Given the pandemic context that led to thousands of job losses in the gambling industry and bankruptcy or financial problems faced by dozens or even hundreds of companies, this year, the Casino Inside Magazine no longer hold its traditional events – the Gambling Professionals Meeting and the Romanian Gaming Festival. We considered that it wouldn’t be a good idea to organize these festivals, but rather an inappropriate and disrespectful act to people. Yes, the show goes on, but not at any cost… sometimes it’s good to take a break and reflect. That’s what we did.
If, however, we had organized the event to award those who accomplished amazing things in our industry, our first thought would have been of the Romanian gambling employees! I would award you for self-sacrifice, courage and strength! You guys were fantastic on this hard this year. You have chosen to stay in this field even if the government decisions have destroyed your confidence in this activity sector and you have seen, helpless, how everything around you is collapsing like a house of cards. Yes, it is impossible to live on 950 lei per month! It’s clear to us that you are angry and frustrated, but even though lots of you have left for other sectors of the economy, many have chosen to stay connected to gambling. Certainly no other “non-essential areas” is doing better, so you probably had nowhere to go, but I am also convinced that many of you love this area of entertainment and do not want to work in another field. We admire you! You are amazing! You deserve this year’s Casino Inside Grand Award!
At the same time, we would give the Award for Resisting the harsh economic conditions during the pandemic to all operators of casino floors, sports betting and casinos in Romania, for the heroic way they managed to adapt and carry out their activity in conditions of closure and reopening of gambling sites. These conditions were set by the National Committees and Commissions for Emergency Situations throughout the country and have severely affected the activity of our industry. They deserve all our credit for how they tried and managed to keep their employees and to do anything they could to help them, to stay motivated to operate in conditions of legislative ambiguity and economic and political uncertainty, facing 3 rounds of elections during which our domain was attacked from all sides by defamatory political messages.
If we were to give some symbolic awards, offered from our heart, with a lot of love, an important award would go to Vlad Casino. In our view, this casino has excelled this year in the area of online gambling marketing. I could even say that they were the best. They have a well-defined concept, with precise addressability, clear theme and well-thought-out products. Their marketing campaigns were great: varied, well-targeted, with special and original prizes. Their online casino has grown a lot this year. Congratulations, Vlad Casino! I would give you both the Best Online Gambling Marketing Team Award and the Award for the Online Casino with the Most Significant Increase in Player Preferences!
NetBet online casino operator remains the most complete online casino platform. Even in 2020, its rich games offer and the diversity of its promotions helped this casino to preserve its reputation as a top operator, built in the recent years. Congratulations, NetBet! We really appreciate you!
Regarding the area of slot machines production, I would award the CT Gaming team for its adaptability to the new times. CT Gaming has taken the traditional gaming experience to the next level. The Bulgarian gaming equipment manufacturer has implemented systems that have allowed it to offer high-performance 4K graphics and multimedia processing to its customers. CT Gaming has let the technology speak this year, intending to give players the best possible gaming experience. Congratulations, CT Gaming! I admire your ability to reinvent yourself!
I also admire the IGT team! What they did this year in Romania is what we call respect for the Romanian player. They demonstrated, step by step, that they value our country: they opened a branch in Romania and made products focusing on the Romanian player, even if they are a big corporation! Among other things, this year IGT launched the PeakSlant32 cabinet on the Romanian market and equipped it with the USwitch™ Red multi-game package, adapted to the local market, with new fruit games and game mechanics loved by our players. Congratulations, IGT and IGT Romania! The Award for the Most Versatile and Adaptable Slot Machines on the Romanian market is yours!
When it comes to bookmakers, Get’s Bet fully deserves the award for the easiest and most enjoyable experience of opening a betting agency in a franchise regime. In addition, we would have awarded this operator also for the generous betting options that completed and diversified the initial offer of this operator, trying to attract as many customers as possible based not only on odds, but also on adjacent services. Here we can talk about withdrawals, deposits, personalized offers, promotions for various events, etc. Congratulations, Get’s Bet!
