Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming June 2014 40 Premium Focused Abbiati Casino Equipment continues to build its Asian presence. Following another successful showing at G2E Asia, the company plans to release in the coming months a set of products designed specifically to cater to the lucrative premium-mass segment that regional casino operators have recently been so intent on attracting A bbiati Casino Equipment is on a roll in Asia. Over the past three years, a number of Asian operators have sourced their casino currency from Abbiati, citing the company’s ability to provide cost-effective and secure products that are near impossible to duplicate. “Our company has an increasing Asian focus and we have been working hard to meet the demanding needs of Asian customers who require reliable and state-of-the-art products,” declared CEO Giorgio Abbiati. “We have been improving our service to the Asian operators through our collaboration with industry veteran Christophe Leparoux and his firm Golden Cathay Consulting, and together with our dedicated team Christophe is playing an important role in the expansion of our company in the region,” added Mr Abbiati. The company’s regional profile and expansion effort have also been bolstered by its annual presence at the G2E Asia expo. Abbiati had yet another successful showing at this year’s event, held last month at The Venetian Macao. In addition to the company’s core products, including casino chips and plaques, gaming tables and table layouts and accessories, also on display at its stand was an RFID-enabled table incorporating Walker Digital Gaming’s Perfect Pay applications. Among the featured casino currency was a brand-new line of chips, plaques and jetons employing a range of security technologies designed to thwart counterfeiters. “The innovations we presented this year are the results of extensive R&D projects we carried out both internally with our engineers as well as with our partner suppliers” explained Mr Abbiati. Beyond the security enhancements, the new casino currency also boasted an attractive array of new patterns, designs and materials. Among the standout products was the new line of Tie Chips featuring multiple injections, see-thru inserts and a combination of intricate and innovative rim and edge inserts. All the new products are available with security features such as 13.56 MHz RFID, 8-color UV pigments, LaserTracer technology, Optical Variable Ink and high- security holograms. The Abbiati stand was also used to demonstrate the Perfect Pay Table Network platform on a table exclusively designed and manufactured for Abbiati’s partner Walker Digital Table Systems. Working with Walker Digitial, Abbiati has established itself as a leading integrator and supplier of 13.56 MHz RFID technology. “We received tremendous interest in this RFID application as well as in our customized high-end table,” said Giorgio Abbiati, adding, “Abbiati is today recognized as a leading supplier of RFID technology, and our partnership with Walker Digital Gaming enhances our ability to supply RFID-equipped baccarat tables with various design options”. One more example of Abbiati’s success at integrating technology into the high-end tables it manufactures was a unique blackjack table manufactured with special compositematerials, designed specifically to accommodate the progressive jackpot systems of another partner, DEQ. That table, featuring a unique high-end design and elegant finishing, was also exhibited at the Abbiati stand. Abbiati has identified another niche in Asia that it’s well-suited to fill—the provision of table games equipment catering specifically to premium-mass players, who constitute a lucrative and fast-growing segment of casino revenue in the region, and Macau in particular. “We will release in the coming months further innovations and products that will cater specifically to this market segment”, stated Mr Abbiati. With competition among Asia’s casinos to attract premium-mass players heating up, those products could well drive the next phase of the company’s regional expansion. Beyond the security enhancements, Abbiati’s new casino currency also boasts an attractive array of new patterns, designs and materials. Tech Talk