The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has opted to extend its existing contract with Intralot, an electronic monitoring systems provider.

Intralot is a global provider of state-licensed gaming and sports betting services, as well as transaction processing systems. The company is based in Athens, Greece and employs thousands of workers across 53 countries.

The DIA has contracted Intralot’s New Zealand subsidiary, to deliver electronic monitoring services and continue providing wide-ranging, accounting, auditing, and management of the country’s Class 4 gaming establishments for another three years, up to 2025.

Chris Dimitriadis, Intralot’s CEO, expressed his company’s gratitude for the opportunity to keep working with the DIA.

Intralot in Focus

Intralot operates across 42 global jurisdictions and is a leading provider of gaming solutions to operators. The company’s stated purpose is to strive to revolutionize innovation and service quality for the lottery and gaming industries. The company also assists operators in fundraising for charities and provides them with access to an advanced global network of cutting-edge technologies.

Intralot holds a Responsible Gaming Framework certification from The World Lottery Association and additional certification under the WLA Security Control Standard.

Recently, in April 2022, Intralot finalized a deal with industry major player EveryMatrix to launch a new online solution to MDJS (La Marocaine des Jeux & des Sports en Ligne). The platform went live on 6 September 6, 2022.

At the time, Ebbe Groes, the CEO of EveryMatrix, said,

“This new agreement will open the door to EveryMatrix’s expansion beyond Europe, where we have a particularly strong position. We’re committed to increasing our footprint in sports betting, especially in the WLA space, where our platform is a natural fit.”

“We’ll continue our string of investments in our portfolio to ensure Intralot and MDJS offer truly spectacular player experiences to their punters with the next step being the integration of Intralot lottery games for online sales on the MDJS website,” he added.

Play’n GO is headed back to Ancient Egypt for even more rewarding adventures in the provider’s brand new pokie, King’s Mask.

The golden mask of the iconic King Tutankhamun is featured for the first time ever in a Play’n GO game. The legendary artefact is world-famous, not only for its rarity but the legend that says anyone who touches it will gain unimaginable power and immense fortune.

Enter the Palace

You will be greeted by an opulent open-air bathing room where treasure is piled up against ornate pillars when you start the game. Sand dunes spread out into the distance under a dramatic dusk desert sky. The startlingly beautiful theme adds a glossy, modern veneer to classic imagery.

The simple 5×3 reel, 20 payline layout play host to an assortment of Egyptian symbols such as scarabs, cats and lotus flowers. Tutankhamun ‘s instantly recognizable mask is the wild symbol, and the scatter is a jewelled pyramid that kicks off a rewarding bonus round.

There are three Free Spins options available where you can pick from 15, 10, or 5 free spins, with 3x, 5x, or 10x win multipliers. You can decide your strategy and stand a chance to land the game’s maximum potential of 10 000x your stake.

Charlotte Miliziano, the Head of Games at Play’n GO commented,

“The opulence that Ancient Egypt narratives gods and pharaohs are forever popular among players as the content is so rich. But none is quite so famous as King Tut, minus Cleopatra of course. As much as we like to explore narratives and character dynamics, we also like to make classic styles of games. This dedication to variety within our portfolio is why players come back to our games time and time again. They know they’ll be something for them.”

Stakelogic’s brand new pokie is a fishing fiesta filled with amazing prize potential. Wild Wild Bass was developed in collaboration with Hurricane Games as part of the company’s Greenlogic Partner Program.

Casting Your Line

The game sports an intriguing layout with 5 reels and a 3-3-4-4-4-4 row formation. The crisp visuals depict bubble-bordered submerged reels in crystal clear water where icons like tackle boxes and life preservers act as symbols. When you launch the base game, you will have 2304 ways to win, but the lucrative Big Catch feature increases that value to 5625, giving you a welcome winning boost.

Speaking of the Big Catch, you will need two cash value-bearing bass wild symbols to appear on the same spin to activate the feature. Reels three to six will expand and give you those precious extra ways to win. While the feature is active, the bass symbol values in view will be collected, and the Insane Catch symbol, which only appears on reel six, can award you up to five Insane spins.

When you trigger Insane spins, the first two reels merge into a single reel that displays multiplier values up to 5x. On the remaining reels, only bass symbols or blank spaces can land for the duration of the feature, and the multiplier on the mega-reel will be applied to all the bass values in view. You can add more spins by landing more Insane symbols while the feature is still going.

You can also engage Wild Wild Bass’ Super Stake feature that doubles your bet while increasing your chances of triggering the game’s bonus features. Super Stake also doubles the chance of Wilds appearing in the base game, giving you a great boost to your winning chances.

