May 2014 Infinity Gaming Magazine by Clever Duck Media

Andrew Tottenham joins Infinity Gaming

Tatjana Pasalic talks cooking & Poker

Women in Gaming finalists inside

InfinityGaming

www.gaming-awards.com | ISSUE MAY 2014

BUSINESSMAG â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

London Calling The WiG Awards

INTERVIEW

EMMA LOVEDAY - NEWS UK

contents InfinityGaming

EDITORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LETTER

Women in Gaming..................................................04-07 The finalists announced for the big evening on 6th June

Deutsche Bank sells Cosmopolitan..................08-09 Bank sells resort to Blackstone

Feature Interview Emma Loveday....................10-13 Bank looking to sell Cosmopolitan Resort in Las Vegas

Andrew Tottenham joins Infinity......................14-17

EMMA LOVEDAY

TATJANA PASALIC

Our new feature writer Andrew Tottenham

Japan Casino Bill latest..........................................20-21 Unclear if bill will pass this year

Should Social Games be regulated?................22-27 Professor Nelson Rose latest column

Tajana Pasalic Interview........................................28-31 Poker player, model and cook speak to Infinity

Bally Technolgies change CEO...........................36-37 Shock announcement on CEO change

The Glass Ceiling......................................................40-43 Our feature writer Tina Thaor-Rankin

Martin Baird article.................................................46-47 Casino customer service App?

Pachinko maker in Bribery scandal..................48-49 FBI and other authorities investigating

BALLY CEO DEPARTS

Bwin.party lose 3 directors..................................50-51 InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

Board shae up ahead of AGM

02 2

JJ Woods latest article............................................52-55 Who needs a casino consultant?

Infinity Gaming........................................................56-57 How can you read the magazine?

BWIN.PARTY LOSE 3 DIRECTORS

EDITOR’S LETTER Lana Thompson - Chief Editor

EDITORS NOTES

InfinityGaming

Welcome to the May edition of the Infinity Gaming Magazine.

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Christina Thakor-Rankin Martin R. Baird Professor Nelson Rose J.J. Woods

and what an edition we have for you, superb interviews with two well known ladies within the gaming industry, Emma Loveday & Tatjana Pasalic. We also have the pleasure in announcing Andrew Tottenham as our new feature writer joining the family of great columnists we already enjoy. Up first in the magazine is the Finalists in the Women in Gaming Awards taking place on the 6th June in London at the stunning Jumeirah Carlton Hotel in Knightsbridge, going to be a great night and good luck to all the ladies on the list.

Enjoy the magazine, it is a bumper edition and next month we will be announcing all those winners so stay tuned to the only magazine that covers the entire gaming industry.

Enjoy

Lana x

CONTACT US Clever Duck Media Suite 105 Park Plaza Point South Hayes Way Cannock WS12 2DB UK Tel: +44(0)1543 578 689 claire@cleverduckmedia.com PRODUCTION Clever Duck Media Suite 105 Park Plaza Point South Hayes Way Cannock WS12 2DB UK PUBLISHING Infinity Gaming Magazine is operated by © Clever Duck Media Ltd ® Company Reg. No. 687 1018 (Registered in England)

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Opinion Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in all external articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Infinity Gaming Magazine Any content provided by our feature writers or authors are of their opinion, and are not intended to malign any religion, ethic group, club, organization, company, individual or anyone or anything.

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Business Partnerships Svetlana@gaming-awards.com

The 5th

WOMEN IN GAM

Fina

6th June 2014 - Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel Affiliate Manager of the Camilla Carlsson (Unibet) Carly Sawers (PokerStars) Claire Romano (Mice & Dice) Leanna Klyne (Optimal) Magdalena Karolina Machulec (VeraJohn) Melanie Hainzer (LeoVegas) Nicole Wild (Rational Group)

Affiliate Team Year

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Shenaly Amin (LeoVegas) Camilla Carlsson (Unibet) Carly Sawers (PokerStars) Claire Wellard (Ihre Consulting) Elina Basheva (10Bet) Magdalena Karolina Machulec (VeraJohn)

Customer Service Excellence Joanne Jones (Ritz Hotel Casino) Lucy Owen (Playtech) Melissa Zalbeigi (Betsson Group) Nicole Ward (Aspers Group) Sue Price (Grosvenor Casinos) Therese Carlzon (Mr Green)

Hidden Talent Ana Cave-Wood (Unibet) Ayelet Shilgy (Playtech) Claudia Aviles (Rational Group) Elizabeth Dutton (Playtech) Ellenor Wiig (Mr Green) Lucinda Kelly (Paddy Power) Rita Hallimäe (Playtech) Rhonda Whittaker (GTECH)

MING AWARDS

alists

All the winners announced at the spectacular evening Claudia Ricchetti (GTECH) Francine Watson (Rational Group) Giovanna D’Esposito (Paddy Power Italy) Joanne Jones (Ritz Hotel Casino) Kirsty Thompson (Rational Group) Perminder Taak (Playtech)

Innovator Emma Loveday (News Uk) Lydia Barbara (Microgaming) Marieanne Carmody Weir (Aspers Group) Rachel Barber (GTECH) Sandy Battista (Optimal Payments)

Inspiration Carly Sawers (PokerStars/FullTiltPoker) Cath Riley (Grosvenor Casinos) Linda Lewis (Aspers Group) Rebecca McAdam (Rational Group) Therese Carlzon (Mr Green) Yana Delcheva (Playtech)

Leader (iGaming) Desislava Mitova – (Playtech) Hodan Fourie (Rational Group) Linda Arbman (Mr Green) Maria Hedengren (NetEnt) Michaela Michaylova (Unibet) Perminder Taak (Playtech)

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Industry Achiever

The 5th

WOMEN IN GAM

Fina

6th June 2014 - Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel Leader (land based) Dubravka Burda (GTECH) Cath Burns (TCSJohnHuxley) Kerryjane Craigie (The Hippodrome Casino) Marina Campbell (Scientific Games) Maxine Gibbons (Grosvenor Casinos) Patti Hart (IGT)

Team (Land Based)

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

Fiona Regan and the HR Team (Grosvenor Casinos) Cath Burns (TCSJonhHuxley) Marina Campbell (SG Gaming) Teresa Tunsell (GamCare)

Star of the Future Bea Stevens (Aspers) Cate Rodden (GM Grosvenor Casino Nottingham) Karla Gomez Duran (Rational Group) Natasha Giorgio (Mr Green) Tatjana Vesel (GTECH) Tracy Kenny (Aspers) Velislava Nakova (Playtech)

MING AWARDS

alists

All the winners announced at the spectacular evening Cinzia Petruccetti (Paddy Power Italy) Emma Loveday (Sun Bingo – News UK) Kavitha Rajagopalan (Rational Group) Lucy Carter (William Hill) Nora Felin (Mr Green)

Team (iGaming) Claire Osborne (Mecca Bingo) Ebba Ljungerud (Unibet) Helene Stafferöd (Betsson) Jane Palles (Paddy Power) Linda Arbman (Mr Green) Lynn Hunter (Rational Group) Nicky Senyard (Ecom Access)

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Marketing Excellence

WOMEN IN GAMING AWARDS BOOK YOUR TABLE Join Your colleagues for the celebration CATEGORIES Affiliate Manager of the Year Affiliate Team of the Year Excellence in Customer Service Award Hidden Talent of the Year Industry Achiever of the Year Innovator of the Year Inspiration of the Year Leader of the Year (iGaming) Leader of the Year (land based) Star of the Future Marketing Excellence Award

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

Team of the Year (iGaming)

6th June 2014 The Jumeirah Carlton Tower London BOOK YOUR PLACE

US GAMING NEWS

eutsche Bank has agreed the sale of its failed involvement in Las Vegas with the agreement of $1.73 billion for the Cosmopolitan which became one of Nevada’s most expensive resorts.

Sprenger, the head of Deutsche Bank’s noncore operations unit, said in a statement. “We are pleased to have agreed to this sale and to have delivered on our commitment.”

The sale to the Blackstone Group sees Deutsche Bank leave the casino business after it took control in 2008 following the resort’s developer, Bruce Eichner failed to meet repayments on the loan.

For Blackstone it is their first entry into the casino business on their own, they had previously had a share in Caesars but now the company that specialises in apartment complexes, shopping centers and office properties will now hope to make the Cosmopolitan a success where Deutsche Bank failed.

Even thou the bank tried its best to make the Cosmopolitan a success nothing seemed to work and the resort never once saw a profit in all the time it was open. In total Deutsche bank has ploughed in $4 billion to finish the resort once they took control and to keep it open. “As part of our Strategy 2015+, the bank is committed to reducing its non-core legacy positions in a capital efficient manner which benefits shareholders,“ Pius

“As a significant investor in the hospitality sector Blackstone recognizes the value and potential in the Cosmopolitan and Las Vegas and looks forward to working to build on the success to date,” Tyler Henritze, a senior managing director at Blackstone, said in a statement.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Deutsche bank sells Cosmopolitan for $1.73 billion

Emma Loveday Interview

Interview with Emma Loveday Marketing Manager News UK

mma thank you for talking to us today, can we start the interview by asking how long have you been involved in the online gaming industry?

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

EL: I have been involved in the gaming industry for over 5 years in permanent roles and as a ghost blogger.

ing campaigns and executing digital BTL to achieve a continually optimised ROI on marketing spend. We also manage our communities on social media and work with The Sun editorial departments to create unique content such as our new Having a Ball online play along show.

Q: You currently work at News UK, can you explain your role as Marketing Manager for the company and what it involves?

Q: You started the new role in September last year and was previously at Ladbrokes, how do you feel about the troubles Ladbrokes are having at present and do you think they will be able to compete online?

EL: I manage all the acquisition and brand campaign marketing strategy for Sun Bingo and Fabulous Bingo with our business partner Gamesys, who also run Jackpot Joy and Virgin Games. A lot of my role is responsible for presenting brand differentiation in our ATL market-

EL: I think there is no reason why Ladbrokes should not be able to compete online. They have a strong brand and have a good mobile proposition. I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think it is unique to Ladbrokes or gambling in that matter, that successful retail businesses can struggle to deal with the

evolution of infrastructure required to react in an agile way enabling them to capitalise on digital opportunities. I really like their new brand campaign and feel hopeful that their partnership with Playtech will give them an aggressive edge going forward. Q: Prior to Ladbrokes you were involved in online companies outside of online gambling, does that help to bring different innovative ideas into the online gambling sector?

