ICE REVIEW – EDITOR’S DIARY


EDITOR ON ICE T


hough I’ve been professionally involved in gaming since the 90s and gambling since the early 2000s, my home has always been online rather than land-based.


I’m not much of a gambler (I’m one of those weirdos who plays poker with the same intensity whether we’re playing for £4,000 or who has to make the tea) but I do find gambling fascinating – perhaps more so than someone who is actually drawn to the games (and starts drooling when they see a spinning wheel or flashing lights). ICE 2023 was a genuine eye-opener for me. Apart from a record attendance topping 40,000 unique attendees (compared to 24k in 2022 and 36k pre-COVID) seeing every square inch of ExCeL alive with the industry was genuinely moving (I think it’s fair to say, “we’re back”!)


I made the schoolboy error of letting my


boss take care of the appointments (which is the reason it was literally every 30 minutes back-to-back for three days!) For the record, I shall be expensing my shoes which were pretty much worn down to skin by the end of the show. I also now contractually don’t do 8:30am press conferences on the fi rst day without a limo. Ever.


Dean. 23. Good sense of humour. Enjoys films and short walks. Available weekdays.


We took to the stunning Connaught


Does this make up for an 8:30am start? No. No it doesn’t.


I met all the big players in the industry, but also some of the less razzle-dazzle guys who quietly keep the industry alive from


44 MARCH 2023


Rooms on the Tuesday night for The European Casino Awards - which was superb and rocked into the early hours - and I then pretended I was in my twenties by going out on the Wednesday night as well… until 2am mum! ROCK. AND. ROLL. (Well… FIRE. AND. ICE - to be more specifi c). Following this drivel are pages detailing just some of the companies that exhibited at the show. It was a belter and if you weren’t there, I feel sorry for you. Still, there’s always next year…


Prepping for The


European Casino Awards at the stunning


Connaught Rooms.


T’was a new experience for our recently- appointed Managing Editor, Matt Broughton, as he took to the ExCeL fl oor with a full schedule and – by the end of it – an even more full bag of loot.


the more modest corners of the halls. I was given lots of lovely gift bags (if anyone wants a USB stick, I now have LOTS) but - as a man of principle - I also stole as many pens as I possibly could. I ‘accidentally’ happened upon lovely ladies with trays of marzipan chocolates as often as was believable, and even tried to win a pair of socks by spinning a wheel (more on that later).


Unable to kick an old habit, I


anthropomorphised various sad-looking machine parts stuck to walls as I passed by, wondering if these lonely robots would ever throw off their shackles and find love. One can but dream.


Booth boys and girls in action.


Earning my VIP bracelet on the Fire & Ice stage.


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