The Head of Greenlogic from Stakelogic, Salvatore Campione, said,

“This is yet another great example of the incredible slots that can be created when we join forces with studios such as Hurricane Games via our Greenlogic Partner Program. Wild Wild Bass is visually striking and feature-rich, allowing players to hook in potentially massive wins with each spin. We look forward to seeing players hang up their Gone Fishing signs and for them to reel in some major prizes.”

Jump into unique and enthralling iGaming experiences this February as Microgaming, its content providers, and exclusive studios offer up another enticing selection of pokie releases that transport you across space and time.

Take to the seas with the Dashing Captain Blackjack in an action-packed treasure hunt. Adventures of Captain Blackjack by Just For The Win sets sail on 15 February and features stacked wilds, cash prizes, and free spins. Claim the top treasure of 5000x your stake with the Kraken Wheel bonus feature that you activate by collecting randomly-generated Kraken Coins. The Skull Cave free spins feature thrills with extra spins, multipliers up to 3x, and upgraded symbols.

Experience the iconic cinematic glory of the newest title in the Jurassic Park pokie series by Stormcraft Studios. Venture amongst scaly beasts from a bygone era in Jurassic Park: Gold on 22 February.  Collect tokens to trigger bonus features that include free spins and the dynamic Link&Win mechanic. Collecting is the name of the game in this 40 payline pokie is where feature chases, multipliers and jackpot prizes offer you amazing winning chances. Trigger a feature selection mode with four free spins options and the game-changing WildStorm transforms up to five reels wild on a single spin.

SpinPlay Games invites you to go wild on 8 February in Wolf Call with 1024 ways to win and the Power Range innovation that generates 2x wild multipliers on the three middle reels during the base game. Collecting wild symbols fills the Diamond Meter, which eventually activates the Diamond Jackpot feature where you match icons to claim corresponding prizes.

Do it your own way with Gameburger Studios and its new release, Hyper Strike HyperSpins on 9 February. This title offers a mechanics mash-up that generates an engrossing gameplay experience. This upgraded pokie title is enhanced with a fast-paced free spins round and multipliers, not to mention the iconic HyperSpins feature that allows you to respin individual reels to land nine Hyper Strike scatters and take home the big prize worth 2,000x your bet, or activate up to 30 free spins with a 3x multiplier.

Northern Lights Gaming’s Aztec Falls launches on 24 February, promising you a mystic journey with the Cash Fall feature and free spins enhanced with sticky wilds. The random Coin Drop bonus opens up a selection of features in the base game, including the Jackpot bonus and win multipliers.

Get your head on the game on 21 February with Perfect Strategy Blackjack by Switch Studios. This player-centric blackjack innovation includes real-time guidance on how best to plot your blackjack strategy with a slick and modern theme.

Viking Queen by GONG Gaming Technologies has a 7 February release date and girls you into a Nordic adventure with free spins, multipliers on a 25 payline, 5×3 reel layout. Land the required free spins symbols, represented by warrior shield, to move up the multiplier map for multipliers worth up to 10x.

Switch Studios is doubly dedicated to February with two releases. French Roulette launches on 7 February and is the most recent of the studio’s roulette titles, featuring a brand-new game engine, 28 February will see the release of Wheel of Winners, a classic TV gameshow-themed experience where you spin money wheels to claim spectacular prizes.

Pulse8 Studios has got money on its mind on 17 February in Bust the Mansion, a cinematically-styled pokie experience with the Link&Win mechanic and free spins where Wild Money Vault symbols appear on the third reel.

Microgaming’s content partners are also eager to make your month a thrilling one. Hacksaw Gaming’s The Bowery Boys launches on 23 February and Booming Games turns the heat up on 10 February with Flaming Chillies.

After four incident-free decades, and Auckland-based casino entertainment business has found itself falling afoul of its previously good fortune.

Las Vegas Functions ​is run by owner Debbie Williams and provides casino party entertainment across the country. The enterprise got a nasty shock recently when hundreds of dollars worth of equipment were recently stolen in Christchurch. The haul that the thieves managed to make away with included a classic 1950s Las Vegas casino roulette wheel.

The theft, which involves goods valued at around $500, occurred at a property on Middlepark Rd in Sockburn where the roulette wheel and other items including hundreds of casino chips, blackjack shoes, and a selection of casino paraphernalia were being stored in an enclosed and locked fibreglass trailer.

The criminals reportedly wheeled the trailer down the drive and then broke into it, taking all the equipment that they wanted.

Williams explained that she was “gutted” at the news of the theft as the wheel holds significant sentimental value to her.

Ian Hastings, Williams’ father and the former owner said that this unfortunate incident brought an end to 42-years of good luck.

