By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

It's now eight years since Global Gaming Business first published our annual 25 People to Watch. While reviewing previous honorees (and we don't repeat selections because once you start watching, you can't look away), the list includes many people who today run the industry. From the first year in January 2003, when our cover featured the Palms' George Maloof, to last year's edition, when Wynn and Encore Las Vegas President Andrew Pascal graced the first page, being included as one of the 25 makes their careers something special.

And the success of the nominees over the years makes it apparent that this choice is special. This year is no different. As we winnow down the nominees during the selection process, we talk to our editorial advisory board and other experts in and out of the industry to determine who will make the biggest impact in every area of the gaming industry in the coming year and far into the future. Starting with Francis Liu at Galaxy Entertainment, this year's group will undoubtedly make a huge impact on where gaming is going and how it will be perceived for many years to come.

Going for the Galaxy
Francis Lui
Deputy Chairman, Galaxy Entertainment Group

There are some giants of gaming involved in the industry in Macau. From Steve Wynn to Sheldon Adelson to the granddaddy of them all, Stanley Ho, the operators in Macau are often larger than life. The mainstream media likes to play up the rivalries while sometimes forgetting that it takes more than ego to create a successful operation anywhere in the world, even more so in Macau.

One of the most successful operations in Macau has been crafted by a company whose victory in the concession bidding process was something of a surprise: Galaxy Entertainment Group.

Francis Liu, the deputy chairman of Galaxy, says the success of the bid was no surprise to him.

"In bidding for the Macau gaming concession, our long history of construction and hospitality was valued by the government," he explains. "Further, Galaxy committed to invest HK$8.8 billion (US$1.1 billion) into Macau upon granting of the concession. The HK$8.8 billion commitment from Galaxy was more than twice the amount of the next-highest financial commitment."

Liu also references the company's long history in hospitality and construction, as well as a strategy that has paid dividends.

"Our entry strategy into the market focused on partnering with some local Macau business people who converted their office buildings into hotels and VIP casinos," says Liu. "We called this strategy City Clubs, which allowed us to build a management team, to recruit and train staff, and to develop relationships with the VIP promoters and players. The attractiveness of the City Clubs model was that it enabled Galaxy to enter the market virtually risk-free, as our partners provided the investment capital."

Opening the City Clubs prior to jumping into development of a full-scale casino resort allowed Galaxy to understand the complicated market. By reaching deals with the all-important VIP operators and appreciating the players' needs and desires, Galaxy was able to effectively design its first casino resort, StarWorld, located in the peninsula area of Macau.

"Galaxy's approach is to develop unique and differentiated properties; we specifically chose not to build a replica of a Las Vegas casino," says Liu. "Asian taste and preferences are different than Western taste and preferences. The architectural appearance and service standards of StarWorld are unique to StarWorld. StarWorld has won numerous awards throughout its short life of three years, including the Five Star Diamond Award from the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, Best Casino Interior Design from International Gaming Awards and Top Ten New Symbolic Architecture Hotels at 2009 World Hotel Continental Diamond Award.

"StarWorld is a VIP-centric property, and for many VIP customers, StarWorld is the property of choice."

The impressive StarWorld competes at a similar level with many of the more well-known properties, including MGM Grand Macau and Altira Macau (formerly the Crown Casino).

Galaxy also profited as one of the original three concessionaires by selling a sub-concession to Las Vegas Sands. At the same time, Galaxy asked for and received the right to purchase property in the Cotai area, which the government was reclaiming for large casino sites, now home to the Sands Cotai Strip resorts and Melco Crown's City of Dreams. Now, the site sold to Liu and his team is home to Galaxy Macau, which should be completed late this year.

"At that time, the site did not actually exist," Lui says of the time when the initial request was made. "Cotai was just a concept; the area where Cotai is now located was several feet under water and after a great deal of construction work, it was reclaimed from the ocean.

"At Galaxy Macau, we are building a truly Asian-centric resort," he says. "Our hotels include our own Galaxy Hotel, Japan's leading hotel operator, Okura, and the ultra-luxury, world-renowned Banyan Tree. Galaxy Macau will have the largest range and selection of Asian food available in Macau. The architecture of Galaxy Macau is unique and striking. Any visitor to Cotai will be automatically drawn to Galaxy Macau. Additionally, there is an oasis on the podium of the resort with multiple swimming pools including the world's largest sky wave pool and beach, consisting of 350 tons of white sand."

Even without the attention of the mainstream media, Galaxy has become something of a darling for gaming analysts worldwide. Lui says they have earned this acclaim by concentrating on profitable operations, not headlines in the world's newspapers, magazines and websites.

"Our financial performance and results speak for themselves," he says. "StarWorld just reported five consecutive quarters of revenue and EBITDA growth, and these have been achieved in a most difficult economic environment combined with swine flu and visa restrictions. Many analysts now acknowledge that Galaxy's strategy is correct and we have the management team in place to deliver upon that strategy. Additionally, many analysts now acknowledge that Galaxy's decision to slow the development of Galaxy Macau and to align the opening of the project with improving market conditions was the correct decision. Also, analysts recognize our prudent financial management through the debt buyback program, where we purchased $265 million of debt at approximately 50 cents on the dollar."

Now, Galaxy has resumed construction on the Cotai Strip property. Increased gaming revenue played a part in that decision, but confidence that the Chinese government is looking out for Macau was more important, according to Liu.

"The central government in China is fully committed to supporting Macau and wants to ensure long-term managed and sustainable growth," he says. "Resorts like Galaxy Macau are designed to grow Macau's economy outside of traditional gaming by offering a true resort and holiday experience to all people in Asia, not just China, and to create thousands of new job opportunities."

Galaxy has made it a corporate goal to invest in the Macau community to grow and enhance the quality of life of all Macanese, says Liu.

"One of Galaxy's most valuable assets is our loyal workforce," he says. "A key driver of Galaxy's success is the exceptional service that we provide to our guests. In return, Galaxy will continue to invest in the Macau community."

As such, Galaxy isn't looking beyond Macau at this point.

"Galaxy operates in Macau," says Liu, "the world's largest and fastest-growing gaming region. We have a deep understanding of this market and we have the largest contiguous piece of land in Macau with a casino permit. Today, we are committing 100 percent of our energy, effort and resources to Macau. While we have looked at other jurisdictions, no other place in the world can equal Macau now or at any time in the future."
-Roger Gros

Model Business
Eric Tom
Executive Vice President, North American Sales and Marketing, International Game Technology

Eric Tom's philosophy is to apply what he does well to his new job, but only with the help of those already familiar with the task at hand.

In his new job as executive vice president for North American sales and marketing for leading slot manufacturer International Game Technology, what he does well is to apply the business models he learned in a long career in sales and marketing for technology-based companies to the task of taking IGT to the "next level" in slot sales, as the company's new slogan goes.

Tom was brought in last summer to head up sales and marketing for IGT after the departure of longtime sales and marketing VP Ed Rogich. His background held executive-level sales and marketing positions with large IT technology companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia-most recently as vice president for Force10 Networks, a $200 million network equipment manufacturer.

Tom says his learning curve in the gaming industry was not great, because he is able to apply business models with which he already is familiar. "My background in IT systems has helped," he says. "Having been in a business that sold Ethernet systems, that business and distribution model is very similar to that of slot machines."

Applying these methods to slot sales involved working with those already at the company, says Tom. "You never start with a clean slate," he says. "You always take what you've got, and fill in the gaps with the right strategy. (Senior Vice President of North America Sales) Ron Rivera is still here, and continues to run sales in North America. People like Ron are critical, because he's been in the industry so long. I need people around like that, and I need to empower them to do the right thing-and to make sure I do the right thing."

For 2010, that "right thing" will be to maximize the potential of a powerful new product library being launched, as well as new server-based applications to be gleaned from IGT's system at CityCenter's Aria casino.

Tom already has implemented tried and true business models to aid in that effort. To help customers with limited capital budgets buy new games, he has instituted what he calls "bundling."

"If you can't buy new, this allows you to buy into our new technology and get two new slot games for free," he says. The other popular package for casinos involves participation games. "Operators can invest in a lot of new MegaJackpots games-Sex and the City, The Amazing Race-and it doesn't cost the casino anything," he says.

Tom also has altered the model of how IGT's account reps interact with casino operators. "I've instituted a strategic account management program," he explains. "The way the industry buys right now is at the casino level... Spending is still locally driven, so the sales force is set up locally."

Tom's new system is to have every account manager be responsible for IGT's entire portfolio of games and systems. "Before, we had a MegaJackpots person, a video poker person, and so forth. Having one person responsible for the entire portfolio gives the customer a single point of contact. They don't have to deal with several people."

A third change in strategy is to have sales people serve as generalists, but with access to instant expert help in various product groups from others within IGT.

IGT's showing in November at the G2E show signaled what is being considered a new era in IGT's product manufacturing and delivery. Tom's efforts in the coming year will bring that era to fruition.
-Frank Legato

Hand on the Controls
Harry Reid
U.S. Senate Majority Leader

Watching the moves of the Senate majority leader is to be expected in the U.S. from every segment of the population and business community. After all, the majority leader wields power unlike almost any other in Congress, equaled perhaps only by the speaker of the House.

But for the commercial gaming industry, the ascension of Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) to the post was a godsend, because Reid has always supported the main industry in his home state. For tribal gaming interests and those who advocate for internet gambling, however, Reid isn't necessarily a great friend.

And now that the Obama administration is in power, hailing from the same party as Reid, his influence has been vastly multiplied. While Reid was unable to speak about his views on gaming to Global Gaming Business because his office said he was concentrating his complete time on passage of the health-care initiative, there is reason to believe that Reid's views on gaming will rule the day, no matter what segment of the industry is involved.

Sources close to the Obama administration told Global Gaming Business that when it comes to gaming, Reid's views will take precedence over anyone else in Congress or the administration.

So for those favoring the relaxation of the ban on internet gaming, Reid's position has been relatively clear. He believes internet gambling is a threat to Nevada's casino industry, so he opposes any legalization of online wagering. But Reid's corporate constituents are split on the measure. Harrah's Entertainment last month opened its first online casino, open to non-U.S. players. MGM Mirage has dabbled in the online sector for years. But other casino companies either have no opinion either way or actively oppose it. Steve Wynn, chairman of Wynn Resorts, wants no part of online betting. And although Wynn opposes Reid's health-care bill, he is still a big supporter of the majority leader.

Online wagering supporters have another hope, however. Reid is up for re-election in 2010 and polling has shown him to be trailing behind some marginal potential opponents in recent months, since conservative Nevada doesn't always favor Reid's liberal views.

So whatever happens in the election, Reid's views will prevail in the online space for at least the next year. His opposition to tribal gaming has diminished, as many of his constituents are players in that market segment and court decisions make it easier to open tribal casinos in states surrounding Nevada.
-Roger Gros

Banking on the Brand
L. Carolina Navarro
President & COO, Beneficial Holdings

Latin America is one of the fastest-growing regions of the gaming industry. With legalization and normalization occurring from Mexico to Chile, casinos are a good bet to become a great investment in years to come. While some notable gaming companies are involved, sometimes a smaller, newer company can have an important impact.     

Beneficial Holdings began its move into Central American gaming last July, with the appointment of L. Carolina Navarro of Managua, Nicaragua, as president and COO. Within weeks of her hiring, the company had announced its first acquisition of an existing gaming property, in Nicaragua, by wholly owned subsidiary Grupo Beneficial.

Navarro said in a press release at that time, "This is just the very beginning of our business plan. We are presently studying and pursuing additional negotiations in Central America with the ultimate goal of joining the ranks of casino companies such as Thunderbird Resorts, Princess Casinos International and Star City Casinos, which successfully operate in Managua."

Within months, the group had launched (and ultimately abandoned) a takeover bid for Thunderbird Resorts, contracted to take over seven additional Nicaraguan facilities, and initiated the development of an online gaming brand. Today, only half a year into her role at the helm, Carolina Navarro claims to be just getting started.

"In 2009, we focused on setting up favorable financing for our future acquisitions and studying the gaming markets for new ventures," Navarro says. "We learned that there needs to be a new approach for larger gaming operations in Central America that involve more comfortable and fun facilities where people can relax. We've figured out that casinos have become lackluster and boring."

Navarro says 2010 will be a year of transition for her company.

"We intend to follow an aggressive growth strategy in Central America that involves acquiring or developing new small and medium locations and implementing more interactive and fun games," she says. "We also hope to form joint ventures with companies in the field that are looking to expand their customer base and change their strategies to obtain a new generation of customers."

Specifically, she foresees that by the second quarter, every customer who walks into a facility associated with Beneficial will experience a casino with a more carnival-like structure-experiences differentiated from existing market operations by their updated, modern gaming machines and high payouts, customer service, and overall atmosphere. Additionally, all gamers will walk away from their land-based experience with a CD containing Beneficial's branded online casino software, licensed in Costa Rica.

Navarro says the timing to pursue such aggressive growth could not be more ideal.

"The general economic uncertainty and drop in tourism created risk in the gaming community; however, with new ideas and the ability to acquire locations at a less inflated cost, it is time to aggressively invest in creating a new multi-country gaming network in the developing economies," she says.
-Dino Guiliani

New Beachheads
John Connelly
Vice President-International, Bally Technologies

Slot and system manufacturer Bally Technologies has navigated the rough economic waters better than many suppliers, and there's a simple reason:

The company never stopped moving.

The past two recessionary years have seen Bally create new profits through an efficient move outward to new international markets-a low-cost expansion effort that established the company with new sales in parts of Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia where the company had been absent for years. Additionally, the company entered new markets in South America, Mexico and other areas ripe for expansion.

John Connelly, vice president-international for Bally, calls the strategy "establishing beachheads." "I'm a strong believer in creating beachheads, establishing your products and moving outward," he says. "We create an infrastructure, supply chain, support, and expand in a strategic fashion."

It may sound like the Allies moving outward from Normandy during World War II, but this invasion is a lot less costly. "It's important you expand within your means and in relation to the market demand," Connelly says. "It's critical to do so in a controlled fashion while utilizing existing infrastructure. This enables us to expand in parallel into existing markets such as Central and Eastern Europe as well as into new markets such as Brazil."

Brazil is only one of many new markets on which Connelly will focus this year. Over the next year, hot spots for Bally expansion internationally will include Italy-"a key focal point for our company," says Connelly-and Mexico, which is currently migrating from Class II to Class III gaming.

Southeast Asia is the other new hot spot for Bally. "Macau is definitely a beachhead," Connelly says. "Bally has had an Asia-Pacific office in Macau for more than four years, and from here progressed into Singapore and soon, to Australia.

A "local" emphasis is a fundamental reason why Bally can penetrate quickly into these new markets and maximize the opportunities.

"When the company has made a strategic decision to expand internationally, our philosophy has always been to use a lean management style," says Connelly. "For example, in South Africa, we opened a cost-efficient office and established infrastructure during the past six months, resulting in a 20 percent ship share. In Mexico, we established the same philosophy and are seeing similar results. As we continue to expand into markets throughout the world, to truly become global, you have to be local."

And to move forward, one beachhead at a time.
-Frank Legato

Eye of the Storm
Ken Baronsky
Partner, Global/Corporate, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

One of the big gaming stories to come out of this economy is the large, highly leveraged operator looking for ways to weather the storm. CEOs, CFOs and COOs are involved in finding the best ways to relieve debt, restructure mortgages, and avoid a fire-sale of equity in the company.

Out on the front lines of these efforts are gaming attorneys like Ken Baronsky.

Baronsky, a partner in the law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, has  been working for gaming operators since around 1990, when gaming was just beginning to expand into riverboat and Native American markets. Beginning in Mississippi and the Native American markets, he branched out to represent operators in mergers, acquisitions and financial matters such as debt offerings and stock deals.

Since then, his clients have included some of the top operators in the business, from Harrah's and Las Vegas Sands in the West to Tropicana Entertainment's Bill Yung and Trump bondholders in the East.

Baronsky represented Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson in the two financing deals with the Adelson family late last year that pumped $1 billion of Adelson's money into the company in an equity purchase, and raised $1.5 billion from other sources to essentially rescue LVS' financial position. "Since then, the company has clearly improved from a market capitalization standpoint," Baronsky says, noting that strong results from LVS operations in Macau have been one of the company's saviors.

Current work includes representing Harrah's investors as that operator's financial picture stabilizes; an evolving relationship with Greektown casino in Detroit; and perhaps the biggest, the bankruptcy negotiations of longtime client Station Casinos.

Baronsky has numbered Station among his most prominent clients for nearly 20 years. He was involved in taking the company public in 1993, during negotiations with the Fertitta brothers to take the company private in 2007, and most recently, when the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late July.

"Station was uniquely hard-hit by the recession," Baronsky says. "They had just completed the going-private transaction at the end of 2007, taking on a lot of leverage, and a year later, the economy-particularly the local economy in Las Vegas, where they operate-collapsed." He says bankruptcy protection affords the best opportunity for future health of the company. "The advantage is that through the bankruptcy process, there are timelines and a finite path that leads to an outcome. At the end of this, we're hoping for an outcome all constituencies feel good about."

It's just one in a number of firefighting duties Baronsky's caseload represents. He says a key factor to remember in this effort is to work with regulators. "If there's one thing you learn in this business, it's that you want to keep the regulators happy," he says-a principle which client Tropicana Entertainment learned the hard way in Atlantic City. (Baronsky represented Yung in his acquisition of Aztar to create Tropicana Entertainment, but did not represent the firm in its subsequent bankruptcy struggles.)

The next year will no doubt bring new fires to extinguish, and new opportunities as the industry goes through another growth spurt. "There's so much more gaming everywhere in the country, with proliferation of Indian gaming and other states legalizing gaming for the first time," Baronsky says. "This really is an unprecedented market, with a lot of opportunities, a lot of trouble situations like troubled Indian casinos. You now have creditors dealing with Indian tribes in an unprecedented situation: How do you work through a bankruptcy process? Do you work through a bankruptcy process? Will tribes use sovereignty as leverage? This is evolving every day."

Short story: Baronsky will have no shortage of work this year.
-Frank Legato

Guiding Light
Barry Shier
Managing Principal, The Partner House

When you work for Steve Wynn for any amount of time, you gain experiences and knowledge that will often affect the rest of your career. That certainly is the case with Barry Shier. 

After starting his career at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria, Shier was tapped by Wynn to become vice president of hotel operations at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas in 1984. He later was promoted to president of the property and then put in charge of all the company's marketing efforts in Las Vegas. He also was involved in the design and construction of the Mirage, which opened in 1989, and was in charge of building Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi, in the late 1990s.

After leaving Mirage Resorts when it was purchased by MGM in 2000, Shier flew below the radar, working on several projects. In 2009, he re-emerged as the managing principal in the Partner House. He believes the economic decline suffered by the gaming industry over the past two years is an opportunity for his company to prosper.

"This is all about financial institutions and individual operators coming to the point where they have a better use for capital than leaving it in certain assets," he says. "Some refer to it as a 'perfect storm,' but it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we need to grab."

Whether the opportunities are management takeovers, consulting or outright purchases, the Partner House advises the stakeholders-lenders, investors, operators or owners.

"We help them understand the strengths and weaknesses of the property," says Shier. "Multiples are tough to peg today, and where the EBITDA will ultimately fall. It's very complex, especially when you consider the past performance, the market conditions, the link to corporate structures, if any, and many other factors."

Shier says the complexity of today's casino operations combined with the uncertainty of the economic climate makes it imperative to get good advice when considering investing in or selling a property.