Q: Indeed one way or another you have been involved in online business since 2000, how have you seen the online business, not just gambling evolve in that time? EL: There have been three main paradigms in this period to my mind. “Information, Transactional, Engagement”. If I may expand on these, first people used websites to inform their lives, then they looked for websites that allowed them to make their lives easier and have more choice, and now web or mobile experience is part of customers lives. It’s this later stage that is so exciting and hard to imagine where it is going as the first two paradigms replicated publishing and retail business models but this new phase is changing the future of how people interact with each other and technology. The terminology we use sums this up “Browse the Web” turned into “Go online” and now we are “Connected” Q: Obviously News UK is a large company globally, is that something you wanted to be a part of, a major corporation? EL: It wasn’t my main motivation despite the obvious benefits of being exposed to such a wide variety of resources and talent. What attracted me to this role was

the opportunity to work on such a big brand in bingo and be able to effect change in a real way. Q: How is the business doing at present against so many competitors in the sector? EL: The level of saturation in all gambling verticals means the pace is relentless. We are fortunate enough to have the nation’s biggest newspaper, The Sun, as our mother brand which obviously helps with our brand loyalty and engagement. Market indicators over the past few months suggest we have adopted the right strategy of providing a place where our customers can have fun and this has been reflected by stable YoY growth in new player acquisition across both Sun Bingo and Fabulous Bingo. Q: Over your time in the business you have been involved in PPC, SEO, Marketing and PR do you think it is getting harder to work online with so many online companies competing for the same customers? EL: As the landscape becomes more saturated the tools at our disposal are more sophisticated. Personally I find it exciting that you can produce a You Tube ad that can potentially get more views than TV or that you can target customers on a mobile when you know the weather in their area is rubbish and they have a higher propensity to play bingo at home. I think the hard tasks are building infrastructure such as data and creative production that allow companies to capitalise on these opportunities. This complexity has resulted in a change of the skills required by digital marketers away from

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EL: I think the level of customer data available and number of regulatory restrictions on marketing a gambling product breeds a level of innovation that makes marketers in this sector highly skilled. Working within a Media company has helped me to gain a bigger picture approach to brand campaigns looking outside the granular numbers, and embracing the power of an engaging brand. There are great examples in gambling who marry both take Paddy Power for example, and some of the activities planned around Sun Bingo this year, I think they would be the envy of many a nongambling brand.

Jumeirah Carlton Hotel - Knightsbridge

6th June 7pm

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

2014

BOOK YOUR TABLE

Emma Loveday Interview continued

Q: You have been nominated again this year for the Women in Gaming Awards in several categories, how does it feel to be recognised for your hard work in the sector? EL: It’s fantastic! I know some amazing women and men working in this sector so to be a finalist in two great categories amongst some of them is a real cherry on the top of the cake after such an amazing time so far working on Sun Bingo. Q: Indeed in a recent survey only 22% of women work in the gambling industry and only 6% of those achieve senior or higher management roles. Have you found it difficult competing with men for roles previously? EL:I have never felt that I have competed against my colleagues regardless of their gender. My observations are that male colleagues on average tend to have a faster career trajectory but perhaps I have worked with some exceptional male colleagues! I think the international flavour of gambling means roles are more limited for women who have families, and whilst this is of course true for men also, my experience is that they are more open to travelling between areas of the country or across borders in order to occupy the top roles. My personal observation about women in many business areas is that we often apply for positions we know we can do rather than step into roles we can do 70% of and grow into them, whereas men tend to take the leap more confidently.

Q: Why do you think there are fewer women in the gambling sector and what needs to be done to address that? EL: The route of entry into gambling is quite often led from an interest in sportsbetting which is generally something women have less affinity with. At a recent News UK event “Women In Sport” I was speaking with Karen Willmington, Director and Head of Studio at Sky Sports News, I asked her if the women in her office, who are well informed about sport, bet in the same way the guys do and she said she couldn’t recall any of them talking about betting in the same way male colleagues do. I think this divide in product passion has previously caused a barrier for women to be part of the conversation; however as customer marketing becomes more important to compete it has become easier for women to be experts at board level. Gambling companies can do more to be in the conversation outside of pure gambling conferences so that the sector is held in high esteem for talent excellence and perceived as a valid career path. I actually work directly with more women than men from gambling on a day to day basis and have worked under 3 female directors and now work for a female CMO! I think since I started the number of painted ladies at events has diminished and actually the ratio of women to men at awards etc has improved so it’s definitely progressing. Perhaps a mentor program for women in gaming could help, I would certainly love to help in that regards. Q: Finally before you go Emma, should you win an award or more at the awards ceremony in London come 6th June, how will you celebrate? EL: A glass or two of bubbly then a trip to the Casino or course! – Where all good gambling events end up!

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EL: brand and creative led to highly analytical and data driven. Perhaps more akin to finance teams than traditional marketing. But what always remains is keeping the customer at the heart of everything you do.

New Feature writer - Andrew Tottenham

Why is it just so difficult?

Andrew Tottenham Our new feature writer Andrew Tottenham in his first article for the Infinity Gaming Magazine,

I have been involved with the gambling industry since before the internet was born. My consulting career, which began in the 1980s, has taken me to many countries around the world , which has enabled me to learn about the vast cultural and regulatory differences surrounding the gaming industry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in all its forms, including casinos, slot machine halls, VLTs, lotteries and remote gambling - in all of these different places. Through this series of occasional articles for the Infinity Gaming Magazine I will be putting pen to paper (finger to keyboard) and writing about my experiences, knowledge and thoughts developed during more than thirty years in this industry.

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

here have been, in the past few years a number of initiatives to develop large scale casino destination resorts. The success or failure of these initiatives is usually a matter of geography. In Asia they have, thus far,been hugely successful. I am not talking about the commercial success of the facility but of the initiative; the fact that the governments got the laws passed and the operators got projects off the drawing board and constructed. In the US, these initiatives have not been entirely 100% successful (Florida, New Hampshire) but many states have legalised casino gambling and enacted laws and regulations to enable the large scale projects that are common in the USA. In fact, so common are they that over supply in some regions is leading to many casino resorts to cut back on staffing or ultimately closing; as Caesars did in Mississippi earlier this month. And yet in Europe we just cannot seem to get one of these mega resorts off the ground. This

makes me ask why. It appears to me there are a number of reasons, mainly to do with politicians, incumbent industries and finance. This article deals with the last point; I will address the other points in forthcoming articles. Apart from their trading operations, which they do not really understand, the financial industry is not generally known for taking risks. Leading investment banks have a franchise and do not want to risk their good name by raising money for what may turn out to be a bad investment. In order to determine whether a project is a good or bad investment their analysts look at analogies. For example, when analysing the potential for a new project in Massachusetts they compare populations, socioeconomic data, location and other relevant factors to that in another State and from that extrapolate what they believe the visitation, spend per visit, etc. at the

New Feature writer - Andrew Tottenham

Why is it so difficult?

Europeans DO gamble, and do quite a lot of it. On a per capita basis the amount spent on gambling in the US is broadly similar to that of Europe. The difference is what they spend it on. In Europe, lotteries are the product of choice; we spend about €35 billion annually on lotteries, a little less than €70 for each person. In the US, the net revenues are approximately 50% of this amount. When it comes to casinos the US generates over eight times the casino revenues compared to Europe; €55 billion versus €6.5 billion. However, Europe’s betting, AWP (low stake low prize “amusement”) machines and remote gambling/betting markets are significantly bigger. Why do Americans spend more on casino gambling than Europeans? My answer is product. Generally, the product in the US is far superior to that in Europe. High taxes and heavy handed regulation in Europe encourage a market in small casinos and mitigate against large destination casinos/resorts. High gaming taxes do not allow the investor/operator to invest in his product with the result that casinos become a marginal activity. The smaller a facility the smaller it’s geographic reach. It is not a linear equation as,at some point, increasing scale (investment) boosts the facility’s appeal and attracts a greater market; twice the investment more than doubles the potential market area. The following illustrates the point: A small fair on a village green will attract people from that village and possibly the surrounding

villages. If the scale is increased people will travel from further afield and when it is a major amusement park they will travel across country (some from even across Europe) to ride the rides. Many years ago, when Native American gaming was in its infancy and my consulting business was a few years old a man came into my office and talked about a lot of things but nothing in particular. After he left I scratched my head and tried to work out why he had come to see me. He left me some information about his company and as I read it all became clear. He was distributing and financing slot machines to Native American tribes on a participation basis ( only those that were compacted I should add). It was clear that he was running out of money; sales were very strong and the revenue returns were spectacular but he was selling machines faster than he could collect the money to pay for them. The manufacturer was unwilling to extend further credit and so he needed additional sources of finance. I decided to go and take a look at what was happening. My first visit to a Native American casino was Jackpot Junction in Morton, Minnesota. At the time they had a facility with almost 1,000 slot machines in a potato field (I kid you not), in the middle of nowhere. The casino was jammed and it was a Thursday night. A quick inspection of the car park revealed car and bus license plates from all over the mid-west. Visits to other tribal casinos showed the same level of demand.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

roposed facility. However, in Europe they don’t have anything similar to compare it to. They also have a mantra, “Europeans don’t gamble”.

