Casino Journal January 2012

Contents January 2012

» www.casinojournal.com 20

COVER STORY

20 Place Holders Casino architects and designers are reconsidering casino interior and exterior space, coming up with concepts that are both pleasing to the eye and more likely to attract and keep the interest of today’s discerning and easily distracted consumer. By James Rutherford

26 FE ATURES FOCUS ON: EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT 26 Board Gains By Keith Kefgen & Juliette Boone, HVS Executive Search The gaming companies that performed well over the financial downturn and are best positioned to deal with ongoing economic uncertainty are likely those with strong and wise corporate governance. HVS’s annual study of the industry’s best board rooms determines the companies that have excelled in leadership, and will likely remain so over the coming year.

SPECIAL REPORT: ICE PREVIEW 30 Slick Products By Paul Doocey The annual ICE Totally Gaming trade show and conference is set to take place this month in London. Casino Journal looks at the products and services some of the world’s largest gaming suppliers and vendors will be showcasing at the event.

GAMES & TECHNOLOGY 36 In Search of Validation By James Rutherford Bill validator manufacturers are racing to upgrade their wares to keep pace with slot machines and other gaming devices that have become more technologically advanced and capable of handling greater volumes of play.

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE ADVERTORIAL SECTION

COLUMNS ATTORNEY AT LARGE 14 Lessons from the Jersey Shore Lloyd D. Levenson

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MARKETING 16 My Latest Marketing Observations Dennis Conrad

TABLE TALK 18 A Hire Cause Greg Marquart

THE BACK PAGE 54 Keep Movin’, Movin’, Movin’ Charles Anderer

DEPARTMENTS 04

Editor’s Letter

08

In the News

36

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Product Focus —Table Game Technology

44

Innovations/Insights

52

On the Move

53

Ad Index

— Red Earth Software

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EDITOR’S LETTER JANUARY 2012 • VOL. 25, NO. 1 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

World of potential The last quarter of 2011 proved quite eventful for the United States gaming industry, what with casino legalization in Massachusetts, gaming expansion legislation introduced in Florida, the lifting of the sports wagering ban in New Jersey, the opening of Resort World New York, the first casino within the borders of New York City proper and, as a final holiday treat, the recent determination by the U.S. Justice Department that the 1961 Wire Act outlawing cross-border gambling over communications lines only Paul Doocey applies to sports betting, likely clearing the way for states to foster and regulate online lottery and poker. With all this going on right in our own backyard, it’s easy to overlook that gaming expanded across the globe in the latter half of 2011. Here are some recent events to keep an eye on in the coming months. • Macau continues to astound—Remember back in January when a number of analysts claimed the mighty Macau market would likely experience oversaturation and slower growth in the second half of 2011? Well, it appears this pessimism was unwarranted, or at least premature. Macau-based casinos powered through 2011, totaling $33.5 billion in combined revenue according to government reports, up 42 percent from the $23.5 billion the enclave’s casinos generated in 2010. It appears that so long as China’s economy remains robust and travel restrictions remain light, Macau will continue to prosper. One cloud on the horizon: some economists predict an economic slowdown and tighter credit market for China going forward, something we in the U.S. are very familiar with. • Infill gaming opportunities expand throughout Asia—Call it the Macau and Singapore ripple effect, but a growing number of Asian nations are warming to the idea of integrated resort development. At this moment, the leader of the pack appears to be Vietnam, which has set aside the Ho Tram Strip outside of Ho Chi Minh City for resort development, and attracted established U.S. casino developers such as Pinnacle Entertainment and MGM Grand. The Philippines has also made strides in the integrated resort realm, with Star Cruises, a subsidiary of gaming giant Genting Malaysia, recently announcing its intentions to build a second gaming resort at its Pasay City complex, already the nation’s largest casino. Two larger nations also appear poised on the casino legalization precipice. Russia is in the process of finalizing its casino development plans for the Primorye Gaming Zone, near the eastern port of Vladivostok. Meanwhile, the earthquake and tsunami that shattered Japan in March has the nation seriously contemplating integrated gaming resorts as a way to fund the estimated $245 billion needed to rebuild from the natural disasters and revive its lagging tourism industry. • Eyes on India—Although at first glance it does not appear to be much, the announcement by the Indian Ocean nation of Sri Lanka that it had overhauled existing gaming laws to attract more direct investment from international casino and hotel developers could be a harbinger of things to come for the region. Much like China a decade ago, India’s economy is emerging, and the newly wealthy are looking for ways to spend hard-earned money. Sri Lanka hopes to entice them with cuttingedge casino resorts. How long until adjacent nations decide to do the same? For a number of reasons, it appears the stars are aligned for unprecedented global gaming growth in 2012 and beyond. The battered and bruised casino industry couldn’t ask for a better holiday present.

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Riverboat Gamble The Bayou State boasts one of the most diverse gaming scenes in the United States, and is home to land-based casinos, racinos, tribal gaming facilities, tavern and truckstop casinos and a bingo machine marketplace. The gaming market is poised to expand even further, thanks to new resort developments in Baton Rouge, Bossier City and Lake Charles.

Companies to Watch While the slot giants continue to make headlines, a number of small- and midsized gaming companies had very good years in 2011 and are poised to make even more headway in 2012. Here’s a recap of some of the companies to keep an eye on in the near future.

GAMING INDUSTRY NEWS Want to catch up on the latest happenings from all the segments of the global gaming industry? Go to Casino Journal Online to view the week’s top gaming headlines as determined by the editors of Casino Journal. For more informat ion,

ONLINE ARCHIVES Missed a recent issue of Casino Journal or want to revisit a previous article? Digital version of the magazine can be accessed by visiting www.casinojournal. com and clicking the “Digital Edition Archives” button.

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MASS Impact of Massachusetts casino legalization discussed

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EVENTS SPOTLIGHT

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In the News

N E W S , P E O P L E A N D E V E N T S O F T H E I N T E R N AT I O N A L G A M I N G I N D U S T R Y

NEW INTERPRETATION OF WIRE ACT COULD LIBERALIZE U.S. ONLINE GAMING For the past few years, the U.S. Justice Department has used the 1961 Wire Act as justification to crack down on all forms of interstate betting, most specifically online casino and poker sites attempting to capture business from U.S.-based players. But in a surprise ruling last month, the Justice Department determined the Wire Act applies only to interstate sport wagering, not online gaming. The Justice Department decision was a “major Christmas present for the Internet gambling community,” I. Nelson Rose, Whittier Law School professor and expert on gaming law, told ABC News. “We are about to see this explosion of Internet gambling sweep across the nation.” The first entities to take advantage of the ruling will likely be state lotteries, which now have clearance to offer online version of their games. New York, Illinois, Iowa, New Hampshire, California and New Jersey lotteries have all reportedly explored online sales. The ruling is also a shot in the arm to the various online poker initiatives being considered by Nevada and a number of other state legislatures.

FIJI GOES ALL-IN ON CASINO DEVELOPMENT, AWARDS FIRST GAMING LICENSE The Republic of Fiji has granted its firstever exclusive gaming license to locallybased One Hundred Sands Limited, clearing the way for the development of a 290 million, five-star luxury casino resort located on Denarau Island and a 8

Aspers, first of the UK supercasinos, opens in London Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City opened last month, the first ever project in the UK to take advantage of the 2005 Gambling Act, which permits the development of “supercasinos.” At 65,000 square feet, and offering 40 table games, 150 slot machines, 92 electronic betting terminals and a 150-seat poker room, Aspers becomes the largest casino in the UK. The project, which is located in east London in Europe’s largest in-town shopping center, is the first to open since the Gambling Act became law. UK’s casinos had previously been limited to 20 licensed machines per establishment. In another break with the past, the casino is open 24 hours a day and players are not required to register. A joint venture between the Australian gambling group Crown and Damian Aspinall, Aspers will operate along the lines of a typical convenience gaming establishment. The core market will be “high volume, low spend,” with a projected average stake of £15-20 a person, Richard Noble, chief operating officer of Aspers, told The Guardian (£1 = US$1.55). “We call what we do ‘entertainment betting,’ rather than particularly aiming for high-stakes, professional betting,” said Noble. “We class this as a space for fun entertainment, that’s all.” In addition to gaming, Aspers also offers an 80-seat restaurant and two bars, including a 24/7 sports bar. The casino is easily reachable via the tube from the center of London, with the nearby Stratford Regional Station connecting directly to the Central and Jubilee Lines.

smaller gaming property in the capital city of Suva, according to published reports. Groundbreaking for the Denarau Island project is tentatively set for March. “It is important with all new investment projects—both internal and international— that we protect the rights and interests of Fijians, and provide for the prosperity of our nation,” Fijian Prime Minister

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama said at a news conference. “[This project] provides a malleable fusion between the Western ideals of casino gaming with the strong cultural virtues of tribal and community life. This fusion is what we seek... considering our own national pride in, and respect for the value of the unique, yet united cultures present among all Fijians.”

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In the News

The first phase of development will include 190 luxury rooms and suites, three restaurants and a sports grille; the second phase will add a nightclub and other entertainment venues to the project. The resort will also include a casino with 500 slot machines and 54 table games, and a 1,500 seat convention centre with banquet and catering capabilities designed to accommodate corporate retreats and conventions, shows and sporting events. It’s estimated that the project will create 800 permanent jobs for local residents and boost the inland nation’s tourism appeal. “This undertaking is a union of both economic and cultural endeavors,” said Larry Claunch, chairman of the board for One Hundred Sands, a partnership between Claunch and U.S.-based Snoqualmie Tribe of Washington and Seventh Generation LLC. “One Hundred Sands has taken care to strategically partner with… Native American [entities] with demonstrated excellence establishing new casinos and affiliate entities around the world while maintaining the integrity of the environment, and supplementing—not supplanting—the existing economy.”

JAPAN CONSIDERS CASINO LEGALIZATION TO AID IN TSUNAMI RECOVERY The earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan in March has the nation contemplating casino legalization as a way to fund the estimated $245 billion needed to rebuild from the natural disasters. The Guardian reports a number of influential Japanese politicians, including four former Prime Ministers, are pushing for integrated gaming resorts similar to those in Singapore. This political group, which numbers 150, believes these resorts will not only generate substantial tax revenue, but can also help revive Japan’s flagging tourism trade that has yet to fully recover from the disasters and the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant problems. Issei Koga, an MP from the governing Democratic party of Japan and leader of the group, said casino resorts would be “enormously strong engines” for 10

Fast start

Resorts World Casino New York edges Yonkers Raceway, opens additional gaming space The new Resorts World New York racino at Aqueduct Raceway generated $9.9 million for the week ended Nov. 26, winning the Thanksgiving Day holiday week by a sliver over Empire City Casino at Yonkers, which posted revenues of $9.8 million. The first phase of the Aqueduct project opened October 1, with 2,200 gaming machines. Aqueduct and Empire City are located on opposite ends of the New York City market, so most observers downplay fears of significant cannibalization of the Yonkers facility, which generated about $550 million in gaming revenue last year. “What’s amazing is how quickly (Aqueduct) caught up to speed,” said Gordon Medenica, director of the New York Lottery, told the New York Daily News. “They’re doing a great job. We couldn’t be happier.” He said they have siphoned off some of Empire City’s business, but most of the customers are coming from elsewhere. Business will likely pick up at Resorts World which opened its second phase last month. The property unveiled two new floors, including a new gaming space (Fifth Avenue Casino) to go along with its existing wagering area (Times Square Casino). Aqueduct now operates 5,000 gaming machines, two 250-seat high-end restaurants and 70,000-square-feet of meeting space. A public transportation link, scheduled to be finished next spring, will complete the project. “We have been truly humbled by the response of New Yorkers and tourists alike and we thank them for their ongoing support and patronage,” said Resorts World New York President Michael Speller told the Queens Times Ledger. “Due to the hard work of our 1,500-person staff, we’re confident that we will be able to continue providing the highest level of service to our customers as we unveil the second stage of our facility.”

generating international tourism, according to The Guardian. Previous academic studies show casino resorts in Japan could become a $44 billion market. Companies such as Las Vegas Sands have expressed interest in Japan casino development in the past.

SRI LANKA EYES GAMING BOOST TO TOURISM The Sri Lankan government has completed an overhaul of its existing gaming laws

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

to attract more direct investment from international casino and hotel developers, reports The Financial Times. These new laws and regulations will be announced and go into effect in some time in 2012. Sri Lanka is already home to a thriving locals casino scene, and it is hoped that clearer and better-regulated gaming laws will stabilize the sector and entice offshore gaming developers to enter the market. The island nation is already a major tourism draw for India and other nations in

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In the News

the region, but is still looking to fully recover from a protracted civil war and the effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. “Sri Lanka has huge potential to be a perfect gaming destination,” Hardik Dhebar, chief financial officer of Delta Corp, an Indian casino operator, told the Times. “There has been 27 percent growth in the tourism industry year on year, and for the Indians, Chinese and Koreans who are flocking in, it’s a destination that offers them everything, from holiday packages to gaming.” Despite the changes to gaming regulations, large-scale gaming resorts are not expected to break ground in Sri Lanka until 2014-2015 at the earliest.