"There are so many relationships that must be considered when you're taking over a property," he says.
"The transactions all have a shared interest. In many cases, the individuals who are selling the asset are not leaving the marketplace. They remain there as your competitor. You must understand the nature of procurement, travel, loyalty clubs and whether you have database protection or not. We understand the business, so if we are going to assess and do the due diligence to create the actual number, you can be certain we're going to protect the assets necessary to operate efficiently and effectively."

In Las Vegas, where Shier is based and hopes to find that golden opportunity, he says the focus of growth should be the international market.

"There are 25 million people who travel to the United States from foreign countries," he says. "They arrive at various cities in the U.S. as points of entry. Only 230,000 make Las Vegas their first stop-1 percent of our visitors. Visa restrictions and other issues have something to do with that, but we can do better here. When you count other international visitors who connect from other U.S. cities before coming to Las Vegas, our share is 8 percent. I would suggest our share should be more like 20 percent. That would give Las Vegas a more balanced market, but more importantly the opportunity to ramp up the business when the dollar is weak, and cut it back when the dollar is strong. While it's fine having a larger presence internationally, we need to figure out how to pick off some of the 25 million who are traveling to the U.S. for one reason or another."

For the Partner House, Shier says his experience, along with that of his partners, Don Kuhl and Steve Jarvis, allows clients to trust the results they will get.

"We provide complete accountability," he says. "We make sure the EBITDAs we supply aren't just used to value, but also crucial to the budget process. We not only can project, we can deliver future operating performance."
-Roger Gros

Right Woman, Right Time
Lynn Malerba
Chairwoman, Mohegan Tribe

As recently elected chairwoman of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut-the first woman in tribal history to hold the post-Lynn Malerba will be called upon to steer the nation through rocky shoals. And the responsibilities that rest on her shoulders will resound far into the future.

"We are 13 generations from Chief Uncas (1635-83), and we believe we are responsible for the next 13 generations," says Malerba, who describes herself as "proud and humble" to be elevated from council vice chairman to the top post, which is essentially CEO of the tribe.  

"I'm gratified our membership feels they're ready for a female leader," says Malerba. "I give all honor to the women who preceded me."

Among them: her mother Loretta Roberge, who was instrumental in helping the tribe achieve federal recognition in 1994; her great-aunt Loretta Schultz, a prominent tribal councilor; medicine women Gladys Tantaquidgeon and Emma Baker; and Fidelia Fielding, also known as Flying Bird, the last native speaker and preserver of the Mohegan Pequot language.

Malerba's challenges will be vastly different from those faced by her forebears. In the mid-1980s, Mohegan women had to pool their limited funds to pay the bill for the tribe's first phone, which was kept locked in a closet at their church. Today, Malerba leads the government of a tribe with a multibillion-dollar gaming empire employing some 8,000 people at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun resort alone.

Adding to the pressure, that empire, once seemingly inviolate, has been hard-hit by the recession. In fourth-quarter 2009, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority reported revenue declines of 12 percent compared to 2008 (declines in Connecticut were balanced by rising numbers at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania).

Malerba is unfazed.

"During our tribal history, we have watched our burial grounds dug up and the headstones made into foundations for homes," she says. "We saw 20,000 acres of territory reduced to a half-acre. While this is a challenge, we have faced far worse, and every time we took it as an opportunity to assess where we are and decide how we are going forward."

In her new role, the former hospital manager and executive director of the tribe's health and human services department will wear "three hats:" administrating tribal programs and services; interacting with local, state and federal governments as head of a sovereign nation; and helping to oversee operations for Mohegan casinos in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

"It's common knowledge that we have a land option in western Pennsylvania and selected a site in Palmer, Massachusetts," Malerba says. "We are hopeful that if gaming legislation is passed in Massachusetts, that state will look on us favorably and see us as a good business partner, which we've been in Connecticut."

And when it comes to the tribe's growth, she prefers to see the recession as a speed bump, not a stop sign.

"We are still an economic engine in Connecticut," she says. "Our thousands of employees are still shopping and stimulating their own local economies. We support 2,000 other businesses through the goods and services we purchase as a tribe. We have been responsible to our stakeholders, our employees, and the local and state economy as well as our bondholders. And we will be responsible to the next generation, and the generation after that, over 13 generations."
-Marjorie Preston

Big Business
Kip Ritchie
Executive Vice President, Potawatomi Business Development Corporation

Kip Ritchie's résumé is an impressive one, a litany of high-powered positions fueled by ambition and a commitment to his community. Ritchie, executive vice president of the Wisconsin-based Potawatomi Business Development Corporation, is a member of the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe and has been with the PBDC since its inception in 2002. Throughout his time with the tribal development company, first as a board member and then as senior vice president, Ritchie has aided his tribe in its efforts to expand its gaming business as well as diversify its economic base.

The Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the central focus of the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation, and Ritchie has been instrumental in its success. Before joining the PBDC, he served as director of marketing at the tribe's casino from 1997 to 2004, and then rose through the ranks to become the property's assistant general manager.

When Ritchie began his tenure at the Potawatomi Bingo Casino, the property was a mere 40,000 square feet with a 2,500-seat bingo hall. Today, the casino is 750,000 square feet of wall-to-wall entertainment, with 3,100 slot machines, 88 table games, off-track betting, four restaurants and an award-winning theater. The casino now draws more than 4.5 million visitors annually.

Like the rest of the American gaming industry, the Potawatomi Bingo Casino has been affected by the recession. But Ritchie says the economic downturn has strengthened both the casino and the tribe as a whole.

"The recession forced us to buckle down to reflect the economy and to take a good, hard look at our costs, both at the casino and the PBDC," Ritchie says. "We managed to streamline and focus our operation, and in doing so, made changes that are reflecting a 35 percent cost reduction. That is having a major impact on both our organization and the tribe."

The PBDC has stepped up its efforts to diversify the tribe's economy beyond gaming, which Ritchie acknowledges may not always be the thriving industry it has been in the past.

"We know that gaming is cyclical, and to assume it should be our only source of revenue would be foolish," he says. "Years ago, the tribe recognized the need to diversify our investments, and we are committed to that expansion. In fact, I firmly believe it is the next chapter in Indian Country growth, development, self-sufficiency and self-reliance."

As a leader in the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation, Ritchie will surely play a big role in the tribe's next chapter. In 2010, Ritchie will continue to oversee the PBDC's investment opportunities and joint ventures, as well as marketing, public relations, sales and networking efforts.

"We are excited about the future of PBDC and will continue to pursue our long-term goal of providing wealth and prosperity for the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe," Ritchie says. "One way we hope to do this is through a more serious and aggressive investment in federal government contracting. And as always, we will continue to look for possible acquisition targets that can benefit from tribal ownership and inter-tribal partnerships."
-Caitlin McGarry

Man of Leisure
George Barbulescu
Axion Leisure Development

There are several multi-use, multi-faceted projects being considered and planned in Europe at the present time. Whether it's in Spain, Ireland, Slovenia or Hungary, the projects may or may not come to fruition, and their success usually depends upon the respect and accomplishments of their backers.

"The manageability of a project is determined by the accuracy of the analysis performed during the initial definition phase," says George Barbulescu. "That is when all the influencing factors must be determined. Otherwise, it will prove impossible to deliver a completed project within the agreed-upon time and budget constraints. Just as crucial is the motivation and the commitment of all parties involved."

Barbulescu, founder and head of Axion Project Bureau and Axion Leisure Development, has come to these opinions in the course of managing large-scale construction and design projects, such as the renovation and expansion of Departure Lounge 1 at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and works at various Dutch railway stations. His expertise is in assembling the best people for the tasks at hand and motivating and managing them to achieve the goals of a given project.

That same attention to pre-planning is now being exercised on Leisure Dome, Barbulescu's biggest undertaking to date. This "uni-city" will hold an 8,000-square-meter casino, real-snow ski slope and ice rink, sub-tropical swim paradise, golf course, spa, hotel, convention and meeting space, retail shops, restaurants and bars and a variety of entertainment facilities, all under a single roof or within several interconnected structures. Total area including 150,000 square meters of outdoor parking: 400,000 square meters, about 4.3 million square feet.

Born in Romania but living and working in the Netherlands, Barbulescu returns to his roots with his Leisure Dome project.

"We have found very good, strong Romanian partners," says Barbulescu. "An executive at one of the largest international banks in Romania said to me, 'Wow, finally we're going to have a destination, some place to go to have fun.'"

Barbulescu believes Leisure Dome and its sports-and-entertainment mix will be able to attract and handle between 6 million and 22 million visitors a year. He points to Disneyland Paris, which he says handled 16 million visitors last year.

And then there is the casino.

"In Eastern Europe, for sure in Romania, people like to spend money, to have fun and to gamble," he says."The casino is there to satisfy a demand."

While others may be stuck in recession mode, Barbulescu is confident in the future-and in Leisure Dome, which he expects to be in use for 50 years.

"In the course of 50 years," says Barbulescu, "we are going to experience two or three crises like the one we have now. But we have to think long-term. As human beings, we work hard and we need leisure to decompress, to have fun-in good conditions and for a good price."
-Rich Geller

Singapore Song
Andrew MacDonald
Executive Vice President, Gaming, Marina Bay Sands

Andrew MacDonald was chosen as one of Global Gaming Business' People to Watch because of his work as an investment banker with Australia's Macquarie Capital Advisors in New York, which is building an investment banking division. MacDonald headed up the bank's gaming division.

But in the short time between the announcement and the interview, MacDonald was named the executive vice president of gaming for Marina Bay Sands, the Singapore integrated resort being developed by Las Vegas Sands.

"I'm really sad to be leaving Macquarie because we've had some great success and are just about ready to make some big moves to compete with the Goldmans and the UBSs of the world," he says. "But I'm leaving the business in capable hands to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

MacDonald knows about pouncing on opportunities. His talents have taken him in 30 years from a dealer at Hobart, Australia's Wrest Point casino, to leadership positions at organizations such as Crown Casino, SkyCity Casinos, the Queensland Casino Control Division and Genting in Malaysia.  

During his time moving about Australia, he founded an educational website called Urbino.net, one of the first sites to provide literate information on the gaming industry.

"When I became a gaming analyst at the Adelaide casino in 1990, I found there was a real dearth of information on gaming," he explains. "I was looking for information on dead-chip programs, incentive programs, and even such simple things as the mathematics that makes all this work. There wasn't much out there. And most of it was written for players, not management. The list of people who have contributed over time and the information they provided has been exceptional. It's a true resource designed to help people understand how casinos work."

MacDonald is eager to move to Singapore to get started. He admires the way the government has gone about setting up a gaming industry.

"In the four or five years since the process started," he says, "the Singaporeans have gone about it in a very methodical, very orderly way. They've come up with a model for integrated resorts which is now the benchmark for other countries to copy."

At Marina Bay Sands, MacDonald will put his experience in gaming operations to work, along with colleagues Steve Karoul and Ken Davie.

"Working with a quality operating team like Steve, Ken and others will make it a lot easier to make the transition," he says. "I'm looking forward to sitting down with them and talking through all the issues."

One of the major issues facing MacDonald will be how the Singapore government sets the VIP model. The two options are the U.S. model, where the casino pays a junket operator a set fee and a possible percentage of the players' losses, or the Macau model, where the casino pays the junket operator a percentage of the players' buy-in. While the final decision had not been made at press time, MacDonald expects a more U.S.-style model.

"The government did a thorough study of the VIP market, and it is likely that their decision will be based on the best outcomes for the Singapore market," he says. "It would be unlikely that we'll be working with the traditional Macau model, so I prefer that we would deal directly with high-net-worth individuals, providing the regulatory system allows appropriate levels of credit or check-cashing facilities."

In the end, MacDonald is pleased to be back in the market he knows so well.

"Asia is the place to be right now," he says. "The potential is enormous and anyone who wants to be in the center of the action, wants to be here."
-Roger Gros

Educational Awareness
Kate Spilde
Endowed Chair, Sycuan Gaming Institute, San Diego State University

If a little bit of education goes a long way, Kate Spilde is going to the moon and back-multiple times. After graduating from the University of California Santa Cruz with a Ph.D in anthropology (after previous degrees at the University of Hawaii and George Washington University), Spilde immediately joined the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which was just ramping up in Washington, D.C.

"It really was being in the right place at the right time," she says. "I had just done my thesis on tribal government gaming and they were looking for someone to lead their research into tribal gaming."

The groundbreaking federal study looked at gaming in a way it had never been studied before, and Spilde was charged with reviewing the true mystery, tribal gaming.

"The tribes themselves needed to be in control of the story," she says. "They knew how the dynamics were changing and how poverty and the lack of access to education or infrastructure was impacting them. When the gaming was brought in, all the power dynamics among the non-Indian and Indian communities changed. The outcomes were very confusing. Most of them were beneficial, but it was very difficult to quantify what those benefits were and how they were delivered. And of course, it was different for every tribe and every state."

And though it was a completely new field, Spilde knew she was doing important work.

"I believe that I tried to help the tribes by making it clear about the hurdles they encounter in Indian Country when you consider tribal governments and their relationship with the federal, state and local governments," Spilde says, "and how the policies and the programs of the federal government impact the tribes at all levels. I believe it made companies that wanted to do business with tribes-banks, lenders, operators, management companies, etc.-understand how complicated it was to work with tribes, and it wasn't always the tribes' fault!"

After a favorable report by the NGISC, Spilde moved on to research for the National Indian GamingAssociation and then for the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, where she produced an important study on the first 10 years (1990-2000) of Indian gaming economic development.

After a stint at the University of California Riverside, where she headed up an organization studying the impact of tribal gaming in California, she got her dream job. Funded by the Sycuan tribe, San Diego State University was setting up a degree program for tribal gaming, the first-and still the only one-of its kind.

Spilde says the tribe and the university were very forward-thinking in establishing the institute.

"While the market isn't huge for something like this," she says, "it's important that at least one university recognizes the needs of this community."

She says the institute will shed some light on the difference between tribal governments and civil governments.

"Tribes are families, too," she says. "That sometimes is the thing that confuses outsiders the most. When we think about our own families, we can understand why they are not always rational, but when you think about tribes as governments, you need to bring the family component into it as well."

Spilde is looking forward to issuing a follow-up to the Harvard report that will give a clear picture of the economic impact of the first 20 years of tribal gaming. But she must wait for U.S. government action first.

"We rely on the U.S. Census, so we're very eager for the next one to come out," she explains. "While we all acknowledge it is imperfect, it still is very thorough down to small track levels. This is a federal policy we are evaluating, and nobody wants to pay for it, so we're excited to have an institute that will fund and evaluate the first 20 years of tribal gaming."

At the same time, she plans to continue her focus on problem gambling in Indian Country.

"We look at the science and the research and translate it into responsible practices for tribal casinos," she says. "And of course, we depend a lot on the incredible work the commercial casino industry has done with NCRG. But the tribes want to make this happen. There's a little different dynamic here. Most tribal casinos are located smack in the middle of Indian land. They are really locals casinos, so the customers are neighbors, friends, family members. We want to make sure we don't damage those relationships through gambling and provide the right kind of support to those troubled by gambling disorders."
-Roger Gros



International Effort
Phillip Barow
Managing Director, GLI Europe

In the past two years, Gaming Laboratories International has put added emphasis on the "International" part of its name. The effort has been helped along in no small measure by GLI Europe Managing Director Phillip Barow.

Barow joined GLI in 2007 after a two-year stint with the Los Angeles office of L.E.K. Consulting. At L.E.K., Barow learned to use in-depth data analysis to get to know a company and understand how to make crucial business decisions. The experience would come in handy at GLI, where Barow became involved with identifying industry trends that could be of interest to the company.

"I took the same data-driven analysis that I'd learned at L.E.K. and looked at the gaming industry from the GLI perspective, which is regulation, testing and technical consulting to regulators and manufacturers," says Barow. "Aside from the trends that GLI would capture naturally-technology, communication, server-based gaming-the three main trends we saw all revolved around international markets."

The team studying the situation saw that U.S. manufacturers were looking to get involved generally with expanding opportunities abroad. Australian manufacturers were looking at Macau and South America. And in Asia and Europe a lot of new manufacturers were also looking at South America, and in the case of European companies, Asia itself was looking interesting. The question became: Was GLI prepared to profit from its knowledge of these trends?

"Once we had identified those key trends, we realized that we have command of the technology, we know systems architecture and we have great relationships based in the U.S., but we didn't have a global organization," says Barow. "We had offices in Europe, Australia and South Africa, but they were regionally based operations without a lot of communication between them, and they didn't utilize to the fullest extent the resources of GLI North America. So we had to rethink how we did our business in order to position ourselves for the growth trends we were anticipating."

The solution was to develop a "customer-centric" organization, says Barow. GLI's regionally based experts would be able to serve as liaisons between local regulators and GLI engineers and manufacturers around the world. In practice, that meant building a very international team.

"It didn't happen overnight," says Barow. "We focused on people who are multilingual, who had cultural sensitivities, people who are diverse. In our office in the Netherlands, out of 50 employees, almost 25 different nationalities are represented."

Barow is the first to admit that GLI already had a lot in place internationally when he arrived on the scene. But his feel for what it takes to succeed on the international stage is atypical for most American businessmen.

"I think in terms of a customer-centric organization, and then making connections with people globally. Because I have a long working relationship with most of the people in the U.S., I can hear something from somebody who is saying 'I'm having a problem with this.' And it's very easy for me to say, 'Oh, you need to reach out to...'"
-Rich Geller

Working on Island Time
Bruce Golding
Prime Minister of Jamaica

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding is pro-casino gaming-but with a sizable catch.

Golding told potential investors back in June 2009, "Before you can get a license, you have to give us a bankable, guaranteed commitment that you are going to build new hotels, with not less than 2,000 rooms and an investment of not less than $1.5 billion."

He said, "We want hotel rooms, we want employment, we want to be sure that when you get a license you are going to use that license to bring in thousands more visitors to Jamaica."

The Jamaica Labor Party leader's ascension to prime minister in 2007 marked the end of a series of government heads strongly opposed to the establishment of modern casino gaming on the island.

Casinos were rejected in the 1980s by then-Prime Minister Edward Seaga. That policy was continued through the 1990s and up to 2006 by Jamaican People's National Party leader Percival Noel James "P.J." Patterson, the nation's longest-serving prime minister to date. According to a 2007 editorial in the Jamaica Gleaner, Patterson's opposition to casinos supposedly was based on a pledge he had made to his mother. Succeeding Patterson was the next PNP leader, Portia Simpson Miller, whose close relationship with Jamaica's evangelical movement spoke for itself.

Not that the country was devoid of gaming all during that period. Jamaicans reportedly gambled over $500 million annually in 2007, with some $180 million being accounted for by so-called "gaming lounges"-in effect, slot casinos-and the rest primarily by lotteries, with about 12 percent going to horse racing.

But Golding seems to appreciate the potential economic benefits of large casino resorts. He has a degree in economics from University of the West Indies and served as minister of construction for most of the 1980s. He was opposition spokesman on finance in the first half of the 1990s and simultaneously chaired the public accounts committee. In 2002 he was spokesman on foreign affairs and foreign trade. And he has served on the board of directors of the National Lotteries Commission.

Despite Golding's enthusiasm for a casino gaming bill, and the interest of two companies to build multibillion-dollar resorts, progress on legislation has been hampered by delays. A version of the bill that was to be introduced in October ended up being withdrawn at the last minute.