InfinityGaming • ISSUE MAY 2014

New Feature writer - Andrew Tottenham

(Continued) Given what I had learnt I thought I would see if I could arrange finance for slot machines on Native American reservations. At this time my colleague was approached by a North American tribe, they wanted $50 million to expand their existing bingo facility and add a casino. We decided to pool our efforts and see what we could do. We visited all the major investment banks and sources of lease finance in New York and sometimes encountered genuine concerns about perfecting a security on an asset that would be sited on a reservation. But more often than not we encountered the same or similar questions from the Titans of Wall Street, “who would go there to gamble”? “Do people in that state gamble”? “Yes, it was true that people are travelling to Atlantic City in their millions but…..” It was as if every investment banker had read a report and that became the “perceived wisdom” of the moment. No matter what we said we couldn’t get past the idea that Americans do not gamble.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Tottenham, Managing Director, Tottenham & Co Tottenham & Co is an independent consulting firm specialising in the international gaming industry, whose services include; strategic planning, market surveys and feasibility studies, international negotiation and project development. Former clients include Las Vegas Sands Corp where he was the in-country project lead on what was to be the largest integrated resort development project in Europe. Prior to this he was Managing Director Development Europe, for Caesars Entertainment Inc, as such he was responsible for Caesars expansion into Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Andrew founded Tottenham & Co in 1986 which he grew into one of the most prestigious management consulting firms specialising in the international gaming industry. Clients included blue chip gaming operators and suppliers in all continents. The firm has also acted as advisers to the Government of Hungary.

European destination casino resort proposals to become a reality it will require a company with very deep pockets for the management and the equity and an investment banker with vision beyond his annual bonus. Finding the former is relatively easy but where do you find the latter?

In his role as a consultant and as MD Development for Caesars he has analysed the viability of casino resorts throughout the world, including but not limited to; Japan, Korea, Austria, France, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Canada, and the USA. He has negotiated joint venture and management agreements in China (SMS lottery), Slovakia, the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. Mr Tottenham has also had involvement in the interactive gambling industry having project managed the development of an online casino and an interactive tv gambling channel. Andrew was Chairman of the GREaT Foundation (now the Responsible Gambling Trust), an organisation he founded to raise money from the UK gambling industry to be used for research into, education about and treatment of problem gambling.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Well, to cut a long story short, we were not successful in assisting that Tribe but another company stepped up to the plate and provided the capital. Today that bingo hall is Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world! What happened to the machine distributor? He overcame his cash flow problem, ultimately took his company public and became a very wealthy man. My point being that in order that one of these large,

They all laughed... Now they wished they had listened

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

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ONLINE GAMING NEWS

Playtech Q1 rise on Live Casino & Betting products GameAccountsignsmultiple US online deals

Game Account Network (GAN) has signed an

agreement to develop a new gambling website for the Rooneys’ Empire City casino at Yonkers Raceway in New York.

The company said that their sports betting and live casino products performed best of all to help rise profits. Indeed the companies live casino offering rose 25.6% in the period from €44.1 million in 2013 to €55.4 million in this quarter. With Playtech’s sport betting platform adding to revenue increases with a rise of 21.7% to €5.6 million. However it was not all good news for the online gambling software provider with both bingo and poker falling in revenues from Q1 in 2013 of 16.7% to 13.6% this year. Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech, said the company’s performance in the first quarter of the year was “strong” in most parts. “The company’s diverse licensee base has delivered a robust performance driven by our flagship Casino, Live Casino, Sport Betting and mobile products,” Weizer said.

But the company that is owned by the Irish Smurfit family is not stopping at just the one agreement, the tech company that offers both “simulated” online gaming such as non-cash poker games, as well as for real gambling in regulated markets has also done a deal with US casino operator Foxwoods to supply online gaming software along with nine other casinos in the US. Game Account went public in November 2013 on the Aim stock market, valuing the company at the time at €90 million. With its first annual report since going on the stock market showing 100% increase in profits at £12.3 million for the year. The company has some well-known backers including Andrew Black of Betfair and Dermot Desmond, with the companies CEO being Dermot Smurfit Jr. It seems the company has a bright future in Europe and the US with the latest deals and is already also eyeing up expansion into the Asian market, with Mr Smurfit saying it was at an “early stage” in talks with several potential partners. But he did stress that the company’s focus remains in the US.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

laytech announced their first quarter results to the end of March with revenues growing 14% from €87.5 million in the Q1 from 2013 to €102.7 million for this year.

ASIA GAMING NEWS

SJM slow revenues in Q1 down to competition

SJM the Macau casino operator that is the largest by revenues in the gambling hub has announced its first quarter results showing a drop in revenues compared to the same period last year.

InfinityGaming • ISSUE MAY 2014

The company controlled by Macau gambling legend Dr Stanley Ho posted revenues of $283.8 million for the first three months of 2014, which less than the 11% was shown last year. The Q1 results were lower than analyst’s expectations.

The company that operates 20 of the 35 casinos in the former Portuguese gambling hub even lost its mantle of largest gambling operator in the Q1 results announced to Sands China, most of the troubles with SJM stem from the fact the operator has no presence in the lucrative area of the Cotai strip which entices VIP gamblers with entertainment, shopping malls and theatre shows. SJM is expected to complete their own resort there in 2017

Japan 50:50 to pass casino bill

he Japanese parliament are struggling to pass the bill to legalize land based casinos in the country before the end of the current parliament session which ends next month according to reports out of Tokyo. Sakihito Ozawa, a casino supporter and a member of the Japan Restoration Party, said that it was becoming increas-

ingly difficult to get the bill passed with only five weeks of the current session remaining. That would damage the countries hopes of getting casinos up and running before the 2020 Olympics arrives in Tokyo say observers and at the same time hinder Japan’s hopes of strong negotiations with casino operators wanting in while the Olympics are on.

Sakihito Ozawa said it was now 50:50 if the bill will pass before the 22 June deadline when Parliament closes. He continued by saying he would be talking and trying to persuade smaller coalition partners, and would be explaining the merits of casino resorts to the opposition Democratic Party next week with the hope of pushing the bill over the line prior to the deadline.

Galaxy boss hits Rich List

ui Che-woo the Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment has entered the Sunday Times rich list of billionaires at 42 in the latest list announced. The entrepreneur

who gambled on opening casino resorts in Macau has seen his wealth over the last year double to £12.5 billion, helping him enter the list that he did not even appear on in 2013.

The boss of Galaxy Entertainment attended the 7th International Gaming Awards in February where he received the outstanding contribution award to the industry.

US GAMING NEWS

$2 billion Casino Resort bid for Saipan Island

investor in Macau’s VIP rooms has made a bid for a $2 billion casino resort development in the Western Pacific Ocean island of Saipan. First Natural Foods Holdings said it will invest the sum if it receives an exclusive license to run a casino on the island which is part of the Northern Mariana Islands a commonwealth territory of the United States. The firm which is a listed company

on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said that its subsidiary company Best Sunshine International Ltd, had submitted a business plan to local authorities on the island for the only casino resort there. First Natural wants to build four luxury hotels with 2,000 rooms and villas along with a casino on Saipan with its initial investment of $2 billion which could rise even more.

gamblers. The first bid is from Marianas Stars Entertainment another Hong Kong listed company.

Local newspapers on the island say this is the second bid for a casino resort which will focus on Chinese

It is expected that the successful bidder will be announced on June 20th of this year.

The island governor Eloy Inos said that because both casino projects target the Chinese market they will hire experts from Macau to review the bids. The governor added that the casino resort can provide “an economic future for many families.”

elco Crown Entertainment (MCE) announced their first quarter results showing a 31% increase to $387.5 million for the quarter compared to the same period last year, with the increase reported to be coming from premium mass players. That result smashed most analysts’ predictions for MCE which were expected to come in at $359 million. “Premium-mass” players are those who pay up front for chips and generate higher average margins than

VIP customers, or high-rollers, brought in by junket operators. However a government clampdown on the use of handheld China UnionPay Co. card-swiping devices to provide premium-mass players with cash for buying chips has yet to affect business, but is expected to in the medium to long term. Lawrence Ho co-CEO of Melco said, “We haven’t seen any negative impacts with regards to business.”

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Melco Crown Ent beat Q1 predictions

FEATURE ARTICLE

Should Social Casino Games Be Regulated? © 2013, I. Nelson Rose. Prof. Rose is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on gambling law, and is a consultant and expert witness for governments and industry. His latest books, INTERNET GAMING LAW (1st and 2nd editions), BLACKJACK AND THE LAW and GAMING LAW: CASES AND MATERIALS, and the recently published GAMING LAW IN A NUTSHELL, are available through his website, www.GAMBLINGANDTHELAW.com.

ne of the hottest issues in Europe and Australia among regulators is whether social casino games should be subjected to government

controls.

Licensed land-based and Internet casino companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to get into this business. Caesars Entertainment Corp. has bought a half-dozen social gaming companies in the past couple of years. The most recent, as of mid-February, was Israelbased Pacific Interactive. Like many of its predecessors at Caesars, the main attraction is a slot machine-style game. House of Fun, which is less than three years old, already claims to have 700,000 daily users.

InfinityGaming • ISSUE MAY 2014

One of Caesars’ first purchases was Playtika. Playtika was founded, also in Israel, in 2010 for about $1 million. It immediately started to lose money. In fact, it never made any money during the 11 months that it was independent. Yet Caesars paid $80 to $90 million dollars for 51% of the company. Why? Because Playtika had invented Slotomania, the number one social casino game on Facebook.

It is still one of the most popular social games. Slotomania has 13 million “likes” on Facebook, twice the adult population of the entire state of New Jersey. Casino companies like social games because they help spread their brand name and build customer lists. More importantly, they make money, potentially lots of money.

At the recent meeting of the International Masters of Gaming Law in Oslo, Norway, Internet gaming expert Melissa Blau created a stir when she reported that the “whales,” players who spend the most on social casino games, pay an average of $550 each, per month. The news that people are ponying up nearly $7,000 a year to play free Internet games was startling. But Blau topped that when she reported that the average spent on real-money online gambling sites was also $550. This is not really that surprising. Compulsive gamblers say that the best thing in the world is winning. But the next best thing is losing. If state-licensed companies like Caesars are getting into the social casino gaming business, lawmakers and regulators in the U.S. are also going to start looking into these games. I don’t expect the result will be pretty. Legislators have trouble figuring out how to regulate real gambling – does anybody today think it was a good idea to require Mississippi’s casinos to be floating without engines or crews in the Gulf of Mexico’s hurricane alley? And very few people understand the difference between gambling and social games. Or, that different forms of gaming create different risks. In the U.S., gambling requires the presence of three elements: consideration, chance and prize.

