Casino Guru Awards 2027 Open Nominations

New Award Recognizes Player Protection Advocates

The fifth edition of the Casino Guru Awards builds on the success of the 2026 event, which introduced several new categories, including Woman Leader of the Year, Rising Star in Responsible Gambling, Young Changemaker Award and Company Culture Shaper.

For 2027, Casino Guru has added Player Protection Advocate of the Year, a category designed to recognize individuals making meaningful contributions to player safety and efforts to reduce gambling-related harm.

Simon Vincze, Head of Sustainable & Safer Gambling at Casino Guru, said:

“Player protection has always been closely connected to the Casino Guru Awards. With this new category, we want to give more visibility to the people across the industry who influence policy, develop better practices and bring organizations together around player protection.”

Casino Guru Awards 2027: All 13 Categories

The 2027 awards feature 13 categories covering responsible gambling, industry innovation, workplace culture, transparency and player experience.

The categories are:

The Most Impactful Social Responsibility Initiative

The Best Implementation of RG Tools

Player Protection Advocate of the Year

iGaming Changemaker of the Year

Woman Leader of the Year

Rising Star in Responsible Gambling

Young Changemaker Award

Company Culture Shaper

The Most Transparent Casino

The Fairest T&Cs

The Most Effective Handling of Complaints

Players’ Choice

Voice of the People

How to Submit a Nomination

Companies and individuals can nominate themselves or other candidates by selecting the relevant category and completing the official Casino Guru Awards nomination process.

Applicants can also submit a detailed nomination letter and supporting evidence to provide the judging panel with additional information about their achievements and contributions.

Judging Process and Public Voting

The judging panel brings together Casino Guru specialists and external industry professionals. The evaluation process includes a review of submitted materials and online interviews with shortlisted candidates.

Public participation will also remain an important part of the awards. While expert judges determine the winners in most categories, Players’ Choice and Voice of the People are decided entirely through public voting.

Awards Ceremony Set for Malta in May 2027

The Casino Guru Awards 2027 will culminate in a live, invitation-only ceremony in Malta on May 26, 2027, held during NEXT Summit Valletta 2027.

Shortlisted nominees, judges, partners and other industry professionals will attend the event, where the winners across all categories will be announced.

Key Dates for the Casino Guru Awards 2027

Nominations open: October 2026

Nominations close: February 15, 2027

Shortlisted nominees announced: March 1, 2027

Public voting begins: March 1, 2027

Judging period: April 30–May 7, 2027

Public voting closes: May 7, 2027

Winners announced: May 26, 2027, in Malta

Nominations are now open through the official Casino Guru Awards website.