In December, a 12-member parliamentary committee created to study a new bill finally met for the first time. The bill would implement government policy legalizing casino gaming and establish a casino commission with the authority to grant licenses. The committee has until January 26 to provide its final report to Parliament.

But Golding is dedicated to bringing gaming to Jamaica, realizing that not only does it bring taxes, jobs, infrastructure and other economic benefits, but it helps his country compete against the neighboring islands, many of which offer full-scale casino gaming. Golding doesn't want Jamaica to be left behind.
-Rich Geller



Taking the Trop
Alex Yemenidjian
President & CEO, Tropicana Las Vegas

When he was running MGM Grand, Alex Yemenidjian helped to build one of the premier brands in the gaming and entertainment industries. As Kirk Kerkorian's right-hand man, Yemenidjian directed the development of his boss' investment in the gaming industry.

As he rejoined the casino industry as a partner in the Tropicana Las Vegas, Yemenidjian recalled some advice that Kerkorian had given him.

"Something I learned from him that I applied immediately was something he told me early on: 'Put your property close to the best-run property in town.' And that's what I've done here at the Tropicana," says Yemenidjian.

Being across from several successful properties at one of the most recognized corners in Las Vegas can be a blessing and a curse. Previous owners of the Tropicana had taken cost-cutting to deadly levels-axing important employees, failing to keep the property up and allowing the image of the Tropicana to decay.

Those were just some of the challenges that Yemenidjian faced when he joined with the Canadian investment firm Onex Corporation to win the Trop in a bankruptcy deal. After looking at various deals for years, they finally pulled the trigger with the Tropicana.

"Clearly, location and price were the two moving parts in this transaction," says Yemenidjian. "And in addition to a superb location, the 34-acre Tropicana property is a perfect rectangle that has streets on three of the four sides. It's a developer's dream."

Yemenidjian has quickly transformed the property by changing the logo, bringing in Las Vegas icon Wayne Newton to perform what Newton describes as his finale, pumping $100 million into the Trop for a quick facelift, and hiring Tom McCartney, last of Planet Hollywood and Luxor, to run it.

But it's going to be a long process to revive a property that has suffered from many years of neglect.

"First, we have to totally redefine the value proposition to our customers," says Yemenidjian. "And the value proposition has to have many dimensions, including a customer service dimension, an entertainment dimension and a physical dimension. And second, we have to successfully inform our current and future customers of this new value proposition. We have to brainstorm our image. Image creates desire."

He recognizes that the employees are one of the key elements of the property's renewal.

"We inherited many team members at the Tropicana who are stars, and they are critical to the operational and financial transformation of this property," Yemenidjian says. "So we have built a new team-member lounge and dining room; we are refurbishing the back-of-the-house facilities before we do anything else. Then we are instituting a new service-excellence training program."

But for Yemenidjian and Onex, the Tropicana is just the start.

"We are interested in building a diversified gaming company," he says. "Since December 2007, we have looked at many acquisition opportunities in Las Vegas, elsewhere in the United States and internationally, and we will continue to do so. The Tropicana acquisition is the foundation of the gaming platform that we would like to build. If the Tropicana were the beginning and end of the road, we would not be here."
-Roger Gros

Best Practices
Debra Nelson
Vice President of Corporate Diversity & Community Affairs, MGM Mirage

Ten years ago, MGM Mirage announced its commitment to increasing diversity in the workplace. In 2005, the company wooed diversity expert Debra Nelson to lead MGM's efforts. Nelson's appointment solidified MGM Mirage's reputation as a corporation concerned about diversity.

Nelson did not set out to become one of the country's leading diversity professionals. The Alabama native began her career as a journalist before discovering her passion for diversity awareness. She rose through the diversity management ranks in the automobile industry, working for brands like DaimlerChrysler and Mercedes-Benz USA and becoming a founding a member of Cornell University's Chief Diversity Officers' Roundtable before joining the team at MGM Mirage.

As the vice president of corporate diversity and community affairs, Nelson has worked tirelessly to increase diversity awareness within MGM Mirage, educating employees in the best practices of diversity execution and implementing an annual diversity meeting. Nelson has also elevated MGM Mirage's external diversity profile through advertising efforts, with the national "Diversity Has a Mascot" campaign, and through the company's partnerships with outside organizations.

"I am pleased to have forged partnerships with individuals and organizations throughout the U.S. to help expand understanding of the business relevance for diversity at MGM Mirage," Nelson says. "This work has been broad and varied-from helping our teams recruit potential employees, to meeting with diverse groups and organizations in an effort to secure convention and meeting business, to helping our purchasing teams develop a diverse portfolio of suppliers and contractors, and to providing service to non-profit groups and organizations to help improve the quality of life in the locations where MGM Mirage has operations."

Nelson's laundry list of achievements also includes her success in encouraging diversity in Las Vegas as a whole. Upon moving to Southern Nevada in 2005, Nelson promptly established the Diversity Professionals Network and the Women of Color Conference, both of which serve to connect entrepreneurs in the community. Nelson says she expects the conference to boost the profiles of both MGM Mirage and Southern Nevada.

"I am privileged to work with a company that inspires entrepreneurialism to serve the greater community," Nelson says. "In a way, the Women of Color Conference is the perfect example of that. As an idea, it represented a historic collaboration of Las Vegas' ethnic chambers of commerce and private industry, and was a platform to support the personal and professional leadership development of women. Since its inception, it has been marketed and reported throughout the U.S. and has the potential to truly grow into a national conference, thereby enhancing tourism and generating revenue for our company and Southern Nevada."

In the new year, Nelson says she plans to continue her work to increase diversity awareness within MGM Mirage, throughout Las Vegas and on a national scale, and making diversity a central tenet to a successful business' practices.

"I'm optimistic that diversity will evolve into a sustainable profession," she says. "I've seen it grow from a response to political pressure and legal mandates to a competitive business asset. However, it is incumbent upon those of us who are serious about the work, and who have the opportunity to influence what it will be, to dialogue with each other to revolutionize the work. As diversity practitioners, I believe we are evolved enough to define the future of diversity."
-Caitlin McGarry

Tops in Tables
Greg Gronau
President & CEO, Gaming Partners International

Gaming Partners International is a company formed from three legendary organizations in the gaming industry: the French gaming supplier Bourgogne et Grasset; and the Bud Jones Company and Paul-Son Gaming Supplies, both American companies. The commonality among the three partners was that they supplied items for casino pits-the tables, the chips, the furniture and some other equipment.

When the companies joined together in 2002, Bourgogne et Grasset was the operator, but company headquarters was located in Las Vegas. Late last year, longtime president and CEO Gerard Charlier retired, leaving the company in the capable hands of Greg Gronau, who had experience with several gaming suppliers, including WMS and Shuffle Master Gaming.

A well-crafted plan allowed the terms of Charlier, who will continue to serve on the board of directors, and Gronau to overlap by a year, giving the two a unique ability to shape the company's future.

"We've been expanding our product lines over the last 18 months," says Gronau. "That was an advantage to having both of us on staff at the same time."

Although the three divisions of the company sell similar items, Gronau says he spent the last year evaluating the products and services in each division.

"They don't overlap as much as you might think," he says. "They each have their own markets and they complement each other. It allows us to leverage each product line to the advantage of our customer. It gives us a lot of great bandwidth to appeal to many customers.

One of the challenges of joining the three companies was developing a corporate culture that links the far-flung offices. In addition to Las Vegas and France, the company has a manufacturing plant in Mexico, adding to the equation.

"With the diversity that we have, we have an advantage," says Gronau. "We've done a good job with the U.S. and Mexico and we're concentrating now on France. We expect it will be very valuable once we work it out."

GPI is a "one-stop shop" for equipment that belongs in the casino pit, including the "currency" of a casino-chips, cards, dice, plaques and jetons-pit furniture, from a basic table to custom-built items, and table-game layouts.

"We have four types of layouts," explains Gronau, "felt, screen printed, full graphic layouts and now digital, which is three to four times more durable than the graphic layouts. And the clarity on the digital is just amazing."

While GPI has many competitors in the vendor arena, Gronau says the turn-key approach is just one of the advantages that gives the company an edge.

"There are a lot of things that give us an advantage over some of the smaller suppliers," he says. "We can combine all the different design aspects of the casino and make it flow into the pit. Whether it's the chips, the layouts or the furniture itself, we can match the design of the larger overall space. When you look at GPI, we really stress the 'partner' part of the name and become a true resource to the casino we're working with. And every casino has a different idea of what they want, whether it's the design or the quality of the product. We can help them out with those choices."

While it might seem that GPI was in the right place at the right time in Macau, where tables are the name of the game, Gronau says the time came to the right place.

"We've really benefited from the growth in the Asian market," he says, "but we've been providing tables for more than 40 years to the Macau market and have very strong relationships with the operators there."

But it's the financial strength of the company that is the main reason for GPI's success.

"We have one of the stronger balance sheets in this segment of the market. We have less than $2 million in debt. That gives the customer some confidence and peace of mind that GPI will be around for a long time. It also gives us a lot of opportunities in how we can expand for our customers' benefit."
-Roger Gros

Native Intelligence
John Berrey
Chairman, Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma

In mid-2007, amid the first rumblings of recession, the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma announced that it would build a casino, its second, in Ottawa County, home of 10 other gaming halls.

Less than a year later, with the recession a reality and some jurisdictions posting increasingly dismal revenues, the Quapaw's Downstream Casino Resort opened to raves, robust patronage, and a level of success that would be exceptional even in a good economy.

In 11 months, Downstream pumped more than $100 million into the local economy. And thanks in large measure to the new $300 million Vegas-style casino, year-over-year gross revenues from Indian gaming in the state grew 23 percent (10 times the national figure).

How did they do it?

"I think it's pretty easy," says Quapaw Chairman John Berrey. "We have a beautiful design, a wide choice of games, great, friendly customer service and fortunately, the support of the communities of Joplin, Southeast Kansas and Northeast Oklahoma"-support, he says, that also extends to Springfield, Missouri and Northwest Arkansas.

Obviously, location was vital to the casino's success. As the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette noted, "The property entrance is in Missouri, parking is in Kansas and the front doors are in Oklahoma, but the casino floor is pure Las Vegas." 

The tribe was careful not to overreach, scaling the project to the market.

"We've always been very conservative in our money management," says Berrey. "We've maintained a 40-plus margin, which is unheard-of in most tribes. All of that together makes for great success that has exceeded our expectations and changed the dynamic for our people."

It also enlivens the regional economy. Through May 2009, just 35 percent of Downstream's visitors were from the immediate tri-state vicinity. People are driving in, boosting tourism in the plains area.

Perhaps most importantly, Quapaw business enterprises mean a better quality of life for 3,000 tribal members.

"We see it as a way to help our people through better education, social services and health care," says Berrey, who adds that the tribe offers employees "great benefits and a 401K, a dining room that's as nice as any restaurant and a day care center. As a result, we have a very low turnover."

Though the tribe has no apparent plans for a third casino, like all tribes, they are monitoring the issue of off-reservation casinos, now on the desk of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

"What's going on is amazing; the change in the relationship between federal agencies and tribes is really palpable," Berrey says. "We can feel our message and issues are being heard by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Interior. When (former DOI Secretary Dirk) Kempthorne headed Interior, they were ultra-conservative and didn't want to make any decisions about the jurisdictions of tribes. We're very hopeful Salazar will continue the cooperation and collaboration."

The chairman is also heartened by a recent chat with President Barack Obama, in which he pointed out the tribe's concern about its reservation, which includes the Tar Creek Superfund site, rendered toxic by a century of lead and zinc mining.

"It is a horrible scar on the land," says Berrey. "We've drawn the attention of President Obama and Secretary Salazar to the issue, and there has been some traction from that discussion. We hope things will keep moving."
-Marjorie Preston

Mixed Messages
David Cordish
Chairman, The Cordish Companies

David Cordish made his name reinvigorating depressed urban areas. From his home-town Baltimore's Inner Harbor, Cordish moved on to work with other cities such as Louisville, Kansas City, Houston, Tampa, Orlando and more to revitalize neighborhoods, shopping areas and waterfronts. The Cordish Companies have been instrumental in some of the nation's most compelling success stories in urban redevelopment. 

"We often come in to difficult environments, and often there's been a previous history of failures by other developers," he says. "I can't say that's a criterion for us taking a project; actually, we like to get them easy, just like everybody else, but for some reason or another, our history is often in turnaround situations. The bad news is that it requires a lot more work. The good news is that when you've done it and you've been part of a massive turnaround, you feel good."

Cordish dipped his toe in the casino industry when he was involved in the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and then hit the jackpot when the company proposed, developed and opened a major outlet shopping center in downtown Atlantic City called The Walk. While The Walk is not directly connected to any specific casino in Atlantic City, its drawing power-even during the economic downturn-has gained the attention of other similarly situated cities, including Downtown Las Vegas.

"If you've looked at our projects in Florida, in Indiana, in Atlantic City, what makes a successful retail project is to put it next to a 24-hour, seven-day, 365-day-a-year casino situation," says Cordish. "Conversely, if you want to increase gaming, you provide amenities for people, because nobody can gamble all day and night."
Cordish signed a deal with Las Vegas in November that charges the company with developing an entertainment district that would conceivably contain a large arena, something lacking today in Las Vegas. The deal gives Cordish exclusive two-year negotiating rights for 20 acres pegged for a development that might include a casino hotel and a "Live" district with restaurants, bars, lounges and retail.

And the company is now directly involved with casino operations, running the Indiana Live! Casino at Hoosier Park, south of Indianapolis.

The company won the bid to build a casino resort at Kansas Speedway, just west of Kansas City, as one of four licenses approved for the state. After the economy crashed, the bid was withdrawn. During the re-bid process Cordish won yet again, but recently sold its interest in the project to Penn National Gaming.

But Cordish is most hopeful about casino development in Maryland. Ironically, Cordish decided to bypass the license specified for Baltimore and bid on one slated for Ann Arundel County. While Laurel Racetrack was the obvious site, the bankruptcy of Magna Entertainment complicated that deal, so Cordish submitted a bid for a casino at Arundel Mills Mall, a popular shopping center. The bid was accepted and is currently awaiting zoning approval by the Anne Arundel County Council. Ironically, the Magna bankruptcy is forcing a sale of Laurel (as well as the legendary Pimlico racetrack in Baltimore), and Cordish is one of several bidders for the track. But the company has no desire to drop its plans for Arundel Mills, since it gives the state, county and Cordish the highest return on investment.

The concept of the "mixed-use" project is not in vogue these days, but if anyone can develop a multi-dimensional casino development, Cordish is the one.
-Roger Gros



Two For One
George Skibine
Acting Chairman, National Indian Gaming Commission and Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Interior Department

It was a test to see whose patience would last longer: National Indian Gaming Commission Chairman Phil Hogen, or the tribes that opposed most of his proposals at every turn over the past six years.

It turned out to be Hogen, who retired in October after waiting nearly a year for his replacement to be named by President Barack Obama. Named as a temporary replacement for Hogen is George Skibine, a career employee at the Interior Department and a member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma.

At the NIGC, Skibine says he's just a placeholder that will set the table for a permanent chairman.

"I think the problem that I have is that I'm there for seven months-max-which is very, very short, and I'll probably be there less than that because the White House is actively looking very hard to have a name to submit for confirmation-and I think that will happened quickly," he told a seminar at the Global Gaming Expo in November.

Prior to his departure, Hogen backed off his attempt to draw a "bright line" between Class II and Class III slot machines, leaving the regulations as he found them.

"We're not going to have any changes to regulations during the time I'm there," Skibine said.

He also questioned Hogen's assertion that the NIGC is an independent agency, not subject to the oversight of the Interior Department.

"It may be quasi-independent because some of the decisions made by the chairman aren't reviewable by anyone, but there's doubt because of other cases," said Skibine, particularly citing the Colorado River Indian Tribe case, where the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 upheld a lower court decision that NIGC has limited authority under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to issue regulations related to Class III gaming.

As for his BIA role, Skibine said the department was focusing on drawing up regulatory fixes for the Carcieri Supreme Court decision that cast doubts about whether tribes would be eligible for putting land into trust if they weren't federally recognized before 1934. In addition, Skibine told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that Larry EchoHawk, the assistant secretary for Indian Affairs at Interior, has asked him to review the entire process.

"He has asked me to be the chief architect of trying to fix what is broken, and as a result, I have committed to him that this is going to be one of the priorities of his administration and we are going to get that done before he leaves office, for sure," says Skibine.

He says that the appointment to lead the NIGC, and continue his role at the BIA, has been the most rewarding time of his 30-year career in government. But he says he's not going to hang around too long.

"I'm eligible to retire right now," he laughs.
-Roger Gros

Fine Time
Randy Fine
Managing Director, The Fine Point Group

For Randall A. Fine and his groundbreaking consulting organization, the Fine Point Group, a recession is an opportunity.

When many companies are laying off executives and employees but still require the services of those executives, the time is right for the Fine Point Group.

Randy Fine is an expert in customer rewards. He developed some of the most groundbreaking rewards programs in the supermarket industry, but it wasn't until he came to Harrah's Entertainment and helped develop the industry-standard Total Rewards program that he was truly recognized.

A graduate of Harvard, Fine left Harrah's in 2002 to work for Carl Icahn's Stratosphere and other hotels owned by the Wall Street billionaire. He helped position those properties for a sale that netted Icahn a huge profit.

When he founded the Fine Point Group in 2005, Fine concentrated on areas he knows best, the customer rewards programs, but has since expanded his firm, adding expertise in all management disciplines. As a result of that expertise, the group was awarded a management contract for Greektown Casino Hotel in Detroit as it entered a process leading up to a bankruptcy sale. During the time the Fine Point Group operated the property, revenues increased at a time when other Detroit casinos saw declines, and market share was boosted. Using its proven data mining strategies and targeting specific market segments, the Fine Point Group has turned around the fortunes of what had been the least successful casino in the metropolitan Detroit market.

"We can't do anything about the economy," he says. "But what we can do is compete as efficiently and effectively as possible to offer the best gaming value to our customers. We bring an unrelenting drive to succeed to our clients."

For 2010, Fine has lofty goals. He mentions a 14-year-old tribal casino in the state of Washington, where a Fine Point Group-designed players club resulted in two of the best days the casino had ever done on a Tuesday and Wednesday in November. But there's more.

"We're doing a players club for a major gaming operator," says Fine, continuing the firm's practice of respecting the client's privacy. "We've designed the first players club that will be based on actual outcomes-not coin-in, not theoreticals, but actual outcomes. I think this is going to take the notion of loyal marketing to a new level."

Also in 2010, the Fine Point Group is waiting on final regulatory approvals to get involved with the management of Resorts Atlantic City, where Fine hopes to apply many of the lessons learned at Greektown to the Boardwalk.

"One thing that was important to us was that we didn't make any layoffs at Greektown," he explains. "We might have been overstaffed when we took it over, but I was confident that we'd be able to grow into the staff, and that's exactly what happened. So while we'll certainly cut costs, we want to avoid staff cuts."

Fine says the group is getting many inquiries about management.

"We come in with a strategy that doesn't include 'build me some new stuff,'" he says. "So hopefully, over time we'll have several of these contracts in place and be able to prove that you don't have to do that to continue to grow the product."
-Roger Gros

When Less is More
Simon Beacham
Head of Electronic Gaming, Rank Group Plc

It was good news and bad news for Simon Beacham when in 2007 he was named head of electronic gaming at Rank Group Plc. The good news was that after some 30 years at Rank, Beacham was now responsible for all electronic gaming devices at the company's Grosvenor casinos. The bad news was that it was 2007.

