Casino life May 2015

May 2015

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Editorial: Editor in Chief: Glyn Thomas Mob: +380 952 705 596 glyn@ace123.com Associate Editor Asia: Bill Healey bill@ace123.com Associate Editor North America David Mckee dmckee@ace123.com Special Assignment Correspondent: Jack Bulavsky jackbulavsky@yahoo.com N Europe - Damien Connelly dconnelly@ace123.com UK: Alan Campbell alancampbellcasinolife@gmail.com International Casino & Gaming Correspondent: JJ Woods jjsilks@eircom.net Technology Correspondent: Rebecca Green rebecca@ace123.com Slot Editor: Lucien Wijsman lwisjman@ace123.com

Production: Designer: Stewart Hyde design@ace123.com www.totaldesignworks.com Subscriptions: Helen Holmes subs@ace123.com Web & IT: Sudip Banjeree sb@ace123.com Publisher: Peter White Tel: +44 (0) 1892 740869 Mob: +44 (0) 7973 273714 pwhite@ace123.com

Editor’s page Welcome to Casino Life...

Gazing out from my hotel room at last year’s G2E I was not exactly troubled by the noise of construction and I hardly noticed a construction crane – if any at all. Instead the word on the street was that many a new scheme had been shelved and half-built structures would soon be torn down for their scrap value. And then this week - Boom! The Riviera stutters to a halt (cue the pictures of of bronze showgirls bottoms – the well-known statue – keep with me) and plans are announced for more convention space. Then Genting starts work on Resorts World LV with golden dragons ushering in the $4 billion project due for completion in 2018.

With the newly opened SLS, plans for the old Frontier site, a revamped Fremont Street and a resurgence in rock festivals, Las Vegas is back on the up baby!

As this copy is winging it’s way to G2E Asia – please try and drop by and see us - I should also add that, as mentioned last month, Macau may be slowing down but it’s not all doom and gloom in Asia – and in fact over at the Solaire in the Philippines and throughout Singapore, growth is being reported.

Posistive news also from the manufacturers with the AGEM Index up 5.5% this month and an overall trend upwards is expected.

Back to this issue and we lead with a cracking interview with Thomas “Tom” Arasi - president, COO and Board Director at the Solaire Resort& Casino. Damien Connelly chats to Dominick Stenson about the novel Casino Sunborn a superyacht casino due to open this month. Ahead of G2E Asia our Las Vegas correspondent Jack Bulavsky caught up with a busy Walter Bugno to talk about the GTECH IGT merger. With key interviews with Amatic, Foundation LLC, Shopworks and our sideways look at social media and casino marketing we think we have something for everyone.

Finally a Big shout out for the Slot Summit next month that is being held in Bucharest. Please don’t think though that the event will just have an Eastern European focus – Bucharest was just chosen as a great central place to stage the event. Yours truly is the event MC and as usual there is a dazzling array of speakers and the opportunity to mix and mingle with some of the top names in European casinos – as well as the leading manufacturers.

As ever, if you want to be featured in the magazine – please drop me a line.

Glyn Thomas Editor in Chief

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Contents 4 The Ultimate Entertainment Development Thomas “Tom” Arasi President, COO & Board Director Solaire Resort & Casino chats to Peter White & Damien Connelly 10 Preserved to Impress Chris Sanson talks to Zackary Milardo President of Preserved Interiors 12 Sunrise on a New Super Yacht Hotel Casino Dominick Stenson, Casino Manager of Casino Sunborn, chats with Damien Connelly 17 End-to-End Gaming Walter Bugno IGT CEO International spoke with Jack Bulvasky ahead of his flight out to attend G2E Asia 22 Complete Gaming Solution Rebecca Green chats with Leopold Oller Director at Amatic Industries 26 The Great Million Dollar Candidate Mark Wayman, Founder and CEO of the executive placement firm The Foundation LLC, discusses executive recruitment 29 Ahead in the Clouds Glyn Thomas talks to Ian Hogg Chairman of Shopworks the software provider offering tailored solutions 32 Europe’s Blind Spot Why Europe allows minors to gamble, by Peter Naessens, Director Belgian Gaming Commission 34 Gaming Town Pushes its Luck

By Robert Ambrose 37 Creating a social media policy for your Casino – Part 1 Why Every Casino Business Should Have One,

By Rick Campbell 39 Who Loves Ya, Baby?

How casinos can make more money with less cost. By Victor H. Royer 42 Optimising Opportunity Glyn Thomas puts the questions to Lucien Wijsman, ahead of Slot Summit Bucharest 46 Spotlight G2E Asia 2015 Editorial Policy: The views and opinions expressed in Casino Life remain principally the views of contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or publishers.

The publishers wish to avoid inaccuracies and, whilst every precaution has been taken to ensure that information contained in this publication is accurate, no liability is accepted by the editor or publishers for errors or omissions, however caused.

Unless otherwise stated, articles appearing in this publication remain the copyright of the publishers and may not be reproduced in any form without the publisher’s written consent.

Printed in the UK by MPC Ltd.

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www.amatic.com

sales@amatic.com

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The Ultimate Entertainment Development Thomas “Tom� Arasi, President, COO & Board Director Solaire Resort & Casino chats to Peter White and Damien Connelly 5

You have held noteworthy positions at several companies during your career. Please tell us a little about yourself and how your experience has brought you to Solaire Resort & Casino.

Until 2009, my career was focused on hospitality (the ‘other’ side of Integrated Resorts) in most facets of property-level and corporation operations, branding and real estate and investment. That was really good.

It got great in 2009 when I got into the Integrated Resort (gaming) business with Las Vegas Sands Corp at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. Nothing, in my opinion, is as dynamic and exciting and all-consuming as the gaming-Integrated Resort business. Now, at Solaire Resort & Casino, I’m privileged to be involved in the most exciting thing ever.

Prior to joining Solaire Resort & Casino, you were President and CEO of Marina Bay Sands, which has quickly become one of the world’s most iconic Integrated Resorts.

What differences and similarities exist between these IRs and doing business in each respective country?

The similarities are striking. Although both Singapore and Manila were not new to gaming per se, both were new to land-based casinos developed on the back Thomas “Tom” Arasi of multi-billion dollar investments on a single asset basis through new government-sanctioned, gaming-enabled legislation. Both markets are creating a new paradigm that is taking tourism, entertainment and hospitality to heights never before seen in their respective countries. Both Marina Bay Sands and Solaire Resort & Casino are iconic, real estate worksof-art that are achieving unprecedented economic benefits for their resident communities, government coffers and investors, and raising positive awareness of their countries—the Philippines and Singapore. Both serve their local populations, and, of even greater import, attract visitors and players from all over Asia

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and the world for that highly-desired foreign tourist visitation and spend.

Solaire Resort & Casino was the first IR to open in Entertainment City, which is planned to have a total of 4 IRs operating within a few years. What benefits have accrued from being the ‘first-mover’?

Being first-mover has allowed us to identify and cement loyalty with the best customers early and strongly, and to define success in the marketplace. Our Chairman and Founder—Mr. Enrique K. Razon, Jr.— had a crystal clear conviction of true luxury and best in class property and service and that is what Solaire is quickly becoming known for…as the Integrated Resort experience in the Philippines. Being firstmover is allowing us to help shape the image of the Philippines and the Integrated Resorts here as compelling and highly desirable…and to allow Solaire to be the leader in the minds of customers.

Let’s not forget, also, that as first-mover, in my opinion, it has given us the “pick-of-the-litter” in getting the best Team Members.

What were your first impressions of Solaire Resort & Casino, and how have those altered during your time there to-date?

Firstly, it is luxurious, warm and sophisticated all at the same time.

Solaire in terms of quality, facilities, amenities, style and aspiration is equal to or greater than the top Integrated Resorts anywhere in the world. That is a big statement…but one becoming quickly recognized as true. Secondly, the layout and design of Solaire is outstanding. It has fairly large scale but it feels intimate, approachable and comfortable to the guests.

Players love the feel of the floor; the F&B is correctly positioned and the way the place works feels more like a big palace than it does a cavernous casino. Thirdly— without question—Solaire has the best back-of-thehouse of any property that I have ever seen. Real planning and care and investment went into the BOTH.

If you were to position Solaire Resort & Casino against other, perhaps better-known and longer established operating companies/properties, who would you position yourself against? For example, are you a Wynn, a Marina Bay Sands, a Crown Melbourne…?

