On June 7-8, an international exhibition-forum Russian Gaming Week 2018 organized by Smile-Expo took place. The event was held for the twelfth time; it was the largest specialized exhibition across the CIS and one of the most popular gambling conferences in Russia. Each year, RGW attracts more and more foreign participants from the CIS, Europe and Asia. 1200 people attended RGW 2018.
Key conference speakers
The participants mostly discussed how such cutting-edge technologies as Big Data, blockchain and artificial intelligence influence gambling and betting spheres. Legal aspects also appeared to be one of the hot topics: in 2017-2018, Russian government announced and adopted several acts that are important for the industry.
Founder and President at Intelligencia Limited Andrew Pearson, who currently lives and works in Macau, was the conference key speaker. He revealed how artificial intelligence can be used to analyze a client base of a betting shop or a casino: starting with general operating principles of machine learning and explained how the technology changes while working with clients (shopping personalization, chatbots configuration and client services).
Valery Petrov, Vice President at Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain (RACIB), and Mikhail Krasnoselskiy, COO at cryptofootball.world, were talking about the application of a much-talked-of technology – blockchain. “It allows to make all the market transparent, store data in a distributed ledger, which significantly reduces a chance of substitution, especially in free-to-play games”, noted Valery Petrov.
Robert Brassai, Principal Consultant at Sense 4 Gaming, explored the application of Big Data in gambling. He presented case studies of user data collection and analysis by casinos as well as explained how to apply this information in business.
Kamo Basentsian, Business Development Manager of Brand Protection at Group-IB, delivered a presentation titled ‘How to prevent fraudsters from making money on your business online’ analyzing the main principles of cyber security nowadays.
Mariya Lepshikova, a legal counsel and owner at Pravovaya Liniya, LLC, expert in legal backing of gambling and lottery business, dwelled in detail on legislative changes in terms of gambling. Her presentation was focused on state control over bookmaking.
Several speakers dedicated their presentations to practical aspects of the gambling business. Vladislav Khvetskovich, Co-Founder and CIO at Softgamings, told how to establish a successful casino from scratch while Gregory Shelest, Business Director at Boss Gaming Group N.V., revealed the secrets of avoiding mistakes in the casino management.
Exhibition and open lectures
Open lectures were part of Russian Gaming Week XII and took place at the conference working hours on June 7-8. Attendees found out about mistakes to avoid when launching your online casino; how to elaborate an email marketing strategy and what gambling projects are best to park money in. The open lectures were moderated by Peter Barinov, Director at Jet Velvet (junket club). The company organizes individual tours to world’s largest casinos.
20 exhibitors participated in the event: developers of payment systems and software for bookmaker operators and online casino; legal firms working in gambling sphere.
The following stands singed out most of all: BetConstruct (provider of a big range of software solutions for gambling), eGamings and Slotegrator (solutions for online casino) and GREENBET (technical solutions for betting).
Betting Awards ceremony
RGW Moscow included Betting Awards, a ceremony for the best representatives of the bookmaking industry. Those brands that achieved success in 2017 won awards. About 20 companies were nominated for an award. Among them, 12 won in various nominations (‘Best Marketing Startup’, ‘Best Betting Club of the Year’, ‘Best Advertising Campaign of the Year’, and others). Fonbet became an all-round champion of Betting Awards-2018 having won four honorary titles.
Event sponsors
An international event company Smile-Expo that organized Russian Gaming Week-2018 gives gratitude to the sponsors and partners of the event:
– General Sponsor and Lanyard Sponsor – Betconstruct;
– Official Betting Sponsor – Fonbet;
– Conference Sponsor – SoftGamings;
– Badge Sponsor – HoGaming;
– Bag Sponsor – Qtech;
– Registration Sponsor – XproGaming;
– Wi-Fi Sponsor- AdConsul;
– Coffee Break Sponsor – GoldenRace;
– Media-Gambling Sponsor – LoginCasino;
– General Info-Partner – BookmakersRating.ru;
– Industry Partner – RACIB.
