Casino Enterprise Management

I thought that by kindergarten, I had cultivated all the excuses I needed to avoid getting in trouble. Yes, I did say to my mom on more than one occasion, with innocent Bambi eyes and a halo floating above my head, “It wasn’t me. He did it,” pointing at my little brother. The only difference between age 5 and age 40 was that we were all taller and didn’t get a naptime in the afternoon.

Intellectual property, including patents, trademarks and copyrights, plays an important role in the casino industry. Most casinos own trademarks, such as the names of the casinos and the venues located in the casinos, players’ club names and taglines. Most casinos own works protected by copyright, including their websites, advertising and architecture.

In the 1979 Russian film Stalker, three men make a long and hazardous journey to reach a depopulated wilderness called “The Zone” in search of an epiphany. Thirty years later, Russians who seek jackpots of a more tangible nature will have to place any future bets in a quartet of “zones.” Trouble is, right now you won’t find any casinos there, just what one reporter described as “a couple of bricks and a cow.”

Read that title again, because it’s what you’ll be reminded of if you attend G2E this year. There will be hundreds and hundreds of exhibitors displaying new products and technologies that you won’t be able to see anyplace else. The education will be exactly what you need, because we’ve listened to your feedback and responded with new offerings.

You may have asked why Casino Enterprise Management’s front cover is a photo of four generations of a farming family. It’s obvious to me, and it should be to you too. This month’s feature story takes a look at networked gaming as it applies to the players. This highly relevant perspective is sometimes not our first consideration as we wind down the road to server-based bliss, but it should be.

Laid back and unassuming, you might never guess Jamie Odell holds the reigns at one of gaming’s most progressive companies, Aristocrat Leisure Limited. Until he starts talking about that company in a rich Australian accent, at which point his passion for and commitment to it are nothing short of obvious. He may be one of the most modest and easygoing executives to ever lead Aristocrat.

With mixed stock performances for major gaming suppliers during the month of August, the AGEM Index increased 5 percent over the previous month, posting a value of 111.56, or an increase of 5.27 points. On a year-over-year basis, the AGEM Index is up 4.1 percent, recording its second consecutive monthly increase, the first time since March 2008.

For the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (NHBP) tribe, fire has long been a dominant factor. After all, the tribe’s name is traditionally the “keepers of the fire.” Now the FireKeepers Casino, located off of I-94 in Battle Creek, Mich., is forging a new tradition on what was historically used as farmland by the tribe. The FireKeepers Casino features Las Vegas-style gaming.

What's new in Class II slots? Read here to find out. Featuring Expedition Outback from Cadillac Jack, Fish In a Barrel™ Bingo from IGT, Pirate’s Luck from Multimedia Games, Treasures of Atlantis from Nova Gaming and Sumo 7s from VGT.

Think hotdogs, beer and baseball on a Saturday afternoon. Iron, carbon and zinc forged into corrosion-resistant steel. Larry, Moe and Curly. Neapolitan ice cream. The Three Musketeers. If the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and all good things come in threes, so they say, then the GTECH/SPIELO/ATRONIC merger is nothing short of a trifecta/hat trick/triple threat in the global gaming marketplace.