Fennica Gaming’s VLT Content Available Now Through IGT’s VLT-Platform

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Find the lucky Clovers and you will be rewarded!

In its newest release, Amusnet combines the well-known style of fruit video slots with innovative and exciting features. Wild Traces is a 5-reel game with 20 fixed paylines offering plenty of opportunities to make winning combinations.

Enjoy your favourite classical theme with a modern-looking design and captivating animations of the fruity symbols. Of course, a fruit slot can’t go without a Bell, Bars and 7 symbols for even more exciting wins. The stars of the game though are the special Clover and the Wild symbols which will have you hanging on the edge of your seat with their 10 Spin Cycle and Multiplier features.

Wild Feature
The main game is played in cycles of 10 spins. Each time a Clover symbol lands, it leaves a mark on the reel position that stays locked until the end of the feature, displayed on a progress bar. On the 10th spin, all positions with markers on them turn into Wild symbols.

Multiplier Feature
If Clover lands on a reel position that was already marked, the multiplier on this position increases by 1. Multipliers will increase the total payout of the 10th spin when they are part of a winning combination.

Gamble
You can use the Gamble feature and play the game to boost your winnings.

Jackpot Cards
The Jackpot Cards Bonus game is triggered at random during the gameplay to allow players to win impressive Jackpots.

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Westpac NZ has introduced an account block to support customers struggling with online gambling.

Louisa Brock, Westpac NZ Manager Financial Inclusion and Vulnerability, leads the bank’s Extra Care team and says the optional block is something customers have been asking for.

“We know gambling can become an addiction for some people, at which point it can cause significant harm. By introducing the gambling block, we’re empowering our customers to stay in control of their finances,” Ms Brock says.

From 26 June to 25 September 2023, Westpac customers spent $136.8 million with online gambling merchants (compared with $3.2m spent at physical gambling locations in that period). Nearly half of that online spend was with TAB and Lotto, with the remainder distributed among various online gambling businesses.

“While the block only applies to online transactions, our data shows that the majority of gambling spending does take place online. We’ve updated our website to let customers know that the block’s available if they’re looking for support with a gambling problem,” Ms Brock says.

Westpac customers can call the bank or visit a branch to request a gambling block – the block will then be applied to all their credit/debit cards.

When the block is in place, it means a customer can’t use their card for online transactions with gambling businesses (the transaction will be declined). The block doesn’t stop transactions at physical gambling locations, such as casinos or buying a lottery ticket at a retail outfit. Once the block has been set up, it will stay in place for a minimum of three months before a customer can request to remove it.

Ms Brock says Westpac has already had feedback from customers that the block can make a difference.

“In one example, a customer received an inheritance payment of more than $100,000, then over the next 12 days spent more than $15,000 gambling online,” Ms Brock says.

“When the customer was told that we could put a block on their account to help them manage their spending, they jumped at the opportunity. The customer told our team that they were desperate to quit gambling, but found it difficult to control on their own.

“Admitting you have a problem is a really brave thing to do. Letting customers know that the gambling block is available hopefully makes it easier for them to have those conversations with our teams, as well as empowering our people to best support our customers.

“As well as introducing the gambling block, we’ve trained our customer-facing teams to have constructive conversations with customers who may be struggling with gambling. Our people can also work with these customers to structure their accounts to limit gambling spend.”

The introduction of the gambling block is the latest initiative in Westpac’s Extra Care programme of work. Earlier this year, Westpac NZ launched the use of an interpreting service to support customers who don’t speak English, and updated its bankruptcy policy to improve access to basic banking services for Kiwis going through tough times.

The bank has also worked with the Department of Corrections to make it possible for prisoners nearing their release date to open bank accounts, as well as partnered with Oranga Tamariki and advocacy organisation VOYCE – Whakarongo Mai to help young people in state care to get a bank account and access financial education.

“We’re working hard to help improve outcomes for our customers and communities,” Ms Brock says.

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Specialist virtual provider DS Virtual Gaming (DSVG) has entered the Italian market by signing an agreement with SKS365, a leading operator in the betting and gaming industry.

Under the terms of the contract, DSVG’s premium and fully licensed product portfolio will be available on Planetwin365.it, the flagship brand of SKS365, for the Italian market.

The titles at the disposal of Planetwin365 online customers include the provider’s best sellers such as Racingdogs, Racingdogs+ and RacingKarts. With a selection of more than 20,000 HD videos taken from real races the products guarantee an ultra-realistic graphic and a genuine excitement for the customers with the highest standards.

Araksi Sargsyan, Head of Business Development at DSVG, said: “Italy has always been our target and we are very delighted to join forces with such a renowned market player like SKS365. We are confident that our games will prove extremely popular and will take our companies to new heights.”

Oliver Cacic, Senior Director of Product and Development at SKS365, said: “Being the first operator in Italy to offer DS Virtual Gaming products in our portfolio is a testament to our constant strive to always be at the forefront of the market and reflects our ongoing commitment to providing our customers a rich and constantly updated portfolio of games. We are confident these revolutionary products will be appreciated by our players and will further contribute to our growth in this vertical.”