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PDF Version - G3

Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers
WWW.G3NEWSWIRE.COM/WWW.G3-247.COM
International Gaming News / Knowledge / Statistics / Marketing Information / Digital and Print
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE
Global Games
and Gaming
Magazine
July 2016
WWW.G3NEWSWIRE.COM
WWW.G3-247.COM
Marina del Sol has raised objections to the
Chilean Gaming Board’s (SJC) bidding process
CHILE P08
Olympic invests €45m to accommodate the
Baltic’s first Hilton and new flagship casino
ESTONIA P12
MGM is to spend $450m on transforming Monte
Carlo into two distinct hotel experiences
NEVADA P20
G2E ASIA REPORT
Still Shining brightly
G3 reports from the floor of the gaming exhibition in
Macau as the
industry
converges on Asian markets
and
eSports?
Interact with G3 via...
Available on the
App Store
Legend, operator of Fisherman’s Wharf in Macau,
has acquired the Savan Vegas casino in Laos
LAOS P26
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Contents
July 2016
SOUtH AMERICA
CHILE P8
Marina del Sol has raised objections to the
Chilean Gaming Board’s (SJC) bidding
process for the seven municipal casinos
Samson House,
457 Manchester Road,
Manchester M29 7BR,
United Kingdom
MEXICO P10
Lack of government control is, according to
the Mexican Gaming Association (AIEJA),
leading to a growth of illegal gaming
COLOMBIA P11
Colombia prepares to pass its online gaming
legislation, opening up its burgeoning
gaming sector to igaming operations
EMEA
ESTONIA P12
Olympic has invested more than €45m to
accommodate the Baltic’s first Hilton and the
flagship casino in the Estonia capital, tallinn
SPAIN P14
The government of Valencia in Spain plans to
change the region’s gaming laws after it loses
out on €1bn casino investment project
PORTUGAL P16
Gaming revenues rise 32 per cent compares to
last year for the Portuguese state-run charity,
Santa Casa de Misericordia de Lisboa
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NORtH AMERICA
NEVADA P20
MGM is to spend $450m on transforming the
venue into two distinct hotel experiences to
target a younger generation of players
NEVADA P22
trump taj Mahal, Resorts Casino and Golden
Nugget in trouble as Fitch estimates a 25 per
cent decline in Atlantic City’s GGR
NEW JERSEY P23
MGM Resorts is to acquire Atlantic City’s
Borgata from Boyd Gaming and lease back
the property to subsidiary
ASIA & OCEANIA
SOUTH KOREA P24
Melco International agrees consultancy deal
with New Silkroad Korea to enhance the Jeju
integrated entertainment and leisure resort
LAOS P26
Legend Development Limited, operator of
Fisherman’s Wharf and casinos in Macau, has
acquired the Savan Vegas casino
AUSTRALIA P27
Crown to split its international business into a
new listed vehicle and launch an IPO of several
of its Australian resorts.
WWW.G3-247.COM
Exhibitions
G2E Asia 2016
Interactive
Greentube
G2E Asia 2016 - Macau still
shining brightly
World’s first Ocean
Blackjack from TCSJH
GLI: Setting the blueprint for
certification in Latin America
Compliance more than a
‘necessary evil’ for Greentube
Review P42
G3 reports from the floor of the
10th G2E Asia gaming show, in
which suppliers
overwhelmingly displayed
localised gaming content
Insight P29
tCSJohnHuxley recently
delivered the world’s first
seawater Blackjack table to
Iririki's Jewel Casino in
Vanuatu.
Insight P36
G3 discusses South American
gaming legislation and
certification with GLI’s Karen
Sierra-Hughes at Juegos Miami
2016 event
Interactive P56
G3 interviews Greentube Malta’s
Managing Director, trevor De
Giorgio about the role
compliance plays in the
development process
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM P3
Lewis Pek
Editor
Comment
July 2016
So Britain decides to leave the EU... how fantastic is that? We’ve finally
said goodbye to our biggest global trading partner, to blissful visa-free
travel and countless free trade agreements in place since 1973. Brilliant.
So glad I didn’t change my dollars and euros after my last trips...
I can’t say that I’m surprised. I’m in shock - but not surprised. Talk to the
average Brit and Europe means little more than over-bearing
bureaucracy and rampant immigration. While the British like to mock
America for its lack of passport carrying citizens, the vast majority of
people leave the UK to find either a beach or a European city for a
stag/hen party, usually to disgrace ourselves either way.
Having travelled to six European countries in the last six months - a
pretty light travel schedule compared to most gaming executive diaries,
it’s given me the chance to compare and contrast the views both in and
outside the UK, hopping from one foot into Europe and back out again.
Back home, the conversations in playgrounds, pubs, changing rooms,
bars and restaurants, all centred around the state of immigration, the
lack of self-determination, and what has the EU done for us? It’s been
both frustrating and increasingly alarming. The message to leave was so
simple; the reasons to stay so complicated and meaningless for the vast
majority of UK people.
IT’S BEEN FRUSTRATING AND ALARMING. THE MESSAGE TO LEAVE
WAS SO SIMPLE, THE REASONS TO STAY SO COMPLICATED
Discussing Brexit in Europe, there was much sympathy with the views
of the disaffected, but disbelief that the UK could self-harm to such a
degree. I used to feel smug about my connection with Europe, listening
to the mums in the playground and friends over a pint - dislocated by
lack of involvement in business, trade or engagement with people and
the cultures they’d mostly likely never see. I thought I was the one in
splendid isolation, privileged by my connection to Europe.
However, when you’ve just returned from Europe, where G3 conducts
over 50 per cent of our business, and learn you’d not be listening hard
enough to really appreciate the bunch of jingoistic, egoistic xenophobes
you knew your countrymen to be; it’s bitterly ironic that my personal
elitism, to have never learned a second language, leaves me stranded on
a rock with the rest of these little islanders.
EDITORIAL
Editor
Lewis Pek
[email protected]
+44 (0) 1942 879291
News Editor
Phil Martin
[email protected]
+44 (0)7801 967714
Associate Editor (Malaga)
Karen Southall
[email protected]
Consultant (Germany)
John Carroll
[email protected]
South America Correspondent
James Marrison
[email protected]
Contributors
John Cannon (Callcredit),
Becket McGrath (Cooleys)
Adam Rose (Mischon de Reya)
P4 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
ADVERTISING
Commercial Director
John Slattery
[email protected]
+44 (0)7917 166471
Advertising Executive
James Slattery
[email protected]
+44 (0)7917 166471
Alison Dronfield
[email protected]
+44 (0)1204 410771
PRODUCTION
Senior Designer
Gareth Irwin
Production Manager
Paul Jolleys
Subscriptions Manager
Jennifer Pek
Commercial Administrator
John Pek
Calendar
July 2016
EMEA
World Gaming Executive Summit 2016
July 5-7, 2016
LOCAtION
W Hotel, Barcelona, Spain
ORGANISER
terrapinn Ltd
Wren House
43 Hatton Garden
London
United Kingdom
EC1N 8EL
CONtACt
tayyab Abbasi
t: +44 207 092 1210
E: [email protected]
www.terrapinn.com/conference/w
ges/
NORTh AMERICA
Casino Marketing & Technology Conference
July 12-14, 2016
LOCAtION
Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, Las
Vegas, Nevada, United States
ORGANISER
BNP Media Gaming Group
2401 W Big Beaver Road, Suite 700
troy, Michigan
United States
MI 48084
CONtACt
Lesley Grashow
t: +1 248 362 3700
F: +1 248 502 9041
www.casinomarketingconf.com
EMEA
Sports Betting West Africa 2016
July 18-20, 2016
LOCAtION
Kempinski Hotel, Accra, Ghana
ORGANISER
Eventus International Ltd
Suite 1104, Crawford House
70 Queen’s Road Central
Hong Kong
CONtACt
t: +852 5511 8385
www.eventus-international.com
NORTh AMERICA
Affiliate Summit East 2016
July 31-Aug 2, 2016
LOCAtION
New York Marriott Marquis Hotel,
New York, US
ORGANISER
Affiliate Summit
9532 Liberia Ave #127
Manassas
Virginia
United States
VA 20110
CONtACt
Amy Rodriguez
t: +1 417 278 6648
F: +1 908 364 4627
www.affiliatesummit.com/16econference
SOuTh EAST ASIA & OCEANIA
Gaming, Racing & Wagering Australia
August 8-10, 2016
LOCAtION
Novotel Sydney, Darling
Harbour, Australia
ORGANISER
Beacon Events
20/F Siu On Centre
188 Lockhart Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong
CONtACt
t: +852 2219 0111
www.GamingDownUnder.com
SOuTh EAST ASIA & OCEANIA
Australasian Gaming Expo 2016
August 9-11, 2016
LOCAtION
Sydney Exhibition Centre, Sydney,
Australia
ORGANISER
Gaming technologies Association
Level 34, 50 Bridge Street
Sydney
Australia
NSW 2000
CONtACt
Ross Ferrar
t: +61 2 9211 7430
F: +61 2 8216 0701
www.austgamingexpo.com
EMEA
Entertainment Arena Expo 2016
September 5-7, 2016
LOCAtION
Romexpo Fair Ground, Bucharest,
Romania
ORGANISER
Expo 24 Romania
Monaco towers, 96 Berceni Road
Office B14.01
Bucharest
Romania
041918
CONtACt
Anton Vlad
t: +40 21 335 6681
F: +40 21 335 6680
www.earena.ro
EMEA
11th European Conference on Gambling Studies
September 13-16, 2016
LOCAtION
InterContinental, Lisbon, Portugal
ORGANISER
Assissa Consultancy
PO Box 9150
Amsterdam
Netherlands
1006 AD
CONtACt
Pieter Remmers
t: +31 20 689 5989
F: +31 20 689 6418
www.easg.org
SOUTH AMERICA
la Junta de Control de Juegos panameña ha
aprobado la fusión entre Dreams y Sun International. La empresa recién formada anunció que
los accionistas actuales de Sun International
Dreams compartirán la propiedad con aproximadamente el 50 por ciento.
Storm international ha achacado a la
introducción de la prohibición de fumar en México
el descenso en los ingresos interanuales de un 8
por ciento en 2015. Los beneficios cayeron un
11,9 por ciento a pesar del crecimiento en los
ingresos del 25 por ciento en Georgia con su
Shangri La Casino de Tiflis y el 12 por ciento de
crecimiento en Alemania.
la larga polémica en torno a si en buenos
Aires son las autoridades federales o las municipales las que tienen el control sobre el juego
dentro de los límites urbanos está llegando a su
fin en Argentina, toda vez que un decreto gubernamental ha transferido el juego a la
administración del alcalde, Rodríguez Larreta.
Una serie de operadores extranjeros han
mostrado interés en presentarse a la convocatoria de nuevas licencias de casino que se ofertará
próximamente en Chile. Ahora que la Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego de Chile (SCJ) ha
publicado los requisitos para el inminente proceso de licitación, una empresa americana, tres
latinoamericanas y una china podrían presentarse a la convocatoria para una sola de las
licencias ofertadas: el casino municipal ubicado
en Viña del Mar.
El nuevo presidente del Comité de Control
del Juego en Colombia (Coljuegos), Juan B. Pérez
hidalgo, ha afirmado que las nuevas normas que
regirán el juego online podrían aprobarse inminentemente. A pesar de que estas nuevas reglas
no se han hecho públicas, hidalgo afirmó que el
nuevo reglamento se había redactado en un
«tiempo récord».
Una jueza ha declarado nulas dos nuevas
reglas que habrían dado luz verde a los terminales de videolotería en Puerto Rico. La Jueza del
Tribunal Superior de Justicia Gloria Maynard Salgado rechazó una solicitud de 30 páginas donde
el Departamento del Tesoro solicitaba un juicio
sumario en su favor y rechazar una petición
declaratoria presentada por la Asociación de
hoteles y Turismo de Puerto Rico (PRhTA).
Olympic Entertainment group ha inaugurado
su nuevo hotel y complejo recreativo en Tallinn,
que incluye el hilton Tallinn Park, el primer hotel
hilton Worldwide en los países bálticos, junto con
el Olympic Park Casino, el nuevo casino
emblemático de la empresa.
gaming laboratories international ha
cosechado su primer éxito al convertirse en el
primer laboratorio de ensayos independiente
registrado en certificar un sistema de juego completo interactivo de Gaming house Operator con
arreglo a la nueva legislación sobre el juego de
Bahamas.
Marina del Sol has raised serious
objections to the Chilean Gaming
Board’s (SJC) upcoming bidding
process for the seven municipal
casino licences.
CHILE CASINO OPERATIONS
trouble Ahead for Chile’s Municipal tender
Marina del Sol claims that gross revenue
estimates and visitor numbers issued by the SJC
as part of the tender process are misleading. In a
legal appeal the company has raised questions
over the background information provided by
the municipal governments as well as by the
current operators of the municipal casinos.
In its written statement the company claims
that the figures “prevent all participants from
the process of accessing information that
enables equal opportunities.” In extensive detail
the statement analyses gross income figures
released by the municipal government and the
operator of the casino located in Viña del Mar.
According to local newspaper El Mercurio, the
report claims that while the municipal
government claims that the casino receives a
total of 814,000 visitors a year the operators
reported a few months later that it stood more
closely to 1.5m – almost double. In addition the
reported average spends is very low compared
to the rest of the industry while there are also
inconsistencies when it comes to gross gaming
revenue figures. Combined these figures puts
the entire process in doubt and makes it
“impossible to compete” on an equal footing
while the lack of information “creates huge
confusion” for those who must compete with
the current operator.
The company also pointed out a number of
other inconsistencies which they say could be
incompatible with local gaming laws
specifically regarding special conditions which
apply to each one of the seven licences.
According to the document, a number of these
conditions were not approved by the Resolution
Council of the SJC the only body permitted to
set them out.
Interest has been growing in investing in the
municipal casinos especially the casino located
in Viña del Mar. In May Head of the SJC Daniel
García told local press that now that the Chilean
Gaming Control Board (SJC) has published the
requirements for the upcoming tender process
one American, three Latin American and a
Chinese company could apply for a licence for
the municipal casino licence. Viña del Mar is
undoubtedly the most emblematic of all the
municipal licences. The minimum financial bid
for the casino will be US$22.3m.
the administration will be left
to the current executive team
of Dreams. The company is
also making progress in
consolidating its debt and is in
the process of restructuring
with a number of Chile banks.
Dreams and Sun
complete merger with
Panama approval
Panama
The Panamanian Gaming
Control Board has approved
the merger between Dreams
and Sun International. The
newly formed company
announced that the current
shareholders of Sun
International Dreams would
share the property with about
50 per cent each.
Immediately after the merger,
both sides agreed that Sun
International would acquire a
greater percentage of the
shares, increasing its stake to
55 per cent through the
purchase of securities of the
merged company. However,
“This deal is a milestone in the
history of Sun International. It
gives the company great
opportunities to achieve scale
and reach outside Africa and
diversify its earnings and
risk,” Sun International CE
Graeme Stephens (pictured)
said in a statement.
“Dreams provides a strong
presence in Chile, an
expansion strategy that has
seen growth in Peru, which is
complementary to Sun
International’s expansion into
Panama and Colombia, and,
importantly, an executive
management team that comes
from Latin America and has
significant operational
experience in the region.
“Latin America holds
tremendous potential and
plans are well advanced to
expand further in the region.
We are already investigating
exciting opportunities in
Brazil, which is now opening
to gambling, and have plans
for expansion in Peru. Despite
the current economic
downturn, the gaming
industry in Chile is still
achieving good growth and
there will be further
opportunities in the next year
or so to bid for additional
licences in Chile.”
The new company will have a
total of 13 properties
distributed in four countries
and a total of 6,650 slots and
around 295 tables. Dreams
and Sun finalised the merger
between both companies
creating Latin America’s
largest gaming operator in
September 2015. The merger
will create a group valued at
around US$400m. The Chilean
Gaming Control Board (SJC)
approved the merger last
month, but the companies also
needed the approval of the
Panamanian Gaming Control
Board as Sun operates the
Ocean Sun casino in Panama.
Senate Urged to Pass Online legislation
SOUTH AMERICA
la cadena británica de casinos Aspers se ha
dirigido al Departamento de Justicia de Irlanda
expresando su interés en que se implemente una
legislación que permita a los grandes casinos
operar en el país. Se espera que el interés de
Aspers anime al Gobierno a implementar el
proyecto de ley de control del juego, que fue presentado por Alan Shatter en 2013, pero que aún
está pendiente de aprobación.
El Senado de la república Checa ha aprobado
una nueva ley sobre el juego para el país. La
decisión fue adoptada con una amplia mayoría de
los votos: 42 senadores votaron a favor, mientras
que 23 se abstuvieron. No hubo ningún voto en
contra del proyecto de ley. El Presidente, Milos
Zeman, tendrá 30 días para considerar y aprobar
la propuesta para convertirla en ley.
Sky betting & gaming (Sb&g) ha anunciado
hoy la adquisición de Core Gaming, un estudio de
contenidos especializado en el desarrollo de juegos hTML5 con dinero real para operadores de
casino y titulares de plataformas.
El presidente catalán, Carles Puigdemont, ha
descartado un plebiscito sobre el futuro del
macrocomplejo recreativo y de ocio BCN World en
Vila-seca y Salou. Puigdemont afirmó que el
referéndum local «no sería necesario» después
de «trabajar muchísimo en pos del consenso
entre todas las partes» en lo referente al futuro del
proyecto.
grosvenor Casinos ha lanzado una oferta de
apuestas deportivas suministrada por el Kambi
Group. El servicio gestionado de apuestas deportivas está ahora disponible en
Grosvenorcasinos.com/sport, y les permite a los
1,7 millones de clientes británicos de Grosvenor
disfrutar de una gama completa de apuestas.
Members of the gaming industry in Mexico have urged lawmakers to regulate
online quickly due to the market being targeted by offshore operators
Lack of government control is,
according to the Mexican Gaming
Association (AIEJA), leading to a
growth of illegal gaming especially
amongst minors.
MEXICO ONLINE GAMING
“Online gaming is very worrying because it is
growing exponentially and we cannot control
who is playing or if it is an underage person,”
says President of the Mexican Gaming
Association (AIEJA) Miguel Angel Ochoa.
Mr. Ochoa said that new laws were needed to
regulate the online space and that operators
should only be permitted to offer their services
locally via permission granted to them by the
Interior Ministry (SEGOB) and via a com.mx
website. Furthermore according to the AIEJA
those operators offering their services locally
without a licence should be blocked. Mr Ochoa
said that a number of US companies were
offering their services to Mexicans “without
paying tax or creating jobs in Mexico” and that
the money was “going to their countries.”
New gaming legislation now being considered in
the Senate should, however, bring with it
regulation of the online space, he said. Although
the Federal Betting and Raffles law focuses
primarily on the land based industry the new
law establishes that online gaming sites offering
their series must be licensed in Mexico.
The association expects the Senate to approve
Argentina
El nyX gaming group ha finalizado la adquisición de OpenBet, valorada en 270 millones de
libras y financiada mediante una combinación de
nuevos créditos preferentes garantizados y
acciones preferenciales convertibles en una filial
de titularidad íntegra denominada NYX Gaming.
resorts World Sentosa de Singapur va a despedir a 400 empleados de casino en un intento
por alcanzar una mayor eficiencia contra las caídas en los ingresos debido a la ralentización que
se está experimentando con los jugadores chinos.
P10
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
The online gaming industry in Mexico generates
about US$300m via offshore sites a year
making it the fastest-growing online gaming
market in Latin America. This is helped by the
fact that there are no restrictions in place when
it comes to advertising. Online gaming has been
permitted via special license in Mexico since
2000, but only land based operators have been
allowed to offer their services locally. The
growth of casino-style gaming has led to an
increased interest in betting online and growth
is also being driven by sports betting as well.
control of gaming in the city from
The Argentine National Lottery
(Lotería Nacional) and force the
racino located under the racetrack
to pay an estimated $4bn pesos in
back taxes.
MgM se dispone a invertir 450 millones de
dólares en la transformación del Monte Carlo
Casino en dos experiencias de hotel distintas: una
versión estilo Las Vegas del aclamado NoMad
hotel de Sydell y el lanzamiento de un nuevo hotel
de lujo llamado Park MGM.
MgM resorts se dispone a adquirir borgata
de Atlantic City y, como parte del acuerdo, MGM
alquilará de nuevo la propiedad a una filial de MGM
Resorts. MGM Resorts pagará 600 millones de
dólares por el interés del 50 por ciento de Boyd
Gaming tras la consideración de la deuda pendiente de Borgata, que asciende aproximadamente
a 600 millones de dólares y que MGM Resorts
asumirá y refinanciará.
the new gaming law during the next legislative
session which runs from September 1st to
December 15. When it comes to online gaming
the new law proposes that Mexico should adopt
strict player protection measures as adopted by
other jurisdictions in Europe specifically in line
with France and the U.K. such as verification of
the identity, age and address of the user through
existing third-party systems. Strict control of
advertising would also be put in place along
with systems which would apply automated
controls on betting and gaming activity,
including full self exclusion. Furthermore the
website established by the licensee must be
defined with domain name com.mx.
Buenos Aires City takes
control over gaming
The long running saga over
whether the federal or city
government has control over
gaming within the city limits is
finally coming to an end after a
government decree has transferred
gaming to the administration of
city mayor Rodriguez Larreta.
The government of Buenos Aires
city will now for the first time have
total control over gaming within its
territory. The decision comes after
a long struggle over the five bingo
halls operating in the city limits,
which are now closed, and is part
of a much larger policy as the city
government has tried to wrest
Gaming has long been the focal
point for dispute between the
federal and city government as
both parties have battled it out
over who should have final say.
While mayor of the autonomous
government of the city of Buenos
Aires announced that the Institute
of Games and Betting in Buenos
Aires would not renew its current
agreement on gambling activities
with the National Lottery. Now,
according to the decree, the lottery
has 120 days to produce a detailed
timetable as to how gaming will be
transferred to the city. When the
transfer is in effect, the city
government will have control over
the so called “floating casinos”
docked permanently to the city
harbour as well as the racino and
major changes could be
forthcoming when it comes to
gaming within the city limits.
Mexico
Storm International has
blamed the introduction of a
smoking ban in Mexico for an
eight per cent year-on-year
revenue decline in 2015.
Profits fell by 11.9 per cent,
however, it saw 25 per cent
revenue growth in Georgia
with its Shangri La Casino in
tbilisi and 12 per cent growth
in Germany. The group owns
and manages Hollywood
Entertainment with about
1,000 slot machines in two
large complexes in Monterrey,
Mexico. Darren Keane, CEO of
Storm International, said: “The
Mexican smoking law which
was brought into law in
September 2015 made a big
impact on our revenues and
was the single largest reason
for the company drop in
profitability.” Storm has
several new projects at various
stages of development in
European and Asian markets.
Online gaming bill ready in Colombia
While the details of the online bill remains unknown for now it is likely that the
bill will seek to protect the government monopoly over gaming
CHILE – A number of foreign operators have shown
an interest in applying for the new casino licences
which will shortly be on offer in Chile. Now that the
Chilean Gaming Control Board (SJC) has published
the requirements for the upcoming tender process
one American, three Latin American and a Chinese
company could apply for a licence for just one of the
licences on offer: the municipal casino located in
Viña del Mar.
Colombia prepares to pass its
online gaming legislation,
opening up its burgeoning gaming
sector to igaming operations
COLOMBIA ONLINE GAMING
The new President of the Colombian Gaming
Control Board (Coljuegos) Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo
(pictured) has said that new rules governing
online gaming could be passed imminently.
Although the new rules have not been made
public Hidalgo said that new regulation had
been drafted in “record time.” Hidalgo laid out a
number of priorities for the board including a
crackdown on illegal gaming, increased tax
collection for the health sector and the
regulation of online gaming.
According to Hidalgo the Colombian gaming
industry now generates around $13bn pesos a
year. Just over half of the market (50.8 per cent)
is made up of lottery type games such as Baloto,
and Súper Astro while the rest is made up from
sports betting, casinos and bingo, he said. He
also confirmed that the new tender for Baloto
would be underway shortly. Baloto runs twice a
week and there are around 10,000 points of sale
nationwide in 420 municipalities in Colombia.
Hidalgo also announced the creation of a
common front against illegal gaming saying that
he would not allow illegal establishments to
“rob resources from the Colombian health
service.” At the same time the licensing process
will in the future, he said, become more
Peru
IGT’s SYSTEM2go solution has
been deployed at Gana Gana
Casino in Peru, which sets a
precedent in the country for
utilising the latest casino
management systems
technology. “SYSTEM2Go
supplements Gana Gana’s offer
with the most sophisticated
technology and extensive
features to suit our specific
needs. We are very pleased to be
the first location in Peru to work
with System2Go, state-of-the
art technology that provides our
customers with a great
experience in the national
market,” said José Carrión, CEO
at Gana Gana Casinos SAC.
Jessica Luna, IGT Senior
Director Sales Chile, Andean and
Central America.
“Congratulations to Gana Gana
for its leadership in innovation,
and for elevating the standard of
casino management systems in
Peru with IGT.”
SOUTH AMERICA
streamlined and efficient to provide increased
support for the legal sector.
“Internet use has been growing significantly in
the country and today online gambling is not
regulated in Colombia,” he added, “ butwe are
working very urgently to offer more possibilities
for responsible and legal gaming for citizens.”
Hidalgo said that new regulation will generate
an estimated additional $10bn pesos for the
health sector. While the details of the online bill
remains unknown for now it is likely that the
bill will seek to protect the government
monopoly over gaming. The Gaming Board has
presented an increasingly tough public stance
on the issue. In the past Coljuegos has been
strongly protective of its monopoly over gaming
and while illegal gaming has proliferated the
board is waging an increasingly visible war on
illegal gaming in the media. It is believed that
this will soon expand to online gaming and
could lead to the implementation of a number of
measures which could include the blocking of
offshore operators in Colombia and possibly
penalties on players found to be breaking the
law. Once Coljuegos permits online gaming it
could seek to enter into an agreement with an
operator to offer online gaming on its behalf.
Judge declares void
new rules which would
have allowed VLTs
Puerto Rico
A judge has declared void two
new rules which would have
given the green light to VLts.
Superior Court Judge Gloria
Maynard Salgado, rejected a 30
page order in which the
treasury Department
requested a summary
judgment in their favour and to
dismiss a request for
declaratory judgment put
forward by The Puerto Rican
Association of Hotels and
tourism (PRHtA).
In July 2015 the association
challenged regulations which
would lead to VLts being
permitted in the country and
took their complaint to court.
This was after it was
announced in August that
Puerto Rico’s treasury
Department would begin the
tender process for VLt’s in the
first quarter of 2016. PRHtA
claims that new regulations
violate several laws as well as
public policy on gaming
machines outside casinos
including rules that only the
legislature may make changes
to laws and that the Secretary
of the treasury is limited to
regulating the operation of
games and is not permitted to
authorise new games.
Both regulations were
approved by the treasury in
May 2015, using as a basis
gaming legislation which dated
back to 1989. The Legislature
proposed nullifying a number
of regulations contained in the
old act via resolution. However
the PRHtA claimed
successfully that the 1989 law
does not in fact authorise the
treasury to give the green light
to new games such as VLt’s.
head of the SJC Daniel García told local newspaper
El Mercurio de Valparaiso that: “We have some
movement from abroad because we have known
that this contest has been coming for more or less
10 years. Viña del Mar is undoubtedly the most
emblematic of the process. The whole Chilean
industry and part of Latin America has is eyes on
this process . . . Last year the ex superintendent was
in China and Las Vegas spreading word of the
process and I know that there is interest from
companies in those places as well.”
García said that at least three companies based in
Latin America were interested in the Viña del Mar
licence. Located on the Pacific coast the The SJC’s
Resolution Council confirmed that the casinos in
Viña del Mar will continue to be housed in the
municipal building which is already built and
intended for that purpose but operators will be
permitted to renovate and expand upon the
property. The minimum financial bid for the casino
will be uS$22.3m. In addition the operator will also
need to guarantee an annual payment for the
municipality, will need to do restoration work on a
historic monument chosen by the municipality and
will also need to complete the transition phase in
three months with minimum disruption to the
casino already in operation.
“Since the property will be maintained which is
something that happens only in Arica and Viña del
Mar what needs to be resolved is how the transition
from one operator to another is carried out without
causing a halt in the casinos (operations) or if it
happens it is as for as little as possible and agreed
upon with the municipality,” García said.
LATAM – In order to
strengthen its rising
momentum across Latin
America Merkur Gaming has
made an internal promotion
and appointed Tomas Mieles as
Sales Director Latin America.
Mieles (50) has been the country manager for
Merkur Gaming Peru since 2013 and now takes on
his new role across all Latin American markets at a
time when Merkur Gaming is expanding and
moving into new markets across the region.
Charles hiten, Chief Executive of Merkur Gaming
Americas, said: “Tomas Mieles has been invested in
the Gauselmann Group since 1996 and has the
drive and enthusiasm to be a leading figure in the
expansion of Merkur Gaming that is now underway.
I congratulate him on his new position and wish him
every success in the future.”
Tomas Mieles takes up his new responsibilities with
immediate effect.
Olympic Opens Estonian Flagship in tallinn
EMEA
Die panamaische glücksspielaufsicht hat
die Fusion von Dreams und Sun International
gebilligt. Das neugegründete unternehmen hat
mitgeteilt, dass die gegenwärtigen Anteilseigner
von Sun International und Dreams jeweils etwa
50 Prozent der Anteile an ihm halten werden.
Storm international macht die Einführung
eines Rauchverbotes in Mexiko für einen achtprozentigen umsatzrückgang in 2015 gegenüber
dem Vorjahr verantwortlich. Der Gewinn ist um
11,9 Prozent gefallen, dagegen steht ein eine
Ertragssteigerung um 25 % in Georgien mit dem
Kasino Shangri La Casino in Tiflis sowie 12
Prozent Zuwachs in Deutschland.
Die lang anhaltende Auseinandersetzung
darum, ob die Regionalregierung oder die
Stadtverwaltung die Aufsicht über das
Glücksspiel im Stadtgebiet von Buenos Aires
auszuüben hat, steht in Argentinien endlich vor
ihrem Abschluss, nachdem das Glücksspiel
durch einen Regierungserlass der Zuständigkeit
der Verwaltung des Oberbürgermeisters
Rodriguez Larreta zugeordnet wurde.
Eine reihe ausländischer betreiber hat ein
Interesse an der Bewerbung um die neuen Spielbanklizenzen bekundet, die in Kürze in Chile
angeboten werden. Jetzt, da die chilenische
Glücksspielaufsicht (SJC) die Vorgaben für das
bevorstehende Ausschreibungsverfahren veröffentlicht hat, könnten sich ein amerikanisches,
drei lateinamerikanische sowie ein chinesisches
unternehmen alleine um eine der angebotenen
Zulassungen bewerben: die für die städtische
Spielbank in Viña del Mar.
Der neue Präsident der kolumbianischen
Glücksspielaufsicht (Coljuegos) Juan B. Pérez
hidalgo hat angekündigt, dass neue
Bestimmungen bezüglich des Online-Glücksspiel
in Kürze erlassen werden könnten. Obwohl sie
noch nicht öffentlich bekannt gegeben wurden,
betont hidalgo, dass die neuen Bestimmungen
“in Rekordzeit” formuliert worden sind.
Eine richterin hat zwei neue bestimmungen
aufgehoben, die grünes Licht für die Einführung
von Videolotteriegeräten (VLT) in Puerto Rico
gegeben hätten. Die Kreisrichterin Gloria Maynard Salgado hat eine dreißigseitige
Aufforderung des Finanzministeriums zurückgewiesen, in der eine zusammenfassende
Beurteilung zu deren Gunsten sowie die Zurückweisung des von dem puerto-ricanischen hotelund Tourismusverband (PRhTA) eingereichten
Antrages auf Erlass eines Feststellungsurteils
gefordert wurde.
Die britische Spielbankenkette Aspers hat
beim irischen Justizministerium ihr Interesse für
den Fall angemeldet, dass ein Gesetz erlassen
würde, das den Betrieb großer Kasinos in Irland
zulassen würde. Man verspricht sich davon, dass
das Interesse von Aspers die Regierung veranlassen wird, das Gesetz zur Aufsicht über das
Glücksspiel umzusetzen, das 2013 von Alan
Shatter eingebracht, aber noch nicht
verabschiedet worden ist.
P12
Olympic Entertainment Group has opened its stunning new hotel and
entertainment complex, the flagship in its portfolio, in the centre of tallinn
Olympic has invested more than
€45m to accommodate the Baltic’s
first Hilton and the flagship casino
in the Estonia capital, tallinn
ESTONIA CASINO OPERATIONS
June 9 saw Olympic Entertainment Group open
its new hotel and entertainment complex in
tallinn, featuring Hilton tallinn Park, the first
Hilton Worldwide hotel in the Baltic countries
together with Olympic Park Casino, the new
flagship casino of the company.
The highlight of the evening was the festive
opening ceremony held by the the President of
Estonia, toomas Hendrik Ilves, Armin Karu,
Chairman of the Board of OEG, Patricia PageChampion, Hilton Worldwide’s Senior Vice
President & Commercial Director for EMEA and
Daniel Habersatter, General Manager of the
Hilton tallinn Park. The ceremony began with a
special act by Estonian recording artist and
songwriter Kerli and ended with magnificent
fireworks in the park in front of the hotel.
Over a thousand guests, friends, colleagues and
partners from dozens of countries, attended the
Grand Opening of the Baltic’s first Hilton hotel,
the 12-storey Hilton tallinn Park, which has 202
rooms including 27 suites. The hotel features a
spa with a swimming pool, a fitness centre, a
restaurant with an outdoor terrace, a bar and a
café. The hotel's modern conference centre that
has capacity to host 800 guests has 10 meeting
rooms including one of the largest ballrooms of
the city. The hotel also has a business lounge on
its top floor.
The hotel and entertainment complex includes
OEG’s new flagship casino on 1,600sq.m. with
dedicated areas for slot machines, casino tables,
tournament poker and VIP players. The modern
casino complex also has a spacious OlyBet
sports bar, a stage and a large lounge area.
The building is located in the centre of tallinn,
near Politseiaed Park. The building was designed
by architect Meelis Press, the concept of the
interior design was created by dSign (Vertti Kivi)
and implemented by Allianss Arhitektid and the
main contractor of the construction was Merko
Ehitus Eesti.
In related news, the merger of OEG’s Estonian
subsidiaries, Olympic Casino Eesti AS and and
AS MC Kasiinod has been completed. During the
course of the merger AS MC Kasiinod merged
with Olympic Casino Estonia AS. The aim of the
merger was the adjustment of the group’s
structure. The merger of the subsidiaries has no
direct influence on the economic activities of
OEG Group. The members of the management
and supervisory boards of OEG have no
personal interest in the transaction.
Erki tavas, a highly experienced casino
operations manager, has been given the role of
Managing Director of Estonian subsidiary of
Olympic Entertainment Group. Aigar Hain, the
current Managing Director of Olympic Casino
Eesti AS, will hand over his position during June.
