and The ugly

Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers
offiCial Magazine
WWW.G3NEWSWIRE.COM/WWW.G3-247.COM
International Gaming News / Knowledge / Statistics / Marketing Information / Digital and Print
Global Games
and Gaming
Magazine
December 2016
WWW.G3-247.COM
WWW.G3NEWSWIRE.COM
The Special Committee in the Brazilian Senate
has approved new gambling legislation
BRAZIL P8
The Council of Tenerife is sell its three stateowned
loss-making casinos by the end of 2016
SPAIN P12
New Jersey first market to launch skill-based
VGMs as GameCo go-live with Harrah’s AC
NEW JERSEY P23
CzeCh RepubliC MaRket RepoRt
The good, The bad
and The ugly
New legislation threatens to split the gaming industry,
dividing the ‘Good’ from the ‘Bad’ forms of gambling
Interact with G3 via...
Available on the
Ap p Store
Mass market spike helps MGM China report
second quarter revenue increase to HK$3.9bn
CHINA P24
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Contents
December 2016
Samson House,
Manchester Road,
Manchester M29 7BR,
United Kingdom
World partner to Clarion events
G3Newswire.com delivers
daily international gaming
industry news and
information, with the
G3Newswire newsletter
circulated three times per
week to a 8,000+ database
of gaming industry
influencers
SOUTH AMERICA
BRAZIL P8
The Special Committee in the Brazilian
Senate has approved new gambling
legislation
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC P10
Hard Rock’s plans for a 38 storey hotel and
casino are coming under constant fire from
local activists seeking to block construction
ARGENTINA P11
The licence to operate slots in the province of
Buenos Aires is up for tender with Codere,
Inverclub and Boldt currently in the running
NORTH AMERICA
NEW JERSEY P20
The Atlantic City casino industry breathes a
sigh of relief over a failed attempt to open
two new casinos north of the city
CANADA P22
A new casino project has been identified by
the BCLC with the relocation of an existing
licence to a new location in Vancouver
NEW JERSEY P23
New Jersey is the first market to launch
GameCo’s skill-based VGMs, with plans for
new jurisidictions in the next six months
EMEA
SPAIN P12
Council of Tenerife sets a date for the sale of its
three casinos as profits continue to fall,
dropping almost 50 per cent in two years
UK P16
Britain’s first Small Casino licence has opened
in the Midlands, 11 years after legislation passed
to allow this category of casino in the UK
CYPRUS P19
The Melco-Hard Rock consortium will begin
building its proposed resort casino in Limassol
in the first quarter of 2017
ASIA & OCEANIA
CHINA P24
Mass market spike helps MGM China to report
11 per cent second quarter revenue increase to
HK$3.9bn
CHINA P26
MGM has opened the Diaoyutai Hotel
Hangzhou, a luxury 162-room hotel as the
company increases its footprint in China
SOUTH KOREA P27
Landing International takes over Genting’s
Resorts World Jeju project in South Korea,
acquiring full rights to the resort development
WWW.G3-247.COM
Insight
GLI Europe Interviews
G3-247.com
Czech Market Report
compliance, Technical
expertise and Services
Insight P30
G3 continues its interviews with
the GLI Europe team about their
day-to-day roles, interactions
and the value-added benefits of
working with GLI Europe
Time for horse racing to
wager on in-play opportunity
Interactive P72
Horse racing has remained the
only major betting sport not to
join the in-play revolution. SIS
looks at what the horse racing
industry is doing to catch up
Greentube upscales
the user experience
Interactive P76
There’s a huge amount of interest
in omni-channel solutions, but
we speak to Greentube about the
specific details and how they
relate to players and operators
The Good, The bad
and The ugly
Reports P50
The Czech Republic has seen new
gambling legislation introduced
which Czechs say will divide the
industry into ‘good’ gambling and
‘bad’ gambling.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM P3

Lewis Pek
Editor
Comment
December 2016
The US has been in the news a lot, with one man in particular stealing
all the headlines. Despite everything that has been said about and by
the President-Elect, one thing is clear, he’s certainly an advocate for
casinos - though his ability to run them himself is a little questionable.
Atlantic City, the place that saw the rise and fall of Trump’s casino
fortunes, was shaken in November by a story that got a little lost in the
whirlwind of the presidential election. The story centres around one of
Mr. Trump’s major Republican party backers, New Jersey Governor
Chris Christie and his seizing of power in Atlantic City.
Mr. Christie has taken control of the assets and major decision-making
in the struggling resort city that is currently half a billion dollars in debt.
The shift in power means that the state now controls Atlantic City, not
the City Council. It can sell assets, reverse decisions of the council,
break union contracts and hire and fire workers.
The takeover has been condemned by the council and is likely to be
challenged in court, but it gives the state a chance to lay out its vision of
a new working relationship with the city and its gaming infrastructure.
At face value it looks like the start of undemocratic policies
“Trumpeted” by the Republican party. “This is an example of what this
country could turn out to be under Chris Christie and President-Elect
this is an exaMple of What this CountRy Could tuRn out to
be undeR ChRis ChRistie and pResident-eleCt donald tRuMp
Donald Trump, taking away our rights and sovereignty,” said an Atlantic
City community activist. However, the news reminded me of an
interview, given by Steve Wynn in 2014 with the Wall Street Journal, a
must-listen for anyone interested in the early days of casino gaming in
the US. In the interview Mr. Wynn talks about his meeting the Rat Pack
at 23 years of age on his first night in Vegas. He also discusses his
reasons for selling up and leaving Atlantic City, having spoken to two
state governors that they needed to take control of the city away from
the local government: “They were so corrupt and stupid,” says Wynn. “I
said to the governors they must take control of central planning if they
are to save this community. Atlantic City had to have the infrastructure
of Las Vegas - it had to be a destination city, or face obsolescence.”
Wynn’s wish has finally come true, but will a benign dictatorship be
better than a ‘corrupt’ democracy? I guess we’re about to find out.
EDITORIAL
G3 Magazine Editor
Lewis Pek
lewis@gamingpublishing.co.uk
+44 (0) 1942 879291
G3Newswire Editor
Phil Martin
phil@gamingpublishing.co.uk
+44 (0)7801 967714
Features Editor
Karen Southall
karensouthall@gmail.com
Consultant
John Carroll
carroll@carrollconsulting.de
International News Editor
James Marrison
jamesmarrison@gmail.com
Contributors
Zorair Asadour (BetConstruct)
Kelvyn Gardner (LIMA UK)
Brent Dolan (SIS)
ADVERTISING
Commercial Director
John Slattery
john@gamingpublishing.co.uk
+44 (0)7917 166471
Advertising Executive
James Slattery
james@gamingpublishing.co.uk
+44 (0)7814227219
Advertising Executive
Alison Dronfield
alison@gamingpublishing.co.uk
+44 (0)1204 410771
PRODUCTION
Senior Designer
Gareth Irwin
Production Manager
Paul Jolleys
Subscriptions Manager
Jennifer Pek
Commercial Administrator
John Pek
P4 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

Calendar
December 2016
NORTh AMERICA
International Online Gaming Forum US Edition
November 30-December 1, 2016
LOCATION
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel
Metropolitan, New York, US
ORGANISER
C5 Communications
The Tower Building, 11th Floor
11 York Road
London
United Kingdom
SE1 7NX
CONTACT
C5 Communications
T: +44 20 7878 6888
E: enquiries@c5-online.com
www.c5-online.com
EMEA
EAG Expo & Visitor Attraction Expo 2017
January 17-19, 2017
LOCATION
ExCeL London Exhibition Centre,
London, UK
ORGANISER
EAG / Swan Events
Office 10, Clare Lodge
41 Hollybush Lane
Harpenden, Herts
UK, AL5 4AY
CONTACT
Karen Cooke
T: +44 1582 767254
E: karencooke@eagexpo.com
www.eagexpo.com
EMEA
Mobile Games Forum - MGF London 2017
January 17-18, 2017
LOCATION
QEII Centre
Broad Sanctuary, Westminster,
London SW1P 3EE, UK
ORGANISER
Osney Media
64 Great Eastern St
Shoreditch
London
UK, EC2A 3QR
CONTACT
Trisha Nayee
T: +44 20 7336 4600
E: trisha@globalmgf.com
www.globalmgf.com/london
EMEA
ICE Conferences 2017
February 6-8, 2017
LOCATION
ExCeL London Exhibition Centre,
London, UK
ORGANISER
Clarion Events
Fulham Green, Bedford House
69-79 Fulham High Street
London
United Kingdom
SW6 3JW
CONTACT
Stuart Dacre
T: +44 207 384 8114
E: stuart.dacre@clarionevents.com
www.icetotallygaming.com/conferences
P6 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

EMEA
ICE Totally Gaming 2017
February 7-9, 2017
LOCATION
ExCeL London Exhibition Centre,
London, UK
ORGANISER
Clarion Events
Fulham Green, Bedford House
69-79 Fulham High Street
London
United Kingdom
SW6 3JW
CONTACT
Stuart Dacre
T: +44 207 384 8114
E: stuart.dacre@clarionevents.com
www.icetotallygaming.com
EMEA
London Affiliate Conference 2017
February 9-12, 2017
LOCATION
ExCel, London, UK
ORGANISER
iGaming Business (Clarion)
Fulham Green, Bedford House
69-79 Fulham High Street
London
United Kingdom
SW6 3JW
CONTACT
Alana Jones
T: +44 207 384 7763
E: alana@igamingbusiness.com
http://www.igbaffiliate.com/events
/london-affiliate-conference
EMEA
The Cash Handling Show Africa 2017
March 7-8, 2017
LOCATION
Sandton Convention Centre,
Johannesburg, South Africa
ORGANISER
Terrapinn Pty Ltd
1st Floor, Modular Place
Turnberry Office Park, 48 Grosvenor
Road
Bryanston
South Africa 2021
CONTACT
Brian Shabangu
T: +27 11 516 4015
E: brian.shabangu@terrapinn.com
www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/cas
h-handling-africa/
EMEA
Irish Gaming Show 2017
March 7-8, 2017
LOCATION
Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin,
Ireland
ORGANISER
Gaming & Amusement
Publications
8 South Ring Business Park
Kinsale Road
Cork
Ireland
CONTACT
Susan Feery
T: +353 21 431 6776
E: sfeery@gambetnews.com
www.irishgaming.ie
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM P7

SOUTH AMERICA
The Special Committee in the
Brazilian Senate has approved
new gambling legislation.
el Comité especial del Senado de brasil ha
aprobado una nueva legislación sobre el juego. El
proyecto de ley es una versión actualizada y
modificada del borrador presentado por el
senador Ciro Nogueira en 2014, pero con una
serie de enmiendas significativas. Ahora se
someterá a votación, según información facilitada
por el Senado.
Storm International ha vendido su empresa
en México, Storm International South America
(SILA) en Monterrey, que opera desde el año
2009 y engloba dos complejos, hollywood I y
hollywood II, con un total de más de 1000
máquinas tragaperras. No se ha revelado ni el
importe ni el comprador.
el Presidente del Tribunal Supremo
Administrativo de la República Dominicana ha
aplazado una solicitud presentada por los residentes
locales, que han mostrado su rechazo al
hard Rock hotel & Casino, actualmente en fase
de construcción en la capital, Santo Domingo.
Merkur gaming ha confirmado que ha
creado una nueva empresa y que está buscando
dependencias para ella en Buenos Aires
(Argentina). La empresa afirmó que espera inaugurar
una nueva oficina en Argentina en los
primeros meses de 2017, llevando su innovación
y su excelencia al que se ha mostrado una vez
más como uno de los territorios más vibrantes
para el juego en toda Latinoamérica.
el gobierno de Colombia se está preparando
para bloquear los sitios web de apuestas deportivas
internacionales y evitar así su operación en
Colombia sin autorización oficial, a resultas de
una decisión adoptada por el Comité de Control
del Juego en Colombia (Coljuegos).
Sun dreams sigue adelante con sus planes
de expandirse hacia Latinoamérica tras haber
aceptado las condiciones de un nuevo crédito de
150 millones de dólares a través del BCI, el BBVA,
el Banco Estado y el Banco de Chile.
el Presidente del Cabildo de Tenerife, Carlos
Alonso, ha declarado que el informe de tasación
sobre el valor de los tres casinos existentes en la
isla se hará público próximamente para proceder
a su venta. El representante público afirmó que el
informe se facilitaría como muy tarde a finales de
este año y que su objetivo es ofrecerlos a
licitación «a la mayor brevedad posible».
los propietarios del Tigre de Cristal, el mayor
casino de la zona recreativa integrada de Rusia
en la región de Primorye cerca de Vladivostok,
invertirá 500 millones de dólares en el desarrollo
de la fase 2 del proyecto.
el Casino 36, valorado en 7,6 millones de
libras, ha abierto sus puertas en Wolverhampton,
en las Midlands británicas, y se ha convertido así
en el primero en comenzar realmente a operar de
los ocho pequeños casinos licitados tras la Ley
sobre el Juego de 2015.
brAzil LEGISLATION
brazil Senate approves new gaming law
The Special Committee in the Brazilian Senate
has approved new gambling legislation. The bill
is an updated and modified version of
legislation drafted by Senator Ciro Nogueira in
2014, but with a number of significant changes.
It will now go forward for a vote, according to
information provided by the Senate.
Gaming legislation is being debated as part of
“Brazil Agenda” a set of new rules put forward
by the President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros
– a business-friendly agenda which is designed
to provide a boost to economic growth.
The bill proposes the legalisation of casinos,
bingo halls, slot parlours and the popular “Jogo
do Bicho” or “Animal Game.” The text defines
the types of gaming that can be played in Brazil,
the criteria for how licences are to be granted
and the rules for the distribution of prizes as
well as how gaming is to be taxed in the future.
Online gambling will be permitted over all
platforms including mobile phones “or any
other digital communication channel.”
Crucially, online gaming will be run on an
exclusive basis by Caixa Econômica Federal,
known locally as CAIXA. CAIXA is the biggest
public bank in Latin America and is extremely
well known locally. The CAIXA lottery sales
network is also extremely well developed and
extensive and encompasses the entire territory.
The latest draft, which was overseen by
Chairman of the Committee Senator Fernando
Bezerra Coelho, also deals with federal and
Storm International
sells its casino
operations in Mexico
Mexico
Storm International has sold
its Mexico business, Storm
International South America
(SILA) in Monterrey, operating
since 2009, which comprises
two complexes, Hollywood I
and Hollywood II, with a total
of over 1,000 slot machines.
Both the amount and the
buyer are not disclosed.
According to Storm, the
properties are sold to optimise
the company’s “geography of
operations” and to receive
additional investment to fund
other projects, which are now
undergoing final stages of
development, to be announced
at a later date. Michael
Boettcher, President of Storm,
said: “Both the Monterrey and
Mexican business
environment have been very
difficult to work with. My
company invested well over
$30m into Monterrey,
employing over 400 staff and
tried to build a future for
everyone in our business. That
business has become more
and more complicated with
the many changes and lack of
transparency from the local
authorities and SEGOB. We
will now move forward and
focus on other promising
state lotteries and will allow for horse racing
sweepstakes. Brazil is one of the few countries
among the largest economies in the world that
does not have legal mechanisms in place in
order to regulate gaming.
He further argued that the country loses out
from large foreign investment for the tourism
industry. Based on information from the World
Lottery Association, Bezerra Coelho said that
lotteries worldwide generated US$400bn in
2014, of which Caixa run lotteries only
accounted for 1 per cent of the total.
For Bezerra Coelho, legalisation of gaming in
Brazil could be a way to generate additional
taxes, provide jobs and raise government
income. According to forecasts a regulated
Brazilian gaming industry could generate
revenue of R$29bn in taxes over the next three
years. In presenting the amended act, the
Senator stressed that it sought to meet the
recent suggestions put forward by colleagues
and senators as well as representatives from a
number of government agencies.
According to the report, gaming will come under
the supervison of the Federal governmment and
Caixa will become the regulatory body and will
be responsible for monitoring the industry and
granting licences. A bidding process will be
initiated and gaming licences will be granted for
as long as 25 years depending on the purpose of
the licence and may be renewed for the same
period but only once.
opportunities and challenges
in other countries that are
more open to encouraging
foreign investment.”
Darren Keane, CEO of Storm,
added: “Our Mexican unit was
profitable showing stable
business indicators, however
we decided to sell to
concentrate on our preferable
geographies – Europe and
Asia. Currently, we have
several new projects under
development, which demand
both financial investment and
management to assure their
success.”
P8 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

SOUTH AMERICA
el distribuidor de egT en eslovenia,
Fininvest, ha finalizado tres instalaciones adicionales
con el operador local, hit Group. La empresa, que
opera más de 210 mesas de juego y 3300
máquinas tragaperras, ha confiado una vez más en
los productos del fabricante búlgaro que ya han
demostrado previamente con hit su éxito en el mercado.
grosvenor Casinos se ha introducido en las
apuestas deportivas online con el lanzamiento de
Grosvenor Sport, que permite a los consumidores
apostar en sus deportes favoritos ya sea viendo la
acción en uno de los 53 casinos de Grosvenor o en
cualquier otra parte del Reino Unido. Tras el prelanzamiento
este verano, el servicio se puso en marcha
oficialmente en noviembre, justo a tiempo para el
partido entre Inglaterra y Escocia.
nueva Jersey ha votado contra la introducción
de dos nuevos casinos en dos condados norteños
cerca de la ciudad de Nueva York, en una medida
que ha sido recibida positivamente por los siete
casinos ya existentes en Atlantic City. Los casinos de
Atlantic City, que están experimentando dificultades,
habían advertido que la nueva licitación estatal
habría obligado a cerrar sus puertas a entre tres y
cinco de los casinos. Los dos nuevos casinos
habrían estado al menos 72 millas al norte de
Atlantic City.
IgT ha adquirido de leap Forward gaming ciertos
activos, incluidas varias patentes y demás propiedad
intelectual. La compra se refiere a la tecnología de
ecosistema multimedia «picture-in-picture» (PiP)
Patron Display Interface (PDI) SaffariNet de LFG. IGT
también ha accedido a desestimar su litigio con LFG.
las Vegas Sands ha anunciado sus planes de
una ampliación valorada en 90 millones de dólares
en su resort-casino Sands Bethlehem en la localidad
de Bethlehem (Pennsylvania). Está previsto que
las obras comiencen en el primer trimestre de 2017,
y esta ampliación añadirá una nueva planta de juego
y más de 1000 nuevas plazas para jugadores, junto
con espacio adicional de restaurante, servicios públicos
y otras instalaciones para actividades logísticas
internas.
las primeras máquinas de juego del mundo que
incluyen videojuegos de habilidad (VGM), creadas
por GameCo, ya están funcionando en harrah’s
Atlantic City. Las VGM se lanzaron en todos los
establecimientos de Caesars Atlantic City, con 21
máquinas en funcionamiento en Caesars, harrah’s
Resort y Bally’s Wild Wild West.
una vez que el proceso de casino paralizado
parece haber retomado su curso en Japón, MGM
Resorts ha declarado estar dispuesta a invertir 10
000 millones de dólares en un resort-casino a gran
escala en Japón en caso de que se legalice el juego.
Una reunión del comité parlamentario celebrada en
Tokio el mes pasado ha contribuido a impulsar el
optimismo en torno a la aprobación de la legislación
a finales de año.
el grupo checo SynoT ha continuado con éxito
sus operaciones en el mercado asiático tras abrir su
segundo casino en Vietnam, en la provincia de Nha
Trang.
hard Rock embattled in Santo domingo
Hard Rock’s plans for a 38 storey hotel and casino are coming under constant fire
from local activists seeking to block the construction of the hotel
The 23,000 sq.ft. 38 storey hotel
casino, is to open with a
sportsbook, 400 slots and 40
tables if locals are foiled in their
attempt to prevent it
DominicAn rePublic OPERATIONS
The President of the Supreme Administrative
Court of the Dominican Republic has postponed
a request filed by local residents who have
rejected the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino currently
under construction in capital Santo Domingo.
The injunction was filed by residents of the
neighbourhood of Piantini and surrounding
areas against the urban planning department of
the National District which was responsible for
granting the building permit under the last
administration. The court made the decision so
that those living in the district would have time
to become aware that a motion had been filed to
suspend the building of the hotel and casino.
Locals represented by lawyer Miriam Paulino,
argue that the project violates local planning
provisions and Paulino has asked newly elected
National District mayor David Collado to
temporarily suspend the building permit which
she says is riddled with irregularities. The
temporary suspension of the licence will give
the Mayor time to listen to local residents and
experts so that the project can be cancelled.
Paulino argues that the construction violates a
Argentina
Merkur Gaming heads to
Buenos Aires
Merkur Gaming has confirmed it
has established a new company
and is looking for premises in
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The company said it expects to
open a new Argentinean office in
the first few months of 2017,
bringing its innovation and
excellence to what is once again
one of the most vibrant gaming
territories in Latin America.
Having now completed a process
of market evaluation, Merkur
Gaming Argentina has been
established as the latest wholly
owned subsidiary of the
Gauselmann Group. It is planned
that the new company, located in
Buenos Aires, will be fully open for
business in early 2017.
Charles Hiten, CEO Merkur
Gaming Americas, said: “Argentina
is now re-established as one of the
most successful countries in Latin
America and, with its clearly
favourable trading climate, it is
exactly the right time to bring the
Merkur brand, backed by the high
manufacturing standards and
exceptional innovation of the
whole Gauselmann Group, onto
the Argentinean landscape.”
Mr Hiten added: “Building on the
success of our intensified activities
throughout Latin America,
including increased brand
awareness and the creation of an
exceptionally strong team, all of
whom embrace and share our
commitment to excellence, has
helped to give Merkur Gaming an
exceptionally strong presence
across the region. We expect
nothing less from our new
expansion into Argentina and,
given the full support and the
resources being brought to bear
through the Gauselmann Group,
we are totally confident of success.
So my message to Argentinean
operators is ‘you asked, we are
responding and we are committed
to making Merkur Gaming a ‘must
have’ investment for the gaming
floors of Argentina’.
number of rules including irregularities over
designated parking spaces. According to the
permit the building will require 500 parking
spaces when at least 1,000 will be needed due to
the size of the project according to Paulino and
lack of spaces will lead to more traffic
congestion in the area. In addition the zone will
be negatively affected by the construction of a
casino and the height of the building itself.
Meanwhile Manuel Fermín Cabral lawyer for
Real Estate company Nivar, the company via
which the City Council granted building
permission for the project, said that the
implementation of the project, had met with all
the necessary requirements as set down by law
and had been granted building permits by the
City government as well as the Ministry of
Tourism, The Ministry of Environment and the
Ministry of Public Works.
Opposition to the new project has been growing
since February when a committee of school
staff and residents in the neighbourhood of
Piantini asked the Ministry of Finance to deny a
licence for the casino which will be part of the
Hard Rock Hotel.
Colombia
The Colombian government is
preparing to block
international sports betting
websites from operating in
Colombia without any official
authorisation, following a
decision taken by The
Colombian Gaming Control
Board (Coljuegos).
The announcement comes
after growing concern over
match fixing, illegal local
betting schemes and fears that
criminal gangs have infiltrated
the gaming industry for
money laundering.
The news also comes on the
heels of a major investigation
carried out by the Technical
Investigation Corps (CTI) of
the Prosecutor's office which
broke up an illegal betting
scheme in October. The
scheme took bets from 164
locations and generated
around $300m pesos a day
under the name Pijaosports.
P10
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

government Initiates uS$100m Slot Tender
The governor of Buenos Aires María Eugenia Vidal puts the licence for slot
machines operating in eight casinos in the province of Buenos Aires up for tender.
The licence for the operation of
slots in the province of Buenos
Aires has been put up for tender
with Codere, Inverclub and Boldt
currently in the running
ArGenTinA CASINO OPERATIONS
The governor of Buenos Aires María Eugenia
Vidal (pictured) has decided to put the licence
for slot machines operating in eight casinos in
the province of Buenos Aires up for tender. The
operation of slot machines in the casinos, which
are located in the centre of the province and
along the coast, is currently held by Boldt which
operates 2,600 slot machines in the province of
Buenos Aires - home to 15.6m people.
According to local daily Clarin the business is
currently worth around $550m pesos a year.
Boldt's licence expires in March and the new
tender process is likely to hail a hard fought
contest as operators seek to make further
inroads into the market with Codere, Inverclub,
and Boldt all rumoured to be interested in the
new licence.
Boldt runs five gaming properties located in
Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Mar del Plata and
Miramar whilst Inverclub operates casinos in
the city of Buenos Aires, Rosario and Neuquén.
Meanwhile Codere is the market leader in the
province of Buenos Aires. Currently, the
company runs a total of fourteen bingo halls,
Argentina
Ahead of the commencement of
Merkur Gaming Argentina, S.A.
the company has announced the
appointment of industry
stalwart Alejandro Saraintaris
as its General Manager.
Merkur Gaming Americas has
taken another major step
forward in fulfilling its intention
of further expansion throughout
Latin America with the
incorporation of Merkur Gaming
Argentina, S.A. and the
appointment of Alejandro
Saraintaris as the company’s
General Manager.
A proven and true gaming
industry veteran, Alejandro
Saraintaris has over 16 years of
experience in Argentinean
gaming and beyond, having
worked extensively in both sales
and management roles during
that period. A graduate in
industrial engineering from the
Universidad Argentina de la
Impresa, Alejandro Saraintaris
has a strong technical
background combined with a
wealth of commercial acumen.
Sun Dreams secures
US$150m loan to
expand in LATAM
LATAM
Sun Dreams is moving ahead
with its plans to expand
further into Latin America
having agreed to the terms of a
new US$150m loan through
the BCI, BBVA, Banco Estado
and Banco de Chile banks.
The operation is part of the
merger process of Dreams and
Sun International as it seeks to
expand in Latin America. The
Latin American operations of
Sun International, including
the Monticello in Chile, Ocean
Sun Casino in Panama City and
a project near completion in
Colombia, will be merged in
the deal which will see Sun
International expanding its
presence in the region.
In May it was announced that
Sun and Dreams plan to invest
US300m in Latin America, the
lion’s share of which could be
6,500 slot machines and employs over 4,000
people locally.
In order to take part in the tender potential
operators will need to pay $300,000 pesos in
order to gain access tor the terms and conditions
for the new licensing process with an offer of
US$100m set as the minimum bid. The licence
will be valid for a 15 year term and the winning
bidder will also be given the option to extend
the licence for another five years. Crucially a
number of the slot machines are located in
popular holiday destinations such as Mar del
Plata and in other resorts along the coast.
The government is also looking to monitor the
new slot machines online and will be launching
a separate tender as it looks for a company to
monitor the operations of the new licensee.
According to local sources however the
US$100m price tag could prove excessive. The
Director of the Institute of Lottery and Casinos
of the Province of Buenos Aires, Meliton
Eugenio López will hand in his report on the
licensing process to the governor in the coming
days.
invested in Peru according to
corporate finance manager of
Dreams Claudio Tessada. Mr.
Tessada said that the three
primary markets for the
company will be Brazil, Peru
and Chile, but the main focus
in the near future will be in
Peru due to uncertainties in the
other two markets.
Sun Dreams it is believed will
also be taking part in the
upcoming tender process for
the licenses in Chile and is to
open a new casino in Panama.
Sun Dreams operates six
casinos in Chile and has
expanded into Peru where it
operates four smaller gaming
establishments in Lima. In
addition the company is to
expand in the capital where
the company is evaluating a
possible large scale resort and
casino, which would also
encompass a slot parlour with
an investment estimated to
stand at around US$250m.
The merger creates Latin
America’s largest operator
valued at around US$400m.
SOUTH AMERICA
ARGENTINA – International Game Technology has
introduced its CrystalSlant, AXXIS 23/23 and AXXIS
3D cabinets to Argentina at Bingo Oasis Pilar as part
of an agreement to install 100 IGT cabinets at the
property.
“We’ve experienced a significant market response
to our CrystalSlant, AXXIS 23/23, and AXXIS 3D
cabinets in Latin America, and IGT is pleased to build
upon this momentum by introducing these
hardware solutions to Argentina,” said Florencia
Bobbio, IGT Senior Sales Manager. “This deployment
further solidifies IGT’s firm commitment to
empowering Bingo Oasis Pilar with next-level
gaming entertainment that is developed to increase
player engagement and drive business forward.”
“Enhancing our property with IGT’s robust portfolio
of cabinets and content enables us to modernize
our casino environment while providing our valued
patrons with new and exciting ways to experience
gameplay,” said Diego Martinoli, Bingo Oasis Pilar
Marketing Manager. “We are confident that IGT’s
gaming innovations will help Bingo Oasis Pilar stand
out as a premiere destination.”
IGT’s CrystalSlant cabinet is a compact, upright
hardware solution that comes in two versions, one
with a 27-inch top box and one with a 32-inch top
box.
Developed for compelling multi-game
configurations, the company’s Axxis 23/23 offers
an extensive game library featured on two 23-inch
LCD screens. Players can experience glasses-free
TRUE 3D gaming entertainment on the Axxis 3D
cabinet with engaging titles such as Sphinx 3.
CHILE – Gaming Laboratories International experts
traveled to Santiago, Chile recently to host
customized training for Superintendencia de
Casinos de Juego (SCJ), Chile’s casino regulator.
Chile is a jurisdiction widely recognised for its strong
licensing process and highly professional industry.
The SCJ continues to strive for excellence, and as
part of its efforts, contacted GLI to provide expert
and customized training for the gaming regulatory
entity.
Produced through GLI’s world-renowned education
program, GLI University®, the training was tailored
to meet the jurisdiction’s specific needs as well as
Chile standards requirements. With the training, the
SCJ’s objective was to build on its inspectors’ and
professionals’ knowledge in order to continue to
guarantee regulation compliance in the region’s
casinos, which, in turn, protects public trust, public
order and due taxes. Proper compliance will also
contribute to the regional development via effective
supervision. All of these factors promote the
development of an industry that is thoroughly
regulated.
GLI’s Director of Latin America and Caribbean
Government Relations and Business Development
Karen Marcela Sierra-hughes said: “We are grateful
to the Superintendencia de Casinos de Juego de
Chile, especially the Superintendent Daniel Garcia
and the Division of Authorizations and Inspections,
for choosing the GLI University program to fulfil their
professional development needs.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P11

