GameCo on Thursday announced the hiring of Adam Rosenberg as the Las Vegas-based gaming company’s new CEO.

Rosenberg comes to GameCo from Fortress Investment Group. He has served as the investment management firm’s global head of gaming and leisure investing. He has a history with the company as Fortress has invested in GameCo for the past three years. In 2018, he became an observer of GameCo’s board.

He now will ascend to a seat on the board.

GameCo Chairman Robert Montgomery said in a statement Rosenberg’s gaming industry knowledge was a key factor in his hiring. Before joining Fortress in 2014, he worked 16 years at Goldman, Sachs, and Co. There he worked his way up to become the global head of gaming in the investment banking division.

His deep industry relationships, obvious passion, and innate talent for anticipating what is changing around the delivery of gameplay and regulated gaming experiences make Adam the ideal choice to lead the GameCo team as the Company expands beyond land-based gaming to pursue parallel market leadership in digital,” Montgomery said.

GameCo specializes in developing arcade-style, real-money gaming machines in both single-player and multiplayer formats. According to its website, its games are currently available at such casinos as the Park MGM, and the MGM Grand.

Nevada Gaming Commission Denial Necessitated Hiring

Rosenberg joins GameCo one month after then-CEO Blaine Graboyes was denied a license by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Justin Yamek testified before the commission that led Beyond Gaming into bankruptcy and then took its assets to GameCo.

Concerns about conflicts of interest were enough for four of the five commissioners to vote against Graboyes, who previously received a limited two-year license. The decision to consider Graboyes unsuitable meant Graboyes had to step down. It also requires him to divest his holdings in GameCo.

GameCo Venturing into eSports Betting

Besides the arcade-style, skill-based machines, GameCo also offers an eSports betting solution for sportsbooks. The company has cited the growth of professional eSports leagues and tournaments and believes betting on competitions involving such video games as CS:GO will draw billions of dollars in handle globally.

The company already has one partnership in place with Colorado’s SkyUte Casino Resort, which offers GameCo’s eSports solution.

In a statement, Rosenberg certainly has bought into that vision.

“Having focused on the evolution of gaming technology companies throughout my career, I am proud to be leading GameCo’s efforts to provide the next generation of games to operating partners and players,” said Rosenberg. “The global demand for differentiated gaming experiences is set for unprecedented growth, and the Company is ideally positioned to lead an exciting new category at the intersection of video games, online wagering, and esports.”

Rosenberg started his career as a product liability and intellectual property attorney before transitioning into banking and investing. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School.

The post GameCo Picks Gaming Industry Investment Executive to Serve as Its Next CEO appeared first on Casino.org.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is hosting a tribute dinner next month honoring the 1995 Mafia movie Casino. 

The April 7 event will be held at Oscar’s Steakhouse downtown in the Plaza Hotel Casino. The steakhouse is named after Goodman. His wife, Carolyn Goodman, is the current Las Vegas mayor.

Guests at the Casino dinner will be served a meal similar to what the Goodmans prepared at their home for the stars during filming. Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci were among those who attended the dinner at the Goodman’s house.

Social distancing restrictions limit the number of people who can attend the April event. Tickets are $300 for two people, $600 for four, and $900 for six. Ticket are available at http://plazahotelcasino.com/dinner-series.

At the dinner, Goodman will discuss his experiences during the filming, including his brief on-screen appearance as himself.

As a criminal defense attorney, Goodman represented Tony “The Ant” Spilotro, Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal and other underworld figures active in Las Vegas decades ago.

Las Vegas Mobsters

The movie is based on the nonfiction book Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas, by New York author Nicholas Pileggi, a former Associated Press reporter.

The book centers on Rosenthal’s troubled marriage to his wife, Geri, and her romantic relationship with Spilotro.

Rosenthal ran the Stardust and other Las Vegas casinos for Midwestern crime families. He survived a 1982 car bombing at what was then a Tony Roma’s restaurant on Sahara Avenue near the Las Vegas Strip. That building later became a Hustler adult novelty store.

About a month after the car bombing, Geri Rosenthal died in Southern California of an apparent overdose. She was 46.

