Gaming Awards

	Meet the IGA 2011 Judges
	Andrew M Love- Executive Chairman of the Ritz Club Casino Andrew Love was appointed Deputy Chairman of The Ritz London in August 2004. He was the Chief Executive of The Ritz Club Casino since August 1998 when the Club reopened under new ownership. In June 2008 he was invited to become Executive Chairman of The Ritz Club Casino. Prior to joining The Ritz Club Casino, Andrew was the Managing Director of the casino division of Ladbroke Group PLC, responsible for all overseas and UK development, having previously sold the business to Ladbroke. Throughout his career, he has been heavily involved in the leisure industry. He has held several positions on the main board of leading casino and leisure groups including, City Clubs Limited, Leisure Investments PLC, Lebak Leisure Ltd, Suits Ltd, Coral Casinos [UK] Ltd, Mayfair Casinos Ltd and Pleasurama Ltd. Andrew is also chairman of the Judges click here for more info
	Andrew Poole As Business Development Manager for Gambling Therapy, (part of the registered charity The Gordon Moody Association.) Andrew is responsible for growing the range of services offered to both Industry and those people who may develop a problem with their gambling. Andrew has been working in the gambling field and specialising in social responsibility, compliance and player protection for more than 6 years and has been directly involved in the creation of international policy and regulation. Andrew has previously held positions as Head of Compliance and Social Responsibility at Sky Bet and as Managing Director of GamCare Trade Services.
	Calvin Ayre Industry pioneer, megalomaniac, and adrenaline junkie Calvin Ayre was the founder of the original Bodog.com online gaming enterprise, and creator of the global Bodog brand.
	Dan Stewart - Founder & Owner, PokerScout Dan Stewart is the founder and owner of online poker industry tracking service PokerScout.com. Since its inception in 2006, PokerScout has provided comprehensive, detailed data on the popularity of online poker sites and games. PokerScout provides consulting services to poker operators, financial analysts and other researchers following the online gaming markets. PokerScout's traffic figures have been cited in the published financial statements of industry leaders such as PartyGaming and Playtech, as well as in mainstream publications such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Prior to the founding of PokerScout, Mr. Stewart worked as a patent attorney, securing intellectual property for the high tech companies of California's Silicon Valley.
	David Boden - Executive Chairman Devilfishgaming PLC David Boden is a highly respected and experienced gaming and leisure executive. He began his career with Mecca Leisure in 1977 and rose to become its operations director in 1989. In 1994 he became Managing Director of Rank Amusements prior to becoming MD of Grosvenor Casinos in 1996. David rose to a Board member of Rank Group plc in 2005. He is currently a Non Executive Director of Hippodrome Casinos and Brice Media PLC.
	David Heap- Group Chief Executive TCSJohnHuxley David Heap has been involved in the gaming industry for over 15 years. Initially as Managing Director of Bell Fruit Services Ltd, who at the time, were the largest gaming machine operator in the UK Free and Tenanted Pub market. Prior to joining the gaming industry he held a number of senior managements appointments in the Commercial Industrial Waste Management industry and Commercial Laundry industry. In 2003 he was instrumental in bringing together the two largest gaming equipment supply companies to form what is now and has been at the helm as Group Chief Executive since then. In this role he has continued to expand the Group which now has 11 offices worldwide covering every major gaming jurisdiction. Under his leadership, the company continue to go from strength to strength developing new gaming innovations and working closely with specialist product partners to offer the largest and most diverse product portfolio in this sector.
	Debi Nutton - Senior Vice President Casino Operations MGM Grand Hotel and Casino Debi Nutton serves as Senior Vice President of Casino Operations at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In her position, she is responsible for all Table Games, Poker and Race & Sports Book operations. Debi began her gaming career in 1979 as one of the first female crap dealers in Las Vegas. Debi holds a degree in Nursing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Bachelor’s degree in Management from Bellevue University. In 2007, she was named “Woman of Distinction” by the National Association of Women Business Owners for her work in the gaming, hospitality and convention services industry.
