Collaborate to make US progress, Vaughan says

The iGaming industry needs to adopt a collaborative approach if it is to improve its chances of succeeding in the US, according to Real Gaming Co-Founder Lawrence Vaughan.

Vaughan will discuss ‘iGaming 2015 and beyond’ at GiGse next week at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco, California.

Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley said that it expects regulated online gambling revenues in the US to hit $2.7bn (€2.5bn) by 2020, but Vaughan – whose company has been one of the pioneers of online gaming in Nevada – believes that providers need to concentrate on the quality of their products rather than speculative financial returns.

“I feel that things need to move more expeditiously,” said Vaughan.

“People put out some unrealistic numbers and expected to just turn on some platforms and start collecting revenue.

“Building internet companies is not that simple. There needs to be more focus and dedication to bringing together all the operators and regulators in order to pass the legislation needed for this new industry to flourish.”

While Vaughan preaches caution, his own rise has been meteoric. A self-taught computer programmer, Vaughan was barely out of his teens when he created the successful employment search website Jobbi.com in 2008.

A Las Vegas native, he then set his sights on the online gaming industry, and at 27 became the youngest person ever to receive an interactive gaming licence in Nevada.

Last February, his Real Gaming brand, which is a partner of the South Point Hotel & Casino, became the state’s third real-money internet gambling operation.

“Growing up in Vegas, it became apparent to me that there would be a transition into a new type of gaming experience,” Vaughan said.

“Because of this I felt it would be an incredible opportunity to be a part of this new era in gaming and contribute to the space. 

“In the past year we’ve seen a lot of major milestones. Our platform became officially licensed and approved. We became the first provider in the US to offer online poker on any platform to our customer – phones, tablets, PCs and Macs.”

The GiGse session in which Vaughan is taking part will look at how the iGaming industry can help itself in promoting further legislative change across the US.

As the head of one of the few companies to offer legal online gaming in one of the few states where iGaming is regulated, Vaughan will offer unmissable insight.

“Hopefully people will walk away from the debate with more of a perspective from an operator in a regulated space as well as a perspective of a manufacturer building interactive gaming software for regulated environments,” he said.

“This is a very new space and a lot of new territory is being explored. Hopefully we can shed some light on what we’ve experienced so far.

“We feel this industry is going to be a profound contributor to gaming over the next few decades. We are still at the beginning of this new era.”

Visit www.gigse.com for further information about GiGse, which will take place from April 20-22.