Speakers

Adam Vaziri is a blockchain lawyer and set up Diacle in 2013 to assist blockchain projects with compliance. He is a tireless blockchain entrepreneur and labelled a ‘bitcoin pioneer’ by Bitcoin Magazine. Adam believes that Web3.0 will bring blockchain to the mainstream but that regtech is required. Therefore Adam has established QRC to fund and accelerate blockchain products that use regtech. Adam is the founder of Blockpass – a self sovereign identity application for regulated industries.

Other projects Adam has been involved in or founded are as follows: Adam is founder of the UKDCA and Bitlegal.io a global tracker for blockchain law since 2014 and featured by CNN and Washington Post. Adam ran the first suite of blockchain hackathons across the world HACKCOIN: UK, India (read Economic Times article), HK and Malaysia. Adam formulated the first open-source ISDA for cryptocurrency trading: aperta. Adam established Chain-Finance as a dedicated news/events for the financial services industry. Adam founded a global blockchain IoT lab Chain of Things to investigate the role of blockchain tech in securing IoT.

Adela Colhon has over 15+ years of work experience in Canada and internationally. With a solid expertise in country coordination, Adela is managing successfully a complex portfolio that includes gambling awareness and promotion, employment and settlement. Adela had worked as a consultant for a pan-European initiative that supported access to post-secondary education and training. With a diverse professional and education experience, Adela oversees programs from idea to implementation and is very passionate about her work.
Adela has studied Non-Profit Management at the Schulich School of Business at York University and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering.

Albert leads Alphaslot’s product development and business strategy as the Chief Operating Officer. With over 10 years of experience in the global gaming industry and over 15 years of experience in sales, marketing, operations, and manufacturing, Albert has received special recognition from a select panel of judges at the Asia Gaming Awards 2016, as one of eight selected young industry executive and leader with the potential to shape the industry going forward.

In 2018, Albert was nominated as one of the best industry rising star by Inside Asian Gaming at the G2E Asia Awards.
Albert had served as Global Operations Manager for Aruze Gaming, a top five global technology company in designing, developing and manufacturing gaming devices for casino markets worldwide.

Born in Australia, Andrew is a gaming industry expert and media publisher, commentator and journalist who moved to Hong Kong in 2005 and then Macau in 2009, when he founded O MEDIA, one of Macau’s largest media companies.

O MEDIA publishes “Inside Asian Gaming” and “IAG Breakfast Briefing” (Asia’s premier B2B Asian gaming industry print publication and daily email newsletter), “IAG Japan” and “IAG Japan Daily Briefing” (Japan’s premier Japanese-language B2B Asian gaming industry print publication and daily email newsletter), “WGM” (Asia’s premier B2C gaming magazine focusing on Asian gaming lifestyle), “High Life” (a high-end luxury lifestyle, tourism, leisure, arts and culture magazine showcasing the very best of Macau), “South China Elite” (showcasing fascinating and extraordinary personalities from across the Greater Bay area) and “Hengqin Record” (covering the ongoing development of Zhuhai’s Hengqin Island). O MEDIA also has significant digital media assets across its brands in websites, social media platforms, cloud readers, eDMs, mobile phone apps and more.

Andrew is very active in the local Macau community and was the 2014 Macau Person of the Year.

He has been a high stakes poker player, professional blackjack player and educator, and a poker tournament television commentator. This afforded him vast casino experience in Macau and across Asia, Las Vegas and across North America, Australia and worldwide, visiting over 200 casinos over 32 years. He changed his main focus to media in 2005 and is an expert casino and gaming industry commentator, regularly appearing on national television in Macau and Australia to discuss the gaming industry.

He is Vice Chairman of the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Macau, a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors, a permanent member of the Macau Gaming Management Association and President of the Macau Taxi Passengers Association. He is also a member of the International Federation of Journalists, the Portuguese and English Press Association of Macau and the Poker Tournament Directors Association.

Andrew completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Australia in 1993 and will complete a Master of Science (International Integrated Resort Management) at the Faculty of Business Administration at the University of Macau in 2019.

