Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming November 2014 40 Beauty’s Bodyguards Tough on counterfeiters, easy on the eyes, the chips, plaques and jetons crafted by Gaming Partners International still lead the way Tech Talk T ITO [ticket-in, ticket-out technology] brought serious benefits to slots, making life easier for both operators and players, but attempts to bring cashless gaming to tables have generally stalled. Of course, there would be significant upfront technology costs involved in making the switch and disruption during the installation. That could explain why many smaller and low-performing casinos are averse to taking the plunge. But that doesn’t explain the reluctance to switch among Macau’s casinos, which are among the most deep-pocketed in the world and desperately in search of labor-saving technologies to cope with an acute citywide manpower shortage. Surely they’d jump on the chip-less bandwagon if they were confident it wouldn’t cut into revenue? Well, the prevailing opinion seems to be that it will be bad for revenue, because handling physical chips is an integral part of the ritual for table games players. There are any number of explanations for how that might work, and it works in different ways for different players. For some, chips function to support whatever fantasy they harbor while gambling. The use of a money substitute perhaps helps convince them they’re not recklessly risking real money. The manipulation of a plastic token might even evoke memories of carefree childhood board games, enhancing calm and lowering inhibitions. Chips serve the other side of that, too, as iconic accessories to all that is dark and mysterious and alluring. Thus, handling them could heighten the thrill of indulging in a taboo activity. For renowned casino architect Paul Steelman, it’s one of the fundamentals of casino design that mirrors should never be placed on casino floors because you don’t want gamblers suddenly seeing themselves mid-session and realizing they’re not James Bond. “Because,” Mr Steelman explains, “casinos are all about illusion.” The idea of chips functioning as symbolic elements seems to ring true to many in Asia, where there’s a whole mythos surrounding gambling and casinos. In an extreme but not unreasonable scenario chips could even reinforce the perception of a casino as almost an otherworldly place—with its own stylized currency—that players enter to test their fates (preferably wearing red underwear if they’re superstitious), the chips their weapons in their battle against fortune. Such theories aside, as with so many things, nobody can really know what will happen if table games go TITO until the switch actually happens, but judging by the prevailing industry mood it appears chips are here to stay. They do, however, present a host of challenges for casinos and the companies that make them. They need to be attractive, affordable and, above all, secure. Security is a tall order these days when passable knock-offs—complete with UV markings or holographic decals—can be ordered from factories in China through the Internet. Still, would-be counterfeiters rarely get far, thanks to the chip manufacturers’ ceaseless efforts to develop technologies in response to existing and envisaged threats. Too often, though, security comes at the expense of aesthetics. Like the metal detectors marring the entrances to Macau’s elegantly appointed battlegrounds in the war against Fate. Despite commendable efforts to gussy up the detectors to blend in with their surroundings, they can be intimidating, and they’re always obtrusive. Fortunately, as demonstrated by the latest products from Gaming Partners International, a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of chips, plaques and jetons, beauty and security continue to march in step. Next time you’re idly fidgeting with your stack of chips at one of Asia’s casinos, take a moment to consider you’re holding a piece of finely tuned technology that’s been evolved over the last century by a company based in the unlikely locale of Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, in eastern France. In 1920s Beaune, lithographer Etienne Bourgogne and engineer Claudius Grasset, the first to master the art of plastic film printing, were working to pioneer the use of plastics for use in everyday items such as brooches, hair slides and plastic playing cards. One day in 1925, Mr Grasset read in Le Figaro that a gambler had broken the bank in Monte Carlo to the tune of 600,000 francs using counterfeit chips made of solid ivory and mother of pearl. The partners saw an opportunity to use their specialized