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Swintt – Betsson Tie Up Captures Italy and Lithuania – Solidifies Europe

swintt_betsson_tie_up_captures_italy_and_lithuania_solidifies_europeBetsson Group, one of the super-entities in the European online gaming space has inked a deal with the undersung powerhouse, Swintt. The deal will see Glitnor Group spawned Swintt provide titles to Betsson operating partners in diverse regions such as Latvia, Sweden, Germany, and Malta where Swintt has its headquarters.

Swintt was formed in 2018 and launched in early 2019 in Malta. In recent months, the firm has experienced phenomenal growth in key European markets. The Betsson deal adds velocity and heft to the trajectory begun by longtime industry veteran and founding CEO, David Flynn. According to the World Casino Directory: “CEO, David Flynn has been involved in software and gaming since the 1990s with titles such as VP, Director (Ongame), Head of Operations (Microgaming), CEO, COO, CCO, and EVP of Business Development at NYX and NYX AB, as well as JackpotJoy during the Gamesys Vera&John era.”

SwinttGames and SwinttPremium Titles plus Boutique Partner Content

Swintt carries two main packages of games and hit the ground running with about 70 titles prior to building on its portfolio and current market reach. SwinttGames and SwinttPremium represent collections of titles in the classic configuration as well as the more popular online video slots with mechanics and bonus features like scatters and free spins. In addition to the in-house creations augmenting the studio’s offering, third-party developer titles are also included in the deal. These are usually from boutique studios and are delivered via the SwinttStudios platform.

While any provider striking a deal with a megalith such as Betsson is newsworthy and sure to create certain knock-on effects for the developer, the addition of the Italian and Lithuanian distribution of Swintt games is sure to provide a catalyst for future expansion as well as to bolster the company’s already sure footing in each market it has entered. The addition of those two markets helps make the deal with Scandanavia’s Betsson one of Swintt’s most important and far-reaching deals to date.

Titles such as Aloha Spirit XtraLockTM, the Book of Shai, and the imminent release of Electric Elements are sure to find players gravitating to the brand, especially those who count it as a favorite as well as those just discovering it. Another release that is coming soon is Duolitos Garden – a slot with four progressive jackpots.

Plugging in the Swintt catalog also includes partner studio games such as Stacking Bison by Fine Edge Gaming and Thor’s Strike from Samurai Studio. The studio is one of the only Japanese slot studios with global reach and is part of NatsumeAtari. Swintt and Samurai joined forces in late 2022.

Top Executives Comment on the Deal

The current Chief Executive Officer at Swintt, David Mann, said: “Over the past few months, Swintt has been involved in a number of partnerships with high-profile online casinos, but our new agreement with Betsson might be one of the biggest ones as we continue to expand brand throughout Europe and beyond.

“By working closely with Betsson, we’ll be able to ensure customers in a number of important markets get to experience the huge variety of titles that we have available from our SwinttGames and SwinttPremium line-ups, as well as exciting third-party games courtesy of the SwinttStudios platform.”

Betsson Group Head of Gaming Operations, Sarah Micallef said: “From its fairly humble beginnings some 60 years ago, Betsson has established itself as one of the premier online gaming operators in Scandinavia and most of Europe – and a key component of this has been ensuring we partner with only the very best software providers.

“Over the past few years, Swintt has proved through its innovative range of releases that its certainly worthy of being considered up there with the industry’s top studios and we’re very much looking forward to making their games available to our customers in a wide number of markets this year.”

Source: Swintt solidifies European presence with Betsson deal, Swintt News, May 2, 2023

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Constitutionality of Rhode Island Online Casino Bill Questioned

constitutionality_of_rhode_island_online_casino_bill_questionedBally’s Corp. and IGT, two major gambling businesses with headquarters in America’s smallest but most densely populated state, had a chance to pitch their plan for online casino gambling in Rhode Island, but not every stakeholder in government the local gambling economy appeared to be happy about the prospect as proposed.

IGT is a familiar name to most seasoned casino gamblers in the US, but not everyone is aware of the fact that Si Redd’s Las Vegas-based company was acquired by and merged with the world’s largest lottery operator, GTECH – a company that posted over US$ 4 billion in revenue for 2022 or that Bally’s as we know it is not the Bally’s they may have known a decade ago. That company sprung from Twin Rivers (Rhode Island’s exclusive video lottery terminal casino game supplier with venues in Lincoln and Tiverton) and acquired the Bally’s name from Caesar’s a short time ago in relative terms.

