Chief Executive Officer, Playtech
Playtech and MGM Resorts Bring Live Dealer to Las Vegas
MGM Live creates a unique omnichannel experience, letting in-person and interactive consumers play side by side at the Bellagio and MGM Grand.
Clarion Gaming Content Director Robin Harrison digs into the deal with Playtech Chief Executive Mor Weizer and MGM Resorts’ Senior Vice President and Head of Interactive Christian Stuart.
This makes good on MGM Resorts CEO Bill Hornbuckle’s pledge to bring the land-based giant into the digital realm, Stuart explains. After “scouring the earth” for a partner capable of creating a seamless offering it ultimately selected Playtech on the strength of its...
About Mor Weizer
Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech, discussed a partnership with MGM Resorts in July 2025 to launch MGM Live, a live dealer offering from the Bellagio and MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Weizer stated that the launch is "particularly significant in light of our plans to expand our partnership in the online gaming space." He said that MGM Live will be "exclusively distributed by Playtech" and will be "streamed to legal regulated markets" and "available for use by licensed operators in those regions." Weizer noted that future phases of the partnership would include exclusive access to a range of Playtech games, branded TV game shows, and trivia shows hosted by celebrities, with a focus on enhancing the live dealer experience for games like blackjack and roulette by "replicating the casino atmosphere." Weizer also reflected on Playtech's decade of appearances in the Gaming Intelligence Hot 50 as of October 2020, characterizing the company's approach as finding "the right Balance between maintaining strategies." He credited the recognition to Playtech's "quality of only plays and the investment made" and to employees "deschid detector" (likely meaning "open detector") of the industry's development. Weizer added that the company's leadership considers it "important element" to have "passion" for the business.
Transcript (20 segments)
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Robin Harrison0:05
Hello everyone, my name is Robin Harrison. I'm a Content Director at Claran Gaming, and I'm here with Christian Stewart of MGM Resorts and Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech, to talk about the partnership between these companies, which is really bringing one of the most interesting products that we've seen to market. Something that really takes live forward essentially. So guys, first of all, thank you so much for joining us today.
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Christian Stewart0:35
Thanks for having us, Robin. We appreciate it. Thank you.
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Robin Harrison0:41
And so let's just dive straight in. So Christian, when I was speaking to Bill Hornbuckle around GTV last year, you know, he talked about the potential of creating a genuine omnichannel experience that brings digital players into MGM's biggest properties. And this feels like a real key development within that. So I was wondering if you could give us a run through of how this partnership came to be between MGM and Playtech.
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Christian Stewart1:16
Sure, yeah, you're right. So Bill has been talking about this for multiple quarters of how we would enter the live dealer space. We're super excited about it. So this partnership came together to bring this to fruition. We scoured the Earth looking for partners to be able to deliver on our goals. You know, we landed on Playtech, unbelievable tech distribution, and the right partner that would bring our vision to life. That's what this is about. We're looking to expand our four walls from here in Vegas to the rest of the regulated world. And we're super excited about it. Lots to come.
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Robin Harrison1:57
Thanks, Christian. And Mor, obviously you've been entrusted with helping MGM expand its four walls beyond Vegas to the rest of the world. So in terms of technology, could you talk us through how this works in practice? How do you see this being set up in a way to make that customer on the floor play against those online and make this whole system feel unintrusive and crucially fun for players across all channels, entertaining?
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Mor Weizer2:35
Entertaining, yeah. Hi everyone, hi Christian, hi again, Christian. It's a pleasure to be here with you and nice to meet you all. And thank you again, Robin, for the warm welcome and for having us here today. Before I answer, I would like to take this opportunity to thank MGM Resorts for selecting us as their partner. This partnership will certainly pave the way for a unique and highly attractive offering that stands out both today and in the future. I truly believe that this is particularly significant in light of our plans to expand our partnership in the online gaming space. I would also like to personally thank Bill for his evident passion for gaming and entertainment and the combination of both, which I believe is the future of our industry. To answer the question in terms of technology and how this is set up: at the core of our operations is Playtech's proprietary live platform, which underpins this innovative setup. We utilize a sophisticated array of technical cameras and automated systems to ensure seamless integration between online and on-floor play. Our primary goal is to deliver a cohesive and immersive experience for all players, and our technology closely tracks real-time game efforts, enhancing the gaming experience. Unlike other platforms, our system is highly automated with regulated online gameplay timings and flexible floor timings. Cameras in casinos are common, obviously primarily for security purposes, but our setup uniquely streams the games online globally. Typically, dual play primarily involves viewing the roulette wheel, which is the core experience for today's players, and online players only see a zoomed-in view of the roulette wheel due to space constraints. However, what sets us apart is our ability to replicate the Vegas experience. Our advanced camera solutions provide a full casino experience, including unique shots of the casino floor that players wouldn't usually see, making them feel like they are right there in the action. We employ advanced privacy technology to ensure GDPR compliance, obviously creating new experiences for players from the comfort of their homes. Our ultimate goal is to replicate the Vegas experience with a cinematic feel, bringing the excitement of Vegas directly into the players' hands.
