Inside Asian Gaming

April 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 47 Briefs Commissioners said they didn’t think this would be the last time Nevadagamingagentswill investigateadeal suchas thearrangement between Caesars Entertainment Corp. and 888 Holdings. “My guess is that we’re going to see a lot more of these,” said Commissioner Tony Alamo. “We’re not going to rubber stamp all these deals, but (888 Holdings) answered all my questions. This is something we’re going to have to get our arms around.” Gamingcommissionersunanimously found that thearrangement between the companieswas suitable under Nevada’s ForeignGaming Act following a hearing that lasted more than two hours. The Gaming Control Board approved the deal on 9th March. 888, which is based in Gibraltar, and its DragonFish subsidiary provide Caesars with the equipment, software and security measures to operate online gaming websites in the United Kingdom. The Internet domains, which include a casino site themed after Caesars Palace, and a World Series of Poker site, don’t accept wagers fromAmericans. Caesars recently announced plans to launch Internet gaming sites in France and Italy. 888 accepted wagers from American gamblers before the October 2006 passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, which made it a crime for banks and other financial institutions to process transactions used in online gaming. 888 immediately stopped taking wagers from Americans when the act was approved by Congress, reducing company revenues by 57%. Gavin Isaacs named new CEO of Shuffle Master Gavin Isaacs has been named as the new Chief Executive Officer of Shuffle Master Inc. Mr Isaacs has been Chief Operating Officer at Bally for the past four years. “I am delighted to join Shuffle Master at such an exciting time both for the company and for the global gaming industry,” said Mr Isaacs in a prepared statement. “Shuffle Master is a great company steeped with accomplishment, highly innovative products, talented employees, and a growing worldwide customer base. There are extraordinary opportunities ahead for Shuffle Master and I look forward to working with the entire team as we position the company for future long-term growth and profitability,” he added. David Lopez, Shuffle Master’s Chief Operating Officer, added: “After spending considerable time with Gavin, I am pleased that the board has selected a candidate with Gavin’s level of experience and leadership. I look forward to working closely with him to enhance Shuffle Master’s position in the global marketplace and to expand our opportunities for sustained growth.” Shuffle Master describes itself as the gaming industry’s premier supplier of automatic card shufflers and proprietary table games. At Bally, Mr Isaacs was responsible for the company’s worldwide game andoperations business including sales, productmanagement, product development, manufacturing and customer support. From 1999 to 2006 Mr Isaacs worked for Aristocrat Leisure Limited, another leading gaming equipment and systems company. During his tenure with Aristocrat, he served in key management positions, including General Manager, Global Marketing and Business Development, and Managing Director, Europe. In March 2003, he was named to the position of Americas President. Before joining Aristocrat, Mr Isaacs was a partner with the Australian law firm Phillips Fox. Ramesh Srinivasan promoted to President and COO of Bally Bally Technologies Inc has promoted Ramesh Srinivasan to the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. He succeeds COO Gavin Isaacs. Mr Srinivasan will be responsible for all of Bally’s worldwide games, systems, and server-based solutions, as well as customer service, reporting to Bally CEO Richard Haddrill. He will also take on Mr Haddrill’s duties as Bally Technologies’ President. Mr Srinivasan joined Bally in 2005 as Executive Vice President of Bally Systems. Mr Haddrill brought him to Bally from Manhattan Associates, the software firm that was his own former company. “Ramesh Srinivasan has been a terrific business partner for more than 11 years across two companies, and I am confident that his outstanding track record of success will continue in these new responsibilities, said Mr Haddrill in a prepared statement. “Gavin Isaacs has been an important part of our success at Bally, and we wish him well at Shuffle Master,” he added. Meanwhile, Bally also unveiled its next-generation game, Code Red™, which features a first-of-its-kind, 22-inch curved LCD display. “Code Red is a game changer,” said Dan Savage, Bally’s Vice President of Marketing. “It looks, feels, and plays like a traditional reel-spinning game, but is actually a video machine. All of the features, such as the touch-screen capabilities and gesture control, advance display and player interface to the next technological level.” Code Red’s curved LCD display makes video reels virtually indistinguishable frommechanical reels.Thegame contains Bally Technologies’ award-winning U-Spin™ gesture-control play mechanic and the fully integrated, interactive iDeck™ touch-screen button deck. The game also debuts Bally’s new Free Games play mechanic, which shows possible bonus awards above each reel during free games. These awards may be bonus credits, locked wild symbols, or a locked wild reel. When a Code Red symbol appears, players receive the bonus shown above that reel. A new, randomly selected award then replaces the one received. There is also a unique “Wildfire” stacked wilds play mechanic that, when triggered, awards up to three additional wild symbols. Gavin Isaacs Ramesh Srinivasan