Vice President/Market Manager, Cumulus San Francisco, said: “810 THE SPREAD joins our sports brands KNBR 680AM/104.5FM and 1050 KTCT for a trifecta of dynamic sports content across four signals and streaming everywhere. We are excited about this new chapter and look forward to serving the Bay Area’s passionate sports fans in an incomparable way.”
Blumhagen added: “This is a bittersweet day for us, as it’s hard to say goodbye to the legendary KGO, which has been a part of listeners’ lives for so many years. We want to thank all the people who have been a part of KGO’s historic run these many years – and the listeners who loyally tuned in to the station. Times change, and we must change with them.”
Kevin Graham, Program Director, 810 THE SPREAD, said: “810 THE SPREAD will be the Bay Area’s best bet for sports fans and sports betting enthusiasts, and we are pleased to introduce sports-betting radio to our community. The station will feature a lineup of expert personalities that deliver unique sports talk and sports betting insights that entertain, inform, and engage, along with Cal Football and Basketball as well as select professional and college sports play-by-play events. While 810 THE SPREAD will feature specific gambling information, we believe our entertaining presentation will make it a favorite for all Bay area sports fans and a perfect complement to the legendary KNBR and KTCT. With its addition, it truly shows Cumulus’ commitment to the Bay area as ‘The Sports Leader’!”
The weekday programming lineup for 810 THE SPREAD includes:
6am-9am – Bet QL Daily – The must-consume show for sports fans and betting fans alike. Hosted by Joe Ostrowski, Joe Giglio, and Erin Hawksworth.
9am-12pm – Jim Rome - Aggressive, informed sports opinions, rapid-fire dialogue, and plenty of sports smack. As one of the most prolific sports talk hosts in America, Rome draws massive tune-in with legions of fans known as clones, who live for Rome’s take on the day’s largest issues in sports.
12pm-4pm – You Better You Bet – Nick Kostos and Ken Barkley have you covered for the best bets on the biggest matchups, the latest line movement and updates in the futures market. We’ll have up-to-the-minute coverage of backdoor covers and bad beats, and the cheers and tears that come with them. It’s sports betting conversation like you’ve never heard before.
4pm-8pm – Bet MGM Tonight – Live sports betting updates for all the night’s games as they happen – plus live “look-ins” for Major League Baseball games in progress. Get the latest scores, sides, totals, props, parlays, futures, and much more with hosts Quinton Mayo, Trysta Krick, and Ryan Horvat.
8pm-12 Midnight – CBS Sports Radio
BetQL Network programming is provided by Cumulus Media’s Westwood One through a partnership with Audacy.
For more information or to stream 810 THE SPREAD, visit: http://www.810thespread.com.
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