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NOVEMBER 2026 • Vol. 25 • No. 11 • $10 Global Gaming Business Magazine SOCIAL CASINO SCRUTINY KIOSK TECHNOLOGY ATLANTIC CITY MAYOR MARTY SMALL SR. How Konami Gaming is changing the system game THE TOPS IN INNOVATION GGB Gaming & Technology Awards Youth at the Helm EMERGING LEADERS OF GAMING 40 UNDER 40 CLASS OF 2027 EDGENOVEMBER 2026 www.ggbmagazine.com 3 36 Best in Tech The 26th annual GGB Gaming & Technology Awards highlight the greatest innovations from the supplier sector. By Patrick Roberts 42 The Evolution of Kiosks Technological advances in casino kiosks have transformed them from single-transaction devices into multi- pronged marketing tools. By Joseph Bills Global Gaming Business Magazine CONTENTS november COLUMNS 10AGA Prediction Markets: Backdoor Sports Gambling Tres York 12Fantini’s Finance Risky Business Frank Fantini 39Global Gaming Women Take a Bow Dyani Marvel 48NCLGS Timeless Principles of Legal Gaming Michael Finn DEPARTMENTS 4The Agenda 6By the Numbers 85 Questions 13AGEM Update 38 Cutting Edge 40New Game Review 46Frankly Speaking 50Goods & Services 53People 54Casino Communications With Marty Small Sr., Mayor, Atlantic City, New Jersey FEATURES Vol. 25 • No. 11 20 COVER STORY 16 Regulating Social Casinos Social casinos are coming under increasing legal and regulatory scrutiny for their use of sweepstakes rules to offer casino games. By Barry Benjamin and Melissa Landau Steinman 24 Young Leaders The 2027 Class of Emerging Leaders of Gaming 40 Under 40 celebrates the young professionals who will impact the industry in the years to come. Ten profiles of notable leaders under the age of 40 set the stage for Emerging Leaders profiles throughout the coming year. By Kevin Dennis, Kyle Goldsmith, Jack Goodin, Chris Irwin, Jess Marquez and Bill Sokolic Konami’s System Strength Konami Gaming’s SYNKROS casino management system is a model of flexibility, scalability, and innovation. By Frank Legato On the Cover: Konami Gaming SVP & Chief Systems Product Officer om Soukup, President and Chief Operating Officer om Jingoli, and VP of System Sales Randy Caron4 Global Gaming Business NOVEMBER 2026 I ’ve never watched a reality show until now. This one’s about casinos, and it’s doing much to break down archaic myths surrounding our industry. It may seem strange to those of us who have lived in this industry for decades, but popular culture reveals there are still many who casually associate the casino industry with its mobbed-up past. Most of us in the industry know that the mob’s days of running casinos essentially ended with the Stardust skimming scandal of 1983 and subsequent prosecutions. Corporations took over the big Strip casinos after that. The few remaining privately owned casinos devote their attention to customer service and giving a fair gamble to their repeat customers. Yet, we still see the old mob casino stereotypes crop up in scripted TV dramas. In Tulsa King, starring Sylvester Stallone as a mob boss exiled to Tulsa, Oklahoma (now in its fourth season), one of the main “criminal activities” the mob boss begins is opening and operating a casino, with an Oklahoma Native American tribe serving as the paper owner of an operation that’s really run by the mob. It’s a story line right out of the 1950s. In another recent show, Ozark (2017-2022), the main character enlists the mob to help him open a casino in Louisiana to launder cartel drug money. There are other examples, but suffice it to say a large portion of the population doesn’t bat an eye when casinos are portrayed as mob operations. Thankfully, it’s taken a reality show to finally present the true version of how a modern casino operates. In September, the Discovery Channel operations at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. We meet marketing executive Tiffany Sales as she prepares for a month-long stay of her top customer, putting all the finishing touches to his multi-level suite, only to be told the next day that her guest will not be returning to the Golden Nugget, ever. He wasn’t coming, and neither was the bonus she expected from hosting four months of million- dollar play. The rest of the episode follows Sales as she seeks out new and uncarded hot players to fill the gap. She succeeds, largely because it’s convention season, with three trade shows going on that month—to hosts, these are gold mines of affluent players who wager big. (“We’re packed with contractors, morticians and bug people,” says O’Keefe. “And bug people really like to gamble!”) There’s also a view of marketing strategy for big players at the tables. In one segment, a gambler who was $100,000 ahead in his session was cutting his session short because his wife was bored. Marketing executives approved $5,000 to give her a shopping spree. She was ecstatic, and the casino won its money back and more. to security and surveillance, as revealed in a visit to the surveillance room, where video records Security officers—including Jim Bishop, a bulky army veteran who also is a paramedic—not only break up fights but deal with larger threats that bring Las Vegas police in, plus a thousand smaller jobs. In one episode, he’s asked to help a customer with a leaky colostomy bag. He now keeps special medical tape on his belt, just for that. In the very