The pushback comes from what might seem to be the most unlikely of places – the Rhode Island State Lottery (RILOT). Under the proposed bill, RILOT would have complete control of nearly every aspect of the proposed online casino gambling market in the state from the making of game rules to terms and conditions, and every regulatory duty normally associated with online casino gambling. The servers themselves would be located in one or both of Bally’s land-based casinos in the state.

IGT provides Bally’s with technology and machines to run its lottery casinos and sportsbetting applications in the state.

The Will of the People

Casino gambling and gambling expansion in the state were allowed under voter referendums in accordance with the state constitution, which as of today states:

“No act expanding the types or locations of gambling which are permitted within the state or within any city or town … shall take effect until it has been approved by the majority of those electors voting in a statewide referendum and by the majority of those electors voting in said referendum in the municipality in which the proposed gambling would be allowed.”

Furcolo said (formatting – source article): “While the Rhode Island Lottery believes there is a legislative path for authorizing iGaming, and is supportive of iGaming, it is the … Lottery’s position that the bill — as drafted — is likely unconstitutional and must be revised to conform with the authorization under the 2012 and 2016 Voter Referendums related to casino gaming.

IGT is Rhode Island’s exclusive supplier of lottery solutions such as traditional lottery, instant win tickets, video lottery terminals (casino “slots”), and internet lottery games in the state.

The company’s lottery contract was recently extended until 2043 guaranteeing IGT the exclusive right to provide those games and services for an additional 20 years.

More recently, Bally’s was approved by RILOT to continue its exclusive provenance of sportsbetting in the state for three years, in concert with and using the technologies of IGT.

More than Constitutional Issues?

According to a report in the Providence Journal, one of the problems raised at a Senate hearing was one of monopoly as the legislation under consideration would not allow competitive bidding for an online casino license tender. The legislation, as proposed, was written and delivered to state lawmakers by Bally’s Corp, IGT, or one of the consortium’s affiliates.

Another issue, the one at front and center is the ability of 18-year-olds to act as “gambling surrogates” or proxy bettors for other high school-aged residents even younger.

Rhode Island teens of 18 years or older are currently banned from purchasing or using alcohol, cigarettes, or recreational marijuana – but they are allowed to place sports bets. According to the Providence Journal article: “<this> has made them kingpins of sorts in high school gambling operations.”

It’s not always easy to parse what’s “really” being said in Rhode Island media as the state has an antiquated but fully democratic government in the republican form, but a labyrinthine and impossible for outsiders to navigate political system as well as a history of less than savory characters holding sway over many elements of power in the state. If those nuances, as well as other things about America’s oldest state, are not understood by readers, the media may falsely assume that readers outside of the state may know what is behind certain references.

One salient example is a statement made by former Sen. John Tassoni Wednesday night when he was speaking in the capacity of a Rhode Island Council on Problem Gambling board member. He told a Senate committee: “They were called ’10 percenters’ on Federal Hill,” while referring to 18-year-olds giving younger children access to gambling online.

The former Senator’s office was closed on Sunday as this article was written so we were unable to contact him for clarification. We find no history of the “obvious” assumption that teens “ran numbers” for bookmakers or any other guess at what nefarious nature a “teen ten percenter” would represent.

A snippet of RI history for context from WorldAtlas:

On May 4th, 1776, Rhode Island was the first colony to renounce allegiance to Great Britain and declare its independence. However, Rhode Island was the last state to ratify the United States Constitution. It finally did so on May 29, 1790.

Readers are welcome to do their own research on Federal Hill and its history to form a personal assumption about the former Senator’s reference. A cursory search revealed no reference to gambling for our researchers.

Former Senator Not Alone in Concerns

Rhode Island Lottery director, Mark Furcolo warned that the Senate bill (S948) is “likely unconstitutional” as it is currently written. The Journal states that even if that issue is put to rest, iGaming “is likely” to cannibalize state revenues from existing Lottery offerings. However, Bally’s addressed that issue in a Spectrum Gaming analysis prior to announcing the new legislation at a Chamber of Commerce dinner a couple of months ago.

