People news 30 April 2015
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (24 April to 30 April 2015)
Betfair’s Gibraltar MD in Lottoland switch
Lottoland has hired Betfair’s former Gibraltar MD as its chief commercial officer as the lottery-based betting operator ramps up its international expansion plans.
Matt Robinson (pictured) left Betfair’s Gibraltar-based team, where he was also director of gaming operations, late last year and began his role at Lottoland in early 2015.
He assumes responsibility for the growth of Lottoland’s B2C business, which offers customers the chance to bet on the outcome of lotteries from 17 countries across the world.
LeoVegas appoints new head of casino
LeoVegas has appointed former Bodog casino executive Karolina Pelc to the newly created role of head of casino.
Pelc, who also served as Betsafe’s head of casino and worked in a number of roles at Bodog, will be based out of the company’s Malta headquarters.
The creation of the new role forms part of a wider growth strategy at LeoVegas, with the mobile-focused operator continuing to expand its casino offering while also embarking on a major UK marketing push.
RGA appoints two new directors as Rossiter departs
The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) has appointed two new directors to replace the recently departed director of policy and projects Sue Rossiter as it looks to expand its regulatory focus.
Rossiter left the RGA earlier this month to join the Financial Ombudsman Service, and her duties will now be split between two new director roles, filled by former British Gambling Commission head of remote gambling strategy Paul Morris and Instinctif Partners consultant Pierre Tournier.
Morris has already begun his role as director of regulatory affairs while Tournier will take up the role of director of government relations on 1 August and will be based out of Brussels.
Webis Holdings managing director departs
Webis Holdings’ long-serving group managing director Garry Knowles will leave the online gambling firm this week after nearly 10 years at the helm.
Knowles officially vacated the role at the end of April and will be replaced by group director and president of the firm’s WatchandWager.com brand Ed Comins.
The outgoing MD previously held roles at William Hill and MGM Mirage Online before joining the now defunct betinternet.com as sportsbook director in 2003 and rising to MD of parent company Webis Holdings in January 2006.
Betfair’s Don Ryan moves to Parx Casino
The Parx Casino in Pennsylvania has bolstered its online gaming team with the appointment of former Betfair SVP of gaming Don Ryan.
Ryan joins Parx Casino as SVP of gaming development, and will be responsible for overseeing the land-based operator’s online gaming strategy.
“After having successfully scaled Betfair’s New Jersey online gaming offering via multiple Atlantic City land-based casino partners, I wanted to get involved in Pennsylvania on the land-based casino side and Parx is one of the premier casinos on the East Coast,” Ryan said.
Ryan joined Betfair in March 2014 and prior to that held senior roles at Microsoft’s Xbox division, Oberon Media, and social casino developer Slingo.
Parx has already launched a freeplay site powered by GameAccount Network, and the partnership will be extended to real-money gaming as soon as egaming legislation is passed in the state.
Zynga COO Downie exits
Social casino giant Zynga has confirmed its second major management departure in as many weeks after announcing chief operating officer Clive Downie has resigned.
The news comes a little over two weeks after Zynga CEO Don Mattrick left the San Francisco based firm with immediate effect, to be replaced by former chief exec and founder Mark Pincus.
Downie will now join 3D game engine developer Unity Technologies as chief marketing officer.
As well as confirming Downie’s departure, Zynga also revealed it had appointed former Genentech CFO Louis Lavigne to its board of directors.
Zynga said Lavigne brings “extensive experience in business operations and management, strategy, finance, accounting and public company governance” to the operator.