"The business had taken a big hit from the tax increases in early 2007," says Beacham. "We were looking down the barrel of a gun at the approaching smoking ban, which was clearly going to do further damage. The challenge was to return the electronic gaming income to an upward trajectory."

Faced with these and other problems due to implementation that year of the 2005 Gaming Act, it was time to think outside the established framework.

Grosvenor, like most casino operators in the U.K. at the time, obtained its slot machines through a distributor. To change things up, the company decided to approach four major slot manufacturers directly. The result of that decision is that today all Grosvenor properties-including the new G Casino brand-get their slots from just three manufacturers, namely IGT, Novomatic and WMS.

According to Beacham, electronic gaming revenue is "now tracking above our 2007 numbers quite substantially."

"I'm a real believer in establishing a collaborative arrangement with good manufacturers," says Beacham. "It's a lot of money to spend, whether it's an IGT slot or a Novomatic Unity II system, and as an operator you can beat them up and moan like hell about the prices they charge or you can get around the table with them and go, all right, what do we have to do to make this earn more money for us?"

Dealing direct with solid, international manufacturers has enabled Beacham to develop strong, collaborative relationships and an ongoing dialogue, which has led to getting the best products for the players. 

Says Beacham, "That's been a mantra of mine, that we should engage with the manufacturers rather than pick on them."

Today, Beacham has charge of over 650 slot machines in the U.K. and another 250 in Rank's two Belgian casinos. The number of electronic roulette terminals in Rank's 35 U.K. casinos has grown to about 1,000. With some 25 percent of the casinos in the U.K., Rank's market share is inching up to 30 percent.

"We've got people queuing up weekends to play slot machines," says Beacham. "We could readily double or triple the numbers that we have in our sites and we'd be happy to pay the relevant tax on it. And I think the government would welcome us paying that tax. All they've got to do is sort the legislation out
a bit to allow it to happen."

With a general election scheduled for 2010 and a budget deficit that needs funding, anything is possible.
-Rich Geller

Patent Pending
David Patent
Chief Operating Officer, Rush Street Gaming

When billionaire Neil Bluhm entered the casino industry with the purchase of a small Mississippi casino, few people paid notice. They simply assumed the Chicago-based mogul saw a good investment and made the buy.

But when he applied for and won one of the major casino licenses in Pennsylvania-one of the two Philadelphia locations-people began to realize that he might be for real. And then when he stepped in to take over the Pittsburgh casino when the winning bidder-Don Barden and Majestic Star-couldn't raise construction financing, Barden was off and running. And once the company received the star-crossed 10th license in Illinois, it's clear Bluhm and his company, Rush Street Gaming, is on the verge of becoming a major industry player.

But Rush Street CEO Greg Carlin needed someone to operate the soon-to-be four casinos, so he brought in a Harrah's veteran, David Patent, who brings his wide range of experience at gaming's largest company to the position that suits him best.

"I spent seven years with Harrah's," he says. "When I left, I told my wife I would love to be chief operating officer of a small company where we could build it from the ground up. So I feel very fortunate to be working in that position and with the people who are involved with that company."

Patent believes the most important thing to do when building a company is assembling the right team.

"You're only as good as the people you work with," he says. "So making sure you have the right people who understand how to work together toward a common goal is crucial. If you don't have that, it's very hard to operate effectively."

Patent's first challenge will be to increase operating efficiency at the company's Pittsburgh property, the Rivers Casino on the city's Ohio River waterfront. With the retirement of Ed Fasulo, the casino president hired by Barden, Patent will take over while a search is conducted for a permanent replacement.

"Anyone who can read numbers understands that the revenue being produced is not up to what was projected," he says of Rivers. "New markets take some time to ramp up, especially when you're in a competitive market like Pittsburgh, but we have to do better."

In Philadelphia, SugarHouse Casino broke ground in October and is slated to be completed by the end of this year. Patent is excited about that facility.

"It's a great location," he says. "We decided to start out small with 1,600 or 1,700 slots and a small number of table games. So it's going to be busy all the time."

In Illinois, the casino will be built in DesPlaines and will be one of the closest casinos to Chicago, and location again plays a big role.

"It's 15 miles closer to Chicago than any other casino," he says. "And it will be the first new box to be built in 15 years, and the design process is truly unique."

Operating in Illinois is always risky, given the state's proclivity for "flexible" tax rates. Patent doesn't believe that will be a problem.

"I think everyone learned their lesson in 2004, when the tax rate was raised and players fled to Indiana," he explains. "As a business owner, you have to be able to make a return on your investment, so we're hopeful that the situation will remain stable."
-Roger Gros

Jill of All Trades
Kim Sinatra
Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Wynn Resorts

For Kim Sinatra, joining Wynn Resorts relatively early in its development has been an opportunity she never regrets. She has been involved in the company's amazing growth, from a single Las Vegas property to an international player on the gaming stage.

"It was a time of uncertainty, actually," Sinatra explains of her early days with the company. "Wynn Las Vegas was under construction. It was at least 18 months before the first property opened, so you never could have guessed that it would turn into this multi-jurisdictional, international company."

Her experience prior to joining Wynn prepared her for the job. Sinatra had been senior vice president and general counsel for Bally Entertainment in Atlantic City, involved in mergers and acquisitions, expansion into new jurisdictions and potential tribal gaming ventures. But it was also a time of turmoil in that company, as well.

"Over the course of several years at Park Place," she explains, "Arthur Goldberg died, Tom Gallagher came and left and Wally Barr was appointed new CEO. So it was a hectic ride."

But Sinatra's career is the epitome of hectic. She came into the gaming industry through the side door when the law firm where she was doing real estate law got in the middle of a dispute between Merv Griffin and Donald Trump.

"So it was kind of an accidental intro into gaming business," she laughs.

But it's a business she loves, and it goes far beyond gaming law.

"I have served in the gaming business as more than just a regulatory lawyer," she says, "so the complex nature of our corporations is incredibly attractive to me. In addition to being a gaming lawyer, I'm also a securities and real estate lawyer, and I organize all of our lobbying efforts, so I love the breadth of my portfolio."

But it's the growth of Wynn Resorts that has kept her happy and contented over the last few years.

"The growth has been exciting because we've done it with an incredibly small number of people," she says. "As a person who has only been around this company for six years or so, I'm kind of late to the party. These are a group of people who have been together for a long time and have created value in these public entities, so it's been fun and I've learned a lot."

The entry into Macau was a huge learning experience, as well.

"Chinese culture and doing business in China is different," Sinatra explains. "The political, economic and regulatory systems are different, but it is something that we all have enjoyed doing. When we took our Macau subsidiary public (in October), we became the first U.S. company to have a subsidiary traded on the Hong Kong exchange."

Like Wynn, Sinatra enjoys proving the naysayers wrong.

"Many people thought we would not be able to replicate the kind of customer experience or the kind of economic delivery that we do in the United States, but Macau has turned out to be a huge part of our company," she points out.

Next up for Wynn-following the opening of Encore Macau next year-will be planning for the company's Cotai project, something right up Sinatra's alley.

"It will be a new set of challenges," she says. "It will consist of finalizing our arrangements on the land, understanding how we're going to get it financed and built, and making arrangements with our contractors."

But other opportunities continually come over the transom, especially during the economic downturn.

"We continue to evaluate more development and M&A opportunities now. We've continued to strengthen our balance sheet and, in addition to our Macau offering, we did a bond offering earlier last year too."
-Roger Gros

Seminole Steward
Howard Dreitzer
Chief Operating Officer, Seminole Gaming

All the news about the gaming operations of the Seminole Tribe of Florida has lately centered on its state compact, and whether or not state lawmakers will ratify the deal, signed in late 1987 with Governor Charlie Crist.

What sometimes gets lost in the news, though, is that the Seminoles already are operating under what leaders feel is a valid compact-it was approved by the federal Department of the Interior, after all. Most observers feel the tribe will keep its current compact, or at least the gaming associated with it.

What has been the other side of the Seminole story-the rapid expansion of the tribe into table game operations and newly expanded Class III slot floors under the compact signed with Crist-is often overlooked. The fact is the Seminole tribe has spent the past two years in an expansion mode, with the goal of transforming its seven properties into full-blown casinos.

Properties which only a few years ago were Class II facilities offering a specialized brand of electronic bingo are now casinos that offer all of the card games one would find in Las Vegas, including blackjack and banked specialty poker games.

When the need arose to name a new chief operating officer for Seminole Gaming last summer, the tribe had to look no further than the executive who, as senior VP of table games, had already been guiding much of the expansion of gaming operations. Howard Dreitzer was in charge of table games because of an intimate knowledge of that side of the business, but he was a natural choice as the new COO much more because of his wide-ranging experience heading up gaming operations.

Before he took on the table-game position at Seminole, Dreitzer was senior VP and general manager of the Conrad Jupiters Gold Coast casino resort in Queensland, Australia. Before that, his experience in the U.S. included stints as COO of Harrah's New Orleans, executive vice president of gaming at the Showboat in Atlantic City, senior VP of casino operations at Trump Plaza and several senior management positions at Sands Atlantic City and his original property, Steve Wynn's Golden Nugget Atlantic City.

Since coming to Seminole Gaming in March 2008, Dreitzer has directed the expansion of the tribe's gaming operations into one of the powerhouses of the industry.

The first table operation was at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood resort. "(Seminole Gaming CEO) Jim Allen's philosophy was to open up with people who had experience and who had opened casinos in other markets," Dreitzer explains. "So, at least in the start-up phases, we recruited people from all over the country, and retrained them in our methods. Dealer training only took a week and we had a flawless opening. Business was tremendous, and has remained tremendous."

As 2010 begins, three of the seven Seminole casinos-in Tampa, Hollywood and Immokalee-operate a total of more than 200 table games along with Class III slots. "We're on a pause button waiting for the compact to be approved by the legislature," Dreitzer says.

Whether or not that happens, the expansion of Seminole Gaming is bound to continue. "Whatever happens, we can adapt," Dreitzer says. "We're competitors, and in the last five years, we've built up a huge clientele. I think we can compete in any market."
-Frank Legato

By Frank Legato   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

For the span of Pennsylvania's relatively brief marriage with casino gaming, there has been something of an anomaly when compared to other casino jurisdictions: The largest revenue-generator has not been a stand-alone casino, but a racetrack facility.

For three years, Philadelphia Park has been the top-grossing slot venue in Pennsylvania, raking in upwards of $28 million a month, partly because of its strategic location in Bensalem, close to not only Philadelphia but to the bridges bringing gamblers in from central New Jersey.

But the money-making ability of the comparatively small temporary racetrack slot facility gamblers were familiar with since 2006 could be dwarfed by the massive permanent casino the racetrack unveiled last month.

Parx is still technically a Category 1 slot casino-meaning a racetrack casino-but one would never know it. For one thing, unlike other Pennsylvania racinos, there is no link to racing. While the thoroughbred racetrack is next door, there is no view of the track, no equestrian theming. This could be a stand-alone casino anywhere in the country.

Greeting patrons at the porte cochere are three massive LED screens-two 49 feet wide and almost 29 feet tall, flanking a center display measuring 61 feet by 34.6 feet. The screens serve as a blaring announcement that you have arrived at a massive new casino, with 120,000 square feet of gaming inside a facility that totals 260,000 square feet.

There are 3,300 slots and 176 electronic table games including blackjack, Three Card Poker and single-zero roulette, accompanied by five food and beverage outlets in all.

All indications are that Parx has hit the ground running. A crowd numbering in the hundreds huddled in the frigid pre-dawn hours to mob the 6 a.m. opening of the doors December 18, and traffic remained steady throughout opening day. Initial patron comments were almost universally positive.  

Although its $250 million price tag is modest in casino terms, the new casino reveals remarkably high quality throughout. Designed by the Friedmutter Group, Parx features high-end details normally found at much more expensive mega-resorts.

For instance, the front lobby is accented by imported marble from Pakistan, exquisite wood finishes and sparkling chandeliers. The center of the casino is a huge, oval area ringed by elegant chandeliers (each reportedly cost $1 million by itself) to draw the eye into what eventually will be the casino's table game pit. Accenting this area and several others around the casino are huge glass artworks-clusters of glass "flames" forming unique lighting.

The same attention to detail is evident in the specialty areas around the casino. The parx grill, the property's upscale steakhouse, features a back wall made of onyx stone, accented by crystal chandeliers and more decorative art. The 360 lounge has embedded lava lights in the floor. The Jax sports bar features a sleek, futuristic design.

A VIP slot area dubbed "Xquisite" wraps a high-end design around a collection of games that includes not only three $100-denomination slots, but penny and 2-cent games as well. According to Carrie Nork Minelli, Parx director of PR and advertising, the idea was to create an "elite atmosphere" in an area that stood apart from the rest of the casino. "The environment is more important than the games themselves," she says.
    
Stand-Alone Attractions
Food, beverage and entertainment outlets at the new Parx casino are designed as attractions in and of themselves. For example, the upscale 360 lounge, a huge bar by day that transforms into a nightclub at night, is situated right next to the property's west entrance. Revelers can go to the club without ever passing a slot machine.

"This really will function as its own destination," says Minelli. "People who want to come for the nightclub element but not necessarily for gaming can come right in."

The club itself, with seating for 70 and a total capacity of 160, is a state-of-the-art facility with a 40-foot stage, a 40,000-watt sound system and three 108-inch LED TVs-and, of course, an LED lava-lit dance floor that pulsates to the beat of the music, whether it's from the custom DJ booth (house DJ Maria Laina will be assisted by occasional visits from celebrity DJs) or a variety of live dance acts, tribute bands, cover bands and dance shows.

The Jax sports bar is another stand-alone attraction-a sleek, space-age design with a video poker bar surrounded by more than 20 high-definition LED televisions showing sporting events. The bar, in one of the smoking areas (the floor is 50 percent smoking, 50 percent non-smoking), includes 30 quarter video poker machines to accompany signature cocktails, eight beers on tap and a full lineup of bottle beer selections.

The parx grill, open seven days a week for dinner, features classic steakhouse favorites along with signature menu items created by Executive Chef Matt Canning and Pastry Chef Marquessa Gesualdi. Rounding out the F&B entries is "foodies," a causal 24-hour dining spot-it seats 200 and nothing on the menu is more than $8-and Chickie & Pete's Crab House and Sports Bar, in an outlet set to open in March that will be the popular Philadelphia-based chain's largest location. According to Minelli, the new venue will feature an interactive sports bar experience called "PLAY2."

Minelli notes that Parx is designed to expand when necessary-another 30,000 square feet of floor space that is blocked off will be ready to go when Pennsylvania approves table games, expected to finally happen this month. The casino could eventually grow to include the maximum 5,000 machines.

Minelli likes to avoid the "racino" label when talking about Parx. Where properties like the Meadows south of Pittsburgh tie the theming and the facility itself inextricably to racing, she says Parx is a stand-alone casino that happens to be next to a racetrack, with everything one would find at a mainstream casino (particularly after tables go live).

Asked what patrons are going to remember most about their visit to Parx, Minelli doesn't hesitate in identifying a culture of customer service she says will rival any property in the business.

"Superior customer service is our No. 1 calling," she says.

By Caitlin McGarry   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

As the world becomes increasingly connected, casino operators are seeking ways to take advantage of new technology. Mobile gaming-the use of hand-held devices to play casino games-is quickly becoming more prevalent, with advancements in Nevada and across Europe enabling casino companies to bring gaming into the future.

In Europe, mobile gaming is tied to internet gaming, with licensed internet gaming companies providing accounts for users to remotely access games via iPods or other touch-screen, hand-held devices. In the United States, internet gambling is illegal, but in 2005, Nevada passed Assembly Bill 471, legalizing mobile gaming in connection with land-based casinos. The bill allows "the conduct of gambling games through communications devices operated solely in public areas of an establishment which holds a nonrestricted gaming license and which operates at least 100 slot machines and at least one other game by the use of communications technology that allows a person to transmit information to a computer to assist in the place of a bet or wager and corresponding information related to the display of the game, game outcomes or other similar information."

In 2009, Cantor Gaming became the first company in Nevada to successfully implement mobile gaming in select casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

Gaming on the Go
Cantor Gaming has benefited from the passage of Assembly Bill 471 in Nevada. During the four years since the state's legalization of mobile gaming, Cantor has worked to craft a system that adheres to Nevada's regulations while also broadening the gaming industry's horizons. The end result, a mobile gaming system that is currently operational at M Resort, the Venetian and the Palazzo, has been a success, says Cantor President and CEO Lee Amaitis.

According to Amaitis, mobile gaming revenue comprises approximately 75 percent of the company's business these days.

"I think the business is going to explode; it's just a matter of when, because we already see the interest of the client in it," Amaitis says. "There are regulatory hurdles that have to be met on everything that happens on the new products... But that's the way it is, and we knew that going in. We've felt that we spent a lot of time developing technology, manufacturing the devices, making it a good user experience. We're happy with the results to date, even in a down economy."

The appeal of mobile gaming is twofold: For casino operators in Nevada, mobile gaming enables guests to continue playing, even if they walk away from the casino floor. Though amenities like restaurants, pools and spas have become an integral part of a casino's success, they are also dead zones as far as gaming goes. Now, players can take the games with them. For players, hand-held devices provide the freedom to move around the casino without worrying about having cash on hand or using chips.

Amaitis says properties that offer swim-up blackjack and other means of gaming away from the casino floor have faced an interesting conundrum that mobile gaming resolves.

"Let's say I'm in my bathing suit; I'm at the pool," he says. "I'm on a pool chair. I don't have the luxury of, let's say, a cabana. Do I have my wallet with me? Probably not. Do I have my room key? Yeah, because that's how you get access to the pool. Now I need my players' card. I've got to take a marker. Do I bring cash with me and put it in? Most people don't. Let's say I buy a $1,000 marker at the pool. They give me $1,000 worth of chips. Let's say I'm now at $600. I don't want to play anymore. I can't buy my marker back because it's a $1,000 marker and I only have $600 worth of chips. To do a partial is a lot of paperwork. Most people don't have the patience to do that. Now I have to take $600 in chips with me and put them in my bathing suit. It's not really conducive.

"What does mobile gaming do? You have the device. It's brought to you by an attendant, or you check it out from an attendant. When you leave, you drop it to the attendant. Your account is credited or debited based on your play. When you want to pick up your money, you just go to the cage and pick up your money. It is far more convenient to use a mobile device."

In Europe, the impetus behind mobile gaming is different in that gaming via hand-held devices is not directly tied to land-based casinos, though casinos can work with mobile gaming companies to create promotions that will encourage players to return to their properties. Alvin5, an Istanbul-based mobile gaming company, offers its gaming applications on Apple's iPod products, which its casino clients in turn can provide as complimentary gifts to guests.

"After a couple of months of working and talking with clients, we realized that the iPod Touch is so cost-effective, and this cost-effectiveness enables operators to give this device to its customers as a gift, as part of a promotional or marketing or royalty program," says Alvin5 CTO and founder Bora Turan. "This concept created another concept, and that is when the customer takes his gift iPhone or iPod, with the games installed, and takes it home and plays outside the casino. This gives operators an opportunity to offer gaming-mainly online gaming-outside their casinos."

IGT's remote gambling subsidiary, WagerWorks, is also based in Europe, primarily in the United Kingdom. WagerWorks is able to provide its parent company's content to mobile gaming customers through iPhones and other touch-screen devices.

