GIGSE 2005 Day 2

Expo showcases online gambling's top companies and products on day 2...and look what Skill Games are doing!

Several delegates looked a little the worse for wear at the GIGSE venue in Montreal's Palais de Congres as day 2 launched with a full program - clearly there had been plenty of late night business socialising and networking.

It was nevertheless a full turn out as the first presentation got under way. Hardly surprising, for the subject was Distributed Denial of Service attacks with practical, realtime demonstration of this ever-present threat...and what to do when attacked.

Nikolaus Hottenroth from i-SEC Consult of Canada very professionally handled the demo and illustrated how aggressors, usually with extortion in mind attempt to overwhelm a target site with info overload generated by armies of *zombie* computers.

Hottenroth was using up his supply of business cards afterwards, an indication of how effective an example he had provided of what can happen if the right counter measures are not in place.

In another conference channelJason Chen from G-Master Technology in Macauanswered the perrenial call for information on how to penetrate the Asian, and especially Chinese market so long coveted by online gambling operators.

His point that few are either equipped or sufficiently knowledgeable to tap into this market without expert help was well made, and his keys to success, developed over 8 years were carefully noted by a large audience.

Running concurrently was a dissertation on the skill of integrating a meaningful marketing campaign, led by FunTime's Jeffrey Haes.

The word of everyone's lips this year seemed to be Skill Gaming. It's another form of online gambling with a similar model to the poker network concept, it;s been around since circa 2000 and it's on fire judging by the intense interest InfoPowa encountered everywhere at this conference.

Nowhere was this more in evidence than a packed series of presentations by leaders in the US and European field like FUN Technolgies, Game Account Global and Greentube.

Standing in for his CEO Lorne Abony (who was closing a $12 million deal with Fanball out of Minneapolis) Anton Kaszubowski from FUN offered some useful market information on this sector, which embraces both single player and P2P multiplayer gamestyles.

Players are at present mainly females aged 25 upward, who constitute 65 percent of the mainly single player market, chiefly in the USA. However, this demographic is changing as more men enter the are from Europe and experts are predicting a 50-50 scenario as P2P becomes more prominent and European demand grows after lagging behind the USA by around 2 years.

Although stakes tend to be lower than online casinos, afiliate costs are lower and site dwell times seem to be longer, enabling community building and networking to build high volumes of business.

The sector has exhibited a steep upward growth curve since 2001 ($35 million) to $137 million in 2003 and current fugures in the $270 million range, displaying an astonishingly high growth rate of around 40 percent - easy to see why it is attracting attention.

Player acquisition costs tend to be lower, and typically players are more entertainment oriented, although the multiplayer aspect is attracting growing numbers of competitive male players to FUN's 50 white label partner sites and 150 distribution points that include online casino giants like 888.com and Golden Palace. The network currently offers over 70 different games from which FUN takes a small rake.

Extended across Internet, iTV, mobile and kiosk platforms the network is pushing hard and its popularity is being enhanced by the better playing experience users achieve through broadband access.

FUN is a group to watch, with SkillJam and Betbull in the group and the dynamism of savvy entrepreneurial execs such as Andrew Rifkin, Lorne Abony and Simon Noble driving it forward.

Kaszubowski told delegates that Asia was still a largely unknown quantity but clearly has massive potential to trigger even larger growth and revenues.

"This is a good alternative revenue generating stream for online operators," he said. "It presents a wide range of different games that can be single player or the more competitive head-to-head multiplayer style, and it is business model familiar to poker operators in particular - sportsbook owners are finding it appeals to their players and has good cross marketing potential."

Game Account's David McDowell said his company was currently the biggest in Europe and was still growing strongly, with 40 brands using the channel and 20 and rising white label sites.

GA has found that the introduction of integrated electronic wallet facilities has boosted conversion rates among sportsbook players to a penomenal 40 to 50 percent.

McDowell's experiences in the sector were similar to those of the FUN representative, and he saw continued activity as companies sought to acquire players, build networks and prolong lifetime value.

