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IESF Prepares for Historic 2022 World Esports Championships Finals in Bali

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The International Esports Federation (IESF) is putting its readiness to host the 2022 WE Championships Finals on full display. The 14th edition of IESF’s flagship event will get underway this week in Bali, Indonesia, at the Merusaka Nusa Dua Hotel from December 1 to 12, 2022.

The WE Championships remain the sole international esports competition where athletes compete to represent their countries. Over 600 players representing 106 countries will compete across six games: CS:GO, Dota 2, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, eFootball ™  2023, Tekken 7, and PUBG Mobile, making this the largest and most geographically diverse edition of the event since its inception in 2008 with a record prize pool of $500,000.

After months of preparation and qualifying rounds, the Finals will kick off with the Opening Ceremony on Friday, December 2. The action-packed competition will be held across four main stages: Earth, Ice, Fire, and Air, which symbolize the charm of Balinese culture. Each stage will host at least one game title.

Following the national and regional qualifiers, 18 countries have punched their tickets directly to the finals, while the remaining nations will compete in the play-in stages. IESF will also host the first-ever women’s CS:GO competition, featuring the world-leading esports club Natus Vincere (NAVI) representing Poland.

IESF President Vlad Marinescu said: “After a memorable 13th World Championship Finals in Eilat last year, we couldn’t be more excited to unite the World Esports Family once again in Bali. Thank you to our incredible host city partners for delivering the perfect setting for athletes and fans worldwide. With a record 106 nations competing in Bali, this event showcases IESF’s growth and progress. We look forward to getting the exceptional and elite esports competitions underway.”

The 14th WE Championships Finals will be streamed on seven Twitch channels. IESF has an exciting lineup of broadcasters to announce the competition, including Steve Scott, Reepal Parbhoo, Guillermo Catalano, Stewart Westley, and Jon Kefaloukos. The WE Championships in Bali will also feature live performances, music events, and several activities for the World Esports Family. IESF recently partnered with FitGMR to bring daily workouts and workshops on health and well-being to Bali.

The WE Championships will wrap up an impressive year for IESF, which expanded its international reach to 130 Member Federations, brought together key esports stakeholders at the World Esports Summit, hosted the inaugural SimRacing World Cup in Monaco, and welcomed several new partners.

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Bill Hornbuckle

MGM Resorts International COO Corey Sanders to Retire After More Than 30 Years of Service

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MGM Resorts International announced that Corey Sanders, Chief Operating Officer, will retire from the company after more than 30 years of dedicated service and leadership. Sanders has agreed to remain COO through Dec. 31, 2025, and to serve as an advisor to the President and CEO through Dec. 31, 2026. The Company intends to name a new COO to serve as Sanders’ successor later this month.

“It’s impossible to overstate what Corey has meant to this Company over the last 30-plus years. He has been a constant presence, providing foundational leadership for all the key moments that have defined our history – from our acquisitions of Mirage Group and Mandalay Resort Group to our regional property openings and expansions like Springfield, National Harbor, Empire City and Borgata. More importantly, Corey helped us put all the different pieces together to create one company and one culture. As a leader and as a person, Corey understood the importance of caring for employees and treating people with respect. He will be deeply missed,” said Bill Hornbuckle, President & CEO of MGM Resorts.

Sanders is currently MGM Resorts’ Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the company’s Las Vegas and regional properties as well as multiple corporate departments, including Hospitality, Gaming, Human Resources and Strategic Initiatives. Prior to that, he served as the company’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. In his tenure with MGM Resorts, Sanders has also served as Chief Operating Officer for the company’s Core Brands, Executive Vice President of Operations for MGM MIRAGE, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for MGM Grand Resorts, Executive Vice President and CFO for MGM Grand, Assistant Vice President of Corporate Finance and Tax Director for MGM Grand.

The post MGM Resorts International COO Corey Sanders to Retire After More Than 30 Years of Service appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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ITL to Participate in G2E 2025

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Innovative Technology Americas are preparing for a major gaming show in the US – G2E 2025 – which will take place on October 6-9 at the Las Vegas Venetian Expo. Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is the gambling industry trade show for discovering the latest technologies and connecting with partners. Innovative Technology (ITL), a trusted provider of bill validators and recyclers to the gaming industry, will be showing their latest devices, from booth 1830.

Commenting on ITL’s participation, Lauren Fabbri, Business Development Manager for North America said, “This is always an exciting exhibition for us and we can’t wait to show G2E visitors our latest technology. We are experiencing huge growth across North America, as well as expanding our presence in South American, so this show presents an ideal platform to network with customers and suppliers in this vibrant market. Interest in our NV200 casino grade, field-proven bill validator is rising and with its “easy to retrofit” design, we are seeing more operators upgrading their existing machines. Come to the booth and see how this unit can transform cash handling for your gaming operations.”

Lauren continued: “We will also showcase a selection of bill recyclers at the booth with varying capacities depending on your need, including the NV4000 which is ideal for redemption terminals due to its large multi-bill recycling capacity, NV22S for a compact bill recycling solution, and the Spectral Payout for mid-range mixed denomination recycling. When using any of our recyclers with the SMART Coin System we can provide the gaming industry with a complete payment solution for both bills and coins.”

Concluding Lauren said: “G2E visitors will also be able to demo our latest AI-powered age and identity verification technology too. These products can be used to help prevent underage gambling, either on-machine or at entrances to age-restricted gaming zones. The team will be happy to answer any questions and demonstrate our products on booth 1830 – see you in Las Vegas!”

The post ITL to Participate in G2E 2025 appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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Billy Bets

Billy Bets Raises Financing from Coinbase Ventures to Disrupt $250 Billion Market with AI for Sports Prediction Markets

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Billy Bets, the AI-powered sports-betting startup, closed a $1 million pre-seed round with Coinbase Ventures, and participation from Virtuals Ventures, Contango Digital, CMS Holdings, and a roster of athlete and crypto-native angels. The capital accelerates the public launch of the Billy Terminal, personalized autonomous betting agents, and expanded $BILLY token utility.

Sports wagering generates an estimated $250 billion in annual handle, yet fewer than 1% of bets are executed by AI agents on prediction markets.

“That inefficiency is our wedge. AI agents have already changed investing; now they’re coming for sportsbooks. Billy Bets will turn that small sliver into the default way fans bet,” said Joe O’Rourke, Co-founder & CEO.

Built on Base (Coinbase’s Layer 2), Billy supports bet discovery across prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket, by highlighting edges, routes wagers to the best available price, and enables customized automated strategies. Billy’s natural-language terminal turns “Show me plus-EV NFL props tonight” into live odds, automated execution and real-time, traceable ROI tracking. Billy has routed over $1 million in betting volume, growing at 23% per week, since the launch of the Billy Terminal in June.

“Fundamentally, we believe all sports bettors will eventually rely on AI to improve their chances, particularly so with the advent of prediction markets, and we aim to be the best supplier of that agentic technology,” said Jared Augustine, Co-founder & Executive Chairman.

The post Billy Bets Raises Financing from Coinbase Ventures to Disrupt $250 Billion Market with AI for Sports Prediction Markets appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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