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Bowling takes amusements into casinos

Tenpin bowling is providing a basis for the expansion of amusement games in Chile.

Local Brunswick importer Family Entertainment Centre Geyger Mailath, run by Steve Geyger, is installing bowling lanes in a variety of locations ranging from shopping malls to petrol stations - and amusement games have accompanied the installation.

The company handles Chile, Peru and Bolivia for Brunswick and in general they have been installed in the food court areas of the locations.

It has also gone into social and sports clubs, including Club Manquehue in Santiago and Club Concepcion and Club Llancolen in the south of the country where wooden bowling lanes have been replaced by the synthetic Brunwick models.

In every case an assortment of new amusement products including simulators, video games, Wurlitzer jukeboxes and pool tables have also been installed.

'We have also put them into countryside locations, in mining areas in the north of the country and industrial units run by oil companies in the south, incities like Valdivia and Puerto Montt where bowling and amusements have also gone into their sports centres,' said Geyger.

The company has completed a 12-lane installation in a Shell petrol and service station in Rancagua in the centre of Chile, which with its food court has become a community gathering centre for the city.

Notably, the bowling installations are going into three of the 15 new casinos which are being opened in Chile towards the end of the year, with Calama in the north, Talca in the central area and Osomo in the south as the locations. The company is in negotiation to take bowling and amusements into other casinos as they open.

The total investment of the new casino sector in Chile is thought to be US$604m.

Gauselmann revenues top €1bn

The giant Gauselmann Group, Germany's largest manufacturer and operator of amusement and gaming products for the street market, again exceeded revenues of €1bn in the fiscal year 2007.

The result matches the previous year, despite difficult market and competitive conditions. There was in fact a rise in consolidated revenues to €1.056bn, compared with €1.007bn in 2006.

Total business volume totalled €1.28bn, down slightly from €1.33bn in the previous year, while foreign business contributed to about 50 per cent of total revenue.

Gauselmann reported that the new German gaming machine laws brought foreign competitors into the market, but it 'asserted its position as the leading company in the field of electronic amusement with and without prizes in Germany.'

Its interests in Atronic, the Austrian-based supplier of casino slot machines, were affected by the Russian downturn, and other pressures resulted in the transfer of the remaining 50 per cent shares in Atronic to partner GTECH.

In the arcades business, the group has 200 locations in Germany under the Merkur-Spielothek brand and 100 under the Merkur Casino brand in other countries, particularly Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Machine leasing had seen group investment of €137m (€110m), with particular emphasis on the sports betting business in Italy where the company has licenses for 76 offices and 157 sales points in the region north of Rome.

The company has 5,781 staff (5,493) of which 4,270 positions are in Germany.

Gauselmann Group said that it would concentrate on core competences in 2008 and advance in both domestic and international sectors during the year.

Venue set for Asia expo

The Venetian Macau resort-hotel will host this year's Asian Attractions Expo from July 16-18.

Exhibitors will come from more than 65 countries and up to 150 exhibitors will display their products and services for the amusement industry.

The expo will also feature two social events giving participants access to industry leaders and colleagues.

Games Media in Category C push

Monster Cash is the latest Category C product from Games Media, which according to the company has full approvals from all major retailers.

The aim of the game is to light eight or more numbers on the entry trail to access the cash ladder gamble and three red bars, to be awarded a super feature.

Three like fruits on any of the five win-lines enters the player into the feature board, with positions on the board awarding cash shots, feature shots, win spins shots, super shots and bonuses.

Jacobs appointed as BMI president

BMI Gaming of the US has elevated industry veteran Paul Jacobs to the post of president of the company.

BMI has been extremely successful in marketing amusement games through websites in the US and other markets.

Jacobs was previously vice president of the company, but founder and CEO David Young said that his management skills had proved invaluable to the company over the past year.

Jacobs has 40 years in the industry, notably with Exidy, Universal, Capcom, SNK and Data East.

Playtrix expands gaming portfolio

Playtrix introduced a wireless blackjack game, where the players use remote controls to play, at ICE last year and the company expanded its product range even more at ICE this year.

This now includes a wireless multigame with 15 games, a five-player blackjack and a five-player baccarat.

In addition to its regular customer base in North America, which includes large corporations that operate casinos and gaming rooms in many countries around the globe, Playtrix has now received orders from major operators in Europe.

'Our production line has been running at full capacity since last December,' said the company's George Samaha.

'The wireless games are small to ship and easy to install anywhere, but they are real gaming machines for real operators. And most of the games are proven for many years in operation in countries around the globe.'

Playtrix offers the possibility to rent the games at a fixed rent or on a profit sharing basis. 'It is simple,' said Samaha. 'The games connect to a mobile phone and report the statistics by sending and receiving short messages.

'You send an SMS from your mobile phone asking for the report and, if your phone is already registered with the game, it replies with the statistics.'

Grosvenor takes action against fraudster

Grosvenor Casinos has resorted to legal action after an Arab high roller wrote two cheques worth nearly £7m that bounced.

Ahmed Al-Reyaysa exchanged the cheques for chips at the Clermont Club in London.

After he spent the money playing roulette, the casino discovered that the individual did not have enough money in his bank account to honour the cheques.

The Clermont has since gone to the High Court to try to reclaim the cash.

Gambler in landmark UK court case

A compulsive gambler is suing William Hill for £2m he lost on bets after asking the UK bookmaker not to accept wagers from him.