MAJORITY OF BERMUDANS SUPPORT CASINO LEGALIZATION A recent survey of 400 Bermuda residents 18 years and older found that 60 percent believed gambling should be legalized. The poll, conducted by MindMaps and The Royal Gazette, also reported 30 percent of the respondents were against legalization and 9 percent were undecided. Support for gaming legalization was strongest among 45- to 54-year-olds, 77 percent of who responded positively; and weakest among those 65 or older, 44 percent of who came out against legalization. Gaming expansion has been a hot issue of late in Bermuda, thanks to a recently released Strategic Imperatives Report from the Tourism Board that calls for the legalization of gaming and the opening of a casino in Bermuda within two years. The government recently decided to put the controversial issue to the people in a national referendum, according to the Gazette.

PALMER HOLDS RALLY FOR MOHEGAN SUN PROJECT Supporters of a proposed casino to be developed by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority gathered together in Palmer last month to hold a rally themed, “Next Steps to Winning.” Mohegan Sun’s proposal for an $85 million regional gaming license is one of several for the western part of the state. In Holyoke, Hard Rock International and Paper City Development have joined forces, and in Springfield, Ameristar hopes to build a $500 million casino. Also, Palmer Paving CEO David Callahan has a proposal to build a casino on 180 acres of land he owns in Brimfield. He has said he is talking to two potential development partners, whose identities have yet to be revealed. “This is a competition and the lights changed from red to green,” said Vice President of Development at Mohegan Sun Paul Brody, referring to the recently signed casino gaming bill that provides for three casinos and one slot parlor. “We’re in a competition and the folks in Palmer want everyone to know that 12

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

In the News

As part of the plan, the company has eliminated over $500 million in debt and its lenders will become the new owners of Majestic Holdco. Private investment funds managed by Wayzata Investment Partners, a Minnesota-based private equity firm, will be the largest holders of Majestic Holdco. “We are emerging from Chapter 11 with a strengthened balance sheet and an ability to compete more effectively in our Connecticut-based Mohegan Sun hopes to expand its brand into neighboring Massachusetts. respective markets,” said Mike Darley, the company’s chief operating officer, in they’ve been here a long time and they a statement. “With the reorganization want this casino.” process behind us, we are better “They’ve been the only named positioned than ever before to provide developer since the beginning of the our visitors and guests with the best process,” Robert Young of Palmer Business hospitality, entertainment and gaming for Palmer Casino, told station WSHM. experience possible.” The gaming bill requires local approval The Majestic Star Casino, LLC, owns and a minimum capital investment of $500 and operates two adjacent dockside million for each of the regional casinos. gaming facilities (Majestic Star and Mohegan’s project in Palmer is projected to Majestic Star II) and a hotel located in cost $600 million, and would be a full-scale Gary, Ind.; a Fitzgeralds brand casino and resort with a hotel, retail shops, brandhotel located in Tunica, Miss. (Fitzgeralds name restaurants and a spa. Casino Hotel—Tunica); and a Fitzgeralds brand casino located in Black Hawk, Colo. MAJESTIC STAR CASINO EMERGES FROM CHAPTER 11 (Fitzgeralds Casino—Black Hawk). The Majestic Star Casino announced that its reorganization plan has been completed and that the company has successfully emerged from bankruptcy. The company had filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and its reorganization plan was approved on March 10, 2011.

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ATTORNEY AT LARGE

Lessons from the Jersey Shore Legislation regarding the legalization or expansion of gaming is being drafted, amended, voted on and signed into law across the United States. From Massachusetts to Florida, and from Georgia (yes, Georgia) to Texas, and on and on, lawmakers are looking to gaming as an economic boost.

Lloyd D. Levenson is chief executive officer of the Atlantic City-based law firm Cooper Levenson and chairman of the firm’s Casino Law Practice groups in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Harrisburg, Pa. For more information visit www.cooperlevenson. com.

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That should surprise no one, and gaming’s expansion—starting with Nevada’s pioneering efforts in 1931—has long been linked to economic hard times. It is also not surprising, but arguably gratifying, that many state legislators are working hard to ensure that their efforts to expand gaming are developed in a forthright, fair manner that is built on a foundation of integrity. That foundation is proving to be one of the keys toward gaining passage of legislation, and those of us who come from a background in law could not be more pleased. Consider what the Boston Globe, one of the most respected newspapers in the world and a leading voice in New England, wrote recently: “State officials took the first steps yesterday toward creating an independent board with vast regulatory power over casino gambling, pledging that the selection process would be open and rigorous. The stakes are high. The five-member gambling commission, established under the new law legalizing casinos in Massachusetts, will have broad authority over the industry, from awarding licenses to determining the payouts of slot machines.” “We have only one chance to get this right,” said Steven Grossman, the state’s treasurer, who is responsible for choosing one of the commission members, told the Globe. Grossman is absolutely correct. Getting it “right” means making decisions that are in the longterm interests of the state and its residents, and it means writing regulations that meet that goal, and attracting developers who are all in alignment on that point.

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But the best-written statute in the nation (Massachusetts may arguably be a candidate for that title) is meaningless, and can be effectively reduced to mere words on paper in the absence of putting the right people in position. Another respected Massachusetts newspaper, the Boston Herald, got it right in an editorial, when it noted: “Ultimately the casino industry in Massachusetts will only be as ethical as the people in charge of regulating it. Gov. Patrick & Co. have to get this right.”

Brendan Byrne (another former Essex County prosecutor) knew immediately he was the right person for that post. Indeed, when the national Abscam scandal erupted, threatening to bring down the entire Casino Control Commission in its wake of various allegations, including one that casino licenses in Atlantic City were for sale, Byrne took the unprecedented step of firing the entire commission, save one: Lordi. The chairman stayed. His reputation was that strong, and

To be sure, every state has one or more individuals in its midst who rise to the level of a Joe Lordi. Such individuals must have the backbone to withstand political pressure, and the wisdom to know right from wrong. My state, New Jersey, learned this lesson well, back in the 1970s. New Jersey was the first state outside Nevada to legalize casinos, and it recognized that the people assigned to carrying out the words of that pioneering statute would be the face, the voice and the symbols of gaming regulation. If they focused on integrity, then the state’s grand experiment would succeed. The first chairman of the New Jersey Casino Control Commission was Joseph P. Lordi, a former prosecutor in Essex County with a no-nonsense reputation. I worked for him in Essex County, before he and I both made the journey south to Atlantic City. Lordi’s reputation for independence and integrity was so stellar and beyond reproach that then Gov.

the tough decisions he made have demonstrated that gaming could be regulated effectively and operated under the highest degree of integrity. To be sure, every state has one or more individuals in its midst who rise to the level of a Joe Lordi. Such individuals must have the backbone to withstand political pressure, and the wisdom to know right from wrong. To most people, the 1970s are ancient history, but there are lessons to be learned from that history: One is to get the right people in the right position. As Steven Grossman said, you get one chance to do it right. Find the next Joe Lordi. He or she is out there. To view past ATTORNEY AT LARGE columns by Lloyd Levenson, visit www.casinojournal. com and type the column name into the SEARCH tool at the top of the Web page.

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My latest marketing observations I have always been opinionated; sometimes even controversial. It has gotten me into trouble a few times, but for the most part, I think it has been a good thing to be outspoken. It’s sort of become my “personal brand.”

Dennis Conrad is president and chief strategist of Raving Consulting Co., a full-service marketing company specializing in assisting gaming organizations. He can be reached at +1 775 329 7864; or by e-mail at dennis@ ravingconsulting.com.

I try to be honest when I am being candid in my opinions. I like them to be well thought out and based on solid information and clear thinking. I try not to let my thoughts hurt or offend anyone, but sometimes that is difficult. Especially if certain people fundamentally disagree with me. One thing I have learned in being outspoken is to quickly admit when I am (or might be) wrong. I realize some industry observers think that I am usually wrong in my perspective and that’s fine, but when I am really wrong, I try not to compound it by being bullheaded. So with all that in mind, I wanted to share with you all of my latest opinions, beliefs and predictions as they relate to this delightfully screwy business that we call “casino entertainment” (and everyone else calls “gambling”): • There is an emerging crisis coming in the slot industry with the Gen X and Gen Y generations (and those even younger) and their lack of interest in current slot game offerings. • Caesars Entertainment’s recent attempt at transitioning from primarily direct mail marketing to an e-mail-based distribution

turning casino hosts from being “glad handers” to true business development sales professionals. • I can’t believe the number of “math mistakes” that casinos still routinely make in their operations and marketing, allowing the continued existence of “advantage players” who do nothing but cut into a casino’s bottom line. • My personal belief is that in 5-10 years, social media marketing tools will be mainstays in the casino marketer’s arsenal, producing important measureable results. • If you are not aware of what John Acres has been working on, you should be. • The best management advice I could give anyone is to spend a week at Barona taking notes. • For someone who thinks it takes 20 years of experience to successfully run a casino, you should take a look at what Choctaw Casinos has accomplished with its homegrown talent. • If your casino does not participate in the Romero Awards marketing competition, it should. Unless, of course, you are not doing anything worthy of recognition. •One positive trend I detect in the casino industry: senior

The best thing about the new book, Casino Direct Mail, is the notion that casinos should utilize their excess slot capacity to create a trial vehicle for new customers, essentially emulating how airlines leverage their excess seat inventory. system is a bold move that bears watching by all casino marketers. • I sense a slow but steady progress occurring in player development departments;

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managers are spending more time on the casino floor on weekends! • I’ve had to update this number: I now think the difference between a casino executive and

a great casino executive is 20,000 guest interactions. • You should check out what Seminole Casino – Coconut Creek is doing to create an outrageously fun casino experience.

The best management advice I could give anyone is to spend a week at Barona taking notes. • The best thing about the new book, Casino Direct Mail, is the notion that casinos should utilize their excess slot capacity to create a trial vehicle for new customers, essentially emulating how airlines leverage their excess seat inventory. • I am anxiously awaiting the release of David Kranes’ newest book, Crap Dealer. • It amazes me how consistent the following feedback is from casino customers in focus groups across numerous countries: loosen the machines, be nice to me and show me some value for my play, and fix the environmental issues that annoy me (drafts, smoke, noise, etc.). • I believe the biggest impact a casino general manager could have on employee morale would be to put on a frontline employee’s uniform and pull an 8-hour shift while wearing it, as a reward to an outstanding worker. • The “online gaming thing” is coming to the U.S. and I suggest you get ready. • My newest casino pet peeve: five pillows on my hotel room bed, with none of them being comfortable enough.

A winning solution for your cash access needs. With over 25 years of ATM experience in the gaming industry, U.S. Bank Gaming Services offers custom solutions, which incorporate industry-leading products and state-of-the-art equipment. As the largest bank provider of integrated cash access services to the gaming industry, our cash access solutions ensure continuous cash flow for quick and easy guest access. “Cash in” with the reliability and stability of U.S. Bank Gaming Services. Call us today at 1.800.784.5414.

©2011 U.S. Bancorp

TABLE TALK

A hire cause What makes a player stay at a table?

Greg Marquart is vice president of business development at FreemanGroup, a customer service solutions provider that serves premier hospitality and tourism organizations around the world. He can be reached at (972) 4791345 or by visiting www. freemangroupsolutions. com.

While a dealer needs to be able to color-up, pay and collect, deal, follow gaming rules and regulations, run equipment properly, and maintain control of the game; none of these things are what make players stay at the table. They don’t create memories. They don’t build guest loyalty. Aside from winning, it’s the dealer’s attitude and personality that are going to determine whether a player is going to stay and keep playing. We know this, and yet when it comes to recruiting and hiring, we tend to focus on an applicant’s ability to perform task-driven duties and enforce the rules rather than on their ability to provide an outstanding guest experience. The primary job of a dealer is not to be an enforcer; it’s to be an entertainer. If you keep this in mind throughout the recruiting and hiring process, or, more specifically, as you create dealer job descriptions and conduct interviews, you will have a much better chance of bringing on board dealers who will deliver the experience promised by your brand and your marketing.

PROPER DESCRIPTIONS While you should include the obvious duties and requirements of a dealer in a dealer job description, the focus of your job description should be on strong interpersonal and verbal communication skills. How likely do you think you would be to attract candidates who are naturally friendly and have a genuine desire to interact with guests if the only requirements listed in your job description are things such as: “inspect all decks of cards prior to use,” and “shuffle and deal cards,” and “ensure game protection?” While you should include the operational tasks and other 18

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

duties required of a dealer in your description, you should lead with service-related requirements such as: “create a fun environment at the game,” and “create positive gaming experiences for our players,” and “customize the gaming experience to fit the needs of the players.” In addition to helping you attract the best people for the job, job descriptions are your first opportunity to set employee expectations. Take full advantage of them by leading with the service skills and behavioral qualities you require rather than the perfunctory

tend to make when interviewing candidates for service positions is asking questions that are too general to be useful. Asking, “Do you believe it is important for a dealer to be friendly?” for example, isn’t helpful because it doesn’t require much thought on the part of the candidate, who will most certainly answer in the affirmative, and because it won’t lead to your gaining an understanding of what constitutes being friendly in the candidate’s mind. Instead, ask questions like, “How do you create a fun environment when you

In addition to helping you attract the best people for the job, job descriptions are your first opportunity to set employee expectations. skills that are easier for managers to train and much easier for employees to learn.

