People news 24/01/13
The latest people moves from the egaming industry in the last 7 days (18 January to 24 January 2013).
Rafi Ashkenazi joins PokerStars as COO
Former Playtech COO will report directly to Mark Scheinberg, PokerStars’ acting chief executive and chairman.
Playtech’s former head of operations is to join PokerStars’ parent company Rational Group as its new COO, eGaming Review has learned.
Rafi Ashkenazi (pictured) will report directly to Mark Scheinberg, PokerStars’ acting chief executive and chairman after his father Isai was forced to step down as part of the company’s civil settlement with the US Department of Justice last year.
As chief operating officer of Rational Group, he will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of both the PokerStars and Full Tilt brands. eGR understands that he will start his new role on 1 February.
He will be responsible for all customer-facing product and back-office functions for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker including marketing, customer support, poker room and IT management, payment processing and security, and game integrity.
Exclusive: Kofert to move upstairs in Pokerstrategy.com reshuffle
Former Pokerstrategy.com chief executive Dominik Kofert is set to take on a new role as CEO of the affiliate’s parent company etruvian, eGaming Review can confirm.
Kofert, who founded the poker affiliate site and community in 2007, will remain involved in Pokerstrategy’s activities from his new vantage point, while he will also oversee the work done by financial trading school tradimo, which was launched late last year.
Pokerstrategy.com will now be headed up by former chief B2B officer Damian Sokol, while Sebastian Kuhnert will take on the role of tradimo.com CEO.
Seven days in people news:
Daly rejoins SHFL from Bally
Former SHFL Entertainment product manager Michael Daly has rejoined the company after several years with fellow Nevada egaming licensee Bally Technologies, taking on the role of VP of online gaming.
MIT graduate Daly first joined the company, which received its Nevada online poker licence last year, in 2003 as product manager for the service provider’s electronic gaming tables. He remained with SHFL – then known as Shuffle Master – for close to three years before joining Bally.
His six-year spell with Bally included several months as a senior director of its online arm, Bally Interactive, after its creation in October 2011, remaining with the business as it acquired Chiligaming’s iGaming Platform which has been behind the setup of freeplay online offerings for the land-based Mohegan Sun and Golden Nugget casinos.
Paddy Power hires new non-exec director
Paddy Power has appointed former O2 Ireland chief executive Danuta Gray as its newest independent non-executive director, with the operator speaking highly of her expertise in marketing.
Gray also becomes a member of Paddys’ remuneration committee. Prior to serving as chief executive of O2 Ireland between 2001 and 2010, she was senior vice president of BT Europe in Germany and general manager at BT Mobile in the UK.
Paddy Power chairman Nigel Northridge said of the appointment: “Danuta is a highly accomplished and capable director who will bring valuable consumer marketing insight and international markets expertise to Paddy Power. I warmly welcome her to the Board.”
Lads overhauls external legal counsel
Ladbrokes has overhauled its external legal counsel, cutting the number of advisers on its roster and appointing several gaming specialists.
According to Legal Week the recent review led by the operator’s general counsel Jonathan Adelman reduces the number of firms on the legal roster from 50 to 22, and sees Slaughter and May, SJ Berwin, Clyde & Co and South West firm Trethowans appointed for the first time.
Lads also appointed eight firms to cover a wide range of legal work, while 10 other firms have been appointed for specific areas, including gaming specialists Harris Hagan, Olswang and DLA Piper.
Skrill appoints Ingenico veteran Doyle
Payment service provider Skrill has appointed Craig Doyle to the position of senior vice-president of sales and marketing.
Doyle has spent more than a decade in the payments industry, predominantly with payment terminal business Ingenico where he most recently held the titles of managing director of the Northern European Region, VP of marketing and solutions for Europe and an executive committee member.
He also has more than a decade’s experience of the banking and finance industry in South Africa, while Skrill anticipates him bringing his hardware and offline technology expertise to the business as well as his wider strategic knowledge of the payments industry.