Social Casino Games Players bet on the outcome of an uncertain event to win a larger amount. Social games are not gambling, if they eliminate one of the three elements. laws require a specific intent, like that the operator “knowingly” accepted the bets.

Contests of skill can charge contestants money – the smarter operators call the payments “entry fees” than “wagers,” to compete for valuable prizes. Atari introduced millions of people to the idea of electronic video games. Players pay money to play. Even if the game is predominantly chance, not skill, the game is not gambling, if players cannot win anything of value. So, how do social games make money, if they are not gambling? Making a game free for anyone to enter does not mean that contestants are prohibited from spending money. Sweepstakes work because people do buy the product being promotted, perhaps thinking that subscribing to a magazine increases their chances of winning. Charities

run “donation requested” raffles, knowing social pressure and guilt feelings make most individuals send in money, even though not required. Subscription games, like “free” poker for money prizes, are profitable because most players prefer their credit cards being billed about $20 every month, rather than having to fill out and mail postcards for free entries. Most social games with a free alternative means of entry (“FAME”) give players opportunities to play (I’ll call these “chips” for convenience) when they sign up, and more every hour or every day. Operators sell additional chips for real money, but nobody is required to buy them. Sites make their profits from players who have lost everything and do not have the patience to wait for additional free chips. Because there is no consideration, a casino game with a FAME is not

gambling. However, some old cases involving pinball games from the 1930s and ‘40s indicate that these social games actually would be considered gambling in about a half-dozen states. Social games where players compete against each other are not gambling, if the outcome is determined primarily by skill. States sometimes have special rules, for example, that the prize cannot be composed of the entry fees. There are about ten states that put restrictions on contests of skill, such as requiring 100% of the players’ money to go to the winner, or limiting the maximum amount that can be won. Interestingly, if you look at the skill contests for real money sites, you’ll find that there is no general agreement as to exactly which states should be avoided. The most common way for social games to get around the prohibitions on gambling is by not offering

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

If anyone can play a game for free, it does not matter if the outcome is determined more by luck than skill, and valuable prizes may be won. No-purchase-necessary sweepstakes have been common since at least 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the T.V. gameshow “Name That Tune” was not a lottery, even though contestants at home could enter by sending in a postcard.

Should Social Casino Games Be Regulated?(continued)

aluable prizes. Then why would anyone play? Jurisdictions can differ widely on exactly what constitutes a “prize.” The easiest case is where the winner can win real cash, or an item that can be quickly sold for cash. The F.B.I. raided Second Life because there were casinos which used the site’s “linden dollars.” Because the linden dollars could be transferred to other players, a secondary market developed where this play currency could be converted into real money. Social games have discovered that some players will spend a lot of real money to get avatars and virtual gifts that cannot be sold. Opponents have argued that these games do have all three elements, since the prizes are of value to the players. But only a few jurisdictions would agree that a non-material item is a “prize of value” if it cannot be sold. Social gaming is obviously very big. And very volatile. Zynga, the leading company, was valued at one point at $9 billion. In 2013, it announced it was laying off 18% of its workforce and closing its New York, Dallas and even Los Angeles offices.

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A controversy has exploded mainly because it is casino and other realmoney gambling companies that are getting into the social gaming field.

During last year’s 15th International Conference on Gambling and Risk Taking in Las Vegas, I agreed to act as one of the trial lawyers for a moot court on whether social gaming should be regulated. The mock trial was extremely lively and entertaining. But it did have a serious side, and raised these issues: casino games are not always social. There is a big difference between

contests in which players interact and play against each other, and games in which the patron is one against the house. Lawmakers have long recognized that banking games are more dangerous than non-banking games. We regulate blackjack, craps and roulette more strictly than poker and bingo. A FAME slot game on an iPad is closer to a real slot machine than it is to Angry Birds®. Social casino games may be inherently misleading. Because the games are not regulated, they are free to set the odds at any level they want. In fact, they are almost never truly random. Game manufacturers don’t want players to get bored, so they make the game easier if a player is stuck at one level, or harder if the player is winning too handily. This Dynamic Game Balancing (“DGB”) is done automatically, because game designers want players to be hooked. Obviously, with real gambling, operators can’t change the odds mid-game. And casinos do not brag about a game being “addictive.” Because they are not regulated, social casino games are available to children and potential compulsive gamblers. No one should care, if the games are harmless. But, are they? Should an online or land-based real-money casino be allowed to offer games indistinguishable from slot machines, with no restrictions? If a child is playing a social casino game that is set for 120%, will he realize the difference when he plays

a real slot machine set at 95%? If an adult is playing a social casino game with DGM and spending money on additional chips, will she realize the reason she is losing is that the game automatically set longer odds when she had a winning streak? Social casino games have millions of players, many spending as much as they do on real-money online gambling. Studies are beginning to show exactly how much people do pay to play supposedly free games online. The most common model is “Freemium.” Players can participate for free. They only have to pay to get additional goodies, like avatars. But the most common commodity sold is time. Once players have lost the free chips given at the beginning of each hour, they can wait for more free chips. Or they can pay and get them right away. So, a social poker player

The pleasure centers of the brain don’t really care whether you are winning, or losing, real money or just virtual chips.

who has lost all his chips can sit out a few dozen hands, or buy additional chips, for real money. The lure of the freemium is so great that people will pay for more time, even when they cannot win money or a prize that can be sold. And the games are good. Better than the best slot machine available on a casino floor. MIT cultural anthropologist Natasha Dow Schüll has written about the terrestrial gaming devices in her book, ADDICTION BY DESIGN: MACHINE GAMBLING IN LAS VEGAS (Princeton University Press 2012). She describes how some players enter “the zone,” a pleasurable otherworld experience. It is gambling for gambling’s sake, like getting drunk or high. Players in the zone really do not care whether they win or lose, as long as the game is fun to

But, doesn’t it make a difference that on many social gaming sites you can’t win anything, at least nothing that can be sold for real money? The people who ask that question have obviously never played games where getting to the next level is a bigger kick than winning ten dollars. And players can win avatars and other non-physical items that are of value to them. All gambling requires chance, consideration and a prize of value. In most jurisdictions, even if a person values what he wins so much that he would be willing to pay for it, it is not a prize of value, unless the item can be sold. However, there are some states that have laws dating from the 1930’s, when pinball began to be big, declaring that even a free replay is a prize of value. If winning more time is enough, awards of electronic items that bring prestige or can be sent to friends are surely prizes. The land-based casinos understand that they may know how to operate banking table games and slot machines. But they are smart enough to know they don’t have the time

to learn how to attract real money players to the Internet, protect themselves from hackers, and make sure their sites never crash. Borgata partnered with bwin.party, the online giant created by the merger of bwin, which started with sports betting and then expanded to poker and casino games, and Party Gaming, the world’s largest real-money operator, when it was Party Poker. What does bwin.party get out of the deal? New Jersey has limited its permits to the dozen brick and mortar casinos in Atlantic City. And, as the suppliers to state lotteries have shown, the first companies to be successful in one state have a step up in getting contracts and licenses when other states join the games. Caesars Entertainment, the nation’s largest landbased gambling operator, realized that it lacked the expertise to get into the social casino gaming field. So it bought Playtika. Caesars and the other brick and mortar casinos watched with envy as individuals became billionaires offering poker online. Caesars, then named Harrah’s, couldn’t get into the game, because it would have lost its licenses everywhere it had casinos. The land-based operators are not about to let that happen again. They saw, before anyone else, that social casino games are the next Internet poker. The games make fantastic amounts of money, and they are basically unregulated. The potential for growth is fantastic. About one-quarter of all Internet users play social games regularly.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

play. Brain scans have shown that near misses, which are programmed to be part of every real-money and social gaming site, stimulate the same parts of the brain as wins.

HEADLINES

$2.6 billion spent in online gambling by US players in 2012

Golden Nugget receive NJ online license

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Secret investor in Ladbrokes as speculation mounts

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Should Social Casino Games Be Regulated?(continued)

Social Casino Games

o one laughs when experts predict that there will be one billion users within three years. But the games are beginning to get the attention of regulators. The reasons are obvious, once you realize we are not talking about Farmville®. True casino games always have some form of random number generator: reels or dice or internal computers. Slot machines, for example, are completely random. And the law often sets the minimum and maximum payouts. In Nevada, a slot machine has to pay out at least 85% and no more than 100% over time. A social casino games may look like a slot machine, but the mechanics are completely different. Chance is a factor. But the games are never completely random. Payouts can be varied, even during the middle of a game. There is no law preventing a social casino game from paying out 75% or 125%.

In fact, that is exactly what they do with Dynamic Game Balancing. If a player seems to be losing too much, and they might leave, the game automatically makes winning easier. And if the game seems too easy, so, again, players might get bored and leave, it is programmed to make winning harder. Games like Candy Crush, the most popular non-casino social game, brag about being addictive. Because they are. But, almost everyone plays for free, so what’s the harm? One concern is “grooming.” If nongamblers play a game that looks like a slot machine but pays out 125%, will they become more likely to gamble for real money? And how long will it take before they realize what the odds are on a true slot machine? Another concern is the lack of transparency. The European Union looks like it is going to require operators to tell players that the games are not what they seem. Right now, not a single social casino game informs

players that the games are not really random. Age verification can be a problem. Facebook puts its minimum age at 13. But it checks by merely asking people how old they are when they sign up. Reputable social casino games put the minimum age at 18, though most real-money casinos require players to be at least 21. But the checking again is minimal. After all, the games are technically not gambling and can be played for free. The addictive nature of the games can tempt unscrupulous operators to take advantage of players. The operators have nearly perfect knowledge of their patrons. Once a player has paid money to continue after losing all her chips, it is easy to make the game so attractive that the player will always be close to winning, but will have to pay more and more to continue. The player’s world will be filled with near-misses. And the only way out is to run out of money or time.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

(Continued)

Tatjana Pasalic Interview

Interview with Tatjana PaSaliC Poker Player/Presenter & Cook

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

i Tatjana thank you for talking to us today, we spoke to you about two years ago now and a lot has happened since then. Firstly for our readers can you tell us how you started in the poker world?

home and the people that listened to me did not regret going there.