EMEA
der Sonderausschuss des brasilianischen
Senats hat die neue Glücksspielgesetzgebung
gebilligt. Bei dem Gesetz handelt es sich um eine
aktualisierte und überarbeitete Fassung des von
dem Senator Ciro Nogueira 2014 vorgelegten
Gesetzentwurfs, allerdings mit einer Reihe einschneidender
Änderungen. Laut Auskunft des
Senats ist die Abstimmung über ihn in Kürze zu
erwarten.
Storm International haben ihren
mexikanischen Ableger, die seit 2009 tätige,
zwei Komplexe, das hollywood I und das hollywood
II, mit insgesamt über 1.000
Spielautomaten umfassende Storm International
Latin America (SILA) in Monterrey verkauft.
Weder der Kaufbetrag noch der Käufer wurden
bisher bekanntgegeben.
der Vorsitzende des Oberverwaltungsgerichtshofes
der Dominikanischen Republik hat einen
Antrag von Ortsansässigen, die Widerspruch
gegen das derzeit in Bau befindliche hard Rock
hotel & Casino in der Landeshauptstadt Santo
Domingo eingelegt haben, bis auf Weiteres
vertagt.
Merkur gaming hat die gründung eines
neuen Unternehmens bestätigt und suchen
derzeit im argentinischen Buenos Aires nach
geeigneten Räumlichkeiten. Nach
Unternehmensangaben wird die Eröffnung der
neuen Niederlassung in Argentinien für die
ersten Monate 2017 erwartet. Sie soll die Innovationen
und Spitzenleistungen des Unternehmens
auf einen der nach wie vor dynamischsten
Glücksspielmärkte in Lateinamerika bringen.
einer entscheidung der kolumbianischen
Glücksspielaufsicht (Coljuegos) folgend bereitet
die Staatsregierung die Sperrung der in
Kolumbien ohne offizielle Zulassung betriebenen
Webseiten internationaler Sportwettenanbieter
vor.
Sun dreams kommen nach der annahme
der Bedingungen für ein neues Darlehen über
150 Mio. US Dollar von den Banken BCI, BBVA,
Banco Estado und Banco de Chile mit ihren
Expansionsplänen in Lateinamerika gut voran.
der Präsident des Rates von Teneriffa, Carlos
Alonso, hat angekündigt, dass das
Schätzergutachten bezüglich des Wertes der drei
bestehenden Spielbanken der Insel in Kürze
veröffentlicht wird, um deren Verkauf
voranzutreiben. Der Regierungsvertreter gab zu
Protokoll, dass das Gutachten spätestens Ende
diesen Jahres fertig sei, und dass es sein Ziel sei,
das Ausschreibungsverfahren
„schnellstmöglich“ zu eröffnen.
der slowenische Vertriebspartner von egT,
Fininvest, hat drei weitere Installationen bei
einem ortsansässigen Betreiber, der hit-Gruppe,
vereinbart. Das Unternehmen, das mehr als 210
Spieltische und 3.300 Spielautomaten betreibt,
vertraut einmal mehr den Erzeugnissen des bulgarischen
herstellers, die ihren Markterfolg bei hit
bereits unter Beweis gestellt haben.
Sale of Tenerife Casinos by end of year
The Council of Tenerife has stated its intention to sell its three state-owned
loss-making casinos by the end of 2016
Council of Tenerife sets a date for
the sale of its three casinos as
profits continue to fall, dropping
almost 50 per cent in two years
SPAin CASINO OPERATIONS
The President of the Council of Tenerife Carlos
Alonso, has said that the appraisal report on the
value of the three existing casinos on the island
will soon be made public in order to proceed
with their sale. The official said that the report
would be ready at the latest by the end of this
year and that his goal is to put them forward for
tender “as soon as possible.”
According to the official: “The sale of the casinos
will serve to increase the competitiveness of
tourist activity on the island.” This he said had
been the initial goal when the local government
first allowed casinos on the island more than 30
years ago.
Despite three operators allegedly expressing
their interest, no one came forward to buy Playa
de Las Americas casino in the south of Tenerife
when it went up for tender in 2014. This was
despite the fact that the casino was the only
profitable casino on the island. Alonso said that
the failure to sell the casino was because while
there were three bidders: “The value of the sale
was related to the income stream for the whole
life of the casino beyond the licence, so that
investors said that there was uncertainty
because the value was great due to the income
received for so long and the casino (licence) had
Russia
Tigre de Cristal set for $500m Phase 2
The owners of Tigre de Cristal, the
biggest casino in Russia’s
Integrated Entertainment Zone in
the Primorye Region near
Vladivostok, will invest US$500m
in developing the project’s Phase 2.
G1 Entertainment, a majorityowned
subsidiary of Summit
Ascent Holdings Limited, the
company behind the casino, has
confirmed that Phase 2 of the
project will add 100,000 square
meters to the project including a
hotel with between 400 and 500
hotel rooms, conference rooms,
banqueting facilities, restaurants
and bars, a food court, shopping
mall and a spa.
Craig Ballantyne, Executive
Director of G1 Entertainment, said:
“The project includes additional
space for parking, in addition,
there is a possibility to construct a
golf course. The project totalling
$500m will contribute to further
development of the economy by
increasing tourism, subsequently,
the development of the region and
provide direct employment
opportunities for more than 2,000
people. We intend to turn an
integrated entertainment resort
Primorye into a place for
recreation and world-class
entertainment.”
The casino has been operating an
average of 23 mass gaming tables,
up to 14 VIP tables and 319 slots. It
reported an increase in the number
of visitors which went up from 500
to 1,000 customers per day The
increase helped it to post a net
profit of US$219,100 for its first six
months of the year. Rolling chip
turnover increased from $33.2m in
Tigre’s first month of operation in
November to $257.8m in July
increasing to $283.6m for August.
The Primorye economic zone will
be home to as many as eight
casinos in the future with $2.7bn
already in place in commitments.
to be renewed every 10 or 20 years and this
made for uncertainty when it came to revenues.
This is the the kind of problem which we have to
resolve and I don’t think we will have any
problem because we have enough (potential
bidders) interested in the sale,” he said.
Proposals put forward in 2014 would see casino
expansion in other hotels throughout Tenerife.
While the administration was at pains to
express that the opening up of the market would
not hail in a new era of Las Vegas type gaming
on the island, it was hoped that if the market
was liberalised then it could bring significant
investment in the area and increase the number
of attractions currently on offer.
However, unions and many officials have been
against the move from the beginning and have
delayed the process. In May this year local
counsellor Julio Concepción, said that the sale of
the casinos was a “disgrace” “irresponsible” and
an example of “arbitrary” policy that would
have no benefit on the local community.
Meanwhile profits have continued to fall with
the three casinos reporting combined earnings
of €476,398 in 2105 compared to €919,748 in
2014 – a decrease of 48.2 per cent.
Greece
OPAP SA announced that,
following the introduction of a
new VLTs regulation by the
Hellenic Gaming Commission,
the company's Board of
Directors has decided that all of
the appropriate conditions are
now in place to allow OPAP to
restart plans for the operation
of VLTs in Greece. The new
regulation decided by the
Hellenic Gaming Commission
establishes a comprehensive
institutional framework that
secures public interest and
public revenues and at the
same time allows the
economic viability of the VLT
business for OPAP and its
partners. The new regulatory
framework takes advantage of
the latest gaming technology
and leverages all available
restrictive measures in order to
protect players, in line with
international best practices for
responsible gaming.
P12
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

EMEA
die eigentümer des „Kristalltigers“, der
größten Spielbank in Russlands „Integriertem
Vergnügungsviertel“ im Gebiet Primorje bei Vladivostok,
investieren 500 Mio. US Dollar in die 2.
Phase des Vorhabens.
das 7,6 Mio. Pfund teure Casino 36 hat seine
Pforten in Wolverhampton in den britischen Midlands
geöffnet. Es ist damit die erste der acht nach
dem Glücksspielgesetz von 2015 genehmigten
kleinen Spielbanken, die tatsächlich ihren Betrieb
aufgenommen hat.
grosvenor Casinos sind mit der einführung
Grosvenor Sport auf Online-Sportwetten
umgestiegen. Die Verbraucher können bei
Grosvenor Sport Wetten in ihrer jeweiligen
Lieblingssportart abschließen, während sie sich
die Live-Übertragungen in einem der 53
Grosvenor-Kasinos oder an einem beliebigen
anderen Ort in Großbritannien ansehen. Nach der
„sanften“ Einführung im Sommer diesen Jahres
erfolgte der offizielle Anstoß im November, pünktlich
zu dem Fußballländerspiel
England-Schottland.
new Jersey hat sich in einer von den sieben
bestehenden Kasinos in Atlantic City begrüßten
Entscheidung gegen die Eröffnung von zwei
neuen Spielbanken in den nördlichen Bezirken
unweit New York City ausgesprochen. Die
schwächelnden Glücksspielstätten in Atlantic City
haben davor gewarnt, dass der neue Wettbewerb
innerhalb des Bundesstaates die Schließung von
drei bis fünf der Kasinos in der Stadt nach sich
ziehen würde. Die Standorte der beiden neuen
Spielbanken hätten mindestens 115 km nördlich
von Atlantic City gelegen.
IgT hat Teile des unternehmensbesitzes von
Leap Forward Gaming übernommen, darunter
auch einige Patente und weitere Schutzrechte. Der
Kauf bezieht sich auf die Bild-in-Bild-Technologie
für Multimediaumgebungen der
Kundenbildschirmschnittstelle SaffariNet Patron
Display Interface (PDI) von LFG. IGT hat darüber
hinaus eingewilligt, den Rechtsstreit mit LFG zu
beenden.
las Vegas Sands kündigen eine 90 Mio. uS
Dollar teure Erweiterung ihres Spielbankstandorts
Sands Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, an.
Bei einem erwarteten Baubeginn im ersten Quartal
2017 bietet der Erweiterungsbau einen neuen
Spielbereich und über 1.000 neue Spielplätze
sowie zusätzliche Flächen für Gastronomie,
öffentliche Toiletten und weitere hintergrundeinrichtungen.
Jetzt, da das ins Stocken geratene Verfahren
zur Einrichtung von Spielbanken in Japan wieder in
der Spur zu sein scheint, melden MGM Resorts
ihre Bereitschaft, 10 Mrd. US Dollar in ein großes
Kasino- und Vergnügungszentrum in Japan zu
investieren, sollte das Glücksspiel dort zugelassen
werden. Eine im vergangenen Monat abgehaltene
Parlamentsausschusssitzung in Tokio hat die
Zuversicht genährt, dass die entsprechende
Gesetzgebung bis Ende des Jahres verabschiedet
sein könnte.
Stork delivers operator advantage
With a kickoff presentation in Cottbus, Germany, D-Systems –
the official representative of Euro Games Technology for the country,
launched the STORK terminal on the local market
D-Systems and EGT held a special
event in Germany to mark the
launch of the STORK terminal with
automated roulette wheel
GermAny CASINO INSTALLATIONS
Distributor D-Systems has launched the STORK
terminal from EGT on the German market at an
event held at the Joker’s Place Casino in Cottbus.
D-Systems launched products from EGT’s
multiplayer division, which were first installed
in the region several months prior to the event in
two identical configurations of six STORKs with
an automated roulette wheel.
Guests including Emilia Tomachinska,
managing director of D-Systems, Thorsten
Schürkötter, general manager of Joker’s Place
Casino, Anja Bohms, CEO of Land Brandenburg
Lotto, and Ingo Edelmann, business director of
BSB KG, were able to sample the STORK
terminals in both the smoking and nonsmoking
areas of the gaming establishment.
The machines features a multigame mix –
Premier Rigel-1, featuring 20 video slot titles
configurable to connect up to six automated or
live roulette wheels. The STORKs are also linked
to a 4-level mystery progressive jackpot system
Jackpot Cards, which additionally widens
players’ chances of winning and adds more
excitement to the game.
StakeLogic announces
content supply deal
with EveryMatrix
Austria
StakeLogic has entered into a
partnership with EveryMatrix
that will see its online slot
games offered to EveryMatrix
operators via the CasinoEngine
platform or its white label
solution. The first operator to
sublicense StakeLogic’s games
via EveryMatrix’s white label
solution is www.jetbull.com.
StakeLogic is known in the
online gaming industry as a
fairly new entrant of the
Novomatic Group and has
already been able to succeed in
the online entertainment
sector as a provider of highquality
slot games covering
amazing themes and features.
Games on offer include new
titles such as “Fruit Smasher”,
“Extreme” and “Football
Gladiators”. EveryMatrix will
further expand the number of
StakeLogic games across its
operators.
Ruben Visse, StakeLogic CEO,
commented: “We are very
enthusiastic and proud of the
partnership with EveryMatrix.
EveryMatrix has a proven
successful track record and is
well- known for awardwinning
contributions to the
iGaming industry. We are
convinced that our innovative
games will be well-received by
their players. This will be the
start of a long-term
relationship and our combined
forces will bring us both to the
next level.”
Ebbe Groes, EveryMatrix CEO,
said: “We are happy to
introduce the StakeLogic
portfolio of games to our
clients. By integrating their
high-quality HTML5 games
into our casino platform, we
grow more confident in
reaching out to new markets
while building some of the best
online casinos in the industry.”
EGT’s high-performing platform - Exciter III,
also made its official debut in Germany during
the event, featuring multigame mixes from the
Collection series – Orange and Green, each
having 48 different titles in its library and
housed in the P-24/24 Up of EGT. The platform
is compatible with the complete range of
products from EGT, giving customers flexibility,
more processing power, enhanced graphics,
animations, sounds and improved usability. One
of its main advantages is that it makes possible
the selection of games from the main menu in
combination with a choice of the preferred
denominations.
Commenting on the event Emilia Tomachinska
summarised: “We are pleased by the positive
feedback we received from our guests. They
were impressed with the versatility of the
STORK terminal, its different configurations and
gaming capacity. I am confident that the
presentation will build towards many STORK
and other EGT models future installations
around the country and am looking forward to
continuing to delight customers with our
products’ quality and efficient service.”
UK
Jeremy Thompson-Hill has left
his role as chief executive of
NYX Gaming’s OpenBet
division. Thompson-Hill has
spent 16 years with OpenBet,
holding a host of management
positions and taking on his
current role in March 2013.
Despite stepping down as chief
executive, Thompson-Hill, who
played a major role in the
acquisition of OpenBet by NYX
earlier this year will remain a
close advisor to the company for
at least two years. The news
comes after NYX this week
published its results for the three
months to September 30.
NYX chief executive Matt Davey
also said the firm would be
adopting a new operating model
to secure more growth. As part
of this new strategy, NYX said it
plans to centralise core business
functions of finance, human
resource, client management
and customer services at its
headquarters in London.
P14
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

EMEA
Casino36 First Small Casino licence to open
The £7.6m Casino 36 has launched in Wolverhampton becoming the first of the
eight small casinos awarded, following the Gambling Act 2005, to actually open.
Britain’s first Small Casino licence
has opened in the Midlands with
Casino36, 11 years after legislation
was passed to allow this category
of casino in the UK
uK CASINO OPERATIONS
SLOVENIA – EGT’s distributor in Slovenia,
Fininvest, has completed three additional installs
with local operator, hit Group. The company, that
runs over 210 gaming tables and 3,300 slot
machines, has once again trusted the Bulgarian
manufacturer’s products that have already proved
successful with hit in the market.
The recent deals takes the total number of EGT
machines at hit’s gaming establishments to 43.
Marijan Šavli, Slot Operations analyst manager of
hit Group, said: “Our first delivery of EGT machines
was in July, 2015 and included six P-24/24 St Slim
cabinets for one of our casinos. Their comfort for
the players and wide variety of games in their
Premier Multi-3 and Multi-4 multigame mixes,
endeared them to the gaming audience in a short
span of time. This is how we opted for more
machines of the same model, adding also some P-
27/27 St Slim cabinets, at four other hit’s gaming
establishments. Our latest installations made in
August and September at three more casinos –
Aurora (Casinò Kobarid), Park (hit) and Larix (hit
Larix), widened the EGT presence at our gaming
floors with the Egypt Quest jackpot system. Our
past experience leads us to believe that the new
upcoming products from EGT will perform just as
well as the previous ones.”
Marko Kmetic, General Manager of Fininvest d.o.o.
added his positive expectations about the new
collaboration with hit Group, stressing on the
impeccable technical support, that goes along with
the ever growing portfolio of cabinets and games of
Euro Games Technology, aimed to suit both player’s
and operator’s requirements.
MALTA – NMi has appointed
Antonino Santangelo as
Business Development
Manager within the Gaming
division. Antonino joins NMi's
sales team spearheaded by
Senior Business Development
Manager, Julian Borg-Barthet. Responsible for
contributing to NMi’s success in supporting clients
with requirements for testing, certification and
auditing in worldwide jurisdictions and regulated
markets, Antonino will be based in Malta and will
work alongside NMi's team to support customers
in Malta, Africa and key jurisdictions in Europe.
Dr Richard Edwards, Director: "It is very exciting to
be working with such an ambitious and successful
team. Antonino brings valuable know-how to NMi
and will be an asset to the business development
team. his knowledge of the gaming industry and
international experience will be invaluable as we
develop innovative solutions for regulators, our
clients, and grow our presence globally".
The £7.6m Casino 36 has launched in
Wolverhampton in the British Midlands
becoming the first of the eight small casinos
awarded, following the Gambling Act 2005, to
actually open.
Casino36 has seen The Rubicon Casino in
Temple Street expand into its neighbouring
building, taking on more live tables, more
£20,000 jackpot machines, a VIP champagne
bar and an onsite bookmakers complete with a
23ft. video screen to showcase sporting events.
A spokesperson stated: “We now have our own
bookies on site at the casino! Showing all UK
horse racing on our 23 foot video wall. Whether
you want to take a quick bet on the horses
whilst grabbing a pint or plan a football
accumulator for the whole weekend and have a
bite at the same time, you can do it here at
Casino 36. Our venue accommodates the latest
innovative bookies terminals, including Vegas
style bar-top slots and multi-screens around the
casino showing live sporting events from around
the world. The Thirsty 6 Sports Bar & Grill brings
Lightning Box Games
strikes content deal
with William hill
UK
Slot design specialist Lightning
Box Games has signed an
agreement to supply its content
to William Hill’s licensed
betting offices in the UK.
In the first instance, the deal
will give the operator exclusive
access to the Australian
studio’s Silver Lion Deluxe and
Panda Power Deluxe titles,
following the impressive
commercial success of similar
models online.
The roll-out across Hill’s 2,300
strong retail estate, over 9,000
gaming machines in the UK, is
scheduled to begin in the
second quarter of 2017, with
more games to be made
available thereafter.
Peter Causley, Lightning Box
managing director and cofounder,
said: “I’m delighted to
sign the agreement with
William Hill which gives us an
important breakthrough in the
UK market, as well as the
chance to do true omnichannel
releases to William
Hill’s online, mobile, and retail
players.
“Our games have been very
popular with players and
casino owners across multiple
channels in Europe and North
America, and I’m confident
they will be well-received by
British audiences too.”
Andrew Sackey of William Hill,
Head of Product and Content,
said: “Lightning Box Games’
portfolio comes with a great
pedigree and reputation, and
I’m very pleased to be able to
offer it to our customers as part
of our great slots range.”
“We’re eager to see how the
first two games perform as
omni-channel content for our
online and land-based
customers, and are looking
forward to working with Peter
Causley and the Lightning Box
team.”
you access to all of the major sports channels on
an array of HD TV screens, along with the
choice of picking something tasty from our
mouth-watering food and drink menu at
unbeatable prices, all freshly prepared in our
open plan kitchen. We have created a fantastic
place to watch sport, socialise, eat and drink,
providing the perfect atmosphere for any sports
fan.”
Adrian Ballard, the casino’s owner, said:
“Regeneration in Wolverhampton is steaming
ahead and we are delighted to be playing a part
in helping rejuvenate the city centre.”
The first small casino licence to open took a
staggering 11 years to open since the publication
of the Gambling Act. Indeed uptake of both the
large and small licences has been slow. Of the
other small licences, Global Gaming Ventures
was confirmed as the operator of the Bath
licence in 2012 and is most likely going to be the
next to be fulfilled with work at the former Saw
Close Clinic and Gala Bingo Hall expected to be
finished in 2017.
UK
Grosvenor Casinos has moved
into online sports betting with
the launch of Grosvenor Sport
where consumers can bet on
their favourite sports, whether
watching the action at one of
Grosvenor’s 53 casinos or
anywhere else in the UK.
Following a soft launch this
summer, the service officially
kicked off in November, just in
time for the England v Scotland
match.
Powered by Kambi and coupled
with the capability of the Bede
Platform, the sports betting
service is now available on
grosvenorsport.com, giving
Grosvenor’s 1.7m UK customers
a full range of bookmaking
options with industry leading
Live In-Play betting.
Guests in-club or online will
enjoy exclusive offers including
price boosts and enhanced odds.
Grosvenor Sport also has the
technology to coordinate with
in-casino activities, both on a
national and a local level, to give
a personalised experience.
P16
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

EMEA
german associations back MPK Treaty
At a Ministers conference (MPK) in Warnemünde, the heads of government have
outlined a reformed online gambling and sports betting policy in Germany
New treaty reviews the legislation
of online casinos and addresses
some of the issues raised by the
European Court of Justice.
SPAIN – TheTraffGen hub Pro marketing platform
is to be implemented by Novomatic at its new
Casino Admiral San Roque, in Spain. Novomatic will
be deploying a range of TraffGen products including
PromoBeacons for in-property marketing, holistic,
hub Pro holistic, automated marketing platform and
an integrated player development system. This deal
builds upon previous deployments with Novomatic
with Casino Admiral in Gibraltar.
TraffGen software empowers gaming operators to
deliver the most relevant real-time message to a
segmented target audience in property, online, kiosk
and mobile. TraffGen’s marketing automation is a
refreshing new approach to controlling costs and
increasing revenue with in-house teams.
“Our new casino in San Roque will be cutting edge
in many ways”, said Manfred Schartner, CEO for
Casino Admiral San Roque. “Deploying TraffGen’s
marketing tools will allow us to reach our clients in a
range of ways, in a synchronised way.”
The TraffGen convergence platform captures data
across the casino enterprises from both in-property
and digital/online systems as well as online social
networks. Novomatic will have a real-time, single
player view across their entire San Roque property
as well any future digital gaming.
GermAny ONLINE LEGISLATION
The German Online Casino Association (Der
Deutsche Online Casinoverband-DOCV) has
welcomed the agreement of the MPK Gambling
Treaty. During their annual conference in
Warnemünde, Ministers and Prime Ministers
have agreed on a change in the State Treaty on
Gambling (GlüStV). In doing so, thy have set
themselves the goal of first analysing the online
casinos market, in order to re-regulate the
market, taking into account the experience of
other European countries. The future regulation
of online casinos is to be based on the
experience of other European countries.
DOCV President Dr Dirk Quermann sees the
agreement as an important step towards viable
and prudential regulation in Germany.
“It is a good sign that the participants have
recognised the realities of a digital and
networked market. We need the regulation of
online casinos according to qualitative criteria.
There needs to be a channeling of demand to the
serious suppliers, which can guarantee reliable
protection and prevention measures. We will
contribute constructively to the development of
market-compliant regulation in Germany. Our
members have extensive experience with
regulatory knowledge from other EU member
states. We would be happy to provide this
experience and our technical knowledge
concerning the function of the market in an
open dialogue.”
The Deutsche Online Casinoverband is a
federation of companies licensed in the EU and
regulated in Germany, which are active in the
development and operation of online casinos.
The founding members of the DOCV are bet-athome.com,
edict egaming, Mr. Green,
OnlineCasino Germany, Prima Networks, Red
Rhino, Tipico and William Hill. All eight
members of the Association have valid licenses
and licenses in Germany or Europe and pay the
corresponding taxes. The overall aim of the
association is to work towards a viable and lawsafe
regulation for online offers in Germany
Dr. Quermann added: “The current legal
uncertainty in the market is equally
unsatisfactory for policy makers, consumers
and suppliers, and the existing regulation in the
gaming contract favors the black market alone
and disadvantages the serious providers , Which
is why, together with our policy, our goal is to
establish clearly defined rules for fair
competition and effective consumer protection
in the digital age.”
MALTA – Win Systems has signed a multi-site deal
with Maltese gaming parlour operator Fairbet Group.
The agreement will see Win Systems’ leading
casino management system WIGOS installed
across seven sites in five days, connecting 45
terminals, and will give Fairbet a vast array of tools
to optimise their offering to players.
The deal marks Win Systems’ first installation of
WIGOS in Malta and follows similar agreements in
Norway, Ireland and Spain as the Barcelona-based
firm continues its expansion in Europe.
Eric Benchimol, CEO of Win Systems, said: “This
installation of WIGOS in Fairbet’s parlours is
incredibly important for the company and is another
positive step towards our European expansion
goals. We are committed to developing the best
products available on the market and Fairbet’s
choice of Win Systems as a partner is a fantastic
endorsement. We can’t wait to get started.
Antoine Pace, CEO of Fairbet Group, said: “Win
Systems has a phenomenal track record of
providing reliable and secure products to casinos
around the world and we are only too happy to
partner with them. The installation of WIGOS is the
first of its kind in Malta and after a simple migration,
we’re sure that it will be successful for many years
to come.”
iSoftBet adds Amatic to
its Game Aggregation
Platform
Austria
iSoftBet has entered into a new
partnership with another
software vendor, Amatic
Industries. Boasting a robust
portfolio of diversified and
high-quality games, iSoftBet’s
Game Aggregation Platform
(GAP) will now be able to offer
operators content from Amatic
Industries.
iSoftBet’s GAP is an advanced
platform that provides
operators with a vast library of
third-party games sourced
from more than 20 software
developers, which can be
accessed through a single,
seamless integration.
Speaking about iSoftBet’s
latest agreement, Michael
Probert, the company’s Head of
Business Development, said:
“iSoftBet Game Aggregation
Platform (GAP) has evolved
impressively over the past year
and holds many distinct
features, such as being able to
provide fresh and wellperforming
content
continuously. Amatic has an
in-depth understanding of
player needs in every country,
and partnering with them will
surely give iSoftBet an edge
over others.”
Tatjana Bauer-Engstberger of
Amatic Industries commented:
“We are thrilled that our games
will now be available for
online play on iSoftBet’s Game
Aggregation Platform (GAP).
Our belief and strategy have
always been that proven landbased
games will set the
hallmark for success in online
gaming and we are sure that
iSoftBet players will enjoy our
content produced with this
unique approach.”
UK
Playtech is set to acquire a
majority shareholding of 70 per
cent in Consolidated Financial
Holdings for US$43.4m. The
remaining 30 per cent of the
company will be subject to a put
and call option exercisable in
2019, with the consideration to
be based on CFH’s earnings at
the end of 2018. The total
consideration will be capped at
US$120m. Consolidated
Financial Holdings offers a
straight-through processing
brokerage service which
provides retail brokers multiasset
execution, prime
brokerage services, liquidity and
complementary risk
management tools. The deal
supports Playtech’s aim to create
a business-to-business financial
software offering and will
provide a significant growth
opportunity for CFH by
providing it with access to
Playtech’s greater scale and
financial strength.
P18
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

Melco-hard Rock to build limassol Casino
The Melco-Hard Rock Resorts Cyprus consortium, the only remaining bidder, has
now officially been invited to file for the licence for the development
EMEA
The consortium will begin
building its proposed resort
casino in Limassol in the first
quarter of 2017.
cyPruS NEW LICENCES
The Melco-Hard Rock Resorts Cyprus
consortium, the only company left in the
bidding process for an integrated resort casino in
Cyprus, has now officially been invited to file for
the licence for the development.
in the licensing process of the integrated resort
casino in Cyprus, the ministry has decided that
the submitted proposal of the consortium ‘Melco
– Hard Rock Resorts Cyprus’ meets the
requirements.
FRANCE – French operator Groupe Partouche, has
partnered with MeReal Biometrics in a real-world
testing and case study using the MeReal
Biometrics smart cards. The initial test will take
place in two of the group’s 42 properties.
In a press statement issued to the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange, Melco International said: “The
multinational consortium Melco International
Development Limited, Hard Rock International
and Cyprus Phasouri was informed by the
Ministry of Energy, Commerce, Industry and
Tourism that its comprehensive proposal has
satisfied the technical requirements of the
second phase of the tender process of licensing
a single integrated casino resort in the Republic
of Cyprus.
The Consortium welcomes the decision and
looks forward to collaborating with the Cyprus
Government to meet the set targets and
establish a world class integrated casino resort
that will be highly beneficial to the economy
and tourism of Cyprus.”
The Commerce Ministry said: “Following the
evaluation of the application of the participant
UK
SIS has signed a multi-year deal
that harnesses the power of SIS
Stream to deliver 49s-branded
racing games to online
customers. A staple of UK and
Irish retail betting shops for over
a decade, the 49s-branded
virtual horse and greyhound
racing, provided by Inspired
Gaming Group, will now be
available to online customers
24-hours-a-day, seven-days-aweek
thanks to SIS’ new
streaming platform SIS Stream.
SIS Stream is a multi-platform
streaming service that utilises a
proprietary low-latency
technology to deliver new,
bespoke, and third-party
content anywhere in the world.
Operators will now be able to
offer their online customers the
opportunity to bet on all of their
favourite 49s virtual horse
racing from Portman Park,
Sprint Valley and Steepledowns,
in addition to the famous
greyhound tracks Brushwood
and Millersfield.
Comtrade rises in
Poland as gambling law
improves market
Poland
Comtrade Gaming has
announced that its G2S (Game
to System) protocol stacks will
be integrated into E-Fun’s
video slots starting in 2017.
E-Fun is a prominent Polish
slot machine provider, whose
specialisation in games,
software and graphics is
prevalent in the land-based
gaming market.
“With the recent legislative
outcomes, E-Fun sought a
partner who not only
anticipates market shifts, but
adapts to changing business
forces,” said Pawel Paliwoda,
CEO of E-Fun. “By combining
our complementary products,
we enhance our market offer
and define the higher
standards to which Poland’s
Therefore, the consortium has been invited by
the coordinating committee to submit an
application for licensing, under which the due
diligence check will be carried out as provided
by the documents of the invitation and the law.
Subject to the successful completion of the
control, the permit will be issued.”
It added: “The government expresses its
satisfaction over the fact that two giants in the
integrated casino resort sector, with a huge
experience in the construction and management
of this kind of project throughout the world,
have chosen Cyprus for their expansion in the
European market.”
Melco-Hard Rock were left as the only bidders
following the withdrawal of Nagacorp of
Cambodia and Bloomberry of the Philippines,
both of whom struggled to secure the land that
they had wanted for their proposals.
gaming industry will develop.”
Comtrade Gaming’s G2S
protocol is a standardised
solution that provides a
consistent and reliable
approach to integrating
assorted land-based systems.
As a part of the sCore G2S
Solution, G2S protocol stacks
enable quick and efficient
implementation of the Gaming
Standards Association’s (GSA)
G2S protocol to both slot
machine platforms and G2S
host systems.
“The Comtrade team felt it was
necessary to leverage our
strong brand identity across
new product categories and
made a significant investment
when developing the sCore
G2S solution,” said Igor Rus,
Head of Business Development
at Comtrade Gaming. “In a
single product, we work sideby-side
with vendors,
operators and regulators and
unlock the power of network
gaming.”
The roll-out began at group headquarters in Paris
where the patented fingerprint card is used by
employees to access secure areas. The group has
targeted two casinos on the French Riviera where
the card will be deployed in the first quarter of 2017.
Employees at the group’s first open-air casino,
Casino La Ciotat, currently under construction in
the seaside town’s marina, and employees at an
existing casino in Antibes, Casino Juan Les Pins,
that is currently being refurbished, will be the first to
use the cards as identity badges that will grant
them access to the properties and secure areas
within them.
Security through electronic access control will be
the immediate focus for the group, and if
successful this move will pave the way towards a
‘closed loop’ system with all regular guests and
4,500 employees using their MeReal Biometrics
cards to perform a wide range of payment
applications and access, both physical and logical,
applications. “Once tested and deployed, we hope
to add more services to the MeReal Biometrics card
in order to make our hotel and casino VIPs’
experiences with us as safe and carefree as
possible,” said Fabrice Paire, Chairman of the Board,
Group Partouche
AUSTRIA – Gamevy and Novomatic Lottery
Solutions (NLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of
Novomatic, have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding to provide innovative new instant
win games to government regulated lotteries.
The service will combine NLS’s market-leading
lottery platform with Gamevy’s unique content and
flexible development capability, to deliver
authentic, customized games to lottery operators.
“NLS is delighted to be working with Gamevy,”
stated NLS CEO Frank Cecchini. “We’ve watched
the company develop their games and their
capabilities over the last year and we like the way
they think. Gamevy is passionate and focused on
making high quality games that are notably
different than anything else on the market today.
The Gamevy team truly understands the lottery
player and the new challenges which lotteries face
as they struggle to stay relevant and exciting.”
Through their strategic partnership, NLS and
Gamevy will bring new content to lotteries,
providing a range of interactive instant win and
digital scratch games.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P19