Ha-ha, I will leave that for others to make comparisons…we often hear one or two of the names that you’ve mentioned above from customers and industry-insiders alike…but, we’ve developed and continue to fortify an identity and niche all of our own.

Further to this point, we can take these comparisons and do even better because, in my opinion, we offer the best service that you will find in any property globally. Our “secret sauce” is ‘famous Filipino’ hospitality, warmth and friendliness. For decades, talented and motivated Filipinos have been serving the leading properties across the globe. Now they are coming home to the Philippines and Solaire Resort & Casino. On the ‘people front,’ I don’t think that anyone will be able to compete with us, once we fully hit our stride.

What are your objectives for Solaire, and how are you achieving them?

People often say that ‘Solaire is the best in the Philippines.’ I’m humbled when they say and think that. Our goal, however, is to be considered top-ofmind, unprompted among the elite Integrated Resorts anywhere—Asia, USA, Europe—in addition to the Philippines. Commercially, we want to be a balance

between VIP and mass, tables and slots and domestic versus foreign activity. This is very similar to the Singapore model and that builds sustainable and solid, long-term shareholder value. Of course, generating a high return on investment is critical. 2014 was a good year for that as ebitda was up more than eight times versus the prior year.

What are your greatest challenges at Solaire, and how are you overcoming them?

Our main challenge is marketing in the macro sense.

Tourism to the Philippines lacks the awareness of other more established Asian inbound markets and there have been some public relations issues regarding travel to the Philippines. However, once people come here, we benefit from very high “stickiness,” having a very, very high chance of getting them back because the property and service are so good. We are quickly overcoming some perception challenges, but not through traditional media. We’re attracting more and more foreigners through our sales force who have or are developing relationships with key customers, and, through their personal relationships, getting those customers to give us a try.

November 2014 saw the opening of your Phase 1A expansion, with the Sky Tower leisure complex consisting of hotel, additional VIP gaming areas, F&B and MICE facilities, as well as The Theatre. In other jurisdictions, non-gaming is an increasing revenue

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source. How is the balance between gaming and non-gaming developing in the Philippines market, and within Solaire’s operations?

Our Phase 1A which we call Sky Tower is a dramatic inflection point for us in terms of serving our guests.

It is very different than Bay Tower but doesn’t feel like a different property. It is mostly non-gaming.

Non-gaming is becoming more important here as it is in most other jurisdictions. Therefore, as you correctly say, it is becoming more important. Having said that, the ‘gaming versus non-gaming’ discussion has lost a little perspective, I think. Gamers live off of the non-gaming/hospitality fun, enjoyment and amenities. Baccarat is baccarat and slots are slots… all with some differentiators, but those differentiators are at-the-margin. If you took away the hospitality and didn’t offer the non-gaming you would have a lot less gaming revenue. It’s not as divorced as the industry discussion sometimes makes out to be the case.

Could you tell us a little more about your future plans for Solaire Resort & Casino?

Our Phase 2 will again almost double our size and be a true game-changer—more hotels; more retail; more F&B; more MICE; another casino; and more entertainment. Although no firm plans yet, we have the land and basic infrastructure in place so if and when the time is right in the discretion of Mr. Razon, it’s a relatively seamless “bolt-on” development opportunity. As you may know, we have acquired The Hotel/LVegas hotel-casino in Jeju, Korea and a vast amount of outstanding land in Incheon. Korea is obviously a future market for us.

Finally, if you were able to go forward in time by 10 years, what would your ideal future Solaire Resort & Casino look like and be achieving?

Solaire would be globally recognized as one of the very top choices for an Integrated Resort experience with the brand “Solaire” standing for beauty, timelessness, luxury, hospitality, aspiration, life-style and fun and entertainment. We would attract customers globally and be represented with high-quality assets in several countries in Asia and the rest of the world, allowing us to be the leader in the Philippines as well as having one of the larger shares of the global gaming wallet. Those accomplishments would manifest themselves in strongly growing profitability, financial returns and a pleased shareholder base as well as guests and Team Members alike who closely identify themselves with Solaire and the values for which we stand.

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Preserved to Impress Chris Sanson talks to Zackary Milardo President of Preserved Interiors It’s been almost exactly a year since we were in conversation, how has the year been for you and Preserved Interiors?

Since we had been awarded the tender for Solaire, this past year has been quite busy for us with several new current and upcoming projects Winning the supply contract for the Solaire Resort Hotel and Leisure Casino must have been very satisfying, for you and those in your team?

Yes, it was very gratifying to be involved with a project of this magnitude. Everything went smoothly as planned

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What was involved in shipping and installation?

Some of the larger 12 meter palms were quite challenging to install but with the help of the immense local manpower provided by Solaire, our mission was accomplished.

These plants can often be exposed to strong Ultra Violet light that over time fades colours from wall paper to curtains and lampstands. How resistant are the fronds and leaves on your trees and plants to UV light?

It really depends how much exposure they have to sunlight. If they have medium exposure the fronds can

still last for about 2 to 3 years before replacing them with new ones. Ideally, it is best to have the preserved palms in an area with no direct sunlight to ensure long lasting beauty for many years.

but the overall look, design and long term savings are quite substantial when comparing interior live palms which require constant maintenance and often are plagued with disease.

Plants & Trees bring a very peaceful and calm aesthetic value to various environment settings. For those Resorts that possibly have not yet considered these options, what from your experience having installed these in many varied and different retail and leisure entertainment locations have been amongst the most compelling benefits gained by those whom have installed these visually impressive additions?

The most compelling benefits are that they are very natural looking and most people will never know that they are preserved. They are also maintenance free and only require occasional dusting saving thousands of dollars per year in interior landscape maintenance fees.

The environment is also a consideration, how environmentally sustainable are your trees and palms?

All of our palms are actually made from real palm bark and real palm fronds. We trim the bark and the fronds are trimmed without ever cutting down the live palm. The palm fronds are cut from the live tree and placed in a preserving chamber with a proprietary natural formulation. The palm bark which is also trimmed from the live palm is strategically placed on a steel pole to create the palm trunk. So basically we create beauty from recycled parts of a real live palm.

Resort Casinos have a lot of expenditure, so for any such operation cost is a factor. Are these expensive?

Our Preserved palms are custom designed and have a very realistic visual appeal and design. The cost is high

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We at Preserved Interiors are committed to our product selection and the tremendous value that we offer to our Hotel & Casino Operators. Our mission is to provide our clients with outstanding quality products and the most professional level of service that any one would expect.

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Dominick Stenson, Casino Manager of Casino Sunborn

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Sunrise on a New Super Yacht Hotel Casino Dominick Stenson, Casino Manager of Casino Sunborn, discusses with Damien Connelly How did the collaboration between Paf and Sunborn start? What was the main idea behind taking on such a project?

Our collaboration began in 2014. Paf and Sunborn are both Finnish companies, so in some ways it is natural for us to work together. Plus, Paf is a non-profit organisation and the Gibraltar licensing authorities looked very favourably on the casino project because of this. Here’s some background about both Paf and Sunborn that may help: Paf was founded on Åland in 1966 with the clear purpose of creating profit to support public good. This purpose is still the principal reason for Paf’s existence. Today Paf is an international company with nearly 400 employees and offices in Mariehamn, Helsinki, Stockholm, Tallinn, Madrid and Milano. Paf also maintains a large physical gaming operation on land and sea with about 1,300 slot machines and 40 gaming tables on 25 ships in the Baltic Sea and Paf Casino on Åland.

Sunborn is a privately owned Finnish company with over 40 years experience in the hotel and hospitality business. Internationally, the Sunborn

Group has just over 1,000 employees and an extensive property portfolio, which includes spa hotels, restaurants, yacht hotels and residential developments. Sunborn pioneered the floating hotel concept and specialises in designing, constructing and managing hotel projects around the world.

So, as you can see, we both had something to offer each other — it’s a mutually beneficial relationship that we hope will also benefit Gibraltar.

Already, the casino opening has created 75 jobs for people from Gibraltar and Spain.

How do you hope to differentiate yourself from other high-end casinos?

Casino Sunborn will offer a completely unique casino experience. For a start, the combination of a five star super yacht hotel together with a casino is not just an interesting destination — it’s also a world first. There is no other super yacht hotel casino.

Also, this new casino promises its guests the most exclusive and luxurious casino experience in the region. It’s no casual gaming room: the casino’s

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smart dress code, it’s tableside drink service, plus its membership programme, all aim to ensure that Casino Sunborn provides a top quality casino experience.

