Press Releases
GVC Holdings and EPIC Risk Management Form Unique New Partnership
Two organizations to deliver sports and education programs in 14 locations throughout the US
EPIC Risk Management, the world’s leading independent gambling harm minimization consultancy, and GVC Holdings, one of the world’s largest sports-betting and gaming groups, have formed a partnership which aims to minimize gambling related harm throughout the U.S.
The partnership, funded by GVC Foundation US, GVC’s unique non-profit subsidiary which is dedicated to promoting responsible gambling, will replicate EPIC’s successful European sports and education model. Programs will run in 14 locations across the U.S. in 2020 and 2021, covering New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Tennessee, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, North Carolina, Colorado, DC, and the New England region.
It is estimated that 7 million U.S. adults suffer from gambling problems.
“As the leading provider of advisory and education in problem gambling, EPIC Risk Management has done extraordinary work in Europe,” said Martin Lycka, trustee for GVC Foundation US and director of regulatory affairs at GVC Holdings. “Our partnership with EPIC in locations throughout the U.S. will continue that impactful mission.”
The educational sessions will be provided to up-and-coming and professional athletes and focus on lived experiences with problem gambling and the promotion of betting integrity. The program is fully funded by GVC Foundation US, who will provide $2.5 million in financing over the course of two years.
“For most people, gambling is entertainment – but for a small percentage of people it becomes uncontrolled, leading to devastating effects to both individuals and organizations,” said Paul Buck, CEO of EPIC Risk Management. “EPIC is excited to partner with GVC Foundation US to work in the hardest-to-reach sectors to prevent gambling-related harm.”
“There’s no better way to address problem gambling than by combining hard-hitting, lived experience with industry research and expertise,” said William J. Pascrell, III, trustee at GVC Foundation US and partner at Princeton Public Affairs Group. “By addressing athletes and other at-risk groups throughout the country, we’ll aim to implement the cultural change needed for the protection of at-risk gamblers and growth of the industry as a whole.”
“Athletes, especially African American athletes, are at a higher risk of becoming problem gamblers than the average person,” said Amani Toomer, trustee at GVC Foundation US and former New York Giants wide receiver and Super Bowl XLII winner. “I view EPIC’s program as crucial for maintaining integrity in sports.”
Latest News
Leadership transition within the Merkur Group
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Paul Gauselmann steps down from the groupâs executive management / Michael Gauselmann assumes the roles of Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Gauselmann Family Foundation / Lars Felderhoff is appointed new Chairman of the Management Board
A new chapter is dawning for the Merkur Group as company founder Paul Gauselmann is set to retire as Management Board Chairman on 1 October, stepping back from the companyâs executive leadership. For 67 years, he has shaped the destiny of the group, transforming a part-time one-man business into an internationally acclaimed group of companies with total sales revenues of around 4 billion euros and external sales revenues of over 2.7 billion euros. âI have consistently devoted my energy to the companyâs welfare, and at the same time to the benefit of our approximately 15,000 employees,â he stated. âNow the time has come to entrust my lifeâs work to the younger generation,â explains Paul Gauselmann. Lars Felderhoff, 48, CFO of the Merkur Group, will assume the role of Chairman. He will be supported by JĂŒrgen StĂŒhmeyer (64), Management Board member with responsibility for sales, and Manfred Stoffers (70), Management Board member with responsibility for marketing, communications and political affairs, as vice-chairs. âI am delighted that this trio is taking over the helm. They are outstanding leaders with a deep understanding of the company,â adds Paul Gauselmann, who will continue his association with the company as a member of the Gauselmann Family Foundation.