	Desmond Lam Ph.D- Senior Research Fellow, School of Marketing Dr. Desmond Lam is a senior research fellow at the School of Marketing, University of South Australia. He was formerly an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Macau. Desmond holds a PhD (marketing) from the University of Western Australia and MBA from the University of Melbourne. He has written more than 50 articles on gaming-related issues, Chinese in particular. These were featured in publications like Casino Journal, Global Gaming Business, Casino Enterprise Management, and Macau Business. Throughout his career, Desmond has taught in Australia, Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore and conducted courses in casino management, marketing strategy, advanced marketing management, Internet marketing, and public relations.
	Gavin Isaacs- Executive Vice President Bally Technologises Inc Gavin Isaacs joined Bally Technologies, Inc. as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer on Sept. 1, 2006. Isaacs came to Bally after more than 7 years at Aristocrat Leisure Limited. During his tenure with Aristocrat beginning in 1999, Isaacs served in key management positions, including General Manager Global Marketing and Business Development, and Managing Director, Europe, before ascending to the position of Americas President in March 2003. During his term as Americas President, Aristocrat Americas became the largest financial contributor to the Aristocrat Group, posting record revenues, unit sales and recurring-revenues while achieving substantial margin increases. He is a graduate in Commerce and Law from the University of New South Wales and holds a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney.
	Gerhard Burda - CEO Atronic Group & Senior Vice President GTECH Gaming Solutions Gerhard Burda has been with the Atronic Group of companies since the very early days in 1993 and has since played an integral part in the rapid growth and expansion of the company. Gerhard initially started with Atronic as the company’s product manager influencing the initial development of Atronic’s 3D video platform. In 1996, Gerhard was promoted to Director of Sales and Marketing at Atronic International. Following the company’s rapid global growth Gerhard was appointed as Managing Director of Atronic International in the year 2000. In 2005 he took on the role of a Group-CEO also chairing Atronic’s Global Strategy committee. In 2008 he accepted the appointment of Senior Vice President of GTECH Gaming Solutions following the acquisition of the Atronic Group by GTECH.
	Kathi Meci Kathi is Vice President Table Games Operations at Parx Casino and previously General Manager of Casino Operations Planning for Aruze Corp.’s resort casino being developed at Manila Bay in the Philippines. Kathi has experience planning and opening five major resort casinos, including Wynn Macau, where she also led the pre- and post-opening gaming efforts as the Vice President of Casino Operations. During her 30+ years in the gaming industry, Kathi has held executive positions in various markets including the USA, both traditional and Native American, Macau and i-gaming. In addition, Kathi led her own gaming consulting company where her client list included companies in the United States, Macau and Europe.
	Mark Blandford Founder and Director of Sportingbet Plc and now a successful Venture capital investor. Born and educated in Hereford (U.K.) Mark completed a Business degree specialising in international marketing at Wolverhampton Polytechnic and worked in Industrial goods, Local radio, and food marketing prior to venturing into the Bookmaking Industry. Mark was the owner of a traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ bookmaker’s chain for over 15 years, then recognised the potential of the Internet in the mid 90’s. Mark pursued this opportunity to its fullest. In October 1998 he launched Sportingbet.com from Alderney.
	Marcus Prater - Executive Director Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM) Marcus Prater, with more than 28 years of professional communications experience, serves as Executive Director of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), a trade organization comprised of the world top gaming industry suppliers whose mission is to further the interests of its members throughout the world. Prater previously served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for Bally Technologies.
	Michael Boettcher- President Storm International Michael started his casino career as a dealer in Charlie Chester’s casino in London in 1972 and left to work at The Playboy Club in London’s Park Lane. He subsequently worked in various casinos in different countries including Iran, the Bahamas and the United States, holding various positions up to shift manager in Atlantic City before returning to London in 1988 where he eventually started the rebirth of the independent gaming school at the British Gaming Academy in Leicester Square. His inexperience in the business world at that time forced him into voluntary liquidation but the lessons learned stood him in good stead and he went on to form his own consultancy company, providing staff world-wide, opening successful turnkey casino operations in Egypt and Turkey, as well as writing and acting as a consultant on the gaming laws for several countries. By the time he arrived in Russia in early 1992, he was ready to embark on the adventure that was to become Storm International. Storm now has 5 casinos, 22 slot halls and over 5,000 employees and is rated the leader in the Russian gaming industry. Michael’s responsibilities include strategic decisions, overall management, policy & procedures, design implementation and approval, partner issues, investment control, integrity of all departments and business development.
