US Land Based Casino's Taking Very Different Views On Online Gambling And Social Casino Gaming

We have seen a flurry of announcements and proclamations recently related to the US online gaming and gambling positioning of the large Vegas based casinos.  The Sands, Wynn, Caesars and MGM have all publicly announced their views or interest in the online game space. The evidence unfolding is that there is very little online strategic gaming consensus amongst the top tier US land based operators.   What is this all all about, how does the discord impact US focused Internet gambling and is there any common ground amongst the US land based casino operators?

The Sands And Sheldon Adelson - There has been much press about Mr. Adelson's public proclamation that legalized online gambling in the US is "bad" for the land based casino business. He is opposing it and is going to lobby US states and  the federal government to stop the expansion of legalization. Why is Mr. Adelson so worried about online gaming in the US? 

Contrary to most other US land based operators the Sands has not taken the  online gaming space seriously or initiated any online initiatives. The assumption is that they have not because their primary focus has been in  land based casino development. Based on the public details of Mr Adleson's business he is indeed doing very well around the world with his land based operations. However, does he  believe that online gaming is now going to be a threat to his core business? If he does this a very controversial position because it is unclear that  online gambling  will take business away from  land based casino operations. In fact, some would argue that it drives traffic to the land based operation. Is the Sands just too late to the market and not prepared for online gaming? Conversely, is there something fundamentally anti competitive about US online gambling law or is the law too competitive not allowing US casino monopolies to own the space? Essentially, the reason or reasons  for Mr. Adelson's public opposition are difficult to quantify or qualify without knowing  the cause for his concerns.

Caesars and Gary Loveman - Caesars has taken a very proactive approach to online gaming in the US,  assuming  "real" money online gambling will be slow to roll out in the US the company has invested in social gaming/social casino properties. This preemptive, and perhaps an adjunct strategy to "real" money online gambling,  has resulted in the purchase of Playtika and Pacific Interactive. These  acquisitions are well documented. 

However, most people are unaware that Mr Loveman, as CEO of Harrahs,  launched a UK based casual/social gambling site called Luckyme about 10 years ago offering a number of casual games such as bingo, Yahtzee, etc. in a subscription service model similar to EA's Pogo property in the US.  Clearly, Mr. Loveman believes that social/freemium games have a place in the pantheon of gaming options offered by land based operators. The cost of acquiring gambling players in the UK made this model unworkable. However, lessons were learned about the popularity of this style of online gaming.  It also indicates that Caesars may be a believer in the convergence argument that espouses a close relationship between social/freemium games and "real" money gaming. However, their strategy could also indicate that  Caesars  is investing in social casino because it is unrestricted, legal, ubiquitous, has a lower operating cost relative to "real" money online gambling  and it  monetizes at an impressive rate.

Wynn And Steve Wynn - The Wynn's online gaming strategy has never been fully developed although Mr. Wynn has indicated that given the right "conditions" he would enter the space. He was rumored to want to buy  Zynga at one time. However, for some reason that deal was not consummated.  Perhaps this was a good thing given Zynga's fall from grace.  He has recently been quoted as being interested in operating an online casino in the US. However, he feels that at this time he does not believe that either the market and or the US regulatory online gambling regime will lead to a positive business "entrepreneurial" environment for online gambling in the US.   Much can be read into this assessment. However, it appears that the combination of the cost of licensing, restricted state populations and game content does not add up for Wynn. Unlike Caesars, Wynn has not commented on their current social casino strategy. This could mean that they may take another look at this sector given their earlier interest in Zynga. 

MGM and Jim Murren - MGM has been in and out of the online gambling space having launched an online gambling operation in the UK tens years ago. They closed the site due to the highly competitive UK market and the lack of brand awareness for MGM in the UK. They have also been in the social casino space with the funding of MyVegas and integration of the social game into their land based property. Essentially, they have the most well integrated online/offline game strategy  driving players to their land based operations. They are also busy exploring "real" money online gambling licenses in various states. We do not hear a lot about them in the press as it relates to online gambling, however, they may in fact be one of the biggest winners in the space if they have a combined offline, real money and social casino gaming implementation strategy.

Other Casinos - Stations Casino purchased the poker platform provider  Cyberarts  which runs the Nevada Ultimate Poker property. A number of other regional US casinos have been actively exploring the online gaming space and we will see what they implement in terms of social or  "real" money gaming. The smaller regional properties  will probably wait until online gambling legislation opens in the  states they are operating in  before they make a serious entry into the online gaming space.

It is clear that the some of the US Vegas land based casino's have been actively involved in the online gaming space for some time. The roll out of legal online gambling  in the US is now occurring and the early signs are indicating that the nature of the introduction  is causing some land based operators to think twice about entering the legal US online gambling market while others are steaming ahead.  

 Freemium/social casino continues to interest the land based casino operators as an alternative to or complement to their land based and perhaps real money online gambling  businesses. It is very interesting to see IGT become an "operator" of social casino as opposed to being exclusively focused on  a supplier of services to land based operators. Although their  earlier purchase of the Wagerworks online gambling platform and operation of that service in Europe did  indicate that they may have more  "operational" ambitions.  Will the other land based casino platform and game content suppliers follow the lead of IGT?

   The states may have to rethink their online gambling strategy and licensing structure having relied too heavily on the European online gambling model where large casinos are not present and social casino has not necessarily been exploited as a proxy for real money gambling. The US land based casinos need to have a stake in US online gambling for political and economic reasons. Without land based casino buy-in US online gambling could find itself facing some serious headwinds.  Freemium/Social gaming could be the big winner in all of this if legal US online gambling falters.

Kevin Flood is the CEO of Gameinlane, Inc. Kevin writes  about online games and their impact and integration into iGaming and E-commerce environments. Kevin is a frequent speaker at online game events and conferences in Asia, Europe and the US. Kevin and his Gameinlane team are currently working with online gambling, social gaming and e-commerce companies integrating social gaming with online gaming operations and integrate game mechanics into e-commerce applications.

         

How Land Based Casinos Can Leverage Social Networks And Social Games To Improve Their Business

At a panel discussion at GIGSE this year I mentioned the interesting story of MGM's online games for prize site launch in 2001. Many people where not aware that MGM launched a free to play site, with the help of Wagerworks, in preparation for their ultimate goal of launching a real money site in Europe. The free site had a number of free to play slot games that tied game play with prizes at MGM properties. These prizes were free buffet tickets, discounts at casino restaurants, free hotel rooms, etc. With little or no advertising this site was tremendously successful from a traffic, game play and trips to land based casinos to redeem prizes perspective.

MGM's ultimate goal was to launch a pay for cash experience in Europe. The prize site was an early test to see if online MGM games would be popular. They achieved their objective with the prize site. They then decided to redirect Wagerworks ( now IGT) to build the for cash site abandoning the prize site.

The Wagerworks team was a bit surprised at this decision given the success of the prize site. The team tried to convince MGM to keep the prize site going in the US and launch another project to develop the for cash site for European deployment. The team was unable to convince MGM to keep the site going because MGM did not build a link between their land based loyalty program and the online site. Hence, they could not quantify the economic impact of the prize site on their land based business.

Despite this decision the Wagerworks team learned a very valuable lesson. Online free games could have a positive impact on land based operations if executed properly. Developing a strong linkage between a casino's loyalty program and their online properties was key to quantifying the economic impact of the online site on offline operations.

Another, better known, example of the synergy between online and offline gambling is the WSOP phenomena. I worked for Harrahs (now Caesars) during the heyday of WSOP witnessing the symbiotic link between online poker play and qualification for the WSOP land based event. In this case online activity was more then supplemental to the offline experience it was a critical component that created a perfect storm and big profits for Harrahs and online operators.

The 2006 enactment of US Internet Gambling(UIGEA) law changed everything and broke the linkage between  Internet game and the WSOP offline event. WSOP has never been the same.

Fast forward to 2011, the dominance of social games and social networks and the success of the ultimate social game, poker, in attracting online players to gambling style games. Clearly, the advent of the popularity of social networks and the shear number of people using them on a regular basis fundamentally changes the Internet and the way people and gamers interact with it. It is no secret that one of the most popular games in social networks is Zynga poker.  This poker game is so popular because it was originally built to take  advantage of social networking features to attract and retain players. It is not a "ported" game from an Internet gambling site. It is specifically designed to encourage "viral" adoption of the game. Poker also happens to be a "natural" social game making it even more popular within a social network.

Certainly Zynga Poker is an enigma due to its pre-development before any applications where deployed in Facebook (a story in itself). However, it does demonstrate that with the right game design and integration with social networks games can have a profound impact o social network participantion. I suspect that Facebook games are the most popular applications within Facebook.

Casino operators should task notice of this and develop a plan for linking their offline operations with social networks to drive traffic to their land based operations. Most of the existing or potential casino customers have social network accounts and regularly engage other players in a social setting.

There are some basics of Facebook marketing that transcend games and are a requirement for any business marketing their property, brand or business on line.

 The Fan Page - The fan page is similar to a web page or web site with the exception that it is embedded within Facebook. The advantage to the page is that people can "like" the page notifying other friends in their network that they like it. The "liking" results in friends within their social network to become aware of the business and to engage with the business. Essentially, growing a community and impacting the social graph.

A land base casino should add features to the fan page that promote visitation to the land based properties. The fan page should also reward viewers for any of their friends participating in  a promotion that results in a visit to a casino.

Loyalty Program Linkage - The fan page should have a mechanism to identify a Facebook member with a casinos loyalty program. It could be that every Facebook visitor to the fan page is assigned a loyalty ID or anyone that responds to a promotion gets an ID. This will engage a tracking mechanism to determine the intersection on casino visitation.

Facebook Groups - A Facebook group is a collection of people that have  a common interest. In the case of a casino it should be the casino itself that acts as the focal point.  This group can become very influential in promoting the casino or the opposite if they do not like something. Cultivation and growth of the group requires a "community manager" to encourage people to join continually engage participants in a dialogue and to retain members. Groups can and should grow to large numbers (thousands of members in some cases). Communication with the group should be regular and constant encouraging a dialogue and the groups desire to add more members to the group. For instance, notifications should be made to the group for special deals, events, ad promotions at the casino.

Casual/Free Games - Free to play virtual currency games are a good way to introduce new games(especially slot games) to an audience. In an ideal world every new physical slot game would have a social or casual game complement introducing the game to Internet users and encouraging them to come to the casino to play the real game. Providing a virtual currency scheme that would allow people to wager and win virtual currency in the game is advised. Providing there is no consideration to buy virtual currency a casino could offer a player some free  land based casino(hotel rooms, buffet, etc) items using virtual currency to attract them to the "real" property.

Casino  To Virtual World Connection - Promoting a social or casual game in the physical casino is very important. This will establish a closer link to both worlds. An obvious promotion would be an offer of free land based casino items for play  on the Internet site.

Certainly, The above mentioned items are only a few of the many ways a land based casino can leverage an online community and social networks to enhance their land based operations. It should be noted that the online world is distinctly different from a land based operation and requires a staff with a mindset that comprehends the virtual world and can cater to its peculiar marketing and game play characteristics. It is advised that a casino add these skills sets to their operation to ensure the success of their online and social network initiatives.

Kevin Flood is the CEO of Gameinlane, Inc. Kevin writes extensively about online games and their impact and integration into iGaming and E-commerce environments. Kevin is a frequent speaker at online game events and conferences in Asia, Europe and the US. Kevin and his Gameinlane team are currently working with online gambling, social gaming and e-commerce companies integrating social gaming with online gaming operations and integrate game mechanics into e-commerce applications.

How Will The Legalization Of US Internet Gambling Impact US Land Based Casinos?

This is a very good question and one that has been  debated in the board rooms and in executive staff meetings at the premier US land based casinos.  Now that the prospect of  legalizing US online gambling is getting closer to some form of ratification the debate has intensified forcing US land based casino operators to position themselves in a world where US Internet gambling is a reality.

Opinions range from the "cannibalization" argument where  proponents  believe that legalized Internet gambling will take players away from  land based casinos negatively impacting their bottom line. The other extreme sees only blue sky with US casinos establishing online Internet monopolies.

These extreme arguments are not necessarily based on any real evidence or research. To get to the truth of the matter we need to look at the history of US land based casino attempts to launch online gaming venues, social/casual gaming operations and the European Internet gaming experience.

MGM Prize Site: In 2001 MGM launched an Internet prize gaming site for US players. The goal of the site was to test the waters to determine if MGM should launch a for cash site in Europe and to get some operational experience with online gambling operations. The site and platform was launched by Wagerworks and included standard slot games as well as a range of casual for fun games. Players were rewarded with prizes that could be redeemed in MGM casino properties.

Much to the surprise of Wagerworks and MGM this site was very successful attracting large numbers of visitors without any sophisticated online marketing and before the advent of social networks and social media. For reasons of confidentiality I can not reveal the exact numbers. However, we where all impressed by the organic traffic the site was receiving.

The Internet players were rewarded with hotel room discounts, free buffet passes, etc. resulting in Internet gamblers visiting MGM land based casinos to redeem the prizes. The exact coin-in upside was not completely calculated because MGM failed to provide the players  a code number that they could use to track  the entire range of player/visitor  land based activities and purchases. This seems silly now with all the casinos providing a card and player loyalty identity to track transactions. However, at that time the notion of providing a single player ID for offline and online activity was not widely implemented and certainly not considered when the prize site was launched.

Although the actual revenue numbers where unknown the Internet traffic that the site generated convinced MGM that Internet gambling was for real.  They quickly switched their emphasis to creating a for cash gambling site and launched it in 2002 in the Isle of Man.

The Wagerworks executive team strongly recommended that MGM keep the prize size running with the addition of the ID code to track total revenue. It was clear that there was a tie between the offline and online gambling sites that could be exploited. For resource and team resource reasons  MGM decided to shift all of their emphasis to the cash site.

The moral of the story is that a simple Internet prize site demonstrated that if a land based casino did its job properly the online and offline world could complement each other and bring value to both forms of gambling.

Online Poker And The World Series Of Poker(WSOP) - WSOP was the first real online gambling brand that proved to the world that online gambling was a force to be reckoned with. I was fortunate to be with Harrahs when Harrahs bought Binion's Casino in old Las Vegas and coincidentally acquired the WSOP brand and poker tournament. Prior to the sale the online poker sites had already determined that qualifying poker players online for the offline WSOP tournament event was good business.  They were making serious money attracting players to qualify in a series of online tournaments leading up to the land based tournament. After Harrahs bought Binions they had to build out an entirely new venue in the Rio to accommodate the foot traffic to Las Vegas. Eventually Party Poker went public on the back of WSOP.

Although Harrahs was making what was considered good money hosting the WSOP tournament this revenue was insignificant relative to what the online poker operators were making by leveraging the WSOP brand. Harrahs certainly realized this and looked for ways to legally leverage the WSOP brand online.

The enactment of anti US Internet gambling in October 2006 frustrated the effort to truly leverage the WSOP brand. The legislation did  reinforced the power of the Internet/land poker based casino combo. Immediately after the enactment of legislation the popularity of WSOP dwindled. 

During the WSOP internet/casino peak other land based casinos also benefited from the popularity of online poker. Other tournaments were spawned in other casinos and once retired poker rooms where revived and filled to capacity. The anti gambling bill has had a negative impact on the poker rooms in all of the casinos.

Clearly, the WSOP phenomenon made a  good case for a good marriage between online and offline gambling.

 Consolidation And Size - On a less positive note the Internet inherently leads to monopoly very quickly. Look at Google, Facebook, Zynga, etc. and you  realize that the winners on the net are quickly determined freezing out competitors in a matter of a few years. Certainly, there are many European Internet gambling sites. There are niche markets and the online gambling revenue per player can justify rather small successful online gaming operators. Eventually,  the smaller operators have to  close or work around the big names.

This is a real concern for  land based casinos that are familiar with a slower pace(helped by regulation) and a protected(non-free market) position. Internet gambling will certainly follow a similar regulated path. However, if the new legislation allows gambling across state lines we could see a few operators dominate the online space making it difficult for smaller operators to compete.

European Internet/Land Based Gambling - It is bit difficult to draw corollaries between US and European online gambling in respect to land based operators because Europe has a distinct aversion to large land based casinos. European casinos are usually very small and "intimate" having a small clientele. Some of these casinos (The Ritz) have launched online properties. However, they very seldom last and are sold to larger online only operators. Europe is dominated by purely online gambling brands with the exception of well know bookmakers such as Ladbrokes.

The US is different.  US casinos(Vegas and Atlantic City) are gigantic compared to European operators and frequently part of a collection of large casino properties. The gambling mind share and the investment capital that the large casinos garner could result in a very different outcome in the US if the land  based casinos embrace online gambling and execute properly.

Impact of Regulation - Regulation inherently removes competitive elements from the free market system. Therefore the degree and nature of US Internet gambling law will have a profound impact on Internet gambling as it relates to  land based casinos.  If only a few land based casinos are issued licenses or  first mover advantage these few casinos could gain an advantage that will be hard to challenge even if the land based casinos do not do a very good job at launching online gambling properties. If regulation encourages a more democratic distribution of licenses and traffic land based casinos may not have an advantage resulting in online only brands effectively consolidating the online space.

Joint Ventures And Partnerships - There is a belief that US land based casinos will partner with  or purchase experienced online European gambling operators allowing them to leverage their "regulated" status and  offline brands. This idea is to offload the online operations to someone else and still maintain control.

This could be a dangerous assumption. Joint ventures and purchases of companies with different business models and cultures  very seldom workout. A number of UK land based operators tried this with less than positive results. In addition, an experienced online operator knows the online business. They may not know how to get traffic to Las Vegas and than back to an Internet gambling site. 

In conclusion, the history of Internet gaming, casual(prize) gaming and the role of land based casinos in launching these  efforts gives us some clue as to how legalized Internet gambling will impact US land based casinos. History certainly implies that land based casino will benefit from Internet gambling if the casinos execute a proper online gambling strategy. It could be that land based traffic could increase with the legalization of online gambling with the caveat that the regulatory environment may prove to be a wild card that could have a significant impact on the outcome.   "Buying" online expertise may not be a magic solution for the land based casinos. They will have to quickly adopt an online gambling operations mode if they want to successfully marry their online and land based businesses.

Kevin Flood is the CEO of Gameinlane, Inc. Kevin writes extensively about online games and their impact and integration into iGaming and E-commerce environments. Kevin is a frequent speaker at online game events and conferences in Asia, Europe and the US. Kevin and his Gameinlane team are currently working with online gambling, social gaming and e-commerce companies integrating social gaming with online gaming operations and integrate game mechanics into e-commerce applications.

Lessons To Be Learned From The First Attempts By US Land Based Casinos Launch Of Internet Gambling Sites

With the debate over the legalization of US internet gambling  intensifying and the realization that US online  gambling may become legal  many US land based casino operators are pondering how best to take advantage of this opportunity.  In speaking to journalist, casino operators and gambling industry experts I have been surprised at the lack of  knowledge they have regarding the history of US casino operators  launching  online gambling operators. This experience reveals some valuable lessons that can be useful when US online gambling is legalized.

Harrahs, MGM, and Kerzner International  all launched internet gambling sites and they  failed in their first attempts to operate successful  operations. These sites were launched between 2002 and 2004 in British protectorate locations such as Alderney and Isle of Man. They were targeted at UK online gamblers with the hopes of expanding the focus to other European communities.  
                                                                                                                       

So what happened? Why did they all close and what can we learn from the experience that will help the American casino brands and other gambling businesses become successful when US internet gambling is legalized?

Brand Awareness - The original group of US land based casino operators that launched sites in Europe assumed that online consumers would know and respect  the Harrahs (Luckyme.com), MGM, Kerzner (Atlantis.com) brands. In point of fact the UK online gaming community had little or no knowledge of these brands. The American casinos were shocked at the anemic traffic the brands attracted and the cost  of building an online marketable brand.  Their business models never anticipated this cost. European offline sports book and casino brands such as Ladbrooks, William Hill, Coral, Paddy Power and Ritz plus consumer brands such as BSkyB etc. had already spend time and money reinforcing their offline brands in cyberspace. This coupled with new emerging European online gambling brands made the online UK space very crowded and hard to break into.

Obviously, the American casino brands such as Wynn, MGM, Caesars and Venetian all have strong offline brand awareness and databases of American land based gamblers making the case for easy and successful online gambling marketing. However, one should think twice about making this assumption. Do these casinos have any online brand awareness? The answer is they have very little or no online brand awareness outside of the World Series Of Poker brand owned by Harrahs.

So what companies have consumer online gaming/gambling  brand awareness in the US and a pool of online gamers to tap into. Zynga,  Electronic Arts (Pogo game site),  Playdom (now Disney) and Party Poker to name a few. These are the companies that have large numbers of players gambling style games and very good online brand awareness.

The US land based casinos will have to determine how they are going to compete or partner with these online brands if they expect to capture the mind share of US online gamblers.

Age/Identity/Location - The biggest fear that American casino operators had when they first launched online gambling operations was that a US player would gamble on  an online American casino  property.  State gambling boards and the federal government threatened the casino operators with pulling their land based licenses if even one US player played on their sites.