INTERVIEW SKILLS Asking well-designed, serviceoriented questions during candidate interviews is a great way to predict with a high degree of confidence whether or not a potential hire has the ability to deliver the desired guest experience once they get out on the floor. Often, we hire people whose attitudes and personalities don’t align with our service culture either because we feel we have to fill gaps quickly or because we are swayed by the way an applicant appears on paper. We need to fill positions with warm bodies, so we pick people who appear to have the required skills and knowledge to do the job, only to find ourselves watching these dealers’ lack of enthusiasm and communication skills suck the life and fun out of tables a short time later. One major mistake interviewers

deal?” or “How do dealers impact the guest experience?” or “How would you describe your dealing style?” When candidates have to reason their way through their answers, their answers tend to be a lot more telling. Interviewers who ask the right questions can usually determine within a few short minutes whether or not a candidate should continue to be considered. While you may think you are saving time and headaches by hiring someone with more experience rather than hiring someone with a better psychological profile who may require more operational training, the reality is that you may actually be hiring employees who will soon become burdens to you, your guests, and your organization as a whole. By taking the time to create and develop service-driven job descriptions and interview questions, you can avoid hiring employees who are a drain on your casino, and instead, hire those dealers for whom being an entertainer is second nature.

COVER STORY

Place HOLDERS BY JAMES RUTHERFORD

Casino designers are rethinking interior and exterior space to better fit

the modern gaming experience

Cantor Gaming’s Race and Sports Book at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas

F

or as much as trends in casino architecture have changed over the years, from lurid Virginia Street neon to the storybook kitsch of the Las Vegas Strip to the garish, the fancifully exotic or more sleekly self-contained structures aimed at today’s cult of aspiration, the objective of the business that transpires inside in the building—to capture and hold as much of the customers’ time and money as possible—never varies. Therefore, neither does the fundamental narrative which the physical space must convey: that these are unique places where exciting and unexpected things happen in the instant it takes to turn a card or set a reel to spinning, that herein lie adventure, fortune, romance, or at the very least, escape. It’s design as melodrama, and not surprisingly over the years it has spawned some of the most boldly theatrical examples that exist of how space and form is employed, not just to establish fantasy, but to sustain and magnify

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it across a variety of diverse, and in some cases, divergent, profit centers. It’s what the people behind these iconic structures think and talk about all the time as they set about carrying the narrative forward to confront the new demands of a new century. “As customers become more able to play their games at home, the experience of being at the casino has to be enhanced to provide a better, comfortable, exciting and memorable experience,” said Barry Thalden of Las Vegas-based Thalden Boyd Emery Architects.

Monotonous slot rows and uncomfortable playing experience will be replaced by something much more interesting and play-inducing. Casino floors will be broken up into much smaller areas in order to give our customers unique experiences. — Barry Thalden, Thalden Boyd Emery Architects

Paul Steelman, another legend in the field, stresses the importance of learning from history, particularly when it comes to avoiding the problem of “gambler fatigue”—where the casino portion of the property is so dominant it becomes exclusively a gambling experience rather than an entertainment experience. “Many of the casinos being developed now, even in special regions like Maine in a limited license environment, are experiencing it,” he said. It’s what happened to Atlantic City, he adds, and it’s occurring in Macau to a degree. “But it’s creating opportunities for new uses in new ways,” he said, pointing to

I definitely feel [Cantor Gaming’s hightech sports book design] is a spot in the gaming architecture that will bring change that is truly unique. This is not your sea of illuminated boxes but a comfortable and configurable space that can change daily. —Paul Steelman, Steelman Partners

Drawing from experience in markets stretching from Palm Springs, Calif., to Swift Current, Saskatchewan—the firm’s portfolio includes Southern California’s Morongo Casino Resort and Spa and Commerce Casino and Crowne Plaza Hotel, The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip, Boomtown Casino in New Orleans and Milwaukee’s Potawatomi Bingo and Resort—Thalden has definite ideas about what the future holds. “Sound, light, seating and décor are now more important than the games. The successful casinos will be the ones that provide a unique experience for gaming that people can’t get at home or anywhere else.”

the trail Cantor Gaming is blazing with race and sports books designed around high-tech mobile and tablet-gambling applications. “I definitely feel this is a spot in the gaming architecture that will bring change that is truly unique,” he said. “This is not your sea of illuminated boxes but a comfortable and configurable space that can change daily.”

SPACE RACE Las Vegas-based Steelman Partners designed the Cantor Gaming Race and Sports Book that opened just this year at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas as an area that is “meant to interact,” a kind of “club/

casino/sports book,” as Steelman describes it, the basic design one of simplicity carried through in dynamic, curving shapes, with red (he called it the color of “dynamism” and “commerce”) the dominant hue. “It is primarily designed as a sports book, but a very media-active sports book. It’s a new way to gamble, a new way to have fun, and a new way to socialize. It is a tremendous space.” Thalden envisions gaming areas “feeling more like a Starbucks than a casino.” “Monotonous slot rows and uncomfortable playing experience will be replaced by something much more interesting and play-inducing,” Thalden explained. “Casino floors will be broken up into much smaller areas in order to give our customers unique experiences. Games will be personalized for each customer relating to their habits and preferences.” Segmentation will be a natural outgrowth as operators respond to generational change, said Bradley Schulz, vice president of Las Vegas-based Bergman Walls & Associates and principal-in-charge of the firm’s major hospitality projects. “You may see it broken down into separate, smaller areas—300 or 400 machines as opposed to 2,000,” he said. “You’re going to see that flexibility built into the casino design of the future. The older crowd will have the experience they’re comfortable with. The younger generation sees it differently. Socializing is more important. Making wagers on a phone, say, is more enjoyable than the solitary use of a slot machine as we see it now. Table games, on the other hand, provide an existing atmosphere that can’t be replicated electronically. And I don’t see that changing. People still want that live action. The slot machine is becoming

CASINOJOURNAL.COM • JANUARY 2012 • CASINO JOURNAL

21

COVER STORY

more like a video game, more of an entertainment device than a gambling device. With the traditional circular casino design, generally, you have the pit in the middle surrounded by slot machines. You’ll still have the pit. But what goes around it will change. Sitting in front of a machine may not be necessary anymore.” From a design standpoint, these smaller spaces—“parlors,” Schulz called them—will have to be incorporated in the architectural plan from the beginning, as will the ability to accommodate wagering in non-traditional areas like bars, lounges and restaurants. At the new Resorts World New York mega-racino at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, N.Y., they’re already moving in that direction and have much of the technological infrastructure installed, including power centers and raceways under the floor, to support mobile and virtual gambling. Spaces have been

designed with multiple seating for multiple screens. These will be grouped in ways that are comfortable and “much more lounge-like,” said Scott Celella, chief operating officer of JCJ Architecture, which designed the racino. “We think Resorts World is coming close to the best example we have of where design is heading,” said Celella, whose firm also designed the Seneca Niagara and Allegheny casinos in western New York, Pennsylvania’s Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack in West Virginia and an array of regional and resort-scale tribal casinos in the Midwest and West. “Everyone has an iPad or an iPhone,” he noted, “so they’re used to getting a very personalized experience. The question is, how does that translate into a casino experience? What it’s about now is combining those amenities with the casino floor.”

It’s a question being asked throughout the field. “Our firm has focused its attention on the casino floor,” said Thalden. “We are working to bridge the gap between casino design and performance.” A phrase JCJ likes is “sensitivity to differentiation,” which the firm identifies as a trend that will be guiding the future of casino design. “It goes back to the ability to cater to specific customer experiences and expectations,” said Joe Baruffaldi, studio director at the firm’s San Diego office. “This may be a more ‘masculine’ space using darker colors and located near the table games or a space with a different color palette, maybe something softer, to appeal more to a female clientele. If you’re going to make the gaming experience more personal you need to make the space more personal.”

BY THE BOOK The start of the new century saw the publication of Bill Friedman’s Designing Casinos to Dominate the Competition (University of Nevada, 2001), an influential work that preached the value of a lot of what today’s architects are talking about in terms of the gaming floor re-imagined as something quite different from the vast, open, contiguous fields of machines found in so many casinos today. Indeed, instead of “slot barns,” as Friedman derided them, modern casino design emphasizes many “floors” in one, an amalgam of discrete spaces, each with a character of its own and designed to deliver a more intimate and personalized experience, something perhaps akin to the Above:The Venetian Las Vegas is a classic example of designing a casino space to surprise and excite the customer. Left: In modern resort design, bars, such as the one pictured here at Resorts World New York City, and other social venues play as important a role as slots and table areas.

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CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

Game on.

When the Poarch Band of Creek Indians selected HBG to design a signature property at a value-driven price-point, we said “game on!” Every facility investment dollar is focused on performance and marketability. As for quality, Wind Creek Casino & Hotel is now the only Native American-Owned AAA Four Diamond Award-Winning property in Alabama.

901.525.2557 / HBGINC.COM Casino Resort Design

COVER STORY

Changes are also taking place to exterior casino design, with facades and other features reflecting natural environmental elements to provide differentiation and a sense of place. Flowing water and wind influenced the design of both Riverwind Casino in Oklahoma and The Rivers Casino in Pennsylvania.

With the traditional circular casino design, generally, you have the pit in the middle surrounded by slot machines. You’ll still have the pit. But what goes around it will change. Sitting in front of a machine may not be necessary anymore. —Bradley Schulz, Bergman Walls & Associates

“multitude of small, appealing gambling worlds” that constituted Friedman’s ideal floor, and in this respect it’s likely that he’d applaud, at least conceptually, the influence that new technologies and younger customers are beginning to exert on the process. After all, what he set out to prove in more than 600 exhaustively researched pages was that design is more important than the number of hotel rooms, more important than marketing, more important even than management, in driving play. Only location is more important, he said. “There is not one set thing that will be universal everywhere,” said Schulz. “Expectations differ from Las Vegas to a casino on an Indian reservation. To think of the future in terms of a total paradigm shift would not be accurate, especially if you’re talking about Las Vegas, where people are still coming for the overall experience, while the casino portion of that may change. In a tribal or regional market type of gaming, if there isn’t a lot of competition, people still come to gamble. If it’s highly competitive then you get into more thinking about the nongaming elements. It really depends on the market, what the competitive mix is, what the long-term goal is.” Celella recalled how “In the beginning, the thought was build it and they will come. They wanted the games up and running. Speed was key. The conversation now is starting on a different plane. You’re looking at mature markets where casinos 24

need to attract more customers, attract them more often, and keep them there. You’re really using the gaming facility as more of an entertainment facility, and you have to think about what that means and what demographics you’re trying to reach. It’s not one space anymore. It’s not a big gaming parlor. You have to have a variety of spaces now in order to provide that encompassing entertainment venue.” To inform this process JCJ begins with what it calls a Design Discovery Workshop, a three-day exercise during which the firm prepares a list of questions for the casino client to answer. The questions cover essentials such as the size and scope of the project and its function, “what they dream about,” Celella said, “what their goals are.” Out of this, an initial design is born by the third day in the form of a layout, a plan and a 3D model. As he puts it, “You want to distill complexity into something finite.” Memphis, Tenn.-based Hnedak Bobo Group follows a similar planning process to tailor a project to the specific needs and long-term growth objectives of a client. This interactive, market-driven planning process identifies key project issues and growth opportunities to create the right design to capture a marketplace, according to company literature. For Riverwind Casino, a gaming resort designed by Hnedak Bobo for the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, this process led to an exterior

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

design featuring an undulating portico that the company describes as more than a structural gesture toward the casino’s name— it’s an architectural abstraction of local nature, in this case of the “prairie wind.” This theme is carried throughout the resort to unify and differentiate the property: architectural features at the building’s entry represent the bend of prairie grass; the building’s sapphire blue façade lays low to the earth, projecting energy without overpowering the native prairie fields; the interior design reflects the visual concepts of “wind” and “water,” and includes kinetic lighting to give the property a different look, feel and energy day and night. Both JCJ and Hnedak Bobo are emblematic of an entirely new approach to how the casino of tomorrow will look and feel. “We’re barely at the dawn of a new vision for gaming,” Thalden said. “Change is coming—it’s on our drawing boards.” James Rutherford is a freelance writer and editor based in the Atlantic City area. He can be contacted at [email protected].

FROM THE ARCHIVE… For these related stories, please visit the Casino Journal Digital Issue Archive at www.casinojournal.com.

Building Momentum Sept 2011 Does Your Casino Floor Suck… Aug 2011 A Walk in the Park May 2011

F O C U S O N : EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Board GAINS BY KEITH KEFGEN & JULIETTE BOONE

In this annual analysis, HVS Executive Search crunches the numbers to determine the gaming industry’s best board rooms and corporate governance structures

G

aming pundits have suggested that the wagering industry must prepare itself for the “new normal” of diminished economic expectations and returns. Other more optimistic voices have pointed to the emergence of new technologies, jurisdictions and social gaming that will lead to new business opportunities. How will public companies deal with these and other unforeseen changes in an uncertain future? The answer is with better governance and more board involvement in the strategic planning process. In our view, good governance policy is very straightforward. Follow our analysis to see who in gaming is getting it right. Our conclusions are based on an analysis of SEC filings and the opinions of other corporate governance experts. We examined 33 companies and rated each in the following four corporate governance fundamentals: • Size, makeup, and independence of the board • Committee structure and effectiveness • The presence of interlocks, insider participation, and related transactions • Fundamental commitment to pay-for-performance For each of these categories we focus on specific attributes or activities and award 0-10 points accordingly. Our intent is to provide investors, board members and industry executives a method for evaluating performance and identifying areas that warrant improvement.