What other activities can your guests engage in while on the yacht?

The Sunborn hotel has lots to offer anyone who comes to the casino. There is a top class Spa plus gym and the Sky and Aqua bars offer a luxury dining and drinks experience. The hotel plans to offer special “stay and play” packages to guests, which we hope will attract both overseas visitors and people from Spain to spend more time in Gibraltar and on Sunborn.

Of course, there are plenty of other activities outside Gibraltar to entertain casino guests. For example, a 20 to 30 minute drive brings you to Estepona, which has a lovely Sunday morning

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market. Also, Tarifa and the Costa de la Luz are only a short drive from here, and this coast has some amazing beaches. Then there are the golf courses at San Roque, Valderama and Sotogrande, which are world class. Plus, Sotogrande also has international polo events.

All these attractions are very close to the Sunborn.

Are you looking to attract mainly casino players or regular guests that are looking for more experiences?

We hope to attract the serious casino players, but we also want anyone in search of a sophisticated casino experience. We don’t want to offer the type of generic casino experience that is so common in the UK. Our concept is based on reviving the ‘Club’ atmosphere, intimate, friendly, welcoming and of course a safe, secure and professional gaming

environment. We’re offering American Roulette, Blackjack, Punto Banco, Sunborn Stud poker, and a range of the latest slot machines with increasing jackpots. The tables are open daily from 4pm – 4am and the slot machines will be open 24/7 from 17th May. Are there any special promotion or publicity acts regarding the casino launch?

The grand opening is taking place on Saturday 16th May. It will feature various kinds of entertainment surprises. There will be music, including some wonderful live performers – the Marbella Big Band will be conducting their Rat Pack Show, a violinist and a saxophone player – plus a DJ. There’ll be some exciting hot and cold culinary delights from the Sunborn’s ‘five star’ chefs for our guests to enjoy, and no doubt our expert bartenders will be pouring some cool Sunborn cocktails. We’ll also be promoting our very generous loyalty and membership programme.

How much time and work did it take for this project to unfold?

We started the project in September 2014 and we opened the doors for the soft launch on 29th April, so, about eight months.

How many staff are required to operate the yacht and casino?

The hotel has around 180 employees and the casino employs another 75 people at the moment.

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IGT

&GTECH:

An End-to-End Gaming Company Walter Bugno is IGT CEO International. He was able to speak with Jack Bulavsky, Casino Life special assignment correspondent, before heading off to G2E Asia.

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Can you comment about the IGT-GTECH merger?

How has this affected your job or relationship with international customers? What has been the response in Europe … the response internationally?

With the Winning Combination of IGT and GTECH, we have created the world’s leading end-to-end gaming company. Although both companies shared some customers in the past, we now have a broader scope of customers, which expands and enhances my role as CEO International. The depth and breadth of our product offerings have also expanded significantly, so our newly combined International team now has the opportunity to even further address customer needs across games, systems and solutions. The response in Europe and internationally has been very positive. Our customers across both the private and government sectors embrace and recognize the new IGT as their trusted, go-to partner in providing reliable, secure and innovative ways to increase revenue and drive profitability.

The company is now so large, how do you successfully communicate with one another?

With the advance of technology, our world has become much smaller. At IGT, with our truly global

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reach, we regularly share expertise and experience both geographically and across market segments.

At G2E Asia you will find IGT employees from all over the world coming together to deliver the shared vision of our Winning Combination.

How often do top company executives, either from Europe or other international cities, gather to discuss the industry, i.e. overall gaming business, player stats, new vs. old games, product distribution, etc?

From our travels between offices to our attendance at events such as G2E Asia, we often enjoy the opportunity to meet as executives.

In-depth discussions of industry activity and trends, plus developments with products and players, are a regular and integral part of our communications each day, both internally and with our customers and partners.

How is business in Europe? In the international market?

We continue to secure promising new and replacement business globally. With the depth and breadth of our products and solutions, combined with the strength of our relationships throughout the world, IGT is uniquely positioned to leverage its range of product offerings to capitalize upon opportunities, across our portfolio of lottery, machine sales, systems and interactive.

In the course of 2015, a gradual strengthening of economic activity is expected in Europe, with growth projected to rise further in 2016. With APAC, despite a slowing pace of growth, the region will still contribute the majority of global growth this year. There are opportunities with new casino openings in Asia in areas such as Macau and the Philippines, while Australia provides a mature market condition with more opportunities in the replacement market. In Latin America, we all recognize the importation challenges in Argentina, while Mexico and Peru, traditional growth drivers for the region, show signs of gradual growth.

We expect to have a strong competitive position internationally. The fact that IGT invests above the norm on R&D enables us to produce games and systems that meet and exceed operator and player demand throughout Europe and the international market.

Are you noticing any trends in your customers/players? What kind of games they want and expectations from those games?

At IGT, we conduct extensive market research to understand player preferences and trends. Our research shows that players in different regions demand different types of game play experiences, ranging from “gambler” style games with a higher volatility math that are popular in Asia, to “entertainment” style games with extended bonus graphics and sound that many North American players enjoy. We also recognize the popularity of our interactive games in regions such as Europe, where players can enjoy their favourite IGT content anytime, anywhere.

Interactive is a viable method for expanding the scope of the player base to include a larger demographic, while creating affinity for games in casinos. Another way we keep abreast of trends with customers and players is to develop games in our different studios throughout the world. By having teams in various markets, we can develop culturally enhanced and market-attuned products with a deep, local understanding of the math and content that are relevant to particular regions.

Are there any changes in the European/international market? Is there an area that is gaining in market/player share?

Can you comment on any areas that are not as vibrant as they were several years ago?

We have certainly seen a great deal of change in Macau since G2E Asia a year ago. The actions by the China Central Government on controlling high-end gaming levels, could lead to growth within the mass market segment, and with that contribution from the slots market.

Notwithstanding Macau gaming levels we believe Asia remains a growth market in

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general. Malaysia continues to be an important historical market while emerging markets such as Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka look to emulate the success of Singapore and Macau.

In Latin America, we have seen increased regulations and effects of recently implemented smoking bans in both Chile and Argentina, and the effects of trade deficits in Peru that have slowed the pace of overall economic growth somewhat there.

As a whole, however, we have experienced good performance in Latin America, and we anticipate continued growth in that region.

Gaming is universal. Are there still differences in game development for various markets? And do players play or how do they play differently in various gaming markets?

Players in different regions have very specific preferences in game features, particularly in terms of math models. Games that are popular in Asia deliver a different experience than games where “entertainment-style” play is more of interest to players. The IGT Sales team continues to work

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closely with the heads of our various game studios and product management teams to define and also refine criteria for game development all over the world.

What do you hope to learn from G2E Asia?

How important is this show to your specific responsibilities/goals?

At G2E Asia we hope to continue learning first-hand the objectives of our key customers, in addition to gaining a strong understanding of their measures of success and the challenges they face. This show is extremely important as it relates directly to my specific responsibilities and goals in driving IGT’s International business. This year is particularly critical, as G2E Asia introduces the new IGT to key customers and partners from the very important Asia Pacific region and all over the world. Our newly formed Winning Combination enables us to help these customers to increase revenues and drive profitability. We approach G2E Asia with a rich portfolio of industry-leading technology, products and solutions to help our International customers and partners to succeed.

The Fastest Growing Systems Company

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MALTA

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TANZANIA MALAWI GHANA

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2011: 8,000 machines • 2015: over 30,000 machines 30000 25000 20000 15000 10000 5000 0

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DRGT Africa Sales@drgt.com www.drgt.com

Leopold ﾃ僕ler, Director at AMATIC Industries

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Complete Gaming Solution Rebecca Green talks with Leopold Öller, Director at AMATIC Industries What types of roulette does AMATIC Industries offer?

We have in-depth experience in designing, developing and manufacturing roulette solutions for the global gaming market. In essence, we provide four different options: Firstly, an all-in-one multiplayer with one electronic roulette wheel. Secondly, an all-in-one multiplayer with two electronic roulette wheels.

Thirdly, a separate electronic roulette wheel with individual terminals and finally online roulette.

Can you quote a case study to underline this long-standing success?

Yes, with pleasure. In fact we just released a press release relating to our success in Spain with our electronic roulette. As a familyowned company, we are able to ensure that local player requirements are professionally and swiftly embodied into our product range. Together with

our exclusive Spanish partner, Comatel Group, we are strongly established on the peninsula.

