Right to the Source is back after a break for G2E and it’s diving into all the week’s past controversies, whether that’s NBA betting scandals or a set-to between Evolution and Playtech.
https://episodes.castos.com/601c7269d94d91-01064824/2174604/c1e-pj4q8u1dwmqf29z96-pkvvzrdqip11-w5sm7b.mp3
Ed Birkin and Robin Harrison kick off this week’s episode discussing the NBA betting scandal. Current and former players are under indictment after an NBA-FBI investigation uncovered potential integrity breaches and even Mafia-run poker games. Was it simply greed driving players to get involved? Or is there more to this whole scandal?
And does the industry need this sort of headache?
Evolution, Playtech and the unregulated market omertà
Next up is the Black Cube report, commissioned by Playtech and looking into Evolution’s business practices. Both sides are claiming some degree of vindication, but how does anyone come out of this looking good?
This ultimately puts a lot more focus on suppliers and where they operate. There has been a lot of talk across the industry over whether regulated markets are simply too difficult for operators. Whether that’s right or wrong, does this suggest that legal gambling is being squeezed too tightly?
This naturally leads into a slightly meandering parallel with non-alcoholic beer, because it wouldn’t be Right to the Source without a few diversions.