Mr. tavas, has been working in the gaming
sector since 1992. He joined Olympic in 2003.
tavas has led OEG’s flagship casinos in Estonia
and Latvia and has been responsible for casino
operations on different markets of OEG, most
recently in Slovakia.
President of
Estonia Toomas
Hendrik Ilves (left),
Patricia PageChampion, Hilton
Worldwide’s Senior
VP & Commercial
Director for Europe,
Middle East and
Africa, Daniel
Habersatter,
General Manager of
the Hilton Tallinn
Park and Armin
Karu, Chairman of
the Board of
Olympic
Entertainment
Group.
Valencia to Change gaming laws
EMEA
Die Unternehmensgruppe Olympic
Entertainment hat ihren neuen hotelund
Vergnügungskomplex in Tallinn eröffnet, dazu
gehört das hilton Tallinn Park, das erste hotel von
hilton Worldwide im Baltikum mit dem Olympic
Park Casino, der neuen Topspielbank der Gruppe.
Der Senat des Parlaments der tschechischen
Republik hat ein neues Glücksspielgesetz für das
Land verabschiedet. Die Entscheidung wurde mit
großer Mehrheit angenommen: 42 Senatoren
stimmten dafür, während 23 sich enthielten.
Gegenstimmen gegen das Gesetz gab es keine.
Präsident Milos Zeman hat 30 Tage Zeit, um das
Gesetz zu prüfen und in Kraft zu setzen.
Sky betting & gaming (Sb&g) hat heute die
Übernahme von Core Gaming, einem auf die
Entwicklung von hTML5-basierten Echtgeldspielen für Spielbanken- und Spieleplattformbetreiber
spezialisierten Inhalteanbieter, gemeldet.
Der katalanische Präsident Carles
Puigdemont hat eine Volksabstimmung über die
Zukunft des Freizeit- und Vergnügungsgroßkomplexes BCN World in Vilaseca und Salou
ausgeschlossen. Puigdemont begründet das
damit, dass das örtliche Referendum „nicht mehr
notwendig“ sei, nachdem „viel Arbeit“ geleistet
worden wäre, um hinsichtlich der Zukunft des
Vorhabens „einen Konsens unter allen beteiligten
Parteien zu erreichen“.
grosvenor Casinos hat ein von der Kambi
Gruppe betriebenes Sportwettenangebot eingeführt. Der extern verwaltete Sportwettendienst ist
jetzt auf der Webseite
grosvenorcasinos.com/sport verfügbar und verschafft den 1,7 Mio. britischen Kunden von
Grosvenor ein umfassendes Wetterlebnis.
MgM beabsichtigt 450 Millionen USD in die
umwandlung der Spielbank in Monte Carlo in
zwei gesonderte hotelbereiche zu investieren:
eine Las Vegas-Version des hoch angesehenen
NoMad hotels von Sydell sowie die Einführung
eines neuen Luxushotels namens Park MGM.
gaming laboratories international haben
ihren ersten Erfolg gefeiert, indem sie als erstes
unabhängiges Prüflabor gemäß der neuen
Glücksspielgesetzgebung auf den Bahamas für
die Zulassung vollständig interaktiver Spielsysteme von Spielstättenbetreibern anerkannt
wurden.
Die Unternehmensgruppe nyX gaming
Group hat die durch die Kombination vorrangig
gesicherter Kredite und wandelbarer Vorzugsaktion in einer neuen hundertprozentigen
Tochtergesellschaft mit dem Namen NYX Digital
Gaming finanzierte 270 Millionen Pfund schwere
Übernahme von OpenBet abgeschlossen.
Die resorts World Sentosa in Singapur
entlässt 400 Kasinomitarbeiter in dem
Bestreben, vor dem hintergrund durch die
Abkühlung bei den chinesischen Spielern bedingter rückläufiger Einnahmen effizienter zur
wirtschaften.
P14
The government of Valencia has said that it will use casinos to attract investment
into the region and end the so-called current monopoly over gaming
The government of Valencia in
Spain plans to change the region’s
gaming laws after it loses out on
€1bn casino investment project
SPAIN GAMING LEGISLATION
The government of Valencia has said that it will
use casinos to attract investment into the area
and end the so called current monopoly over
gaming. The regional secretary of the treasury,
Clara Ferrando, says that lawmakers will work
to draft a new law which will replace the current
gaming act which dates back to 1988.
The tax authority in Valencia said the new act
will end the "de facto monopoly of the three
casino companies" currently operating in the
region. The new law comes after the controversy
surrounding ARC a Singapore-based company
which had previously looked at building a
casino at the Juan Carlos I Royal Marina in
Valencia, but announced that it had withdrawn
its interest due to regulatory restrictions in
March. ARC was reportedly interested in
investing as much as €1bn in a six star hotel
casino and golf resort complete with a museum
and gardens and also wanted to help get the
Formula 1 European Grand Prix back in
Valencia. ARC cited “a lack of interest and
impediments shown by Valencian politicians" as
well as "a poor ability to solve and simplify
administrative procedures."
There are currently three gaming operators in
the region: Acrismatic, Cirsa and Orenes located
in Alicante, Valencia and Castelló, respectively.
The new law would allow new operators into
the market and would end what is considered to
be a number of excessive restrictions that do not
exist in the other autonomous communities.
Under current rules each of the three operators
are permitted to build up to seven slot parlours
in seven separate locations within the region.
Even if the the operator has not used its option
to build it has the right to veto any other
operator who wishes to build in a location
where it has already been granted a licence. This
is because the local government must offer the
licensed operator the option to set up there first.
games such as Powermanía
Bonus, tacomanía and Last
Bingo in Paris.
Zitro Interactive agrees
global content deal with
Playtech
UK
Zitro Interactive will integrate
its most popular online games
onto Playtech’s award-winning
platforms following an
agreement between both
companies. The partnership
will enable a large number of
Playtech’s licensees to access
Zitro Interactive’s content.
The first Playtech licensee to
take advantage of the new
content will be Mexican
operator Caliente that operates
an exclusive Playtech casino as
part of a wide-ranging
structured gaming and sports
betting agreement.
An initial 17 of Zitro’s biggest
online and mobile bingo games
will be on offer to Playtech
licensees including popular
Sebastián Salat, CEO, Zitro
said: “One of Zitro’s strategic
pillars, beyond diversifying our
on-site product lines and our
geographical presence, is to
offer our popular games to the
world from the most
prestigious online casinos. The
agreement with Playtech is an
important step in this
direction, allowing us to have
our content on platforms that
are used by a huge number of
the world’s largest online
operators,” Salat added.
Rais Busom, Director, Zitro
Interactive, said: “The excellent
reputation that Zitro
Interactive has been working
on over the past three years is
now bearing fruit with an
agreement that puts us in an
excellent position to continue
leading the online video bingo
sector.”
Shimon Akad, COO, Playtech,
said: “Zitro produce great
bingo-themed games and
we’re delighted to be able to
partner with them and offer an
even larger selection of titles to
our licensees.”
Ireland
UK casino chain Aspers has
written to the Irish Department
of Justice expressing its interest
should legislation be
implemented that allows large
casinos to operate in Ireland.
It’s hoped Aspers interest will
encourage the government to
implement the Gambling
Control Bill, which was
introduced by Alan Shatter in
2013, but has yet to be passed an issue affecting the whole
industry. David Hickson,
Managing Director of the
Fitzwilliam Casino explained:
"We’re not licensed, and that's
part of the problem, but the
other part of the problem is that
the entire gambling industry at
the moment is made up of
licensed, unlicensed, or
improperly licensed. None are
actually regulated, there's no
body with oversight over any
aspect of the gambling industry.
If you look at the register of
private members card clubs in
Ireland there's about 40 clubs
around the country - what the
bill proposes and sets out is that
there would be 40 casino
licenses. We want a
geographical spread, but we
don't want to increase the
number of casinos available.”
revenues Up for Santa Casa de Misericordia
Gross revenues from casinos, bingo halls and games operated by state-run charity
Santa Casa de Misericordia de Lisboa increased in the first quarter of 2016
EMEA
Gaming revenues rise 32 per cent
compares to last year for the
Portuguese state-run charity,
Santa Casa de Misericordia de
Lisboa
SpAIn – Spanish operator CIRSA has reported that
it increased operating profit by 8.5 per cent in the
first quarter of this year compared to the same
period in 2015 with operating profit reaching
€98.5m. During the first quarter the company
invoiced a total of €389m - 1.5 per cent more than
it did in 2015.
The company reported that it had achieved
“significant growth" in Latin America, especially in
Argentina and Colombia, where it highlighted the
opening of a new casino The Casino hollywood in
Medellín. Strong performances in Colombia and
Argentina had partially mitigated the impact of the
devaluation of the Argentine peso (down 69.2 per
cent) and the Colombian peso (down 27.3 per cent).
Cirsa also reported continued improved
performance in Spain while recent acquisitions in
Costa Rica and Morocco had also contributed
positively to the company’s growth.
In Spain the operation of its slot division continued
its upward trend of revenue growth, which has been
helped by regulatory changes in some regions and
the improved performance of its new multi game
products the company said. It was also seeing the
benefits of the reforms of its slot parlours as it
implements the Toka brand concept in its slot
division and highlighted the addition of four new
slot parlours. Meanwhile, its bingos division also
continued to grow while the company also reported
an increase in sports betting via its Sportium sports
betting shops especially in the regions of Catalonia
and Extremadura.
In 2015 Cirsa reported operating income in 2015 of
€1,853m, up 16.5 per cent, with profits of €380m,
15.8 per cent more than the previous year. 2015
brought the number of consecutive quarters of
growth to 38 for the company, which now runs 133
casinos with more than 40,000 slots, 71 bingo
halls and 162 slot halls with 3,125 VLTs.
HoLLAnD – Suzo happ
EMEA has appointed Amir
Saluhovic to the sales team
where he will bolster Suzo
happ’s support in the Balkan
region.
Goran Sovilj, Regional Sales Director at Suzo
happ, said: “It is our policy to invest to best
assist our customers. Demand has grown
strongly for a great variety of our solutions in the
Balkan region. We respond to increased demand
by offering increased support. On behalf of Suzo
happ, we welcome Amir to the team. Amir is a
perfect fit to our team. his open and
professional approach will ensure that our
customers will enjoy working with him. As a
multi-lingual team, Amir is a shining example as
he speaks six languages, three of which are
spoken in the Balkan region.”
P16
PORTUGAL GAMING OPERATIONS
Gross revenues from casinos, bingo halls and
games operated by state-run charity Santa Casa
de Misericordia de Lisboa increased in the first
quarter of 2016 by 32 per cent compared to the
same period last year. In total, the Portuguese
spent €762.5m - €183m more than in the first
three months of 2015. Gross sales also rose by
36 percent and stood at €678.8m. The strong
performance was influenced by a new sports
fixed-odds sports betting product Placard,
which was launched in September 2015 and
which accounted for 13 per cent of revenue in
the first quarter of this year. In January, sales for
games run by the charity increased by as much
as 44 per cent compared with the same month
in 2015 standing at €243m. Around 12 per cent
of this figure was achieved with the new sports
betting game. The lottery predicts that the game
will generate yearly sales of around €250m.
The lottery games operated by the state which
include the EuroMillions lottery as well as
instants accounted for around 89 per cent of
sales. Meanwhile bingo and and casinos made
up a small part of gross income. This year with
the first licences for online gaming going live the
organisation predicts that gaming revenue will
increase significantly. Santa Casa da
Misericordia de Lisboa has already announced
its intention to apply for a license for the
provision of online gambling in Portugal.
Meanwhile land based casinos have gone
through six consecutive years of losses but this
year could report positive results according to
reports in local media. Between January and
March revenue rose 5 per cent compared to the
same period last year, reaching €71m.
Back in 2012 it was revealed that a government
committee was looking into legalising online
gambling in order to raise cash for state pension
funds and to aid debt-ridden soccer clubs. This
was after a Portuguese court ruled that the
sponsorship of sports by online gambling
companies was illegal. Under previous rules
only the state-run charity Santa Casa de
Misericordia de Lisboa could offer sports betting
and lotteries. Betclic was the first company to be
issued a licence after new laws were passed last
year which gave the green light to online gaming
companies.
the Head of the Czech Republic,
the new law will come into
force early next year.
Czech Republic steps
closer to legalisation for
foreign online casinos
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has
become much closer to
licensing international online
casino operators. The relevant
bill has successfully overcome
another procedural hurdle.
The Senate of the Czech
Republic has approved a new
gambling law for the country.
The decision was adopted with
a large majority of votes: 42
senators were in favor, while 23
abstained. No one voted against
the bill. President Milos Zeman
will have 30 days to consider
and sign the bill into law. In
case of a positive decision of
The main objective of the new
law is to remove the old ban on
foreign online operators.
Nevertheless, even if online
casino operators are based in
the EU and EEA they will face a
very unpleasant surprise in the
form of a new tax plan.
Under the new bill, lotteries
and sports betting will be taxed
23 percent of gross income. The
tax rate for casinos will be even
higher at 35 percent. In
contrast, the average tax on
gambling activities in Europe is
19 percent. Officials have taken
preventive measures to
minimise possible risks for
people with addiction
tendencies. In particular, there
is a plan to establish a national
database of "excluded" players
to block their access to online
casinos. Those in bankruptcy
and people receiving financial
assistance from the Czech
Republic will be entered into
this database, as well.
UK
Sky Betting & Gaming (SB&G)
has today announced the
acquisition of Core Gaming, a
content studio that specialises in
the development of HTML5 real
money games to casino
operators and platform holders.
Based in Birmingham, Core
Gaming’s catalogue consists of a
wide range of games, including
slots, scratch cards, instant win
and table games.
The acquisition solidifies Sky
Betting & Gaming’s existing
relationship withCore Gaming.
SB&G has worked closely with
Core Gaming for three years
producing and developing
content for their Sky Vegas
business so the benefits of the
new transaction will be realised
quickly.
Justin Chamberlain and his
management team will remain
with the business and continue
in their current capacity. Core
Gaming will continue to support
existing partners while actively
pursuing new opportunities.
norwegian Cruises Set Sail with Konami
Konami Gaming’s SYNKROS casino management system has been selected by
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to help power casino operations across its
world-class fleet, including a total of 3,666 slots and 289 table games. Brands
include Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises
EMEA
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings
selects Konami Gaming’s
SYNKROS casino management
system to power its fleet
NORWAY SYSTEM INSTALLATIONS
Through the upcoming year, Konami will launch
its latest SYNKROS systems technology on a
total of 18 ships operated by NCLH under its
three brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania
Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
“Throughout its history, Norwegian has been
recognized for bringing innovation to the
cruising experience, and this undoubtedly
extends to the gaming and technology
conveniences found on board our ships,” said
Jim Abbas, senior vice president of casino
operations at NCLH. “Now, across the
company’s three brands, we are continually
embracing new technologies and SYNKROS has
demonstrated core alignment in bringing these
features to market.”
The global cruise company first selected
SYNKROS in 2012 for two of its newest cruise
ships, primarily due to the platform’s reliability,
marketing, and multisite capabilities. Three
years later, NCLH is further expanding Konami’s
system to its fleet with tools such as Money
Klip™ cashless wagering, cage management,
and Advanced Incentives Bonusing™.
“As technology channels and consumer
expectations continue to evolve, we’ve been
able to successfully leverage the SYNKROS
environment in order to deliver an integrated,
individualized guest experience,” said Abbas.
“Through our systems partnership with Konami,
we’re bringing our customers the newest tools
and features that exemplify the highly
personalized experience they enjoy throughout
their journey with us.”
“Konami is very pleased to continue supporting
the diverse business needs of Norwegian Cruise
Line Holdings,” said Scott Richards, director,
systems sales for Konami. “Our team has
dedicated itself to preparation and efficiency as
multisite conversions and new installations
progress. We’ve seen strong momentum to date
and look ahead to additional successes.”
jackpot levels (Mini, Midi and
Super) of the connected
mystery jackpot system Vega.
Malta
The International Association of
Gaming Advisors (IAGA) and the
Gaming Regulators European
Forum (GREF) their joint 2016
International Gaming Summit
held in Malta. This premier event
brought together 230 leaders
and regulators from all global
gaming sectors, with delegates
attending from 36 countries, five
continents and all gaming
industry sectors.
“We are very pleased with this
year’s recently concluded
Summit,” commented IAGA
President Martha Sabol. “With 21
distinct sessions focusing on
topics of interest within the
global gaming industry, our
delegates had an excellent
opportunity to expand their
knowledge on critical issues and
meet with their colleagues from
around the world. We sincerely
appreciate the collaborative
efforts of our GREF conference
partners, our conference
planning team and the Malta
Gaming Authority for their
efforts in making this event a
resounding success.”
EGT installs first
machines for Spain’s
Valencia market
Spain
Euro Games technology has
made its first installation in the
Spanish province of Valencia,
entering Casino Cirsa Valencia,
located in the capital city of the
community. Officially opened
in 2010, the casino is part of
the Cirsa Group, receiving
more than 300,000 visitors
annually, and has been
supplied with six P-24/24 Up
cabinets. The machines are
equipped with the Multi-3 and
Multi-4 multigame mixes of
Premier series, each containing
respectively 39 and 45 various
games. In addition, players are
given the opportunity to
compete for one of the three
Reviewing the installation,
Javier Gutiérrez, Director of
Casino Cirsa Valencia said:
“We wanted to add more high
efficient machines to our
casino floor, offering diverse
games, like poker and roulette,
in a single slot cabinet and that
led us to choose the products
of Euro Games technology.
Our guests are not only from
Spain, but also from Russia,
China and Bulgaria and they
would enjoy this advantage.
What made P-24/24 Up
preferred also by our players in
Valencia is the combination of
its user-friendly interface,
wide variety of games with
different mathematic models
and size of bets, as well as the
fact that the audience was
already familiar with EGt slot
models from other casinos in
the country.” EGt and Cirsa
have been partners since 2015,
when EGt’s team in Panama
concluded several installations
in the operator’s local casinos.
BULGARIA – Balkanfon, distributor for two of the
largest gaming operators in Bulgaria; Sesame and
Black Sea Casino, has extended its preferred
supplier agreement with Crane Payment
Innovations (CPI). having already specified SC note
acceptors since 2006, Balkanfon will continue to
specify SC Advance on all new and existing games
for at least two more years.
“Over the past decade, SC note acceptors have
completely transformed the way we think about
performance,” said Boris Petkov, CEO of Balkanfon.
“Even after years of use, they continue to work the
way they did on day one – accepting our players’
notes on the first pass while rejecting potential
frauds and keeping maintenance requirements to
an absolute minimum. We are more than pleased to
extend our pledge to such a stable product.”
“The fact that Balkanfon continues to specify SC
note acceptors after an entire decade is strong
testimony to the long-term performance, and
resulting benefits, of our products,” said Alan
humble, CPI sales manager for Gaming – EMEA.
“We are thrilled to further build upon our
partnership with Boris and the rest of his team.”
Balkanfon rents and services slots to the Black Sea
Casino, the largest casino in Varna with more than
100 slots, as well as to the 20 additional locations
across Bulgaria. In total, Balkanfon manages more
than 1350 slot machines and automated roulette
multiplayers that have been fitted with CAShFLOW
SC and SC Advance note acceptors.
MALTA – GVC holdings’ CasinoClub brand
(www.casinoclub.com) has gone live with a
comprehensive live dealer games offering streamed
from Evolution Gaming’s Riga and Malta studios.
This is the first time that CasinoClub, which
celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, has offered
Live Casino to its 500,000-plus members.
Fredrik Osterberg, Chief Strategy Officer at
Evolution, said that he was “delighted to welcome
CasinoClub to Evolution alongside other GVC
brands, such as Sportingbet, bwin and Gioco
Digitale, all of whom are long-standing customers.”
Jon Salmon, CasinoClub’s spokesperson said: “We
are very excited to now offer Evolution’s Live Casino,
as our members have been requesting live tables
game action to be added to our portfolio. A regular,
lively flow of promotions, competitions, news
updates and blog articles is an intrinsic part of the
CasinoClub service, so we will be looking to highlight
the excitement and breadth of our new Live Casino
at every opportunity.”
referendum not needed For bCn World
EMEA
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has ruled out a plebiscite over the future of
the leisure and entertainment macrocomplex BCN World in Vila-seca and Salou
A local referendum concerning
BCN World is ruled out after
consensus found amongst all
parties on the project’s future.
SPAIN CASINO OPERATIONS
BULGARIA – The Bulgarian Basketball Federation
has announced its partnership with Sportradar
Security Services. under the terms of the
partnership, Sportradar’s Fraud Detection System
will monitor all regular season and play-off matches
for the 2016/17 Men’s National Basketball League,
as well as the matches of the Women’s 2016/17
Championship. Altogether, the FDS will monitor
pre-match and live betting across over 450 betting
operators for over 240 matches this season.
Bulgarian Basketball Federation President Georgi
Glushkov emphasised: “Bulgarian basketball values
fair play and wants to develop according to the
sport’s principles - we want matchfixers to fear us.
We want them to understand that Bulgaria is
dedicated to clean basketball where the abilities of
the players and coaches win in a fair game”
Sportradar Security Services Managing Director
Andreas Krannich added: “It was two years ago that
we developed and launched the first version of
basketball’s Fraud Detection System, completely
attuned to the realities of this unique sport and its
global betting markets. We appreciate this vote of
confidence from the Bulgarian Federation and the
brave way they protect the integrity of both their
men’s and women’s competition.”
FInLAnD – Veikkaus has been the state-owned
national betting agency since it was founded in
1940, but from the start of next year, Veikkaus is
the new brand for the single organisation that will
regulate and monitor the provision of all gambling
operations within Finland’s borders.
Veikkaus will replace Raha-automaattiyhdistys
(better known as RAY), responsible for the casino
operations conducted in the country; Veikkaus Oy, in
charge of the national lottery as well as of local
betting operations; and Fintoto Oy, which manages
pari-mutuel betting options. Veikkaus is to start
operations on January 1, 2017, with the merged
entities looking to appoint a new CEO at the top of
an organisation that will employ 2,000 people.
The merged business will reach approximate 1.9
million players and is expected to generate more
than a billion euros per annum. Almost 5,000 Finns
voted in a multi-stage study to rebrand the entity,
with the lottery operator's brand, Veikkaus, found to
be most suitable as it represented ‘security and
responsibility,’ to the respondents. At present, the
merged entity operates under the name FRV Evo
Oy, with Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Chairman of the FRV
Evo Oy Board, stating that responsibility and
reliability will be the foundation stones of Veikkaus,
adding that the main goal will be to ensure that
revenue from the country’s gambling operations
benefits all Finnish citizens.
P18
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has ruled
out a plebiscite over the future of the leisure and
entertainment macrocomplex BCN World in
Vila-seca and Salou. Puigdemont said that the
local referendum would “not be necessary” after
“a lot of work” had been carried out “to reach a
consensus amongst all parties ”on the project’s
future.
The project was placed on ‘stand-by’ in February
due to growing political differences over the
nature of project while the final urban planning
had yet to be approved. However after
government assurances that only six per cent of
the proposed site would be used for gaming, and
that BCN World would be first and foremost a
tourist destination consensus has been reached
with the Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (The
Popular Unity Candidates ) a left, pro-Catalan
independence political party and members of
Esquerra Republicana (The Republican Left of
Catalonia). Puigdemont confirmed in Parliament
that the plebiscite would no longer be
necessary.
Despite the fact that the licensing process has
been fraught with delays, difficulties and
uncertainties both Melco and Hard Rock are
Austria - Novomatic
progresses AGT
acquisition
Austria
Novomatic has confirmed that
it will proceed with the
proposed acquisition of a 53
per cent stake in Ainsworth
Game technology (AGt)
following the approval by
minority shareholders at the
shareholders meeting earlier
today. This relationship is
expected to accelerate AGt’s
development and support the
creation of a stronger company
with deeper product breadth
enabling it to better compete
against international gaming
conglomerates.
Novomatic CEO Harald
Neumann said that through
Novomatic ’s majority
shareholding, AGt will benefit
from collaboration across a
range of markets that will be
competing for the new licence with Hard Rock
confirming that it would be willing to invest
€2.5bn in the project. The process has been
made more complex still by the fact that both
companies under the “Melco-Hard Rock Resort
Cyprus Consortium” name are bidding together
for the first integrated casino licence resort in
Cyprus leading to fears that Spain could well
lose out.
In May 2014 the Catalan Parliament passed the
law that would allow up to six casino licenses in
the area of the Recreational and tourism Centre
in Vila-seca and Salou, south of Barcelona. The
regional government then set about the process
of approving the BCN World Master Plan in
order to define the zoning, and the public tender
for the licenses.
One of the largest obstacles has been the high
tax rate. taxation on casinos is generally very
high in Spain, and in Catalonia stood at about 55
percent of gross gaming revenue. Under new
rules passed in the same year, the Catalan
Parliament ruled that casinos in Catalonia
would pay 10 per cent on their revenues from
gambling activities once the casinos are up and
running.
substantially positive for long
term shareholder wealth
creation.
Mr. Neumann emphasised:
“We value the trust and
support by the minority
shareholders through the
positive vote of approving the
share transaction and will
make every effort to meet their
expectations. We will
commence implementing the
binding commitments as
outlined in the Notice of
Meeting to crystallise the
benefits of the relationship.”He
further stated that completion
of the share sale is subject to a
range of regulatory and gaming
licence approvals.
AGt Chief Executive Officer
Danny Gladstone said: “We are
delighted to have received
shareholder support and look
forward to working with
Novomatic on the completion
of this transaction and
delivering on the expected
benefits for our shareholders.”
Spain
Independent Consultants, Spring
Capital, has released details
concerning its client, Codere,
after the Madrid-based
company announced the
successful completion of its
financial restructuring. The
company had become distressed
when macro and regulatory
conditions in its key markets
deteriorated, but is now posting
results close to pre-crisis levels.
“We are proud to have been part
of this effort which resulted in
over €350m of value creation
backed by €75m of cost savings,
30 per cent improvements in
labour productivity and doubled
capital efficiency,” said Spring
Capital’s Oliver Zugel. “Our
consulting team designed and
implemented Codere's Global
Performance Enhancement
Program (PEP) with client task
forces dedicated to workforce
optimisation, reduction in slot
procurement costs, capital
expenditure reviews and
overhead cost savings.”
Schleswig-holstein Specifies drScreenMicro
Casino Schleswig-Holstein in Germany will become the first casino in Europe
to integrate DRGt’s drScreenMicro across its slots floor
EMEA
Latest slots touchscreen
technology from DRGt delights
management at Germany’s Casino
Schleswig-Holstein
GERMANY SuPPLIERS
Casino Schleswig-Holstein claims its recent
integration of DRGt’s drScreenMicro is an
‘enormous advance’ for the German casino.
drScreen enables operators to make use of one
of the monitors of the slot machine. It can the
touchscreen monitor, enabling player
interaction (such as attaining accounts details)
or the upper screen (for advertising use,
especially when the slot is not in use). It can
even be linked with drInteractive to allow sports
betting to be done whiles playing (and having
the chance to watch the sports event on the slot
screen). Further drScreen products include the
drScreenMini and drScreenMicro.
Björn Höhne, Head Game Manager of Casino
Schleswig-Holstein explained the benefits of
making use of the small player tracking screen:
“We place emphasis on discretion and so we
choose to communicate with our customers on
a small screen. We can show our logo, place
advertising or inform our guests directly on the
slot machines with drScreenMicro. This is just
the technology we are looking for.”
Casino Schleswig-Holstein operates five casinos
in the most northern state in Germany between
Hamburg and the Danish border. All five casinos
– in Flensburg, Kiel, Lübeck, Schenefeld and
Sylt – have been running on the DRGt system
since 2010. Casino Schleswig-Holstein was the
UK
Francesco Rodano, the former
Italian online gaming regulator,
who left AAMS in 2015, has been
appointed as Playtech’s Chief
Policy Officer. He will be based
in London, and report to Mor
Weizer, the group’s CEO. Rodano
will engage with policy-makers
and advise company executives
on governmental policies at
local, state, national and EU
levels as well as provide
Playtech with further business
opportunities, developing new
relationships and fostering
existing connections with
institutional organisations and
industry stakeholders on a
global level with the exception of
Italy. Playtech’s new Chief
Policy Officer has more than 18
years’ experience working
across a number of online
businesses with the last nine
years at AAMS.
first customer to integrate the Systems in
Progress (SiP) system in Germany. SiP was
acquired by DRGt in 2011 and was quickly fully
integrated into the DRGt system. Mr. Höhne
added: “We are extremely satisfied with DRGt.
The serverless technology means there is no
single point of failure. With our previous
supplier, if the server went down, the whole
slots went down. We do not have this worry
anymore – thanks to DRGt. DRGt is very
reliable and secure. Furthermore, DRGt is
simple to manage – this have saved us
considerable time and costs.”
MALTA – The Dragonara Casino enters its 53rd
year of operation on July 15th 2016 after
undertaking a large-scale refurbishment and
product up-grading project. The €10m investment
will provide the patrons with an unparalleled casino
experience in the local market.
Given the competitive environment in the
gaming market, today more than ever it is vital
for casino staff to be able to provide optimal
customer support.
The new investment will include amongst other
things a suite of the latest slots products available
from the world’s top suppliers; a fresh interior setup specifically designed to provide the best casino
experience for live games casino players; a new
poker room with spectacular sea views; and a
dedicated Sports Lounge and Casino Brasserie. The
investment will also include a new central cocktail
bar at the heart of the casino floor and the opening
of second restaurant – The Marquis Terrace - to add
another elegant dining option for guests.
“Previously our staff had to spend too much
time focusing on the system. Thanks to DRGt,
our staff knows how simple the system is to
manage and how secure it is. This extra time is
invested in the customer. That is the positive
knock-on effect on having DRGt on the casino
floor – it frees up time to focus more on the
players. Let me also say how important service
is. DRGt takes service seriously and is always
there for us – in a timely and professional way.
In short – choosing DRGt was an enormous
advance for us,” praised Mr. Höhne.
“When we took over the concession to operate and
manage the Dragonara Casino, our vision was to
create the foremost gaming and entertainment
destination in Southern Europe,” said Johann
Schembri. “Our fresh investment of €10m coupled
with an initial investment of over €15m is a clear
sign of our outlook for the Dragonara Casino in what
is a very intense competitive local market. We have
grand plans for the future and our aim is to
transform the Dragonara Peninsula into the
foremost gaming and entertainment resort in
Southern Europe.”
UK
Grosvenor Casinos launches sports-betting
Grosvenor Casinos has launched a
Sports betting offering powered by
Kambi Group. The managed sports
betting service is now available on
Grosvenorcasinos.com/sport
allowing Grosvenor's 1.7m UK
customers a full range of betting
experiences.
Adam Joseph, Director of Digital
Operations for Grosvenor Casinos,
said: "This is a really exciting time
for Grosvenor and the Grosvenor
sports betting experience is a key
addition to our product set. We can
now offer our customers a
comprehensive online gaming
experience. With the Kambi
sportsbook tools, coupled with the
capability of the Bede Gaming
Management system we will be
able to provide a full enhanced
betting and gaming experience to
our customer base."
Kristian Nylén, CEO of Kambi, said
"Going live ahead of the European
Championships will empower
Grosvenor Casinos to offer their
customer base a great sports
betting experience and we look
forward to working together to
make sure the upcoming
tournament is a success."
Joe Saumarez Smith, Chairman of
Bede Gaming, said: "We are
delighted to be delivering the
Kambi integration to Grosvenor
Casinos on the Bede platform
ahead of Euro 2016. It has been a
tight timetable to deliver sports on
the Grosvenor Casinos site, but
both companies have worked
really hard together to ensure that
we are ready for the kick off of
what is expected to be the biggest
tournament ever in terms of
amounts staked."
The live table gaming equipment was custom
designed and supplied by TCSJohnhuxley. Steph
Nel, Senior Business Development Manager Europe
said: “We have enjoyed a successful long-standing
relationship with the Dragonara Casino, having
supplied products since its early days. We were
delighted to work with the casino once again,
providing the highest quality bespoke furniture for
this latest phase of development and we wish the
Dragonara every success for the next chapter.”
“Scientific Games is thrilled to partner with
Dragonara Casino to offer their players the world’s
best casino gaming experiences,” Marco herrera
Vice President and Managing Director (EMEA) for
Scientific Games. “Dragonara Casino has a rich
history of offering a unique casino experience to its
guests. We are proud to be a part of that tradition as
Malta’s premier gaming and entertainment
destination continues to grow and prosper.”
The Dragonara Casino opened its doors on July 15th
1964, in what was considered one of the first major
projects to establish Malta as a tourist destination.
Dragonara Gaming Limited, a fully-owned Maltese
company, took over the helm of the Casino in June
2010 and, today, hosts over 300,000 patrons a
year.
MgM to redesign and rebrand Monte Carlo
NORTH AMERICA
le Comité de Contrôle des Jeux du Panama
vient d'approuver la fusion de Dreams et Sun
International. L'entreprise nouvellement formée a
annoncé que les actionnaires actuels de Sun
International Dreams partageront le capital à hauteur de 50 / 50.
Storm international vient de désigner la
nouvelle loi d'interdiction de fumer au Mexique
comme responsable de la baisse de 8 % de ses
revenus en 2015. Les bénéfices de l'entreprise
ont chuté de 11,9 % avec toutefois une hausse de
25 % en Géorgie avec le Shangri La Casino à
Tbilissi et une hausse de 12 % en Allemagne.
En Argentine, le long débat pour savoir si
c'est le gouvernement fédéral ou les autorités
locales de la ville de Buenos Aires qui est/sont en
charge du contrôle des jeux dans la ville intramuros vient finalement de prendre fin avec le vote
d'un décret gouvernemental allouant l'administration des jeux au maire de la ville, Rodriguez
Larreta.
Plusieurs opérateurs se sont montrés
intéressés par l'obtention de nouvelles licences de
casino qui seront bientôt disponibles au Chili.
Depuis que le Comité de Contrôle des jeux chilien
(SJC) a publié les contraintes de l'appel d'offres,
une société d'Amérique du Nord, trois d'Amérique
Latine et une entreprise chinoise pourraient postuler pour l'une des licences disponibles : celle du
casino municipal situé à Viña del Mar.
le nouveau Président du Comité de Contrôle
des Jeux colombien (Coljuegos), Juan B. Pérez
hidalgo, vient de déclarer que de nouvelles lois
concernant les jeux en ligne pourraient être votées
très prochainement. Bien que ces nouvelles lois
n'aient pas encore été rendues publiques, M.
hidalgo a affirmé que les nouvelles réglementations ont été rédigées "en un temps record".
Un juge vient de déclarer nulles deux
nouvelles lois qui auraient donné le feu vert au
VLT (loteries vidéo) à Porto Rico. La juge de la
Cour supérieure de Justice Gloria Maynard Salgado vient de rejeter un document de 30 pages
émis par le Ministère des Finances dans lequel
celui-ci demandait un jugement sommaire en sa
faveur et le rejet de la demande de nullité
réclamée par l'Association des hôtels et du
Tourisme de Porto Rico (PRhTA).
Olympic Entertainment group vient d'ouvrir
son nouveau complexe hôtel et loisirs à Tallinn.
