Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | February 2010 46 Briefs International Briefs IGT springs French deal International Gaming Technology is to install a server-based gaming system at Casino d’Evian in France. The company made the announcement at the International Gaming Expo in London. IGT’s sbX ExperienceManagement System is described as the first of its kind in Europe. It will provide open access to IGT’s server-based game library of more than 100 international themes. An important factor in the deal is that sbX Floor Manager works within France’s existing regulatory requirements for game conversions, says IGT. The technology also offers casino managers in-depth analysis of their players’ preferences and performance. Brownout It’s safe to assume not too many people in the UK gaming industry will be voting for Gordon Brown in the UK’s upcoming general election. Mr Brown, whose father was a churchminister in Scotland, set the tone after taking over the country’s premiership from Tony Blair in June 2007. One of Mr Brown’s first acts was to drop his predecessor’s plan for a regional ‘super casino’ in Manchester. The scheme was originally promoted by Mr Blair’s administration as a way of boosting regional economic development. Mr Brown is known to have a personal distaste for expansion of the gambling sector, regarding it as a necessary evil to be tolerated for its tax raising potential rather than its social popularity. To give Mr Brown his due, the much grumbled- about Gambling Act (dated 2005 but only recently implemented) was actually the brainchild of Mr Blair’s team. It was designed as a fairly standard piece of political horse- trading, in part to head off criticism about the super casino project. The Act has restricted the number and location of slot machines outside casinos and capped the amount that can be wagered. The UK industry regulator—the Gambling Commission— originally proposed under Mr Blair’s watch but only implemented since Mr Brown’s time is almost as unpopular within the industry as the Gambling Act. Recent claims in the sector press suggest its bureaucratic presence has tripled the annual cost of regulating the UK industry to £15 million, from £5 million under its predecessor the Gaming Board. Evidence presented to Parliament in May shows half a million pounds of the Gambling Commission’s costs come from the salaries of just seven of its top officials. The UK government is also looking to nibble away at the tax concessionsmade to UK online gambling operators serving domestic customers. Until now, they have been allowed to locate offshore for tax purposes provided they have a licence from the European Economic Area or one of the so-called ‘White List’ jurisdictions—the latter are mostly islands either affiliated constitutionally or politically to the UK or with British Commonwealth connections such as Malta. In January, the UK authorities announced proposals to require offshore operators to hold an additional licence from the Gambling Commission in order to continue to be able to lawfully advertise their gambling services to residents of the UK. That may have been the straw that broke the UK industry’s patience. The Confederation of Gambling Associations (COGA) has now asked the government to review the UK’s gambling laws. It seems this year’s UK election can’t come soon enough for the country’s casinos, clubs and online operators. Greektown divorce The deal allowing US regional casino operator Isle of Capri to manage the debt-laden tribal property Greektown Casino-Hotel in Detroit has fallen apart after less than a month, reports Union Gaming Research. “While the details of the termination are unclear, we believe the respective teams could not agree on the strategic direction of the property,” says Union Gaming. Union describes the dissolving of the partnership as “a potential blow” to the prospects for the property, given the track record of Isle’s chairman and CEO Jim Perry in turning around troubled casinos. It expects that Greektown will move quickly to replace Isle, however, and suggests a former Las Vegas Strip executive may be brought in. The property was previously managed by the Fine Point Group (FPG) under an arrangement terminated at the end of 2009. While managing Greektown, FPG grew local market share to about 27%, from 23% in 2008. Greektown Casino Detroit is operating in a tough environment. It is located in the downtown area of ‘Motor City’—one of the US communities hardest hit by a long-term decline in America’s auto manufacturing sector and by the current recession. In July last year, unemployment in the city (as opposed to the surrounding Metro area) peaked at a record 28.9%. The city’s population has plummeted 21% since 1990, dipping below a million in 2000 and further falling to 912,062 at the 2008 census, although the population of the suburban Detroit Metro area has stayed relatively stable at 4.4 million. Greektown is competing for business against three other nearby Gordon Brown Greektown Casino-Hotel