A generational shift is also taking place on another level: Michael Gauselmann (68) is set to assume the role of Chairman of the Supervisory Board from Manfred GrĂŒnewald (89) on 1 October. He will also succeed Paul Gauselmann as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Gauselmann Family Foundation. As the sole shareholder of the group, the Foundation is the hub for all fundamental strategic decisions. âI am thrilled that my son Michael is embracing this important responsibility and will contribute his international experience to our company,â states Paul Gauselmann. Michael Gauselmann, a business administration graduate, joined the group in 1982 and worked across all business segments. He advanced internationalisation by establishing the subsidiary Atronic in 1993, overseeing all foreign operations. For a decade, he served as Vice-Chairman of the Management Board before becoming Co-Chairman of the Group Management Board, sharing responsibilities with Paul Gauselmann from 2004 to 2012. From 2013, he was involved in the then Gauselmann Family Council and, from 2016, in the Gauselmann Family Foundation.
Lars Felderhoff will assume responsibility for executive management as the new Group Chairman. He has overseen the finances and organisation of the Merkur Group since 2018. He started his career in 2000 at the subsidiary Atronic. From 2007 to 2011, he expanded his expertise at the gaming group GTech (now IGT) and at Metro Cash & Carry International, a wholesale group. Felderhoff rejoined Merkur in 2011 as the Commercial Director of the adp Merkur subsidiary. In that capacity, he was in charge of commercial operations for the Merkur business segment, encompassing over 40 companies both in Germany and internationally. As a native of Rahden, he has close ties to the region and understands the roots of the corporate group. âThe challenge is immense, and naturally, we will not be able to fill the shoes of an entrepreneur like Paul Gauselmann one-to-one. However, the company is robust and agile enough to continue setting new benchmarks in the future.â
He is assisted by the Management Boardâs Vice-Chairs, JĂŒrgen StĂŒhmeyer and Manfred Stoffers. StĂŒhmeyer, who hails from Minden, has dedicated 37 years to the Eastern-Westphalian company, starting as a trainee in 1987 and progressively advancing through the ranks. In his function as the Management Board member responsible for sales, he has directed the strategic orientation and commercial success of the entire Merkur pillar since 2007. Manfred Stoffers joined the company in 2011 as a consultant to the Chairman of Gauselmann AG, and was appointed Management Board member responsible for Marketing, Communications and Political Affairs in 2015.
Paul Gauselmann expressed great satisfaction with the top-level personnel changes, stating, âReorganising the company by the time I turn 90 has been my wish for some time. We have accomplished this very well and are ideally positioned for the future, particularly as my son Michael, both a member of the Gauselmann family and an experienced entrepreneur, will continue to be involved in the most critical decisions.â
The post Leadership transition within the Merkur Group appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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QTech Games partners with SmartSoft Gaming to strengthen its varied offering
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Leading distributor teams up with non-traditional specialist to underscore its status as a definitive one-stop-shop for igaming
QTech Games, the leading game distributor for emerging markets, has launched with innovative games developer SmartSoft Gaming in a new deal for the platform which adds more muscle to its definitive product portfolio, allowing its clients to access another multifaceted catalogue.
Founded in Georgia in 2015, SmartSoft Gaming has swiftly cemented its reputation as a unique igaming software studio by creating many sought-after games, as well as delivering top-quality promotional tools with which to acquire new players and deepen playersâ engagement in responsible fashion.
SmartSoft is proven across a number of verticals including slots, keno and roulette, alongside a category of crash titles, known as XGames, whose flagship creation is the hugely popular JetX. SmartSoftâs games are designed with immersive narratives, eye-catching design and high-class gamification components.
The developerâs offering features a rich variety of other dynamic games and slots, as well as virtual casino content. It represents just the latest studio to benefit from QTech Gamesâ unrivalled speed-to-market and the machine-learning excellence of its AI games lobby, which curates targeted portfolios of games for operators across Asia, LatAm, Africa and the CIS-facing markets.
The ascendant crash-games domain continues to go from strength to strength with a truly global fanbase, particularly in breakout territories like LatAm and Africa, where SmartSoftâs innovative and authentic gameplay have placed its premium content, like JetX, in the vanguard of this must-have igaming vertical. Accordingly, these games now all form part of the progressive portfolio made available to QTech Games, its partners and their culturally-diverse appetites of their myriad players.