Ankush� is the Founder and CEO of Junglee Games. Founded in San Francisco and backed by Bay Partners and other top tier VCs, Junglee is the fastest growing real money gaming company in India with over 10 million users.

Ankush� previously founded Monsoon Company, a boutique software company that was acquired by Capital One.

Ankush� is a limited partner in funds Metastable, Upshift, Tandeme, Kae Capital and a Venture Partner at Unshackled. He is on the board of� Kunai, Kintohub and Rainfactory and is an active angel investor in startups like Lottery.com, SVAcademy, Back to the roots, Cloudability, 15five, Inc42 and the Gravity Group.

AYAKO NAKAYAMA is currently the Representative Director of Japan IR Association. She has created and executed projects in the field of education, strategy, and business development in Japan’s IR industry. She contributes to develop and expand Japan IR Industry associating with domestic and international organizations. She also serves technical IR translation to the Japan government and private sectors. Ms. Nakayama also serves President of consulting company in Tokyo. Earlier her career, she worked as a digital strategic consultant for international brands.

Brendan Bussmann is a seasoned executive that has an extensive background in government affairs, communications, and business development in the sectors of hospitality, healthcare, energy, higher education, and sports.

In 2015, Bussmann founded his own public affairs and strategic development consultant firm focusing on domestic and international opportunities for clients in hospitality, healthcare, energy, and engineering. He continues to successfully implement strategies as well as develop and expand new markets for various clients.

Prior to starting his own firm, he served as Vice President of Strategic Development and Marketing for Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center and Sunrise Children’s Hospital. During his tenure, he successfully doubled EBITDA in a two-year period while also improving their image and relationship with the community, media, and other stakeholders. Prior to joining Sunrise, Bussmann served as Director of Community Relations with University Medical Center where he built an external affairs program from scratch.

Bussmann has extensive gaming and hospitality experience from his tenure at Las Vegas Sands Corp. where he served as Director of Government Relations and Community Development. While in this capacity, he was part of the team that landed two gaming licenses in Pennsylvania and Singapore, oversaw ballot initiatives, and numerous legislative victories at the local, state, federal, and international levels. He also implemented their global programs for Responsible Gaming and Community Development.

Additionally, Mr. Bussmann has an extensive background in collegiate athletics having worked at one of the premiere Power 5 Conference institutions in the United States. � Bussmann spent eight years working for the University of Nebraska Athletic Department and Football Program.�  During his tenure, he oversaw and was involved in the administration, operations, marketing, development, compliance, recruiting, and facility design for the football program and numerous other sports. � He is keenly aware of the current college athletic landscape as he continues to stay active in the sector.

Bussmann is a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He is deeply involved in the local Las Vegas community through his involvement with UNLV, the Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce, Clark County School District, Las Vegas HEALS, the March of Dimes, Andson Foundation, and Nevada Childseekers.

With more than 20 years of experience in the networking industry, CF is a veteran in designing, implementing, and supporting highly available network systems and solutions. In this current role with NSFOCUS, CF works closely with customers in the Asia Pacific region to develop and optimize approaches for their network security solution to ensure optimal deployment and best customer satisfaction.

Prior to joining NSFOCUS, CF had held different regional positions in pre- and post-sales roles for various large core routing/switching vendors, as well as security solutions vendors. His expertise lies mainly in the areas of Internet routing technology, network threat detection and network visibility solutions.

CF is based in Hong Kong and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Engineering from Poly University in Hong Kong.

Curtis Matlock leads Sinitic with seven years of enterprise software business development experience in Asia-Pacific for Western SaaS startups. He and co-founder Albert Zhuang started Sinitic at National Taiwan University.

Mr. David Lee is a partner and the head of department at Lin & Partners, specializing in corporate, energy & infrastructure, gaming & gambling, shipping, aviation, fintech, and intellectual property.

In the gaming sector, David advises both public and private sectors on the legal and policy matters of various types of gaming. His practice covers casino-based integrated resort, sports betting, lottery, horseracing, and online gambling.

Since 2011, David has been working closely with the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the proposed casino regulator in Taiwan, in drafting the Gaming Act and a total of dozens of the Act’s relevant enforcement rules. David also worked with the Sports Affairs Council in proposing the qualifications and selection of distributors for sports lotteries.

