Latvia 100

[Unclefester]

Latvia celebrated its 100^th birthday yesterday.

ie. 100 years ago Latvia proclaimed itself an independent state on November 18, 1918.


Without which moment in history, and then going on much later to teach English as the first foreign language in schools who knows where we might have been playing online live dealer tables from for these last X years.....probably Malta, Romania, Georgia,etc....come to think of it, that's happened also

[LD]

100 years ago Latvia proclaimed itself an independent state on November 18, 1918

How did you come by this piece of trivia Fester? And are there any studio parties happening to mark the occasion?

[Unclefester]

Several dealers having been talking about it in the lead up to the anniversary. Then, today the day after about the celebrations, Riga fireworks (pictured above) & money spent on ~ 270,000 euros (don’t quote me on that exact figure) etc.

As for studio parties, well how to say this diplomacy wise. Historically the Playtech studio had a strong Latvian core, whilst Evolution was known for its greater Russian contingent, especially above dealers.

[LD]

270,000 euros

Must have been quick. Fireworks for Sydney NYE celebrations 2017/18 were $7million (about €5m) for 12 minutes.
Arguably better ways to spend taxpayers money

[Unclefester]

Must have been quick

The main firework display along the Daugava river, (iconic Vanšu tilts/bridge in foreground of pic above) lasted several minutes, though not a constant heavy barage.

Bargin !


here's a video,

[Unclefester]

I did have similar thoughts about €270,000 not seeming such a large amount and one Latvian lady did say she wasn’t so impressed with them.

But you do also have to factor in that goods and services in Latvia are cheaper.


Plus the smaller audience the display was aimed for with a population less than 2 million in the whole country (a fair portion of which don't "identify" themselves as Latvian).

Arguably better ways to spend taxpayers money

Whereas Sydney fireworks are also kinda for a global TV news audience as the first iconic images of the new year. With the grandeur serving to promote Australia from a tourism prospect.

Live dealer tables are arguably the best piece of advertising to promote Latvia globally . For many casino players it's obviously the first time they've become aware of the country. And they also don't comprehend the scale of the operation/number of tables, etc. The times I've been at a table when a player has said something along the lines of "what country are you from?" to the dealer, followed by "why are all dealers from Latvia?" ......although as I alluded to at the start of this thread, times are a changing.

[Unclefester]

Live dealer tables are arguably the best piece of advertising to promote Latvia globally.

The pulling power of dealers and their, “have you ever been to Latvia?” chat must be working!

Latest tourism figures indicate Latvia was Europe’s fastest growing destination. The country’s Ministry of Economy has estimated an 8% increase in the number of guests and over-night stays compared to the data for 2017.


In 2018, Latvia accommodations hosted 1.9 million tourists from abroad and 0.9 million “locals”. Equating to a total of 5.3 million nights in the country (that’s a lot more nights in a Baltic year than your usual 365 ).