Kickoff

What is Kickoff?

The operator has made a number of key operational and technology changes during this process, including switching its sportsbook backend from DraftKings to OpenBet. And hiring a number of industry stalwards to lead its competitive business.

Former Scientific Games veteran Chris Armes was appointed as the new executive VP of Gaming Technologies in early August. Armes is set to take up his new role in the autumn of 2026, leading Veikkaus’ technology organisation from its Helsinki headquarters. 

In July last year, Veikkaus iGaming EVP Jarkko Nordlund told iGB: “The competition will be fierce when the market opens, so we must be very competitive. Our aim is to challenge the mentality of our current position, so we need to secure market leadership.” 

What is Kickoff?

There have been many uplifting elements to writing about poker through a global pandemic, as odd as those words must feel to read and certainly are to write. From inspirational quotes to motivate players who are just joining or continue to love the game to what could help players turn pro as an alternative to more difficult careers to sustain (they do exist!), it has genuinely been a job I have treasured and I hope you have enjoyed the content that I and the incredible Calvin Ayre content team have been able to bring you during the past 18 months or so.  

Bringing you series of articles such as Poker on Screen and Poker in Print has been a massive source of pride for myself and the team and I even got the chance to discuss poker in the movies and on television on the recent episode of the award-winning podcast, The Chip Race.  

As ever, I am indebted to too many people to mention, but Derek, Bill, Jasmine and every one of the Calvin Ayre team, as well as Calvin himself of course, have all shown a lot of faith in me to carry the torch and I hope I’ve done them all credit.  

How to play Kickoff

CoinGeek Conferences – These are Calvin Ayre events, you can be sure to receive maximum information with minimal marketing pitches and a wee bit-o-fun thrown in. All of the conferences are recorded so you can watch all or just the topics that interest you. Here are a few conference videos that would be of interest to the gambling industry broken down by topic: iGaming, eSports, Marketing Technology, and Supply Chain Management. 

Bitcoin SV Webinars – The Bitcoin Association holds regular webinars of varied levels of information on topics of varied interests. They have primarily focused on building new solutions and offer those in attendance a good window into a few of the things that are possible.

Bitcoin SV Hackathons – There are a number of hackathons each year. If you’re familiar with the hackathon concept, they’re just like the rest. Developers are given a certain amount of time and parameters to develop an application. The application judged the best will win a prize which is usually BSV and fame and glory. They offer assistance to Ethereum and non-blockchain developers looking to build on Bitcoin SV.