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Exclusive Interview with Tomas Draksas (Co-founder of Edgeless.io) speaker at Vienna International Gaming Expo 2018

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Our latest interviewee has an impressive gambler background. Tomas Draksas is the Co-founder of Edgeless, Professional Poker Player & Gambler.
In 2008 – 2013, online poker was on the rise and a lot of new players were jumping into the game. At that time, Tomas decided to study the math of probability and poker. Later on, his direction changed to investing, cryptocurrency and digital marketing. He is the CEO of a conversion rate design company (Convi Design) which provides solutions to start-ups in the field of conversion rates and sales funnels. Additionally, he is investing into other start-ups. Right now Tomas is a Co-founder of Edgeless.io first fully transparent decentralised Ethereum casino.

Tomas will be among the speakers at the second edition of Vienna International Gaming Expo, held on the 31st of May at Melia Vienna. More details about the event can be found here.

Thank you very much for answering our questions. First I would like to ask you to shortly introduce yourself and tell us when and why you started working in this industry.

Tomas: Hey, I am Tomas, co-founder of Edgeless blockchain based casino. Well it’s not a coincidence for me to be in such an industry. In 2011 I used to play online poker professionally as my full time occupation. Even before my poker career, gambling was an activity which I love and have positive relationship with. So naturally I collected decent amount of knowledge on entire online gambling industry.

And what about blockchain?

Tomas: I am millennial. Personal computer was introduced to me in an early childhood. I got hooked immediately, spending tons of time learning how to use it. After my poker career, I launched an IT and digital marketing business which is still running up to day. It happened to be that most of my friends are into IT and computers too. So we tend to follow latest IT sector trends. In 2012 a friend of mine introduced me bitcoin as ‘something cool in IT”. Since then I follow everything related to blockchains up to day.

So here you go, that’s how I got into blockchain gambling industry.

You are the co-founder of Edgeless.io, a first fully transparent decentralised Ethereum casino. What makes this casino different and what services does it offer?

Tomas: There is a decent amount of online gambling customers who do not trust casinos they are playing at. And not without a reason – casino industry is full of cheating scandals. If player loses, they immediately assume that casino is cheating.

We solve this problem connecting our casino infrastructure to Ethereum ‘smart-contracts’. Using this system we entirely get rid of a ‘trust-problem’.

“Smart-contract” automatically uploads random number inputs a blockchain. That becomes publicly visible. After that people can take these inputs and recreate an outcome of past games.

That means our casino cannot cheat without being spotted on a blockchain. And that makes us incredibly transparent gambling service provider.

In a long run we aim to build most transparent and user-friendly online casino brand.

You are very much interested in investing, cryptocurrency and digital marketing. Please tell us more about the state of gambling industry in Europe considering these important issues you have experience in.

Tomas: In last 5 years, online gambling has its own peak/ prime moments. It expanded rapidly to almost every country making it incredibly profitable industry. However, more than half of an industry operates illegally breaching most gambling laws. That creates huge problems for local governments. So now the trend is: heavy regulations on gambling industry and no mercy for operators. Local governments create local gambling laws and prevent outsiders from entering the market.

As an operator I understand that, because most of these shady gambling platforms offer incredibly poor service, no transparency and allow minors gambling.

From tech perspective: gambling industry has many new interesting products such as fantasy sports and e-sports betting tournaments. There games have much more interesting gaming experience that classical casino games such as roulette. It seems like in the future we will have more advanced games and betting element.

It is believed that cryptocurrencies are digital gold. Sound money that is secure from political influence, money that promises to preserve and increase its value over time. Cryptocurrencies are also a fast and comfortable means of payment with a worldwide scope, and they are private and anonymous enough to serve as a means of payment for black markets and any other outlawed economic activity. Do you agree with this? How secure do you think is paying with cryptocurrency?

Tomas: It depends. As an industry insider, I can easily see that blockchain tech is just in its infant state. It’s not ready yet and still being under development. I think that it went viral slightly too early than it should.