In recent years, with the booming development of online gaming, David advise numerous clients of the legality and business model of support service in Taiwan for offshore online gaming. David also advises crypto currency platform providers on�  legal matters with respect to Taiwan law, such as ICO and STO.

In addition to gaming, Mr. David Lee is also the core member of our energy practice where he led several significant projects for both public and private sectors through a wide spectrum of areas, such as renewable energy, LNG, IPPs, and nuclear. Recently he advised on Taipower’s restructuring and schemed the roadmap for its business transformation.

Dr. George Lin is the Founder and Managing Partner of Lin & Partners, specializing in banking, M&A, securities, and gaming law matters. With more than 30-year practice experience, Dr. Lin’s practice has covered a full range of equity market transactions, including hostile and friendly acquisitions of public companies, tender offers, and share offerings. Over the years he has represented numerous local and multinational financial service firms in the acquisition or disposal of business operations in Taiwan and overseas.
In gaming sector, Dr. Lin constantly advises clients in both public and private sectors on policymaking and regulatory matters with respect to casino-based integrated resort, sports betting, lottery, horseracing, online gambling, and new type of gaming activities. Under Dr. Lin’s leadership, Lin & Partners, since 2010, have been engaged by the Tourism Bureau, MOTC, the proposed casino regulator in Taiwan, to draw up the overall legal framework as well as the relevant statutes for the casino-based integrated resorts in Taiwan.
Dr. Lin is recognized by Chambers Asia-Pacific as a leading/Band 1 attorney for banking & finance, corporate and M&A, dispute resolution and gaming practice, and by Legal 500 and AsiaLaw Profile in areas including banking & finance, dispute resolution, capital markets, corporate and M&A, and project & energy. In 2017, Dr. Lin was recognized by Asia Law as the Dispute star of the year in Taiwan. Latest updates, Lin and Partners was just selected by Corporate Int’l as “Gaming & Gambling Law Firm of the Year in Taiwan 2019.”

Eduard Castell was born in Spain and has a degree in International Business with focus on International Trade. After 3 years working in Shanghai in a multinational company, he moved to Hong Kong , as the delegate of LaLiga. The aim is develop LaLiga brand ,both in Hong Kong and Macau, in multiple projects. He has extensive experience in all aspects of sports industry related. LaLiga is the sports association comprising the 42 teams that make up the first and second divisions of professional football in Spain. LaLiga is responsible for the professional football, both LaLiga Santander and LaLiga 1I2I3 leagues, and the television production, which in the 2017/2018 season reached more than 3 billion people globally.

Elisabeth Dumais has been with Harvey Law Group since 2011 and gained considerable experience in Asia throughout the year, notably in China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines and Cambodia. Full member of the Quebec Bar Association and Foreign Registered Lawyer in Hong Kong with a presence the Philippines and Cambodia, she practices primarily business immigration, corporate and international law. Elisabeth is fluent in French, English and proficient in Spanish and Mandarin.

Hai is co-founder of Spawn Point, a strategic advisory firm that operates at the intersection of� gaming and esports. He routinely speaks publicly about esports to the gaming industry and� collaborates with the Nevada Esports Alliance, UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, and� Esports Integrity Coalition on emerging esports issues. With more than three decades of� experience in technology, and more than a decade in gaming, his acumen fuels solutions that� thrive at the intersection between industries. He is a regular contributor to iGaming Business, and� section editor of iGaming Business North America’s Fantasy and eSports Section. He is also an� owner of Chaos Theory, Singapore’s first professional esports team.

An expert technologist, Hai is also co-founding partner at Neomancer, a technology strategy and� management group. He is credited with designing and orchestrating the first AR demo on the� floor of the NYSE and the first AR tool deployed on the floor of NYMEX. Over the last several years, he� has been a technology ambassador for Open-Source VR, showcasing the opportunities that VR� can bring to the motion picture and iGaming industries.

Under his leadership at Neomancer, the company forged a development relationship with� Continent 8 Technologies that led to Hai’s appointment as CIO. During his tenure, Hai and his� team helped the company expand into Asia.