It would appear to the casual observer that some of the “noise” rising up against the casino bill may come from competitors, as is understandably the case in a capitalist system that is supposed to be fair and free of monopolization.

A spokesman for the Sports Betting Alliance (a coalition that includes BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel) reportedly asked why Rhode Island might join Delaware as the only state in the Union “whose residents would be limited to a single choice when it comes to iGaming.”

While the aforementioned businesses are all primarily sportsbetting operators, they also have casino components in some states that allow online casino gambling along with sportsbetting.

The spokesperson, Jon Mandel continued: “The result will be no different than mobile sports betting,” referring to the recent RILOT/Bally’s contract renewal of three years.

“Residents will continue to use the illegal market; <they will> drive into Connecticut; or <they will> wait until Massachusetts legalizes iGaming to then cross the border, to the benefit of that state, not Rhode Island.”

Is $210 Million Per Year in New Revenue Enough?

Mandelas purportedly backed up his argument by referring to stats from the first month the neighboring state, Massachusetts opened online sports betting in that state, beginning on March 10, 2023.

Mandalas stated: “GeoComply identified 1,761 instances of a Rhode Island resident first attempting to access a Massachusetts sports betting app in Rhode Island and then traveling to Massachusetts and successfully logging into an app.”

The Sports Betting Alliance argues: “Multiple iGaming operators will generate significantly more tax revenue for the state than if the state grants one company a monopoly.”

The Bally’s measure as written is expected to generate about $210 Million a year for state coffers based on its Spectrum Gaming analysis and report which was tendered along with the proposed legislation in February this year.

Source: Online gambling could bring $210m in revenue. Why is Rhode Island Lottery pushing back? Providence Journal, May 12, 2023

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Remembering the Las Vegas Strip’s Founding Mother

The Las Vegas Strip has a founding mother, not a founding father. On Mother’s Day, we remember Alice Morris, founder and proprietor the Red Rooster, the very first licensed casino on Las Vegas Boulevard.

Red Rooster
In what is believed to be the only surviving photo of Alice Morris, the founding mother of the Las Vegas Strip (right) poses with her husband in front of her Red Rooster nightclub circa 1933. Ninety-two years ago tomorrow (April 1), Morris became the future Strip’s first licensed casino owner. (Image: vintagelasvegas.com)

No, mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel didn’t create the Las Vegas Strip. A whopping four casinos and two full-fledged resorts beat the Flamingo to Highway 91, as the main road from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles was known in 1946. The first was opened n Nov. 26, 1930, on 12 acres where the north gate of The Mirage now stands. At first, it was a nightclub featuring dance marathons, live all-girl bands, and dining. (A chicken dinner would set you back $1.)

There was no gambling yet, at least not of the legal variety. As strange as this sounds, Las Vegas had outlawed it since Sept. 30, 1910.

Amid the moral reform of the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Nevada banned most forms of gambling,” UNLV history professor Michael Green told Casino.org. “It didn’t become legal again until Governor Fred Balzar signed Assembly Bill 98 on March 19, 1931.”

Anxious to exploit the new revenue stream but having no experience with gambling, Morris did what the owners of many other Las Vegas clubs did at the time: she enlisted the advice of a gambling expert. And who were the gambling experts back then?

Mob Rules

Morris “Goldie” Goldsworth was lured to Las Vegas by the promise of illegal gambling profits in an untapped market. A rising player in the LA gambling racket at the time, he would be found beaten to death by a hammer in the back seat of his car on Oct. 16, 1958. The LA coroner called the gunshot wounds to his head “only superficial.” He was 52.

When he was still breathing, Goldie agreed to set up and run Morris’ gambling operation in exchange for an undocumented cut of the profits. He applied for a modest license — for a blackjack table and three slot machines –, and on April 1, 1931, the Red Rooster became the first Clark County establishment on Highway 91 to receive a gaming license under the new law.

The Red Rooster also became the first Las Vegas Strip casino to lose its gaming license because serving alcohol was another thing that was, surprisingly, against the law at the time. It would remain so across the US until the repeal of Prohibition on Dec. 5, 1933.

