By the standards of previous international trade shows, World of Games 2006 was a disappointment. Not in terms of its organisation, which was again almost universally praised by exhibitors, and certainly not in terms of its venue, at the Crocus Expo Centre, outside of Moscow. The real disappointment was in ‘foot traffic’. It was one of the quietest trade shows I have ever seen in any industry, all the more remarkable considering the hustle and bustle the casino and amusement industry is renowned for.

The show has become the first high-profile victim of insecurity bred by Russia’s government and its inability to make firm and fast decisions – and to act on them – regarding casino industry regulation. In short, Russia’s Duma is killing the casino industry.

One company at World of Games revealed that its top man was due along on the final day to make the decision over whether the company would even continue to exist, based on interest at a near-ghost town of a show. Some companies, however, defied the doom and gloom hanging over much of the industry in Moscow, and left the show buoyed with full order books or simply a positive feeling thanks to the extra time they could spend with existing customers; in this way, for many companies, the show was a great success. Exhibitors had breathing space and some, with for example more technical products, benefited greatly from this.

Highlights included Jens Halle of AGI proving himself to be the industry’s consummate showman, backing up the company’s stand on intellectual property piracy with action (more on that later), and Aristocrat pledging their long-term support of the Russian industry in association with Aurora with a strong showing which included the excellent PokerPro table.

It was a show of peaks and troughs – time will tell if, for the industry in Russia, the troughs outweigh the peaks or if recovery is possible with rapid resolution and action from State Duma.

Back to Aristocrat. Their large stand, in association with Aurora, their exclusive Russian distributor, spoke very clearly to customers stating simply: We’re here to stay. The core of the exhibition was twofold: the AX cabinet, a development in association with SmartGames (of which Aurora is a division) exclusively for the Russian market, and PokerPro, the poker innovation which is getting huge attention worldwide and looks set to be a hit in Russia. The AX cabinet takes Aristocrat’s MarkVI board and software and marries it to SmartGames’ expertise at making cabinets for Russian customers. The only thing holding this machine back is a license for manufacture, so expect this to shift units once legislation is clarified and actioned. Aristocrat, however, made it clear that they’re willing to wait for what will no doubt be another profitable area for them.

PokerPro is the innovation of PokerTek, distributed by Aristocrat and unveiled to much acclaim at ICE 2006. It’s the perfect blend of online poker and live poker, as PokerTek’s Chief Technology Officer Hal Shinn explained to a press conference at World of Games. “It is a fully automated poker table that looks like a traditional poker table; unlike a traditional table it doesn’t require a dealer, cards or chips and provides the player with a fast, mistake-free game. It was developed to benefit both casinos and players. For casinos, the benefits are increased revenue and decreased costs. No time spent shuffling cards, counting chips or changing dealers, the PokerPro table will deal 50% more hands per hour than a manual table. “Since a casino’s revenue is directly related to the number of hands it can deal, this is directly related to an increase in revenue of 50% per table. “With the increase in the number of people playing poker, casinos are challenged more and more to employ trained and manage more dealers. With PokerPro, personnel costs are directly reduced. One PokerPro table can replace up to five dealers a casino would have to hire. The table never needs a break, never needs a holiday, never makes a mistake. It’s cost-effective to maintain and can run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“One of the big advantages of PokerPro is that it is much less intimidating for newer players. People who have watched poker on TV or played on the internet are often reluctant to go into casinos to play; PokerPro draws these players into casinos and makes new customers of them.” Hal also outlined exciting developments for the table which will increase its impact and popularity in casinos – more news on this is expected in July, but Hal offered us a taste. He added: “Product enhancements include additional poker games like Omaha and Seven-Card Stud; demand for these games is increasing and while they typically make less money for a casino, Pokerpro makes them as profitable as Texas Hold’Em. Also, we’re adding multi-table tournament capabilities, which allows operators to offer large tournaments with higher payouts to more players. We’re very excited to be partnering with Aurora and Aristocrat to bring Pokerpro to Russia.” Exciting times for Aristocrat lie ahead, and its alliance with SmartGames should provide the know-how and relative insurance to make their Russian venture a great success.