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SIZE AND MAKEUP MATTERS Corporate governance experts agree that an optimal board structure consists of an odd number of seats (to eliminate the possibility of a tie vote), with the total number of seats ranging between 5 and 11 members. To keep objective and independent, boards should be composed of fewer than 25 percent insiders. In 2010, only four out of 33 gaming boards possessed both an odd number of members as well as fewer than 25 percent insiders. Ten out of thirty-three gaming companies had an outside chairman or lead director, the sign of a truly independent board. The remaining companies were controlled by the CEO. We also considered length of term, where most experts regard a oneyear term as most favorable. In a positive trend, twenty out of 33 companies had one year terms, an increase from 18 in last year’s survey.

F O C U S O N : EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

Bally Technologies

SIZE & MAKEUP

COMMITTEE STRUCTURE

INSIDER & RELATED TRANSACTIONS

COMPENSATION

POINTS

9

10

10

9

38

7

10

10

10

37

Pinnacle Entertainment

10

8

9

9

36

Shuffle Master

10

9

8

9

36

Daktronics

5

8

10

8

31

International Gaming Technology

Empire Resorts

7

10

5

8

30

GameTech International

6

6

10

7

29

MGM Resorts

6

9

5

8

28

Penn National

8

7

5

8

28

Gaming Partners International

6

6

10

5

27

TransAct Technologies, Inc

2

7

10

8

27

Boyd Gaming

6

7

5

8

26

Carnival

3

9

5

8

25

Churchill Downs

6

7

5

7

25

Entertainment Gaming Asia

6

7

5

7

25

Multimedia Games

5

7

5

8

25

Scientific Games Corporation

3

9

5

8

25

Canterbury Park

3

4

10

7

24

Monarch Casino & Resort

5

6

5

8

24

MTR Gaming

6

6

5

7

24

Pokertek

7

5

5

7

24

WMS Industries, Inc.

2

9

5

8

24

Nevada Gold & Casinos

3

6

10

4

23

Isle of Capri

3

6

5

8

22

Las Vegas Sands Corp

2

7

5

8

22

Wynn Resorts

1

10

5

6

22

Lakes Entertainment

6

7

5

3

21

Ameristar Casinos

2

6

5

7

20

Century Casinos

5

7

5

3

20

Global Cash Access Holdings

3

5

5

7

20

Dover Downs Entertainment

6

5

5

3

19

American Wagering

2

4

5

6

17

Full House Resorts

3

5

5

4

17

Numerical values in each category represent the total of points awarded for board size, independence of chairperson, ratio of insiders to independents, committee structure and meeting frequency, existence or absence of interlocks and related transactions and compensations philosophies and practices.

STRUCTURE AND PARTICIPATION Corporate governance experts mandate that boards maintain four key committees: audit, compensation, nominating and governance. To measure this aspect of board performance we looked for the existence of each of these committees as well as the frequency with which they met. The average frequency of audit committees remained flat between 28

2009 and 2010; that of compensation committees decreased slightly while the frequency for nominating and governance committees increased slightly over the same period. A troubling trend was the increasing number of insiders participating on committees. We were dumbfounded that six companies still had an executive committee, a relic of 1980’s governance.

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

We saw a slight increase in the number of companies with insider participation and an even larger increase in the number of related transactions. Three companies had insider participation and 21 companies had notable related transactions. We suspect that stricter SEC reporting requirements have brought to light more of these relationships. Several companies in our

Left: Pinnacle Entertainment, owners of Lumière Place Casino pictured here, was the top ranked casino developer in this year’s HVS Best Gaming Boards study.

we see stock awards tied to performance metrics and longer vesting periods. Few companies have stock ownership guidelines for directors, a policy that we would like to see implemented in the coming years to better align boards with their shareholders’ interests. Overall, board compensation practices in 2010 closely mirrored those of the prior year.

BALLY TECHNOLOGIES LEADS AGAIN

survey were considered to be “controlled,” so this issue will never be entirely eliminated.

PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE COMMITMENT A “pay-for-performance” compensation model is advocated by nearly every publicly traded gaming company. Governance experts would agree that management and shareholder interests are best aligned through this commitment. We’ve seen small improvements in the past year with some companies increasing stock ownership guidelines for their named executive officers. We have also seen a few companies shift the mix of base, bonus and long-term incentives to be more highly skewed to the long-term. The components we look for in evaluating compensation programs: • A well articulated and thorough compensation philosophy • Salaries that are set using a peer group analysis • Quantifiable and detailed bonus metrics • Long-term incentives that are performance based and are not excessive • Benefits and perquisites at appropriate levels With the recently passed Dodd-Frank Act, otherwise known as “Say on Pay,” shareholders of some companies were asked to approve executive compensation as recommended by the compensation

committees, as well as vote on the frequency with which such votes would occur. Several companies recommended annual votes while others recommended a shareholder vote every three years. We question the significance and relevance of such “non-binding and advisory” votes if no required action is taken. Optimal compensation for board directors is a mix of equity and cash, the latter in the form of attendance and committee fees versus retainers. Nearly all directors are receiving stock options, RSU’s or a mix of both, however, seldom do

For a second consecutive year, 2010’s best performing board belongs to Bally Technologies. David Robbins, chairman, and Bally’s entire Board of Directors should be proud of their efforts. Bally Technologies’ board is lean and efficient, made up nearly all independent members; its subcommittees were active and involved. The company’s compensation philosophy is straightforward and well thought-out. International Gaming Technologies was in a very close second place with notable improvements in its board structure and compensation philosophy. Other strong performers included Pinnacle Entertainment and Shuffle Master. As the gaming industry emerges from the economic turmoil and governance policy is adhered to, gaming boards can concentrate on more strategic objectives and long range planning. Boards that can get their house in order and spend more time on the more meaningful aspects of growing the business and enhancing shareholder value will be the future winners of our survey.

About the Authors Keith Kefgen is chief executive officer of HVS Executive Search. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of hospitality executive search. Kefgen is a frequent lecturer on industry related issues and has written more than 100 articles on the topics of executive selection, payfor-performance, corporate governance and executive leadership. He is a graduate of the Cornell University Hotel School. Juliette Boone is vice president of HVS Executive Search. She brings a wealth of experience in her 18-year hospitality industry career. She has a diverse professional background including hotel food and beverage operations, culinary arts, catering sales and operations, contract food service, concept development, hospitality education, and hotel consulting and valuation. Her experience is complemented with a Master’s degree in Hospitality Management and Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. In 2004, Boone joined HVS in the Consulting & Valuation division before joining HVS Food & Beverage Services in 2006, and HVS Executive Search in 2008.

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SPECIAL REPORT:

PREVIEW

SLICK PRODUCTS A number of manufacturers plan on pulling out all the stops at this month’s ICE Totally Gaming show in London BY PAUL DOOCE Y

T

he 2012 gaming show season gets off to its usual start at the ICE Totally Gaming, which will take place January 23-26 at Earls Court, London. As in years past, ICE Totally Gaming features conferences, networking opportunities and a trade show floor that showcases the latest and greatest products for the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) markets (for more information, visit www.totallygaming.com).

The conference program consists of seminars and summits that provide trends, analysis and debate in categories ranging from regulation and cybercrime prevention to customer relationship management and the future of casino gaming. It is the tradeshow, however, that tends to attract more of the attention from the 20,000 or so attendees from 126 sovereign states that visit ICE each year. Reflecting the liberal nature of legalized wagering in EMEA, the ICE floor features displays from seven distinct gaming sectors— Betting, Bingo, Casino, Lottery, Mobile, Online and Street. Here’s a preview of what some casino suppliers plan on showcasing at ICE:

POP STAR Bally Technologies has unveiled a game that will have players dancing in their seats. For 30

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

the first time ever, one of music’s most influential and biggest-selling stars appears on casino floors with Michael Jackson King of Pop. The legendary performer moon-walks across the game screen to some of the most recognizable tunes in history. Michael Jackson King of Pop is featured on Bally’s new Pro Series V22/32 cabinet. It combines the lure of a wide-area progressive with six bonus events and a custom King of Pop surround-sound chair. Sitting in front of this game, players will experience mindblowing true cinema digital surround sound. Designed to appeal to all generations, Michael Jackson King of Pop offers an astounding suite of features. It has two mystery wilds bonuses and two Free Games bonus events. The game is highlighted by the U-Spin Platinum Record Bonus, in which the player touches and spins a virtual wheel to win credits and one of the two Free Games experiences.

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To engage and entertain players, the game features some of the pop superstar’s well-known hits including Bad, Billie Jean, Beat It, Dirty Diana, and Smooth Criminal. In Beat It Free Games, Jackson appears on screen during spins, sometimes awarding Locking Wilds, which remain in place for the duration of the bonus. Jackson’s trademark “Moonwalk” dance technique takes center stage in Billie Jean Moonwalking Wilds. Along with the unforgettable music and video clips and his distinctive dance moves, King of Pop uses favorite icons from Jackson’s career including the famous white glove, signature fedora, black loafers, and sunglasses. The game is appropriately appointed for royalty. Stunning imagery and an unprecedented number of movie clips from some of Jackson’s legendary music videos make the game as iconic as the King of Pop himself. Stand number: 3540

For more information, visit www.ballytech.com.

TOP FLIGHT This year at ICE Casino Technology will launch PENTHOUSE SLOTS branded series of products for European customers, enriched with more game titles. They will be presented in the specially designed PENTHOUSE SENSATIONAL cabinet with added decorative toppers and a range of themed jackpot signs. The showcase product in this format will be the PLAYME PENTHOUSE SLOTS grand piano multiplayer station with the latest PENTHOUSE SLOTS game titles. Casino Technology will also display the latest additions to its GAMOPOLIS suite of multigame products such as GAMOPOLIS VIII, which offers 15 new games. GAMOPOLIS 51 houses 15 proven games in a unit that is GLI Standard 11 compliant, ideal for international operators in Europe, Latin America, Central America, Asia, Philippines, and other jurisdictions. Themed games will also have a prominent position in the Casino Technology booth. The latest iterations of 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD and MOTORMANIA will be showcased, each 32

now available in multigame formats for greater operator flexibility and with player’s choice and other options to improve a property’s slot mix. On the systems side, Casino Technology will unveil its Remote Game Server (RGS) concept. RGS enables casino operators to offer online games through a simple integration with an existing iGaming platform.

interest to operators across Europe,” he said. “Providing secure ticket issuance and redemption without the need to network the games greatly simplifies the cash collection process.” Stand number: 4160

For more information, visit www.futurelogic-inc. com.

Stand number: 3290

For more information, visit www.casinotechnology.com.

EYE TO THE FUTURE FutureLogic, a California-based company that designs and builds high-reliability electromechanical assembly solutions for nearly every printing need, will be showcasing two products at this year’s ICE show. To start, the company will officially launch its PromoNet couponing solution for the Europe, Middle East and Asian (EMEA) marketplace. PromoNet can be integrated with the company’s TITO gaming printers such as the GEN3 Evolution printer and GEN2 Universal printer. The PromoNet solution offers casinos the ability to create campaigns for both carded and noncarded players, and automatically trigger marketing campaigns based on realtime game play metrics, player tracking information, POS systems and redemption terminals, allowing casino marketers to issue a coupon at the game or HBE (hospitality, beverage, entertainment) location to attract and retain customers. For players, these offers provide valued savings and incentives to enhance their casino/resort experience. “Following extensive consultation, development and testing in the U.S. casino market—including passing review by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, GLI and BMM—we are excited that the PromoNet couponing solution is now ready for sale in EMEA markets,” said John Edmunds, vice president international markets for FutureLogic. The company will also unveil a new ticket-out solution for the AWP market, Edmunds added. “[It will replace] coinpayout with ticket-payout on new and legacy analogue AWP games is of real

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

LOFTY THOUGHTS With exciting, market-attuned games and revolutionary systems solutions, International Game Technology (IGT) delivers the powerful products that drive casino performance at ICE Totally Gaming (ICE). Premiering at ICE is IGT Cloud, a breakthrough casino management service solution that empowers operators to optimize their operations and engage players. The cloud computing service will supply IGT Analytics for robust reporting, and IGT Floor Manager to manage game content and allow access to one of the largest game libraries in the industry. IGT’s global focus and market-attuned approach will be highlighted on IGT’s new video slot themes featuring localized and regionalized content designed for performance and player enjoyment. With features such as 3D and advanced touchscreens, IGT’s games are built to meet the technology expectations of today’s consumers worldwide. IGT’s Center Stage Series will continue to be the center of attention by offering operators the ability to refresh content with the latest, high-impact games at ICE. And IGT pop-culture slot games, such as Elvis The King, give players entertaining experiences through blockbuster titles. “At ICE 2012, IGT will show continued international

success as we deliver the ubiquitous, innovative gaming experiences and new technologies that generate value for our customers,” said Craig Churchill, IGT senior vice president of international sales. Stand number: 3430

For more information, visit www.IGT.com/ ICE2012.

OPEN MIND An industry leader in wide-area serverbased gaming, Inspired Gaming Group (Inspired) will focus on three key themes for ICE 2012: server-based gaming, marketing and rewards, and platform convergence. Inspired will unveil CORE VIP, the industry’s most advanced bonus and reward system, at ICE for the first time. It is the latest platform innovation to come from the innovative company and the first and only system to allow in-game rewards for all games, even third-party titles. Inspired’s CORE VIP is modular so operators can take all its features or select certain functions, all of which can be integrated into current loyalty and CRM systems. Over a decade of hands-on experience

and millions in R&D has ensured Inspired is at the forefront of developments in wide area server-based gaming (SBG) and now leads in next-generation SBG markets, such as the UK and Italy. At ICE, visitors to the Inspired stand can experience the unique qualities of Inspired’s Open SBG CORE platform that go far beyond the remote download of games. These qualities include its open source content API (Open SBG), innovative add-ons such as marketing and rewards, and in-depth reporting for greater performance control. The land-based SBG platform is also adaptable to cross-platform convergence, which Inspired will be demonstrating in partnership with its sister company OpenBet. A key attraction is Inspired’s multiplatform Virtual Sports for retail, in-home broadcast, online and mobile systems. “Inspired is in a unique position

in this industry in that we are large enough to compete with the U.S. and European gaming giants, but we are small enough to keep innovation fast-paced and technology-focused,” said Inspired CEO Luke Alvarez. “We are a technology company at heart and will always deliver products that look great but perform even better, due to our unique SBG operating system. We’re launching another industry first with our CORE VIP ecosystem, which will take operators’ current marketing

and loyalty strategies to the next level by spanning both online and retail, and allowing in-game rewards across the entire Open SBG game library.” Stand number: 4075

For more information, visit www.ingg.com.

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PREVIEW

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COMBINED EFFORT SPIELO International is featuring its most comprehensive portfolio of content, products and systems solutions across all gaming segments at the 2012 ICE Totally Gaming show. SPIELO International is the new name of former sister companies ATRONIC and SPIELO. This will be SPIELO International’s first appearance at ICE as a fully integrated entity that shares a single focus on providing exceptional content across all gaming markets—including VLT, commercial casino, and AWP sectors. SPIELO will showcase the following international commercial casino products at ICE: •Mermaid’s Spell is an intriguing rapid hit eightlevel linked progressive multi-game that will mesmerize players. Featuring three distinct titles— Great Reef, Magic Lagoon and Bay of Fortune—Mermaid’s Spell enables players to select “enchanted symbols” for re-spins and increased chances at the progressives. Five-of-akind line wins trigger the corresponding progressive. Players can choose their volatility by seeking their favorite progressive level. •Egyptian Gold is SPIELO International’s first progressive link using Episodic Gaming. As the player progresses through the game during one session, he or she can save and reactivate their achieved status during the next play session. The player unlocks more features and additional bet options for more action become available. Egyptian Gold offers an exciting five-level Progressive Playoff, where the player is able to win multiple progressives. •SPIELO International has expanded its successful multi-game solution, diversity, with the introduction of Amazing Amber, Pure Purple, Gambling Green and Absolute Azure. Combined with Royal Red and Brilliant Blue, operators can select game suites tailored to their players’ desires. diversity offers a variety of up to 10 games grouped into categories that can be selected by players via touch screen, with Roulette 34

now available as a selection. Presented on the new OXYGEN cabinet, diversity allows players to select their preferred game types with different volatility levels, and is the only multigame on the market featuring proven, top-performing standalone progressive games, all in multi-line and multi-denomination format. •New core games will provide another highlight of the show. They include Goldify2, the successor to Goldify, a popular game where players choose which symbols to turn into gold so they can select their preferred level of volatility. Goldify2 features the same easy-to-play functionality, but even more choices of symbols to Goldify, including the top symbol and feature trigger. •SPIELO International is also introducing the Animal World game family, featuring Puzzle Pay. All actual Puzzle Pay symbols will turn around to display pieces of a picture. All other reel positions will re-spin. If additional actual Puzzle Pay symbols appear after the respin, they will turn around to show more pieces of the picture. The bonus ends if there are no additional actual Puzzle Pay symbols after the re-spin or all 15 positions are turned around. Credits are

awarded based on the number of pieces revealed, with the top amount awarded for a completed puzzle. Titles in the Animal World family include Animal World Africa and Animal World Australia. Stand number: 3015

For more information, visit www.spielo.com.

THINKING BIG Building on its continual development of unique gaming products and industry differentiated technologies, WMS Gaming Inc., will display the company’s strongest and most diverse gaming content portfolio ever for international markets at the ICE Totally Gaming 2012. With a broad array of unique and dynamic entertainment experiences that are sure to engage current players and attract new ones to drive higher loyalty

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

and performance for casino operators, WMS is committed to its motto of “Engaging Players. Delivering Results.” WMS continues to translate customer and player feedback into high earning product solutions that integrate unique play mechanics with iconic industry and global brands. The WMS product design and development teams have again created new entertainment experiences that raise the bar on gaming excitement with new and coming products, including: •Colossal Reels—New to the WMS Innovation Series category, the Colossal Reels series utilizes the full widescreen power of the Bluebird2 and Bluebird xD cabinets to feature two sets of reels—traditional and oversized—that transfer wild symbols between reels. The Colossal Reels series will launch with four themes and two unique math models. •Life of Luxury Deluxe—The new Life of Luxury Deluxe theme is the follow up to the successful Life of Luxury Progressive Local Area Progressive (LAP) series. The game features a LAP free spin bonus randomly triggered during standard G+DELUXE and G+ Deluxe 5x4 base game play. In the progressive free spin bonus round, a max wager spin guarantees a progressive award if the picking bonus is triggered. •Aladdin & The Magic Quest—A virtual reality magic carpet ride, taking you as close to a thrill ride as a slot machine can possibly go, Aladdin & The Magic Quest slots introduce the next generation of Sensory Immersion gaming with the WMS motion system chair. In this fully immersive experience, including 3D graphics, sound and movement, players enjoy an unprecedented experience with motion effects programmed to align perfectly with in game events. Powered by the CPU NXT3 processor, players enjoy three unique bonus rounds in this game changing slot adventure. •POWER SPINS—A new family for the video Bonus Bank player featuring a base game with the look and feel of the popular G+ Deluxe series. Launching Continued on page 53

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In Search of VALIDATION Hiding in plain sight — the best technology you’ve never seen BY JAMES RUTHERFORD

O

f all the sights and sounds clamoring for the player’s attention on the slot floor, there is one element that is vital to the success of the whole experience, the bill acceptor, and it’s the one all casino operators absolutely don’t want their customers to notice. It’s hardly glamorous, needless to say, but it is the player’s critical first point of contact with the game; indeed, it’s the device that propels them into the gamble, the thing that in a very real sense turns the game on. Nothing happens until the money goes in, right? The bill acceptor has to work. It has to work seamlessly, invisibly. And ideally it has to work every time. Because if anybody actually is forced to become aware of that sliver of light where all those precious bank notes and tickets are disappearing, millions upon millions of them, every second of every hour of every day of the year—whether it’s the player, the casino or the slot manufacturer—chances are there has been a problem.

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CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

And that means there has been no play. It’s a tremendous responsibility, acknowledged Eric Fisher, vice president of gaming for MEI. “We recognize that we’re a barrier to entry at the machine, and we never lose sight of that. The key for us is to not notice we’re there.” The fact that people rarely do is a tribute to the technological proficiency achieved by the companies that make these workhorse devices—like West Chester, Pa.-based MEI, whose advanced cash-handling and payment systems process more than 2 billion transactions a week in more than 100 countries. MEI’s flagship Cashflow SC series has proven invaluable to the global gaming industry, which

It figures. When there is an advance in note validators it’s from MEI. SC Advance™, the next generation of CASHFLOW® SC, is taking the industry by storm offering: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Improved recognition system proactively protecting against fraudulent notes Faster bill-to-bill speed improving player experience and throughput Backwards compatibility with CASHFLOW SC maximizing previous investments in MEI Improved barcode ticket acceptance, including four-way ticket reading Enhanced memory expanding the number of notes accepted

SC Advance’s unprecedented logic and speed funnels performance to your bottom line. To learn more, call 610-918-8018 to schedule a SC Advance demo.

Proven performance. Increased profits. MEI is ISO 9001:2000 certified. ©2012 MEI. All rights reserved.

meigroup.com

GAMES & TECHNOLOGY

depends for its daily lifeblood on mindboggling volumes of cash of every type and size and state of wear. Developed over the course of four years of research and engineering, the SC employs state-of-the-art recognition algorithms to achieve acceptance rates of 98 percent and better at first pass-through. This includes those faded, frayed, torn, taped or otherwise bedraggled crumples of paper known pointedly in the trade as “street quality.” It stacks in three seconds. Its “wheeled” design, rollerdriven rather than belt-driven, allows a bank note to be inserted at any angle, four ways, face up or down, along a path that is sealed and shortened to protects the SC’s

Fourteen million in win! That kind of volume for bill validators is very, very rare. What a test for iVizion. —Tom Nieman, JCM

inner workings against fluids and dust, two of the principal causes of jams. Security against counterfeiting is achieved by virtue of an innovative full-scan “light bar” that provides six wave lengths of light to detect more note surface. The SC has a number of other big concerns covered, too—like durability and ease of use and maintenance. A front window shows the value of the last note stacked to ensure that disputes are resolved quickly and accurately. The lockable cash box, capable of storing a full 500 bank notes, has a welded plastic exterior that can stand up to the rigorous punishment of the busiest casino, and it’s ergonomically designed to be removed with one Easitrax Soft Count device from MEI

38

The MEI Cashflow SC Advance

took in an amazing $14 million in revenue in their first 10 days of operation from the end of October to early November. hand. Color-coded LEDs “Fourteen million in win!” exclaimed allow diagnostics to be JCM’s Vice President of Global Marketing performed at the machine, Tom Nieman. “That kind of volume for with a USB port located bill validators is very, very rare. What a test in front. The architecture for iVizion.” is hot swappable, so Another big test will occur when the components can easily be iVizion debuts on the 4,750 slot machines interchanged. Updates and electronic table games opening in are easily added through June at Maryland Live! Casino in Anne a conveniently placed Arundel County just south of Baltimore. interface card. “Every RFP we went after [in 2011], we “For us, we keep it pretty simple,” won them all,” Nieman noted with pride. Fisher noted proudly. “We’re a bill The iVizion is fitted with two high-speed acceptor company. That’s all we do.” processors and JCM’s innovative Contact Actually, MEI does quite a bit Image Sensor Technology, more. For, as Fisher which captures the acknowledges, “What entire image of the operators want bank note or ticket. is bigger, faster, It provides an 85 stronger”—a demand the mm-wide bezel company has met with the makes for easy new Cashflow SC Advance, entry and optically which back-fits to the SC to centers each bill provide an even faster stack speed, automatically. The more memory and security and result, according to note-acceptance rates that are better JCM, is a 99 percent by one-third. Add on the Easitrax first-time acceptance Soft Count, which is working rate, which includes currently across some 70,000 slot four-way bar code machines, and operators also acceptance. benefit from a software/hardware Operators also solution that integrates with the SC like iVizion’s to enable faster, more efficient cash modular design—the drops and a much greater ability to The iVizion head and transport gather and evaluate critical data, from validator from JCM are separate pieces so device to count room. they need only change Both the SC Advance and Easitrax were out the head—and OEMs appreciate the on display at the 2011 Global Gaming back-to-front-stacking cash box because it Expo held back in October in Las means more bill storage can be added on Vegas, and “People were thrilled,” without disturbing the surface alignment said Fisher. “It was very exciting, of the games. the reception we’ve had.” The ICB 2.5 Intelligent Cash Box is itself one of the most technologically advanced in the business: RFID-enabled to capture, TURN UP THE VOLUME analyze and report more data than ever JCM’s new iVizion got to bask before, and all of it is accessible remotely under a spotlight of its own a couple of weeks via the Web or on a mobile device. Another innovative feature is the new later at the opening Sentry 2.0 Bezel, which is fitted with a twoof Resorts World color LCD display that is programmable to Casino New York deliver customized messages in any of four City, the giant slot languages (English, Spanish, French and house at Aqueduct Simplified Chinese) directly to the player or racetrack in Queens. the technician. Resorts World’s initial As Nieman said, it’s all about using complement of 2,485 VLTs, all of which are fitted with the iVizion, technology to solve problems.

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

JCM’s iPro-RC will be showcased at ICE.

JCM’s new iPro-RC, which will debut this month at ICE 2012 in London, is a good example. The iPro is the latest iteration of the company’s popular UBA-RC—the “RC” standing for “recycling,” a critical function in the arcade/club markets of Europe, where coins outnumber bills in smaller denominations and payouts in kind can quickly deplete a hopper and shut down a game for long stretches until a route technician shows up to replenish it. The UBA-RC overcomes the problem by storing inserted bills for payouts, recycling them, in essence. The iPro provides improved sensor capability and added recycling capability and is retrofitted to the UBA-RC. Only the transport mechanism needs to be installed to complete the upgrade.

EUROPEAN TOUCH The ability to overcome hopper depletion also is a specialty of Concord, Ontariobased CashCode, which counts among its customers some of the biggest names in European gaming—Orion, Unidesa, Alfastreet, Gold Club and Ritzio Entertainment Group among them. The company’s workhorse B2B 60, the first 60-bill recycler designed specifically for the AWP market, was spotlighted at G2E, where CashCode exhibited under the “Cash Handling Made Easy” banner of parent, Crane Payment Solutions. The TITO- and bar-code compatible B2B 60 accepts bills in denominations from €5 to €50 and pays back in €10 and €20 notes. It boasts a first-pass acceptance rate of 98 percent and is user-friendly from top to bottom, with a recycling cassette that is easily managed via “load” and “unload” service buttons. A two-digit external display indicates the bill count to the operator. A BlueChip sim card is all that’s required to change configurations or update firmware. The front-loading CashCode One, another highlight of the show, reads and validates the currencies of more than 60 nations, and transcends borders in more

The amount of cash has actually increased the last three years. Which is what happens in a down economy: people use more cash. Debit cards are replacing checks, they’re not replacing cash. Cash isn’t going anywhere in the casino for many years to come. —Eric Fisher, MEI bill” technology for resolving disputes. You ways than that. Like its counterparts need only plug a PDA into the USB port from MEI and JCM, it works with to bring up the last 10 bills entered. That most industry-standard protocols, same USB connectivity enables fast and easy freeing OEMs and operators from software integration through a single API. having to stock different models, Diagnostics are made simple with an LED it’s USB compatible, and it supports indication system and a comprehensive a wide variety of bezels, including package of support tools. And, of course, gaming-specific ones. It features it’s TITO-compatible. It’s also modular in four-way bill (or barcode) acceptance design, so it’s easy to maintain, and it’s across note widths ranging from 63 available with a high-capacity, 1,000-note mm to 85 mm, state-of-the-art sensor cash box (the Ardac CB1000), and comes technology (98 percent on first insertion, whether bill or ticket), an optional lockable, available in a rear-access model and an drop-proof cassette capable of storing up to “upstack” model, with the cash box located above the acceptor for added flexibility. 1,000 notes, and a “clamshell” design for As casino thrills go, the bill validator easy access to the bill path. An LED may hardly trip the meter, indicator simplifies but it is representative the diagnostic of yeoman technology process, and at its finest and most software updates flawless, not to mention are easily made that without it the with a Smart Stick. industry as we know CashCode’s it would not exist. So reputation for count on it only getting performance and better. reliability is one reason “The amount of cash that Crane has sold more has actually increased than 2 million validators the last three years,” to date. Money Controls is noted Fisher. “Which is another. Based in the UK, what happens in a down its acquisition by Crane economy: people use in 2010 brought into the more cash. Debit cards fold a company with 50 are replacing checks, they’re years’ experience as a not replacing cash. Cash isn’t leader in innovative and CashCode One is a front going anywhere in the casino reliable cash-handling for loading bill acceptor. for many years to come.” the gaming, amusement, transportation, retail and kiosk markets. James Rutherford is a freelance writer and editor And with that came the redoubtable based in the Atlantic City area. He can be Ardac Elite, a validator developed with the contacted at [email protected]. high-volume requirements of the casino industry specifically in mind. Since its introduction in 2006, the Ardac Elite has been embraced by all the major FROM THE ARCHIVE… OEMs and can be found in thousands of For these related stories, please visit the Casino Journal Digital Issue Archive at venues. A pioneer in art-imaging capability, www.casinojournal.com. it scans the full bill for extra security and delivers four-way acceptance of new or Follow the Money October 2011 “street” grade notes in virtually any state, Signs of Support September 2011 at just about any angle, at a speed of 3.5 Cash Advances May 2011 seconds. It also features innovative “last CASINOJOURNAL.COM • JANUARY 2012 • CASINO JOURNAL

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Product Focus: Table Game Technology

PROFILE: DigiDeal continues to innovate with latest product line Portable Chip Reader » GAMING PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL

The Portable Chip Reader from Gaming Partners International (GPI) is an innovative tool that gives casinos greater flexibility in authenticating and validating RFID-enabled gaming chips. By enabling casino staff to quickly and accurately read, authenticate and count their currency from any location at any time, this reader extends RFID protection from the cage or chip bank to the table, the pit podium or even to back-ofhouse counting areas. Utilizing the latest RFID high-frequency technologies, GPI’s Portable Chip Reader combines the latest Magellan MARS 24 reader with a two-dimensional antenna that can read RFID chips in mass, in stacks or in racks. Encased in a sleek, portable case that includes a chip-reading surface that can be customized with the casino’s individual logo, the reader is able to quickly authenticate individual RFID chips and chip stacks that contains up to 20 chips. It can also quickly authenticate chips that are still in their trays and all validation information is displayed on an easy-to-read LCD display that shows both the number of pieces being authenticated as well as the total value amount. Its high-speed reading capabilities make it possible to read up to 400 chips per second while simultaneously identifying whether the chips are authentic, valid casino currency. This key advantage makes it possible for casino staff to easily identify and remove foreign, non-casino chips. The Portable Chip Reader is also designed for ease-of-use and reliability, featuring a durable design that makes it easy to transport throughout the casino and a universal power supply that works with any voltage. For more information, visit www. gpigaming.com.

EZ Pai Gow » DEQ SYSTEMS Los Angeles-based Commerce Casino has gone live with EZ Pai Gow, a new poker concept from DEQ Systems, a Canada40

One of the first companies to harness the power of technology for table games starting back in 1999, DigiDeal in 2011 has introduced its latest progression: the Live to Virtual (L2V) version of its proven Digital Table System (DTS). According to company literature, adding the right technology to traditional table games allows casinos to keep the key elements of a pit and gain new-found accountability and efficiency with actual player tracking, better reporting and elimination of dealer errors. Instead of giving away more of the pit to slot games, the L2V is designed to let casinos keep the “felt” and lose the inefficiencies. Even with its advanced technology, the DigiDeal L2V version is still a felt table. And it is still a real table game with the same play and strategy. At the same time, the new L2V table packages options in versatility and flexibility now available for the first time in a single product. With the L2V e-table, operators can use traditional playing cards and a variety of third-party, card scanning shoes or be totally converted to virtual cards. As each physical card is dealt, it is scanned, verified and digitally displayed on the player’s screen along with card totals and end of game outcomes. Virtual cards and game outcomes are similarly presented on the individual player monitors. The six-position L2V table also can be configured for play with a host or be easily switched to all virtual table play. Overall, it can be a single hosted table, semi-hosted in connection with other tables, or in AFT jurisdictions, the L2V table can be switched to fully automated play. In addition, the L2V table can be set up to accept any of the casino methods of buying into the game. Players can use tickets (TITO), AFT, cash and chips or by keyed on credits. After buying in, the credits are displayed in the player’s bank as virtual chips for wagering. As do all the company’s DTS-V tables, the L2V also offers full player tracking with SAS compatibility. In all, highlights of the L2V include: • The ability to convert from live to virtual cards in minutes. L2V uses live shoe with traditional paper cards or virtual cards. • Automated virtual banking with the ability to accept TITO, AFT, KOC, promotional credits. • Ability to track and reward players with the back-end system that’s compatible with full player tracking systems. • Easy conversion to auto host to cut costs during slow times. It’s a simple shift for L2V to be a fully virtual table. • Availability with a variety of popular game themes and multiple side bets. For more information, visit www.digideal.com.

based provider of table game bonusing, jackpot and loyalty solutions. EZ Pai Gow is a revolutionary method of accelerating the speed of Pai Gow poker by eliminating the 5 percent commission on

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

winning hands. The commission is replaced by imposing a push when the dealer gets a Queen High Pai Gow (Queen high hand). Players can side bet on the occurrence of the dealer’s Queen high Pai Gow (called

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On Full Conference Registrations Exhibitor and Sponsorship inquiries: Lesley Grashow at 203-938-2782; [email protected] Stephanie Weingartz at 248-786-1636; [email protected] Allison McCoy at 609-926-5100; [email protected]

Product Focus: Table Game Technology

The Wave Workstation » SURF CITY GAMING Game chips are one of the casino’s most handled assets by customers and employees alike. Is your property taking the right steps to protect its employees and players against germs and other widespread contaminants? Surf City Gaming has created The Wave Workstation which combines a fully portable chip cleaning system with non-toxic, ecofriendly cleaning process to deliver a fully integrated chip cleaning solution. The Wave Workstation is based on UltraSonic cleaning technology which utilizes our specifically designed Tidal Wave cleaning concentrate. The Wave is designed to fit within a customer’s existing facilities as well as being fully portable, faster, and more cost-efficient than any other chip-cleaning machine on the market. The system is also backed by Surf City Gaming’s deep Queen’s Dragon). This side wager pays 50 to 1 and creates an additional way for the player to win and a new revenue source for the casino. “The Commerce Casino is very happy to have spearheaded the approval of EZ Pai Gow in the California Card Rooms,” said Haig Papaian, Commerce Casino president. “EZ Pai Gow operates much the same way as EZ Baccarat with the push and side bet mechanism and we are very excited to see it perform.” DEQ also announced the release of

the EZ Trak for EZ Pai Gow. The EZ Trak accomplishes two essential needs of EZ Pai Gow: it offers a LCD based virtual position selector to start the round while tracking the vital statistics surrounding the Queen’s Dragon side bet. “Adding the position selector brings all the necessary technological elements together to make the EZ Pai Gow offering complete”, said Earle G. Hall, president and CEO of DEQ. For more information, visit www.deq. com.

PROFILE: OLG antes-up for PokerTek games The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) has begun field trials on products created by PokerTek, a Matthews, N.C.-based company that develops and markets electronic table game solutions for the gaming industry. Two of PokerTek’s table game devices are being tested at OLG Slots at Western Fair District in London, Ontario. “We believe that the Ontario market is a good fit for PokerPro, due to the fact that there are multiple properties that offer only slots and electronic table games,” said James Crawford, president of PokerTek. “With field trial underway, we look forward to growing our PokerPro footprint in Canada.” Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is a provincial agency of the Government of Ontario. OLG owns and/or operates 27 gaming sites across Ontario, and also sells lottery products at approximately 10,000 retail locations province wide. For more information, visit www.PokerTek.com.

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knowledge of the gaming industry’s needs and demands to provide our customers with a truly custom solution for their commercial chip cleaning needs. The Wave Workstation enables customers to achieve longevity to their chips, image to their business and cost savings to their bottom line with the confidence that it meets their stringent sanitation and hygiene standards. Customers using the system are lowering their total cost of operation and improving the safety of their workers and players. For more information, visit www. surfcitygaming.com.

Have your new products featured in PRODUCT FOCUS by sending information and descriptions with high-resolution photos/artwork to: Paul Doocey, Editor, Casino Journal, at [email protected].

THE ROAD TO REGULATION MARCH 4-6, 2012 • LAS VEGAS, NV

New for 2012: One-Day Boot Camp Sunday Main Program Monday & Tuesday An educational and

Are you ready for regulation?

networking event, iGNA is designed to introduce the land-based businesses of North America to the global iGaming industry.

PLANET HOLLYWOOD

It’s no longer a question of IF iGaming will be regulated in the US, but simply WHEN. For some interactive products regulation is already happening in various jurisdictions throughout North America. iGaming North America is designed to inform, prepare and facilitate business networking amongst land-based, online and public sector gaming executives in order to further the discussions critical to the success and progress of the industry. iGNA’s conference program will include unique and informative sessions such as the Visionaries Panel and Audience Participation Session with in-depth policy, operational and technological topics in between and all presented by a fresh and knowledgeable group of presenters.

