Inside Asian Gaming

hether they’re in a tavern with five games or a racino with thousands, players who sit down at video lottery terminals are playing games with familiar sights, sounds and feel. “Players will come to us and say,‘We saw this machine in Atlantic City or Las Vegas. Do you have it?’ We have it,” said Steve Keener, director of operations at Dover Downs, one of three Delaware racetracks permitted 2,000 VLTs each. Added Todd Elsasser, technical compli- ance director for Cyberview Technology, which is focused both on bringing server- based and downloadable technology to vid- eo lottery jurisdictions as well as up-to-date game content from independent designers, “The differences between a Las Vegas casino slot machine and a video lottery terminal are razor thin. A couple of protocol commands are the only difference.” But what’s meant by a video lottery ter- minal isn’t necessarily the same in every ju- risdiction. Games can have spinning reels, video displays, even electronic versions of table games. Each player interface, though, is a representation of the lottery game played within. “From a hardware perspective it’s es- sentially a slot machine that may require a variety of options depending on the juris- diction,” said Jim Borden, director for lot- tery accounts at WMS Gaming. “Generally sales are made directly to or through a state agency such as a lottery commission where the regulator and the customer are one and the same. “From a regulatory point of view it be- comes less clear-cut, since pretty much any type of gaming product can be called a VLT,” Borden continued.“A VLT, therefore, is essen- tially whatever the enabling legislation de- fines it to be.” As the video lottery industry nears its second decade—South Dakota led the way with legalization of video lottery gaming in 1989—it’s an industry facing changing con- ditions and challenges from within and with- out, and meeting those challenges with up- todate technology. Growth from a $160 million industry in Terminal Velocity Revenue rockets as VLT vendors integrate the latest slot advances into their platforms its 1990 infancy to a $5.6 billion industry in the United States alone in fiscal 2006 has brought challenges to video lottery jurisdic- tions. Keeping apace with player preference in casino slot machines is just one of the challenges. Monitoring systems and keep- ing lottery games secure is another concern. And for operators in established VLT states such as Delaware, facing new competition is another. “Each state has its own unique issues, but the biggest concern for most is the impact of new machines in a contiguous state,” said Mark Zetzmann, manager of business devel- opment for IGT. For instance, Delaware and West Virginia will be impacted by new loca- tions in Pennsylvania.” The Delaware State Lottery anticipates a $10 million decline in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 1 due to the effect of the expected addition of VLT gaming in Chester, Pa., early in 2007, video lottery deputy direc- tor Don Johnson said.Part of Delaware’s chal- lenge is offering a competitive product. “We’ve done a number of things in the last few years,” he said. “We’ve gone to 24/7 operations, except Sunday mornings 6:00 a.m. to noon.We have ticket-in/ticketout, and that was customer driven.We have automat- ed table games. Those things hopefully will keep people wanting to play here.” Hazy definition What video lottery gamingmeans is as varied as the jurisdictions. Some, such as Delaware, include games with spinning reel displays as well as those with video displays. Delaware 35 42 W