At the start of this month, CasinoBeats learned that live dealer games from BetGames.TV will be rolled out across a host of regulated markets over the next six weeks through the Amelco platform.

We caught up with both parties, through Brandon Walker, Amelco’s head of business development, and BetGames.TV’s CCO Richard Hogg, to uncover the potential of the deal, explain the increased focus on the cross-sell from sportsbook and allay any fears over delivery of the games in lockdown.

CB: Talk us through the deal, what potential is this set to unlock for BetGames.TV and Amelco? 

Brandon Walker, Amelco’s head of business development.

BW: We’re delighted to have BetGames aboard; we’ve been very impressed with their rapid development over the past few years. Their live betting games offer one of the most immersive experiences out there – and given how in-demand they are by our tier one clients, signing them was a no-brainer. 

As well as the clear business case of being able to bolster our all-round offering in terms of revenue streams, I’ve also known Richard for many years. Both of us saw this as a great opportunity to collaborate together in extending their reach across all the regulated markets where our operator partners work. 

RH: Amelco has proven its ability time and time again in attracting large tier one organisations with a world class sports betting platform. As they continue to enter new markets and look to extend their reach even further, we believe that we’ll be able to greatly boost their already fantastic catalogue with some of the industry’s best live games. 

Thanks to our team’s hard work, we’ve strived hard to ensure that our branding has become instantly recognisable across a multitude of global markets – and has no doubt proven key to earning the highly-acclaimed Rising Star in Casino Innovation at December’s SBC Awards. 

I’m confident our signature approach will prove invaluable to extending their presence across markets such as South Africa, where demand for our product is especially high. So much so, that any platform provider working there is now expected to have BetGames.TV’s products on board, as a retail and online offering there without us is now practically unheard of. 

CB: Given the current situation, do you see the cross-sell between sportsbook and live betting games as more key than ever before?

BW: It’s a great cross-sell. Players are getting more and more switched on to the live dealer proposition – especially given the recent cancellation of sporting fixtures. 

The great thing about live betting games over traditional slots is that it goes over and above in what it offers. With live interaction, you not only have a fantastic substitution for in-play action, but players also have the chance to enjoy that human element, which, when tied in with the thrill of instant gratification, makes for a very strong proposition.   

Richard Hogg, BetGames.TV’s CCO.

RH: Without a doubt – and we’ve had plenty of time to perfect our market-leading tools to make that happen. Given that BetGames.TV has been active for eight years now, we can deploy a wealth of data to hone our offering to boost operator revenue. We also communicate closely with our clients to understand how best to position our content and maximise player engagement. 

The nature of our product attracts a wide-ranging demographic that spans sports betting, casino and poker players. This is especially key as our clients can offer our product as the perfect crossover, and in turn, promise significantly lower customer acquisition costs. 

While our games intrinsically attract a lower spend, this is immediately offset by a drastic increase in playtime. In today’s world of credit card bans and financial concern, the low spend games are a win-win for the operator-regulator relationship.

CB: What markets will you be targeting together? Will the games be tailored to certain regions? 

BW: The deal will give many of our multi-territory tier one partners, including the Stars Group, GVC and Flutter, access to BetGames’ extensive portfolio of live dealer games for the first time. As part of the deal, we will be rolling out their portfolio across a host of regulated markets over the next six weeks – from LatAm to Africa and, of course, Europe. 

However, it won’t be part of a ‘one size fits all’ package. Our hard-earned reputation as the industry’s favourite tier one partner is down to the fact that we give operators choice. All markets have their own look and feel, and for us, it’s all about player preference; we’ll be segmenting our delivery accordingly based on each of their requirements with our highly modular platform. 

RH: I agree with Brandon, as a fellow global supplier, we always customise both our retail and online offerings. Along with a raft of bespoke options for Asian and African markets, we are looking at dedicated games and presenters for European clients and have attracted strong interest from the Americas. 

As a company, we will always diversify while also looking to partners for guidance where it is needed. As integration progresses, we will gladly sit down with Amelco to discuss potential collaborations and insights we can apply together to further optimise our delivery.  

CB: Given the current lockdown, will this have an effect on your delivery of BetGames.TV’s services? And if so, how are you dealing with this?  

RH: Fortunately, we as a company are mainly based in Vilnius, Lithuania – a country that had the foresight to take an early decision to lockdown when there were only about 20 cases. 

This approach has led to a relatively low number of cases and certainly none within our company. That said, we have taken every possible precaution to protect our staff. Our presenters never cross paths and they work alone.

We have provided each with the support required, both in and outside of the workplace. We also have a full disaster recovery plan in place which we hope not to use. To date, we have had no issues and are confident that this will remain the case.

CB: Do you see live betting games as having more potential than virtual sports and other sports betting alternatives? 

BW: That’s an interesting question. From our experience, we’d say that depends on where you are! 

Betting preferences around the world are as diverse as they are broad. Virtuals for example, are a huge betting market across Africa and are particularly popular in Nigeria. 

Of course, with that, comes the chance to introduce players to something new. Live betting games have fantastic prospects here and offer far more potential for engagement than RNG as players feel they are getting more bang for the buck. When it comes to Africa in particular, I certainly see live betting games having more potential than slots and the like, as it fits perfectly in line with the local betting behaviour. 

RH: Our roster of sports betting alternatives has always included virtuals, and given the current situation, virtual games and esports are becoming rapidly more relevant. However, when it comes to live betting games, we offer something truly different, and we’ve seen a significant boost in engagement since the postponement in sporting fixtures began. 

Of course, there are plenty of players who will always stick to what they know, but we offer the same thing sports can deliver, live betting on a real event, which is proving to be especially popular.