BDO Malta have confirmed the 49 finalists that have been chosen to enter the penultimate round, where the judges will decide on the final 16 Idols that will be crowned at the Grandmaster Suite, Hilton Malta on the 26th September 2017 during the iGaming Idol Gala dinner.
150 shortlisted nominees have been put to the test by 50 expert judges during three full days of interview sessions at Hilton Malta on 28, 29 and 30th August. The judges rated each candidate on a score card whereby BDO Malta, also in attendance during the interviews, had the responsibility to review the ratings, count the scores and confirm the finalists of the 16 categories.
The judging process has been a major success factor for iGaming Idol, as this is the first industry award were shortlisted nominees had to “meet the judges” face to face, whilst being audited by an International auditing firm. Speaking of the process, Michael Pedersen, CEO of iGaming Idol stated, “The judging process is a critical component to ensure that the awards are credible.”. He continues, “We have instilled major importance on this factor and believe it is the way forward for industry related awards.”
iGaming Idol is in its second edition and this year received triple the amount of nominations compared to its first edition and the organisers are set to double the attendance at the iGaming Idol Gala dinner with almost 400 guests attending. Ramona Mifsud, Director of iGaming Idol said “This year we have seen even more interest from the Industry in terms of Sponsors and Companies wanting to get involved with iGaming Idol.” She continues “We are confident that this year we will have another successful event and also reach our target of raising €10,000 for the Malta Community Chest Fund.”
The finalists of the 16 categories are:
| Karolina Filip | Affilliate Manager | BGO |
| Laura O’Brien | Affilliate Manager | Mr Green |
| Yvette Grima | Affilliate Manager | Pokerstars |
| Jonathan Mallia | Business Intelligence | Evoke |
| Wilhelm Hamilton | Business Intelligence | Evolution |
| Andrew Galea | Business Intelligence | NetRefer |
| David Plumi | Casino Product | Larry Casino |
| Alan Brincat | Casino Product | Quasar |
| Daniel Hansen | Casino Product | Videoslots |
| Claudio Caruana | Compliance & Regulated Markets | Gaming Innovation Group |
| Lauren Devine-Monaghan | Compliance & Regulated Markets | Mr Green |
| Ewout Wierda | Compliance & Regulated Markets | Videoslots |
| Viktor Mardberg | Customer Service | Jackpot Joy |
| Gabriella Larsson | Customer Service | Merkur/Gauselmann |
| Alessio Valotti | Customer Service | Pokerstars |
| Martin Mcdonald | Design and User Experience | Join Games |
| Ricardo Avila | Design and User Experience | VegasKings |
| Erica Spiteri | Design and User Experience | Catena Media |
| Laura Zarb Cousin | Design and User Experience | Videoslots |
| Mikael Marceau | Fraud and Risk | Kindred |
| Antoine Bezzina | Fraud and Risk | MyBet |
| Daniel Buttigieg | Fraud and Risk | APCO |
| Michela Borg | HR | Jackpot Joy |
| Roberta Geres | HR | Mr Green |
| Rianne Falzon | HR | NetRefer |
| Joscelyn James Sims | Live Casino Dealer | Betsson |
| Raymond Tanti | Live Casino Dealer | NetEnt |
| Stephanie Cordina | Live Casino Dealer | NetEnt |
| Lahcene Merzoug | Manager | Evoke |
| Matthias Kaiser | Manager | Tipico |
| Clinton Cutajar | Manager | Catena Media |
| Magnus Boberg | SEO/SEM | Evoke |
| Ross Henderson | SEO/SEM | Mr Green |
| Sean Bianco | SEO/SEM | Quasar |
| Pavel Angelov | Sports Product | Betway |
| Alvaro Siscart | Sports Product | Betway |
| Tamara Caligari | Sports Product | Tipico |
| Francesco De Lucia | Talent Acquisition | iGaming Elite |
| Ryan Cilia | Talent Acquisition | Jackpot Joy |
| Jakob Wallof | Talent Acquisition | NetEnt |
| Anthony Sammut | Tech back-end | NetEnt |
| Per Modin | Tech back-end | Evoke |
| Rodrigo Gomez | Tech back-end | Larry Casino |
| Matthias Lindahl | Tech front-end | Evoke |
| Kurt Aquilina | Tech front-end | Play’N’Go |
| Duncan Calderwood | Tech front-end | Pokerstars |
| David Hodgkins | VIP Manager | Evoke |
| Ian Robson | VIP Manager | Jackpot Joy |
| Steve Degiorgio | VIP Manager | Jackpot Joy |
All finalists have been invited to attend the awards being held on the 26th September where they will get to know the outcome of whether they will take home the accolade of being an iGaming Idol, within their category.
The event will be opened by Hon. Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy, and Innovation and is being hosted by Michael Caselli, an Industry Entrepreneur and Advocate of iGaming Idol as well as Becky Liggero, Calvin Ayre’s own industry reporter and Ambassador of Bodog.com.
A welcome reception will kick off the evening that will be full of surprises, glamour, thrilling entertainment, a silver service dinner, free flowing wine and liquors followed by an after-party hosted at Club Twenty-Two, located on the 22nd floor of the Portomaso Business Tower.
A portion of revenue from every ticket sold for the event will be donated to the Malta Community Chest Fund, whilst the organisers are also coordinating other fundraising activities. The target is to raise €10,000 for the chosen charity.
For more information about booking a table contact Ramona Mifsud on 99477102 or send an email to info@igamingidol.com