Inside Asian Gaming

June 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 41 Multiloteri’ terminals (tablet PCs) connected to one central control unit (if necessary, an integrated control unit may be used to connect with the server). Its purpose is to enrich the variety of gaming options and to extend gaming experience to places where other gaming devices cannot be placed or operated for various reasons. Such reasons might include aesthetics of given place, size or rules of the facility (casinos). As most of the countries, particularly Asian countries, have restriction on the size of casinos, implementation of the MLT system has the potential to maximise the profit per square foot within any casino premises. Smart phone technology has radically changed the way entertainment is consumed, but it still has not had much effect on the way gambling is consumed. Why has the gaming industry been so slow to adopt such new technologies? I would say the gaming industry has always been slow to develop. On the one hand there is certain indolence—‘as long as it keeps earning money, there is no need to hurry’. On the other hand, there are the laws. It is not easy to develop a new gaming device and market it, because one needs to acquire necessary permissions, licences, certificates, etc., which takes an incredibly long time in the gaming industry. Thus the device becomes obsolete before it is even put into application. This means a combination of slow and difficult procedures. With iPhone and similar technologies, the situation becomes even more complicated, and it remains a question whether gambling could ever be allowed on mobile phones. There are many shortcomings which can never be removed (perhaps they could be merely tolerated). The main problem is a complete lack of control whether such gambling is accessible to minors—it could not be prevented in any way. Other problems are insufficient control over money transfers and the lack of privacy— while bank reports might reveal gains and losses to the authorities (tax office) or at best ‘only’ to wives. And there is yet another factor, which is the absence of human interaction associated with gambling on the phone. It is gambling for the sake of gambling as opposed to entertainment in a casino The difference between playing in a casino and playing on a mobile phone could be compared to the difference between picking up a beautiful girl in a bar and buying an inflatable doll in a sex shop. It is the same game but on a completely different playground.