"Through the simple integration of our mobile system, our current online customers can now offer their players the same great titles on mobile that they currently play online and through their television," says WagerWorks General Manager Oliver Lofthouse. "IGT's group strategy is to offer great content across all platforms so that players can access the games they like, wherever and whenever they like. In the remote gaming market, game content is now available online, mobile and via interactive digital television."

Euro Vision
With online gaming licensed and regulated in Europe, gaming companies which operate on the continent are able to offer games on mobile devices in the same way American companies offer apps on the iPhone. Alvin5 is currently partnering with internet gaming company Betfair to make online gaming via iPhone or iPod advantageous for both the internet gaming sector and the application developer.

"If I have some sort of website, and if a customer registers its service, or if a customer registers Betfair from my referral or from my website, Betfair gives me 25 percent of the net winnings of this customer any time he plays," Turan says. "If land-based casino operators offer this service within their property and they enable customers to register for Betfair, they will be affiliates of Betfair. What this means is that Betfair or any sports betting operator will give some revenues to the casino. This is also something unique in the industry. This has not yet been tested, but we hope to make this concept a reality in January."

Though Alvin5's concept is not applicable to the United States as long as online gaming is illegal there, Turan says the company is working to make remote gaming for prizes or sweepstakes instead of cash a possibility for American customers.

WagerWorks General Manager Oliver Lofthouse says the European practice of offering online gaming on cell phones is simply the next step in a century where mobile devices can be all things to all people.

"Ten years ago the mobile was purely a communication device for making calls," Lofthouse says. "Now it is a camera, music player, organizer and internet device. With mobile phone technology advancing rapidly, it is only a matter of time before more gaming operators tap into the benefits of mobile gaming. WagerWorks therefore sees the evolution of mobile gaming as a positive development for casinos that will stand as a companion and indispensable extension to their current games offering."

Cantor Gaming began its mobile gaming operations in Europe with its Cantor Mobile application, which was developed to display interactive prices from the company's bookmaking business in the United Kingdom. Cantor then began offering the abiity to trade U.S. treasuries on Blackberry phones, which Amaitis says was indicative of Cantor's ability to provide secure, regulated networks.

Though Cantor is now focused on bringing mobile gaming to America, its Cantor Mobile product has been applicable to its U.S. business. The company recently introduced eDeck, a hand-held device from which Nevada players can access games within the three casinos that are Cantor's clients.

"Nevada was one of the first states to pass the internet gaming bill way back when, but never enacted it because the federal government said, 'You can't regulate that; there's no way you can do that so you cannot,'" Amaitis says. "I read that, saw that, and came with the concept to Nevada and said, 'Look, I can control the network where it never leaves Nevada.' In theory, yes, you can operate inside the state boundaries where you'll never violate a federal law. That was sort of the concept around eDeck."

Back to the Future
As mobile gaming expands its reach in gaming jurisdictions around the world, its possibilities seem endless. Cantor Gaming recently rolled out its new in-running sports betting system via hand-held devices, allowing players to place bets on sports games after an event has begun.

"You could actually do more things-propositional betting, whether a team could make a first down or not in a series of downs, and so forth," Amaitis says. "In-running allows you to trade your position, and basically do other things that are evolved, such as the propositional bets you can make to enhance your wager. As the technology and the knowledge and the people's ability to use the technology evolve, we'll actually offer more products. We have it operational at M, and we operate it for the Venetian and Palazzo. We've seen an uptick. More clients come in; more clients feel comfortable making a bet. 'I've missed the kickoff; now I'm stuck.' No, you're not stuck. Here's a bet you can make."

While Cantor is developing new ways to apply its offerings to mobile gaming, other companies are waiting to see what the future of internet gambling will be in the United States. If the U.S. decides to lift its ban on online gaming, mobile gaming could spread throughout the country.

"The future of remote gaming in the U.S market is still unknown; however, the recent interest in mobile lotteries and mobile skill gaming suggests it may be something that develops in the future once legislation changes," Lofthouse says. "WagerWorks strongly believes in regulatory compliance as one of its strategy pillars, and once the regulatory and control authorities are in place for mobile gaming, WagerWorks will look to expand into the U.S market." 

By Loretta A. Tuell   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

On the steps of the U.S. Capitol at President Barack Obama's inauguration on January 20, 2009, Reverend Joseph Lowery brought a smile to the new president with a prayerful recitation that included a phrase asking God to help America find a time "when the red man can get ahead, man." While somewhat tongue-in-cheek, the aspiration reflected a hope that impoverished Native Americans share across the country.

As 2009 comes to a close, the Obama administration can be saluted for the significant progress made this year in resolving longstanding wrongs in Indian Country. These milestones include settling the Cobell v. Salazar class-action litigation concerning trust accounting mismanagement at the Department of the Interior, facilitating over $2 billion in stimulus funds to Indian Country, and granting preliminary federal recognition of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in New York (whose petition process began in the 1970s).

Now is the time for the Obama administration to turn its attention directly to the economic needs of Indian Country and address Indian gaming with steps to foster its growth.

Simply put, Indian gaming works in generating jobs, jobs, and more jobs, along with tribal infrastructure and revenues. The Indian gaming industry has been the most successful economic enterprise in the history of Indian Country. There are more than 237 Indian tribes in 28 states engaged in gaming activities that total over $27 billion in gross annual revenues leading to $84.9 billion in output.

Tribes use their revenues to build their communities, put tribal members and local area residents to work and expand tribal government services. Economic data indicates a tribal gaming facility can create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs within a 10-mile radius of the casino.

Bad Policy
If President Obama and Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar are to be successful in jump-starting the economy for Indian Country in the midst of one of the worst recessions in history, they need to tune up this valuable economic development engine now.

One step in the right direction is to throw out a bad policy choice made during the Bush administration by eliminating the Department of the Interior's January 2008 Guidance Memorandum, and to reconsider nearly two dozen tribal projects killed under that flawed policy. Whether approved or not, these proposals deserve a fair review and prompt decision.

The genesis of the Guidance Memorandum began five years ago during the Bush administration. In 2004, the Department of the Interior was criticized for its management and regulatory approach to acquiring land in trust for the benefit of Indian tribes for the purpose of establishing gaming facilities. In the view of some state and local government officials, the department had inadequately addressed the expansion of so-called off-reservation Indian gaming.

While most Indian tribes enjoy the support of their local and adjacent communities, a few members of Congress responded to opposition concerns by introducing legislation to increase local government input; enact a moratorium on gaming-related trust land acquisitions; and, to halt the approval of tribal-state compacts.

Indian Country mobilized, and these proposals were defeated. From a tribal government perspective, however, the department has not done nearly enough to establish gaming facilities on newly acquired land or to assist landless tribes.

In late 2004, two congressional committees began to consider amendments to Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which provides exceptions to the general prohibition against acquiring land for gaming. In response, hundreds of tribal leaders descended on Washington, D.C., to dissuade their representatives from amending IGRA and to encourage administration officials to offer an alternative solution to Congress' varied proposals. One of these was a regulatory fix.

In early 2005, George Skibine, then director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Indian Gaming Management, announced that he would begin consulting with tribal leaders on draft Section 20 regulations-the implementing regulations to IGRA  (although IGRA was signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, no regulations implementing the law had ever been promulgated by the department).

Indian tribes agreed to consult with the department, in part, to quiet legislative attempts to eliminate or restrict Indian gaming on newly acquired land.

By December 2007, the department was in paralysis. It was defending multiple lawsuits alleging violations of the Administrative Procedure Act based on inaction and alleged personal bias against Indian gaming by Secretary Dirk Kempthorne; facing congressional oversight investigations concerning the backlogs of gaming and non-gaming petitions to acquire land in trust; and drowning in an unmanageable number of pending land acquisition applications upon which there was virtually no action. As a result, the enactment of the Section 20 regulations stalled without explanation.

Good Choices
It is against this backdrop that Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs Carl Artman issued Guidance on Taking Off-Reservation Land into Trust for Gaming Purposes, using a new "commutability" standard, on January 3, 2008. The next day, Artman and Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason employed this new memorandum to deny or significantly delay nearly two dozen applications to acquire off-reservation land in trust. No one outside of the department had seen the policy prior to the final decisions issued January 4, 2008. This obvious and ill-conceived scheme to appease state and local government is the department's unfortunate legacy. Regrettably, it also chilled the approval process for landless tribes seeking trust land located on their original or restored lands.

The Guidance Memorandum directs the departmental reviewer of a land acquisition application to make a finding of whether the proposed acquisition exceeds "a commutable distance from the reservation." It suggests that if a job opportunity is not within "commutable distance," tribal members will be unable to take advantage of the job opportunity or be forced to move away from the reservation. The new policy seemed to be "Keep the Red Man on the Rez, Man."

The other criterion concerns the secretary's requirement to provide greater weight to local concerns. In summary, under the Guidance Memorandum, an application to acquire land into trust beyond a reasonable commutable distance from the reservation will be denied because it is perceived to be too difficult for tribal members to work at the new casino and still participate in their community and too burdensome for a government to exercise control over its instrumentality from a distance.

This is a bad policy for President Obama and Secretary Salazar to let stand-especially when compared to an analogous situation. Take, for example, the number of congressmen who travel to Washington, D.C., every week from as far away as California, Alaska and Hawaii. No one would ever suggest that these public servants.

Some of these members return home every week to spend the weekend with their families and effectively contribute to their communities. Would anyone dare tell former Senator Barack Obama that his 700-mile commute between Chicago and Washington, D.C., each week made him unable to take advantage of the job opportunity of being a U.S. senator without moving to Washington?

No, but under the stay-at-home policy of the Guidance Memorandum, no member traveling from outside of Virginia or Maryland could fully participate in Congress and still benefit their constituencies and communities.
Likewise, it is the audacity of paternalism to suggest that a tribal government cannot efficiently participate and exercise its regulatory powers over another tribal location. This restriction falls flat when placed in another context.

The federal government has offices and bureaus across the United States. Would anyone suggest that Secretary Salazar has no ability to exercise governmental authority over the Bureau of Indian Affairs regional offices 3,000 miles away in Oregon or California? In fact, the history of the Bureau of Indian Affairs has always been about a governmental entity exercising authority over and participating with its domestic dependent tribal governmental entities in the far reaches of the country.

In the final analysis, the Guidance Memorandum does not stand for balancing the negative impacts on the reservation against the benefits of a distant gaming facility. Rather, the Guidance Memorandum is designed to keep the tribal members on the reservation. For this reason alone, it must be withdrawn, and the negatively affected Indian tribes need to have their proposals reconsidered.

As the Obama administration works to address unemployment rates of 50 percent-80 percent in Indian Country, reversal of the "commutable distance" theory is critical, but only one solution.

In 2008, it has been estimated that Indian gaming helped create over 712,000 jobs, but quoting Skibine, current acting chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, the Obama administration continues to put the "brakes on gaming" decisions. The brakes have been placed on draft and final environmental impact statements for gaming projects, restored lands opinions, numerous two-part determinations (some of which are opposed by tribes) and conceptualizing its response to the Supreme Court's decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.

While some latitude is understandable for any new administration staffing its political appointees, the patience of Indian Country and particularly landless tribes seeking gaming opportunities is wearing thin as the department formulates the Obama administration gaming policy.

Artman testified before the Congress defending the Guidance Memorandum, that the "department favors tribal economic development and has many initiatives to promote and support tribes as they address the high unemployment and poverty rates found on many reservations."  

If that is the case, where are those jobs, jobs, jobs? To date, Assistant Secretary Larry EchoHawk has stated similar goals in Indian Country, but it's time to act to create those jobs.

Will there be new gaming opportunities under the Obama administration or not?  Indian Country waits.  

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Fiore parlayed his background in art into slot design in the late 1980s, when he signed on as a junior artist with International Game Technology in Reno. At IGT, he ascended the ranks to senior designer, and was credited with developing the first slant-top slot machine. He also is credited with creating the design for the venerable Megabucks progressive slot, launched in 1986. 

After leaving IGT in 1992, Fiore founded the Idea Center in Las Vegas, which created a new printing method for slot glass-a method still used by slot manufacturers. In 1994, he joined Mikohn Gaming Corporation as a designer for that company's signs and displays. After leaving that company to form his own design firm, Richard Fiore & Associates, he joined Sierra Design Group in 1999.

At SDG, Fiore became known as one of the top designers of slot game content in the business. His achievements there were recognized by the U.S. Congressional Committee, which honored him with the 2003 Nevada Businessman of the Year Award.

After SDG was purchased by Bally, Fiore went back to his own proprietary business, spending a year in partnership with slot legend John Acres before settling back into his own business this year. His slot design firm was awarded a Nevada license in September.

By Frank Legato   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Manufacturer: WMS Gaming
Platform: CPU-NXT2
Format: Five-reel, 20-line video slot; four-screen multi-play format
Denomination: .01 through 5.00
Max Bet: 40, 80
Top Award: 800, 1,200 (times line bet)
Hit Frequency: 68%
Theoretical Hold: 4.01%-14.05% 

This is a new series of games from WMS, each using a unique game screen. There are four sets of five reels each, taking advantage of the new wide-screen format of the Bluebird2 cabinet.

The manufacturer is launching the series with two high-volatility, low-denomination base games from the G+ video series, “Silver Sword” (pictured) and “Samurai Master.”

The player wagers to activate all four game screens—they are 20-line base games, so 80 credits activate all four reel sets. The main game is larger on the screen, and though each individual reel set is different, there is one common feature: All wild symbols and bonus symbol landing on the main screen transfer to the other four screens. Pays are re-evaluated for all the smaller screens whenever a wild symbol lands on the large screen.

If three scattered bonus symbols land on any of the screens, it initiates eight free spins or 10 free spins, depending on the base game. Bonus symbols on the main screen transfer to the other three screens; any screen with three symbols as a result of the move initiates the free spins.

There are multipliers associated with the number of screens on which free spins are initiated with one triggering spin. On Silver Sword, which awards 10 free spins with three triggering symbols, free spins on one reel set pay jackpots with a 3X multiplier; if triggered on two reel sets, pays are at 6X; on three reel sets, 9X; and on all four, 12X. On Samurai Master, eight free spins are awarded at multipliers from 1X to 4X.

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

The Nevada Gaming Commission has approved a license for Australia's Ainsworth Game Technology Ltd. to supply machines in the state. Company Chairman Len Ainsworth, the gaming industry legend who founded Aristocrat in 1954, announced he will immediately open an office in Las Vegas.

The commission approved Ainsworth after the manufacturer was recommended for approval by a 2-1 vote by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The dissenting member of the board, Mark Lipparelli, had cited company chairman Ainsworth's past regulatory compliance record, which he said contained several questionable transactions between 1986 and 1993, when Aristocrat made several unsuccessful attempts to secure Nevada licensing. Aristocrat was not approved for licensing until 2000, after not only Ainsworth but all his sons had left the company. Ainsworth formed his new company after giving up his own interest in Aristocrat.

In the end, the commission did not feel the regulatory questions posed enough of a problem to deny licensing. "It is a major milestone for AGT," said Ainsworth. "It has been a long road to achieve this position, which ranks us with everyone else supplying this important market. We are confident that we will make a significant impact on the Nevada gaming scene."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

More than five years after holding a press conference to announce the most massive project to ever be built in Las Vegas, MGM Mirage officially kicked off its unveiling of CityCenter with the opening of the Vdara Tower December 1. Later that month, the upscale shopping mall Crystals opened; the Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel debuted, and finally, Aria was christened, the only casino resort that occupies the property.

Like MGM Mirage, the state of Nevada is hanging its hopes on the success of the $8.5 billion CityCenter, which could raise Las Vegas from its recession-induced doldrums. There is palpable excitement in the air as locals and tourists prepare to welcome the meta-resort, a symbol of the boom times that are now long gone.

At Vdara's opening, one of the great minds behind CityCenter, MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren, said that the resort is "not a hotel, or any element in and of itself. It is an environment."

"Some things are so great they need to be experienced, not explained," Murren said. "CityCenter is that."

The sprawling city-within-a-city is comprised of Vdara, which is a hotel and condominium tower with a spa; Mandarin Oriental, also a hotel and condominium tower; Aria, CityCenter's centerpiece, a hotel and casino; Veer Towers, two leaning condominium towers; the Crystals, the resort's enormous retail center; and the Harmon Hotel, which will open next year.

Feeling as though Las Vegas lacked a significant cultural presence, Murren worked with some of the world's most renowned architects, including Rafael Vinoly, Cesar Pelli, Normon Foster and Daniel Libeskind, to create not just a casino, but an environmentally conscious and artistically innovative world unto itself.

Works of art are central to each of the architecturally stunning buildings within CityCenter, from Vietnam War Memorial designer Maya Lin's 87-foot interpretation of the Colorado River, made of recycled silver, to sculptures and paintings from Henry Moore, Frank Stella, Claes Oldenburg and several other prominent artists. MGM Mirage also hired WET, the water feature and fountain design firm behind the Bellagio fountains and the Mirage's volcano, to design water installations at CityCenter.

"We're at the eve of opening up something that was unimaginable this year, that will have a profoundly positive impact on our cash flows, our cross-marketing opportunities for our other properties, and on visitation and revenue to all of Las Vegas," Murren said. "I believe that it couldn't happen at a better time now that we've survived the first six rounds of the fight."

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Many tribes that would like to build casinos more than "commuting distance" from their reservations are waiting anxiously for word of a change in policy from the Obama administration and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

One of the biggest projects that hangs on this possible change in policy is a $1.5 billion Indian casino combined with a redevelopment project in Richmond, California, overlooking San Francisco Bay. That casino would have 5,000 slot machines, two hotels, a convention center, a residential development and retail shopping.

Critics of changing the policy that was adopted in the last year of the Bush administration say the purpose is to get access to big metropolitan areas far from most reservations. In California, where one of the largest Indian gaming booms has happened in the last decade, all attempts to locate casinos near large cities have met with tough resistance.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) has doggedly resisted efforts to expand Indian gaming to the Bay Area-she is opposing the Richmond Casino, whose tribal partner is the landless Guidiville Band of Pomo Indians, backed by the city of Richmond. The Guidiville band does have a traditional homeland near Ukiah, but that is 100 miles from where it hopes to build-on a 413-acre former U.S. Navy fuel depot. That property, Point Molate, was recently transferred to the city by the Navy. The city is hoping to create jobs and reinvigorate its economy through the huge project.

Some of the project's loudest opponents have been silenced-critics say bought off. Recently, Contra Costa County, which had opposed the project from the start, agreed to support it in return for $12 million annually. Some environmental organizations that initially opposed the development are now negotiating with the developer to pay for preservation of some shoreline habitat.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's stance is murky. A spokesman for the governor has spoken against the project-and strongly suggested that it could threaten the constitutionality of all Indian gaming in the state. Yet the governor himself two months ago allowed the Navy to transfer 41 acres considered vital to the project to the city of Richmond when he could have stopped it.

Another tribe in the Bay area, the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, wants to build a casino more than 100 miles from their reservation, which is located near Clear Lake.

Most tribal casinos in the U.S. are on tribal land, and most are far from cities. In California, at least, that was a big selling point with voters in getting them to approve a constitutional amendment in 1999 to allow such casinos to go forward. But there are exceptions, such as Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Spokane, Washington.

But there are about a dozen tribes that want to penetrate that market even more, such as the Guidiville. Under the current policy, their prospects would be limited.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Just a week after the Obama administration announced it would delay implementation of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act regulations, House Financial Services Committee consideration of a bill
to regulate online poker ended without a vote.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts), who introduced the bill and who chaired the meeting, ended the session with the words, "We will be returning to this subject next year," ensuring that no vote would be taken at the meeting.

