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GTECH

GTECH S.p.A. is a leading commercial operator and provider of technology in the regulated worldwide gaming markets, delivering best-in-class products and services with a commitment to the highest levels of integrity, responsibility and shareholder value creation.

The company is listed on the FTSE MIB at the Milan Stock Exchange under the trading symbol “GTK” and is majority-owned by De Agostini S.p.A. In 2013, GTECH generated approximately $4.3 billion in revenues and employed more than 8,600 individuals in 60 countries.

GTECH provides a comprehensive suite of gaming products, including machine gaming, systems, interactive, sports betting and lotteries. It designs, manufactures and distributes top-performing games, cabinets, central systems and associated software to legal gaming markets around the world through its Spielo product brand.

The Spielo brand represents a complete range of end-to-end gaming products for diverse gaming segments, including multiple tribal markets, distributed government-sponsored markets, commercial casino markets and amusement-with-prize markets.

In addition, GTECH offers a complete portfolio of award-winning interactive products, systems and services, all designed to work individually or together. It provides an open architecture, allowing integration of third-party systems to easily create a successful online business tailored to customer needs. GTECH’s market-leading interactive products include a full range of games for poker, casino, bingo, sports betting and lottery markets. GTECH has a professional team of interactive experts located worldwide to manage all call-center, player marketing, fraud and protection, responsible gaming and CRM activity for customers.

On June 3, 2013, SPIELO International’s parent company, Lottomatica Group, changed its name to GTECH S.p.A. As part of this change, the company’s formerly separate business units, including Spielo International, were brought together under the GTECH corporate brand name to become a unified, customer-facing structure.

With this realignment, the company has taken the final steps to effectively deliver comprehensive gaming solutions that meet customers’ evolving requirements.

For more information, visit www.gtech.com.

Global Cash Access

Every day, Global Cash Access creates new innovations and concepts that lead to enhanced customer service and more robust profitability for clients. This is the core value that provides the foundation for GCA’s boldest thinking.

The company focuses on redefining the possibilities of cash access products and related services throughout the gaming industry—both in the U.S. and abroad. The technologies GCA creates are the standard bearers for the entire industry, and the company continues to blaze new trails in terms of what cash access can do for casinos and their customers.
   
More than 1,100 gaming establishments worldwide come to GCA for ideas and innovation. All told, GCA processed more than 90 million transactions and dispensed more than $19 billion in cash annually. A global presence enables GCA to work side-by-side with clients worldwide—and that means real customer service delivered in real time.
   
GCA is poised to equip a casino with future-forward devices and solutions that generate more profitability on the floor. Talk to GCA, and see how it makes every transaction count.

CXC Lite
GCA is introducing the Casino Xchange Lite to the robust lineup of Xchange products, including Casino Xchange 4.0, Jackpot Xchange and Xchange Explorer Plus.  
   
CXC Lite is specifically designed for casino, route and lottery operators who require an affordable multi-function self-service redemption kiosk with less capacity and a smaller footprint of 2.2 feet by 2.2 feet. GCA provides this solution without sacrificing quality, dependability, security and compliance to meet critical cash access needs across the casino floor.
   
CXC Lite provides critical multi-functional services such as bill breaking, ticket and multi-ticket redemption, ATM, point-of-sale debit and credit card cash advance as well as GCA’s patented 3-in-1 rollover technology. CXC Lite provides efficiency through innovation with a hopperless configuration as well as Quik Ticket (ticket dispense on debit) capability.
   
For more information, contact Elaine Ellefsen, vice president, marketing, at 800-833-7110, eellefsen@gcamail.com or visit www.gcainc.com.

Gaming Partners International

Gaming Partners International manufactures and supplies a wide range of table game products and equipment to licensed casinos worldwide. Under the brand names of Paulson, Bourgogne et Grasset and Bud Jones, GPI provides high-quality casino currency such as chips, plaques and jetons, as well as gaming furniture, layouts, cards and accessories. GPI also is a leading provider of RFID currency and products and table game solutions.

GPI has one of the most extensive suites of gaming currency and currency security features available in the industry. From American-style Paulson, Bud Jones and B&G chip lines, to B&G European-style plaques and jetons, GPI provides customers with an extensive array of options that help them meet their property’s specific requirements.
   
GPI invests resources into continually developing and innovating new products that offer new solutions to customers’ needs and changing requirements.
   
One of GPI’s newest products, the Paulson Denomination mold, features the chip’s denomination stamped into the outer ring of the mold, making the chip much more difficult to counterfeit. Another new currency product is the B&G J3 jeton, a revolutionary currency product that combines features from American-style chips and European-style plaques and jetons.
   
The J3 is available in numerous edge spot designs and patterns with a multitude of security features. Two of the newest security features are 4C-UV and EM Detection. 4C-UV incorporates a four-color image or pattern onto a chip’s decal and can be easily authenticated at the table with a standard UV light. EM Detection deters internal theft by sounding an alarm whenever unauthorized attempts are made to remove currency from the property.   
 