Register Online at www.igamingnorthamerica.com

INNOVATIONS | INSIGHTS

GAMES & TECHNOLOGY

Signing bonus

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino adds branding and promotions to their e-mail signatures BY RED EARTH SOFTWARE

W

hen you combine a legendary brand name, a luxury resort and casino in Las Vegas and top-tier rock and rollers like the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney, you get the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

with the sender’s contact information,” said Mike Essig, IT Despite the buzz surrounding the world famous resort, director at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. “Policy Patrol the Hard Rock marketing department faced a challenge. In immediately applies updates to Active Directory contact today’s e-mail era, the Hard Rock had two goals in mind; information in the users’ e-mail signatures, which makes it first to standardize the signature on all outgoing e-mails to give them a more corporate and consistent feel. Secondly, the very easy to maintain. Since e-mail signatures are configured e-mail signatures had to be flexible enough to accommodate from one central template, it is a simple task to update e-mail marketing information for all e-mail signatures.” marketing promotions such as upcoming concerts and Since the Policy Patrol software was deployed, the results specials. The IT staff at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was have been nothing but positive. The centralized e-mail tasked with finding a solution. “The Hard Rock was on a tight deployment schedule and signatures program allows Hard Rock to consistently brand we knew that Policy Patrol Disclaimers was the right solution their e-mails and customize them with information from the marketing department quickly and for them,” said Deborah Galea, chief easily. operating officer and co-founder of “Policy Patrol Disclaimers is very Red Earth Software. “Policy Patrol easy to operate and we have to do Disclaimers enables companies to Company: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Employees: 2,500 very little to maintain it,” said Essig. add email disclaimers and streamline E-mail accounts: 800 “As a company, we have experienced their e-mail signatures for branding Mail server: Exchange Server 2007 no downtime with Policy Patrol since and marketing purposes without each Product: Policy Patrol Disclaimers implementation. It is consistent, staff member having to manually Vendor: Red Earth Software reliable, and easy to use.” perform signature updates.” Vendor Web site: http://www.policypatrol.com With roughly 2,500 employees Team members at the Hard Rock Length of project: 2 days and 800 active e-mail accounts, communicate via e-mail with Implementation: Company-wide Policy Patrol has opened the door for vendors, partners, legal teams, hotel Benefits: • Efficiency Savings the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to and casino patrons and fellow team • Raise Brand Awareness capitalize on a previously untapped members. It became important • Utilize Marketing Opportunity marketing resource, its own e-mails. to use their outgoing e-mails as Policy Patrol is cost-effective, easy to entertainment marketing tools to streamline their brand and publicize the events that were implement and operate, and requires little maintenance due to happening at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino to maintain its high level of automation. The results speak for themselves; excitement and momentum. If a musical event was coming previously ineffective and scattered e-mails were transformed up, Hard Rock wanted to add a banner promoting that event into an efficient, corporate marketing tool with a powerful and on all e-mail signatures without having to burden individual consistent branded message. Now instead of worrying about users with constant updates to their e-mail signatures. Red e-mail signatures, the Hard Rock team can get back to what Earth Software’s Policy Patrol Disclaimers software for they do best, rock and roll. Exchange Server was selected for the job. This article was reported and written by Red Earth Software, a Boulder, “We chose Policy Patrol due to its close integration with Colo.-based firm that specializes in the development of content security Exchange Server and Active Directory. This allows us to solutions that help companies ensure proper usage of their corporate configure one template that is automatically personalized e-mail systems.

JUST THE FACTS…

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE

AAd dv ve er rt ot or ri ai al l

BALLY TECHNOLOGIES 6601 SOUTH BERMUDA, LAS VEGAS, NEV. 89119 Phone: (702) 584-7700 • Web site: www.ballytech.com

COMPANY: With a history dating back to 1932, Bally Technologies designs, manufacturers, operates and distributes advanced gaming devices, systems and serverbased technology solutions worldwide. Bally’s product line includes reel-spinning slot machines, video slots, wide-area progressives, and Class II, lottery and central determination games and platforms. As the world’s No. 1 gaming systems company, Bally also offers an array of casino management, slot accounting, bonusing, cashless and table management solutions. NEW GAMES/PRODUCTS: It’s shaping up to be a huge 2012 for Bally Technologies with plenty of worldclass games headed to casino floors. The impressive Michael Jackson King of Pop on the new Pro Series V22/32 cabinet comes complete with a custom surround-sound chair that provides an unrivalled player experience. Offering everything from mystery wilds bonuses to free games bonus events featuring Bad, Billie Jean, Beat It, and Smooth Criminal, this game is highlighted by a U-Spin Platinum Record Bonus. Operators, industry insiders, and players are already talking about the debut of King of Pop on casino floors this summer. The game has garnered wide-spread media attention and earned rave reviews from casino operators and analysts who cover the gaming industry. Grease, inspired by the 1978

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American musical film about two love-struck teens in a 1950s high school, is Bally’s first double-play game, featuring two, 25line games—enabling the player to play two games at once. And Betty Boop’s Fortune Teller, the new companion game to the hit Betty Boop’s Love Meter, offers an unprecedented 15 bonuses at any bet and U-Spin and U-Choose bonuses. Not only will Bally be introducing branded games, the company will release wide array of new play mechanics and deep game content in the coming months. Several titles will be available on the new Pro Curve cabinet, the industry’s first cabinet with a curved LCD screen, including Code Red, Midnight Diamonds and Playboy Playmate Party. Additionally, Bally will be taking its iDeck to the next level in 2012. New games like Fish’n for Loot, All That Jazz, and Total Blast showcase the way iDeck takes player interactivity to new heights, allowing players to use the interactive deck to shoot items on the game screen much like a video arcade.

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

AAd dv ve er rt ot or ri ai al l

GARY PLATT MANUFACTURING 4643 AIRCENTER CIRCLE, RENO, NEV. 89502 Phone: (775) 824-0999 •Web site: www.garyplatt.com

COMPANY: When casino players sit on a Gary Platt Manufacturing chair, they immediately benefit from the comfort and strength of the seat against their bodies. The Gary Platt emphasis on excellence is the result of experience, research and development. The Reno, Nev.-based company dedicates its resources to designing and producing high quality products. Three partners, including company namesake Gary Platt, took their 50 years of experience in the hospitality seating industry and founded Gary Platt Manufacturing in 1997. NEW GAMES/PRODUCTS: It has been a wonderful, successful 2011 year for Gary Platt Manufacturing. Technology will have a great impact on Gary Platt Manufacturing in the coming year and we look forward to it with great anticipation. New games from Aristocrat, Bally, IGT and Spielo all feature interactive chairs created by Gary Platt. Since the October G2E show we have had great interest from other slot machine manufacturers asking for their own custom interactive chairs. We believe that in the years to come the interactive chair will dominate casino floors. They sing, they shake, and, according to many, they rock. We are the vendor of choice for the interactive chair, which is great for our business. These chairs are going to be excellent for our customers. They’re going to be comfortable, their sound is great, and customers will be getting an exciting experience. By collaborating with the slot manufacturers, the comfort

and quality of the interactive chairs outdo any seating designed for the gaming industry in the last 20 years. When they have a need, the manufacturers come to us. We work together in a satisfying collaboration. Our business for more traditional chairs has also remained solid. The first-ever model with arms is now available at the request of customers. The Designer Series also remains a strong seller. The Vue, Empire, Truckee, Bleu and the Regal are designer driven chairs. They bring an edgy, sleek look to the casino floor. The Ohio Royale has been upgraded to be included in the X-Tended Play line. X-Tended Play chairs are designed to maximize time on device through features including molded high-density foam, ergonomic lumbar support, waterfall seat design and steel spring back support. We are enthused and extremely optimistic for the coming year. 2012 looks positive internationally for Gary Platt Mfg. We have shipped first order to the Marina Bay Sands Casino in Singapore and this will open other opportunities in the Asian market. During 2011, Skip Davis was promoted to president of Gary Platt Manufacturing after being with the company for eight years. Skip has put in new initiatives that will help Gary Platt Mfg moved forward aggressively in the years to come. One of the initiatives is adding sales representatives in new jurisdictions so we will be actively involved in several new jurisdictions in 2012. We will also be revamping our advertising campaign and website to give it a fresh new look. We predict that the future will fly by the seat of the interactive chairs. Interactive chairs were a huge part of 2011 and we think it will be more of the same for the year 2012.

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Advertorial

GAMING LABORATORIES INTERNATIONAL (GLI) 600 AIRPORT ROAD, LAKEWOOD, N.J. 08701 Phone: (732) 942-3999 • Web site: www.gaminglabs.com

Today GLI has more than 600 employees, serves more than 455 jurisdictions, and issues more than 120,000 equipment certifications annually.

(Left to right) Paul Magno, vice president, and James Maida, president

COMPANY: For more than 20 years, Gaming Laboratories International has been the world leader in providing independent testing, inspection and certification services to the gaming, wagering and lottery industry. GLI also offers independent network and information security assessments to its regulatory, lottery and supplier clients. GLI is the most experienced, most secure, most thorough, most costeffective and simply the best choice for testing in the casino gaming industry. Since its inception, GLI has continued to grow, and now the company has 19 laboratory locations located across Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and South America. Its labs test an incredibly wide range of devices and systems for the terrestrial and iGaming marketplaces.

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NEW GAMES/PRODUCTS:GLI has set itself apart from all other type labs through with a constant pursuit of accreditation and certification. Today, GLI is the only global organization of its kind to hold U.S. and international accreditations for compliance with ISO/IEC 17025, 17020 and guide 65 standards for technical competence in the gaming, wagering and lottery industries. GLI has another set of distinct competitive advantages in the form of its exclusive tools. Regulators and Suppliers who use GLI can rely on GLI’s exclusive tools to make doing business easier, faster and smarter. • Ask GLI is a direct link to the lab where questions are answered within two business days. • GLI Access is the password-protected backend of GLI’s website, where regulators and suppliers can quickly and easily track submissions, certifications, revocations and get up-to-the-second updates. • GLI Mobile is the award-winning way to access the lab from any mobile device, from anywhere at any time. • GLI Verify is a handheld tool that allows regulators to take the lab to the casino floor to quickly verify that the device or system operating on the floor is the same that was certified in the lab. • GLI Link is the award-wining way for suppliers to remotely test devices against systems for interoperability, saving time and money on shipping and speeding time to market. • Point.Click.Transfer. enables suppliers to transfer previously certified devices and systems into jurisdictions around the world, opening up the global marketplace with the click of a mouse. Additionally, GLI’s standards are used globally throughout the industry. Regulators in jurisdictions around the world rely on GLI University to receive in-depth training. GLI University also produces GLI’s Global Roundtables, which are staged each year in Europe, in North America and in South America.

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Advertorial

GAMING PARTNERS INTERNATIONAL (GPI) 1700 SOUTH INDUSTRIAL ROAD, LAS VEGAS, NEV. 89102 Phone: (702) 384-2425 • Web site: www.gpigaming.com

instant and accurate validation of chip amounts and serial numbers and can be linked automatically to any third-party casino management system. •Dual Level Chip Tray: The Dual Level Chip Tray enables secure protection of casino currency at the gaming table while delivering real-time chip counting details. This innovative RFID product allows operators to automate and perfect chip-counting procedures, enabling staff and pit supervisors to focus on other tasks, enhancing casino efficiency and improving game play by reducing delays caused by manual chip counting procedures.

COMPANY: Gaming Partners International (GPI) is a leading provider of casino currency and table game equipment worldwide, with offices and manufacturing facilities in many key regions including the Americas, Europe and Asia. With a long-standing reputation for unparalleled customer service and product quality and reliability, GPI is a valued casino partner that delivers the best possible table game solutions to help drive performance and security. Our product portfolio includes casino currency (chips, plaques and jetons), RFID products and technology, layouts, dice, cards, gaming furniture and accessories, and other table game related products including European and American roulette wheels. NEW GAMES/PRODUCTS: As the global leader in casino RFID solutions, GPI is pleased to offer the gaming industry’s most complete selection of high and low frequency RFID currency products and chip tracking and reading solutions. Some of our RFID product offerings include: • CIS 2.0: Our Chip Inventory System uses RFID technology to track the location and status of all enabled and authorized chips throughout the casino, increasing inventory movement efficiency and security while providing valuable insight into a casino’s operations. The system’s realtime monitoring and authentication of inventory provides

• RFID Poker Table: Using RFID technology to automate manual counting and calculation procedures, GPI’s Poker Table solution maximizes casino profit potential and enhances player appeal by enabling more rounds per hour. By automating pot calculation, chip counts and currency authentication procedures, the system minimizes human error and can increase game speed by up to 30 percent. Player appeal is further enhanced with the optional progressive jackpot module that gives players the ability to win all or part of an incrementing jackpot and can be linked to operate on multiple tables. To learn more about our product offerings, visit us at ICE Stand #3330 or contact your local GPI sales representative.

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PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Advertorial

INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY (IGT) 9295 PROTOTYPE DRIVE, RENO, NEV. 89521 Phone: (775) 448-7777 • Web site: www.igt.com

COMPANY: IGT provides an exhilarating line-up of games, a total systems solution for unforgettable player experiences and innovations that bring customers thrilling content, on any device, around the globe. A pioneer in the gaming industry, IGT’s leadership and product development has helped shape gaming and has further advanced the products and services available in the market today. At the heart of IGT lies a love for innovation and passion for creation. The company annually invests approximately $200 million in research and development, and has an in-depth knowledge to deliver new and entertaining player experiences, anywhere, across the globe NEW GAMES/PRODUCTS:In its storied history, IGT developed the slot accounting system, ticket-in ticket-out technology, wide area progressive networks and server-based gaming—among many other industry firsts. IGT will continue to innovate by delivering exciting games and systems products and by introducing new technology such as the IGT Cloud to gaming.

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The company is the developer of the world’s first widearea progressive slot system, Megabucks and introduced the popular MegaJackpots series of games. IGT also awards the world’s largest slot jackpot, $39 million; and the world’s largest penny slot jackpot, nearly $18.8 million. Boasting the largest library of game themes, IGT offers its audiences unrivaled gaming experiences. The hallmark of IGT’s game development success is to consistently deliver fresh, engaging content that balances flexible configuration options and proven profitability with unparalleled graphics, rich math, and immersive game play concepts and bonuses. With more than 10 years of experience in interactive markets, IGT has extensive experience in creating the best content for online, mobile and land-based gaming. The company has a complete interactive product portfolio of slots, table games, poker, live casino, sports betting and bingo that no other company can match. IGT has the gaming solutions that enhance the player experience, drive performance on the floor, and deliver entertaining content on any device, anywhere, both now and in the future.

