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NEWS How mobile can provide


customer service, too The handset isn’t just a channel for gaming


The allure of mobile gaming appears irresistible, to land-based and online operators alike: it’s as up close and personal with the consumer as you can get. New rules in Las Vegas allowing gambling beyond the casino floor will be


a great boon for the likes of Cantor Gaming, with its mobile sportsbook, and we can surely expect to see many more such services spring up over the next year. On the online front, one of the biggest affirmations for mobile comes


from Microgaming, probably the leading provider of Web gaming software. It sees an increasing amount of business coming from mobile, and has recently added an Android-based tablet and smartphone app to its line-up. The system makes its debut with eight casino games, and another 20 or more should be added by the end of the year. Said Neill Whyte, Head of Product Channels for Microgaming: “The explosion of mobile gaming over the last 12 months, driven largely by the increased adoption of smartphones in developing countries, represents a huge opportunity for providers.”


But it’s not just the activity of gaming itself which can be, well, mobilised. Working with Bally Technologies, the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida has committed itself to a wide-ranging set of customer services available via mobile apps, available both on Apple’s iTunes and the Android Market. “The mobile app puts the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino right at


patrons’ fingertips,” said Jeanine Repa, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing of Seminole Gaming. It lets them buy concert tickets, inspect and book hotel rooms, learn about casino game rules, sign up for tournaments, read restaurant menus and make reservations, or consult GPS maps of the venue and surrounding area. They can even order room service while they’re playing in the casino so that it’s waiting for them upstairs. Yet more features are planned, too. It seems that far from being a pure


threat to land-based casinos’ revenue streams, mobile could become another way to enhance them.


Mass. market opens Three licences available, after 20 years of talk


While many eyes in the US casino industry are fixed on the possibility of three licences being granted in south Florida, a gaming bill has quietly been signed into law in a much sedater state: Massachusetts. “There is a way to do this that does not compromise, and will not


compromise, the character of the [state],” said Governor Deval L. Patrick, who gave final approval to the legislation permitting one slot parlour and up to three casino resorts, after nearly two decades of debate. Already jockeying for licences are Mohegan Sun, which has plans for Palmer; Ameristar Casinos, which is arguing for a venue in Springfield; and Hard Rock International, which has joined forces with Paper City Development to propose a 100-acre site in Holyoke. “We are planning a state-of-the-art facility with a wide range of non- gaming amenities,” said Jim Allen, Chairman of Hard Rock International, setting the tone for what is likely to be the successful approach to Massachusetts: high quality, and plenty of wholesome leisure activities away from the casino floor. The tax revenues won’t hurt either, of course.


8 DECEMBER 2011 GAMINGPEOPLE


AGEM Marcus Prater, Executive Director at the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), has signed an extension to his contract that will keep him in the post until 2015. He took up the role in 2008.


ARISTOCRAT Aristocrat Technologies’ Senior Vice-President and General Counsel Tom Smock is to leave the company at the end of the year after five years.


ASPERS British casino Aspers at The Gate in Newcastle upon Tyne has named Ally Myles as General Manager. With more than 35 years of experience in the casino sector, he has most recently been General Manager at Gala Casino in Dundee.


BALLY Srini Raghavan, Vice President, is to oversee Bally Technologies’ games and systems business in Asia Pacific, while remaining Managing Director of its Indian development centres and continuing to lead South African systems operations as well. Meanwhile, Kurt Gissane has been promoted to Managing Director of Asia Pacific, based in Macau. Also at Bally Technologies, David Durst is now Western Region Sales Manager in the US. Previously, he was a Senior Sales Account Executive for Aristocrat Technologies, and Director of Systems Sales with International Game Technology (IGT).


BOYD Richard Flaherty has joined the board of directors at Boyd Gaming. He retired in 2010 as Dean of the Eberhardt School of Business at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, having previously held a similar post at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.


DIGIDEAL Terri Brady takes the new position of Vice-President of Sales at DigiDeal.


DR GAMING TECHNOLOGY Georg Steiner joins Belgium’s DR Gaming Technology as Senior Business Development Director. He was previously with Amatic.


GLI Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) and its affiliate TST have expanded their European e-gaming team, hiring Aurora Merino Salas as Business Development Manager and Magdalena Podhorski-Okolow as Development Representative. GLI has also hired Georges Alain Didier Flores as Development Representative for Latin America, based in Lima.


INCREDIBLE TECHNOLOGIES Incredible Technologies in the US has added Beena Blake as Western Regional Sales Manager and Andi Long as Midwest Regional Sales Manager.


ISLE OF MAN Garth Kimber is leaving the Isle of Man government to return to the private sector, and a replacement to fill his role as Head of E-Gaming Development is being sought.


MARYLAND LIVE! Jody Madigan has been named Chief Financial Officer of Maryland Live! Casino.


NEWAVE Rob Jackson is the new VP of Sales at NEWave.


SUZO HAPP Harald Wagemaker has joined Suzo Happ’s European team, based in the Netherlands, as Regional Sales Manager responsible for Scandinavia and eastern Europe.


TCSJOHNHUXLEY David Heap, Group Chief Executive of TCSJoh oup Chief Executive of TCSJohnHuxley, is to step


down on 1 March next year. He will be replaced by Catherine ‘Cath’ Burns as Global Chief Executive Officer, who comes to the firm from Bally Technologies in Macau, where she has served as Vice President Asia Pacific since 2006.


TROPICANA Thomas McCartney has resigned as President and Chief Operating Officer of Tropicana Las Vegas.


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