Celui-ci est doté du hilton Tallinn Park, premier
hôtel hilton Worldwide des pays baltes, et de
l’Olympic Casino Park, le nouveau casino phare de
la société.
la chaîne de casinos britannique Aspers
vient d'écrire au Ministère de la Justice irlandais
pour faire part de son intérêt si la législation
autorisait l'installation de grands casinos en
Irlande. On espère que la déclaration d'Aspers
encouragera le gouvernement à faire passer la loi
sur le contrôle des jeux introduite par Alan Shatter
en 2013 qui est toujours en attente de validation.
The axe is falling on Monte Carlo Resort and Casino in Las Vegas with owner MGM
Resorts looking to ‘reimagine and rebrand’ the property pitching it towards a
younger, more millennial crowd.
MGM is to spend $450m on
transforming the venue into two
distinct hotel experiences to target
a younger generation of players
NEVADA CASINO OPERATIONS
MGM is to spend $450m on transforming the
Monte Carlo Casino into two distinct hotel
experiences: a Las Vegas version of Sydell’s
widely acclaimed NoMad Hotel, and the launch
of a new luxury hotel named Park MGM. In
addition to fully redesigned and renovated guest
rooms, each hotel will feature innovative and
exciting food & beverage experiences unique to
the Las Vegas market, including the awardwinning NoMad restaurant by Chef Daniel
Humm and restaurateur Will Guidara and
Eataly’s vibrant Italian marketplace with cafes,
to-go counters and full-service restaurants
interspersed with high-quality products from
sustainable Italian and local producers.
touch every element of the property. Sydell
Group, a partnership between investor Ron
Burkle and founder Andrew Zobler, is the
creator and operator of trend-setting lifestyle
hotels across the country, including The NoMad
in New York; The Line in Los Angeles; and
Freehand in Miami andChicago. Sydell will
collaborate with MGM Resorts on the propertywide transformation of all public and guest
spaces, including the food & beverage offerings,
of both hotels. A prominent feature among
Sydell Group’s portfolio of properties is the
restoration and reimagination of historic
buildings into unique hospitality experiences,
alongside award-winning food & beverage.
Park MGM and The NoMad Las Vegas become
the final pieces of MGM Resorts’ complete
neighbourhood redesign of the central Las Vegas
Strip neighborhood which began in 2009 with
the introduction of CityCenter and saw the
recent unveiling of The Park, a spectacular
outdoor dining and entertainment district, and
the stunning new t-Mobile Arena. MGM has
charged New York-based Sydell Group with the
task of reimagining and rebranding Monte Carlo
Resort and Casino. The transformation will
Bill Hornbuckle, President of MGM Resorts
International, said: “We are thrilled to partner
with Sydell Group as we enter the final phase of
transforming the neighbourhood that we believe
represents Las Vegas’ true entertainment
epicentre. Coupling MGM’s rich legacy of
hospitality and entertainment with Sydell
Group’s expertise in creating hotels that
cultivate a strong sense of place will result in a
destination that both celebrates the history of
Las Vegas and ushers in a new era.”
GLI certifies first
interactive gaming
system for Bahamas
Bahamas
Gaming Laboratories
International, has completed
its first success as the first
registered independent test
laboratory to certify a Gaming
House Operator’s full
interactive gaming system
under the new Bahamian
gaming legislation.
GLK Limited, a Gaming House
Operator headquartered in
Nassau, Bahamas, worked
with GLI to have its full
complement of casinos,
numbers and sportsbook
offerings tested for compliance
with the new Bahamian
gaming legislation, which
incorporates a reliance on
GLI’s iGaming technical
standards (GLI-19: Interactive
Gaming Systems). This
achievement further reinforces
GLI’s continued commitment
to fair, secure and auditable
interactive gaming operations
across the Caribbean.
Moreover, it demonstrates
GLI’s commitment to Gaming
House Operators seeking
iGaming expansion in The
Bahamas.
Co-Founders of GLK Limited
Garvin Newball and Leander
Brice said: “We are the first
Gaming House Operator to
complete the full testing and
certification process with GLI
and to have our interactive
gaming system authorised by
the Gaming Board for The
Bahamas. It is truly an honor
to be the first of a handful of
operators licensed in this
historical undertaking to
regularise a domestic gaming
sector. We would like to
sincerely thank everyone from
GLK Limited, GLI, and the
Gaming Board for The
Bahamas.”
US
Galaxy Gaming, a company that
claims to be the world’s largest
independent developer,
manufacturer and distributor of
casino table games, saw its first
quarter revenue increase by 15
per cent to $2,984,000. This
increase is primarily due to
additional placement of
premium games and expansion
into new territories. Between the
first quarter 2016 and fourth
quarter 2015, total revenues
increased two per cent to
$2,984,099. This increase was
recognised in all categories of
products, with premium games
netting the largest gains.Gary
Vecchiarelli, Galaxy’s CFO, said:
“2016 started with increases
across the board. We have now
increased our recurring
revenues 17 of the last 18
quarters. Our EBITDA has also
improved significantly, with an
increase in our recurring
revenues and a decrease in our
operating expenses.”
Four new Jersey Casinos Under threat
NORTH AMERICA
le sénat de la république tchèque vient
d'approuver une nouvelle loi sur les jeux d'argent
dans le pays. La décision a été adoptée par une
large majorité de votes : 42 sénateurs ont voté
pour et 23 se sont abstenus. Aucun n'a voté contre la loi. Le président Milos Zeman a 30 jours pour
prendre connaissance et signer l'ébauche de loi
pour la valider.
Sky betting & gaming (Sb&g) vient aujourd'hui d'annoncer l'acquisition de Core Gaming, un
studio de contenus spécialisé dans le développement de jeux d'argent hTML5 réels pour les
opérateurs de casinos et les détenteurs de plateformes.
le président catalan Carles Puigdemont
vient de mettre en place un plébiscite concernant
l'avenir du grand complexe de jeux BCN World
situé à Vilaseca et Salou. M. Puigdemont a
déclaré qu'un référendum local ne "serait pas
nécessaire" si "beaucoup de travail" était effectué
pour "arriver à un consensus entre toutes les
parties" sur l'avenir du projet.
grosvenor Casinos vient de lancer une
nouvelle offre de paris sportifs gérés par la société
Kambi Group. Ce service de paris sportifs est
disponible dès maintenant sur Grosvenorcasinos.com/sport, offrant ainsi à ses 1,7 millions de
clients britanniques toute une gamme d'expériences de paris.
MgM devrait dépenser quelques 450
millions de dollars uS pour transformer le Casino
de Monte Carlo en deux hôtels distincts : une version esprit Las Vegas du très réputé NoMad hotel
de Sydell et un tout nouvel hôtel de luxe
dénommé Park MGM.
Expansion of gaming outside Atlantic City could lead to as many as four
additional casino closures, though expansion efforts face an uphill battle
trump taj Mahal, Resorts Casino
and Golden Nugget in trouble as
Fitch Rating estimates a roughly 25
per cent decline in Atlantic City’s
gross gaming revenue
NEVADA CASINO OPERATIONS
Expansion of gaming outside Atlantic City could
lead to as many as four additional casino
closures, though expansion efforts face an uphill
battle, according to Fitch Ratings. Properties
most susceptible to cannibalisation include
trump taj Mahal, Resorts Casino and Golden
Nugget. Fitch estimates a roughly 25 per cent
decline in Atlantic City’s gross gaming revenue
(GGR) would wipe out the operating profit
before management fees of Golden Nugget, the
most profitable of the three. This assumes
proportional revenue loss among the existing
casinos and that income falls by $1 for every $2
of revenue loss.
Fitch stated: “Declines of 10 per cent and 20 per
cent in GGR would put taj Mahal and Resorts at
risk, respectively, under the same assumptions.
Bally’s AC could also face an uncertain future,
as Caesars ultimately closed the Showboat in
September 2014 amid Atlantic City weakening
and despite the property still being marginally
profitable.
“Casinos in Northern New Jersey still face a long
and uncertain future before the November
referendum to legalize gaming outside of
Atlantic City. Public opposition for gaming
expansion has been lessening, but is still
meaningful at around 50 per cent, according to
the last Fairleigh Dickinson poll in January 2016.
This was down from around 56 per cent in June
2015,” it added.
“Even if the referendum does pass, Fitch
believes it will be at least four years until a
casino could realistically open. This aggressive
timeline assumes one year to pass the
necessary regulatory legislation, a one-year
bidding process, and a two-year construction
phase, but the timeline could be even longer. For
example, Wynn Boston Harbor and MGM
Springfield are expected to open almost five
years after their proposals were selected and
nearly eight years after Massachusetts
legalizsed casinos. Both projects have faced
either legal or construction hurdles.”
US
gaming laboratories international vient de
remporter son premier succès en tant que laboratoire de tests indépendant accrédité en accordant
une certification à un système de jeux entièrement interactif de Gaming house Operator,
conformément à la nouvelle législation en vigueur
aux Bahamas.
l'expansion des jeux en dehors de la ville
d'Atlantic City pourrait entraîner la fermeture de
quatre casinos. Cette expansion devrait toutefois
rencontrer de réels obstacles selon Fitch Ratings.
Les casinos les plus enclins à la cannibalisation
seraient le Trump Taj Mahal, le Resorts Casino et le
Golden Nugget.
MgM resorts va acquérir les biens
immobiliers du complexe Borgata situé à Atlantic
City. Dans le cadre de l’accord, MGM les louera à
une filiale de son groupe MGM Resorts. MGM
Resorts versera la somme de 600 millions de
dollars uS à Boyd Gaming pour l'acquisition de 50
% des parts de Borgata après avoir pris en
compte la dette d'environ 600 millions de dollars
uS de l'immeuble que MGM s'engage à combler.
le resorts World Sentosa à Singapour vient
de licencier 400 employés de casino afin de se
montrer plus efficace face à la chute de ses
revenus due à la baisse de fréquentation des
parieurs chinois.
Nevada
Congress members against Caesars’ REIT
Political support against Caesars Entertainment’s efforts to create a real
estate investment trust (REIT) to split its assets. US Congress members
have now signed a letter asking Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew to reject
what would be a beneficial tax regime. Caesars has transferred 10 of its
properties, including seven on the Las Vegas Strip, into a real estate
investment trust that will be 70 per cent owned by MGM, but will allow for
‘strategic and financial benefits.’
In an attempt to cut its debt, Mandalay Bay, The Mirage, Monte Carlo, New
York-New York, Luxor, Excalibur, and the non-gaming Park development
have been transferred into the REIT, along with the MGM Grand Detroit,
Beau Rivage in Biloxi and the Gold Strike Tunica. Caesars put the unit into
bankruptcy early last year, meaning creditors are owed $18bn. However 15
lawmakers have said Caesars’ plan contravenes the original intention of
providing small investors opportunity to diversify into real estate.
The letter said: “The REIT would effectively shelter a considerable portion
of the casinos’ profits, thus functioning as a taxpayer-funded subsidy to
one of the largest casino companies in the US and its private equity
owners.”
Gaming Partners International
and Walker Digital table
Systems are expanding their
working relationship to
develop and enhance their
PJM Radio Frequency
Identification Device (RFID)
technologies. “We are excited
that WDtS and GPIC will
collaborate on the
development and distribution
of PJM RFID technology and
applications,” said Neil
Crossan, Senior Vice President
– WDtS. “Being the largest
supplier of RFID technology,
GPIC has a wealth of
experience in the field, and
this together with the
innovation that WDtS brings
to the gaming floor will serve
the industry well.”
Gregory Gronau, GPIC’s
President and Chief Executive
Officer said: “An expanded
working relationship offers
the opportunity to capitalise
on our respective core
strengths and maximise our
synergies into creating and
developing value added
products and solutions.”
MgM to buy remaining borgata Shares
MGM Resorts is buying the rest of Boyd Gaming’s 50 per cent interest in Borgata
Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey for a consideration of $900m
NORTH AMERICA
MGM Resorts is to acquire
Atlantic City’s Borgata from Boyd
Gaming and lease back the
property to subsidiary
US – Gaming Laboratories International has bought
Bulletproof Solutions, Atlantic Canada’s Trusted IT
Services Company with a strong and growing
portfolio of successful contract and project services.
The investment further underscores the GLI Group’s
commitment to Canada, and in particular, New
Brunswick and the Atlantic Provinces.
NEW JERSEY CASINO OPERATIONS
MGM Resorts will pay $600m for Boyd
Gaming’s 50 per cent interest, subject to
customary working capital adjustments, after
consideration of Borgata’s outstanding debt of
approximately $600m, which MGM Resorts will
assume and refinance. For the last 12 months
ended March 31, 2016, Borgata reported $812m
in net revenues and $212m in Adjusted EBItDA.
“Borgata is the premier resort in Atlantic City
and a great addition to our growing presence in
the Northeast,” said Jim Murren, Chairman and
CEO of MGM Resorts. “While the market
continues to experience challenges, Borgata has
outperformed and differentiated itself as the
undisputed leader in the city. Our decade-long
partnership with Boyd Gaming has been a great
one, and Borgata’s talented employee base will
complement and strengthen our more than
60,000-member worldwide MGM Resorts team.
We are excited about the opportunity to bring
our loyalty program, M life Rewards, to the
resort and integrate our operations, to position
Borgata for further growth.”
Subsequent to the purchase of Boyd Gaming’s
50 per cent stake in Borgata, MGM Resorts and
MGP have agreed that MGM Resorts will sell all
of Borgata’s real property to MGP for total
consideration of approximately $1.175bn.
“We are excited to add Borgata to the MGP
portfolio, further diversifying our geographic
presence. With this transaction, we are
executing on our core growth strategy in
prudently building a portfolio of high-quality
assets,” said James Stewart, CEO of MGM
Growth Properties. “We expect the transaction
to result in high single digit percentage accretion
to AFFO per share, and pro forma net leverage
will remain similar to our current levels.”
Borgata will be added to the existing Master
Lease between MGM Resorts and MGM Growth
Properties Resorts, and the initial rent payment
to MGP will increase by $100m. Consistent with
the Master Lease terms, 90 percent of this rent
will be fixed and contractually grow at two per
cent per year until 2022.
US – Kobetron has bought assets of Gaming
Informatics (GI), which includes the IRIS software
suite. The Gaming Informatics software suite allows
casinos and regulators to track the inventory of
electronic gaming equipment throughout the casino
property, whether on the floor or offline.
This transaction combines Kobetron, the leading
specialized gaming verification tools company, with
GI, the leading enterprise-resource planning
software company. As part of the transaction, it was
announced that Grant Stousland, President and
CEO of Gaming Informatics, will remain in a
strategic leadership and business development role
with Kobetron overseeing the ongoing sales,
support and product development of the GI line of
products.
Band of Creek Indians is
another step toward the
Washoe tribe’s long term goal
of economic self-sufficiency,”
remarked Washoe tribal Chair,
Neil Mortimer.
US
Lottery, gaming and interactive
giant International Game
Technology saw its bottom line
rise to $115.66m in its first
quarter up from $74.24m in last
year’s first quarter.
Revenue for the quarter
increased 2.4 per cent to $1.28bn,
up from $1.25bn last year. Marco
Sala, CEO of IGT said: “We begin
2016 with a solid first quarter,
evidenced by good revenue
growth with all operating
segments contributing to an
improvement in profitability.
Continuing growth across all
regions, especially North
America andItaly, propelled our
lottery revenues. Gaming
revenues were resilient despite
challenging market conditions
in North America, our largest
gaming market. We remain
focused on reenergising gaming
operations and strengthening
our global leadership in lotteries.
We were successful in securing
the Italian Lotto concession, one
of our largest contracts and a
cornerstone of our Italian
operations.”
The GLI Group announced that, as part of the
acquisition, the entire leadership team and
executives at Bulletproof, including the senior
management team led by Steven Burns, Jeff Shaw
and Andrew Jefferies, will continue to operate the
company just as they have since inception. Both
companies plan to leverage Bulletproof’s strong IT
services capabilities throughout other provinces in
Canada and in the united States.
Washoe Tribe opens
Wa She Shu Casino in
Nevada
Nevada
The Washoe tribe has opened
its first gaming facility, the Wa
She Shu Casino, on Highway
395 just north of Garnerville.
The casino, whose name
means “The People’s Place”, is
the result of a unique tribe-totribe business relationship
between the Washoe tribe of
Nevada and California, and the
Poarch Band of Creek Indians
of Atmore, Alabama.
“Opening a casino and
partnering with the Poarch
“We are excited about the
partnership and pleased to
create job opportunities for our
tribal members, as well as
local residents. The partnership
between our tribe and the
of Alabama is the first of its
kind. The Washoe tribe is
excited to partner with the
and we are looking forward to
increasing the gaming and
dining experience in the
Carson Valley for both
residents and visitors.”
The 13,500 square foot facility
boasts a 4,600 square foot
gaming floor featuring 130
state-of-the-art games.
Visitors will also be able to
enjoy a restaurant that
comfortably seats 80 guests as
well as a bar. An additional
4,000 square feet is designated
for future expansion of the
gaming floor.
CAnADA – Suzo happ’s Canadian facility has
obtained the ISO 9001:2015 accreditation. The ISO
9001 certification is an important step in Suzo
happ’s commitment to excellence and is further
evidence that Suzo happ provides quality, highperforming products able to meet the demands of
the markets. Specifically in the Canadian facility
Suzo happ manufactures the Bill-toBill currency
management systems and the MFL bill validator.
Both product lines have become industry standards
in terms of reliability, performance and customer
satisfaction. To become ISO 9001 certified, a
company must fulfill requirements outlined by the
ISO – International Standardization Organisation –
and must demonstrate a quality management
system with the ability to consistently provide
quality products enhancing customer satisfaction.
“We are very proud of this outstanding result. The
ISO 9001 certification reflects Suzo happ’s
commitment to highest standards in quality and
customer service” comments Suzohapp’s Steve
Pallotta, Corporate EVP of Operations at Suzo happ.
Melco to Advise new Silkroad Korea on Jeju
ASIA & OCEANIA
Melco International’s Korea subsidiary enters deal with New Silkroad Korea, to
provide consultancy services for its casino project on Jeju Island, South Korea.
CHInA – The Macao Gaming Show will be
delivering the Chinese Government's message of
economic diversity over the next three years,
launching its statement of intent with a new name
for the 2016 exhibition which will be held at the
Venetian Macau November 15-17.
Melco International agrees
consultancy deal with New
Silkroad Korea to enhance the
Jeju integrated entertainment and
leisure resort
The MGS expo, the fastest growing exhibition on the
international industry calendar, will now be named
the MGS Entertainment Show. The new direction
has been endorsed by the show's Government
partners, and will serve as a platform to help power
the SAR and central Government's programme to
expand the range of exhibitors and products from
the gaming and non-gaming sides of the industry.
Jay Chun, chairman of the MGEMA and one of the
key business figures driving Macau's diversity
vision, commented: "Our economy - both here in
Macau and throughout Asia - is about opportunity.
And as the city and region opens up to economic
expansion, the show must provide the platform for
this. Our casinos go hand in hand with
entertainment. They go hand in hand with new
technology, new delivery platforms, new innovations
- everything that makes a destination work. That's
why diversity on the showfloor must reflect diversity
in our economy."
pHILIppInES – The Philippine sector is facing a
fight to allow smoking on their gaming floors.
Operators are appealing to president-elect Rodrigo
Duterte to allow their companies to be exempt from
a smoking and liquor ban in all public places.
Kingson Sian, President and CEO of Travellers
International hotel Group Inc. (TIhGI), who owns
Resorts World Manila said that operators will unite
to discuss the issue next month.
“hopefully the consultations will support what we’re
saying but at the end of the day we’re a law abiding
association and we will abide by the law,” he
advised.
The Philippine sector is due to see a raft of new
openings with Kazuo Okada’s Tiger Resort set to
open this year.
In the first quarter of 2016, Bloomberry, Melco
Crown and Resorts World reported GGR of P18.1bn,
marking an improvement of 6.4 per cent year-onyear. however only Melco Crown’s City of Dreams
reported an increase in GGR.
Bloomberry Chairman Enrique Razon meanwhile
believes that there is still an opportunity to increase
the number of international players at its casino to
boost revenues further and prevent future projects
from cannibalising the sector. he explained that
President-elect Rodrigo Duterte was introducing a
more diplomatic attitude towards China than his
predecessor Benigno Aquino. he is expected to hold
talks with Beijing regarding territorial disputes in the
South China Sea which are bad for business.
Chinese customers account for around 40 per cent
of the VIP revenues at Solaire. Mr. Razon believes
that the relationship between the countries could
thaw further allowing more Chinese players to visit.
SOUTH KOREA CASINO OPERATIONS
Melco Gaming Assets Management (Korea)
Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Melco
International, has entered into a strategic
cooperation arrangement with New Silkroad
Korea Development, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of New Silkroad on the provision of
consultancy services for its casino project on
Jeju Island, South Korea.
Melco is to provide consultancy services to New
Silkroad with regard to building, equipping and
fitting-out of New Silkroad’s new casino on Jeju
Island, as well as preparation and organisation
of the casino’s marketing activities. The services
also include the provision of intellectual
property and know-how.
SU Bo, Chairman and Executive Director of New
Silkroad, said: “The strategic partnership with
Melco will enable New Silkroad to benefit from
the extensive experience and expertise of the
respected international gaming brand, through
its participation in the design and early-stage
development of our mega-casino. We expect the
casino to be a true world-class player with the
highest standards in operations and internal
controls, enabling us to grow and enhance our
core competitiveness while we diversify our
NYX Gaming Group
completes OpenBet
purchase
Australia
NYX Gaming Group has
completed the £270m
acquisition of OpenBet
financed through a
combination of new senior
secured credit facilities;
convertible preference shares
in a new wholly-owned
subsidiary called NYX Digital
Gaming, private placement of
new unsecured convertible
debentures, which have
converted into Special
Warrants and a bought deal
private placement offering of
subscription receipts.
By combining two of the
world’s most established and
proven B2B betting and gaming
suppliers, NYX is uniquely
positioned to provide
customers with exciting
business into overseas tourism real estate
industry, thereby broadening our income
sources and creating value to our shareholders.
We look forward to a long term partnership with
Melco as we grow into a larger and more
sustainable company.”
Clarence Chung, Executive Director of Melco,
added: “We are delighted for Melco to participate
in this exciting project in South Korea with New
Silkroad. Leveraging our strong experience and
proven track record of creating and operating
world-class integrated entertainment and
leisure resorts across different geographies such
as Macau, Manila and Russia, Melco can bring
professional concepts and practices to New
Silkroad’s project and enhance Jeju’s tourism
appeal on a global stage.”
New Silkroad has officially entered South
Korea’s gaming and entertainment business
through the acquisition of Development Golden
Beach last December. Upon completion of the
latest acquisition, New Silkroad will hold a 72
per cent equity stake in Golden Beach, which
was awarded the Gaming Licence No. 8, one of
the eight gaming licences on Jeju Island and
operates a casino there.
player-driven solutions across
all verticals and channels –
through best-of-breed content,
proven technology and a full
suite of industry-leading
products and services.
NYX now has a combined
workforce of 1100 staff based
in 14 countries across Europe,
North America, Asia, New
Zealand and Australia.
“This is an exciting day for NYX
Gaming as we look to the next
phase of the company’s
growth. We now turn our focus
to planning and executing the
strategy to leverage the
collective strengths and
benefits of scale that the
combined business brings to
our customers and
shareholders,” commented
Matt Davey, Chief Executive
Officer, of the company.
“The acquisition reinforces our
position as the leading
provider of regulated B2B
digital gaming solutions.”
Singapore
Resorts World Sentosa in
Singapore is making 400 casino
employees redundant as it looks
to become more efficient against
falling revenues due to the
slowdown in Chinese gamblers.
Genting Singapore, which runs
Resorts World Sentosa, reported
an 83 per cent year-on-year
decline in net profit to S$10.m in
the first quarter up to March. As
a result the operator is letting go
150 croupiers, 200 supervisors
and 25 pit managers go. The
casino employs some 1,400
croupiers, 700 supervisors and
130 pit managers although away
from gaming its employs
another 9,500 people. The
casino stated: “In anticipation
that the business situation is
unlikely to improve anytime
soon, we have made a very
difficult decision to reduce
manpower. It is necessary for
RWS to review the headcount in
its gaming business so that it can
achieve the right size to meet its
business needs,” said RWS.
Macau legend Extends reach to laos
ASIA & OCEANIA
With its operations in Macau beginning to stabilise, Macau Legend Development
Limited is looking to diversify its revenue streams with the purchase of Savan
Vegas Hotel and Entertainment Complex in Laos
Legend Development Limited,
operator of Fisherman’s Wharf
and casinos in Macau, has
acquired the Savan Vegas casino
LAOS CASINO OPERATIONS
CHInA – Interblock growing its footprint throughout
the Asia Pacific region with the placement of 10
MiniStar units with eight play stations in five of
Melco Crown Entertainment’s Mocha Club
properties.
With its operations in Macau beginning to
stabilise, Macau Legend Development Limited is
looking to diversify its revenue streams with the
purchase of Savan Vegas Hotel and
Entertainment Complex in Laos.
Melco Crown Entertainment operates seven Mocha
Club properties in China’s gaming mecca, Macau.
Each venue is tailored to a different theme,
providing their customers with an authentically
distinctive gaming experience. The company prides
itself on being the ultimate provider for the latest
electronic table gaming offerings.
The operator of Fisherman’s Wharf, Pharaoh’s
Palace Casino and Babylon Casino in Macau,
will spend US$42m on buying Savan Vegas from
the Ministry of Finance of the Lao People’s
Democratic Republic.
Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific, Cameron
Louis, said: “Mocha Club’s vision of creating new
gaming experiences for their customers uniquely
aligns with the Interblock brand. Our MiniStar
Roulette offers the style, elegance, and
sophistication that each Mocha property tailors to
their player base.”
Interblock’s MiniStar product line is a highperformance product with a smaller footprint that
accommodates any casino floor, especially
appealing to Mocha Club’s properties. It consists of a
fully automated Roulette generator with excellent
visibility of the wheel and an ergonomically
designed surface. The automated Roulette
generator enables between 80 and 150 results per
hour.
“We are happy to continue our partnership with
Melco Crown operators and look forward to our
products raising the bar of their ETG (electronic table
game) landscape,” said Mr. Louis.
This latest Interblock MiniStar installation will take
place at hotel Royal, Sinatra, Macau Tower, Golden
Dragon, and Taipa Square Mocha Club properties
this month.
CHInA – Macau Slot Co, the only sports betting
company allowed in Macau, has had its license
extended for another five years.
The company owned by v who held a 40-year
monopoly over the operation of casinos in Macau,
will retain its monopoly on all sports betting except
horse racing in Macau until at least June 5, 2021.
Macau Slot owns 10 locations where it takes bets on
football and basketball. It also has betting facilities
at five casinos operated by SJM, along with two
Macau-facing websites.
The company said that in 2015 its sports betting
revenue fell by 8.6 per cent to MOP673m
(uS$83.6m).
Savan Vegas boast 92 tables and 493 slot
machines; a contemporary 476 room hotel and
convention centre, restaurants, bars and other
dining facilities, spa services, recreational
facilities, retail shopping facilities, AtMs, and
transportation and car rental services.
Macau Legend has been offered an exclusivity
period of 49 years in the provinces of
Bolikhamsay, Khammouane and Savannakhet.
Macau Legend. Co-Chairman David Chow, said:
“Savan Vegas is located just on the border with
Thailand and is an area that the Government of
the Lao PDR has earmarked as part of its
Intralot extends deal
with Pacific Online
Systems Corporation
Philippines
Intralot has signed an
extension contract with Pacific
Online Systems Corporation
(POSC), a public listed
company that runs the games
of the Philippines Charity
Sweepstakes Office (PCSO),
untilAugust 31 2018. This is the
fifth amendment between the
two parties, since the
establishment of their
cooperation in 2006 that has
resulted to a continuous
growth and expansion of
services for POSC.
Under the terms of the
extension contract, Intralot
will continue to supply POSC
with its LOtOS online lottery
system and provide the
company with 1,200 terminals
plus an additional 800 main
development strategy. It enjoys close proximity
to an international airport to cater for the strong
feeder markets from Thailand, Vietnam and
China as well as the visitors from Cambodia,
Malaysia and Singapore. We can leverage on
Macau Legend’s experience and connections to
build on the already more than 1m annual
visitors to Savannakhet.”
Macau Legend want to develop a land parcel in
the Savan Seno Special Economic Zone of the
Savannakhet Province of the Lao PDR which is
adjacent to the existing Savan Vegas Hotel and
Entertainment Complex. The planned
development would include two golf courses, a
600 room hotel, villas, casino, exhibition hall
and spa, pool facilities, staff quarters and
training facilities.
Mr. Chow added: “Over the short term, in
Macau, the market has been challenging which
means it is an opportune moment to invest for
the growth. Our first overseas project at Cape
Verde is progressing smoothly on budget and on
schedule, which allows us to take additional
investments in areas with high growth
potentials. Laos provide such an opportunity.”
units to be connected in the
expanded network of PoS.
Willy Ocier, President, Pacific
Online Systems Corporation
said: “Intralot has been a
valuable partner in our
endeavours to modernise the
lottery landscape of
Philippines. Harnessing
Intralot’s global experience
and gaming expertise, we have
managed to expand our
operations. The scope of this
extension contract is to build
on the existing strong
foundations and offer our
retailers a leading edge gaming
technology that will boost the
lottery sales.”
Intralot Group COO, Nikos
Nikolakopoulos, said: “We are
looking forward to continuing
support to our customer’s team
with our best-of-breed
market-tested solutions in
their efforts to offer compelling
gaming products, optimise
players’ gaming experience
and further boost sales.
Australia
Lotteries and wagering firm
Tatts Group has sold its UKbased slot machine and internet
gaming operator Talarius to
Novomatic UK for A$210m. Tatts
said the sale would result in an
accounting loss of about $50m
in the 2016 full financial year.
The company's shares fell as
much as 3.89 per cent to $3.71,
their lowest level since April 15.
The news follows April’s
announcement that the A$9bn
merger between Tatts and rival
Tabcorp, had been postponed
indefinitely due to concerns that
the competition regulator might
intervene in the combined entity
bidding for Western Australia’s
TAB network. Tatts investors
have been urging management
to dismiss the idea of a merger
with Tabcorp and instead spin
off its wagering division Ubet,
which could be worth up to
$2bn, allowing Tatts to
concentrate on its lotteries
business, which accounts for 70
per cent of its profits.
Crown Resorts plans to split its
international business into a new
listed vehicle with the intention of
launching an IPO of several of its
Australian resorts.
ASIA & OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA CASINO OPERATIONS
Crown to Split Away international business
Crown’s share in Macau operator Melco Crown
will be placed into a new international holding
company, along with its Las Vegas investment in
Alon, it’s 50 per cent share in British casino
operator Aspers and its stake in Caesars Growth
Partners, according to Crown’s latest plans.
Crown Resorts will keep the company’s casinos
and hotels in Melbourne and Perth and the hotel
and casino under development at Sydney’s
Barangaroo precinct. It will also retain Betfair
Australasia and its 62 per cent stake in online
bookmaker Crownbet.
James packer, who owns 53 per cent of the
company, will no longer be employed as an
executive of Crown Resorts, nor will he take a
wage although he will continue to be focussed
on Crown Resorts’ businesses, in particular
continuing as the Deputy Chairman of MCE and
optimising Crown Resorts’ capital structure/cost
of capital and returns. He will also have a key
focus on Crown Resorts’ online strategy.
“I am fully supportive of the board’s decisions
today,” Mr Packer said. “Crown is one of
Australia’s most successful tourism and leisure
company’s and I am extremely proud of what
we have achieved with our resorts in Australia,
but also across Asia. This new corporate
structure, well positions Crown for the next
decade as we continue to grow our business and
meet the needs of the Asian middle class.”
Crown Resorts’ Chairman, Mr Robert Rankin,
added: “We are pleased to announce that the
Board has endorsed a number of initiatives
designed to maximise shareholder value and
ensure a more efficient ownership structure for
the group’s assets.” “The Board has for some
time been looking to address what we believe to
be a material undervaluation by the market of
Crown Resorts’ assets, due to a traditional
consolidated (or amalgamated) structure. In
particular, we believe that Crown Resorts’
extremely high quality Australian resorts are
not being fully valued and the Crown Resorts
share price has been highly correlated to the
performance of its investment in Macau.”
“The proposed demerger reflects the different
nature of Crown Resorts’ controlled Australian
operating assets from its international
investments. It will provide investors with
greater investment choice and transparency on
the underlying quality of all of Crown Resorts’
assets,” he added.
Macau/Spain
MelcoLot and Melco
International Development
have jointly announced that
their share deal for a casino
bid near Barcelona in Spain
has been terminated due to
uncertainty related to the
tender process. “As the
timetable of the tender
process for the casino
authorisation and the
development of the project
remain relatively uncertain in
the current political situation
in Catalonia… Melco and
MelcoLot agreed to
immediately terminate the
share purchase agreement.”
Melco Property is one of the
bidders for the gaming
license to develop a hotel and
casino complex in BCN
World. Conditions for the deal
required that Melco Property
should be granted a gaming
license from the Catalan
government before June 30
this year. But the two parties
in January disclosed that the
tender process was clouded
with uncertainty given the
current political situation.
AUSTRALIA – TCSJohnhuxley is launching the
media module of its Gaming Floor Live platform at
Casino Canberra, owned by Aquis Entertainment, in
Australia. The casino will be linking together over 30
tables that feature Baccarat and Roulette, with the
ability to also feature Blackjack and Money Wheel
games. Full screen media content will be displayed
on TCS John huxley’s e-FXT 27” Landscape and
29” portrait displays. Results can also be displayed
using the latest Multi Table Display on any size LCD
monitors throughout the casino that are connected
to the system.
Before the introduction of GFL Media, casinos had
to use various different systems to control and
update their media. But thanks to the GFL Media
module, every display can now communicate,
collecting real-time results from the game and
pushing out media and event content for display.
By linking together previously stand-alone casino
displays, operators can now alter, schedule,
customise and configure displays from one central
point through a browser-based user interface. This
saves time and valuable resource, allowing for
quick and efficient display changes to be made and
eliminating the need for physical configuration of
each individual screen.
CHInA – Wynn Macau has announced it will open
its new resort, Wynn Palace, in the Cotai area of
Macau on August 22, 2016. The company expects
that the opening of Wynn Palace will help launch a
new era of prosperity for Macau, attracting more
international tourists to the city and further
supporting its development as a world center of
tourism and leisure.
China
Macau tightening rules on foreign employees
The Macau government wants to encourage casinos to promote local
workers into management positions by tightening its visa policy on expats and the issue of so-called ‘blue cards’. The Human Resources Office of
Macau confirmed it can refuse requests for renewals of foreign casino
executives’ working visas if ‘local workers hat can fulfil the necessary
conditions to perform managerial roles.’ The office said: “In assessing
requests by the six casino operators – and bearing in mind that these have
been in activity for several years – we consider these firms already
present enough conditions to promote local workers.”
