Groove launches game-changing Instant Tournaments Tool

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AGBrief Editorial

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March 10, 2026

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Groove launches game-changing Instant Tournaments Tool

Groove has unleashed its most powerful engagement weapon yet with the Instant Tournaments Tool, enabling operators to conceptualise, configure, and launch high‑stakes tournaments from the Groove Command back office in minutes—no developers, no delays, just instant competitive adrenaline.

This game-changing innovation allows operators to conceptualise, configure, and launch high-stakes tournaments directly from Groove Command’s back-office in less time than it takes to brew a pot of coffee, no developers required, no waiting periods, just pure competitive adrenaline at the speed of now.

The development team, led by Product Development Head Shay Kababie, watched with satisfaction as the first live test unfolded. A seasoned casino operator, initially skeptical, created a $10,000 Blackjack Blitz with just a few clicks. “This changes everything,” the operator remarked, watching leaderboards light up in real-time.

This latest innovation in the Groove Command platform is already sending shockwaves through the iGaming sector, with beta testers reporting dramatic spikes in player engagement and revenue.

“This isn’t just an upgrade, it’s a fundamental shift in how operators compete,” said Rachel Tourgeman, Head of Partnerships at Groove. “Our partners have been begging for a solution that keeps pace with player demand. Now they can create high-stakes tournaments faster than most teams can schedule a meeting. We’re seeing operators launch tournaments around live sports events, viral trends, even competitor outages, all in real time.”

Operators can now respond to market trends with the agility of day traders, spotting an opportunity in the morning and capitalising on it by afternoon.

This innovation slots seamlessly into the Groove Command ecosystem, the industry’s most powerful back-office platform. Here, tournament creation becomes just one weapon in a fully stocked arsenal. Operators maintain complete command over their entire operation, from granular game management and real-time financial analytics to compliance safeguards and now, instant competitive experiences that keep players glued to their screens.

The implications are profound. Where competitors might spend days or weeks implementing tournaments, Groove-powered operators can test, iterate, and optimise multiple tournament formats in a single afternoon.

“Speed has become the ultimate competitive advantage in iGaming,” explained Kababie. “We’re not just giving operators tools, we’re giving them the ability to outmanoeuvre competitors at a strategic level. The team that can launch a perfect tournament when a trending slot drops, or capitalise on a major sporting event in real-time, that’s the team that wins.”

Looking ahead, Groove’s roadmap promises even more disruptive innovations, including AI-driven tournament suggestions and automated optimisation algorithms. But for now, the message to the industry is clear: the tournament landscape has changed forever, and operators who hesitate will find themselves hopelessly outpaced.

Yahale Meltzer, Co-Founder and CEO of Groove, dwells on the strategic advantage: “For years, operators have been trapped in a cycle of slow, expensive tournament development. We’ve broken that cycle. Now, when an operator sees Messi score a hat-trick or Drake tweet about a new slot, they can capitalise immediately. That agility is worth millions in today’s market.”

Integrated seamlessly into the Groove Command platform, the Instant Tournaments Tool joins an arsenal of operator-focused innovations, including real-time analytics, automated compliance checks, and data-driven game recommendations. The system’s intuitive interface allows operators to set custom rules, prize structures, and eligibility requirements with simple dropdown menus, no coding knowledge required.

Looking ahead, Groove has already teased upcoming features, including AI-powered tournament optimisation and cross-operator mega-events. But Meltzer notes, “The real revolution is happening right now, in the hands of operators who understand that speed is the new ultimate competitive advantage.”

“Casino regulatory policy is systematically wrong”: redefining casinos’ economic purpose

Frank Schuengel

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March 10, 2026

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“Casino regulatory policy is systematically wrong”: redefining casinos’ economic purpose

Economist Andrew Russel challenges the oversimplified economic view of casinos as “polluting factories”, highlighting their utilitarian and transactional functions to redefine the economic framework they should live in.

Speaking at the Regulating the Game 2026 conference in Sydney, Russell argued that replacing the “casinos as polluting factories” analogy with a framework rooted in New Institutional Economics (NIE) is the only way to modernize a regulatory landscape that currently serves government interests far more than the public or the industry.

