Casino Enterprise Management

NIGA’s annual trade show and conference event brought thousands of tribal leaders and gaming professionals together in Phoenix, Ariz., in April. Many were anxious to find out who would lead NIGA as chairman for the next two years. As voting ended and tribal leaders poured out of the election room, the news quickly spread that Ernie Stevens Jr. won, 121 to 14. He will continue his leadership of the National Indian Gaming Association as chairman for his sixth term.

“With the guidance and instruction of the tribal leaders here, I’m going to do everything I can to move Indian country forward,” Stevens told an audience at the Wendell Chino Humanitarian Award dinner honoring Gila River Indian Community Gov. William Rhoads. “I’m going to do this by working with all the great leaders out there, and I’m only going to do it at the direction of the leadership of the executive board at NIGA and the membership that makes up our organization.”

Dan Elias, AIA, partner/principal at Hnedak Bobo Group sends his congratulations to Chairman Stevens on his overwhelming win, stating, “We have worked closely with Ernie over the years lobbying Capitol Hill and have developed a tremendous level of respect for him. We are confident that NIGA will thrive with his continued leadership.”

Also elected, as NIGA secretary, was Bernadine Burnette, vice president of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. Elected treasurer was Mark Fox of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation: Three Affiliated Tribes.

Lynn Valbuena, vice chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, did not run for re-election this year after serving for 14 years as NIGA secretary. Valbuena tells CEM, “I’ll still get involved on a national level, so I just want people, other tribal leaders and friends, to know that I’m not completely gone.” Valbuena says she’ll be spending more time in her community and with her family, but she of course still has that passion in her heart to continue working with tribes.

Working together, networking with other tribal gaming leaders and staying current on gaming issues and products is what NIGA is all about. CNIGA and Sycuan Chairman Daniel Tucker says unity among tribal leaders is more important than ever. This year’s show provided a great forum for discussion and education. Tucker says: “It’s extremely important today because the economy is so bad; everybody is looking for those dollars. So when we come to NIGA, all of those things are either talked about or discussed, and some direction is given to tribal leaders on how to handle some of those things.”

Tucker believes tribal leaders need to be aware of what’s happening in relation to i-poker, Internet gaming and IRS issues. As CNIGA chairman, he is involved with discussions surrounding two i-poker bills in California. Tucker says: “The future is coming and the future is electronic … how are you going to stop it? So we have to figure out how we’re going to get involved with it, if we are. And what’s it going to do to the casinos out there and what’s it going to do to exclusivity?”

If, or rather when, i-gaming comes to the U.S., one company ready to tackle it is testing giant Gaming Laboratories International. Its recent acquisition of TST in Canada puts the company in a good place, as TST brings its prior Internet testing experience in Canada and Europe to the table.

Top of mind for many at the show was the economy. At last year’s NIGA show, the key term was “cautiously optimistic,” and this year seemed to hold the same for many. We’re not over the hard times yet, but there is hope for the next year. “Together we need to weather this storm,” Nick Micalizzi, VP of domestic sales and marketing for FutureLogic, said.

Of course, once again this year, exhibitors brought their products and sales teams to the trade show in hopes of connecting with current or potential customers. Noting that the show overall was very positive this year, Sim Bielak, VP sales & business development, global casino gaming for Crane Payment Solutions, said, “Although the attendance didn’t seem as abundant as in previous years, the quality of the attendees was better than expected.”

From the Trade Show Floor
As CEM contributor Valerie Red-Horse put it, “There’s cutting-edge stuff everywhere at this show this year.” CEM staff buzzed from booth to booth on the floor to catch up with leading gaming equipment suppliers and service providers.

The new product everyone was talking about was Bally Technologies’ Code Red™. It seems almost everyone made their way to the booth to get a look at the first curved LCD screen in the industry. The game is a video screen that really does look like a spinning reel slot machine. Derik Mooberry, senior vice president of products and operations at Bally, says: “We took great length and great pleasure, actually, and a lot of engineering work and design in making sure that it had that feel of what we call a stepper machine—where the reels are actually spinning. You’ll even notice a little bit of a wobble in reels as we spin them that really give us that effect.”

Code Red is housed in the Pro Series™ Upright Curve cabinet. It features the ALPHA Pro Topper™, integrated side lighting, a Super Candle on top, four speakers, U-Spin™ gesture-control play mechanic and the iDeck™ touchscreen button panel. The game offers a three-level progressive. “We’re really trying to create a fun experience, as players are looking for more entertainment value as they come to the casino,” Mooberry says, “in terms of a differing game experience, and that’s really what Code Red has provided.” Along with launching the product in Arizona at NIGA, Bally’s first placement of the product is at Gila River Casinos, Lone Butte Casino in Arizona. Code Red has been approved by GLI and submitted to other jurisdictions for approval.