NORTH AMERICA
le Comité Spécial du Sénat brésilien vient
d'approuver une nouvelle législation relative aux
jeux d'argent. L'ébauche de loi est une version mise
à jour et modifiée de manière significative de la loi
rédigée par le sénateur Ciro Nogueira en 2014.
D'après les informations fournies par le Sénat, elle
va dorénavant être soumise au vote.
Storm International vient de vendre sa filiale
mexicaine située à Monterrey, Storm International
South America (SILA). Celle-ci a ouvert ses portes
en 2009 et compte 2 complexes, hollywood I et
hollywood II, avec un total de 1000 machines à
sous. Ni le montant de la vente ni le nom de l'acheteur
n'ont été divulgués.
le président de la Cour administrative
suprême de République Dominicaine vient de
reporter la requête des riverains locaux qui s'opposent
à l'ouverture du hard Rock hotel & Casino
actuellement en construction à Saint-Domingue, la
capitale.
Merkur gaming vient de confirmer la création
d'une nouvelle entreprise qui cherche des locaux
disponibles pour s'installer dans la ville de Buenos
Aires, en Argentine. L'entreprise a déclaré vouloir
ouvrir un nouveau bureau argentin début 2017 et
ses initiatives innovantes ainsi que son excellence
pourront bénéficier à l'un des pays les plus
dynamiques d'Amérique Latine en termes de jeux.
le gouvernement colombien s'apprête à
bloquer les sites de paris sportifs internationaux qui
opèrent en Colombie sans aucune autorisation
officielle suite à une décision du Comité colombien
de contrôle des jeux (Coljuegos).
Sun dreams poursuit son projet d'expansion
en Amérique Latine après avoir conclu un accord
de prêt de 150 millions de dollars US avec la BCI, la
BBVA, la Banco Estado et la Banco de Chile.
le président du Conseil de Ténériffe Carlos
Alonso a affirmé que le rapport d'évaluation sur la
valeur des trois casinos existants de l'île sera bientôt
rendu public afin de procéder à leur vente. Le
représentant a déclaré que le rapport serait prêt au
plus tard à la fin de cette année et que son but est
de se préparer "aussi vite que possible" pour un
appel d'offres.
les propriétaires du Tigre de Cristal, le plus
grand casino de la zone de loisirs intégrée située
dans la région du Primorié près de Vladivostok, va
investir 500 millions de dollars US dans le
développement de la Phase 2 du projet.
Fininvest, le distributeur d'egT en Slovénie,
vient de terminer trois nouvelles installations avec
l'opérateur local hit Group. L'entreprise, qui gère
plus de 210 tables de jeux et 3300 machines à
sous, continue à faire confiance aux produits du
fabricant bulgare, produits déjà approuvés avec
succès sur le marché.
le groupe SynoT basé en République
Tchèque poursuit avec succès ses opérations sur le
marché asiatique après l'ouverture d'un second
casino au Vietnam, dans la province de Nha Trang.
Vote Shuts down new nJ Casino Plans
New Jersey has voted against the introduction of two new casinos in two
Northern counties, near New York City, in a move welcomed by the existing seven
casinos in Atlantic City
The Atlantic City casino industry
breathes a sigh of relief over a
failed attempt to open two new
casinos north of the city
new JerSey CASINO OPERATIONS
New Jersey has voted against the introduction of
two new casinos in two Northern counties, near
New York City, in a move welcomed by the
existing seven casinos in Atlantic City.
Atlantic City’s struggling casinos had warned
that new in-state competition would have
forced three to five of the city’s casinos to close.
The two additional casinos would have been at
least 72 miles north of Atlantic City.
Morris Bailey, owner of Atlantic City’s Resorts
casino, commented that the vote was ‘an
important step to our return to becoming a
world-class resort.’
Debra DiLorenzo, Chairwoman of the No North
Jersey Casinos Coalition, added: “We are grateful
to the voters of New Jersey, who by soundly
defeating this constitutional amendment, spoke
loudly and clearly that gaming belongs in
Atlantic City, period. The coalition will remain
active over the next election cycle to continue
the dialogue on why the expansion of gaming to
North Jersey is a bad idea for our state.”
Massachusetts wants
recommendations for
online by June 2017
US
The Massachusetts Legislature
has launched a review into the
legalisation and regulation of
online gaming and daily
fantasy sports (DFS). The
initiative is being led by
Representative Joseph Wagner
and Senator Eileen Donoghue
who will analyse points such
as ‘economic development,
consumer protection, taxation,
legal and regulatory structures,
implications for existing
gaming, burdens and benefits
to the commonwealth and any
other factors the commission
deems relevant.’
The Special Commission on
Online Gaming, Fantasy Sports
Gaming, and Daily Fantasy
Sports convened for the first
time on October 31 in Boston. It
plans to meet every four to six
weeks to research and
investigate internet gambling
and DFS. Mr. Wagner said: “It is
one of those subject matters
that seems to capture the
attention of the public and
public policymakers, and so
we’re going to give it a pretty
good look.”
Steve Crosby, Chairman of the
Massachusetts Gaming
Commission, will also take
part in the study, along with
other contributors selected by
officials. Mr. Crosby has
previously said: “If they could
craft a bill, which incorporated
regulatory priorities,
fundamental values, whatever,
that could be applied to all of
these games, e-sports, daily
fantasy sports, online poker,
whatever all the new ones are,
maybe then they could give it
to some agency to implement,
and the agency does the grunt
work every six months making
it apply to whatever the new
technology is.”
The final report, which will
include recommendations for
legislation, will be submitted
by July 31, 2017.
Reebok CEO Paul Fireman and developer Jeff
Gural, who funded the campaign Our Turn NJ,
said they were ‘disappointed but not surprised.’
They had proposed building casinos at Jersey
City and the Meadowlands Racetrack.
They said in a statement: “We do not view the
failure to pass Question No. 1 as a rejection of
gaming expansion but as a rejection of our
state’s current political climate and a failure to
have all the facts presented to them. New Jersey
has to start from the beginning on gaming
expansion. What the people of this state need to
see is a transparent, competitive plan that
outlines in full detail how gaming expansion
would work.”
However some lawmakers are already
proposing that racetracks at the Meadowlands
in East Rutherford and Monmouth Park in
Oceanport could circumnavigate the vote by
bidding to launch Video Lottery Terminals
which could be classed as a product of the
already-legal state lottery.
US
IGT has acquired certain assets
including several patents and
other intellectual property from
Leap Forward Gaming. The
purchase relates to LFG’s
SaffariNet Patron Display
Interface (PDI) picture-inpicture
multimedia ecosystem
technology. IGT also agreed to
dismiss its litigation with LFG.
“This acquisition builds upon
IGT’s intellectual property
portfolio by enabling us to
broaden the scope of our casino
management systems
solutions,” said Victor Duarte,
IGT Global CPO, Gaming. “The
acquired system-agnostic assets
include applications and
technologies that are
complementary to IGT’s existing
solutions, and may help us to
enhance our offerings to
customers over time.”
SaffariNet Patron Display
Interface picture-in-picture
multimedia ecosystem
technology works with gaming
machines and systems.
P20 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

NORTH AMERICA
grosvenor Casinos vient de se lancer dans
les paris sportifs en ligne avec la création de
Grosvenor Sport, un site sur lequel les consommateurs
peuvent parier sur leurs sports préférés en
suivant les événements dans l'un des 53 casinos
Grosvenor ou depuis n'importe quel site du Royaume-Uni.
Après un lancement discret cet été, la
sortie officielle du service s'est déroulée en novembre,
juste à temps pour le match
Angleterre-Écosse.
le new Jersey vient de voter contre l'installation
de deux nouveaux casinos dans deux comtés du
nord situés près de la ville de New York. Ce refus a
été salué par les sept casinos d'Atlantic City déjà en
activité. Les casinos d'Atlantic City, actuellement en
difficulté financière, ont alerté sur le fait que l'arrivée
d'une nouvelle concurrence pousserait trois à cinq
d'entre eux à fermer leurs portes. Les deux nouveaux
casinos auraient été situés à au moins une
centaine de kilomètres au nord d'Atlantic City.
IgT vient d'acquérir certains biens dont plusieurs
brevets et d'autres droits de propriété intellectuelle
de Leap Forward Gaming. L'achat concerne la technologie
écosystème multimédia Picture-in-picture,
le SaffariNet Patron Display Interface (PDI) de LFG.
IGT a également décidé de mettre fin aux litiges qui
le liait à LFG.
las Vegas Sands vient de faire part de ses projets
d'extension pour son complexe casino Sands
Bethlehem situé à Bethlehem, en Pennsylvanie,
pour un montant de 90 millions de dollars US. La
construction devrait débuter au cours du premier
trimestre 2017. L'extension comptera une nouvelle
surface de jeux de plus de 1000 sièges ainsi qu'un
espace restaurant supplémentaire, des toilettes
publiques et d'autres installations logistiques.
les toutes premières machines de jeux
d'argent vidéo basées sur les compétences (VGM)
créées par GameCo sont dorénavant installées et
opérationnelles au harrah's Atlantic City. Les VGM
ont été lancés dans l'ensemble des locaux du Caesars
Atlantic City, avec 21 machines réparties entre
le Caesars, le harrah’s Resort et le Bally’s Wild Wild
West.
avec la reprise du projet de casino qui avait été
interrompu au Japon, MGM Resorts a déclaré être
prêt à investir 10 milliards de dollars US dans un
complexe casino de grande échelle si les jeux d'argent
devenaient légaux dans ce pays. Une réunion
du comité parlementaire qui s'est tenue à Tokyo le
mois dernier vient de relancer l'espoir qu'une loi soit
votée d'ici la fin de l'année.
Steve Wynn, propriétaire de Wynn Resorts,
regrette que le nouveau complexe Wynn Palace
Resort à Macao n'attire pas les gros parieurs tandis
que les projets d'infrastructure de l'entreprise
enregistrent une perte nette de 17,4 millions de
dollars US au troisième trimestre.
le Casino 36, installé à Wolverhampton,
dans les Midlands britanniques, et dont le coût
s'élève à 7,6 millions de livres sterling, vient de
devenir le premier des huit petits casinos autorisés
à ouvrir ses portes suite au vote de la Loi sur les
jeux (Gambling Act) de 2005.
bClC Select delta as home for new Casino
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) has selected Delta in Greater
Vancouver as the location for a future casino project south of Fraser River
A new casino project has been
identified by the BCLC with the
relocation of an existing licence to
a new location in Greater
Vancouver
cAnADA NEW OPERATIONS
The British Columbia Lottery Corporation
(BCLC) has selected Delta in Greater Vancouver
as the location for a future casino project south
of Fraser River.
The licence will be relocated from the Newton
Community Gaming Centre. Gateway Casinos &
Entertainment Ltd., the private-sector service
provider of the Newton Community Gaming
Centre, would own or lease the potential
gambling facility in Delta on BCLC’s behalf, and
operate it on a day-to-day basis.
BCLC has concluded its Expression of Interest
(EOI) process in the South of the Fraser market
area and has selected the Corporation of Delta
as the preferred host local government for a
potential new gambling and entertainment
facility. On June 1, 2016, BCLC invited Delta, the
City of Surrey and Tsawwassen First Nation
(TFN) to express interest in hosting a potential
gambling and entertainment facility. Delta and
TFN responded with interest; Surrey declined.
Overseen by a third-party fairness monitor,
BCLC’s evaluation committee selected Delta
Sands Bethlehem
applies to add an extra
1,000 gaming spaces
US
Las Vegas Sands has
announced plans for a $90m
casino expansion at its Sands
Bethlehem casino resort in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
With construction expected to
begin in the first quarter of
2017, the expansion will add a
new gaming floor and more
than 1,000 new gaming seats,
along with additional
restaurant space, public
restrooms and further back of
house facilities. The footprint
expansion is approximately
59,200sq.ft. and a total gross
floor area expansion of almost
100,000.
“We are proud to continue with
our commitment towards
reinvestment in the property
by making this significant
addition,” said Mark Juliano,
president of Sands Bethlehem.
“With our outstanding gaming,
entertainment and dining
options Sands Bethlehem will
continue to be one of the
Northeast’s premiere gaming
and entertainment
destinations.”
Sands Bethlehem has had
several major changes in 2016;
Buddy V’s Ristorante and
Emeril’s Fish House opened in
the spring, Infusion lounge was
removed to make way for the
nation’s largest stadium-style
electronic table games, and the
hotel underwent an all-room
renovation, including the
addition of the Chairman’s
Lounge & Suites located on the
15th floor.
The casino expansion is
proposed within the existing
parking lot located to the north
of the casino. The existing
parking lot will be reduced in
size, however parking will be
provided within the casino
property as well as the
recently constructed parking
lot near the Hoover Mason
Trestle.
based on a variety of factors including strong
market potential, community plans and
transportation access.
The potential gambling facility in Delta would be
a relocation of Surrey’s Newton Community
Gaming Centre, which would be expanded to
include more gambling and entertainment
options.
A spokesperson at BCLC said: “While Delta has
suggested the Delta Town and Country Inn as a
potential location, BCLC has determined that it
is not a suitable location due to its distance from
the identified market opportunity and its
proximity to the River Rock Casino Resort. In
collaboration with Gateway, BCLC will
determine a more suitable location that,
combined with size and scope details, will form
a gaming facility proposal for Delta’s
consideration. BCLC respects the authority of
local governments to choose whether they want
a gambling facility in their community and will
only consider pursuing development in
communities where local governments indicate
interest.”
US
DEQ Systems Corp. has
confirmed that its
shareholders have approved a
special resolution authorising
the previously announced
plan of arrangement pursuant
to which SG Canada
Acquisitions, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Scientific Games
Corporation, will acquire all of
the outstanding common
shares in the capital of DEQ for
a cash payment of CDN$0.38
per common share of DEQ.
The special resolution, which
required the approval of at
least two-thirds of the votes
cast by shareholders, was
approved by 96.49 per cent of
the votes cast by shareholders.
It is anticipated that the
transaction will be completed
in the fourth quarter of 2016 or
the first quarter of 2017
following the satisfaction or
waiver of all the conditions of
closing, including among other
things, receipt of the Court’s
approval.
P22 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

harrah’s launches Skill-based World First
The world’s first skill-based video game gambling machines (VGM) created by
GameCo, are now up and running at Harrah’s Atlantic City
NORTH AMERICA
GameCo has committed to New
Jersey as the first market to
launch its skill-based VGMs and
plans new jurisidictions in the
next six months
new JerSey CASINO INSTALLATIONS
The world’s first skill-based video game
gambling machines (VGM) created by GameCo,
are now up and running at Harrah’s Atlantic
City. VGMs launched at all Caesars Atlantic City
properties, with 21 machines operating at
Caesars, Harrah’s Resort, and Bally’s Wild Wild
West. The premier game, titled Danger Arena is a
first-person action video game in which player
skill determines the payout. This is the first
skill-based video game gambling product ever
approved by any regulator in the US.
“I spent my summers growing up playing video
games at the arcade on the Boardwalk in
Atlantic City. It’s a unique honour to be bringing
the first-ever skill-based video game gambling
products to launch in Atlantic City with Caesars
Entertainment,” said GameCo co-founder and
CEO Blaine Graboyes. “Our goal is to create a
VIP experience for gamers and the casino is the
perfect destination. We envision a bright,
revitalised future in Atlantic City as a new
generation of gamers find their way here.”
GameCo and Caesars share a vision to create a
destination for the future of casino customers,
combining the entertainment, engagement and
Canada
Elements Casino in British
Columbia will be the first casino
& racetrack in Canada to host
and co-present the inaugural
eSports Street Fighter V
Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 3,
2016.
The event will officially launch
the Grand Opening of the
Elements eSports Lounge, home
to all future eSports activities,
tournaments and events in
British Columbia. eSports is
commonly known as electronic
sports or competitive video
gaming that is played by
individuals, teams or
professionals and is often
accompanied by a large viewing
audience. There are five key
genres that make up the bulk of
video games that are often
referred to as eSports: firstperson-shooter
(FPS), real-time
strategy (RTS), multiplayer
online battle arena (MOBA),
fighting games and sports
simulation.
excitement of video games, esports, and
gambling. The VGMs will be set up in high traffic,
prominent locations in all three Caesars
properties, with three triple-unit carousels at
Harrah’s Resort, two at Caesars, and two at
Bally’s Wild Wild West.
“Caesars is excited to celebrate the launch of the
world’s first skill-based video game gaming
machines at Caesars, Harrah’s Resort and Bally’s
Atlantic City,” said Kevin Ortzman, President of
Caesars and Bally’s, and Rick Mazer, President
of Harrah’s Resort, in a joint statement. “The
debut of these innovative machines, exclusively
at Caesars resorts in Atlantic City, further
positions us as a destination of choice for both
loyal customers, and the next generation of
customers alike.”
GameCo’s proprietary VGM is an arcade-style
video game cabinet and controller. Each VGM
features a single-player game, generally 45-90
seconds to play, adapted from console, PC, and
mobile developers. GameCo committed to New
Jersey as the first market to launch its VGM, and
plans to be in a number of additional gaming
jurisdictions within the next six months.
US
Scientific up seven per cent in third quarter
Scientific Games reported an increase in revenue of seven per cent for the
third quarter ended September 30, taking its total to $720m.
Revenue growth included an 81 per cent increase in social gaming and a 22
per cent increase in gaming machine sales. Gaming machine sales revenue
grew 22 per cent, due to a 1,705-unit increase in global shipments to 7,960
units and an increase in average sales price to $16,824 per unit.
Contributing to the increased shipments were higher sales of the Pro
Series WAVE, TwinStar and Dualos cabinets. US and Canadian shipments
increased 10 percent to 4,022 units, comprising 3,033 replacement units
and 989 units for new casino openings and expansions (including 245
Illinois VGT units). International shipments increased 52 percent to 3,938
units, including 945 units for new casino openings and expansions, with
notable year-over-year growth in Asia, Australia and South America.
Kevin Sheehan, CEO and President, said: “Scientific Games is focused on
building momentum. The dedicated efforts of our employees combined
with the benefits that our products and technology solutions deliver to our
gaming, lottery and interactive customers and players led to year-overyear
increases in revenue, AEBITDA and free cash flow. The breadth and
depth of our new products showcased at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E)
and National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL)
tradeshows demonstrate our commitment to innovation and solutions that
help our customers more fully engage with their players to create growth.
With the most comprehensive portfolio of solutions available to the
gaming and lottery industries, we continue to raise the bar with new
products that help our customers grow revenue and generate profitable
returns on their investment.”
US – Golden Nugget Casinos will offer slot
machines, themed after the hit CNBC show, Billion
Dollar Buyer starring Tilman Fertitta, the company’s
Chairman and CEO. Exclusively at Golden Nugget
Casinos in Las Vegas, Laughlin, Atlantic City, Biloxi,
and Lake Charles, the new slot machines offer
players the chance to strike a deal with the Billion
Dollar Buyer. Players can relive the excitement of
the show as they play for a chance to win up to
10,000 credits with this thrilling three-reel, five-line
Billion Dollar Buyer themed Double Jackpot Triple
Blazing 7’s slot machine.
“I’ve really enjoyed being a part of the show and
having an impact on these small businesses,” said
Mr. Fertitta. “Starting a business is always a gamble,
and I had to find a way to commemorate this
experience at my casinos. Now players can win big
against the Billion Dollar Buyer at any of the Golden
Nugget properties.”
CNBC’s “Billion Dollar Buyer” returns for its second
season this month with 12 new episodes. The
primetime show introduces promising small
businesses across the country to one of America’s
most successful businessmen. Mr. Fertitta
personally scouts the country for the most
innovative new products America’s entrepreneurs
have to offer.
US – A federal judge has ruled that the Seminole
Tribe of Florida can continue to operate blackjack
tables at its casinos bringing to an end a year long
legal battle. US District Judge Robert hinkle has
allowed the tribe to keep the tables for another 14
years because state regulators allowed dog and
horse tracks to put in card games that mimicked
what the tribe offered.
Judge hinkle said: “The order declares that the
exception has been triggered — that the tribe may
conduct banked card games for the compact’s 20-
year term. This would take the deal up to and
including 2030. The judge added that state
regulators were at fault by allowing dog and horse
tracks to operate card games that mimicked ones
that were supposed to be exclusive to tribe-owned
casinos over five years. he said the tribe’s monopoly
had been ‘easily evaded.’
Seminole tribe officials applauded the court’s
decision saying it would guarantee jobs at the
casinos.
“The Seminole Tribe is very pleased with Judge
hinkle’s ruling and is carefully reviewing it,” said
Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the Seminoles. “The
tribe believes the ruling provides for its future
stability and ensures 3,600 Seminole Gaming
employees will keep their jobs.”
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P23

ASIA & OCEANIA
MgM outpacing Mass Market in Macau
MGM China reported a revenue increase of 11 per cent for the second quarter,
taking revenue to HK$3.9bn, and with mass gaming accounting for nearly
80 per cent of the group’s profit
Mass market spike helps MGM
China to report 11 per cent second
quarter revenue increase to
HK$3.9bn
chinA CASINO OPERATIONS
JAPAN – With the stalled casino process now
seemingly back on track in Japan, MGM Resorts has
said it would be willing to invest US$10bn on a
large-scale casino resort in Japan if gambling is
legalised. A parliamentary committee meeting held
in Tokyo last month has helped propel the optimism
that legislation could be in place by the end of the
year. At a meeting in November, MGM CEO James
Murren highlighted Tokyo, Yokohama or Osaka as
potential sites for casino development.
“We think there would be a tremendous amount of
demand, and ultimately a public listing of these
types of Japanese resorts would be very appealing,”
Mr. Murren said in an interview with Reuters.
he added that a REIT could be the best way forward
with an MGM-controlled operating company
responsible for expenses and investment paying
rent to a property company owned by private
investors and domestic and foreign companies.
“That could be an interesting way to expand the
level of involvement, as there are many investors
who are risk averse and looking for yield and others
who are more risk tolerant,” Mr Murren said. he
believed that a resort in Tokyo, Osaka or Yokohama
could be built by 2022 to 23.
The renewed optimism has been sparked by
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe move to appoint
three officials who are proponents of the casino bill
to top level positions within the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party. Toshino Nikai, secretary-general;
hiroyuki hosoda, General Council chairman; and
Toshimitsu Motegi, policy chief, have now confirmed
their intention to try and pass the bill during this
current parliamentary session, which ends on
November 30. With the LDP now claiming an
overall majority in upper and lower houses of
parliament, there is growing optimism that the bill
could be passed if it comes to a vote.
Over 20 localities in Japan showed interest in
hosting casino resorts, which would also include
hotels, convention facilities, retail, theme parks and
entertainment facilities with support particularly
strong in Osaka and Yokohama. With time running
out for casinos to be put in place in time for the
2020 Olympic Games, and despite predictions they
could generate $40bn a year, they could now be
sidestepped altogether. MGM Resorts rival
operators Las Vegas Sands Corp, Wynn Resorts
and Caesars Entertainment had all been optimistic
that the Prime Minister Abe would be able to pave
the way to integrated resorts in 2014 and 2015 but
discussions failed to make the parliamentary
sessions. Kotaro Tamura, a Milken Institute fellow,
went as far as to say: “This time, it’s 100 per cent
happening.”
MGM China reported a revenue increase of 11 per
cent for the second quarter, taking revenue to
HK$3.9bn, and with mass gaming accounting
for nearly 80 per cent of the group’s profit. The
Group’s EBITDA margin grew to 33 per cent for
the Period as a result of business mix and cost
management, a 350bps improvement from in
the second quarter.
For the period, main floor table games win
increased by 13 per cent sequentially, compared
to Macau mass market growth of approximately
eight per cent. Hotel rooms at MGM Macau
achieved an occupancy rate of 95.7 per cent
during the period.
VIP table games win increased by three per cent
sequentially. VIP table games turnover was
increased by five per cent in line of the market.
VIP table games win percentage was three per
cent compared to 3.1 per cent in the second
quarter.
Grant Bowie, Chief Executive Officer and
Executive Director of MGM China said:
“Operating efficiency is a core strategy as we
Rail system
construction knocks
Wynn off track
Macau
Wynn Resorts owner Steve
Wynn has blamed a lack of
high rollers at its new Wynn
Palace Resort in Macau along
with ongoing city
infrastructure projects for the
company posting a net loss of
$17.4m in the third quarter.
Wynn Palace will be the first
stop on a new citywide light
rail transportation system from
Macau International Airport.
But as construction continues
on the train line, Wynn says his
venue is paying a price.
“I didn’t realise how critical the
blockade was until I tried to
cross the street,” Mr. Wynn
said. “You take your life into
your own hands when you try
to cross the street with all the
traffic.”
Wynn Palace generated
$146.7m in revenue during the
40 days it was open in the third
quarter. Referring to a lack of
high rollers at the new venue,
Mr Wynn said: “Eagles don’t
flock, you got to catch them
one at a time.”
Wynn Macau was also down
though reporting net revenue
of $518.1m, an 11.5 percent
decrease from the third quarter
in 2015. Overall for the
company, net revenues were
$1.11bn for the third quarter of
2016, an increase of 11.4 per
cent, or $113.5m.
The increase was the result of
$164.6m from Wynn Palace
and an increase of $15.9m from
Wynn’s Las Vegas Operations,
partially offset by a decrease of
$67m from Wynn Macau.
Net revenues from Wynn’s Las
Vegas Operations were
$427.1m for the third quarter of
2016, a 3.9 per cent increase
from $411.2m for the same
period of 2015.
continue to demonstrate over the years. We
focus on customer acquisition both on mass
gaming and non-gaming leisure business,
continue to drive operational excellence and to
develop our shared capabilities. The Group
continues to see stability in the main-floor
business. We are undergoing a remodelling of
main floor at MGM Macauto pursue
diversification including creating additional
retail space and upgrading our food and
beverage experiences.”
“We continue to move full steam ahead with the
construction of MGM Cotai,” he added. “The
MGM brand resonates with visitors worldwide,
and we are highly focused on growing our
customer database and infrastructure to ensure
success when we open our second resort in this
dynamic marketplace in the second quarter of
2017. The budget remains approximately
HK$24bn. MGM Cotai is a first of its kind
integrated resort with technology and
entertainment offerings. We believe it will be
well received by the market and we are
confident to capture the growth opportunities of
Macau.”
Taiwan
BetConstruct has now opened
its new office in Taichung,
Taiwan, bringing it closer to its
existing and future partners in
Asia. The company has been
working in the region for a few
years and it has been
BetConstruct’s intention to
expand its local presence for
some time and the new office in
Taiwan have presented the ideal
opportunity.
Lichun Hsiao, Head of the BC
regional office in Asia, said: “We
have comprehensive gaming
products and services, 24/7
technical support and allembracing
marketing tools,
which means our partners in the
region will have all the
necessary tools and assistance.”
“Our Asian office is dedicated to
offering intuitive and localised
service for partners in Asia. Such
approach will eliminate the
language barrier and, most
importantly, lead to fast and
responsive support,” he added.
P24 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

ASIA & OCEANIA
MGM has opened the Diaoyutai
Hotel Hangzhou, a luxury
162-room hotel as the company
increases its footprint in China
MACAU – SJM holdings has reported gaming
revenue of hK$9,992m for the three months
ended 30 September, representing a year-on-year
decrease of 11.1 per cent. VIP gaming revenue was
down 19.1 per cent to hK$4,403m whilst mass
market gaming revenue was down 3.8 per cent to
hK$5,317m. Slot machine and Tombola revenue
was hK$272m, a decrease of 0.1 per cent from
hK$272m. however the group posted a 80.2 per
cent profit increase to hKD513m (US$66.2m) due
to an impairment loss of hKD250m in last year’s
corresponding period.
Revenue at the Group’s flagship Casino Grand
Lisboa was hK$3,130m, a decrease of 11.6 per
cent from Q3 2015, whilst its Adjusted EBITDA was
hK$410m, a decrease of 19.3 per cent. The Group’s
gaming revenues accounted for 18.7 per cent of
Macau’s casino gaming market during Q3 2016, as
compared with 21.3 per cent in Q3 2015.
Dr. Ambrose So, Chief Executive Officer of SJM
holdings Limited, commented, “SJM’s operating
margin improved in the third quarter due to
stabilising gaming revenue in Macau and the
impact of our cost-controlling measures. We are
also pleased to note a sequential-quarter increase
in SJM’s gaming revenue, led by mass market
operations. During the third quarter we completed
the renovation of the lobby and hotel rooms at the
Grand Lisboa, and the Jai Alai complex is due to
reopen around the end of the year. We continue to
make substantial progress on construction of the
Grand Lisboa Palace, and we are optimistic about
SJM’s future and the future of Macau as a world
centre of tourism and leisure.”
CHINA – Macau casino operator Galaxy
Entertainment Group reported a 28 per cent
increase in third-quarter net profit, as its
investment in non-gaming projects helped attract
visitors. Profit for the quarter ended September
came in at hK$2.7bn ($348.13m) marking its best
performance in two years. Revenue increased by
five per cent to hK$12.9bn. Gross Gaming Revenue
increased by just one per cent year-on-year to
hKD53.4bn in Q3 2016 but hotel occupancy across
the group’s portfolio was 98 per cent or higher.
Dr. Lui Che Woo, Chairman of GEG said: “We
believe that the market trend towards mass has
continued with total mass GGR now exceeding VIP
GGR. Total visitor arrivals in Q3 this year grew
marginally by 0.1 per cent year-on-year to 8.1m
and the average length of stay of visitors grew by
0.1 day year-on-year to 1.3 days. Importantly in Q3
2016 overnight visitors grew by nine per cent to
4.2m due most likely to the opening of additional
hotel rooms. Overnight visitors typically spend more
on high margin non-gaming services.”
chinA CORPORATE NEWS
MgM extends its brand into hangzhou
MGM Resorts is growing its brand in China with
the opening of the Diaoyutai Hotel Hangzhou
via its joint venture, Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality,
with Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
The Diaoyutai Hotel Hangzhou is a 162-room
luxury hotel owned by Oceanwide Holdings, the
prominent Chinese enterprise, located in
Zhejiang, east China.
The grand opening ceremony for the Hotel was
attended by Ambassador Zhang Junsai, Director
General of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse; Jim
Murren, Chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts
International; Bill Hornbuckle, President of
MGM Resorts International and Bill Scott, who
is Executive Director and General Manager of
Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality.
Ambassador Zhang said: “We are very pleased
to announce the opening of the Diaoyutai Hotel
Hangzhou, which adds to our cooperation with
MGM Resorts. We are excited about both the
Hotel and the growth of Diaoyutai MGM.”
Jim Murren said: “We are thrilled to participate
Vietnam
Synot Group opens second Vietnam casino
Czech-based SYNOT Group has successfully continued its operations in
the Asian market having opened its second casino in Vietnam, in the
province of Nha Trang. The ceremonial opening in November was attended
by business group director SYNOT, Miroslav Valenta ml. "We have opened
a luxury casino in Nha Trang, equipped with our latest gaming technology
- the video lottery terminals brand, SYNOT VLT system and roulette,"
stated Mr. Valenta, adding that the plan is to cooperate in the marketplace
with other local casinos.
SYNOT’s first casino opened in Vietnam at the end of last year in the
province of Nghe An, and in addition to building its gaming presence in the
country, Synot is also interested in expanding its investments in tourism,
just as it has done in numerous markets in which the company currently
operates. Mr. Valenta explained: "We are pleased with our expansion in the
Asian marketplace, for which we have long strived, it has been very
successful and we look forward to continuing our growth. In the future, we
would like to expand our focus to include additional countries in the East
Asian region.”
in the Diaoyutai Hangzhou, and we look
forward to opening the Bellagio by MGM
Shanghai and Diaoyutai Frankfurt through
Diaoyutai MGM next year. The joint venture
shows great promise and reflects our strong
relationship.”
Bill Scott said, “Diaoyutai MGM is committed to
building high quality, luxury international hotels
and residences under all of our brands, and we
believe that the Diaoyutai Hotel Hangzhou is an
important achievement that will help us grow
our company.”
Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality is a unique joint
venture between Diaoyutai State Guesthouse of
China, the Chinese Government’s highest
standard service venue for hosting foreign
heads of state visiting China, and MGM Resorts
International, the top global luxury hotel group.
The company is committed to combining the
brand advantages of its parent companies to
create unique luxury hotel, residence, retail and
entertainment experiences. Our mission is to
create innovative and welcoming experiences
for our customers and guests.
China
Sands has reported that
adjusted property EBITDA in
Macau increased 15.3 per
cent to $628.5m in the third
quarter with the new Parisian
Macao casino contributing
just over $19m of adjusted
property EBITDA since
opening on September 13.
GGR for Sands China
increased 3.6 per cent to
$1.72bn in the third quarter
of 2016, compared to
$1.66bn in the third quarter
of 2015. Marina Bay Sands
generated revenue of
$762.6m and adjusted
property EBITDA of
$390.7m. Marina Bay Sands
in Singapore continues to
attract visitors from across
the region to Singapore.
Consistent mass win-perday
of $4.8m and strength in
non-gaming revenues,
including a 10.4 per cent
increase in RevPAR, and
higher win percentage in the
rolling gaming segment
contributed to an adjusted
property EBITDA
performance of $390.7m, up
0.3 per cent compared to the
same quarter last year.
P26 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

