Playgon

About the Company

Playgon Games, Inc. (TSXV: DEAL) (OTCQB: PLGNF) (Frankfurt: 7CR), might be the fastest growing, best-positioned iGaming company you’ve never heard of - yet. The Vancouver, B.C. company applied for a Malta Gaming Authority Type 1 gaming license and received the coveted certificate in March 2021.

Playgon provides live dealer gaming solutions in Europe and beyond on a “software as a service” (SaaS) model. In addition to its core lineup of live dealer games including Baccarat, Blackjack, Roulette, and the company's proprietary game Tiger Baccarat™ it also offers RNG eTable games and Daily Fantasy Sports in regulated markets.

The company has partnered with Swintt Malta and several other game aggregators to get its high definition live streaming dealer games with state-of-the-art augmented reality betting to more people in more markets. Additional partners in various aspects include big names such as Pariplay, Relax Gaming, and Solid Gaming, as well as the lesser-known gambling services company Marko Technology.

One outstanding element of the Playgon experience is that the user interface is designed for one-hand use on any device. We’ll get more into the delivery system (PWA) later on in another section. Another stand out is the fact that Playgon runs the first and only live dealer streams originating in the entertainment capital of the world, Las Vegas Nevada.

VegasLounge is staffed by unforgettable professional entertainers that are also highly skilled dealers. The dealers understand the fine line they need to walk in order to balance having a great time with chat and other player engagement and keeping the pace of the games up to be the most entertaining they can possibly be.

The Playgon Top Team

The company was founded by the current president, Guido Ganschow who launched Playgon Interactive in 2014. For more than half a decade prior to that he created and got up and running live dealer gaming platforms in Asia and Europe. Ganschow integrated live dealer solutions with several global gaming brands that included Ho Gaming, Chartwell Technology, and Amaya.

The Chartwell connection arises again with CEO and director Darcy Kogh. The CEO has over 20 years of experience in iGaming and was a co-founder of Canada’s Chartwell Technology way back in 1999.

Long-seasoned players will remember Chartwell as one of the pioneers of browser-based gambling long before the advent of today’s HTML5 and PWA frameworks. Those newer to play or less familiar with Chartwell may recall that the once mighty Amaya Gaming Group acquired it in 2011. Mr. Kogh oversaw the transfer and integration into the larger group. In 2015 Amaya sold all of its business-to-business products to NYX Gaming (which was later acquired by Scientific games). Kogh assisted with the transition until leaving in 2016 to form his own DFS company, Global Daily Fantasy Sports Inc. as President and CEO.

Director Willaim Scott is a Non-Executive Director of the South African National Lottery operator, Ithuba. Perhaps it is not coincidental that in early 2021 Intelligent Gaming Ltd. (IGL) received a certification letter and regulatory board approval from the government of South Africa which was tacit approval for IGL to offer Playgon’s live dealer games in the South African market. Playgon is now live in South Africa.

Willaim Scott left GTECH (now IGT) after a total of 15 years in 2013. As Vice President and Commercial Director at GTECH G2, he was responsible for iGaming revenue for both the lottery and commercial gaming.

The name, Bobby Soper is one industry veterans will recognize. He was the guy that turned around The Mohegan Sun when the vast Connecticut casino complex was dealing with financial woes. Soper is now a director at Playgon and maintains his position as the International President of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE). He oversees all of the company’s global assets.

Soper is responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s mega-integrated resort in Korea. While once in the running for a massive integrated resort in Japan, MGE has since pulled out of attempts to build in Nagasaki with Oshidori International Development GK. Soper was able to open the first tribal casino in Las Vegas in early 2021.

There are more directors but those four should illustrate the power and wisdom behind the scenes at Playgon.

Now a brief note about the company’s finances - players can take the following to mean this is an up-and-coming company on the rise. We are bound to see the Playgon suite offered at more and more online gaming sites in the very near future. Industry observers and investors can see at a glance that with only 35% of the company’s shares held by insiders, it might be worth taking a look at.

