Sheldon Adelson, the man who built the Las Vegas Sands empire, passed away two weeks ago, bringing to an end an era of what can only be described as a transition between the old guard and the new in the casino industry. Following the demise of Sands’ founder, chairman and CEO, the show must go on, even if it could add a few pages to its script, and two long-time company executives are now being bumped up to fill the void. Robert G. Goldstein and Patrick Dumont are going to bring Sands into the 21st Century.

Goldstein was the company’s president and chief operating officer, having taken on the roles six years ago and ten years after he joined Sands’ Board of Directors. Since Adelson passed, Goldstein has served as the company’s interim chairman and CEO and will now officially hold both titles as he looks to take Sands forward. His history with the company is extensive and includes roles as the president of global operations and executive VP, as well as president and chief operating officer, of The Venetian and The Palazzo Las Vegas. 

The new top boss said in a press release about Adelson, “Mr. Adelson’s leadership guided us to the top of our industry, and his legacy lives on through the company’s 50,000 team members and the iconic properties he developed around the world. Our spirits have been dimmer in these few weeks since his passing, but the future of the company he founded shines bright. He would expect nothing less than an aggressive pursuit of the work he started, and I am determined to lead this company forward in a way that best honors his vision.”

Dumont has been with Sands for almost 11 years and, since 2017, has served as a director. He is more than just another casino executive, though, as he is married to Sivan Ochshorn, the daughter of Adelson’s wife from her previous marriage. Dumont became the company’s chief financial officer (CFO) in 2016, and will now serve as the president and chief operating officer of Sands. He added in the press release, “Mr. Adelson established the roadmap for the future of this company, and that roadmap is unchanged. I am dedicated to working with Rob and our leadership team to make our strategic objectives a reality. Our path forward is clear and remains true to the principles our founder was committed to for so many years – we will continue supporting our people and the local communities in which we operate, reinvesting in our current markets, producing strong returns for our shareholders and aggressively pursuing new development opportunities.”

Now that it has been able to see how effective its initiative has been, William Green has shed light on a project it began last October. The sports gambling giant has gone green, embracing 100% renewable energy sources for its electricity needs in the U.K. as it moves to reduce its carbon footprint. The initiative is likely to find other companies following in William Hill’s footsteps, especially as more attention is given to environmental matters on a global scale.

William Hill entered an agreement at the beginning of last October to change its energy supplier in the U.K. from Grid Electricity to Total Gas Power (TGP). That transition paved the way for the company to rely completely on energy from solar, wind and hydro, which will reportedly allow it to reduce its carbon footprint by around 61,500 tons across the three-year life of the new contract with TGP. That, as explained by SBC News, is equal to what is output by 38,000 cars or a flight from London to Las Vegas.

This is just the beginning for William Hill, as the company plans on initiating other efforts to become more green. As explained by the sportsbook’s chief procurement officer, David Medori, “We have prioritised the Environment as being extremely important to William Hill and have committed to becoming a Carbon Neutral Business. We have established aggressive targets over 5 years in C02 reduction on Energy, Waste, Transportation and Water.”

To assist with those other initiatives, William Hill is also beginning to use smart metering solutions in all 2,000 of its gambling shops in the U.K. Smart meters allow businesses to track energy consumption down to the individual outlet to which a device is attached and can be used to control the electricity usage. The devices send data wirelessly, often to a single management station, where it can be analyzed so adjustments can be made.

2020 was a rough year for the Philippines Offshore Gambling Operators (POGOs), with many taking their leave of the country, either due to Covid or taxation. That being said, the Bureau of Internal Revenue has reported taxes taken in from the sector increased 11.71% to P7.18 billion ($149.3 million)

Internal Revenue Commissioner Caesar Dulay announced the good news in a January 26 statement. The tax take is up from the P6.4 billion raised in 2019, and P2.36 billion in 2018.

Despite an exodus of Philippines offshore gaming operators (Pogo) due to taxation issues and a high number of COVID-19 infections here, taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) from the sector rose by more than a tenth to P7.18 billion last year.

The BIR’s success in bringing in more taxes had less to do with the POGO sector bringing in more money, but with more aggressive approaches to collections. POGOs were long accused of not paying all taxes expected of them, a disagreement which has resulted in court battles. When 2019 numbers were reported a year ago, BIR deputy commissioner Arnel Guballa noted at the time that POGO firms would have to pay their taxes or be shut down, a threat they followed through on.

This is a guest contribution by Sergiy Logvynenko, Account Manager at Sigma Software. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty for submission details. Thank you.

The online casino world has developed very intensely in the last few years and the biggest impact is the number of games. First of all – slot games. Any player can select something that will fit his or her preferences. Seems that nowadays every casino operator suggests about a thousand slot games or even more. 

I love the comparison of Casino + slot games with Netflix + movies. It is not exactly the same but sounds similar. There are a huge amount of titles that create a problem for a player to select something. Casino operators work on that situation by using different recommendation systems based on player profiles and previous playing experience. It does not work so well as they would prefer. At the same time, it is something.

I would like to touch on another side of this situation and look at it from the game provider’s point of view. As a provider, you are spending a huge amount of time designing, developing the game, passing certifications, and adapting to different regulations. Finally, you end up in a situation when your game is on the market and it needs to compete with hundreds or even thousands of similar games. Of course, your game has unique selling points and you have the best marketing team and solid budget to promote it. The player will try the game. Will he or she play for a long time? Let’s be honest – sometimes it happens, but not so often. It happens because a player likes the game, but not everything in the game – i.e. he/she likes math, but the game is too “slow” visually or has too many effects. These are just some examples to mention. There are a few more important reasons to switch to another game – the game becomes boring after some time or today the player wants to relax and prefers to have a game with relaxing sounds, etc.

The wait for a new Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) CEO is over. The regulator has announced the appointment of Dr. Carl Brincat to the role, and he will immediately start the job.

This follows months of the role being vacant, after former CEO Heathcliff Farrugia resigned in October, 2020. Farrugia noted he would not seek to renew his contract, although this came at the same time when his name was being tied to a notorious murder case in the Mediterranean nation.

Brincat brings a law background to the role, previously having served as the MGA’s Chief Legal & Enforcement officer, working with the MGA for more than 6 years. He was happy to get the job:

 “It is an honour to be selected to lead the organisation at such a critical juncture for the MGA and the industry alike.