eSports have finally earned their right as one of the latest and greatest topics of interest within the gambling industry.  There is no doubt about it, unlike other “fads” that have temporarily captivated our industry in the past, eSports are here to stay and as time goes on and technology continues to sharpen, their popularity will only continue to grow.

In fact, eSports have been around for much longer than the average person would guess, with the earliest known video game competition taking place at Standford University in 1972 and the first games going online in the early ‘90s.

Victor Martyn, CEO of GosuGamers.net and a familiar face in the iGaming industry conference circuit, has been immersed in eSports for the past 17 years. Martyn earned the StarCraft World Championship title in 1998, making him the world’s first eSports professional.  Since then, Martyn has witnessed first hand the growth of eSports and the opportunities that are coming along with it, including the launch of GosuGamers.net which served an astounding 24.2 million unique eSports enthusiasts with 467 million pageviews in 2015 alone.

I was initially introduced to Martyn when he was running an online poker affiliate site and spending some time as a professional poker player, several years back.  This is the main reason why I think Martyn is an exceptionally valuable resource for gambling companies interested in eSports, seeing as he is part of the fabric of eSports and also familiar with how the gambling industry works.

Nevada sportsbook provider CG Technology (CGT) has agreed to pay a $1.5m fine and say goodbye to its CEO after being caught ignoring software glitches that underpaid bettors around $700k.

In May, the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) filed a formal complaint against CGT, accusing it of (a) failing to fix a known glitch in its Cantor Sports Book software that both underpaid and overpaid parlay bettors, and (b) attempting to interfere with the NGCB’s investigation into the matter.

On Wednesday, the NGCB released a copy of a settlement it has reached with CGT, which has agreed to pay a fine of $1.5m to make the problem go away. Furthermore, CGT CEO Lee Amaitis (pictured) will resign effective Aug. 31, 2016. CGT has appointed an unidentified interim CEO to take the wheel during the transition.

CGT copped to most of the NGCB’s charges, although CGT denied that it had “any intent to profit” from its dodgy software. CGT also denied that it failed to cooperate with the NGCB’s investigation. However, it admitted there was “sufficient basis contained in the allegations to warrant settlement.”

Spain’s regulated online gambling market remains a male-dominated space but the number of female gamblers enjoyed a significant spike last year.

According to a new report by Spanish gaming regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), men still make up 83% of those who gamble with Spanish-licensed sites, but the number of females participating in the market rose 53.5% in 2015, a surge undoubtedly attributable to the mid-year addition of slots as an online option.

Not surprisingly, the casino vertical enjoyed the largest year-on-year participation gains, rising 80.4% in 2015. Bingo posted the second largest gain (37.6%), narrowly edging out sports betting (34.4%), while poker (predictably) saw participation levels fall 2.1%.

Active player accounts with Spanish-licensed operators totaled 985k in 2015. The monthly average number of active players was up 16.2% but their average playing time fell 2.7%. Some 70% of active players held accounts with just one Spanish operator.

Ian Smith sits down with Lee Davy to talk about his role as the Integrity Commissioner for the eSports Integrity Coalition, the story behind the creation of the coalition, and their plans for improving this area in one of the fastest growing areas of sport in the world.

Ian Smith On His Role as ESIC Integrity Commissioner Video

Lee Davy talks to Jeff Gross about his plans to take Twitch streaming up a notch by moving into a streaming house with Jamie Staples and co, what he has learned from his mentors, and much more.

Take out a notepad and a pen.

Write down the names of the five people you spend your time with.

Now look at them because that’s how you are going to end up.

Lee Davy talks to Jeff Gross about his plans to take Twitch streaming up a notch by moving into a streaming house with Jamie Staples and co, what he has learned from his mentors, and much more.

Take out a notepad and a pen.

Write down the names of the five people you spend your time with.

Now look at them because that’s how you are going to end up.

Lee Davy talks to Jeff Gross about his plans to take Twitch streaming up a notch by moving into a streaming house with Jamie Staples and co, what he has learned from his mentors, and much more.

Take out a notepad and a pen.

Write down the names of the five people you spend your time with.

Now look at them because that’s how you are going to end up.

Tribal casinos reported nearly $30b in gaming revenue last year while posting their largest year-on-year revenue gain in a decade.

Figures released Tuesday by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) show tribal gaming revenue of $29.9b in 2015, up 5% from 2014’s numbers, which were up only 1.5% from 2013’s total. In 2006, total revenue was $24.9b.

Of the seven geographic regions into which the NIGC groups tribal gaming operators, the Sacramento region (California, Northern Nevada) posted the largest year-on-year gain at 8%. Oklahoma City (Western Oklahoma, Texas) ranked second with 6.7%, while Tulsa (Kansas, Eastern Oklahoma) placed third with 6.5%. All seven regions posted growth last year compared to five year-on-year gainers in 2014.

Sacramento’s 71 operations held on to their grip atop the geographic revenue chart with $7.9b, up from $7.4b in 2014. The 31 operations in the Washington, DC region – which runs along the east coast from Connecticut to Louisiana and as far inland as Missouri – ranked second with $7b, a gain of $200m from 2014, while the 134 operations in St. Paul (from Michigan to Wyoming) gained $100m to $4.8b.

Tribal casinos reported nearly $30b in gaming revenue last year while posting their largest year-on-year revenue gain in a decade.

Figures released Tuesday by the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) show tribal gaming revenue of $29.9b in 2015, up 5% from 2014’s numbers, which were up only 1.5% from 2013’s total. In 2006, total revenue was $24.9b.

Of the seven geographic regions into which the NIGC groups tribal gaming operators, the Sacramento region (California, Northern Nevada) posted the largest year-on-year gain at 8%. Oklahoma City (Western Oklahoma, Texas) ranked second with 6.7%, while Tulsa (Kansas, Eastern Oklahoma) placed third with 6.5%. All seven regions posted growth last year compared to five year-on-year gainers in 2014.

Sacramento’s 71 operations held on to their grip atop the geographic revenue chart with $7.9b, up from $7.4b in 2014. The 31 operations in the Washington, DC region – which runs along the east coast from Connecticut to Louisiana and as far inland as Missouri – ranked second with $7b, a gain of $200m from 2014, while the 134 operations in St. Paul (from Michigan to Wyoming) gained $100m to $4.8b.

Lee Davy sits down with Jared Tendler to talk about his recent appearance on the BBC, get the lowdown on the progress of his most recent book, and to talk about downswings.

Jared Tendler: Finding Opportunity During a Downswing Video