landing buys genting’s Share of Jeju
Genting Singapore has sold it share in the US$1.8bn Resorts World Jeju
integrated casino project destined for Jeju Island in South Korea
ASIA & OCEANIA
Landing International takes over
Genting’s Resorts World Jeju
project in South Korea, acquiring
full rights to the resort
development for US$420m
SouTh KoreA CASINO OPERATIONS
Genting Singapore has sold it share in the
US$1.8bn Resorts World Jeju integrated casino
project destined for Jeju Island in South Korea to
its long-term partner in the project, Landing
International, for $420m. No announcement has
yet be made on whether the project will retain
its original name of Resorts World Jeju, which is
a brand owned and developed by Genting.
The deal has been completed through Genting
Singapore subsidiary Algona Private Limited
who has sold its 100 per cent share in Callisto
Business Limited to Landing.
Callisto Business owned 50 per cent of Landing
Jeju Development Company Limited, which is
developing Resorts World Jeju. Genting said it
was selling its interests in the project to
concentrate on its casino in Singapore and also
to keep funds reserved for potential gaming
developments in Japan. It revealed the deal
represented a ‘modest gain’ with its total
investment in Callisto Business Limited
amounting to $380.76m.
Landing International currently owns and
operates two gaming clubs, namely Les
Ambassadeurs Club in London, United Kingdom
and Landing Casino in Jeju.
Landing Casino is a distinguished gaming club
located in the five-star Hyatt Regency Jeju Hotel
in Jeju, Korea. It offers its customers an
exquisitely decorated gaming floor and several
PAGCOR confirms 25
online gaming licences
will be issued
Philippines
PAGCOR, the Philippine
Amusement and Gaming
Corporation, has confirmed it
will offer 25 online gaming
licenses in its first batch with
76 companies so far registering
their interest.
Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer Andrea Domingo said
the first licence would only
run for a year with the first
three to six months allowing
PAGCOR time to study online
gaming activity.
The licensees will be entitled
Philippine offshore gaming
operators and will be allowed
to offer casino games through
the Internet to foreigners aged
over 21 years who are based
abroad. Foreigners staying in
the Philippines and Filipinos
residing abroad will not be
permitted to play.
Online casino applications
have cost $50,000 whilst
applications for sports betting
have cost $40,000. Successful
applicants must then pay
$200,000 for an e-casino
license and $150,000 for a
sports betting license.
PhilWeb Corp, whose licence
to operate e-games wasn’t
renewed in the build up to the
new legislation being released
is confident that it will be
themed gaming salons. Landing confirmed: “The
company has conditionally agreed to acquire
and Algona has conditionally agreed to sell, the
sale shares at a consideration of
USD380,760,000, representing the entire issued
share capital of Callisto, which, through its
direct wholly owned subsidiary, HBL, owns 50
per cent of the issued share capital of Landing
Jeju. Autumnglow is currently a 50 per cent
indirectly owned associate of the Company and
has been established by the Group and Genting
Singapore for managing and operating the hotel
establishment within the Jeju Project.”
Resorts World Jeju will be one of South Korea’s
largest integrated resorts, spanning across a land
area of approximately 2.5 million sq.m. Slated to
open progressively from 2017, RWJ will house
Jeju’s largest family theme park offering more
than 20 rides and attractions in 7 different zones
themed after myths and legends from all over
the world; Jeju’s largest adventure waterpark
and one of Korea’s most exciting themed retail
and food complexes. Its premium hotels will
have more than 2,000 rooms, boasting luxury
villas, Jeju Island’s first six-star hotel and a
destination spa. The hotels are equipped with
full meeting and conference facilities that are
suitable for hosting regional and international
meetings, incentives, conventions and events
(MICE). In addition, there will be gaming
entertainment; cultural facilities, leisure and
entertainment amenities.The development is
expected to be completed by 2019.
awarded one of the initial
licences.
New PhilWeb Chaiman
Gregorio Araneta. Said that
regaining a licence from
PAGCOR was ‘already in
progress’ with a relaunch
expected before the end of
2016, allowing its 5,000
employees to go back to work.
PAGCOR has just announced
that the first nine months of
the year generated P35.22bn in
revenues, marking a 9.81 per
cent increase, up from
P32.07bn for the period last
year.
Revenue from gaming
operations increased by 17 per
cent to P38.13bn for the year
so far to the end of September.
NEPAL – Silver heritage has confirmed that Tiger
Palace Resort, Bhairahawa, will open in Nepal, close
to the border in India in February 2017. In a
construction update, the operator said that
Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing works were 90
per cent complete and that an interior fit out was 65
per cent complete. nternal brickwork and roofing of
the hotel is 98 per cent complete. The 100,000m.
sq. project will boast 100 five-star hotel rooms, a
spa, tennis courts, gym, conference hall, meeting
rooms, wedding facilities, six F&B outlets, retail and
a 2,471m. sq. casino with 52 tables and 200
electronic gaming machines. In the update, Silver
heritage added that its research highlighted a target
market of 15.5m middle and upper class Indians
within a six-hour drive along with 215m people in
the bordering state in India.
The first phase of the project will cost US$40m.
Silver heritage has appointed Enrico Dovadola,
formerly VP Casino Operations at MGM Macau, VP
Table Games at Melco-Crown, and most recently
Director of Gaming Operations at Grand ho Tram in
Vietnam, to the position of Casino Manager for Tiger
Palace Resort Bhairahawa. he has over 18 years of
casino operations experience in senior
management roles at Casino Resorts in Australia,
Macau, and Vietnam and brings a wealth of
knowledge and experience to Silver heritage Group.
Mr. Dovadola will be responsible for the planning, set
up, training, pre-operations and execution of all
facets of casino operations at Tiger Palace Resort
Bhairahawa in his role as Casino Manager.
CHINA – Poker Games Interactive LLC and LT
Game, a subsidiary of Paradise Entertainment, have
entered into a Macau distribution agreement to
create video poker games for LT Game’s Live
Multiple Game System which has live dealers,
supports multiple tables and has a terminal-based
multi-game selection system in Macau market.
Dragon Tail Poker is a new five card video poker
game that allows players to place bets on extra
replacement cards to increase their odds of a
winning hand. This new gameplay is based on Poker
Game Interactive LLC’s patent on game technique
and uses a touch screen design made specifically
for the LT Game LMG System.
“Poker Games Interactive is bringing us a unique
new way to play video poker” says Jay Chun,
Chairman and Managing Director of Paradise
Entertainment Limited. “LT Game is always trying
our best to keep introducing new games and
technologies to casino operators. We are excited to
introduce this video poker demo on our LMG
System and expect these games to complement
our existing baccarat games as we grow the
availability of our Stadiums setup in Macau.”
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P27

Insight
ScienTific GAmeS
Server Based Gaming
Bingo sector embraces game
changing server-based gaming
Phil horne,
Chief Executive Officer, SG Gaming
“The past year has been a great
example of how two businesses can
work together to first embed a new
server based gaming solution, and
then work in partnership to enhance
that offering realising its full
potential. I am very pleased to see
the success of this partnership
highlighted in the recent Rank Group
results of June 2016 where the
rollout of the server based gaming
machines was highlighted as a
contributing factor to the like-forlike
three per cent growth in Mecca
venue amusement machines.”
For SG Gaming, the
company’s biggest ever
rollout of a server based
solution to the bingo sector
provided the opportunity to
demonstrate how SG
Gaming delivers a leading
gaming solution and works
in partnership with
customers to help drive
cashbox revenue.
In summer 2015 SG Gaming, a division of Scientific Games, completed a
landmark rollout of its server based gaming solution across the Mecca Bingo
estate. Over a year on we look at how server based gaming in combination with
leading content and promotional functionality has contributed to the overall
machine gaming experience for the player and operator.
In summer 2015 SG Gaming, a division of Scientific
Games, completed a landmark rollout of its server
based gaming solution across the Mecca Bingo estate.
Over a year on we look at how server based gaming in
combination with leading content and promotional
functionality has contributed to the overall machine
gaming experience for the player and operator.
For SG Gaming, the company’s biggest ever rollout of a
server based solution to the bingo sector provided the
opportunity to demonstrate how SG Gaming delivers
a leading gaming solution and works in partnership
with customers to help drive cashbox revenue.
The rollout saw Clarity, T8 and Triple 7 terminals
installed across Mecca Bingo Clubs across the UK
from Scotland to the South coast. A year on the
terminals are now fully embedded, with Mecca
customers enjoying access to SG Gaming’s B3 and
Category C game titles, including popular titles such
as Rainbow Riches Party and Action Bank.
MAGNIFYING CHOICE
For Rod Runnalls, Slots Project Manager at Mecca, the
benefits of upgraded terminals, exciting content and a
supportive partnership with SG Gaming are clear.
“Our customers have more choice than ever before.
The depth and variety of B3 and Cat C content
available from SG Gaming is key to our gaming
machines business. Well known titles such as
Spartacus and Reel Em In from the Company’s
Barcrest, WMS and Bally gaming brands have proved
popular with our customer base,” Runnalls said.
Runnalls explained that, “In addition to the content
offering we introduced the Clarity terminal to our
customers with its interactive button panel which has
been a welcome addition to Mecca’s cabinet offering,
providing players access to great content and modern
technology.
Runnalls indicated that the promotional functionality
is one of the biggest benefits the server based system
provides to the Mecca Bingo venues. “Through various
tools including on terminal free plays, prize draws,
and machine tournaments, it has provided us with a
host of ways of adding value to the overall Mecca
experience.
“The functionality has also enabled us to help drive
customer retention and loyalty by providing a
consistent promotional offer which adds value to
customer experience as well as ultimately
contributing to overall cashbox performance”, he
added.
TRAVEL TICKET
Ticket-in, ticket-out (TITO) functionality and ticket
redemption stations were also introduced to Mecca
for the first time and has proven to be extremely
beneficial, providing significant operational
efficiencies through all Mecca venues. “TiTo
functionality offers real advantages. For players it
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ScienTific GAmeS
Server Based Gaming
enables winnings to be transferred from terminal to
terminal, easing the journey by allowing them to
move between our content and terminal offering
easily. While from an operational perspective, it has
proven to be much more time efficient for our teams
due to less cash handling in venue which ultimately
allows them to focus on delivering good customer
service,” Runnalls stated.
SPTLIGHTING NEW GAMES
So what made the last year such a success? Simple,
the close working relationship between both
companies didn’t stop at the delivery and installation
of the new terminals. Both SG Gaming and Mecca
have continued to work closely over the last year,
embedding operational efficiencies and looking for
ways to help to drive cash box performance.
SG Gaming and the Mecca slots team work together to
develop an exciting menu of content and promotional
plans designed to spotlight new games and
promotions. This ensures Mecca’s customers are
offered a bespoke playing experience based on
customer preferences.
Back office cashiers, installed in every Mecca venue,
allow club teams to monitor all networked machines
remotely – enabling quick responses to customer
queries and individual terminal monitoring. The
machines have been fully integrated with Mecca’s
accounting procedures and day-to-day operations,
allowing for ease of use by Mecca teams.
The ticket redemption stations in every venue have
now also been fully embedded into the overall
customer journey thanks to good integration by
Mecca staff and are now a part of their day to day
journey.
On the ground, SG Gaming’s helpdesk supported by
field-based engineers provide Mecca venues with
continual training and support, minimising downtime
and speedily resolving any potential issues.
DRIVING CASHBOX SUCCESS
Phil Horne, Chief Executive Officer of SG Gaming,
believes the success of the partnership is due to the
great working relationship between the two
companies and the flexibility of SG Gaming’s
networked solution.
“I am continually impressed by the close
collaboration of the SG Gaming and Mecca teams
involved in this partnership. Over the last year the
networked solution has seen significant operational
efficiencies introduced across the Mecca business. In
particular, it is great to see key insight and data
provided by SG Gaming being used to identify and
address areas of opportunity. The data capture and
promotional functionality offered by our networked
solution is key to driving cashbox success,” Horne
said. “With ongoing support available to Mecca from
SG Gaming’s dedicated account management team,
both companies predict the partnership will continue
to go from strength to strength.
Horne indicated that “the past year has been a great
example of how two businesses can work together to
first embed a new server based gaming solution, and
then work in partnership to enhance that offering
realising its full potential. I am very pleased to see the
success of this partnership highlighted in the recent
Rank Group results of June 2016 where the rollout of
the server based gaming machines was highlighted as
a contributing factor to the like-for-like three per cent
growth in Mecca venue amusement machines.
“We look forward to continuing the success for the
forthcoming years and continue to demonstrate how
an advanced server based gaming solution can work
in a bingo environment and add to the overall
consumer experience,” Horne concluded.
Following the rollout across 79
clubs in June 2015, Mecca has
seen an improved slots
performance, up three per cent in
the year on a like-for-like basis.
The TiTo functionality also allows
for lower cost promotional activity
and improved player tracking. In
addition, Grosvenor Casinos aims
to launch its first single account
and wallet offer in 2016/17 with
Mecca to follow shortly after.
In 2015-16, Mecca
refurbishments included seven
Mecca venues refurbished at a
total cost of £2.3m. A further
eight venues are scheduled for
refurbishment in 2016/17 at a
total cost of £2.1m. Next year
Mecca is set to introduce its new
concept bingo venues: A number
of locations have been identified
and are currently under planning
review. It is envisaged that the
first new club will open in the
course of 2016/17.
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P29

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
Dennis Byram
Compliance: delivering the right
answers in a timely fashion
Dennis byram,
Compliance Manager,
GLI Europe
originally hailing from reno,
nevada, Dennis byram has been in
the gaming business for 26 years,
having spent 20 years working in
the compliance department of one
of the major gaming manufacturers
before joining Gli europe in 2010.
“Clients don’t want to wait
days or weeks for an answer.
Most often we have the
answer within minutes and if
we don’t know, if we need
clarification, it’s better to be
be transparent and honest
about it. I’ll say I don’t know,
I’m not really sure, but I’ll find
out. And then you give an
estimated date when you’re
going to find out, and you
live by that.
When Dennis Byram took the opportunity to work at GLI Europe
in 2010, he accepted the position of compliance manager, a role
he admits has been an exciting ride ever since.
“I’ve seen a lot of changes in the last six years,
especially with the expansion of Internet gaming into
regulated markets, which alongside innovative landbased
technologies, ensures there’s something new
every day,” explains Dennis of his daily role. “Each
client has a different design, a different theory, a
different way to present their game to keep the floor
active with new material. So it’s really an exciting
time to be working for GLI and it’s challenging too,
but the great thing is, there’s an amazing team here,
and I think that the co-ordination between all the
different departments, all working together in
harmony, is what really makes us so successful.”
Throughout our interview with Dennis, he repeatedly
refers to the core values of the company, a relatively
new addition to GLI’s working practices, but a
significant one for both the company and its staff. The
core values are an especially important part of the
way GLI governs itself and provides guidance to each
day’s activities. “Our core values are 100 per cent
focused on the client and upon providing the best
service that we possibly can,” underlines Dennis. “I
think that company wide, it’s something that’s
making a huge difference. The compliance portion of
the business has been harmonised worldwide. What
we do, how we do it, the tools that we use and how we
do our work - it’s all in synch. So no matter where you
go in the world, everyone at GLI is armed with the
same class-leading information and work to the exact
same standards. It’s a huge advantage to achieve that
within a single office, let alone worldwide.”
During G3’s visit to GLI Europe’s Holland HQ, the
team were in the final stages of its Romanian market
project, which had only recently published its rules
for remote gaming. The compliance team were
subsequently working with the regulator to ensure
GLI’s clients had the correct understanding of what
the requirements were and that GLI’s testing criteria
matched those requirements. The compliance team
was also working through the licensing process in
relation to product compliance, as you need to have a
special license to be able to operate in Romania. The
result of GLI’s efforts paid off two weeks following
our visit, when GLI Europe became the first
international gaming laboratory to be award Class II
gaming systems licenses in Romania, no small part
due to the hard work and dedication of Dennis and his
compliance team.
“My department currently takes care of all licensing
processes in Europe,” explains Dennis. “From
experience, we know that the more work and effort
you put into the process upfront, the easier everything
is in the long run. However, right now there’s lots of
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Gli euroPe inTerview
Dennis Byram
travel and a lot of discussions taking place - it’s
a huge process that has followed swiftly on the
heels of Portugal, and will very soon shift to
Hungary and Czech Republic. These types of
projects keep us busy and on our toes.”
Once the compliance team has gone through the
licensing process, all that work is transposed
into building documents for GLI’s engineers to
create the testing criteria. It’s a truly
collaborative effort, with each department
reviewing the testing criteria to ensure that GLI
has the answer to every question long before
game testing ever commences. “We make sure
that we have a very clear understanding of the
rules, which translates into a very clear
understanding of how to test the product,” says
Dennis. “Once all those questions are answered,
we post the results into our system, integrating it
so that everyone within GLI worldwide can use
the same criteria. Sharing that information is an
innate part of our business and, of course, we
update it thoroughly and often. If we receive
clarification down the road from the regulator
about a particular article, we update the system
to add to the criteria to make sure that
engineering is aware at all times of any
changes.”
One of the keys to understanding the success of
GLI’s business is appreciating the strength of its
relationship with regulators. Not only do the
regular GLI Regulator Roundtable events bring
together regulators from within specific
jurisdiction to discuss with their peers the issues
and challenges they all face, but the ongoing
two-way connection with GLI provides clarity
across both sides of the process. As Dennis
describes, GLI has great relationships with its
suppliers and operators in the gaming industry,
but without regulation, there would be no
standard to test to, so everything starts with the
regulators - they’re the ones making the rules.
“It’s the regulator issuing the technical
standards and a lot of the time we can be
involved in that process and help the regulator
develop their standards,” explains Dennis.
“Working in this way we build up a relationship
whereby they know that when they call on the
GLI team, they’re going to get a straight answer.
We put a massive database of knowledge at
their fingertips and work together to put new
innovative products onto the casino floor. And
you can only do that when you have a good
relationship with the regulator; a relationship
that’s built on trust. It’s a goal in our department
to build that type of long-term trust and
relationships with all the regulatory bodies. We
also work very closely with the operators and
suppliers because they know that we are
working directly with the regulator, so they
come to us and get the information they need
quickly and accurately.”
Compliance, as Dennis describes it, isn’t about
having the answers to every question, but rather
having the ability and experience to know
where to go looking for the answers and deliver
them in a timely fashion. “Clients don’t want to
wait days or weeks for an answer,” states
Dennis. “Most often we have the answer within
minutes and if we don’t know, if we need
clarification, it’s better to be be transparent and
honest about it. I’ll say I don’t know, I’m not
really sure, but I’ll find out. And then you give an
estimated date when you’re going to find out,
and you live by that.
“Compliance is not something you can hedge,
it’s not something you can say I don’t know and
never reply with an answer. You have to be
accurate and efficient. If for some reason we
don’t meet that date, when that date is getting
close, we let the client know and say we’re still
working on this, but might need a couple more
days as the regulator has more questions. It’s all
about communication and transparency.”
‘Will product A work in jurisdiction B?’ That’s
the most frequent question posed to the
compliance team. What are the specific hurdles
standing between a product and its intended
market? It’s Dennis and his team’s job to give
those answers for the client. As a truly global
company, GLI benefits enormously not just from
the scope and scale of the business, but
operating worldwide means that there’s
continuous activity across all time zones. GLI is
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Gli euroPe inTerview
Dennis Byram
“You could just open up a
computer, tick a box, print
the certificate and call it
finished, but where’s the
integrity in that? When we
sign off a products it’s
because it’s met every
requirement. We know this
because we’ve tested every
requirement. It all goes back
to being transparent, being
trustworthy, and being
something of a boy scout.”
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a 24 hour operation. The homogenised system setup
across all labs worldwide means that GLI can test
European jurisdictions in the US, and Australian
standards in Europe and vice versa. The company also
uses a software solution called JIRA, which allows
both GLI and its clients to keep track at all times on
the status of any particular project. JIRA doesn’t rely
on emails, its cloud-based functionality allows GLI to
keep each project updated in real time, so that the
client can log into their account and know that GLI
has received the job, know who’s assigned to it, can
track progress and know exactly when the project has
been worked upon. “It’s a wonderful tool,” describes
Dennis. “Instead of trying to keep track of tens of
thousands of emails, JIRA handles all communication
in real-time and creates a searchable database, so that
we or the client can quickly and easily find the
specific information needed.”
One of the things that strikes you immediately about
GLI is that it’s a very people orientated company. It
was a bit surprising, seeing how many people are
involved in the testing and certification process.
Having read so many articles explaining how
technology is going to replace certain roles, one of
them being accountants, who seem to have a target
painted on their back by robots and automatons, the
nature of regulation and the technical requirements
would seem to suggest that you could tick a series of
boxes and you’d simply receive your compliance
certificate. However, it’s only when you talk to GLI
and discuss their work that you appreciate the huge
level of interpretation and understanding required,
which means that you need people in this process
rather than box-ticking ‘bots.
“You could just open up a computer, tick a box, print
the certificate and call it finished, but where’s the
integrity in that?” asks Dennis. “When we sign off a
products it’s because it’s met every requirement. We
know this because we’ve tested every requirement. It
all goes back to being transparent, being trustworthy,
and being something of a boy scout. In our business
technology means you have to continually look for
more qualified people that have the experience to test
these software-based products. I see technology as
increasing the need for people and the demand for an
independent lab. A lot of people thought Internet
gaming would simplify things, taking away the
hardware and just concentrating on the software - but

it’s not! If anything it’s more intensive than it is
for a slot machine. And more so because you
have to deal with so many security
investigations, background checks, penetration
tests and vulnerability tests. Another
misconception is that developing an online
game is cheaper than creating a land-based
product - which isn’t true either.”
Speaking recently to Karen Sierra-Hughes, GLI’s
Latin American Director of business
development, she explained that jurisdictions
don’t set out to create complexity and difference
with their gaming regulations, but that this is
forced upon them when adhering to existing
national laws and applying gaming principles to
them. Harmonisation of gaming regulations in a
market such as Europe would be an ideal
benchmark to strive towards, saving the
industry millions in duplicate certification and
country-by-country time, effort and expense -
but we’re never going to see that kind of shift as
so much regulation is determined by national
legislation, which is individual to each state.
“There are huge swings from one jurisdiction to
the next, despite the efforts the European Union
has made in trying to harmonise these types of
gaming practices,” states Dennis. “The EU is
seeking to establish universal principles, but it’s
a very long process and from my understanding
the EU is not going to force its will on member
states, but rather individual states can adopt the
guidelines. It would be an amazing achievement
for everybody to share the same view of what
gaming is and what’s required, but right now
they don’t and I personally don’t think they ever
will. There are too many people with divergent
ideas of how to manage their business, whether
it be a government business, the regulator,
operators or suppliers - everybody’s doing
things differently and that’s where the
complexity gets built into the process.”
One of the things GLI prides itself upon is being
able to supply its clients with accurate data
about upcoming jurisdictions, with Romania
just another example of where the company is
able to provide upfront intel. To be forewarned is
to be forearmed, and in this case being ready for
the testing process means that time to market
and cost of compliance is greatly reduced. “A
supplier might have their certificate from us for
Bulgaria or Italy, or Alderney, or UK, but they’re
still going to need another certificate for
Romania, which means there’s going to be a
different set of standards and different test
criteria,” explains Dennis. “We really pride
ourselves on being able to recognise that our
clients need that information upfront to make
the process easier. Once we have internalised
the requirements, we’re sending out
notifications to our clients that this process is
ongoing and we will often send out draft
guidelines in relation to the criteria we’re going
to be testing. We ensure that are clients have the
information they need at their finger tips, so that
they don’t need to hire their own group of
compliance people. We can do that for them - so
they don’t have to invest huge sums in
compliance departments. They can use GLI
instead.”
As a repository of compliance information, the
human brain can only hold so much incredibly
specific and volumous information. The GLI
team is highly knowledgeable, but they’re not
walking encyclopaedias spouting gaming
legislation at will. Sharing information and
making sure that the global team has access to it
is foremost in the day-to-day activities of
Dennis and his team. “You have to conduct brain
dumps,” confirms Dennis. “So that you can
share your knowledge with everyone else in
GLI. It’s really important, when we receive
clarification from a regulator, when we translate
a document from Romania, Italian or
Portuguese into English that we house that
information for everyone in the company to be
able to access.”
The compliance department constantly
maintains this regulatory library, a repository
that houses every document relating to every
technical standard, with updates and
Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
Dennis Byram
“I see technology as increasing the
need for people and the demand for
an independent lab. A lot of people
thought Internet gaming would
simplify things, taking away the
hardware and just concentrating on
the software - but it’s not! If
anything it’s more intensive than it
is for a slot machine. And more so
because you have to deal with so
many security investigations,
background checks, penetration
tests and vulnerability tests.”
clarifications from regulators from around the
world. It’s an internal database with permission
required to distribute information to different
channels. The idea that such a database on
gaming exists makes us want to be hackers
(though there’s little chance we could get past
Marco and his team!). The only way to gain
access to the database is to join GLI and become
one of the team updating the library as part of
the global infrastructure of the company.
However, even with such a hugely valuable
resource as the regulatory library to call upon,
there’s still so much interpretation involved in
the compliance process that such knowledge
without application is practically useless.
“A typical request from the development team
goes like this,” outlines Dennis. “They have
product specifications for a client looking to
send their game into Slovenia. I’ll take a look
and we’ll create a general overview of the
product so that we can draw guidelines to see if
there are any ‘show-stoppers,’ anything that
will stop the product in its tracks. If I don’t see
any show stoppers, I’ll look to see where the
product fits into the current market and fine
tune our tests to check if it complies. In the
meantime, we can supply the client with the
guideline of what’s going to be tested, so there
are no surprises at the client end. They know
what the rules are going to be for Slovenia,
which we can supply upfront, so they know
what’s going to be tested. This results in a nice
clean product which is easier for them because,
if it comes in nice and clean, guess what? It
speeds right through the process.”
Of course, there are products that don’t speed
through. Software bugs slow the process, while
cutting edge technology not only breaks new
ground for the product, but also for compliance
too, generating multiple unanswered questions.
It’s at this stage that GLI’s breadth of experience
and relationship with the regulators pays
dividends, as calls to the regulator about specific
products helps to unstopper the show-stopper.
“We have a relationship with the regulator that
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Gli euroPe inTerview
Dennis Byram
“We offer a quality check
before clients give their
actual submission, which
really benefits them as it
makes their time to market
much faster. We conduct the
quality check before the
actual submission so they
can work out all the kinks
beforehand. The result is that
it’s a lot cheaper for the
client to use us as their
quality control as opposed to
hiring a dedicated team
themselves. Our clients are
able to take advantage of a
huge resource pool and don’t
have to spend all that money
internally.”
P34 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
allows us to ask them to review individual products,”
explains Dennis. “The regulators are really good about
taking a look and deciding whether products are
correctly configured - or not. Regulators are, after all,
the best placed to see if a product really fits into their
market, if it adheres to their laws and technical
standards.”
In an ideal world, the development process for a game
would begin life fully understanding all the
requirements necessary for each market and would
be adapted appropriately from the start. The reality,
completely understandably, is somewhat different.
The creative process concentrates the mind on the
delivery of a fabulous player experience, before the
shoe-horning begins as the code is made fit for
market. Speaking to Dennis, he’d love to get his hands
on the product as early in the development cycle as
possible, as he believes that early contact means
better outcomes. Helping developers with market
specific guidelines means that GLI is able to provide a
framework within which suppliers can create their
software, safe in the knowledge that they’re already
fulfilling the criteria for their intended markets.
“We offer a quality check before clients give their
actual submission, which really benefits them as it
makes their time to market much faster,” says Dennis.
“We conduct the quality check before the actual
submission so they can work out all the kinks
beforehand. The result is that it’s a lot cheaper for the
client to use us as their quality control as opposed to
hiring a dedicated team themselves. Our clients are
able to take advantage of a huge resource pool and
don’t have to spend all that money internally.”
At G3 we’ve travelled the world visiting the offices of
hundreds of game developers; whereby the office tour
always goes the same way… we meet the game dev
team, who are enthusiastic, eclectically dressed, have
huge Lego Star Wars models perched on their desks
and avoid eye-contact; we are shown the finance
department, which is all polite smiles, waves and
shuffling towards the door; we meet the marketing
team who are remarkably less stressed than at the
last trade show; and then we get to meet the
compliance team, who again are wonderfully friendly,
but who the game devs describes as: “the guys that
say no to everything.”
Dennis laughs at our description. “No one likes to say
no, so, instead of just saying no, you say, ‘as the
product currently sits, we can’t make it fit into the
market - but here’s how you can move forward.’ And
now we’ve lots of things that we can discuss and a lot
of things we can’t. We can’t discuss patents or client
submissions, so we have to keep things at a very high
level and supply information that’s published or in the
technical standards. If you have to say no, then you
give a reason and supply the guidelines that are
available for that market. In extreme cases you have
to be honest with the client and explain that it’s not
working. It’s tough, but it’s also the right thing to do.”
On the day G3 visited GLI’s offices in Hillegom,
Dennis had received an email from a satisfied
customer that he read to us, withholding the client’s
name. “Hi guys, I’m grateful for the information from
GLI compliance. GLI compliance blows everybody
else in the industry out of the water.” The email was
from an online gaming client and you could see just
how much it meant to Dennis. “That’s the feedback
you want, that’s what you strive for, what the core
values represent,” enthuses Dennis. “Those are the
comments that make you want to work harder for
your clients and go that extra mile.”