Austrian Gaming Industries had the large stand and impressive games that we’ve all come to expect of them but at World of Games, AGI had something special up their sleeves. As you can see from our boxout, they have taken the piracy problem in Russia very seriously and this was a statement of intent from the company. Managing Director Jens Halle has long talked of the problems in CIS countries with intellectual property theft and lack of protection compared to the west for companies, and he illustrated his point perfectly by completely destroying a selection of counterfeit machines with a mechanical digger. It was a great show for the press, and sent a serious message to the thieves of AGI’s hard work: They’re mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it any more!

The company were showing a strong selection of games, of course, on the Gaminator Professional cabinet. A change for the Russian market, however, is that the 7” TFT screen below the main playing screen, intended for promotional use for the host casino, has been replaced with glass. It remains a TFT for Europe, however. Max Lindenberg explained what was on show: “This year at World of Games we have three new games which we are presenting. We have The Illusionist, Joker Jewels which is a continuation of Just Jewels, and Party On, which is a very funny game. “Party On has a free games feature where if you get three champagne bottles the party starts and you get free games. It’s not a fixed number of free games though, you get to choose how many free games you want to play. Each number of free games has a respective win multiplier within the free games. For example, you can choose either one free game with a multiplier of 18, or two with a multiplier of nine, up to 18 free games with a multiplier of one. “Joker Jewels has a special joker which substitutes for symbols. It’s very easy to play, you don’t have to be very experienced to understand this game, it’s a great entry-level machine for players.”

With AGI’s determination and street-smarts behind them, these games will herald more success for AGI – though hopefully through solely legitimate sales, and not through piracy.

EGT followed their recent success in Latin America with a strong showing at World of Games. The company has recently made inroads into the South American market, partly thanks to the appointment of a regional sales manager. After exhibiting in Bogota, Colombia, and also in Panama, World of Games must have been something of a disappointment in terms of visitor numbers, but EGT still drew plenty of crowds with their four new titles on show. EGT’s PR Manager Gergana Kutseva was still reasonably enthusiastic about the show, as over the last year the Bulgaria-based manufacturer has been growing their business in neighbouring countries. Gergana explained their product: “We’re showing four new games here. There’s Action Money, Crazy Bucks, Gold of Roma and Inca Gold. “The most important markets for us at the moment with these games are Romania, Ukraine, Lithuania and our newest, very important market, Latin America.” EGT are one of the companies boldly leading the way out of Eastern Europe in order to maintain growth and thrive in an increasingly crowded pool; with a positive, ‘can-do’ attitude, they are providing a model for other companies that may find themselves locked in the erratic Eastern European market.

Belarus-based gaming company Belatra also had a substantial presence at the show, with a very large, prominent stand and a wide selection of gaming products – you will be able to read more about them in future issues of Casino International.

CATS – Casino Amusement Technology Supplies – also had a positive take on the show, as they were offering Gaminator cabinets for lease at a very reasonable price. It’s another move to combat intellectual property theft in Russia, which the Russian government would do well to take note of. CEO Harmen Brenninkmeijer said of the offer: “We will be making Gaminators available for a lease price of 420 Euros per machine, per month, throughout Russia only.” So what brought about this offer? “The idea came about because Russian manufacturers started to copy the Gaminator, and because there is so little protection, a lot of people are trying to cut corners, copy the cabinet one-to-one, copy the games supposedly one-to-one, but obviously that’s difficult because of the maths, it’s complicated but people are still trying it. That doesn’t help the situation, so what we are basically saying is ‘Take it from source.’ “We’ve had some over-capacity on the machines for the Russian market, so we figured let’s put the machines out at a much better price. “There has been tremendous interest in this at the show.” Companies hoping to continue competing in Russia are having to play smart and use new tactics to continue growth or even maintain business on an established level, and CATS proves even large companies are capable of adapting quickly and changing tactics in order to preserve market share.

Fair Play, one of Russia’s leading manufacturers, had a large stand and one of their key game characters wandering the exhibition hall, causing many a visitor to look twice in case they were imagining a large piece of fruit walking next to them. Fair Play are also optimistic, particularly after a good year, and are another company spreading their wings into Europe and beyond. They recently opened a sales office in London, and Marketing Manager Anna Trubetskaya explains the reason they are optimistic – universally recognisable game themes. “This year we have about six new games, it’s been a good year for us. Our games with famous movies or names in the title – Alexander, or Da Vinci are good for other markets like Europe, like the UK where we have a regional sales office in London.”

