Canada
Global Esports Tour Los Angeles Crowns Champion
Team Kraken battled to victory at the Grand Final of the Global Esports Tour’s first Hearthstone® event, in the game’s first LAN event in two years
Yesterday saw Team Kraken take first place in the initial stop of the Global Esports Federation and FACEIT’s new worldwide esports invitational – the Global Esports Tour. The winning team, led by Jeffrey “TrumpSC” Shih with Jerome “Monsanto” Faucher and Mihai “languagehacker” Dragalin, dominated during the two-day event, beating David “Killinallday” Acosta’s Team Gryphon in the final with a solid performance played on Hearthstone® Classic Mode.
Team Kraken bags the champion’s trophy in the first Global Esports Tour Los Angeles. From left: Mihai “languagehacker” Dragalin, Jerome “Monsanto” Faucher, Jeffrey “TrumpSC” Shih, Dr. Melita N. Moore, GEF Board Member and Chair of Health & Wellness Commission, Paul J. Foster, CEO of GEF, and Christopher ‘MonteCristo’ Mykles.
Team Kraken began the tournament with a shaky start, dropping their first match to Team Gryphon with a 4-1 loss. However, moving down to the lower bracket they began to find their groove, winning their following two matches against Frank “Fr0zen” Zhang’s Team Mammoth 4-3 and Alexandra “Alliestrasza” MacPherson’s Team Phoenix 4-0.
In the Final against Team Gryphon, Team Kraken stormed forward in the first four games, gaining a 3- 1 lead against the tournament favourites. Team Gryphon’s Jeffrey “Tarei” Liu pulled back a victory in Game 5, before Mihai “languagehacker” Dragalin closed the show with a victory against Tarei in Game 6.
The GEF team caught up with Team Kraken after the Grand Final and spoke to the winners. “Thank you GEF. This was a lit tournament. We really love what you are doing for esports. The cities chosen are the hot spots in the world for esports,” said Jeffrey “TrumpSC” Shih, captain of the winning team.
Mihai “languagehacker” Dragalin added, “It’s really cool, honestly. This entire tour that you’ve set up is really incredible. For the first edition to be Hearthstone®, and for us to be a part of it, it’s incredible. We didn’t really expect to win it all, and that’s just speaks for how cool this event is.”
Four teams of North America’s best players were invited to compete in this best of seven, double elimination conquest form, for a US$50,000 prize. Made up of three plyers each, the teams entered with six decks, all from a unique class. Team captains TrumpSC, Fr0zen, Alliestrasza, and Killinallday led their respective squads:
|
Team Kraken Jeffrey “TrumpSC” Shih Jerome “Monsanto” Faucher Mihai “Languagehacker” Dragalin |
Team Phoenix Alexandra “Alliestrasza” MacPherson John “Dekkster” Kotrich Andrew “TidesofTime” Biessener |
|
Team Mammoth Frank “Fr0zen” Zhang David “Justsaiyan” Shan George “hyped” Maganzini |
Team Gryphon David ‘Killinallday” Acosta Jeffrey “Tarei” Liu Mark “Ant” Trevino |
Pro gamer and game designer turned broadcaster, Brian Kibler, strategy game expert Nathan ‘Admirable’ Zamora, and Cloud9 player Cong “StrifeCro” Shu, provided their expert commentary and analysis during the event.
The GET is the GEF’s Pro-Team tournament staged in key global cities throughout the year. GET 2021 offers a total prize pool of US$500,000. The tournament showcases skills and talent from different game genres from around the world with Hearthstone®, PUBG MOBILE, and CS:GO the chosen games. FACEIT has joined the GET as the GEF’s Strategic Partner, Esports Services and was also the tournament organiser for this Hearthstone® stop.
In October, the GET heads to Riyadh (October 24-26, 2021) with PUBG MOBILE, and on to Dubai (November 26-27, 2021) with CS:GO.
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BGaming
CasinoCanada launches free social slot tournament
CasinoCanada.com launches a new social tournament system built around free-to-enter slot competitions, combining daily, weekly, and monthly events with leaderboards, bonus prizes, and exclusive merchandise.
The tournaments are powered entirely by BGaming slots, marking the first industry collaboration between an affiliate brand and BGaming focused specifically on social tournament engagement.
Participation in all tournaments is free for registered users of legal gambling age.
Players compete across rotating tournaments featuring a changing lineup of BGaming titles, including hit titles Aztec Magic Bonanza, Bonanza Billion, and Elvis Frog, among others.
Prizes include various bonuses and free spins from CasinoCanada partner casinos.
Selected special tournaments also feature exclusive BGaming merchandise prizes.
Tournament performance is reflected in public leaderboards, adding a competitive and community-driven layer to the CasinoCanada experience.