Harmen has a long-standing track record in regulated gaming sectors across emerging markets. Today his company Dynamic Partners is focused on Global Chain. Global Chain is about networked trade and commerce of products across the I-Gaming and landbased sector. It’s to bring technological development and distribution together to come up with customized solutions to the many challenges and opportunities the gaming industry faces.

Harmen has worked in over 65 countries actively supplying gaming equipment, advising and developing the gaming business. Until recently Harmen was full time SVP Strategic Markets for Inspired Gaming Group (INGG), Prior Harmen was founder and CEO of Octavian Global Technologies, a $90m casino technology supplier with over 35,000 networked slot machines and offices in 10+ countries. Before founding Octavian, Harmen partnered with the Gauselman Group to establish Avalon Casino Management, setting up the Playboy Casino in Rhodes amongst others.

� 

James Garcia has been in the Casual Games industry for a few years, involved in the development of tens of games, the creation of a community of million of players and driving campaigns with millions of views. Now, together with OPTIMA Gaming and the creators of the successful title Crossing Souls, James is on his pursuit of disrupting the current iGaming scene.
Always moving forward, gamifying experiences and questioning every established set of rules. Casual Games have taken the current generation by the storm, and now it’s time for the iGaming industry to embrace it.

Jose Alvares is a partner with CA Lawyers, which he established with Berkeley educated engineer turned lawyer Barry Cheong. He maintains a general practice though with a corporate focus, namely in the banking and gaming sectors, even though continues to act in numerous civil litigation cases. Jose is an active member in the community (both Macau and Hong Kong), including the Lawyers’ Association (namely as a member of Ethics Board), local chambers of commerce, Oxfam and others. He participates in several thought provoking conferences and is a newspaper columnist. He has recently won a gold medal for new talent by the Macau Business Awards.

Mark is a data-driven marketer, passionate about everything digital, people & data and currently the VP of Sales for APAC at Dynamic Yield. Dynamic Yield is the leading Personalization Marketing Stack, powering some of the world’s largest eCommerce and B2C brands. We deliver individualized experiences at every customer touchpoint, leveraging our AI-powered Personalization Anywhere™ platform. Mark is originally from the Netherlands where he completed his masters degree in Services & Retail marketing at Tilburg University and started his career in online retail. Mark also lived in Sydney, Australia for 6 years where he worked in Search Marketing. Singapore is Mark’s home since early 2013, a perfect base to travel the region � Mark is an aspiring triathlete and a loving husband and father of 2 kids. For more info, pls check out my profile here www.linkedin.com/in/markvandenhaak

After completing a doctorate on Taiwanese ethnic politics and � history, Martin spent four-and-a-half years as chief copy editor, editorialist and columnist at the Taipei Times � newspaper. He later served as Taiwan correspondent for the English-language service of Kyodo News, � Japan’s biggest news agency. Fluent in Chinese, Martin is based in Taipei and is a former president of the Taiwan � Foreign Correspondents Club. He has spoken at or moderated gaming conferences and seminars in Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, London and Taipei.

Michael is Asia Pacific Development Director for GVC Group and has over 20 years’ experience in the betting & gaming industry. Based in China since 2005, he is currently responsible for developing GVC Group’s business interests in the Asia Pacific region. Michael has held various senior management positions during his time with Ladbrokes & GVC, initially within the retail sector of the business before joining the International Department and focussing on the Asian markets.

Michael Maerz is Managing Director Asia at Sportradar.

Michael first joined the company in January 2015 as Managing Director Betting, where he was in charge of the development of Betradar’s two main product groups, Pre-Match Odds Services� and Live Odds Services, as well as Esports.

He now oversees sales of Betradar’s betting products and services as well as Sportradar’s b2b and product development in North and SE Asia.

Prior to joining Sportradar, Michael held various positions with several online and retail gaming operators over a period of almost twenty years. Making history by accepting the first ever online bet with Intertops in 1996, Michael continued to grow the business as CEO of Intertops Antigua until 2005 when he moved back to Europe for a short stint as COO of Mybet before overseeing the acquisition and integration of Gamebookers as Director Sportsbetting at PartyGaming in 2006.