Multimedia Games also showcased, for the first time, an eye-catching product. The new High Rise Games™ feature a 37-inch top-box. Vice President of Product Development Brad Johnson says it’s probably the largest top-box you’ll see on any casino floor, which eliminates the need for top signage. Johnson demonstrated One Red Cent® for us on the new cabinet. It’s a new game, using a popular theme from the past. The game has nine reels and offers a 5-level progressive.

Aristocrat is also bringing back an old favorite, Mr. Cashman™. The brand was originally introduced in 2002 and is now back with Cashman Fever™. This game’s four features include a random win multiplier. The game also offers an exclusive Cashman Fever Progressive Link feature that offers 20 jackpot pools. Every time players see Cashman, they can expect something good to happen. Dallas Orchard, vice president of gaming operations at Aristocrat, says, “Basically one in every eight spins Cashman interacts with the player. He’s like a good luck charm.” Aristocrat, of course, also had its team on hand at the show to talk about its other electronic gaming machines and casino management systems.

A brand new set of games caught our eye at the Incredible Technologies booth. Girls Day Out and Guys Night are complementary products in the company’s traditional line of games. Dan Schrementi, director of gaming marketing and new media, says, “It kind of celebrates the social institution of a guy’s night. You know, beer, burgers, hanging out at the bar and maybe picking up a few girls.” Symbols in this game include a steak and a Golden Tee machine—Incredible Technologies’ most popular coin-op game.

Girls Day Out features the same type of free spins and pick’em events. But this one is geared toward the ladies with shopping, going out to dinner and having fun. Girls also get to pick a dream date in their bonus game, which reminds us of the dating board game girls have played for decades. Incredible Technologies hopes casinos will install the two games side-by-side in a bank, allowing couples to play next to each other.

Jay Sevigny, president and COO at Video Gaming Technologies, took time at the show to tell us about his company’s new video products. VGT is known for its strength in the Class II market with mechanical reel products. Now it’s introducing a 28-line video product called Spring Fever™. The game offers fun bonus features and improved graphics. “We have a lot of fun with the video product, and they’re really going over well in the casinos, too,” Sevigny says. “So we like to say that Class II is not second class, and we’ve got some really great things.”

Rocket Gaming showed off its Gold Series games, which have awarded eight $1 million jackpots since its first release in June 2009. It also showed attendees Risk and Reward, which is a game with an entirely new look for Rocket. Mike Beezley, account executive, says there’s even better product coming around the corner. He says Rocket will continue to stick with Class II products. “We know one thing: When these compacts come up and are due and these tribes have little leverage against the state, we will provide that leverage for them. And that really becomes the most exciting thing for us because we do support them and we are there for them.”

Another Class II advancement was seen at the Cadillac Jack booth. Game Analyst Simone Leo showed us the new Mega Strike wide area multi progressive game. The game’s multi-level bonuses feature interactive picks, multipliers and free spins. Leo also demonstrated the fun players can have with the game Magic Hat. The 20-line, five-reel video game offers players an Extra Bonus button. By increasing their max bet with this button, they become eligible for even more bonuses and higher payouts. Leo says, “They’re really going to see a big difference in game play with the extra bonus feature on.” Magic Hat will be available in late 2011.

We kicked it up a notch with a visit to the Aruze booth. An excited Steve Walther, vice president of marketing, showed us King of Dragons™, one of two games on the company’s new 5-reel stepper. The reels in this game go forward and backward at varying speeds that reach up to 200 revolutions per minute. The reels light up in different colors as they unpredictably spin. Walther says: “We’re doing something a little bit different than just about everybody else with the 5-reel. We’re actually putting video-style content and motion into the stepper box. It’s really a hybrid of technology as you’ve got the traditional stepper classic gaming elements, with new technologies that you would have in video.” Bonus rounds bring the action to the video top screen where wins are represented with graphics. Walther also showed us Oiran Top of Japanese Geisha and Chinese Queen.

The hybrid action continued at Interblock, where we got a look at the company’s G4 Organic Twins machine featuring roulette, craps and Sic Bo. The game uses two generators that run at the same time with an unlimited amount of player terminals around them. Players interact with the game through a video touchscreen. The outcomes are determined by an actual roulette wheel or shaking dice. Interblock recently installed Organic Twins with 43 pieces at Casino Arizona.

IGT took time to show attendees its range of products including Wheel of Fortune Center Stage, Sex and the City, Ghostbusters, Dark Knight and more. Knute Knutson, vice president of Native American development, says IGT is committed to providing a full range of quality games and systems to tribal gaming operations. He adds, “We identify with Indian people. We try to understand the process in which decisions are made in Indian country and we’re very patient in dealing with tribal governments and Indian people.”

