Aiming to combine the excitement of Sin City with the world of igaming, two giants within the casino industry have come together to allow players to take a digital seat at a real-life Las Vegas casino.
Speaking at SBC Summit, Playtech Live’s CEO Edo Haitin and Chrisitan Stuart, SVP, Head of Interactive at MGM Resorts International, pulled back the curtain on their companies’ collaboration to broadcast live casino titles directly from MGM’s Vegas resorts.
Haitin explained that Playtech has been looking into a Vegas venture for “years”, hoping to bring the privilege of an experience within one of the city’s casinos to other regulated markets across the globe.
The Playtech Live CEO hailed MGM as a “major player in the Vegas market and on the Strip”, explaining why the igaming supplier turned to the operator to launch its Vegas-based live casino product, MGM Live.
As a result of their partnership, Playtech has produced live casino titles in two of MGM’s flagship venues on the Vegas Strip – Bellagio and MGM Grand – using the operator’s branding.
Detailing why MGM was so keen to enter this venture, Stuart claimed that his company has “been looking at live casino for a while now”, after recognising “significant revenue” there as well as “significant players in that market”.
The pair from Playtech and MGM underlined the importance of allowing players to feel like they are part of the Vegas experience, with Stuart expecting players to be in the comfort of their own homes while being able “to play in Vegas tonight”.
Haitin also stressed MGM’s ability to “present their own product to players” to “get that magic from Vegas” through Playtech’s production, as “often operator’s products can lose the real character of the brand”.
Job creation was also an important aspect of the collaboration, as Haitin explained that while Playtech usually uses its own staff for live casino content, “jobs are being opened up in Vegas” through the launch of MGM Live and they’re “discovering new stars”.
The CEO stated that “winds of change” have occurred with this deal, as the collaboration has launched titles in Mexico with Caliente and the UK with bet365 already, meaning that what happens in Vegas, no longer stays in Vegas.
MGM Live content will utilise the operator’s “timeless classic assets” in Vegas, with live dealer content set to be broadcast in front of Bellagio’s famous fountains.
Both Haitin and Stuart highlighted the importance of content being “safe and responsible”, with the MGM SVP stressing the need to take each step of expansion “with all the due diligence”.
Despite being broadcasted from a US location, MGM Live will only be available to US customers based in Nevada due to US regulations.
However, should the possibility to spread this content across the US come around, Stuart stated that MGM “would love to be able to give these streams to other states”.
Before the panel drew to a close, Stuart highlighted some of the feedback the collaboration has received since launching MGM Live out of Vegas.
Haitin referred to customers within the casinos noticing that certain tables are being broadcasted, causing them to engage more with said tables, enhancing experiences for land-based and online players simultaneously. “I’m very excited with what we’ve been able to bring to players,” he said.
One title also utilised Bellagio’s one-zero roulette table, which Stuart suggested sees a lot of activity on the casino floor. As live casino players can witness this activity for themselves, Stuart stated that “people feel like they’re playing in Vegas with high rollers”.
The discussion ended with a sneak preview of the collaboration’s latest initiative, launching a Family Feud live casino product streamed from Vegas that utilises branding from the popular US game show.
Holland Casino has announced plans to close its casino branch in Zandvoort next year in February, partly due to visitors’ behaviour changing and deteriorating market conditions.
Within a statement on its website, the Dutch state-owned operator noted that the closure is in line with its strategy outlined last year.
This strategy was aimed at tackling the casino’s rising costs, increasing the robustness of the company and continuing to invest in its prevention policy.
Holland Casino said that it has used its strategy to thoroughly examine its branches across the Netherlands to determine the best distribution strategy, in addition to the prospect of healthy business operations.
As such, Holland Casino will now be closing its first-ever casino branch, which opened back in 1976.
The operator noted that the closure is partly due to “changed visitor behaviour, deteriorating market conditions in Zandvoort and too much overlap with the catchment area of other locations”.
Commenting on the Zandvoort casino, CEO Petra de Ruiter stated that the closure is “essential” for Holland Casino to continue building a sustainable future for itself, adding that it expects to relocate its Zandvoort employees to other locations.
“For Holland Casino, the closure is essential to continue building a sustainable future for the company, in which we can continue to contribute to a safe and responsible gaming climate,” said de Ruiter.
“At the same time, the closure means an emotional farewell to the first branch that Holland Casino opened in 1976. However, we expect to be able to relocate most of our employees to other branches and we hope to welcome our guests to one of our other locations.”
Back in August, within its financial results for the first half of 2024, Holland Casino highlighted that the 1% increase in gambling tax in the Netherlands had cost the group a total of €3.7m since the beginning of the year.
