Betting In Australia

by Renee Israel

OpenBet, the leading UK online betting software supplier, has shown once more why it is considered a leader in its field, after scooping a coveted industry award for the third year running.

OpenBet was named Sports Betting Supplier of the Year at the eGR Business to Business awards in Wembley, London last week, having also taken the title in the past two years as well.

This is the third year that the eGR Awards are being held, which recognise the best software and service providers in the global online gaming industry.

However, OpenBet was not only nominated in the Sports Betting Supplier of the Year category. the group was also nominated in four other categories, namely Innovation in RNG Casino Software, Innovation in Sports Betting Software, RNG Supplier of the Year and Slot Provider of the Year.

The group made remarkable strides in 2011, adding numerous new customers to its growing portfolio of nearly 200 customers in the online gaming and retail betting industry. One of the latest additions is Sports Bet, Australia’s top online betting site, which launched its sports book last year and is using Open Bet’s software to woo players.

In October last year, Open Bet signed a multi-year agreement with Gala Coral to supply the group with a number of cutting edge sports book features.

Chief Executive Officer of OpenBet, David Loveday said after his group won the eGR Awards in London: "this award is testament to the hard work of all at OpenBet and the huge strides that the company is making. Our success is driven by constant innovation and providing a flexible and ‘can do’ attitude to working with our customers, thereby providing them with bespoke systems and the latest content."

OpenBet has been providing its products to top gaming operators since 1996 and powers a large share of the world’s online bets.

The betting firm’s portfolio of around 1,200 in-house and partner games continues to grow on a weekly basis and is considered the primary online casino provider and platform for many national lotteries around the globe.

Some of the group’s customers and partners include William Hill, Paddy Power, Sky Bet, Ladbrokes, Centrebet, Betfair and Blue Square Betting.

OpenBet Sports Betting Supplier Of The Year

Dinamo Bucuresti v Astra Ploiesti Football : Romania : Liga 1 Venue: “Dinamo”, Bucuresti Sunday 20th may

The d’Alembert system is used in even money bets, and based on adding or subtracting the basic betting unit from the last bet that was placed. Like other even-money systems, it’s only effective for the short run.

Unlike the Martingale or Fibonacci betting system where the bets increase significantly and rapidly, this system has a slower pace. Therefore, the danger of going over the maximum table limit is much lower, and the player can start with a higher betting unit.

In the d’Alembert system, the fundamental idea is that even bets (like the Roulette’s red/black or Craps pass/don’t pass) will even each other out on the long run. Meaning that for every Red number, a Black number will come up in the Roulette, so when a player wins he needs to prepare for a loss, and vice versa. The system is also known as the Cancellation system.

How the system Works1) a player who uses the d’Alembert system starts with a basic betting unit (ex. $1) and sticks to one bet (ex. Roulette’s Red).

2) when the player loses he goes up one unit (from $1 to $2). when the player wins he decreases it back one unit.

There is a reverse and more aggressive version of the system, called the Contra d’Alembert, where the player increases after a win and decreases after a loss, to make it run faster but at a higher risk.

More about D’Alembert- The underlying idea of the system – that even bets will tend to ‘even out’ – is based on the principle that nature seeks equilibrium, so opposite events of equal probability will happen for the same number of times.- The system is based on d’Alembert’s principle, discovered by Jean le Rond d’Alembert, an 18th century French physicist and mathematician.- The principle is also used in mechanics and engineering dynamics.

D’Alembert Betting System

Austrian Bernd Wiesberger wielded a hotputter to record a second successive seven-under-par 65 to surgeclear of the field and close in on a maiden European Tourvictory at the Ballantine’s Championship on Saturday.

The 26-year-old matched his own course record to reach14-under par after three rounds at the Blackstone Golf Club inSeoul, opening up a five-shot lead over 2010 champion MarcusFraser.

Wiesberger maintained his overnight one-stroke lead with a15 footer for birdie at the fourth hole and a five-foot putt atthe sixth before racing ahead with a brilliant inward 31.

He saved par from 15 feet at the 13th to prevent a firstdropped shot in 36 holes and followed it with a brilliantdownhill 20 footer for birdie at the 14th.

“I think that’s what we call a great day at the office,”Wiesberger, twice runner-up on the European Tour last year, toldreporters.

“It was fun out there. it was nice conditions again likeyesterday, and a really nice set-up for the course. I enjoyedmyself out there, made a lot of putts and that was the key toanother perfect day.

