Playtech Signs Agreement with Boyd Interactive for Stardust Online Casinos

boyd-interactives-stardust-online-casinos-to-feature-playtech-gamesPlaytech, the global supplier of technology and gaming content for online casinos, has announced it reached an agreement with Boyd Interactive, one of the top online casino operators in the United States.

The deal will see the online casinos operated by Boyd Interactive under the Stardust brand in the United States feature both slot games and table games provided by Playtech. Live dealer games from the supplier are also included in the agreement.

The content will be rolled out in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including popular titles such as Age of the Gods, Gold Rush: Cash Collect and Adventures Beyond Wonderland, along with live casino titles such as Adventures Beyond Wonderland, along with different variants of Roulette and Baccarat.

Boyd Interactive appeared on the iGaming scene in 2022, when Boyd Gaming acquired Pala Interactive and all its subsidiaries in a deal worth 170 million dollars. After the acquisition the company was rebranded as Boyd Interactive and shortly after that it launched its Stardust online casinos in the spring of 2023.

In October 2023 Boyd Gaming announced that it had registered healthy online growth as the company’s revenue recorded an increase in the third quarter of the current year.

Expecting Mutual Success

Speaking about the partnership with Boyd Interactive, Marcus Yoder, the Chief Commercial Officer of Playtech USA, declared himself confident that the agreement would bring “mutual success” to the two companies and added that the American company has a “reputation for excellence.”

The Playtech executive added that Boyd Gaming has “expanded its long-standing tradition” on the American gambling market by launching the Stardust online casinos, which aim to deliver “unique entertainment experiences into the online space.”

Jim Ryan, Chief Executive Officer of Boyd Interactive, declared himself “excited” by the addition of games from Playtech into the offerings of Stardust both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Playtech has been gaining more and more ground on the United States market this year. In July the company formally announced its plans to launch a live casino game show broadcast from a dedicated studio in New Jersey, while in November it launched a new live casino studio in Pennsylvania.

Source: “Playtech Partners with Boyd Interactive to Launch Games for Stardust Online Casinos in the United States“. Playtech. December 20, 2023.

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Wazdan Partners with Gran Madrid Casino Online to Increase Presence in Spain

Wazdan, an experienced supplier of premier content to the iGaming industry, has entered a partnership with the prominent Spanish operator Gran Madrid Casino Online. Under the terms of the deal, the supplier will provide its extensive slot portfolio to the online casino through the aggregation platform Light & Wonder, one of the leading aggregators in the industry.

Content Supply Deal

wazdan-announces-partnership-with-gran-madrid-casino-online-via-light-wonderwazdan-announces-partnership-with-gran-madrid-casino-online-via-light-wonderThe partnership represents a huge step forward for both companies in accomplishing their respective strategic objectives. Since the launch of its operations more than a decade ago, Wazdan has been working to always secure the best possible content for its operator and aggregator partners. The commitment to quality has resulted in the provider’s expansion across more than 25 markets worldwide. Therefore, the latest partnership deal marks a significant milestone for the provider to extend its reach in the Spanish jurisdiction.

At the same time, Gran Madrid Casino Online has secured a strong foothold in Spain with its customer-oriented approach based on the same business principles as those exercised by its partner to this deal. The operator will use the Light & Wonder platform to offer the Wazdan’s suite of top-performing titles to players. Such an extended offering is set to expand the Gran Madrid Casino Online’s player pool, as well as reinforce the casino’s prominent position in the Spanish market.

Portfolio Now Available

The operator launched its operations in 2011 to now boast the most comprehensive catalogue in the iGaming sector. It currently includes more than 2,000 classic and new slots to anchor the company’s status of a leading online casino in the jurisdiction. The catalogue will now be expanded by the Wazdan’s portfolio of more than 180 premier titles.

The Chief Commercial Officer for Wazdan, Andrzej Hyla, said:“Partnering with Gran Madrid Casino Online marks a pivotal moment for Wazdan as we expand our presence in the Spanish market. We are thrilled to collaborate with a visionary operator renowned for its exceptional gaming offerings and dedication to providing top-notch experiences to players.”