The traditional factory model rests on the idea of mass production and economies of scale. Factories exist to lower production costs. If casinos were truly “gambling factories”, Russell points out, several daily operational realities would make no sense.

“Factories are utilitarian”, Russell noted, pointing to the opulence of properties like Crown Sydney or the Bellagio. “They [factories] don’t have architectural thrills. They don’t hire superstar architects to design assembly lines.” On top of that, if the goal were simply low-cost production, the use of casino chips – which add significant labor and procurement costs – would be discarded in favor of physical cash.

The persistent coexistence of casinos alongside social gambling (the “poker night with the boys”) also defies factory logic. If casinos were the ultimate low-cost production technology for gambling, the significantly cheaper social model should have been driven out of the market long ago. So, if it’s not a factory, what is it? Russell proposes a shift in perspective: the casino is not a producer of a product, but a governance structure for a complex set of contracts.

What are casinos?

“The substance of casino gambling is contracting,” Russell explained. “When you play a hand of baccarat, you are executing a sequence of financial transactions with extremely high policing and enforcement costs.” Because it is relatively easy to cheat at table games and incredibly difficult to prove that cheating in a court of law, the casino exists as an institutional environment specifically designed to lower these “transaction costs.”

Philippines, POGO, casino, blackjack, casino, table games

From this NIE perspective, everything from the vertical integration of security staff to the use of chips becomes an efficient economic choice. Chips, for instance, are relationship-specific assets. They are a financial technology that creates a closed, secure environment where the risk of theft or fraud – for both the player and the house – is minimized. Even the famous “casino spectacle” – the fountains, the marble, and the light shows – serves a hard economic purpose in Russell’s model: it acts as a costly signal of cash reserves.

In an environment where a player is turning their non-specific cash into relationship-specific casino chips, they face the risk of “unjust expropriation” – the house refusing to pay out. Opulence serves the same function today that grand marble pillars once served for banks: it is a visual demonstration of deep liquidity.

“Spectacle isn’t just advertising. It’s a form of consumer protection. It communicates to the high-roller that the risk of the house being unable or unwilling to honor their chips is extremely low.”

The danger of the “polluting factory” model is that it leads directly to punitive “Pigouvian” taxes: taxes intended to internalize the cost of the “pollution” (harmful gambling). However, as Russell pointed out, pathological gamblers are largely price-insensitive; high taxes on gambling revenue do little to curb harm while significantly deterring recreational, “healthy” players.

By reframing the casino as an institutional solution to legitimate economic problems (transaction and enforcement costs), Russell argues we can move away from “headline-driven” policy and toward regulation that actually works.

“Casino regulatory policy is systematically wrong because the popular understanding of the casino’s economic function is wrong.”
_{Andrew Russel}

“Efficiency-oriented reform depends on replacing the polluting factory model. We need to acknowledge that the casino enables mutually beneficial exchanges that simply wouldn’t be possible in any other environment.”

“Brightstar Lottery’s achievement of receiving an S&P Global CSA score of 56 for the first time as a pure play lottery company showcases our continuous commitment to leading the lottery industry in global sustainability,” said Wendy Montgomery, Brightstar SVP, Branding, Communications and Sustainability.

“We ensure sustainable practices are woven into the fabric of our corporate identity through strategic sustainability efforts focused on our most important stakeholders. We are proud to be included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook for 2026 and will continue our efforts to build a sustainable future for our people and the planet,” she added.

Since 1999, the CSA and the collaboration with Dow Jones Indices (now S&P Dow Jones Indices) have been used to create the foremost global sustainability benchmark. The CSA applies a best-in-class approach, meaning no industries are excluded from the assessment, and the CSA compares companies across 61 industries. Companies then receive scores ranging from 0-100 for approximately 20 financially relevant sustainability criteria across economic, environmental and social dimensions.

At the Regulating the Game 2026 conference in Sydney, the discussion took an abruptly technical – and legally contentious – turn as Ian Hughes, Chief Revenue Officer for Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) addressed the massive disruptive power of blockchain-backed prediction markets and the existential threat they pose to traditional, state-based wagering models.