Frank said earlier in the lightly attended meeting, "I continue to believe that it is a great mistake for the Congress of the United States to tell adults what to do with their own money on a voluntary basis."

Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Alabama), the ranking minority member on the committee and an opponent of Frank's bill, said, "I believe that internet gambling is, has been, and will continue to be a substantial threat to our youth. It leads to addiction, bankruptcy and crime."

Not so coincidently, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve decided to delay implementation of measures called for by UIGEA.

The bill introduced by Frank, H.R. 2267, would create a framework to permit licensed operators to accept wagers from U.S. residents. The legislation gives each state the right to allow or disallow residents to gamble via the internet. A companion bill, by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Washington), the Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act (H.R. 2268), was also discussed.

The Joint Committee on Taxation projects up to $42 billion over 10 years would be generated for the U.S. Treasury if online gambling is regulated and taxed.

Experts appeared before the committee to testify for and against the bill, with proponents trying to convince the committee that prohibition of internet gaming is not only impossible, but unwise.

Harvard Professor Malcolm Sparrow released a study showing that the best way to address the risks of internet gambling is through regulation, not prohibition. The study, commissioned by Wired Safety, a leading internet safety non-profit, was released during the panel's discussions.

The Poker Players Alliance applauded the study.

"Following the decision by the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury to delay the implementation of the flawed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, the release of this study adds even more fuel to the fire that a prohibition like UIGEA won't work and that licensing and regulation, such as Chairman Frank's H.R. 2267, is the right answer," said PPA Chairman and former Senator Alfonse D'Amato. "Robust and effective licensing and regulation will not only protect poker players, children and problem gamblers, but also collect billions in tax revenue that is currently being lost. This is a win-win situation."

The Wired Safety study provides an academic view of how best to protect consumers. It cites evidence that millions of U.S. consumers currently gamble online through offshore gambling sites, outside of American oversight and thus offering no consumer protections. The study concludes that a prohibition on online gambling would only serve to continue down this misguided path and turn a blind eye to protecting American consumers, especially children and problem gamblers.

Michael Brodsky, executive chairman of Youbet.com, a provider of parimutuel horse racing content for consumers through internet and telephone platforms, testified that existing technology can be utilized to successfully regulate internet gambling.  

"Today at Youbet," said Brodsky, "we use technology that would ensure effective regulation of internet gambling. The already-existing, totally legal, online parimutuel horse-race wagering industry is a U.S.-based model of how to provide a responsible online wagering experience for adults-one that is clean, regulated and scrupulous about both collecting and paying taxes."

Opponents of legal internet gaming cited possible money laundering via online casinos that would fund terrorist activities. Bachus claimed there is potential for criminal activity through online poker by citing a letter written by Shawn Henry, assistant director of the cyber division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  

But Rep. Peter King (R-New York), the
current ranking member and former chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, said that if financial crimes within online gaming were a legitimate concern, then regulation and oversight as proposed in H.R. 2267 is the best way to mitigate that risk.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The expansion of Crown Casino's gaming tables from the current 350 to 500 has been approved in the Victoria state Parliament with unexpected bipartisan support.

When first announced last May, the opposition in Parliament threatened to fight the move, which was intended to ease the pain of a tax rate increase on the casino's 2,500 slot machines.

However, according to news source The Age, the resistance faded as far back as September, when opposition leader Ted Baillieu and gaming spokesman Michael O'Brien met with Crown's James Packer and CEO Rowen Craigie.

Helping to smooth the road was a A$10 million package for programs intended to counter problems with compulsive gambling. An additional A$1.5 million will go to advertising, A$2.1 million for compulsive gambling research and A$1.5 million for the Community Advocate on Gambling.

Twenty additional trainers will be available to educate gaming staff on the warning signs of problem gambling. So-called "harm minimization features" will be developed for automated table games at Crown and training will be given staff who work near the devices.

O'Brien said of the compulsive gambling aid, "If we can get this package, then we would be satisfied that even with the extra tables at Crown, there would not be an increase in problem gambling. In fact, we believe that there could even be a decrease in problem gambling."

Gaming Minister Tony Robinson was pleased with the outcome and the anticipated increased tax revenue that will come from Crown's slot machines.

"More closely aligning the tax paid by Crown on its pokie revenue will raise more than A$100 million over the next four years for Victorian hospitals and health services," Robinson said in a statement.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

A pair of developers has plans to build a large, mixed-use leisure project at Dundalk, Ireland, a town on the coast of the Irish Sea halfway between Dublin and Belfast.

Development plans include the future addition of an "international casino" when and if anticipated legislation allows. The government is currently studying a variety of gaming sectors, including casino gaming, which at present is tolerated only at private clubs.

The €430 million project known as "Altitude" features a year-round Snowflex ski slope as its centerpiece, and includes a 110,000-square-foot indoor concert arena, an 80,000-square-foot leisure area with a movie theater, bowling alley and other family-friendly amenities, a 40,000-square-foot indoor water park and an 80,000-square-foot retail area with a focus on specialist sports and leisure shops.

The complex is expected to draw 6.2 million visitors a year and employ about 1,200 full-time and 380 part-time workers when completed.

The developers are looking to have the initial elements open in the first half of 2011 with completion slated for 2016. Lodging at first will consist of a family hostel with 100 beds. Hotel lodging will follow at later stages of the project.

The Dundalk Democrat identifies the two men behind the project as Pearse O'Hanrahan and Sam Curran, directors of the company Innovative Leisure Systems.

O'Hanrahan is a former chairman of the Dundalk town council and currently heads the Dundalk Port. A director of electricity and natural gas supplier Bord Gáis Éireann since 2002, he chairs the firm's investment and infrastructure committee.

Curran has a background of property development all over Ireland and was centrally involved in the Dundalk Ice Dome, Ireland's only indoor, permanent, Olympic-size ice rink, completed in 2006.

By Roger Gros   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Las Vegas Sands Corp. last month announced that it will open the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore in phases starting in April. When the two casinos were first announced, the Singapore government had resisted suggestions that either casino-the other casino is Resorts World at Sentosa, operated by a subsidiary of Genting BHD-would be permitted to open in phases. But as the complicated (and expensive) construction on each property moved on, the government backed down.

Ron Reese, a spokesman for Las Vegas Sands, said the casino, some of the retail operations and some of the meeting and convention space will be ready to debut at some time toward the end of March. Reese also said about 800 of the 2,700 hotel rooms will be ready for occupancy at that time.

The triple 55-story-tower complex is topped off by a seven-acre "sky park" that spans the towers. The complex construction on a one-of-a-kind building set the schedule back, said Reese, who predicts the sky park, as well as the remaining rooms, retail and exhibition space, will be ready by the end of 2010.

Resorts World also is scheduling a phased opening, slated to begin this month. 

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

The California Nations Indian Gaming Association last month announced the election of Daniel J. Tucker to the post of chairman and Steve Stallings to the position of treasurer for the organization, which is the largest association of tribal gaming representatives in California.   

Tucker is back in familiar territory, having served as chairman of CNIGA from 1995 to 2001. Tucker is also the chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation.

"I am honored to again serve as the chairman of CNIGA," Tucker said. "I look forward to working with all tribes in California to help safeguard the sovereign right of tribes to conduct gaming on our lands."

Stallings, a member of the Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, is also the senior vice president and director of Wells Fargo's Native American Banking Services.

"I am honored to have been elected the CNIGA treasurer," Stallings said. "I intend to use my experience in the financial services sector to help strengthen the organization."

Tucker and Stallings were both elected for two-year terms.

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Manufacturer: International Game Technology
Platform: AVP
Format: Three-reel, single-line video slot
Denomination: .25, 1.00
Max Bet: 3
Top Award: Progressive; Resets: NV: $1 million, $200,000; Native American: $300,000; $100,000
Hit Frequency: Approximately 50%
Theoretical Hold: 6.4%-13%

This game, the first entry in IGT's "Center Stage Series," is most noted for its common community-play screen. In its grander version, five machines are lined up in front of a 103-inch LCD monitor (the MJ 103, if you're ordering). That monitor is flanked by two 40-inch "portrait LCD" screens. It is enormous. IGT designed it so players across the room will be drawn into the game-show bonus feature.

The "smaller" version uses the MJ 70-a 70-inch monitor, flanked by two 32-inch screens. Both sizes of banks use IGT's new "Mega FX" surround-sound chairs to complete the experience with immersive sound.

The base games are classic three-reel, three-credit single-line IGT titles including Red, White & Blue and Safari 7s, in a reel-spinning format, although they are video. The game uses MLD, or multi-level display technology that employs two overlapping video screens to create a 3D simulation of reels. The denominations are quarters and dollars for the community-play banks. (Stand-alone versions are available with operator-selectable denominations.)

The common bonus round is a group-play experience-the reels disappear on the main game screens, and the bonus game board appears in its place matching the display on the giant bonus screen.

Three players on the bank are chosen at random 10-12 times an hour for the big bonus game. It is the first game in the Wheel of Fortune series to replicate the "hangman" puzzle-solving game that is a main feature of the TV game show. Players are presented with a collection of letters, and each player selects a letter to try to solve a puzzle. A multiplier is awarded for each letter placement-if there are three "Ls" in the puzzle, the player's multiplier rises three times. Some letters are "bonus letters," giving the player another pick before the bonus moves to the next player on the bank.

After the puzzle is solved, the iconic bonus wheel appears on the big screen and spins, landing on the amount that serves as everyone's bonus. Each multiplier is then applied.

This is the first of at least three Center Stage games to be released this year. Next up: "American Idol."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

The first Chinese-themed slot machine series produced by Taiwanese manufacturer Jumbo Technology debuted at MGM Grand Macau last month, where players had first-time experience of the new slots in several story themes including Flirting Scholar Tang, MahJong, Wukong, Qin Empire and New Year.

Peter Johns, director of slot operations of MGM Grand Macau; Simon Liu, vice president of business development of Jumbo Technology Co., Ltd.; and Herman Ng, managing director of Asia Pioneer Entertainment, jointly unveiled the new slot machines exclusively at MGM Grand.

Established in 2000, Jumbo Technology specializes in designing, developing and manufacturing professional casino gaming products, and also distributes advanced gaming devices throughout Asia markets. Jumbo’s product line includes video slots, bingo, sic-bo, roulette, baccarat and Jumbo Club management systems.

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

The Nevada Gaming Control Board recently confirmed what gaming industry insiders have known for quite some time: Harrah's Entertainment intends to buy Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. The gaming giant filed an application with regulators on November 25.

In an internal email to employees, Harrah's CEO Gary Loveman said he would like to add Planet Hollywood to the company's stable of successful properties on the central Strip.

"The Planet Hollywood resort is currently in default to its lenders," Loveman wrote. "As a result of our purchase of their debt, we are working on a plan that also would allow Harrah's to own and manage the property. This is an attractive proposition because of Planet Hollywood's proximity to our other resorts on the Strip. It's a high-quality product offering and a strong brand name. This move is the latest example of our strategy to make purchases or acquisitions capitalizing on opportunities created by current economic conditions."

Planet Hollywood defaulted on $870 million in debt obligations, after which Harrah's purchased $140 million of the property's debt.

The control board plans to investigate the proposal and submit a report to the Nevada Gaming Commission, which must then decide whether to approve the purchase.

By Roger Gros   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The casino industry, and tribal gaming interests in particular, are watching to see how the Mashantucket Pequot tribe, owner of the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, handles a $2 billion debt load.

"Foxwoods is going to set the precedent," said Greg Guedel of the Native American Legal Services Group. "It's such a significant business enterprise that it is probably going to become a model, good or bad, for whatever happens subsequently."

Despite plummeting revenues, mounting debt and a default rating from Standard & Poor's, the tribe "isn't as desperate" as a private business owner would be in similar circumstances, according to the Hartford Courant. As a sovereign nation, it cannot be forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which means creditors have limited ability to compel payment.

But this is uncharted territory, and sovereign status also may mean the tribe can't use bankruptcy protection as a way to restructure its $2 billion in debt. Even so, in an interview with the newspaper, a source close to the tribe said bankruptcy is not totally out of the question, even though the tribe prefers to continue negotiating directly with debt holders.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The newest division of Harrah's Entertainment, Harrah's Interactive Entertainment, launched its first casino last month with the soft opening of Caesars Casino Online (www.caesarscasino.com). No press releases were issued or hoopla raised, but the debut is notable as the first online casino operated by an American casino company since MGM Mirage withdrew from the space several years ago.

The website is European-facing, with American (and German) gamblers prohibited because of laws banning internet gambling in those countries. American gamblers see a welcome screen and are quickly transferred to the land-based Caesars website.

Caesars Casino Online is powered by Dragonfish software. All casino games are offered, including roulette, craps, Caribbean Poker, Three Card Poker, video poker, video slots and blackjack.

While players can earn comp points, it is unclear at this time whether those points can also be used at Harrah's land-based properties.

The launch is the first effort led by former PartyGaming head Mitch Garber, who joined Harrah's earlier this year, and now has oversight of not only the online space but also the renowned World Series of Poker, now that the former commissioner, Jeffrey Pollock, has resigned.

By   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Spring 2010 will see Hard Rock Hotel & Casino put its brand on the existing Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana will have the largest casino in the Dominican Republic. Its 45,000 square feet of gaming space will feature 40 tables, 457 slots, a race and sports book, a VIP lounge and a high-limit poker room.

The 1,790-room resort will feature Hard Rock's signature Rock Star suites and luxury rooms with double Jacuzzis and double showers. The hotel will be non-smoking in all areas of the resort except the casino floor.

The resort will still be owned and managed by Palace Resorts, which besides Moon Palace operates 11 all-inclusive luxury resorts in Mexico. The two companies have entered into a 20-year conditional and renewable licensing agreement that brands the property with the Hard Rock name.

This will be Hard Rock International's first experience with an all-inclusive, all-ages resort. Aside from the general public areas, the resort will provide special areas for children, families and adults.

Hard Rock will open one of its signature restaurants in Punta Cana, but it will not be part of the resort and not part of the all-inclusive arrangement. The resort will have 11 restaurants and 12 bars that are included in the one price.

The transition from Moon Palace to Hard Rock will not require the resort to close, according to the Moon Palace website. No major construction is planned for the phased changeover.

The property will add Hard Rock branding that includes objects from the group's considerable collection of signature rock memorabilia from international and local artists.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The leader of Norway's Liberal Party, Lars Sponheim, has been named chairman of state-owned gaming operator Norsk Tipping. Sponheim has said he will step down as party leader at the Liberal convention this year.

The Liberal Party supports a review of Norway's gaming legislation, including Norsk Tipping's monopoly-operator status.

Sponheim has been a member of parliament since 1993 and the leader of his party since 1996. A graduate of Norway's Agricultural University, Sponheim served as minister of agriculture from 2001 to 2005 and as minister of trade and industry from 1997 to 2000.

Minister of Culture Anniken Huitfeldt made the appointment.

Sponheim replaces Sigbjørn Johnsen, finance minister, as chairman of Norsk Tipping.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Kazuo Okada, chairman of Universal Entertainment and Aruze America, last month criticized the Japanese government for not moving forward with gaming legalization to help the country recover from the recession.

"In Japan, politicians are very weak in showing the will to do something," said Okada. "If a politician who displayed such a will were to emerge, the legislation would likely be passed at once."

Okada was hoping that new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama would be that politician.             

Hatoyama's Democratic Party took over the government from the Liberal Democratic Party earlier this year. But Hatoyama's party hasn't taken up the issue, despite falling tax revenue and rising unemployment in Japan.

Okada is preparing to open a casino in Manila's Entertainment City. The Philippine government has backed off its demand to open a $1 billion resort, and will permit Okada to open with a less-expensive property. But Okada wants the government to waive a 40 percent limit on foreign ownership of companies.

"If approvals are made officially, we are ready to begin construction quickly," he said. 

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Luke Davis, formerly communications manager at TCS John Huxley, has been appointed head of marketing at the U.K.-based supplier and distributor.

Davis will be responsible for building integrated marketing platforms for TCS John Huxley. He will oversee brand and customer marketing, product communications, advertising, media and digital.

Based at the company's London headquarters, Davis will report to Tristan Sjöberg, corporate development director.

"Luke has flourished at TCS John Huxley and is committed to our prestigious brand and market-leading products," Sjöberg says. "He is a dedicated member of our commercial team and will continue to provide that crucial link between our wealth of industry expertise and our customers across all international gaming jurisdictions."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Slot manufacturer Aristocrat Technologies has launched two new game titles in conjunction with video game-maker Sega Corporation, as part of a co-development agreement between the companies. The new games incorporate characters from the classic Sega games "Bonanza Brothers" and "Golden Axe."

The games were launched at the recent Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

"In late August, we announced that we would be developing content in more innovative ways, including through third-party collaboration," said Paul Kitchin, Aristocrat's chief marketing officer. "Our relationship with Sega is an early example of this approach, and we are very excited about its potential.

"We have been working closely with Sega on these two games. Sega has designed the graphics as an extension of their classic titles, and our game studios have provided artistic direction and the core mathematical game design. Bonanza Brothers and Golden Axe use a range of characters from the original Sega video arcade games, providing strong nostalgic appeal. We look forward to engaging customers around these games' exciting features."

Yasuhiro Nishiyama, Sega's chief game producer, added, "We are excited to release two of our most popular titles to the gaming market in cooperation with Aristocrat. We hope that this will be the first of many opportunities for us to demonstrate our creativity in the gaming market."

Meanwhile, Aristocrat also used G2E to launch the result of a licensing agreement with Churchill Downs to create the world's first Kentucky Derby-themed slot machine. Called "Run for the Roses," the slot is a reel-spinner in the RFX Stepper series with a video horse-race bonus game.

"We are thrilled to be the first company in the gaming industry to license the iconic Kentucky Derby brand," said Aristocrat Technologies President Nick Khin. "This has been a collaborative development effort with both our U.S. and Australian R&D teams working on creating an exciting game and product concept around this worldwide recognized brand."

"The Kentucky Derby is one of the few sporting events in the world that appeals to millions of people from every walk of life," added Casey Cook, Churchill Downs VP of brand development and marketing. "This thrilling new partnership with Aristocrat Technologies is a unique and exciting platform to extend the Derby brand and communicate our modern-day relevance to a broader, entertainment-seeking audience with similar interests to those of our sport's core and casual customers."

The games will be available for sale in the first and second quarters of 2010, subject to regulatory approval. Aristocrat officials say the goal is to launch Run for the Roses before this year's Kentucky Derby on May 1.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Macau's 34th casino, and the 21st owned by SJM, opened in December. Oceanus, a stand-alone casino, has what can be arguably called the best location in the city. Travelers to Macau who arrive by ferry will find the Oceanus directly across from the main ferry terminal where thousands of people enter the Special Administrative Region each day.

The building, a former shopping center, was redesigned to resemble the "Cube" at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the site of the swimming and diving events. Designed by casino architect Paul Steelman, the outer walls consist of irregular shapes, making it look like enormous bubbles. The property holds over 32,000 square meters (344,000 square feet) of gaming space over three floors, with more than 260 table games and over 560 slot machines. The property will employ 2,400 people.

SJM CEO Ambrose So said this will be the first casino within easy reach of the ferry terminal and that it will provide "another anchor to our business on the Macau peninsula, the principal gaming and entertainment area of Macau."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Slot manufacturer International Game Technology has named Robert Melendres chief legal officer and corporate secretary, and Craig Billings chief of staff and head of corporate development.

