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years after the technology was ?rst introduced. By the start of 2013, hundreds of live casinos have popped up and at least half of them are also available on mobile devices. The live casino industry has gained as much attention as some predicted, but we’re now coming into a technological era where we’ve perfected the software. It’s hard to tell where the industry is heading, and whether or not live casinos will continue to gain attention or if the numbers will start to level out. Despite the obvious growth and interest, however, there are still hundreds of online casinos, some considered major players, that haven’t added them to their range of games.
32RED SOURCE: Right Casino Media
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THE RISE OF THE LIVE CASINO INDUSTRY
> DAVID MERRY > DIRECTOR, RIGHT CASINO MEDIA
Since early on in 2003, the next big thing for computer-based gambling has always been live casino. Playtech published the ?rst ever live casino game but, at the time, internet technology was far from perfect and a more reliable service couldn’t be guaranteed. The ?rst company to offer live casino on television was NetPlay, owners of SuperCasino and Jackpot247. It began with live TV roulette shows, then streaming the shows online. Live casinos became the talk of the town at affiliate and casino conferences, but has the live casino industry been as successful as many predicted? Since 2005, when broadband became commonplace, we’ve seen a whole host of casinos
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“WHAT WE HAVE TO DO, AND WHAT WE’RE DOING, IS GROWING MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVELY THAN THE REST OF THE MARKET. WE NEED TO REGAIN MARKET SHARE IN THE UK”
Gala In teractive MD and board chairman Per Widerström on the company’s roadmap for the coming years. P32
take up live software and gradually improve the technology to what we have today. Searches for ‘live casino’ started to pick up later that year and have risen steadily since. But take a close look at when the casinos joined the live casino game. Some caught on fairly early – Jackpot247 (originally named ‘Challenge Jackpot’) for example, while William Hill didn’t release its live casino games until 2009. By then live casinos were continuing to grow in popularity, but there were still fewer than 25 dedicated casinos that offered this service. Going even further down the line, big names like Ladbrokes and 32Red didn’t offer a live casino service until 2012, nearly 10
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ERIC HOLLREISER
Head of corporate communications Hollreiser has plenty of experience with blue chip firms having held senior roles with both Microsoft and the Walt Disney Company. His appointment at PokerStars followed a six-month international search from the operator. He has overseen interactions with the press throughout the acquisition process which saw Stars take over its former rival Full Tilt Poker.
LEE JONES
Head of poker communications Now in his second stint with the operator, Jones held roles including European Poker Tour president in the early to mid2000s. He rejoined PokerStars from Cake Poker in 2011 as head of home games before taking on his new role in February this year. Jones will be responsible for communicating poker issues to internal and external audiences.
MICHAEL JOSEM
Head of public relations A former PR manager for members of parliament in his native Australia, Josem was hired by Stars in a security role following his involvement in an independent player-led investigation into the UltimateBet superuser scandal. He has held a number of securityrelated roles, most recently senior manager of the company’s Isle of Man-based security team.
ADAM FIELD
Global head of social media Field joined PokerStars in 2011 following previous roles including Facebook’s first ever non-US sales planner. He heads up a team responsible for maintaining engagement across the operator’s 125,000-strong Twitter following and a Facebook community of more than 300,000 members.
www.egrmagazine.com
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