Hughes focused on the intersection of federal law, commodities trading, and the increasingly blurred line between a financial contract and a simple bet on the Super Bowl. The executive opened with a provocative quote from former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck.” In the world of wagering, the “duck” is the traditional bet. But in the world of prediction markets, the duck has been “rebadged” as a binary swap.

The core of the disruption lies in a 2024 US legal victory by the platform Kalshi against the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The court ruled that election-based contracts – previously banned as “gaming” – were, in fact, legal financial derivatives. Because these platforms are regulated at the federal level as derivatives exchanges, they effectively bypass the state-level gambling laws that underpin the entire US wagering industry.

How big is the loophole?

“What we’re seeing is a ‘loophole’ that establishes a national market,” Hughes explained. “While sports betting is legal in only about 30 states, these prediction markets can theoretically operate in all 50 because they aren’t ‘gambling’ in the eyes of federal law: they’re swaps.” In a lighter but telling moment, Hughes walked the audience through the bizarre history of the US Commodity Exchange Act. Trading futures on onions has been a federal offense since 1958, and movie ticket box-office “contracts” were added to the ban list more recently to protect Hollywood.

“The question now,” Hughes posed, “is will sports wagering be next?”

If the courts continue to side with platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket, in the future betting on a touchdown could be regulated by financial watchdogs rather than gaming commissions. For the delegates in Sydney, the immediate question was: can this happen here? Hughes noted that while the US market is in a state of hyper-growth (with the prediction market volume estimated at over $40 billion in 2025), Australia remains a fortress of prohibition – for now.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has extended its ban on binary options for retail clients until October 1st, 2031. In the eyes of local regulators, these “yes/no” bets are high-risk financial products that resulted in hundreds of millions in losses before the ban. “ASIC and ACMA (the communications and media regulator) have a very clear line: if it has an Australian customer link, it’s illegal gambling or a prohibited financial product,” Hughes said. “But the popularity of these markets globally is creating a ‘pundit’s demand’ that will keep regulators on their toes. These platforms move faster than polls and faster than traditional bookies.”

Hughes highlighted the Super Bowl as the “perfect platform” for this new era. In 2025, novelty bets – often involving entertainment elements like the halftime show – accounted for 15 percent of all Super Bowl wagering. The risk, according to Hughes, is that these “financial contracts” aren’t subject to the same integrity monitoring as traditional sports betting.

The executive pointed to recent investigations into “insider trading” on prediction platforms as a major red flag. “If someone knows exactly what song a performer will open with, that’s not a wager – it’s a rigged financial instrument. Traditional state regulators aren’t currently equipped to police that level of market manipulation.”

ACE System was founded on a simple principle: alignment. Rather than operating as a volume-focused infrastructure provider, ACE works on a collaborative “you grow, we grow” philosophy — partnering with ambitious operators and structuring complementary, commercial models that reward long-term performance and sustainable scaling.

William Lovqvist, Chief Commercial Officer of ACE System, commented: “We built ACE to challenge the traditional platform model. Operators today need more than technology — they need alignment. QTech shares that mindset: speed, flexibility and real commercial depth. This partnership strengthens our ability to deliver a competitive and scalable ecosystem designed for operators who are serious about growth.”

Philip Doftvik, CEO of QTech Games, added: “ACE System’s commercially aligned and boutique-focused strategy is a compelling addition to the platform landscape. We are pleased to support their growth with our aggregation technology and extensive global content network.”

As ACE System continues to expand its strategic partner network, the company remains focused on building a premium, performance-led platform environment designed for operators seeking flexibility, efficiency and long-term scalability.

The live-dealer segment continues to experience global growth, and Yeebet Live’s and REBEL Live’s immersive digital table games exemplify this trend. Their combined portfolio includes classics such as Baccarat, Blackjack, Roulette, Dragon Tiger, and Sic Bo, alongside regionally inspired games including Hi-Lo, Andar Bahar, and Teen Patti.

Yeebet Live and REBEL Live have partnered with dozens of live studios worldwide, consolidating their live-casino offerings into a single integration and a unified user interface. This allows players to seamlessly switch between studios without having to learn a new interface, enhancing engagement and providing a smooth, continuous live gaming experience.