In 2008, Rosenthal, who had moved to South Florida, died at age 79 of a heart attack.

The movie, which Pileggi co-wrote with director Martin Scorsese, is based upon the book. The characters’ real names were used book but changed in the movie for legal reasons. 

In the movie, the Stardust became the Tangiers Casino. Resorts World Las Vegas is being built on the Strip where the now-demolished Stardust once stood.    

End of an Era

One of the last remaining Mob figures from that era, Frank Cullotta, died last August of complications from COVID-19. He was 81.

Cullotta had been a boyhood friend of Spilotro’s and was his associate in Las Vegas. Cullotta appeared in the movie as a hit man. 

Dennis N. Griffin, who has written several books about the Mafia in Las Vegas, told Casino.org that the period depicted in the movie Casino is gone forever.

I believe that Frank’s passing marked the end of that era of Vegas history,” Griffin said.

An exhibit featuring memorabilia from the movie is on display in the Mob Museum in downtown Las Vegas.

The post Oscar Goodman to Host Dinner at Las Vegas Steakhouse on Movie ‘Casino’  appeared first on Casino.org.

One day after announcing his resignation as the Potawatomi Casino CEO and general manager, Rodney Ferguson officially landed his next role. It’s one that will take him back home.

The long-time gaming executive will become the executive vice president of gaming and resort operations for the planned Norfolk Resort and Casino in Virginia. That’s according to a release sent Thursday from the Pamunkey Indian Tribal Gaming Authority.

Besides holding a senior leadership position for the casino, he’ll also hold a similar position for the authority in general. He officially starts in the new position on April 12. The authority said Ferguson brings a deep and multi-faceted knowledge of the gaming industry to the organization.

The position with the Pamunkey authority also will bring him back home to his native Virginia.

When we started our national search, we had no idea that the road for this important position would lead us right back to Hampton Roads,” said Robert Gray, Pamunkey Indian Tribe chief said in a statement. “He understands the business and he understands the community. We couldn’t have found a better combination of talent and integrity.”

Ferguson has more than 30 years of experience in the gaming industry, starting in Atlantic City back in the 1980s.

Pamunkey officials are expecting to break ground in the spring with plans for it to open in late 2022. The $500 million resort will include a 300-room hotel. It will feature such amenities as an entertainment center, a spa, a pool, and several restaurants. It’s expected to employ about 2,500. In addition, developers have set a goal of hiring 90 percent of the workers from the Norfolk area. They also will seek to hire half of the workforce from minority populations.

Ferguson to Leave Potawatomi Next Month

On Wednesday, Ferguson announced his departure from the Potawatomi casino. His last day at the Milwaukee venue is April 7.

In a release, the Forest County Potawatomi credited Ferguson for helping to expand the casino’s hotel. He also orchestrated such community outreach efforts as sponsoring the Milwaukee streetcar initiative, and keep the casino business operational during the pandemic.

“With the help of many great team members, we’ve accomplished much over the last several years. I will certainly miss the many wonderful people I had the pleasure of working with at Potawatomi and throughout the community,” Ferguson said in a statement.

Prior to taking on the CEO position in 2017, Ferguson served as its COO from 2016 to 2017. He also was the CFO from 2013 to 2015.

The Potawatomi plan a search for its next chief executive/general manager.

Richmond Next for Pamunkey Tribe?

While the Pamunkey tribe is working on its first casino in Norfolk, they have their eyes set on getting a second one in the commonwealth as well.

The tribe is one of several entities vying for a potential license in Richmond. Voters in Virginia’s capital will decide in November whether to allow casino gaming.

One of Pamunkey’s key selling points is its people have a history dating back thousands of years to the area.

Competition is stiff for the license. Others vying for it include Bally’s, Urban One in conjunction with Colonial Downs, Golden Nugget, and The Cordish Companies. Cordish officials have already filed a lawsuit against Norfolk, claiming city leaders violated an agreement that gave it exclusive rights to develop a casino

The post Pamunkey Tribe Hires Virginia Native for Key Gaming Executive Role appeared first on Casino.org.

Pragmatic Play has continued its expansion effort in South America with a recent partnership in Venezuela that the online casino content supplier announced late last week.

