News


EUROPEAN UPDATE Annihilation of German AWPs


Proposed legislation could close 10,000 venues and see the removal of 100,000 AWPs


A proposed German Gaming Treaty could close many of the approx. 10,000 arcades and see the removal of up to 100,000 AWPs. The 16 Lander state heads wish to ban multi-concession halls with a planned five year operating time for existing halls if the regulation is approved. The industry estimates the loss of 100,000 of the current 150,000 gaming machines sited in arcades from the market. Furthermore, draconian measures have been made concerning the approx. 50,000 AWPs operated in the food and drink sector, ranging from a complete ban to limiting the number of AWPs per location from three to two. Current AWP regulations are disputed by state heads who have no direct control of the sector. The German AWP industry is federal-based, whereas casino and lotto is state-based.


In addition to the loss of concessions, the treaty would determine that individual states would have the power to restrict opening and closing times, ban locations from advertising their existence to the public at the location, and stipulate that a minimum distance must be observed between locations. The gaming industry in Germany have strongly opposed these regulations, pointing out that it would jeopardise the €1.5bn the state governments currently receive in the form of taxes. A flood of litigation would also be expected from operators.


The text of the law will come into effect from 1 January 2012. First, however, it must be signed by at least 13 of the state prime ministers and adopted by the individual parliaments. If the new law enters into force the street gaming industry, to a man, has threatened to pursue damages in the billions of euros. Gauselmann Group’s founder and CEO, Paul Gauselmann, who is also President of the street gaming association VDAI, has decried the proposed Treaty and said that the industry would protect itself from ‘unlawful expropriation with compensation that would run to the billions of dollars. “This is the destruction of our industry,” stated Ulrich Schmidt, owner of Germany's second largest gaming hall group.


The restrictions, however, would not affect state-run casino locations which would benefit from a lack of competition on the high street should the proposals become law. Germany’s traditional


The destruction caused by the Treaty


on Gambling would be staggering, with the loss of 70,000 jobs,


6,000 businesses, the closure of 10,000


gaming halls and the removal of 100,000 gaming machines. The


German street gaming industry is outraged by the proposed


regulatory changes


and has promised to fight the changes at the very highest level.


casinos have lost much ground and revenue in recent years, claiming a loss of customers to the new casino-style gambling halls that have provided unfair machine competition in their view. Mr. Gauselmann suspects that the states are favouring the casinos at the expense of private gaming halls. Both the Gauselmann and Schmidt Group are convinced that Germany’s politicians are headed in the wrong direction. They point out that the online, poker and betting sectors are operating outside the German market and are not only collecting billions in revenue per year, without paying tax, but are in contrast to their locations both anonymous and uncontrolled.


If necessary, the street industry is ready to take its claims to the Federal Constitutional Court and European Court of Justice. Experts say these restrictions are incompatible with European standards as thousands of businesses are likely to close. Unanimity to the proposed regulatory changes is critical to its future, because it effects entrepreneurial freedom. This measure, denounced the street associations and businesses, will call into question the existence of 6,000 legitimate businesses - mostly family firms - and about 70,000 jobs.


Czech online operators want level playing field


Czech online operators are speaking out against the government rules that limit Czech domestic gambling to fixed-odds games. The restrictions put the locally regulated firms at a distinct disadvantage against offshore online casino and poker operators who are currently servicing the Czech market.


The five legally licensed online gambling operators in the Czech Republic are Sazka, Synot Tip, Chance, Fortuna and Tipsport, all of which are seeing a decline in numbers and revenues as offshore online casinos offer better odds and more variety.


There are 157 online casinos that offer games in the Czech language or English with wagers in Euros or US dollars. Domestic operators have


described the situation as debilitating, pointing out the inequity of the situation that while they observe the rules, pay the tax and the licence fees, the rest ride into the country like in the Wild West.


Blame has been levelled at the government who have failed to map out a clear direction for the control of online gambling liberalisation. As a result, operators are reluctant to invest in software development or expansion plans.


Synot founder, Ivo Valenta, commented in the local press: “We believe that this market will be opened up in the Czech Republic and that our politicians will at last understand, as they do in other countries, that the state will also benefit in terms of tax receipts and fees.”


G3 I JUNE 2011 I PAGE 14


Los operadores checos en Internet están expresando su oposición a las reglas gubernamentales que limitan el juego nacional en Chequia a los juegos con apuestas fijas. Las restricciones dejan a las empresas con regulación local en clara desventaja con respecto a los oper- adores extranjeros de casino y póker en Internet que prestan servicios actual- mente al mercado checo. Hay 157 casi- nos online que ofrecen juegos en checo o inglés con apuestas en euros o dólares estadounidenses. Los operadores nacionales han descrito la situación como extenuante y han apuntado a la injusticia que supone ya que, mientras ellos cumplen las reglas y pagan los impuestos y las licencias, los demás invaden el país a su libre albedrío como si del Salvaje Oeste se tratara.


Cammegh se dispone a ampliar su ya impresio- nante nómina de clientes tras obtener una respuesta positiva a su solicitud ante el Comité de Control del Juego de Nevada (NGCB) para fabricar y distribuir sus productos en dicho Estado. Cammegh no ha perdido el tiempo desde que obtuvo la aprobación del NGCB, y ya está preparando su primera instalación de prueba para el MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.


La empresa de juego por Internet sueca Entraction ha recibido una oferta de International Game Technology (IGT) para comprar acciones A y B en circu- lación del grupo con sede en Estocolmo por 11,11 dólares por acción. IGT se pro- pone adquirir el 90 por ciento de Entraction, por lo que pagará unos 115 millones de dólares.


La filial francesa de Gaming Partners International Corporation, Gaming Partners International SAS, ha culminado la compra de ciertos activos de OMC Sarl y su filial OMC Industries (OMC), un fabricante particular con sede en Francia que produce moldes de inyec- ción de plástico de alta calidad.


El operador de casinos estonio Olympic Entertainment Group ha vendido a un empresario israelí sus filiales rumanas Olympic Casino Bucharest SRL, Muntenia Food and Beverages SRL y Olympic Exchange SRL, según anunció la propia compañía a la bolsa de valores de Tallinn.


Scientific Games Corporation ha llegado a un acuerdo definitivo para adquirir Barcrest Group, un proveedor de máquinas y contenidos de juego, de manos de International Game Technology por un importe aproximado de 33 millones de libras en efectivo, más aproximadamente dos millones de libras en consideración de pago aplazado sujeto a la satisfacción de ciertas condiciones relacionadas con un contrato con terceros.


Inspired Gaming Group ha expuesto sus nuevos productos de máquinas tragaperras basadas en servidor para Colombia y México, con un gran éxito en las ferias Fadja y ELA. Harmen Brenninkmeijer, de Inspired, declaró: «Se trata de un momento apasionante para muchos países latinoamericanos y para Inspired: nuestros juegos y nuestra tecnología vanguardista resultan ideales para el sec- tor».


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68