Through this partnership, QTech Games strengthens its platform offering with a progressive live-casino suite tailored to the diverse tastes of its partners’ players. QTech’s platform, already renowned for its broad gaming portfolio, native mobile apps, robust reporting and marketing tools, and 24/7 local-language support, now integrates the dynamic live offerings of Yeebet Live and REBEL Live.

This collaboration further enhances Yeebet Live’s and REBEL Live’s global reach, unlocking new markets, particularly in Africa, Latin America, and other emerging regions.

Philip Doftvik, CEO of QTech Games, said: “Yeebet Live and REBEL Live are trailblazing providers, recognised for delivering immersive live-casino experiences. Their games, ranging from global classics to culturally inspired titles, now reach a broader audience through QTech Games’ agile platform, which offers the fastest integration in the market. By consolidating multiple live studios into a single interface, they also ensure that players enjoy a seamless experience, switching between games and studios without interruption.”

Kathryn, CEO of Yeebet Live, added: “We’re excited to see Yeebet Live and REBEL Live integrated into QTech Games’ expansive platform. Our mission has always been to deliver authentic, engaging live-player experiences, and through QTech, our games can now reach new audiences across emerging markets. By unifying multiple live studios under a single interface, we provide players with a smooth, continuous experience while expanding our global footprint beyond Asia.”

BetGames, a class-leading live dealer and fixed-odds betting games provider, has unveiled the findings from its research project in which human presenters were replaced with AI replicas, where fewer than 30% of players noticed the hosts were AI-generated, and there were no significant deviations in key performance metrics.

The AI avatars, designed as digital clones of real presenters, were introduced covertly on one of BetGames’ live game shows and trialled across several days to assess their viability as alternatives to human hosts.

In addition to more than two-thirds of users failing to notice the shift, no statistical anomalies were reported in metrics such as session length, stake size, and number of bets placed.

BetGames noted a lack of both positive and negative movement, suggesting that, while AI avatars can technically replicate the role of live presenters, they currently deliver no measurable advantage, meaning there is not yet a strong enough business case to roll out the technology at scale.

Cost, benefits, and challenges

While cost-efficiency is often cited as a primary driver of AI adoption, the supplier reported no substantial financial upside of AI presenters, with the generation and running of an avatar on a 24/7 basis remaining resource-intensive.

Another barrier stunting the widespread implementation of AI hosts is the challenge of engineering realistic text-to-speech. As advancing technology further blurs the lines between what is real and what is AI, small imperfections in speech become increasingly noticeable.

The current constraints include latency challenges, lip synchronisation delays, and real-time translation inaccuracies, all critical components which must be addressed before the technology can be implemented across products.

BetGames continues to lead the way in AI exploration under the leadership of CEO Andreas Koeberl, who is also the co-founder of Autonomous Minds, the developer of AI analyst Milo. The initiative reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to driving meaningful change and future-proofing the iGaming industry.

Commenting on the research findings, Andreas Koeberl, CEO at BetGames, said: “AI has been building up a head of steam, but its implications in the live casino space remain largely untested. When it comes to AI presenters, we built it, it worked, and nobody cared. That raises the question of what we are actually working toward.

The technology didn’t have a positive or negative effect on the player experience or product margins, and the cost of running an AI avatar 24/7 bears no significant advantage over employing human presenters.”

“So, rather than trying to replace humans and simulating what already exists, focus should turn towards what AI can make possible that wasn’t before. That’s where the real value lies.”
_{Andreas Koeberl}

In the investment memo, Kiang noted that SJM’s fourth-quarter 2025 adjusted EBITDA fell 32 percent year-on-year to HK$671 million ($86 million), coming in below both CLSA’s forecast and market consensus. The weaker result was attributed to a combination of factors, including the closure of satellite casinos, higher reinvestment in players, costs linked to the acquisition of the L’Arc property, and one-off expenses related to Macau’s hosting of the 15th National Games.

CLSA noted that spending tied to preparations for the National Games totaled about HK$40 million ($5.1 million) in the quarter, adding to operating costs during the period.

The brokerage said satellite casino closures during the second half of 2025 were a major factor behind a decline in SJM’s revenue market share. CLSA estimates the operator’s share fell by about 3.1 percentage points year-on-year to around 10.5 percent in the fourth quarter as some players shifted to competing properties.

