CEO MICROGAMING
WINNERS2016
IGA
InfinityGamingwww.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE MARCH 2016
FRONT COVER - PONTUS LINDWALL
ALL THE WINNERS REVEALED
SPECIAL EDITION
GAMING + ARTICLES + BUSINESS+ GLOBAL+ ONLINE + NEWS+ APPS + AWARDS + etc
2 MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
DONALD TRUMP
IGA9 WINNERS
OUTSTANDING
America’s Biggest Bet Yet?
All the photos & more
Pontus Lindwall
12
10
32
Opinion Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in all external articles are
those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official
policy or position of The Infinity Gaming Magazine Any content
provided by our feature writers or authors are of their opin-
ion, and are not intended to malign any religion, ethic group,
club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.
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3MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
THE FACTORS FUELLING THE RISE OF
WHY WOMEN NEED NETWORKING
Mobile Gaming
Liz Karter
32
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4 EDITOR NOTESLana welcomes you to the March
edition of Infinity Gaming Magazine.
6 OUR WRITERSMeet our feature writers, the superb
writers on our rosta.
15 ISRAEL TRIES FOR CASINOSEilat seaside town
19 RUSSIAN TAX INCREASE
Govt. wants to times tax by ten/1
29 PARTYGAMING FOUNDERAnurag Dikshit
35 AMAYA APPEAL KENTUCKYRuling
37 JOHN SHEPHERDGoodbye to a legend
38 IGA9 WINNERSWhat a night
+ ALL THE LATEST NEWS
& Opinions
4 MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
Welcome to the latest edition of Infin-
ity Gaming Magazine and what a start
to the year we have had already! Firstly
what an absolutely amazing evening
the 1st February was, congratulations
to all the winners, thank you to all our
charity supporters for helping us sup-
port Care International and what was
those big green hands all about.....(You
had to be there).
It truly was a magical evening and the
whole team worked superbly to ensure
the very best awards evening so far, just
got to see how we top that next year!
In the magazine we have all our superb
writers covering the world of gaming
with Christina Thakor-Rankin looking
at that special man, Donald Trump, , Liz
Karter discussing the merits of Women
Networking and the excellent Paul
Swaddle doing his thing in the App
business.
A note from the editor
Welcome to the special March edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine featuring all the IGA9 Winners and photos.
Spring is in the air and we
all can take a breath
Finally we have a farewell to our friend
John Shepherd inside the magazine and
of course all the latest news and views
from around the gambling world.
Enjoy the magazine.
So, “To Infinity and Beyond!”
Regards,
Lana
The Editor
Lana Thompson - Editor
CONTACT USClever Duck MediaCentrix@KeysKeys Park RoadStaffordshireWS12 2HA UKTel: +44(0)1543 478 889
PRODUCTIONClever Duck MediaCentrix@KeysKeys Park RoadStaffordshireWS12 2HA UK
PUBLISHINGInfinity Gaming Magazineis operated by© Clever Duck Media Ltd ®
Company Reg. No. 687 1018(Registered in England)V.A.T reg. no 972 6372 91
Sponsorship [email protected]
Business [email protected]
Marketing & [email protected]
Editorial Content & PR
6 MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
Christina Thakor-Rankin
Liz Karter – Psychotherapist specializing in women and problem gambling
Christina is Principal Consultant at 1710 Gaming Ltd, a specialist betting and gaming consultancy, delivering a range of services including licensing and compliance (incl. regulation, money laundering and social respon-sibility), business start-up, training and strategic re-engineering, project management, research, business analysis and development, to start-ups and established multi-national operators and providers, gambling regu-
lators, law enforcement and government agencies, media, and specialist interest groups and associations within the sector, in both established and emerging markets across the world.
www.1710gaming.com
Liz Karter is a specialist in gambling and women and has worked as a therapist in gambling addiction since 2001. Liz is also author of the book “Women and Prob-lem Gambling” published in March 2013.
In January 2010 having worked with all leading UK problem gambling treatment agencies, and having successfully established the first UK groups for women with gambling addiction, Liz launched Level Ground Therapy. A treatment service in the City of London, Level Ground specialises in meeting the individual needs of women with gambling addiction.
Throughout her career Liz has been regularly con-sulted by the media regarding her specialisation and has made frequent national TV and radio broadcasts including This Morning, Radio 4 You and Yours and Women’s Hour and given numerous national newspa-per and magazine interviews.
Infinity Gaming Magazine Contributing WritersA magazine is only as good as the content inside and with some of the leading specialists within the gaming industry. With
specialised articles covering customer service, the gaming law, new prducts, technology and current affairs with the sector
the Infinity Gaming Magazine is delighted to showcase our superb line-up of contributing writers.
