English French German Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish

Featured Editorials

Traditionally Innovative

Napoleons-Casino-Manchester-UK

Napoleons Casinos enters into Manchester by David McKee

Napoleon Bonaparte was never able to achieve his goal of conquering Great Britain. But namesake Napoleons casino chain has made British gamblers surrender, achieving footholds in Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Bradford and now Manchester. The chain’s origins go back a long and serpentine way. Chairman and owner Dave Allen got his start as a musician, touring the length and breadth of Yorkshire before launching the Dave Allen Sound band. Miss World founder Eric Morley tipped him as a coming talent and signed him for the Ritz Manchester, Mecca Derby, Leeds, and Sheffield. Allen branched out into the club business in 1968, forming A&S Leisure Group, and opening numerous nightclubs including The Birdcage and five Adam & Eve’s across the United Kingdom.

The player comes first

Jurgen-demunck

Cashless-gaming expert Jurgen De Munck expounds on the casino of the near future by David McKee

We’ve learned a few things from the Covid-19 pandemic. One is not to underestimate the importance of conventioneers. Another is that the cashless casino cannot arrive soon enough. As American Gaming Association President Bill Miller said, “At last year’s Global Gaming Expo, I challenged the industry to enable payment choice on the casino floor. And I’m proud to report that we’ve made tremendous progress. Regulators in Nevada and Pennsylvania recently approved new rules to permit digital payments in their casinos—a huge breakthrough. We anticipate movement soon in New Jersey, Indiana and Iowa.”

MGM Resorts’ Human Capital

Embracing and Entertaining Humanity. Jyoti Chopra, Chief People, Inclusion and Sustainability Officer, MGM Resorts International. By: Damien Connelly

This Casino Life article, based on a keynote presentation by Jyoti Chopra at G2E, has been edited for brevity and clarity. Any misrepresentation is my mistake.

Jyoti Chopra is a resounding role model emphasizing that MGM Resorts ‘walks the walk’ when it comes to its people, talent, and diversity and inclusion strategy. In the spirit of sharing and learning, MGM Resorts and Jyoti were kind enough to publicly preview this strategy with us for the first time during G2E.

Casino group raises the stakes on security

Biometric-reader-Axis-Casino-Security

Axis Communications, the global industry leader in network video, has developed a sophisticated security solution to protect a new casino site in Manchester, UK. The complete end-to-end solution offers advanced levels of protection at the perimeter, entrance and exit points, as well as close monitoring of the gaming hall and individual machines, guarding against break-ins and criminal damage as well as tampering and fraud.

Online Slots That Payout

Over the past decade, the market has seen an increase in remarkable online slots. There are thousands of games to choose from, and new ones pop up each week. It’s difficult to discern which ones you should play and which ones to skip, as they all feature perks such as bonus free spins.

While graphics and intricate gameplay are essential, what matters most is what you can collect? Is the slot you are thinking about playing worth it? Below, we answer which ones are and your chances of landing hefty prizes while spinning their reels.

How We Find the Best-Paying Slots

When considering a game, always check the return-to-player percentage. It tells you how much it will pay back to those that play it over time. Meaning, if the RTP of a slot is 95%, for every $100 wagered, it will give back $95 in winnings over time. The RTP average in the industry hovers around 96%, so avoid games below this limit.

Circa Las Vegas The World’s Largest Sports Book

Worlds-Biggest-Sports-Book

Circa owner Derek Stevens talks about the creation of his new resort. By: David McKee

Derek Stevens didn’t exist, Las Vegas would have to invent him. The Detroit native, along with his brother Greg, has been building up a casino empire in the Downtown area of Las Vegas for almost 15 years. Rather than come in and trying reinvent the casino business all at once, Stevens entered quietly and observed the area, first as owner of the Golden Gate (Las Vegas’ oldest extant casino), then swooping up when Fitzgerald’s went bankrupt, rebirthing it as the highly popular The D (an allusion to the Stevens’ home town).

Kentucky Downs Historical Horse Racing Machines

Racino-Casino-Gaming-Kentucky-Downs

Already unique, Kentucky Downs is moving up in the world. By: David McKee

If you want the sweetest racing purses in the U.S., take your thoroughbred to Kentucky Downs, in the southern tier of the Bluegrass State, near Nashville, Tennessee. During its select, six-day racing meet in September, the course awards $2 million in purses a day. It’s not money easily earned, as the course is a unique, kidney-shaped track, one of the longest in America at 1.15 miles. Much of that largesse is fueled by ‘historical horse racing’ machines, gaming terminals that—despite a resemblance to slots—are legitimate in casino-allergic Kentucky. They’ve not only underwritten a renaissance at Kentucky Downs, they’ll be the centerpiece of its new expansion, The Mint, which debuts next month.

The UniCoaster an interactive ride

Prolific inventor Bill Kitchen turns his proven talents toward gaming. By: David McKee

Blame it on the Air Force. Or maybe it was skydiving. Somewhere along the line, the thrill bug bit William Kitchen, turning him into a prolific inventor. It all began 30 years ago in his living room, with a model for a thrill-ride prototype made out of broom handles and G.I. Joe parts. “At the time, my girlfriend looked at this ride …and told me I was absolutely crazy,” Kitchen recalls. “Nevertheless I built one and people lined up all day to get on it. I patented it and it became Skycoaster, the fastest-selling ride in the world. They’re in almost every Six Flags park, every Cedar Fair park and smaller seaside parks, everywhere from Sweden to New Zealand.”

The Value of Experience

Peter White chats with Lisa Waterfield, LW Consulting

Veteran gaming consultant Lisa Waterfield knows well the difficulties of piercing the gaming industry’s glass ceiling. Not only did she break in as a croupier in UK & South African casinos, it was almost 40 years ago, when South Africa was socially backward, a tough path for Waterfield, an English emigre. Perhaps that’s what has made her an outspoken voice on what has been done to improve diversity in gaming-and how much remains to be done. A former executive with companies like WMS Gaming & Aristocrat, she’s also got some strong ideas on how the casino industry should come back from COVID-19, showing that she’s not afraid to buck a trend. We spoke with her at her office in Las Vegas, her home for the past 23 years.

The sky is the limit at the Lucky Ruby Border Casino

Roulette-blackjack-slots-Casino-Cambodia

Bill Healey chats with Jment Lim, Founder and Managing Director at Lucky Ruby Border Casino

Back in 2019 I was fortunate to make my way through rural Cambodia to spend a few days at the Lucky Ruby Border Casino, located and Casino, located at a remote crossing on the Cambodia-Vietnam border. As a resident of Las Vegas, and somewhat familiar with the SE Asian casino market, I found this gambling outpost a refreshing change-of-pace. I’ve recently had time to chat with Jment Lim, founder and owner of two border casinos: Lucky89 and Lucky Ruby.

Can you provide some background on yourself, and what led you into the casino gaming industry?

First and foremost, I would like to thank Casino Life Magazine for taking this opportunity to interview me and allowing me to share my message with your readers.