January 18th News Update

UK casino gang dealt swift sentences

UK: Two men and a woman who used hidden cameras and other equipment to cheat several British casinos out of thousands of pounds have been charged with contravening the Gambling Act 1845.
 
Authorities found Yau Lam, along with accomplices Fan Tsang and Bit Wong, guilty of using complicated surveillance equipment during games of poker.
 
The team is understood to have played in at least six London casinos, where they may have netted more than £250,000.
 
Tsang, Lam and Wong - all of north-west London - were arrested after a pre-planned operation by police working alongside casino security staff. Yesterday all three were given jail sentences at Southwark Crown Court.

Lam has been jailed for nine months, while Tsang and Wong were given nine-month suspended terms and 150 hours community service.

Detective Inspector Darren Warner, head of Scotland Yard's Gaming Unit, said the trio had previously made trips to Las Vegas, but it was not known if they had attempted the scam there.

Report points to burgeoning Polish AWP market

POLAND: By the end of the third quarter of 2006, Poland had 20,276 AWP machines in operation, according to official statistics.

The income from the machines totalled PLN472m (US$157m), double the volume of the previous year.

Despite the growing success of the sector, however, there are worries. The country's department of home affairs - the Administration and Inner Ministry - is studying a police report which suggests that the machines, usually located in bars and bus and train depots, are used for money laundering.

This assertion is based upon the fact that operators do not have to present detailed records of the machines' performance which makes it impossible to check the source of money played.

New Sega division set for London show

UK: Sega Total Solutions, the new division of Sega Amusements Europe, will be taking pride of place on the Sega stand at the ATEI this year.

Headed by well-known industry figure Peter Murphy, the business goes live on February 12. From this point on it will be exclusively be supplying Sega spares and components to the amusement and leisure trade.

Murphy, Lee Sewell and Simon Woods, along with the rest of the team, will be on the stand taking the opportunity to meet existing and new customers.

The new business is part of Sega’s expansion plans and sees the start of a transitional move to new premises to house the growing company.

Sega Total Solutions will display a small selection of products but will also be showing a new higher security cashbox door designed for the video market.

Murphy said: “The benefit we have as the manufacturer supplying the products is the accumulated and dedicated knowledge that the STS team has. We see ourselves as an extension of the operator’s business and look forward to building genuine partnerships with those operators and distributors that we serve.”

Pedragosa joins AGI

AUSTRIA: Spaniard Jordi Pedragosa has joined Austrian Gaming Industries' international commercial team.

Formerly with Unidesa, Pedragosa will operate from a base in Barcelona, Spain.

He has a significant technical background and will concentrate on AGI's Spanish-speaking markets.

AGI managing director Jens Halle said that Pedragosa will spearhead the company's progression into Latin American markets.

Hawkins to grace Gamestec suite at ATEI

UK: Gamestec Leisure, the Leeds, UK-based gaming and amusement machine operator, will be providing visitors to the Marlborough Room, its suite at ATEI, with a "plethora of information for the coming year and beyond."
 
Barrister and former shadow gambling minister Nick Hawkins will be making an appearance in the Gamestec suite on Wednesday, January 24, to offer visitors his take on the Gambling Act 2005 and its implementation.
 
"Nick will be on hand from 11am-1pm and 3pm-6pm to answer any questions you may have, so that visitors will be able to gain an independent perspective on the issues surrounding their businesses and will come away with some helpful hints of what they can expect in 2007," the company said in a recent statement.
 
Rolf Nielsen, Gamestec managing director, added: "We are extremely pleased that Nick will be joining us at this year's ATEI. Having an expert like Nick at the ATEI is useful, not only to our customers but to us as a business as well."
 
The Marlborough Room is located in the Phillbeach Suite, close to the BACTA lounge.

Gold Reef Johannesburg makes 'smart move'

SOUTH AFRICA: The Gold Reef City Casino in Johannesburg, South Africa, has introduced Atronic Systems' smart card cashless system solution, Chip Cash.

Gold Reef City followed the trend of smart card operations in South Africa as players get more used to smart card gaming.

Gold Reef City opened its doors to a newly-renovated smoking area on November 13, containing 570 machines upgraded to cashless gaming with the rest to follow this year.

With a total of 1,600 slot machines and 50 tables, Gold Reef City is one of the four largest casinos in Johannesburg and the third to go with Atronic Systems' cashless smart card.

The casino already supports Atronic Systems' Crystal Web player-tracking module co-existing with Aristocrat's Dacom system.

“The Atronic Systems team with the support and leadership of Ronald Narnhofer did a tremendous job supporting Aristocrat and to enable the smooth transition to Chip Cash,” commented director Marius van der Merwe.

“We look forward to completing the rest of the casino floor in 2007 to change Gold Reef City to a complete coinless operation.”

Blanche takes up MDM appointment

UK: Industry veteran Mick Blanche has joined MDM Leisure. Blanche, made redundant in cutbacks at Crown Leisure recently, will open up the north of England and Scotland for the Welsh company.

MDM, based in Cardiff, already has a depot serving London and the south of England. Blanche said: "I will be joining the MDM team on their stand at the London show where we will have several new and rebuilt products which are synonymous with MDM."

Mark Lewis, a director at MDM, said: "Mick's experience will enable us to continue to grow our business. He will set up a department in the North West."

The new office is at Chorley, Lancashire, tel: +44 1257 233 833, mobile: +44 7850 840 324, email: mick@mdmleisure.co.uk.

Falcon ready to fly

US: Global Payment Technologies, a US-based designer, manufacturer and marketer of automated currency acceptance and validation systems, will be unveiling a new product at the forthcoming ICE show in London.
 
The Falcon currency validator uses digital signal processor technology to achieve fast, reliable banknote recognition. Using GPT's patented RGBI optical technology, Falcon can validate currency from any country.
 
"The Falcon is fast, secure, reliable and can be used in most vending and payment terminal applications," said GPT.
 
ICE takes place from January 23-25 at Earls Court in London, UK. GPT will be at booth number 3116.

Buckley named as Rank acquisitions manager

UK: The Rank Group, one of Britain's leading gaming operators, has appointed Andrew Buckley as acquisitions manager.

Buckley had spent the past 10 years as head of estates and acquisitions for the Gala Group.

He will be responsible for Rank's programme of acquiring new sites for development into bingo halls and casinos, under its Mecca Bingo and Grosvenor Casino brands.

Rank currently has 113 Mecca Bingo clubs and 33 Grosvenor Casinos in the UK, 11 bingo clubs in Spain and two casinos in Belgium.

Ladbrokes eGaming MD to step down
UK: David Briggs is to step down from his position as eGaming managing director for British bookmaker Ladbrokes, according to separate press reports.

While it is not yet known where Briggs is moving, Ladbrokes reportedly confirmed he would be based outside the UK.

It is not known who will succeed him.

Source: IGI