first episode, O’Keefe’s team sets the tone for the series by calming a near-crisis in a jammed registration area. After personal attention from the Nugget team, customers ended up happy and in their hotel rooms. It’s the first example of how O’Keefe’s staff handles every situation with professionalism, ingenuity and grace. And not a mobster in sight. Casino Reality Vol. 25 • No. 11 • NOVEMBER 2026 Frank Legato, Editor-in-Chief flegato@ggbmagazine.com Robin Harrison, Publisher robin.harrison-millan@worldgamingbusiness.com Marjorie Preston, Managing Editor mpreston@ggbmagazine.com Monica Cooley, Art Director mcooley@ggbmagazine.com Terri Brady, Sales & Marketing Director tbrady@ggbmagazine.com Columnists Tres York • Frank Fantini Michael Finn • Dyani Marvel Contributing Editors Barry Benjamin • Joseph Bills • Kevin Dennis Kyle Goldsmith • Jack Goodin • Chris Irwin Jess Marquez • Patrick Roberts • Bill Sokolic Melissa Landau Steinman _____ EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Rino Armeni, President, Armeni Enterprises • Dike Bacon, Principal/Partner, HBG Design • Lauren Bates, President, Global Gaming Women • Mark A. Birtha, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Hard Rock International • Brendan Bussmann, Principal, BGlobal Advisors • Alex Dixon, Senior Advisor, Board of Directors, Resorts World Las Vegas • Daron Dorsey, President and CEO, Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers • Sally Gainsbury, Director at Gambling Treatment & Research Clinic & Professor of Psychology, University of Sydney • Stephen Martino, Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer, MGM Resorts International • Bill Miller, President and CEO, American Gaming Association • Walt Power, CEO, Grand Ho Tram • Rob Russell, Senior Gaming Analyst, Regulatory Management Counselors PC • James Siva, Chairman, California Nations Indian Gaming Association/ Vice Chairman, Morongo Band of Mission Indians • Michael Soll, President, International Center for Responsible Gaming • Kresimir Spajic, CEO, Allwyn Digital • Katherine Spilde, Executive Director, Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming, San Diego State University —————— GGB Magazine 702-248-1565 • www.ggbmagazine.com The views and opinions expressed by the writers and columnists of GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS are not necessarily the views of the publisher or editor. Copyright 2026 Clarion Digital Media LLC GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS is published monthly by Clarion Gaming International, LLC. Printed in Nevada, USA. Email: subscriptions@ggbmagazine.com Official Publication BY FRANK LEGATO, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF THE AGENDA6 Global Gaming Business NOVEMBER 2026 B razil opened its licensed online betting market in January 2025 and in the first year posted about BRL$37 billion (US$2.37 billion) in gross gaming revenue. The top three providers were Betano, Bet365 and Superbet. According to figures compiled by Ontario-based Quantumrun Foresight, during that period an estimated 25.2 million Brazilians placed at least one bet. Men participated at more than twice the rate of women: 68.3 percent versus 31.7 percent. Bettors 31 to 40 were the leading demographic by age, accounting for 28.6 percent of the whole, followed by bettors 18 to 24 (22.7 percent) and 25 to 30 (also 22.7 percent). They were followed by those aged 41 to 50 (16.7 percent). Gamblers 61 and up comprised 2.7 percent of the total. Per the Brazil Ministry of Finance, in the first 12 months of BY THE NUMBERS SNAPSHOT: BRAZIL iGAMING, YEAR 1 R esearch posted in September by Datawallet shows that prediction markets rank among 2026’s fastest- growing financial sectors. Kalshi and Polymarket, which posted combined revenue of $5 billion in September 2025, catapulted to more than $50 billion by July 2026, before slipping to $45.33 billion in August. By contrast, the total amount of money wagered through legal U.S. sportsbooks last year was around $14 billion per month. Meanwhile, Kalshi has overtaken Polymarket as the market leader, accounting for about 82 percent of monthly turnover, mostly driven by sports contracts. The Pew Research Center reports that since mid-2024, sports has been responsible for 80 percent of Kalshi’s volume and 39 percent of Polymarket’s. Global sports mania was especially evident during this summer’s FIFA World Cup, when the tournament- winner market alone drew more than $3 billion in volume. PREDICTION MARKET STATS 2026 regulated online betting, 79 legal operators paid BRL$2.5 billion in license fees and approximately BRL$9.95 billion in federal taxes. The government collected BRL7.284 billion in tax revenue from sports betting platforms in H1 2026—up 83 percent year on year. SPORTS RULE PREDICTION MARKETS BRAZIL LICENSED-MARKET BETTORS BY AGE BAND, 2025 (% OF 25.2M)8 Global Gaming Business NOVEMBER 2026 T here are few figures in the gaming industry as knowledgeable and far-flung as Brendan Bussmann, managing partner of B Global Advisors. From the cornfields of Nebraska to the bright lights of Las Vegas and throughout the world, Bussmann has become one of the pre- eminent consultants on everything from casinos to sports betting, regulation, politics and more. He spoke with GGB’s Jess Marquez remotely