Sun International at the time was the monopoly Gaming Company and had a substantial portfolio of beautiful Casinos spread out across all nine Provinces of South Africa.
New Gaming dispensation came out allowing new entrants to the Market in 1996 with a total of 40 Casino licenses on offer. The newly created Gaming group Tsogo Sun had been involved in an process of bidding for licenses and I was fortunate to be offered a position as “ Head Office opening Team member” for our first license that we had acquired in the Mpumalanga Province.
Post the opening of our first Casino in Mpumalanga “Emnotweni” I was appointed as Slots Manager to open the 2nd
license awarded
to us in the same Province but in a different City namely Witbank. We opened the Champions Casino in 1998. I was then offered the position of Complex Casino General Manager for the 4th license awarded to us in the Eastern Cape in East London , The Casino and Complex was set up and then operated in 2001.
I was then offered the position of Gaming Manager for our 5th
license awarded in Kwa
Zulu Natal namely the Sun Coast Casino and Entertainment World which I opened in November 2002. My title evolved between then and now from Gaming Manager – Casino General Manager – current.
Suncoast is a “total resort” offering many different leisure activities. Do your staff cross over between different activities – say upwards in a management capacity - or do they tend to stay in F&B or the casino side for instance?
We have extremely dynamic HR recruitment policies at Suncoast that are driven from a group perspective that allow all eligible internal candidates at Suncoast and in the Group that meet the inherent requirements of any posted Job vacancy to apply before an external advert is even considered. We believe from a policy point of view in bench building and in so doing give our Internal and external people the opportunity to apply for vacant positions before external candidates are even considered.
A current example would be my Technical Manager was appointed from a position in Finance.He had the leadership and behavioral style required and has subsequently been appointed as my Slots Manager.
He certainly did not follow the generic Slots structural route - Tech - Lead Tech - Shift
12
Manager - Assistant Slots Manager or Technical Manager to get to the important position he now holds looking after 80% of the Gaming revenue stream at Suncoast. I believe in “hiring for attitude and training for skills” : put the right person in the right position with an attitude that is in keeping with the culture we desire.
There is clearly a place for specific technical skills in the business however leadership qualities and great attitude more often than not need to be considered over technical ability when making recruitment decisions in my humble view.
In your view does being a “Leisure resort” bring any special issues to be considered by a casino?
In the South African context the days of building a Casino operation attached to a Hotel with limited retail offerings is over. In order to deliver on our promise of “Gamertainment” The Casino operation must be supported by a dynamic retail and entertainment offering mix that ensures a sustainable flow of quality footfall is attracted to the precinct. Over and above the now expected offering of Casino , Hotel , Movie houses , theatres and retail mix multi – purpose large scale eventing infrastructure has to be considered.
In my personal view gone are the days where we simply compete against each other for share of wallet we now compete against any other entity that targets share of entertainment wallet like malls for example.
What is the approximate breakdown of slot machine by Manufacturer – and what are the latest machines that are causing a stir on your floors?
With responsibility for over 1,300 slot machines how do you judge whether the right machine is in the right location at the right time? How do you gauge the types of players you have and make sure you are offering them the right gaming experience?
How do you maintain your portfolio of machines and what is your policy on buying new machines
Latest product causing a stir the floor:
Paradise Fishing – Visually one of the most appealing Slot machines you will find, having recently won an award in Macau for the most innovative gaming product. We are the first casino in the country to install this and currently still the
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