Alcohol had been available at the Red Rooster since the day it opened. In February 1931, Prohibition agents even dropped in to issue Morris a warning. And she complied, temporarily. But on May 18, 1931, the Red Rooster received a second visit from the feds that wasn’t so friendly. They arrested Morris and her husband, who were found guilty, granted probation, and fined $500.

Goldie wasn’t arrested during the raid. But when he applied to renew the Red Rooster’s gaming license on July 7, 1931, it was denied due to the previous liquor violation.

Other Pre-Flamingo Strip Casinos

Like the Red Rooster, the Pair O’ Dice opened as a nightclub and restaurant in 1930, serving alcohol under the table. Unlike the Red Rooster, however, owners Frank and Angelina Detra never got busted. They also applied for a gaming license but didn’t receive one until May 1931, a month after the Red Rooster was issued theirs.

The El Rancho Vegas opened in April 1941. It had the largest casino on Highway 91, with 70 slot machines and four table games. It also had its own swimming pool and a 63-room hotel. So, it can rightfully be called the first resort on the Las Vegas Strip. As far as casinos go, however, it was No. 3.

In 1941, the Pair O’ Dice was sold and incorporated into the Hotel Last Frontier. Its 1942 grand opening made it the fourth official casino on the Strip and the second resort.

The Flamingo Hotel didn’t open until Dec. 26, 1946, as the future Las Vegas Strip’s fifth casino and third resort.

Red Rooster Crows On

The Red Rooster’s timeline continued after losing its casino license. In 1933, Clark County gave Morris’s business a new life by granting it a dance hall license. After Prohibition was repealed later that year, the county followed up with a beer-only liquor license. Though the Red Rooster suffered a fire in July 1933, Morris rebuilt and reopened it on Dec. 30 of that same year. It remained popular throughout World War II.

Vaudeville singer/actress Grace Hayes in her 1930s heyday. (Image: IMDB)

In 1947, Morris sold the Red Rooster to former vaudeville star Grace Hayes. By then, a motel, the Sans Souci (French for without care), had been added to the property. In 1962, it would be demolished to create The Castaways.

Like so many former vaudevillians, Hayes was unable to transition to big-screen stardom. The singer and actress had managed to nab just two leading roles, playing a version of herself in 1936’s Maid for a Day and in 1941’s Zis Boom Bah.

So, Hayes enacted her Plan B. Exploiting her fading name recognition, she opened the Grace Hayes Lodge in Sherman Oaks, Calif., in 1938.

After deciding to relocate both herself and her club to Las Vegas, she paid Morris $15K for the Red Rooster and the 12 acres it sat on, renaming the club after herself and having a ranch house built behind it as her residence.

The club remained successful with Hayes at the helm, attracting many of the town’s early movers and shakers. In a 1981 interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Hayes estimated that Howard Hughes was in the place at least three times a week.

“I don’t know what I served him,” Hayes told the newspaper. “I know I served him a drink. I mixed a drink. He didn’t care what it was. He never drank it, and he never paid me for a drink in his life.”

In 1947, the Red Rooster became the Grace Hayes Lodge. Note the original rooster road sign to its left. (Image: vintagelasvegas.com)

Growing tired of operating a club, Hayes leased it to others. When Willie Martello, better known for operating houses of gambling and prostitution in Searchlight, Nev., took over in 1949, he changed its name to Willie Martello’s Red Rooster. That’s because its regulars never stopped referring to the club by its former name.

After Martello, the club operated under a revolving door of different owners and new names. These included the Hi-Ho Club, The Patio, The Rendezvous, and finally, the Grace Hayes Lodge again. The club closed in 1957 and was torn down in 1959 by Standard Oil (which became Mobil Oil in 1966). Hayes had leased the land to the company to open a gas station.

Hayes Stays

Hayes continued living in the ranch house on her property. It eventually made history as the last remaining private home on the Strip. Her son and daughter-in-law joined her in Vegas, entertainers Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy, who were actively involved in the community.

In 1987, Steve Wynn paid Hayes $2M for her house and the Mobil station where the Red Rooster once stood. As part of the deal, she lived out her final days in a lavish suite at Wynn’s Golden Nugget resort downtown. Ill health forced Hayes to enter the Las Vegas Convalescent Center, where she died at age 93 in 1989. That’s the same year Wynn opened The Mirage on the site of her former home.