TP: It started so many years ago I can barely remember, haha! I was a blogger at first but eventually I found out that I like the camera work more. My first big jobs were Unibet and WPT in Europe, followed by FullTilt.

TP: Stars recently signed Matej Marinovic, I have known him since the beginning of the poker scene in Croatia.

Q: Many say you helped create a boom in poker back in Croatia by writing and covering poker there, how do you feel about what you did at the time in making Croatia a poker playing nation? TP: I wish I could have done more. I still try to promote it when I go back, I tell everyone about how wonderful Croatia is and that we have decent tournaments back

Q: Apart from yourself what good poker players from Croatia are doing well?

Q: In 2009 Unibet signed you up as their video blogger, would you say this was the breakthrough for you into mainstream poker to get really noticed? TP: I think so, yes, and I will forever be grateful for that. Ewa Kwiatkowska was my boss and she was a strict woman but she got things done. I learned a lot from her and I loved the Unibet people, everyone was very friendly, nice and professional.

Q: In your time for Unibet what memorable moments do you have?

That Cat suit

TP: A lot of it is a blur since we worked 15 hour days and then I had to go straight to bed, but I remember working at the Unibet Open London with a high fever, I could barely sit up, let alone talk, but the camera crew brought me tea and flu pills and some blankets and made sure I was very well hydrated during the late hours so I do not pass out. It was a rough weekend! I did have a lot of fun at UO events and I would definitely love to visit them again next time I have a chance. Q: At the same time you did quite a bit of modelling and featured on front pages of poker magazines, do you like modelling and is it as glamorous as it looks? TP: I love modelling, it’s so much fun – you get to dress up, get professional makeup and hair done…it’s like you are a princess for a day! Q: You joined Team Bodog in 2011, was that the first time you actually played in the WSOP Main Event? TP: Indeed it was. I was terrified when they told me I am going to play the Main. I was used to being the one behind the ropes but now you want me to actually play? Oh my. But at the same time I was so excited; not many people get this opportunity in life.

TP: It did not hit me until I got there and sat down. The buzz, the sounds of chips, Jack announcing the start…it was like a dream. A dream that came true.

always be the same: No.

Q: Can you tell our readers about the cat suit bet? What was the bet and who came up with the cat suit idea?

Q: What would be the bet if you won the WSOP main event, what would you or your fiancée come up with?

TP: Well, the deal was that who ever busts the WPT Vienna first has to wear a cat suit. What he did not tell me is that he will rebuy if he busts. I stood no chance.

TP: He has some pretty silly ideas, I am sure he would come up with something good to embarrass me.

Q: You actually have done a few articles for Playboy magazine would you ever pose for the magazine if they invited you to? TP: They have asked me before and my answer will

Q: Do you think it is a matter of time when a woman wins the WSOP Main Event? TP: Absolutely! Q: Is that your ultimate goal?

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Q: How nervous was you on the first day of the WSOP event and how special was it when you made day 2 of the biggest poker tournament in the World?

TP: It would be lovely to win the WSOP, but I have a lot of work to do before I can set that as my ultimate goal in poker. At the moment I am very happy where I am – in front of the camera and in the kitchen. Q: Do women play a different strategy to men in poker or is it that there are just more men playing on the Pro tour and that it is numbers that a women has not won the Main Event yet?

TP: Some do, some don’t but I think it will not be long before we see a girl win the Main. Q: Who if you were to have a bet, put your money on one female poker player to win the WSOP Main Event one day? TP: I really hope it is Vanessa Selbst. She would be the best girl for the job. Q: On your bio you say you are a keen cook and it is a job now for you, cooking for Pro Poker Players, can you tell us more about this Tatjana? TP: I have been cooking for a few players for the past 3 years as their personal chef. That is another side of me that people are starting to know about. I love cooking and making people happy so this seemed like a perfect marriage.

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Q: Do you think that by eating healthy poker players gain an advantage?

TP: I do and I have seen a lot of improvement in some of my friends that have decided to change their eating habits. Once your body is healthy, your mind will get a balance and if you incorporate workouts in the whole plan – there is no way you can lose. Even if you lose at the table today, you will always win in life. Q: What’s next for Tatjana Pasalic in her career?

Q: What’s next for Tatjana Pasalic in her career? TP: The WSOP is coming and that is my busiest time, after that I am headed to Iowa for a 418 mile bike ride. I think I will sleep for a week after that. Then back to Vegas and start preparing for the WSOP Australia. I might drop by Macau before that, I have not been there in a while and I miss Chinese food. Q: What are your thoughts on the US online gambling war between those opposed and those for? TP: Why can’t we all just get along? Q: Do you think prohibition of something whether it be alcohol or online gambling ever works?

Q: What in life gives you most pleasure? TP: Happiness and positivity. I love cooking for people and seeing that they enjoy my food, I love chillaxing with a glass of Pinot and a cheese board with a girlfriend, exchanging cat videos with my brother and I

Photos courtesy of WPT Magazine & Marc LaBrie

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

TP: It’s a little easier to sneak a pint than to play online, in my opinion, haha. I wish things sorts themselves out as soon as possible, I have so many friends who are still “homeless” because they cannot come back to their country to do their job. This prohibition is not doing anyone any good. What’s so wrong about a man in Alabama coming home after work and playing a few S’n’Go’s? Or a girl from Colorado having fun playing the Sunday Million? If anything, it’s more tax money.

InfinityGaming â&#x20AC;˘ ISSUE MAY 2014

Team of the Year (iGaming)

6th June 2014 The Jumeirah Carlton Tower London BOOK YOUR PLACE

EUROPEAN GAMING NEWS

Codere nears insolvency unless last ditch talks succeed

odere the Spanish gaming company is within 24 hours of being declared bankrupt unless it can agree a debt restructuring accord with their bondholder for 1.1 billion Euros, however at present neither side knows if it will meet the deadline with a bail out. The Madrid based gaming giant is offering 70% of the companies equity with 30% remaining with shareholders, but bond holders who are the last opportunity for Codere to avoid bankruptcy are holding out for 82.5% of the company with 14.3% going to CEO Jose Antonio Martinez Sampedro and his family

who founded the company and just 3.2% going back to shareholders. Terrible results which has seen the company report eight consecutive quarterly losses, blamed on higher taxes in Europe, the recession, greater competition and stronger gambling regulations in South America see the company almost moving towards insolvency proceedings if this last ditch effort does not succeed. At present all concerned with the restructuring of the debt have not demanded their payments until talks conclude but with the clock is

ticking down and unless a deal can be found very quickly the end of Codere as a going concern looms. Some good news during the continued talks was that Codere announced that their first quarter results were above analysts expectations with revenues up to 329.5 million Euros, that’s an increase of 15.8% from the previous year and a profit of 47.8 million Euros from 60 million Euros the year before which is down on last year by 20%. However much of the loss in profit was down to restructuring of the company.

Cyprus will see the first land

based casino licences issued in March or latest April of 2015, the Commerce Minister George Lakkotrypis said in a statement that the bill to regulate casinos will be submitted to parliament later in May 2013 and, once approved, the fast-track licence process will take eight months. The northern side of Cyprus under the control of Turkey has seen casi-

nos operate for years but southern Cyprus has not had the option before to operate casinos under government law however that is shortly to change.

With high un-employment and Cyprus struggling financially a super casino resort is hoped to help create jobs and generate more tourism and taxes into the country.

“We estimate that the first licence will be issued in around March or April of 2015,” said Lakkotrypis, but did not state when the government expected the first casino to be up and running.

It is expected that MPs will approve legislation to end the ban on casinos, however there is strong objections by the main communist opposition party Akel.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Cyprus to issue casino license by Spring 2015

InfinityGaming • ISSUE MAY 2014

ONLINE GAMING NEWS

Mr Green announce record Q1 earnings

r Green the online casino operator announced their first quarter results from January to March 2014 showing a revenue growth of 42% compared to the same period in 2013, with earnings up also 50.7% for the period. CEO Mikael Pawlo said on the results: “During the first quarter of 2014, the online casino Mr Green continued to grow substantially, both in terms of sales and earnings. The online casino Mr Green continued to significantly outgrow the market during the first quarter, resulting in the company continuing to capture market shares. During the first quarter of 2014, the Group’s revenue amounted to SEK 154.6 million, an increase of a full 42.0 per cent compared with the yearearlier period of 2013. This may be

compared with the global i-gaming market, which is expected to grow by 9 per cent during 2014. The basis for our rapid growth is that we offer players a secure and safe gaming experience that they really appreci-

ate. That is why they come back to Mr Green. Earnings (EBITDA) for the first quarter amounted to SEK 37.0 million, up 50.7 per cent from the year earlier period.

he Swiss government are to properly regulate online gambling with the release of the latest bill that will now go for consultation till mid-August 2014. The bill contains opportunities for land based Swiss casinos to use their current license to operate online, with no current mention of foreign operators to enter the market. Within the bill it mentions that no winning by customers will be taxed. It has long been rumoured that the government in Switzerland wanted to introduce a bill that helped land

based casinos fight declining revenues from online gambling websites and now seem that the bill is focussed on this mission with only the mention of land based operators within Swiss borders allowed to have online licenses. An industry report in Switzerland said that land based casino revenues had been falling since 2007 and in 2013 had fallen another 1.5%. It is

also been disclosed that over $113 million each year is gambled by Swiss nationals in foreign operated online gambling sites.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Switzerland announce new online gambling bill

5th WIG ceremony just around the corner

Holland Casino post huge losses

Galaxy Entertainment moving in to US?

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US GAMING NEWS

Bally Technologies announce shock CEO change We are confident that Dick, together with our executive management team, will ensure a seamless transition and execute our strategy of continuing to grow Bally into the leading provider of technologybased products and services to the global gaming industry.” “I believe that the opportunities we have ahead of us in the coming months are truly exceptional,” Haddrill said. “I am very excited to return to the leadership of Bally and to begin focusing on our many worldwide growth strategies.” Concluded Robins.

