Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2008 30 Elixir T he era of the low-cost boutique casino may have arrived in Asia. Elixir Gaming Technologies (EGT), the region’s first and only supplier of turnkey gaming floors on a revenue sharing basis, says it is looking at introducing live video streaming for baccarat, sic bo and roulette to the gaming floors of its partner venues. The project will involve a link up with London-listed AsianLogic. Until now, Elixir’s partner venues have been more akin to community-based slot parlours than fully fledged casinos, though they do offer automated table games inmost venues. Video streaming is some way short of the live dealer experience of ‘full service’ casinos, but in the arguably under-serviced gaming markets targeted by EGT, such as the Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam, it could be an exciting way of introducing a ‘near casino’ experience to the mass market without the heavy capital costs associated with the real thing. New horizons “In Asia we started with slots only,” says Joe Pisano, Executive Director and Senior Vice President of EGT. “Now in partnership with AsianLogic we’re looking at bringing video streaming into the properties. It would be for games such as live baccarat, live sic bo and roulette. AsianLogic has expertise in that area and we’d like to utilise that,” adds Mr Pisano. Such a development should send a few ripples of excitement through the Macau market, where the high cost of live card dealers has had operators searching for a viable machine-based alternative. Legal questions There are potential regulatory issues though when it comes to live dealer video beingstreamedfromonegamingjurisdiction such as the Philippines,to players at tables in another gaming jurisdiction such as Macau. “It’s potentially a great model for Macau, but at the end of the day it needs the DICJ [Macau’s gaming regulator] to Cut Price Casino Video streaming could help Elixir expand beyond community-based slot gaming rule on it,” says Mr Pisano. “I’m not sure what the tax situation and general regulatory situation would be on that.” Such legal restrictions do not appear to apply in countries such as Cambodia, where currently there are no laws specifically drafted to regulate gaming.