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NEWS


For Inspired and Merkur, it’s amore


A new joint venture brings games, cabinets and a VLT platform to Italy


Finally, they’ve tied the knot. The UK arm of server-based gaming specialist Inspired Gaming Group is linking up with Merkur, part of the German Gauselmann Group, to form a joint venture serving the big new market for video lottery terminals (VLTs) in Italy.


The two had already been partnering under the Merkur


Inspired banner. But they say the welcome they received from VLT operators has prompted them to do the decent thing and make the union legal. Through the 50-50 JV, they’ll offer cabinets and game content from both companies – including new games specially designed for the Italian market – as well as Inspired’s Open VLT platform. The first operator


“Italy’s the best market for high-stake gaming”


to place an order with the new company is Betplus, which has ordered a minimum of 1000 units. “Italy is Europe’s most exciting growth market for high- stake server-based gaming machines,” said Inspired’s CEO Luke Alvarez.


Aristocrat vows


to end the wait European casinos will get new games sooner than expected


All good things come to those who wait, we’re told. But that’s perhaps been little consolation to European customers of Aristocrat Technologies, left twiddling their thumbs while new games are released to U.S. and Asian markets first – at least up until now.


“Overseas customers visiting the Global Gaming Expo in


Las Vegas are often saying ‘that’s a great game – when will it be available to us?’. To which the response has frequently led to a far from ideal conclusion,” said Nick Khin, the President of Aristocrat Americas, who is now also overseeing Europe, the Middle East and Africa too. But “part of our plan is to advance a market-driven


product strategy, and we can now respond to customers’ needs far quicker than before”, continued Khin – and as a former Head of Aristocrat Europe, he knows about waiting. For example, many of the more than 30 games that Aristocrat is showing at January’s ICE Totally Gaming event in London will be immediately available; others scheduled for 2012 are being brought ahead to the second and third quarters of this year, and the new Viridian widescreen cabinet, too, will be shipping in Europe earlier than anticipated. Aristocrat says the move has been made possible by adopting Gaming Laboratories International’s GLI 11 standard for its Gen 7 platform worldwide.


The rise of the machines


Spend is down but visitor numbers are up at Britain’s 141 casinos... and that may be thanks to slots


Table games are still the biggest earner for Britain’s casinos – but machines are catching up fast, according to the Gambling Commission, the UK regulator. In the year ending 31 March 2010, the industry’s 2700- odd gaming machines generated gross gaming yield (GGY, or stakes less payouts) of £137m, an increase of 19 per cent on the previous year. “Following a 5.5 per cent reduction in the house win on table games, machines now account for 18 per cent of GGY within the sector," the Commission said. “Casino drop and win have both declined this year but attendance has increased during the year. Although there has been a slight decline in numbers of gaming machines in casinos, gross profit from machines has increased. However, table games remain the principal gambling activity in the sector, accounting for around 85 per cent of income,” it added.


8 FEBRUARY 2011


Total casino attendance grew year-on-year by three per cent, to 17.1m, with the north of England, the Midlands region and Wales collectively accounting for more than half of the total. London venues contributed about 22 per cent of visits.


During the year the number of staff employed in casinos


grew, in terms of total headcount, by 18 per cent to 16,000.


But the number of full-time-employee equivalents rose somewhat less, by 14 per cent to just under 14,000, implying a small trend toward hiring part-timers. At the end of the survey period, there were 141 casinos, with about three quarters of them owned by Genting UK, Rank Group or Gala Coral Group. Altogether, Britain’s gaming sector achieved GGY of £5.7bn, one per cent down on the previous year and “reflecting a trend present across all but the non-remote betting and lottery sectors”. In terms of GGY, casinos were the second-largest part of the British gaming industry with a 14 per cent share, although far behind non-remote betting at 53 per cent. Remote betting, with an 11 per cent share, is approaching the size of the casino sector.


INBRIEF


OKAY TO ONLINE New Jersey’s legislature has, as widely expected, passed the Intra-State Internet Gambling Bill, which permits Atlantic City casinos to offer online gaming to residents of the state. The bill went through both the Senate and Assembly with overwhelming majorities in favour. It now requires the signature of Governor Chris Christie.


BEYOND THE IPHONE Microgaming is making its games available on Android v2.2 Froyo mobile devices running Adobe Flash 10.1. Betway Casino is the first Microgaming operator to launch the games, in both pay-to-play and play-for-fun versions. “The Froyo user interface and experience is comparable to that of the iPhone and Android has more momentum than any other platform,” said Mike Hebden, Microgaming’s Head of Casino.


ROLL UP, ROLL UP The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers continues to sign up more members. Recently joined are newly-merged PC maker Advantech-Innocore; gaming IT firm Chetu; mobile specialist Cantor Gaming; e-table supplier DigiDeal; electronics company Flextronics; table-game maker Galaxy Gaming; wireless communications company Leap Forward Gaming; and Table Trac, a supplier of casino management systems.


ON THE MOVE Cantor Gaming has opened a race and sports book at the Las Vegas Tropicana, using technology that includes mobile gaming devices.


WAY OUT WEST The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission has approved plans by Peninsula Gaming to build a destination-resort casino near the city of Mulvane.


MY BAD A 45-year-old woman has pleaded guilty in a San Diego court to forming a group called the Tran Organisation that cheated casinos, including Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun, out of an estimate $7m through card cheating. Van Thu Tran faces up to 20 years of imprisonment.


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