In this 1980s photo of the land on which Steve Wynn built The Mirage, Grace Hayes’ former residence can be seen in the foreground, along with the Mobil station built on the site of the Red Rooster. Behind that is the Castaways casino hotel. (Image: Twitter)

On almost the exact spot where the Red Rooster once stood, Wynn built The Mirage’s most famous public attraction. Sometime in 2024, his fake volcano is set to be demolished by Hard Rock International, which purchased The Mirage last year for $1.1B. The resort’s new owner intends to erect a 36-story guitar-shaped hotel tower in its place.

Since news of the volcano’s impending demolition broke, Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers have taken to social media to complain about Las Vegas’ lack of respect for its history. What’s amusing is that they think the volcano is the most historical thing that once occupied this site.

When you first see that guitar tower climbing toward the sky, know it is rising from the ashes of Las Vegas history.

“Remember the pioneers who came first,” Green said, “in this case, Grace Hayes and her predecessor, Alice Morris, the founding mother of the Las Vegas Strip.”

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Living Las Vegas: Best of Vegas’ Arts & Entertainment

Looking for the best of Vegas’ arts and entertainment this season? From Stevie Nicks to Liberace, check out some of my recent experiences for some memorable experiences.

A mural by Recycled Propaganda. Check out their art gallery next time you’re in Vegas. (Image: Facebook)

In a two-week period, at this strikingly designed arena with impressively crystalline sound, I saw packed-out concerts by Stevie Nicks and Depeche Mode (both former PR clients of mine).

Stevie Nicks is at the edge of 75—and was as impossibly vibrant and playful as ever. She noted from the stage that she never felt freer by performing without her trademark platform shoes due to a recent broken toe.

Nicks brought the hits, deep cuts and a refreshing political/social consciousness. “Ukraine’s fighting for us,” she said before launching into an especially moving version of her older song, “Soldier’s Angel,” written after visiting soldiers at the Walter Reed Hospital in 2005. Stevie also put a psychedelic spin on Buffalo Springfield’s 1966 hit “For What It’s Worth,” explaining that Stephen Stills penned it about the 1966 Sunset Boulevard riots that protested an early curfew set by authorities.

Nicks said that she would have had a problem herself with that curfew: “I don’t even go to bed until 8:00 AM.” Bless Stevie Nicks’ wild heart—and long may she run.

Depeche Mode @ the Arena 

Depeche Mode are still the world’s biggest avant-garde rock band. Onstage, their elegantly dark songs with foreboding synths and intermittent spare guitar lines were shot through with non-stop charisma—and they raised the roof with their TV evangelist-bashing classic “Personal Jesus.”

Dave Gahan on stage at the T-Mobile Arena in March. (Image: Las Vegas Journal-Review)

Now a duo, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore honored the recent death of bandmate Andrew Fletcher by displaying his image on multiple screens during their classic “World In My Eyes”; the song’s key lyrics (“That’s all there is/Nothing more than you can feel now”) took on a haunting new resonance. From their new album, Memento Mori (which means “remember that you must die” in Latin), the band rolled out the death-centric single “Ghosts Again” (“We know that we’ll be ghosts again”).

Guessing Bruno Mars won’t be covering this instant goth-rock anthem anytime soon at his residency at Dolby Live at Park MGM. Depeche Mode returns on December 1 to the arena.

KAOS at the Palms, Yachtley Crew

The soft-rock and R&B/jazz-tinged pop hits of the ‘70s and ‘80s, later branded as “yacht rock,” continue to have their day in the sun, thanks to the popularity of a dedicated Sirius channel to this music. Artists like Captain & Tennille, Christopher Cross, Toto, and many more were never allowed entry into the cool-kids club in their heyday, but their AM radio hits are now saluted in setlists by yacht rock bands like Yachtley Crew.

Billing themselves as the “Titans of Soft Rock,” they have a residency at KAOS at the Palms with new dates announced for June, October, November and December.

Their show is a feel-good, tongue-in-cheek celebration. The audience couldn’t care less what the rock critic intelligentsia had to say about a lot of this music when it was first released—they danced and loudly sang along to the smooth, easy-going sounds which suggest seemingly simpler times.

At the show, the nautical wear-attired band announced they’d scored a label deal with Jimmy Buffet’s indie label Mailboat Records.

