Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming JUly 2015 8 Time is of the essence to all manufacturers. It’s costly if things aren’t turned around quickly enough. Our focus is to make sure we complete our testing thoroughly, accurately and quickly so that our supplier customers can get their products to the market at the right time, and no one loses out. In Macau especially, it seems regulations are changing constantly. What do you do to try to keep up with that? For nearly nine years, GLI has had a permanent lab in Macau, staffed primarily with local residents. Our staff frequently visit with the DICJ [Macau’s gaming regulator]. They’re canvassing the operations floors of the casinos. They’re trying to keep abreast of all the changes that are happening. And each property has its own uniqueness, and it’s to try and interpret that back and talk to the DICJ at the same time. You’ve got to have people on the ground, you’ve got to have local commitment. We are committed to the jurisdictions we deal in, and nine times out of ten we have staff on the ground. One of the big current issues in Macau is the need to implement video capture on EGMs. That is another dynamic one has to contend with and we have manufacturers that have already proposed a solution to the video capture and it is a product that is running on certain casino floors already, and I have seen the product and we have other manufacturers who have seen that product. It’s a device that is installed separate to the gaming machine and does not have to be physically put into the game. What about markets like Cambodia or Vietnam that are perhaps considered fairly lax in terms of regulation? They have come to understand the benefits that come with proper regulation, and they are seeking to become regulated in some way. Many of these jurisdictions want to tap into the Chinese market, where players may be looking for an alternative to Macau. Asia is a very varied region in terms of regulation in each jurisdiction. So you just need to keep on top of everything, don’t you? Well, we do. And we just had another gentlemen join us by the name of Philip Harrison. He’s a senior regulatory QA and compliance manager and his task is to travel Asia extensively and just keep in touch with whatever’s going on. And James Maida, president and CEO of GLI, has given full authority for GLI to spend that money on behalf of the industry. It’s money that we don’t recoup back from anyone. It is an expense, but we have to commit to it. Flying in and out, day in and day out. Do you also try to advise regulators in some capacity? While we consult and advise, ultimately we sit totally impartially in the regulation. We have to abide by what the regulators want, and ultimately they are who we represent. Tech Talk Verify+ by Kobetron is a handy portable device that replaces GLI Verify, allowing operators to verify the signature of electronic gaming machines on the casino floor.