Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | July 2009 accepted in Asia. “Some of our games might not be what a high limit player would play, but their spouse or friend might,” he asserts. Like any new product, the proof is in the playing he explains. Positive trend Asia is targeted by Shuffle Master as one of the company’s key markets for growth. Despite recent turbulence in Asian gaming markets—much of it linked to the fall out from the global credit crisis—the trend is still upward, says Mr Parrott. He says the head count of visitors may have been down at this year’s G2E Asia Show but the quality of delegates was not. “From a global perspective, Asia is not the exclusive growth area, but it may be the biggest,” he suggests. “We had some traction fromVietnam and other areas at the show and even secured some unexpected business. The Philippines is very exciting in the near term. Overall, Asia holds a lot of promise for us.” He acknowledges that the situation in Cambodia, where the government is reassessing its gaming model, is unsettling for industry players and financial markets, but it’s really just a “fact of life”. He remarks that Cambodia is not unique; gaming markets in Russia and Brazil are also in transition. In those jurisdictions there is huge impetus to get gaming growth back on track because of the tax dollars it generates, he suggests. “They’re all in need of more revenue and that will sway the tide,” he predicts, believing the US market will also eventually turn. “We’re a guest in every market we’re in, other than Australia and the US [where the company has corporate offices]. And in any emerging market, in any part of the world, you have to be careful how it grows as regulators get used to what they’re doing.” Regulatory framework Mr Parrott has a good grasp of regulatory issues for the industry. He is a founding board member of the American Gaming Association, which was created in 1995 to represent the casino gaming industry on federal legislative and regulatory issues. “It is healthy where governments are reassessing to make sure they have the proper regulations in place and [the gaming market] is run with integrity. It’s positive for their residents to make sure they’re playing games that are on the up and up; the government is getting its appropriate taxes, and operators are well funded. Although it may be disruptive, long term it [active regulation] is better for the industry.” 38 Shuffle Master The Three Card Poker table Player screens at the i-Table