Award-winning slots provider delivers array of top-performing titles to Latvian operator via Relax Gaming’s aggregation platform

Playson, the accomplished digital entertainment supplier, has continued to cement its impressive European market presence after launching its games portfolio with Latvian operator Fenikss.

Operating under the industry renowned NOVOMATIC group, Fenikss is one of Latvia’s leading operators with a vast online and land-based slot offering and comprehensive sportsbook.

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The agreement sees Playson support Fenikss’ commercial ambitions and expansion strategy with the supplier’s leading titles, including Royal Coins 2: Hold and Win, Book of Gold: Multichance, and Royal Joker: Hold and Win, now available on the operator’s website.

Playson continues to strengthen its European footprint and the latest integration, facilitated by Relax Gaming’s aggregation platform, underlines the supplier’s commitment to establishing itself within highly mature regulated markets.

Blanka Homor, Sales Director at Playson, said: “We are pleased to enjoy further growth in Europe with this exciting partnership with Fenikss, who will benefit from an array of our strongest performing titles.

“We are confident Fenikss’ significant Latvian presence, combined with our stimulating and graphically driven slots, will lead to impressive business growth.

Martins Opmanis, Head of I-Gaming Department at Fenikss, said: “Playson’s slots continue to be in high demand across Europe and we are delighted to host a selection of their titles on our online platform.

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“We are confident they will complement our diverse offering perfectly and look forward to watching this collaboration flourish.”

After extensive development and rigorous testing, the SYNNET Casino Management System is now fully operational at Joker.lv gaming halls in Latvia. This marks a major milestone in the company’s long-term vision of delivering a powerful, intelligent and scalable solution for managing gaming establishments with maximum efficiency.

The launch of SYNNET represents a shift in the way casinos and gaming halls are monitored, managed and optimised. Designed to streamline daily operations, enhance decision-making and improve overall efficiency, SYNNET provides comprehensive control over every aspect of a gaming venue.

Among its standout features, SYNNET includes:

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• Integrated jackpot system – Seamlessly manage and customise jackpot configurations across multiple gaming machines.

• Advanced dashboards & widgets – Get real-time insights into casino performance, financials and player behaviour through an intuitive and fully customisable dashboard.

• Floorplan management – A visual representation of all gaming machines and tables for optimised space utilisation and operational efficiency.

• Marketing campaign automation – Target and engage players effectively with built-in tools for promotions and personalised offers.

• Geographic mapping of operations – Gain an overview of all locations, allowing for efficient monitoring and remote management of multiple branches.

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With 35 branches and 1150 gaming machines now fully integrated into the SYNNET ecosystem, casino operators can leverage data-driven insights to enhance performance and player engagement like never before.

The company Olympic Casino Group Baltija (OCGB) did not take sufficient steps to identify the origin of Šarūnas Stepukonis’ losing funds, and the monitoring of his financial transactions was only formal and ineffective. Such violations were identified by the Gaming Supervisory Authority, which conducted an inspection of OCGB’s activities in Lithuania. The company was fined almost 8.4 million euros.

The Gaming Supervisory Authority (LPT) investigated the actions taken by OCGB in response to Š. Stepukonis’ transactions on the company’s gaming website from December 2016 to the end of June 2021. The law obliges gaming operators to ensure that customer funds are not obtained from criminal activities or through participation in such activities. It is also mandatory to verify the origin of the funds. LPT found that the measures applied by OCGB were poor and insufficient, and the monitoring of Š. Stepukonis’ transactions was formal.

Gambling organizers must report suspicious transactions to the FNTT. Š. Stepukonis’ transactions had obvious signs that should have raised suspicions for the gambling organizer. However, the FNTT was not informed about this.

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During the inspection, evidence was also collected that Š. Stepukonis’ gambling was irresponsible. The gambling company should have noticed this, especially since the client was assigned a personal manager who saw all of his transactions.

“Instead of finding out whether Š. Stepukonis had a gambling problem or informing the supervisory authority, Olympic Casino encouraged him to gamble even more. An individual incentive package was prepared for him. A total of 1.3 million euros was allocated for this. This “bonus” could only be spent on gambling. Other incentives were also allocated,” – comments on the results of the inspection by LPT Director Virginijus Daukšys.

Since mid-2021, gambling companies in Lithuania have no longer been allowed to offer incentives to their customers that they would later lose. Just before this tightening came into effect, Š. Stepukonis’ virtual gambling was moved from Lithuania to Estonia, where it was still allowed to encourage gamblers.

In this way, it was possible not only to maintain incentives for gambling, but also to avoid supervision by the LPT. If an ordinary gambler from Lithuania tried to go and register on the Estonian Olympic Casino website, he would be redirected to the Lithuanian website. However, in the case of Š. Stepukonis, the redirection was not carried out. These circumstances are part of the pre-trial investigation.

During the inspection, a total of five violations of the provisions of the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism and the Law on Gambling were identified.

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The law allows for a fine of up to twice the amount of damage caused. The damage was determined to be 6.4 million euros – the amount Š. Stepukonis lost at the Olympic Casino in Lithuania. When calculating the fine, an aggravating circumstance was taken into account – the company did not cooperate during the inspection.

According to V. Daukšys, after this story came to light, steps were taken to prevent similar cases from recurring. The most important change is the law, proposed by the LPT, which obliges gambling companies to take action upon noticing irresponsible gambling and to provide information about it to the LPT.

“Until now, there was no such obligation. Therefore, the LPT did not have information that would allow it to take preventive actions in advance,” says V. Daukšys.

The new Gambling Law will come into force in November this year. Its aim is to reduce the accessibility, attractiveness and potential harm to personal health of gambling.

LPT also reviewed its procedures, adjusted internal procedures, allowing for more frequent scheduled inspections of the activities of gambling companies. In addition, the Ministry of Finance conducted an audit of LPT’s activities. No significant operational deficiencies were identified during the audit. LPT took into account the audit recommendations and allocated more human resources to money laundering prevention functions.

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Source: Gambling Supervisory Authority under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania