BettingUSA.com Recaps G2E 2019

Each year hundreds of exhibitors from every sphere of the gaming industry takes over the Sands Expo Convention Center for Global Gaming Expo, or G2E for short. Betting USA was on hand throughout, delivering real-time updates and exclusive coverage of the event.

Another Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is in the books, and as usual, G2E was both productive and exhausting. After three days of education sessions, meetings, interviews, and walking the trade show floor, there is a lot to unpack.

As much as G2E can be like Groundhog Day, there are always new products to report and emerging trends to discover.

G2E at a Glance

G2E is the largest gaming conference and trade show in the US. The 2019 iteration kicks off on Monday, October 13, and runs through Thursday, October 17.

If you’re in the gaming industry, attending the G2E conference is not just important, it’s borderline mandatory.

Reason being, G2E 2019 offers:

• 150 education sessions covering every aspect of the gaming industry
• Hundreds of exhibitors during the three-day trade show (9/14 – 9/17)
• Networking opportunities with tens of thousands of attendees (2018 attendance topped 27,000)
• 450 credentialed media attendees in 2018

Basically, a lot of news comes out of G2E in the form of official announcements and backchannel chatter.

The G2E Conference Experience

One of G2E’s peculiarities is the full day of education sessions on Monday, a day before the trade show doors open on Tuesday. That makes Monday the “quiet” day, with attendance measured in the hundreds rather than the thousands or tens of thousands.

Further, the Monday sessions (split into four tracks) are geared towards online gambling and emerging verticals and trends. Of interest to our readers are the six iGaming Congress panels on Monday and the eight sports betting panels, three of which take place on Monday.

G2E 2019’s Can’t-Miss Education Sessions

In fact, most of the can’t-miss sessions I’ve pinpointed take place on Monday.

Bookmarked Monday sessions:

• The Ongoing Uncertainty Created by the Latest DOJ Wire Act Opinion
• Using New Tools to Help with Responsible Gaming
• On-Premise Mobile: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Gaming
• Sports Integrity from the Regulatory Point of View
• Moot Court: Mobile or Not?
• Hot Topics: What Impact Has the Wire Act Opinion Had and How Will Mobile Gaming Grow?
• Following the UK and EU’s Lead in Using Technology to Improve RG Programs

Bookmarked Tuesday sessions:

• Chris Christie Keynote: How New Jersey Fought the Feds and Won
• Federal, Tribal and State-Specific Update on the Sports Betting Rollout in the U.S.
• Innovating Innovation: UNLV and Caesars Entertainment Partner for the Future of Gaming

Bookmarked Wednesday Sessions:

• Executive Viewpoints: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Leading Gaming Executives Discuss New Business Partnerships

Networking: The Show Behind the Show

Anyone who has attended a gaming conference will tell you; the education sessions are only part of the conference experience. Most of what you will learn will come from scheduled meetings and small talk in the hallways and congregation areas.

Networking provides a second layer of value. Opening lines of communication and building relationships has become critical in the industry following the opening of the US sports betting market.

The Showroom Floor

And then there’s the trade show part of G2E.

The showroom floor is 380,000 square feet of booths (big and small), exhibitors, and people.

Unlike ICE and the ExCeL London’s partitioned showrooms, everything at G2E is housed in a single room, which makes it all the more overwhelming – you can literally get lost on the showroom floor.

The best way to tackle the showroom floor is to plan at least two visits.

The first should be a pre-planned visit. Consult the vendor list, figure out where they are on the floor plan, and plan your route — with a map in hand. Just winging it at G2E isn’t something I’d recommend.

You can take a deep breath and relax after checking off all the exhibitors you pre-selected, so the second time you step through the showroom doors, you can freelance. This is your opportunity to wander around, check out anything that looks interesting and talk to anyone that seems interesting. Once again, use networking as a way to increase the value of the show.

Global Gaming Expo Review and Recap

The largest gaming conference in North America, Global Gaming Expo (G2E), kicked off on Monday. The doors to the showroom floor open this morning, but G2E hosted 30 education sessions on Monday with hundreds of attendees.

Tales From G2E, Day 1: Responsible Gaming and Online All The Rage

Education Is the Name of the Game on Day 1. On Day 1 of G2E, I attended three education sessions.

Behind the Scenes News and Notes: G2E Day 1

Conversations at G2E are as wide-ranging as the education session topics. However, there is typically one overarching theme that works its way into every session. A few years back, it was social gaming. In other recent years, it was millennials, skill-based games, and esports.

This year the theme seems to be an old familiar friend: Online gambling. Online gambling, be it sports betting or casino games, was in a lot of session descriptions, and it was brought up at every conceivable opportunity by panelists in the sessions I attended, as well as in the hallways.

A secondary theme was a welcome surprise to hear discussed was responsible gaming and problem gambling.

And finally, there was also a lot of chatter about how successful the ongoing efforts of the host casino to prohibit or stall online expansion will be. In virtually every instance the topic of the 2018 Wire Act opinion was broached, there was always a not so subtle reference to the building we were in, and that company’s efforts to derail online gambling in the US.

Tales From G2E, Day 2: The Showroom Floor Is The Same But Different

G2E Day 2 Is All About the Showroom.

Monday is the “slow” day at Global Gaming Expo (G2E). Tuesday is when you realize just how impressive the show is. The couple thousand people milling around Monday increases by a factor of 10 on Tuesday. The wide hallways and meeting spaces suddenly become cramped. Everyone is in a rush, and there’s a cacophony of noises.

That is G2E.

I’m in my comfort zone on Monday. I attend panels and see familiar faces in the halls. Tuesday is a different story. Even after a half-dozen trips to G2E the showroom is still overwhelming.

I didn’t spend as much time on the floor as I would have liked, but here are my general observations.

Same Old, Same Old

For the most part, the showroom floor was largely unchanged. Some exhibitors had new setups. Some others increased their presence (thanks sports betting!). And others were missing altogether.

One company that increased its footprint was Kambi. The B2B sportsbook supplier has made tremendous inroads in the US market, which led to an upgraded booth and location on the G2E floor.

The Scientific Games booth has always taken up a sizable amount of real estate, but this time around, you had to enter through a King Kong-sized entryway to see any of the products. There’s a certain wow factor to the approach, but I’m not sure hiding your products from view is a wise decision at a trade show.

As is the case every year, I was dismayed by the lack of online operator presence. It seems that even in the new era of US sports betting, G2E is largely a land-based and supplier show, where you can try any number of physical slot machines, but good luck locating some online casino or poker software to demo.

Time for a Change

G2E 2020 should adopt the motto; a change will do you good.

Take a walk through the showroom floor, and you’ll run into three types of people:

• People in awe of the magnitude who wander around like tourists at the pyramids of Giza.
• Attendees at G2E with a specific agenda.
• Cynics who have been to the show multiple times but feel obligated to walk the floor on the off chance they’ll stumble across something new or interesting.

None of these groups would be affected by a change to the show.

What does that change look like? I’m not really sure; I just know it’s time for one.

Behind the Scenes News and Notes: G2E Day 2

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivered the morning keynote address, which was a largely unchanged version of the same speech (full of quotable lines and bombast) he’s been delivering for the past year at gaming conferences.

One thing I’ve learned during my decade in this industry is that there are a lot of smart people in gaming. Another thing I’ve learned is that the smartest people know what they don’t know. It’s been refreshing to encounter more and more of the latter at G2E 2019.

Tales From G2E, Day 3: Two Products To Keep An Eye On

Day 3 of Global Gaming Expo (G2E) is always an interesting one. For many attendees, it’s their final day – Thursday is breakdown day, with the expo hall closing early, and a trimmed-down panel schedule.

Wednesday is also most people’s third or fourth day in Las Vegas, and if The Hangover taught us anything, it’s, “some guys just can’t handle Vegas.”

Vegas Takes Its Toll

Taking all that into account, Wednesday usually starts with a bang, and as the day wears on and the morning coffees have worn off (and alcoholic beverages continue to be consumed) less and less seems to get accomplished.

By Wednesday afternoon, the overwhelming nature of G2E starts to take its toll on a lot of attendees.

People are rushing or canceling meetings in order to freshen up before their company dinners. And most meetings start with how late each person was out the night before and where they might be going tonight.

Because of this, I tend to leave Wednesday wide open, which allows me to spend time exploring the G2E floor.

Here are two products that caught my attention.

There Is Online Poker After All

I recently lamented the lack of online poker and casino products on the showroom floor. I’m happy to report I found one on Wednesday in the IGT booth.

It’s a product I’m familiar with, having demoed it a couple of years ago. IGT’s online poker app is, in my opinion, one of the nicer mobile poker apps in the industry due to its thumb controls (on tablets) and the capability to play multiple tables and act on minimized tables without leaving your main table.

IGT’s online poker product is currently available in three markets, Italy, Sweden, and Canada. It could make its US debut in Pennsylvania, where IGT is partnered with Hollywood Casino.

Of course, that would require Pennsylvania to launch online poker.

An Early Version of Cashless Gambling?

With fewer people carrying cash, and payment options on phones, cashless gaming feels inevitable. That said, it hasn’t been able to penetrate the market, yet.

A product by Aristocrat could help change that.

Aristocrat’s product connects customers’ online social casino accounts with select slot machines on the casino floor. The short version is, a customer can load their social casino wallet with money, connect to the slot machine via Bluetooth, and load money into the machine or redeem free-play or other rewards.

It’s an interesting product that is already available in some casinos. The system has several requirements, including Aristocrat’s Oasis backend and slot machine compatibility.

Interestingly, the system could unintentionally end up being a responsible gaming tool that leads to better tracking and a way to help customers preset spend limits.

Four Things I Learned About The Gambling Industry At G2E 2019

As much as G2E can be like Groundhog Day, there are always new products to report and emerging trends to discover.

Now that I’ve had a couple of days to reflect on the show, here are four takeaways from G2E 2019.

Online Gambling Finally Gets Some Respect

G2E has always had a land-based focus, and that was still the case in 2019. As is usually the case, internet gambling was an afterthought, with more floor space dedicated to food and beverage and casino chairs than online gambling products.

That said, online gambling products are popping up outside of the iGaming section of the show. And with sports betting providers thrown into the mix, online gambling’s presence was more significant than any other G2E in recent memory.

Online gambling is also being talked about in a more matter of fact way than in previous years. The references to anti-gambling campaigns were missing the usual venom and delivered with a “we’re up by two scores and have to take three knees to win this game” sense of satisfaction.

With the spread of online sports betting, and to a lesser extent online casino, there was a vibe in the air that the fearmongering days are behind us, and online gambling is ready to assume its place of import on the showroom floor and in the education schedule.

G2E will never be ICE, but the writing is on the wall: Online gambling is here to stay, and its presence is growing.

Back to Basics

After several years of screaming about attracting millennials, and integrating esports and skill-based games, the industry appears to have taken a deep breath and decided it’s time to hit the reset button.

From the looks of it, gaming companies are rededicating themselves to enhancing proven games and keeping an eye on emerging products. In short, rather than the industry listening to influencers telling them what the next generation wants, they’re listening to what their current customers are indicating they want.

I first noticed this trend last July at the NCLGS Cleveland. During a session on millennials, MGM’s Lovell Walker essentially admitted the company’s attempts to attract millennials missed the mark. Like an AI machine, Walker and MGM seemed to be learning and adapting.

Everyone seems to be coming around to the realization they can’t force-feed products to customers or speed up a 20-something’s proclivity to gamble in a casino environment. They have to let that happen naturally, but not get passed by.

That is a difficult balancing act, but I think the industry is closer than ever to toeing the line.

And that leads into my next takeaway.

The Industry Is Getting Smarter

Not only are people admitting mistakes, but as I mentioned earlier, it feels like the industry at large is getting smarter and better at what they do.

• Land-based exhibitors are better versed in emerging verticals.
• Niche product developers are no longer trying to replace traditional games or referring to them as out of touch dinosaurs.
• People are keen to learn about segments of the industry that previously would have been of little interest.

And most importantly, more industry participants are keenly aware of what they don’t know. Of course, there were still plenty of people roaming the halls of the Sands Expo who know everything.

The good news is, questions are increasingly answered with an “I don’t know,” or, “Nobody is really sure.”

If you’ve been around the gaming space for a while that’s a very encouraging development.

The number of people who know everything about everything appears to be shrinking (or I’m just getting better at choosing who to interact with). There’s also a newfound mantra where everyone admits there are just too many aspects to the gaming industry for anyone to have expert level knowledge in multiple areas.

From what I can tell, the “smart” part of the industry seems to be growing and dividing itself into two important groups:

1. People with a specific area of expertise, and
2. People know a little bit about a lot of things and know a lot of experts from the first group.

Members of the know-it-all faction have either been exposed or adjusted to the new reality.

Industry Gets Serious About Responsible and Problem Gambling

Unlike previous years, nods to responsible and problem gambling by panelists didn’t feel like a requisite talking point to mark a space on their conference bingo card.

The tenor of the conservations was different this time around, and responsible gaming and problem gambling crept into many hallway chats I had.

I want to think the industry is recognizing the severity and importance of the issue, but a more likely motivator is the situation playing out in the UK and Europe.

US operators are right to be concerned that a lack of action on their end will result in similar government mandates. Either way, it’s nice to see some real progress on this front, and I suspect there will be some interesting developments over the next year.

Related: G2E 2021