Melendres and Billings previously held positions at IGT as chief of staff and vice president of corporate finance and investor relations, respectively. Melendres' corporate secretary appointment is subject to regulatory approval.

Melendres joined IGT as chief of staff in June 2009. His experience focuses on the legal, strategic and corporate development pillars of numerous companies. He has served as executive vice president, chief legal officer, secretary and business development director at Spansion, Inc.; corporate vice president, corporate development, strategic alliances and legal affairs at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.; president and general counsel of Webgain, Inc.; and legal counsel and director of worldwide contracts and business practices at IBM.

Billings joined IGT in March 2009 as vice president of corporate finance and investor relations. He previously was with Goldman Sachs and last served as a vice president in the investment banking division in London covering the gaming and leisure industries. Prior to that, he worked for Goldman Sachs in New York and in Deloitte's audit and assurance division. 

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

JCM Global, a world leader in currency validation systems, and United Coin Machine Company, a leading route operator in Nevada, have entered into an exclusive purchasing agreement. Under the agreement, United Coin will exclusively provide JCM bill validator equipment in its products and specify JCM validation equipment on all orders for gaming devices placed with manufacturers.

United Coin currently serves more than 600 customers across Nevada, including bars, casinos and convenience, drug and grocery stores.

"We are thrilled to be working with United Coin. Like JCM, United Coin has proven themselves as leaders in their field and have created innovative solutions for their customers," said Mark Henderson, JCM vice president of global sales.

United Coin VP of Operations Scott Ferguson added, "We have many choices in bill validator equipment, and we chose to work exclusively with JCM because we believe their products and service are superior. We are confident our customers will be pleased with our choice."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Penn National Gaming Inc. plans to open what could be Ohio's first casino in Toledo by the end of 2012, the company's president and CEO Timothy J. Wilmott said last month. The company also plans to build a similar casino in Columbus.

The Toledo casino will be built on 44 acres, a reclaimed industrial site, near the Maumee River, that will need to be re-zoned for commercial use.

According to Wilmott, quoted by the Toledo Blade, the company will break ground by the end of next year, and take 18 months to build. This will create up to 2,000 temporary construction jobs. When completed it will offer 2,000 slot machines at start, but eventually expand to 5,000. It will also have up to 100 table games. Five dining outlets will serve it. The complex will employ about 1,500 workers, the great majority of them hired locally.

The casino will appeal to a market that reaches out 60 miles in any direction.

Issue 3, approved by the voters in November, has also authorized two other casinos. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will build them in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Many of Cleveland's most influential citizens are pushing to be the first to open. The city government has created a team to work on ways that would allow the city to be the first to get started and the first to finish.

Gilbert says he wants to break ground next November and open the Cleveland casino sometime in 2011.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The St. Regis Mohawk tribe of New York, which voted on November 21 not to pursue an off-reservation casino in the Catskills, overturned that vote on November 30.  

The initial referendum, which resulted in a 178-140 vote against casino development, was nullified when a tribal member filed an appeal with the tribe's Election Board, challenging the length of time the referendum notice was posted before the vote was taken. Investigators learned that council members were one day short of the required 30-day public posting set down in election law.

Another vote will be taken in January or February, a tribal spokeswoman said.

The Mohawks had planned to partner with Empire Resorts to develop a $500 million casino next to the Monticello Casino & Raceway. In January, the tribe entered into a partnership with Kien Huat Realty of Malaysia, which offered start-up money to other gaming resorts on the East Coast.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Latin America has been one of the more active markets for new gaming development in recent years. With the recent expansion in Chile now almost complete, some operators are turning their attention to Uruguay and other live jurisdictions, while still others are hoping legislation finally opens up the likes of Brazil and Mexico.

Grupo Orenes of Spain is one of the new players in Uruguay. The operator of seven casinos plus bingo, slot parlors, sports betting and hotels in its home market, Grupo Orenes has submitted bids on four projects in Uruguay, reports Latin news source Web del Juego. The model offered by the Uruguayan legislation calls for developers to build and furnish a casino and hotel, and then lease the casino operation to the government.

Egasa, also of Spain, has completed one casino project in Chile, at Copiapo, and is working on another at Arica. Now the company is looking to expand into Colombia, Peru and Panama, with the goal to have 10 casinos in Latin America by the end of 2012.

Latin American developers who have completed or near-completed projects in Chile are also turning their attention to nearby jurisdictions.

Fischer Group, which is involved in five Chilean properties, is already active in Peru, where it operates some 1,000 slot machines and is looking to grow, reports La Tercera. Ivisa, of Argentina, is also interested in a new casino in Peru and another at home.

Now all eyes are on Brazil, which is attempting to legalize bingo before the end of the year.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The latest casino in the Grosvenor chain to go "G" is the company's property in Sheffield, in the English Midlands.

The existing Grosvenor Casino closed in the first week of December and reopened the following week as a G Casino in an adjacent building, according to the Sheffield Telegraph. The move is costing £4.5 million.

The G brand is parent Rank Group's product designed to appeal to a more entertainment/evening-out-oriented category of client. The new casino will be open round the clock and include a sports bar and stage for live entertainment, a late-night bar with snacks and a 62-seat gourmet restaurant.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Lawmakers in Bulgaria have decided to tax all gaming at the rate of 15 percent. Parliament there opted for the higher of two proposed rates, the other being 12 percent.

Previously, gaming was taxed at 10 percent of gross revenue, with sports betting operator Eurofootball taxed that same rate on turnover.

Quarterly fees for each slot machine and table game are also going up. The slot fee will go from BGN 300-about $220-to BGN 500, with gaming table fees increasing from their current BGN 18,000 to BGN 22,000.

One week earlier, the budget commission of the Bulgarian National Assembly rejected the 15 percent tax proposal in favor of a 12 percent rate. But on November 25, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov instructed members of his ruling GERB party to vote to increase the tax on gaming instead of on alcohol, which plan also had been considered.

The increases take effect January 1. 

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

State-controlled Grand Korea Leisure is expecting to benefit from an anticipated 20 percent increase in visitors to South Korea in 2010. If accurate, that would mean 120 million visitors next year.

According to a Bloomberg report, among the factors feeding into the positive forecast is a potential visa waiver between China and South Korea. Additionally, the increased strength of the Japanese yen in relation to the South Korean won is expected to make the nation attractive to Japanese tourists and businessmen. A third factor cited is medical tourism in South Korea-people visiting the country for the purpose of medical treatment-which is expected to grow by 40 percent next year, to 70,000 visitors.

South Korea has a total of 16 casinos exclusively for foreign players. Only one casino, owned by Kangwon Land, permits locals.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

The head of SJM, Stanley Ho, is recovering from injuries suffered nearly four months ago and subsequent surgeries, according to his son Lawrence, chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment.

"Hopefully, some time soon he can come out of the hospital," Lawrence Ho told Bloomberg TV. "It's been a few months since his accident. He had two pretty big surgeries." Ho didn't specify what the surgeries were.

Investors in Ho's SJM are nervously awaiting his return, since he did not specify a successor.

"It's quite abnormal for Dr. Ho to stay behind the scenes for such a long time," Steven Leung, a stock analyst in Hong Kong, said.

No member of the Ho family will confirm reports that he had fallen and been admitted to the hospital for brain surgery. But spokeswoman Janet Wong denied in an email statement last August that Ho had suffered a stroke. 

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Electronic Game Card, Inc., which manufactures mobile gaming devices and promotional cards that include interactive video games, announced that it has signed a license with slot manufacturer Bally Technologies to use content from the Bally game library in EGC products.

Under the three-year, worldwide licensing agreement, Bally will license EGC its entire library, with the exception of third-party intellectual property, which may be negotiated separately. EGC will offer Bally games on its Electronic GameCards, which are used both as gambling and lottery devices and non-gaming, promotional devices.

Bally will receive an initial license fee and licensing royalty percentage on products sold over the term of the agreement utilizing Bally property and trademarks. The marketing start date of the agreement has been set for January 31.

"As the oldest slot manufacturer in the world, we continue to push ahead into new geography and transformative technology, always with the emphasis on solid and dependable product performance," said Gavin Isaacs, chief operating officer of Bally. "EGC has developed a next-generation game card that meets the high standards we set for ourselves, and it is emerging as a company that is offering a dynamic product portfolio. We look forward to extending the reach of our brands even further through their growing network."

"This strategic licensing agreement between EGC and Bally expands our game library well beyond the immediate goal we set earlier this year," added Kevin Donovan, interim joint chairman and CEO of EGC. "Not only does Bally have an extensive game library of some of the most valued games in the world, but it also has one of the largest dedicated R&D and sales teams in the industry, worldwide, that continue to develop and market the next exciting games for players to enjoy."

Alfastreet Selects Innocore Technology provider Innocore Gaming announced that Slovenian manufacturer Alfastreet Gaming Instruments will use the popular Innocore DPX-E105 platform in its new series of electronic multi-player table games.

"We are very pleased with this latest win, which represents another great reference for some of our key selling points: reliability, know-how of the gaming industry and a proactive approach to customer service," said Koen Stomph, sales director for Innocore. "The DPX-E105 offers Alfastreet a reliable fan-less solution, backed by a five-year availability guarantee, including a comprehensive range of gaming I/O  and security, all at a very attractive price. We are really looking forward to working with such a key player as Alfastreet and we are fully ready and committed to build a successful partnership over the coming years."

Boštjan Guštin, chief development officer of Alfastreet, added, "We have looked at various solutions in the market but found Innocore's offering by far to be the most attractive when looking at price/performance ratio. The complete system offering from Innocore represents a compelling example of 'total lower cost of ownership' to Alfastreet, providing us with a significant saving. Innocore's excellent reputation gives us a feeling of security and confidence that is absolutely necessary when entering a cooperative deal of this importance."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Casino City Press has released the new edition of its flagship directory of gaming businesses. The Winter 2010 edition of Casino City's Gaming Business Directory includes nearly 600 pages of the most current information on more than 4,500 gaming properties worldwide, plus 700 corporate and Native American property owners.

Expanded profiles with contact information for 20,000 gaming executives, including names and titles across 40 departments, are provided for 1,800 properties in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

Thousands of updates, including changes in gaming industry property and owner contacts, have been made by Casino City's research team since the last edition.

The directory is a significant time-saver for anyone doing business in the gaming industry. Suppliers use it for quick access to the names and titles of the casino executives they need to contact, and casino executives use it for competitive analysis and to identify key players in every jurisdiction worldwide.

In addition to property location and contact information, number of table games, gaming machines, hotel rooms, square footage, entertainment venues and attractions, and names and types of facilities for bars and restaurants, the directory includes cross-reference lists of planned properties, Class II and Class III tribal gaming facilities, tracks, cruise ships and more, plus top casinos ranked by number of gaming positions, slots, table games and hotel rooms.

The information in the directory is available in print, on CD, and through the web at GamingDirectory.com.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

President Lech Kaczynski has signed the bill passed by the Polish parliament that restricts casinos and will eventually eliminate all gaming machines from non-casino premises.

However, Agence France Press reports, Kaczynski has asked the country's constitutional court to examine the law for constitutionality.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk wanted the law to increase taxation of the casino sector and to combat what he sees as highly addictive forms of gambling affecting those under the age of 18.

The law also limits casino licenses to a duration of six years, and sets a ceiling of one casino per district with a population of up to 650,000. Casinos will be allowed to operate only 70 individual gaming tables and machines.

New measures that will affect the online gaming sector are also expected soon.

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Thermal printing supplier TransAct Technologies Inc. announced that the company has signed a new exclusive agreement with GTECH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lottomatica Group, to provide the lottery giant with its next-generation thermal lottery printers.

The agreement provides that GTECH exclusively purchase all of its requirements for thermal on-line lottery printers from TransAct and that TransAct agrees to exclusively sell such printers to GTECH. The exclusivity will run for four years from the start of production of the new printer, which should commence in the fall.

"We have enjoyed a great relationship with GTECH over the past 15 years and we are very pleased to be extending that relationship," said Bart C. Shuldman, chairman, president and CEO of TransAct Technologies. "We believe this is our best design yet for the demanding worldwide lottery market, which incorporates many new technologies and features, and are pleased we will be providing it to GTECH, the industry leader."

By GGB Staff   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Table game supplier TCS John Huxley launched a new table game in late November. "Lunar Poker" is a specialty poker game played against the house. Players try to build their strongest hand against the dealer, with single or multiple winning-hand combinations.

TCS John Huxley calls the game "unpredictable and exhilarating." According to a company statement, each hand has over 250 billion possible combinations and outcomes, making every game different.

Dealt as a progressive or stand-alone game, Lunar Poker has been tailored to fully integrate with TCS John Huxley's DEQ G3 Bonusing, Jackpot and Loyalty System.

G3 comprises dealer handset, player Personal Bet Manager and high quality table display, presenting personalized multimedia campaigns.

By Jeffrey Lowenhar   Thu, Dec 24, 2009

Each December, I review all of the assignments completed by my company, Gaming Research, Inc., for casino-related clients. The assignments usually cover the full range of business concerns from patron loyalty to marketplace satisfaction to competitive analysis to marketing program effectiveness, and so on.

That being said, a careful screening of all of these efforts year in, year out raises the following question: Why is it that whether the assignment was for a local or regional or major tourist-driven entity, hardly any were driven as part of the company's overall strategic and tactical operating plan?

The reality in January 2010 is little different than January 1990-marketing research for many casino organizations is not very high on the strategic-tactical mission list.

The question is: Why?

There is no single answer here. I believe there are a number of reasons that interact and dominate, resulting in a series of less-than-optimal decisions. To use a loaded term, there is "organizational paralysis" on the subject of market research. Yes, there are organization exceptions within the industry, where the continued application of marketing science is indeed a strategic corporate mission. That being said, however, for most small to medium to even large-scale casino organizations, a research focus and commitment is often an afterthought.

To one extent or another, all of these reasons apply:

• First and foremost-for most casino organizations-even with those few who have identified a CMO (chief marketing officer), the official marketing research function more often than not remains at the senior director or director-manager level, a rarity at the vice president level.
    
• Secondly, for the vast majority of casino organizations without a CMO, the marketing research position is not at a significant organizational level; it is usually one of many responsibilities of the VP, and the research position is most often at the manager level.

Before adding to the list, the first two comments remind me that on a number of occasions and continuing today I have been personally asked by the most senior marketing officer at both single- and multiple-property organizations to write (yes, write) the strategic and tactical marketing research plan to support the overall company's business plan!

Another point to consider is that without a "marketing research champion" in the company's higher echelon (the EVP-GM or the COO or CEO, for example) then an active marketing research program will not take place. In my annual review less than one in five casino organizations that I am reasonably familiar with have that senior management champion.
    
• A more insidious reason why the marketing research function-if it exists at all-is where it is, is that a serious effort at research just may modify, change, stall or even call for a do-over on a number of business initiatives existing at the property or properties today. This in a sense is a bit tragic, because if the senior management team is doing a solid job, research findings on a variety of continuing marketplace business subjects should mostly support the business decisions of the organization's senior team.

An effective marketing research program is not a hammer to say, "So and so did this or that wrong," but a way of continuing to monitor, review, analyze and support important patron-based to employee-based subjects which impact overall business performance.
    
• It also needs to be pointed out that there is often a less insidious reason why the marketing research function is so low on the casino organization's food chain. It is simply "inertia," the all-too-often human desire not to change, not to rock the boat-that if we investigate further this may alter our strategy, our tactics, so let's not do that. So you continue to do what you always do, and assume it is mostly working.

The Knowledge Base
Do I believe nothing gets done without research, research, research? No, no, no, I don't believe that at all. As someone who has held very senior management positions in casino organizations as well as advised senior casino executives on a number of significant business transactions, I know that day-in, day-out decisions using both the art and science of business work best.

But, it only works best in organizations where there is a "knowledge" base-the continued adopting of relevant research and related empirical findings to the organization's mission-using all of the "tools" available that support or can modify or change the business direction.

Casino organizations should not only update floor technology (suppliers help to advance this area all the time); they should continually update their knowledge IQ by investing in a marketing research function that meets the demands of a competitive marketplace.

A Final Story
We recently completed a major research assignment for a large casino organization-and before sharing results with the client I conducted a small-scale experiment. For the nine senior members of the management team, I asked what the marketplace range of answers would be on six key subjects:
    
• On four of six subjects, management responses ranged between 40 percent and 60 percent (high to low) around a consensus answer.
    
• And on two of the six areas investigated, the management team predictions revealed a variability of more than 100 percent from low to high.

Enough said. Sharing the research results did help enliven the management discussion.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Financial catastrophe has been averted and the recession has apparently ended, though there's still a big question mark hanging over the Las Vegas Strip thanks to all the high-end capacity coming online from CityCenter through to Cosmopolitan and Fontainebleau.

But the picture is clearing enough to give us an idea of how the landscape will look as we come out the other side.

What we'll see in the remains of the euphoric building boom is new ownership, far less debt, lower valuations, much more modest growth plans, and an emphasis on operating rather than building.

It is a less exciting world than the one dotted with construction cranes and nearly limitless dreams of multibillion-dollar meta-resorts. But it is one grounded in economic reality, and one in which casinos can be run profitably.

Much of this new world is being formed in bankruptcy court, in a process where investors and lenders take their lumps but new owners have the opportunity to succeed.

The process is already well along. Tropicana Las Vegas may not be a glamour gal like its neighbors, but it is now debt-free, meaning prudent operators can make a profit.

And the Trop's $125 million budget for a phase-one renovation makes a lot more financial sense than spending billions on a new resort.

Fontainebleau (below) has yet to emerge from bankruptcy, but it apparently will with around a $150 million purchase price and $1.5 billion dedicated to complete construction-manageable numbers, assuming always-prudent Penn National's estimate that it can generate $225 million a year in EIBTDA proves correct.

Resorts in Atlantic City is now owned by its lenders debt-free. That makes for likely profitability, even for the smallest casino in a distressed market during a recession.

Planet Hollywood, not in bankruptcy but in default, apparently will be taken over by Harrah's at the bargain price of buying its debt.

The Stratosphere and its three sister properties operated by American Gaming and Entertainment likewise now can make their nut.

And so it has gone and is going with others such as Herbst, Greektown and Trump.

Eventually, all the troubled properties will be in new hands. Meanwhile, management contracts have become the mantra for casino companies and entrepreneurs. The casinos owned by lenders have to be run by somebody, so why not angle for a management contract, thus getting paid while someone else takes the risk?

So far, this restructuring of the casino industry is creating few opportunities for public investors. The companies are being taken over by private entities with no debt or private financing.

Ultimately, that will change. Banks don't want to be in the casino business, and private owners always have an exit strategy. Eventually, they will sell out, in many cases to the public. In other instances, public markets will be tapped for debt to finance buyouts or for property expansions and growth.

Of course, the United States is no longer the gaming or investing world. Wynn and Las Vegas Sands have made that clear by raising billions of dollars selling stakes in their Macau operations on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

And ambitious international companies ranging from Genting to Aruze are expanding globally, including in North America.

These are publicly traded companies in markets that are much more liquid and willing to take risks than in the U.S., where many financial institutions are still more worried about protecting balance sheets than about growth.

