From VICE, December 17:
How a Tiny Island in Europe Sold Its Soul to Online Gaming
Malta, the EU’s smallest member state, is home to one of the world’s greatest gambling booms since Las Vegas in the 1960s.
SLIEMA, Malta – It’s a Friday night at one of Malta’s larger upscale hotels in a fishing village turned sprawling town called St. Julian’s, and in the ballroom on the lower ground floor a woman in a silver dress is performing a not-quite-acoustic set, seated beside a guitarist whose long, dark hair is pinned back by a pair of sunglasses.
“So good, so good,” she sings. “I’ve got you.” Before her are two dozen tables of wine bottles, tuxedos, and dresses. Most of the male guests appear middle-aged and some are mildly intoxicated, while the women present are mostly younger. A large advert at the side of the stage proclaims that a digital consultancy called MYC will ensure that your business images are distinctive, bold and respected. “We can be extraordinary, together,” it adds, helpfully.
In the foyer outside, another tall display features the name of a group established by the Maltese government and the country’s gambling regulator to promote the island as a destination for businesses that develop, market, operate and profit from online gambling websites and apps. In front of that, a small strip of red carpet has been unrolled, where a photographer waits, lights raised high on stands, to capture the departing guests.Four older men in jackets, all clutching awards, surround a woman in a dark top. The event photographer snaps several formal group shots, then grabs a spotlight in one hand and, with the other, rattles off a short series of photos on proffered smartphones. There are high-fives and backslaps, and a young British guy in a grey jacket enters stage right, shouting “I won it” to a possible acquaintance with a beard and a large disc earring, before walking on and quickly pulling out his phone, suddenly oblivious to the surrounding melee of hugs, squeals and whoops.
The evening’s Malta iGaming Excellence Awards had recognised excellence in a variety of categories, including top software platform provider for web-based betting and online gambling CEO deemed “best” – most effective, friendliest, or whatever, it’s unclear. The Intercontinental St. Julian’s may not quite rival Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, the traditional venue for the Academy Awards, but Malta has in recent years become to online gambling what Hollywood has been to the movie industry, drawing entrepreneurs and executives from across the European continent to this sun-blasted island. The EU’s smallest member state is home to one of the world’s greatest gambling booms since 1960s Vegas.
Someone who has enjoyed a front-row seat to Malta’s blockbuster growth is Emanuel “Eman” Pulis, a club promoter turned conference planner, whose own career transition mirrors the transformation of the St. Julian’s neighbourhood that he describes fondly as a former “mecca for nightlife, clubs, bars.” It’s early afternoon and outside the temperature has just spiked to 30 degrees Celsius, as he offers a fist-bump before heading into his frigid conference room. He takes a seat under the fluorescent lights, his tan contrasting with the white piping on the collar of his dark blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
“I used to be a party organiser,” he says. “I ditched that because I realised the only people who were spending money buying bottles at my parties were the gaming crowd.” His attachment to the dance party life ended conclusively during the summer of 2012, at an enormous house music event inside a venue called Amazonia. About 7,000 tourists and locals were enjoying a set from headliners Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, the half-Greek, half-Belgian fraternal DJ act that’s collaborated with artists ranging from Wiz Khalifa to Paris Hilton. In the partygoers’ midst an elevated area served as the VIP bubble, which Pulis realised was “full of Swedish, Norwegian, Scandinavian, great-looking people having a great time,” he recalls, smiling. “They were having fun on their own, spending a tonne of cash. And I realised I needed to be in that bubble.” He pauses, tucking his long, well-conditioned hair behind his ears, drawing attention to several small scars on the side of his left eye. “Why waste time bringing 10,000 people to my party when I can just focus on these few 100 people?” he says with a smile.
The free-spending swarm of Scandinavians and other Northern Europeans had been drawn to Malta by an online gambling law passed several years earlier that provided the fledgling industry with legal protections and operating rules, which did not yet really exist anywhere else. “You can come to Malta,” Pulis says, summarising the official message from local authorities at the time, “and have the peace of mind that we're not going to arrest you next day because you're operating illegally.”
Since then, tens of thousands of coders, marketers, game designers and gambling fanatics have settled in a handful of neighbourhoods that extend north along a series of coastal inlets from the capital Valletta, with names like Ta’ Xbiex, Sliema, St. Julian’s, Paceville and Pembroke reflecting the island’s unique history of Arabic, Catholic, and British influences. And that vast workforce in this chain of former villages has helped create what many of the gambling executives VICE World News spoke to inside and outside Malta described as a formidable ecosystem that they hope will secure the island’s place as a longtime constant in the world of online betting. The exponential growth that derives from this kind of congregated talent and expertise is what business strategists like to call a “cluster effect.”....
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Previously on Malta:
Grand Theft Europe: Malta’s role in a scam worth €50 billion annually"
Combining three of our favorite topics: skullduggery, Malta, and skullduggery on Malta.
After Reporter's Murder: "Malta's Pilatus Bank has European licence withdrawn"
Who Killed Investigative Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia?
Malta, A Modern Smugglers’ Hideout"
"Death in a Smugglers’ Paradise"
It was a weaker than average field but still a deserved win for the former MEP and soon-to-be ex-Prime Minister.
Here's hoping that Africa and the 'Stans up their game in the New Year to compete with the Westerners who will be in the running in 2020.
I missed this when it first came out. There are people on Malta and on the mainland who think this goes a lot deeper than the three arrested....