This threat resulted in the creation of very sophisticated age/identity/location detection systems to assure that US casino operators they would not be penalized for taking US wagers.

The use of these detection systems resulted in an interesting problem for the US casino operators.  The constraints on these systems were so tight that they began to reject legitimate UK online gamblers from gambling on the sites. Once a legitimate player is rejected it is unlikely they will return.

There is no perfect way to absolutely determine the identity and location of everyone using the internet  A good detection system can get you very close to this goal. However, in the end it is a risk based exercise and a balance between driving traffic and staying compliant. The risk management approach that the American casino sites took put them at a  disadvantage to the other non-US online gambling sites. In some cases the other sites did not care if they took US players. They were concerned about letting a player under 18 play. However, they recognized that there was a more important goal of balancing the risk of  accepting an under age person and acquiring customers. In reality, the instances of under age people gambling on European sites is and was very small.

So what happens if online gambling in the US is on a state by state and not a federal level. Will casino operators be so afraid of getting their land based operators shut down by state authorities that they will launch sites that can not compete with online only brands or more aggressive European brands that are willing to take the risk of accepting a few people from another site or an occasional under age player? The reality is that an online gambling site can do a better job of screening underage and non-resident players then a land based casino. Have you ever been carded when you entered the Bellagio, Venetian or Ceasers Palace? An operator will have more information about a player then a land based casino.  Regulator will have to acknowledge that there is an acceptable margin of error in online identity to allow American casino brands to compete in the online gambling marketplace.

Online Gaming Operations - Running an online gaming operation has its similarities and differences relative to operating a land based casino. The obvious difference is that one is virtual and the other has physical attributes. You can not see, feel, touch an online gambler. Other gaming sites are a click away, reaching them through marketing programs is different and revenue per player differs. The cost of maintaining a land based presence is considerably more expensive than running an online property.  Things change quickly online and reaction time to changes have to be quick. If an online gambling site is run properly the amount of people playing at anyone time can be much higher then the number of people playing games at a land based casino.

The first attempt by US land based casinos to launch online properties indicated that they did a good job from the technical and online security perspective by using third party game and platform providers to supplement their own technical staff and to provide an inventory of games. They did struggle marketing to the online community. They were accustomed to a land based monopoly model where demand usually exceeded supply and competition was limited to a very well known group of casino operators. Online gaming in Europe was different from a cost perspective and the ability to attract and maintain eyeballs to their properties. It is difficult to say how the US will legalize gambling. If they only allow a few businesses to open online gambling properties the casino businesses may do fine. If it is open to a broad array of operators things could be different and casino operators will have to learn how to cost effectively market their properties online.

The Regulatory Environment - The one thing that US casino operators did very well when launching their European online properties was managing in a regulated environment. They contacted the right legal and government officials to determine the proper laws governing online gambling and they put in place strong internal legal teams to make sure they where in complete compliance with local online gambling law.

This focus on operating in a regulated environment may prove very important in the US. The casinos are well connected and well respected by state gaming governing organizations.  Conversely, social gaming operators and non-US online gaming operators that attempt to launch sites in the US may find themselves completely locked out of the market if regulators decide to go with organizations that have a history of regulatory compliance.

Even if the regulators decide to open up the field to include anyone that is willing to pay the license fee the casino operators will still be at an advantage over operators that are not familiar with functioning in a regulated environment. For example, I can't image what an auditor will find looking into the Zynga poker room code. I sincerely doubt that most social and casual gaming operators with have platforms and a code base that will pass a regulatory scrutiny.

European online gambling operators will fare better because the are accustomed to operating in a regulated environment.  With the caveat that they do not have a relationship with US regulatory organizations.  This subtle difference could prove to be significant.

In conclusion, US land based casinos have experience launching and managing internet gambling operations.  Will they learn from the lessons learned in their initial efforts to improve the likelihood of success in the US? Popular social and casual gaming sites should start planning on how they would operate in a "regulated" environment and European online gaming brands should start introducing their companies to US consumers and regulators.

Kevin Flood is the CEO of Gameinlane, Inc. Kevin writes extensively about online games and their impact and integration into iGaming and E-commerce environments. Kevin is a frequent speaker at online game events and conferences in Asia, Europe and the US. Kevin and his Gameinlane team are currently working with online gambling, social gaming and e-commerce companies integrating social gaming with online gaming operations and integrate game mechanics into e-commerce applications.