Brokerage firm Sanford Bernstein added: ““Blue card renewal applications
for management level (i.e., managers, senior managers, directors, etc.) are
becoming more difficult. Several senior managers at various operators
have noted this difficulty as the Macau government is pushing for more
locals to be promoted into managerial roles. The worry with respect to this
issue is less about cost escalations (which we see as having been
moderate), but with respect to quality and experience of managers.”
Macau locals already make up over 80 per cent of all manager-andhigher employment positions, as well as 96 per cent of all casino-specific
employees.
The second luxurious integrated resort in Macau by
Steve Wynn, Chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts,
features a 28-storey hotel with 1,700 wellappointed rooms, spectacular, large-scale floral
displays, superbly designed gaming spaces,
versatile meetings facilities, an opulent spa and
salon, renowned luxury retail and gourmet dining
outlets.
pHILIppInES – Pacific Seaboard Leisure and
Entertainment has been selected as the master
licensor for the Philippines’ newest gaming
jurisdiction APECO (Aurora Pacific Economic Zone
and Freeport Authority) which will focus initially on
issuing online gaming licences. It aims to challenge
the existing hubs of Manila and the Cagayan
Economic Zone Authority, where First Cagayan
Leisure and Resort Corp is overseeing a similar role.
The cost of online operation will be uS$40,000
each year both for online casinos and live dealer
gaming. Gaming tax will be set at two per cent of
Gross Gaming Revenue or a uS$5,000-minimum
levy per table. APECO said that at later date there
would be ‘no limit’ on the number of land-based
casinos that could be allowed in the zone.
Insight
EUROS Virtual Euro Cup 2016
Virtual Euro Cup data suggests
Germany likeliest Euro champs
Neale Deeley,
Head of Gaming Division,
Sportradar
“It may not surprise anyone that
the top two in the betting market
are the likeliest winners of the
Euros, but we have the data that
proves just about anyone can lift
the trophy if results go their way to
set up the last 16 the right way.”
portugal looks like the outsider bets according to data from Betradar’s unique EURo
CUp virtual football tournament product, which has run through the tournament
480 times since May and shows Germany and France are ultimately the favourites
Despite the data showing
they are poor value, I’ll still be
betting with my heart when I
put my money on England.
until they get knocked out,
on penalties, I’ll cling to the
dream and the fact that, at
five per cent of virtual wins,
statistically they should win
every 80 years on average
and they haven’t done it in
the last 56 years so seems
now it’s about time!”
Country
Final Final Finals Won
Wins Reached
Germany
France
Spain
Portugal
Belgium
England
Italy
Turkey
Croatia
Switzerland
Austria
Wales
Russia
Sweden
Poland
Czech Republic
Romania
Slovakia
Ukraine
Iceland
Albania
Northern Ireland
Ireland
hungary
151
144
81
96
74
58
51
38
40
30
30
24
25
12
19
10
4
8
6
6
5
4
1
3
99
90
43
42
40
25
25
18
18
13
13
10
9
5
4
2
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
32.8%
31.3%
17.6%
20.9%
16.1%
12.6%
11.1%
8.3%
8.7%
6.5%
6.5%
5.2%
5.4%
2.6%
4.1%
2.2%
0.9%
1.7%
1.3%
1.3%
1.1%
0.9%
0.2%
0.7%
21.5%
19.6%
9.3%
9.1%
8.7%
5.4%
5.4%
3.9%
3.9%
2.8%
2.8%
2.2%
2.0%
1.1%
0.9%
0.4%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.2%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%
The Virtual EURO CUP is based on real Sportradar
data, including recent player and team performances.
Since a whole tournament is run through every 70
minutes, punters have been able to experience the ups
and downs of following their team hundreds of times
Germany are unsurprisingly good at getting to finals
but at least as far as the statistics shows, they
particularly excel at lifting the cup once there. Of the
480 tournaments run so far, Germany reached the
final 155 times or a 33 per cent success rate. But
Germany won 99 of those, which translates into a 66
per cent success rate once in the final and a 21.5 per
cent success rate overall. This tallies quiet neatly with
the country’s best-priced 9/2 odds.
Betradar, said: “The results show just how real our
Virtuals product is when it comes to predicting game
and tournament outcomes.”
He added: “It may not surprise anyone that the top
two in the betting market are the likeliest winners of
the Euros, but we have the data that proves just about
anyone can lift the trophy if results go their way to set
up the last 16 the right way.”
“It adds an extra layer of verisimilitude that we can
also see where patriotism (in the case of England) and
reputation (in the case of Spain) would appear to be
influencing betting prices rather than actual data.”
Betting on numBer (Cr) 7
The data also seems to support the case for favouring
France, albeit not quite to the same degree. The hosts
reached the final in 144 instances over the period and
won just under two-thirds of their appearances giving
them an overall success rate of 19.6 per cent. In
betting terms they are therefore slightly shorter than
the data might be said to justify at best-priced 16/5.
Beating the odds
In total, 20 out of the 24 countries taking part in Euro
2016 have won the tournament from the 480 versions
of it that have played through. Among the unlikely
winners are Iceland and Slovakia, which each ran out
the winners in one running of the virtual
tournaments.
Among those that appear to be too short according to
the data are England, which ran out as winners 25
times out of 480 at a win ratio of just over five per
cent. This would translate into odds of roughly 20/1
compared to the odds offered for Roy Hodgson’s team:
a best-priced 9/1. But England are not alone in being
over-priced: Spain won the Virtual Euro Cup 43 times
out of the 480 tournaments i.e. just over one in 10
compared to their best-priced odds of 11/2.
Neale Deeley, Managing Director of Virtual Sports at
In contrast to England and Spain, the data points to
some under-priced teams, in particular Portugal,
which in the Virtual Euro Cup won out 42 times, just
behind Spain, but is best-priced at 22/1 by the
bookies.
For those that think that after Leicester City’s success
in the English Premier League that this is the year of
the underdog, they might want to take a look at
turkey. According to the Sportradar data, they won
the virtual tournament 18 times or just under four per
cent of the time, which would equate to odds of circa
25/1 but the team is widely available at 80/1 to win the
real thing.
Those looking for an upset might also want to look at
the odds on big tournament debutants Wales, which
won the Virtual Euro Cup 10 times so far (or 2.2 per
cent success rate) yet also has odds widely available
at 80/1. Said Deeley: “Despite the data showing they
are poor value, I’ll still be betting with my heart when
I put my money on England. Until they get knocked
out, probably on penalties, I’ll cling to the dream and
the fact that, at five per cent of virtual wins,
statistically they should win every 80 years on
average and they haven’t done it in the last 56 years so
seems now it’s about time!”
World’s first “Ocean Blackjack”
table supplied by TCSJohnhuxley
Reinforcing its reputation as the world’s leading manufacturer and supplier of
innovative gaming solutions, TCSJoHnHUXLEY recently delivered the world’s
first seawater Blackjack table to Iririki's Jewel Casino in Vanuatu.
Set amongst the glistening waters of the South Pacific
Ocean, the recently refurbished Iririki Island Resort &
Spa is set in the stunning Port Vila Bay in the beautiful
island nation of Vanuatu. The boutique Jewel casino’s
venue features an expansive view overlooking the
bay, however the operations team felt they could offer
their players, something even better. Not wanting to
waste tHAt view, the casino came up with the idea of
the world’s first ”Ocean Blackjack” table, allowing
players to really savour the location.
Renowned for their custom built gaming equipment
and always ready for a challenge, tCSJohnHuxley set
about designing and producing the world’s only
swim-up seawater table, aptly named ‘Ocean
Blackjack’. Featuring high grade steel metallic fixings
to resist corrosion, as well as a traditional-style
wooden frame made from Marine grade material,
tCSJohnHuxley was able to ensure no swelling or
distortion of the table from the surrounding
dampness. Once all of the parts were assembled, the
entire leg arrangement was fully sealed to further
prevent moisture ingress.
Rebecca Kingswell, MD APAC for tCSJohnHuxley
said: “We were given the brief to manufacture a table
for use in the sea. to do this, we had to review the
materials, fixings, furnishings and sealing principles
of the table to ensure we gave it the best lifespan
possible in light of its unusual conditions. It took
some experimenting, but in the end we were able to
develop an innovative and durable table that reflects
our high quality standards; we’re very proud of the
final product.”
Bernie Millman, Director of Casino Operations, adds,
“There are lots of iconic casinos around the world that
offer glitz, glamour and excitement, however none
can boast the world’s first seawater game.
tCSJohnHuxley rose to the challenge of designing and
building a unique table that can now boast to be the
most photographed blackjack table in the world!”
Insight
VANUATU
Ocean BlackJack Table
“There are lots of iconic
casinos around the world
that offer glitz, glamour and
excitement, however none
can boast the world’s first
seawater game.
TCSJohnhuxley rose to the
challenge of designing and
building a unique table that
can now boast to be the
most photographed
blackjack table in the
world!”
First opened in 1986, the
iconic resort has been
refurbished to include the new
Jewel Casino, featuring a wide
selection of slot machines
along with standard casino
table games and a doubleended roulette table. With a
focus on entertainment, the
resort includes a jazz lounge
and private karaoke room, in
addition to an all-new 5 star
luxury spa. As part of the
long-term plan for the New
Iririki, a sister Integrated
Resort is planned and will be
constructed over the next four
years, becoming Vanuatu’s
first 6-star property.
P29
Insight
BELGRADE Future Gaming Show
Show sponsor NSoft displayed
its innovative flair in Belgrade
The Future Game Expo in Belgrade
was a small but tight knit affair this
year. The number one supplier and
operator in the market, Novomatic,
declined to exhibit, as did Merkur
Gaming, severely impacting the
show floor, though Novomatic did
have a presence with its Admiral
sports-betting booth. iGaming was
well represented at the show, with
sports-betting companies such as
Golden Race, BetConstruct and
NSoft, all present and accounted
for. While the Serbian gaming
market is small, it remains stable
and profitable for a handful of
resourceful operators, though the
lack of economic growth in the
country is the limiting factor.
The gaming industry has always been defined by the risk-takers and the rulebreakers, the companies determined to push the boundaries of what is possible.
But at the Future Gaming Expo in Belgrade, the show sponsor, Mostar-based
nSoft, was much more than just a non-conformist rule-breaker...
Spintec chose the Belgrade Future
Gaming exhibition to introduce its
high-end product to the Serbian
market. Alen Šutič, Regional Sales
Manager at Spintec: “Karma
Automated Roulette is our flagship
product and it was presented at
Belgrade Future Gaming 2016.
Feedback from the operators who
visited the fair confirmed that
Serbia has casino operators who
appreciate price quality ratio when
looking for new gaming machines.
This is a great potential for us,
because we proved our brand
promise of longer gaming sessions
with installations in Serbian
neighboring countries.”
Spintec’s Karma Roulette is
present on four continents and
numerous countries worldwide
with the most prominent in situ in
Macau. The distinctive
characteristics of Karma
Automated Roulette are: excellent
gaming performance, outstanding
technical stability and luxurious
design. Modularity of the product
allows operators the freedom to
adapt and optimize the floor
portfolio, whenever the need for
additional terminals is required.
No mandatory working hours, no sick days or preprescribed holiday days - those are the rules at NSoft,
or rather the lack thereof. Employees finish the work
they are assigned and are free to conduct themselves
however they wish. Whatever your views on whether
that’s a recipe for chaos or a model of mutual trust,
the facts speak for themselves.
NSoft is one of the fastest growing It companies in
gambling industry and one of the fastest growing out
of eight companies under the same umbrella brand,
SPARK. Last year SPARK hired 50 people who helped
multiply its business and is now hiring an additional
100 people in 2016. SPARK currently employs 200.
While the majority of the employees at NSoft arrive at
the company straight from university, with the
Mostar-based business looking to mould their team
from the start of their career, other experienced
individuals have joined the company and relish the
new environment and opportunities they are given.
“We are in a position to offer the benefits of ‘no rules’
- a roadmap of benefits for our employees,” explained
NSoft CEO, Stjepko Cordas. The latest product from
NSoft, DragRaces, was built by the development team
organically, without being given instruction from
management. “The team built the product
themselves,” stated Mr. Cordas. “It was created thanks
to the freedom that our employees are given to
innovate and be creative. We believe that if you don’t
inspired your staff in this way, then NSoft will
stagnate. If you are to be truly innovative, then you
must be allowed to express yourself.”
With youth unemployment at almost 60 per cent in
Bosnia, such a radical approach to employment is
paying dividends not only for NSoft, but for the wider
community too. While struggling to find the right
calibre of tech-savvy recruits, NSoft is creating its
own training schools for college and university
leavers, attracting international developers with
lifestyle packages to draw them to Mostar, and, says
Mr. Cordas, there are plans to build dedicated
apartment complexes for staff, enabling NSoft to
manage rents for their employees at rates
significantly below the market norm.
“Innovation doesn’t just happen, you have to create
the right environment for it to flourish,” said Mr.
Cordas. The incubator called the Spark School is a free
school that takes students looking to learn design and
project management, with currently 400 active
students enrolled in the programme. Each is asked
three simple questions when they enroll - are you
here to learn, work or start your own business? “We
put opportunities in their path to progress those
goals,” states Mr. Cordas. “If you have skills we
employ you - if you don’t have skills, we train you.”
Established in 2008, NSoft attempted to export its norules environment to an external office infrastructure
in the past, two years ago opening up a subsidiary site,
but the project ultimately failed. Exporting an entire
business culture proved a stiff challenge, but NSoft
remains undaunted. “We have learned that we have to
find the right team and most importantly, a visionary
leader, that’s the essential ingredient in this kind of
business culture,” underlined Mr. Cordas.
today, the culmination of NSoft’s working culture is
the Seven platform, which places the complete
control of betting operations in a single package for
operators. Multiple distribution channels are all
controlled from a single web application, enabling
operators to choose whatever they want to display
across whichever channel they need. “The Seven
platform is like the App Store,” described Mr. Cordas,”
it integrates third-party content simply and easily
from a self-contained cloud-based solution. It’s not a
solution from a ‘box,’ which means that we’re looking
to set-up office-based infrastructures around the
Insight
Exhibitors in Belgrade: IGT’s Matjaz Petek pictured with the Diversity range. The Synot stand featured its latest products
for Serbia. SuzoHapp pictured with local distributor, Pionir. The Golden Race team; Eurocoin and Advantech Innocore
BELGRADE Future Gaming Show
Czech company e-gaming s.r.o.
participated on the exhibition
Belgrade Future Gaming 2016 in
Serbia. In the long term the
company interested in all Balkan
markets and currently is already
active in Macedonia, Romania,
Serbia and in the near future is
planning to commence operations
in yet another Balkan country.
At the exhibition, e-gaming
introduced a standalone machine
with three different gaming
collection. The collections contain
12 games, which are individually
selected and modified for the each
country separately.
In Serbia it is currently difficult to
introduce new products and new
machines, due to low average
revenues, which skew the market
towards second-hand machines
and to older machines in general.
however, currently e-gaming is
exploring business models for its
customers and trying to adapt its
machine to appeal to operators
both now and in the future in
Serbia.
world; we can deploy the platform internationally
within 5-6 hours, and it only has to be done once.”
product, countries like Romania want absolutely
everything!” stated Mr. Cordas.
NSoft’s signature product, however, is a game. One
and a half million tickets are purchased every day for
NSoft’s Lucky Six, a virtual draw game whose vibrant
design and top-notch backend structure has captured
the imagination of players across Europe. It was
created in-house by its dedicated team of developers
and is currently the most successful draw game in
Eastern Europe.
While the expansion plan to employee 100 people in
2016, almost doubling the size of the company, might
sound ambitious, Mr. Cordas isn’t looking to stop
there. “Our plan is to employ around a 1,000 people in
our Mostar offices,” he confirmed. “We don’t set
ourselves revenue targets, we have a people target.”
NSoft’s current focus is concentrated on Eastern
Europe, Africa and South America. The rollout of its
Seven platform and Lucky Six draw game, is just one
aspect of its business, but they’re the focus right now
as the company seeks to ingrain its brand into the
consciousness of international operators. “Lucky Six
is hugely popular right now in Bosnia and Serbia, and
while Italy is clamouring for our sports-betting
“e-gaming is looking at each
market as a new opportunity,” said
Dursan Durdevic, AGT+, e-gaming
distributor in Serbia (pictured top).
“The Serbian market is an
interesting market. Thanks to the
exhibition in Belgrade we had the
opportunity to talk with customers
not just from Serbia, but from all
Balkan countries, due to the fact
that the Belgrade Future Gaming
show is the only exhibition located
close to these neighboring
countries.”
It might seem a bold claim, but it’s one that’s been
picked up by one of the giants in the iGaming
industry, with Sportradar understanding NSoft’s
business strategy to the extent that the company has
taken a 40 per cent share in the Bosnian firm.
Business opportunities have doubled as a result of the
combined sales forces working in tandem and the
sponsorship of the Belgrade show is the first big
marketing push from NSoft to date, but expect to hear
much more from this dynamic business in the future.
P31
Insight
UK Grosvenor Casinos
Grosvenor launches world’s
smallest travelling casino
Phil Tufnell
Ex-England Cricketer
The launch day with ex-England
cricketer Phil Tufnell was filmed
with content created and shared
on Grosvenor Casinos’ Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram pages to
raise awareness of the taxi.
Phil Tufnell and Jo Blundell, Sales &
Marketing Director at Grosvenor
Casinos pictured outside the Victoria
Casino London with the ‘Casino Taxi.’
We’re delighted that
Grosvenor are using this
exciting campaign as a way
to raise money for Carers
Trust. The support of
Grosvenor employees and
customers over the past two
and a half years has been
phenomenal. Money raised
through the partnership has
allowed us to continue our
vital services to carers online,
through our partner carers’
services and through a
dedicated “Rank Cares”
grants programme which
has directly helped more
than 2,000 carers to date.
Grosvenor Casinos launched a promotional campaign for its casinos and online
sites, while also raising money for charity. The World’s Smallest Travelling
Casino is an ‘experiential activity’ designed to engage with consumers during the
summer of sport and raise money for the Carers Trust as part of ‘Rank Cares’
June 1 saw Grosvenor Casinos launch its one-of-akind travelling casino in the form of a fully-working
London cab. Sporting personality Phil tufnell served
as host for the debut in London, greeting passengers
in the bespoke taxi – compete with both live and
online game play. Grosvenor Casinos’ ‘World’s
Smallest travelling Casino’ then travelled across the
UK for three weeks, picking up passengers in select
cities where Grosvenor Casinos has venues. This is
part of Grosvenor Casinos’ wider promotional
campaign to celebrate the upcoming summer of sport
– and highlight its own sports offerings in-house.
The launch day with ex-England cricketer Phil tufnell
was filmed with content created and shared on
Grosvenor Casinos’ Facebook, twitter and Instagram
pages to raise awareness of the taxi. Passengers had
the choice of being taken to their local Grosvenor
Casino free of charge, or be driven anywhere in the
city for an optional donation to Carers trust – the
company’s chosen charity. to request a ride in
Grosvenor Casinos’ World’s Smallest travelling
Casino, consumers just had to tweet
@grosvenorcasino and say where they were and
where they wanted to go.
Grosvenor Casinos’ World’s Smallest travelling Casino
includes a gaming table where the dealer gave quick
lessons in Blackjack and online gaming using a tablet.
It also featured tV screens showing sports events and
a bar. Following the launch in London, the taxi
headed north to Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and
finally, Glasgow.
Sarah Walsh, Senior Corporate Fundraising Manager:
“We’re delighted that Grosvenor are using this exciting
campaign as a way to raise money for Carers trust.
The support of Grosvenor employees and customers
over the past two and a half years has been
phenomenal. Money raised through the partnership
has allowed us to continue our vital services to carers
online, through our partner carers’ services and
through a dedicated “Rank Cares” grants programme
which has directly helped more than 2,000 carers to
date. This Play Your Way initiative takes our
partnership one step further by raising awareness of
our services to members of the general public
throughout the country.”
Jo Blundell, Sales & Marketing Director at Grosvenor
Casinos commented: “We’re thrilled to announce the
launch of what we believe to be the world’s smallest
travelling casino and reward our loyal customer base
with some complimentary rides, as well as welcome
some new faces - it is truly a unique experience.”
The taxi campaign highlighted the Group’s online
Casino, Live Casino and Poker games offerings as well
as aiming to drive people in venue to enjoy all
Grosvenor Casinos have to offer from viewing live
sports to state of the art gaming to dining out with
friends.
Ray de Rozario wins 10th ECA
European Dealer Championship
Insight
HOLLAND
ECA Dealer Championships
Per Jaldung
ECA Chairman
“Following this event, I can proudly
declare that the ECA brings the
European casino industry together,
and through events such as the
EDC even more so in real life. We
are all looking forward to next
year’s event at the hippodrome
Casino in London.”
First time competitor Ray de Rozario from Holland Casino, went straight into the
finals of the 10th edition of the European Dealer Championship, held on May 11
and 12 at Casino Breda, The netherlands, and superbly claimed the top prize
In an unusual outcome never seen before in any
dealer championship final, whereby two competitors
from the same country went head-to-head, Ray de
Rozario triumphed and won over his colleague from
Holland Casino, ted Bakker both of them finishing
with the same score of 4,314 points. As there can only
be one European champion it was nuances in the
communication with the players that made the
difference at the end and convinced the jury in the
finals. The title came also with a first place cash award
of €3,000, sponsored by Scientific Games.
Ray de Rozario’s five opponents in the final round all
added to an excellent fight for first place. The ranking
at the end was, Ray de Rozario from Holland Casino
Rotterdam, ted Bakker from Holland Casino
Scheveningen, The Netherlands, Jannick Nielsen from
Casino Copenhagen, Demark, Saverio Angel from
Casino St. Moritz , Switzerland, Sanda Jevtic from
Grand Casino Beograd, Serbia and Dina Kasparane
from Olympic Casino, Latvia.
32 participants from 19 European countries
participated in the three rounds observed by a total of
some 29 judges. Dealers were not only rated by their
technical skills and control of the game, but also by
their hospitality, service and the pleasant atmosphere
that they were able to create during the game.
The members of ECA, and especially the organisers of
the EDC, would also like to extend their sincerest
congratulations to the winners of this year’s side
events. The awards for “Best Card Handler” went to
Katja Zupancic from Slovenia Best in “Cutting Chips”
went to Ray de Rozario from Netherlands. Karolina
Niemas from Poland won the “Roulette Mathematics”
and Michal Jarošek from Czech Republic won the
"best chipper" award and the Award for “pushing
Stacks”. These side competitions measure just a few
of the necessary skills involved in being an
outstanding dealer.
Given the magnitude of such an event, its success was
only possible thanks to the collaboration of many
people and organisations. Per Jaldung, Chairman of
ECA, took the floor during the final celebration. This
year’s event owes its own unique mix of incredible
hospitality and contagious enthusiasm to our gracious
host Erwin van Lambaart, CEO of Holland Casino, and
his dedicated team at the Casino in Breda.
Furthermore, since its debut, this event owes its
seamless operation and increasing significance in the
casino community to the excellent work of the
organising team, this year for the first time consisting
of Sandra Sturgess Person from Casino Cosmopol and
Jaana Ruokamo from Casino Helsinki.
ECA Chairman, Per Jaldung also thanked the event
sponsors and their long time support for the ECA
European Dealer Championship; Scientific Games,
AGEM, CLS, CtC Holdings, GPI, ICSE, Gaming
Support, Heineken and Abbiati. Without them, the
event would not have been possible. “Following this, I
can proudly declare that the ECA brings the European
casino industry together, and through events such as
the EDC even more so in real life.”
In an unusual outcome never
seen before in any dealer
championship final, two
competitors from the same
country went head-to-head
having finished on exactly
the same score.
The European Casino
Association (ECA) represents
the interests of approximately
900 casinos and over 70,000
employees across Europe.
Founded in the early 1990s as
the European Casino Forum,
the ECA has progressively
grown over the years and
today includes 25 members
from the majority of the Eu’s
Member States, Switzerland,
Serbia and San Marino.
P33
Insight
US Juegos Miami
Social show draws heavyweight
support from LATAM visitors
With over 55 internationally
renowned speakers, the Juegos Miami
multi-stream conference programme
proved to be one of the central
features of the premier Pan Latin
America and Caribbean gaming
industry event, delivering two days of
masterclasses, keynote speakers and
sessions on lottery, bingo, casino,
street games, sports betting,
regulation as well as crime and
security for online and land based.
Juegos Miami was a bold move for organiser Clarion Gaming, who hosted a Latin
America focused networking, conference and minor exhibition event on US soil in
May. As a unique hybrid event, Juegos Miami proved that the whole is greater than
the sum of its parts, with each complementary element providing opportunites to
learn, socialise and connect with major players in the South American market
Around 600 attendees, including 40 major exhibitors
and sponsors, gathered at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral
Gables, Miami on May 31 – June 3, 2016, for an
exclusive event serving the needs of the Pan Latin
American and Caribbean gaming industry - Juegos
Miami. The unique event, described as: “not a trade
show, not a conference, not a networking opportunity
– but all of these things wrapped in a single package”
by Kate Chambers - Managing Director of Clarion's
Gaming Division and part of the team responsible for
Juegos Miami - saw companies showcasing their
latest products on the exhibition floor.
Novomatic, Playtech, Merkur, JCM GLOBAL,
Aristocrat, Quixant and Apollo Games all praised the
networking opportunities, focus on learning and
ability to spend quality time with attendees at the
invitation-only event.
“We’re delighted by the
response to the event from
exhibitors, sponsors,
speakers and attendees
especially seeing as it’s the
first year. We’ve been really
encouraged by the feedback
to Juegos Miami and are
already working on how to
make next year’s event even
more unique.”
In addition to the exhibition floor, some companies
such as Ainsworth and Merkur also hired dedicated
show rooms to carry out additional networking and
allow for more face-to-face time with attendees in
the relaxed, but professional environment. Event
organisers Clarion Events and Urban Expositions
designed the show to deliver a relaxed setting
allowing for many positive networking opportunities
as well as insightful learning opportunities about the
dynamic market in the Lat Am and Caribbean region.
Unquestionably, the Biltmore Coral Gables is a
fabulous venue and it was a pleasure to circumvent
the US’ largest pool en route to the conference floor
each morning. Hosting breakfast, lunch and party
activities for all attendees brought everyone together
at key moments of the day, neatly knitting together
the social side of Juegos Miami with the conference
and exhibition. However, splitting the event over two
floors was less successful, as the exhibition footfall
paled in comparison to the busy roundtable events
and legislative updates taking place below. Balancing
exhibitor expectations at a networking and
conference is always tricky, but attendees universally
sung the praises of the event and gave their backing
for round two in 2017.
Jo Mayer, Marketing Director at co-organisers, Clarion
Events, said: “We’re delighted by the response to the
event from exhibitors, sponsors, speakers and
attendees especially seeing as it’s the first year. We’ve
been really encouraged by the feedback to Juegos
Miami and are already working on how to make next
year’s event even more unique with even better
networking, learning and trade opportunities.”
merkur gaming delivers the star power
The inaugural Juegos Miami had many stars and many
star attractions: exhibition, education, conference and
social, and Merkur Gaming (the first tier One
manufacturer to place its support behind this unique
hybrid event) recorded a star presence of its own;
thrilling visitors to its private suite with presentations
of its Avantgarde SLt and the brand new Merkurstar
slot cabinets.
From the opening Welcome Reception, sponsored by
Merkur Gaming, through to the closing first JCM
Global Latam Golf Classic four days later, Juegos
Miami was full of successes and surprises; a worthy
event that hit its target of bringing the many diverse
gaming markets of Latin and Central America
together under one roof.
Juegos Miami was born from the concept of the late
and much missed former Merkur Gaming CEO Jens
Halle and his wish to have an event that brought
together all the vibrant markets of Latin America in
one place and at one time. That concept was expanded
Insight
US Juegos Miami
of access. Through utilising front access to the
cabinet, by means of a sophisticated folding
mechanism, Merkurstar is the last word in being
technician-friendly and, as pre-launch testing
confirmed, a true joy to work on: even in the
tightest spaces on the gaming floor.
and new features added during the organisation
period but, ultimately, Juegos Miami provided a
framework for debate and discussion across all
levels of the vibrant gaming industry that is
growing so dramatically across the region.
Organised jointly by Clarion Events and Urban
Expositions, Juegos Miami learned from the
experience of presenting such a multi-faceted
event and it is widely expected that the ‘show’
(and more) will return for a second edition in
2017.
Merkur Gaming gave their presentation
exclusive status by occupying the Biltmore
Hotel’s tuttle Suite and its exterior terrace, a
location that could, and did, comfortably
accommodate visitors in VIP comfort. Comfort
to see, for the first time since its international
debut at ICE in London, the ‘star of the show’ the
brand new Merkurstar upright cabinet.
Merkurstar is the gaming cabinet that combines
every one of the key features that discerning
operators and players demand. Visually
stunning, Merkurstar is the cabinet that sets
new standards in total comfort play by taking
game time to a whole new level thanks to its
Wow Sound and Horizon HD graphics on twin
24-inch glossy screens that are further
enhanced by next generation lighting effects
and an easy touch button panel.
The design brief for Merkurstar was intensely
focussed on combining the ultimate in player
comfort with a similar level of technician ease
The key to Merkurstar’s success remains, of
course, the game thrills that it offers to players.
Merkurstar features the very best innovations
from the ever expanding Merkur Gaming library
of game titles. With game themes to excite all
player tastes and preferences the combination of
a great cabinet and great games delivers the
ultimate in the gaming of today. Merkur Gaming
refer to this new attraction as ‘our star’ and is
certain that Merkurstar will soon truly be a real
star across all of Latin America.
Charles Hiten, Chief Executive of Merkur
Gaming Americas, commented at the event’s
close: “Juegos Miami was a huge gamble.
Nothing like this unique event has ever been
done before and, while there are detail lessons
to be learned for the future, it can clearly be
classed as a huge success: one that Merkur
Gaming, the team that Delivers, will look to
support in the future.”
Quixant delighted with Juegos miami
and south ameriCa growth
Quixant Sales Director, John Malin, described
the inaugural Juegos Miami as: “an intriguing
event.” As a founder member of Juegos Miami,
Quixant is heavily involved in the South
America market and was very pleased with the
positive response to both the event and to
Quixant’s products shown at the Biltmore Hotel
venue. “We’re really happy with the attendance
from South American customers and operators,”
commented Mr. Malin.
“There are plenty of individual country-specific
exhibitions in South America, but I think Juegos
Miami has carved out its own niche. It’s not an
exhibition, nor is it a conference, but a
networking hybrid somewhere between the two
and we’re really upbeat about the strong start
the show has made.”
The South American market is an expanding
part of the Quixant business, which has grown
in part due to the brand exposure at a variety of
exhibitions and events held in Peru, Colombia,
Argentina etc. “There are always opportunities
arising from this market,” described Mr. Malin.
“If you look at the territory, we’d consider South
America as an infrastructure project for the
future, but right now we’re looking at supplying
customers with products designed to suit their
performance and pricing needs. It’s a very pricesensitive market, but that said, our compact
range is perfectly aligned to the needs of
developers, especially the hugely successful
QXi-307.”
Globally recognised, Quixant has already built
trust in South America; trust in terms of
reliability and brand recognition. Mr. Malin
describes that brand recognition not just in
terms of outright performance balanced against
cost, but in the added value Quixant delivers to
customers. “We ensure that the brand is not just
what is printed on the box; it’s about being
reliable and fit-for-purpose,” he said. “It’s about
our commercial model, our understanding of the
industry and our industry-leading technical
support. We offer shorter lead times, no
minimum order quantities and each product is
price and performance specific to every sector.”
One of the key aspects of Quixant’s current
product range is monitors. As an expanding
business segment, Quixant recognised the desire
of manufacturers to display their games in the
best possible manner. “We use grade A panels,
our own dedicated interface, with nothing
sourced from third-parties, which means that
we control the roadmap,” stated Mr. Malin. “If
you want to ensure the very best game
interaction, one that really showcases your
talented game design team, then the Quixant
range of dedicated gaming monitors is made for
you.”
P35
Insight
SOUTH AMERICA Regulation
GLI: Setting the blueprint for
certification in Latin America
Karen Sierra-Hughes
Director, Latin America and Caribbean
Government Relations and Business
Development, Gaming Laboratories
International
“Each market is individual and
unique. We listen to their concerns,
understand their objectives, and
we support them with detailed and
very specific information to help
them draw their own conclusions
from all the available evidence.”
G3 discusses South American gaming legislation and certification with
“Colombia is currently
GLI’s Latin America and Caribbean Government Relations and Business
looking to Spain to
Development Director, Karen Sierra-Hughes at Juegos Miami 2016
benchmark its igaming
regulation and has consulted GLI has been part of the Latin American gaming
GLI promotes communication with regulators, thanks
to
its position as an independent third party. The
industry
for
20
years,
building
relationships
with
with the gaming industry for suppliers and regulators across the vast continent.
company’s unique roundtable events for regulators
feedback regarding its draft “trust,” explains Karen Sierra-Hughes, Director, Latin established in North America, Europe and which is
now in its 9th year in Latin America and the
America and Caribbean Government Relations and
regulation, which had been
Caribbean, is the only event exclusively for regulators
Business Development, “has been an intrinsic part of
customized to
and Government Lotteries in the region. Last year 21
GLI’s success in Latin America. GLI is a trusted source
countries and 90 regulators were represented at the
of technical expertise, having built a reputation for
accommodate the
roundtable in Colombia. In August this year, the event
helping our clients achieve their objectives over the
specificities of the
will take place in Curacao in the Caribbean. The twolast two decades. At the same time, we have worked
day conference acts as an information exchange, a
jurisdiction. In the Caribbean, with regulators on policy development and gaming
and training experience, as well as a
laws and continue to offer technical advice as part of
igaming is also taking shape, the legal and government facing side of our business.” learning
networking event for regulators to share common
but here the jurisdictions are
issues and challenges with their peers.
mostly looking to the u.S. for 18 years ago, Peru formalised its certification process,
“Before I came to GLI, I was a regulator in Panama,”
the first Latin American country to construct a
their inspiration.”
explains Karen. “When we established the
certification and homologation process, and a
moment in history that also set the blueprint for GLI’s
role in supplying interdisciplinary knowledge to
regulators in the Latin American market.
“The value we bring to regulators is built upon our
impartiality,” states Karen. “GLI is not an operator,
supplier or regulator. We are independent. We provide
information, but we don’t tell regulators what to do.
Instead, we supply accurate information that helps
regulators facing jurisdictional challenges to make
informed decisions.”
certification process in Panama, we weren’t looking to
re-invent the wheel. Instead, we adopted the parts of
the Peru system that would work with the national
laws in Panama. Most countries would adopt similar
rules and regulations for gaming if they could, but
specific differences in national laws from one country
to the next, means that’s just not possible.”
Every country presents their own specific challenges
regarding the certification process, not solely due to
national laws, but due to language and cultural
Insight
SOUTH AMERICA Regulation
differences too. “We’re not telling Latin American and
Caribbean regulators that they should be following
the same policies adopted in the U.S., or Europe, for
example,” says Karen. “Instead, we advise on the way
other jurisdictions have addressed similar concerns
and issues so they can take those policies and
regulations in consideration as part of their decision
process. Each market is individual and unique. We
listen to their concerns, understand their objectives,
and we support them with detailed and very specific
information to help them draw their own conclusions
from all the available evidence.”