GPI also manufactures a full range of gaming furniture including gaming tables and pit podiums. Two newer furniture offerings are two quick-change table top options that make switching layouts on tables a quicker, simpler process, thus reducing game downtime lost to more traditional methods of changing table layouts.  
   
For more information on any GPI products or on the full suite of table game products and accessories, contact a local GPI sales representative or visit www.gpigaming.com.

Gaming Laboratories International

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2014, Gaming Laboratories International, the world’s leading gaming testing laboratory and technical consultancy, has partnered with tribes across North America for the past 25 years to provide testing, certification and consulting services to their gaming operations.
   
GLI has been a longtime supporter and advocate of tribal gaming, and is a proud associate member of NIGA. GLI is the recognized leader in Class II and Class III testing, ISS audits, IT and internet security assessments and on-site casino floor verification and inspection.
   
GLI tests, inspects and certifies an incredible range of gaming devices and systems, for virtually every jurisdiction in the world. GLI has more than 800 employees worldwide, with specialized teams formed to provide personalized service. Beyond the casino floor, GLI is the leader in legal iGaming testing and certification. Since iGaming’s inception nearly 20 years ago, GLI has been leading the way, testing and certifying products for legal iGaming jurisdictions and for new legal iGaming markets around the world.
   
GLI also consults on technical standards in jurisdictions across the globe in both emerging and existing markets. GLI is the only global organization of its kind to hold U.S. and international accreditations for compliance with ISO/IEC 17025, 17020 and Guide 65 standards for technical competence in the gaming industry.
   
Also, GLI has global capabilities in professional services, field services and lottery consulting and testing. GLI offers an extensive portfolio of professional services, including project management, governance risk and compliance, technical services, and training through the company’s GLI University program.
   
GLI’s Professional Services division offers four main channels of world-class services:

• Project management, including project health checks and recovery;

• Governance risk and compliance services, such as World Lottery Association audits, ISO audits, network risk assessments and internal audit and enterprise risk management services;

• GLI University training modules, including ISO standards, WLA standards and responsible gaming; and,

• Technical services, such as functional product testing, source code audits and load and performance testing.
   
GLI’s field services help operators protect themselves in today’s highly connected and interconnected gaming world.
   
GLI has been serving lotteries since 1989, and serves more than 65 lotteries globally.
   
GLI is very proud of the relationships it has developed with tribal leaders and regulators across North America, and honored with the trust that they place in GLI every day.

For more information, visit www.gaminglabs.com.

Cuningham Group Architecture

Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. exists to create beautiful places for a balanced world. Cuningham Group’s “Beautiful Places, Balanced World” approach to the business and practice of architecture is one it has nurtured for more than four decades.
   
Founded in 1968, the multi-disciplinary design firm provides architecture, interior design, urban design and planning services for a diverse mix of client and project types, with significant focus over the last 20-plus years on gaming and entertainment. Bolstered by a staff of 275 and offices in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Biloxi, Denver, San Diego, Phoenix, Seoul and Beijing, Cuningham Group has expanded services and markets to meet a growing demand from some of entertainment’s largest and most respected clients.
   
The firm’s portfolio—which covers the spectrum from small and delicate spaces to complex and expansive—includes casinos, hotels, theaters, convention centers, restaurants, retail venues, master plans and support facilities for gaming and resort destinations throughout the U.S. and around the world.
    
Cuningham Group’s top priority is design excellence through a client-centered, collaborative approach. Its “Every Building Tells a Story” philosophy toward gaming design emphasizes one-of-a-kind solutions—creating experiences and a sense of place by telling stories through a modern interpretation of metaphors that reflect the vision of the client and the character of each property and site. The process benefits clients by providing unique environments that differentiate them from competition.
    
Providing design services to premier properties and leaders in the leisure and entertainment industries had led Cuningham Group to be consistently ranked among top firms, and the company’s design work has been honored with more than 140 industry and market awards. Notably, the firm was ranked among the Top 10 Hotel Design firms in Building Design & Construction magazine’s Giants 300 Report for 2013.
   
Recent projects include the $205 million Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana, which was the recipient of the 2013 Casino Design Award for “Best Architectural Design Over $100 Million.” Opening in 2014 is the new 21-story, 381-room hotel tower for Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And the firm is currently designing the new Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in North Carolina. The project follows on the heels of the highly successful and award-winning $650 million expansion and renovation of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.
   
For more information, visit www.cuningham.com.

Bally Technologies

As Bally enters 2014 as a larger and stronger company, its partnership with tribal gaming operators continues. After combining with SHFL entertainment in late 2013, Bally now offers an even broader product portfolio to help Native American casinos connect with their players and attract new ones. Following are the latest solutions Bally offers for tribal gaming operators.