Safe and Responsible Gaming Operations

The strategic partnership will bring the provider’s cutting-edge content to the Spanish market. Wazdan will benefit from the increased presence in the jurisdiction, while Gran Madrid Casino Online expects to benefit from the diversified offerings of high-quality content. As both partners are focused on the adherence to the principles of safe and responsible gaming operations, the deal is likely to be beneficial for the entire Spanish player community.

Source: “Wazdan Announces Partnership with Gran Madrid Casino Online Via Light&Wonder”. European Gaming. December 11, 2023.

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New Legislation Bans Using Credit Cards for Online Betting in Australia

A lot is changing when it comes to Australian gambling law, and new legislation has just been passed. The use of credit cards as a payment method for placing online bets will be prohibited from now on, as the Australian Federal Parliament decided.

Important measure

Kai Cantwell, the CEO of Responsible Wagering Australia, supports this decision. He thinks that the country needs this decision since the residents will be allowed to gamble only with the money they actually have on their cards.

Cantwell commented: “This is an important measure to protect customers and their loved ones, making it easier for people to stay in control of their own gambling behavior. It will complement the existing offering of safer gambling account management tools by RWA members to customers to help them stay in control of their betting.”

Lotteries and keno issue

australian-parliament-passes-legislation-banning-online-credit-card-betting-He added that it was disappointing that some kinds of games, for example, lotteries and keno, were excluded from this ban since the lotteries are the most popular type of gambling in the country, especially in people from lower socioeconomic groups.

Only in 2020 and 2021 did citizens lose more than $3.2 billion playing these two types of games, according to the Australian Gambling Statistics. When online keno was legalized in Victoria, these numbers increased even further, and in 2022 and 2023, the losses increased by more than 400%.

There are other parts of the gambling law that lotteries are excluded from. There is also a National Self Exclusion Register, Betstop, so the Australians who already have excluded themselves from other forms of online gambling still have the opportunity to gamble up to $10.000 online by playing lotteries.

Cantwell added: “To effectively reduce gambling harm, consumer protection measures must exist across all forms of gambling. Otherwise, those at risk of harm will just move from one form of gambling to another less regulated type.”

Strict regulations

The industry is talking about the potential credit card ban from 2021. The RWA members collaborate with the federal government and financial institutions to deliver the best possible solutions when it comes to credit card bans and online gambling regulations. The institutions will continue to work hard on this, and the ban is supposed to be implemented in all online casinos in Australia within six months.

This is the newest regulation in the Australian market, but not the only one. Other prohibitions include banning external signage, reducing the cash-input limit, reducing the cap on machine entitlements, and others.

Source: Narayan, Niji, Australian Parliament Passes Legislation Banning Online Credit Card Betting”. European Gaming. December 7. 2023.

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SOFTSWISS Identifies 54 Key Performance Indicators for Online Casinos and Sportsbooks

softswiss-shares-54-vital-kpis-for-online-casinos-and-sportsbooksSOFTSWISS, the well-known provider of software and content for online casinos and sports betting websites, has put its experts to work and they came up with a comprehensive list of key performance indicators (KPI) that they consider vital for any iGaming business.

The list is available inside a guide that can be downloaded for free from the SOFTSWISS website. The document is supposed to help increase understanding of the most important key performance indicators in iGaming.

The content available in this guide is divided into four distinct parts:

  • The Financial Metrics section focuses not only on well-known indicators such as Gross Gaming Revenue and Net Gaming Revenue, but also on some less used but equally important metrics such as Average Revenue Per User, Conversion Rate and Customer Acquisition Cost.
  • The Player Engagement Metrics chapter underlines the importance of engagement indicators such as Active Players, Depositing Players Count and Total Deposits Sum.
  • The next section is the Operational Metrics one, and it goes into strategies related to player acquisition and retention, focusing mainly on these indicators’ role in major sporting events.
  • Last but not least, the Analytical Tools and Trends section goes into the correct usage of real-time dashboards and data warehouses, along with the increasing importance of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Developing In The Most Efficient Way

The list of 54 key performance indicators includes a brief definition of each item, along with formula, type and keynote regarding its impact on the business. If we take the example of Net Gaming Revenue, it is described as a top-level key performance indicator, which can provide a clear snapshot of the respective online casino’s financial health.