Playgon's player activity continues to scale at our live dealer tables since our last update. Our monthly wagering turnover increased from $173,500,000 CDN in Q2 to $293,220,000 CDN in Q3, representing a 69% increase. Our average daily wagering turnover increased from $1,894,000 CDN in Q2 to $3,166,000 CDN in Q3 representing a 67% increase. The number of wagers placed (betspots) increased from 5,520,000 in Q2 to 7,690,000 in Q3, a 39% increase. Additionally, operator hold was up 77% from Q2.

"These results are record-breaking numbers for the Company since we first launched in May 2021. With core integrations and the additional operators coming online in the current quarter, we anticipate record increases in our KPIs to become the norm," commented Darcy Krogh, CEO of Playgon Games Inc. "As a young company, we are finally seeing real results with our innovation in the marketplace, as we will look to these data points as validation of our product and our business plan."

Software and Games

VegasLounge currently has 10 tables with plans to expand that number to 25 soon. The provider has focused its delivery on the Progressive Web App or PWA. The PWA has been recognized by tech giants like Google as one of the most important mobile app developments ever. The tech rests on a middle ground between a mobile app and a website.

Like browser-based HTML5 systems, the PWA is device agnostic - it doesn’t matter what your operating system is as long as you have a stable internet connection you can play. You don’t need to use the App Store or Google Play to download a native app, but the technology allows them to provide a superior experience of high-quality live dealer streams with augmented reality digital betting across all devices.

Compared to a native app, according to Google’s trials, a PWA delivers the following benefits and more:

• 15 x faster to load and install 
• 25X less device storage required
• Sessions are on average increased by 78.25%
• Engagement is often increased by 137%
• The average load time for a page is 2.75 seconds
• Compared to mobile, bounce rate is reduced by 42.86%
• Average page views increased by 133.67%

More details…

• PWA Works on any Device 
• App Like Look and Feel
• Loads Instantly
• Responsive
• Re-engageable (Push Notifications)
• Linkable
• Discoverable
• Home Screen Icon
• Full Screen
• Low memory usage
• High UX performance
• Low Latency Video Protocol
• Low Bandwidth Mode <2G

Mixing the cutting-edge technology of a PWA with the highly skilled dealer-entertainers in Las Vegas gives Playgon a competitive advantage because the games are simply fun to play no matter how poor your internet connection may be.

Playgon games

As more tables are added, so will new gaming titles. Currently, we find blackjack, roulette, and baccarat in the live dealer section. Other games are found as eTables - digital depictions of RNG games. These currently include the above line-up along with the proprietary Tiger Bonus Baccarat.

“Coming Soon” to one-handed digital gameplay are the following:

• Red Dog 
• Sic Bo
• Andar Bahar
• Hold'em Poker
• Craps
• Pai Gow Tiles
• Pai Gow Poker
• 3 Card Poker

Live dealers

While live dealer game providers were at the forefront of using HTML5 browser-based gaming, Playgon is taking it a step further with a specific portrait-oriented interface for one-handed play. Seeing it as an evolution in gaming tech, the company believes their fast-loading, stable, high definition, low bandwidth games will attract and retain customers for casino operators.

The approach here is certainly “mobile first” and it brings together a nice mix of games with high-end technology and exciting gameplay to emulate the Las Vegas Experience from where ever you may be at the time.

Fusion Blackjack (Regular & Common Draw)

With five seats per table rather than the 7 sometimes found online, this is a more intimate game with attentive dealers. Of course, opting to play without a seat is fine too if you enjoy common draw for unlimited players.

• Double down after a split or split up to four times if luck is running your way.
• Low-cost insurance
• A Waiting List
• Lower Cost Double Downs
• Courtesy Reminder for Hard 17
• “Table Yield Management”
• Advantage Play / Card Counting Detection

Roulette (European and American)

Like their blackjack title, this game also features Sector Targeting / Advantage Play Detection which is just, well, unnecessary in the real world. Michael Shackleford, the Wizard of Odds, showed us years ago that no roulette or any other random game strategy can possibly work. You can read more here, but in a nutshell, a fair game simply provides random results and the next result cannot, ever, be predicted from the last or any previous result.