So now it is NOT fast enough to fuel dapps at a large scale. It is not comfortable to use, crypto service payment infrastructure is not developed yet. It doesn’t provide the anonymity everyone thinks it has. And it is HEAVILY influenced by political environment.

However blockchain developers are addressing each issue and improving blockchains every day. Keep in mind that is incredibly complex programming challenge. My guess would be that after 2 – 3 years, we will have something more tangible which can have all benefits you mentioned.

Can this method of payment have huge effect on the gaming industry, either positive or negative?

Tomas: Yes, it gives incredible improvement on a service. Gambling operators tend to abuse payment methods to trick people into trapping their assets. Let’s say a player wins 10k USD. Most small operators would freeze their money and say something like “it might take 2 – 4 days to withdraw your money”.

Gladly with a cryptocurrency, we do not have this ‘2 – 4’ days’ withdrawal conditions for “some reasons”.

I would say now players will feel more secure depositing assets to an online casino.

What is your opinion about the perspectives the use of cryptocurrency can mean for the industry? What advantages would this bring to the industry?

Tomas: Most important: fast deposits/ withdrawal systems and casino transparency using ‘smart-contracts’.

If you could change anything in the world of gambling what would that be?

Tomas: Now gambling industry is living in some sort of a ‘shadow’; having incredibly negative outlook from environment, being blocked from banking services and marketing networks. Secondly gambling activities get tons of judgement from average citizens.

That’s pretty sad. I gamble from time to time, having no issues what’s so ever. That’s one of oldest forms of entertainment humankind enjoyed. Games combined with betting have existed since a start of human civilization. And it will not disappear.

I would love to change overall ‘image of a gambling’ industry into something more transparent, consumer orientated and capable of providing high quality entertainment products without being judged by environment.

Which were the most difficult periods in your career so far and what do you consider your biggest success and what are your future plans?

Tomas: Most difficult part was to program a scalable mass consumer product on a blockchain infrastructure. We launched our 1.0 version in 2018 Q1. As I mentioned before, today blockchain does not have the necessary functionality which we need to deliver our promise. During our journey, we had to make a ‘lot of work-arounds’ and compromises.

Gladly blockchain tech is improving allowing to move forward, even if that is just by small incremental steps.

I still laugh at other ICO promises and their ‘road-maps’. It seems like most newcomers have no idea at what state blockchain technology is and what problems it has.

If you want to meet Tomas in person or networking with the biggest names of the Sports betting, Casino, VR/AR, Marketing, eSports, DFS, Virtual Sports and Crypto industry, make sure your attend the Vienna International Gaming Expo.


Source: European Gaming News

European Gaming News

Could the Gambling Commission ban wagering requirements?

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Wagering requirements; whether you love them or hate them, with the Gambling Review well underway, there’s never been a better time to debate if they still have a place in modern gambling and whether the upcoming review will ban them once and for all. But first, let’s look at their development and why they are a contentious issue in the industry. 

What are wagering requirements?

Wagering requirements are a common term and condition attached to a bonus that prevents players from taking a promotion and withdrawing it immediately. They are applied differently by each gambling brand. Some, like PlayOJO, Paddy Power, MrQ and Betfair, have revolutionised the casino scene by offering no wagering bonuses. In contrast, others take the predatory route and list bonuses with up to 100x requirements (the average is around 30x).

The requirement is the amount a player must wager at the casino before any winnings made with a bonus are valid for withdrawal. In the case of a £100 bonus, a 30x requirement would mean a player must wager a total of 100×30=£3,000 before they could withdraw any winnings. Most players would easily decimate their winnings before fulfilling the condition and, as most bonuses expire within 7-14 days, may well be forced to play for periods, or at times, they otherwise might not.

Why do wagering requirements exist?