The shock announcement from the slot manufacturer came after the stock market closed on Thursday 15th May, with the news that Haddril who was only CEO 17 months ago and stepped aside to allow Ramesh Srinivasan to take the role while Haddril climbed to Chairman of the Board at Bally. No reason for the change was given by the company that Srinivasan has worked for since 2005, especially in a sector where falling revenues and profits have seen Bally compete strongly and return increased profits for shareholders. Replacing Haddril as new Chairman of Bally, David Ronbins said, “The Board would like to thank Ramesh for his many years of service to Bally and for his leadership in guiding the Company through the acquisition and integration of SHFL entertainment, as well as his exemplary execution in developing Bally’s systems business,” said Robbins. “Dick’s depth of knowledge about our Company and our industry is unparalleled. As a result of his many years of being Bally’s CEO, a director and Chairman of the Board, as well as CEO of two other successful public companies, we believe that he is uniquely qualified to lead Bally through its next era of growth.

“I am very proud of our wonderful team and what we have accomplished together during the past nine years at Bally,” Srinivasan said. “I am confident that the Company is extremely well positioned to build on some fantastic opportunities.” Haddrill served as Bally’s CEO from 2004 to 2012 and on the board since 2003, many interested obsevers will be watching the direction the company takes and if Haddril will last in the role for too long or a new CEO will be found in the mid to long term.

Richard Haddril

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

ally Technolgies have made a surprise announcement in that Ramesh Srinivasan is leaving his role as President & CEO of the company and with Richard Haddril stepping back into his former role as Chief Executive.

Rumours swirled around Las Vegas after the announcement that the move could pave the way for a return by Gavin Isaacs as CEO of Bally, however those rumours seem unfounded as Bally overlooked Isaacs for the role previously.

InfinityGaming • ISSUE MAY 2014

GAMING NEWS

Texas could still vote on casinos this year recently.

exas could still yet move forward with legalising land based casinos in the Lone Star state even thou the Texas legislator doesn’t meet again this year, demanding that a referendum be called. Supporters of casinos in the state say that it would help bring in more taxes, more jobs and help stave off competition from neighboring states. The biggest advocates for casinos are the racetrack owners who have seen their businesses suffer from strong competition from Louisiana and Oklahoma whose

racetracks have casinos. However many Christian organizations say casinos would bring more crime and gambling related social issues to Texas. Andrea Young, the CEO of Sam Houston RacePark, says states that legalize casinos are able to use gaming revenues to offer bigger winning purses at their race tracks. “Quality horses are leaving Texas, along with the breeders and the farms, and the whole thing trickles down to even the guy that supplies the hay,” said Young to reporters

“It’s really not just an impact to (the race track), but it’s a wider agricultural impact too.” The biggest impact, she argues, is in jobs and economic growth. “Our estimates are that just slots at race tracks could create upwards of 75,000 new and permanent jobs, and that’s in addition to the construction jobs,” continued Young. Supporters of casinos want the state to put the proposal to the general public in a referendum this year, stating that Texas is one of only 10 states now that does not have casinos within its borders. “80-percent plus–whether you’re Democrat, Republican, Tea Party Republican–want the right to vote on this…it doesn’t matter what stripe you are.” Whether or not Texans get that vote will be up to lawmakers. “I think at this point, given that we’ve never seen this issue go to a vote, we probably should question some of our own legislators’ motives,” says Young.

ollowing Caesars Entertainment latest figures showing a continued loss in its US gaming operations, Gary Loveman hinted in a recent conference call that the company could very well look at losing one of their casino operations in New Jersey to cut costs. “These markets can reach points when no new supply is indeed the right answer,” CEO Gary Loveman said in his conference call this on the companies latest earnings. “In

some cases reducing supply is the right answer.” Those comments were the strongest indication yet that Caesars are seriously considering either closing one of the four casinos they have in Atlantic City or selling it. Loveman continued in the conference call, “We are looking at all of our options to reduce the cost of doing business here, all the businesses in A.C. are under tremendous pressure.” Atlantic City has suffered continuing revenue declines since 2006

with only in January saw the number of casinos drop from 12 to 11 with the closure of the Atlantic Club Casino, which was at the centre of the PokerStars issue over entering online gambling in New Jersey. Indeed only a couple of months ago rumours were swirling that Caesars were considering a possible buy-out of the Revel Casino, it seems that Caesars has changed strategy in AC and are looking now at reducing the number of properties there instead of increasing.

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Caesars may close New Jersey casino

FEATURE ARTICLE

Women, Gambling and Glass Ceilings By Christina Thakor-Rankin Our feature writer Christina Thakor-Rankin looks at the glass ceiling, does it exist and female role models.

his is a subject which I have been asked to reflect on a number of times over the last few years, and which if I am totally honest irks me somewhat – not least that I find the concept of any barrier, glass or otherwise, to be fundamentally damaging and unhelpful, whether it’s in relation to gambling or just life.

regular visitor to ICE one could be forgiven for thinking that aside of a few more visiting women, and a few less top-less models, the only notable change at the event in the last few years has been a move from the traditional hand shake, to the business man-hug – that rather odd

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At best it highlights issues which would be better tackled with diplomacy rather than full on confrontation, at worst it provides an easy out for those who have not yet realised their ambitions.

That said, one only has to visit gambling’s must attend annual love-in, ICE, attend industry conferences and seminars and pick up any publication to understand why the question of women and gambling has not gone away. To a layman stumbling into this arena much of this does give a strong impression of an industry led and dominated by testosterone - in fact if I am completely honest, and a

combination of handshake-cumshoulder bump. The fact is however, that for such a large industry which employs as many, if not more, women as men overall, the ratio of females at the top does seem to be grossly disproportionate and perhaps does beg the question – why are there not more women at the top?

Before we come onto that prickly question, let me first share with you my views of the sector generally. For me, the gambling industry has always been shaped, influence and driven by life, events and socio-political mores, ethics and values - as such provides a capsule snap-shot of real life at any given point in time. Whether it be as early adopters of mass technology, such as the internet and mobile applications, adapting to changing environments, legal or otherwise, such as using the smoking ban in bingo halls to push online bingo, acting as a litmus test for the state of the economy (– historically, most moves towards regulation and legalising the market have been linked to raising tax revenue), or a yard-stick for changing moral, ethical and religious values in society – gambling is a socio-political window on the world. In this context the question is

To understand where we stand today, there be some small value in tracing back the events of the last few decades. The 60s onwards have seen women challenging their role within society but the changes which have seen more women moving into the workplace were not driven by feminist theories and bra burning ceremonies, but by life. The economic and social events of the 70s drove women into work, whilst the growth of the economy and the service and leisure industries in the 80s actively encouraged women to work and ushered in more stringent sex discrimination legislation. There are some who would say that much of this progress could be attributed to the fact that a female Prime Minister for much of the decade would inevitably result in a hearts and minds shift in the attitude of women in work.

sionable students to believe that there was more out there than just a part-time job when the kids were at school, or a career restricted to teaching or nursing. Add in the fact that mainstream media was getting wise to this shift in dynamic and started to embrace a new female demographic and its aspirations - compare the early days of Dallas dominated by the size of men’s oil-wells to the Spelling stables second string some years later where success was now measured by the size of shoulder pads, and Charlie’s Angels to Moonlighting.

Whilst these decades saw more women enter the workplace, society was still solidly patriarchal – interestingly Margaret Thatcher may have been the first woman Prime Minister but during her historic three terms only made one appointment to her Cabinet, and that arguably a low profile role.

More importantly still perhaps, all of this started to prepare a generation of young men who had in the main grown up with clear domestic role models, but were now surrounded by women who had grown up on a diet of Thatcher, Madonna, Maddie and Alexis Colby-Carrington, for the changing tides of the 90s when these young impressionable women started to come of age.

Whilst Mrs Thatcher and her compatriots around the world may not have it been either the result of or pioneers of the feminist cause, the fact is they were there, and irrespective of how they got there, they inspired a generation of still impres-

It was the age when we started to see women who had started their careers in the late 80s start to take on more senior roles throughout life: politics, business, media and, of course, gambling. Was there resistance to this? Of course, for this was

a transition period where the new world came into direct conflict with the old world – – a world where young men did not know whether to support their career minded girlfriend or their traditional minded men only middle-aged boss. The 90s was also when I started working in the industry. Did I encounter negativity? Yes of course I did - but no more or less than in any other aspect of life, and where it happened in the work-place it was often far less to do with the Company and the industry and far more to do with the fact that my detractors were also my fiercest competition. Like Mrs Thatcher I tend to take the view that if you have to have a go at me on the basis of my gender, age, race, dress-sense, appearance, life-style choices, what I have for lunch, etc. it’s because you have nothing negative to say about my work – which I take as something of a compliment.

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not so much what is the role and position of women in the gambling industry, rather how does the gambling industry reflect the role and position of women in today’s society, and how have things changed?

Land based casino operators are led by women

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have in the past been cited as a role-model who has succeeded in a predominantly man’s world. This is not entirely accurate, as there were women in managerial positions when I started work in the industry, and there have been throughout my career. Where I have been slightly different perhaps is that I have dabbled in an area which is traditionally, solidly male – sports and betting – but this is simply because that is what I am interested in. And that is the key – if you want to work in sports and betting you have to be really, genuinely interested in it. The reality is that many women are not, which explains the lack of women at senior levels in this area.

But this is not so of other areas. Many of the most successful bingo operators have women at the fore. Many of the land based casino operators and providers are led by women. Many of the world’s regulatory bodies are dominated and often headed by women, the UK included, and most HR, marketing and affiliate teams include a healthy

gender balance. Undoubtedly some of these will have experienced resistance – but the resistance needs to be contextualised. Often the resistance to women is less about sexism and more about preserving a status quo and maintaining a comfort zone for those who fear exposure and challenge. There will still be those who say that compared to other industries, gambling still has comparatively less women. This may well be true but this is the gambling industry – a moral and ethical Marmite-esque mine-field, so cannot be treated in the same vein as less controversial sectors. For me there are no barriers, glass or otherwise, to women working in this industry – only the usual challenges one would expect to encounter in life; the jealousies, the insecurities, the inadequacies, the ignorance, the –isms, and the ambitions of others.