“It feels like I’m getting into position more often, andplayed well when I was in those positions in the last half ofthe year last year. it was a good preparation the last two yearsand I hope it pays off tomorrow,” he added.

Playing partner Fraser carded a 69 but struggled on thegreens.

“I hit putts where I was wanting to hit them, but they justweren’t taking the break,” said the Australian, who believesWiesberger has the title in the bag.

“Bernd is playing great… so much game and definitely astar of The European Tour to come. He’s obviously a great playernow but he’s got big things in front of him, that’s for sure.

“If I was a betting man, I would put the house on him. He’sjust played so well and looks very comfortable,” he said.

Chile’s Felipe Aguilar (68) and Briton Oliver Fisher (67)share third place on eight under while Ryder Cup veterans MiguelAngel Jimenez and Paul McGinley sit a further shot behind.

Golf-Wiesberger set to claim maiden European Tour title

Whether you’re following your favorite NBA team or betting on college basketball, betting on basketball can be pretty simple if you have the right basketball betting strategies in place. With a few effective basketball betting strategies put into place, you would be able to determine which team in any NBA basketball game will win and be able to back up your conclusion with that team’s previous stats for the season, their strongest players, injured players, referee bias, and whether or not that games was played at home or on the road.

So, you’d probably have a pretty high chance of winning your bets when your basketball betting strategies take into account all that was just discussed. However, the most professional sports bettors soar above and beyond just being good at placing bets. in order to achieve professional betting status gain the chance to win practically 97 t0 100% of your bets, there’s a little extra involved in basketball betting strategies that you need to consider.

Here are a few things to really focus on in basketball betting:

Number of Wins for Each Team

You need to stay on top of how many wins each is making in the current season as well as the previous season. the reason for this is that gives a good indicator of how effective the team’s performance is as a whole and can be used to make good comparisons to other teams’ performances. You should also consider taking a look at the win rates of opposing teams, particularly the teams that other teams have defeated. if a certain team is defeating the undefeated team, that can say a lot about their current skills and should be made a top priority decision-maker in your basketball betting strategies.

Individual Players’ Performance

Of course, it’s important to know your players. take note of the strongest players of the team and stay updated on any unusual activity or chances in performance. make sure you know who has suffered an injury, who is experiencing a surge in performance, and who may be playing considerably better than their opposing number. You’re essentially analyzing how well the teams match up for optimal basketball betting strategies.

Don’t Bet on every Game

Although it can seem tempting at times, it’s unwise to bet on every single game. This is key to achieving a high win rate and soaring toward professional bettor status. Don’t undo your basketball betting strategies by spending all your money on high risk bets or wasting your time on irrelevant bets where you may collect a few bucks but risk losing hundreds of dollars.

Stay away From Arbitrage Basketball Bets

Arbitrage betting on basketball involves betting on both teams with different bookmarks that have opposing odds so you always experience a win. Don’t waste your time looking for them since they don’t come around often. It can take hours and hours of your time scouring the internet searching for them when you should be using your time and basketball betting strategies more wisely.

Basketball Betting Strategies For Successful Win Rates

YOUNG men feel bombarded and targeted yet still drawn in by the level of sports betting advertising they are seeing.

At a youth forum on responsible gambling in Melbourne today, about 70 year 11 and year 12 students heard about the risks of sports betting and the strategies that betting companies use to promote it.

Monash University consumer health researcher Samantha Thomas said in 2011 more than 130,000 sports betting advertisements ran on Australian free to air television, many during sporting broadcasts and more than half in ‘G’ and "PG’ rated timeslots.

She also calculated that at an AFL match venue, simultaneous advertising for sports betting added up to more than five hours of advertising during a three hour game.

She said much of it was aimed at young male sports fans, with a 2011 study she conducted finding this group felt targeted.

"what we heard from the young men was that they felt targeted and bombarded by advertising," Dr Thomas said.

However, despite this, the men still felt drawn in by the advertising and said it normalised sports betting for them and their friends.

They said often they talked to their friends more about the odds on games, rather than about favourite players.

The rise of technology also meant that young people were potentially walking around with constant access to online gambling platforms "in their pockets" on smartphones and computers.

Responsible Gambling Advocacy Centre chief executive officer Penny Wilson said her organisation was hearing about more young people gambling online illegally.