	Paul Armitage Operations Director for Grosvenor Casinos London & Belgium Paul started in casinos 33 years ago as a dealer in Ladbrokes' casino in Middlesbrough and worked his way up to Senior Manager in Stockton within five years. Stakis by then had taken the clubs over. Paul moved on to work with Brent Walker in Southend and was then recruited to work as GM in the company that is now Grosvenor when they opened their new Bristol casino in 1989. After working as GM in Bristol, Cardiff and Luton he became Regional Director for the South West, then the South East supervising operations in both provincial and London casinos. He now works as Operations Director for Grosvenor's successful casino division team, directing the clubs in London and Belgium.
	Paul Burns- Vice President Public Affairs, Canadian Gaming Association A seasoned public affairs practitioner who brings more than 15 years’ experience in the private and public sectors to his role as Vice President of Public Affairs. A trusted political advisor, Mr. Burns most recently served as Senior Advisor to Toronto Mayor David Miller. Prior to joining the Mayor’s Office, he served as the Director of Organization for Mr. Miller’s campaign for Mayor and as National Operations Director for Peter MacKay’s successful campaign for Leader of the PC Party of Canada. As a consultant with one of Canada’s leading public affairs firm, he counselled clients on a range of public policy and procurement issues with the Government of Ontario. Mr. Burns served as Corporate Compliance Officer for RPC Gaming, a Canadian-based gaming company operating a chain of gaming establishments in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also served as Vice President of Corporate Affairs for RPC Anchor Gaming, which worked with the Government of Ontario to develop charity casinos in the province. As a policy advisor to the Ontario Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations, Mr. Burns directed government policy initiatives in the gaming sector. Prior to his work with the provincial government, Mr. Burns served as a senior political assistant to Federal Treasury Board President, Hon. James Edwards and Ontario PC Party Leader, Mike Harris.
	Paul Herzfeld- Chief Executive Officer, Casinos Austria International Paul Herzfeld has been Chief Executive Officer and Director of Casinos Austria International since 1997. In this capacity, he manages the Casinos Austria Group’s extensive international casino development, management and investment activities. Since his appointment as CEO, Casinos Austria International has continued to expand worldwide, developing new casinos and expanding its existing operations in a number of countries, including South Africa, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and, most recently, Serbia. As of March 2008, Casinos Austria International and its partners operated a total of 66 casinos in 17 countries and on board 13 cruise liners. Its parent company, Casinos Austria International, operates a further 12 casinos in Austria.
	Paulo A. Azevedo- Publisher & Founder, Macau Business Magazine Paulo A. Azevedo has been a journalist for as long as he remembers. He used to run his secondary school's newspaper. Even during his 15-month Portuguese special forces army training in the north Portugal, the African-born Portuguese could not escape editorial duties from the main headquarters newspaper. Paulo A. Azevedo has been a professional journalist for 20 years, 14 of which were as an Asian correspondent for a Lisbon political radio station and major Portuguese newspapers and magazines. Serving as a Macau analyst with RTHK, he was also a contributor to the former Asiaweek magazine. Being the former editor and owner of Macau daily newspaper “Ponto Final”, he launched the first local English-language publication in May 2004: “Macau Business” is an in-depth, 136-page, monthly magazine which has grown from 2,500 copies to a staggering 20,000 copies in just three years. In September 2005, Azevedo launched “Business Intelligence”, a sister publication in Chinese. His small media group publishes two other magazines, runs events and is now entering the hospitality field.
	Paul Ryder- Publisher, Casino International Magazine Paul has been in the gaming industry for a number of years as publisher of Casino International, one of the gaming industry's leading publications. Under his leadership, the magazine has seen an increase in readership worldwide, partly due to his forward-thinking in adopting digital publishing as a means to carry the magazine to new heights. He is well known throughout the industry and can often be seen at major functions and exhibitions worldwide.
	Phil Clegg- Editor in Chief Intergame Magazine Phil Joined the gaming industry 33 years ago as a reporter for Coin Slot, the weekly publication for the UK pay-to-play industry. He was later involved in the launch of EuroSlot, the first international magazine for the games/gaming industry, and Casino International, a monthly for the casino business. In 1997 he joined InterGame Ltd and, as editor of InterGaming, took the magazine from a bi-monthly to a monthly publication. Phil then became editor of InterGame, the company's flagship publication, later being promoted to InterGame Ltd's editor-in-chief, covering both InterGame, InterGaming and their new online gambling magazine, InterGamingi.