Indeed, there are more than nine hundred of our electronic roulette solutions in operation in Spain.

Here’s a quote that relates to both our roulette and Multi Game solutions for Spain from Fidel Molina, Managing Director and owner of Comatel Group, referring to the FER exhibition that took place in April in Madrid: “The star products of this show have been, without doubt, the Roulettes and Multiliner by the Austrian manufacturer, AMATIC Industries. Their products stand out for their quality, high technology and successful incomes. At the London show new developments were presented that have been highlighted in the Interazar fair in Madrid. The jackpot and the yellow Roulette 8 players Grand Jeu 22 WS 8 including Multiliner games have proven to be a great success for all attendees, creating great excitement.”

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Tell us more about the Grand Jeu 22 WS series?

The Grand Jeu 22 WS series represents the futuristic design of how electronic roulettes are to be from AMATIC Industries. Operators have the choice of two versions: the Grand Jeu 22 WS 8 with eight player positions around the large roulette wheel or the Grand Jeu 22 WS 5 which is the alternative for locations where space is at a premium as this has 5 player positions. The roulette design has the hallmark of our company. What I mean here is that we at AMATIC Industries have always had the courage to bring new innovations to the gaming industry.

Our roulettes look different – they stand out in the crowd.

We can even offer our roulettes in different colours – the race car yellow version that we showed at the ICE was for sure a centre of attention.

And the Grand Jeu Double is your electronic roulette that stands out the most?

Indeed. This is truly a complete all-in-one solution.

It has two automated roulette wheels with ten player positions. The notion is that players can choose which wheel is bet upon.

Naturally – if the local jurisdiction allows this – then operators can offer their customers the chance to bet on both wheels at the same time. The Grand Jeu Double really

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catches the eye and our customers often like to place it on a prominent place on the gaming floor. It comes as standard with four large-screen monitors so that operators can offer complete information and game statistics to their customers.

We also have customers who make use of the large screens to inform their customers of the attractions and offers available – so use these for advertising and information purposes.

What about your stand-alone roulette solution?

This solution is based on having a separate automated roulette wheel and being able to position as many terminals as required around it. We call this roulette wheel the Solitaire and our terminals are called Satellites. This version offers great flexibility as operators can choose the number of Satellites required knowing that the number can be expanded if player demand increases due to the modular design. Furthermore, the terminals can be positioned in any way the operator requires.

AMATIC Industries is well known for its electronic roulette solutions. Now you have just introduced the Real Roulette Live. Please tell us more about this innovation?

Real Roulette Live is online roulette played directly on an AMATIC electronic roulette based in a casino.

Customers play directly on a physical Roulette Grand Jeu in a reputable casino. The website is linked in real time to a classic single zero roulette.

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The GREAT Million Dollar Candidate, Part 1 Mark Wayman, Founder and CEO of the executive placement firm The Foundation, LLC discusses executive recruitment

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y name is Mark Wayman, and my 15 minutes of fame was two software companies. One went public on the NASDAQ and the other (counter-terrorism software) was acquired by IBM. For the last ten years I have owned an Executive Recruiting firm focused on gaming and high tech. Compensation starts at $100,000, and last year I placed eight executives

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north of a million dollars.

A question that comes up frequently is, “What makes a great million dollar candidate?” So here are three attributes that hiring companies and Executive Recruiters look for in “A” (the best) candidates.

INTEGRITY - As one CEO profoundly stated, “Show me executives of integrity. Without integrity, I don’t

L-R: Ned Martin, Director, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, American Casino & Entertainment Properties LLC. Mark Wayman,Founder and CEO, The Foundation, LLC. Jeff Gordon, President/ CEO, Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation

Mark Wayman is the Founder and CEO of The Foundation, LLC, an executive placement firm focused on gaming/casinos and high tech.

He has placed 600 executives over the last ten years, with compensation packages from $100,000 to $2,000,000. Last year he placed eight executives over a million dollars. His articles appear on The Huffington Post, and he is a regular on the Internet radio show Casino Talk. Mark is an active supporter of Make-A-Wish, Opportunity Village, Olive Crest and a dozen other local and national charities. He can be reached at mwayman2@cox.net, or for more information, go to www.godfatherlv.com terminated yet, and the last thing the hiring company needs if for that person to hear about it through the grapevine. Most candidates that violate confidentiality figure it’s no big deal because they will never talk to the hiring company or Executive Recruiter again. But always remember what Walt Disney said, “It’s a small, small world.” Keep your trap shut!

care how talented or smart they are.” Translated, be honest and up front about your education, experience, recent compensation...everything!

For hiring companies and Executive Recruiters, INTEGRITY is the number one attribute. Placed a candidate several years ago, and when we checked on his last compensation package, it was much lower than he disclosed. Not good. Honesty is the best policy. Right about now you are saying, “Hard to believe in a million dollar executive.” I completely agree with you, however probably have this issue a dozen times a year.

CONFIDENTIALITY - This one boggles my mind.

I tell candidates a position is CONFIDENTIAL and send them a PDF of “Candidate Etiquette” that clearly states, “If you don’t keep all information 100% confidential, you will be removed from consideration.” Yet it’s an issue over and over.

In many cases the incumbent has not been

FOCUS ON OPPORTUNITY - If you start out asking about the bonus, benefits and if they will cover dry cleaning, you are setting yourself up for failure. YES, compensation is important. Anyone that tells you money is not important...does not have any. That stated, top executives focus on OPPORTUNITY. Is the company financially stable? Is there upward mobility? Is their skill set aligned with the need?

Are they a strong cultural fit. These questions are far more important than whether you get a car allowance. Two side notes. First, if you are interviewing for a million dollar job, you DO want to discuss the base salary up front to ensure you are “in range.” I know a guy that interviewed multiple times, then received an offer below his expectation.

I asked him, “So let me get this straight, you flew across the United States to interview and never asked what the job paid?” Second, don’t think you are going to interview for something at $200,000, then when you get the offer say, “I want $250,000.”

Really bad idea. Kind of goes back to the issue of integrity. If you agreed to $200,000 up front, that is what you get. Had a candidate do this a few years back. Hiring company dropped him like a hot rock and I’m lucky they did not bury me in a hole in the desert.

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Ahead in the Clouds Glyn Thomas talks with Ian Hogg Chairman of Shopworks the software provider offering tailored solutions to help casinos save money – and make money 29

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ost of us have heard of the Cloud – that amorphous place in the ether that holds all of our music photos and social media chit chat.

Shopworks, established in 2009, have carved themselves a very pretty niche in the gaming industry by offering modules on the Cloud that allow staff to check-in to manage their hours and for casino managers to check rosters, budgets and more Ian, can you tell us a little more about the company?

Shopworks was formed in 2009 and provides customers with cloud-based workforce management software. We build scheduling software that helps businesses run more efficiently and which supports, trains and motivates their staff. Our clients include Rank Group, Paddy Power, Sportech, Praesepe and Talarius.

Can you explain what you offer in layman’s terms?

Sure, there are two basic ways of explaining what we do – the first is a workforce management system providing staff with an online rostering system – so they can see in advance when they are scheduled to work, can check their hours and in some cases even make changes to their future shift. The other side of the coin is a Casino module that turns that data into an online budget monitoring system. Simply put, casino managers can see the effect of their staff decisions on budgets.

So staff can access their rosters online and check when they worked and are due to work?

Yes, in essence they can be aware of their commitments at all time and can be certain of the hours they have put in – so there are no problems over payment. They log on – they log off – they get paid. And, because it’s all cloud-based this information is available over a wide range of platforms 24/7.

How do staff view the system? Was there any suspicion?

Not once they had tried it out – it’s very easy to use and makes everyone’s lives simpler. You know what you are owed and can plan your hours ahead.

It’s a great way of banishing the scribbled plan on the noticeboard we are all familiar with!

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SHOPWORKS: PIT BOSS

Pit boss: Profit v Costs

Profit v Cost: This report takes the Casino’s Handle (turnover) and their Result (Win, if applicable) and compares it to the hourly staffing costs, taken from the planned rosters and hourly rate of this staff that were planned into work. It highlights highly profitable staff and supervisors and allows quick benchmarking across the group

Pit boss: Table Occupancy

Table occupancy: This chart uses data input through the Pit Data entry screen. It displays the open/open-­‐empty/closed table counts and the occupancy on open tables at a given Lme. The red area on the chart represents the number of tables closed at a given Lme. Green will be tables open and being played on, and blue will show open, but empty tables.