PRODUCT SHOWCASE

Advertorial

U.S. BANK GAMING SERVICES 2401 E ARAPAHOE RD., SUITE 200, LITTLETON, COLO. 80122 Phone: 800-784-5414 • Web site: www.usbank.com

COMPANY: U.S. Bank Gaming Services is an industry leader, providing ATMs and innovative cash access services to casinos and other gaming venues nationwide. With over 25 years experience serving gaming clients, and a commitment to the gaming industry, U.S. Bank ensures continuous cash flow to the gaming floor with an unrivaled commitment to system reliability and meaningful technologies.

U.S. Bank further distinguishes itself as the largest and most experienced financial institution provider of end-to-end essential services such as transaction processing, product development, system monitoring, vendor dispatch and ATM cash. This means integrated systems, standardized processes, error mitigation and total system reliability, all underscored by an unrivaled commitment to quality service. As a national leader in processing electronic payment transactions and one of the NEW GAMES/ largest providers of EFT PRODUCTS: U.S. processing to a wide variety Bank can provide turnof industries—managing over key ATMs to casinos, Your go-to provider 35,000 ATMs nationwide—U.S. delivering the industry’s for continuous action. Bank can offer an exceptional standard in reliability for Innovative ATM and cash access solutions. array of solutions. And, with hardware, cash availability, the stability and investment of telecommunications, one of the nation’s strongest monitoring, back office and most secure banks, U.S. functions and more. Bank is committed to the ATM U.S. Bank Gaming and gaming business and will Services offers standard continue to make improvements and developments to ensure ATM functionality, cash advance solutions, ATM-integrated its partners premier products and service. ticket redemption capabilities, check cashing at the This leadership, strength of scale, proven technology ATM, ticket redemption terminals and other options. and customization provides a perfect fit for the gaming This provides casino guests faster and more dependable industry. U.S. Bank Gaming Services brings the perfect access to their cash while offering gaming partners the blend of quality, experience and service and the “power confidence and security of knowing their cash access of US” to your business. program delivers superior performance.

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On the Move

»

Who’s going where and doing what in the gaming industry » SENECA GAMING

Kirstin Lowry Sommers

John Parsonage

Michael Koch

DeAnna Franklin

Steven Kraus

David Flynn

Bo Bernhard

52

Seneca Gaming Corporation has named Kirstin Lowry Sommers the company’s general counsel. She joins the corporation’s senior management team after serving as acting general counsel for the past three months. She will oversee all legal processes, policies and actions on behalf of the corporation’s board of directors, the company and its three casino operations, including contracts, risk management, compliance and regulatory oversight. An enrolled member of the Seneca Nation, Lowry Summers has a background in complex commercial and securities litigation and has defended commercial contract and securities class actions. In addition, she has extensive experience in development and sustainable initiatives, and was among the first of relatively few attorneys in the region to have earned the prestigious LEED Accredited Professional qualification.

» SCIENTIFIC GAMES Scientific Games Corporation has announced two new senior appointments to its gaming division, which includes The Global Draw, Barcrest and Games Media. John Parsonage joins as group director, product management and Michael Koch takes on the role of technology managing director. Parsonage has been appointed to a new role within the division that has been created to optimize customer service and better meet the demands of the rapidly evolving gaming industry. Working closely with the senior management team of Scientific Games’ Gaming division, Parsonage will be responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive strategic product plan, encompassing Scientific Games’ industry-leading portfolio of products, including all hardware, software, content and functionality.

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

With over 10 years of experience within the gaming industry, having been the Head of Gaming at Sky Betting & Gaming and the European Casino Manager at Sportingbet, Parsonage has an extensive background in product management and innovation. Koch will be responsible for all aspects of the strategic relationship between Scientific Games and Videobet, a division of Playtech Limited, which currently supplies technology to The Global Draw. Koch has over 20 years of gaming experience from a number of senior executive positions within the gaming industry, most recently as CEO of ACE Interactive, the server-based gaming division of Aristocrat Leisure Limited, and prior to that held several senior positions at GTECH Corporation and Wincor Nixdorf.

» STYLGAME StylGame, a manufacturer of seating for casinos and gaming companies, has announced two appointments. DeAnna Franklin has been named managing director of sales and development for the North American region. As a member of the company’s senior executive staff, Franklin will be responsible for StylGame’s growth and sales development within the North American region to ensure the company’s strategic objectives are met. Steven Kraus has been named director of marketing and communications, for North America. As a member of the company’s senior executive staff, he will be in charge of all marketing related activities, departments, and personnel involved in marketing, and development for the company. He will initially focus on developing a strategic marketing plan for the company, while coordinating marketing operations with all other departments of the company, and StylGame’s worldwide offices.

» TURNING STONE CASINO RESORT David Flynn has been promoted to director of security at the Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino. As director, he leads the security team that looks out for the safety and security of the resort, its employees and the 4.5 million guests who visit the destination getaway annually. Flynn joined Turning Stone’s security team in March 2008 as security manager. Prior to coming to Turning Stone, Flynn was a security manager with the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City for 14 years.

» UNLV INTERNATIONAL GAMING INSTITUTE Bo Bernhard was named executive director of the International Gaming Institute (IGI) at the UNLV Harrah Hotel College. IGI is a nonprofit academic center that offers research and educational programs for the global gaming industry. Bernhard’s award-winning body of research has spanned more than 15 years and has been widely cited by academic, industry and governmental institutions. He has directed more than $1 million in grant funded research projects, on subjects ranging from the socio-economic impacts of gaming industries to biological drivers of gambling behavior to Internet gaming policy. Bernhard began his research career at Harvard University, with an undergraduate thesis on the community impacts of the gaming and tourism industries in Nevada. He then came to UNLV to earn his Ph.D. and soon extended his analysis to global perspectives. In 2002, Bernhard was named the inaugural research director at the IG and has earned several awards including the 2007 World Affairs Council’s International Educator of the Year award for his focus on globalization. In 2008, Bernhard was named the UNLV Harrah Hotel College’s Boyd Distinguished Professorship for Research as the top researcher in the college.

PREVIEW

SPECIAL REPORT:

Continued from page 34

with four themes, each game enables players to activate an acquired POWER SPIN event at any time to increase the chance of winning. Players can accumulate POWER SPIN events higher than the maximum bet, allowing for a significantly more volatile experience. Stand number: 3400

For more information, visit www.wms. com.

ACTION STAR One of the machines Aristocrat Technologies is likely showcase at ICE Totally Gaming is Stuntman Sam, the company’s first European VIRIDIAN WS (widescreen) feature top box game that debuted late last fall. Stuntman Sam is an entertaining Triple Standalone Progressive game full of fortune-filled features, free games, boosters and stunts, topped with a three-level Power Pay jackpot that

of gaming machines. Hyperloop is a standalone slot that seamlessly integrates a mechanical top box with superb on-screen animation to deliver all-round gaming gratification. Upon triggering the game feature, players watch in wonder as balls spin around the Hyperloop, dropping extra multipliers or wilds onto the video reels below. The seasonally spooky Halloween: Trick or Treat is an interactive Reel Power game in which three scattered frame symbols trigger the feature, daring players to select between Trick or Treat. Choosing ‘Trick’ initiates three free games with the Hyperloop awarding one, two or three wild reels for that game. Opting for ‘Treat’ brings up an interactive match-a-prize screen with the Hyperloop awarding a prize multiplier.

builds with every bet. In addition to a 22-inch 16:9 lower screen, the cabinet sports a portrait 32-inch upper widescreen, which delivers crowd-thrilling HD video animations of the fearless Sam risking life and limb. Stuntman Sam’s player appeal can be seen in the stunts he performs where five different feats offer players immersive game play. More than one stunt can be won in a feature and up to two boosters used to enhance each stunt. Whether being shot from a cannon, high diving, motorbike jumping, aerobatic flying or having knives thrown around him, Stuntman Sam offers thrills, spills and rewards. Aristocrat Technologies likely will also display new releases in its recently introduced Hyperloop line

Stand number: 3415

For more information, visit www. aristocratgaming.co.uk.

AD INDEX Ainsworth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

www.ainsworth.com.au

www.icetotallygaming.com

Aristocrat Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover Flap

IGT-International Game Technology. . . . 5, 50 & 56

800-748-4156 • www.aristocratgaming.com

800-688-7890 • www.igt.com Aruze Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 MEI Gaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

www.aruzegaming.com

610-918-8018 • www.meigroup.com Bally Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 & 46 866-316-1777 • www.ballytech.com

®

Multimedia Games. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 512-334-7500 • www.multimediagames.com

Florida Gaming Summit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 203-938-2782 • www.floridagamingsummit.com

Native Nation Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 201-857-5333 • www.nativenationevents.org

Gaming Laboratories International. . . .11 & 48 www.gaminglabs.com

Raving Consulting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 & 12 775-329-7864 • www.ravingconsulting.com

Gaming Partners International . . . . . . .19 & 49 www.gpigaming.com

RPM Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 800-475-2000 • www.rpmadv.com

Gary Platt Mfg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 & 47 800-969-0999 • www.garyplatt.com

Southern Gaming Summit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 www.sgsummit.com

Hnedak Bobo Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 901-525-2557 • www.hbginc.com

Spielo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 www.spielo.com

iGaming North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 www.igamingnorthamerica.com

US Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 & 51 800-784-5414 • www.usbank.com

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THE BACK PAGE

Keep movin’, movin’, movin’ America is about movement and this isn’t all bad. F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously wrote that there are no second acts in American lives. But he couldn’t stick around to see Jack Abramoff discuss the dangers of money in politics before the Kentucky legislature, a presentation that several lawmakers called the most compelling presentation on ethics they had ever seen.

Charles Anderer is executive editor of BNP Media Gaming Group and also oversees content development, sales and marketing for the company’s trade shows and conferences, which include Bingo World, Southern Gaming Summit, Gaming Technology Summit and Casino Marketing. He can be contacted at [email protected].

Stick around long enough, and you just might get a second chance here. You’ll get a chance to lose it all, too. Maybe F. Scott’s point was the First Act will always be the most rewarding, but even that is highly subjective. Granted, Abramoff’s gig in Kentucky only paid a reported $5,000 plus expenses, a major comedown from his Casino Jack days, but now he gets to deal in something more closely resembling the truth, which, it is said, will set you free. So, on occasion, will the government, as the patient professionals who have been working to bring legal and regulated online gaming to the States might attest. Last month’s determination by the Department of Justice that the Wire Act applies only to sports betting could finally set the stage for interstate gaming on the

legislators want to put their fingerprints on is a Big Brother Internet gaming measure, or any progaming measure, for that matter. Only in America can business run off the rails mostly because of its own excesses, be bailed out by a government that failed to regulate mostly because it was paid not to (see Abramoff, Jack), turn around and blame government for the problem, and have most voters agree. A recent Gallup poll asked Americans what they fear more: Big Government or Big Business. By a 6-to-1 margin, the government boogey man won. Fear of government reflects the American passion for movement. Business moves. Government stands in the way. That’s why you could do worse than to always go with business minus the points. And keep your government hands off my Medicare.

A recent Gallup poll asked Americans what they fear more: Big Government or Big Business. By a 6-to-1 margin, the government boogey man won. Internet. Not that we should expect to hear anything else from the federal government on the matter. This hot potato will be very gladly passed on to the states thank-youvery-much, where we can expect the same crazy-quilt approach to rules, taxation and regulation from jurisdiction to jurisdiction (those who participate, that is) that has developed on the land-based side to apply to Internet World. Should be extremely interesting. State solutions are the only way forward because, among other things, the last thing most Warshington-based (in election years, the “r” is pronounced) 54

CASINO JOURNAL • JANUARY 2012 • CASINOJOURNAL.COM

In a basic way, the Department of Justice has given the gaming industry the chance to solve its lone real remaining distribution problem, and a significant distribution problem it is, particularly in the longer run, as entire generations start to enter their prime consumer years having only known the digital world. My 16-year-old daughter doesn’t find much of anything about me interesting these days, save for when I tell her how boys and girls in the 1970s were somehow able to congregate socially without the use of anything more sophisticated than the telephone. (“What if you

weren’t home, what did you do then?” “There were pay phones, and some of them even worked.” “Oh.” Returns to texting.) Backfilling is also happening, as we know, in Massachusetts and maybe Florida, where we will co-produce the Florida Gaming Summit on February 27-28 at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood with our partners Spectrum Gaming. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s State of the State message included not just a reiteration of his desire to expand casino gaming in the Empire State, but a $4 billion public/private partnership with Genting to build what would be the largest convention center (3.7 million square feet) in the country alongside Resorts World New York’s Aqueduct facility in Queens, not far from the JFK airport. This strikes me as a little ambitious, but anyone who doubts Cuomo’s commitment didn’t hear the raw disappointment in his voice when he said New York City ranks 12th in the meetings and conventions business. New Yorkers really don’t like to be 12th at anything. Of course, there’s another type of movement which is a zero sum game and nothing more than an invitation to fight. Empire of the Summer Moon, S.C. Gwynne’s most excellent story of Quanah Parker, the last Comanche warrior, tells of Parker’s reliable illustration of how the white man had pushed the Indian off the land. He would tell the listener to sit on a cottonwood log, sit down close to him and say “Move over.” The listener would move. Parker would move again, sit down and repeat, “Move over.” He would continue until the listener fell off the log. “Like that.”

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