Among the special mentions in the area of betting and casino floors operation, we want to mention and, at the same time, congratulate BetOne and Las Vegas Games as two of the companies that have successfully overcome the problems caused by the health and economic crisis this year. Both companies have preserved their growth trend. After more than 1 year since its launch, BetOne has become the place where the most demanding punters have a true betting universe at their disposal, with increased odds. BetOne is also one the few bookmakers in Romania that do not charge an administration fee. We have no doubt that 2021 will be an important moment in the life of this company. As for the Las Vegas Games casino floors operator, it has continued its expansionist plans nationwide, despite the covid pandemic. Given their ambition and dedication, we are convinced that the year that will start in a few days will take the success of the Las Vegas Games team to new heights. Congratulations to both companies!
Regarding the business area related to our field, with a significant impact this year, when the slot machines have hardly been put into operation, I would award those from Atom Gaming Solutions. This company has provided well-deserved support to gambling operators and, as a related service provider, has implemented since the previous lockdown period two mechanisms designed to support the operators it collaborates with, benefits that it continues to offer. It’s a human, pro-business initiative! Congratulations! Congratulations for your thinking!
From the legislative point of view, 2020 was probably the most chaotic year. CA Luca Mihai Cătălin was the law firm that adapted very well to the various requirements from the companies, because we had technical unemployment, suspensions of activity, re-employment, re-opening of casino floors and so on. It’s hard to stay sane in this chaos. I would award the Luca law firm for their ability to advise their clients on various areas of interest, often other than the ones they were used to. Good for you!
At the same time, I would award Mr. Lawyer Professor Doctor Marius Pantea, who offered specific, coherent and well-intentioned opinions in the pages of our magazine, in the year of 2020! There’s something to be a man of honor today and Professor Pantea offered a lesson in honesty and professionalism. I got to know him very well, and I would take him as a lawyer without hesitation to defend me or to represent us. We love you, Professor!
We would like to thank Loredana Vlădăreanu for her valuable advice given to employees and employers in our field; they helped us a lot. We also thank Leliana Pârvulescu for the very interesting and useful analyzes about the psychological impact of the Sars-Cov-2 pandemic on gambling employees, but also on those who want to have fun in a gambling hall or a casino and now they can’t do this anymore.
We would like to point out and praise the efforts of several companies to complete their land based services with the online ones, as is Elite Slots, that has successfully done this. Other companies have made efforts to improve the quality of their services and customer service, such as Stanleybet, that has also stood out in terms of increasing adaptability to pandemic conditions, when the offline bookmakers had to practically move in the online environment, during the closure of land based activities. Furthermore, I especially appreciated the work of a local casino floors operator such as Parol Games. They were one of the pleasant surprises of 2020, having a bold and imaginative approach, the Parol team has created a pleasant gaming experience for their players, even in the midst of a pandemic.
Although it could not be performed as in previous years, but at a sufficiently active level, I appreciated the communication of professional associations in the field, especially Romslot and Romanian Bookmakers.
We would also like to give a special award to the only non-stop online psychological counseling service in Europe, dedicated to people with gambling addiction. This program run with the help of the Responsible Gaming Association’s psychologists offer a real help for all those who felt the loss of a means of fun, due to the closure of the activities of traditional gambling operators that happened twice this year.
We know that the Casino Inside Awards for this year are not made of “crystal of the highest quality”, but please accept them as we offer them, in the form of a few simple, sincere words, said from the heart. All those mentioned here and others that I have not mentioned, but we have in our minds and thoughts, we want you to know that we admire and really appreciate you! You are the ones who outdone themselves this year, reinvented themselves, used all their energy to find a way out of this absurd situation and chose to stay here in the gambling industry, when all the things around you were sending you the message: leave!, but you didn’t, you chose to put the story forward. I bow full of admiration and gratitude!Anul acesta Revista Casino Inside nu a mai organizat tradiționalele sale evenimente – ReUniunea Profesioniștilor din Gambling și Sărbătoarea Gamingului din România – pentru că am considerat că în contextul în care mii de oameni din industria noastră au rămas pe drumuri, zeci poate sute de firme au dat faliment sau sunt cu un picior în prăpastie, noi să facem evenimente. Ni s-a părut deplasat, lipsit de respect pentru oameni. Da, spectacolul merge mai departe, dar nu cu orice preț…câteodată e bine să faci o pauză și să reflectezi, asta am făcut noi.