They will release an album containing some original songs alongside their yacht rock covers. Personally, I never thought the music of unhip bands like Ambrosia and the Little River Band would rise again. It all goes to prove that you can’t hold back good melodies.

Recycled Propaganda, the Arts District

Bravo to Recycled Propaganda, the nom de plume for acclaimed artist Izaac Zevalking also serves as the name of his gallery and store in The Arts District.  His compelling artwork and murals—the images used for apparel, patches, pins and stickers—capture the paranoia and outrage of existing in a corporate-controlled society.

T-shirts for sale at Recycled Propaganda (Image: Yelp)

You can fight back against The Man by buying a “Tyranny of the Minority (Lobbying Light)” hoodie that uses Marlboro cigarette pack graphics or a “Start Unions” patch that visually calls out Starbucks. Also available for purchase is his artwork on canvas, wood and cardboard, with such titles as “Global Strike, “Question Everything,” and my favorite, “Genetic Carnage.”

Be sure to drop by this stimulating and purposeful gallery, which opened in 2018. It’s also “utilized as a platform to expose other established and up-and-coming artists.” Very cool to know that Recycled Propaganda is spreading the love around.

Hollywood Car Museum and Liberace Garage

It’s fun getting lost in the Hollywood Cars Museum, a 25,000-square-foot pop culture wonderland filled with vehicles that have appeared in more than 100 films, TV shows and videos (there’s another 5000 square feet in the back that’s rentable for special events). Under the same roof is the Liberace Garage with the pianist/icon’s insanely designed vehicles and other memorabilia reflecting his expensive and infectious bad taste.

A car on display in Liberace’s Garage (Image: liberace.org)

Note: the folks at the museum and garage have graciously extended a special discount ($5.00 off the usual $20 adult admission price) for Casino.org News/”Living Las Vegas” readers who inquire about the offer at the ticket counter.

There’s so much to take in at the museum, like the “Starsky and Hutch” ‘70s Gran Torino stunt car; the supremely ridiculous 12-foot roller skate hot rod creation by fashion designer Marc Jacobs; the Batmobile from the TV show; and the Osprey Hovercraft from the James Bond film Die Another Day with Pierce Brosnan. Let’s not forget the 40-foot pink hot tub convertible limo used on the old TV show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”

This wonderfully exhaustive experience continues at the Liberace Garage, where you can fixate on his 1976 bicentennial Rolls-Royce, painted in stars and stripes with permission from the Rolls-Royce company. It was first incorporated onstage at his Las Vegas Hilton show, complete with (of course) fireworks exploding. Then there’s Liberace’s rhinestone-encrusted car seen on the cover of Duran Duran’s 2000 album Pop Trash. I also relished standing under the oversized original fiberglass and gold epoxy-coated dressing room door created for his shows at NYC’s Radio City Music Hall.

The man’s legend continues with the renaming this past December of Karen Avenue as Liberace Avenue (adjacent to Commercial Center). Look for Liberace events to take place there in mid-May. He would have been 104 on May 16.

Huntridge Shopping Center

An exterior shot of The Garrison. (Image: Facebook)

Real estate developers Dapper Companies continue to wave their visionary magic wand over this colorful shopping plaza where even the exteriors of the Savers thrift store and Circle K gas station/convenience store have smart modern, throwback design touches.

And I could stare all day long at the center’s retro-inspired pylon sign unveiled in 2017. I’m now psyched for the imminent opening of Winnie & Ethel’s Downtown Diner, the winner of Dapper’s “The Great Las Vegas Coffee Shop Giveaway.” And If my head wasn’t shaved, I would probably frequent the uber-hip barbershop The Garrison.

Dapper plans to renovate the historic World War II-era venue, the Huntridge Theater, across the street. This architectural beauty was Vegas’ first desegregated movie theater before becoming a music venue which shuttered in 2004.  J Dapper told Vegas’ Review-Journal that the theatre, purchased for $4 million, is open to the public for tours with renovations to start in “about 12 months.” On April 7, Dapper relit the theater’s marquee and signed with an official ceremony. Whenever the Huntridge reopens, it won’t be soon enough.

