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casinos over independent amusements businesses. Speaking at the opening of the IMA event in Dusseldorf, Siegfried
German MP says operators are treated unfairly A
senior German politician has criticised his country’s treatment of arcades, saying that the government unfairly favours state-run
Kauder – a a member of the Bundestag, the German parliament, and chairman of its legal committee – said: “Why is table gambling and gambling through gaming machines, which are actually the same as those at amusement arcades, allowed at state-run casinos, which do not have to comply with the restrictions applicable to amusement arcades? The same law applies to all of us. “About 10m people per year visit amusement arcades to enjoy
themselves. I don’t know how many people per year visit state-run casinos. I did that for the first time two days ago, and there were a few things that caught my eye. The cloakroom fee is just ¤0.25. You get a voucher for a free alcoholic drink. So people are lured into state-run casinos to make them spend their money there. That’s okay. However, the same right has to be extended to amusement arcades.
E-gaming gets local A
“The case law has developed the requirement that casinos must
combat ‘gambling addiction’ because this is the only justification for the monopoly of the state on operating casinos to be upheld. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I heard a more dishonest argument. “If somebody can explain to me why state-run casinos are a better
place for ‘gambling addicts’ and for combating ‘gambling addiction’ than private amusement arcades, I will be happy to change my mind. This argument is not even logical on its own terms. If you prohibit gambling at amusement arcades, pathological gamblers will resort to the Internet because, on average, each of them engages in five different forms of gambling. “If you bar one of them, the other four remain, and a fifth one
readily offers itself on the Internet. This shows that the argument that ‘gambling addiction’ needs to be combated, and amusement arcades therefore need to be tightly regulated, is dishonest and cannot be accepted.”
clear majority of e-gaming revenue from European customers will go to regulated local operators for the first time this year, according to Global
Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC). In 2011 51.3 percent of revenue went to regulated domestic markets with the
rest flowing offshore, but the firm believes that the proportion will jump to 60.1 percent this year thanks to new markets opening up and structural changes in the sector. New regulated operations are expected to begin soon in countries including Denmark, Germany, Greece and Spain. However, the firm warned: “Major operators like PokerStars,
Bwin.party,
Unibet, and 888 Holdings have accepted the new regulatory landscape in Europe even though the higher taxes and increased costs make once profitable markets a lot less so. Domestic, local licences do have benefits for operators because they make advertising and payments easier to undertake. But the success of the new licensing model is dependent upon governments being able to prevent non- domestically-licensed operators from continuing to attract players.” Restrictions on online casino games, for example, will continue to mean that
around 60 percent of European spend on Internet casino games and slots will still go offshore, GBGC predicted.
Italy okays another VLT O
The end of analogue? I
s there a future for analogue games? Suppliers disagree. JPM certainly believes so; while
it’s no technological conservative and is, for example, pushing ahead with online AWPs through its JPMi division, the manufacturer also used the EAG event in London to show off continuing development in analogue. “The show delivered serious
buyers and interest was high, with many keen to discuss JPM’s new Category C developments for 2012. In Category B4, Al Murray’s All Hail To The Ale attracted prolonged play on the stand and is proving to be a strong seller,” said Wessex Coin’s Chris Skelly, a JPM distributor. The follow-up to JPM’s first licensed Al Murray game went straight into the charts at number one. “We believe that there is a real opportunity for those
perator B Plus Giocolegale and technology supplier Merkur Inspired, the Merkur Gaming/Inspired
Gaming Group joint venture, have received Italian regulatory approval for their video lottery terminal (VLT) system. “We are delighted to be able to start rolling out our VLT machines with B Plus and are looking forward to great success with Italy’s largest
concessionaire. Merkur Inspired already has three VLT
cabinets approved in Italy and therefore we’re the perfect partner for B Plus, because we can provide greater product choice to its players across all venues,” said general manager Giacomo Bozzini.
12 MARCH 2012
manufacturers who remain committed to the analogue genre of product and we’re in the process of closing leads received at the show,” said Phil Boulton, managing director of RLMS Sales, another of the game maker’s distributors. But they’re not so sure at Scientific Games, which has decided to
pull its gaming division – which includes The Global Draw, Barcrest and Games Media – out of the analogue pub game business to concentrate on digital. Said the firm: “Based on the combination of prevailing conditions
in the pub retail sector and the contracting business for analogue AWP products, we concluded that the most sustainable option as a long-term supplier of product to the UK pub retail sector was to focus its game design and other resources solely on a digital server- based supply model.”
THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF THE AMUSEMENT AND STREET GAMING INDUSTRY
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