"It’s become a bit of a rite of passage for people to play sportsbet through their older siblings or through their parents even and some parents don’t view this as a problem," Ms Wilson said.

Another concern was young people being over-exposed to the "huge" level of sports betting advertising in Australia and beginning to gamble at age 18 without any critical understanding of the risks of losses.

"They actually haven’t got that concept of risk and chance straight in their minds and perhaps it might not be until their mid-20s that people are able to understand that clearly."

Young men 'bombarded' by sports betting

One of the British Turf’s most gratifying rituals is to observe the runners strolling around the parade ring before its greatest race. this time round, however, it may prove so revealing that the actual running of the Investec Derby could itself obtain a somewhat ceremonial quality. for if the herd leader is usually identified at the Epsom winning post, some subtle obeisance might be discernible even before the colts are saddled a fortnight tomorrow.

For the success of Bonfire in the final Derby trial here at York yesterday means that the first two in the betting will renew a forgotten rivalry of their youngest days. As a foal, Bonfire shared a paddock with the colt subsequently named Camelot, who is odds-on with many bookmakers after winning the 2,000 Guineas. at Epsom, then, they will see each other for the first time since being parted at the yearling sales – and it may not be too fanciful to seek mute evidence not only of recognition, but also of some acknowledged superiority.

According to John Warren, who along with his sister manages Highclere Stud, for now the betting reflects the two colts’ respective status in maturity. "Physically, Camelot was always ahead by two or three months," he said. "Bonfire came later – but he became a very imposing horse as well."

As a result, he tried to organise syndicates to buy both at the sales. And while the home-bred Camelot was ultimately exported to Ballydoyle, after the bidding soared to 525,000 guineas, Warren was able to secure Bonfire, consigned on behalf of his breeders, for one of the Highclere Thoroughbreds syndicates run by his brother-in-law, Harry Herbert. the 90,000-guinea colt was sent into training with Andrew Balding at Kingsclere, and made such a good impression in two juvenile starts that he arrived for the Betfred Dante Stakes with an unnerving billing. "We’re rather cocooned away from everywhere else at Kingsclere," his relieved trainer said afterwards. "But we still get the papers."

Camelot’s stable was represented by Ernest Hemingway, and Joseph O’Brien made immediate use of his long stride, setting a strong pace. though Bonfire unmistakably has his quirks, he consented to settle at the head of the chasing pack and closed smoothly at the top of the straight. taking over two furlongs out, he was followed through by Fencing as Ernest Hemingway dropped out, reportedly losing his action. With Mandaean making an awful start for his new stable, it was instead Ektihaam who emerged as the big challenger. Jimmy Fortune only had to administer a couple of slaps, however, to keep Bonfire on top by three-quarters of a length, dragging Ektihaam four clear of Fencing. Coral promptly halved his Derby odds to 5-1, but Ladbrokes offer 8-1 and instead trimmed Camelot to 8-11 from 4-5.

Bonfire evinced his wilful nature in pulling up, as well, in conformity with his home reputation. "But that’s just greenness, as much as anything," Balding said. "We’ve read about him being some sort of ogre, but he’s not. It’s just that he’s a pretty fresh horse, when he’s well, and can be a bit of a handful. But we’ve got a great team at home and they make it look easy."

The riders of both protagonists felt that the fuel gauge had approached the red, respectively in terms of fitness and stamina. Ektihaam had already had a race this season, and Roger Varian is duly inclined to keep to 10 furlongs; but it is worth noting that Warren did not sound wholly convinced that Bonfire, from the first crop of Manduro, will see out the extra distance at Epsom. "There is a lot of speed in the female family," he said. "In fact there’s hardly a horse on the page that has won a race of any consequence over a mile-and-a-half. We had been wondering about the Prix du Jockey Club, but after this you can’t not go to the Derby, can you? the sire-line is very stamina oriented, and the beauty of Epsom is that you do need to travel, you need that energy and kick."

Remarkably, the same Highclere syndicate – comprising 20 members, investing £14,000 apiece – also owns Vow, one of the leading fancies for the Investec Oaks.

One way or another, it seems that destiny summons them to Epsom. to crown it all, the paddock Bonfire shared with Camelot at Highclere was named after Blenheim, a colt bred there by Herbert’s grandfather. He won the Derby in 1930. they may be innocent of that legacy, but a more tangible memory could yet awaken them to its challenge.