——–

Each month, Mitch Schneider explores some of Vegas’ most unique offerings. Schneider has a decades-long publicity career working with some of the music industry’s biggest stars and was a rock critic for Rolling Stone in the ‘70s. He moved to Vegas from LA with his wife during the pandemic in March 2020. He’s loved the city ever since.

Each month, he explores Vegas’ most popular and best-kept secrets. Look for “Living Las Vegas” on Casino.org. Click here to read previously busted editions. 

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EveryMatrix Nail Q1 Growth and Profit – Replace CFO

everymatrix_nail_q1_growth_and_profit_replace_cfoLongstanding white-label and online gambling solutions provider EveryMatrix has posted record growth for the first quarter of the current year. The Malta and Bucharest-based company with offices, labs, and partner facilities located around the globe posted its best growth in company history since launching in 2011.

All business segments showed significant growth and profitability including Casinos, Sports, and Platform provenance. The company launched its biggest platform migration to date after reinvesting positive cash flow and signing omnichannel deals with significant tier-1 European operators.

The first quarter of the year marked 6 periods in a row of quarterly growth with stunning Year-on-Year growth of 69% and a 21% Quarter-on-Quarter increase in revenues – €23.5 million.

Cost Controls and Growth equal Record Profits

Cost control helped the company achieve historic growth in profits with EBITDA up 119% on the year for the quarter. Its EBITDA/Net Revenue margin kicked up to 45%.

Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) was up significantly thanks to strong performance from casino partners with results clocking in nearly 80% stronger than during the same quarter in 2022. EveryMatrix casino business unit generated €374m, while sports contributed to a more than 200% year-on-year increase in that sector.

The company expects continued growth to show throughout the year with large deals signed in 2022 coming to fruition on the balance sheet. BetatHome and The Hungarian Lottery numbers should begin to move the bar in Q3 and Q4 this year.

Group CEO of EveryMatrix, Ebbe Groes said: “Records keep on being broken and that is all down to our people. I’m very proud of all our business units and their teams who are relentlessly driving quarter-on-quarter growth for the business and for our partners across all areas.

“This year is all about delivering and going above and beyond for our global customers. We have several large-scale projects underway including a successful platform migration and new look sportsbook for bet-at-home, with Germany to come shortly, and the launch of the Hungarian lottery’s new digital sports offering later this year.

“I’m more excited than ever for the future growth of EveryMatrix, with new omnichannel agreements being signed, and new, innovative gamification features set to create even more value for our operator partners.”

Gonzalo De Osma Bucero Appointed CFO

Even with such a phenomenal performance, the company has replaced its former Chief Financial Officer, former William Hill US CFO Mark McMillan after about a year and a half in the position with industry veteran Gonzalo De Osma Bucero. The newly minted EveryMatrix moneyman comes on following a career of more than a decade and a half with Codere, one of Europe’s most successful and largest publicly traded online and land-based operators. The CFO handled business for Codere in Spain, Mexico, and Malta.

His accomplishments with Codere include overseeing 90 land-based casinos in Mexico, a horse race track, and the largest expo center in Latin America. His work there included procuring the company’s biggest loan in Mexico – getting the company through the Pandemic, and putting ink to a merger/SPAC agreement that put the online division on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the United States.

Gonzalo De Osma Bucero will divide his time between legal and compliance teams in Malta and Bucharest, Romania where the finance team is located in the company’s headquarters.

Returning to EveryMatrix’s accomplishments and milestones in the first quarter of 2023 we find the following pe the company’s press release:

  • Received MGA (Malta) and Greece license approval for new jackpot gamification product JackpotEngine
  • 35 new contracts signed in eight different jurisdictions including three turnkey clients
  • 14 new affiliate platform deals were signed compared to eight in Q1 2022
  • Launched bet-at-home .com on EveryMatrix platform and tech stack with new look front-end; on track to launch bet-at-home.de in Q2 2023
  • Signed significant omnichannel and managed services agreement with a tier-1 operator in Croatia

In addition, EveryMatrix delivered nine new payment integrations to its partners and landed its fifth license in a US gambling state in Connecticut adding to regulatory arrangements in Michigan, New Jersey, and West Virginia as well as Ontario, Canada. Also in the US, the company signed with betParx to provide content in the northeast.

Source: EveryMatrix delivers record growth, EveryMatrix News, MAY 4, 2023

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