Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | November 2012 46 International Briefs Briefs partners. The acquisition of PJM Gaming byWDTS, coupled with the success of their award-winning Perfect Pay gaming platform in the field means that WDTS is uniquely positioned to deliver the most strategic and sophisticated RFID solutions in the gaming industry.” Magellan will continue its RFID technology development with a focus on healthcare and medical applications. PJM Gaming’s range of products offers the only RFID technology that uses Phase Jitter Modulation (PJM) as the transmission method between the reader and the tags. This achieves the highest data rate, of 424 kbit/s, compared to all other AM (amplitude modulation) based RFID technologies. PJM products are optimized for very high speed identification and authentication applications where many hundreds of tagged articles such as gaming chips, playing cards or other valuable items are stacked tightly together or need to be identified rapidly and 100% reliably in dynamic situations where tags are presented in high volume and in any orientation. IGT Reports Higher Profit From Slot Sales and Online Gaming International Game Technology (IGT) reported a higher profit for its fourth fiscal quarter as revenue improved from slot machine sales to land-based casinos, as well as from social and online gaming. The company, based in Reno with major Las Vegas operations, said it earned US$88.1 million or 33 cents per share in the quarter ending 30th September, up from $53.4 million or 18 cents per share in the year-ago period. IGT’s US$631.1 million revenue over the period was up from $539.8 million a year earlier. IGT said that during the just-concluded fiscal year, it shipped 44,200 new and replacement gaming devices to casinos and other customers, an increase of 23%. In North America, the average price of those machines increased 2% to $14,500. Full-year interactive revenue, including social gaming and online gaming, grew 293% to $144 million. Future online revenue may be affected by the launch of intrastate online poker in Nevada, where IGT is licensed to participate, as well as the shutdown during the fourth quarter of the company’s Entraction online business in Europe because of market conditions. While some analysts have questioned IGT’s agreement earlier in the year to pay as much as US$500 million for the Double Down casino business on Facebook, IGT executives said they expect Double Down to add to earnings by 2014. Double Down has play-for-fun games like blackjack, slots, video poker and roulette. Customers can buy virtual chips for more action on the site. Double Down now has 1.415 million daily users spending an average of 28 cents per day on the social, non-gambling site, the company said. The user count is up 4%, while average daily spending increased 3 cents from the third fiscal quarter. For the year, the company’s adjusted earnings per share from Wynn Resorts to Bid for Casino in Philadelphia Steve Wynn is going to bid for the last casino license in Philadelphia, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review- Journal . The chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts proposes to build a 150,000-square -foot casino with 900 slot machines and 100 table games and a 300-room hotel on about 60 acres of waterfront property, a company spokesman confirmed on 8th November. MichaelWeaver, senior vice president marketing strategy atWynn Resorts, said the company will file for a casino license by the state’s 15th November deadline. The company had proposed building a US$600 million casino in the spring of 2010 in Philadelphia before pulling out. “We are excited about Philadelphia and the opportunity afforded by our piece of property on the banks of the Delaware River,” said Mr Wynn. “It allows for a luxury hotel complex and the introduction of the Wynn brand to Philadelphia.” Mr Wynn said his assignment was to build a resort that attracted visitors to the city. “We hope to create a resort of a caliber not currently in existence on the Eastern Seaboard,” the casino mogul said in a statement. “Our proposed resort begins with a hotel, retail esplanade, restaurants and entertainment, and can grow as the market progresses and we build clientele.” Wynn Resorts has joined local developer Bart Blatstein and a partnership of Cordish Cos. and Greenwood Gaming in competition to build a second Philadelphia casino—which would be the last license issued in the state. The SugarHouse casino has been open in Philadelphia since 2010. Walker Digital Table Systems Acquires RFID Gaming Subsidiary From Magellan Technology Walker Digital Table Systems, LLC (WDTS) has acquired Magellan Technology’s gaming subsidiary, PJM Gaming. PJM Gaming Holds the Magellan-IGT Global Master License Agreement for Gaming Applications, and with this acquisition WDTS becomes the primary source for casino products and solutions including gaming chips, tag readers and gaming tables that leverage Magellan’s PJM Or “Phase Jitter Modulation” technology. Jay Walker, WDTS’ primary shareholder, commented that, “As the provider of the most advanced RFID casino solutions today, this acquisition is a natural extension of WDTS’ commitment to delivering industry-changing innovation in the gaming space. We’re excited to expand investment in our key technology.” Roger Webber, Magellan’s chief executive officer, commented, “The WDTS team has long been one of our key development SteveWynn