EMERGING LEADERS
Growing iGaming
Lee Terfloth
Chief Operating Officer , Out The Gate Inc .
Tsawwassen . Roll that around on your tongue a few times . That ’ s where Lee Terfloth spent his formative years , a town in British Columbia not far from Vancouver . And Vancouver introduced Terfloth to the gaming industry . More to the point , the online segment of the industry in Canada . “ I started in 2003 when a friend asked me if I wanted to join a customer service team for a company in downtown Vancouver . I took the interview , which consisted of two questions , ‘ Have you ever been to jail ?’ and ‘ When can you start ?’”
Terfloth worked his way through the company — Las Vegas From Home — for a few months and was promoted to assistant cardroom manager of the poker site . “ Between 2003 and 2013 , I was a consultant assisting companies all over the world ,” he says . “ In 2013 , New Jersey became the first state in the U . S . to approve online gaming , so I moved there .”
He wanted to make sure that customers were being treated as if New Jersey was a new alternative in online gaming . “ Because the gray market had operated in the United States for so many years before regulated gaming launched , it would have been naïve of us to expect customers didn ’ t know how these things worked .”
During those early years , casinos in Atlantic City feared that online gaming would cannibalize the business , Terfloth says .
“ I wanted to ensure that everyone knew we weren ’ t a threat , but we wanted to give customers the ability to extend their experience and use our platform to bring new and existing customers to Atlantic City ,” he says .
He worked for Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa as a consultant , then with Resorts Digital as director of interactive product . He then became the vice president of online gaming with Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City .
“ I had the pleasure of launching the first online gaming product for Hard Rock , which allowed it to extend its iconic brand into the online gaming space ,” he says . He joined Out The Gate in February 2022 as chief operating officer . Out The Gate is a new sports betting startup focused on launching in the near future in
New Jersey and also Ohio , Terfloth says . The success he had moving from property to property owed a lot to a long list of mentors . “ They say it takes a village to raise a child ,” says Terfloth , who devotes relaxation time to his two young children . “ It took an entire city to get me to where I am today , and I am incredibly thankful for everyone who helped me along the way .”
Terfloth ’ s mentor list reads like a who ’ s who with Haig Sakouyan , Mick Jacobs , Nathan Damianos , Peter Cellik , Stuart Lewis-Smith , Will Griffiths , Doyle Brunson , Kresimir Spajic , Tom Balance , Mark Giannantonio and Joe Brennan .
For the U . S ., iGaming is still in its infancy , as most jurisdictions came on board since 2018 . “ I believe we will continue to see more states expand for both sports betting and iGaming ,” says Terfloth . “ I also think we will continue to see more consolidation , as companies realize how complex online gaming is .”
That said , online gaming is not for everyone . “ We move at a pace that not everyone can handle ,” Terfloth says . “ Where video game companies get to turn out incremental updates for a sports game franchise annually , we are required to deliver game-changing updates or launch new markets at a moment ’ s notice . To put it simply , one year in online gaming is like seven years in a regular job .” — Bill Sokolic
Leap Off the Ladder , Land at the Top
Anita Grim
Vice President of Labor and Hospitality Analytics , Caesars Entertainment
Caesars Vice President of Labor and Hospitality Analytics Anita Grim combines her analytical prowess , care for others , and a willingness to embrace change to forge a path as an emerging leader in the gaming industry .
Grim began her career as a business analyst at Deloitte . Four years into her climb up the consulting ladder , she pursued an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business . As she continued progressing from analyst to manager , she found herself having to adapt quickly to new clients , industries and functional areas regularly .
Constantly moving between industries left Grim feeling like a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none . “ I learned that I either needed to get comfortable not knowing everything before I speak , or I needed to move into an industry role where I could build a real industry knowledge base — and with it , confidence — over time ,” says Grim .
So in 2014 , with the support of her mentors , she made the decision to step out of the consulting path and pursue a career in gaming , leaving Deloitte to work as director of strategic planning and analysis for Pinnacle Entertainment in Las Vegas .
Grim cites the move as one of her proudest career moments , reflecting on the courage it took to enter a new industry . “ Prior to that decision , everything was set years in advance — go to college , find a job , go to grad school , go back to consulting to get grad school reimbursed ,” she says . “ And then there was a black hole where I could suddenly do whatever
28 Global Gaming Business MAY 2023