My Experiences at G2E 2019 Las Vegas

I attended the Gaming Expo G2E in Las Vegas last week (14th – 17th October 2019).

It’s a conference with its roots firmly embedded in land based casino gaming.

More recently however, there’s been a greater presence from some of the online gaming operators.

In particular the Live Dealer sector has been well represented, with most of the major suppliers either exhibiting or attending.

Whether this is due to the new online markets opening up in the United States (New Jersey and Pennsylvania), or just because it’s Vegas and well, who wouldn’t want to visit when there a gaming convention going on?

The reason I attend is a mix of everything. Vegas is a draw for a lot of people in the industry, and it makes great sense to be here to network and meet new people.

Either way it’s great for me as I get to speak to the suppliers in a more relaxed atmosphere than is usual when attending a conference.

So what did I learn this time?

It was quite surreal really.

I ended up spending a very pleasant 40 minutes with Todd Haushalter, Chief Product Officer at Evolution Gaming, Andres Rengifo, Head of NetEnt Live and Kevin Kilminister, Head of Live Casino Innovation at Playtech, discussing the future of live casino.

It was very interesting watching the dynamics as we discussed player experience, the challenges of issues and how players expect so much more these days.

It was refreshing to see 3 competitors interacting and all having the same goal of making live casino the best experience they could.

The future is definitely in good hands.

What’s coming up?

I can reveal that all three have new games in the pipe line.

We should expect to see some launched before the end of the year.

However the major announcements will be kept for the ICE Conference in February 2019.

Evolution plan to reveal 10 new games, while Playtech and NetEnt have important launches of their own.

More details on all to follow.

Regulated US Markets

My current interest is what’s going on in the US and how successful Live Casino has been in New Jersey.

By all Accounts it’s doing well, with Evolution and Ezugi both having a presence there.

A little birdie told me that it won’t be long before we see Playtech live casino games in the state.

It sounds like Pennsylvania is going to be a challenge. Evolution is pioneering there for the moment and announced earlier this year they had obtained a gaming license. They’ve broken ground on the new studio, but it will be a while before it’s completed and online.

I think the other suppliers are standing by to see how it goes. However with a population of more than 12 million, to New Jerseys 8 million, this would seem to be a better option for the live casino providers. taxes are also lower for the live game operators so this reduces the barriers to entry that will affect the RNG Casino operators.

How the rest of the American live casino market will develop is anyone’s guess. But what you can count on, it won’t be straightforward regulation wise.

Did you know?

That a live Casino Provider has to produce games to a rules spec designated by the US State regulator!

The table games played in New Jersey have different rules to the ones that will be played in Pennsylvania.

This means suppliers have to provide a different version of their existing games and get each one approved, tested and signed off for each regulatory body. How complicated can the US make it?

Who else did I meet?

The conference is a great place for meeting new people both in and outside of the industry.

I won’t bore you with a list of who’s who, but here’s a couple of mentions I’d like to make.

Roulette Wheel Manufacturer

I spent a while talking to the people at Cammegh, the Roulette Wheel manufacture. They showed me the range of wheels and explained how their technology works.

I was most interested in how they made the mechanics tamper proof, so the wheels can’t be “fixed”.

I also discovered their factory is about 20 miles from where I live, so I’ll be popping down to see how the wheels are made.

I didn’t know, but they hand make 500 Wheels a year. That didn’t sound a lot to me, but when they explained that the wheels can and do last 10 – 15 years without needing to be replaced, I suppose it’s understandable.

I did hear a whisper that one of the live casino suppliers was about to change their wheels, so that’s a whole load needed. Lead time is 3 months, so that won’t happen very quickly!

Interesting Affiliate Site

I bumped into a couple of guys who have created a Live Game Tracker Website. They are both very clever and have produced a site that keeps a record of the results of all the live Entertainment games produced by Evolution. They have plans for more functionality. It’s useful if you like stats and to try out betting strategies offline.

Video Reviews

Just thought I’d mention that I got a few bits of feedback about some of the videos I do on Youtube.

Although I do the review videos I’ve never really thought about who watches them. I do have a target audience I’m hoping to reach and I hope people find them useful. They aren’t as attractive as the big win videos, and I don’t have the personality of some of the entertaining streamers.

Anyways I was pleasantly surprised to hear a few people say they valued my opinion and feedback on the games. So I’ll keep knocking them out :-)

Clicking Subscribe will keep you notified of my new videos when they are published and you’ll be able to access the back catalogue. Gives you something to cure that insomnia lol!