Gold Club had a large product selection on display and their stand seemed to be constantly busy with customers – pictured are their excellent luxury roulette terminals, which may set a new standard for such units in future. More on Gold Club in a forthcoming issue.

Casino Technology took their shiny new Gemini platform to Moscow, and showed off a wide range of video slot games designed specifically for it. Atanaska Ivanova, Eastern European Sales Manager, was kind enough to explain some of these games, launched for the first time. Atanaska said: “Along with the extremely popular Purple Hot, Lucky Kingdom, Milady and Golden Elephant, we are presenting brand new releases from the Gemini series in Moscow. “Silk Quest is a high-volatility game with an adventurous theme which will appeal to players who crave a ‘riskier’ experience. Interestingly, it features both free games and a second bonus screen with three different levels. The game moves very quickly, which many players like, and the graphics are very good.” In addition, all the games from the Gemini series feature a second video screen showing the current pay table, which increases the interactive feel of the game. The Bulgarian gaming company have a lot of faith in the new Gemini experience, and it’s hard to argue against what is ultimately a very sensible and very comfortable design. Atanaska added: “More and more operators want to offer their customers something with a bit more luxury, and we’ve had so many requests regarding our Gemini product line. The new concept will surely become successful because its winning formula combines interaction of the games with great player comfort and engineering solutions resulting to increased operator serviceability. It’s built with the customer in mind, developed with a full range of peripheral devices including bill acceptor, coin acceptor, hopper, and of course player-tracking system.”

Matsui Managing Director Steve Williams had a near-philosophical take on the show, claiming it had quality if not quantity, which counts for more when it comes to orders. Steve summed up their show, saying: “There are not too many customers here, but the ones that have been, have been very good. “In Russia, we sell chips and cards, mainly through other major distributors, though we do sell some direct, especially in Moscow. We’re at the show to support our distributors and also to sell some product. The company is making RFID chips (among others) and has recently fulfilled an order for 400,000 chips to a Korean casino. They also met a recent order which may be the largest ever – 20,000,000 chips for FIFA and Coca Cola as giveaways in Japan for the World Cup.

Progressive Gaming had a large stand showing their portfolio of products, the centre of which was the World Series of Poker Progressive Texas Hold’Em game. This follows on from the recently inked deal between Progressive Gaming and Harrah’s Entertainment to brand the already highly successful “Texas Hold’Em Bonus Poker”. This provoked massive interest, with punters constantly playing at demos and clearly enjoying themselves. Karen Furneaux-Beckett, Marketing Manager Europe,said: “We are demonstrating the World Series of Poker Texas Hold’Em table game, which is proving to be extremely popular and initial customer interest has been very high. The World Series of Poker brand is helping to generate a lot of the excitement because the name is so well known and easily recognised.” “We’re also showing our full turnkey solution for casino management. We have all the intelligence casino management modules here, as well as our slot management system, our media management solution and more.” The World Series of Poker Texas Hold’Em game keeps player interest high as it is played in a similar way to the Poker room version of Texas Hold’Em, except that each of the players plays against the dealer rather than each other. The game is quick to generate interest because of the ease of play and the fact that there are more chances for a customer to win, playing directly against the dealer. The game includes a custom felt layout designed to fit a standard Blackjack table, offered with seven-spot layouts. The optional bonus side wager gives players the chance to win big when they are dealt great ‘hole cards’. There are two different Bonus Paytables to choose from, as well as a progressive option and paytable, and the casino vendor can set their own betting ranges and aggregate per round limits. To draw in players, there’s also an option of a custom edge-lit table sign and free-standing deluxe paytable display. Since the game was launched in 2004 and later approved, over 270 bonus games have been placed in the North American market. It has only recently been launched in the European market and is currently being trialed by Casino Cosmopol in Sweden, which is proving to be extremely successful, with fantastic customer response. The mathematical house advantage is 5.56% in the straight or better version and the bonus wager provides a house advantage at 8.91% in the 30 to 1 configuration. The typical game performance in Vegas is $8,000 - $11,000 drop per day, of which the hold is 23-27%. The amount won a day on the game is between $1900-2200. So it is easy to see why the game offers increased profits, along with all of the fun and none of the intimidation. You can read more about Progressive Gaming’s exciting WSOP product in an upcoming issue of Casino International, along with more of the company’s portfolio.