"Looking ahwad, we'll need to introduce more multiple currency and language capability, run really big million dollar tournaments and focus on mobile delivery, too," he said. "This (skillgame) product is more legally acceptable in sensitive areas like the States, has excellent tracking and good scaleability."

Eberhard Durrschmid from Austrian based Greentube had a similar spectacular growth story to tell, commenting that single player games were currently driving most revenues but that multiplayer has a big future in the sector.

His companu operates across mobile, iTV and Internet with operations in Austria, Germany, Spain and (soon) the UK.

Greentube has blended the skillgame concept with high quality innovative action content such as a ski-race game. Promoted in collaboration with a TV channel, the game recently generated 800 000 downloads and continues to enjoy popularity - an example of what can be achieved with imagination and technology.

Skill Gaming does not have a trade association, but talks have taken place and given the increased impact of this gamestyle there will probably be more conhesive relationships among the major companies involved, especially regarding liaison with regulatory jurisdictions.

The many new faces at this year's GIGSE was well illustrated in the affiliate marketing panel discussion moderated in characteristic laid-back style by Bryan Bailey, owner of the top portal Casinomeister. Bailey estimated that as high as 60 percent of his packed audience were new to the industryand keen to learn. In that they were well served by a panel that comprised Jeff Tuttle of Winneronline, Brian Crooks of CasinoProfitShare, Nicky Senyard from Income Access and Edward Ihre from Poker Room.com.

Delegates were treated to expert views on what works and what doesn't in every area of affiliate activity, and how to manage and market affiliate programs. The maxim "Casino Reputation is Everything" and an asset to be consistently protected came up repeatedly, together with the sometimes overlooked fact that the customer should be the King.

"Affiliates are only one click away from sending their players elsewhere," Bailey told program managers. "A trusting and efficient relationship between the program and the affiliate is critical."

Challenges in the affiliate marketing future were identified as a trend toward more offline advertising, and the continual need for new promotional ideas to keep the marketing fresh and appealing.

The newbie element was again obvious in the large attendances at several "I-Gaming Primer" sessions held on Day 2. Focused on "how to" models, the prospective new operators and marketers accessed a wealth of information from expert speakers and the sessions were clearly a big hit.

A strong turnout by regulatory bodies from Alderney, Antigua, the Phillipines, Malta and the Isle of Man seemed to attract more interest than has been the case at previous conferences, highlighting renewed inteerest in acceptable regulatory regimes.

Expo

One of the most popular sections at GIGSE is the exhibition floor, where top companies in software, operator, marketing, security, media and financial processing show off their latest and greatest.

And this year the entertainment on the exhibition floor was pretty impressive, too. Realtime Gaming had a contortionist, there was a really patient guy building meda structure from playing cards and a Segway commuter trial track. It all added to the fun and action around the many booths where delegates could get down to the detail.

First stop was the Microgaming stand, where a personable Mark Fredericks showed off the latest products from this industry pioneer and leader, which is currently pumping out quality new games with diverse theming at the rate of 4 games a month. It's a long way from the days when online casinos typically had less than 10 games in all, and Microgaming's inventory now stands at over 250 in both Flash and download suites, with more on the way in slots, table games and VP categories.

Hardly surprising then that the company has Skill Gaming in development and is also well advanced in Beta testing a revolutionary new casino network concept multiplayer concept through Riverbelle Casino.

The Viper platform has been "tweaked" for more modular funtionality and performance, and poker development, together with mobile gambling work with Spin 3 is ongoing.

The company is looking for the right sort of new operator to open up new markets, especially in Europe, and progress is apparently significant in Japan through the efforts of highly reputable and established operations like Gaming Club and Trident Group.

A new name that caught the eye was MyPokerProfit.com which seems to be a one-stop poker operation with the objective of providing a comprehensive service to would-be entrants to the booming poker sector. Experienced execs are involved, and the software is well proven Microgaming. It is understood that Aztec Riches and Golden Reef investment is behing the the new company.

Across the corridor from Microgaming, crowds were building up around the Prima Poker Network stand where a very large plasma flatscreen was running a highly professional video program capturing the play at the last Monte Carlo Millions Tournament. The tightly edited, top quality production halted visitors in their tracks and is an example of the kind of excitement and suspense that TV Poker has generated all over the world.