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Robin Harrison5:09
Amazing. And well, you heard it here first: bring Vegas into your home. But actually, for the first time, you know, as an industry we've talked about that for years, but you guys are actually making that happen.
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Christian Stewart5:24
This is our first time, right? This is the first stream coming from Las Vegas, and we couldn't be more excited to have it come from the Bellagio, one of the most iconic brands around the globe. So you know, you could be in London tomorrow and play on the Bellagio tables. It's incredible.
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Mor Weizer5:44
So I think that this is indeed truly unique. It hasn't been done before. People, you know, other companies including Playtech can talk about online live casino offerings that are done for specific operators from the operators' facilities specifically for their customers, but I don't think that ever in our industry two big companies, one representing gaming and entertainment, an iconic brand, coming together with a technology partner that is considered one of the leading technology providers worldwide, coming together to create a more engaging, more entertaining, but safe environment for the end-user customers worldwide. And I think doing that from Vegas, I think is very, very unique, very innovative, very different, never been seen before. And we are very, as you can see, we are very excited about it.
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Robin Harrison6:43
All and I mean, obviously you can feel the excitement here, but I'm also keen to find out how this partnership evolves. You know, you've talked about, I think when you announced it, you talked about rolling out additional games, potentially game show elements, brand content, even involving celebrities. So can you guys talk me through how MGM Live evolves going forward?
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Christian Stewart7:12
Sure, Mor, maybe I'll kick off and you can add a bit. Yeah, so I think stepping back, like the first offering is going to be dual play, which is just in the Bellagio. We're going to have a single zero roulette table and we're going to have a baccarat table. At the MGM Grand, we're going to have roulette and baccarat as well. And it's taking this product, which people come from all over the world to experience here live in Vegas, and bringing that online. We think that the camera angles we'll have, the energy that you'll feel from the casino floor, you'll be playing along on a roulette table that has a $100 minimum, so you'll see $25 chips just scattered all over the felt with the Bellagio logos. So we think this first step is super exciting. But to your point, yes, we do have bigger aspirations. We're an entertainment company. Inside these four walls, there's a lot that goes on, and we intend to build out a future offering that will take our IP, our content, and share that with the world and build new experiences, something never seen before. So more to come for sure.
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Mor Weizer8:23
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. So we are thrilled obviously about the future of this partnership. And as we progress, we are planning to expand our portfolio by providing exclusive access to a diverse range of Playtech games. And we are also looking at, as Christian said, introducing branded TV game shows and even trivia shows hosted by celebrities, never been done before. Again, these unique entertainment experiences synonymous with Las Vegas and MGM will be part of our future phases. A key focus for us is to enhance the live dealer experience, particularly for games like blackjack and roulette, and we aim to replicate the casino atmosphere as closely as possible, making it more engaging for the end users. We are also committed to technological advancements, and this is a crucial part of our strategy to extend our offerings, empower customers, empower our licensees, and provide a more engaging, entertaining, and, like I said before, a safer gaming environment, which aligns with our broader strategy to expand our offerings and empower our partners with a more diverse portfolio. We are extremely excited about the prospect of delivering this entertainment directly from the casino floor to customers worldwide. And as the partnership evolves, the plan is to broaden the portfolio with exclusive access to a variety of Playtech games, branded TV shows, and celebrity-hosted trivia shows, and the one-of-a-kind entertainment experiences for which Las Vegas and MGM are so well known.
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Robin Harrison9:52
Amazing. And I suppose the next kind of question is really which markets get Vegas next? Because obviously it's going to launch, and I think it's the UK and Mexico. So talk us through these plans. How is that launch going to be handled? Are you going to go live with exclusive partners and then expand across the rest of the market? And what other markets are you looking at? What other markets can you bring to Vegas?