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
John van Schaijk
Delivering fast, flexible and
efficient working practices
John van Schaijk,
Technical Director,
GLI Europe
John van Schaijk joined Gli europe
as Technical Director in January
2012. with more than 20 years of
experience in the gaming industry
van Schaijk formerly served as
Director of Product management
for wmS Gaming in Spain.
Previously, he was with orion
Gaming as Product manager and as
Product Development manager.
when wmS acquired orion in
2006, van Schaijk remained
responsible for the orion product
line and developed and launched
new platforms and
themes for the company. As
Technical Director, John oversees
engineering in Gli europe’s labs,
along with Gli’s contribution with
verispect and the Justice
Department for the Dutch market.
“Rather than just engaging
with a client at the end of the
product development cycle,
we’re supporting clients at
the outset, conducting
workshops and looking at
new developments both in
terms of technology and
regulation. We see lots of
great products that won’t
launch because they were
created in isolation. At GLI,
we bring our expertise to the
process at the earliest
possible stage to help our
clients get to where they
want to go.”
GLI Europe’s Technical Director ensures the full resources of GLI are shared
between a team of technical experts that span across Spain, Italy, South
Africa and Holland, each delivering localised solutions with global scale
By his own admission, John van Schaijk has been in
the gaming industry “a long time,” a history that
began in 1987 when John joined the Netherlandsbased
gaming company, Errel Games. Originally
involved in games development, John found his forte
was in both product management and latterly,
international sales. In 1999, John moved to another
Dutch games house, Orion Gaming, where he led the
product development department and R&D for seven
years before the company was eventually acquired by
WMS Gaming. In the hands of its US owners, John
worked with Orion and WMS to integrate the two
platforms before moving into another product
management role, working for WMS from the
company’s Barcelona-based European hub.
It was a call from then GLI Europe Managing Director,
Phillip Barrow, to join the team as Technical Director
that persuaded John back to the Netherlands, though
he still calls Barcelona home and regularly commutes
between Italy, South Africa, Spain and Holland to
oversee the technical operations of GLI Europe.
“On a day to day basis, I run the technical engineering
department for each of the GLI Europe offices, though
in fact it’s the technical managers who are hands-on
within each location,” explains John. “My role is to
ensure each team is working effectively and
efficiently, sharing and dividing the workload and
putting resources where they are most needed.”
Weekly operational meetings with each technical
team ensures that GLI continues to meet the
expectations of its global client base. Splitting the
overall workload between each office, as opposed to
dedicated regional offices solely working upon local
or regional caseloads, has produced huge gains for GLI
and its clients. “Spreading our workload across
multiple offices has improved our efficiency, speeded
up the entire process and spread the risk,” states John.
“By risk I mean that we now have universal expertise
across each and every office. We don’t have dedicated
teams for land-based and i-gaming or any market
sector, we train our engineers so that they are experts
in all fields. I oversee a team of over 100 engineers in
Spain, Italy, South Africa and Holland. I can call on
any team, and any individual within that team, to
work on any project at any time, knowing that we
have the capability in place to answer that call.”
The need to create these fast, flexible and efficient
working practices to service both existing and new
clients is borne from a desire to seize the raw
opportunities John and his teams see developing
across all segments of the business. “There are always
new jurisdictions opening, especially in i-gaming
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Gli euroPe inTerview
John van Schaijk
right now,” describes John. “When I started here
at GLI, our workload was skewed 20 per cent
towards i-gaming and 80 per cent was land
based. However, in the last year, the balance is
now 50/50. Is that because land-based has
slowed or fallen back? No - it’s because i-
gaming has accelerated to match it. If you look
at the opening of new jurisdictions in the last
few years, Spain, Denmark, Romania and now
Portugal, we see all those opportunities in
combination with ISS (Information Security
Services) and our increasing work in the
lotteries sectors, which means that there’s still
massive opportunities for the growth of GLI
Europe. i-gaming has shown that technology is
driving the gaming sector right now and we’re
seeing ever increasing product complexity as a
result. This level of complexity means that rather
than just engaging with a client at the end of the
product development cycle, we’re supporting
clients at the outset, conducting workshops and
looking at new developments both in terms of
technology and regulation. We see lots of great
products that won’t launch because they were
created in isolation. At GLI, we bring our
expertise to the process at the earliest possible
stage to help our clients get to where they want
to go.”
Having regional teams working seamlessly
together on complex multi-national projects is
testament to the management skills of the GLI
Europe team, though they do get a little help
from technology here too. The implementation
of JIRA, a networking software solution
referenced across the interviews we conducted
with GLI, has enabled the technical teams and
their clients to keep abreast of the approvals
procedure at every single stage of the process.
John explains: “We implemented JIRA a little
over two years ago. Before then, if a client
presented us with a product we would run our
tests and revert with any issues via a phone call
or email. JIRA changed all that.”
JIRA is fundamentally a job tracking system
that’s networked between the client and each of
the different teams within GLI working on the
project. Comments can be added and tracked by
each member of the network, whether that’s the
compliance team, the client or the technical
managers - every touch point is tracked, logged
and can be viewed in real-time. It’s a brilliant,
transparent and efficient way to manage the
approvals process and is just one of the tools GLI
uses to involve clients at every stage, as
communication is such an important part of the
path through the certification process. “Another
tool we use is called Evolution, which, in a
nutshell, allows us to easily transfer clients
between jurisdictions,” explains John. “If, for
example, we test a product for the first time in
the US, but the ultimate plan is to progress to
Europe, to Holland, Switzerland and Sweden,
then we run the test script for those
jurisdictions, automating the approvals process.
It’s another example of the added value service
clients receive when they use GLI as their test
lab.”
In a price-sensitive, highly competitive market,
product testing is a balance between value-formoney
and value-added services. Getting the
balance right is key for GLI in providing realistic
expectations and meeting them.
In dealing with long-term clients, the
boundaries are known to all parties and GLI has
relationships with some of the biggest names in
gaming going back decades, but working with
new clients is both tricky and exciting. “The first
time is always the most complicated part,”
agrees John. “You’re looking to figure out not
only the product, but understand the inner
workings of the organisation. To achieve this,
you need that connection to the client to be very
quick in providing answers and adept in
determining the priorities. It’s especially
important in the igaming sector, which is very
fast moving and dynamic, whereby priorities are
changing overnight to reflect the real-time
opportunities in the marketplace. We recently
retitled our account staff, changing their titles to
client services managers, reflecting the fact that
the role is more than simply selling. It’s about
establishing a relationship with the client,
understanding their business inside and out to
ensure we manage the product certification
process very precisely, because when we
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John van Schaijk
“We conduct a great deal of
internal training. When we
appoint engineers we assign
a mentor to each new
engineer to ensure they’re
learning from an experienced
professional. Specific
certification requires
dedicated courses and
qualifications, which enables
us to test the latest
equipment and new
technology. At GLI, we don’t
create specialists, but rather
highly skilled generalists who
can turn their hands to any
type of testing requirement,
whether that’s land-based,
mobile or online.”
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accurately understand the scope of their ambitions
for their product from the outset, everything runs
faster and more smoothly.”
Keeping track of the ever changing tech-landscape is
a considerable challenge not only for games
developers, but also for the GLI team that ultimately
has to test and approve those games. As the technical
director, John and his team must ensure they’re
completely ‘au fait’ with every aspect of the
legislative technical envelope and appreciate how
how games developers are attempting to push and
pull it in every direction. Logistically, that’s a big
challenge as the team has to balance their workload
with the practical aspects of continuous and in-depth
technical training. “We conduct a great deal of
internal training,” explains John. “When we appoint
engineers we assign a mentor to each new engineer to
ensure they’re learning from an experienced
professional. Specific certification requires dedicated
courses and qualifications, which enables us to test
the latest equipment and new technology. At GLI, we
don't just create specialists, but rather highly skilled
generalists who can turn their hands to any type of
testing requirement, whether that’s land-based,
mobile or online.”
John describes the shift to a multi-tasking technical
skills requirement as one that initially took GLI’s
Technical Managers out of their “comfort zones.” In
the past, GLI had sought to create dedicated teams for
land-based and specific teams for i-gaming, but it
proved an unproductive strategy. “When you dedicate
teams to a specific aspect of the business, there will
always be times when you need extra resources to
cope with demand, as well as quieter times,” explains
John. “It’s my responsibility to keep everyone busy -
all the time. Creating localised teams capable of
dealing with all aspects of the gaming spectrum also
means that we’re not asking clients to ship machines
around the world because their local lab doesn’t cater
for their specific requirements. Our aim is to be as
responsive and flexible as possible to the needs of our
clients.”
The opening of new markets is one of the key areas in
which GLI is helping its clients significantly
accelerate product approvals. Where in the past both
GLI and its clients would assemble at the start line,
waiting for the moment government agencies would
release their regulations; GLI has since shifted the
starting blocks to ensure clients benefit from a
rolling-start. Pre-compliance testing allows clients to
be tested against draft regulations in preparation for
the official launch of new regulations. “When
Portugal released its draft i-gaming regulations we

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
John van Schaijk
I always ask our clients, do you have
a road map? If we understand the
direction of travel we have a much
greater appreciation of the issues
our clients will be facing in the
future. Smaller labs can help you to
a limited extent in the short-term,
but if you have a long-term
strategy, the safest route is with
GLI.”
conducted pre-compliance for clients looking to
enter that market,” describes John. “During this
process we work closely with Dennis and his
team to lock-down the draft and anticipate the
changes needed to prepare our clients to enter
the new market much more quickly.”
Regulators can and do make changes between
the draft and the final regulations, but the
benefits of pre-compliance as balanced against
these ‘tweaks’ have proved themselves to be
advantageous for clients looking to gain firstmover
status. The close cooperation and
working relationship that GLI Europe enjoys
with regulators across the continent is a major
factor in the success of pre-compliance, with
GLI actively involved in the drafting process,
providing expert advice and global gaming
experience directly to the regulators. “Clients
understand that they have a series of regulatory
hurdles they need to clear, but time is always a
limiting factor in the equation,” states John.
“Both land-based and i-gaming clients
appreciate this is a highly collaborative process
between all parties, but that working with GLI
and the standards we have pioneered, helps
everyone in the development of new products
for new jurisdictions.”
There’s something refreshingly ‘old-school,’
about the manner in which GLI Europe conducts
its business. While the drive to maintain the
highest levels of technological expertise and
knowledge weave their way through every
aspect of the business, the tactile nature of
client contact and its hands-on approach to
servicing that relationship is something of
which John van Schaijk is very obviously proud.
“I push really hard with my teams to ensure that
everyone involved with our clients picks up the
phone and speaks to them directly, or gets on a
plane and meets face-to-face,” states John. “At
every exhibition we schedule meetings with
clients to reinforce that connection with their
business and understand the nuances that you
can’t read in an email. We place huge stock on
direct contact with our clients and we spend a
lot of time face-to-face and on the phone
helping them understand our approach to the
testing process. We explain and we listen. If the
client offers a better suggestion, we shift and
move in that direction. It’s the same level of
collaboration within GLI too. We have amazing
resources, from the huge compliance
department here in Holland to the massive
support infrastructure in the US, none of the
other test labs have that level of expertise across
475 jurisdictions worldwide. The level of support
we can bring to bear on any project is the
defining difference when you work with GLI. If
our clients need support, or if internally our
engineers need vital information, we have a
global 24/7 infrastructure that ensures each
project is efficiently handled and made marketready
across global jurisdictions.”
Listening to the Technical Managers describe
their day-to-day work with clients you quickly
appreciate that they act as extensions of the
developer’s own team, discussing every aspect
of the product roadmap to ensure maximum
efficiency both in the short and long-term.
Near-term aspirations might be local market
compliance, but what about approval in multiple
jurisdictions? “I always ask our clients, do you
have a road map?” says John. “If we understand
the direction of travel we have a much greater
appreciation of the issues our clients will be
facing in the future. In which case, I can assign
engineering resources appropriately, whether
that’s two, three or four engineers from the
outset or a spread of resources over a sustained
period, that’s where GLI can really help get our
client’s products across the line. Smaller labs
can help you to a limited extent in the shortterm,
but if you have a long-term strategy, the
safest route is with GLI.”
The greatest part of John’s job, and that of his
team, is receiving positive feedback from
satisfied clients. GLI’s internal Intranet is the
posting board for such comments, with clients
encouraged to share their experiences, both
good and bad, as part of the continual learning
process embraced by GLI. “We want all our
clients, new and old, to be comfortable working
with us,” says John. “We want to partner with
our clients, to get their product over the line, but
sometimes its not so easy. Often the scope of
the project means that the hurdles are really
high - but that’s the part that makes things the
most worthwhile. When you’ve brought a
project back on track and you get a call or an
email to thank you for all the hard work. You
live for that moment. It the reason why we put
so much effort into everything we do. Every one
of those messages is testimony to the dedicated
service we offer to our clients at GLI.”
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Gli euroPe inTerview
James Illingworth
Striking the right balance to
meet needs and expectations
James illingworth,
Client Services Manager,
GLI Europe
James illingworth has extensive
gaming experience across the
continent, having worked in the
industry for more than 20 years for
companies such as Atronic, magic
Dreams Srl, Spielo international,
John huxley, and having
commenced his career in gaming
with publishing. James joined Gli
europe in 2013 as Director of
european business Development.
“I think we have a more
customer facing outlook
than any of our competitors
and I think that’s to our
advantage, as clients
recognise that we want to
meet them and understand
all aspects of their business,
wherever they’re located.
We’re not saturating them
with visits or calls, but rather
striking the right balance to
meet their needs and
expectations.”
Client Services is a relatively new description of James Illingworth’s role at GLI
Europe, having joined the company three years ago as Director of Business
Development. It’s a subtle change for what is essentially a sales position, but it’s one
that reflects the evolving relationship between GLI Europe and its client base.
“In the almost four years I’ve been at GLI, I’ve seen
our work with clients become much more closely
knit. We’ve aligned ourselves with our clients, who
have aligned themselves with us, in a much more
detailed manner,” explains James Illingworth of his
team’s role within GLI Europe. “We have more
discussions in relation to new market entries, what
new upcoming products they’re developing and how
we can help in shaping and streamlining the process
to speed their products to market. We’re also much
more connected thanks to the numerous workshops
and road map meetings we conduct with our clients.
It’s all about communication, both locally and
centrally with all our office and all their offices
around the globe. Whether they’re a single-base
company, a lone game developer or an international
PLC, we align ourselves to their needs and tailor our
offer to suit their requirements.”
GLI’s approach is that the team prioritise face-to-face
meetings with clients as opposed to email or phone.
“We’re travelling every week, which can be to visit
clients or to the offices in the Netherlands, Spain or
Italy - we’re constantly on the road,” states James. “In
addition, we attend certain major conferences and
exhibitions too, both on the land-based and igaming
side. Wherever there’s a key market, GLI will seek to
support the client base with local representation, such
as in Italy and Spain, for example. However, in a role
that’s predominately about face-to-face meetings
with clients, my base is wherever my client wants me
to be. It’s the same for my client services team; if you
have the right people willing to travel, communication
technology brings everything else together faster and
more efficiently than having everyone centralised in a
single office.”
James and his team are the first point of contact for
GLI Europe’s clients, offering both advice and multifaceted
services to clients requiring certification for
regulated markets. Like any commercial organisation,
the Client Services team connects with clients
depending on their needs, be that daily, weekly,
fortnightly or quarterly. What’s very different about
It’s one of the great differentiators working with GLI
that its client services team actively meets their
clients. And it’s not just James’ team, GLI Europe has
managers and directors handling specific client
accounts, and engineers and technical managers who
speak directly with clients. “I think we have a more
customer facing outlook than any of our competitors
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Gli euroPe inTerview
James Illingworth
and I think that’s to our advantage, as clients
recognise that we want to meet them and
understand all aspects of their business,
wherever they’re located,” states James. “We’re
not saturating them with visits or calls, but
rather striking the right balance to meet their
needs and expectations.”
Regulations are changing constantly and so it’s
vitally important for GLI to update its clients
when regulations and legislation is changing,
should that be in Romania, Portugal or
Lithuania. Ingrained in the detail of legislation
and regulation, gathering information is an
enormous part of GLI’s work. Constant revision
requires constant updates, meaning that the
dialogue between client services and its clients
is one continuous flow of information. “You
strive to be 100 per cent accurate, despite the
fact that regulation is changing all the time,”
describes James. “So we call in all our experts,
review all the documents and we establish
what’s the latest situation; we confirm that
opinion with the regulators and become that
bridge between them and the supplier.”
Aligning the experts within GLI with the key
people driving client projects is one of the major
parts of James’ job. Client Services liaises with
GLI’s technical and compliance team at an early
stage to plan the product roadmap; they discuss
the protocols their clients are working with, the
infrastructure and the network. The more
knowledge they gather, the easier it is to coordinate
and co-operate throughout the process.
“We align our working systems with those of the
client’s, says James. “We outline what they can
expect from us and how they can align
themselves with our working systems, so that
we’re both in sync.”
Every month in the pages of G3 we features
news stories detailing the latest staff member
joining GLI. During the intense period of
recession and the slow climb out of the
economic depression in recent years, GLI
continued to expand its international team,
recruiting additional resources just as the
industry as a whole was scaling back on
employment. It’s no surprise, therefore, to see
GLI today being used by organisations as an
extension of their own in-house departments,
using GLI’s technical expertise as a bolt-on inhouse
division. ”Our customers rely on the
service we deliver, to the degree that they don’t
have to take on extra resources within their own
organisations, because we’re able to take that
work load and offer better value and service,”
comments James.
GLI is as synonymous with games testing as
Hoover is to vacuuming, but with that
association also brings preconceived notions
about suitability and scale, ideas that James’
wants to dispel about the GLI offer. “It’s true
that while the size of our organisation, our
structure and in-house expertise, is something
that’s relied upon by our clients worldwide, our
competitors might say that we’ll be more
expensive; that we won’t be able to offer a
personalised service etc. etc. So we counteract
that by allocating dedicated teams to support
every client, offering our knowledge and
expertise at the outset, and coming to meet
them no matter what their size and scale.
“We welcome everyone to our offices and
ensure they understand exactly how we can
help them grow their business. If you’re a single
market one-man band, GLI can unlock markets
around the world, transferring your approvals
from one jurisdiction to the next; we can help
you grow and advise you as to which markets
should be tackled first,” describes James. “We
outline the technical requirements and then
match them with the commercial opportunities
and realities. Yes, GLI is a big company, but that
also means we’ve got the size and structure to
be able to dedicate resources to small
development teams right the way up to
international PLCs. We don’t discriminate, we
jump straight to the level that’s required to meet
our client’s needs.”
The competitive environment in which GLI
operates has intensified over the last halfdecade,
with a large number of testing
laboratories now offering their services to
European clients. James and his team are
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James Illingworth
“hopefully, when you get
that initial business at an
early stage you can then
follow them on their journey
as they grow and become
the next major. We work with
them at the initial R&D
stage, and have the size and
scale to grow with them as
their business enjoys greater
success. Some people judge
their relationship with a
testing lab purely on the
piece of paper they require,
but working with GLI is so
much more than receiving a
certificate from us.”
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involved in what amounts to a tender process with
clients, which means that he must strike the right
balance between competitive pricing and ensuring
that when a product is approved by GLI, it not only
meets all the regulations, but is also free from
software bugs.
“From the very first meeting we try and give good
compliance advice, establish with each client exactly
what they’ll need and help them as much as we can in
the process,” explains James. “Hopefully, when you
get that initial business at an early stage you can then
follow them on their journey as they grow and
become the next major. We work with them at the
initial R&D stage, and have the size and scale to grow
with them as their business enjoys greater success.
Some people judge their relationship with a testing
lab purely on the piece of paper they require, but
working with GLI is so much more than receiving a
certificate from us.”
In so far as GLI is the conduit between regulators and
clients, James and his Client Services team are the
bridge between the client and all the technical
knowledge bottled up within the technical,
engineering and compliance resources within GLI. As
James points out, it’s not his job to deliver the
answers, but rather to know exactly where to find
them. “As individuals with varied backgrounds in the
gaming industry, the client services team has different
levels of technical knowledge, but we’re very
conscious that we don’t try to be ‘technical’ sales
people,” states James. “We bridge the gap to bring
GLI’s resources together with the needs of the client.
I’d go so far as to say that it’s dangerous if we assume
a technical or compliance role that could mislead the
client in any way. We are the ‘find out team’ - which
means that when it comes to testing and certification,
we refer to our technical colleagues - and we ‘find out’
the right answer.”
As James makes clear, testing and certification has
become a highly competitive industry sector with
manufacturers and developers now able to choose
from a wide range of laboratories. Tendering for
business is an equation that’s comprised of cost, time
to market and quality of service,. ”We just want the
opportunity to quote for and win their business,” says
James. “Once we’re in that process we can define their
needs, understand when they need certification, and
consider the countries/markets they’re targeting.
Some clients are more price sensitive, some are more
concerned with time to market, and others place their
emphasis on the ability to transfer certification from
one jurisdiction to the next. I also believe there’s a
fourth reason, which is that they’re making sure they
protect the brand they’ve built up over the years. They
want to work with GLI because we protect and
safeguard their investment in their brand.”

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
James Illingworth
“When we discuss the details of a
client’s needs, we offer support and
advice on technical aspects and
compliance from the outset. We
don’t do that remotely, but work
with them hand-in-hand through
the processes, whether that’s in the
UK or Malta or South Africa. We
bring our experts to work with
clients on a full-time basis,
wherever they are based, or
wherever they’re looking to do
business. Our clients benefit from
the pool of knowledge and years of
expertise that we’ve gathered within
this organisation.”
GLI expends a huge amount of energy in order
to add extra value as part of its client
relationship, supplementing its service in terms
of the time given by GLI to support its clients.
The face-to-face meetings with clients,
technical managers hitting the road to meet with
clients directly, and the ability of the GLI team to
engage with customers one-to-one. Speaking to
Margit about the maths department, you’d
expect mathematicians to break down the
algorithms and talk about RNGs, but not to
speak directly with the client, to understand the
commercial aspects of time to market and
consider their work from the client’s
perspective. It’s that extra service, the additional
client contact, which shows that GLI is not
afraid to connect any part of its team with its
clients. In most companies there’s a very
defined line between customer-facing and the
backroom staff, and never the twain shall meet.
GLI takes the opposite stance, actively
promoting staff interaction with clients at all
levels.
“When we discuss the details of a client’s needs,
we offer support and advice on technical
aspects and compliance from the outset,”
underlines James. “We show that we’re willing
to support them and go on that journey together.
We don’t do that remotely, but work with them
hand-in-hand through the processes, whether
that’s in the UK or Malta or South Africa. We
bring our experts to work with clients on a fulltime
basis, wherever they are based, or
wherever they’re looking to do business. The
expertise at our disposal isn’t just in the
Netherlands, it isn’t just Europe; it’s Asia, it’s
Australia, it’s Canada and its the US. Our clients
benefit from the pool of knowledge and years of
expertise that we’ve gathered within this
organisation.”
The key message James and his Client Services
team want to convey is that GLI is approachable,
knowledgeable, professional and reachable.
Having worked so hard to build its brand, to
build its relationships with clients, operators
and regulators, GLI is not some quasigovernmental
body that’s aloof, unapproachable
and uncompetitive. The opposite is the case.
“When we speak to new clients, they have the
perception that it will be a high price before
they’ve spoken to us,” says James. “Not only is
that not the case, but they also appreciate that
the level of service from GLI can’t be matched
anywhere else.”
Visiting the European head office in Hillegom,
you appreciate and understand the work load,
you understand why GLI Europe is constantly
recruiting, you see the labour intensive side of
the job and what’s actually required; the man
hours, the physical calculations, running
simulations, operating a roulette wheel in the
lab for months on end before granting
certification. Peering into the inner workings of
GLI puts flesh and bones of our ‘perception’ of
testing. There’s a preconceived notion that
certification, and by association GLI, is a
‘necessary evil,’ without a real understanding of
the process.
“I think a lot of people, unless they’re directly
involved in compliance, are amazed when they
see the scale of the work involved in
certification,” agrees James. “There’s nothing
flashy or dynamic about compliance, it’s
methodical and for the most part may not be
interesting, but it’s also an essential part of the
business and without it, things don’t go to
market, games are taken off the floor, websites
are shut down, people are fined, regulators
condemn the industry and we end up in the
press with bad publicity. Compliance isn’t
necessary - it’s essential.”
G3 has spoken to so many developers who view
compliance as the people who say: “No.” In fact,
we’ve heard it so many times that it’s our own
default setting. Speaking to Dennis Byram,
therefore, was a revelation. Dennis explained
that it wasn’t about saying no, but about “how
do we get to a yes?” And that’s about the
mechanics of opening a door, not closing it. And
by the end of the discussion, you realise that
compliance is actually the big enabler and that
you’ve got the situation backwards. Your
starting point isn’t an open door. Regulation has
slammed the door in your face and it’s
compliance who open that door. And to stretch
that analogy to breaking point - it’s James and
his team that guide you to the door and show
you which way it opens.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P43

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
Martin Britton
Maintaining an open dialogue
between clients and regulators
martin britton,
Managing Director
GLI Europe
martin britton has a long history in
the european gaming industry,
including positions as
chief operating officer for
cyberview Technology, Technical
Director and commercial
Director for TcS/John huxley and
commercial and Technical Director
at viP Gaming. martin initially
began working with Gli in June
2008, acting as uK business
Development manager. in January
2009, martin became the full-time
Director of engineering at Gli
europe, with the responsibility for
managing all engineering
activities in the netherlands office.
in 2012, martin was promoted to
managing Director of Gli europe.
“We’re extremely conscious
of how we conduct our
testing in terms of resources,
cost, location, time zones
etc. You need to consider all
those factors from the
client’s perspective and put
their interests first. If we’re
not the best suited, or best
placed to help a customer
with an international project,
there will be resources within
our global infrastructure that
can seamlessly resolve any
issue. It’s about being timely,
efficient and cost-sensitive
in a business that is truly
global in its market reach.”
P44 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
GLI Europe’s Managing Director, Martin Britton, describes his own personal journey
within the company and the changes that have taken place under his watch, both
internally with the business and in the wider international gaming sector
Approached by GLI CEO James Maida while
exhibiting at the ICE show in London, Martin Britton
initially joined GLI Europe to assist with the
development of the UK market sector. A six month
consultancy role evolved into a permanent position
when it became clear that Martin’s engineering
background and clear understanding of the
international gaming markets would prove invaluable
to GLI going forward. “I originally came to Holland to
oversee the engineering department in a role that was
meant to be just five days a month,” explains Martin.
“I knew right away, however, that to manage this role
properly was an everyday task. I said I’d commit to six
months, and that’s where I’ve stayed. It’s now been
nine years.”
There has been a lot of changes within GLI Europe
during those nine years and as a business, the
company has grown in both size, market position and
geographical reach. Plus, i-gaming has played no
small part in helping to expand GLI Europe’s
operations. “As online came on stream we’ve
benefited from market growth in Europe, but we’ve
also had to adapt to the new challenges igaming has
thrown up, to the greater competitive environment for
testing and to the needs of the development teams
within GLI,” states Martin. “We’ve had to adapt to
meet the growing needs of our clients across a wide
variety of sectors and markets. To achieve this, we
assessed every department within the company,
focused on critical areas, reviewed our capabilities,
and sought in every way to intensify our focus upon
our clients.”
From 2008 to 2012, Martin’s role within GLI was to
help shape and concentrate the actions and
performance of GLI Europe’s engineering team, but
when the position of Manager Director became
available, Martin’s understanding of the inner
workings of the business, and client orientated
approach, made him the ideal candidate for the role.
Since then the business has expanded covering offices
in Spain, Italy, South Africa and working closely with
GLI Austria
“We have a great team in every office and I am very
proud of what everyone has achieved. It’s great to see
new people on board, see staff grow, be promoted and
move onto greater challenges,” says Martin. One of his
primary roles is to ensure that each office is working
in synergy, not only within GLI Europe, but within the
International Group as a whole.
“Being global means thinking globally about the
service you provide to your customers,” says Martin.
“We’re extremely conscious of how we conduct our

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
Martin Britton
testing in terms of resources, cost, location, time
zones etc. You need to consider all those factors
from the client’s perspective and put their
interests first. If we’re not the best suited, or best
placed to help a customer with an international
project, there will be resources within our global
infrastructure that can seamlessly resolve any
issue. It’s about being timely, efficient and costsensitive
in a business that is truly global in its
market reach.”
What’s obvious from the interviews conducted
with the entire team at GLI Europe, is that the
business is incredibly labour intensive. While
hardware and software interact to create the
automated routines we know as games, the
testing of these activities requires human
intervention - massively skilled human
intervention. And it’s not just the physical
testing process that demands a hands-on
approach, but technical discussions with clients
requires a deep understanding of the technical
processes and the ability to fluently
communicate those details with the client.
“The dialogue between GLI and our clients is
hugely important,” states Martin. “Which means
that if our clients are Bulgarian, then we align
Bulgarian engineers to work with them, and try
wherever possible to align clients with local
language speakers. It’s the reason why we
opened our Spanish office. When you’re trying
to understand a complicated process in English,
when it’s your second language, things get lost
in translation. Our conversations are highly
technical; it’s not like saying ‘hello, how’s the
weather?’ These are very detailed technical
discussions, which is why we have native
speaking technical people to assist our clients at
the local level.”
Having a Romanian team working not only on
the testing procedures, but also with the
regulator for the launch of Romania’s iGaming
regulations, not only put GLI in the driving seat
as the market opened, but GLI’s customers were
also first to market too. “Greece was also a
classic example with VLT regulations,” outlines
Martin. “In Greece, we had our Greek-speaking
technical team conducting Greek presentations.
It’s something that’s so important in Europe, to
act locally, but continue to offer the full global
support of the company. It’s about delivering
great client service, tailored to fit local needs,
but supported by the global backbone of the GLI
business.”
Like foreign diplomatic embassies, GLI’s
regional offices not only speak the local lingo,
but each maintains a dialogue with government
agencies, those tasked with responsibilities to
govern and control gaming. GLI promotes
communication with regulators, thanks to its
position as an independent third party. The
company’s unique roundtable events for
regulators established in North America, Europe
and Latin America and the Caribbean, are the
only events exclusively for regulators and
government lotteries. Maintaining its
independence is paramount for the company, as
GLI manages its relationships with regulators
and gaming clients to act as a bridge between
both sides of the divide.
“It’s about maintaining our independence and
striking the right balance,” agrees Martin. “If a
client asks us for help, we’ll address the issue
from a generic standpoint and put that to the
regulator in those terms. And yes, regulators
also ask us for our help on technical and
regulatory issues and again, we give our best
practices advice based on our global knowledge
in terms of how we can help them. What we’re
not trying to do is reinvent the wheel; we’re not
trying to come up with some outrageous
solution that makes it difficult for our clients, so
we’ve got the clients and the regulators in mind
when we’re tackling a problem. Our standards
cover the vast majority of the issues and a lot of
areas that can help the suppliers, operators and
regulators. To ensure that we strike the right
balance, we are audited every year and
accredited by an independent body, who
scrutinise our relationship with both clients and
regulators to ensure our impartiality.”
In terms of business opportunities for GLI, GLI
Europe has been most impacted by the growth
of the igaming sector business, shifting within
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P45

Insight
Gli euroPe inTerview
Martin Britton
“I feel there’s much more to
be done in terms of i-
gaming development;
whereby it’s not just having
servers in the right locations,
or adopting the correct
taxation levels etc., it’s about
making the right regulatory
choices that meets the
needs of the market. This
could be looking at .com,
.country and reviewing the
unregulated sector. Providing
a regulatory framework that
works gives confidence to
players along with having
protection to minors or the
vulnerable in the process.”
P46 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
the last six years from a business split 80:20 between
land-based and igaming testing, to today’s 50:50 split.
Asked where Martin sees the future growth of the
business and how the split between land-based and
igaming could change in the near term, Martin
believes that igaming will continue to expand as a
growth centre for GLI Europe.
“I think land-based is pretty stable,” states Martin. “ I
can’t see, in the land-based world, too many new
casinos coming onto the scene. There may be a
jurisdiction opening up or becoming regulated from
time to time, but I think it’s pretty much a mature
market. The one exception is VLT, which is an
interesting development in Greece and Spain and is
well established in markets such as Italy. I think VLTs
are going to continue to expand into new markets as
its apparent to governments that they have much
more control using a VLT system as opposed to
standalone machines. Government agencies have
much more data available to them, they’re
transparent and offer more control, so I think the
general move in terms of technology is heading down
a VLT route. However, it’s going to happen much more
slowly than many people envisaged.”
i-gaming is still the key growth market for GLI Europe
and one that Martin and his team believe will lead
land-based testing in the not-too-distant future, and
will likely grow to a 60:40 split within a short space of
time. Jurisdictions opening such as Romania,
Bulgaria, the recently opened Portugal, and with the
Netherlands potentially establishing its market in the
next 18 months, GLI couldn’t be more perfectly
positioned.
“If you look at the untapped potential still in Europe,
Germany is a massive future market, Sweden and
many of the Balkan countries are alsolooking at
online gaming,” says Martin. “I feel there’s much more
to be done in terms of i-gaming development;
whereby it’s not just having servers in the right
locations, or adopting the correct taxation levels etc.,
it’s about making the right regulatory choices that
meets the needs of the market. This could be looking
at .com, .country and reviewing the unregulated
sector. Providing a regulatory framework that works
gives confidence to players along with having
protection to minors or the vulnerable in the process.”
Asked about the challenges facing the land-based
casino market right now, a market that Martin once
served in his days working for TCSJohnHuxley, he
points to the next generation of players as both the
problem and the solution. “If casinos are to thrive,
they have to find and appeal to younger players,”
comments Martin. “They want interesting and
interactive games and the industry needs to find a
way to provide games that interest this generation of
players. At GLI, we look forward to innovating with
the industry and to testing those new gaming
experiences.”