Before GLI begins working in any market, there must
be regulation and regulators in place. Protecting
clients from future risk means that legislation must be
clear, standards must be set, with clarity over the
rules and regulations, before GLI will consider
certification. “We protect suppliers with accurate
information about the market and at the same time
we protect the regulator too,” outlines Karen. “If there
are no clear standards in place, and there is not a clear
recognition of GLI as a laboratory, we absolutely don’t
get involved in that market.”
One of the great benefits of working with GLI is the
transferability of GLI’s certifications from one market
to the next. Comply with GLI 11, 12 or 13 (as an
example) in one jurisdiction, and a supplier can
transfer from one market to another with only minor
changes according to specific country requirements.
The same applies to Latin American and Caribbean
countries opening their markets to igaming. While
many are still in the ‘research’ stage of igaming
adoption, the Missiones province in Argentina has
already broken cover with tied land-based licensing
and the adoption of the GLI-19 standard. Bahamas is
another example of jurisdictions adopting GLI-19.
Colombia is currently looking to Spain to benchmark
its igaming regulation and has consulted with the
gaming industry for feedback regarding its draft
regulation, which had been customized to
accommodate the specificities of the jurisdiction. In
the Caribbean, igaming is also taking shape, but here
the jurisdictions are mostly looking to the U.S. for
their inspiration. “We are going to see lots of hybrid
rules and regulations, taking pieces of European and
U.S. models,” states Karen.
“And there is a great deal of interest from Europe, Asia
and North American igaming companies in Latin
America right now as the licensing process is hotly
debated. One of the great things about GLI
University’s Regulator Roundtable events is that
regulators have the opportunity to discuss directly
with one another the issues they face and, where the
igaming regulatory models had been part of our
agenda for five years now. We’ve seen the adoption of
monitoring and control systems across Latin America
as a direct result of regulator feedback and positive
experiences shared from regulator to regulator. The
next roundtable in Curacao in August is sure to be
both an exciting and informative event for all Latin
American and Caribbean regulators and Government
Lotteries.”
“We’ve seen the adoption of
monitoring and control
systems across Latin
America as a direct result of
regulator feedback and
positive experiences shared
from regulator to regulator.
The next roundtable in
Curacao in August is sure to
be both an exciting and
informative event for all
Latin American and
Caribbean regulators and
Government Lotteries.”
P37
Insight
CASH HANDLING
Crown Technologies
Is cash really on the retreat? Or
will gaming always need cash?
Heikko Busse
Managing Director,
Crown Technologies
Crown Technologies Gmbh is
headquartered in Rellingen near
hamburg, Germany. The company
employs around 125 staff with a
further 25 employees spread
nationwide across 11 sales and
service offices.
In 2009 the company invested
€7m in new premises in Rellingen,
creating a significantly expanded
department for research and
development, manufacturing,
central administration, as well as
the hamburg sales and service
subsidiary of Crown.
Together with its subsidiary
hirscher Money Systems Gmbh,
Crown develops, produces and
distributes pioneering change
machines.
“having a single account
between casino, mobile or
online, will be the solution of
choice in the next five to 10
years, but it will
predominantly appeal to a
younger generation, one
familiar with modern
payment systems. Our duty
is to work together with the
operator to develop easy,
secure systems, offering
cash and ticketing solutions
now, and support for new
technologies in the future.”
The EURoMAT Summit 2016 in Barcelona delivered a panel session devoted to
the topic of cash, asking experts from Azkoyen, Innovative Technology and
Crown Technologies for their views on the future of gaming currency. G3 speaks
to Crown’s Heikko Busse about the ‘co-existence’ of today’s payment solutions
“I need a dollar“ Aloe Blacc sings in his song of the
same name, but when it comes to payment in slot
machine gaming, this may not be applicable forever.
At the EUROMAt Gaming Summit on May 26, 2016 in
Barcelona, Crown technologies Managing Director
Heiko Busse and Mustapha Hadj-Ahmed, Group Sales
Director at Innovative technologies, discussed the
question of how cashless payment will influence slot
machine gaming in the future. The well-attended
panel “Coin-op and cash vs electronic payment: Is
cash still king?” was moderated by Juan-Manuel
Prieto from Azkoyen in a lively debate.
Heiko Busse was of the opinion that numerous
advantages for the guest and operator out-weigh the
disadvantages and that therefore cashless gaming is
on the rise. He added: “If a system like e.g. tItO
(ticket-in-ticket-out) will have replaced gaming with
cash in casinos completely in medium term future
depends on various factors like legal requirements in
the respective country, the size of the location and last
but not least country-specific customs“, explains
Busse. “We will experience a successive change in
which both systems will coexist.“
Co-haBitation
The gaming sector has adopted something of a
pick’n’mix attitude to cash and cashless payment,
with regulation for the most part determining the
extent to which operators are allowed to offer
different solutions to their customers. This coexistence of cash and cashless payment has meant
that payment solutions, such as Crown’s SlimChange
unit, need to be able to offer technical solutions for
players, no matter what their preference.
“Paying with cash means you can play anonymously,
it’s flexible, you can play in small increments and it
offers a very high level of discretion,” states Mr.
Busse. “In German arcades players are only allowed to
play with cash due to legislative restrictions, but that’s
not the case in the UK and Italy, for example, which
have readily adopted ticket play.” tickets have a lot of
advantages, they reduce the handling costs, they offer
the same degree of discretion as cash and for the
operator they reduce the level of cash on the floor at
any one time. Reducing the cash stock across the
estate frees capital for other investments, while at the
same time increasing floor wide security.
Insight
CASH HANDLING
Crown Technologies
will become the norm, rather than the exception.”
generation gap
Modern payment solutions rely on the latest
technology to offer cashless payment from
smartphones through to NPC cards and single wallet
solutions. One of the issues directly affecting the
change to smart payment options is the adoption by
different generations of players to this new
technology. While older generations have proven
they’re comfortable paying online for goods and
services, the anonymity of cash for gaming
transactions continues to appeal to this generation of
players, with the UK land-based market still
recording up to 80 per cent play via cash. And while
younger generations have shown their willingness (or
perhaps lack of worry) as regards their own data
privacy and anonymity, we’re still in the position in
which the spending power of these Millennials falls
far short of the Generation X-ers and Baby-Boomers.
“The shift to new payment methods really depends on
the country and the history of using money,” states
Mr. Busse. “Speaking to operators, we take care to
explain what the advantages are to use cashless
solutions, such as tItO. We also explain what data we
are able to collect and operators need to be
transparent with their players about how they will
record and use that information upfront. We are still
in the middle of a transition to new payment systems,
but I believe that once we have explained all the
advantages, to both operator and player, then cashless
One of the major reasons for switching to cashless is
the potential to increase revenues when offering
different payment solutions. While a change terminal
is not an AWP or slot, in that it does not generate
income directly from the player, Crown’s experience
working with Spielbank Kassel in Germany, an
operator that has installed a complete network of
payment terminals, is that they reduced the direct
payouts to the players by as much as 40 per cent and
replaced this payout process by using redemption
terminals, which at the end has brought about huge
efficiencies for the operator. “time savings mean that
casinos can devote more energy to servicing
customers and offering promotions, as opposed to
processing transactions,” explains Mr. Busse. “Players
are spending less time processing cash and more time
enjoying the services and amenities on offer in the
venue.”
At Crown, we believe that
operators must continue to
offer multiple channels to
pay, as it’s in no one’s
interest to turn away a
paying customer. If a player
wants to pay in cash - let
them - but equally, operators
need to accommodate
customers wanting to pay
with tickets or their
smartphone. The key is to
not exclude anyone.”
Carefree and single
The single wallet is a much talked about payment
solution that ties together online, mobile and landbased play, but which Mr. Busse believes will only
become part of the mainstream payments offer in the
medium term future. “Our view is that payment
solutions will migrate towards the single wallet as it
makes payments much easier for the player and
much more secure,” claims Mr. Busse. “Having a
single account between casino, mobile or online, will
be the solution of choice in the future, but it will
predominantly appeal to a younger generation, one
familiar with modern payment systems. Our duty is to
work together with the operator to develop easy,
secure systems, offering cash and ticketing solutions
now, and support for new technologies in the future.
“We assume that cash will never actually die out, but
will continue this co-existence with cashless systems
far into the future,” continues Mr. Busse. “At Crown,
we believe that operators must continue to offer
multiple channels to pay, as it’s in no one’s interest to
turn away a paying customer. If a player wants to pay
in cash - let them - but equally, operators need to
accommodate customers wanting to pay with tickets
or their smartphone. The key is to not exclude
anyone.”
EuROMAT, the European
Gaming and Amusement
Federation, held its 2nd
Annual Gaming Summit at
the hotel Majestic in the
historic centre of Barcelona.
The EuROMAT Gaming
Summit is the only event
dedicated to the street
gaming market in Europe. It’s
a chance for industry peers to
reflect, learn and prepare for
changes in the market place
or to regulation. 200
delegates gathered to hear
about the latest commercial
trends, challenges and
opportunities from industry
leaders, including harrie
Temmink, the European
Commission’s lead policy
official for gaming.
P39
AGEM
memBership news
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
memBer profile
Company / APEX gaming
Web address / www.apex-gaming.com
AGEM Membership level / Bronze Member
Description / The APEX Group of Companies is a premium
manufacturer and operator of gaming solutions. This gaming
portfolio combines market-leading technology with the
imagination and dedication of games that appeal to practically
every type of player. APEX gaming provides complete gaming
solutions for all applications, such as slot machines,
multiplayers, online and mobile.
New products for 2016 / The iDROP and iDROPe are the latest
jewels in the APEX product range. This cash management
system enables the croupier to exchange cash and tickets
directly at the live gaming table for jetons – and vice versa
when the player wishes to cash out. The integrated touchscreen
makes it extremely easy to use. Players no longer have to go to a
cash desk to buy jetons or to cash out. The operator has
complete control of the drop and all banknotes are validated
before being accepted by a world-class banknote reader.
Newsworthy events / APEX gaming’s VLts have just been
installed at two outlets of WINWIN in Austria. APEX gaming
has amassed great knowledge in VLt gaming and the latest
installation is connected using the G2S standard. Additionally,
great feedback from American operators has led APEX gaming
management to place even more focus on this market – the
iDROP/iDROPe is the perfect answer for live gaming tables. The
true focus on taking gaming to ‘the next level’ can be seen with
all the products that APEX offers.
Forthcoming events / G2E Las Vegas – 27th – 29th September
Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE) – Sofia, Bulgaria
– 23rd-24th November
AGEM Key Board of Directors Actions
l Reed Exhibitions Senior Vice President Ed Several, made a short presentation at
the June Monthly Board meeting updating AGEM members on the recent G2E
Asia show and giving details of the forthcoming G2E Las Vegas show. The 10th
G2E Asia show had more key buyers than ever before and saw the floor space up
12 per cent on 2015 with 180 exhibitors. G2E Las Vegas also shows signs of
growth, up 5.5 per cent on sold space ahead of this time last year. This year’s
show will be bigger with more exhibitors due to space upgrades and new
exhibitors.
l
l
l
As part of its educational alliance initiative, AGEM supported the American
Indian Scholarship Program with a grant of $10,000 for 2016. This funded seven
scholarships benefitting American Indian and Alaska Native students pursuing
post-secondary credentials at College of the Muscogee Nation and Fond du Lac
tribal & Community College.
The recent SEGOB conference was held in Mexico City on May 17-18. The event,
which was supported by AGEM, was very successful with over 300 attendees,
consisting of regulators, government officials and operators from 11 different
countries. The conference was very well organised and included a good range of
speakers and round table discussions. A follow-up meeting is to take place
between AGEM and SEGOB to see the next steps of how suppliers can help with
the rules for certification, standardisation and responsible gaming.
two new Associate members were voted in this month taking the membership to
153. CMC trading Engineering, a manufacturer of gaming accessories based in
Singapore and Majestic Realty, the largest privately held developer of business
parks in the US and landlord to many AGEM member companies. NYX Gaming
Group was upgraded to Silver Level membership.
Events and Activities
l AGEM recently approved, to renew its sponsorship of the AGEM-AGA Golf
Classic, the industry’s largest and foremost golf tournament. A contribution of
$50,000 per year over two years will support this worthwhile event, which raises
money for the National Center for Responsible Gaming. This year’s event raised
over $135,000 and saw 152 players take part.
l
National Council Of Legislators From Gaming States (NCLGS) Summer Meeting
will take place in Boston on July 29-31. AGEM will be supporting this event,
having agreed to sponsor $2,000.
agem index
The AGEM Index posted a sharp
increase in May after gaining 2.16
points in April 2016. The composite
index stood at 255.34 at the close of
the month, which represents an
increase of 28.83 points, or 12.7 per
cent, when compared to April 2016.
The AGEM Index reported a year-overyear increase for the eighth
consecutive month, rising 58.36
points, or 29.6 per cent, when
compared to May 2015. During the
latest period, 10 of the 14 global
gaming equipment manufacturers
reported month-to-month gains in
stock price, with two up by more than
10 percent. Of the four reporting
declinesduring the month, two were
down by more than 10 per cent.
AGEM is an international trade association representing manufacturers of electronic gaming devices, systems, lotteries and components
for the gaming industry. The Association works to further the interests of gaming equipment manufacturers throughout the world.
Through political action, tradeshow partnerships, information dissemination and good corporate citizenship, the members of AGEM work
together to create benefits for every company within the organization. Together, AGEM and its member organisations have assisted
regulatory commissions and participated in the legislative process to solve problems and create a positive business environment.
SYNOT Group celebrates its
25th anniversay in style
Insight
CYPRUS SYNOT Group
“It was not very easy at the
beginning. We took a loan for
several thousands Czech
Crowns and we were worried
about not being able to pay
this off. We were such a small
family company with big
ambitions. Our aim was to be
the best.“
Ivo Valenta
The SYnoT Group has been in existence in world gaming markets for a quarter of
century. The first corporation, founded in 1991, started with just three employees.
Since then, SYnoT has grown beyond recognition and is currently one the
industry’s largest employers of people across many diverse business sectors
On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, SYNOt
Group organised an Open Day in Slovakia that
included a colourful cultural programme. Hundreds of
business partners from Europe, Asia, Australia, and
Africa took part in the special event.
The SYNOt Group is an international, respected group
of companies whose management structure is based
in Cyprus. SYNOt operates in 20 countries worldwide
with an annual turnover in excess of €600m. Except
for the main areas of business, the lottery sector,
SYNOt additionally focuses on It technologies,
supporting start-up projects, young entrepreneurs,
media ownership and ultimately sales of luxury BMW
cars. In addition to local taxes supporting local
economies, in each country SYNOt operates, the
company also focuses on the promotion of both sport
and voluntary sectors.
“From the very beginning we followed the motto ‘to
help is natural,’ therefore, shortly after starting the
business, we began to invest considerable funds to
help the non-profit sector, especially sport, culture,
health service and education,” describes Chairman,
Ivo Valenta. “Mainly through Foundation SYNOt, we
distributed tens of millions of euros in the support of
thousands of community projects.
“Key investments also include tourism and leisure
activities. I personally consider as very important, the
idea that people do not exclusively look for beauty
abroad, but also where they feel at home. Therefore
we would like to add ‘colour’ wherever possible,
“states Mr. Valenta. One example of this ‘colourful’
approach is the establishment of a modern Ski Arena,
Bike Park and Water World currently being developed
by the SYNOt Group. At the same time the company
has embarked on the sensitive reconstruction of
several historically important sites, buildings and
hotels owned by the SYNOt Group in Slovakia and
Czech Republic. The company was recently
Chairman
World Capital Ventures
Cyprus Limited.
“We entered the world’s
competitive markets with
products we continuously
improve and innovate upon.
Due to these efforts, we
have established
relationships with business
partners from all over the
world, from which I draw
great personal satisfaction.”
recognised for its restoration of the Slovakian Hotel
Elizabeth, which was recently commended as the
“Best European Historical Hotel, and there are more
projects in the pipeline.
SYNOt’s 25th anniversary is a significant milestone
for Mr. Valenta. “We entered the world’s competitive
markets with products we continuously improve and
innovate upon. Due to these efforts, we have
established relationships with business partners from
all over the world, from which I draw great personal
satisfaction. However, I am also fully aware of the fact
that we would not received so much global success
and awards without the ambition and high work ethic
of the employees from individual divisions,” says Mr.
Valenta. He added that the ambitions of the SYNOt
Group do not end there, and that expansion plans to
additional global destinations, such as South America,
are already underway.
P41
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
Scientific Game’s commitment to localised
product development was clear at G2E Asia
2016, with an array of slots developed by the
company’s Asia-Pacific game-development
team specifically for the Asia market. This
content library, much of which features symbols
and graphics designed to resonate with Asian
players, includes an expansive range of
standalone Super Series games, progressive
jackpot VIP Series themes, and the Duo Fu Duo
Cai, Da Fu Da Gui and Jackpot Vault families.
Senior Vice President and Managing Director
Ken Jolly told us: “Every year we step it up at
G2E Asia and 2016 is no exception. We’ve got
our new Dualos cabinet that brings together
technology from Bally, Shuffle Master, and WMS
to create a best-of-breed slot cabinet. Systems
this year are focused on demonstrating all the
tools available to drive player excitement and
commitment as more casino floors in Asia cater
to the dynamically growing mass market, as
seen in Macau and elsewhere throughout the
region. The entertainment, security, creative
content, and innovative technology we bring to
the market will help to increase repeat play and
add excitement across the casino floor.
“In terms of slots and progressive links the
company is in good shape. Our progressive link
Duo Fu Duo Cai has been around for two to three
years now with 280 machines of that title alone
in the Philippines. We’ve followed that up with
Da Fu Da Gui, which isn’t in Macau yet, but is
live in the Philippines, Malaysia, Saipan,
Vietnam and the Asian cruise ship markets,” he
added.
The Da Fu Da Gui link is launching with Rich
traditions and Jade Eternity on the Pro Wave
cabinet.Also making its debut at G2E Asia was
LockItLink, a two-level progressive jackpot
featured on two introductory games: Bright
Lights and Girl’s Best Friend. These games offer
players a host of features, including a fixed-lines
game, a two-level progressive jackpot, two fixed
jackpots and the chance to win huge credit
payouts - combined with an LockItLink
Heartrespin.
The show also saw the launch of new
proprietary table games including Flushes Gone
Wild, featuring the longest flush winner; two for
the Show featuring best-two poker hand wins;
and Jackpot Baccarat, offering frequently hitting
jackpots and an impressive tri-sided sign to
enhance player participation.
Mr. Jolly added: “We’re number one in e-tables
in many markets outside of Macau such as
Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and cruise
ships in the region. In terms of systems, Macau is
looking at bonusing options and as the market
moves towards mass gaming, we see this
becoming stronger.”
Mr. Jolly remained positive about the market in
general. “There might be a 60 per cent decline in
Scientific Games’ Ken Jolly with Lock It Link
taking the Scientific approach to Asian slots
A new cabinet was taking centre stage for Scientific Games with the new Dualos
cabinet making its G2E Asia debut. Featuring dual 23ins. high-definition screens,
superior sound, integrated ambient lighting and a 18.5ins. digital topper, Dualos
supports a rich library of Bally Shuffle Master and WMS gaming content
GGR, but most of this is in VIP baccarat,” he
said. “There has been growth in slots and
e-tables and more growth will come from the
new openings. Player acceptance with e-tables
is increasing, which fits with the move to mass
gaming. The integration process has continued
and in Asia we will be closing our WMS and
Bally subsidiary, with the SHFL division to
servicing the market in the future,” he advised.
“In terms of product, we’re realigning all over
the world. Our product line is especially strong
in Asia. In terms of R&D, we’ve seen very little
change around the world. We have development
teams in Australia and China to develop product
for the Asian market, whether this is Asian
content for our slots or advances in e-tables.”
Speaking of Electronic table Systems, Scientific
showed both live dealer and virtual dealer
options at G2E Asia, including Baccarat on the
Fusion Virtual Multigame, live Baccarat on the
Fusion Hybrid, and the immersive new Fusion
Vibe player experience on the Fusion Hybrid.
A new option for Roulette was also on show in
Roulette U-Spin, in which players activate the
spin of the ball themselves, adding more
interaction and excitement to the game. Gavin
Isaacs, Scientific Games CEO, commented: “Our
innovation in the table games segment is world
renowned. Casino operators around the globe
can rest assured that we are committed to
supporting our customers’ investments in our
electronic table games and high-performing
systems.”
Along with the SDS slot accounting and playertracking system, Scientific Games was
showcasing the features of its Elite Bonusing
Suite, including 12 applications to automate
existing promotions and player-loyalty
programmes through iVIEW Display Manager
(DM) on-device messaging technology.
Capitalising on the popularity of progressive
jackpots in the Asian market, Scientific was also
highlighting the Bally Enterprise Progressive
System (BEPS), a solution to configure, manage,
and audit progressives from a central location on any casino management system.
Betradar’s Eduard Blonk and Neale Deeley
Aruze standing tall
with Cube-X Vertical
Aruze was helping players to reach for
the stars or at least slot floor ceilings
with the launch of its towering,
15-level progressive, Cube-X Vertical
betrader delivers Euro
Cup 2016 excitement
G2E Asia saw Betrader launch its
Virtual Gaming Euro Cup product,
ready for operators to add to their own
market offering to excite players
The Euro Cup will harness all the anticipation
and excitement of this summer’s football
tournament and condense it into 70 minute
cycles, enabling bettors to back their favourites
or test their analysis across a whole range of
markets specific to this unique competition.
Betradar, who utilises its unmatched Statistics
Centre data to ensure that their virtual products
offer the most realistic reflection of real events,
outcomes and probabilities, has applied that
same rigour to the Euro Cup product, ensuring
that the betting experience is as true to life as
possible. The product has been integrated by
over 25 different operators from across the
world, including Parimatch, Nairabet and
Sportingbet among others.
Maxim Afanasyev, Head of trading at Liga
Stavok said: “We have used Betradar’s virtual
football product since 2013 and found that the
combination of best-in-class 3D animation,
together with the attention to detail in terms of
data, histories and markets, make their product
the most compelling and impactful. When we
heard that Betradar were ploughing all that
same technology and realism into a format that
leverages the buzz we anticipate this summer, it
really was a no-brainer for us and we cannot
wait to see how our customers react to this new
instalment.”
Betradar’s MD Virtual Gaming Neale Deeley,
said: “Our virtual products are always built for
betting. We’ve been in this business long
enough to know what bettors expect, want and
value. We know they expect top notch graphics
(and we deliver that!), but we know they value
the ability to recreate their unique betting
journey: whether that is backing their favourite
team, researching form or spotting patterns. Our
Euro Cup product allows our clients to provide
an accelerated opportunity to recreate and relive
each bettors unique Euro betting journey, every
70 minutes. We are all looking forward to the
exciting football and results this summer. We
are all looking forward to betting on the
tournament and the various markets available
on it. It seemed obvious to us that a virtual
format that mirrors the real tournament would
get operators and bettors excited. That has
proven to be the cas, and we look forward to
adding more and more operators throughout the
competition.”
“Cube-X Vertical is the first slot of its kind to
integrate a 42 inch touch screen with dynamic
displays, a 3D topper with digital technology and
a 15-level progressive,” explained Senior Sales
Manager Kevin Lee. “At G2E Asia we’ve
launched with two titles perfect for a fully
immersive playing experience; Ultimate
Eruption and Caribbean Rose.”
Ultimate Eruption is a towering volcano ready to
explode with progressives. This multiple bonus
game is overflowing with two bonuses, free
games and three Mystery Reel features. When a
mystery reel feature is randomly triggered, all
reels are increased to a maximum of 12 rows for
one spin. Mr. Lee elaborated: “With Caribbean
Rose, players can set sail for a multi-bonus
pirate adventure on the high seas featuring
action-packed interactive bonuses on two huge
screens. More bounty is possible with the
Jackpot Challenge with its four progressive
levels. Players swipe to shoot cannons and sink
the other pirate ship.”
Another major release from Aruze at G2E Asia
was Dragon Sic Bo, which follows on the heels
of Lucky Sic Bo on the G-Station multi-terminal
game, which has performed exceptionally well
in Macau. The shooter button that proved so
popular with Lucky Sic Bo, allowing players to
roll the dice, is now available with digital dice.
Wins can be doubled with the double spot
feature and three progressives are available with
the side bar feature.
The game should ready by November with Aruze
expecting a sharp uptake in play.
The company was also looking to raise the bar
for its Ultra Stack family with the Jungle Cash
Series including Ultra Stack Big 5, Ultra Stack
Bison ii and Ultra Stack Beauty in the Wild.
There are three options for these games; linked,
standalone or non-progressive. The progressive
feature is brand new to this style of gaming
machine.
Aruze also unveiled Ultra Stack Chameleon,
Ultra Stack Feature and Ultra Stack Feature
Butterfly.
On the Cube-X Innovator, Aruze was releasing
Flames of the Phoenix, allowing players to ‘soar
with wings of fire’ in red-hot game play, with
chances to win up to 70 free games. Aruze was
also debuting games such as 999.9 Gold Wheel
Series; Bags of Cash, The Gold Legend, Super
Vault and Diamond Desire on the Cube-X
Ultimate. These grand eight-foot cabinets all
boast an iconic mechanical wheel.
Happy Festival, a Chinese-themed linked video
slot under Aruze’s Cube-X Video platform with
243 lines was also debuting complete with its
festival mode that really brings the bank to life.
Aruze Gaming’s Kevin Lee
Aruze concluded by paying homage to the
Chinese gods with Fuxion, the God of Fortune,
Luxion, the God of Happiness and Shouxian, the
God of Longevity, looking to bless players in the
Cube-X video, whilst Rai Jin, the God of Thunder
and Fu Jin the God of Wind were hoping to help
players strike it big.
Axiomtek takes the
All-in-One approach
Axiomtek showcased the new
release of the AGp 300 All-In-one
Gaming Board and player Tracking
System series at G2E Asia 2016
The taiwanese company offers standard offthe-shelf embedded and all-in-one gaming
boards for slot machines, VLts, electronic table
games, pachislot/pachinko, Italian
AWP/AWP+, player tracking systems, arcade
gaming, among others. It can customise logic
boards/boxes to fit any targeted jurisdiction.
Products are designed with Intel, AMD, and
RISC platforms to create solutions that cover a
spectrum of gaming possibilities.
The Axiomtek team
P43
Tom Nieman, VP Sales & Marketing, JCM Global
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
JCM looking to
overhaul validation
and printing sector
JCM Global was at G2E Asia 2016
showing a range of products: those
currently dominating the market; those
that will soon dominate the market;
and a number of validation and
printing solutions that could be doing
the same in the lottery sector in the
near future.
From its bill validation line, JCM was
showcasing iVIZION, which combines a 99 per
cent acceptance rate with Contact Image Sensor
(CIS) technology that sees the entire front and
back of a note or ticket, for the highest levels of
security.
Its tBV validator product has the ability to
accept single notes or bulk notes, up to 50 at a
time, all with incredibly powerful sensing and
anti-stringing technologies to defeat
counterfeiters and other cheats. Last, DBV-500
has cash box capacity options of 500/1000/1500
notes and eight wavelengths of high-precision
optical sensors to provide the highest levels
counterfeit protection.
Working in concert with the bill validators is
JCM’s Intelligent Cash Box ICB 3.0 system,
which increases accuracy and eliminates
human error, and its web reporting empowers
users to view reports from the casino floor in
real time.
For printing solutions, JCM offers the GEN2
Universal, which features universal
communication ports, a larger paper capacity,
Intelligent ticket Handling technology, jamreducing IntelligentBezel system and available
two-color printing technology.
tom Nieman, VP of Sales & Marketing at JCM
Global, commented: “Whereas in North
America our penetration with bill validators is
about 65 per cent of the market, and 60 per cent
in Europe, it is closer to 55 per cent in Macau.
Bill validators and printing are set for growth in
this region and the integration of FutureLogic
into the JCM product line is now providing
synergy savings.
“Eyeing new openings coming in the next few
years, we expect the Asian market to grow for
JCM Global,” he added. “With the decline in VIP
gaming, the shift to mass gaming will also help
us expand our business in the region. Another
driver is the high level of counterfeit notes in the
market, which means that currency validation
is gaining in importance.
“Additionally, we continue to work with
operators in Europe and in Macau to deliver
tableXchange, which brings tItO and
couponing to the tables,” said Mr. Nieman.
“With space at such a premium on Macau’s table
games, we’re looking to shrink the product
further to give operators maximum flexibility,
whilst increasing speed from eight notes a
second to 10 notes a second. Speeding this
process up can mean an extra 12 to 20 hands per
shift, which can make a huge difference to the
bottom line.”
JCM Global was also deep in discussions as
regards its future product development. “We’re
working with the biggest names in slots on
future products that take full advantage of bill
validator, printer and CMS technology,” Mr.
Nieman described. “We’re also looking at multicurrency apps that will be popular in border
markets such as Niagara Falls, where customers
bring US dollars and Canadian dollars, in Europe
where players may carry Euros, Pounds or other
currencies, and indeed in Macau, where people
have both Macau patacas and Hong Kong
dollars.
“We’re also developing the next generation of
ticketing - bill validators that will serve as
multi-functional gaming kiosks with options.
Finally, JCM was also showing its hand-held
firmware upload tool BlueWave Deluxe, which
allows users to easily to load and upgrade
validator firmware right at the kiosk. Ian Payne,
General Manager of JCM Global Australasia told
us. “We are honoured to have achieved the high
levels of success we have in Macau and across
the Asia-Pacific region and are humbled to
present a strong portfolio that is field-proven to
help operators conduct business better, smarter,
and faster while making better customer
connections.”
AgEM hits a new high
The Association of Gaming Equipment
Manufacturers (AGEM) was at G2E Asia
celebrating the addition of five new
companies, bringing the trade group,
comprised of the world’s leading gaming
suppliers, to a total of 154, an all-time high.
The new AGEM members are APEX gaming,
based in Budweis, Czech Republic, Casino
Screens, based in Essex, United Kingdom,
RMMC, based in Las Vegas, Slot Constructor,
also based in Las Vegas and tohkoh Plastics
America, based in San Diego.
The Association’s Executive Director Marcus
Prater said: “We’re at this show to support our
existing members in the marketplace, to
discuss the current issues in the industry and
to offer help and guidance from the pooled
resources of our members.”
Marcus Prater, AGEM
CPi on the EASitrAX
to expansion in Asia
Crane payment Innovations (CpI) was
showcasing the MEI SC Advance note
acceptor, EASITRAX Web cash
management system and ppM
Advance support tool at G2E Asia
gOlDEn rACE PlAnS thrillEr in MAnilA
Having opened up an office in Manila
to service the burgeoning philippine
market, Golden Race is aiming to be
the ‘thriller in Manila’ with its cutting
edge 3D virtual sports-betting,
including the Asian launch of Real
Fighting, which has seen the company
become the first in the world to offer
pre-recorded fight betting
World Champion fighters from all over the
region were on hand to help to launch Golden
Race’s Real Fighting game at G2E Asia.
Martin Wachter, Founder of Golden Race, said:
“We’ve had so much interest in Real Fighting at
this show. We are already supplying many
different product types in the region with games,
including pre-recorded racing in HD; 3D soccer
in various formats; classic betting games like
poker, roulette, and keno; and live streaming
lottery and keno products. This is our fourth
year at G2E Asia and we’re really beginning to
see the rewards. We have many customers in the
Philippines and even one in mainland China.”
Regional Sales General Manager at Crane
Payment Innovations, Edmond Tang
Used in combination with SC Advance,
EASItRAX and PPM Advance create a powerful
cash management solution for gaming
operators. SC Advance belongs to the SC family
of note acceptors that has achieved a field base
of more than two million units worldwide.
Equally impressive, nearly 200,000 of those
units are coupled with the EASItRAX cash
management system. With the addition of the
PPM Advance support tool, these products not
only generate newfound efficiencies from the
slot floor to the back room, but they also give
operators the greatest amount of control over
their games.
Also on the CPI booth was the CashCode MSM
BackLoad note acceptor, which is designed to
support door-mounted applications with small
footprints such as bingo, roulette and tabletop
sports betting terminals. to meet industry
demands, it is available in up-stacking and
down-stacking configurations. Additionally, CPI
featured several coin acceptors and hoppers
with varying footprints and capacities to meet
individual application requirements.
Graeme Lewis, CPI Vice President of Gaming –
Asia Pacific, said: “Whilst the month-overmonth negative returns in Macau gaming has
been creating negative sentiment in the
industry as of late, slot floors have remained
healthy and continue to grow as a percentage of
casino revenue. In addition to the expansion
activities on Cotai, regional growth in the
Philippines, Indochina and Micronesia
continues to spur the market along as evidenced
by the very healthy representation of all OEMs
at G2E Asia.
“The atmosphere at the show was indeed very
energetic, and CPI are well-positioned for high
visibility and contact with all the regional
operators that attended. We consider our
exhibition at G2E Asia to be very successful.”
Real Fighting is an MMA-based, real video action
Golden Race’s Martin Wachter
fighting game, featuring 16 professional fighters
in intense five round combats across three
fantasy locations combining real action from
expert fighters with real odds from expert
bookmakers.
Also on show in Macau were pre-recorded Kart
Racing, 3D Virtual tennis and Perfect 6.
Mr Wachter added: “Last year we were
supplying 7,000 outlets and doing €5m bets.
This year that’s up to 26,000 outlets and €11m
bets. Much of that growth has come in Africa,
where we have 9,000 outlets in Nigeria alone.
We’re currently developing a mobile application
for Africa where around 75 per cent of all bets
are placed via a phone.”
Philippines sector
boosts gli’s growth
Gaming Laboratories International
was at G2E Asia having doubled its
intake of online suppliers looking
for approvals for the Asian market
“A lot of the growth we’ve experienced in the
last two years in the region has been in online
gaming and online sports betting,” said Ian
Hughes GLI’s Vice President of Global
Services. “We’ve at least doubled our
workload in Asian i-gaming. The business
model is very different to land-based gaming
as time to market has to be a lot faster. We’ve
developed test tools especially for the online
sector. We pick up about 10-15 new suppliers
on an annual basis through our offices in
Macau, Philippines, Australia and Vietnam.”
“We’re working with a lot of manufacturers
who are steering away from Macau towards
other regulated markets,” he added. “We seek
to implement software that will allow them
target very strictly regulated markets at a
later date, which might take slightly longer,
but will open doors a lot quicker as the
product progresses. We have, for example,
lots of games going into the Philippines at the
moment in both Manila and First Cagayan.”
Matt Howard and Anna Gyulkhasyan
betConstruct enjoying uptake of
its Asian View Sportsbook
BetConstruct’s Marketing Director Anna
Gyulkhasyan and Matt Howard, Head of
Sportsbook Operations (pictured), were enjoying
their time at G2E Asia, demonstrating the
company’s updates to its Asian View
Sportsbook. The sportsbook provides additional
appeal to players who prefer a more timefocused and uniform layout of markets as well
as regular updates of odds along with 20,000
live matches per month.