The former Auckland police drug squad boss shared his feelings, saying,

“We’ve never had anything stolen from us. I’m more gutted for Deb who took over the business and has been faced with the Covid nightmare. It hasn’t been easy for her for the last couple of years and this doesn’t help.”

Williams added that the theft was an insult added to injury following an extremely challenging year. She revealed that in pre-pandemic times, the venue would host up to five functions a night in Auckland alone over during December, but that at the moment, it only has eight bookings for the whole month.

“I’m now at the point where I’m trying to think of ways to make the business make money that [doesn’t] involve going into enclosed places with lots of people,” she added.

Williams indicated that the history behind and sentimental value of the roulette wheel was enough that she was prepared to put up a “substantial reward” for its safe return.

With a scheduled event in Christchurch coming up for the company, Williams has found herself scrambling to put together the necessary supplies to make it happen.

A spokesperson for the police confirmed that t the authorities were aware of the incident and asked that anyone who was in the Middlepark Rd area on the day of the theft please contact the police by dialling 105 or via CrimeStoppers.

New Zealand casino operator SkyCity Entertainment Group has had a mixed bag of news to report with its flourishing iGaming business contrasting sharply with losses taken over the first half of its financial year as a result of land-based closures.

The first month of SkyCity’s 2021-22 financial year, July 2021, saw online revenue come in at just below $3 million, a 30% improvement, year-on-year.

This revenue then increased to $4.0m in August, breaking all previous records, as New Zealand returned to national lockdowns to combat the spread of Covid-19. As a result, SkyCity’s Auckland and Hamilton properties had to close, with the casino and entertainment facilities at its Queenstown venue being momentarily restricted.

Online gross revenue experienced even more growth during September, rising to over $5 million thanks to a reported 11 000 weekly active customers over the month, even though lockdown measures were eased before the end of September. October saw another return to lockdowns and a decrease in revenue to $4.1m.

All of the figures mentioned far exceed pre-pandemic levels. SkyCity’s online casino revenue only reached $500 000 in March 2021, a slow progression for a service that was launched in August 2019.

SkyCity advised that it views online casino as a vital growth sector and it estimates that the New Zealand market will generate $300 million in annual revenues at maturity. The operator added that licensed operators would be able to compete better if offshore sites were dealt with more aggressively by authorities.

The Other Side of the Coin

The operator’s online success was, however, insufficient to balance out the losses caused by lockdowns of SkyCity’s land-based operations. The firm stopped short of revealing its figures but did state that its earnings for the first half of the financial year, ended 31 December, were “materially impacted by difficult trading conditions”.

The company further noted that following the reopening of SkyCity Queenstown and Adelaide, business was slow to return to anything resembling pre-pandemic levels, partially due to imposed operational restrictions.

SkyCity’s chair, Rob Campbel, advised in October that he would be stepping down from his position sometime in early 2022. The firm has advised that it had not yet initiated the process of finding a replacement and did not share any information on when it expects to announce the next person to fill the role.

Following in the footsteps of Crown Resorts, SkyCity Entertainment Group now requires all staff and visitors to its New Zealand casinos and resorts to present proof of full vaccination.

SkyCity’ CEO, Michael Ahearne, announced the vaccine mandate at the organisations’ Annual General Meeting recently as the country nears its 90% vaccination target that will enable the government to do away with lockdowns. A new national ‘traffic light system’ will be implemented in their place, where venues can operate, but under three tiers of restrictions, green, orange and red.

“At all levels, businesses, retail and public facilities will generally be able to remain open for vaccinated people. Accordingly, our intention is that all SkyCity properties in New Zealand will operate as vaccination-only venues when the new framework comes into effect, a decision that has been made with the health and safety of our staff and customers in mind, ” Ahearne said to shareholders.

The operator of Crown Melbourne, Crown Perth and Crown Sydney Australia’s Crown Resorts, advised in September that it was implementing a “no jab, no entry” rule for customers and compulsory COVID vaccination for all employees.

SkyCity’s 2900 employees along with all customers and contractors must now be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to gain entry to its Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown sites. Whether or not the same measure will be implemented at its Adelaide property remains to be seen.

Ahearne continued his statements, saying,

“As one of the biggest entertainment venues in New Zealand and a significant employer in New Zealand, we need to take measures to help keep Kiwis safe. While we have existing safety controls in place to mitigate the risk of exposure to Covid-19, public health information and research confirm that Covid-19 vaccines will provide the best protection for our staff and customers.”

“Supporting the vaccination targets set by the Government is going to help our industry reopen, stay open and recover faster, “he concluded.

SkyCity Auckland, the operator’s flagship property, is still closed down at the moment after halting operations on 17 August due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the city.