Paul Swaddle - CEO Pocket App
A self-confessed ‘gadget geek, Paul Swaddle has been working at the leading edge of mobile technology for the past 15 years. He co-founded Pocket App in 2011 to bring the creative and technical development ele-ments of mobile technology together under one roof. This unique approach continues to differentiate Pocket App in today’s increasingly competitive landscape.
Working across a range of communications disciplines such as acquisition, loyalty, retention and customer de-velopment, Paul understands the importance of a stra-tegic and coordinated marketing approach, particularly between on and off-line communications. In the past decade he has enabled brands as diverse as Kellogg’s Fruit Winders, Barclays and Loaded magazine to get the best out of mobile.
7MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
8 MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
APP OF THE YEAR
BEST APP COMPANY
BEST SOCIAL GAMING APP
INNOVATIVE APP OF THE YEAR
BEST SLOTS GAME APP
LOTTERY APP OF THE YEAR
BEST CASINO APP
BEST POKER APP
BEST BINGO APP
BEST APP DESIGN
BEST SPORTS BETTING APP
BEST FREE TO PLAY APP
LONDON - 2016 JUMEIRAH CARLTON HOTEL - LONDON
GAMING APPAWARDS
The International
NOMINATIONS OPEN
CLICK HEREhttp://gaming-awards.com/appawards/appcategories/
9MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
APP OF THE YEAR
BEST APP COMPANY
BEST SOCIAL GAMING APP
INNOVATIVE APP OF THE YEAR
BEST SLOTS GAME APP
LOTTERY APP OF THE YEAR
BEST CASINO APP
BEST POKER APP
BEST BINGO APP
BEST APP DESIGN
BEST SPORTS BETTING APP
BEST FREE TO PLAY APP
LONDON - 2016 JUMEIRAH CARLTON HOTEL - LONDON
GAMING APPAWARDS
The International
NOMINATIONS OPEN
CLICK HEREhttp://gaming-awards.com/appawards/appcategories/
PREMIUM CASINO GAMESwww.playngo.com
PREMIUM CASINO GAMESwww.playngo.com
11MARCH 2016
INFINITY GAMING
John Shepherd1958 - 2016 A life remembered
John Shepherd was a business journal-ist who excelled at writing about complex financial issues in everyman’s language with a touch of trademark humour. In later roles in public relations he was able to turn a PR crisis into an opportunity for fun. His cho-sen business topics as a journalist reflected his own interests, in gambling, drink and sport. “He loved to party,” his wife Claire told The Independent.
Shepherd was born in London in 1958. He attended William Ellis School, Highgate. Following college he worked for Barclays Bank for a short time as a trainee cashier but soon sought a more challenging role and joined the Financial Times in 1979 as a junior reporter.
From the FT, Shepherd became part of the team for The Independent when it began publishing in 1986 under founding editor Andreas Whittam Smith. Joining as a busi-ness journalist, he was City Editor within a year. He covered the ins and outs of the business world with consummate ease and directness. By the end of his time at The Independent, where he finished as Business Editor, the newspaper had won the Wincott Financial Journal of the Year - regarded as
the Oscars of the sector - in 1987 and 1996.
After working for corporate PR specialists Burson-Marsteller, he joined the online gambling company PartyGaming plc in September 2005.
When competitor Empire Online launched injunction proceedings against PartyGam-ing in the Gibraltar high court, accusing the company of breach of contract, Shepherd’s media statement read: “We congratulate Empire for kick-starting the pantomime season. We remain confident of a successful outcome to the litigation.” The legal panto concluded the following year with Party Gaming acquiring its smaller rival.
Peter Reynolds, who worked with Shepherd at bwin.party, told The Independent that this period “tested John’s PR management skills to the full. John’s ability to capture the mood in a simple phrase became folklore across the industry. The now infamous reference to ‘irritable owl syndrome’ when describing the attentions of SpringOwl As-set Management, a New York-based activist investor that challenged the bwin.party board in 2014, was widely believed to be
another of his unheralded masterpieces.”
Reynolds added, “When not in the office, he could often be found in a City watering hole sharing late-night stories with those able to keep up with his energy and joie de vivre.”
Shepherd retired from bwin.party in Oc-tober 2014 to set up a PR consultancy and tend a five-acre smallholding in Somerset with his wife, Claire. Since 2010 he had been a member of the Main Cross-Gam-bling Industry Fundraising Committee, which has raised more than £1m for Great Ormond Street Hospital’s Critical Cardiac Unit. His family is continuing the fund-raising in his memory via JustGiving.
Martin Weigold, finance director at bwin.party, told The Independent, “John was a man that you wanted by your side when the going got tough. He would always keep his head in a crisis, no matter how bad things seemed to appear on the face of it. And somehow, in the midst of it all, he would manage to make you laugh with his wicked wit. John was truly a great man ... a legend, in fact.”
Obituary courtesy of The Independant
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