The Asian View Sportsbook provides a more
familiar experience for players, especially those
active in ‘in-running’ betting for soccer. The
Asian View also provides greater visibility to
betting opportunities categorised primarily by
time and then by sport or league.
P45
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
Cammegh catches
tiger by the tail
Roulette family Cammegh was
delighted to sign an order with Tiger
Resorts in the philippines, owned by
Universal, in the run up to G2E Asia
Konami quick on the draw with rapid revolver
Towards the end of last year, the first Konami slots themed specifically for the
Asian market burst onto Macau’s slot floors with Melco Crown’s Studio City
becoming the first to install Konami’s famed Rapid Revolver slot machine. Since
then Rapid Revolver has been installed across a variety of different casinos in
Macau and is proving both a ‘speedy’ and ‘sure fire hit’ with players
Rapid Revolver, the one-of-a-kind premium
cabinet, takes a unique spin on classic
mechanical reels by mounting six stacked
drums on its oversized top box, surrounded by
synchronised high-impact sound and lighting.
Designed to stand out on a casino floor and grab
the attention of casino guests, Rapid Revolver
presents two distinct gaming concepts fused into
one by combining traditional video reel on the
lower screen with spinning reels up top.
Konami’s big roll-out has continued into the
Philippines and Malaysia with four-level linked
progressive, Brothers of Fortune, proving the
focused formula of Asia-specific slots is driving
operator success on gaming floors. The plan,
following approvals, is to roll out the link onto
Macau’s gaming floors in the near future.
Andrew Cammegh
Cammegh’s order for the huge casino will
consist of 24 wheels and displays and marks the
company’s third success in Manila’s
Entertainment City, following installs with City
of Dreams Manila and Resorts World Manila.
tiger Resorts, the $2.7bn integrated
entertainment and gaming center is due to open
by the end of this year.
Andrew Cammegh said: “We’re delighted to sign
this deal with tiger, giving us a 100 per cent
success rate with the new casinos in the
Philippines’ Entertainment City. tiger has asked
us to design some beautiful, customised roulette
wheels featuring hand-painted iconic emblems,
such as Mount Fuji and cherry blossom. They
really do look amazing. The Asian region as a
whole continues to be a great success for
Cammegh. We are the wheel of choice in both
Singapore casinos. We supplied nine Mercury
360 wheels to Galaxy Macau with unique Asian
designs customised to Galaxy’s requirements
and, was completed in plenty of time for the
opening of Galaxy Entertainment’s Phase 2
expansion at Galaxy Macau. We’ve installed in
the Venetian, where we’ve been able to build on
our relations with Las Vegas Sands in Las Vegas,
where we have products with both the Venetian
and Palazzo. We have launched our side bets
featured on the Billboard HD displays in Macau
too, a first for the market and we have major
accounts in both Australia and New Zealand.”
Cammegh was showing its Aurora and Halo
wheels at this year’s show along with multiboard, a new generation of thin displays capable
of linking the entire pit.
Charles Seo, Marketing Manager for Konami
Australia Pty Ltd, spoke to G3 at G2E Asia:
“We’ve had a great many product approvals
recently for Macau, so expect games to come
thick and fast for this market. We’re obviously
delighted with the performance of Rapid
Revolver in Macau already. We recognise that
Konami came to the market late, but we have
brought a unique product that is totally different
to those made by our competitors.”
Underlining this point, Konami’s Prophetess of
Fortune on Rapid Revolver is powered by a
unique multiplier mechanic delivered through
the stacked, spinning top-box drums that
amplifies wins up to 100x. The company was
Konami Australia’s Charles Seo
also showcasing a prototype of Fortune Cup, a
mechanical horseracing game with electronic
betting terminals.
nOVOMAtiC SECUrES MACAU, PhiliPPinES AnD ViEtnAM inStAllS
Novomatic’s Mike Robinson
At the 10th anniversary of G2E Asia, a host of dynamic novomatic products from
the Austrian giant were presented in Asia for the very first time by the company’s
official distributors in the region, Jade Entertainment and Gaming Technologies
Boasting a central position on the show floor,
the Jade Entertainment product and sales teams
showcased Novomatic’s new product range to
their Asian customers.
With offices in Manila, Kuala Lumpur and
Macau, the official Novomatic distributor has a
wide range of expert knowledge in local
markets. Directly from G2E Asia, Jade was able
to secure a key product placement of Novomatic
machines with a major operator in Macau, a
major operator in the Philippines and slots clubs
in Vietnam, with products going straight from
the show floor to the properties.
Of the product highlights on the Novomatic
exhibition stand, the new VIP Lounge cabinet
generated notable attention. This slim-line
transAct pleased with
Macau penetration
TransAct Technologies has enjoyed
superb market penetration in Macau
where its products are used on slot
floors by all but one of the operators
transAct has been heavily involved with the
slot floor at Studio City and will be prevalent
again at Wynn palace, the next casino to open in
Macau. It has also enjoyed sustained success at
casinos in the Philippines, Vietnam and
Cambodia. “I’m particularly excited to bring for
the first time to G2E Asia 2016 our Epic 3000
lottery printer, an innovative and highly reliable
terminal printer solution for the global lottery
market that leverages more than two decades of
industry knowledge and proven performance in
more than half a million installed locations
worldwide,” said Bart Shuldman, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of transAct
technologies. Epicentral, transAct’s headline
attraction at G2E Asia 2016, is the gaming
industry’s only enterprise-level promotion and
bonusing software suite which can target
customers in real time at any slot machine or
electronic table game, regardless of
manufacturer.
cabinet is one of three stunning VIP cabinets
launched this year and provides the VIP
experience in a space-optimised lounge format.
Creating a large impression at the show, this
new style of cabinet offers an affordable way of
bringing the VIP experience into the growing
mass segment.
First unveiled at ICE totally Gaming earlier this
year, the Gaminator Scorpion has created a stir
amongst casino executives around the world. As
such, a bank of four machines was swamped at
G2E Asia, demonstrating the Novo Line
Interactive and Impera Line HD platforms. This
latest version of the international best-selling
Gaminator cabinet is a really attractive design,
with a matte black finish and comes with three
24ins. full HD LED screens.
Another debut for the market was the
NOVOStAR II cabinet, which is the result of
transforming the original Gaminator into a
brand new machine with re-engineered
components. It was shown with ‘The One And
Only’ game mix that was designed specifically
for the new cabinet. Also on show were provenperformers, the Dominator and sister cabinet
Dominator Curve, with a variety of game mixes
including a specific Macau mix.
Joe Pisano, CEO of Jade Entertainment and
Gaming, commented: “G2E Asia was a very
successful show for us with visitors from all
parts of Asia coming to the stand with the intent
to buy product. The new Gaminator Scorpion, in
particular, attracted a lot of interest from
visitors.”
Matsui looking to be
Pearl of the Orient
Matsui was showcasing its
traditional security features such as
Visible and Invisible UV, its new MG
EYE security, its next generation
EAS gate check and its latest
Material Track security, as well as a
new its pearl decal chips
Shigeki Machida, Managing Director of Matsui
Asia, Matsui's Macau office, said: “We are very
excited to introduce our new gaming chip as
well as other core products of Matsui, such as
highly durable heavyweight layouts to our
customers at G2E Asia 2016. We are also very
excited to announce at G2E Asia a licensing
agreement for PJM RFID gaming chips. With
high quality Matsui Chips, PJM RFID is a
perfect match. This will provide even more
choice and performance for customers.”
to respond to customer’s very high demand for
Matsui’s table Layout, Matsui recently
Takashi Matsui
expanded its production capacity. New
machinery and equipment has been installed
to further speed up and improve the quality of
products, while the facility has also been
strengthened manufacturing security for
gaming chips with state-of-the art technology,
which results in extremely high standards.
"We have been re-investing a lot of our
revenue to upgrade our production facility and
improve the quality of our products. This is the
reason why Matsui chips and layouts are
chosen by more and more operators,” Mr.
Machida added.
P47
Matt Humphreys pictured at G2E Asia with 5 Dragons Empire
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
baccarat slots looking
to boost Aristocrat
Aristocrat’s booth of roaming pandas,
flying dragons, turning cards, ruling
emperors and lightning strikes will no
doubt prove the launch pad for some of
the best performing slots in the Asia
region over the next 12 months.
The undisputed leader in the market was
launching some stand-out links in Lightning
Link and 5 Dragon Emperor as well as some
games sure to bridge the gap between the ever
dominant baccarat and slots with Baccarat 88
and Multi-Line Bacarrat.
Vincent Kelly, Aristocrat Managing Director
Asia-Pacific, said: “We are excited to bring
Aristocrat’s game content depth and breadth to
G2E Asia, where we will exhibit brand
extensions in our Aristocrat Core product line
along with innovative cabinets, signage and
linked titles, all designed to help our customers
make The Big Play with their players.”
“Lightning Link will be launched in Macau in
October. We’ve taken the high-roller concept
made popular in Australia and tweaked the
content for the market by reworking the jackpot
profiles and the base game graphics. 5 Dragons
Empire is a new hyperlink that will be available
by the fourth quarter. We’ve taken 5 Dragons
Gold, which is one of the best performing games
in Asia, and redeveloped it as a progressive link.
We’ve got high hopes for Baccarat 88 and
Multiline Baccarat on the Arc cabinet. We’re also
having success from some of our western brands
with Britney and Game of Thrones, with both
now approved for the Philippines.”
The Big Play begins with a big commitment to
Aristocrat core products. It is a commitment that
has resulted in a new collection of games that
are brand extensions of market-proven player
favourite titles, including 5 Dragons Gold,
Fortune King Gold, Miss Kitty Gold, Wild Panda
Gold and Lucky 88 Extra Choice. Aristocrat’s
spirit of innovation comes alive with a range of
products highlighting new and exciting features.
titles include The Third Prince, with an
engrossing new battle feature; Fortune Ways
and Rhino Charge, both of which allow players
to personalise their gaming experience.
Lightning Link is the next generation of linked
product and has taken the gaming world by
(thunder) storm. Popular with players across the
globe, Lightning Link made its Asia-Pacific
premiere at G2E Asia. Aristocrat also unveiled
new support titles for its highly successful Good
Fortune and Fortune tree linked products.
Playing a crucial supporting role to these games
and links were new and innovative cabinets,
designed to give players a more immersive
gaming experience.
Aristocrat ‘Special Products’ create a visual
destination on the gaming floor and come with
titles for mass customer appeal, including
Britney Spears and Game of Thrones Slot Game
as well as well-established favourites like 5
Dragons Gold. Aristocrat’s culture of innovation
has resulted in the completely new Multiline
Baccarat and Baccarat 88 games on the new Arc
cabinet, created specifically for the Asia-Pacific
marketplace. Based on Baccarat and wrapped in
Aristocrat creativity, these will be games to
watch.
Account manager Matt Humphreys said:
Ainsworth CEO, Danny Gladstone
All aboard for Ainsworth’s Oriental Express
Ainsworth was unveiling its Oriental Express
progressive link at G2E Asia, offering three
levels of linked progressives and two
standalone progressive jackpots.
Games released onto the link include Lucky Ye
Ha Hai, a five reel 50 line slot with a unique
multi dice feature as well as eight free games
with guaranteed reveal symbols and
accumulating wild multipliers.
Also released at the show was a new series
called Oriental Fortune, which includes a free
games feature with an expanded nine-by-five
game array, increased wild multipliers and all
symbols are stacked during the feature.
Oriental Fortune games shown at G2E Asia
included Peking Panda, Year of the tiger and
Double Dragons.
Elsewhere, Fortune Ox offered a high
denomination progressive from the proven
Double Hit line of games. Available in a range
of cabinet configurations, Fortune Ox features
the highly successful Double Hit concept,
providing increased start-up value options
plus rapid hitting bonus prizes with even more
generous frequent free game features.
New in the Quad Shot titles were Soul Queen,
Heart Queen, Electric Nights, Hotter than Hot
and Jade Emperor. The Play 50 Lines brand will
include three exciting titles: Glitter Gems,
totem treasure and King Chameleon.
TCSJohnHuxley’s Tracy Cohen pictured with Blaze Sic Bo in Macau
tCSJohnhuxley launching gFl Media at Casino
Canberra linking bacarrat and roulettes tables
TCSJohnHuxley announced in Macau that its Gaming Floor Live Media is making
its world debut in Australia with Casino Canberra, owned by Aquis Entertainment.
The casino will be linking together over 30 tables featuring baccarat and roulette,
with the ability to also feature blackjack and money wheel games
Full screen media content will be displayed on
tCSJohnHuxley’s e-FXt 27ins. Landscape and
29ins. portrait displays. Results can also be
displayed using the latest Multi table Display on
any size LCD monitors throughout the casino
that are connected to the system.
Casino Canberra was particularly impressed
with GFL Media’s ability to control their venue’s
entire display content, enabling the casino to
communicate with their players and drive
business like never before. Added benefits
include pay tables, min/max displays and
mandatory messages within the e-FXt display’s
media window, through the use of a
customisable media widget. This allows the
casino to upload graphics and video files as
required, delivering important player
information right where it’s needed, while
keeping the playing surface free from clutter
created by additional displays.
Before the introduction of GFL Media, casinos
had to use various different systems to control
and update their media. Thanks to the GFL
Media Module, every display is now part of
communications network, collecting real-time
results from the game and pushing out media
and event content for display. By linking
together previously stand-alone casino displays,
operators can now alter, schedule, customise
and configure displays from one central point
through a browser-based user interface. This
saves time and valuable resources, allowing for
quick and efficient display changes to be made
and eliminating the need for physical
configuration of each individual screen.
Rebecca Kingswell, tCSJohnHuxley Managing
Director APAC, said: “GFL Media takes a
previously time-consuming task and makes it
fast and easy. Whether operators wish to alter
one or hundreds of displays at a time, GFL Media
grants full control, which makes it ideal for
small and large casinos alike. Just a few simple
clicks allow casinos to schedule updates and
promotions, configure table limits and modify
media; it’s now possible to react quickly to
changing levels and requirements of player
activity.”
The company has also recorded some notable
installs for its Blaze LED surface technology
across the region, including the Venetian Macau,
Studio City, Galaxy and Marina Bay Sands.
Available for Sic Bo, Roulette and Money Wheel,
Blaze uses patented technology to deliver
flexibility, reliability and graphic capabilities like
never before. Using energy efficient LED lights
that are fitted below the surface of the gaming
table, Blaze displays unique ‘attract sequences’
and custom-themed animations, while also
highlighting winning numbers. With a choice of
single or double table configurations –
depending upon game-type – and with acrylic
or cloth layouts available, Blaze offers an array
of options to meet any casino’s need.
tristan Sjöberg, tCSJohnHuxley Executive
Chairman said: “Our Blaze LED surface
technology is the only product available that
features in-game animated video, that allows
operators to incorporate themed designs and
images. These stunning animations add further
excitement to already popular table games and
boost appeal for new player demographics.”
Currently dominating the illuminated gaming
table market in Asia, Blaze not only attracts
players, but it also increases security on the
casino floor and assists dealers with game
accuracy. Players and gaming staff instantly
benefit from seeing winning numbers clearly
highlighted, and with the improved visibility of
these sections, Pit Bosses and security staff can
easily monitor game procedures from a distance.
For further flexibility, Blaze Sicbo integrates
seamlessly with tCSJohnHuxley’s unique
Automatic Dice Recognition (ADR) software.
When used with tCSJohnHuxley’s Dice Shaker,
the ADR unit’s patented technology can process
an image of the dice from a camera inside the
cover, and return the result to the Blaze Sic Bo
table for display on the gaming surface.
This adds further security features to the game
and also prevents dealer collusion.
tCSJohnHuxley also used the G2E Asia
exhibition to showcase the latest in its roulette
wheel range, which has now expanded to
include its newest addition, the Saturn Glo
roulette wheel.
Saturn Glo incorporates LED technology
providing in-rim lighting colour changes
according to what’s happening in the game.
Designed to literally ‘light up’ the game, Saturn
Glo can be programmed to indicate game status
and also features an exciting array of attract
modes in a variety of colours.
It features an eye-catching light sequence to
indicate ‘Finish Betting’ illuminated in blue, ‘No
More Bets’ in red and once the winning number
was established, Saturn Glo’s lights turned
green. Then after a pre-determined time, the
green lights pulsate to indicate the start of a new
betting sequence.
Rebecca Kingswell explained: “Saturn Glo
provides a welcome addition to our extensive
wheel range by bringing attractive illuminated
technology, that not only adds excitement to the
game, but also provides additional security by
highlighting key stages of the game to dealers,
pit bosses and surveillance staff. These new
features bring added benefits to electronic
terminal games, providing greater visibility on
screen to players as the different colour lights
indicate the game’s progression.”
P49
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
Suzohapp ready to
self-serve chips
SuzoHapp was at G2E Asia showcasing
a “world first in gaming” in the form of
a self service machine that will
dispense casino gaming chips
Introduced last year, the Chip Dispensing
Machine (CDM) is an ingenious secure and
efficient self-serving automated chip vending
machine. It has been updated to allow for note
in and ticket in meaning it can serve both slot
players and table players.
This voluminous solution incorporates the
option to dispense six different chip
denominations. It can store up to 1,320 chips in
its custom-designed metal enclosure. The CDM
contains a great deal of intelligence to inform
the user across a complete scale of important
information. This includes a self-diagnostics
feature, sending an alert via email / text
message of any potential periphery service
requirement (such as when the printer requires
restocking with paper or when a chip
denomination channel needs to be refilled).
The CDM can be integrated with the casino
management system to enable full and instant
control. The CDM’s detailed reporting function
includes information on the transaction time,
the number and type of chips dispensed, and
how often and when the door has been opened
(by service staff).
Geoff McDowell, SuzoHapp APA Managing
Director, said: “We believe that having a
dispenser that is so versatile in terms of gaming
is a first for the industry. The first units will be
going into Australia followed by the
Philippines.”
The company was also showing its Display
Audit Device solution at G2E Asia, which
provides a live streaming feed between slot
monitors and surveillance in real time. The
system was required by Macau’s government to
be retrofitted to over 5,000 slots in the gaming
market place.
Elsewhere, SuzoHapp was showing a mix of
well-known products and solutions alongside a
range of new innovations that were shown for
the first time in Asia.
The Interactive Pro table has greatly updated
content and can already be found at major
casinos, particularly in Las Vegas and at sports
clubs throughout Australia. This is
complemented with the add-on tV and display
options. SuzoHapp was additionally showcasing
a wide range of components, including LCD
button display panels, where all buttons are
integrated into one solution, and the ‘Charge N
Play’ USB charger, allowing players to recharge
their smartphones, whilst enjoying their gaming
entertainment. The SuzoHapp ‘PRO’ range offers
SuzoHapp’s Geoff McDowell
solutions in a very wide field of requirements,
such as the VisionPROfor monitors and
touchscreens.
As the exclusive global distributor for transact,
SuzoHapp was also showing its award-winning
printers, including the Epic 950 and the Epic 880
printers.
The latest editions to the Suzo Happ family also
had the opportunity to show their solutions for
the first time at the G2E Asia show. The
Comestero RM5 HD is the reference product for
electronic coin validation with well over one
million units already in the field.
Scan Coin also provides a wealth of coin and
note sorting/counting solutions. Their product
range spans to cover a great deal of cash
handling requirements.
Playson to jump into
Asia with both feet
as g2E Asia drives
major visitor interest
Playson was exhibiting for
the first time at G2E Asia 2016
where it was showcasing its
portfolio of RNG casino table
and slot machine games.
Already a leading brand in
Europe with popular game
titles such as Dracula’s
Family, Alice in Wonderslots
and Bumper Crop, Playson’s
250 plus employees work to
release games with unique
math models designed to
appeal to a wide cross section
of players as well as VIPs.
New releases include Space
Corsairs, Wild Seven, Art of
the Heist, Burlesque Queen
and Down the Pub.
Managing Director Adam
Daniel said: “Playson is a
newcomer to the Asian
Adam Daniel
market, but we’ve been really
impressed with the quality
and quantity of people who
have been interested in our
games at this show. Asian
players are becoming more
likely to trust RNGs, so the
amount of interest has sky
rocketed. We now intend to
jump in with both feet.
All Playson Games are
released on both desktop and
mobile versions
simultaneously, allowing
clients to market the game to
their full player base from day
one. The games are translated
into multiple languages and
support a wide number of
currencies.
“We currently have 26 games
available. This year will see us
release eight new games with
another 12 next year so we’re
really ramping things up to
meet the demand.”
Playson also offers Gift Spin
functionality to allow
operators to offer players
free-spins for real money as
an additional marketing
incentive.
gaming Partners
strengthens Asiafacing rFiD and chip
manufacturing
GpI doubled down on its recent
acquisitions, showing comprehensive
range of chip and RFID products
Alfastreet’s Albert Radman
Alfastreet online content targets Philippines
GPI’s Maricela Maciel, right
two major deals have strengthened Gaming
Partners International position in Asia with a
bid to buy rival chip manufacturer Dolphin
Products Limited from Entertainment Gaming
Asia (EGA) prior to the show, quickly followed
by an expanded agreement with Walker Digital
table Systems to develop and enhance their PJM
Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID)
technologies.
The Dolphin brand is a supplier to major casinos
in Asia and Australia. The asset sale represents
Dolphin’s and EGA’s exit from the table game
equipment business and, as part of the
transaction, Dolphin and EGA will each agree
not to engage in the manufacture of table game
equipment in competition with GPI.
The RFID deal meanwhile will enhance the
development time typically required to
introduce and commercialise new and
innovative PJM RFID offerings to the market.
Both parties feel this is a big step forward in
sustaining and growing a long-term, working
partnership. RFID is utilised in a variety of table
game applications, including gaming currency
and table game solutions.
“We are excited that WDtS and GPI will
collaborate on the development and distribution
of PJM RFID technology and applications,” said
Neil Crossan, Senior Vice President – WDtS.
“Being the largest supplier of RFID technology,
GPI has a wealth of experience in the field, and
this together with the innovation that WDtS
brings to the gaming floor will serve the
industry well.”
“GPI is looking forward to its expanded
collaborative efforts with WDtS and combining
our experience in the development and delivery
of RFID technologies,” commented Gregory
Gronau, GPIC’s President and Chief Executive
Officer. “An expanded working relationship
offers the opportunity to capitalise on our
respective core strengths and maximise our
synergies into creating and developing value
added products and solutions.”
Alfastreet was at G2E Asia with the
exciting news that it was just weeks
away from launching online content
into the philippines market place
Albert Radman, Sales Director, said: “We have
secured all the necessary approvals from state
regulator PAGCOR and will be launching online
content including sic bo and baccarat products
with an operator in the Philippines within a few
weeks of this exhibition. This is huge news for
us. We have been very active in the Philippines
with installs at large casinos, but launching our
gaming content online brings us a wealth of
opportunity. The Asian markets have been very
successful for us. It continues to provide new
installs and new growth, but given the success of
our products in the region, even the replacement
market is huge. For example, Naga World in
Cambodia, is 100 per cent Alfastreet in terms of
multi-players. Our terminals have been
operating there for years and years, but are now
up for replacement, which equates to about 400
new stations. The Philippines has been huge as
has Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and
Vietnam. Laos is a smaller market, but is also
mostly Alfastreet, as is Malaysia.”
In terms of the show, he added: “It has been an
exceptionally busy 2016 edition of the G2E
exhibition in Macau for Alfastreet, capturing the
interest of business professionals and visitors
with a product selection second to none. The
highly anticipated unveiling of the Royal Derby,
mechanical horse racing machine and its
Exciting baccarat
from Sega Sammy
Exciting times for Sega Sammy
Creation with showcased Sic Bo
Bonus Jackpot and Exciting Baccarat
Exciting Baccarat boasts five funky dealers in
yellow, red, pink, green or blue bobs. Players
bet on whether the banker or the player will
win out as well as having betting options for
ties, player pairs and banker pairs. The
spinoff, the Wet Race, showed the universal
quality of the company's premium gaming
platform, has been at the center of attention
throughout the three days of the show. All the
most important casino operators are eager to
install this impressive machine on their gaming
floors, experiencing the enthusiasm from the
players and the results from all over the world,
where the units are already achieving very good
results.”
However, those were not the only machines
attracting attention at the G2E stand; the brand
new R8 roulette marked the first edition of the
popular machine with 23 inch touch screen
monitors paired with keyboards, which are still
widely popular in Asian markets. The trademark
roulette cabinet was presented with a Signage
superstructure including a rotating top sign,
gaining instant recognition on even the biggest
gaming floors.
The company was also showing the WIKY single
terminal, boasting the industry's largest, 32 inch
touchscreen monitor and the possibility to play
up to four games at the same time, counting on
the proven solutions - Multigame and
Simultaneous Play. “Already there are many
units already installed on Asian markets, it is
still a showstopper,” Mr. Radman explained.
Alfastreet has furthermore developed the I.Q.
slot machine range. Mr. Radman said: “I.Q.
generated a very good reaction from the
attendees. Shortly players will also beenjoying
the first installed units in Asia.”
Exciting Reward side bets starts the Cai Shen
slot progressive with a bonus multiplier.
The game was the follow up to the company’s
Sic Bo Bonus Jackpot, which was installed into
the Venetian in July last year.
Sega Sammy said: “Our first product SicBo
jackpot Bonus was placed in Macau last year.
It has become popular among casino fans
because of its exciting features, a dice floating
system with massive scale and a special side
game, Cai Shen Progressive jackpot, which
gives every player the chance to hit the
jackpot without any side bets.”
P51
Xin Gaming’s Lily Lin
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
In a move that could revolutionise the
burgeoning mobile market in Asia, XIN Gaming
is offering a superior service that includes more
than 500 casino games from some of the biggest
names in software, including Microgaming, NYX
and Playtech. The solution will cater for all types
of operators as it can be integrated into
successful existing apps and websites, with
operators able to immediately improve their
offering through the addition of a huge portfolio
of new titles.
XIN Gaming’s mobile solution – which is
compatible with iOS and Android systems – also
offers companies the opportunity to go live with
a proven top-of-the-range native app and
HtML5 website. Operators can also add their
payment processes to the mobile solution, while
XIN Gaming can offer their services in any
language that a site requires.
Mathias Larsson, Chief Executive of XIN
Gaming, said: “Mobile gaming in the Asian
region is exploding, and we expect some 40 per
cent of revenues to come from players using
their handheld devices by the end of 2016. There
will be more players and a market that has high
expectations of operators and the games that
they offer. Gaming companies simply can’t
afford to be left behind, and by choosing XIN
Gaming’s mobile solution they will give
themselves a great chance of success.
“We offer the biggest and best portfolio of
games on the market, as well as a superior
standard of usability and reliability, and we can’t
wait to add more operators to our long and wellestablished list of clients. We are already the
largest game provider in the Asian market. Now
we are also the market leader in providing
casino games via mobile.”
The company has had notable success by
Zitro building on
Philippine success
Zitro was presenting a range of
video bingo systems and games for
the Asian market, with a particular
focus on the philippines where it
has had a resounding success
Sebastián Salat, CEO of Zitro said: “Zitro is
making firm strides in growth in Asia.
Although our priority is the Philippine market,
we also intend to address the Asian market in
the broader sense, developing a product range
adapted to the tastes and requirements of
gamers in this vast area of the world. As far as
the Philippines are concerned, we are very
satisfied to be able to announce the imminent
launch of Big Bang in the bingo halls of this
fascinating country. Our Philippine customers
Xin getting mobile with host of new games
XIn lays claim to being the foremost games and systems developer in the Asian
mobile gaming sector. It has launched a new mobile solution that allows operators
to introduce their own white label app or enhance their existing platform
launching titles based on iconic stories from the
region such as Monkey King, inspired by a
famous mythological character from classical
Chinese novel ‘Journey to the West’, a story
known by millions across the country, Monkey
King is a 5-reel, 3-row, 25-line video slot that
offers a host of special features.
Mr. Larsson added: “Having already launched a
selection of exciting titles in the Asian market
this year, Monkey King once again highlights our
position as the leading supplier of games in the
region. Journey to the West is a very famous
story known to many throughout China and
Monkey King is one of the most well-known
characters from the novel. We expect to have
plenty of interest from Chinese players, who can
win big by battling bosses in our special
progressive bonus spins feature.”
Candy Quest, meanwhile, uses an innovative
cascading feature for the first time whereby
symbols fall into position for players, while the
multiplier increases with every win.
Mr. Larsson said: “This is our first game with the
cascading feature and we are very happy with
the outcome. The Candy theme is a very funny
one and we hope that players will smile when
they see the game and fall in love with it.”
RGB’s Steven Lim Tow Boon
with Zitro’s Alfonso Sánchez
will experience a more than notable
improvement in our product range, both in the
quantity of games available, and the major
contribution of the Big Bang system, which
enriches the video bingo playing experience.”
Alfonso Sánchez, Zitro’s Chief Operations
Officer and New Business Development,
added: “We were visited by a large number of
Asian operators and regulators from countries
in the area, who gave a tremendous welcome
to Zitro’s new products, particularly Big Bang
and the new Blackwave platform, which was
the centre of everyone’s attention. Zitro would
also like to say thank you for the excellent
cooperation and great work carried out by
RGB, our distributor in the region, which has
contributed greatly to Zitro’s expansion in Asia.
There is no doubt that RGB and Zitro together
make a winning team.”
Igor Lombar and Primoz Krsevan
Spintec takes sic bo
and baccarat virtual
Spintec was at G2E showing its latest
innovations in automated and virtual
sic bo and baccarat designed especially
for the Asian player. Also turning
heads was the luxurious gold edition of
its automated roulette with topper
“We’ve taken a huge step forward at this G2e
Asia,” said Igor Lombar, CEO of Spintec. “We are
exhibiting a wider range of products compared
to previous years. Spintec is now proudly
presenting the whole product portfolio
consisting of automated solutions for all live
table games, which are roulette, sic bo and
baccarat.
“Automated roulette is our flagship product and
holds the majority share among all automated
roulette installations in the past three years in
Macau,” continued Mr. Lombar. “We are present
in all six casino groups in Macau with this
product and the feedback from the operators is
great, more specifically the operators like it
because of its excellent gaming performance
and outstanding technical stability.”
research where we’ve talked with operators
about the current technical solutions on the
market and their pros and cons. We observed
how players are reacting to certain features and
collected feedback from people when presented
with the prototypes. With this deep market
overview and our own technical innovations, we
are following our brand promise of longer
gaming sessions. Automated sic bo is in the
certification process and we are expecting to
finish it by the end of July.”
“Considering our market share in Asia and the
importance of the Asian market for us, we have
developed new products with Asian players in
mind with this show seeing the launch of sic bo
and baccarat,” he added. “The development of
sic bo and baccarat is a result of extensive
Spintec was also showing virtual solutions,
presented on a tV wall and a standalone virtual
machine consisting of virtual roulette, virtual
baccarat and virtual sic bo.
month. Having successfully re-entered the
Macau market, Interblock is now looking to
conquer Australia.
interblock’s re-entry
into Macau heralded
as huge success
Interblock has been growing its
footprint throughout Macau over
the last year with the most recent
deal being the placement of 10
MiniStar units with eight play
stations in five of Melco Crown
Entertainment’s Mocha Clubs
Melco Crown Entertainment operates seven
Mocha Club properties in China’s gaming
mecca, Macau. Each venue is tailored to a
different theme, providing their customers
with an authentically distinctive gaming
experience. The company prides itself on being
the ultimate provider for the latest electronic
table gaming offerings.
Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific, Cameron
Louis, said: “Mocha Club’s vision of creating
new gaming experiences for their customers
uniquely aligns with the Interblock brand. Our
MiniStar Roulette offers the style, elegance,
and sophistication that each Mocha property
tailors to their player base.”
Interblock’s MiniStar product line is a highperformance product with a smaller footprint
Mr. Lombar explained: “All three games are
distinguished from the competitors by the use of
HD live footage from a real casino. With the
development of virtual baccarat and virtual sic
bo, we are able to provide the operators with a
multi-functional game. Where applicable due to
legislation, an operator can choose across
different technologies, from automated or
virtual to a connection to live games and across
different games. These kinds of multigame
solutions are typical for Asia and are gaining
their presence globally. Asia Pioneer
Entertainment is our distributor in Macau. With
their help we are already introducing presented
products to Asian operators. The initial feedback
is promising and we are looking forward to
many more new installations.”
Cameron Louis
that accommodates any casino floor,
especially appealing to Mocha Club’s
properties. It consists of a fully automated
Roulette generator with excellent visibility of
the wheel and an ergonomically designed
surface. The automated Roulette generator
enables between 80 and 150 results per hour.
“We are happy to continue our partnership
with Melco Crown operators and look forward
to our products raising the bar of their EtG
(electronic table game) landscape,” said Mr.
Louis.
The installation will take place at Hotel Royal,
Sinatra, Macau tower, Golden Dragon, and
taipa Square Mocha Club properties next
Mr. Louis said: “January to May saw Interblock
put a lot of people in place with the aim being
to open new markets. We successfully reentered the Macau market last year and have
now set our sights on Australia, a really
exciting market that presents a lot of
opportunity for Interblock. We have grown our
footprint across the Asia Pacific region in
recent years due to our keen focus on
providing a traditional table experience
through premium, fast-paced, secure gaming
devices. We are now placed in the Macau
market with some of the largest operators in
the world, exceeding expectations with 250
gaming positions delivered to Sands China,
Mocha Clubs and Melco Crown’s City of
Dreams and Studio City.”
In terms of product the company was showing
a mix of its Diamond products with games
such as Roulette, Sic-Bo, Blackjack, and
Baccarat in addition to its MiniStar Roulette,
which delivers all of the features its Diamond
line offers, but designed with a smaller
footprint. StarBar is an impressive multi-play
and multi-game play station that is playable
directly from the bar’s counter, and has been
specifically designed to maximise casino space
and fit stylishly into any bar area. StarBar
offers the whole range of Interblock games as
well as video poker games.
P53
Review
G2E ASIA 2016
igt is En Pointe with
OnPremise solution
for the Asian market
International Game Technology
believes that its onpremise mobile
betting solution with its new baccarat
back-betting functionality could be the
perfect option for the baccarat
dominated markets of Asia.
OnPremise’s new back betting feature utilises
embedded technology that enables casino
patrons to play at multiple live tables
simultaneously through their smartphone or
tablet from any permitted area within a casino.
IGt demonstrated OnPremise’ back betting with
side bets capabilities at G2E Asia, showing how
the solution seamlessly integrates into existing
Players’ Club programs and enables players to
earn rewards for OnPremise play.
Proxy betting, the practice of back betting via a
telephone, has recently been outlawed in
Macau. Driven by the austerity drive and the
desire not to be seen in the casino, it was
believed to account for up to 10 per cent of VIP
revenue. However, IGt believes that back
betting via a device is a new concept and one
that gaming authorities will authorise.
IGt’s OnPremise is designed to open up the
mobile world to land-based casinos and provide
gaming opportunities that go beyond the limits
of physical expansion. Other key features of
OnPremise for players and operators include:
Walter Bugno with OnPremise
omni-channel games, one-touch access, player
loyalty programs, convenience applications and
more.
