Euroslot-MAY09-PG14-15:Layout 1 22/04/2009 09:56 Page 15
www.euroslot-online.com EUROPEAN NEWS - SPAIN
Gran Scala, a long way to go
Protecting the players
A
law for gaming in the autonomous region of Aragón. This it is the only requirement
that is lacking before the province of Huesca can become the great Casino of A
fter acceptance of the Code on responsible gaming by all the
casinos and 32 of the 50 bingo halls in Catalonia, the General
Spain. According to sources close to Gran Scala, there is only one more obstacle to be Directorate for Gaming in this autonomous region has started to issue its
overcome : the Aragonese law, which has to regulate gaming and which must allow a first directives. The application of these measures becomes a reality with
concentration of casinos as proposed by ILD. In fact, Spyland, Spaceport, Sport Market, the adjustment of the software for the Binjocs lottery terminals, which
Realities and Novomatic are waiting for the legal viability of the project to be confirmed. are to be found on the premises of Bingo Halls, so that these terminals
Since it started to purchase land in February the promoter has reserved more than send warning messages about responsible gaming to the people playing.
70% of the space intended for the first phase. “The Gran Scala project, the largest leisure These messages, three in total, will appear when the player commences
and amusement park in Europe, will be complete and fully operational in 2022, the session on the terminal. Later there will be a message warning about
employing 65,000 people directly and 135,000 indirectly”, the promoters assure us. the time played, when 30 and 60 minutes of continuous play have
Nevertheless not everything is plain sailing for this large project. elapsed and lastly, a message will be displayed when 60 minutes of
The defender of the Spanish Town, Enrique Múgica, will carry out a study on the macro- continuous play have elapsed warning the player that the terminal will be
project after receiving a request to do this from the civic platform ‘Stop Gran Scala Baix Cinca’ disconnected once he has played continuously for 90 minutes. Similarly
informing and denouncing, among other things, the attitude adopted by the Government of the Catalan Parliament has put on public display its projected
Aragón in relation to the gaming and leisure macro-project with institutional support reflected modification to several articles in the present regulations governing
in the signature of the protocol with ILD and the statements in the communications media. Amusement Machines. This reform covers aspects related to the use of
The ecological organization complains of a lack of elaboration of a study into the impact of the images that can be harmful to children and young people. In the case of
project at all levels (social, political, demographic, territorial, town-planning, environmental, machines of type A; images, symbols, messages and animations on the
cultural, sanitary, etc.), as well as into the change of laws for private interests, and the equipment or serigraphy that can be discriminatory or humiliating due to
vindication of gaming, clearly contradicting the spirit of the law on gaming approved by its own sex or violence against women, together with the inclusion of a sign
Autonomous Executive with the aim of preventing compulsive gambling. indicating that the use of the machine is prohibited to anyone under 18
years of age, as also that its abuse can lead to addiction.
The poker boom
J
ust two or three years ago poker did not feature in
the list of games at some of the Spanish casinos.
Now there coexist large European tournaments that are
played simultaneously such as the EPT (European Poker
Tour) with local series that are organised by each of the
Spanish casinos, not forgetting Texas Hold´em which
has its own electronic version. At the last two Spanish
fairs they have continued to produce multiplayer versions
of this machine intended mainly for the arcades that are
licensed for type “B” machines. As an example of the
popularity of the game, suffice it to say that it is
generating a new form of tourism.
There is a group of players who travel from city to city
taking advantage of the local tournaments that are being
Carfama in Barcelona
held. In the space of one month tournaments have been
held in the autonomous regions of Madrid, Valencia,
Extremadura and Murcia. The Gran Casino Extremadura A
s a prior step before its participation in the Málaga Fair, the Carfama company organized an
event in Barcelona to present its new line of products for this season. More than one
became the meeting point for the best national poker hundred representatives of the main operators and distributors in the autonomous region met in
players during the weekend of 3rd to 5th April, in which the Baccara room of the Casino de Barcelona. They showed great interest in the advantages of the
the third round of the 4th Campeonato de España de models on display, among them, the “Captain Morgan” machine from the Greek manufacturer
Poker (CEP) - the Spanish Poker Championship - was Vlassis which is imported by the Murcian company Videmur  and guarantees an excellent quality
played, an event sponsored by EuroSuperPoker. of play thanks to its high standards in terms of both image and sound, as well as the latest
This provides a new opportunity whereby players generation of technical devices that turn the machine into a guaranteed success.
accumulate points for a general ranking in the CEP with a The fruit of the collaboration between Carfama and the import company Costa Cálida could be
view to winning the title of national champion at the end seen in the new machine called “Chicago” and manufactured by the Bally Wulff  company, which
of year. For its part on 24th, 25th and 26th April, the caught the attention of the professionals gathered there on account of its simple gaming
Casino de Torrelodones welcomed the Campeonato de dynamics and its technical reliability, factors which, taken together, have resulted in a spectacular
España de Poker, which was held for the first time in the welcome among the operators. “This could be seen in our presentation where the maximum effort
Poker Room, a room designed specifically for playing this has gone into obtaining excellence with carefully selected and tested products, that contribute
game. In the first three months of the year, Casino Gran value and most importantly from the operator’s point of view, allow the optimization of the yield
Madrid has distributed close to 350,000 euros in prizes from the machines” commented Roberto Rodríguez, head of sales for the company.
in the various heats. During this period, 1,378 poker Carfama also took advantage of the occasion to demonstrate the advantages of its A- Sportster
players have participated in its competitions, excluding and Racer PRO product portfolio. These terminals combine design and technological advance to
the ‘sit & go’ games that are normally held every offer positive entertainment and with no barriers because, thanks to its multiplayer system, it
Sunday. communicates with and unites the members of the Carfama Photo Play community in Spain.
MAY 2009
15
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