The nest Prima Poker Millions tournament is cheduled for November 20 - 23 this year and is an important promotional vehicle for this network which now has 35 poker rooms, with at last another 5 scheduled to join within the next quarter.

Prima manager John Docherty told us that the network has now moved up to the number 3 position behind Party Poker and Poker Stars - a remarkable rise over the past 18 months. Prima canm now field up to 25 - 30 000 players simultaneously, and regularly runs $10 000 and up tournaments.

Still with Poker, the Bluff Magazine publisher Eric Morris was brimming with confidence and new ideas which will lead to more excitement from this highly successful media group in the coming months.

Current circulation numbers (245 000) show that a combination of slick layout, top writers and active promotions and tournaments across diverse media platforms has propelled Bluff to the top of the poker media list in an extraordinarily short time. Watch for their WSOP Bubble Insurance, which promises to be both spectacular and innovative.

Staying with the media, Inside Edge, the UK gambling magazine is also launching a poker publication we're told, and in September this year the Trump empire will be launching "Poker Life" under the management of Michael Jacobson with a projected circulation of 200 000 by the end of 2005.

Trent Schwartz of Parlay Entertainment promised players 5 new slots and showed us his compays new 90 ball Bingo for the European market. Parlay have been improving their offering with better and more user friendly facilities, and are busy building up more community and network activity.

Playtech had some superb 3 D graphics-fronted games like Roller Coaster Dice on their screens, and told us that their poker network is going full blast with 11 new skins ready to go. Like other turnkey providers the company is working on single player Skill Games and they have additionally rolled out 10 new casino games over the past few months. The mobile and "next generation" developments are visually outstanding, and a look at the licensee roll shows continued growth at this group.

Steve Mosely took us through Real Time Gaming's pogress, and players can look forward to a feast of mainly slot games as the company gets into its next release cycle of 3 newgames every 4 to 6 weeks. 4 new slots were launched, and the production line has over 40 mainly 20 payline, 5 reel games with tons of bonus features. "Diamond Dozens", "Prince of Sherwood" and a Blackjack branded "Caribbean Blackjack" look especially good.

RTG's poker initiatives seem to have stalled, with the LVFH partnership now dead, but a new alliance to be announced soon. 4 new mobile licensees will soon be launching, using the Phantom Fiber technology, with some advanced cashier facilities.

RTG shed a number of smaller licensees but is signing up new operators on a more stringent acceptance program. Steve told us that Montana player disputes facility was improving in turnaround times and that this would continue.

Boss Media continues to work across mobile, PC, IVT and iDTV technologies on a range of gambling roducts. Players can expect 4 new video slots (Kangaroo Zoo is one) with 9 and 25 payline, 5 reel formats.

The mobile players are to get 6 new Boss games in addition to the 10 already available on cellphones. And, yes - Boss is working on Skill Games, too!

The poker product is being upgraded to meet the needs of Boss's growing International Poker Network which features big industry names like Bowmans, Littlewoods, Bet & Win and Sportingbet - WG.

Over at Net Entertainment, VP Sales exec Johan Ohman told us that their gambling kiosk project has been put on hold, but that development on a proprietary mobile product was forging ahead. The company is also working up a multiplayer casino project, and on the poker front is partnering with Ongame's Poker Network to provide licensees with poker action. Look for the new "Hi Lo" card game, cross-over no download casino / soft games and an upgraded v.3 of their Casino Module.

Here, too Skill Games are on the agenda.

It was good to see World Gaming on display again, with 17 no download and 16 download games, horse racing and sportsbook products. The company is taking on two new licensees soon and their corporate problems now appear to be history. WG is using the Boss poker software for its licensees.

On to Day 3

Day 3 and the close of this outstanding conference will see delegates mainly focusing on the traditional "crystal ball" sessions involving top execs like Calvin Ayre of Bodog, James Blacksledge from USA Casino and Hasu Jani of Direct Merchant Services.

Other presentations yet to come include Legal and egulatory Issues in Europe and the USA, Mobile Gambling Prospects and new areas for Poker. It's all go at GIGSE.