After the merger with bwin, Michael headed up the CRM and BI units of the combined entity as Director Sports Marketing before joining Liga Stavok as Director Sportsbetting in 2012.

Michael is based in Gibraltar.

Mina Hazar is a prevention education specialist. She manages two Gambling Awareness Programs within the province of Ontario. Proactive to youth/problem gambling trends, research, and evidence-based methodologies, Mina has initiated and directed development of education/prevention programming and collaborated on research. Mina holds B.S in Computer Software Engineering and MA in Leadership Studies.

Pablo Bermudez currently serves as the Operations Manager for Betcris Philippines. In this role, in partnership with publicly-listed technology company, DFNN Inc., Mr. Bermudez oversees the operations of Xchangebet, the first and only sports betting exchange license and facility in the Philippines. The Xchangebet product is offered in over 5,600 electronic gaming machines in over 150 locations countrywide. Mr. Bermudez has been active in the sports betting industry for about 13 years and has served in a number of different customer facing and operational roles in Costa Rica, Laos, and Cambodia. He has a great deal of experience adapting Western platforms to the Asian environment, specifically for the unique and dynamic Philippine market.

Headquartered in India, Grid Logic is one of the fastest growing group’s with diversified interests across various sectors including media and hospitality apart from gaming. Innovation, Security and Automation are the major motivating aspects for them.

Partha joined Grid Logic with a bachelor’s degree from Electrical and Electronics Engineering 6 years ago, He currently manages multiple roles for growth and on the product front as a Director of Grid Logic Games.

Partha played a significant role in growing B2B space activity for rummy in India with TRN (Taj Rummy Network), which is Grid Logic’s rummy platform with 7 award winning brands which are unique and have custom branding. Most importantly this helps maintain the liquidity needed to operate successfully.

Paul comes from a family of Scottish bookmakers & was born and raised in the industry. From working as a tic-tac on course & settler in the shops during his teens he progressed to managing a chain of shops before moving to Guernsey to join Sportingbet as a football trader. From there he was part of a team of 3 who moved to Manila in 2009 to open Sportingbet’s Manila Office & has been in Manila ever since. Joining Bodog as Director of Sportsbook in 2012 then running his own operation in 2015. He joined LeTou in 2016 & was promoted to CEO earlier this year.

Prof. Augustine Ha Ton Vinh has 30 years of professional, technical, and management experience in more than 20 countries in the Asian-Pacific, European, and West African regions, with a concentration in economic development strategies, public-private partnerships, business restructuring and enterprise reform, private participation in infrastructure.

Prof. Vinh serves as Senior Investment Advisor to Vietnam’s Special Economic Zone and Integrated Resort in the Van Don Island, Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage site. He also advises leading gaming technology and service companies in Vietnam the past 10 years. Since his assignment to Vietnam in 1995, Prof. Vinh helped establish the Executive MBA program of the University of Hawaii in both Hanoi and HCM City (2001-2008). Before that he led a management consulting practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; generated an active flow of new projects funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and other multilateral donors; provided direct assistance to key government officials responsible for approving and allocating Official Development Assistance (ODA) and private sector financial commitments. He was, for several years, Asia Regional Advisor for Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) which is owned and directed by major countries and multilateral agencies, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and UNDP. Prof. Vinh, as Multilateral, Bilateral and ECA Financial Advisor, helped structure the financing options for a US$2.5 billion program to build Vietnam’s largest hydropower plant.

Prof. Vinh has completed his Master’s program and Doctoral Fellowship at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Washington, D.C. (1978) and Catholic University of America (1983), respectively. In 1981, Prof. Vinh was awarded a three-year Ph.D. Fellowship by the US National Institutes of Health. He has been subsequently recommended by several US Senators, Congressmen, and government officials for a Presidential Special Assistant position in the first Reagan-Bush administration.

Prof. Vinh has served four years on the Board of Governors and Executive Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi. Prof. Vinh is a US citizen and lives in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city.

