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Featured Editorials

Sumsub.com Identity Verification

Jacob-Sever-Co-founder-Chief-Strategy-Officer-Sumsub

Jacob Sever, Co-founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Sumsub.com chats with Peter White

One of the increasingly dire issues facing the casino industry are anti-money laundering (AML) measures or the lack thereof. Corporations as mighty as Crown Resorts and Las Vegas Sands have gotten in trouble for the lack of proper AML infrastructure. These need to be part of an end-to-end solution and Sumsub is offering that and Know Your Customer (KYC) technology–and not a moment too soon.

When was the company founded and what was the inspiration behind starting the organisation?

The Sky's the Limit at Valley Forge Casino Resort

General-Manager-David-Zerfing-Valley-Forge-Resort-Casino

The unlikely success story of Valley Forge Casino Resort by David McKee

At first, when it opened in 2012, Valley Forge Casino Resort was just another little casino. It was the product of Pennsylvania politics that permitted smaller-scale casinos with limited access to gaming (initially), and gambling floors with only 850 slot machines and 50 table games—big by continental standards but smallish in American measurements. (Valley Forge’s casino floor is what used to be the exhibition space of the Valley Forge Convention Center, built in 1985.) The property still has convention space, currently idle, as well as two hotels which include a Radisson.

SUZOHAPP Providing Success to Casinos

Tim-Kennedy-Suzohapp

How does one do business ‘as usual’ in the midst of a global pandemic? One of the companies that’s adapting to the new normal is SUZOHAPP. What’s more, it’s taken the proactive step of wading into Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) manufacture. Nor is it limiting its efforts to the gaming sphere, donating PPE to the hard-pressed medical sector. Amidst all this, SUZOHAPP still has the time to look forward, as we discovered.

The world has changed since our meeting during ICE London! How have employees worldwide at SUZOHAPP adapted?

Traditionally Innovative

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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

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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

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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.