And there is still at least one big risk-taker among casino companies, as Sheldon Adelson forges ahead at Las Vegas Sands with grand, multibillion-dollar developments in Macau and Singapore and is on the hunt for more.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of theories being thrown around about the future. Among them are that consumer psyche has been permanently wounded and spending will not return to pre-recession levels. Another is that major new projects will not be built either because of overcapacity or overly cautious lenders.

We tend to think those theories are exaggerated. Many consumers will cut back spending, or can't spend as much because their assets have been wiped out.

But recoveries do happen, memories of bad times dim, new consumers without scarred memories replace older ones, youthful ambition and exuberance are part of human nature, and people will always seek out entertainment.

In short, consumers will come back, though it may take a while and maybe not to the carefree levels of pre-2008.

As for building, it might be limited in Las Vegas, but not in the new jurisdictions popping up around the United States and around the world. Those projects will have to be financed, and some of them will be of the multibillion-dollar variety. And that will require investors, public and private.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Product: iVIZION
Manufacturer: JCM Global

At G2E 2009, JCM Global launched "iVIZION," which it calls the "foundation of intelligent validation," a bill validator that "sees better, thinks smarter and runs faster than any bill validator in the industry."

iVIZION's validation and denomination process is powered by Contact Image Sensing Technology, which scans 43 times more raw data points and captures the full image of a note or a ticket. iVIZION optically centers notes, and sees threading (or "fishing") attempts better than any former validator, and
"literally tears threads to shreds, further enhancing security," according to the company.

JCM says iVIZION runs faster than any other validator in gaming. Because its optical sensor is so powerful and because it has a processor solely dedicated to algorithm evaluation, iVIZION has a 99 percent acceptance rate and the fastest note-to-note processing, and accepts notes and tickets up to 85mm wide.

iVIZION has a sealed bill path with dirt-proof and moisture-proof design, and is self-calibrating, all resulting in less down time and increased revenue potential.

"Backed by 20 years of JCM Global currency algorithm development, iVIZION thinks smarter than any other validator and is 100 percent compatible with all gaming platforms," the company said in a statement. "iVIZION is equipped with an RFID Intelligent Cash Box that links the box to the asset and revenue better than ever, and the ICB gives extensive, detailed reporting to slot management."

iVIZION is "future-proof" in design, and can be easily tailored to meet each individual operator's unique need and wants. The validator is designed to take full advantage of the operational efficiencies that will be available when networked/server-based gaming arrives.

For more information about iVIZION, visit www.jcmglobal.com.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Product: MegaJackpots Center Stage Series
Manufacturer: International Game Technology

Slot manufacturer International Game Technology, which has been developing many new server-based applications for its games, has launched a MegaJackpots series that features completely downloadable content and includes giant displays for community-style play.

The MegaJackpots Center Stage Series offers unlimited content options from IGT's game library. Complete game themes can be changed without new cabinets or hardware-including the huge overhead displays as well as all machines on a bank.

The operator installs the package once, and will be offered ongoing changes to the game content. "This new platform will become a destination for players on your floor, showing the latest and greatest," the company said in a statement.

The MegaJackpots Center Stage Series comes in two options: the MJ 103 Series and the MJ 70 Series. The MJ 103 Series features a giant overhead 103-inch monitor with sharp graphics. The overhead monitor is flanked by two top-of-the-line 40-inch LCD monitors. Five individual player stations front the game, each with its own IGT Mega FX "Surround Chair" to enhance the player's experience.

The MJ 70 Series features a 70-inch overhead monitor and two 32-inch side portrait displays. With four individual player stations, each with the IGT Surround Chair enhancement, this version offers a smaller footprint for more placement options on the floor.

Operators simply download the game content to switch themes. All monitors, LCD screens, digital signage and lights will instantly change to match the new game. This will help to limit down time on the floor between changes and offers the ability to refresh the floor seamlessly.

The first game to debut on the MegaJackpots Center Stage Series is "Wheel of Fortune Experience REELdepth." (See page 52.) Right behind will be "Wheel of Fortune Triple Spin" video slots and "American Idol" video slots.

For more information about MegaJackpots Center Stage Series, visit www.igt.com.

By GGB Staff   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Cornell University is one of the nation's leading institutions for hospitality degrees. Many of the top executives at hotels and hotel companies carry Cornell diplomas. And today, that is also true of the gaming industry. Michael D. Johnson, dean of the School of Hotel Administration, has taken the lead to incorporate gaming courses into the degree program at Cornell. Last spring, the school's Statler Hotel-the last Statler in the world-hosted a group of gaming executives for a look at Las Vegas and the lessons it teaches the hotel industry. Speaking with Global Gaming Business Publisher Roger Gros at Global Gaming Expo, Johnson explained how higher education can elevate the level of leadership in the gaming industry. To hear the full interview in a recorded podcast, visit www.ggbnews.com/podcasts.

GGB:  Gaming has not traditionally been a class taught at the university level. How did gaming become part of your hospitality program at Cornell?
Johnson: Gaming has gone through a similar evolution that a lot of other aspects of the hospitality industry have. It's gotten more concentrated. There has been an evolution from mom-and-pop organizations, individual casinos, individual owners, people who owned and operated the same property, one property, to an industry today that is complex in the sense that there are some very, very large companies with complex business processes and hierarchies. They're facing capital market issues; they're facing geographic dispersion, which means they're facing political issues, whether it's in Macau or Singapore or other places, and they've become more well-rounded hospitality entities. Less than 40 percent of the revenues now come from the traditional gaming side of the operation. So these have become bigger, more complex business organizations. It's not unlike hotels or restaurants, where you've gone from the mom-and-pop to the large, complex organization, and you need people with a grounded business education to be able to manage a lot of that complexity.

How did a school as reputable as the Cornell School of Hotel Administration recognize that the gaming industry could be a viable partner?
I really have to credit our alumni. Our alumni have taken our education into different parts of the industry. There are other programs, there are some good ones-UNLV does some very, very good things on the operations side of gaming. We don't. Operations experience for our students is going to be more on the traditional hotel and restaurant side.

On the other hand, our students are going to look much more to the real estate, finance side, capital markets, in terms of managing the business as an asset, and how to extract the most value from it. I think it's our alums-we have 100 alumni in high-level positions in Las Vegas.

Unlike other hospitality programs, we've probably been doing this for the last 20, 25 years on the gaming side, seeing students go that way and be successful.

Do you have any gaming-specific courses at Cornell at this point?
We have specific gaming electives. What we don't have is a full-fledged gaming curriculum. What we're really going to offer the students is courses in spa management, club management, and on the casino side we have individual courses. So students can pull together a collection of courses that would be useful. If you look at a place like the Wynn, aspects of the club management, the spa management, casino management and the hotel operations and restaurant management, you could put them all together and that's really the modern Las Vegas business entity.

In the gaming industry, if somebody comes from the hospitality or hotel side, they often get branded as a hotel person. Do you think people with a hotel or hospitality background can become successful in the gaming industry as well?
Absolutely. I think that experience in one industry is incredibly important, but industries can also put up blinders in terms of how they do things, the processes they bring to things, the kind of structural aspects they bring from a hiring or training standpoint, from operational practices. It's important to look outside the industry.

And of course, knowing the general business background and how to operate a business in general, a service industry business, it has a lot of parallels.
I'll give you my favorite analogy that I give to students. In a manufacturing or consumer product-type company, a strategy drives culture. You want to produce high-end frozen pizza and a medium and a low-end frozen pizza. You can go find people in the organization to do it. But service businesses can't operate that way. In a service business, the culture drives the strategy. The people you bring in around you and the type of people you hire for your front-line service people, they're going to dictate what you do, whether it's on the casino side or the traditional hotel side.

Let's talk about that service aspect. How do you instill that kind of value into your students and make them understand its importance?
We choose their parents very, very carefully. I'm being just a bit facetious, but it's something that's hard to teach. You have to look for it in people. We're the only school at Cornell that attempts to interview every student. We end up interviewing 98, 99 percent of the students who apply, but the idea is to look for what one of my associate deans calls the E Quotient-the Emotional Quotient. In other words, we're not necessarily looking for the student who is just the very best on test scores and grades. We need students who have good test scores and grades to handle a rigorous curriculum, but beyond that, they need to have balance. 

By Roger Gros   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

About this time last year, I was looking forward to 2009 and saying things like, "It can't be much worse than 2008."

Well, of course, I was wrong. It was worse. Much worse.

So here we go again. It's now 2010 and another decade has passed. Where did it go!? Frank Fahrenkopf reminds us of some of the things that happened in the past 10 years in his article on page 14. It's been a long, strange trip, hasn't it?

So as we enter the second decade of the 21st century, the gaming industry is truly in flux. While I don't want to say 2010 will not be as bad as 2009 (fool me once...), I see signs of hope and glimmers of light amongst the gloom.

Let's start in Las Vegas, my home and probably the epicenter of the gaming industry. I have to say, I had my doubts about MGM Mirage's CityCenter (see Dateline USA, page 6) early on for many reasons. Even when the economy was good, I questioned whether the "post-modern" architecture would be the huge attraction that executives thought it would be.

Well, now that I've seen it in all its glory, I'm cautiously optimistic that it will indeed bring new customers to town and possibly be the transformative presence we're all hoping it will be.

Other aspects of Las Vegas also are showing improvement. Visitation to the city is picking up, and the all-important drive-in market from Southern California was up nearly 5 percent toward the end of last year. Now, if we can get them to spend a little more money...

In Asia, new casinos keep rolling out. In the first few months of this year, the two integrated resorts in Singapore will open. Genting's Resorts World and Marina Bay Sands from Las Vegas Sands Corp. should be just as transformative for Asian gaming as CityCenter will be for Las Vegas. They will be the blueprint-more than any Macau casino-of how countries like Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and others can attract more tourism, business meetings and tax revenue by permitting limited amounts of gaming.

Macau has certainly rebounded, but the most interesting aspect of that market is not the flat revenues, but the Chinese government's best efforts to rein in uncontrolled growth. Because of the better prospects for the SAR, Las Vegas Sands and Galaxy Entertainment have resumed construction on their latest properties.

In Atlantic City, possibly the hardest-hit gaming jurisdiction in the U.S., 2010 should bring news of whether the funding for the remaining construction on Revel Entertainment's $2 billion project will come through. And participants in a recent round of meetings between all the stakeholders in Atlantic City on what to do about the future of the city and its casinos will establish an aggressive plan.

The impact of the economy on tribal gaming has been quite uneven because of the vastly different set of circumstances that faces each Indian gaming operation. But most concerning has been the difficulty of paying back loans made to many tribes. What was already a somewhat confusing set of legal issues has become even more murky. But the good news is that most tribes have committed to repaying and/or renegotiating the loans so they don't have to navigate those legal waters.

European gaming took several hits late last year after the mid-year elimination of legal gaming in Russia and Ukraine. When Poland and Bulgaria tightened restrictions on gaming and raised taxes on their gaming establishments, one could not help but wonder when this tidal wave of negativity could be reversed. What these events highlight, however, are the many jurisdictions in Europe where gaming is a good partner with the national government, and how those countries can capitalize on the bans and difficulties faced by the industry in other countries.

Probably the most optimistic area in gaming is the online space. Whether we're talking about full-blown online casinos or simply using the internet to market your land-based facilities, the industry is finally beginning to grasp how cyberspace will be an important tool in the second decade of the 21st century.

So while we can't definitively says things are looking good in 2010, there are enough opportunities to intrigue even the most casual observer of the gaming industry. And for the investor, now is shaping up to the be the best time to invest in an industry that has hopefully seen its worst times. 

By Frank Fahrenkopf   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Time magazine recently called it "The Decade from Hell." Indeed, our nation and the world endured significant tragedy during the past 10 years, and these tragedies were not lost on the gaming industry. To start the decade, 9/11 forever altered the travel experience and our industry's approach to safeguarding its employees and customers. The end of the decade presented an altogether different kind of crisis, this time in the form of failed banks, frozen credit markets and spending declines that also forced our industry to alter its approach to doing business.

But when I look back on the 2000s, I cannot help but be heartened by the progress our industry has made in the midst of such difficult national circumstances. I see an industry that was spurred forth by innovation, growth, endurance and compassion.

Indeed, it is somewhat staggering to look back on how much our industry has changed and accomplished during the past decade. Perhaps no evolution has so altered the perception of gaming entertainment than the rise of non-gaming amenities that began in Las Vegas in the early '90s and has since spread to casino communities across the country. Who would have believed 10 years ago that revenues from restaurants, spas, shows, shopping and other amenities would so quickly outpace gaming revenues on the Strip?

Customers now expect a multi-faceted entertainment experience when they visit our casinos. While slots and table games will always be our bread and butter, our industry now is about so much more.

The opening of the Borgata in Atlantic City epitomized the breadth of this trend, ushering in a new era of luxury to the Atlantic City casino experience and forcing other casino resorts in the market to upgrade their facilities and enhance their offerings. Since the Borgata's opening, there has been a flood of gaming expansion in the mid-Atlantic states, as Delaware, Maryland and, most importantly, Pennsylvania have legalized new forms of gaming and introduced a new level of competition that is testing the resilience and ingenuity of operators throughout the region.

I noted earlier the tragedy that marked the past decade, and perhaps no tragedy impacted our industry more directly or more brutally than when Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005. I will never forget the stories from the immediate aftermath of the storm, as companies struggled to locate their employees and set up emergency relief centers to distribute basic necessities and provide services for workers and the community.

Never has the generosity and enduring spirit of our industry been more on display than in the weeks and months following the storm, as gaming companies throughout the country rushed to contribute donations to help affected employees, far-flung properties welcomed displaced workers, Gulf Coast casinos provided shelter for emergency responders and construction crews, and casinos continued to provide pay and benefits to the more than 14,000 affected employees months after most companies in the region had ceased to do so.

The commercial casino industry was a leader in Gulf Coast recovery efforts, helping communities rebuild at the same time it worked to bring its local casinos back online. And back online they came-bringing jobs, customers and sorely needed tax revenues back to the region.

Development of a different sort marked another major milestone of the past decade-the debut and subsequent growth of Global Gaming Expo. When the AGA, along with our trade show partners at Reed Exhibitions, debuted G2E in Las Vegas just a few weeks after 9/11 back in 2001, we did so with a clear goal to develop an event by the industry and for the industry, a mantra I have repeated many times during the past nine years. G2E has grown into the largest, most comprehensive and most responsive event of its kind in the world.

Beyond domestic activities, we cannot look back at the decade's most significant events without turning an eye abroad-specifically to Asia and Macau. Gambling in Asia has been a mainstay for centuries. But when the Chinese government opened Macau's gaming industry to competition in 2002, a new international phenomenon was born.

By 2006, gaming revenues in Macau had overtaken those of Las Vegas, establishing the tiny peninsula and island as the world's largest gaming market. The rapid growth of Macau has been accompanied by significant challenges, from labor issues to the lack of infrastructure needed to support such a fast-growing population and industry. The Chinese government has been wary of allowing the industry to expand too rapidly, and vacillating visa restrictions have frustrated license holders.

But despite these and other challenges, the opportunities of the market and its growth potential are undeniable. In 2007, G2E Asia debuted in Macau to much success, bringing the region's industry together like never before. And as other nations-most notably Singapore-prepare to welcome gaming, there is no doubt the Asian region will continue to be a global gaming leader in the decade to come.

No doubt these are but a few of the developments we have witnessed during the past 10 years. The resurgence of poker spurred by televised tournaments, the rise of online gambling and ongoing efforts to control and regulate that sector, the continued expansion of racetrack casinos, blockbuster mergers and the influx of private equity into the industry, technological revolutions in slot design and security systems-all these changes have shaped the gaming industry we know today.

Now we embark on a new decade. I cannot fathom the changes that lie ahead, much as I could not have imagined 10 years ago where we would be today. Wherever the future takes us, and whatever challenges we face, I am confident our industry will continue to lead, taking entertainment in exciting new directions and creating opportunity for communities and employees throughout the world.

By Frank Legato   Wed, Dec 23, 2009

Riddle me this.

People who gamble a lot are usually pretty good at it, right? Whales who drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on a hand of blackjack generally do all they can to reduce the house edge and maximize their winnings. Right?

I'm sure Terry Watanabe did. That's why he followed the advice of the professionals, and made sure he was drunk and stoned-totally faced, really-whenever he played.

Yes, as the professionals will always tell you, there's nothing like guzzling vodka and eating downers to sharpen your gambling instincts.

You remember Terry Watanabe, don't you? He was the star of my June column. He's the Iowa multimillionaire who racked up losses of $127 million gambling on credit at the Rio and Caesars Palace in 2007, and then tried to blame it on the casino because employees fed him drinks and, he claims, prescription painkillers, to keep him daffy enough to keep losing.

Watanabe's back in the news because his lawyer has been trying to drum up public support in advance of his trial. Or trials, I should say. There's the one that starts in July, on fraud charges stemming from the fact he paid back all his markers except $14 million and change, and wrote a bum check for the balance.

Then there's the trial in his lawsuit against Harrah's Entertainment, seeking damages because the company's casinos allegedly won his money by letting him gamble when he was blitzkrieged on booze and goof balls, all supplied by those casinos.

Watanabe's lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, went on Good Morning America last month, where he decried the "tragedy" of Watanabe, portraying the high-roller as an innocent victim who is in rehab, who has become a philanthropist for the cause of problem gamblers, and who regularly gives to the poor, saves puppies and cures cancer.

OK, I made the last part up. But only after the philanthropist part.

O'Donnell then previewed his open-and-shut case for Diane, Robin and the rest of the GMA luminaries, saying how he'll show the casinos are responsible for his client's record losing streak. "It's a tragedy. Mr. Watanabe's a tragedy," he said with a straight face. "He was so addicted and so out of it, he didn't really realize what was going on."

Diane Sawyer didn't seem to be buying it, particularly the part about it being Harrah's fault that Watanabe gambled while snookered. (That's right. He was GWS.) The reporter's jaw kind of dropped when O'Donnell told of Watanabe's partying-up to three bottles of vodka a day, and eight to 10 Lortab pills a day, allegedly brought to him in candy dishes by employees. (Lortab is hydrocodone, same as Vicodin and other painkillers.)

Except for the pills, it was all part of the standard high-roller treatment Watanabe received as a whale. He got the three-bedroom suite, gourmet food and a private stash of booze, flown in especially for him-Jewel of Russia vodka, the "Drink of the Czars."

My own casino play, incidentally, qualifies me for a complimentary standard room with two queen beds, a free buffet, and some beer, the "Drink of the Mechanics."

OK, there is something very fishy about the pills, but are you telling me that you can drink three bottles of vodka in a day and it's not your fault? What's more, as Diane pointed out, no one at the casino noticed Watanabe as being intoxicated.

(I meant Diane Sawyer. We're on a first-name basis; I'm hoping to get on GMA myself.)

So, Watanabe's whole case is that the casino should have known that he was intoxicated, even though he evidently didn't show it, and in fact, they did know it because they kept giving him a drink when he ordered it. To quote Winston Churchill, that's a load of crap.

(Well, Churchill must have said that at some point.)

It may not matter anyway. Watanabe's on trial for criminal fraud, for writing the bum check and refusing to pay the $14 million he owes the casino.

Diane told O'Donnell his client must have agreed the casino won his money fair and square, because he paid most of the debt. The lawyer said he "just decided that the last $14 million was too much." Good argument. After betting three $50,000 hands of blackjack at a time for days on end, and paying $113 million of his losses back to the casino, he decided he was putting his foot down for that last $14 million.

The good news: He'll probably be able to score Lortab in prison. He may have a hard time finding Jewel of Russia, though. Maybe Harrah's can send him some.