The graph with black line shows the parLal occupancy raLo of tables with spaces.

The casinos also avoid the issues that come about with traditional paper methods – notably double payment, paying different staff for the same hours and also the disputes over which hours were worked, when and by whom.

Does the staff module allow anything other than rostering?

Yes, it means a casino can keep in touch with each

Pit boss: Supervisor Ratios

Supervision ra6o: This report which is generated from data within Shopworks uses the number of staff working at a given Lme whose posiLon type belongs to either dealers or supervisors group. It shows the raLos of supervisors to other staff and allows benchmarking to ensure that costs are in line with demand and also that there are sufficient supervisors on hand to protect the business’ margin.

Pit boss: Skill Scores

Skill score: Each staff member can have a skill score aPributed to a role type on Shopworks, so the Casino group can see when they have their highest and lowest skill level working and adjust the staffing accordingly. This allows the Casino group to maximise sales potenLal, margin and customer saLsfacLon.

Pit boss: Demand v Rota

How did the relationship with Grosvenor come about?

Quite naturally. We have gradually developed our systems and software within a gaming background and learnt and developed from our experiences with companies such as Paddy Power and Praesepe.

The Grosvenor contract is a development of that.

We are familiar with the particular requirements of the gaming industry and can speak the same language.

Grosvenor have been great to work with; implementing the roll out to 56 casinos in just a few short weeks and contributing lots of ideas to make their platform purely bespoke whilst making Shopworks a better product. We are delighted to be partners on such an important part of their business.

So how does the casino module work?

It takes a casino’s budget and runs an approval system – so it in effect compares / monitors and controls how a casino is spending its money – on staffing and training for instance. In practice a casino management team has a lot of things to juggle – and this is a tool to help them. In an instant, certain items can be approved to a pre-determined financial level whilst managers can also see how their decisions, to employ staff for instance, have a bearing on the budget. If the budget for staff is X per month then the system will monitor how much is planned to be spent against that budget – by monitoring rosters. Too often a casino can overspend by not matching resources to need, by overstaffing. This helps to avoid that problem.

of its employees and ensure compliance. Training is a major part of that and we can make sure that staff are offered and attend training courses to meet their needs and those of the company.

So how has the alleged 7% saving occurred and how confident are you of that figure?

It’s true because whereas casinos before would overspend, in many cases unknowingly, now they are all generally operating within their planned budgets. An added benefit at HQ level is the ability to compare the figures from each casino – to benchmark performance and check that all casinos across a portfolio are running efficiently. This does not mean just looking at excessive expenditure – but also those areas where extra resources may help the bottom line.

How secure is the system?

We have a firewalled server dedicated to each operation and this helps to guarantee information is kept safely.

So, you say you are now offering scheduling systems for 42% of the UK casino industry – what about the rest?

Give us time!

Demand v Rota: This report compares the amount of players playing in each table, against the planned staff against what should be the correct amount of staff, from a built in raLo by club. It provides a feedback against the Predicted demand model used in Shopworks to drive staff levels in the original roster and ensures that the demand model constantly evolves

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EUROPE’S BLIND SPOT WHY EUROPE ALLOWS MINORS TO GAMBLE Peter Naessens, Director Belgian Gaming Commission

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ocial gam(bl) ing is a phenomenon that reached us from America.

The case in which a 15 year old boy lost more than 20,000 euro shook public opinion, but, as the Belgian gambling regulator, we had already suggested to reinforce the supervision on social gambling games two years earlier. Because a political agreement could not be reached then, the full responsibility was placed on parents.

They just had to keep an eye on their children to prevent them from gaming. However, it is too easily forgotten that companies should simply not offer games of chance to minors and that adequate parenting consists in teaching children how to deal with the internet and payments.

This contribution does not focus on a specific regulation, except for the serious issue regarding minors, but on the issue of social gambling games in particular.

Two industries have joined forces in the social

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gambling sector. On the one hand, the gaming industry, which claims to provide innocent entertainment and focuses on minors aged 9 to 18, for whom personal bankruptcy is, in principle, not an issue.

On the other hand, the gambling industry, that mainly tries to seduce adults with games of chance, whether or not under the guise of entertainment, which can leave them penniless.

The gambling industry is much more familiar with the value of government interventionism than the gaming industry.

As a gaming regulator, we are concerned about the vast offering of social gambling games that do not pay out (any) real cash prizes. Currently, the following games of chance can be distinguished: social games that have the same characteristics as games of chance (e.g.: slots, bingo, black jack) and skill games that are presented as social games (e.g.: strategy games with a paying (casino) component). That last category is the most difficult one to define. Games such as Candy Crush

or Angry Birds, for instance, do not fall in that category. A distinguishing criterion for games of chance could be the fact that players who execute the same action obtain a different result and that difference cannot be explained by another player.

The internet is maturing and is in fact no longer entitled to its libertine status. Minors should not get the impression that games of chance can be innocent and adults should not get a wrong impression of games of chance because of social gambling games. Restrictions should be imposed on providers of social games of chance, without stifling creativity and innovation. A world that has no social standards and yields no return for the actual society cannot rightfully claim to be protected by that society.

And the argument that no winnings are paid out cannot be invoked to not define a game as a game of chance. Not legally in any case, as in Belgium, losing the stake is a sufficient argument and the element of chance in the gameplay, the designation of the winner or the determination of the size of the winnings can be considered of secondary importance (i.e. - 50 %). However, the argument is not sound from a psychological perspective either.

To prove that, the Gaming Commission commissioned a professor in social and cultural psychology to examine a social gambling game and a social gambling website. That study revealed that the internet was of greater importance for youngsters than for adults because youngsters have less opportunities to gain status and respect. Moreover, youngsters psychologically indeed do experience feelings of winning (and losing) when they play paid social games and they are less able to recognize games of chance, especially when those are disguised as skill games. Youngsters tend to blame winnings or losses on themselves and the behaviour of peers, rather than coincidence or payments they have made. And then we have not even touched the question of whether real gambling RNGs (random number generators) are used.

The issue has not been completely covered yet.

The financial aspect is far more hidden in social

games. It involves the registration of gaming behaviour, the personal data of youngsters and their – sometimes still far too naive – conviction of being unique when someone starts registering everything.

How do ‘social’ gambling companies exploit and commercialize the personal data they collect from youngsters? Personal data can in the future also be seen as a stake, not in the least because of their importance for big data analyses.

In Europe, games of chance have been regulated since about a decade and the freedom to operate them has been restricted. The online regulated games of chance market is still young, but given the fast pace of the medium, it is important for the authorities to not give free rein to the operation of games of chance, to limit the offer and, as regulator, to monitor the market in view of protecting the individual and society as a whole.

As regulator, we believe that the current situation cannot be sustained any longer. Governments must now prove that they are serious about developing a real policy on games of chance that is not only about collecting as much revenue as possible via monopolies or licences.

A first step can be a better protection for minors against online games of chance with no real cash prizes. In that matter, the European Commission can prove its added value for the member states by explaining to giants, such as Apple and Google, that the legislation of a member state has to be respected.

And member states that want to protect their minors against social gambling games should be given the unimpeachable possibility to impose age verifications and to develop an adequate national policy. Finally, it must be possible to impose significant fines on the companies that continue to lure minors into playing such games. The issue is not that the gaming companies have lots of freedom for the development of games, but that, once the games are on the market, the regulations have to be respected.

As regulator, we pursue the following principles: minors should not be allowed to play (social) games of chance and games of chance should never be considered as innocent entertainment.

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Gaming Town Pushes its Luck

T

By Robert Ambrose

hat was the cover story in the June 1955 issue of Life magazine. The commentary referenced 3 more casino hotels opening in the spring of that year in Las Vegas.

They were the Riviera, the Dunes and the Moulin Rouge. I guess you could say it was an early discussion on what we refer to today as “market saturation.�

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By the time you read this, the Rivera Casino Hotel, Sixty years after opening will have passed into the pages of gambling history; the last of those three.

I note its passing as a tribute to all the other casino hotel properties steeped in historical significance that have met a less than glorious end like the Dunes, Sands and the Stardust just to name a few.

The casino, hotels and famous clubs are built to offer unique branded experiences. Their significance is in the moment!

The brand becomes diluted overtime so we look to the market place for the next best thing.