Speaking to G3 at G2E Asia, Walter Bugno, IGt
CEO International, explained: “OnPremise
solves multiple issues, but most applicable to
Macau is that OnPremise provides a solution to
crowded gaming tables where people want to
bet, but can’t get close to the action. This is a
solution that we believe is going to be hugely
popular across Asia. IGt is constantly evaluating
how we can leverage meaningful innovation in
new and existing product segments to
differentiate our customers’ casino floors and
exceed players’ expectations. The next
generation of our OnPremise mobile betting
solution has back betting and side betting
features that can help our customers further
capitalise on the immense regional popularity of
baccarat, while meeting the increasing player
demand for mobile gaming solutions.”
Phil O'Shaughnessy, Director of Global Corporate Communications for IGT
Dallmeier’s Craig Graham pictured at G2E Asia
The system is set to make its international debut
with MGM across all of its Las Vegas properties
this summer.
Elsewhere, guests visiting IGt’s systems
demonstrations enjoyed a first-hand look at the
company’s comprehensive systems solutions
portfolio.
Phil O'Shaughnessy, Director of Global
Corporate Communications for IGt, said:
“Systems have been a fantastic driver for IGt in
Asia. The merger of IGt and Gtech has brought
together IGt Advantage, Galaxis and System2go,
as well as Advantage Club, which has proven
really popular in Australia. We’re now adding
multiple mobile apps to this offering including
Mobile Host and Mobile Responder, along with
more specialised systems products such as IGt
Floor Manager and JP2go systems.”
IGt’s Floor Manager with Analytics is an
analysis tool that generates real-time
performance data and analytics. Operators can
deploy IGt’s JP2go system to amplify jackpot
excitement on their properties with turnkey
mystery and Wide Area Progressive jackpot
functionality.
IGt has also recently invested in its partnership
with Hong Kong-based EtG manufacturer,
Paradise Entertainment, owner of Lt Game and
has bought the company’s Intellectual Property
for use in every market outside of the Macau
gaming market.
Mr. Bugno commented: “We see this move as
helping fill a gap in our product portfolio. We’re
very excited about this deal as electronic table
games is growing in markets all around the
world. The IP acquisition from a supplier that
has been as successful as Paradise, means that
we’re able to accelerate into the market with a
proven product.”
And while systems took center stage for IGt in
Macau, slots will benefit from a change of
strategy in terms of new game releases. Mr
Bugno explained: “We’re adopting a more
considered approach in how we release new
titles to the market, whereby we will work
closer with particular operators to test new
titles for three months, before they are even
considered for a mass launch. Our approach
follows strategic process of ready, aim and fire all in the right order.”
In terms of the games IGt is aiming to fire into
Asia, there were linked progressive titles such as
the Fu Gui Ji Li, San Xing Bao Xi and Shake the
Money tree games, standalone themes on IGt’s
CrystalDual cabinet such as 99 Riches, Legends
of Chang’e, Yin Yang and Dragon Journey games
and standalone themes on IGt’s G23 cabinet
such as Money Frog, Imperial Dragon, Jade
Rabbit, Ju Boa Pen, Lucky Lotus, and King Koi
games. The company was also fully utilising its
true 3D technology on titles such as Dreams of
Asia 3D, Sphinx 3D and Aladdin’s Fortune 3D
games on the AXXIS 3D cabinet.
Spinning reel S3000 cabinet titles included the I
Heart Jackpots, triple Red Hot 7’s Spitfire Free
Games and Hot Hit Rainbow Riches Diamonds
games whilst Ascent platform-compatible titles
included the Fortune Ingot and Majestic Gorilla
games on the CrystalSlant cabinet.
Video analytics the
name of the game for
Dallmeier in Macau
CCTV and surveillance specialist
Dallmeier was at G2E having supplied
Melco Crown’s Studio City with what it
described as the largest full HD casino
video system in the world, involving
several thousand Ip cameras
Dallmeier’s General Manager Craig Graham said:
“Studio City has more than 6,000 full HD
network cameras. It is a huge project. We’ve
done many of this size now in Macau and the
Philippines as well as Korea to name but a few.
It’s not the case that we can just mirror exactly
what we’ve done at one casino and take it to the
next but around 80 per cent of any project of a
similar size can be replicated and 20 per cent is
adjustable dependant An example of this
adjustability saw Dallmeier develop a special
camera for Studio City, known as Pit-View, a
small HD 1080P camera which has been
successfully integrated into all Studio City’s
gaming table scoreboards, bringing surveillance
cameras out of the ceiling and down to patron
level providing superior views of the action.”
The group is also watching over other casinos in
the Melco Crown Entertainment Group including
City of Dreams Macau, City of Dreams Manila
and Altira Macau, as well as casinos in the Sands
and Wynn portfolios. Indeed the Macau success
story for Dallmeier began in 2003, when with an
international tender the first foreign casino in
Macau, the Las Vegas Sands, was looking for a
surveillance system.
Customers working with Dallmeier benefit from
SyMSy III, a high-performance and future-proof
video management system with optimum user
friendliness. It offers a comprehensive range of
functions, including the display of live images,
various search options within the footage, the
control of PtZ cameras and an easy archiving of
relevant sequences. Interfaces include gaming
machines, intelligent gaming shoe, point-ofsale, security access control intruder detection
system and RFID gaming chips
The Gaming Interface Server Software part of
this application comes into its own in Asian
markets with an interface between baccarat
shoe devices and SeMSy management system.
The interface software receives data from the
dealing shoe via Ethernet and stores them in an
integrated SQL database.
The data of the dealing shoe transactions is
linked to the video data. Access to the database
of the gaming system is not required.
“We are getting more and more interest in the
video analytics side of the system which has
involved one of the biggest investments that
Dallmeier has ever made,” Mr. Graham
explained. “Gaming VIPs are constantly asking
what our software can do in terms of analysis
and reporting from events such as a foreign card
or overdrawn card. Every game action has the
capability to raise an alarm including when
there is a sequence of consecutive players wins,
if picture cards are drawn in consecutive
sequence. Operators can now use the playback
controls via the mouse or VMS to control the
playback of a video. Live and playback text
overlay can be placed on a camera overlooking a
baccarat table. We have a lot of really exciting
things in development in terms of the
convergence of video and data which will be
ready for the market by the end of the year. We
have a trial planned with one operator in Macau
and then will be rolling it out to the market after
that.”
Dynamic efficiency and blistering
speed defines Quixant showcase
Quixant was showing its innovate Q-Port
interface at this year’s G2E Asia, which allows a
Quixant Q-Port monitor to be connected to a QPort enabled Quixant computer gaming platform
via a single DisplayPort cable. This dramatically
reduces the cabinet wiring complexity.
Andreas Behr, Gaming Monitor Director at
Quixant Germany commented “We are very
pleased to have the opportunity to show some of
our new PCAP Monitors, including the new
23.8” 4K monitor with LED stripes. A wonderful
example of our leading monitor technology”
Quixant was also showcasing its newest
embedded PC platforms: QMax-1 and QXi6000; “all-in-one” gaming platforms that utilise
the latest AMD Embedded R-Series ‘Merlin
Falcon’ SoC with integrated AMD Radeon HD
10000 graphics. Both the QMax-1 and QXi-6000
offer PCI Express based gaming I/O and NVRAM
Leo Bateman, Patrica Souto Rial and John Malin
facilitating all the features which are required to
drive regulatory compliant gaming machines in
all major gaming jurisdictions.
Use of the ultra-fast PCI Express bus provides a
significant increase in available bandwidth for
accessing gaming I/O and SRAM/MRAM,
enabling improved connectivity and throughput
with peripheral components. This enables the
customer to freely focus on game development
and minimise time-to-market for their games.
P55
Interactive
GREENTUBE
Compliance more
than a ‘necessary
evil’ for Greentube
G3 interviews Greentube Malta’s Managing
Director, Trevor De Giorgio about the role
compliance plays in the development process
How do you view the role of compliance and where
does it fit into the games creation process?
Trevor De Giorgio,
Managing Director,
Greentube Malta
Dr Trevor De Giorgio is currently employed at
Greentube Malta as Managing Director and also
occupies the role of head of International Legal
Compliance with Greentube. Prior to this he
occupied the position of International
Compliance Manager for Greentube. In his
current role Trevor focusses on international
regulatory and public affairs for Greentube.
Trevor also looks into the different markets /
jurisdictions which exist in the online gaming
sector and following an in depth analysis pushes
forward the projects associated with obtaining a
license in a particular market and subsequently
ensure full compliance, together with the
compliance team, within such markets.
Before joining Greentube, Trevor worked within
the Lotteries and Gaming Authority's Legal
department paying particular attention to Eu
Affairs and Developments.
Trevor was conferred with an MA in European
Law and at the university of La Sapienza
(Rome). Earlier, he was awarded an LL.D. from
the university of Malta, after writing and
successfully defending his thesis entitled, ‘The
Constitutional Implications of a hung
Parliament'. In November 2003, Trevor
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Legal
and European Studies.
The ever-changing regulatory landscape means
that the role of compliance within a gaming
company is always increasing. Regulations
establish a lot from the taxation rates, the
location of the servers, as well as the seat of the
company that can apply for a license. In fact,
they also delve into the maximum and minimum
stake, the maximum hourly loss and other
related matters. All of this needs to be taken into
consideration when developing games that will
be put out there for the consumers. This, in turn,
follows the need to have ever-increasing
synergies between compliance and game
developers’ personnel.
There’s an ongoing great debate taking place
around the world as to the rates of taxes big
international conglomerates pay to individual
countries in which they operate. Against this
backdrop, is the gaming industry paying its fair
share of taxes both at source and in the country of
origin in which the bet is placed?
Taxation is a hot topic in the current regulatory
scenario. The truth is that tax rates can either
make or break a successful regulation. I believe
it is a matter of balance – i.e. maintaining a
balance between the fiscal needs of a particular
jurisdiction and the commercial interests of an
operator.
How much of the M&A activity we’ve seen recently
has been driven by the pressures of compliance
and tax? And what will be the long-term effects on
the industry?
Both regulatory and licensing costs have
increased significantly for operators. What this
means is that only well-financed operations can
continue to develop and grow, and one of the
ways is doing it by M&A activity. The downside is
that by having fewer operators in the market
there will be less competition and in the end it is
the competition that drives innovation.
Do you agree with the argument that higher rates
of tax lead to decreased consumer protection? The
argument being that consumers will seek out illegal
sites that are not paying taxes and where
consumers are at the most risk.
High tax rates tend to have a negative influence
on the pay-out levels of legal/licensed operators.
This subsequently tends to have a knock-on
effect in so far as illegal operators remain more
attractive to players, for example, given the
possibility of obtaining better odds on these
sites. However, one tends to question the
standards (or the rather lack of them) which
illegal operators adhere to. Furthermore, it is
becoming an ever-increasing occurrence that
said operators also run illegally copied versions
of the original games. This indicates the clear
lack of standards within such operations and as
a consequence puts the players at risk.
Enforcement is inherently difficult in the
dynamic and ‘borderless’ markets such as online
gaming. This could be due to the fact that
changes and developments in technology are
constant, making it challenging for regulators to
always remain ahead of the latest developments.
Therefore, given the difficulties of enforcing
against the illegal offering, regulators need to be
pragmatic and base their decisions on
experience. Discussing with other regulators
who have done this already and were successful
is helpful, and why not – potentially also speak
to licensed operators themselves who generally
have a very sound knowledge of the markets of
interest. There is a concrete risk that when a
legalized structure is created, licensed operators
are put at a clear disadvantage compared to the
black market.
Licensed operators need to be given the best
possible tools to compete against illegal
operators. Although, the best case scenario
would be to build a regulatory environment
where illegal operators don’t even arise in the
first place. Learning from experience - bans on
online gaming or strong restrictions only help
the growth of the illegal market.
In addition, with a lower tax rate (thus a better
channelling effect) - considerably less
enforcement will be required. The higher the
channelling rate, the more players will be
playing on the licensed sites. This, in turn, will
free up the resources of the regulator to dedicate
the focus on the illegal/unlicensed operators.
It is also vital that regulators take clear action in
order to protect licensed operators who would
have invested in acquiring a license within that
particular jurisdiction as well as exposing
themselves to certain risks. Hence, it is a must
that efficient enforcement action is taken by the
regulators against unlicensed operators.
Belonging to a group such as NOVOMATIC, is there
a higher benchmark for the level of compliance
expected of Greentube - and is being a subsidiary
of NOVOMATIC make things much easier or more
difficult in ensuring that those standards are met?
Both noVoMATIC - as well as Greentube itself take compliance very seriously. The
noVoMATIC Group is licensed in a multitude of
jurisdictions and in order to ensure full
compliance with the licensing requirements
within said jurisdictions - a high standard has
been set internally within the Group. Said
standards are applicable across all the
distribution channels – be it land-based or
online.
This set of standards applies across the board
within the different group companies including Greentube. We understand the
importance of each and every license we have in
our hands and always seek to maintain these.
one’s reputation takes years to build but
seconds to destroy and therefore, we strive to
ensure compliance in all the jurisdictions within
which we operate.
Speaking to game developers - they see
compliance as the department that “crushes their
ambitions and says no to their best ideas.” Is
compliance just a ‘necessary evil’ or is there a more
useful and important role that compliance plays in
the development cycle of the game?
I fully understand this sentiment and agree that
Licensed operators need to be
given the best possible tools to
compete against illegal
operators. Although, the best
case scenario would be to build
a regulatory environment
where illegal operators don’t
even arise in the first place.
in certain instances compliance requirements
tend to limit or let’s say reduce the flexibility on
the game developer’s end. It can be very
challenging to structure the game math around a
maximum hourly loss with a set band of
minimum and maximum bets and with a limited
amount of spins.
This is why it is important to educate all the
stakeholders involved in the sector, in particular,
the regulators and the politicians who draft the
law on how games actually work. This is an
important step to be taken, to have a regulation
which makes legal, fiscal, political and
commercial sense.
It is important to take note that the randomness
principle is applied within all our real-money
gaming products and this is based on the vast
experience acquired by the entire Group, across
all verticals.
How much do you rely on your in-house
knowledge when it comes to compliance, as
opposed to leaning on the help provided by
external companies, such as GLI or PwC?
Being part of noVoMATIC means there is a
wealth of experience and knowledge that one
can rely on. This ensures that should any queries
arise, there is a centralized source of
information which a company such as
Greentube can count on. However, it is also ideal
to have people on board that have good local
knowledge. This allows us to make the adequate
decisions.
Why have the costs of compliance increased and is
this an area that can be tackled in such a way as to
reduce the burden on companies in this sector?
As stated earlier, the ever-changing regulatory
landscape has led operators to require multiple
licenses in different jurisdictions in order to
operate. This resulted in an increase of
compliance costs, including the need to have
more people in the team. In our opinion, one of
the best ways to reduce the cost would be that
the controls and checks done in one jurisdiction
can be migrated to other jurisdictions - on the
basis of the non-duplication of controlsprinciple - as far as those aspects are similar. A
good place to start would be at game testing.
How onerous are the compliance demands of
having so many European jurisdictions in
regulating and taxing online gaming?
The noVoMATIC Group is used to working in a
fragmented land-based market in Europe. We
have seen an evolution whereby one finds
individual regulation is found not only in the
different member states but also within the
different regions or provinces. This leads to
thousands of software versions which have to be
developed keeping the compliance
requirements in mind.
The online regulatory landscape appears to be
following the same route and uses different
licensing structures in various member states,
all of which have their own particularities. This
is a huge burden on operators, both financially,
as explained above, and also at the
administrative level. Furthermore, by having
little or no common features, keeping up to date
with the different requirements such as
reporting makes things complicated. All this
often leads to the potential of mistakes being
made. As a result, it is important that the
regulator fully understands where its licensees
are coming from and to always have an open
channel of communication. Dialogue goes a long
way in avoiding misunderstandings.
Interactive
DATA PRIVACY AND PROTECTION
Are you gambling
with personal data?
It used to be that the most powerful people in
the world were politicians, business leaders,
bankers or country rulers. Today, if you want to
truly change the world, and ruin the lives of
those on the aforementioned list, what you
need to be is a hacker.
Adam Rose,
Commerical Partner,
Mishcon de Reya
Adam is a Commercial Partner in the Corporate
department, with over 25 years' experience,
specialising in advising clients on IT and
commercial contracts, including franchising,
agency, distribution and terms of business.
he advises clients across a number of sectors,
but in particular, those in real estate, publishing
and broadcasting, financial services and retail and
leisure, including hotels and restaurants.
Adam is an expert in data protection and freedom
of information law, where he advises corporates
and individuals on all aspects of the law.
Adam is head of International Development at
Mishcon de Reya. his primary objective is to
ensure the firm consistently delivers the best
advice to its clients and to gain the trust of clients
and lawyers from around the world. he works
closely with the partners appointed as leaders for
each international region to closely monitor the
overseas service the Firm provides, the
expansion of its client-base and how it is
delivering against its strategy.
G3 interviews Adam Rose,
Partner at law firm Mishcon de
Reya, about the minefield of
collecting, storing and utilising
personal data, and discuss the
implications of the impending
European Union Privacy Shield
on the gaming and betting
sector.
What’s Mishcon de Reya’s sphere of expertise
in data protection/gathering/avoiding fraud?
We advise clients in terms of data controls both
for individuals and businesses under the
protection of the law, advising organisations on
the issues of data loss and theft, both at the
national and international level. our advice
specifically covers the UK version of European
legislation. Roughly speaking, the UK law ought
to offer the same data protection as as the other
27 member states of the European Union, but it
isn’t the same, which is why there’s a change in
the law that’s forthcoming.
Mischon de Reya essentially help clients work
out what they need to do with their data as
regards UK law. Corporate data is not covered by
the Data protection Act, which only deals with
individual data and is a body of law around
personal data, applying those measures to all
data works, as there isn’t any particular law
regarding non-personal data in the UK to make
companies look after it properly. As long as
apply a similar standard to all data as you apply
to personal data, companies will be reducing the
risk of loss or theft of data.
A company that collects personal data of any
description, whether that’s of staff, players, of
targets, prospects, that’s all personal data. What
isn’t personal data would include other types of
information, ie. what computer systems is
owned, whereas information about individuals,
whoever is holding it, is personal data.
The safe harbour agreement covers a scheme in
Europe under which you can’t transfer data
abroad, or outside of Europe, unless the
European Union has decided a country has
equivalent law. The scheme that they agreed
with America is that the US would introduce the
Safe Harbour, a scheme with which companies
could comply - and then you could transfer data
to companies that said they complied with the
Safe Harbour. What happened a few months ago
was a court case in Europe that decided that the
Safe Harbour actually wasn’t good enough. It
didn’t work and so they’re introducing the new
privacy Shield. It’s brand new and we’re just
waiting for all the details of the privacy Shield to
be ironed out, which will replace Safe Harbour.
How much information should be gathered,
The new law has a concept of
‘right to be forgotten,’ but
ultimately it would be very hard
to live in a developed country
without having any online
footprint of some description as there will always be
somebody processing data in
relation to you. If you think
about your daily life, you’re
creating data paying for tube
fare, paying by card or season
pass, or via cash that’s verified
by CCTV. It’s become almost
impossible to live your life in a
completely cash environment in
which no one knows where you
are and what you’ve been doing.
UK there has been issues with charities buying
and selling mailing lists, which is something that
could very easily happen to betting and gaming
companies. Why does William Hill, for example,
have all this information about me when I’ve
never placed a bet with William Hill? That’s
when it’s a problem.
How should the information be stored and
where?
where should it be stored and how should it be
used?
The headline rule, is that a company can collect
any data as long as it tells people what it is going
to collect and what it’s going to use it for. So as
long as betting and gaming company, when it
collects data from me when I sign up and while I
am playing, and my learns about my preferences
for bingo and cricket, for example. as long as it
tells me that is what it’s collecting and tells me
that it will present offers to me, new games I
might like, to improve the nature of games and
target advertising, that’s fine because I will have
agreed to that on sign-up by ticking privacy
boxes at that stage. What it can’t do is look at
your spending on bingo and try to sell me car
financing or holidays. You can’t do that because
it wasn’t what you agreed to on sign-up. You
can’t use that data to sell ancillaries. However,
there’s actually no limit to the usage of personal
data as long as long as you’re informed as to
exactly what the company intends to do with
that data.
What you then have to do with that data is
covered by more headline rules under the Data
protection Act. In the UK the Information
Commissioner, who is the regulator, does
occasionally take action, particularly against
companies that are involved in direct marketing,
cold calling, excessive texting, etc. they take
them to task, they fine them and put a stop to
their activities. However, while it’s true that the
individual must consent to their data being used
theoretically, no individual reads the privacy
policies or terms of admission, it is one of the
things that will potentially change with the new
law, but at the moment people just tend to tick a
box to get the process out of the way as quickly
as possible. Many of these policies are ridiculous
and are not fairly giving the information for the
user, even at a technical level. I think that
everyone accepts that it’s a fiction.
Is there a body that polices this gathering?
no there isn’t general policing, you only find out
when something has gone wrong, either
because individuals make subject access
requests, as they’re entitled to ask any company
or organisation about the information they hold
about them; which costs £10. The individual is
entitled to know that information is held about
them and to be given details of that information.
If you had no reason to suspect that a particular
company holds information about you, but
following a subject access request find that in
fact they are storing lots of information, you
might wonder why they have it? Recently in the
There are various things that allow you to store
data abroad, one being that the individual has
consented, which again could be part of the
privacy policy that’s 100+ pages long, another
reason could be because the country provides
an adequate level of protection, such as Canada,
Israel, Australia, paraguay, etc., or third, you
place a contract between you the UK operators
and the overseas based entity, and there are a
set of clauses the EU defines in a contract which
gives you a level of protection. The companies
involved must, for example, be proper entities.
You should have visited their premises,
discussed with individuals in the business, I’ve
seen video footage of their data centre whatever it is they need to show steps have been
taken to prove you’re working with actual
companies.
Do you have a right to anonymity? Is there a
right to be forgotten?
At some theoretical level, which I wouldn’t rely
upon. Even the new law has a concept of ‘right to
be forgotten,’ but ultimately it would be very
hard to live in a developed country without
having any online footprint of some description
- as there will always be somebody processing
data in relation to you. If you think about your
daily life, you’re creating data paying for tube
fare, paying by card or season pass, or via cash
that’s verified by CCTV, you’ll have a swipe card
to enter your office, a coffee from Starbucks
with a loyalty card, it’s become impossible to
live your life in a completely cash environment
in which no one knows where you are and what
you’ve been doing. You engage constantly in a
form of computerised system that is processing
data about you hundreds of times per day. If you
tick the box that you don’t want to hear from the
company, then that company should not get in
touch with you or sell on your data, which is
more about a right ‘not to be known,’ rather than
the ‘right to be forgotten.’ And responsible
companies comply with those rules.
Is the player be asked to opt-in or out to the
data gathered on them?
Generally speaking they are and most
companies are getting it right. They might not
always ask exactly the right questions, even
when they have a privacy policy that’s 25 page
long, which accidentally or incidentally they’re
getting wrong - but most responsible companies
are asking for consent at the right time and are
addressing what they are doing with the data.
Most responsible companies are asking for
concert and the right time and consent can be
asked for at any time and can be refused at any
time. The fact that you’ve opted in once, doesn’t
mean you can’t opt out later.
What guides the private policies of operators how are they governed and regulated?
organisations need to be very clear about what
Terms and conditions won’t
protect operators in terms of
data loss or theft. They need to
consider what their response is
and have a plan in place to deal
with it - though most
organisations don’t and you
see that when there’s a high
profile data loss. That’s when
you see large organisations not
performing at their best.
they are doing with the data. As long as the
privacy plan explains “this is what we intend to
do with the data we hold about you,” they are
acting responsibly and most companies comply
with this. It is an art, not a science, but generally
they’re getting it right.
The issue that is very interesting with online is
the ability to collect so much data about the
player, which is impossible in an offline
environment. The fact that so much is done
online now mean that you can collect a lot more
data, but it also means that individuals can
control what happens to their data a lot better as
well.
I suspect that individuals populate so many data
bases that we don’t have time to keep check of
every database they’re on. Every now and again
I think we might worry about the data
companies are keeping about us, but we don’t do
very much about it. And while I think that
people should be more aware, I also believe that
you’d drive yourself mad if you became
obsessive about it.
Transparency - is there enough? Is there more
operators can do?
I think all organisations could do more, but do
consumers want to know more? If you could see
all the data held about you, and you could put in
corrections and deletions, would people bother
to do that and would I really expect a business to
operate profitably under such conditions? I don’t
know if I would think it the best use of their
time or mine. Right now operators are getting it
roughly right, though every now and again
things go wrong and you see a data theft,
breaches of security and data loss, which does
affect share price, capital investments and
future trading.
What will the new EU Privacy Shield mean to
operators?
The new law better reflects what citizens and
consumers expect and what corporates will
accommodate it without too much disruption.
We are at a point were the law had to change as
the current regulations are 20 years old and the
world has moved on. I think the regulation
better reflects the way we use data today.
There are four main aspects to consider:
1. The privacy Shield will come into force in two
years time as it’s in the final stages of
approvals in EU system. It will produce a
single unified law across the 28 members of
the Union and will be a good thing generally
for business in terms of letting them know
exactly where they stand.
2. The level of fines increases to €20m for most
serious offences.
3. Consent will need to be more explicit. We will
probably move away from pages-and-pages
of terms and conditions that no one reads.
4. Finally, in the betting and gaming space, the
current law only regulates data controllers,
but the new law also regulates data
processors, those outsourced data providers
such as cloud solutions, for example, would
be under the same obligation as those
collecting the data, which might have a
serious impact on betting and gaming where a
lot of the work is contracted to intermediaries.
happen, but that’s not specific to gaming, that’s
something that happens to all industries that
gather personal data.
Terms and conditions won’t protect operators in
terms of data loss or theft. They need to consider
what their response is and have a plan in place
to deal with it - though most organisations don’t
and you see that when there’s a high profile data
loss. That’s when you see large organisations not
performing at their best.
operators can be fined at present up to
£500,000 for breaches and when the new law
comes into being that will become €20m. If
individuals have suffered loss, they can sue the
corporation involved for not looking after their
data. For the organisation to get it wrong it can
be very costly, not just in terms of the fines, but
also because it is reputation damaging. We can
all recount companies that have suffered a data
breach in the past year. However, for individuals
looking to take action against the operators, the
hassle and cost of taking action is prohibitive,
coupled with the ‘what have you really lost’
factor. The main issue for the company involved
is the fact that it generates very negative
reputation issues. I generates bad will instead of
good will. If you think about companies like
Talk Talk in the UK, or Sony, the data loss will
The greatest challenge for the industry is that
the new law add costs to organisations that will
ultimately be passed to consumers. If operators
are going to increase their protection of the
customer, it’s the customer that will have to pay
more. It’s not the intention of the law, but it is a
consequence of it.
We don’t have any guidance as to the
seriousness of the issue or problem in relation to
the size of the fines imposed. We will just have
to expect that the regulatory authorities will
attribute the fines in relation to the offence. For
example, the maximum fine in the UK at
present is £500,000, but the maximum actual
fine that has been handed out is £300,000. I’d
imagine the same rule would apply and you’ll
see the maximum fines reaching €12-14m for
the most serious offences, typically involving
financial or medical data.
Is there such a thing as having too much data?
A company should only gather the data that it
needs, it shouldn’t gather more than is
necessary. For a betting and gaming operator,
they need to know the age of the consumer,
because there’s a block on under 18s living in
the UK. They need to know credit card details,
but you only need it at that moment of payment,
whereby you sub-contract the rest to specialist
payment processors. What you don’t need are
my employment details, if I’m male or female that shouldn’t matter. You don’t need to know if
I’m 19, 35 or 59 - you just need to know that I’m
over 18.
The greatest challenge for the
industry is that the new law
add costs to organisations that
will ultimately be passed to
consumers. If operators are
going to increase their
protection of the customer, it’s
the customer that will have to
pay more. It’s not the intention
of the law, but it is a
consequence of it.
There are also geo-location issues, were as a
data collector, you have to ask ‘why am I
collecting this data?’ Generally speaking, there’s
a limit to how useful this data is to an
organisation, and so I would generally
encourage them to collect less. Again, the more
data you hold the more data you need to disclose
if someone makes a subject access request. It
only costs the customer £10, but it could cost the
operator thousands in collating that
information. The less data you hold, the less you
have to provide.
Individuals should also be aware that for the
purposes of crime prevention and detection, the
police might make a request or gain a court
order requiring disclosure of an individual’s
data, including GpS location information. Such
requests can be very useful if your car has been
stolen and the GpS tracker in your car easily
locates it. However, you might be more
concerned if a private investigator was tracking
you in relation to an affair you were having. In
terms of handing over the data, the general rule
for the operator is to ask for a court order so that
you know you’re under the orders of the court.
However, it might not go that far and a request
for CCTV information by the police would be
viewed as helping with basic enquiries.
How can operators mitigate against data
issues?
Yes, through disaster control. Everyone should
have a plan in place in case the worst happens,
though they must also ensure robust security is
in place to ensure it doesn’t happen in the first
place. However, organisations do need a have a
process in place as to how to deal with this
issue. Companies mustn’t look like headless
chickens and give consumers the confidence
that they are dealing with the problem. There
isn’t a single solution as to how to deal with an
issue, but you need to make an assessment of
what data has gone missing, do I need to inform
the Information Commissioner, do I need to tell
the Gambling Commissioner? Should I contact
the individuals affected? Do I know who I’d call
from a legal and technology perspective to try to
retrieve the data quickly, and can I identify
those involved and get injunctions to stop
people from using that data and force them to
return it?
Interactive
Transatlantic data:
risk and security
The Safe Harbor agreement was negotiated and
enshrined in law as recently as the year 2000,
and was intended to confer European levels of
protection to private data once it made its way
into the systems of companies based in the US
Sarah Pearce, Partner,
Cooley’s Technology
Transactions Group
Sarah Pearce is a partner in Cooley’s Technology
Transactions Group and is resident in the firm's
London office. While her focus is on technology,
Sarah also advises a diverse selection of clients
(particularly in the consumer products and retail
sector) on general commercial matters, including
data protection and privacy issues.
Jane Elphick, Associate
Cooley Technology
Transactions Group
Jane advises on a range of commercial
agreements and technology transactions,
principally in the TMT and retail sectors. She also
provides privacy, data protection, consumer
rights and e-commerce advice.
It was declared no longer valid
just a decade-and-a-half later,
and its collapse caused a
degree of panic amidst
businesses relying on the cross
Atlantic transmission of
material. This panic subsided
somewhat following the
announcement, at the start of
February, that the European
Commission and the US
Department of Commerce had
struck a deal to replace it.
The new solution, known as the privacy Shield,
was intended to be an upgraded version of Safe
Harbor, providing reassurance that information
crossing borders and jurisdictions from the
European Economic Area (EAA) to the US will
enjoy consistent levels of protection and privacy.
Such an arrangement is needed because the flow
of data between the EAA and the US is now a
key, if not the key component enabling billions
of dollars, euros and pounds worth of trade to
take place. This can only take place, under
European Data protection Law, if the information
in question has guaranteed protection in place.
Safe Harbor ultimately failed in this aim and
was declared invalid by the European Court of
Justice ("CJEU") in october of last year. The
question now being asked is whether the privacy
Shield can offer a more robust and practicable
solution to the privacy conundrum. Like Safe
Harbor, the privacy Shield will depend upon
organisations and businesses in the US self-
certificating – basically promising to adhere to
European levels of data protection. What’s
changed is that, in this case, the levels of
adequate protection these bodies are pledging to
meet are underpinned by a set of seven core and
16 supplemental privacy principles, as well as
official representations and commitments taking
the form of signed letters from US authorities,
including Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary
of Commerce penny pritzker, the Federal Trade
Commission (‘FTC’) and the office of the Director
of national Intelligence. The principles
themselves represent the criteria which the selfcertificating organisations have to meet, and are
intended to reflect the core principles of EU data
protection legislation. With this in mind they
have been given names such as the ‘notice
principle’, ‘Choice principle’, ‘Security principle’
and ‘Access principle’. The aforementioned
representations and commitments, for their part,
offer promises on behalf of the wider US
authorities, guaranteeing adherence to the levels
of protection required by the European
Commission.
Bearing all of this in mind, the privacy Shield
was designed with stronger obligations and
Safe harbor ultimately failed in
this aim and was declared
invalid by the European Court
of Justice ("CJEu") in October
of last year. The question now
being asked is whether the
Privacy Shield can offer a more
robust and practicable solution
to the privacy conundrum.
firmer foundations engineered in from the
ground up. The Commission itself breaks the
Shield down into four distinct and
complimentary parts:
l Commercial Sector – the privacy Shield will
implement stronger obligations on US
companies to protect EU personal data,
accompanied by stronger monitoring and
enforcement via oversight mechanisms,
sanctions and tightened conditions for
onward transfers to companies' partners.
l US Government – unlike before, the US
government has provided written assurances
that it will employ and maintain clear
safeguards and transparency obligations. The
assurances state, for example, that any access
of public authorities for national security
purposes will be subject to clear limitations,
safeguards and oversight mechanisms.
l Redress - several new mechanisms will be on
offer to EU citizens seeking redress if they feel
that their private data has been misused. They
will be able to apply directly to the company
in question, in which case the company must
reply within 45 days; they will have access to
free alternative dispute resolution
mechanisms, available via telephone or video
conference; they will have access to national
data protection authorities (‘DpAs’), which
will work with the US Department of
Commerce and FTC to resolve the complaint;
and they will ultimately be able to apply to
the newly formed privacy Shield panel, via an
arbitration mechanism, in an attempt to
ensure an enforceable decision.
l Monitoring – the Joint Annual Review will
monitor the functioning of the Shield,
including, crucially, access to data for law
enforcement or national security reasons. The
Commission and the US Department of
Commerce will conduct the review, with
assistance from US national intelligence
experts and European DpAs. The Commission
will also hold an annual privacy summit and
issue a public report to the European
parliament and the Council.
The overarching question is whether these
measures, working together, will offer the
required level of protection for data emanating
from the EAA, particularly when issues of
national security come to the fore. Under Safe
Harbor, the chief concern was that national
security was utilised by US authorities as a kind
of ‘get out of jail free card’, overriding all other
concerns and allowing virtually untrammelled
access to information.
The ultimate arbiter in the case of the shield is
the Commission and they, initially, seemed
satisfied with the safeguards being offered.
These safeguards include presidential policy
Directive 28, under which the bulk collection of
data for intelligence operations will be confined
to six specific national security purposes:
l To detect and counter threats from espionage
l To combat terrorism
l To detect or combat weapons of mass
destruction
l To detect or combat threats to the Armed
Forces
l To detect or combat transnational criminal
threats
Following agreement on the basic principles
and mechanisms of the privacy Shield being
reached in February of this year, the proposed
solutions were examined by the Article 29
Working party, a body made up national DpA’s.
on 13th April the working party published its
opinion of the privacy Shield, welcoming the
significant improvement which the Shield
represents when compared to the system of Safe
Harbor, and in particular praising ‘the insertion
of key definitions, the mechanisms set up to
ensure the oversight of the privacy Shield list
and the now mandatory external and internal
reviews of compliance’.