Turf account

Chris McGrath’s Nap

Daneking (4.45 York) Stable in tremendous form and this one looks handicapped to build on a promising reappearance, when excusably weakening in awful ground.

Next best

Lyric Street (2.0 York) Failed to progress as expected for this kind of test last year but remains entitled to a fresh start, returning as a gelding for a new trainer.

One to watch

Eltheeb (David O’Meara) Looked to be another improver for his new trainer, travelling well before flattening out into third on his reappearance at Thirsk last weekend.

Where the money’s going

The Fugue is 100-30 from 7-2 with William Hill for the Investec Oaks.

Bonfire to face old flame in Derby

Michael had his first bet at the age of 13. it was easy – he’d gone to the trots with his parents and his mate’s mum was the TAB agent.

Nobody queried what a 13 year-old was doing putting on a bet.

For young Michael, gambling was just something to fill in the time.

Years later Michael was caught in the grips of an addiction which left him destitute and contemplating ending his life.

Michael was diagnosed with mental health issues at the age of 19 and he believes episodes of mental illness fuelled his desire to gamble.

“I lost $10,000 – it was money that I had stolen from my family,” he told ABC Gippsland’s Mornings program.

“I had a brother in jail and I was sent to bail him out but they put his bail up from $10,000 to $20,000 so I came up with the interesting idea that I could make the other $10,000 (from betting) and of course that didn’t work at all.

“It’s like an alcoholic or a drug addiction.”

Latrobe Community Health Service counsellor Suzanne Leader works for the Gamblers Help program and hears stories like Michael’s all the time.

“Even though it’s a presenting issue (problem gambling) they all come with their own story and their own background,” Suzanne said.

She said there are three types of gambler – the escape gambler, action gambler and pathological gambler.

Escape gamblers are mostly women trying to find some respite from a busy or traumatic life.

The action gambler looks for an adrenalin rush while pathological gamblers start in their youth and having a bet becomes part of their value system.

Despite the personal and financial losses Michael has suffered, he still has the occasional bet on the horses.

He has made counselling for his addiction part of his life.

“I notice when I don’t do that I tend to go off the rails. that helps just keep your feet on the ground,” Michael said.

This week is Responsible Gambling Awareness Week. To contact the gambling helpline call 1800 858 858.

Bets push gambler to the brink

Richard Haddrill has been giving his passport a workout.

Haddrill, CEO of Las Vegas-based slot machine and gaming systems manufacturer Bally Technologies since October 2004, has been hitting the road to expand the company’s product lines abroad. He believes the company can expand its international presence from the 3 percent market share it had when he arrived to 30 percent in the next three to four years.

To reach that goal, Haddrill is negotiating contracts across the globe in a bid to maintain the company’s position as the nation’s largest gaming systems producer and no. 2 slot machine manufacturer behind International Game Technology.

In addition to planting Bally’s flag in several continents, Haddrill has designs on being a leader in cyberspace, which could lead to hundreds of new jobs throughout the company — many of them in Las Vegas.

Haddrill sat down recently to talk about foreign and domestic expansion, the case for federal regulation of Internet gambling and how gaming is entering the social network realm:

Q: What jurisdictions have the most potential to legalize gaming in the next five years?

A: We just shipped machines to Ohio for the gaming expansion there. Illinois is expanding gaming into video lottery, and there are some proposals for further casino expansion. New jurisdictions on the horizon include lots of discussion in Florida. Massachusetts has decided to go forward. Kentucky is discussing it. Internationally, Greece has decided to go ahead with the video lottery. the economic crisis has really created a lot of new jurisdictional expansion that will start up over the next five years.

Is that because these states and countries see an opportunity to generate new tax revenue?

Exactly. And they feel like their gaming patrons are now leaving their home jurisdiction to go to another jurisdiction. why not keep them home and keep that gaming revenue for our state?

What are some of the things Bally is doing that will get the attention of consumers who go into the casinos?

Two of the most popular games at last year’s G2E show (Global Gaming Expo) were “Grease” and Michael Jackson video slots, and they’re going into Nevada casinos. We’ve also been doing a terrific job with our iVIEW technology to create slot tournaments in a very customizable and easy way. you can convert any portion of your floor into a tournament. We just did the world’s largest slot tournament at Pechanga (Resort & Casino in Temecula, Calif.). We can do a floor-wide race event, a floor-wide cash spin event. We’re trying to bring to the casino floor that level of energy that you might find at a big sporting event to make brick-and-mortar casinos competitive with the best forms of social entertainment.