AGEM
memberShiP newS
playon
MEMBER PROFILE
Company / Automated Cashless Systems, Inc
Web address / www.acsplayon.com
AGEM Membership level / Associate Member
Description / ACS - PlayOn develops products that adhere to regulatory
compliance and contribute to efficient casino operations. ACS’s
management team and associates possess more than 100 years of
experience in casino operations and casino R&D.
New products for 2016 / – ACS will continue rolling out its PlayOn PIN
Debit Solution to gaming positions in various jurisdictions. ACS received
tremendous response to its PlayOn Solution at G2E and is currently in
negotiations with over 10 Properties to install the system in the near
future. PlayOn technology allows patrons to access their own money by
securely utilizing their own debit card, without ever having to leave a
table. At the gaming position, a patron may swipe their debit card at the
PlayOn terminal, request an amount, enter his/her corresponding PIN and,
upon approval, a voucher is produced and converted to chips at the table.
At the core of PlayOn’s unified experience is its strategic processing
partnership with Vantiv Entertainment Solutions (VES). A part of Vantiv,
which processes more than 23 billion transactions annually with a volume
of $842 billion-plus, VES is the payments and transactional engine behind
PlayOn the product. Additionally, ACS employs a proprietary gateway that
allows properties to impose transaction limits in order to meet internal
controls and responsible gaming concerns.
PlayOn recently launched at Pala Casino Resort and Spa, which joins
Thunder Valley Casino Resort in Lincoln, Calif.; River Rock Casino in
Geyersville, Calif.; and Santa Ana Star Casino in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M in
implementing the table game technology. Additional properties across the
US will also soon unveil the PlayOn product on tables in the coming
months. In addition to new properties, PlayOn is expanding to new tables
at existing properties.
Forthcoming events / NIGA 2017, San Diego
MEMBERSHIP NEWS
AGem Key board of Directors Actions
l AGEM continues to work with the Nevada Gaming Control Board
(GCB) on two key issues - updating Regulation 5 and submitting
language covering adaptive-play features for skill-based games.
Regulation 5 addresses potential e-commerce applications at the
machine and public comments are being accepted by the GCB until
Dec. 6. AGEM’s suggested adaptive-play language is still under
internal review and will ultimately be submitted to the GCB for
further consideration.
l In a move to show continued commitment to the Mexico gaming
market, AGEM is looking to formalise its presence in the market
beyond the current AGEM Mexico Committee structure. This will give
AGEM increased credibility and the tools to communicate better at
the regulatory and legislative levels. In a bid to support the proposed
gaming bill that has been pending in the Senate for a long time,
individually signed letters outlining AGEM’s support have recently
been sent to the group of senators considering the bill and the
contents of the letter ran as an advertisement in the Reforma
newspaper.
l The Board and AGEM as a whole remain focused on the possibility of
Brazil legalising gambling. To share the suppliers’ perspective, AGEM
Executive Director Marcus Prater was invited to present at the
Brazilian Gaming Congress in Sao Paulo in late November.
l Two new Associate members were voted in during the November
meeting - Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, a
full service law firm from New York, and Touch Embedded Solutions
based in Taiwan. This brings to the total number of AGEM members
to 152.
events and Activities
l AGEM members were present and active at both the Brazilian
Gaming Congress in Sao Paulo and the SAGSE trade show event in
Buenos Aires.
AGEM INDEX
The AGEM Index posted another
increase in October 2016 after gaining
20.46 points in September. The
composite index stood at 321.90
points at the close of the month, which
represents an increase of 15.04
points, or 4.9 per cent, when
compared to September. The Index
reported a year-over-year increase for
the 13th consecutive month, rising
124.68 points, or 63.2 per cent, when
compared to October 2015. During the
latest period, six of the 13 global
gaming equipment manufacturers
reported month-to-month increases
in stock price, with three up by more
than 10 per cent. Seven reported
decreases in stock price during the
month, with four double-digit drops.
AGEM is an international trade association representing manufacturers of electronic gaming devices, systems, lotteries and components
for the gaming industry. The Association works to further the interests of gaming equipment manufacturers throughout the world.
Through political action, tradeshow partnerships, information dissemination and good corporate citizenship, the members of AGEM work
together to create benefits for every company within the organization. Together, AGEM and its member organisations have assisted
regulatory commissions and participated in the legislative process to solve problems and create a positive business environment.
P48 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

hippodrome and TransAct
partner to hone patron loyalty
Insight
uK hippodrome Casino
TransAct EpiCentral
Hippodrome Casino, located in the iconic Center London Hippodrome building,
invested millions in the complete restoration and re-design of the historic multilevel
property and continues to invest in state-of-the-art technology
Opened in July 2012, the overriding goal was to
provide patrons with a truly amazing gaming
experience and to grow a loyal base of local patrons in
addition to the thousands of tourists that frequent the
West End. In addition, Simon Thomas, Hippodrome’s
owner, was committed to providing patrons with a
“Las Vegas style” experience by offering multiple options
for dining, drinks, entertainment and
promotions.
Enter TransAct Technologies. TransAct’s Epicentral®
Promotional System – a sophisticated and easy to use
coupon system that allows casinos to create
customized promotions and deliver them to patrons
directly at the slot machine while they are playing.
With the installation of the Epicentral System, the
Hippodrome’s slot and marketing team added the
capability to communicate direct-ly with their players
in a very targeted and effective way – the coupon.
“Slot patrons are truly excited with the promotional
cou-pons that they receive during their time at the
slot machine” stated John Strydom, Slot Manager at
Hippodrome. “The coupons have definitely increased
return visits and ensures that we are target-ing our
marketing efforts at those who will play with us
regularly” he continued. Implementing Epicentral
allowed the casino to increase the effec-tiveness of its
marketing spend. Instead of mailing coupons to its
database of customers, the casino now awards food
and beverage coupons to its players as they earn them
with play. In addition to the Food and Beverage
awards, the property also runs a “Lucky 8888” drum
drawing promotion that prints and presents a
personalized drawing ticket to carded players based
on their first card-in during a pre-defined time period.
This promotion functions as a welcome back to the
player when they card-in and are instantly rewarded
with a drawing ticket but the promotion also serves to
bring the player back to the casino for the drawing.
Recently Hippodrome expanded into the Crystal
Rooms next door to the current property. Located just
outside the main building, ac-cess to the Crystal
Rooms require patrons to walk outside – and into a
different gaming environment. When the Marketing
team and the Slots Manager discussed strategies to
encourage Hippodrome’s current patrons to visit and
experience play at the Crystal Rooms, generating
coupons through Epicentral was the obvious and
logical choice. The Hippodrome team created a
promotion for the Crystal Rooms called “Crack the
Safe” where patrons receive a coupon during play at
The Hippodrome which provides them with the first
of four numbers for the combination to a safe that is
located at the Crystal Rooms. Once at the Crystal
Rooms, the patron attempts to choose the remaining
three combination numbers. If successful, the patron
wins £1000. But the added bonus is that even if the
patron does not choose the correct numbers, they still
receive £5.00 in free play at the Crystal Rooms. “Our
patrons are really embracing this promotion and the
printed coupons are driving action. Over a 2-month
period we have seen 20 percent increase in drop and
turnover at the Crystal Rooms” John Strydom
continued.
“The ability to design coupons within a few short
minutes for various promotions and/or discounts for
other property venues, and send them out to the
patrons while they are in the midst of playing has
definitely increased patron loyalty and increased
revenues”, he concluded.
“The ability to design
coupons within a few short
minutes for various
promotions and/or
discounts for other
property venues, and send
them out to the patrons
while they are in the midst
of playing has definitely
increased patron loyalty
and increased revenues.”
- John Strydom, Slot
Manager at Hippodrome
Casino
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P49

Reports
emeA - czech rePublic
The Good,
The Bad
and The Ugly
The Czech Republic has seen new gambling legislation introduced
which Czechs say will divide the industry into ‘good’ gambling and
‘bad’ gambling. It is expected to reduce the number of gaming
locations in the country, increase taxes and see the online gambling
market open up increasing competition for domestic operators.
Since the year 2000 the Czech Republic has
been divided into 13 regions and the capital city
of Prague. Each region has its own elected
Regional Assembly and President, whilst in
Prague the powers are executed by the city
council and the mayor.
The older 73 districts including three ‘statutory
cities’ were disbanded in 1999 in an
administrative reform. They do however remain
as territorial divisions and seats of various
branches of state administration.
Czech has some 10.5 million inhabitants and the
economy gets a substantial income from
tourism. Revenue from tourism amounted to
CzK238bn in 2014 which is nearly three per cent
of the GDP. Inbound tourism accounted to just
over 60 per cent of this whilst the remaining
was from domestic visitors.
Some 500,000 are indirectly employed via the
tourism sector whilst a total of 27.8 million
tourists visited Czech in 2015 – an eight per cent
increase from the previous years. Half of the
P50 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
tourists arrived for just one day and spend
around CzK2,700 daily.
There is an increase in the number of tourists
from the US and Asian countries whilst
Germans and Slovaks account for the daily
visitors.
The gambling market in Czech has traditionally
been highly successful and a cash cow for many
European manufacturers who have long filtered
AWP, casino and VLT products into the country.
Some 10,200 people are employed in the betting
and gaming industry and the number of
machines has been fairly steady with around
50,000 units listed by the Ministry of Finance in
May 2016 which is divided up between AWPs,
casino slots and VLTs.
In terms of ratio there is roughly one machine
per 200 people which is the highest number per
capita in the EU. It is said more than two thirds
of Czech adults gamble and there are gambling
halls on most street corners with around 7,300
gaming venues made up of slot halls (hernas)
and 171 casinos in the country according to
figures from the Ministry of Finance.
In 2015 players bet CzK152.2bn on the various
types of gambling in the Czech market which
was 10.2 per cent higher than the previous year.
Some CzK121.8bn was paid out in prizes which
was 14.1 per cent more than the previous year.
Total revenues from all gambling activities in
Czech in 2015 amounted to Czk30.4bn.
VLTs have the biggest market share in terms of
revenue with 32.2 per cent and saw revenues of
Czk12.8bn last year followed by internet sports
betting sector (25 per cent) with CzK4.1bn and
then gaming machines (21.1 per cent) with
Czk4bn in revenues.
The gaming machine revenue is a huge increase
on previous figures which in 2014 was CzK2.4bn
and Czk2.6bn in 2013 although the sector saw
highs of Czk4bn back in 2012.
VLTs on the other hand have seen steady

OVERVIEW OF GAMBLING SECTORS REVENUES FOR YEAR 2015. IN CZECH KRONA
Type of game BeT paid Revenue
Lottery 446,695,540 257,469,780 189,226,349
Raffles 7,389,009 4,646,395 2,978,592
Number Lottery 8,748,637,208 4,382,305,224 4,366,331,984
Instant Lottery 1,960,417,291 1,108,115,560 852,301,731
Gaming machines 31,174,557,008 28,156,398,764 4,018,158,244
Totalisator games 12,706,734 6,268,205 6,438,529
Bingo 25,188,800 18,891,587 6,297,213
Sportsbook 5,793,795,810 4,322,988,223 1,470,816,036
Internet sports betting 38,053,287,862 33,881,866,245 4,171,421,617
Betting games in casinos 6,169,859,926 5,229,687,077 940,172,849
Dice 25,701,414 19,803,710 5,897,704
Racing 27,806,634 17,713,456 10,093,178
VLTs 49,023,872,384 36,150,715,341 12,873,157,043
Card tournaments in casinos 1,230,595,113 1,145,546,395 85,048,718
Internet games/tournaments 48,324,247 8,007,384 40,031,863
Local lottery systems 2,285,483,202 1,656,677,117 628,806,085
Electronic roulette 6,123,967,769 5,377,289,581 746,678,188
Other lotteries/games 39,147,539 29,774,624 9,493,945
ToTaL 152,197,433,490 121,774,164,668 30,423,634,868
revenues for the last four years with CzK13.3bn
in 2012, CzK14bn in 2013, CzK15.9bn in 2014 and
CzK12.8 in 2015.
The Czech market is at present governed by the
Czech gaming law 202/90 which was prepared
post revolution in 1989 by the Ministry of
Finance in just four months and was introduced
in May 1990. It was last amended in 2013 and
includes the following:
l Licences to operate lotteries can only be
issued to legal entities with a registered
address in the Czech territory and the state or
joint stock companies must have a registered
capital of at least CzK100m.
l Betting games in bookmakers and casinos
can be operated by joint stock companies
with a registered capital of at least Czk30m.
l A deposit of CzK2m must be paid into a
special bank for slot operators and CzK20m
for casinos.
l Slots operate with a stake of CzK2-5 for those
installed in arcades and maximum stake of
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P51

Reports
emeA - czech rePublic
GAMING MACHINES
50,000
GAMING VENUES
7,300
CASINOS
171
VLT GAMING REVENUE
CzK12.8bn
INTERNET SPORTS BETTING
CzK4.1bn
SLOT MACHINES REVENUE
CzK4bn
TOTAL GAMING GGR (ALL)
CzK30.4bn
In the past no form of online gaming was permitted in Czech although foreign
online operators, particularly UK companies, had been offering online betting to
the Czech market for some time and intentionally target Czech customers by
providing sites in the Czech language. Many have sponsored sporting teams.
CzK50 for casino slots. The highest payout is
CzK300-750 for arcade slots and CzK50,000
for casino slots.
l The slots must have a minimum payout of 75
per cent whilst the highest hourly loss is
CzK1,000 – 2,000 for arcade games and
CzK10,000 for casinos slots.
l Linked machines in arcades and casinos can
pay out a maximum accumulative jackpot of
CzK10,000 (arcades) and CzK100,000
(casinos).
l Arcades must be 100m from buildings such as
schools, medical centres, governmental
buildings and churches.
l Casino licences are issued for ten years.
l Casinos pay the following taxes:
1. Live game revenue is taxed at 11 per cent flat
rate of which 10 per cent goes to the central
government and one per cent to the local
Ministry of Finance as a supervisory fee.
2. Plus live games pay a sliding scale of tax on
revenue which is CzK0-50m (six per cent);
CzK50-100m (eight per cent); CzK100-500m
(10 per cent); 500-1000 (15 per cent) and over
1000 (20 per cent).
P52 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
3. Slots pay CzK50,000 tax per machine per
year
4. Plus they also pay a sliding scale on slot
revenue which is the same as the live game
tax rates above.
Apart from several amendments over the years,
the law in principal has never been changed.
There were some changes in 1998 which
included a tightening of the age limit control, the
minimum share capital for joint stock
companies, more stringent checks on operators
and employees and stricter penalties for
violations of the law. Meanwhile municipalities
were also given the authorisation to issue
regulations for the operation of gaming
machines.
As a result more and more gaming outlets began
to open and today there are gambling parlours
on almost every street corner. This increase has
always been tolerated due to the income they
bring in.
However such access to slots has also caused
problems and some municipalities opted to ban
them creating tensions among the regulators
and municipal officials.
Casinos pay a percentage of their profits to the
state whilst arcades fund the local
municipalities.
VLTs were introduced into the Czech market in
1998 following an amendment and these saw
huge revenue increases and today the VLT sector
is the biggest gambling sector in terms of
income.
The huge growth however also sparked other
problems. Back in 2004 following a huge bomb
explosion outside a casino in Prague the
government was forced to sit up and take notice.
The failed attempt at killing the casino owner
sent ripples of money laundering rumours and
the industry was suddenly in the spotlight.
Meanwhile in terms of online gambling, in 2009
the Ministry of Finance issued permits to
introduce online sports betting for Czech
operators. In the past no form of online gaming
was permitted in Czech although foreign online
operators, particularly UK companies, had been
offering online betting to the Czech market for
some time and intentionally target Czech
customers by providing sites in the Czech
language. Many of these online companies have
even increased their profile by TV commercials
or by sponsoring sporting teams.
Currently five of the country’s largest
bookmakers provide online sports betting
services. These are Fortuna, Sazka, Tipsport,
Chance and Synot Tip.
The law stated that players had to register in an

actual office with ID card before they can access
the internet aimed at helping prevent underage
users. It limited online gambling to fixed odds
betting and prohibited casino game gambling.
The licensed operators were carefully monitored
whilst unregulated sites seemed to be left alone
many of them operating with .cz domains and
services in Czech language.
This caused some agitation amongst the legal
operators who clearly saw their business
affected by the illegal operations offering a
wider variety of services and without any taxes.
So they urged the authorities to reconsider the
existing legislation and amend the laws. It is
estimated that the Czechs currently wager $6bn
per year online.
Meanwhile the laws were also found to be
incompatible with the European Commission
and they also questioned the law in Czech and
demanded a review with requirements that
worked with the EU.
And they got their wish….
THE CHANGES
So in 2014 the Czech gambling industry came
under the radar as the government looked at the
online gambling sector as a way of raising taxes
and also to clarify the requirements under
which gambling can operate.
At the time Finance Minister Andrej Babis
announced that he wanted to increase taxes on
betting companies from 2016. Companies
currently pay a tax rate of 20 per cent on their
gross win from gambling plus a 19 per cent
corporate tax rate.
The new conditions have long been a subject of
debate with powerful business groups lobbying
hard against. Some of this has paid off. Initially
Babis wanted three tax rates – 25 per cent for
odds betting, 30 per cent for number lotteries
and 35 per cent on slots. This was later amended
slightly.
It was said with the new taxes the government
could raise an additional CzK6bn ($270m) in
revenues.
Babis said he wanted to bring the Czech gaming
law in line with European legislation and curb
gambling addiction.
At the time he said: “The current legislation does
not conform with those in developed European
countries, gambling is out of control and the
state loses billions every year. The proposed aim
of the amendments is primarily to ensure high
protection of citizens from pathological
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President Milos Zeman
approved the law on June
10 and is effective from
January 2017. However all
operation permit
applications submitted
before the end of 2016 are
handled in accordance
with the existing
legislation and operations
have 12 months to fulfil
the requirements of the
new legislation, apart
from tax rates with are
applicable from January
2017.
gambling, limit the number of casinos, improve
state supervision and ensure proper taxation of
all forms of gambling.”
Czech deputy finance minister Ondrej Zavodsky
is in favour of the changes and it is estimated
Czech loses around CzK600m a year in
revenues which goes instead into offshore and
‘grey area’ operations.
In May this year the Czech senate approved the
new regulations and taxes for the gambling and
lottery industries under a so called New
Gambling Code.
There were 42-0 votes in favour and President
Milos Zeman approved the law on June 10 and is
effective from January 2017. However all
operation permit applications submitted before
the end of 2016 are handled in accordance with
the existing legislation and operations have 12
months (until December 2017) to fulfil the
requirements of the new legislation, apart from
tax rates with are applicable from January 2017.
The Law number 186/2016 is the new law on
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gambling and includes the following points:
l Gambling operators must be located in Czech
and a legal entity in Czech or another EU or
EEA state with a minimum capital of €2m.
l Gaming operation licences are issued for
lottery, fixed odd betting, totalisator, bingo,
technical game (slots) and live games. A basic
licence is issued for six years.
l A deposit is required plus a bank guarantee
for gambling location licences which is:
o CzK1m for each gambling room (Czk10m
minimum and Czk50m maximum for all
gambling rooms with one operator)
o CzK10m for each casino (CzK20m
minimum and CzK50m maximum for all
casinos with one operator)
l Gambling is prohibited to those under 18 years
of age.
l The highest bet and highest win is for
‘technical games’ (slots) in arcades – CzK100
maximum bet and maximum win CzK50,000;
for casinos games – CzK1,000 maximum bet
and CzK500,000 maximum win and for
online ‘technical’ games – CzK1,000
maximum bet and CzK500,000 maximum
win.
l Technical games – can only be operated on
gambling premises and must be connected to
a server. There must be a registration process
for players to include identity and age and this
will record deposits, bets and winnings. Each
gambling participant can have only one user
account with one operator. This information is
archived for 10 years.
l Participation in a technical game will be
interrupted after 120 minutes for at least 15
minutes break. The payout is a minimum of 75
per cent.
l Slot Halls (Herna) can operate a separate slot
area marked clearly as such and the slot hall
must be closed from 3am until 10am and only
house slots and should have at least 15 gaming

inteRVieW
Radek Pucek,
CEO, e-gaming
last response, the changes will probably foster
illegality.
Why has the government favoured online
gaming as part of the new legislation? how will
the introduction of online gaming impact on the
much smaller land-based gaming sector?
as this is rather a question of politics, than any
kind of logical action, allow me to say "no
comment.”
What effect will the reduction of gaming
locations have on the gaming sector?
the immediate impact will probably be minimal,
because for most of the operators there will be a
transition period when everything will work
according to previous conditions. We expect the
main impact to become visible in 2018. by this
year, most importantly, all gaming operations
will disappear from restaurants and only bigger
gaming-houses and casinos will remain.
for e-gaming itself, the impact is not going to
be that dramatic because the company already
entered the gaming industry with a Vlt product
that is being implemented into those bigger
gaming-houses and casinos.
if we see the reduction of 30,000 machines this
year and potentially 50,000 in total by 2017,
where are the players of these machines going
to play in the future?
Without any doubt, they are going to play online
or illegally. the illegal sector is the thing that
concerns us the most. thanks to some abrupt
and injudicious legislative changes the Czech
market experiences a great and undesirable
development.
Will the increase in taxes actually bring more
revenue to the government or simply drive legal
businesses out of the market and foster
illegality?
in my opinion, the revenue will not be
dramatically higher and in accordance with my
Moreover, to this day we actually do not know
the exact wording of the government regulation.
Making predictions and estimating detailed
impacts on the gaming sector is therefore, at
this moment, very dificult.
Why does the government view Vlts and aWps
as bad and instead favour sports-betting,
lotteries and online gaming?
this is a question that should be directed to the
Ministry of finance of the Czech Republic.
how do you see players reacting to having to
register and have their despots, bets and
winnings recorded by a server?
i think it will probably have an impact on a
smaller group of players, nevertheless, i do not
see that as a big issue. assuming that palyers
will not be provided with other illegal options.
What effect will the changes in operating hours
of slot halls have on the operations?
again, i do not find it that big of an issue. the
changes are not that dramatic.
Will the blacklist of illegal sites work to curb
illegality in the online gaming sector? there
have been problems with such systems in other
markets.
everything depends on the technical
measurements that will enforce these rules. if
they are inadequate, then considering the heavy
taxation of the legal online business, the black
market will most certainly be large.
positions and maximum of 30 machines.
l Casinos can operate live gaming tables and
have at least three live gaming tables and at
least 30 slots and maximum of 100 machines.
In a casino with technical games for each
additional live gaming table (above the
minimum) there can be a maximum of 10
technical games. This doesn’t apply to casinos
where gambling limit is set to a minimum of
10 live gaming tables. It must also be kitted
out with a complete monitoring system for
real time recording this must also be stored
for 24 months.
l Internet – Internet gaming is permitted to
Czech, EU or EEA operators. User accounts
have to be set up with registration process to
include identity, any self restriction measure
and payment methods. A maximum of
CzK5,000 in 24 hours is allowed for cash
deposits. There will be a black list of illegal
internet sites.
Law 187/2016 relates to the taxes on gambling
and includes:
l Technical games (VLTs, electronic roulettes,
online slot games/roulette) – will pay 35 per
cent or minimum rate of CzK9,200 per
calendar quarter (whatever is higher).
l Sports betting, lotteries, live casino games,
horse betting and bingo will pay a rate of 23
per cent
l Of this tax 35 per cent goes to the state budget
and 65 per cent to municipal budgets.
Basically this bill will replace the old fashioned
lottery law and is aimed at bringing in a stricter
state supervision, proper taxation of gambling,
opening up the market for online operations and
eliminating gambling addiction.
The Czech industry however says it has divided
the gambling sector into “good” and “bad”
gambling. The “bad” being the VLTs and AWPs,
which are to be removed from the single site
market and only permitted in larger arcades and
casinos and therefore removing the majority of
the smaller operators from the market.
The “good” gambling is sports betting, lotteries
and online gambling which is set to be
revitalised.
The industry insiders say the changes will
reduce the number of VLT and AWP machines
by around 30,000 this year and by around
50,000 next year. Although larger arcades and
casinos will flourish with less competition as
smaller operations will close, the big concern is
how the players will respond with detailed
monitoring.
Several workshops were held over the summer
to help operators get to grips with the new
changes and highlight any queries.
David Mixa of Synot said: “However even after
those workshops many things remain unknown
and we still don’t know how the main parts of
the machines/systems are likely to be certified.
The Ministry of Finance took notes during the
workshops and promised to answer some
important parts however they did not say when
they will clarify these questions.
“Taking into consideration that we are coming to
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Essential information and facts
about Czech Republic:
country Czech Republic
capital Prague
Total Area 78,867 sq.km
Population 10,644,842
median age 41.7 years
male 40.5 years
female 43 years
ethnic groups Czech (64.3%), Moravian (5%),
Slovak (1.4%)
religions Roman Catholic (10.4%),
Protestant (1.1%)
languages Czech (95.4%) Slovak (1.6%)
currency Czech Koruna (CZK)
Government type Parliamentary democracy
chief of State President Milos Zeman (since
March 2013)
head of Government Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka
(since January 2014)
cabinet Cabinet is appointed by the
president on the recommendation
of the Prime Minister
elections President elected by parliament
for five year term (eligible for
second term). Last successful
election held March 2013. Prime
Minister appointed by the
President.
the end of the year that is not the position we
feel comfortable with. So unfortunately the
situation is not clear, or good for existing
providers and operators and is does not seem
the Ministry will make it better for any of us.”
It’s a complex law and will regulate all forms of
online gambling whilst dropping the prohibition
on non Czech operators obtaining online
licences for gambling which at the moment is
dominated by five main domestic companies.
EU and EEA companies will now have the
opportunity to apply for local licences although
in reality the bill’s new tax plan could prove too
high for them to consider the Czech Republic as
a viable market.
The new law will also enable the Ministry of
Finance to block unauthorised gambling
domains whilst also putting a ban on payment to
and from unauthorised operators plus rules
against unlawful marketing.
There will be an exclusion data base to allow
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gamblers to block themselves from sites whilst
also blocking access to bankrupt individuals or
those receiving benefits from the state.
Martin Zych of Comax and UNASO said:
“Basically the law will exclude those who are
recipients of a social support from gaming, put a
number of obstacles in front of the player to
avoid him falling into gambling addiction,
increase tax revenues for the treasury, introduce
a tighter and more centralised control over the
sector, introduce a sophisticated system which
will register every single player, change the
share on overall gaming turnover from bad
gambling towards good gambling, reduce the
number of sites with AWP and VLT machines
and open the online gambling market and tax
it.”
To summarise the new bill means:
1. From 2017 companies will be required to pay a
35 per cent tax on revenue from ‘technical
equipment’ such as electronic gaming
machines and other slots. This is on top of the
standard 19 per cent corporate tax. Previously
tax on slot machines was 28 per cent.
2. Sports betting and lotteries will be taxed at 23
per cent of GGR.
3. It will remove slots from bars and restaurants
and only permit them in specialised gaming
venues (slot halls) which must have a
minimum of 15 games in order to reduce small
operations.
4. It will create a data base of players with the
aim of preventing addiction problems.
5. It will open the market to international
operators who are now free to apply for an
internet gambling licence.
6. It will ban advertising from unlicensed
operators
Ivan Valik of Czech Casinos told us: “The new
law in more detail regulates the question of the
competence of state and local governments in

the licensing procedure. The licensing process is
newly designed as a two stage, the Ministry of
Finance will provide basic permits to verify the
eligibility of applicants and meet all technical
and technological requirements, but permits for
the location of gaming space will be exclusively
in the competence of the respective
municipality.
“As far as social responsibility is concerned the
players will be registered through bank
accounts. The electronic system will not allow a
game to people under 18, who will be in
insolvency, are on benefits or have a court
ordered ban on playing. The casinos will be
obliged to offer their players a possibility to limit
their losses.
“Generally it is expected that the new code will
bring a substantial reduction of the gaming
business in Czech.”
THE VLT SECTOR
The VLT sector has not escaped changes in the
Czech market and many are worried about the
loss of venues under a new amendment to the
VLT law.
There are two types of gaming machines
operating in Czech mainly the VHP (Vyherni
Hraci Pristroje) or slot/AWP and the IVT (VLT).
The VLTs operate with a central lottery system or
CLS (Centralni Loterni System).
Under the new law all machines will have to be
connected online with the authorities and
players have to be registered in a central
database and issued with players’ cards. This
will monitor the amount they win and gamble
and their type of gaming and location.
The individual player can set up their own limits
for losses over a certain period of time and also
their own exclusion from gaming. There will also
be an interruption after two hours of continuous
play. These new regulations means the Ministry
will have to introduce a complicated software
package and a supplier for this is expected to be
announced by the end of this year. It could in
theory take at least two years to implement.
“Who would want to be a registered player
where financial authorities monitor how much
they have lost and won and where they are
playing?” said Martin Zych.
“This kind of information could become very
dangerous if it escapes from the register. It
would not be the first case in this country when
private sensitive information is discovered.”
The technical games will be licensed in two
stages – first the MoF will issue a Master Licence
to confirm the operator fulfils the general
requirements of the law and then local
authorities will then issue an Operation Permit
for each individual machine and site.
Maximum bet on machines in arcades is CzK100
and in casinos CzK1,000. Each town will still
have the right to regulate gaming in its own
territory including a complete gaming ban if
they request it.
Martin Zych added: “This clause is, more than
any other clause in the new legislation, the most
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l 1
The Czech Republic is the second
richest Eastern European country
after Slovenia. The GDP per capita
(PPP) of Czech people is is similar to
that of Portuguese or Greek people.
l 2
l 3
Prague's GDP per capita (PPP) is
twice the Czech national average,
and higher than any EU member
states' national average except
Luxembourg. Prague has the 12th
highest GDP per capita (PPP) of the
269 NUTS-2 Region (province level)
in the European Union, and the
highest outside the UK, the Benelux,
France, Germany, Austria and
Sweden.
The country is renowned for its
numerous spa towns, especially
along the border with Saxony
(Germany). The most famous ones
are those of Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad),
Františkovy Lázně (Franzensbad)
and Teplice (Teplitz).
Since 2012 each municipality has had the right to regulate gambling or prohibit
gambling in their own territories. The Prague City Assembly has issued an
official list of the 101 officially designated ‘casinos’ which are allowed to carry
on business as usual whilst 111 small gaming clubs were closed in January 2016
or will be closed within the next couple of years as licences are not renewed.
difficult issue for the operators. A gaming ban is
like an avalanche spreading all over the country.
Larger cities went through a big reduction of
street gaming in the last couple of years such as
Brno with a complete ban, Prague a big
reduction and Ostrava with significant
reductions from next year.”
In 2015 an amendment was made to the 10/2103
decree which looked at the operation of gaming
halls and specifically the paragraph for
operations in the capital Prague.
Basically, as from January 2016 when the
changes came into effect, the city of Prague will
ban half of its 212 gaming clubs from the capital
after being asked to reduce the number of VLT
halls.
Other cities are also affected with removal of
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VLTs and operations will only be permitted to
operate certain hours rather than 24/7 as
previously so some gaming places must close
from 3am until 10am.
Since 2012 each municipality has had the right
to regulate gambling or prohibit gambling in
their own territories. For example Brno which is
the second largest city after Prague, has
operated with zero tolerance to technical games
and casinos, although the local municipality
now is discussing whether to permit casinos
(without technical games) in the Brno City area.
Meanwhile the Prague City Assembly has issued
an official list of the 101 officially designated
‘casinos’ which are allowed to carry on business
as usual whilst 111 small gaming clubs were
closed in January 2016 or will be closed within
the next couple of years as licences are not
renewed. There is a complete ban on Prague 4
district.
The council had linked the smaller clubs to
sociological and pathological problems in the
city and said the plan was to clean up the city of
such “dirty venues”.
The Association of Gaming Operators said the
closures will cost the treasury around CzK300m
per year in lost taxes and would merely open the
door to black market operations.
In Prague Zone 1, 3, 8 and 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21
- the clubs can operate without time limits
whilst in Prague 10 and Zlicin they will only be
permitted to be open between 10am and 10pm.
Similar clean up schemes will be adopted in
Brno, Ceske Budejovice, Zlin city centre and

