Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | April 2012 42 Cantor Gaming, IGT, Aristocrat and WMS. Upping the ante Much like the states, gaming operator and vendor interest in Internet poker is largely due to, well, money. Indeed, no matter who you listen to, it appears online poker and Internet wagering in general can be quite lucrative. Union Gaming Group Analyst Bill Lerner told the Review Journal that a legal US online poker market could immediately generate US$5 billion in yearly revenue. Rick Bronson, chairman of U.S. Digital Gaming, tabbed the yearly revenue results substantially higher at $12 billion a year. At the iGaming North America conference, Steve Rittvo, chairman of the Innovation Group, unveiled a survey that estimated a legal US online gaming market could produce $15.6 billion in yearly revenue by 2017. “Online poker is an important business for casinos going forward…it offers one of the best growth opportunities available given currentmarket factors,”said Jonathan Halkyard, executive vice president and CFO for Caesars Entertainment Corporation at the iGaming North America conference that took place last month in Las Vegas. “Worries about cannibalism are unfounded. Caesars bought the World Series of Poker [WSOP] in 2004 and it had a grand total of 800 players in the final. By 2007, that number grew to 7,000, despite the fact online poker was thriving. In my mind, each business reinforces the other without question.” A number of gaming properties have already taken steps to insure a space at the online poker table. For example, Michael Gaughan, owner of the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa in Las Vegas, created SouthPointPoker. com, the first free-play site approved for a Nevada regulated casino in the United States. Hosted on a Zen Entertainment platform, SouthPointPoker.com will offer a $10,000 Main Event seat every week with daily qualifying tournaments; up to an additional $100,000 in cash and prizes each month; and daily tie-in promotions allowing players to win online. Meanwhile, Golden Nugget and Chiligaming, an international developer and operator of multi-platform social games and gambling products that was recently purchased by Bally Technologies, have entered into an online gaming partnership, T he impact pending online gaming legalisation would have on the US regulatory community was a topic very much on the minds of many of the attendees at the 11th annual Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) University Roundtable, held last month at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The two-day event drew 365 regulators from 32 states, four Canadian provinces and two Caribbean jurisdictions. American Gaming Association (AGA) president and CEO Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. gave the first day’s keynote address, in which he updated the audience on the latest finding of the AGA’s Regulatory Reform Task Force before launching into his take on recent online gaming events. Mr Fahrenkopf reiterated the AGA’s support of online poker, so long as it is federally legalised and regulated. “There arenow2,000offshorepoker sites acceptingbets from10 to15millionAmericans each day,” Mr Fahrenkopf said. “Most of these sites don’t provide consumer protection or care about issues such as underage and responsible gaming. Creating legislation that legally brings this industry onshore allows it to be policed and regulated, in addition to providing tax revenue and jobs.” Mr Fahrenkopf then spoke out against recent newspaper articles that said efforts to establish federal regulation were dead for this year, and that Internet poker legalisation would likely occur in a piecemeal, state-by-state fashion. “I am still hopeful that before this Congress is over, a new piece of federal legislation will be introduced,” he said. “I wish I could tell you it is going to happen. I hope this Congress will come up with something that will solve the problem. But it is not easy to draft something that will do all that.” James Maida, GLI president and CEO, acknowledged the growing importance of Internet wagering in the US and throughout the world. To help prepare GLI customers for the upcoming regulatory onslaught, the company recently purchased TST, a global leader in Internet gaming systems testing. TST will be rebranded and incorporated into GLI as GLI Interactive. The company is also in the process of hiring 100 new engineers and support staff. “The Internet is everywhere and everybody wants in on it,” Mr Maida said. “And we are way ahead of the curve of helping our clients meet their goals in this area.” Mr Maida and Patrick Moore, director of compliance for GLI, also held a discussion on 10 gaming technology trends to watch for in 2012 and beyond. Making their list was Cloud computing, persistence gaming and the threats of bots and collusion in the online wagering realm. The second day keynote was Jan Jones, the former mayor of Las Vegas and current vice president of communications and government relations for Caesars Entertainment, who discussed the impact Las Vegas and New Jersey had on modern gaming regulation. In addition to the keynotes, there were a series of panel discussions that touched on topics such as the latest tools of the trade that help regulators avoid common security pitfalls; how regulators and operators can share common ground; the complex challenge of implementing a multi-jurisdictional strategy for internet-based lottery, bingo, sports betting and casino-style gaming; the legal challenges gray-area games have caused; and how regulators might make the most of the Cloud. “The feedback we received from regulators was extremely positive,”Mr Maida said. “We appreciated howmany regulators from jurisdictions far and near told us that this event and the knowledge they gain here is a critical part of their business.” GLI University shines light on Web regulatory issues James Maida, GLI president and CEO, welcomes regulators. Jan Jones, vice president of communications and government relations for Caesars Entertainment, delivers a keynote.