Boom Entertainment, Compliable and Rank: on the move

With comings and goings across the industry, Monarch, Boom Entertainment, and Rank Group, all feature in our rundown of recent manoeuvres.

With comings and goings commonplace across the industry, Monarch, Boom Entertainment, and Rank Group, all feature in our latest rundown of a number of recent manoeuvres.

Boom Entertainment

Boom Entertainment has appointed Joseph Masci as the company’s vice president of creative. 

As part of his new role, Masci will oversee the development of Boom’s real-money product line, including differentiated casino slot products and sports betting games which will be launched across the industry. 

Masci’s previous roles include principal director of creative at Aristocrat, chief creative officer of Gimmie Games – which Aristocrat acquired in 2018 – and founding creative director of High 5 Games. 

On his appointment, Masci commented: “I’ve been following Boom’s journey for several years now, and each year I’ve been more and more impressed with what the company was building.

“I joined Boom because of the talent and leadership the company has, and because I’m convinced Boom can be the company that reimagines and redefines igaming entertainment in the next decade.”

“Joe is a true creative,” added Stephen A. Murphy, CEO of Boom Entertainment. “His track record speaks for itself. But more than that, he is driven and brilliant, and he will do amazing things here at Boom.”

Monarch Casino & Resort

Monarch has confirmed that John Farahi will leave the company on September 3 to pursue “business interests outside the gaming and hospitality industry”.

On his departure, Farahi noted: “On behalf of the board and our entire team, I want to thank David for his 14 years of significant contributions to Monarch, including nine years as chief operating officer. 

“We appreciate David’s commitment and tireless efforts in managing operations during the construction and expansion of our resort in Black Hawk, Colorado, while also leading our Reno operations. 

“David was also instrumental in securing the passage of Amendment 77 in November 2020, which has paved the way for unlimited wagers and a variety of new games for casinos in Colorado.”

Along with Farahi’s departure, the resort also announced that Michelle Shriver has joined the company as corporate vice president of operations. Under her new role, she will have primary responsibility for the operations of the newly expanded Monarch Casino Resort Spa Black Hawk. 

Commenting on the appointment of Shriver, the departing CEO added: “Michelle has a track record of approximately 20 years in the gaming and hospitality industry. She has extensive experience developing a corporate strategy aimed at maximising revenues and achieving market leadership. 

“As a member of the executive management team of Ameristar Casinos, she was responsible for the operations of all eight of their regional casino resorts. Michelle also oversaw a significant expansion of Ameristar Casino Black Hawk and is very familiar with the Denver area market.

Craig Pleva will continue to lead the experienced and loyal management team in Black Hawk as general manager. He has been with the company for over 16 years and has served as general manager in Black Hawk since July 2014. 

“Prior to relocating to Denver, Craig gained significant marketing and operational experience at our Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno. We are excited to have Craig and Michelle collaborate to further implement our overall operational strategies in our newly expanded Black Hawk resort.”

John Farahi continued: “Looking ahead, Monarch is well positioned to pursue growth opportunities, having assembled a talented and experienced management team. Our balance sheet is among the best in the industry and our track record in operations gives us confidence in our ability to execute our strategic plan.”

Rank Group

Eitan Boyd has been promoted to the leadership position of group chief innovation officer at Rank Group.

Disclosed by Rank updating investors on the LSE group’s digital progress, the former Stride Gaming chief executive will focus on developing new growth initiatives for the group – including international opportunities – and to advance the group’s use of proprietary technologies and systems.

Further reorganisations saw Rank confirm the promotion of Jon Martin to the position of Managing Director of Rank’s UK digital portfolio.

The group’s former digital finance and strategy director, Martin had been overseeing the Rank International development, a duty which will now be handled by Group CEO John O’Reilly.

Compliable

Former state gaming regulator and, most recently, director of licencing for DraftKings, Justin Stempeck, has been appointed as the new chief strategy officer at Compilable

Bringing a “wealth of experience” to the company, Stempeck drove the licencing process across all products during his time at DraftKings including sportsbook, online casino and daily fantasy sports, both domestically and internationally. 

On his appointment, Stempeck said: “Compliable is at such an impressive stage in their already fast-paced business growth. I am very excited to become chief strategy officer for a company that has found a solution to such a significant proportion of employee licencing challenges faced by all operators and vendors.

“This is a corner of the industry that is becoming ever more crucial to operator and vendor success and I can’t wait to help propel the process forward.”

Compliable recently secured funding to continue to develop a platform that helps US sportsbooks to readily prepare applications and secure employee licences across the country.

Chris Oltyan, CEO of Compliable, added: “We are delighted to have Justin join us as he brings extensive gaming experience to our senior leadership team.

“His knowledge of the regulatory landscape will enhance our ability to navigate the complicated web of US gaming compliance.”