How does your company attract more international business?

It required big investments in people, staffing, product and design changes as well as feature changes. International growth is a pretty big story for us. When I got here, 6 percent of our revenues were from outside North America. Today, it’s 20 percent, yet our total revenues doubled. the rate of international growth has been quite rapid. We’ve been making some pretty big investments over the last five years to do that, and it puts us in a pretty good position going forward where we believe we can grow that international percentage to north of 30 percent in the next three or four years.

how is Bally capitalizing on the gaming industry explosions in Macau and Singapore? What other Asian jurisdictions are ripe for the industry?

Vietnam is going to have a couple of casinos. Japan now has active legislation to add casinos. there are projects proposed in the Philippines, plus further expansion in Macau. For us, we recently entered the Australia-New Zealand market, so that’s exciting. from a systems point of view, we’re the leading provider across Asia. on the game side, because we’re newer to the market, we’re just gaining our business there, but we’re excited at the prospect of achieving our normal share as we’re in those markets longer.

So most of the growth is Asia, Australia and South Africa?

Even in Europe. Europe today is only 3 percent of our revenue. it should be 7 to 10 percent. We have a great opportunity to keep expanding in Europe. We’re doing well in South America and Latin America, but Europe is a great growth opportunity, as are Asia and South Africa.

And you have people on the ground in all these places?

As far as regulation, how does Nevada stack up against some of those places?

Nevada is arguably the most advanced and sophisticated market, so it’s a terrific market to deal in. one of the things you will find in other markets is that you don’t have as much free casino competition as you do in Nevada. so, in many other markets where the gaming is more restricted as to quantity, you’ll find the business even more profitable. In Macau, for example, the business is more profitable. In certain jurisdictions outside Nevada in the United States where a Native American casino might have sort of a monopoly, they can be more profitable. Nevada is a great market for free competition, a great market for regulation and a great market for the industry as a whole, but the one negative for the operators is the level of profitability is much more competitive.

How much of the company’s resources are devoted to new games vs. new systems?

Our systems business represents slightly less than one-third of our revenues and about one-third of our profits. Our research and development expenditures are somewhat in line with those profit levels. from time to time, we’ll ramp up investment in one area or another to capture future opportunities so they can get distorted from year to year. But all three areas of our business — game sales, gaming operations and systems — are all growing in recent quarters.

Could you detail those different revenue streams?

Game sales is the sale of the cabinets or the sale of the software or parts that go in the cabinet. the gaming operations business is where we will either lease or revenue-participate with a casino on particular games. so it’s a game side of the business, but it’s an ongoing revenue stream as opposed to a one-time sale. the system business is the software and certain components of hardware that help a company manage their entire casino. They manage all the gaming devices, the player database and we have specific hardware technology that can go on every manufacturer’s machine to create a flowing experience. those revenues break down with not quite one-third each. the gaming operations is the biggest. Game sales vary based on the economy, and the systems business is about one-third.

Why are operations the highest? is it because certain games are really popular?

Some of our most popular games are in that segment. with a slower economy, the game sales segment hasn’t grown as fast as the gaming operations segment. But we’re seeing game sales revenue pick up as the economy turns and with the launch of our Alpha 3 platform, which is creating a lot of excitement around our games.

Tell me a little about Alpha 3.

Alpha 3 gives our game designers greater capacity for graphics, sound and bonus features, and we put it on a new cabinet that has an iDeck (touch-sensitive control panel) and much brighter graphics and enhanced sound. so now, we really have the leading technological platform in the market for us to put great new content on. It’s viewed by casinos as being a great investment for the long term because it has the iDeck and has great horsepower, and we’re proving we can do really terrific games on that platform.

Obviously gaming industry people know about the company, but do you think the public knows much about it?

From time to time, we have a challenge recruiting people to Las Vegas. if they’ll come and take a look, they always like it. But compared with certain markets, like California, where it’s viewed as being a hotbed of technology, they don’t realize until they come in how much exciting new innovation we’re doing right here. We actually do have good success in recruiting when people come and take a look, but sometimes getting people to take a look is difficult. We have great innovation going on in Reno as well, but, again, we have to get people to take a look at what we’re doing.

What does the public misunderstand the most about slot machines and how they work?