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Christian Stewart10:26
Yeah, so just jumping in, we are totally focused on regulated markets. So this will only be going to those. And you named a couple that we'll start with: UK and Mexico. It's been quite a long process to get everything certified, regulated, make sure all of our ducks are in a row to actually bring this offering to these markets in a regulated, licensed, safe, and responsible way. But as we start to roll this out, you'll see it go all across Europe, Latam, everywhere that there's regulations. And so we're committed to that. And Playtech has the distribution with all the operators to be able to actually get this product into customers' hands. We're super excited about that opportunity. We believe for the operator, this will be something really unique. You know, operators are always looking for new stuff. They've got 4,000 casino games in their app, and this is something that'll be truly unique for them to offer to their customers, something to bring people into the app. So you'll see this methodically roll out over the course of this year to traditional markets. And from an operator perspective, there may be choices in different markets to do some exclusivities, but we're looking to really get this content out to everyone. And that's our focus. And then as we bring more offerings to fruition, it'll just be piped out alongside this first phase. So it's kind of baby steps and then a big distribution.
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Mor Weizer12:07
Yeah, so Christian, we had to choose which market we go into because we need to certify it, go through the licensing process, and make sure that we do it right. So we chose UK and Mexico. However, I can tell you already that Playtech operates in each and every commercially viable gaming jurisdiction, right? That is obviously regulated, licensed jurisdiction. And I can tell you that the demand is unbelievable. We had calls, you know, I had to have people answering calls: 'Where can I, when can I have it, how do I have it, how can I get it?' And so obviously the demand is extremely promising. I will say that the launch of MGM Live will be exclusively distributed by Playtech. It's obviously a key element for us. We will partner with licensed online casinos in regulated markets to provide the MGM Live content. It's important to know, and I know that I repeat, but I want to reiterate that our live casino content will only be streamed to legal regulated markets and will be available for use by licensed operators in those regions. Initially, we will roll it out with exclusive partners to ensure a smooth launch. It's important for us that it succeeds and becomes a major success, which will obviously secure the demand. Following that, we will expand across the market.
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Robin Harrison13:25
Amazing. And Mor, talk to me about what this kind of means for Playtech, and specifically Playtech Live. How crucial do you see this deal being to further growing the live dealer business that you're building?
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Mor Weizer13:44
Yeah, absolutely. So live casino continues to grow and continues to go from strength to strength. And this partnership with MGM is a significant milestone for Playtech Live as we strive to deliver more engaging content. This deal couldn't have come at a better time. MGM is a globally recognized and respected brand, more so, it is an iconic brand as I mentioned earlier, and aligning with them is a major step forward for us. This collaboration extends across all territories, reinforcing our global footprint, which is important. The combination of gaming coming under the MGM brand, a leading gaming entertainment group, together with a tech partner like Playtech, is a huge development. It sets the stage for a game-changing venture in the industry, and we are set to become a leading force in the entertainment sector of the gaming industry. This has never been done before and has a lot of potential. We only just started, as Christian said, and I'm confident it will allow us and MGM to lead the way for an exclusive format, more engaging and more entertaining, that will be extremely appealing to end-user customers worldwide. We are known for our innovation and reliable technology. This partnership not only strengthens our position but also sets the stage for a game-changing venture going forward. Our vision is very clear: to deliver unparalleled experiences to customers across the globe, directly from the casino floor.
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Robin Harrison15:10
Amazing. And just one final question for you, Christian. So obviously this still comes as MGM effectively goes through this kind of evolution. It's very much known as a resort brand, a brick-and-mortar brand, but in recent times there's been a lot of moves digitally, whether that's LeoVegas, whether that's this partnership. So I mean, do you see this as sort of an evolution of that online proposition, moving from starting with that B2C offering and then expanding into becoming a B2B power?
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Christian Stewart15:54
That's right. This is very consistent with our strategy. You named LeoVegas, very exciting acquisition for us a couple of years ago. We've expanded with BetMGM in the UK, BetMGM in the Netherlands, so that front is still very exciting for us. But we've also acquired Push Gaming, a content studio that we have a lot of belief in, and there's exciting things on that roadmap. And then this just dovetails with that as another B2B offering from MGM and a pure content play. And we're taking billions and billions of dollars of assets that are only experienced in person, and now allowing people online to experience that, to have the joy of playing from Vegas. And put all of our entertainment capacity and all our entertainment power behind it, and bring some content that's never been seen before to the live dealer space. So yeah, I think it's very consistent.
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Robin Harrison16:56
Fantastic. And so, Mor, Christian, thank you so much for joining me. Really appreciate both your time. It's been fascinating hearing about it. People have talked about it for years, but you know, well done and finally bring Vegas into people's homes. It's one of those things where the cliche 'what happens in Vegas doesn't have to stay in Vegas' applies. Absolutely. All right. Thank you very much, everyone. Thank you for watching. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you, thank you.