News Updates From July 2006

28th July 2006

Talarius opens second Quick-Bet

BRITAIN'S biggest adult gaming centre company, Talarius, has opened its second Quick-Bet shop, in Peterborough. Talarius, with 185 AGCs and 10,000 machines, has a policy of widening its operating base and more Quick-Bets (terminal based betting shops) are planned. The company runs 9,000 AWP machines and around 1,000 Section 16 games, at an average of four per location to fit in with the incoming legislation.

Manchester's Hard Rock casino to close

RANK’S Hard Rock Casino in Manchester is due to close down.

Sources close to Rank told ecoin-op that the casino ‘just wasn’t making enough money’ to justify it staying open.

The closure comes at a time when Rank is said to be considering selling off its Hard Rock arm and breaking up the company completely.

Thompson lands Euro award

CAMELOT'S chief executive, Dianne Thompson, has won the business category of the European Women of Achievement Awards 2006.

Judges were most impressed with Thompson’s strategy for ‘bucking the international trend of falling lottery sales, which has delivered the longest period of growth in the National Lottery’s history.’

Thompson said: "The European Woman of Achievement Awards have a history of recognising some of the world’s most inspirational women, and I feel honoured to be in their company.

"But this award is not just for me - it’s for the remarkable team I have at Camelot who have helped to push annual sales over the £5bn mark."

Brits look to turn tables in Kentucky

THE best of British table football players are packing their bags for the Kentucky State Table Soccer Championships in the US. To be held from August 3-6 in Lexington, this event is expected to draw over 400 table soccer (foosball) players, including members of the US national team. The tournament will include categories for men, women and children from beginner to master.

Now recognised as an International Table Soccer Federation Master Series event, the annual Kentucky tournament has even been elevated to international tour status. This means the competition is likely to draw match ups between top American players, such as defending champion and US number one Billy Pappas, and other US team members against national team members from Canada, Ireland, Germany, the UK and more.

Players at the master levels will compete not only for cash and prizes at the event, but also for qualifying points to compete at the ITSF World Series Masters Championships in St Vincent, Italy, in November.

Source: eCoinOp UK

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27th July 2006

JPM gets Extreme with new release

JPM International has launched a new reel-based AWP, Extreme, housed in the Linear cabinet and designed for the central and eastern European market.

Extreme introduces a radical element to the top game award card structure, with players offered dramatically enhanced prizes for increases in stake, with the top stake delivering jackpot level awards for all three of a kind wins.

Additionally enhancing the high stake player’s experience is the X wild symbol, active on the centre reel for stake 5+45 (2+23 on the 300 version) and on all reels at the highest stake.

The top game is played on all five win-lines, with all lower wins eligible for 50-50 double or nothing gamble, or collection at the player’s discretion. The new game is now available from JPM’s exclusive distributor for these markets, Synot.

No escape from Crazy Frog

Deith Group has launched Football Crazy, a brand new Section 16/21 machine from Deith Gaming.

Making the best of a strong licence, Football Crazy focuses on the exploits of the Annoying Thing, more commonly known as the Crazy Frog, playing football against the Robots. The game is a multi-stake, multi-line random game that has three feature games. These are Whistle, Pick a Ball and Penalty Shootout, where the Robot will shoot footballs at the Frog with each goal scored rewarding the player with cash winnings.

Football Crazy also benefits from inclusion on the Crown Jewels progressive link system, where customers will be able to link with their existing Deith Gaming and CMS products.

Nuts tops itbox charts

After a long reign as most played game on itbox, Bullseye has been knocked off the top spot by Inpired and IPC’s quiz game Nuts, less than a month since it launched.
Built and designed by Inspired, the Nuts-branded skill game features a range of franchises direct from the magazine, as well as content exclusive to the itbox.

Dome ahead in CAP voting...

The Millennium Dome site was named top of a shortlist of proposed venues for the UK's first regional casino following the first round of judging by the Casino Advisory Panel.

Greenwich came just ahead of Glasgow and Blackpool.

The eight bids were judged on eight different criteria - social impact, need for regeneration, willingness to license, probability of implementation, regional context, community benefits, unique characteristics and range of areas – each with a possible score of 10 points.

Greenwich came top of the shortlist with 67 points, followed by Glasgow on 66, Blackpool on 65 and Sheffield on 62. Brent and Newcastle both got 58 points, followed by Cardiff and Manchester, both with 57.

However, the CAP has extended the deadline for submissions from those authorities which did not make its original shortlist and has hinted that it may add new venues if they can meet the judging criteria.

The panel has said that the next stage of judging would start on a ‘level playing field,’ unaffected by the initial first round scores.

...as Blackpool vision released

Gensler have been appointed as planners and architects for Blackpool's proposed Conference and Casino Quarter.

Seen as a key part of the £1.4bn master plan to transform Blackpool into an international resort, the development will contain 1.7m sq.ft of entertainment, hotel, conferencing and casino development on a 20-acre site.

The conference centre will consist of a 3,000-seat auditorium and a 5,000sq.m exhibition space, with adjacent hotel accommodation. This will be supported by a brand new Winter Promenade, a leisure attraction offering retail outlets, restaurants, bars and entertainment facilities.

"We want to create a memorable and commercially successful development that will change people's perception of Britain's most famous seaside resort, giving the UK market a compelling new reason to visit Blackpool while injecting life and resources into the economy," said Reg Haslam, director of development at ReBlackpool, the resort's regeneration company responsible for the bid.

Source: eCoinOp UK