Graham Calvert, a respected and highly successful greyhound trainer from the north-east of England, was at one stage earning £30,000 a month through his trade. He initially took to betting up to £5,000 a time at William Hill and is understood to have quickly escalated to placing single bets of up to six times this amount.

Calvert claims that in May 2006 he asked William Hill to close his account, but that his self-exclusion order was not effective, as he was allowed to continue placing bets with the bookmaker until December.

Calvert's legal representatives maintain that William Hill should be held responsible for the losses because it did not successfully implement its own self-exclusion policies. William Hill is vigorously defended the allegations.

Atronic progressive wins slots award

Atronic's multi-level progressive King Kong Cash was named best slot machine Game at the Gaming Awards event in London in January.

Anette Jauch, marketing director at Atronic International, said: 'We feel extremely honoured that King Kong Cash has been chosen by the international jury.

'The King Kong Cash linked gaming concept has been very popular with players in the international market and it is a testament to a great product that a panel of gaming experts recognised its potential.'

New Belgrade casino draws large crowd

Guests flocked to the Grand Casino Beograd in the Serbian capital Belgrade last week for a two-day gala extravaganza at Casinos Austria International's newest casino and entertainment venue.

Completed in a record time of just one year, the casino enjoys an enviable location on the Danube Promenade. The new complex provides an unmatched selection of gaming, dining, entertainment and event facilities.

In addition to state-of-the-art gaming at 25 tables and 222 of the latest slot machines, Grand Casino Beograd also features a VIP gaming area for high rollers, three restaurants, an elegant piano bar, a stylish roulette bar lounge and terrace, the multifunctional Parada event room and a Vicky M store, offering a range of designer jewellery and Valentino accessories.

Nevada gaming revenues up

Nevada's Gaming Control Board has reported that the state won US$1.1bn from gamblers in December, a 3.1 per cent increase from the same month a year earlier.

The take for casinos along the Las Vegas Strip rose 0.8 per cent to a total of $614.9m for the month.

Asia deal to boost online poker

AsianLogic, the online and land-based gaming company, has entered into an agreement with Capital Events of Singapore to acquire and take over the running of the renowned Asian Poker Tour, Asia's original and largest poker tour.

Under the terms of the agreement, AsianLogic will manage the running of APT's online and land-based tournaments and assume control over the APT brand and related URLs.

The move will provide AsianLogic with access to APT's extensive database of players and contacts, and will in turn drive additional online traffic to AsianLogic's poker sites.

'Following our successful IPO, this agreement is further evidence of our strategy to grow our customer reach and appeal, and reflects the strength of AsianLogic's market leading presence in the Asia-Pacific region,' commented AsianLogic CEO, Chris Parker.

'Poker continues to grow across the region at a very fast rate. We have been in negotiations for some time with APT which, as the first poker tournament organiser in Asia with an excellent brand and strong brand recognition, was a key target for us.'

GB swings to Q3 profit

Following a significant investment in new online products and services, GB Group, the Chester, UK-based data and identity specialist, has unveiled pre-tax profits of £74,000 in the third quarter, compared to a loss of £300,000 in the prior-year period.

GB, which has expertise across a range of sectors and whose technology enables companies to combat identity fraud, said group revenues increased by 45 per cent to £4.8m in the three months ended December 31, 2007.

Revenues from the company's identity verification business, DataAuthentication, doubled to £2m compared to the comparable period in 2006, while DataIntegrity and DataSolutions, providers of identity based marketing services, generated revenues of £2.8m, an increase of 27 per cent on the previous year.

GB said the news represented an 'important milestone' for the business. Commenting on the announcement, CEO Richard Law said: 'The group has continued to move towards the online delivery of its solutions, all of which address the issues increasingly faced by businesses in relation to the identity of their customers, in particular identity fraud.'

GB's share price grew 3.5 per cent to 29.25p, raising the company's market value to almost £25m.

NetEnt signs mystery licence agreement

Gaming software provider Net Entertainment has signed a licence agreement with a well-established bingo operator. The company, which at this point would like to remain anonymous, has purportedly rapidly established itself as one of the leading bingo operators on the Swedish market.

'Operators are more careful and thorough when choosing software suppliers nowadays and the fact that we managed to sign this agreement against fierce competition is proof of the high quality of our product,' commented NetEnt CEO Johan Ohman.

The bingo group, which according to NetEnt has a 'significant' amount of registered players, is currently applying for a gaming licence in Malta. The planned launch for its casino is the second quarter of 2008.

ReferBack wins affiliate award

ReferBack, the exclusive affiliate programme of leading online gaming giant, Carmen Media Group, came up tops in this year's prestigious CAP Awards when it was chosen as Best Overall Affiliate Programme.

'We are honoured and delighted,' said Grant Laubscher of ReferBack. 'Although it is always great to win awards, receiving the highest honours in the CAP Awards is especially satisfying. It is the most valuable accolade an affiliate programme could ever hope for, as the voters are the affiliates whom they serve.'

Source: IGI

Thomas Automation - Update

THOMAS AUTOMATION LTD
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Leics LE11 5RN
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NEWS RELEASE
Release date: 01.02.08

AmEx 2008 - The 29th. Irish Amusement & Gaming Trade Exhibition - Lynch Green Isle Hotel, DUBLIN - 04.03.08 & 05.03.08

We are pleased to advise you that once again we will be exhibiting at AmEx on stand number 30

Rob Clarke and Ian Fuller look forward to seeing you there to discuss all your change requirements.

For more information on the above, please contact:

Mark Edmundson, Rob Clarke or Jo Taylor at:
T: 01509 225 692
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E: sales@thomasa.co.uk