Stephen is the Chairman of the Esports Integrity Coalition in the Asia Pacific Region. As a forensic accountant with accompanying qualifications in law, his background as an experienced forensic expert has given him exposure to the investigation and resolution of multi-million dollar fraud cases. Further to this, his experience in business growth and technological development has guided a number of start-up digital organisations to growth and success. Stephen plays a pivotal role within ESIC, particularly in his pioneering of technological advancements and forensic expertise within ESIC’s integrity services administered globally.

Susan O’Leary is the CEO of Alderney eGambling, the Alderney regulator’s strategic and development body. As a lawyer, she represented some of the world’s leading eGambling operators and gambling service providers including many of Alderney’s licensees. She has a keen sense of what they require from a jurisdiction: a strong pragmatic regulator who understands the commercial environment, a resilient technical infrastructure, a favourable tax system, excellent support services and an approach that encourages businesses to grow and prosper within safe and responsible parameters

Mr. Takao Ohara is the founder and president of Hilltop Capital Co., Ltd. Mr. Ohara has more than 20 years of experience in the financial markets with the focus on investing in the corporate restructurings, real estate properties, distressed properties/companies, special situations as well as arranging financings and securitizations, and advisory and brokerage services. Leveraging Mr. Ohara’s expertise and market experiences, Hilltop Capital, Japan’s Financial Services Agency registered investment advisory company, helps companies raise capital both debt and equity, source/dispose of hard assets as part of restructurings, real estate related financings as well as brokerage services.
Prior to founding Hilltop Capital, Mr. Ohara was a partner at Merchant Capital that invested in Japanese income-producing properties, in charge of portfolio management as well as guiding the company in sourcing, deal structuring and capital raising.
Prior to Merchant Capital, he was in Global Principal Investment group at Merrill Lynch in Japan, which was then one of the most profitable desks in the Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific region at the time. He was responsible for sourcing, underwriting and pricing as well as trading Japanese banks’ non-performing loans, real estate properties and securitized products.

Mr. Ohara received a B.Sc degree in Applied Mathematics from the University of Sydney in 1996 and a MS degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Columbia University in 1998.

Career Background

• Fourth generation bookmaker
• 2008, was Australia’s largest and most profitable on-course bookmaker with turnover of over $200 million p.a.
• In 2010 launched the online sports betting business TOMWATERHOUSE.COM. Within two years this became one of the largest Australian online sports betting companies.
• com in this time grew from start up with three people to over 100 and from less than 1,000 clients to approximately 250,000.
• In August 2013� COMwas sold to William Hill, (continued as Managing Director of TOMWATERHOUSE.COM)
• In July 2014 became CEO of William Hill Australia operating the Tomwaterhouse.com, Centrebet, Sportingbet and William Hill brands operating from three countries with approx. 500 employees, one million clients and over two billion dollars in turnover.
• In 2018 William Hill Australia was acquired by Stars Group and Tom purchased back TOMWATERHOUSE.COM
• 2018 re-launched TOMWATERHOUSE.COM as a subscription online Tipping Business.

Unusual Facts

• Appeared on Dancing with the Stars (TV show) in 2007
• Lived in Crown Casino for four years 2008-2012

Bill Pascrell III (BP3), a partner in Princeton Public Affairs Group, is New Jersey’s leading expert on online gaming and has a diverse worldwide client base ranging from Hard Rock Casinos to Sportech to the Meadowlands Race Track to Camelot to PokerStars. Mr. Pascrell recently led the campaign to legalize NJ Sports Betting after managing a successful statewide referendum. BPIII is known nationwide for his sports betting and online gaming expertise as well as his influence in crafting horse racing and lottery legislation. And most notably, Mr. Pascrell spearheaded the multi-year campaign to pass the landmark New Jersey On Line Gaming Act recently signed into law by Governor Chris Christie. Mr. Pascrell is also a member of the GiGSE (Global Internet Gaming and Sports Experts) Board of Advisors, as well as a member of the National Council of Problem Gambling Federal Affairs Committee. Mr. Pascrell has been routinely cited as one of the 100 most influential personalities in New Jersey politics by PolitickerNJ.com.
Princeton Public Affairs Group, Inc. announced the extension of its gaming practice providing strategic advice to the gaming industry across the US. The expanded offering is highlighted in a new video entitled, PPAG Perspectives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHiFXMbSG5M&feature=youtu.be