in September. GGB: You’ve had an interesting career path to this point; how did you go from college athletics at Nebraska to gaming? Bussmann: I was asked to run a ballot issue back in Nebraska in 2004 to legalize gaming that was backed by Las Vegas Sands. I didn’t know anything about gaming other than losing money at the riverboats over in Council Bluffs. But they said, “We’ll teach you that.” At the end of it, they said, “Do you want to come to Vegas?” Some 22 years later I’m still kicking here and traveling the globe on behalf of this industry. Once you broke into gaming, what was Las Vegas like at that time? What was Sands like? Vegas has gone through its iterations over time, but from the mid-2000s up until the Great Recession it was all about building big, massive resorts—the bigger, the better. You saw MGM and Mirage merge at that point, then MGM Resorts with Mandalay, and you had Caesars go through its iterations. LVS had just gone public back in 2004. The company had an attitude of doing whatever it takes to get the job done and find a way to win. I don’t think I would have ever had that experience at a different time anywhere than what it was at LVS. What inspired you to branch off into the consulting world? I like variety, but I also like a challenge. It goes back to the roots at LVS of dealing with 5 QUESTIONS “This is nothing more than the recycling of failed arguments from other prediction markets. Multiple courts have affirmed that sports event contracts are no different than sports betting and are not magically shielded by federal law.” —William Tong, Connecticut attorney general, on a cease-and-desist order to stop prediction market operators from illegally offering sports-related contracts to residents. In response, Underdog Predict has filed a lawsui Brendan Bussmann Managing Partner, B Global Advisors 1 3 4 5 Pennsylvania in the morning and Macau in the afternoon, and by the way, Singapore had just come up. Eventually it wasn’t just about gaming, but let’s look at sports, let’s look at hospitality. Let’s bridge the three passions I had into one, chase some really cool projects and deals, and work with some really cool people in the process. You’ve seen gaming grow all over the world. What has that been like? As a kid from Nebraska, being able to travel the globe becomes a pretty unique and special opportunity. As I always jokingly say, I’ve worked on six of the seven continents and at some point I’m either going to get penguins to bet on luge or build an igloo casino. The global industry: some of it’s still in its infancy, some of it’s well past where things are in the U.S. You have to have an open mind to be able to say, “Hey, this worked in Europe; it’s not going to work in Asia.” The industry’s going to continue to grow and evolve over the course of time. It’s just a matter of how do we embrace it and do what’s right and be good stewards for it for those that have gone before us. As someone who’s constantly on the go, what travel hacks and tips have you picked up over the years? A couple of things. One, never check a bag, always go to carry-on. Because sometimes you have to audible along the way and say, “Hey, I gotta go right when I was planning to go left.” I always say I won’t go on a trip if I have to check a bag; I can get one to work for me for about two weeks. The other thing I would say, and this goes more to the hospitality sense, is even if you’re just staying in one place once, sign up for the rewards program, because you never know when you may come back, you never know when you’re going to need those points. So you need to be agile and have some patience sometimes. 2 Nov. 2-5: Summit of iGaming Malta, Fiera di Roma, Rome, Italy. Produced by SiGMA Group. For more information, visit sigma.world/summits. Nov. 5-6: SPiCE International 2026, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Produced by Eventus International. For more information, visit spiceseries.com/si. Nov. 16-18: NAGS Conference, Rydges World Square, Sydney, New South Wales. Produced by the National Association for Gambling Studies. For more information, visit nags.org. Nov. 18-19: Gaming & Technology (GAT) Expo, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Produced by GAT Events. For more information, visit gatevents.net/gat-santo-domingo/. Nov. 25-26: Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo, Inter Expo Center, Sofia, Bulgaria. Poduced by BEGE. For more information, visit balkangamingexpo.com. Nov. 30-Dec. 2: SiGMA South Asia 2026, Cinnamon Life at City of Dreams, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Produced by SiGMA Group. For more information, visit sigma.world/summits. Dec. 9-12: NCLGS Winter Meeting, JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District, Savannah, Georgia. Produced by the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. For more information, visit nclgs.org. Jan. 18-20: ICE Barcelona, Fira Barcelona Gran Via, Barcelona, Spain. Produced by WorldGaming. For more information, visit icegaming.com. Feb. 15-17: SiGMA Africa, Cape Town, South Africa. Produced by SiGMA Group. For more information, visit sigma.world/summits. March 2-4: SBC Summit Rio, Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Produced by SBC Events. For more information, visit sbcevents.com.Next >