In the early days of online casinos, bonus hunting among players became widely popular. It led to forums where players shared information on where and how to profit from the best welcome bonuses, earning money from the available offers available and never playing at a site again.

As casinos began to notice players taking bonuses and withdrawing without using them fairly, they combatted the practice with wagering requirements and other terms, such as the ability to withdraw a bonus and any winnings made if an account was suspect of this activity.

However, with no limits or official licensing rules to regulate wagering requirements at that time, things soon got out of hand as operators set high limits that were and still are unattainable to most players. Additionally, in many cases, the terms and conditions were not clearly displayed or explained, leading to the confiscation of bonuses and winnings without players understanding how or why they’d fallen foul of the casino’s rules.

Wagering requirements under fire with UKGC

By 2014, and following a flood of player complaints, the Gambling Commission weighed in, creating the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act which prescribed operators were to advertise their bonus terms and conditions clearly and explain them to players. This led to some reducing their requirements to more feasible levels. However, not all operators followed suit, hence why we’re still discussing wagering requirements today.

More recently, in February 2022, the UKGC set its sights on reforming wagering requirements again, issuing new guidance regarding fair and transparent terms and practices, which acknowledged that wagering requirements could lead to excessive play, not in line with social responsibility rules for operators. 

The new guidance rules cited that licensees used potentially unfair terms, with examples including:

  • “terms that allow licensees to confiscate customers’ un-staked deposits
  • terms regarding treatment of customers’ funds where a licensee believes there has been illegal, irregular or fraudulent play
  • promotions for online games that have terms entitling a licensee to void real money winnings if a customer inadvertently breaks staking rules
  • terms that unfairly permit licensees to reduce potential winnings on open bets.”

It also stated that the Commission was aware of:

  • “terms and conditions that are difficult to understand
  • welcome bonus offers and wagering requirements which may encourage excessive play.”

While the guidance did not contain rules for abolishing or limiting wagering requirements, they instructed licensees to review their terms and conditions to ensure they fit consumer protection laws and that; “The LCCP requires rewards and bonuses to be constructed in a way that is socially responsible. Although it is common practice to attach terms and conditions to bonus offers, the Commission does not expect conditions, such as wagering requirements, to encourage excessive play.”

Will wagering requirements be banned?

With the Gambling Review white paper currently overdue and keenly expected by all industry stakeholders, many wonder if it will cover wagering requirements or, more specifically, exclude them from casino practice. The Gambling Review aims to update the 2005 Gambling Act, fit for the modern age, and wagering requirements would undoubtedly slot into the remit of what’s being discussed, which includes greater player protections and affordability checks.

While it’s clear that some big-name operators and affiliates like No Wagering are pioneering the way in bringing zero wagering bonuses to players, many sites have not followed suit. This is despite clear evidence that players favour fairer bonuses (PlayOJO is one of 39 brands operated by the same parent company, it is the only one with zero requirements, and it’s the most successful of all, according to the company).

Realistically, we’re not sure that the new gambling regulations will ban wagering requirements completely (as we covered earlier, they do exist for a reason), but it certainly wouldn’t be beyond the imagination for there to be a maximum cap applied in the view that excessive requirements equate to excessive play.

What’s next for operators and bonuses if wagering requirements are banned?

Bonuses are one of the most important factors for players in picking between casino sites, and they make players feel lucky to score something for free straight off the bat (even if the wagering requirements mean this is not really the case). 

If wagering requirements are banned, operators unwilling to offer bonuses without wagering requirements will have to return to the drawing board and reimagine rewards, especially welcome offers. Alternatively, they could begin competing based on other USPs, such as focusing more on the casino product to pull in the punters by offering unique games, making space for indie developers, having instant withdrawals, or gamified loyalty benefits and better loyalty clubs.

Moreover, it would present a fantastic opportunity for remote operators to move away from the tired system of matched deposit bonuses towards more exciting and fresher ideas like promo wheel spins, mystery gifts on first deposits, prize draws and so on. With brands including PlayOJO, Paddy Power, MrQ and Betfair already doing this, operators do not lack a blueprint to success, just the gumption to embrace a new model.

