Industry Awards
WhichBingo Reveals 2024 Award Winners at 10th Anniversary of the WhichBingo Awards
WhichBingo, one of the UK’s best-known and most trusted online bingo review and affiliate sites, owned and operated by Gambling.com Group, has announced its 2024 WhichBingo Award winners at an action-packed event aboard the Sunborn Yacht Hotel in Gibraltar. The headline sponsor of the event was Pragmatic Play, a prolific provider of slot games and a powerhouse bingo platform. Other big-name sponsors included Eyecon and its parent company, Playtech.
Gala Bingo and Buzz Bingo were the big winners of the night, picking up four awards each. Popular choice awards for Gala Bingo included Best Bingo Site, Best Proprietary Bingo Site and Best Slots site for its Gala Spins game. In addition, Gala Bingo was awarded Best Marketing Campaign by an expert panel of judges. Buzz Bingo walked away with the trophies for Best Chat Team, Best Exclusive Bingo Game and Best Playtech Bingo site thanks to the player votes – and Best Livestream Entertainment from the judging panel.
There were several new features to mark the 10th anniversary of the WhichBingo Awards, including the first WhichBingo Player Panel. Designed to bring real players and their insights to industry insiders, and hosted by WhichBingo safer gambling partner Better Change, the panel was a highlight of the event. Themes included what players value most in online bingo games and a deep dive into their preferred play styles. In another first, the inaugural Better Change Positive Play Award was presented to PlayOJO in recognition of its efforts to ensure players stay safe while still having fun.
The night’s entertainment included the UK’s own Dabbers Social Bingo, famous for its annual contest to find the best comedy bingo caller. The bingo operators were the ones dabbing the bingo cards for a change, and the winners walked away with some enviable prizes.
“Congratulations to all of the winners of the 2024 WhichBingo Awards. It’s truly inspiring to see the passion and dedication of the bingo community celebrated in such a spectacular fashion. At Gambling.com Group, we value our partnerships with operators, affiliates, and industry leaders, and we are proud to be part of such an engaged and vibrant community,” Owen Watters, Vice President Commercial at Gambling.com Group, said.
WhichBingo was founded more than two decades ago, and the WhichBingo Awards remain one of the annual highlights in the UK’s online bingo industry calendar, a unique celebration that recognizes the best brands in the gaming business.
All the Award Winners in Full:
Best Bingo Site: Gala Bingo
Best Slot Game: Big Bass Amazon Xtreme (Pragmatic Play)
Best Exclusive Bingo Game: Buzz Bingo Live Bingo
Best Pragmatic Play Bingo Site: Heart Bingo
Best Dragonfish Bingo Site: 888Ladies
Best Playtech Bingo Site: Buzz Bingo
Best Proprietary Bingo Site: Gala Bingo
Best Bingo Chat Team: Buzz Bingo
Best Slots Site: Gala Spins
Judged Awards
Better Change Positive Play Award: PlayOJO
Best Customer Service: tombola
Best Marketing Campaign: Gala Bingo
Best Mobile Bingo Site: bet365 Bingo
Best Livestream Entertainment: Buzz Bingo
Industry Awards
Elympics Launches Gamecamp Arena 2024 with Grant Support from TON Foundation to Build New Web3 Games on Telegram
Leading Web3 gaming protocol, Elympics, with grant support from TON Foundation, has launched GameCamp Arena 2024 to offer budding Web3 game developers a way to tap into a massive potential audience of 900m+ monthly active users on Telegram, the world’s fastest-growing social messaging platform, through competitive games.
The six-week online GameCamp and competition opens on 29 July 2024 and runs until 8 September 2024 and will see entrants build up to 40 competitive Web3 games that are integrated with Telegram and TON blockchain, using the Elympics SDK. Over the course of the event, Elympics along with TON, will deliver online workshops and AMA sessions focused on game technology and design. The three winning games will be chosen by the GameCamp jury and will share a $15,000 grant pool with additional sponsored categories.
With Telegram set to become a major gaming hub, GameCamp Arena will be an ideal opportunity for developers to start building competitive games with Elympics quickly and easily with minimal costs and enable them to capitalise on the potential for mass adoption of Web3 via competitive games.
The GameCamp is open to game developers proficient in Unity, game designers and graphic artists. Participants can enter on their own or as part of a team of up to six people. Teams will be provided with prep materials to help create new and engaging games for the Telegram community using the Elympics SDK over the six-week camp.
Tom Kopera, COO of Elympics said: “We can already see the potential for new exciting and engaging compete-to-earn games to bring new players, developers, and fans into the Web3 gaming world via familiar channels. The social distribution power of the TON community is second to none and tapping into this audience via our Elympics SDK, which allows for Telegram integration by default, offers powerful opportunities for game developers.
“We want to make building Web3 games as easy and accessible as possible and so our GameCamp is designed to support developers in making great games using our range of tools, templates, and expert guidance to help secure mass adoption of Web3 through gaming.”
