COMTRADE
A few regulators are performing data collection from gaming venues for some years and have learned the hard way, with the big problems they faced collecting almost incompatible data from several operators and system versions when there was no prescribed format or standardized way of data transfer.
Without a strictly prescribed interface every
vendor has the freedom to define its own interface and data structures. From there, the extraction, transformation and loading (ETL) process on the regulators side must convert and normalize data, before it becomes usable for analysis and internal reporting. This system maintenance became very costly and involved a lot of manual work which included repetitive hard-to-fix problems. They also needed to maintain several interfaces per operator, as operators are known to use different systems for different areas of their venues.
Most of the regulators still avoid mass collection of gaming data due to two main reasons: there was no standardized way to communicate all required data and regulators needed dedicated information system in order to process the data, and to give the auditors constructive conclusions.
The first obstacle was removed a few years ago
by the Gaming Standards Association (GSA) with the introduction of System-to-System (S2S) protocol, which gave the ability to transfer meters, events and transactions of various types. From time to time the protocol is amended to support even more needed for effective auditing. At the moment GSA is working on Central Monitoring S2S extension targeting regulators and supervisory agencies. These extensions will allow regulators to operate in a mixed online and offline environment with guaranteed data delivery and data consistency. Beside the data transport options, operators will also be able to limit their data exposure to exactly what is required by regulator.
The second
obstacle was removed at the end of 2010, when the Central Monitoring system based on S2S was developed and deployed in premises of “Ministry of finance of Republika
40 SEPTEMBER 2011
Srpska” in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aim of application was to establish the transition path from fixed fee per machine taxation system, to one based on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). For such a transition, the first step was to start collecting data and then based on the data collection, assess what taxation system and rates were most appropriate in terms of state revenue and market development. Several gaming areas were targeted by the system: casino, betting shops and internet gaming for now are supported to be monitored – all through a single interface – S2S protocol.
The introduction of renewed S2S protocol
and evolution of the first central monitoring systems based on S2S is providing regulators with a consistent route to an automated path of data collection and normalization. Once such system collects and processes metering and transaction data automatically, regulators may focus on post analysis and are able to detect if irregular behaviour has taken place or to detect potential frauds and criminal activity such as money laundry and other gaming process misconducts.
Through the standardization of data
communication to regulators, operators will benefit in reduction of the work that is carried out on their side including the preparation of reports and duty to fill them on time. The regulators will then carefully collect the data they require to produce metering data validation and deduce the taxation amount. The standardized interface should also remove the operator’s fear of exposing the entire data from the Casino Management System(s) to regulators by knowing what is configured on their system to be transported to the regulators system.
This in turn, will see the gaming systems
vendor benefit and will show in the implementation of one interface for all jurisdictions and thus reducing costs of implementation and maintenance.
In the end field audits performed by
regulators or the supervisory agencies may be reduced once trust in automatically collected data grows and this will benefit both operators and regulators due to reduced auditing costs.
Certainly land based casino operations need a boost in what is offered to players. From better knowing what the players need in order to enhance playing experience and which games they like to play. Game download and configuration, bonusing, mystery progressives, media display applications and similar are ready to be deployed but frequently delayed by regulators due to lack of data related to such operations. We can expect that new functionalities may be approved faster by regulators if they know that accounting and data used for verifications will be delivered to them when requested.
By implementing Central Monitoring
paradigm the gaming arena beyond the casino operation may be covered successfully.
The latest additions of S2S protocol will
cover various types of gaming from (sports) betting and pari-mutuel games to games offered over internet or mobile channels. In the end these additions could also greatly benefit in the standardization of the online gaming monitoring. Standardization is gaining in importance across the casino floor so why are regulators falling so behind when it comes to remote auditing of gaming operations?
Figure 1: Proposed
architecture for remote auditing solution
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