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Bulgaria

Betway Bulgaria officially launches, offers live and bet-builder options

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Another company has officially launched its activities in the growing niche of online betting in Bulgaria. But here we are not just talking about another operator licensed by national institutions, but about a leading brand worldwide. Betway is one of the largest bookmakers in Europe and globally, and the fact that it already offers its services in Bulgaria speaks positively about the development of the gambling business in the country.

Indications of an increase in the size of the industry appeared last year, when several operators received a permit to operate under Bulgarian jurisdiction. It is unlikely that this process will end with the official launch of betway bulgaria, rather the brand entering the country can be perceived by international operators as a positive assessment of the market in Bulgaria. What can we find at Betway besides the obvious – increased competition and of course more choice for consumers?

What do we find in the sports section?

Sports betting – this is the leading sector of the company, which started operations in 2006. The brand is associated with a number of teams in Europe such as Tottenham, Atletico Madrid, Leicester, Alaves, Belenenses, Werder, etc. Of course, the top championships in Europe are present in the latest betting platform, but that’s not all. Betway offers the opportunity to make predictions at less popular UEFA championships. The fans of the Bulgarian championship have options too. All matches of the First League are present in the bookmaker’s menu, and are offered with dozens of choices for each of them.

Real-time bets and long-term combinations

Live bets are a big thrill for many players. This option is present at Betway, and this also applies to the mobile version, of course. It is not difficult to detect current events – they come first when loading the platform. And with them the bookmaker really comes up with interesting offers, some of which are rare on the Bulgarian market. The outcome of the bets become clear in literally seconds if the next goal market or one of the performance options is selected.

In addition, the company accepts predictions with a much longer horizon. It is now standard to bet on who will be the champion in England, Spain, Italy or Germany. However, there are also specific markets and selections for certain teams – will Barcelona take the trophy this season, will Liverpool reach the final in at least one of the tournaments in which it participates, etc. And if users don’t find what they’re looking for in these offers, they can always turn to the betting menu. The bet-builder is still limited to one match, from which we can choose two or more selections until the desired odds are formed. This is the most appropriate way to optimize the bet according to personal preferences and therefore it is increasingly preferred by the players.

Betway’s first steps on the Bulgarian market are impressive. And this is just the beginning, we can expect even more in the near future.

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European Gaming News

EveryMatrix inks RGS Matrix agreement with Wild Boars

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EveryMatrix announces the second RGS Matrix partnership with Wild Boars, newly launched gaming studio that aims to bring creative storytelling and a fresh feel to the gaming industry.

Launched in 2019 as EveryMatrix sixth standalone solution, RGS Matrix enables gaming development teams to distribute, manage, and report upon a proprietary game product portfolio.

This ‘out of the box’ remote gaming server was built on an open architecture and caters for outstanding player experience, consistent deployment, and quicker content integration.

Mathias Larsson, Managing Director of RGS Matrix, says: “This is our second RGS Matrix agreement and it brings me a lot of joy to know that our solution starts gaining momentum in the market. Our remote gaming server aims to help the new generation of game builders by providing all the means to create, design, distribute and manage games.

“The team of Wild Boars is experienced, skilled and highly creative. I am looking forward to seeing their games live and appreciated by players in many countries.”

Oleksandr Yermolaiev, Managing Director of Wild Boars, comments: We truly believe that choosing a right partner is crucial for success. For us, RGS Matrix and its remarkable team is just that partner. We are excited to use EveryMatrix solution, focus on what we do best and bring our innovative games to a wide range of operators, territories and players. RGS Matrix is dashing ahead and we are happy to join the ride.”

RGS Matrix powers slots and table games, and is currently certified for Malta, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Romania, and Colombia, with many jurisdictions to come in the upcoming years.

 

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