The Rivera is one of the few remaining monuments to a golden age of gaming. In 1955 there were 8 million annual visitors to Las Vegas. In 2014, forty-one million plus visited Vegas and the Rivera was still there to greet them.

As someone who loves the history of these dens of “entertainment;” it’s hard to see these venues meet an “imploded” celebratory end.

I wish we could have saved some of the “bones” of each former property to capture that original Las Vegas splendor for future generations. Yes we have the pictures and endless miles of film footage but it’s not the same.

In a “museum of past casino hotels,” we could gaze at the original stage of the former Sands Copa room and imagine the “Rat Pack” performing. Or a walk through one of the actual rooms the Beatles stayed in during their visit in 1964 at the original Sahara, (rebranded as SLS.) Elvis never left the building as we see his dressing room or penthouse suite literally excised from the Hilton and placed on display.

In Atlantic City in the 70’s, the grand hotels, restaurants and clubs that were built in the Golden Age, were slated for demise, to make way for the new slick casino hotels with passage of the NJ Casino Gaming Act in 1976.

The more memorable include the 500 Club on Pacific Avenue where Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis began their careers. Its sacred ground now rests under the former Trump Plaza parking garage.

Millions have passed the façade of the original Warner Theater which opened in 1929 as a premier

The facade of the Warner Theater decayed (1970’s) lives on in 2015 as part of the Bally’s Wild West Casino boardwalk facade

theater. All that remains is its repainted front facade incorporated into the Bally’s Wild West theme.

The hotels are gone too along with the Atlantic City opulence of the roaring 20’s, the backroom speakeasy’s and gambling dens. You will find their images still pictured on faded postcards in attics and antique shops.

I know the idea of a museum hosting the skeletal remains of gaming and more infamous places is a bit of a reach but it would be a great place to visit.

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Creating a social media policy for your Casino – Part 1

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Why Every Casino Business Should Have One

ocial Media Policy is a broad topic and to cover most of the specifics this article is written in two parts. The second part of this article will appear in the next issue.

There are a few casino properties that have taken the time to create a social media policy. Some, not all, casino properties that have created a social media policy have written a social media policy that is poor. A poorly written social media policy can restrict and kill social media engagement, which is the exact opposite of what social media is supposed to do for the business.

Social media policies should support and empower highquality engagement. It is about empowerment and trust. Some casinos have adopted the idea that an advertising agency can be responsible for social media for the property. It will only be successful if there is constant contact between the casino and the advertising agency. Also the discussion between the casino and the advertising agency needs to be clear. Realize that the advertising agency is now a third voice for communication to take place between the casino and the public. Just like in grade school; if you get too many people in the middle passing along the story, the story will change before it reaches its audience.

Some casino properties try to stay away from social

Rick Campbell

media because they do not trust an employee to be online and / or they do not trust their advertising agency. The policy of putting the social media responsibility into the advertising agency can also kill social media engagement. The reason it kills the

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social media engagement is because an advertising agency begins to use social media as an advertising channel and not as a real-time marketing tool and building a relationship with customers and engaging in a conversation with customers. Example: “Here are the winners of our poker tournament!” – This announcement has no way to engage in a conversation with your customers. (This will be covered in a later discussion) Why have Social Media Policies?

Social media policies are different. In most policies and procedures, we document what staff should do in certain situations: “If this happens, do that.”

For social media, there is no way to know exactly what situations may arise – or in many cases – how staff should best handle them. Each social media network and each relationship is unique and the social media environment changes daily. “No way to know exactly what situation may arise” – A great example was the way MGM handled the big crowds of people that were in Mandalay Bay the night three major events were taking place at the property. The staff at MGM got onto the social media channels and informed the public that they were aware of the crowds and were working on the efforts to get people in and out safely and in a timely manner. A majority of the comments directed back to the Mandalay Bay by the public through the social media channels were comments of gratitude, thanking Mandalay Bay for being aware of the situation and trying to do something about it. A great example of real-time marketing! Within minutes of the situation taking place, the casino was able to inform the public that they were aware of the situation and were working on it, and also within minutes of making the public aware, the customers were able to provide feedback.

Given an uncertain environment, how do casinos move forward using social media?

Listed below are areas that your organization can use to begin your social media policy for your casino.

Gather Your Team A social media policy cannot be written by one person alone. It must be unique to your property and ideally should include input from many different people from different departments.

A team approach ensures that key areas of risk are managed properly and that any future challenges that may arise are handled appropriately.

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Besides the staff directly involved in social media, potential team members might include: CEO, General Manager, HR Director, IT Director, Marketing Director, Hotel Director, may be all department heads, Legal Counsel and at least one person that has a complete understanding of social media, even if it is an outside source.

Not every member of this team needs to be aware of the intimate details of your social media activities.

Think of it this way: if a crisis should occur, what information does your team need to have (about the social media and legal landscapes as well as your organization and values) in order to respond appropriately on social media?

Who needs to be on your social media team?

How does it compare to who is on your crisis management team? Or does your property have a crisis management team in place? Do the other employees from all of your departments know who is the social media team or crisis management team?

The other employees from the other departments should be informed of these teams. If a situation should arise, employees would know who to turn to on either one of these teams.

Focus on Creating Culture Social media changes every day. Bureaucratic policies aren’t likely to be successful. Instead, create a culture of innovation, idea-sharing, problemsolving and creativity. There is a direct link between internal organizational culture and policies. In fact, the policies that are put in place shape the culture of the business.

As you write your policies, include processes that reinforce a culture of evaluation and learning. Here are some questions to consider: • Who is on your social media team? Does the social media team reflect the crisis management team?

• How often does the social media team meet?

What is covered in the meetings? Is there a 3 month, 6 month, and 12 month plan in place?

• How are problems/challenges handled and by whom?

• How will successes be evaluated and what will be learned from failures?

In your policies, you can acknowledge the social media cultural values of transparency, consistency, connection, creativity and promptness. With these values in mind, build processes that emphasize training, support and evaluation.

Next month we will discuss further, the major topics to include within the social media policy.

Who Loves Ya, Baby?

I

How casinos can make more money with less cost. By Victor H. Royer

happen to be old enough to remember the TV Show “Kojak”, starring Telly Savalas. In his role as Detective Theo Kojak, he made this catch-phrase worldfamous. “Who Loves Ya, Baby?” became the “in” phrase of the 1970’s – at least for a while.

But what does that have to do with casinos and gambling?

It has to do with customers. The good, and the bad.

And no, not the ugly, as in that famous Clint Eastwood spaghetti Western. And it applies both to the casino operators, and equipment manufacturers, particularly slot makers.

I recently came across a paper titled: “Competing on Analytics”, which is available online at this link: http:// www.babsonknowledge.org/analytics.pdf In it, the authors surveyed 32 companies, to find out how these businesses are managing in an ever-more competitive market. Not only markets increasingly dominated by competition, but also saddled with more and more governmental scrutiny, interference,

and really unintelligent demands. We only need to look at the recently proposed IRS requirements that casinos report slot jackpots of $600, or more, instead of the current $1,200, to see how such inane and uniformed governmental interference in business can truly be. And how easily and quickly such misguided policies can negatively impact revenue, employment, customer retention and – oh yes – all those taxes that are now being paid to the very institution that is, yet again, trying to kill it’s own money supply. Just this one idiotic requirement will cost each casino operator over $500,000 per year to implement. And it will add tens of millions more in unnecessary overall costs through mountains of paperwork, forms, accounting, lawyers, lobbyists, and so on and on. And, at the same time, adding more costs to IRS operations themselves, because now they will need more tax dollars to administer this, and buy more paper and office supplies to make it work. As if the $60 billion in our annual tax dollars that they already waste each year on shuffling

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papers weren’t enough.

But – I digress … well, not altogether, but that soapbox rant is perhaps best left to another time.

In the matter currently at hand – the competitive analytics – there’s an increasingly more prevalent movement in business in general, and in the casino business in particular, to rely ever-more on huge amounts of data collected by the machines themselves, and by data-reporting systems already intertwined with casino operations throughout each property, as well as through the use of firms and companies and analysts who specialize in this type of data-mining. Up until recently, this information has seemingly been used primarily to determine what is working, and what is not, and then to try and fix that which isn’t working, or replace it, and try something else that “might” work in it’s place. The classic examples are, of course, slot machines. Some perform well, and others not. Some casino customers like this one, but not that one. And so on.

