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44 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 messaging that does not seem relevant to the specific activity they are interested in. So, some players mistakenly conclude that our iLottery app doesn’t work so feel there is no reason to come back to our website until we get it fixed. Not the ideal user- experience. But to your question: Yes, geofencing works quite well, almost flawlessly as far as we know. To be on the safe side, we apply a 200-plus meter buffer zone surrounding the jurisdictional borders. You can access your GambetDC account from anywhere and you can deposit funds from anywhere. When you then click on ‘play’ or ‘bet’, you are checked again for geolocation. If you fall outside of the District’s boundaries, or you are within one of the restricted zones, the system shuts down access to wager, generates a pop message explaining the laws along with the map showing the restricted areas, and that you need to go to a place where betting is allowed within the District. There may be some regulatory tolerance for the boundaries of the restricted areas not being perfectly precise in every single instance. But there is zero tolerance for non- compliance with jurisdictional boundaries as those are proscribed by federal laws and require a fail-safe buffer zone. It's great that your political constitu- ents are authorizing the DC Lottery to expand into new game categories and channels of distribution. B. Bresnahan: We are fortunate to have supportive leadership in the Chief Financial Officer and that the D.C. Council has recognized the need to modernize and diversify gaming options to grow transfer to the General Fund. is the OLG is now taking on the licensing and regulation of electronic games-of-skill, also known as the “gray machines”. The legislation in D.C. largely mirrors the COAM (coin-operated- amusement-games) legislation in Georgia, except that cash payouts up to $600 will be allowed and the locations where they can be placed are very specific. Bars and restaurants licensed and endorsed by the District’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration will be allowed to apply to offer these electronic skill-based games, but not convenience stores, liquor stores or other locations that traditionally sell lottery games. So, in 2020 you were tasked with licensing operators for sports betting and electronic games as well as launching your own lottery-operated sports book and iLottery. Quite the action-packed agenda. Causes me to wonder if we should be careful what we wish for! B. Bresnahan: We haven’t slowed down in nearly three years. When I came onboard in 2018, I asked the staff to provide a SWOT analysis of sorts as to where the organization has been and where we wanted to go. The team wanted to be formidable players in this extremely competitive market, and recognized that in order to do sowe needed to modernize our portfolio and take on as much as we could to maximize the potential of the DC Lottery and its contributions to the District. We are sandwiched between two extremely successful lotteries with Virginia and Maryland. This is also the third most successful North American casino market with six casinos in neighboring Maryland, including MGM National Harbor just five miles from our office. We are a very small jurisdiction with limited revenue-generating opportunities, so we need to be innovative and seize whatever opportunity we can. Combine that systemic challenge with the fact that our player-base is heavily comprised of commuters, people who live in Virginia and Maryland and commute to the District for work. The pandemic has cut hugely into that commuter traffic and therefore a significant source of our revenue. Diversify- ing our portfolio of games and modernizing the ways we make those games available to the players has truly become mission-critical to the goal of growing revenues. So, we committed to doing whatever it takes to get there … beginning video-conferencing calls at 7 a.m. or working into the night to finish draft regulations required the following day, or editing functional specifications to perfection and detailing launch plans for every component to flow smoothly. Then when it comes down to implementation, the devil is in the details. You need to think like a consumer, really put yourself in their shoes. I, along with members of the team, pour over the actual player experience to learn what it feels like to navigate our digital systems and player journey. We are con- stantly looking to refine and improve. We analyze in granular detail how our messages are being communicated to the players and retailers to ensure they are consumed as intended. There have been many days, particularly this year, that we broke down thinking we had hit a wall in our progress or that may not have the bandwidth to do more, but that caused us to pause and reflect on all that we have accomplished,get motivated and more resourceful to take the next step. We are a small lottery with limited resources that mustoperate like the ‘little engine that could’. The days have been extremely long, but DC Lottery staff can each take personal pride for being a part of the tight-knit team that makes it happen. And it’s not as if you can relegate sports betting to a status of being complete and finished so now you can move onto iLottery. B. Bresnahan: This is not an iterative process, completing one task and moving onto the next. It is accretive – we are rarely satisfied with the current status of anything, and are always working toward continuous improvement, adding to the foundational layers that have been built while taking on new projects that enhance the relevance of the DC Lottery. There is always the need for change to meet and exceed consumer ex- pectations, and the opportunity to improve with new and better process and technology. And in the end, we can look back on one of We are rarely satisfied with the current status of anything, and are always working toward continuous improvement, adding to the foundational layers that have been built while taking on new projects that enhance the relevance of the DC Lottery. Beth Bresnahan continued