IGT also had a large stand, in keeping with the company’s international profile. I caught up with IGT’s General Manager for Russia John Gomes and he explained what the company had done to strengthen their products for the Russian market. John commented: “What we’re showing on our stand this year is six re-worked maths games. They’re games we brought out into the market in December, for last year’s EELEX, and we had our game design people with us and we made the decision to go and re-work the mathematics of those games and gear them more toward the Russian market. “This means basically taking the game and making it more volatile, a more aggressive playing style game - that’s the kind of game that’s been more successful here in the Russian market. “That’s where our challenge is, finding unique games for the specific market that the players are used to and that the players are expecting from new product. “These games will roll out into Europe and into other markets, into Asia, but the main focus for these games is the Russian market. “We’ve shown them to the operators, and they’re pleased with the work that we’ve done. Of course, only the players will determine how successful our work has been and the roll-out of the games.” IGT’s forward-looking attitude to the complex Eastern European market is likely to reap dividends in the long term. Rather than simply assuming products will work, they’re listening to clients who know their players and responding, a commendable approach.

Heber took a totally different attitude to the lack of foot traffic at the Crocus, explaining that it actually helped rather than hindered their business. They were in Moscow to speak to customers about their Pluto 7 product, which is not officially launched until January. Richard Placito explains what makes the product special: “The big news on Pluto 7 is it’s going to be the lowest-cost video control system we’ve ever produced, as we’re integrating the video capability onto the motherboard which gives customers the advantage of having video on the board from the beginning. It’s a low cost way for them to bring video to their gaming. It has a slot to take a second video channel; you can see more and more games here are running two video channels so it’s going to be not only the lowest-cost single channel video, it’s going to be the lowest-cost dual-channel video offering that we’ve produced, so it’s very well suited to this market. “In Eastern Europe there’s a lot of twin-screen video going on, and it’s very well-focussed for that. “There’s no other international gaming control manufacturer that does both embedded systems like Pluto, and operating base systems like Axis. Heber’s the only company in the world that offers both of those for the gaming industry. We feel we’re unique in that and certainly unique in offering the dual channel option on an embedded system like Pluto. “The triple-DES security we launched with AXIS has now been ported over onto Pluto 7, so it’s Smartcard enabled which not only gives the customers a really secure game-to-hardware lock so you can truly embed the game onto the hardware and make them inseparable, it also allows them to use Smartcards for other purposes. A lot of companies in Russia rent their games rather than sell them, so you can have a real-time clock embedded on a Smartcard that self-destructs in three months when their rental runs out so they have to buy a new Smartcard. Other customers might want different types of security for different games or different regions. They can now manage that with Smartcards, we’ve made it really easy for them to be flexible with those sort of solutions. We think that’s a first as well, to offer Smartcards in those sort of applications. “It also meets GLI-11 specifications and various other global standards as well. “While most people would want more foot traffic at a show like this, the show being quiet isn’t a tragedy for Heber because a lot of our customers have stands here, so they’ve got more time to spend with punters.”

Another company which enjoyed a successful World of Games was Cammegh, purveyors of “the world’s finest roulette wheels”. After a slow start to the show, things definitely picked up and, says Andrew Cammegh, the company left with a bulging order book. “The first day was very quiet. There was very little traffic generally through the show. The show really presented itself as an opportunity to work with your business-to-business partners, and maybe develop some associations to work with some third-party partners, and that was good because people had time to discuss those issues. In terms of traffic for end-user business though, it was very quiet,” Andrew said after the show. “As we know though, this was a consequence of the uncertainties concerning the law and what may or may not happen; I think the people with money to spend on equipment are just waiting until the law is clarified until they make any investment. Notwithstanding that, there was business there, and on the first day we had an order placed with Moscow’s Desperado casino. They recognised the value in the product, and of course in those conditions we were delighted to get that business on the first day.” The show was yet to peak for Cammegh though, as the second day bore even sweeter fruit. Andrew explains: “Day two, there was a few more people but it was still quiet. For us though, it was the high point because we got an order for eight Mercury wheels for a new casino opening in Moscow. If you’re going to judge a show simply on orders won rather than any of the fringe benefits like networking, the second day was an excellent day for us. We also got a firm enquiry for another eight wheels, so by the end of the day I was very happy with the show in terms of its raw business content – and with fewer people there, it was a good opportunity to develop new contacts and build relationships.”

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