The company has penned a supply agreement with Grupo Cordialito, a major operator in Venezuela’s online gaming and sports betting market.

As part of this recent deal, the online gambling group will gain access to the supplier’s entire collection of online slots, including recent releases such as Joker King and Eye of the Storm. The partnership between the two companies also includes all products from Pragmatic Play’s Live Casino and Virtual Sports ranges. The provider ventured into the virtual sports segment last year.

Commenting on their partnership with Grupo Cordialito, Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development at the provider, said that growing in South America is one of their key goals and “that is seen with our commitment to partnering with leading operators in major nations across Latin America.”

Mr. Barzely went on that they are delighted to team up with the Venezuelan operator and are excited to start what they believe will be a “long and fruitful relationship.”

Grupo Cordialito CEO Javier Lopez said that Pragmatic Play’s content is perfectly suited for their business needs and that they could not be happier to join forces with the major provider.

Mr. Lopez also noted that their players will enjoy their partner’s extensive multi-vertical portfolio regardless of their tastes and that they are looking forward to “providing more engaging experiences.”

Continued LatAm Expansion

Pragmatic Play’s partnership with Grupo Cordialito marks another exciting milestone in the company’s continued Latin America expansion initiative. It also comes shortly before the first anniversary of the provider’s regional hub, which it established last year.

The hub is located in Argentina and Pragmatic Play’s team there is tasked with working to achieve its goals in the region by finding suitable local partners.

News about the supplier’s partnership with one of Venezuela’s largest gambling operators came shortly after it announced similar content supply deals with Solbet and BOLDT, both of these servicing LatAm players.

The Solbet partnership enabled Pragmatic Play to establish its presence in Peru, while with BOLDT it was able to expand in Paraguay and Argentina’s Santa Fe Province.

And earlier this month, the company announced that it would create a dedicated Live Casino environment for Unibet, the flagship iGaming and wagering brand of online gambling group Kindred. The studio will feature a number of branded live-dealer table games and action will be broadcast from Pragmatic Play’s facility in Bucharest via advanced 4K video technology and immersive sound system.

Source: “Pragmatic Play Grows Venezuelan Presence with Grupo Cordialito”, Pragmatic Play Newsroom, March 12, 2021

The post Pragmatic Play Strengthens LatAm Foothold with Venezuela’s Grupo Cordialito appeared first on Casino News Daily.

As you probably know by now, our time here at CalvinAyre.com is coming to an end. It’s been a pleasure to be a part of this site for the past two years, and there’s a very bittersweet feeling of seeing it come to a close, but looking to the next opportunity.

I’d like to thank our leader, Calvin Ayre, for giving me an opportunity to write about the gambling industry, but also for creating a platform that spoke to a different side of the industry, and wasn’t afraid to reveal uncomfortable truths when necessary. I’m excited to see what comes next in his campaign to wake the world up to the power of Bitcoin SV.

Bill Beatty, our Editor-in-Chief, was my guiding light. I learned to think of journalism, the gambling industry, and even life, in whole new ways thanks to him, and I’ll always count on him as one of my mentors.

But I couldn’t have accomplished half of what I did without all of my colleagues, past and present. Our talented team of writers, editors, web site development guys, production team, on screen reporters, Human Resources, Accountants, everyone. It took the whole team to make sure we put up the latest news and opinions every day, and everyone deserves their fair share of the credit.

To all of those I met at the handful of conferences I attended before Covid-19 sent everything to digital, and all of those I met over email or Zoom since, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we get the chance to meet again when all of this is over, and you can reach me at any of my contact details listed at the bottom if you want to catch up in the meantime.

I’m still not 100% sure what I’ll be doing next, but I suspect it will still be in the gambling industry. This has been my life for more than a decade, and it’s an industry I continue to love and appreciate. No matter if I continue to write about it or throw myself back into an operations setting, it will always be apart of who I am. If you still want to be in touch, you can connect with me on LinkedIn, or you can follow me on Twitter if you to know whatever tangent I’ve gone off on next.

The post The Beat Goes On appeared first on CalvinAyre.com.