But why?

Well, that’s the million-dollar question, right?

So, in an attempt to answer that all-elusive “why”, this “competitive analytics” movement has gained momentum. As part of the “fuel” for this movement, it’s proponents and mathematical mystics are using some really great-sounding buzz-words. Words like: game metrics, metrics of spill and fill, reverse cannibalization, optimal customers, and lifetime value. Oooohhh, I just get all sorts of chills and thrills when reading stuff like this!

But what exactly IS all this?

Well, it sort of sounds like gobbledygook. Or the phrase Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Especially when said backwards – which, to date, I think only Julie Andrews can do.

My point?

Just because it’s a huge amount of data, and just because these “analytics” and “analysts” use all of those fancy words as part of this new data-metrics religion, this does not mean that it actually means something.

Confused?

OK, think of it this way – If you’re a casino operator, who do you want to love?

All of your customers the same, or some of them more?

And, how do you know who loves ya, baby?

Well, according to competitive analytics, you should love some customers a lot more than others. But which ones? Well, those with “optimal” results and “highest level of lifetime value.”

OK, but WHO are they? And WHY are they THIS? You see, that’s the problem. And not just with this

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particular brand of analytics. It’s the same with all such data-driven policies and operational plans.

Just because you know WHAT happened, does not mean you know WHY it happened. And you certainly can’t know WHO did it, and IF they will do it again. Or when.

In the entire report which I referenced above, there’s only one gaming company that’s listed. Unless I can’t read well, and I missed the other one. That article references Harrah’s, which is now, of course, Caesars Entertainment. So, this leads me to believe that this article may not be so new after all. Maybe it’s just new to me. That’s fine. But if this kind of thinking has been part of gaming operations for a long time, then this is even worse than I thought. In that article, Gary Loveman, CEO of the then Harrah’s and later Caesars, is quoted as follows: “We use database marketing and decision-science-based analytical tools to widen the gap between us and casino operators who base their customer incentives more on intuition than evidence.”

Ummm … OK … So exactly how well did this go for you?

Caesars Entertainment drowned under almost $30 billion in debt. It’s now being broken up, it’s in Bankruptcy, there are lawsuits a-plenty, company retirees have lost their pensions, and Gary Loveman has been replaced.

So, real-good, right?

Well, perhaps not so much.

In that case, the next question should be – WHY? Because “database marketing and decision-sciencebased analytical tools” is only a small part of the equation. Yes, it is important – but it’s not the Holy Grail (with apologies to Indiana Jones). There’s a lot more to this formula than just total reliance on data-dumps and related buzz-words.

In order to find which are your “optimal” customers, and how much their “lifetime value” may be, and “what attracts” them, and “why”, and “how to get them to stay and come back” – all of these answers are most definitely NOT found in “database marketing and decision-science-based analytical tools.”

It’s all actually much simpler. In fact, all those customers, and all those answers, are already there, right in front of you. And they have always been there.

It’s just that they have been forgotten, over time, and the executives who now run casino operations, and slot manufacturers, simply can’t see them any more. It’s as if all of this has suddenly become invisible.

So, how do we make it reappear again? What is this “magic” of which I speak?

Let me dive into my collection of Harry Potter movies,

and see if I can snag one of these magical answers … hmmm … OK, so no casinos at Hogwarts. Must be because everyone was busy with Quidditch, and they were mostly underage at the time. Ahhh, well … so no magic wand.

But the answer isn’t magic – it’s a lot easier.

It is – the casino gamblers.

Yes, that group, which is about 20% of all your customers, but which supplies you with 80% of all your revenue.

Not the hotel rooms. Not the restaurants. Not the Nightclubs. Not the sports arenas. Not the Ferris wheels.

Not the shopping malls. Not the arcades. Not the celebrity Chefs. None of this.

The most profitable customers you have don’t want any of this costly stuff. All they want is this: Good games with a reasonable chance to win; Good food cheap; good hotel rooms for a reasonable price; fast and courteous service; and a secure, comfortable, and pleasant environment – not the thumping loud music that you now use and that drives away all the customers who actually have money to spend. No one wants a headache when trying to play a slot machine, Blackjack, or Poker.

It’s all so simple.

As a casino operator, all you have to do is get rid of all those unnecessary nonVictor H. Royer gaming “attractions” and “distracting environments.”

Save that money. Instead, invest in the casino. Invest in casino players, and welcome the gamblers. These are the people who will come to play, stay to play, and come back again and again to play – IF you treat them right.

But, well, you see that’s the other problem.

Most of these “competitive analytics” gurus, and the casino executives who subscribe to their mantra, just don’t know how to treat gamblers. They don’t know because none of them are, or have been, gamblers.

There was a time, in Las Vegas, where the casinos were run by gamblers. And people who grew up in and around gambling. And the slot manufacturers were run by people who knew what gamblers wanted, and they made it for them. But now all of the executives who have the power to change the casino business back into the gambling business – which is what it should be – themselves are either bankers, or CPA’s, or lawyers, or MBA’s, and almost to a tee they come from businesses

outside of gambling and casinos. The world of “casinos” and “gambling” is as foreign to them as common sense is to Congress.

But it’s not fatal. No, not by any means.

People of this caliber, or this level of knowledge, education and expertise, are great for the casino business. They simply need to learn that they are in the Business of Gambling, and that THIS business model is unlike any other they have ever known, witnessed, or studied. This business model relies precisely on “intuition”, which is what the old-time casino owners all had, knew, and understood. It’s the intimate knowledge of what motivates and drives a gambler that makes the difference between profit and loss in the gambling business. And if you don’t have this, or don’t know it, then ask.

There are people still around who do know. Let them explain it to you, and then your eyes will be open, and you will finally see that all those analytics and data-metrics mean only paperwork, while the real profit-generating customers are already there, already in front of you – the gamblers.

You just haven’t seen them before, because you’ve been blinded by all those buzz-words and mountains of “database marketing and decision-science-based analytical tools”.

And that’s the magic wand.

Just learn to look after the gamblers. That’s all you need to do. It costs very little, but makes huge profits. Throw away all those useless data-dumps. None of it will tell you why a gambler plays this game as opposed to the other. Or why they come back, or don’t. Or what makes them do what they do. All of this is information that you can only have by understanding the optimum customers you already have – the gamblers. They are a different breed. They can’t be defined – or understood – by numbers alone.

Try it yourself. Go to the casino. Play with the gamblers. Don’t say you “don’t have time.” Make time. Your job as the Big Boss isn’t to sit in your office sifting through spreadsheets. It’s to understand your customers. And to do that, you must first learn what it means to be a gambler. Once you do, casino operations and game manufacturing will suddenly seem easy – and that’s because you will now know the “why” behind the numbers, and not just the “what”.

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OPTIMISING OPPORTUNITY Glyn Thomas puts the questions to Lucien Wijsman ahead of Slot Summit Bucharest

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What was behind the decision for the choice of Central Europe for this year’s European Slot Summit and the City of Bucharest?

Firstly, Bucharest is a great city and central Europe has a vibrant and growing Electronic Casino environment. Secondly, we like to move the event around. From 2015 onwards, there will be only one summit per year in Europe (With another one in Latin America). We would like our yearly European summit to be in another part of the continent next year – Slovenia, Germany and France have hosted Summits in the past, this year it is Romania.

What gave you the inspiration to set up the Slot Summit events?

The Slot Summit grew from the Slot Academy courses I have run for 8 years now. The Slot Academy is a four-day course with one teacher, helping delegates to improve the revenues of their casinos through implementing marketing initiatives and analysing the effects of those activities. The Slot Academy is effectively a school and the goal is to help delegates improve the results of their operation, starting the day after they return from the course.

The Slot Summit is a three-day conference with a number of different speakers, talking about topics relevant to slot managers, technical slot mangers, marketing managers and all other management interested in what is trending in the field of slot machines operation (and other channels). The idea behind the Slot Summit is to give delegates a good idea of what is trending and how the casino-floor of delegates might be effected by technology in the years to come. The Slot Summit is complementary to the Slot Academy; its aim is to give delegates ideas and pointers for the years to come. In addition, the Slot Summit is an excellent opportunity for delegates to brainstorm with industry peers and sponsoring suppliers in a relaxed and entertaining setting.

What would you say are amongst the primary challenges of those in charge of managing their Casinos Slot machines in Europe or do those vary from Country to Country due to the wide ranging differences in legislation?