WMS sent a message to attendees that it’s committed to helping casinos increase coin in, make operations more efficient and differentiate itself from the competition. Rob Bone, vice president and general manager of western sales and operations at WMS, commented on the business WMS does with tribal operators: “From last year at the NIGA show to now, it’s amazing how much progress we’ve had with our Native American customers from Connecticut to California, Mississippi to Michigan. It’s been unbelievably successful. It’s exceeded all of our expectations at WMS.”

John Glaser, director of sales in North America at Ainsworth, was excited to tell tribal gaming leaders about the company’s new facility in Las Vegas. Set to be open by June, the new North American headquarters will bring machine manufacturing, additional technical support, marketing, product development, compliance and more to the United States. Glaser says, “It’s really a good expansion of Ainsworth establishing a really good footprint in North America. They say if you’re going to be in the gaming business, you need to be in Las Vegas, and the company recognizes that.”

Konami Gaming demonstrated Rock Around the Clock and Advantage Revolution at the show. Combined, there are now more than 1,000 units of the games on casino floors. The trade show was a success for the company, according to Ross O’Hanley, senior director of sales and marketing: “We’re taking a lot of orders at the show, which is outstanding.”

However much competition there might be among the slot manufacturers, there is at least one constant tying them together—Gary Platt Manufacturing. This gaming seating company has provided chairs for nearly all the machine manufacturers, including IGT, Bally, WMS, Aristocrat, Konami, Aruze, Cadillac Jack, Multimedia Games and Shuffle Master. Gary Platt’s success comes down to its chairs’ superior ergonomics, durability and reliability. “That’s our bread and butter,” Skip Davis, president, said. Davis shared that Gary Platt’s X-Tended Play line is still the company’s best product, but one new initiative is going green via recycled chairs. They’ve begun taking chairs already in the field and refurbishing and reconditioning them to be new (to the player) chairs. They still get the same warranty as a new chair, and it’s a great alternative for the budget-conscious casino. Always a show favorite, recently retired Gary Platt himself could be found walking the floor, charming everyone and talking up the company’s offerings.

A new NEWave team made its trade show debut at NIGA. Claudia Winkler, new senior vice president of professional services, talked with us about the changes. She says, “With the new management team, we’re expanding our services, we’re expanding our product suite, we have a good story to tell.” Winkler emphasized that NEWave solves the problems that keep operators up at night. That includes dealing with compliance, accounting and auditing. NEWave is working on taking document management to the next level to provide enterprise-wide solutions. It’s also going to the cloud, preparing to offer software as a service.

New NIGA Associate Member YESCO debuted its Suncutter external LCD signage option at the show. “It’s designed specifically to be in direct sunlight, and provides for digital signage opportunities where a large LED board doesn’t make sense,” Michelle Bass, account executive at YESCO, explained. “They’re great for external kiosks or entrances.”

On the peripherals side, printer company FutureLogic showed off its new TITO printer, GEN3 Evolution®, and the host-assisted PromoNet®, a promotional couponing system for casinos. Micalizzi says we can expect to see GEN3 out later this year. What sets this product apart is its deeper tray, allowing for 450 tickets—that’s significantly more than other models, and helps operators by reducing the cost and labor of refills. Micalizzi says the GEN3 is for “serious couponing,” and he believes that couponing is going to be the next big lift for TITO printers.

Over at TransAct, it was all about Epicentral™, the company’s groundbreaking print system that empowers operators to create promotional coupons and marketing messages and print them in real-time at the slot machine. Epicentral uses some of TransAct’s best products, including the Epic 950 printer and ServerPort™. This product can even go mobile, simply by connecting an iPad™ or smartphone to the server manager to give coupons directly to players on the floor.

For Crane Payment Solutions, this particular show marked the first time in North America that the company exhibited and showcased the Ardac Elite and the CashCode one™ in one booth. Under the CashCode and Money Controls brand, Crane also presented the 2500 Note Cashbox and oneCheck™ cash management solution, PayLink and Ardac EP USB Update Device.

Speaking to their role in tribal gaming, MEI’s Brian Wedderspoon, global director, OEM business unit – gaming, stated: “The slot machine attracts a player, and we help the player experience by accepting all money. The real measure of performance is how much money is in the box, and we measure uptime and cash in the box, and it’s shown time and time again that MEI will outperform our competitors 4 to 8 percent. They play longer and ultimately there’s more revenue for the property.” Products MEI had on display were EASITRAX® and CASHFLOW® SC.

JCM representatives made the most out of the show by scheduling appointments and meeting with other manufacturers. Kip Haverman, director of North America sales, told CEM the show was a great opportunity to spread some awareness about the continued rollout of iVIZION™, their newest bill validator, the company’s digital signage offerings, and the new Paycheck 4 printer, developed through a partnership with Nanoptix.