My best guess is that this is more for the player who prefers to trust but verify - in that light it makes sense.

That said, we’ll take a look at the rational aspects of this thrilling set of games from Playgon…

This “true-to-life” Roulette offers visitors a clear and uninterrupted line of sight to the dealer, the roulette wheel, the ball, all bets, past results, trends, and statistics. You are welcome to believe trends and statistics matter but they simply don’t when a game is fair and this game uses some of the world’s absolute best roulette wheels and balls.

However, gut-driven can strategies can and do pay off sometimes and you’ll be able to place multiple bets and keep track of the results. For a sense of place and to help with bankroll management, trends can be reviewed without ever taking your mind or focus off the game at hand.

• Custom Bets, saved bets
• Crown Bets (Complete & Full Complete Bets)
• Dynamic Betting Tips for Players
• Multiplayer Games
• ‘La Partage’ & ‘En Prison’ Options
• Sector Targeting / Advantage Play Detection
• Betting with the Ball in Play 
• 20, 30, 40, and 60 sec Bet Timers

Live Auto-Roulette

In addition to live dealer games, there is also auto roulette offered. Developed in partnership with TCSJOHNHUXLEY, Playgon’s Auto Table Roulette wheel melds Avant Garde innovation with superb craftsmanship to give players the most advanced online live roulette gambling ever.

The state-of-the-art table offers:

• Quick and accurate winning number detection
• Drop Zone Detection that will highlight non-random results and bias
• Extensive testing and QA at every stage in manufacturing with 130 QC checks

Baccarat (Regular ~ Multi Table ~ Tiger Bonus)

Playgon claims to have made a prominent product by preserving baccarat’s authenticity while adding unique elements that separate it from other providers’ games. They use traditional game characteristics that have intrigued and captivated players for hundreds of years while mixing in advanced technology to bring the traditional game into the mobile gaming era.

Look for a lobby with instant bets, betting on multiple tables from the moment you enter the suite, an advanced scoreboard, pattern detection, and a road map predictor.

Multi-table baccarat

Using this feature pushes the envelope of the mobile betting experience to offer something for even the most demanding players. Innovation and convention come together in harmony to give this ages-old game a new place in the new world.

Tiger Bonus (a VegasLounge Exclusive)

This no-commission baccarat offers a potentially lucrative side bet that pays 40:1. Stake the bet and hope for the Banker's hand wins with no more or less than 3 cards and the hand totals 7.

• No Commission
• Tie Pays 9:1
• Tiger7™ Pays 40:1

​Gameplay is exactly like regular baccarat except that the banker bet pays even money and if the banker wins as described above, then the bet will push (aside from the side bet rule of paying 40:1)

Daily Fantasy Sports

Playgon offers operators a complete DFS platform. Players can pick a contest from the lobby, pick real athletes from upcoming contests to form a lineup, draft a team - then watch their teams climb in the standings to win.

The Final Analysis

Playgon is an up-and-coming standard bearer for live casino gaming. The company is led by industry professionals on the board and in management. The COO once turned a company with revenues of $300 million into $2.8 billion and grew employment from 350 to 13,000 employees. The CFO is similarly qualified as well and the Executive Chairman is purely a money man. This company is well staged for growth as their Q3 2022 numbers above show.

The games are well received and distribution is growing phenomenally. While we don’t know for sure how many operators are carrying the brand at this point, the number certainly exploded from the 35 known prior to Playgon’s tie-up with Pariplay’s global network.

Being the first company to base its live games in Las Vegas was a memorable move as it will always be “the first”.

We look forward to the development of more digital games in the near future as well as the addition of more tables at the Vegas studios.