Industry Awards
IGT CEO Global Lottery Renato Ascoli Inducted into Lottery Industry Hall of Fame
International Game Technology PLC announced that Renato Ascoli, IGT CEO Global Lottery, will be inducted into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024. Ascoli will be honored later this year at an event hosted by the Public Gaming Research Institute (PGRI) in conjunction with the World Lottery Summit in Paris.
“With nearly 20 years of experience serving in high-level positions in the lottery and gaming industries, Renato Ascoli is an accomplished senior executive whose leadership has been paramount in driving new business and innovation. Renato has a keen ability to identify and realize business growth opportunities, and his contributions will benefit the lottery industry for years to come. IGT congratulates Renato on his well-deserved induction into this year’s Lottery Industry Hall of Fame,” Vince Sadusky, CEO of IGT, said.
“I am incredibly honored to be inducted into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. Working in the lottery industry with many great leaders and innovators has been an absolute privilege. The future of the lottery industry is bright, and I look forward to helping our customers propel the modernization of lottery worldwide while continuing to generate funds for philanthropic causes,” said Ascoli.
In his current role, Ascoli is responsible for global lottery and iLottery sales and operations, product and sales development, and technology and support for IGT’s 90-plus lottery customers worldwide. Since the merger of GTECH and IGT in 2015, Ascoli has successfully led both the Global Lottery and Global Gaming business units for the Company. Some of the key achievements within his tenure have been launching sports betting with the Rhode Island Lottery, partnering with the Mississippi Lottery to initiate operations, deploying lottery terminals in Walmart retail stores, and rolling out IGT’s proprietary Cash Pop draw game, which is now live in over 15 jurisdictions.
Ascoli previously served as General Manager of GTECH S.p.A. (formerly known as Lottomatica Group S.p.A. and Lottomatica S.p.A.) and President of GTECH Products and Services, where he was responsible for overseeing the design, development, and delivery of state-of-the-art platforms, products, and services. Renato had also served as Head of Italian Operations in which he was responsible for the strategic direction and operations of the Company’s Italian businesses.
During his tenure leading Lottomatica, one of the largest lotteries in the world, Ascoli sustained the launch of the Gratta e Vinci (Scratch & Win) instant ticket brand in Italy. Additionally, he was instrumental in gaining the exclusive Lotto concession in Italy with a consortium led by IGT, Lottoitalia S.r.l. The Italian Lotto, and its associated games 10eLotto and MillionDAY, which are among the most popular and successful games in Italy.
The Lottery Industry Hall of Fame was founded by PGRI in 2005 as a means of honoring those who have done the most to make the lottery industry the great success that it is today. Membership is reserved for lottery professionals who have promoted excellence and integrity throughout their careers. Each year, former inductees nominate and vote on the final recipients.
Industry Awards
IGT Named “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” by the 2024 Disability Equality Index
International Game Technology announced that it earned a top score in the 2024 Disability Equality Index and was named a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” for the second consecutive year in the US and the first time in the UK. In 2024, IGT received a score of 100 and was one of 542 corporations that utilised the Disability Equality Index to benchmark their disability inclusion efforts.
Now in its 10th year, the Disability Equality Index is the world’s most comprehensive benchmarking tool for Fortune 1000 scope companies to measure disability workplace inclusion inside their organisation and to assess performance across industry sectors. In assessing IGT, the Disability Equality Index measured culture and leadership; enterprise-wide access; employment practices including benefits, recruitment, employment, education, retention, advancement and accommodations; community engagement; supplier diversity; and responsible procurement (non-weighted).
“Earning the ‘Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion’ distinction by the Disability Equality Index reflects IGT’s commitment to creating a fair and inclusive culture where our global employees feel welcomed and can succeed in their careers. IGT strives to advance its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts for all employees, and values important benchmarking programs such as the Disability Equality Index that help us track progress, celebrate achievements and identify growth opportunities,” said Dorothy Costa, IGT Senior Vice President, People & Transformation.
“On the 10th anniversary of the Disability Equality Index, we’re extremely proud of the 542 national and international companies that are taking a proactive role in leading progress towards disability inclusion, setting a benchmark for others to follow. Their dedication to fostering inclusive workplaces not only attracts top talent but also drives innovation and creates sustainable performance in today’s global market. Together, we are creating a future where everyone can contribute and thrive,” said Jill Houghton, President and CEO of Disability:IN.
Since IGT’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was established in 2018, the Company has implemented a range of programmes, policy and systems changes and leading practices that have promoted all dimensions of diversity to make it a more attractive and inclusive employer for people with disabilities. These actions include:
- Implementing more inclusive and equitable hiring processes.
- Offering benefits to accommodate visible and invisible disabilities.
- Committing to work with and provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
- Establishing and supporting SuperAbilities at IGT, an employee-led and executive-sponsored employee impact group.
- Facilitating mandatory and elective employee training courses that help support IGT’s diversity, equity, inclusion, sustainability and anti-harassment commitments.
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