Accordingly, integrating this content from one of the most innovative and creative online casino game developers adds more muscle to QTech Gamesâ thriving platform, which is bringing the widest range of online games to emerging territories with established names, such as Evolution and Yggdrasil, sitting alongside the sectorâs rising-star providers.
As the fastest-growing distributor in Asia and other growth markets, QTechâs platform boasts the broadest gaming portfolio around, localised for each region, with native mobile apps, powerful reporting and marketing tools, and 24/7 local-language support.
Philip Doftvik, CEO at QTech Games, said: âWeâre pleased to have signed another progressive agreement with a brand like SmartSoft Gaming, whose games need little introduction and are routinely raising the bar for cutting-edge mobile and web gaming.
âSmartSoft produces a range of innovative and interesting titles across a range of gaming verticals, including the in-demand crash format, so itâs fantastic to be able to bring these compelling titles to the QTech Games platform. We firmly believe these games will resonate strongly with our operator partnersâ customers around the world and are thrilled to bring SmartSoft aboard.â
The post QTech Games partners with SmartSoft Gaming to strengthen its varied offering appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Discover ancient plagues and big wins in Shadow Summoner Egypt
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Would you dare to summon the most terrifying of Egyptian plagues? That is exactly whatâs being asked of players in Fantasma Gamesâ latest blockbuster slot, Shadow Summoner Egypt, already showing outstanding player engagement KPIs from its initial limited market release. Shadow Summoner Egypt is scheduled for general market release in the very near future.
Players must travel along the Shadow Summoner to unlock the Tomes of Locusts, Blood, Sacrifice and Firestorm if they are to find the wonderful treasures that can be discovered in the ruin and destruction these tomes bring to the reels.
And what are these treasures? The Tome of Firestorm turns itself into a Multiplier and destroys 4-12 random symbols. For each symbol destroyed, the Multiplier increases by 1x.
The Tome of Locusts brings an explosion to the reels, turning itself and all neighbouring paying symbols into the same random paying symbol. Meanwhile, the Tome of Blood turns 1-4 neighbouring symbols and itself Wild for even more win possibilities.
The Tome of Sacrifice wields great power and can bring one of four upgrades to the reels. This includes turning all of the low symbols into their corresponding high symbols before the Tome of Sacrifice itself becomes the corresponding high symbol of the last upgrade.
But thatâs not all. Sometimes the Tomes of Blood, Locusts and Sacrifices will turn into a Multiplier after activation. Thatâs not the only time Multipliers can appear â they can drop at any point during the game and range from 2x to 100x.
The darkness of the plagues is followed by the brightness of the sun. Sun Free Spins see players receive four spins initially with a guaranteed Tome in play. If enough winning symbols are collected during the initial spins, another four are retriggered.
The total win Multiplier is semi-persistent and is applied to the win if there is a Multiplier on the reels at the end of a winning spin.
Then there are the Moon Free Spins where all Tomes can land. If a further four bonus symbols drop, players receive an additional 10 Moon Free Spins. Again, there is a semi-persistent Multiplier in play.
Fredrik Johansson, CEO and Founder at Fantasma Games, said: âShadow Summoner Egypt is the latest in our Shadow Summer series. Players must be bold and brave, summoning plagues and tomes if they are to discover the exciting and thrilling treasures they contain.
âShadow Summoner Egypt really showcases the excellence of our games, combining a great theme with striking design, a compelling narrative and gameplay that promises to put players on the edge of their seats spin after spin.
âThis is a solid addition to our portfolio of premium online slot games and we look forward to seeing players travel along the Shadow Summoner in their quest for potentially big winsâ.
The post Discover ancient plagues and big wins in Shadow Summoner Egypt appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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