So going back to the start and what events such as ICE say about the industry. I think that in the broad scheme of things it actually says very little. ICE is a show-piece event, a place to see and to be seen - the high gloss cover of the Big Book of Gambling – and we all know about books and covers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Christina Thakor-Rankin is Principal Consultant at 1710Gaming working with start-ups, investors, operators regulators, and industry groups internationally, covering all aspects of the gaming and gambling cycle - from initial research, licence and operational go-live, to new markets and opportunities, to customer engagement and experience. She has over 20 years industry experience and has previously held roles at William Hill, Blue Square, Tote (Sport) and Virgin Games managing multiple business disciplines, functions and teams.

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US GAMING NEWS

Genting present Las Vegas plans

enting have unveiled more details of their Resorts World Las Vegas which is scheduled to break ground in the second part of 2014. The $4 billion development will have 3,500 gaming tables, more than 3,000 hotel rooms and create some 11,000 permanent jobs once completed, Along will generating millions in taxes for Nevada the company says.

The Chairman’s comments were made at a presentation to the Ne-

vada Gaming Control Board. Completion of the resort is expected to take some 24 to 36 months, which will create 30,000 construction jobs with $1.5 billion In wages paid in that phase. The Resorts World Las Vegas will be situated at 3000 South Las Vegas Boulevard which was the location of the old Stardust.

The resort is to be completed in separate phases and the first phase will consist of: More than 3,500 gaming positions (slots and table games combined). More than 3,000 keys. 22 villas. More than 15 retail venues. An aquarium. A center bar featuring live entertainment. An observation deck with views down the stripFollowing phase one the other phases of the resort will have. Three new hotel towers. A new, still-to-be determined, large-scale attraction. Additional gaming space. A smaller, more intimate theater that seats approximately 1,000 to 1,500 people. An approximately 1 million square foot convention center. A water park. A movie theater. A bowling alley.

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“Our goal at Resorts World Las Vegas is to complement existing properties and bring a new and unique entertainment destination to the Las Vegas Strip,” said Genting Chairman KT Lim. “Our themed resort will cater to the high-end visitor as well as the budget-minded tourist. We will give first-time guests a new reason to visit Las Vegas and other tourists a great reason to return. This represents a big step forward for our development, and we are excited to move forward with our plans.”

ARTICLE

There’s Not An App for That … Casino Customer Service Our feature writer Martin Baird in his May article ponders on the possibility of an App for Customer Service, sadly there is no such App at present thou.

By Martin R. Baird

on’t you wish there was an app that, with a couple of clicks, you could use to fix the problems facing casinos?

Well, there is no such app. But there are three critical problems that casinos must face head-on if they want to survive (yes, survive) and, ultimately, succeed. And there is one overriding solution – exceptional casino customer service.

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Problem No. 1 – The gaming industry is more competitive than it ever has been in history and there is no let-up in sight. This year and 2015 will bring casino competition to a level never experienced before.

With more choices, guests are exceptionally demanding and that means “good enough” is simply not good enough. Have you heard the rumor that Russia would like to turn Crimea into the Macau of the Black Sea? This is no joke. There are stories circulating that Putin wants to follow the same model to create a gaming destination on the peninsula. Or what about Osaka being the first city in Japan to have a casino? In the United States, many states are starving for tax revenue and they will do anything to get it. This means states that said they would never have gambling are now considering it. Other states that have come late to the party with hopes of a huge windfall are often left

struggling. They waited so long that there just aren’t enough people to grow the business to match revenue projections. Look at what has occurred in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. I lived in Maryland for several years when the only local casinos were in Delaware and West Virginia. When visited those properties, three out of four cars were from Maryland. Now all of these states have wonderful casinos that are all fighting for the same guests. Why would a person living in the Baltimore area drive to Delaware or West Virginia to play? The answer is they don’t. All of these states and casinos are now competing for the same guests. What about Internet gaming? I recently read that New Jersey casino tax revenue was not as low as expected because of the increase in Internet gaming revenue. If New Jersey is generating tax revenue from online gambling, how long will it be before other states jump in, too? When push comes to shove and lawmakers have the choice to cut spending, raise taxes or legalize more gambling options, which path do you think they will take? Politicians don’t cut spending. They also don’t raise taxes if they want to be re-elected. So the most viable option is to add more gambling options.

ARTICLE

(Continued) Problem No. 2 – Another challenge: the world economy. China’s economy is soft, if not weak. There are reports that China has an overbuilt housing market and economic growth is at a much slower pace than the last 10 years.

If the Chinese economy has a significant downturn, that will have an impact on the U.S. economy. Many U.S. companies have significant exposure to China and rely on sales within that country for growth. These companies are major employers in the U.S. That is a global problem, but most of the U.S. casinos are more focused on people within a two-hour drive of them. How are the people in the neighborhood doing? While there are pockets of economic strength in parts of the country (consider oil-rich North Dakota), the U.S. economy is soft and largely stagnant. This makes it very difficult for the average consumer to feel confident and want to go out and spend money… if they have it to spend at all. Given these global, national and local challenges, casinos need to work hard to survive, and they need to work even harder and invest smarter to thrive. Problem No. 3 – As I said, there’s no app for service excellence. There isn’t a magic app in the cloud that you can click on and turn customer service zeroes into heroes. Great service takes a proven system and a commitment. If you want your casino to provide exceptional service, it takes developing your people. Given the problems of competition and a lackluster economy, exceptional service is critical. It’s that simple. Increased competition gives guests the power to be part

icular. Guests will not visit a casino that has just good or acceptable service. Why would they waste their time and money on good when they can have exceptional? There are no apps to fix the myriad problems casinos are facing, but there is a solution. The solution isn’t easy and it will take time, effort and investment, but it is worth it. The solution is service improvement.

It always shocks me when a casino will say it can’t spend money on improving its customer service. I shudder at this excuse because I know the way this movie ends. Poor service means fewer guests. Fewer guests mean less revenue. There simply is not a simple or easy fix to these problems. If you’ve read this far, then I believe you have a passion for service excellence. Remember, programs don’t last! You want a culture of service excellence and cultures take time to build.

Martin R. Baird Bio Martin R. Baird is chief executive officer of Robinson & Associ-

Or Read on App andStore their guest service so they can compete generate future ates, Inc., a Boise, Idaho-based consulting firm to the global

gaming industry that is dedicated to helping casinos improve growth and profitability. Robinson & Associates is the world leader in casino guest experience measurement, management and improvement. For more information, visit the company’s Web sites at http://casinocustomerservice.com and www.advocatedevelopmentsystem.com or contact the company at 208-991-2037. Robinson & Associates is a member of the Casino Management Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming Association.

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The saying goes, “When the United States sneezes, the world catches a cold.” The idea is that the U.S. is so powerful, it affects the entire world. Today, the same can be said for China with its 1.35 billion people. Economists are predicting that China is in a housing bubble that is going to burst. Remember what that did to the U.S. economy? Think about what it has been like for the last seven years!

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SPECIAL Feature Article

Japanese Pachinko maker in bribery scandal The FBI, the Nevada Gaming regulator and the Philippine’s government are investigating the case that reportedly took place in July 2013.

It is claimed by Reuters who have seen documents relating to the case that Yuki Arai offered the former employee a large sum of money if he stopped offering information in the case of the giant pachinko company pushing a casino resort in the Philippine’s with payments via affiliates of the company to a consultant to ensure the resort opened. The FBI, the Nevada Gaming regulator and the Philippine’s government are investigating the case that reportedly took place in July 2013. The offer was sent by fax to Takafumi Nakano, the former employee by Yuki Arai which offered “certain level of compensation” if he abided by a series of terms. No monetary figure was mentioned. Part of those

terms was to hand over any and all documents that Nakano had given to the authorities and to cease all further assistance to the case. However Nakano refused the offer said his lawyer Tamaki Katsube, but this has raised huge concerns of the

Universal’s business in the Philippines came under scrutiny as early 2012 when Wynn Resorts ordered an investigation which found Universal had paid $110,000 for lodging, entertainment and gifts for Philippine and Korean gaming officials. In the fallout of that investigation, Wynn then filed a lawsuit against Okada saying he was in breach of fiduciary duties and other offences related to the offering of entertainment and gifts. Wynn also kicked out Okada from being a director and forcibly redeemed his 20% stake in the company.

way Universal conducts its business in the Philippines say US prosecutors. A.G. Burnett, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said he had been unaware of the proposal made to Nakano until contacted by Reuters. “Our investigators will obtain that document and analyse it as part of their overall investigation into this matter,” Burnett said.

Then last month, Universal and Okada filed a criminal complaint against Wynn in Japan, saying the U.S. casino operator had defamed Okada and that the publication of Wynn’s investigation “harmed the public trust.” The investigation into Universal’s conduct in the Philippines and the legal fight between Wynn and Okada is still continuing in the courts.

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lawyer for Universal Entertainment Corp, the largest pachinko machines maker in Japan was reported in Reuters news agency to have offered a pay off to a former employee of the company to stop helping investigators in the bribery scandal regarding Universal and a casino project in the Philippine’s.

ASIA GAMING NEWS

Melco to consider managing casino resort in Barcelona

elco International Development the overseas arm of Lawrence Hoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Melco Crown Entertainment the Macau casino resort operator, has signed a signed a memorandum of understanding with Veremonte Espana of Spain to discuss the possibility of them managing one of the casinos being developed by Veremonte near Barcelona. This is another sign that the Macau based company are looking to spread their wings outside of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest gambling hub following the recent announcement that the company is investing more into the eastern Russian development casino resort which is to the north of China. The latest signing in Barcelona apart from casino will have 10,000

hotel rooms, an exhibition and meeting center and up to 5,000 residential units, in what is hoped to become the major entertainment center in Europe in the coming years.

With partner James Packer Melco is also looking to enter the soon to be legalised Japanese gambling market, all the signs are clear the Lawrence Ho wants to take his brand of casinos global in the next

North Vietnam casino resort a go for Lim brothers

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onaco the Asian Casino Operator run by KT Lim nephews, Joey & Ben Lim, whose uncle is founder of the Genting empire have confirmed that their new development in North Vietnam will be operational on the 18th May.