	Pieter Remmers- Director Assissa Consulting Pieter Remmers is a veteran in the area of responsible gaming, consultancy and training of gambling industry professionals. At present he has his own company, Assissa Consultancy Europe (since 1999). However, he has been involved in projects with the gambling industry already since 1989. Pieter started his career as the head of an outpatient clinic (part of Jellinek, the largest treatment agency on addictions in the Netherlands) and served as managing director of Jellinek Consultancy since the early ‘90’s. Pieter was involved in a number of surveys on problem gambling. Assissa Consultancy Europe works / worked on responsible gaming policies and programmes in a number of countries a.o. South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Belgium, Spain (Catalunya) and Sweden. Besides Pieter is a consultant worldwide for as well as the industry as for regulators. In 1996 he became the co-chair of the section on gambling of the International Council on Alcohol and other Addictions (ICAA). Since 1997, he has been a member of the Executive Committee and serves as administrator / conference organizer of the European Association for the Study of Gambling (EASG), the sponsor of major tri -annual conferences on gambling issues in Europe. Pieter is also a shareholder/board member of the Swedish company ACE Sweden/ Spelinstitutet and a Trustee of Gordon House / Gordon Moody Association in the UK. In 2003 he also was the initiator of G4 ( Global Gambling Guidance Group ) G4 is to set up an International Accreditation System on Responsible Gaming for the Remote and E-Gambling Industry. At present he is also very much involved in the development and carry out of online education programmes on problem gambling and responsible gaming for the gambling industry as well as online treatment modules, like a self help manual with assistance of professional (CBT /MI based) counselling.
	Sue Schneider Principal Egamingbrokerage Sue Schneider is one of the world’s leading experts on the internet gaming industry which she began monitoring in 1995. Starting as an owner of leading gaming consumer portal from ’95-‘99, she then launched River City Group, which produced the largest i-gaming events in the world as well as key industry trade publications, such as iGamingNews.com and the Internet Gambling Report. In July, ’06, River City Group was purchased by Clarion Events, one of the UK’s largest event producers and Schneider remained as CEO/Americas there until July ’08. She remains the principal of www.egamingbrokerage.com and consults on a variety of other independent projects in the industry. Schneider was a founder and served as Chairman of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), a trade association, from its inception in l996 until 2004. She is a frequent speaker at international gaming conferences and has testified to both the US Senate, the US House of Representatives as well as the National Gambling Impact Study Commission in that country.
	Sylvie Leroy- Editor & Owner Journal Des Casinos Sylvie Leroy holds a diploma in communication from the University of Paris VII. She began her career in various companies - telephony, insurance, communication and achieved to be the communication and marketing director of a website providing daily financial news featuring among the top 30 most-trafficked websites in France. In 1999, her growing interest for the casinos sector encouraged her to create her first web site for gamblers focused on the French casino market. The web site meanwhile became more and more professional and it is rapidly known as the Journal des Casinos (www.journaldescasinos.com), an online daily review dedicated to those involved in the sector.
	Vahe Baloulian- CEO Red Planet Gaming During his career in gaming Vahe Baloulian has served as the Customer Retention Controller and Director of Gaming for one of the world's largest online gaming companies (Cassava Enterprises). Recently he has turned a struggling poker network into a profitable one for a subsequent sale. Now Vahe is the CEO Red Planet Marketing. With offices in Vienna, Austria, and Las Vegas, USA, Red Planet Gaming provides uniquely flexible solutions to own and operate online cardrooms/networks and enhance the performance of existing online and land-based gaming properties.
	Vin Narayanan - Managing Editor at Casino City Vin Narayanan is the managing editor at Casino City, where he covers both the online and land-based gambling industries. Before joining Casino City, Vin covered sports, politics and elections, wars, technology , and more for USATODAY.com and CNN. As current head of the Casino City editorial team, he manages a staff of reporters covering everything from online gambling regulations in Europe and the U.S. to the World Series of Poker. Under Vin's leadership, Casino City has become one of the most well-respected sources of news and information in the gaming industry.

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