It’s probably that the outcome is really random. Most people I talk to seem to think there’s a trick or a gimmick or some secret, but the outcomes are really random.

So there’s no such thing as a “hot” machine.

Well … let’s just say that I think all Bally games are pretty hot (laughs).

How do you think the industry will change if Internet poker is legalized?

Internet poker is one relatively modest part of the Internet and social gaming experience. We see for our U.S. customers the broad spectrum of Internet gaming is evolutionary and not revolutionary. We think it’s going to be important, but it’s not going to be an overnight explosion for most of our customers.

Why is that?

Internet poker is a great game that’s highly competitive. Based on what’s happening in other jurisdictions where it is legal, casino-style games and sports betting are even bigger than poker. For us, our strategy is to provide great technology for our customers so they can participate with the best-of-breed platforms for poker, casino games and sports wagering and social gaming. We do have our own platform for mobile, hand-held gaming and we have our own Internet gaming platform that they plug into with their best-of-breed solution.

So you have a system developed that’s ready to go.

Through acquisition and internal development, we do. We’re very excited about that, and we expect to announce some poker partnerships soon. the integration will be done. Our casino customers will be able to have a best-in-class poker solution, but integrated into their marketing database so they get a single look at the player on their Bally technology. We’re excited about that, and so are our customers.

Will there be other opportunities beyond Internet poker? you mentioned sports wagering and casino games.

For us, near term, we think the hand-held mobile gaming is going to be a big business. We acquired this last year the leader in mobile gaming for casinos, Macroview. We now have more than 3 million players on Macroview’s technology. We think that will be approved faster than other forms of Internet gaming. Whether it’s restricted to a casino or not, we can still provide a good experience for our customers with that. We’re also putting our Bally content out on the Internet in those jurisdictions where it’s legal to have casino-style games, so that will generate profitability for us. Our technology platform that we acquired, called Chiligaming, will allow our casino customers to participate in sports betting or casino-style games when it comes. Our strategy is to be a technology provider and a content provider, not a direct business-to-consumer competitor to casinos, which is an important distinction.

So you’ll be selling this to your customers to reach the consumer, not using it yourself to reach consumers?

Exactly. That’s part one. part Two is that we develop great games, and those great games will go out on the Internet. Any casino that wants to license those from us or any Internet site that does direct-to-consumer in a legal jurisdiction that wants to license us, that’ll be the second area where we’ll make money.

What are your expectations about the economic impact of iGaming in Nevada?

It can be important. Nevada has a very thoughtful and sophisticated regulatory environment and is the home of a lot of casino companies. Nevada can take a leadership position if Internet gaming is approved nationally. if it’s approved on a state-by-state basis, it’s going to be more challenging for any one state to dominate.

It sounds like you feel the federal government should regulate it.

Regulation by the federal government would be better for our customers and probably better for players to have national standards for integrity, which is very important here and for uniformity. We would hope that it would evolve to some national legislation.

As far as the effects on Nevada, would you expect to need to hire more people in Las Vegas if Internet gambling were legalized?

We’re actually hiring people as we speak for our Chiligaming platform. We’re hiring and relocating people from Europe here. We’re hiring people for our mobile platform. to the extent that Nevada can be a leading state in regulating gaming, either through regulating casinos or hosting here, we would hire at an even faster pace. so we’re hiring now, but we see that accelerating as Nevada takes a leadership role.

How much additional hiring?

Overall, we’re attempting right now to hire more than 300 employees across the globe. the number that get hired in Nevada will depend on our ability to recruit the right people in Nevada, which, as I alluded to earlier, is sometimes a challenge.

You said that you’d prefer to see federal legislation for Internet gambling regulation, but how do you expect it to play out?

I think it will be federal. the longer it goes state by state, the more clearly it will become that there’s a need for federal. the federal politicians are working on it right now. Whether they can get an agreement soon is hard to tell. But eventually, I’m confident it will be federal and I would give it a 50 percent chance that it happens in the next six months.

Do you think they’d move that quickly in an election year? Do you expect it to be improved in the post-election lame-duck session?

Both good points. And that’s why it keeps the odds at only 50 percent. the fact is, there is a real need for integrity at the federal level. I think the politicians see that, but they have to find a way to get it done that does not upset certain constituents enough to disrupt an election year. And that means attaching it to other legislation or being able to vet it in a way that the obvious integrity and tax advantages are clear. I think 50-50 are the best odds we could say for now.