The five star 428-room hotel and casino will have a soft launch in May prior to full opening, with the hotel and casino targeting Chinese gamblers in the bordering Yunnan province. Joey & Ben Lim have raised over $100 million for future develop-

ments in Asia from investment firms and will be announcing further deals on casinos shortly says their spokesperson. Now with the North Vietnamese resort shortly to open the companies stock price has soared by 227% with the news that the new Vietnamese casino has cleared final regulatory approval. Both Joey & Ben Lim would not expand on where Donaco would either purchase an existing casino in Asia or build, but observers believe that a purchase by the Lim brothers is most likely.

INTERNATIONAL GAMING NEWS

Bwin.party announce departure of three directors

The online gambling firm said in a statement that they had commenced a search for three new independent directors to replace those departures and at the same time again urged investors to vote against SpringOwl’s nominations for directors to the board. SpringOwl the investment vehicle of Jason Ader who owns 5.27% of bwin.party wants to see boardroom changes and include their own nominations to shake up the company and bring more profit back to the

company for investors. However a spokesperson for bwin. party said that due to “the increasing complexity of the group’s business and regulatory environment, combined with the length of service of a number of the non-executive directors and the need to prevent the board from becoming too large and unwieldy,” it had decided to search for three new independent directors. As a major shareholder SpringOwl is allowed to nominate one director to the board so long as otter shareholders agreed to the nomination, but SpringOwl are pushing for a total of four new nominations to the bwin.party board something the firm is totally against and fighting hard to oppose come the AGM. In a move to stop SpringOwl Bwin. party said it has appointed executive search firm Spence Stuart to

conduct an international search to identify suitable candidates to join the board. “Bwin.party is operating in a challenging and rapidly changing business environment. The steps we are announcing today will ensure that succession is in place to allow the board to anticipate and address the complexities of technological change, the inevitable transition to regulated and taxed markets and also to maximise the long-term value of the business for its shareholders, customers and employees,” Chairman-Elect Philip Yea said in a statement. It is going to be a very fiery AGM and observers are split on how shareholders will vote on SpringOwl’s nominations, the outcome could jeopardize the position of CEO Norbert Teufelberger should the vote go in favour of Jason Ader and his nominations.

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win.party announced on Friday 16th May the departure of three of their directors from the board, with Deputy Chairman Rod Perry retiring once a successor has been selected, while Manfred Bodner and Helmut Kern will be stepping down as non-executive directors after the companies annual general meeting on the 22nd May.

SPECIAL Feature Article

Who Needs a Casino Gaming Consultant? Our feature writer JJ Woods gives his reasoning for why gaming consultants are needed within the industry and exactly what they do.

By J.J. Woods JJ Woods was born in Ireland but left in the 1970’s to live in London and he started his career in banking. After four years in Banking in London JJ trained in the Casino Industry. Over the last 30 years JJ has dedicated his career to the setting up, including: design, opening and management of Casinos around the world. Throughout his time in Ireland JJ has also done several Radio, Television and Newspaper interviews on the subject of Casinos and gaming, he is above all extremely passionate about the Casino Industry and Completed a gaming submission to the Irish Government during Legislation Research. He is a leader in respect of the responsibility of customer care He was responsible for the following Casino designs and set ups in Ireland : Macau (Cork), Silks (Dublin). www.atlanticcasinoconsultants.com Email: info@atlanticcasinoconsultants.com

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ave you ever wondered what a Casino Gaming Consultant job entails? Unlike most other consultants who consult in a specific area a good casino consultant will cover all areas of the casino’s needs. They should have knowledge of all the roles that exist within the Casino and understand how each one of those roles contributes to the overall success of the casino. The roles generally are: Director, G.M., Manager, Slots Manager, Slot Tech, Pit Boss, Inspector, Cashier, Dealer, F&B Manager, Receptionist, Waitress, Barman, Car jockey,

Cleaner etc and it is paramount that the consultant understands the practical nature of each of these roles and there are many reasons why but here is one of them, All of the roles mentioned have contact with the Casinos customers which simply means they can enhance the customers experience or in some cases hamper it ! If the question was asked which of the roles have the most contact with the customer? You might be surprised to learn that in some cases it is actually the waitress role and this is because the waitress is serving you with something very personal that you are going to eat or drink and that

is something you may want to talk about and whilst mostly they do a fantastic job I have seen customers leave Casinos over incidents with a waitress so we must be aware of the customer contact points. A good Consultant will usually walk a Casino floor with the same confidence as the Director or a manager who is employed there and that confidence comes from someone who not only knows all aspects of the business but is also passionate about the casino business and because they are constantly visiting other Casinos and generally in touch with all aspects of the indus-

Who Needs a Casino Gaming Consultant?

Whilst Casino consultants can be engaged for many different reasons, Anti Money Laundering Policy, New Products, Staffing etc, there are two main reasons to get in touch, New Casino Start Up and Troubleshooting existing Casinos. When new laws pass in a Jurisdiction to allow for a new gambling facility or existing laws allow for gambling facility already a casino consultant is engaged to put all the pieces together. It’s their wealth of experience with all the elements of the gaming industry that gets the projects wheels moving. Information like what the demographics are and what type of culture and local tradi-

tions exist and how they will add to or hamper a new casino start up. The casino consultant will advise on what kind of games and slot machines would work best in the casino having studied the competition or lack of competition in the area. They will have design ideas, best colours to use, and final floor plan suggestions which includes where Tables and Slots are placed to gain most revenue as floor space is critical and if it is on the floor it must be played ! So the final combination suggestion of the games and slots to be used will play a major part in the new Casinos success or failure. Staffing numbers need to be heavily concentrated on and is no easy task but given that the set-up plan in the beginning is correct and you have the correct number of tables then it is a natural carry on based on the theory if the table is on the floor then there should be a dealer behind it and whilst this does not happen at all times we should try and remember that from a customer’s point of view there is nothing worse than a table with nobody on front or behind! On that note the Consultant

will always express himself / herself from a customer’s perspective and if not then this is no consultant because the very essence of the job starts here. A good consultant will have a vast understanding of player psychology and online gaming sites who are constantly being overhauled or updated should heed this ; Gamblers in general are avid followers of consistency and there are many examples of this and why Casinos should reach a standard and maintain that standard with as little change as possible, here is one example that is common in many casinos : A customer will say ‘’ you serve the best toasted sandwich ‘’ this is not totally true and for most part the reason he is saying this is because he has become accustomed to the taste because it is consistent , made with the same ingredients and the same way since the casino opened , gamblers love consistency and if you think about how games like Blackjack and Slots work it is because they are consistent. Casino troubleshooting can be

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try their imagination and determination usually surpasses that of the management of the Casino they are actually consulting to. There are several reasons for this and sometime it is because the manager is so busy running the business that his own imagination or ideas have no room to grow which is why a consultant should be looked at in a refreshing way because the reason he is there is to make these ideas happen!

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SPECIAL Feature Article

aried for a Consultant as there are so many issues that arise and one of the popular ones is a series of losses on a particular game which of course can have a reasonable explanation but never a simple one because if it was the Casinos own management would have solved it and of course with this type of issue it can have associations with honesty, staff integrity etc. As with a lot of problems the Casino business by nature is secretive and naturally they would try and investigate and correct the issue themselves but invariably what sometimes happens in my experience is that more damage is caused between the various staff members and their professional relationships with one another because of the investigation and also the time it takes to reach a conclusion and in some cases never does have a satisfactory conclusion. So my point is that in most cases it is better to get in touch with a consultant sooner than later with an issue like this. A casino consultant’s most popular consultancy work is probably a report on all areas of an existing Casino and this starts at the front door and some of us call this the ‘’Walk through report ’’ . It will consist of every single aspect of the business including critical comments and applauding ones and will include Reception, All Gaming areas, Bar /Restaurant, Staff Appraisal, Staff Room and Customer service etc. It can also be requested that the report be done incognito which believe me is difficult at times because as we say the Casino Industry is a small one! Another difficulty on occasion is that you write a fantastic report on the

Casino because in your professional opinion everything is as it should be but the Director or the Company who retained you are not happy because they expected a list of things to be adjusted and practises changed that in turn would increase their revenues! Whilst the work of a consultant sets out to ultimately increase revenues sometimes the reward for the casino operator might just be peace of mind which in itself is a positive going forward. An operator who ran a busy casino had good drops and results on his card game tables but his roulette results were not comparable. The visit to the Casino showed that he had 6 stools on each roulette which is basically 1 over the standard 5 but his customers were drinking from the bottle and very mobile (except those sitting down) and mostly below the age of 30 . It was suggested he leave a maximum of 3 stools on each of the roulettes because the problem was with six people sitting and not playing all the spins they were creating a wall stopping the other people who did want to play. The revenues and play went up on the roulette tables when the stools were removed and whilst this sounds a very simple solution the fact remains that it took a fresh pair of eyes to spot something that had being going on for two years. Finally we should mention that all important Feasibility study and briefly this will include population and over and under 21’s, existing competition , visitors to the region, choice of transport, Airports , Airlines , hotels etc . Then we move to the Accountancy side of things and projected figures based on the types of table games and slot recommendations and of course

the numbers of each. Margins need to be worked out and for example how many players does the Casino require to justify the number of slots and tables also based on the slots percentages and house edge on the table games how much does the Casino expect to make daily. On a personal note this always amuses me, some of the biggest accountancy firms will come up with the average daily spend of the customer and then ask the Casino consultant to concur and my answer is that I will tell them after the Casino is open and the reason I say this is because I have never seen an accurate assessment of an average daily spend per customer before a casino is open, Unless you are in a jurisdiction with like for like models these predicted figures just do not work. Of course we have to assess the potential of the location and as best we can come up with a daily drop figure which in turn becomes a weekly, monthly, and yearly etc but if the casino is a first in a new jurisdiction then my advice is to treat just the daily average drop per customer figure with a pinch of salt. Because of the nature of the consultants work and the competitiveness of the industry confidentiality is a given and this is why some casino consultants might well be the unsung heroes of the gaming industry, so maybe the next time you visit a great casino just think that there was a casino consultant there before you but he has quietly left the building!

BUSINESSMAG • ISSUE MAY 2014

Who Needs a Casino Gaming Consultant? continued

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