Over at the BIS2 booth, Chief Technology Officer Andrew Cardno was excited to speak about Version 6 of the company’s analytics program, debuting at the show with multi-game analytics for the first time. “We’re totally transforming the industry,” Cardno said. “We’re getting tremendous response, both here and in the industry, from needing to understand the multi-game dilemma. What we’ve learned is, if you can see the numbers, and you can understand what you see, then you can make money from multi-game product. And that is something that, eight weeks ago, I did not say.”

Walking by the Eclipse Compliance Testing booth, you could always find smiling faces eager to talk about Indian gaming, testing and compliance. For them, that’s their bread and butter, as tribal gaming is a primary market for Eclipse. To further their expertise, the company brought on some industry veterans and experts. Tom LaVallee returned to the company late last year, and Ken Golda recently was brought on as a consultant to help in the areas of training and consulting services to gaming regulatory agencies. “We are also looking to bring on more industry veterans to help us solidify our field services team,” Janice Farley, vice president, says.

President Nick Farley told us that Eclipse has been participating in the recent meetings of the Tribal Gaming Working Group to help develop meaningful technical standards and MICS for Indian gaming. “This group will present the NIGC with its work product in the very near future,” he says. “Eclipse is glad to be a part of such an industry-leading group of professionals.”

Construction experts Perini Building Co. is always in tune with industry trends and tribal gaming issues. Vice Chairman Dick Rizzo shared with CEM that Perini has been invited to research investment and contracting opportunities in what they are calling the Native American Energy Initiative. The main objective is to provide Native American tribes with an opportunity to diversify their investment portfolio and expand business opportunities on and off tribal lands.

If you wandered the show floor, you likely saw the plush, inviting bed along the Eastern wall, belonging to DreamCatcher™ Hotels, an outgrowth of architecture firm Hnedak Bobo Group. DreamCatcher Hotels is designed to provide an affordable solution for casino hotels still wanting a luxurious solution for guests. Partnering with some of hospitality’s best brands, DreamCatcher presents an all-inclusive turnkey hotel package that can be fit to your specific needs. And the best part is that it all comes together at a fraction of the cost for similar features installed on your own. Elias explains that it all came about to respond to the recent economic climate. “We believe the DreamCatcher Hotels concept has the potential to change how casino hotels in Indian country will be developed and ultimately marketed to the gaming customer,” he says.

NIGA attendees hoping to win some cash on their trip flocked to the SCA Gaming booth this year. The company offered a million- dollar prize to attendees through its v-Spin game, which is a virtual slot machine. Linda Gordon, director of marketing, explains the benefits of using this customizable product at a casino: “This game is also integrated with player tracking systems for the casino, so the player who qualifies will swipe their player card and, based on the type of player they are, the game would manifest itself.”

How’s Business?
The team at Thalden • Boyd • Emery Architects spent time talking with us about how their business and the tribal gaming business in general is doing. The company is working on projects all over the country, including two in Michigan, one in Oklahoma and an expansion in Oregon. Barry Thalden, partner, says the world has changed and he’s excited to say, “We are finding financing for those projects, and that’s great!” The company is getting busy again and is hiring more people.

Brett Ewing, partner, says regional casinos are doing well because people aren’t traveling as far, so many are adding cinemas and hotel rooms. He explains: “They’re adding smaller pieces that are very necessary to get the customer to stay a bit longer.”

Rich Emery, design partner, tells CEM that everybody at the show seemed excited and energized. “It’s a completely different feeling than what it has been the last two years at the show,” he shares.

Red-Horse echoes Thalden’s comments about financing: “We’re looking at good news … we’ve seen some restructurings and refinancing and new money coming into the sector so the good news is we’re sort of back. It’s slow progress, but we’re getting there.”
And noting that the show was optimistic, Rizzo, had this to say: “I was encouraged to hear that casino traffic is up, and in many cases, gaming revenues are back to normal or on the rise.”

Elias says he still believes project financing is a challenge for Indian gaming and may be for years to come. “It’s going to take new and smarter thinking about the way we develop and deliver projects,” he notes.

Paul Magno, GLI’s vice president, contends that tribal gaming is actually in a not-so-bad place. “During this downturn in the economy, I think tribal gaming has withstood better than some of the state-regulated markets,” he said. “I think that’s actually helped them, as now they just have to be prepared as the economy picks up to show new things and keep the market show they’ve got and excel upon that.”

Bone says that even through the challenging times, Native American gaming operations have been a segment of the business that WMS cherishes. He explains:  “A lot of our Native American customers have money and they have the willingness to take some risks and to pursue some strategies. So I like to think that we have more robust strategies more robust progress going on with our Native American customers than largely any of our national account customers.”

Bone and others are already looking forward to next year’s Indian Gaming trade show and convention in San Diego from April 1-4. The show will bring thousands of visitors back to Chairman Tucker’s state. To that he says, “Come out to San Diego and have a great time! The weather is fine and it’s a good place to come.”

We look forward to seeing you next year at NIGA 2012!