NEWS
Today the world, tomorrow the Net: GLI’s online ambition
The testing company is finding big new markets in Internet gaming
The global patchwork of regulatory regimes may be frustrating for casino operators and vendors which have to comply with differing rules in every territory where they trade.
But for one firm it’s a pleasing situation, and the addition of regulations on Internet gaming to each country’s already bulging book of do’s and don’ts is more good news. That firm is Gaming Laboratories International (GLI),
which provides a range of services including, in many countries, certifying gaming systems as compliant with the law.
GLI earlier this year acquired Technical Systems Testing
There’s still plenty of land-based business in every
continent
in Vancouver, British Columbia to spearhead its advance into online, and has already had to move the unit into offices nearly double the size of its old ones as well as hire more engineers and support staff.
“The demand for our
services has been growing exponentially since the acquisition, and the increase in lab space and in the number of staff was absolutely vital,” said Technical Systems Testing
CEO Salim L. Adatia. “We expect the demand for our services to grow in concert with the continuing worldwide expansion of regulated [Internet] gaming.”
What goes on in those Vancouver labs provides an insight into the depth of compliance that e-gambling requires. As well as testing games for mobile, online and interactive TV platforms, Adatia’s engineers also certify the random-number generators that are at the heart of most games; analyse payout rates; evaluate user interfaces; and audit system security. But there’s still plenty of land-based gaming business
for parent GLI, which has been keeping casinos and their suppliers on the straight and narrow for more than two decades and has offices in every continent except Antarctica.
Buoyed by the boom in Asian gambling, its GLI Asia facility in Macau has become the only gaming lab in the region to be approved by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) for ISO/ISE 17025:2005. In English, that means the nonprofit laboratory vetting group endorses GLI’s techniques for testing gaming software and hardware, both online and in the real world. And GLI ensures it keeps a high profile in the gaming sector around the globe. In September, for example, it hosted a round table for Latin American regulators in Buenos Aires, with around 60 delegates from 20 jurisdictions: topics included lotteries and money laundering.
GLI is now also sponsoring an international series of seminars and events produced by Britain’s Awedacity. “With jurisdictions in Europe adopting individual licensing regimes, the forming regulatory landscape is becoming so complex that there is a need for an event to collect enough information on any one market,” said GLI Director of iGaming Development Filippo Ferri. Indeed, it seems that GLI’s genius has been converting that complexity, a headache for many, from an obstacle into a business opportunity.
Clean chips, happy customers
Californian firm gives a new meaning to money laundering
Telling it like it is department: “Gaming chips,” says Californian firm Specific Solutions, “are handled daily by a large number of hands, ranging from the scrubbed and perfectly manicured to the filthy and poorly washed.” And not only do contaminated surfaces pose a health risk – consider, for example, the rapid spread of viruses on cruise ships – but muted colours of grimy chips reflect badly on the venue.
Specific Solutions’ solution is....well, a solution of the liquid variety. Specifically, one in which baskets full of chips are immersed for cleaning, using an ultrasonic technique to
generate countless minuscule bubbles that reach all surfaces – including the tiny recesses that dot the chip – without affecting the sensors buried within. The chips are then treated with an anti-slip coating, dried, and ready to go back to the gaming tables in less than half an hour. The Temecula, California company argues that with many casinos changing their chips only once a decade or so, its patent-pending technology – launched last year and already in use at a number of sites in Specific Solutions’ home state – will prove the most effective way to maintain hygiene and lustre.
And table-gaming equipment giant TCSJohnHuxley
agrees: it is to market the system and supplies worldwide. Expect sales of “now wash your hands” notices to plummet.
INBRIEF
NO FUMAR Spain’s smoking ban is expected to come into force on 1 January 2011, a year later than originally planned. Smoking is already largely illegal in workplaces, but bars and restaurants have until now been permitted to maintain smoking areas.
3D ROULETTE Magic Dreams has added improved graphics including 3D movies to its Magic Roulette game. The upgraded product, dubbed Magic Roulette Platinum, is based on the firm’s Xtend platform.
GOING I-RISH The iGaming Super Show moves to Dublin for its second outing in May next year. The inaugural event this year was held in Prague.
MORE POKER French land-based casino operator SOCODEM will launch a new online Poker room called
Mypok.fr in early 2011, developed by Spiral Solutions France and based on the network operated by Prima Networks and 888 Holdings. Separately, Spiral has built an affiliate-management system for the French market, called PariSpin, which it plans to take to other newly-regulated jurisdictions soon. The firm has also partnered with sports-betting technology specialist EveryMatrix to jointly market their products.
EXTRA SLOTS Online operators using the Rapid Platform from Sweden’s NYX Interactive can now offer BetSoft Gaming’s 3D product Slots 3, following a deal between BetSoft and NYX.
GREEN GENTING Genting Casinos in the UK has been certified by the Carbon Trust Standard for putting in place systems to monitor and reduce carbon emissions. The operator, whose brands include Circus, Maxims and Mint, cut emissions by ten per cent between January 2007 and December 2009 through measures that included more efficient lighting, heating and air conditioning, and better communications technology to reduce the need for staff travel.
SOCIAL BLACKJACK Spin3, Spiral Solutions’ mobile-gaming arm, has linked its 21 BlackJack Party game for the iPhone to Facebook.
8 NOVEMBER 2010
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