TITANIC, Copperfield and ZZ Top Video Slots
“Titanic” delivers a fully interactive and cinematic experience centered on the iconic star-crossed lovers from James Cameron’s Titanic, one of the highest-grossing films in history. Featuring scenes and music from the blockbuster phenomenon, Titanic integrates many of Bally’s proven play mechanics, two base-game mystery features and three progressive jackpots including one large top award. The main attraction U-Spin bonus wheel, resembling a ship’s helm, awards credits as well as one guaranteed free-games feature.
   
The world’s greatest illusionist delivers an extraordinary experience in “The Magic of David Copperfield.” Magical bonuses are unleashed through the “Death Saw,” which awards credits, the progressive jackpot, Flying Free Games or Levitation Free Games showing video of illusions from Copperfield’s legendary performances.
   
Bally continues to bring more hit songs to casino floors in “ZZ Top Live from Texas.” The famous American blues-rock trio delivers a host of bonuses, play mechanics and progressives, along with some of the band’s greatest hits.

New Product Offers Flexibility to Players
Bally’s “Take ‘n Play” is a remarkable new product that enables players to take their game “on the go” for the first time ever, by playing a physical slot machine on the convenience of a tablet. Take ‘n Play is the industry’s first technology that allows the same slot machine game to be played in more than one location by streaming the game content directly from the slot machine to a tablet.  

Bally Systems
Bally’s iVIEW Display Manager picture-in-picture technology and Elite Bonusing Suite have powered five world-record-setting events using Virtual Racing, Virtual Racing NASCAR and DM Tournaments. Now, DM Tournaments includes a pioneering new feature called Bonus Tournaments, the latest addition to Bally’s EBS portfolio. Bonus Tournaments enables casinos to run floor-wide tournaments in which both the base game and the tournament game can be played at the same time, ensuring that there is no interruption in player-wagering activity.
    
For more information, contact Laura Olson-Reyes, senior director of corporate marketing and communications, at 702-532-7742, lolson-reyes@ballytech.com or visit www.ballytech.com.

Aruze Gaming America, Inc.

Aruze Gaming America, Inc. is one of the fastest-growing suppliers in the gaming industry, and one of the top providers of unique video and stepper slots, communal gaming products and multi-terminal stations.
   
Aruze not only has grown enormously in the United States, but also continues to expand its European distribution network. In an effort to provide superior customer service, Aruze has opened offices and facilities throughout North America, Australia, South Africa, Macau, Japan and the Philippines.
   
At NIGA 2014 in San Diego, Aruze will display its growing library of successful stepper and video titles, focusing on new titles that build on the company’s record of success and support its “Performance Matters” theme.
   
Once again, the Ultra Stack game series will lead the G-Series video products with themes designed to add to the hottest video game series in the industry. New Ultra Stack titles will include Ultra Stack Gorilla, Ultra Stack Lucky Fish and Ultra Stack Rising Dragon. Other new G-Series games to be showcased will be Sunset Lion and Jungle Tiger, both 50-line games offering free games and stacked wild symbols.
   
Aruze also will introduce the latest stepper titles to be added to its Innovator library of games. All Innovator models feature Radiant Reels, a revolutionary spin on stepper technology, designed with large reels, dynamically illuminated multi-colored LED lights and variable spin speeds that combine to build player anticipation for winning combinations.
   
The Innovator Deluxe platform, with eye-catching top boxes, includes Ultimate Diamond, Platinum Jackpot and Mystical Egypt. The Innovator series of five-reel games offers its hottest-performing titles, including Howling Wolf and The Great Inca, and welcomes several new themes such as Laser Seven, Cyber Seven and Cherry Chance Jewel Seven.  
   
For more information, visit www.aruzegaming.com.

Ainsworth Game Technology

Ainsworth Game Technology is a leading-edge designer of innovative gaming machines and game software. Ainsworth offers a wide range of gaming products, including entertaining stand-alone progressives and linked games through its sales offices and distributors in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
   
Ainsworth Game Technology Limited was founded in 1995 by Len Ainsworth, who made a commitment to become the leading manufacturer and supplier of gaming machines, software and related equipment. Today, Ainsworth is a premier manufacturer of global gaming products, with more than 200 years of combined gaming experience. Ainsworth Game Technology is committed to a culture of quality, innovation and excellence.

Hardware
Ainsworth provides enhanced technology options featuring the A560 family of cabinets, peripherals and supporting hardware that meet and exceed the continued technology demand of the industry, and also provides hardware to support its market-leading premium game designs.
   
In 2014, Ainsworth will showcase its latest cabinets: the A560SBT and A560SL. The A560SBT is sure to impress with its wide-screen impact and small-footprint versatility, while the A560SL offers a striking 32-inch display and 19-inch LCD top screen complete with dynamic attract lighting. Both of these new cabinet offerings have been engineered to provide a spectacular presentation on any gaming floor.

