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Featured Editorials

Borgata Atlantic City '20 Years Strong'

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As Atlantic City’s Borgata heads toward a milestone anniversary, President Travis Lunn sets a course for the future. By David McKee

Twenty years ago, Atlantic City got a wake-up call. It had evolved – or perhaps devolved – into a sleepy, even stagnant gambling market. Steve Wynn had fled and Donald Trump talked big but did nothing. Then came Borgata, a collaboration between Boyd Gaming and the company then known as MGM Mirage. It opened at 11:50 p.m. on July 2, 2003 with an inaugural roll of the dice on a craps table by actor Stephen Dorff. (Whatever became of him?) Nothing was ever the same. Borgata immediately leapt to the forefront of Atlantic City and grew the market. Over the years, some things have come and gone at the resort, including Boyd’s ownership share (which it invested into growth in other cities) but MGM, now MGM Resorts International, has been a constant.

Casino Operations Summit 2023

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Organisers of the Casino Operations Summit Lucien Wijsman and Arjan Korstjens explain their exciting plans for this year’s event in Bucharest with Peter White

 
The Casino Operations Summit had its launch last year in Riga, Latvia. So this is the second one?
 
LW: Not precisely. We have been doing these kind of conferences since 2011 and previously it was called the Slot Summit and the Totally Gaming Summit, the latter in cooperation with Clarion Gaming. But these stopped with the pandemic and last year we picked it up again. So counting them this is the 14th edition.
 
Surely this summit is different from the previous ones. The casino and conference landscape has changed a bit since 2011.
 

Aruze Gaming's International Initiatives

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Lesley Hodges joined Aruze in August 2022 as senior director of marketing, bringing in-depth understanding and extensive experience in global marketing strategies to Aruze as the company expanded international initiatives, and implemented growth strategies across its entire business.

Hodges will design, implement, monitor, and direct the company’s marketing strategies and programs. Lesley brings more than 20 years’ experience in gaming-industry marketing to Aruze and its leadership team.

Lesley, first I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Please tell our readers about yourself and your role at Aruze.

Absolutely, Victor. Thanks so much for having me!  I’m the senior director of marketing for Aruze. While I’m still new to the company, I’m not new to the industry — I’ve had more than 20 years’ experience in marketing and casino gaming.

Welcome to Les Ambassadeurs’ Summer of Sharing

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Gaming and giving back is proving to be a winning formula for the iconic Mayfair casino

Until 2020 the world of the ultra-high-net-worth was predictable. UK summers were all about visitors packing London’s high end hotels, eating in the best restaurants, shopping in department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges, and – for the privileged few – gaming in casinos such as Les Ambassadeurs Club in London’s Mayfair.

Fast forward to 2022 and the post-Covid world looks very different. Overseas visitors are returning, but in a less predictable pattern overall. According to VisitBritain, UK visits overall for 2022 will rise to 26.7 million this year, pushing spending to £21.6 billion – but still down around 30 percent on 2019 levels. The VisitBritain estimate for summer 2022 visitor was recovery to two-thirds of pre-Covid levels.

Casino Barrière Menton, Located In A True Wonderland

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Damien Connelly recently visited Casino Barrière Menton to meet the team of people making memories in this entertainment and recreation pavilion on the French Riviera

The ‘Côte d’Azur’ creates images of endless blue skies over an azure sea, a bright yellow sun over gently sloping beaches, all with a backdrop of lush, green rolling countryside and mountains. Colours abound in the images created by the Côte d’Azur – also known as the French Riviera. It is renowned for inspiring artists like Picasso, Matisse and Renoir, as well as having architectural gems such as Villa E-1027 by Eileen Gray and Jean Badovici.

Metropolitan Gaming's Globe-trotting Michael Silberling

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CEO Michael Silberling brings a cosmopolitan experience to Metropolitan Gaming. By David McKee

For a new company looking to make an impression on the international stage, Metropolitan Gaming could hardly have chosen better than to tap Michael Silberling as its CEO. Not only is he vastly experienced in operations around the world, he is intimately familiar with Caesars Entertainment, from whose empire Silver Point Capital snapped up a far-flung portfolio of assets to form Metropolitan, reaching from the banks of the Nile to the snows of Glasgow.

The Power of Trust

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California’s Wilton Rancheria teams with Boyd Gaming to create Sky River Casino by David McKee

IGT at Peak Performance

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Interview with Petko Ivanov, Director of Sales EMEA, International Game Technology

As gaming operators throughout Eastern and Western Europe remain dedicated to strengthening operations and implementing innovation, International Game Technology continues to expand its portfolio and produce first-class hardware and market-attuned content to generate player excitement. Over the past several years, the company has focused considerable support on customers in commercial gaming markets throughout the region and has never wavered in its commitment or standards. Casino Life had the exclusive opportunity to chat with Petko Ivanov, IGT’s EMEA director of sales, EMEA, to discuss the company’s outlook for the region.

How has 2022 been so far?

Hippodrome London ‘10 Years a Legend’

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London’s Hippodrome looks back on 10 years as a casino and forward to a brave new world for British gaming. By David McKee and Victor H. Royer

Casino Life Magazine and Outsource Digital Media recently had the opportunity to interview Simon Thomas, CEO of Hippodrome Casino London.

The story of the Hippodrome Casino in London begins in 2006. By 2008 Simon and his group received their gaming license, and then began the work physically on-site in July of 2009. After about three years – and £50 million of investment to regenerate and restore the primary building, and the building next to it – and then connecting the two – there was finally a light at the end of the long tunnel and the project neared completion. The grand opening was in July 2012, and so by today Hippodrome Casino London is coming up to 10 years’ of operation.

How operators can help make gambling safer.

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When the World Cup ends later this year, the UK is expected to have spent an estimated £2.5bn on bets related to the tournament[1]. It is no secret that Britain loves a bet. With one of the highest rates of gambling globally, Sky Bet’s slogan “It matters more when there’s money on it” seems to ring true[2].

Awareness initiatives such as Safer Gambling Week, happening from 17-23 October, are therefore vital in stimulating conversations around how gambling can and should be done safely. Also working with operators themselves, as Better Change does, is another way of ensuring change is achieved.

Individuals and operators need to work together.