While social slot tournaments have become increasingly common in iGaming, many existing formats are built around the same providers and similar tournament structures.
CasinoCanada’s approach focuses on free participation, rotating BGaming content, partner casino bonus rewards, merchandise prizes, and recurring competition.
Eugene Ravdin, Head of PR at CasinoCanada, said: “The affiliate industry is moving beyond static review pages and traditional bonus listings. Community features, recurring engagement formats, and social competition are becoming increasingly important for long-term audience retention.
“Our goal is to create something more interactive and community-driven while also giving more visibility to BGaming’s slot portfolio through a format that players can engage with on a daily basis.”
Kate Puteiko, CMO at BGaming, said: “Players and the community have always been the beating heart of everything we do here at BGaming.
Online play no longer has to be a solitary activity, and tournaments like this are an excellent way to connect players and enhance everyone’s experience.
CasinoCanada shares this vision, and this collaboration is a natural extension of that.
We are excited to see our games front and centre of these tournaments and for players to begin creating memorable moments competing with them.”
CasinoCanada plans to introduce additional community features in the future, including gamification systems and forum functionality designed to expand user interaction around the tournament ecosystem.
The tournaments are now live at: https://casinocanada.com/tournaments/
The post CasinoCanada launches free social slot tournament appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Betnova
Delasport Accelerates Canadian Growth
Delasport continues to strengthen its position in the Canadian regulated market, now powering three live brands in Ontario while preparing for further expansion into Alberta as the province moves toward opening its regulated online gaming market.
Delasport’s technology is currently live in Ontario with TitanPlay.ca, Maverick Games, and Betnova.ca. The company provides a combination of full turnkey platform solutions of Casino, Sport, Player Account Management and Managed Services as well as its high-performance Sportsbook iFrame technology. This enables operators to launch quickly while delivering a premium user experience tailored to the Canadian audience.
With Ontario continuing to establish itself as one of North America’s most competitive regulated markets, Delasport’s growing local presence reflects the company’s long-term commitment to Canada and its confidence in the market’s continued evolution.
“Ontario is a strategically important market for us, and it has already proven to be a strong success story. Seeing multiple brands successfully operating on our technology and services demonstrates the strength of our platform in acquiring and retaining players in Ontario. We’re excited to continue this momentum as we prepare for Alberta,” said Oren Cohen Shwartz, CEO of Delasport.
As part of its next phase of Canadian growth, Delasport has officially applied for Alberta’s upcoming B2B licensing framework and is already preparing to go live with a partner operator once the market opens.
The company’s Canadian momentum is further supported by its mobile-first approach. TitanPlay’s iOS application is already available on the Apple App Store for users in Ontario, delivering a seamless casino and sportsbook experience powered by Delasport technology.
Delasport’s platform in Canada includes a wide range of personalization and engagement tools designed to enhance user retention and entertainment value.
The company has continued to position itself as one of the industry’s leading providers in regulated markets worldwide, with a strong focus on scalable technology, localization, compliance, and player-centric innovation.
The post Delasport Accelerates Canadian Growth appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
Canada
Responsible Gambling Council Urges Financial Institutions to Strengthen Protections Against Gambling Harm
The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) has urged Canada’s financial sector to take a proactive role in mitigating gambling-related financial harm. A new whitepaper released highlights how banks and credit unions are uniquely positioned to protect the financial well-being of their customers.
The whitepaper, Opportunities for Impact: The Role of Financial Institutions in Mitigating Gambling-Related Harm, argues that financial institutions have a unique duty of care. Financial institutions have direct access to gambling transaction data that reveals early warning signs of financial vulnerability. These indicators include rapidly shrinking savings and an increased reliance on overdrafts or credit.
“The rapid expansion of regulated gambling in Canada requires an evolved response from our financial systems. By adopting tools already proven in other jurisdictions, Canadian banks can become leaders in protecting customer financial health,” said Tracy Parker, SVP, Accreditation, Advisory & Insights at RGC.
Jurisdictions like the UK and Australia have already recognized the powerful role financial institutions play. Banks such as Monzo and Starling in the UK were the first to offer voluntary gambling blocks to their customers. Similarly, the National Australia Bank provides dedicated support pages and links to financial counseling.
RGC recommends that Canadian financial institutions implement several key strategies:
• Improving the accuracy of Merchant Category Codes to better track gambling spend.
• Offering voluntary transaction blocks and self-defined monthly spend limits.
• Providing targeted messaging and support resources within digital banking platforms.
Beyond retail banking, RGC highlights the importance of commercial relationships. Financial institutions can influence industry practices by setting high harm prevention expectations for gambling operators. Integrating these considerations into due diligence processes helps mitigate reputational and regulatory risks.
The post Responsible Gambling Council Urges Financial Institutions to Strengthen Protections Against Gambling Harm appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
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