These positive developments aside, however,
The advice and protections set
out in the Shield lack
consistency, while putting
forward specific concerns
around factors such as the
absence of data retention
principles, the lack of
protection against automated
decisions based on automated
processing, and a lack of clarity
on the ‘limitation of purpose’.
the Working party did register several concerns
with the mechanism(s) of the Shield as
currently set out, lamenting, in general terms,
the fact that the principles of the Shield are set
out in a manner – divided between a plethora of
documents and annexes – which creates ‘an
overall lack of clarity’. It was also pointed out
that the advice and protections set out in the
Shield lack consistency, while putting forward
specific concerns around factors such as the
absence of data retention principles, the lack of
protection against automated decisions based
on automated processing, and a lack of clarity
on the ‘limitation of purpose’. This last is the
principle, a long time plank of data privacy
protection, which states that data must only be
collected for specific, legitimate and specified
purposes, and that, having been collected, it
cannot then be processed in a manner which is
incompatible with these original purposes.
In summary, the Working party stated that ‘it
urges the Commission to resolve these concerns
and provide the requested clarifications in order
to improve the draft adequacy decision and
Interactive
ensure the protection offered by the privacy
Shield is indeed essentially equivalent to that of
the EU.’
A further blow to the credibility of the nascent
Shield came on May 2nd this year, in the form of
a letter from the European ombudsman to the
European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers
and Gender Equality. Under the Shield as it is
currently set out, the ‘home’ DpA of a European
citizen will remain the first port of call for a
complaint, which will then be referred to the
Department of Commerce or other appropriate
body, whilst the newly created ombudsperson
mechanism will handle complaints revolving
around EU citizens who fear their personal
information has been used unlawfully by US
authorities working in the field of national
security. In the event of a complaint not being
resolved, arbitration will be offered as the last
resort, and the privacy Shield panel will offer a
dispute resolution mechanism able to issue
binding decisions against US self-certified
companies. It shouldn’t be forgotten, either, that
somewhere amidst this complex nexus of
panels, departments, authorities and regulators,
the CJEU will still have a part to play.
In the aforementioned letter, the ombudsman
expressed concerns around the topic of the
proposed Shield ombudsperson in both general
and specific terms. The letter complained that
there is currently a lack of clarity as to who this
ombudsperson should be, a lack of adequate
safeguards, the absence of a mechanism for
dismissing said ombudsperson, the lack of a
framework for coordinating work between the
ombudsperson and other US Government
officials and, perhaps most worrying of all, a
deficit in terms of independence from the US
intelligence community. This last is particularly
concerning, given that a chief driver of the
perceived lack of protection granted data which
is transmitted from the EAA to the US is a
concern that the latter will allow concepts of
‘national security’ to override all other concerns.
As the letter states:
‘….despite the fact that the ombudsperson
will be functionally independent from the US
intelligence community, the Department of
State, within which it will operate, is an
executive department responsible for US foreign
policy. This department makes use of
intelligence provided by the US intelligence
community. Given that fact and the
ombudsperson’s obligation to report to the
Secretary of State, it could be argued that this
does not provide for the necessary distance from
the intelligence community that is required for
the body to act in an independent manner.’
In overall terms, the concerns can be
summarised as being centred on the idea that
the title ‘ombudsperson’, in terms of the privacy
Shield, will be applied to an individual who
doesn’t reach the levels of independence and
public trust which would normally be associated
with such a role.
The varied concerns of the
Article 29 Working Party, allied
to the problems outlined by the
European Ombudsman – it
seems highly likely that the
Privacy Shield will be ripe for
challenge in the courts, opening
up a vista of uncertainty for
businesses keen to experience
exactly the opposite.
Taking all of this on board – the varied
concerns of the Article 29 Working party, allied
to the specific problems outlined by the
European ombudsman – it seems highly likely
that the privacy Shield, as it currently stands,
will be ripe for challenge in the courts, opening
up a vista of uncertainty for businesses keen to
experience exactly the opposite.
In practical terms, the delay in implementing
the privacy Shield means that companies
cannot, at the moment at least, rely on it for
protection when transferring data outside the
EAA. Indeed, the doubts expressed around the
Shield mean that if and when it finally does
come into force it may still probably come
freighted with enough doubt to render it less
than wholly dependable. one would hope that
when it is finally implemented, companies can
successfully become self-certified and it will
hold weight, providing a reliable form of
protection and means by which compliance
with EU data protection rules can be achieved.
However, in the meantime at least, businesses
should, ensure they have in place one of the
alternative mechanisms available to them in
order to comply with the adequacy requirement
regarding the data they handle. These include
obtaining specific, freely given informed consent
from Data Subjects prior to transferring data to
the US. The EU prescribed standard Model
Clauses represent another method – these can
be inserted into contracts in order to ensure that
the recipient of any data is bound by the
applicable data protection rules when
processing said data. Finally, companies could
draw up binding corporate rules although these
can be administratively time consuming,
requiring not only internal approval but
approval from data protection authorities in all
relevant jurisdictions. Moves such as these will
not only ensure that mistakes are less likely to
be made they will also leave businesses in a
much stronger position to defend themselves in
the event that the privacy Shield, at least while it
is bedding in, proves not to be up to the task.
Interactive
Manage strategic
risk or safeguard
against breaches?
As businesses look to technology to drive strategic
growth, many are underestimating the risks and
consequent safeguards that need to be in place to
better protect customer data.
John Cannon,
Commercial Director,
Fraud & ID, Callcredit
John has worked in the information industry for
more than 20 years. During that time, he has
held a number of senior roles, including heading
Infocheck Group’s insurance business and
leading Equifax’s ID & fraud team. For the last 10
years, John has focussed on the areas of
financial crime, fraud, money laundering and
identity.
John has worked at Callcredit for nine years and
has been responsible for driving innovation in
fraud prevention and identity verification,
delivering some of the most innovative fraud &
ID solutions driving unrivalled customer value.
under John’s leadership, Callcredit’s Fraud & ID
business unit has transformed from relative
modest growth to one of the fastest growing
areas of the business.
A highly competent speaker, John regularly
presents at industry events including chairing
Callcredit’s annual Fraud Summit which has
become the Group’s largest annual client event
attracting fraud, identity and financial crime
professionals from across a wide range of
industries.
We now operate in a business environment
where data breaches are becoming a common
occurrence. According to the 2015 Information
Security Breaches Survey, 90 per cent of large
organisations reported that they had suffered a
security breach in 2015, up from 80 per cent in
2014. In addition, our own research found that
40 per cent of executives cite loss of reputation
as the number one boardroom risk concern
following a data breach.
And what’s more, these data breaches are
leading to considerable reputational damage. In
fact, a recent YouGov poll found nearly eight out
of ten people would think twice about giving
their custom to a company that had made
headlines for failing to stop a data security
breach.
Having a fast and effective remediation plan to
safeguard consumer’s data and company
reputation in the case of a breach is therefore
something every business should be prepared
for.
Yet, in our experience, more often than not,
this is not the case. There is no public relations
crisis plan or an understanding of the legal
and/or compliance obligations that are
associated with a breach. Knowing how to
navigate and react in such instances is what will
help businesses reduce damage and maintain
consumer relations.
This article will examine the sort of steps
businesses should take and how they can better
safeguard themselves against the potential
reputational damage of a data breach.
first steps
The first point to make is that the actions taken
by a company should be largely dictated by the
sort of breach that occurs. For example, it may be
easier to identify the extent of the damage
caused by sharing a confidential document
externally than it is identify the damage caused
by a cyber-attack. Each situation is unique.
Having said that, it is possible to identify some
best practice guidelines which businesses should
generally adhere to.
The first steps taken by a company during a
data breach will often set the stage for the rest of
the process. Making sure you are not only
reacting as soon as possible but also in the right
way is key. Customers need absolute confidence
that the company has done everything to prevent
the breach happening again in the future.
Customers will understandably worry about
their personal details being exposed and through
education are becoming increasingly aware of
the value of their personal data.
The first priority for a business is to have a
plan in place to identify all the key stakeholders
they would need to communicate with and what
they would need to say during the first 24 hours
– to consumers, customers, regulators,
politicians and the media as well as internal
teams.
Offering information that recognises the
significance of the breach and a plan to remedy
the situation is important. Although the extent of
a data breach may not be known straightaway –
making it difficult to provide a concrete solution
– it is vital that consumers are aware that as a
business, you understand and acknowledge the
potential impact, that protecting their personal
Noddle Protect enables
businesses to put in place a
fast and effective remediation
plan to help safeguard
consumers who may have had
their personal data
compromised. Affected
consumers have the ability to
quickly access their own data
24/7 through Noddle and take
steps to protect themselves.
information is your number one priority and you
are working as quickly as possible towards a
solution.
We advise clients to have a team ready to be
assembled should a breach occur who can
outline roles and responsibilities with key
stakeholders in the business. As part of this, by
undertaking regular and varied testing,
businesses can ensure they are prepared and are
not solely relying on learning in a ‘live
environment’. Ensuring these tests are varied is
especially important as responses and severity
can alter significantly depending on the type of
data breach that occurs. Businesses must be
prepared for as many scenarios as possible.
As well as communicating externally, it is
important to update your internal teams. By the
time a breach has been identified, all relevant
employees should be informed as early as
possible. Your employees are your window to
the world and one of your largest group of
advocates, so you must make sure they are
aware of what is going on.
This should start with informing C-suite and
board members of what has occurred and the
plan of action that is being (or needs to be)
taken. This should be followed by customer
facing employees and then further relevant
internal employees.
In our experience, a data breach is often
communicated to the world by customers via
social media, so ensuring all frontline staff have
a solid understanding of what has occurred and
what they can and can’t say to consumers is
important. Businesses should be prepared for a
larger than normal volume of requests and
employees need to understand the importance
of maintaining consumer trust and loyalty, as
well as ensuring a business’s reputation is not
widely damaged.
offering Customers peaCe of mind
Changes to EU data protection laws with the
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
mean that all organisations at risk of a data
breach need to be prepared to safeguard their
consumers or face considerable fines. The
biggest impact on regulation has been seen in
2016, when the proposed General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted by
the EU. From 2018, if organisations fall victim to
a serious data breach, under the GDPR they will
have to inform their customers and could be
fined up to a maximum of four per cent of their
global turnover. As such, we are increasingly
seeing many organisations looking at what tools
they can proactively have in place should they
face a data breach. Solutions for businesses,
such as Noddle Protect, offer access to expertise
and resources to help create a timeline of action
and a fast and effective remediation plan to
safeguard consumers’ data and company
reputation.
Regardless of the type of breach, being able to
help consumers and ensure they have access to
resources to reassure them their data is safe will
be the key to maintaining trust and loyalty.
Noddle Protect enables businesses to put in
place a fast and effective remediation plan to
help safeguard consumers who may have had
their personal data compromised following a
data breach. Affected consumers have the ability
to quickly access their own data 24/7 through
Noddle and take steps to protect themselves. The
full personalised Noddle Protect data breach
solution can then be deployed within 48 hours
of the breach occurring to help identify and
respond to fraudulent activity, checking whether
their credit profile is being damaged by
criminals. Noddle Protect allows consumers to
review their credit report for free and check that
no-one else is applying for credit in their name
or using their details fraudulently, giving them
peace of mind and ensuring they continue to
trust in your brand.
Offering this sort of reassurance will go a long
way to limiting the potential damage to your
reputation. It will also help to show consumers
that you are concerned about the impact on
them, offer peace of mind and ensure that they
continue to trust in your brand.
ChiCken or egg?
This does then lead to the question of whether it
is more important to manage the strategic risk
and reputation of a company or to safeguard
against breaches occurring themselves. And the
reality is, businesses need to do both. Having the
right policies in place and technology to secure
consumers’ data is important. This in itself, is the
key to being prepared for the eventuality of a
data breach occurring. At the moment, many
companies have a strong focus on investing in
technology to safeguard consumers’ data –
which is the right thing to do – but they will also
have to start thinking about having a plan in
place should such safeguards fail. Services such
as Noddle Protect are growing in demand as
businesses recognise that in order to maintain
trust and loyalty with consumers they must be
able to help remedy the situation and safeguard
consumers who may have had their personal
data compromised following a data breach.
As the consequences of data breaches
become more severe and the frequency of them
occurring is increasing, we expect to see more
businesses become pre-emptive and ‘post
breach savvy’ as they begin to recognise the
significance and potential severity that data
breaches cause.
Interactive
EUROPEAN UNION - DIGITAL SINGLE MARKET
EC readies plan
for digital single
market initiative
The European Commission is in the process of
implementing a wide-ranging strategy to create
a genuine ‘Digital Single Market’ across the EU
Becket McGrath,
Partner,
Cooley’s Antitrust & Competition
Becket McGrath is a partner in the Antitrust &
Competition practice and a member of the
Cooley Business Department in the firm's
London office. Becket advises clients on all
aspects of Eu and uK competition law, with an
emphasis on defending companies against
agency investigations, behaviour counselling,
compliance, competition litigation and merger
control.
Certain interest groups and
some national governments
have viewed the ‘DSM agenda’
as an opportunity to increase
the regulatory burden placed
on new and innovative
business models that are
threatening incumbents’
existing business models.
The European Commission is in the process of
implementing a wide-ranging strategy to create
a genuine ‘Digital Single Market’ across the EU.
Essentially, the Commission’s objective is to
enable businesses and consumers across the EU
to take advantage of the wide range of available
services that are facilitated by new digital
technologies, regardless of national borders.
More controversially, certain interest groups and
some national governments have viewed the
‘DSM agenda’ as an opportunity to increase the
regulatory burden placed on new and innovative
business models that are threatening
incumbents’ existing business models. So far,
the Commission appears to be attempting to
strike a balance between these two, largely
opposing, objectives, rather than coming down
firmly on one side or the other.
This uneasy balance is demonstrated by the
Commission’s announcement of a number of
measures on 25 May. Specifically, the
Commission is proposing to:
a) boost e-commerce by proposing new
legislation to prohibit unjustified geoblocking
and other forms of discrimination between
customers, make cross-border parcel delivery
cheaper and more efficient and improve
consumer protection enforcement for online
commerce;
b) update the rules that govern audiovisual
media in a manner that more closely aligns
the regulatory framework for broadcast and
online services; and
c) study the role of online platforms, with a view
to addressing areas of concern through greater
self-regulation.
Boosting e-CommerCe
The Commission’s first legislative proposal under
this heading is a regulation to ban ‘unjustified
geoblocking’, ie the practice by which website
operators block or limit access to a site, or
redirect customers to another site, based on their
location. The wording of the proposed regulation
is relatively straightforward, in that it simply
states at Article 3(1) that “Traders shall not …
block or limit customers’ access to their online
interface for reasons related to the nationality,
place of residence or place of establishment of
the customer”. A similar prohibition applies to
redirecting customers to a different “version of
their online interface” without explicit prior
consent (Article 3(2)). The only exception that
appears to be anticipated by the regulation is
situations where geo-blocking takes places “to
ensure compliance with a legal requirement in
Union law or in the laws of Member States”. This
is presumably to allow for the fact that such
practices are often required to protect copyright
in digital content.
The proposed regulation also contains a
prohibition on apply different conditions of
access to goods and services based on
nationality, place of residence or place of
establishment and a prohibition on
discriminating on the basis of payment method
used. Although the relevant articles do carve out
situations where the service concerned involves
the provision of content protected by copyright
and the provision of services in the trader’s
premises, the proposal with respect to the supply
of goods is rather strange. Mindful of the
practical implications of imposing an obligation
on all EU businesses to sell their goods across
the EU, irrespective of their size and inclination
to do so, the proposed regulation simply requires
While the measures
announced on 25 May fall
short of what was in prospect a
year ago in certain key
respects, this is probably no
bad thing, given the scope for
ill-judged regulation to choke
off the very innovation that the
digital single market initiative
was supposed to promote.
Nevertheless, implementation
of what has been proposed
raises a number of challenges
and fundamental questions.
existing rules that work [but] deregulating
where necessary [and] extending certain
obligations […] to improve user protection and
reach a level playing field.”
online platforms
a business that does not ship its products to
another Member State to give a consumer in that
Member State the ability to order a product from
it for delivery to the Member State where it is
present or does deliver. How many consumers
living in France would take up the option of
ordering a product from Germany and getting it
delivered to Austria remains to be seen… In a
sign of the power of publishers and physical
booksellers, the proposed regulation also
contains a specific exception allowing retailers
to continue to sell books at different prices
based on customer location, where this is
required by national book price fixing laws.
In a second legislative proposal, the Commission
is aiming at increasing price transparency for
cross-border parcel services and increased
regulatory oversight, to address the fact that
consumers and businesses often face much
higher costs for cross border delivery compared
with prices for delivery within the same
country. prices also vary widely according to
the country involved. Although this proposal is
likely to prove less controversial than the
geoblocking regulation, its reliance on softer
measures to encourage competition may not
prove effective in the face of resistance by local
postal monopolies. Recognising this risk, the
Commission has promised to take stock of
progress in 2019 to assess whether further
regulation is required to improve competition in
this area.
Thirdly, the Commission proposes to revise the
existing Consumer protection Cooperation
Regulation to extend the enforcement powers of
national authorities in online consumer rights
matters, in the hope that increased consumer
trust in online retail through more stringent
enforcement at a national level will make
consumers less reluctant to shop online and (by
implication) cross-border. new powers will
include the authority to order the immediate
take-down of scam websites and access to
domain registers to identify end-traders in the
event of non-compliance with consumer
protection law.
audiovisual media
For the past 30 years, the provision of
audiovisual media has been governed at an EU
level by what is now the Audiovisual Media
Services Directive (AVMSD). The origins of that
directive in the old media world are clearer from
its previous name of the Television without
Frontiers Directive. The key principle
established by the AVMS Directive and its
predecessors is that, with limited public interest
exceptions, an audiovisual service that complies
with the AVMSD and the national law of the
Member State in which it is first broadcast must
be made available in all Member States (the
country of origin principle). Recognising the
increased popularity of video-on-demand, IpTV
and video sharing platforms, the Commission is
now proposing incremental revision of the
AVMSD, particularly with respect to the
protection of children and clamping down on
incitements to hatred. Although the
Commission has rather controversially proposed
that the AVMSD’s regime mandating European
production quotas be extended to online content
providers, its proposal is less far-reaching than
was originally feared. noting this approach,
Commission Vice president Ansip noted his
desire for “the audiovisual and creative sectors
to be powerhouses in the digital economy, [that
should now be weighed] down with
unnecessary rules. This means not changing
The Commission’s review of the role of on online
platforms in the digital economy promised to be
the most explosive element of the digital single
market strategy when it was first announced,
given its origin in calls by some European
businesses and the French and German
governments for new and widespread regulation
to curtail the perceived market power of a small
number of large American technology
companies. The Commission’s latest
announcement will have therefore come as a
welcome relief to businesses that rely on a
platform-based model, with the Commission
limiting itself to supporting industry-led
movement towards self and co-regulation to
ensure “responsible behaviour”. While the
Commission has promised an additional “factfinding exercise” on a range of issues raised by
its earlier consultation, including regarding the
level of transparency over access terms, the next
step on that front will simply be a further
announcement in “spring 2017”. In the
meantime, the Commission’s Communication
on online platforms and supporting Staff
Working Document make interesting reading
for those with an interest in the area.
ConClusion
While the measures announced on 25 May fall
short of what was in prospect a year ago in
certain key respects, this is probably no bad
thing, given the scope for ill-judged regulation to
choke off the very innovation that the digital
single market initiative was supposed to
promote. nevertheless, implementation of what
has been proposed raises a number of
challenges and fundamental questions remain
to be resolved, most notably the extent to which
underlying copyright law will be revised to take
account of online reality. It is also important to
remember that these are simply legislative
proposals from the Commission. As a result,
they still face a long and tortuous path through
the parliament and Council before they can
come into force. Although the parliament hailed
the proposals as “a step in the right direction”,
much still remains to be resolved in the months
and years ahead.
Products
LAND-BASED AND
INTERACTIVE GAMING
Euro Football Online
Slots Xin gaming
XIN Gaming, the leading games
and systems developer in the
Asian gaming sector, has launched
its new Euro Football Champ slot
just ahead of this summer’s uEFA
Euro 2016 tournament.
With some of the best teams in
the world set to converge in France
for the European Championships
from June 10, XIN has developed a
football-themed slot that allows
players to get even more of the
beautiful game.
The 5-reel, 3-row, 20-line slot is
packed with special features such
as random wilds and penaltyshooting random wilds. Players are
also offered a free spin feature
through which they can choose the
country they wish to play for.
Jackpot King
Online Slots
blueprint
gaming
JACKPOT KING is the spectacular
new progressive jackpot system
from Blueprint Gaming. Released
on Sky Vegas this Easter with
Blueprint’s fantastic new titles, TOP
CAT and SLOTS O’ GOLD, then
closely followed by the launch of
SuPER SPINNER BAR X, the 3
games accompanied with the
Jackpot King bonus became
instantly popular with players and
the operator alike, culminating in
the jackpot prize hitting the £1
million mark after only 6 weeks…
.and it’s still rising!
Jackpot King has the ability to be
active across multiple slot titles and
scratchcard games within a specific
operator site, boosting the jackpot
prize faster than any other
progressive system. The feature is
designed to award fixed and
progressive prizes to players across
all qualifying games, allowing a
broader market of customer access
to the promotional jackpot system.
On any game linked to the Jackpot
King system, 5 consecutive ‘Jackpot
King’ scatter symbols appearing on
the reels will activate the glittering
Jackpot King bonus. Once triggered
the player enters the bonus reels
featuring brand symbols and the
Jackpot King multiplier winplan.
Sarah hackett, Games Marketing
Executive at Sky Vegas, said: “We
knew from the start that Jackpot
King would be something very
special for us, but it has far
surpassed our expectations!”
“Top Cat slot quickly became one of
our strongest performing game
launches, while Slots O’ Gold and
Super Spinner have brought
another angle to the Jackpot King,
giving Sky Vegas players a really
diverse choice of slots to play which
they cannot find anywhere else
with such a huge jackpot attached
to them”
“Not only can players spin for
bonus rounds, free spins and win
spins but there is the added thrill of
landing the ultimate bonus round.
We can’t wait to play the exciting
slots that will be joining the Jackpot
King army in the coming weeks and
months!”
Frogger Casino Slots
Konami gaming
World of bingo
Social Casino Zitro
having reached the figure of a
million users last year, and shortly
after celebrating the second
anniversary of its launch, Zitro’s
World of Bingo is launching its
games in hTML5 on Facebook.
“The new World of Bingo format
brings with it a renewed design
with an intuitive interface featuring
new functionalities, including a new
lobby design, faster loading speed,
a revitalised keypad and the launch
of new games, in particular the
highly renowned Lotería Mexicana
Bonus,” said Rais Busom, Zitro
Interactive Director.
Sebastián Salat, CEO of Zitro,
added: “I would like to emphasise
the effort Zitro has been making to
ensure that its games connect
emotionally with its customers.
Lotería Mexicana is a magnificent
example. It is a Zitro game,
tremendously popular in Mexican
casinos, which uses symbols
traditionally used for bingo in every
town and city in the country.”
P70
Konami Gaming, Inc. announced the first arrival of its
new Frogger themed slot machines at casinos across
the nation. Casino players can enjoy a variety of
random bonus features, including a mystery
adventure that activates the classic road and river
crossing course that has delighted Frogger™ fans for
generations. With captivating slot play and big jackpot
progressive prizes, Frogger’s leap into the casino
gambling arena is generating strong excitement at
debut locations, where players are among the first to
try this iconic game release.
“Guests have been lining up to play Frogger with such
a fun energy and anticipation, you can’t help but recall
the enthusiasm created by the original game when it
first hit arcades,” said Loren Gill, general manager at
San Manuel Casino Indian Bingo & Casino. “Our
players know we’re always working to bring them the
latest slot games available, so they were thrilled to
see Frogger here at San Manuel and couldn’t wait to
explore the pathways to win.”
Konami’s Frogger slot is instantly recognizable across
the casino floor, showcased with custom arcade-style
magnetic cabinet wraps or bold sign displays
championing the game’s iconic hero character.
Popular Konami game features like Action Stacked
Symbols® and Xtra Reward® are included
throughout, alongside original new mechanics like
leaping full-reel wild symbols that jump down to
cover additional reel sets during the free games.
“Frogger is generating tremendous interest and we’re
thrilled be able to introduce Konami’s famous frog to
the casino industry for the first time,” said Matt
Reback, vice president, marketing at Konami Gaming,
Inc. “It has that strong balance of familiarity and
mystery to keep players engaged and entertained."
Konami’s Frogger five-reel video slot games are
available now with debut themes Great City Wilds™
and Woodland Wilds™. For more information about
this and other new releases, visit
www.gaming.konami.com.
18 - 20 October 2016, Berlin
eigexpo.com I @EiG_gaming
Excellence
in iGaming
Key sessions include:
·
·
Interception of e-Sports & Sports Betting
Intelligent Data Management
·
Regulation: New Markets
·
Tech Innovation
·
The future of DFS
Speakers confirmed:
Amitabh Ghatak
former Head of
Product Development
William Hill
Jeffrey Haas
Chief International Officer
DraftKings
Bhopendra Rathore
Head of CRM
Boylesports
Adam Savinson
eSports Manager
Betway
FORGING PATHWAYS
TO THE FUTURE
EiG is the leading gaming industry event completely focused on achieving
Excellence in iGaming. We play host to senior-level decision-makers from
iGaming operators, Land-Based Casinos, Betting Shops, Lottery Operators,
Social Operators, Gaming Start-ups, Regulators, Consultants and many
more, on a global scale. We provide a unique platform which encourages
and facilitates, networking and learning for the entire iGaming ecosystem.
Magic Mike XXl
Casino Slots
Aristocrat tech.
SlOtS O’ gOlD
Online Slots
blueprint gaming
SLOTS O’ GOLD is the brand new eye
catching Irish themed slot game from
Blueprint Gaming. Following hot on
the heels of Top Cat – one of
Blueprint most popular games, SLOTS
O’ GOLD is the second in the series to
feature JACKPOT KING, the all new
progressive which can be active
across multiple slots and scratchcard
titles within a specific operator site.
SLOTS O’ GOLD brings together
stunning visuals showcasing all the
best loved Irish symbols and the
exciting player experience traditionally
associated with Blueprint’s titles,
accompanied by all the sound effects
and Irish craic you would expect when
seeking that pot of gold!
The 10 win line video slot offers more
ways to win with adjacent pays, where
wins pay both ways across the 5 reels
and 3 fun packed features. Rainbow
Gold, where all the special symbols
transform into a random symbol
creating even more wins. Leprechaun
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appearing on the centre reels expands
to more winning lines and triggering
the Rainbow Respins bonus.
Magic Mike XXL is ready to
take the stage on casino floors
across North America,
spinning and shaking players
to their knees. The ultimate
girl’s night out favorites Mike,
Ken, Tito, and Richie are back
together again, and the result
is a game that will have
players squealing, “I love this
hard body!”
Based on the runaway box
office hit, Magic Mike XXL
heats up the VERVEhd
cabinet in this exciting, high
volatility game with strikingly
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Magic Mike XXL perfectly
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entertainment brand with
gambler math for wide
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their fists for more.
The base game rocks with
Dynamic Stacked 4-high
symbols, where the men of
Magic Mike XXL randomly get
“wild,” adding to the volatility
mix. hyperlink progressive
jackpots are randomly
awarded on any bought game,
meaning players can win one
of two exciting progressive
jackpots, which are available
at any bet level.
Bonus features include “Are
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all dancer symbols become
wild; “It’s Not Bro Time, It’s
Showtime” free spins with
wild stacked reels; and “Magic
Mike Bonus” where players
pick tiles for huge payouts.
Euro 2016
Daily Fantasy
Sports Oulala
Age of the gods
Omni-Channel
Slots Playtech
character. Each God also has its own
features including the power to
unleash increasing win multipliers,
stacked high win symbols, expanding
wild symbols and more.
Playtech has unveiled Age of the Gods
and Age of the Gods Furious 4, two
games in the Age of the Gods series
of legendary slot titles. Age of the
Gods and Age of the Gods Furious 4
follow Age of the Gods King of
Olympus, the first game in a long line
of amazing new content in the new
Age of the Gods series of progressive
jackpot network slot games.
The game is based on a proven and
successful math model and is
designed to appeal to a wide audience
with the industry’s largest progressive
jackpots and the chance of winning
one of four linked jackpots on any
spin. It also includes features
including free games modifiers
creating an intense and unpredictable
experience, and giving players
elements to chase and consistently
return to.
Playable on any device, Age of the
Gods Furious 4 is an action-packed
five-reel, 20-line slot featuring four
Gods including Prometheus, Apollo,
Pandora and Atlas with players able to
win huge progressive jackpots by
unlocking bonuses across each
P72
Shimon Akad, COO, Playtech, said:
“Our casino unit has developed a
series of incredible, high-quality
games that will add yet another
dimension to our already unique suite
of 600 best-performing titles.”
Oulala.com, the daily
fantasy football
platform, has unveiled
a new game for the
upcoming 2016 uEFA
European Championship. Following the successful launch of its
monetised version in the uK last October, Oulala now allows users
to choose football players from 24 national teams that will
participate in the highly anticipated sports event. The game has
the same format, but has been redesigned and equipped with a
number of extra features. The users will be able to form their
fantasy line-ups for every game day, join or create leagues and
then compete against their friends or other users to win money.
Valery Bollier, Oulala’s CEO, explained that daily fantasy sports
(DFS) is the next big thing arriving in the European market: ”We
have seen a huge growth of daily fantasy sports in Europe
throughout the last season and we firmly believe that this
tournament will give it an extra push,” he said, adding that their
real-time product will make the experience of watching the
games even more exciting.
The Malta-based DFS operator, who will soon be working on a
Series B funding round (£7m) is further expanding its user base
as well as developing a BtoB network of iGaming partners. Mr.
Bollier stated: ”After the successful launch of a bespoke Leicester
City version of the Oulala fantasy football game, we have begun to
offer a white label version of our game to iGaming operators
aspiring to enter this fast growing new market. A number of
operators have shown interest in our BtoB solution and we have
gone on to sign various important deals that will come into effect
next season. Our aim is to continue along this path in order to
evolve and become the leading Daily Fantasy network for football.”
MFl banknote reader
Cash handling Suzohapp
The MFL banknote reader from
SuZOhAPP has received a glowing
report from customers in South
Africa. The MFL offers a host of
benefits – that together have
created an extremely reliable, longserving product. The proof is plain to
see as there are well over 8,000
units in the field in South Africa
alone. The first MFL bill readers
were installed over eight years ago
and are still performing very well.
SuZOhAPP places great importance
on optimal service and therefore
works together with MP Gaming in
South Africa. MP Gaming has great
experience with currency validators and
is thus the ideal partner for SuZOhAPP.
This is particularly appreciated with local
operators.
It is the performance over time that
makes a banknote reader stand out. The
fact that the glowing reports from casino
operators in South Africa continue to flow, even after
eight years of enjoying daily service from the MFLs, is a
convincing testimony.
The MFL is a front-load bill reader, meaning that the
notes are entered from the front into the multi-sensor
technology. The MFL utilises a patented alignment
mechanism, so straightening the note and ensuring an
even higher true note acceptance rate. The beltless bill
path guarantees a very long working life – as
corroborated by customers on the gaming floors. The
MFL offers all that is needed of an electronic bill reader
Fire Joker Online
mobile Play’n’go
layers around the world are set to
feel the heat of leading table
game and slots specialist Play’n
GO’s latest release, Fire Joker.
– a lockable and secured cashbox (for 600 or 1000
notes), the ability to link with multiple protocols and be
simply updated (by smart-stick
memory card or the machine host).
Markus Prader, Founding Partner of MP
Gaming, comments on the popularity of the
MFL in South Africa, “The MFL is a robust,
reliable and solid validator. It is a workhorse
and does its job extremely well. That goes to
show just why we have so many MFLs still
running in the field over eight years after it was first
introduced”.
harald Wagemaker, EVP Sales & Marketing Suzohapp,
said: “We have an industry-leading banknote reader in
the MFL and the feedback from our customers in key
markets goes hand-in-hand with our future plans for
the MFL. Although we acquired the MFL line, this is
now very much a SuZOhAPP product and so follows
the same mandate within our corporate philosophy –
to continue to innovate to ensure that the benefits for
our customers not only remain but increase as well.”
The Swedish supplier’s 3x3 slot is
a modern take on a retro theme,
with classic symbols such as bars,
lemon, cherries and lucky sevens
emerging from fiery lava to bring
big wins across five fixed paylines. A unique firestorm ignites
when the reels display the same
symbol, allowing players to spin
the joker’s wheel for the chance to
multiply their winnings tenfold.
When two reels hold the same
symbol on all six positions, Fire
Joker grants players a free re-spin
on the remaining wheel to go for a
full house and spin his fiery wheel.
bCAM-themed table game layouts & Chips
table gaming Equipment tCSJohnhuxley
bicicleta Online Slot
yggdrasil gaming
October is Breast Cancer
Awareness month, a worldwide
annual campaign involving
thousands of organisations, to
highlight the importance of breast
awareness, education and
research.
Yggdrasil Gaming’s latest slot
Bicicleta promises to take football
fans into the heart of the action
ahead of this summer’s European
Championships in France,
launching with a half-time network
campaign which will see the
provider sponsor a €10,000 prize
pool.
This year, to help support this
worthy cause, TCSJohnhuxley
America has launched a campaign
where casinos can join with them
to promote the cause and raise
awareness. TCSJohnhuxley will
donate $5 from every awarenessthemed table layout purchased and
$50 from every 1000 awarenessthemed casino chips ordered to the
Breast Cancer Research
Foundation.
Todd Cravens, CEO for The
Americas comments, ”Breast
Cancer Awareness Month is a
fantastic initiative that provides
much needed funds and support
for a cause that affects 1-in-8
women in the united States. Our
campaign to donate proceeds from
any BCAM themed table game
layout and chips gives casinos the
opportunity to raise awareness and
assist with any of their own
fundraising efforts. We are
extremely product to be supporters
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TCSJohnhuxley has a range of
themed designs for casinos to
choose from or they are can get
inspired and design their own. For
more information go to
tcsjohnhuxley.com/breast-cancerawareness or contact the uS head
office on: +1 702 798 0500.
The slot, named after the iconic
bicycle kick, includes a new trophy
feature and a football match
atmosphere with the crowd
reacting directly to in-game action.
Meanwhile in the free spin mode,
players execute acrobatic bicicleta
kicks which turn into sticky wilds
whenever a goal is scored.
Pretty Kitty Online/
Mobile Microgaming
Microgaming is releasing Pretty
Kitty, a purrrfect cross-platform
game. Pretty Kitty is a 5x3 reel,
243 ways-to-win game, with reels
adorned with stylish cats and
dazzling jewels. The feline-friendly
game features expanding symbols
in both the base game and free
spins. In the base game, any full
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Three or more WhISTLES trigger
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of national flags gathered and the
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