Profitability also deteriorated; SJM reported a loss attributable to shareholders of HK$256 million ($32.8 million) for the fourth quarter, reversing profits recorded in the previous quarter and the same period a year earlier. The EBITDA margin contracted by about 3 percentage points year-on-year to 10.3 percent.

The company also did not declare a final dividend, due to continued high leverage following its acquisition of the L’Arc Hotel property in late 2025. CLSA indicated that reducing debt will likely remain a priority, meaning dividend payments may not resume soon.

Kiang added that SJM faces stronger structural headwinds than some rivals amid increasingly aggressive spending by competitors, such as Sands China, to attract overlapping customer segments.

Despite the near-term challenges, CLSA maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on SJM, noting the stock is trading at a discount to the sector on valuation metrics and that the recent pressures could create an easier base for improvement ahead.

Cambodia Cabinet to review draft anti-scam law this week: report

Cambodia

Viviana Chan

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March 10, 2026

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Cambodia Cabinet to review draft anti-scam law this week: report

Cambodia’s Cabinet is set to review a draft anti-telecom and online fraud law this week that could impose legal liability on property owners who rent premises to scam syndicates and individuals involved in recruiting workers for telecom fraud operations, according to local media outlet The Cambodia China Times.

Prime Minister Hun Manet is expected to chair a full Cabinet meeting this Friday, March 13th, during which ministers will examine the draft Anti-Telecommunications and Online Fraud Law as part of the government’s efforts to strengthen enforcement against telecom fraud.

Hun Manet said earlier this month that the government is accelerating the drafting process in order to push the legislation through and bring it into force as soon as possible.

Under the proposed measures, property owners would not be able to evade responsibility by claiming they were unaware that their premises were being used for illegal activities.

Cambodia’s government has set a target of eliminating telecom fraud activities nationwide by the end of April. Hun Manet warned that some individuals may still be waiting to see whether authorities will fully enforce the crackdown. The top official stressed that the government remains determined to dismantle telecom scam operations and prevent Cambodia from being used as a base for such activities.

Hun Manet also described telecom fraud as part of a “black economy” that harms Cambodia’s international reputation and undermines legitimate economic development, calling on society to work together to eradicate the problem.

Japan sets May–November 2027 window for next round of IR applications

Japan

Viviana Chan

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March 10, 2026

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Japan sets May–November 2027 window for next round of IR applications

Japan’s government has confirmed that local authorities will be able to submit applications for integrated resort (IR) developments between May 6th, 2027, and November 5th, 2027, opening the next phase of the country’s casino resort licensing process.

The decision was approved by the Cabinet on March 10th through an amendment to a Cabinet Order under the IR Implementation Act, according to an announcement by the Japan Tourism Agency. The revised order will take effect on March 13th.

Under Japan’s IR framework, prefectures or ordinance-designated cities seeking to host an integrated resort must jointly prepare a district development plan with a private-sector partner and submit it to the national government for approval by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The government said the amendment was introduced in order to ‘newly accept applications for IR district development plans’ from local governments.

Japan’s IR legislation allows for up to three casino-integrated resorts nationwide. So far, only one project — the Osaka IR planned for Yumeshima island and led by MGM Resorts International and Orix Corp — has received formal approval. The MGM Osaka project is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in 2030.

The new application window is expected to give other regions an opportunity to re-enter the IR race. Potential candidate areas previously linked to IR development include Nagasaki and Wakayama, although the latter withdrew its bid in 2022 after failing to secure sufficient financing support.

Other locations that have been discussed in the past as possible IR destinations include the Tokyo Bay area and Hokkaido, though no formal plans have yet been confirmed.

The Aichi prefecture has also reportedly allocated some $1.75 million in this year’s budget for an IR-linked tourism feasibility study.

With the national cap set at three IR licenses, up to two additional projects could still be approved in future rounds.

Groove launches game-changing Instant Tournaments Tool

Groove has unleashed its most powerful engagement weapon yet with the Instant Tournaments Tool, enabling operators to conceptualise, configure, and launch high‑stakes tournaments from the Groove Command back office in minutes—no developers, no delays, just instant competitive adrenaline.