What strategies are Bally undertaking for Internet gaming on social media sites? Will we see gaming on Facebook someday?

We have full-time talent looking at how we become a better communicator through social networks. We already have a number of Bally games available for free play that players can participate with. We do expect to be more of a player in social gaming as that evolves over the next 18 to 24 months. I can’t say much more than that for competitive reasons.

How do you monetize that?

Good question. it comes down to can you extend your brand so that people play in the casino where it is wager-based? Can you attract fees for mobile devices for advertising dollars? those are the ways that you can do it. It’s not perfectly clear how it’s going to be and how soon. We’re investing modestly, but reasonably for the upside that we see.

Is that what Chiligaming is for?

Chiligaming will allow us to do more in that arena. Three games are already available on our hand-held devices and on the Internet already, even before Chili. But Chili will enable that to be integrated for wagering when that happens.

Where can I find a free game to play online?

Our most popular online game is “Cash Spin.” you can go to the iTunes store and the play-for-free games are available for the iPad, the iPod Touch and the iPhone. It’s an app and they’re all interactive so you can interact with the game as if you were standing in a casino.

You were elected chairman of the American Gaming Association. What are your responsibilities in that capacity?

Well … my responsibilities are to cat-herd some really big cats, which are the casino executives and my fellow competitors. Because we have a terrific full-time staff in Washington D.C., time demands are typically modest and it’s more fun than it is a headache. It’s a good opportunity to network with others in the industry on the key issues in the industry and stay very current on what’s happening in gaming.

What issues are on the horizon for the AGA and the industry in the United States?

The three big issues are Internet gaming, social responsibility and regulatory reform.

Regulatory reform?

There’s an increasing awareness by those in gaming — regulators, suppliers and casino customers — that the cost and time delays of product approvals are a real hindrance to gaming being competitive with other forms of entertainment. Bally, for example, is licensed in 300 jurisdictions. When we develop a new product, we have to have it approved in many jurisdictions. if we add an officer or director, we have to have it approved in many jurisdictions. so it’s very expensive, and it slows the pace of innovation. so there’s attention being brought to bear on how can we help our patrons and casino customers by getting products to market faster and increasing the competitive environment?

Are the Nevada Gaming Commission’s efforts to amend its regulations to allow independent testing of new games and products going to help in that regard?

I absolutely believe so, and I think that’s one reason why they decided to do it — to help speed up the process and lower the cost. New Jersey also has adopted a fast-track product approval process that says if you’re introducing a new product in our state, we’ll try to get it through the regulatory approval process in a couple of weeks when it used to be months.

While most people view Bally as a slot-machine manufacturer, the company seems to be more in tune with the “Technologies” half of its name. why?

We changed our name about six years ago to emphasize technology because our value proposition to casinos is really all about technology, based on hardware and software innovation.

What are those kinds of innovations?

If you look at the things we’ve done with the basic slot machine now, you have an iDeck instead of a button deck so that you can customize the player interface with the machine itself. We can create floorwide entertainment experiences using great system technology connected to all the gaming machines on the floor. the pace of technological change is going faster and faster and it creates a greater, more individualized player experience and greater opportunity for profitability for casinos.

Is that because there is more dwell time on the machine?

There’s more entertainment value. the sounds are greater, the bonusing capabilities are more intriguing and interesting and the casino can communicate directly with each individual patron based on what’s important to that patron, making a more customized experience. the value to the player is more. They would prefer to spend their entertainment dollar there than somewhere else with that level of entertainment.

What’s the outlook for manufacturing in 2012? is most of the business in new venues or replacement machines?

The scheduled number of new venues will be higher in 2012 than 2011, but at the same time we expect probably 75 to 80 percent of our revenue to come from the replacement market and existing customers.

How often does a company change out machines? I know you also have the capability of changing out the look of the machine without having to change the box.

That’s right. you can keep the same cabinet and change the game inside for about 25 percent to 30 percent of the cost of a new box. Historically, casinos have changed out the boxes about every seven or eight years. Right after the downturn in 2008 and 2009, it extended to more like every 20 years. That’s been steadily shortening again, but not back to the historical norms. so we see that replacement marketing improving again in ’12 over ’11, but not getting back to the levels of 2004, ‘05, ’06 and ’07.

Bally Technologies CEO talks hot games, Internet poker, expansion plans and new jobs

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