Inside Asian Gaming

31 30 C ompetition brought the casinoman- agement system (CMS) to Macau. Prior to the liberalization of Macau’s gaming industry in 2002, none of erstwhile monopoly operator Stanley Ho’s casinos fea- tured CMSs.Now,all major casinos opening in the city – including Dr Ho’s glitzy new Grand Lisboa, unveiled in February – incorporate CMSs, which are vital in an increasingly com- petitive environment. The systems enable better monitoring and control of casinos, cut down labour costs and enable the running of customer loyalty programs. The Grand Lisboa uses the Aristocrat Best-Fit Bally There is no consensus among Macau casino operators as to which supplier offers the best casino management system. Bally has managed to clinch the biggest contract, however, by providing the “best fit” for Las Vegas Sands Corp system. Wynn Macau and Melco PBL Enter- tainment’s string of Mocha Slot outlets use IGT. Galaxy Entertainment Group’s flagship StarWorld property in Macau uses systems supplied by Progressive Gaming Interna- tional Corp, while its city clubs use the KISS CMS developed by Australia’s International Casino Services. Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS) uses Bally at Sands Macau, and will also do so at its future Macau properties. No system is acknowledged as being the best. “There are no off-the-shelf gaming management systems that dovetail perfectly into any operation, especially in a jurisdiction such as Macau. It gets down to individual operators choosing the best fit,” says Grand Lisboa Vice President of Electronic Gaming Lindsay Stewart. Sands Macau Director of Casino Opera- tions Walt Power echoes that opinion, and stresses the need for operators to work with suppliers in customizing the systems. “No gaming management system is perfect. It is imperative that the end-user works closely with the developer to match the needs of the organization with the capabilities of the system they’re employing,”he says. Customization is “especially important in jurisdictions with unique gaming require- ments like Macau,” adds Mr Power, where there are “rolling [non-negotiable] chip programs and multiple currencies – we use Hong Kong dollars and Macau patacas simul- taneously.” According to Mr Power, Sands had to “work closely with Bally to develop non-ne- gotiable chip accounting and simultaneous multi-chip set use. We found something as basic as the field size was an issue because of the exchange rate between the US and Hong Kong dollars and the sheer volume of our gaming activity.” Bally Technologies Senior Vice President of Marketing Marcus Prater explains that “Bally spent several man years customizing our base ACSC systems from the US for the Asian market. We initially did the work for Sands Macau, but we did it with the entire region in mind, and now all of the expanded features and functionality are available to others. This Bally system excels in a high-vol- ume, big-money environment and that’s why 18 of the 25 largest casinos in the world use a Bally system.” Jackpot Bally emerged as the big winner in the field when, in April, it announced the gaming industry’s largest combined slot, casino man- agement and bonusing systems deal to date. The deal, valued at up to US$56 million, is to provide Bally technology to nine casino resorts being developed by LVS around the world. The properties include the US$2.4 bil- lion Venetian Macau, set to open this sum- mer, six other LVS-owned casinos being built along Macau’s Cotai Strip, the US$1.6 billion Palazzo slated for a December opening on the Las Vegas Strip, and the US$3.6 billion Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, scheduled to open in 2009.Bally is already the CMS provid- er at LVS’ The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip and Sands Macau. Bally is already considered the industry systems leader, and the LVS contract will con- solidate that position. The contract includes a full range of Bally Casino Management Sys- tems (CMS™) / Slot Management Systems (SMS™) technologies, the complete suite of Bally Power Bonusing™ solutions, eTICKET™ cashless functionality and interactive iVIEW displays for up to 16,000 slot machines. Mr Prater explains that the company’s commitment to enhancing its products for Asia played an important role in landing Bally the LVS contract.“For LVS and the Asian market in general, our system has more ca- pabilities than any other because we did the customization work when we recog- nized more than five years ago where the Macau market was heading.Those efforts are currently being supported by our two opera- tions in India, with more than 200 engineers and more coming. The average employee in the Bally division supporting LVS has more than 13 years of experience in gaming. And if you want a system that end-to-end is an integrated fit across the entire resort opera- tion – exactly what LVS has planned for the Cotai Strip – there’s no one in the same class. Those who say all gaming systems are alike are mistaken.” The operation in India also provides technical support, which Mocha Slot General Manager Ted Chan believes is a major advan- tage.Mocha uses IGT,andMr Chan claims that “apart from doing it yourself,” the IGT system provides the best room for customization of any system, and it fits best into a club mem- bership environment.” Still, he bemoans the time difference when seeking tech support from IGT in the US. CMS advantages Mr Prater explains the advantages of a CMS beyond fostering player loyalty and cutting labour costs:“For an explodingmarket such as Macau,with all of that money flying around,a robust system, and Bally’s in particular, helps the market establish itself and then grow in a controlled, regulated way.The system man- ages revenue and all financial aspects of a casino, establishes internal controls, provides accountability for all of the chips and cash moving back and forth from the casino floor to the cage. It prevents ticket-in / ticket-out fraud. It’s tied to surveillance so the casino knows when a slot machine tilts or a door is opened. It allows for secure credit transac- tions to drive high-end play.The whole point is it gives casinos automated controls to manage their operation in a secure fashion that is aligned with internal controls.” Not only do systems enable casinos “to know what’s happening on your floor at any given time,” says Mr Stewart, but they also enable better regulatory control. Mr Stewart adds that CMSs may soon be required by law in Macau, “because if casinos don’t use such systems, the DICJ [the city’s gaming regula- tor] would need a staff of thousands to moni- tor their activities. As gaming regulations are framed and gazetted, using casino manage- ment systems and providing regulatory ac- cess will be a requirement.” The interactive iVIEW display, which runs Bally Power Winners – a configurable floor-wide mystery progressive jackpot system that allows casinos to offer their guests a wide variety of player-centric bonusing events. C

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