Clearly, the operational environment is strongly affected by the local regulations. Technologies like

server-based gaming, VLT’s, tablet, virtual sports and also machine return percentages and the possible use of technologies like EFT, ticketing, service windows and more are all influenced by local regulations. Although the operational environment can differ greatly between jurisdictions, the challenge for the operator will still be the same – ensuring that the operation satisfies the expectations of the customers better than other operations in a competitive environment.

What do you consider as the key factors behind the success of the Slot Summits over all these years?

The Summits provide an excellent platform for operators to talk to peers in the industry and to spend quality time with the sponsoring manufacturers. At the same time, the three days are packed with information about operation electronic games, trends and novelties that help with planning for the future.

When is this event and how can readers find out more about attending?

Slot Summit Europe 2015 will take place in the Novotel in Bucharest, Romania on June 9, 10 and 11. More information about the programme and on-site activities can be found at www. slotsummit.com Who are the headline speakers at the Bucharest Summit, and can you tell us a little about them?

Speaker information and the updated programme can be found at www.slotsummit.com There are sessions on communication with customers, multi media management (where apart from expert speakers, casino operators share their experience using the various multi media systems available on the market with the audience), responsible gaming, architecture, scent technology, game design, how bookmakers calculate the odds and more. There is also a part of the summit on trends – casino apps, new communication protocols, how credit transfer to machines evolves and what should be your top ten checklist if you decide to go on the internet with the operation. Finally there are presentations on data analysis; lessons from the internet and a part on predictive analysis. The Slot Summit really provides you with a full programme that has something for everyone.

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Are delegates provided a choice of hotels that are of a convenient location to the venue at a discounted rate?

The Slot Summit has negotiated special rates with the Novotel in Bucharest. Centrally located, with beautiful rooms, a great conference room and near the night-out area of the city, this hotel will surely help to create nice memories.

Will there be an evening event, where delegates & sponsors will have an opportunity to relax and enjoy a drink or two and network?

A Slot Summit ticket includes not only access to the conference, but also two evening programs with food and entertainment. Slot Summits are wellknown for their networking opportunities.

How can organisations whom are interested in sponsoring this event find out more details on any of the remaining sponsorship packages?

There are Bronze, Silver and Gold Sponsorship packages available. Potential sponsors can contact Clarion Events (the parent company of Slot Summit) to find out about the opportunities to be present at the Slot Summit. For further details visit http:// slotsummit.com/contact.

For those Casino operators based in Central Europe whom haven’t attended one of the Slot Summit’s over the years, what would you like to say to them as to why they should attend?

The Slot Summit in Bucharest is not only for casino

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operators from Central Europe – it is for casino operators from all over Europe (I double-checked earlier and found there are ten daily flights from the UK to Bucharest for example, some as cheap as €30).

Flying to Bucharest from anywhere in Europe does not take more than 3 hours (and that’s the maximum). So, to all European operators, irrespective if you operate machines in casinos, server-based gaming, street operations, betting shops, AWP slot halls, VLT locations or other type of venue – the Slot Summit is an excellent opportunity to learn about the trends in the industry, spend quality time with leading manufacturers and spend leisure time with your industry peers!

Visit www.slotsummit.com to see the latest program, speaker info and to book your seat!

G2E ASIA

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Alfastreet

SPOTLIGHT – G2E ASIA

CAMMEGH

Galaxy expands its universe with Mercury wheels

A

s the Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) expands its universe with the spectacular phase 2 expansion and addition of the Broadway at Galaxy Macau casino, an entertainment and leisure destination opening on May 27th, GEG has puts its faith in Cammegh, makers of the world’s finest roulette wheels, to bring roulette gaming to its patrons.

In a market renowned for its love of baccarat, Cammegh, continues to make remarkable inroads in Macau, with installations right across the territory. This latest installation with GEG includes nine Mercury 360 wheels with unique designs customised to Galaxy’s requirements and featuring beautiful hand-painted artwork complemented by Cammegh’s pin sharp Billboard HD displays running

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Cammegh’s unique roulette side bets: Spreadbet Roulette and Lucky Symbols.

“Working together with Galaxy Entertainment Group in the creation of these bespoke wheels has been a dream project for us,” explains Andrew Cammegh. “Galaxy is looking to stimulate the market for roulette play in Macau and to this end we’ve worked closely together to create extra special hand-painted wheels to generate as much excitement on the floor as possible. As Galaxy doubles the size of its existing resort in May, it expects around 70,000 visitors per day and so it was imperative that it offered the best roulette pit in town. I think these wheels have achieved that and more and we look forward to working with Galaxy to help grow and expand the market for roulette in Macau.”

SPOTLIGHT – G2E ASIA

NOVOMATIC

Poised to go even further across Asia

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n booth #1209 of the annual G2E Asia show at the Venetian Macau (May 19-21), the NOVOMATIC subsidiary Austrian Gaming Industries GmbH (AGI), in co-operation with NOVOMATIC’s trusted Asian associate Jade Gaming, will present a range of the latest international gaming product highlights and solutions.

The NOVOMATIC booth will also present a comprehensive NOVO LINE Novo Unity™ II presentation with multi-game functionality comprising the dealer-operated Novo TouchBet® Live-Baccarat, the fully automated Novo Multi-Roulette™ and a broad choice of fully animated (‘Flying’) electronic live game versions of Black Jack, Baccarat, Sic Bo, Poker and Roulette. Coming at a time when Electronic Table Games are making huge strides in popularity in Macau’s casinos and beyond, the display of NOVOMATIC’s top quality and leading technology multiplayer products will certainly be a major attraction, for all visitors from Macau and beyond.

The DOMINATOR® Curve, that made its world debut in London at the ICE Totally Gaming show in February, will be presented for the first time to the Asian markets and is confidently expected to be one of the highlights of the show. The DOMINATOR® Curve is much more than just an evolution of the original DOMINATOR®. With its attention to ergonomic and design features, plus of course its 40” full HD curved touchscreen it represents an

entirely new dimension in the NOVOMATIC product portfolio and will prove to be a major attraction on any gaming floor.

Also at the show will be the online live dealer specialist Extreme Live Gaming presenting its own unique approach to the Live Dealer Studio Experience for online casino gaming.

Max Lindenberg, Director of Marketing AGI, commented: “Together with our partners in the region we have already made our presence felt right across Asia and now NOVOMATIC stands poised to go even further thanks to the excellence of its products and the local on-site service capability that we have put in place. We always look forward to the G2E Asia show and this year we will demonstrate that NOVOMATIC is ready and able to move ahead across a wide range of Asian markets.”

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Alfastreet

SPOTLIGHT – G2E ASIA

T

Alfastreet

he 2015 edition of the G2E exhibition in Macau will be marked by the special appearance of 2 absolute premieres for the Asian markets. The first is the brand new mechanical horse-racing machine, the Alfastreet Royal Derby, which is the modern interpretation of one of the most popular ETG’s ever. It will be accompanied by the industry’s first single terminal with the huge, 32” touch screen monitor, the high performance unit called WIKY. The Royal Derby takes all the good traditions of the horse-racing themed ETG and combines it with the latest technology and connectivity. The company has revised the mechanical part of the game, giving the player the “in game” experience, sitting close to the racetrack and monitoring all the movements of the realistic models. The spacious dome comes with the stunning details and superior technology, including the 360 degrees HD camera, tracking all the developments of the game.

Alfastreet’s player interface has been tuned to provide an easy, quick and entertaining interaction, making it without doubt the new trendsetter in the industry.

Few companies have managed to establish such a supremacy on the field of single gaming terminals as Alfastreet, having won numerous awards for the SL single terminal, which has become the reference in all of the Asian markets. All the findings and experience from that product have been incorporated into WIKY, the brand new unit, with 32” touch screen monitor, which enables the player

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to simultaneously play up to 4 different games. The company’s trademark Multiplayer feature offers a variety of the most popular games for the client’s enjoyment. Needless to say, it comes with all the up-to-date technology and connectivity options.

Beside these two main attractions, all the visitors of the G2E, coming by the stand 717 will have the chance to see and try the 2015 versions of our most popular Roulette machines and much more.

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From sleek curves to a stunning black chrome finish, the CrystalDual™ gaming machine is designed to grab attention. Once there, the ergonomic feel, mobile device charging port and improved gameplay controls will keep players engaged and entertained. igt.com/CrystalDual

Š2015 IGT. All Rights Reserved.