municipalities which have received CzK5.5bn
and the state CzK2.2bn
Spelos represents 17 lottery companies which is
54 per cent of the total market. These include:
Apex, AGH VLT, AZ-Technika, Banco Casino,
Bonver Win, ENDL+K, Gapa Group, Helvet
Group, Kimex Casino, Lucky Money, LuckyNova,
Merkur Casino, Multigate, Play Games, Sport
Games Win, Synot Tip and Tipgames.
They believe zero tolerance of VLTs in a
municipality will not stop people playing and
simply drive the gambling underground. They
also worry about the loss of income as the
municipality receives 80 per cent of the levy on
gaming machines and VLTs. The lottery sector is
said to employ around 50,000 jobs
Meanwhile others claim it is against human
rights to ban people from gambling who are
receiving state benefits or declared bankruptcy
or have criminal records whilst protestors
hacked into Czech government websites to
protest against the decision to block the
domains of unauthorised online gaming
operators.
In June the senate’s official website was
knocked offline with a message that it had been
targeted because of the law ‘preventing free
access to the internet’ and warning of future
hacking. The attack also affected websites
belonging to the Interior Ministry and affiliated
police and fire fighter organisations and the
Social Democrat Party.
SPORTS BETTING
This sector is dominated by five main companies
and is seen as one of the “good” gaming players
despite arguments that it can cause equal levels
of addiction.
SASKA REVENUES
iTem 2014 2013
Revenue from lottery and betting activities CzK4.12bn CzK3.63bn
Revenue from receipts CzK8.97bn CzK7.79bn
Prizes - CzK4.85bn - CzK4.15bn
Revenue from other activities CzK268m CzK216m
neT Revenue CzK4.39bn CzK3.85bn
Kromeriz.
There are around 7,300 gaming halls and casinos
in total and according to the Ministry of Finance
and by 2018 this number will be reduced to
around 1,100.
Meanwhile there are currently 171 casinos in
Czech operated by 33 operators. Czech Casinos
is one such operator and has two live game
operations – Casino Grand in Brno and Casino
Pupp in Karlovy Vary.
Ivan Valik of Czech Casinos said: “In connection
with the problematic situation in Brno we are
impatiently waiting for the breaking of the zero
tolerance which will enable us to continue our
casino operations but without the technical
games.
“The New Gambling Code brings a modern
regulatory framework and was eagerly awaited
by operators for the last 10 years. This new
framework will open the Czech gambling
market to foreign operators and for the first time
introduce complex regulation of all forms of
online gambling.
“The new legislation reflects the best practices
of other jurisdictions, especially in the field of
consumer protection and connected suitable
responsible measures. Last for not least, the new
code makes our business more transparent and
predictable.”
Others in the industry are not so optimistic.
SPELOS is an association of operators of lottery
systems and other gaming sectors. The lottery
sector has in the past year provided CzK8.1bn in
taxes in total, shared amongst the local
Sazka entered the Czech market back in 1956
and is the oldest lottery company in Czech. It is
the largest domestic provider of number
lotteries and instant lotteries and has a 95 per
cent share of the lottery market today.
It hosted its first odds betting game with the
same name that year followed by a lottery game
in 1965.
It became a public limited company in 1993 and
in 2011 after bankruptcy it was sold and new
owners KKCG investment group and PPF Group
took over. KKCG later became the sole and 100
per cent owner of Sazka after purchasing the
PPF Group’s stake a year later.
At the time the lottery market was worth
around CzK7.5bn in terms of amounts staked.
Although Sazka had the majority market share
Fortuna had around five per cent with its
numerical games and Tipsport less than one per
cent.
Today it operates in 11 countries on four
continents and has several games in Czech
including number lotteries with its best known
game Sportka, scratchcards, sports betting and
fast draw games.
Sazka has some 7,000 POS in Czech and 1,200
betting outlets for the Sazka Bet sports betting
operations and in 2009 Sazka launched betting
on the internet.
Sazka Bet saw revenues increase by 59 per cent
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during 2014 whilst the number of registrations
also increased by 22 per cent. A new bonus
game called Tym 68 (Team 68) was launched
and the number of live events grew by 50,000
on the year on year basis whilst the live
broadcasts grew by 8,000 compared to the
previous year. Sazka’s total revenue in 2014 was
CzK9.2bn.
Sazka Group a.s is a new holding company
established as a joint venture which will
aggregate all lottery and gaming assets of KKCG
and Emma Capital. KKCG and Emma Capital
hold a 75 per cent and 25 per cent share in Sazka
Group respectively.
KKCG (Czech investment group) and Emma
Capital is the biggest investor of Emma Delta
Fund which currently owns a 33 per cent stake
in the Greek lottery OPAP.
KKCG was founded by oil tycoon Karel Komerek
whilst Emma Capital is run by entrepreneur Jiri
Smejc. They also owned, until recently, an 11.4
per cent share in Austrian lottery Casinos
Austria and a 100 per cent stake in Czech lottery
Sazka.
In February this year Novomatic and the Sazka
Group formed a long term strategic equal
partnership to be shareholders of Casinos
Austria and Austrian Lotteries. The two will form
a joint venture company where their shares in
Casinos Austria will be joined together to set up
an equal partnership for the future development
and growth of the Casinos Austria company.
The two companies had been fighting for a
majority shareholding of the Austrian group
buying up shares but had hit a wall until they
agreed to work together.
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Their partnership sees them become equal
shareholders holding more than 51 per cent of
the company.
Casinos Austria has 12 casinos in Austria as well
as lottery business Osterreichische Lotterien
which includes the WINWIN VLT outlets.
KKCG’s daughter company Italian Gaming
Holding and Emma Capital will now also run
Italy’s Lotto company with Italian Gaming
holding a 32.5 per cent share alongside
Lottomatic with 61.5 per cent, Arianna 2001 with
four per cent and Novomatic Italia with two per
cent.
Meanwhile sports betting solutions provider
SBTech recently signed a deal to provide Sazka
with its sports betting platform. Sazka’s new
sportsbook will also benefit from SBTech’s
Chameleon360 gaming platform.
Tipsport bookmakers began offering sports
betting services in the early 1990s and were
later followed Fortuna and Synot Tip.
TipSport began as a company with one branch
in Central Beroun and today is the largest
betting company with a 39 per cent share in
Czech and it employs 3,000 people working for
the brands Tipsport, Chance and Slovakia’s
Tipsport. TipSport doesn’t operate sports bars
but has 860 sports betting branches in Czech.
In 2009 the company began online betting,
launching live betting and unique contest
Tipsport League gaining 22,000 clients during
the first month and in 2010 they launched a
number lottery game called Tipsestka. Today
TipSport has around 85 per cent of the online
market.
Until recently Tipsport also owned TipGames
which was founded as a subsidiary to the
company in 2002 TipGames mainly dealt with
the operation of Sport Bars and gambling
machines, electronic roulette and VLTs.
TipGames has some 60 odd locations and also
has products in more than 200 establishments
in Czech. TipGames however is no longer owned
by Tipsport.
In 2013 Tipsport purchased its rival company
Chance meaning the two combined now have a
market share of around 50 per cent.
Chance is among the top three large bookmaker
companies in Czech and was launched in 1991
and today the company has 200 locations across
the country. Since 2013 the company is part of
the holding company, Chance Tipsport.
The company has a 14 per cent share roughly
and players can bet online via chance.cz and
betting is offering on a wide range of sporting
matches.
TipSport plans to add casino games to its

product range under the new online gaming law.
Vaclav Sochor at Tipsport said: “The new laws
will bring in necessary provisions for creating a
non-discriminatory business environment,
blocking of Czech bank accounts of illegal
foreign operators, blocking of their internet
pages and (already enforced) ban on advertising
of illegal companies.
“With all three provisions in place we are ready
to welcome new competitors, should they want
to establish their legal presence on the Czech
market and pay taxes here.”
Fortuna is Czech’s second largest betting firm
and has around one third of the market and was
founded in 1990 with Penta Investments
becoming the owner in 2005. After an IPO
Penta’s subsidiary Fortbet Holdings has the
majority 67.3 per cent stake in the company.
The Fortuna Entertainment Group has become
the largest Central European betting operator.
Although originally just in Czech it now operates
in Slovak and Polish markets.
In Czech the company offers its products via
subsidiaries and affiliated branches such as
Fortunky and the company has a 30 per cent
share with 1,532 points of sale for sports betting
across Czech, Slovakia and Poland of which 633
(251 outlets and 382 partner outlets) are in
Czech plus 1,550 lottery terminals in Czech.
In 2011 Fortuna launched a numerical lottery in
l 1
Some of the famous Czechs you might have heard of
include: NhL players Jaromír Jágr and Dominik hašek, Oscar
winning director Miloš Forman, Oskar Schindler, Sigmund
Freud, Ivana Trump, supermodel Petra Nemcová, tennis
greats Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl, composer
Antonin Dvorak, writer Franz Kafka (who wrote in German,
but was actually a Czech citizen), and early geneticist Gregor
Mendel.
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There are over 2,000 castles, keeps and castle ruins in the
Czech Republic. It is regarded as the castle capital of the
world. Prague Castle is the largest castle complex in the
world, spanning 70,000sq.m.
The country has a total of 46 airports with paved runways
with six of them providing international air services. The
main international airport of Czech Republic is Václava
havla International Airport
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l 1
According to OECD’s 2013
‘Education Policy Outlook’ report,
“the Czech Republic has one of the
highest upper secondary education
attainment rates for the 25-34
year-olds (94 per cent, compared to
the OECD average of 82 per cent)
with most students completing
vocational education and training”.
l 2
l 3
FORTUNA REVENUE DATA
The Czech Republic is the no. 1 beer
drinking country in the world with a
consumption of 160 litres per
person per year. Beer has been
brewed here since 993 AD.
Founded in 1895, Škoda is one of
the very few automobile brands
with a history of more than 100
years, while ‘škoda’ means
‘damage’, ‘shame’ or ‘pity’ in Czech
The shift from a flat 20 per cent tax on gambling services to the 23 per cent on
sports betting and lottery revenues is expected to have huge impacts on Czechbased
gaming giant Synot. As such Synot has removed its sports sponsorship
deals saying it could no longer afford to fund national sporting organisations.
iTem 2015 2014
Amounts Staked €847.6m €672.4m
- of which sports betting €828m €655.7m
- of which lottery €19.6m €16.7m
Gross win €147.4m €132.6m
-of which sports betting €138.7m €125m
- of which lottery €8.7m 7.5m
REVENUES €102.7m €96.9m
- of which sports betting €95.7m €91m
- of which lottery €7m €5.9m
iTem Cz SpoRTS BeTTing Cz LoTTeRy SLovaKia poLand
Total amount staked €462.1m €19.7m €259.9m €105.8m
Gross win from betting €59.6m €8.7m €44.3m €34.8m
- of which online €43.9m n/a €28m €12.8m
- of which retail €15.7m n/a €16.3m €22m
Withholding tax (€11.9m) (€1.7m) (€15.3m) (€12.7m)
Other revenues (€1.2m) (€0.1m) (€1.1m) (€0.8m)
RevenueS €46.5m €7.1m €27.9m €21.3m
P62 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

Czech called Loto and at the end of 2015 they
offered numerical lottery and instant scratch
cards via a network of 5,451 points of sales of
which 1,550 were lottery terminals.
In 2014 Fortuna Game acquired 100 per cent of
the shares in Intralot Czech which supplies
lottery technology to the group and it changed
its name to Fortuna Technology.
Online betting began in 2009 with Fortuna and
online betting accounts for 61 per cent of total
group gross win in 2015.
Fortuna says its 2015 revenues have benefited
from a surge in online and mobile wagering.
They provide fixed odds in Czech, Slovakia and
Poland and say net profit in 2015 was €19.5m
(up 22.5 per cent from 2014).
Overall fixed odds betting stakes were up 26 per
cent to €847.7m while betting revenue was up 11
per cent to €138.7m. Fortuna’s lottery
operations saw sales rise by 17.8 per cent to
€19.7m and revenue up by 15.5 per cent to
€8.7m.
The amount staked from sports betting reached
€828m while Czech accounts for 54.5 per cent
of the total sports betting stakes (€462.1m).
Meanwhile online betting was up 26.4 per cent
to €84.7m although retail betting revenue
declined by seven per cent to €54m.
Czech remains Fortuna’s key market accounting
for 54.5 per cent of betting stakes followed by
Slovak (30.7 per cent) and Poland (12.5 per cent).
Finally Synot Tip is part of the international
holding company Synot which is one of the
leading Czech companies in the lottery and
gaming industry.
The company has three separate divisions – one
for betting, another for lottery systems and a
third for casinos, mainly poker games.
Synot Tip is the betting exchange division and
primarily focuses on sports betting and other
types of bets and these can be made via a
branch counter or via a betting terminal found is
bars, restaurants or petrol stations for example
where bets can be made.
The self service betting terminal is available in
two categories the 3TNT and TNT Facelift double
screen terminals and TNT 4. They offer live
streams to matches, draw lotto game and keno
games.
Synot Holding achieved a gross operating profit
of CzK3bn last year and offers gaming
machines, multi players, VLT terminals into the
Czech market alongside its Synot Tip products.
The company recently celebrated 25 years in
business and they began with three employees
and today operates in 20 countries with an
annual turnover of €600m.
Synot announced in January that it will scrap all
its sport sponsorships in protest of the unfair tax
hikes on services. They also claim under the tax
increases they stand to lose around CzK200m
and under such conditions cannot continue
their sponsorship.
The shift from the flat 20 per cent tax on
gambling services to the 23 per cent on sports
betting and lottery revenues is expected to have
huge impacts on the company. As such Synot
has removed its sponsorship deals saying it
could no longer afford to fund national sporting
organisations.
Synot was the sponsor of the Czech football
league and is also shirt sponsor for the AC
Sparta Prague, Czech’s most popular team.
Synot also holds commercial tie ups with
national basketball and ice hockey leagues.
Synot’s Ivo Valenta said the government had
taken a “populist and unprofessional approach”
to taxing the industry.
ONLINE GAMING
Internet sports betting in Czech has grown
steadily over the years from Czk1.9bn in
revenues in 2012 to CzK2.4bn in 2013, CzK3.3bn
in 2014 and Czk4.1bn in 2015.
Internet card games and tournaments have seen
a huge increase over the last four years in terms
of revenues from CzK6.2m in 2012; CzK12.5m in
2013, CzK44.7m in 2014 and CzK40.3m last year.
The Ministry of Finance has stated that the new
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Reports
emeA - czech rePublic
The Ministry of Finance has stated that the new law
will allow EU operators to enter the Czech market
and although the new law won’t come into effect
until January 1, 2017, some parts come into force
immediately allowing operators to apply for licences
law will allow EU operators to enter the Czech
market and although the new law won’t come
into effect until January 1st 2017 some parts will
however come into force immediately and after
a list of testing labs is made public gambling
operators will be able to apply for licences.
Licensed operators no longer need to be located
in the Czech Republic, merely an office is
enough. Basically this opens the market to
international online operators.
At the moment online gambling is governed by
the 202/1990 Lottery Act on lotteries and other
games under which fixed odds betting is the
only form of online gambling legally permitted.
Only Czech companies can offer internet
gaming as customers must register in a shop
before they can use the services. Technically
any company offering just internet gaming is
doing so illegally.
However the government never made any effort
to enforce this which is reflected by huge
advertising campaigns by big online operators.
The Czech legislation was always pretty quiet on
the whole online gambling law so until 2012 it
was illegal even for Czech residents. In 2009 the
Ministry of Finance amended the Lottery Act
with Section 50 (3) which granted individual
permissions for the provision of lottery games
and also permitted a number of Czech betting
companies the power to offer online fixed odds
betting and in 2012 online gambling was added
to the Lottery Act. The law stated that to operate
lotteries or similar games the company must be
a joint stock company in Czech with a registered
capital of at least CzK100m (around €4m). The
Act also banned advertising.
In 2011 the Czech parliament added an
amendment to the Act (300/2011) which became
effective in January 2012 and proceeds used for
the benefit of the public under previous
legislation was replaced with a unified 20 per
cent withholding tax on the Gross win and the 19
per cent corporate income tax and
administration to sports betting was simplified.
Collected proceeds from taxation are divided
between municipal and state budges 30:70
respectively in the case of lottery and sports
betting. The new tax law gave more power to
local municipalities in terms of regulation and
also allowed online casino games. It prohibited
offshore operators in Czech.
In 2013 the parliament approved an additional
amendment whereby a quarter of the 20 per
cent withholding tax can be paid out by the
operator directly to the Czech Olympic
Committee. Now, from January 2016, the 20 per
cent withholding tax is increased to 23 per cent
for sports betting and lottery business.
P64 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

The new law will require internet service
providers (ISPs) on Czech territory to block
access to websites on the government’s list of
illegal internet gaming sites.
The MoF prepared a series of workshops which
ran over July and August to present various
aspects of the new law and tackle any queries.
Meanwhile the new laws will see online poker
in Czech which previously was not permitted.
This new law, plus regulations in Poland, will
add a total of 50 million people to the nationally
regulated poker markets in the EU.
Of the 28 member states, only a handful now
lack a legal framework for online poker
regulation.
The law however states that no online poker bet
can exceed CzK1,000 (approximately $40) and
winnings in any specific game or tournament
are capped at CzK50,000 ($2,000
approximately)
The market is not segregated but Czech players
will need to be denied access to tournaments or
higher stake cash games. Although foreign
operators can be licensed there is however no
Sunday Million available in Czech.
It is thought the taxes and betting restrictions
will reduce the number of players switching
from current poker providers to licensed
operators under the new regime.
New operators are expected to have received
their licences by January 2017 although given
the high taxes it is anticipated that only the
biggest providers will apply. Those players
looking to hook into other ‘grey area’ websites
will have a tough time accessing due to the
blacklist of non licensed providers and financial
transaction blocking, although some say with
the use of virtual private networks players can
get around the IP blocking on some sites. So
how affective the blacklist will be is under
debate.
l 1
Until 1992, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic
were a federal state, Czechoslovakia. Due to growing
nationalist tensions in the government, the country was
dissolved and on 1 January 1993 the two states become
independent. The dissolution, also called the ‘Velvet Divorce’,
was one of the most peaceful country splits of the 20th
century. Czechs prefer on the whole to be called Central
Europeans, as opposed to Eastern Europeans.
l 2
l 3
The Czech Republic is home to many famous international
companies, including Deloitte Touche, Exxon Mobil and Zara.
But the country also has its own homegrown large firms,
such as Skoda, Budweiser Budvar, Pilsner Urquell and Bata.
The average working time is generally around 40 hours per
week, not taking overtime into account. The standard
amount of holidays is 20 days per year and Czechs also
benefit from 11 additional national holidays.
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P65

Review
SAGSe 2016 - ArGenTinA
local support meets
global strategy for
ainsworth in laTaM
Distribution of its progressives, new
A640 cabinet and high hit frequency
games has established Ainsworth
Game Technology as a leading player in
LATAM in a very short space of time.
Edison Salazar explains why...
We have a number of different games we’re
introducing this year, including two, three and
four level progressives such as the Quad Shot,
Double Hit, Triple Shot, and additional machines
such as the SL and SlimLine and our very latest
gaming product – the A640. This is the new
cabinet which should be available in this market
in a few months’ time. The library for this
multigame will be around 30 to 35 games all
ready and available for clients with maths
model very similar to the Quad Shot, which has
already proven popular in Argentina.
Quad Shot has found so much popularity
because the progressives and the maths behind
it gives clients the opportunity to enjoy a great
game that offers large prizes, interesting
bonuses and great jackpots, and at the same
time there is no max bet, no max level and you
can actually play with the lowest denomination,
keeping you entertained for a thoroughly
enjoyable period of time.
The dynamic of the machines between the
maths and the video content means that there is
a perfect relationship between the operator and
edison Salazar, product manager Latin america, ainsworth game Technology
the player. The jackpots come thick and fast and
the hit frequency rate is more efficient, while
the games and pay back are more frequent than
traditional games, and the bonuses are also
pretty attractive too.
Three years ago, Ainsworth was practically a
market entrant in this region, but year after year
and three years later we are now one of the most
established and well known companies in the
industry and our growth has skyrocketed from
around 30 to 65 per cent in Latin America,
which is a very good number for a company in
LATAM.
We have products sited far and wide, from
Mexico to Chile and wherever you go you can
see that Ainsworth is firmly established with
operators here. Not as much for its cabinets as it
used to be because the cabinets have been given
a different look but combined with the
mathematics this is a really good combination
right now and is probably one of the best
products in the market.
We are looking forward to entering the Brazilian
market. We are ready and we are prepared, we
just need to understand certain conditions, such
as when the space will be available. That said,
we already have excellent market share in terms
of numbers. In Mexico last year, the gambling
market generated around US$4bn and from
Mexico alone, while the market generated 44
per cent of our Latin America revenues. We are
already really well positioned and we have
already proved that we are becoming stronger
and stronger in Latin America because of our
team, thanks to our maths and because of
Ainsworth’s strengh in systems.
Considering that last year was a little down and
you didn’t see many companies exhibiting at
SGASE, everything has changed with the new
government. We now consider Argentina to be a
very good market that is going through a
positive development phase, which makes it a
very good potential market to explore. Argentina
is a big market and we still have a lot of work to
do, but we are very positive.
aMaTIC puts support
in place for operators
across argentina
AMATIC Industries reported from the SAGSE
Argentina exhibition in Buenos Aires that
visitors expressed great interest in the range of
products on show. AMATIC combines an
excellent mix of stylish, attractive cabinets
with its acclaimed wide choice of games that
originate from its MULTI GAME solution.
The Performer Grand Arc (PGA) slant top
gaming machine is available with two and
three screens. Its curved design makes it stand
out in any gaming location.
The PGA was joined by the AMAROX C24
upright cabinet at the SAGSE Argentina, which
follows the design lead of the PGA. AMATIC
makes use of the leading and most secure
components to give everyone of its gaming
machines the longest lasting, highest quality
finish and operation.
The latest range of amaTiC products at SagSe
All AMATIC games are created by the longserving
development teams at AMATIC
Industries. Each game is tried and tested.
AMATIC Industries is an independent, familymanaged
company that has the experience
and spirit to bring value-adding innovation to
the market.
Thomas Engstberger, Sales Manager at
AMATIC, noted from the show: “We see
promising opportunities for our company here
in Argentina. We have now set in place a
structure to enable us to support operators in
Argentina. Our proven games alongside our
flair for cabinet design have been rewarded
once again. We are very pleased with the
interest we received at this show and thank
everyone for coming to see us.”
P66 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

Positive and upbeat
mood permeates floor
at this year’s SagSe
There was a far more upbeat mood at this year’s
South American Gaming Expo and Congress
(SAGSE), which took place between November
16 and November 18th in Buenos Aires.
Exhibitor stands were noticeably busier than in
recent years and there was a general air of
optimism - something which has been been
lacking over recent years.
As usual we were present in Buenos Aires to
cover the exhibition and talked to some of the
key players about their latest products and their
thoughts on the ever changing Latin American
market, with especial emphasis on upcoming
legislation in Brazil.
The egT stand at SagSe
egT seeks to expand
further across laTaM
EGT’s Stanislav Stanev describes EGT’s
offering in LATAM and the
opportunties for future growth
This year at SAGE we are presenting our
bestseller product our Premier pit 24 Upright
machine which is now present in fifteen
countries around the world and is also present in
Argentina. Apart from this one we are also
presenting our next product from the premiere
series: the Slant Top models and the Jackpot as
well. From the Jackpots we are presenting here
Egypt Quest and the Fu Gui Rong Hua - a
Chinese-themed progressive jackpot. This is the
first time they’ve been presented at SAGSE.
We are present in Buenos Aires as well as the
other provinces in Argentina. Our goal next year
is to expand a little bit in Latin American. We
have recently opened three new offices this year
in Colombia, Peru and Mexico and we also want
to focus on Argentina as well. When it comes to
Peru we will be looking at focusing on Lima first
and then we are looking to expand in other
cities as well.
I am looking very closely at news every day in
Brazil. Hopefully they will open soon. My
personal opinion is that they will maybe open
later next year. They have to vote first in the
parliament - it is very complicated. So far the
impression is that all the exhibitors are here
now. It is very different to how it was two years
ago when we were last present when it was a
little bit empty. There were very few
manufactures exhibiting here. Now I can see
that all the guys are here back at SAGSE and
there is more positive feedback. Buyers are here
at the show, but what we are missing a little bit
is people from other countries in the area. This is
because in Peru they have their own show and
in Colombia and Panama as well.
In my personal opinion there will not be so
much growth, but the market will be more
regulated in the future. It is much better for us
when the exact terms, rules and requirements
are in place. Specifically the multi games work
very well here and are very popular in the Latin
American market in central America and in the
Caribbean, in Mexico, Panama and Colombia
where they are well accepted and played a lot.
glI’s luis Marrone
looks back at SagSe
past and to the future
We are here again taking part in SAGSE to
offer our services and connect with important
players in the industry, which are the
regulators on one side and the manufactures
on the other. We help to answer regulator
questions when it comes to the scope of
gaming regulation, especially concerning
online gaming right now, which has developed
so much, so quickly. It is also important for
the manufacturers, because some of the
jurisdictions are beginning to require e-
gaming and online gaming certification, such
as Colombia. What we are seeing according to
our usual work, which is certifying equipment,
is an evolution towards online and e gaming
systems. There are two jurisdictions in
Argentina that have included rules in their
normative e-gaming regulations. In Chile they
are looking to pass legislation on online
gaming. In the case of Colombia, the country
has been looking at e-gaming since 2015. We
have strong contacts with Colombia having
collaborated and assisted the government
when they started to issue their new
regulations in relation to gaming machines
and online systems. We assisted in producing
rules and in some cases we assist and we
perform inspections but not on a regular basis.
As regards to Brazil, I think that it’s now the
fourth or fifth time that the government has
sought to regulate gaming, so it’s still not a
done deal.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P67

Review
SAGSe 2016 - ArGenTinA
This is our first year at SAGSE. We are showing
our roulette game in two different
configurations: a compact eight player station
and the larger 12 player configuration.
Last year we placed numerous products in all
the major casinos around Argentina. We are
very, very happy about that because, as you
know, importing any kind of product into
Argentina is not so easy because of all of the
bureaucratic obstacles. Things have not got any
easier, not yet, which is why we are proud that
we have been able to accomplish this and bring
our product to market.
Our machines immediately showed great
success and whenever we placed them side by
side with existing products, we immediately
saw that they outperformed the competition,
which is why we have the hot machine in the
Argentine market right now.
Our products are popular in Argentina right
now for two reasons; the first being the fact
that they are the No.1 international products
right now - and the second reason is that we
have found the market starved of competition,
with only a few existing products, made up of
local brands that have divided the market up
amongst themselves. The product was
basically obsolete. The service, the products,
the whole customer experience was nowhere
near the standard it should be. For us, the
hardest job was to come into the market.
Alfastreet offer the number one roulette in the
market and we are very proud of it. We entered
the market last year and the next product we
are bringing to Argentina is our Royal Derby, a
The alfastreet team at SagSe 2016
alfastreet debut at this year’s SagSe show
generates immediate impact with visitors
Alfastreet’s compact Lucky 8 electronic roulette replicated its show-stopping
credentials at yet another international trade show. Alfastreet’s Albert Radman
describes the immediacy of that impact and market conditions in Argentina
mechanical horse racing game, and this is a
new product which we will be bringing to the
market very soon.
Looking to the wider LATAM market, everyone
is eyeing Brazil right now. There have been
some recent developments, which is keeping
the legislation moving in the right direction. We
are hoping to seize our opportunities in Brazil.
Elsewhere in Latin America we are positioned
very well in all of the markets. We are
extremely happy with what we have achieved
thus far. We don’t have much further to travel
to reach our objectives.
If I mention Panama, Colombia and Peru, these
are markets that are filled with our products
and we need to maintain the numbers. If we
increase them, then we are happy, but we are
already established and leading the market.
Everybody is saying that SAGSE is a quiet show
and shouldn’t be compared to other major
shows such as Vegas, London and Macau. But
for me, SAGSE is a good show as it is orientated
towards the true customers or the the buyers
and the operators . . . So I would say it is the
first time for us here, but I am very satisfied
with the event, with the way things are set up
here, with the organisers and I am happy with
the attendance as well.
In Latin America we conduct our business
alongside Go Global, a company that is a major
factor in helping us in our success. The
company is led by our friend Ms Rosana
Humar and right now this is a key partnership
which is helping us maintain our top position
in this market.
Constructing solid
market foundations
BetConstruct CEO, Vahe Baloulian,
outlines his LATAM perspective
This is our fourth time at SAGSE. SAGSE is one
of the most important Latin America shows,
though we also exhibit at Peru and Miami and
other shows, but SAGSE is important. I think it
is one of the largest and we have a long
relationship with them, and so far it has always
been very successful for us. So we keep on
supporting this event.
BetConstruct is a global company with 13 offices
worldwide. The core of the business is the
gaming platform and all the verticals around it:
sports-betting, casino, Live Casino and
everything else you can think of. We make all
our products in-house. We run our own live
dealer studio; we operate our own odds and we
work very closely with premium content
providers. And when we develop our own slot
games, for example, we ensure that we licence
these products. We aggregate 4,000 games from
other providers too and I’d estimate that we
have the largest portfolio of games in the
industry now as an aggregator.
On the sports-betting side we not only provide
the odds, but we also provide the largest
number of In-Play options - over 30,000
games a month and we also have an exclusive
deal with the Scouting Group, which provides
data that we resell. So we do a lot of things. but
the most important thing we have done this
year is that we have introduced our player
management system as an open source for the
first time in the industry. It’s a system that
controls all of your player information, KYC
history data and this is something we also
provide. However, from this year we have
encapsulated it in open source code, so anybody
can take it and continue to develop it on their
own, because we believe that we don’t know
everything and we always need ideas.
In Latin America we started in Peru where
everything was much easier in terms of
regulation. We have visited Brazil for industry
events deliberating over the market opening,
but obviously this year there is more tangible
evidence that this is going to happen; and the
same here in Argentina with some of the
provinces being regulated. Everyone has their
fingers crossed hoping for the opening of the
markets because governments are starting to
realise that first they have to provide the
population with something the population
wants. It’s not only because of tax income, but
they are also seeing from around the world that
it is not a bad thing to give entertainment to
their people.
P68 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

Preview
ice ToTAlly GAminG 2017
The Totally Gaming Academy came
into being in December 2015 and
celebrated its official launch from its
own branded theatre at ICE 2016.
Combining industry personality Lucien
Wijsman’s undoubted passion for
training with Clarion's network of
contacts and engagement with
organisations throughout international
gaming, the Academy has hit the
ground running, setting new standards
for the training and personal
development of gaming professionals
and regulators working at all levels. In
his role as Director of Content, Lucien
provides his perspective on the
Academy and why training makes
such strong commercial sense.
What are your reflections on 2016?
Doesn’t time fly! So much has happened in the
first full year with Clarion Events as a partner. I
find it unbelievable that we now offer a full
portfolio of training modules all of which have
been very well received by the industry. We
have been very fortunate in finding several
industry experts, who combine knowledge with
what I would describe as an ‘obsession’ to share
it. I am proudly looking at the numbers of
followers we have on LinkedIn and other Social
Media and it makes me very happy to see that
we are a developing a real community. It is just
a matter of time before we welcome follower
number 1,000 ahead of our appearance at ICE
2017.
What are your objectives for the academy over
the next 12 months and what are you planning
for iCe 2017?
I have a couple of very personal objectives; one
of which is that I want to see my two kids grow
up. I became a father when I had passed the age
of 50 and I am trying to spend as much time as
possible to witness and actively take part in
this wonderful journey of growing up. Having
partnered with Clarion allows me to enjoy this
part of life more than before and I am very
grateful for that. I also have a number of
business goals.
We now have a complete training portfolio and
rolling those out worldwide is both a challenge
and an exciting opportunity. I want the other
trainers - as well as our dedicated office team -
to see the world the way I did when I was
embarking on this journey and which has
stayed with me throughout. Sharing knowledge
and experiencing new cultures; I truly feel
blessed! In terms of ICE, obviously this is a once
a year wonderful shop window for any
organisation involved in gaming and it’s vital
that we make the most of what is the best
opportunity in the world to engage with gaming
professionals from 150+ nations. We tested a
‘sneak preview theatre’ when we launched in
2016 which attracted an amazing 900 visitors
who were able to sample the training that we
offer. We are going to repeat that initiative in
2017 but on a bigger scale.
you have been involved in training and
development for some time, do you think this
is an area of the business that gaming
organisations are now taking more seriously?
It is my belief that gaming organisations have
always taken staff training seriously! Don’t
forget that our industry- land based casinos
more so than any other sector - are unique, in
so far as more than 95% of their staff have
direct customer contact. It’s the people that
casinos employ that makes the difference. I
have never met a Gaming Manager who has
denied the link between staff motivation and
bottom line income. Training motivates and
knowledge motivates. What we actively try and
do during our training, is to give delegates
insight and knowledge, but also, to give them
the tools to improve the bottom line of their
organisations. Helping to identify the ‘low
hanging fruit’ within the daily operations
typically generates a very rapid return on the
training investment made.
Where did your interest in training originate.
are you a gaming professional with an interest
in training or vice versa?
I really had to think about this. I guess I’ve
always had an interest in sharing knowledge. In
addition, and those who’ve attended my
Lucien Wijsman, director of Content for Totally gaming academy
Why training is top of the agenda for
Totally gaming academy’s lucien Wijsman
training courses probably agree, I feel like a fish
in the water when I’m on stage. That goes back
to kindergarten and primary school from where
I still have memories of playing Cicero in Julius
Caesar and Cleopatra aged eight! In the army, I
was a driving and maintenance instructor and
at Holland Casinos I ended up training various
target groups in Slot Machine Management.
Training is in my blood I think.
do you believe that a professional, well trained
industry sends out a positive message to
regulators and legislators?
Of course a well-trained industry sends out a
positive message to regulators and legislators!
Actually, regulators are also finding their way
into the classrooms of the Totally Gaming
Academy. Well trained regulators make better
regulations. I have to say, I love to see the
interaction that takes place between operators
and regulators in my classroom – it’s priceless!
What do you look for in an academy trainer,
what qualities do they bring?
Clearly, you must be obsessed with your field of
expertise to make it to the front of the room. In
addition, the ability to deliver is very high on
the list of capabilities of Totally Gaming
Academy Trainers. The rare combination of
being a bit obsessed and being able to deliver is
what all Totally Gaming Academy Trainers have
in common. The industry will be able to witness
this with their own eyes at ICE at our Totally
Gaming Academy theatre. I’m looking forward
to it and being able to raise a glass with friends
and colleagues to toast our first ‘official’
birthday.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM
P69

