Negative press surrounding Finland’s Veikkaus gambling monopoly appears to be souring the nation’s youth on the appeal of gambling, according to a new survey.

On Wednesday, Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) released the results of a 2019 survey (in Finnish) that showed Finns’ overall view of gambling had a score of 22.5 on the Attitudes Towards Gambling Scale, below the ‘neutral’ score of 24 points. The previous survey in 2015 showed gambling trending slightly positive at 24.3 points.

That said, while strong majorities of Finns believe gambling shouldn’t be encouraged (91%), that there were too many gambling opportunities (71%) and gambling posed a threat to family life (61%), strong majorities oppose a gambling ban (79%) and continue to believe people have a right to gamble when they want (61%).

Finland was previously awash with 18,500 slot machines in retail shops, restaurants, gas stations and other venues, all of which were run by Veikkaus. However, a mounting backlash forced the company to announce plans to eliminate around 8,000 of these machines by 2025.

Germany’s schizoid approach to online casino regulation has resulted in criminal complaints filed against three operators, including GVC Holdings’ Bwin brand.

On Tuesday, German media outlets NDR and Süddeutscher Zeitung reported that the Hamburg Ministry of the Interior & Sport had filed complaints with the state’s public prosecutor against Bwin, German operator Tipico and IBA Entertainment’s Malta-licensed Bet3000 brand. The complaints reportedly center on the operators’ online casino offering.

Germany’s 16 states have agreed on a new online gambling framework that will allow online casino and poker products in addition to sports betting as of July 1, 2021. But there is sharp difference among the states as to what approach should be taken against online casino operators who continue to accept German customers before the new regime takes effect.

Earlier this week, regulators in the state of Hesse signaled a truce with German-facing online casino operators, agreeing to take “no enforcement measures” against operators ahead of the regulated market’s launch. But states such as Hamburg, Saarland and Lower Saxony have shown little interest in tolerating activity they view as currently illegal, regardless of what the future holds.

The online casino technology supplier segment is joining the gambling industry’s consolidation craze as live dealer specialists Evolution Gaming launched a takeover bid for random number generator (RNG) online slots stars NetEnt.

On Wednesday, the Stockholm-listed Evolution announced an SEK19.6b (US$2.11b) offer to acquire fellow Swedes NetEnt in a bid to create what Evolution called “the world leader in the online gaming industry.” The official offer document will be published in mid-August with a deadline for acceptance of October 26 and possible completion of the acquisition by November 2.

The offer values NetEnt’s shares at just under SEK80, a 43% premium over the company’s Tuesday closing price. NetEnt’s board has unanimously recommended that shareholders accept the offer, which Evolution has warned it will not increase.

NetEnt’s largest long-term family shareholders, who represents 68.2% of votes and 29.5% of the company’s capital, have either signed irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer or made statements indicating their intention to sign such undertakings.

After a long wait, many Las Vegas cardrooms have reopened. Earlier this week, popular YouTube poker content maker Joey Ingram made a video all about how he risked his life to sit down in a cash game with very few face-masks in sight.

It’s a brave/stupid new live poker world depending on where you sit on the debate’s two sides. Either going out to play poker and risk catching COVID-19 is crazy to you, or you’re willing to do so to maintain your mental health. It’s the health equivalent of chasing flush draws, it’s just what you’re going to catch on the river that’s changed.

The re-opening of the HyperX Esports Arena isn’t just for more traditional Esports, with poker tournaments lined up since January to take place at the stunning Vegas-based studio space.

When the World Poker Tour decided to delay their national final tables when six players were reached before rescheduling final tables at the HyperX Esports Arena, many – including ourselves – commended them on growing the prestige of the events in question.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJcxae30TU4?feature=oembed]

Keith McDonnell has spent a lot of time in Asia, and that’s given him a perspective on the local iGaming industry that few expats can match. That’s coming in handy now as the global pandemic has reset the board, and loads of new considerations need to be made. Our Stephanie Tower joined him during the SiGMA ICE Asia digital event to catch up on how the industry is adapting to the new normal, and what opportunities will come from it.

The panel McDonnell attended during the conference was all about the Philippines, and the huge role it plays in the Asian region. “The Philippines, and Manila in particular, has been the center of the Asian iGaming hub for as long as I’ve been active in Asia, which is since 2008,” he told Tower. “And you know, it’s had its challenges over the years, many of them legal, many of them regulatory, but it still retains that position, and part of the reason for that is it’s still the only jurisdiction in the whole of Asia that issues iGaming licenses to operators who want to set up in Manila, and offer them protection around that. Emanating from that has been an explosion of talent, so within Manila and you know, the wider Philippines, there’s a lot of people who just understand iGaming now, and you know that’s not common in other parts of Asia.”

One of the fears the industry has had is the way this pandemic will affect its regulatory futures. McDonnell is optimistic. “My view and this is quite it’s quite strong, and it’s consistent with what I think is going to happen here in the U.S., in terms of how sports betting is going to open up faster on a state by state basis in the U.S.,” he said. “I think what’s happened is with the pandemic, those casinos who are restricted only to bricks and mortar will have had zero business over this pandemic. Sports betting of course, and particularly with Asia, with football and basketball which is the lion’s share of revenue being eliminated, that’s hurt too. But you know there have been other sports that have been in existence, and I think what we’re going to find is around the world, not unique to Asia but including Asia, regulatory opposition perhaps to legal sports betting and iGaming may be diluted, just because revenue deficits are going to need to be made up, so they’re going to want to issue more licenses, tax operators and also find ways to plug these gaps when land based bricks and mortar casinos are just not able to operate.”

Working in the gambling industry is hardly ever dull, as the nature of the industry itself lends itself to entertainment, excitement, and innovation. But after a few years of actually doing the job and getting used to the beats, it can be pretty easy for an employee to feel they’ve hit a rut. The job isn’t as much fun as it used to be, they don’t know how to progress, and they just aren’t feeling as motivated as they once were.

In my experience, the way out of that rut is through learning new applicable skills, and finding ways to use them. It’s exciting to learn new things, so it’s a great way to get employees motivated again, and it carries the benefits of increasing the employee’s value, and their return to the organization.

But to really get the most out of emphasizing learning, it has to be done right, and it so often isn’t. You have to get to know what makes your employees tick to get their buy in, following through on the process and following up on it.

What do my employees want to learn?

Crown Casino preparations for a full re-opening in Perth are well underway. The easing of COVID-19 restrictions in Western Australia has meant that Crown will be open on June 27. With Victoria in the grips of a second wave of COVID cases, it means that the Melbourne Casino will remain closed over the next few months. Both Crown properties in Australia suspended operations since late March.

A Crown Casino spokeswoman confirmed the Perth property will be ready to receive players from this weekend, under new health and safety measures. “Crown has worked closely with government and health authorities to ensure that our reopening can be done in a safe manner for the community, and in compliance with all government mandates including physical distancing requirements and hygiene measures,” she said.

“The past few months have been challenging for many Western Australians, and we look forward to welcoming thousands of our employees back to work in coming weeks,” she added.

Casino operations are able to resume on the gaming floor, with health guidelines in place for food and beverage services. Under the agreed guidelines with the Western Australian government, there will be a 2sqm rule for social distancing on the gaming floor. Every second gaming machine will be switched off, and poker will have a maximum five player limit per table.