QX32 Jackpot Controller
Ainsworth provides the ultimate in jackpot solutions with an endless range of options through the QX32, an intelligent controller that sets itself apart from the competition. Not only does it manage multiple jackpot banks, the QX32 also has the ability to simultaneously manage both symbol and mystery jackpot pools. In addition, this intelligent controller is very cost-effective and utilizes development-efficient hardware that removes dependence on third-party developers, and supports Ainsworth’s aggressive global-link progressive strategy.

Leading Global Game Portfolio
Ainsworth provides a wide range of game titles that are developed using a base of new and proven product brands, incorporating stand-alone and link progressives, and including premium products supported with market-leading game options and features.
   
For more information, visit www.ainsworth.com.au or call 702-778-9000.

ACRES 4.0

Are you pleased with your casino’s future prospects?
   
If not, try this simple exercise: Go into your casino and take out your phone. You’ve just surrounded yourself with the past, while the future rests in your hand.
   
That future uses relationship marketing, a business method inviting consumers to use a product or service at no cost, forever. Casinos use transactional marketing: Consumers visit your casino, somehow select a game from the ocean of empty machines on your floor, and wager their own money in the hopes of winning.
   
You identify those few that spend significant sums and work to create loyalty relationships with them. The rest are purged from your database. A lot of potential customers are lost, and therefore fewer than 10 percent of all adults gamble in any casino more than twice a year.
   
To earn more customers, especially younger ones, you must turn to relationship marketing, and that’s where Acres 4.0 can help. You see, relationship marketing is more than just inviting people to participate in a free opportunity. It is about great customer service, targeted communication and enjoyable experiences. And relationship marketing works well with your existing customers, too.
   
Consider Kai, Acres 4.0’s new customer service solution. Through easy-to-use mobile devices, Kai connects your casino employees to players with needs. You’ll see immediate labor savings, but Kai’s real power is happier customers because happy customers stay longer in a relationship, return more frequently and even bring friends that you can establish new relationships with.
   
Combine Kai with Acres 4.0’s powerful text-based games, which let you reach existing and potential players directly and immediately with personalized messages and controlled costs, and you’ve started to shape that future on and off your casino floor.
   
We’ve been pioneering casino technologies for more than 40 years—from the invention of player tracking to progressive jackpots to loyalty bonusing, virtually every casino on earth uses our concepts. So if you aren’t pleased with your future prospects, give us a call and let’s build the future together.
   
For more information, visit www.acresbonusing.com.

Social Games in Indian Country

The big buzz in the gaming industry these days is the addition of “social games” to a casino’s marketing arsenal. You know, the “Candy Crush” or free-play kinds of games that you can play on Facebook at no cost (or for a minimal purchase of “chips”). Wins in these games can be parlayed into free buffets, discounted hotel rooms or entertainment tickets, while giving the casinos free publicity and the ability to reach their customers online at any time.
   
For tribal gaming, however, “social games” have a much different meaning. Social games are defined by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act as Class I gaming—traditional games that have been played for generations among tribes. Class I games are not subject to any regulatory oversight, either from a tribal gaming commission, the state or the federal government, as opposed to Class II and Class III gaming, both which fall under some form of governmental regulatory review.
   
But what exactly are Class I games? In his excellent study of traditional Indian gaming in Southern California, San Diego State American Indian Studies Professor Richard L. Carrico says the extent of these games in the history of Native America is not clear.
   
“Games of skill, physicality, chance and daring permeated traditional American Indian culture and society,” writes Carrico. “Even in those few societies where leisure time may have been rare, gaming and gambling were important and integral elements of culture. Games often were associated with rituals, rites and seasonal change. Although not always clearly understood or accurately documented in the early historic records and anthropological research, for instance, some games labeled as being based on chance are often games of skill. The vast variety of games and gaming were noted and recorded.”
    
Among the Eastern Indians, there are clear and direct links to the game of lacrosse, which is now played by major universities across the country (there is even a professional lacrosse league in the U.S.). The rules for lacrosse were apparently made up on the spot with competing tribes agreeing on the size of the field (there was often no “out of bounds”), the spacing between the goals (sometimes as much as several miles), and the timing of the contest (often lasting a day or two).
    
Back in Southern California, a less physical game, but one that required mental strength, was peon, a guessing game where one side would hold game pieces in their hands and the other side was required to guess. The game included songs and chants, as well as, according to Carrico, “intense wagering.”
    
So the introduction of legal gambling in Indian Country was not something foreign; it springs from the very birth of time, according to Carrico.
    
“Many tribes believe that betting or gambling was either brought to them by the First People, or given to the First People at an early time by a spirit or great power; gaming motifs recur in several important stories and myths.”