NEWS Bally links Win some,
new tech Mobile, Web, social
Bally Technologies has brought together all its mobile, Internet, and social projects into a new division, Bally Interactive. Among its goals is to offer mobile and online games – both play-for-free and pay-to-play – to land- based gaming operators. And over the coming year, it will integrate its online and mobile technology with its existing tools for managing slot machines, customer relationships and business intelligence, to give operators "a
Land-based firms will get mobile and Web content
single view of the player". “This is a very exciting step in the evolution of Bally Technologies,” said Richard M. Haddrill, the firm's CEO. “As gaming expands outside the casino floor, our technologies will enable operators to reach their patrons wherever they are. “This integration will enable our customers to stay connected to player trends and behaviour, as well as give their patrons access to player’s club accounts when they are at home or on the go,” he added.
lose some Rank’s mixed fortunes
Changing patterns in customer visits, the Spanish smoking ban, and the increasing popularity of mobile gaming have all helped to shape the fortunes of The Rank Group this year.
In the 42 weeks to 16 October, its UK operation Grosvenor Casinos revenue rose three per cent although it has lately been suffering from a lower win margin, which has hit revenue even while customer visits have risen. Mecca Bingo was up one per cent. Here, conversely, a higher spend per visit has helped offset declining customer numbers.
In Spain, Top Rank Espana has felt severely the effects of the country’s dire economic situation as well as the smoking ban. Total revenue was down by 19 per cent. However, insisted the company, “while management’s focus is on stabilisation, the Spanish gaming market offers long-term opportunities for Rank”. Rank Interactive revenue was up 23 per cent thanks in part to the strong performance of mobile, which now accounts for six per cent of interactive revenue. For The Rank Group as a whole, revenue climbed three per cent.
Trinidad’s
challenge Time to get regulated
Trinidad and Tobago could regulate its gaming sector in an attempt to develop tourism, according to a government minister in the Caribbean state. Currently, it has around 75 casinos and private clubs employing an estimated 10,000 people, and doing business largely without supervision. “The casino industry has been operating in a very unregulated manner since it started,” Minister of Trade and Industry Stephen Cadiz told local media.
“Gambling has been going on in
Trinidad and Tobago for centuries but the current regulations under which the casinos have been operating are being abused under the Private Members’ Club Act. There is also the problem of money laundering. The government will have to take a decision to regulate this industry.” The country has a population of only 1.2m, nearly all on the island of Trinidad. But regulation would attract foreign gamblers and help to boost the tourism sector, which has been growing but is not proportionally as important to the economy as it is in some other Caribbean nations. It would also lead to better conditions for casino employees, Cadiz suggested.
Fighting crime with yet more forms New US Treasury reporting rules will mean extra chores for casino offices
The burden of government-mandated paperwork on US casinos is about to increase significantly as Washington steps up measures to combat money laundering in the gaming industry, according to software supplier NEWave. The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, also known as FinCEN, is planning major changes to the reporting required from casinos, some effective from the beginning of December and others from 1 July next year. They will bring casinos’ reporting requirements into line with those that the federal government imposes on other businesses. And NEWave – which not coincidentally says its systems can help solve the problem by filing forms automatically – is warning that the new requirements could lead to
operators having to increase their back-office headcount. “The changes happening in FinCEN are huge, and will
affect every single casino operator in the US without exception,” said NEWave COO Tom Bechtel. Electronic completion of forms through the FinCEN
Website will now be compulsory, with no paper alternative permitted, and the forms include new data fields and suspicious activity categories. The Treasury estimates that each Currency Transaction Report (CTR) will take 40 minutes to complete, while each Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) will eat up a full two hours. NEWave, however, claims its software can save casinos between $100,000 and $150,000 annually by automating much of the gathering and submission of data.
INBRIEF
THREE’S A CROWD? Singapore’s government is reportedly considering the issue of a third casino licence, adding new competition for Las Vegas Sands’ Marina Bay Sands and Genting’s Resorts World Sentosa.
INTERNATIONAL ICE Organisers of January’s ICE Totally Gaming expo in London say exhibitors from 51 different countries have now taken stand space. The list is topped by the US, Austria, Germany and Italy.
SPORTING CHANCES Nevada sportsbook operator Cantor Gaming has added new National Football League in-play betting options for all games, available online and via smartphones as well as at its six Las Vegas physical locations. The latest to open is at The Venetian.
BUYING IN Genting Casinos has acquired Fox Poker Club, London’s only dedicated Poker facility. Situated on Shaftesbury Avenue in the West End, and opened with a full casino licence just over a year ago, it has more than 20,000 members.
GROWTH HOPES Estonian gaming software developer Playtech plans to raise $156.5m for acquisitions and joint ventures through a new share offering. The biggest acquisition opportunity it has identified would swallow about 40 per cent of that sum, the firm indicated.
PATENT APPEAL FutureLogic says it will appeal in US federal court a recent judgement in favour of Nanoptix, with which it has been engaged in an intellectual property dispute. FutureLogic had alleged that Nanoptix’s PayCheck printers – marketed as JCM products – infringed its patent, but a California court said the patent was invalid.
LEARNING LIQUOR US training firm Health Communications has updated its TIPS for Gaming course, aimed at casino staff whose job involves serving alcohol.
TRIBAL DEAL Table Trac is to supply a casino management system to The Crow Nation's Apsaalooke Nights Casino in Crow Agency, Montana.
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