Interactive
r. frAnco - wAnAJumP
Do you need a
start-up push -
or do you
Wanajump?
The R. Franco Group continues to strengthen its
position in the digital space with the launch of
Wanajump, a start-up incubator and accelerator
designed and created to support videogaming,
betting and gaming-related projects.
Wanajump Accelerate is a
four-month programme
addressed at start-ups which
already have a service or
product in the market. They
benefit from all the aids offered
by the company but, in
addition, each one receives
funding amounting to
€25,000.
R. Franco’s videogaming, betting and gaming
start-up accelerator, Wanajump intends to
support up to 30 start-ups a year with its Incube
and Accelerate programme, which focus on
start-ups with an idea and a multi-disciplinary
team. For a six-week term they have training,
mentoring, working space and other means of
support to facilitate the development of their
service, product or prototype and subsequent
introduction into the market.
Wanajump Accelerate is a four-month
programme addressed at start-ups which
already have a service or product in the market.
Just like the startups which take part in
Wanajump Incube, they benefit from all the aids
offered by the company but, in addition, each
one receives funding amounting to €25,000.
Wanajump will have three annual calls to
support up to 30 start-ups a year: 12 for the
Incube programme and 18 for the Accelerate
programme. The company will put at their
disposal some 1,000sq.m. of working space that
they will share with R. Franco Group’s digital
team, harnessing potential synergies. Each
programme will conclude with a DemoDay
where start-ups will be able to present their
projects to potential national and international
investors.
At launch, Wanajump organised a roundtable
entitled “Corporations and start-ups, friends or
foes? The role of corporate accelerators,” where
renowned representatives of the entrepreneurial
and innovative world spoke about the role of
corporate accelerators.
Participants in the roundtable included Pepe
López de Ayala, Director of Twitter Spain; Miguel
Caballero, CEO, Tutellus; Ángel Saénz de
Cenzano, Director of Innovation of Microsoft
Spain; Francisco Alcaide, author of the book
“Aprendiendo de los Mejores” (Learning from the
best ones); and Chema González, founder of
AlterKeys and former CSO at Bemate.com;
moderated by Helena Díez-Fuentes.
R. FRANCO GROUP’S UMBRELLA
One of the greatest benefits for the start-ups
taking part in Wanajump’s programmes, as
regards their future business development, is
that they will be able to enjoy first-hand access
to the knowledge, expertise and resources
provided by the R. Franco Group and its brands:
l advice about the business structure of private
gaming in Spain and in international markets;
l access to the regulatory framework and to the
industry regulator;
l possibility to incorporate its service or product
to the Group’s services and products supply,
both online and retail;
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l training and counselling by engineers,
mathematicians, developers and other
experts from the Group;
l technology transfer;
l reputational value contributed by the
relationship to the brand.
MENTORING
Wanajump’s main strengths include the
specialisation of the training programme and
the mentor team. Following the analysis and
identification of the most important areas where
one gaming, videogaming or betting startup
should stand out, Wanajump has searched for
the best professionals in each field:
l Miguel Caballero, CEO and Founder of
Tutellus - Mentor of online sales
l Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Caveda, Director of
Operations at @3AWW - Mentor startup
public relationships
l Luis Díaz del Dedo, Founder of Growth Hack
Spain – Mentor in Growth Hacking
l Miguel Ángel Lázaro, Product Owner at R.
Franco Digital – Mentor in technology and
game design
l See all mentors in www.wanajump.com
During the incubation period,
startups receive training on
different areas: creativeness,
game design, visual,
presentations, etc. In addition,
they have 10 hours of
individual and tailor-made
monitoring with the mentors of
their choosing and whenever
they need.
WANAJUMP ACCELERATE
Wanajump Accelerate is a programme to
accelerate startups comprising a multidisciplinary
team which also have a service,
product or prototype in the market. Each one of
them shall receive €25,000 worth of funding,
will work at Wanajump space for a four-month
term and will receive training from the best
mentors and experts in different subjects.
The training will include the following areas:
metrics, KPIs and analytics, game design, visual
design, videogames monetisation, growth
hacking, SEO, ASO, finances, seeking funding,
storytelling and many others.
In addition, each startup will be awarded with
20 hours of individual mentoring to be used as
they wish and according to their needs.
The acceleration period will conclude in a
DemoDay, a great opportunity for contacting
relevant investors. Startups will then have the
opportunity to present themselves and show
their services, products or prototypes to national
and international investors.
WANAJUMP INCUBE
Wanajump Incube is intended to provide
embryonic startups with the opportunity to
receive training for six weeks in order to develop
a first prototype or product of its idea. They
should have a multi-disciplinary team,
comprising at least one developer and a
business or marketing expert.
During the incubation period, startups receive
training on different areas: creativeness, game
design, visual, presentations, etc. In addition,
they have 10 hours of individual and tailormade
monitoring with the mentors of their
choosing and whenever they need.
As with the Accelerate programme, Incube
startups will have the opportunity to take part in
the DemoDay, where all startups from both
programmes shall coincide on the same date
and at the same time.
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Interactive
SiS - in-PlAy beTTinG
Alistair Clare,
New Product Manager,
SIS
Alistair Clare has been New Product Manager at
SIS since June 2013 and is responsible for the
development of SIS’ horse In-running data
project. he has worked on the delivery of
intricate data projects for over 15 years, primarily
in financial, trading and technology industries..
Time for horse racing to
wager on in-play opportunity
In the operators’ race for supremacy, in-play has provided the
perfect boost as players look to take part in more markets, more
of the time. Horse racing has remained the only major betting
sport not to join the revolution – until now. Alistair Clare, New
Product Manager at SIS looks at what the horse racing industry
is doing to catch up.
For a long time, in-play betting was the future.
Not anymore; now it is very much the present,
with outright and derivative markets playing a
key part in the growth of online bookmakers
and, in particular, their mobile proposition.
14:20 from Yarmouth was won by Erissimus
Maximus and, while some bookmakers offered
in-play markets on outright and E/W bets, that’s
where the horse racing experience began and
ended.
Expenditure, as with many new technology,
provided the first fence to hurdle. In recent years
a number of in-running solutions have been put
forward, but they often involved costly
hardware and running costs, increased
manpower and labour intensive implementation
at the various tracks.
Various solutions worked fantastically well, but
as we have seen in trials in the United States,
could require investment upwards of $500,000
for every course that wanted to implement inrunning
technology. For a sport that has in
recent years been looking to streamline its
overheads, that cost has proved too much of a
prohibitive gamble.
A quick look at the William Hill website reveals
that the bookmaker currently has around 2,000
in-play markets available. Ladbrokes’ in-play
offering covers 45 matches across five sports –
football, tennis, volleyball, ice hockey and table
tennis.
Bet365 and Paddy Power are providing in-play
opportunities to bet on everything from the
Romania Liga III football to ATP Kremlin Cup
doubles tennis.
As for horseracing, At the time of writing, the
It’s not to say that there isn’t a thirst from
bookmakers to offer more in-play markets for
horse racing. The endeavour is certainly there,
but a lack of robust data has been a key factor
which has slowed down their ability to offer
more wide-reaching, derivative markets.
It might seem surprising, in this world of player
heat maps and heartrate trackers, that a solid
solution to the problem hasn’t yet been found,
but a number of reasons have combined to put
the blockers on progression.
With costs that high, barely seven or eight of the
larger American courses would have the
resources to fund such an implementation,
leaving 80% of the courses without it. Part of the
issue for the industry as a whole is that there
hasn’t been a solution developed which could be
practical for the vast majority of courses and
establish a new status quo.
In the UK’s other big betting sport – football –
rich data can be obtained from Premier League
games right the way through to lower leagues
and internationally. It may have more financial
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Interactive
SiS - in-PlAy beTTinG
muscle, yet the sport is also funding
infrastructure on a much larger scale. Horse
racing can look to emulate this.
When efforts have been made to bring costs
down, concessions have often had to be made to
products, which can affect many of the areas
which are crucial for bookmakers to provide
trustworthy, consistent products to their
customers. If any corners are cut on latency,
quality and the delivery of absolute accuracy in
the results and data provided, then the whole
operation falls down.
Another stumbling block in the development of
in-running data has been quite fundamental –
namely, the horses themselves. Even with
highly sophisticated GPS technology, which SIS
is using to develop its own in-running product,
there has been a requirement for in-depth
research and understanding into exactly how a
horse moves around a course and, ad
addendum, the GPS device situation on the
animal. How will it move throughout a race?
How will we understand the idiosyncrasies of
each individual horse?
When you then add in the fact that other sports,
such as football, are played on standardised,
closed pitches, versus racecourses which are
unique to their landscape and run over several
kilometres, and you have a recipe for a tricky
solution.
However, as we’ve found at SIS with the
development of our own in-running product,
that is set to change. The GPS technology
available can now offer a cost-effective, easily
implemented way of tracking horses on a
course, across any track and taking advantage
of further leaps in the quality of wireless
networks and on course capability.
Simple transmitters, set up trackside, are now
Developed properly and
robustly, in-running data has
the opportunity to shake up
the horse racing industry, along
with the betting industry
alongside. Going from one or
two in-play markets, to tens of
possible wagers, is an exciting
thought for operators looking
to grow their revenues.
allowing cheap and effective hardware to be
installed on a need-for-use basis, changing the
previous, inhibitive requirement for costly, fixed
systems.
Developed properly and robustly, in-running
data has the opportunity to shake up the horse
racing industry, along with the betting industry
alongside. Going from one or two in-play
markets, to tens of possible wagers, is an
exciting thought for operators looking to grow
their revenues.
Looking wider, and we could see racing analysis
become hugely more in-depth and interesting
for consumers. Think Monday Night Football, or
any Formula 1 race. The permutations are
seemingly endless.
These are exciting times for the horse racing
industry, but only if it can properly harness the
opportunity that in-running data can provide.

Interactive
SPorTS-beTTinG lATin
AmericA - beTconSTrucT
G3 seizes the
opportunity to talk
sports-betting with
BetConstruct’s Anna
Shahbazyan as the
company prepared for
the SAGSE exhbition
Anna Shahbazyan,
Regional Director, BetConstruct
Anna Shahbazyan is BetConstruct Regional
Director in Uruguay. After years of work with
BetConstruct’s Spanish speaking partners, she
moved to Montevideo to handle all the Latin
American region and BetConstruct offices in
Lima, Peru and Montevideo, Uruguay as well as
Mexico.
What offices, staff and infrastructure has
betConstruct’s established in lataM and
which countries do you currently serve with
your products and services?
We have offices in Uruguay and Peru. These
offices provide full customer support in Spanish,
English and Portuguese. Round-the-clock
multilingual support is only part of what we offer
to our partners. While our team in Peru provides
customer support to our partners, the team in
Uruguay helps our partners address technical
issues. Having a development team in the region
allows us to give our partners personalised
experience. Recently we have also appointed a
representative in Mexico. With this we cover all of
Latin America.
What are betConstruct’s most popular
products in the market - and does this change
from country to country?
The most popular product for us is Sportsbook.
However, that changes rather from customer to
customer than from country to country. We have
partners who have more experience in casino or
social gaming, and we are able to provide them
with different options for them to be competitive
in the market.
Driven by passion,
controlled by design
What are the most popular sports and key
competitions around which betting is
concentrated?
In South America football is by far the most
popular sport. However, if we geographically go
higher in Latin America, we can see baseball,
basketball and American football to be really
important.
Definitely, we keep focused on the UEFA
Champions League, the Copa Libertadores and
special events like the World Cup and local
leagues.
What characterises sports-betting and lottery
players in lataM - and how big are the
differences in player preferences from country
to country?
One word – passion! Latin American players have
passion for sports in general. They have passion
for their teams, their country. This kind of passion
is unmatched in other places of the earth.
how important is it to have a local presence in
the market in lataM?
Very important. Partners here like to know who
they are talking to. They want someone who
knows the ins and outs of this market, someone
who knows the legislation and regulations.
They also want to speak their own language, talk
with people who know their customs.
What level of mobile penetration do you see
and how are operators incorporating mobile
into their player offer?
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Interactive
SPorTS-beTTinG lATin
AmericA - beTconSTrucT
Well, mobile is no longer the future. It is the
present. We see more and more providers that are
more interested in mobile. That’s why, we offer
them native IOS and Android apps and web
responsive content.
In the future most games will be played directly
on our mobiles and we have to be aware of that.
how does the lataM market compare to
betConstruct’s other global markets?
It is an emerging market. Only in the last couple
of years this region has had legislation changes
and these developments are still ongoing. LatAm
is a growing market, in comparison to Europe that
is a mature market. This makes working in the
LatAm region very interesting.
What has been the impact of betConstruct’s
ogWil lottery game in the market?
It has been very positive. The game has gained
great popularity in the market because our
partners can give something to their clients that
makes them different, unique.
the brazil gaming act is being debated right
now - what are your expectations for that
market and how are you preparing for the
potential and opportunities brazil could offer?
The Brazilian market is expected to be one of the
biggest ones in the world, so the whole industry is
waiting for the developments related to the
legislation. We have been preparing ourselves
making plans for the future that include physical
presence, too. This surely well depends on the
decision the lawmakers make in the coming
weeks.
What defines lataM operators in terms of
their offer to players and willingness to offer
the latest technology/products?
LatAm operators understand that in order to
remain competitive in the market they need to
offer the best and latest technology possible. It is
simple - the client wants to play with an operator
with the best technology, games and service.
this is the 5th sagse show in which
betConstruct has exhibited. the gaming
market in argentina appears to be stabilising
after a period of political turmoil, what were
your expectations for the show and what did
you present to visitors?
LatAm operators understand
that in order to remain
competitive in the market they
need to offer the best and
latest technology possible. It is
simple - the client wants to
play with an operator with the
best technology, games and
service.
We had great expectations for the Expo, we
believe the LATAM market is growing at a rapid
pace, and this Expo is a great showcase for our
products to new and existing partners. The expo
is also an opportunity to see where the industry is
heading.
We showcased our Spring Platform, betting and
gaming solutions and also took the opportunity
to introduce our enhanced Fantasy Sports
offering.
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Interactive
GreenTube - PluriuS
Greentube upscales
the user experience
Greentube’s server-based gaming system,
Plurius TM , enables the convergence of online,
mobile and land-based games. Greentube
combines the strengths of a dedicated cabinet
with the flexibility of a full online gaming solution
Ralf Rollmann,
Head of Server Based Gaming
Operations, Greentube
There’s a huge amount of
interest in omni-channel
solutions, but wanting to know
more about the specific details
and how they relate to players
and operators, G3 spoke to
Greentube’s Ralf Rollmann
about its Plurius TM system
Ralf Rollmann is the head of Greentube’s Server
Based Terminal Solutions division.
Before joining Greentube in 2013, Ralf’s career
led him through different stations, always
remaining loyal to the gaming industry. In 1999,
he started working for a regional gaming
manufacturer and operator as a technician,
moving on to take the role of technical lead
there. In 2007, he moved to Vienna and joined
NOVOMATIC, where he worked on serversupported
and server-based gaming products.
From 2011 to 2013, he worked for BGT as a
product manager for self-service sport betting
terminals, gaining experience with sports betting
products.
Ralf Rollmann is currently spearheading the
Plurius TM gaming platform, a flagship product of
Greentube’s Server Based Terminals Solutions,
and has been heavily involved in its planning and
implementation for the past three years. As it is
going to market and being developed further to
innovate Greentube’s server-based solution
portfolio, the Plurius TM project is benefitting from
Ralf’s profound expertise in the gaming industry.
Which countries are currently regulated to allow
for omni-channel gaming and can any operator
install plurius tM with a view to their market
legislation allowing for omni-channel in the
future?
Although Plurius TM is Greentube’s omni-channel
solution, it is not mandatory to use the omnichannel
functionality from the very start. For
instance, in a market with unregulated online
gaming, an operator can simply choose to use
only the land-based channel and still have
access to many features and benefits of the
Plurius TM platform that other systems currently
in the market are unable to provide. Then, in the
future, when an operator is ready to take
advantage of the full omni-channel
functionality, this can easily be done without
having to change the system or its infrastructure
again.
In general, omni-channel gaming is still
relatively new – especially from a regulatory
perspective – and many regulators simply are
not familiar with the technology. As a result, any
specific requirements related to it are barely
defined. In order to help promote this new
technology, we actively reach out to regulators
and help educate them about the many benefits
and advantages of the system. This outreach in
turn also draws the attention of operators who,
for their part, also express their interest in the
system to the regulators.
The first Plurius TM installations have been in
place in several markets for a while now and are
performing very well. Once other markets start
to see all the benefits of this new technology
from a control and responsible gaming
perspective, and as more and more gaming
markets bring their legislation up to date to allow
for omni-channel gaming, we think you will see
exponential growth in other new markets ready
to embrace the technology.
how does an operator go about informing their
customers and marketing the omni-channel
solution to them? Will the plurius tM system do this
for them? or is additional information required?
Plurius TM provides the basic toolset necessary for
proper marketing of the system. Greentube is
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always working in close cooperation with
operators on marketing concepts that will fit in
with their specific environment.
One essential feature of Plurius TM is crosschannel
promotion. The operator has the
possibility to promote new online games
through the land-based channel and vice versa.
Special benefits like promotional credits are a
proven method to direct players from one
channel to the other. Additionally, loyalty
programs give the operator the possibility to
provide the player with specific marketing
information based on his or her specific gaming
behaviour.
We know from experience that every country or
jurisdiction has different types of locations,
player demographics and behaviours. With this
market knowledge and our know-how in the
different distribution channels, we are able to
offer the perfect solution for every type of
operator and player.
What information/data is available to support
the concept that players want to take their
games with them from terminals to mobile and
online?
Over the course of the last year, we have
received valuable input from customer demos in
several key locations across Europe and North
America, as well as from a wide variety of
operators and venues. All the collected data
confirmed that the ability to take a game from
one channel to the other without interruption
was seen as being of great benefit to both the
player and operator. Players prefer similar
content regardless of whether they choose to
play online, on mobile, or on a land-based
terminal. Plurius TM technology combines all of
these options to create a seamless player
experience.
Omni-channel gaming opens all kinds of new
possibilities for players which they may not yet
be fully aware of. It is our mission to increase
this player awareness and continuously improve
the player’s overall gaming experience.
We know from experience that
every country or jurisdiction
has different types of locations,
player demographics and
behaviours. With this market
knowledge and our know-how
in the different distribution
channels, we are able to offer
the perfect solution for every
type of operator and player.
What are the commercial benefits for the
operator in offering their players an omnichannel
solution such as plurius tM ?
We know from extensive market research that
land-based gaming is losing revenue to mobile
and online gaming. Plurius TM provides the
possibility to connect those different worlds and
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Interactive
GreenTube - PluriuS
NRGS is the central hub
for all gaming channels
and provides a range of
services such as
Centralised Bonus
Campaigns, Retention,
Protection, Accounting,
Monitoring and
Reporting.
offer the same content across all channels. The
commercial benefit is combining all those
channels into a single system which greatly
increases player retention.
Another important benefit is the reduction of
costs and effort by using a single data
warehouse for all distribution channels. This is
highly beneficial when it comes down to issues
such as monitoring, reporting and accounting.
Service efforts and costs are also greatly
reduced by having a centralised game server. For
example, game updates on terminals can easily
be done remotely without the necessity of an
on-site visit from a technician.
Could you explain the role and functionality of
greentube’s remote gaming system - nRgs -
and what makes it an essential omni-channel
ingredient?
NRGS is the central hub for all gaming channels
and provides a wide range of services such as
Centralised Bonus Campaigns, Player Retention,
Player Protection, Accounting, Monitoring and
Reporting.
Due to its state-of-the-art software
architecture, NRGS is highly flexible and capable
of providing for all distribution channels. The
system is also readily and easily expandable for
larger operations or country-wide gaming
systems.
payment processing is an integral part of
omni-channel - how is this incorporated in to
the plurius tM solution?
Greentube, as a leading online gaming provider,
has extensive knowledge and experience of
online payment solutions. The Plurius TM system
is based on an online platform, therefore, these
payment solutions are an integral part of the
overall product. Traditional land-based payment
methods, i.e. bill and coin handling, are already
part of the system as well.
how can games be ported from one channel to
another so easily? What ‘magic’ is involved?
Plurius TM is an integrated system which, with
regards to game content, does not differentiate
between online, mobile and/or land-based
channels. Therefore, no porting between the
different channels is necessary. The games are
developed from a central SDK and made
available across all distribution channels from
the initial launch.
Will greentube expand the reach of plurius tM to
offer games from third-party developers in the
future?
The Plurius TM system already offers a wide range
of third-party game content. Several gaming
companies such as Mazooma and Eurocoin, as
well as other third-party providers, already
develop their games via the novoSDK and make
them available them on the Plurius TM system.
NOVOMATIC’s close cooperation with several
game studios helps to greatly enhance and
expand the diversity and variety of products on
offer in the Greentube games portfolio.
Greentube is constantly investigating the market
to improve the content offering on Plurius TM .
This also includes local game studios in specific
markets so that games can be quickly tailored to
meet specific market requirements.
one of the new nRgs tools is the dynamic
content and configuration management
system, controlled by a central administration
tool. What is this and why is it important?
The central administration tool “Plurius TM
Center” provides the possibility for the operator
to customise the Plurius TM system even further.
This includes the ability to provide different
game content, game parameters, localisation
(regional- or venue-based) or scheduled tasks
(different game parameters at different times).
The targeted promotion of new or specific games
(e.g. jackpots) is also possible.
are we going to see the general igaming and
land-based gaming market taken over
completely by an omni-channel model - and
what kind of timescales are we looking at?
In some areas, yes. But land-based and online
will still exist on their own for a while yet.
However, the trend will continue to push
towards an omni-channel solution as it brings
so many obvious benefits to not just the
operators and regulators but also to the players
themselves. For the operators, it provides a
comprehensive 360 degree view on the player
and their gaming profile. From a regulator
perspective, it provides more robust security and
improved player protection (responsible
gaming). For the player, a fully-integrated omnichannel
solution provides a more seamless, and
therefore more enjoyable, gaming experience
with access to all their favourite games right at
their fingertips. It’s a win-win solution all
around!
P78
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

gamomat titles online
Slots oRyX gaming
ORYX Gaming has added three
more Gamomat designed slot
games to its expanding portfolio.
ORYX customers now have access
to King of the Jungle, Take5 and
Fort Brave across desktop and
mobile in a wide array of languages
- including English, German,
Russian and Spanish.
King of the Jungle invites players
into its empire on a standard 3
times 5 matrix on 10, 20 or 30
paylines. Scatter symbols appear
on reels 2, 3 and 4, which trigger
10 Free Spins with Stacked Wilds.
All three titles have excellent
volatility diversity which will satisfy
casual players and high rollers.
Another Gamomat release is the
royal themed “King and Queen”,
which is played on 10, 20 or 30
paylines. A block of 9 scatter
symbols on reels 2, 3 and 4
triggers 7 Free Spins with a
random Super-Block-Symbol.
alTenaR Sports
Sports-betting egT
EGT Interactive is collaborating with
Betinaction Software to launch the
ALTENAR Sports Betting solution.
EGT Interactive’s first client to
launch the ALTENAR sports
solution is Bulagarian operator
www.winbet.bg.
Dinos Stranomitis, Altenar Director
said: “EGT Interactive is a leading
provider with a longstanding
reputation and a presence in a wide
range of international iGaming
markets and we are delighted that
they have gone into partnership
with ALTENAR. We strongly believe
that IT development is the future of
this industry and we are delighted
that our investors are focused on
developing a state of the art
software as well as trading, risk
management and business
support services which is offered
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.’’
Mission Impossible
Video gaming Machine gameCo
Under license from Paramount,
GameCo will be developing games
for its video game gambling
machine (VGM) based on
mainstream theatrical film brands
including Mission: Impossible,
Paranormal Activity, and Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off.
GameCo’s proprietary VGM is an
arcade-style video game cabinet
featuring a single-player game,
generally 45-90 seconds to play,
adapted from top console, PC and
mobile developers. GameCo is in
the process of developing a racing
game based on the popular
Mission: Impossible franchise, a
hidden object game themed to
Paranormal Activity, and a
platformer experience adapted
from the cult classic comedy, Ferris
Bueller’s Day Off. The patented VGM
Viking Fire online Slots
lightning box games
Viking Fire, the latest release from slot design
specialist Lightning Box Games, has launched
exclusively with Betsson.
The game is a 4x5-reel, 40-line slot that sees players
don their helmets and pick up their shields as they
catapult rocks at enemy ships to earn up to four extra
wilds and eight free spins during the bonus game
feature.
Viking Fire has been designed in hTML5, and is
available on both desktop and mobile devices. It will
be available exclusively on Betsson for a two-week
period, before being released to the general market on
30 November.
Peter Causley, Lightning Box managing director and
co-founder, said: “Viking Fire is a light-hearted take
on the traditional Norse theme, and combines
colourful graphics with a catchy soundtrack and
engaging math model.
Thor’s hammer
aWPs
bally Wulff
The Berlin gambling machine
manufacturer’s success strategy
includes clever game ideas and the
right coun-try-specific decisions.
One thing is clear since Thor’s
hammer was launched in Italy this
summer: the game has developed
into one of the most popular
games on the local market.
“We expected positive feedback
but this evolution into a trend
product is really amazing,” sums up
gambling platform allows a player’s
skill to determine the payout and
winnings, while maintaining the
same casino economics as slot
machines. The deal was brokered
by Richmond Management Group,
GameCo’s licensing representative.
“We are always seeking ways to
bring our iconic film properties
directly to fans,” said LeeAnne
Stables, President of Worldwide
Marketing Partnerships and
Licensing for Paramount Pictures.
“These new products bring them to
life in classic arcade gameplay
formats.”
“We’re thrilled to be working with
Paramount to bring these brands to
the casino floor. Video game
gambling addresses the largest
opportunity for casinos and studios
export manager Willem Korteweg.
According to analysis of the test
results, the game had performed
extremely well previously and had
attained a large fan base in Spain
and Germany as well.
The developments in the Italian
market over the last few months
speak for themselves. “The game
has everything that Italian play-ers
want. It offers entertainment and
fun, has balanced mathe-matics
and thus places the emphasis on
longer game rounds. In addition to
use in gaming venues, Thor’s
hammer is also specifi-cally
captivating the Italian bar market,”
Korteweg concludes, hinting that
in attracting the next generation of
gamers. At GameCo, our vision is to
create a VIP experience for gamers.
Brands like Mission: Impossible,
Paranormal Activity, and Ferris
Bueller's Day Off speak to my
generation that grew up with these
films and love playing video
games,” said Blaine Graboyes, CEO
of GameCo.
“We are delighted to be offering the game exclusively
to Betsson for two weeks before rolling out Viking Fire
on general release. I’m sure their players will be more
than ready to become one of the Vikings and take out
the enemy ships to win big prizes.”
Paul Malt, head of Games at Betsson, said Viking Fire
was a brilliant game and the operator wanted to offer
it to its players before anyone else.
“We are always looking for new games to bolster our
already impressive portfolio, and Viking Fire certainly
fits the bill. The bonus game feature is particularly
exciting, and we are sure our players will have fun
trying to take out the enemy ships,” he added.
BALLY WULFF will also be
launching more successful games
for the Italian market over the
coming year.
P80 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM

Products
LAND-BASED AND
INTERACTIVE GAMING
hTMl5 Roulette live
Casino Playtech
Playtech, the world’s leading gaming content
and software, systems and services supplier,
has launched the industry’s most cutting-edge
live casino hTML5 Roulette product across its
network of licensees further bolstering its
reputation as the world’s leading live offering.
In partnership with licensees and following
extensive user experience testing and
benchmarking analysis over the course of
2016, Playtech has launched the most
sophisticated live mobile roulette product on
the market. In the first week of launch this has
resulted in superior player engagement levels,
longer session times across all devices, and
significantly increased revenues for licensees.
For the first time players are able to seamlessly
play live roulette on mobile and tablet in either
portrait or landscape mode while
simultaneously being able to see their bets at
the same time as the wheel is spinning.
Several rounds of intensive user testing and
feedback enabled the Playtech live casino
team to significantly enhance and re-design
the user interface and overall gaming
experience. As a result, the mobile user
interface contains simple and easy-to-use
navigation, clearer and perfectly positioned
play and feature buttons and an ideal
personalised view of the live action and table
layout no matter what viewing format you
choose.
Within two days of launching the new hTML5
roulette across Playtech’s live casino network
in parallel with the previous roulette product,
the overwhelming majority of players were
found to have migrated to the new improved
version.
An hTML5 Blackjack product will launch later
this year offering a new, enhanced, richer
product across all mobile and tablet devices.
Kevin Kilminster, head of Innovation, Playtech
Live, said: “We focused on roulette because it
is our primary, premium game. We worked
very closely with our major licensees to create
what we firmly believe is the best performing
product on the market.
“This has been highlighted by the huge
demand we had for the product just 48 hours
after it launched across the network. The
response has been phenomenal with players
immediately switching from our previous live
roulette to our new hTML5 product and with
incredible results for licensees. Players are
more engaged than they ever have been and
can now enjoy the best live roulette experience
on the market.”
merkurmagic.es
online Slots
Merkur gaming
Whether in arcades, bars or online –
Merkur Magic slot games have
become omnipresent in the Spanish
entertainment landscape. As of 6
October, alongside slot games and
roulette, the online platform
merkurmagic.es now offers a
portfolio of 15 mobile games for
smartphones and tablets, which will
be continuously expanded over time.
The choice includes popular
entertainment favourites such as
Double Triple Chance, Magic Mirror or
Blazing Star. The merkurmagic.es
platform currently features 45 top
games, with other titles set to follow.
“The Spanish have a high affinity for
mobile offerings on smartphones
and tablets,” explains Alexander
Martin, responsible at Gauselmann
AG for the New Media division. “The
performance of our online slots has
seen outstanding development
since the launch of merkurmagic.es.
We are delighted to now be able to
offer Merkur Magic fans this
entertainment experience to be
enjoyed at home or when they are
out and about.” Gauselmann
subsidiary Merkur Interactive Malta
PLC has been licensed to operate
online gaming offerings in Spain
since the middle of last year and has
been running the online casino
merkurmagic.es since January. The
trigger for the opening of the
Spanish online market was the
Online Gaming Act passed in 2012.
The Gauselmann Group easily met
and complied with the complex
requirements and verifications in
connection with the licence tender.
The Gauselmann Group has been
active in Spain for many years, and
is highly successful in selling
multigamers for the stationary
market. The company also has its
own development capacities on
Mallorca, operates six gaming
arcades on the Balearic Islands and
two branch offices in Murcia and
Madrid.

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