The close monitoring of this metric allows operators to have a clear evaluation of their operational efficiency and also to make informed decisions regarding the optimization of their operations or about expansion plans.

Speaking about the launch of this guide, Max Trafimovic, Chief Commercial Officer at SOFTSWISS, explained that the company is trying to help online casino and sportsbook operators to “develop their businesses in the most efficient way.”

The SOFTSWISS executive also added that if online casino and sportsbook operators manage to align key performance indicators with business goals, then they “can develop a robust and adaptable strategy that sets them apart in the highly-competitive iGaming landscape.”

This is not the first iGaming guide that SOFTSWISS releases, the company has recently published a comprehensive market report called ‘iGaming in Brazil’. This exclusive report gives people in the industry a clear overview of the Brazilian iGaming scene, a vital tool for companies that might want to launch an online casino or a sportsbook in the respective region.

Source: “SOFTSWISS Shares 54 Vital KPIs for Online Casinos and Sportsbooks“. SOFTSWISS. September 22, 2023.

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MGM Resorts Online Room Reservations Return, Company Denies IT Job Posting

MGM Resorts International has resumed online hotel room reservations for its casino resorts in North America nearly two weeks after a cyber gang attacked its IT systems.

MGM Resorts online room reservations cyberattack
MGM Resorts is using a third-party site to temporarily provide online room reservations. MGM’s booking platform remains offline because of a cyberattack earlier this month. (Image: Casino.org)

MGM on Friday said new room reservations can again be made online. However, the online reservation system differs from the company’s previous booking platform.

MGM’s casino websites redirect to “vacationsbymgmresorts.poweredbygps.com” when a user attempts to book a hotel room. The room reservation platform isn’t property-specific but requires a customer to select a specific property from the MGM portfolio.

Casino.org did some digging and discovered that the “poweredbygps.com” domain is owned by Travelscape, LLC. Travelscape is owned by the parent company Expedia Group.

MGM is likely partnering with the third-party booking giant to free up its phone lines, which have been clogged up with guests seeking to book, amend, or cancel their reservations during the cyberattack that was initiated sometime on Sept. 10.

Temporary Solutions

MGM’s phone lines have been congested with frustrated customers waiting as long as an hour to reach a representative. Along with restoring online room reservations from its casinos’ homepages, MGM recently initiated an online “Guest Support” form where reservation holders can seek a refund for a canceled stay between Sept. 13-24.

We will process your request as soon as we are able,” the company tells patrons. MGM Rewards participants seeking to use their loyalty points and comps must continue to call the company at 877-535-1987.

Though phone wait times might be reduced, MGM overnight guests continue to face lengthy check-in times, as self-check-in via the MGM app and kiosks remain unavailable. Overnight visitors must obtain a physical room key since digital entries remain disabled.

MGM has expedited the checkout process. Guests are told to drop their room keys into an “Express Check-Out” box near the front desk. A digital copy of each guest’s folio will be sent to the person’s email on file once the MGM systems are back up and running.

Job Post a Spoof

An online job advertisement supposedly from MGM Resorts seeking a Red Hat Certified System Administrator caused quite a stir this week on the social media platform X. Such a job is for an IT professional who, according to Red Hat. This American software company specializes in enterprise operating systems “is able to perform the core system administration skills required in Red Hat Enterprise Linux environments.”

Among the skills possessed by such an IT professional is the ability to “create and configure file systems and file system attributes, such as permissions, encryption, access control lists, and network file systems.”

The alleged MGM job listing, which was found on ZipRecruiter, advertised that the person would “be helping the MGM Grand Casino build its net new IT environment after the recent ransomware attack.”

The position was advertised at an hourly rate of $100, with the contract gig running for about two weeks. The IT tech would be expected to work 10 hours a day, seven days a week, the posting listed.

An MGM spokesperson, however, denied the legitimacy of the job posting.

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