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SOUTH AFRICA – UNEXPECTED DEATH OF AGI AFRICA MD It is with great sadness and a sense of shock that Novomatic must announce the unexpected death of AGI Africa’s Managing Director, Warren Banks, on September 2, 2014.
Warren Banks (50) resided in the Johannesburg suburb of North Wold and is survived by his sons Wade (22) and Cavin Banks (19) to whom we send our deepest condolences.
Warren Banks was an iconic figure in the African gaming industry. His character is universally described as being ‘a superbly professional gaming industry executive and a man with a warm heart and a huge presence.’
With a long and successful career in the gaming industry already established Mr. Banks joined the Novomatic family in 2000 and was instrumental in setting up, leading and direct- ing the expansion of AGI Africa, the group’s subsidiary of Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH.
In his private life Warren was father to two sons, Wade and Cavin, of whom he was enormously proud, a keen golfer at Ruimsig Country Club, a passionate rugby supporter and a dedicated fitness enthusiast. At the time of his death Warren was planning to run the Comrades Marathon on May 31st 2015 in his beloved South Africa.
Colleagues at AGI Africa described Warren Banks as a ‘fan- tastic leader, a friend to everyone and an inspirational figure who has been taken all too soon.’
Jens Halle, Managing Director AGI, said: “We are all in shock at the untimely passing of our friend and colleague Warren. Our sympathies go out to his family, friends and industry col- leagues. Warren’s loss is hard to bear but we will strive to bring to reality the business objectives that he was already planning and hope that they will stand as a fitting memorial to a true friend and professional colleague.”
SOUTH AFRICA - GPT TO DISTRIBUTE JCM IN S. AFRICA JCM Global has entered into a distribution agreement with Global Payment Technologies (GPT). Under the arrangement, GPT will sell and service JCM’s entire line of bill validation products in South Africa.
The agreement brings JCM products back to South Africa, including JCM’s award-winning iVIZION, Transactional Bill Validator (TBV) and the company’s new DBV series.
JCM EMEA General Manager Payam Zadeh said: “Our award- winning product line of bill validators and other peripheral equipment has set global standards. We are very pleased to announce this arrangement with Global Payment Technologies to bring JCM solutions to the operators in South Africa who have been asking for our products.”
Wanda van Vuuren, National Sales and Marketing Director for Global Payment Technologies, said: “JCM Global and its line of products are internationally known for high quality design and world-class service. We are proud to partner with JCM to bring their solutions to South Africa.”
GERMANY LICENCES SPORTS-BETTING
20 Sports betting licensees chosen in Germany – yet licences cannot be issued as losing applicants pursue lawsuits Germany - Online gaming
Online sports betting is finally to be legalised in Germany. It has taken well over two years for the German government to choose which companies should be awarded a licence, following the neces- sary changes to the Interstate Gambling Treaty. The Ministry of Interior and Sport of the state of Hesse is responsible for this process.
In September, the 20 companies to receive a con- cession for sports betting in Germany were announced. Originally the German government wished to keep sports betting as a state-only organisation and Oddset was responsible for this. Private companies were banned and it was only the rulings from the European Court of Justice that forced the German government to open up the market to private companies.
The 20 licences are as follows:
1. Cashpoint (Malta) Ltd. - Gauselmann 2. Admiral Sportwetten GmbH - Novomatic 3. ODDSET Deutschland Sportwetten GmbH 4. Oddsline Entertainment AG 5. Primebet International Ltd. 6. ElectraWorks Ltd. – Bwin 7. Digibet Ltd. 8. Bet at
home.com Internet Ltd.
9. Ladbrokes International PLC 10. Bet90 Ltd. 11. Deutsche Sportwetten GmbH 12. Personal Exchange International Ltd. – Mybet 13. Polco Ltd. – Betfair 14. Intermedia GmbH 15. Bernd Hobiger Wettbüro Goldesel 16. RULEO Alpenland GmbH 17. Racebets International Gaming Ltd. 18. Albers Wettbörsen Deutschland oHG mbH 19. IBA Entertainment Ltd. – Bet3000 20. Star Sportwetten GmbH
The future of sports betting in Germany looks strong, despite these law suits. The German Telecom (Deutsche Telekom) announced its intentions to enter this market, stating its interest in purchasing Deutsche Sportwetten GmbH should this company win a licence which it has. Currently Deutsche Sportwetten GmbH belongs to an Austrian sports betting company called ÖSW that is partly owned by Casinos Austria. The cur- rent market leaders Bet365 and Tipico did not win a licence. Tipico, for example, has approx. 750 sports betting licences currently in operation in Germany.
The Administrative Court of Justice has already received approx. a dozen law suits from compa- nies that did not win such a licence. The Administrative Court of Wiesbaden has prevented the Ministry of the Interior of granting the 20 licences as in the next weeks the procedure sur- rounding the issuing of the sports betting licences must be investigated.
UK Playtech has signed an agreement with existing major licensee, Sky Bet, for the provision of its market- leading casino and live dealer products. Sky Bet players will have access to Playtech’s comprehensive casino games library, comprising table, card and slots games along with a wide range of branded content in web and mobile formats. Additionally, Sky Bet has selected Playtech’s cutting-edge live casino offering to provide it with the most comprehensive solution available on the market. This includes Playtech’s live private environment, allowing Sky Bet to leverage its presence and positioning with branded and customised content to deliver an improved player experience.
Evolution launches dedicated Live Casino for Full Tilt brand
LATVIA Evolution Gaming, the world leader in video-streamed Live Dealer gaming, has launched a dedicated live casino environ- ment for Full Tilt. Full Tilt is best known as one of the world’s leading poker brands and is now expanding its offering of casino games.
The Full Tilt dedicated environ- ment, created within Evolution’s Riga studios, includes three live blackjack tables and one live roulette table. All tables will be available to players on a variety of platforms, including comput-
2 2
ers running both Windows and Macintosh operating systems, and also iOS and Android mobile devices. The dedicated Full Tilt live casino environment is staffed by a dedicated team of over 50 dealers. The online casino area and staff uniforms will offer an experience that meets the high expectations of Full Tilt players.
Full Tilt players will also have access to a variety of Evolution’s generic Live Roulette, Blackjack, Baccarat and Casino Hold’em tables and to Evolution’s VIP suite of live tables.
Commenting on Full Tilt’s move into offering live casino services to players, Sam Hobcraft, Director of Casino at the Rational Group, said: “Offering the best live casino has always been core to our strategy for Full Tilt and we have worked very hard with Evolution to create an environ- ment that will be the very best product on the market. It will be offered to our customers through all channels, but we are particu- larly excited about the mobile product.”
Sebastian Johannisson, Head of Account Management at Evolution, added: “This is a notable launch in that Full Tilt is highly committed to Live Casino as part of its offer to today’s and tomorrow’s multi-channel online gaming market.”
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