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GGB March 2024 •Vol. 23 •No. 3 •$10 Sunshine Sports Floridarolls the dice Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers CASHLESS CONSOLIDATION GAMING DOWN UNDER AGA’sBILL MILLER iGAMING PAYMENTS Simon Thomas & The Hippodrome Passing Staffing How to get the best employeesVol. 23 • No. 3 COLUMNS CONTENTS 10 Big Game Betting 12 Best in Class 38 Brand Ambassadors 4The Agenda 6By the Numbers 85 Questions 13AGEM 44Emerging Leaders 46 48 50 52 53 54 DEPARTMENTS march 3 COVER STORY Global Gaming Business Magazine Preserving a Legend Simon Thomas, owner of London’s Hippodrome Casino, has transformed the historic multi-level space into a modern casino while preserving the charm and elegance that has made the 1900-era structure one of the city’s biggest attractions—and he’s not finished yet. FEATURES 32 Cashless Competition The increasing demand for cashless payment solutions has led to a maze of technology partnerships, with a few now rising to prominence. 40 Paying it Forward The rise of online gaming in the U.S. has fostered a new breed of omnichannel payment solutions. MARCH 2024 www.ggbmagazine.com On the Cover and Right: Simon Thomas, Hippodrome Casino owner 14 Sports Betting in Florida Three years after the Seminole tribe signed its compact with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis allowing the tribe to operate sports betting, sportsbooks in Florida are finally a reality. 18 The Staffing Conundrum Tribal casinos have struggled to return staffing to normal levels after particularly difficult challenges caused by the Covid-19 crisis. 28 The Return of Australia After years of challenges ranging from the decline of major operators to increasing regulation, Australian gaming may be poised for a comeback.4 Vol. 23 • No. 3 • MARCH 2024 Roger Gros, Publisher | rgros@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @GlobalGamingBiz Frank Legato, Editor |flegato@ggbmagazine.com twitter: @FranklySpeakn Jess Marquez, Managing Editor jmarquez@ggbmagazine.com John Reger, Associate Editor jreger@ggbmagazine.com Monica Cooley, Art Director mcooley@ggbmagazine.com Terri Brady, Sales & Marketing Director tbrady@ggbmagazine.com Becky Kingman-Gros, Associate Publisher & COO bkingros@ggbmagazine.com Lisa Johnson, Communications Advisor lisa@lisajohnsoncommunications.com twitter: @LisaJohnsonPR Columnists Julia Carcamo| Frank Fantini| Dave Forman Contributing Editors Dave Bontempo twitter: @bontempomedia Kevin Dennis| Andrew Klebanow Arte Nathan| Michael Soll _______________ • • • • • • • • • • • • • Official Publication O f course we all by now have heard of artifi- cial intelligence (AI) and all the amazing things that it’s going to do for our civiliza- tion, not to mention the gaming industry. “Machine learning” and “neural network algo- rithms” are the terms that they use to explain how AI works. They tell us that AI will not make any human mistakes if programmed properly. In Las Vegas, the Switch facility is a series of super-computers that span several of the very long Vegas blocks, which stores and analyzes billions of data points in seconds. AI is touted as an almost perfect model that can’t make mistakes, saving time and resources that often are hampered by human error. It can help executives make quick decisions in difficult situa- tions because it can examine all the ramifications of any outcome that could result from each deci- sion. AI draws all its information from the “big data” pool so the chances it will be wrong are min- imized. AI has applications in almost all areas of life—medical, manufacturing, service, transporta- tion, entertainment and much more. AI will be able to track down anyone in the world for any reason at all by using algorithms that reveal all. For gaming, AI will identify your poten- tial best customer and tell you how to approach that person for the best results. AI will tell you how to make the most profit on any customer while keeping them happy. AI can direct robots to clean hotel rooms, mix drinks and deliver them to their destination, and understand the weaknesses of any system. AI can field complaints and respond in real time, eliminat- ing the need to use humans to solve customer serv- ice problems. And AI is available 24 hours a day, and is sharp as a tack every second of that time. So why am I so worried? Well, as mentioned, AI can eliminate many of the jobs that today are done by humans in the casino industry. We already see mechanical dealers and the robot mixologists. It’s a short leap to robot housekeepers, valet parking attendants and even front desk clerks. But we all are human, and if you take that element out of our service industry, where does that leave us? The most powerful tool casinos have is building relationships, and that can’t be done if one side is run by AI. Gaming is a person-to-person business and AI only makes it impersonal. Like your privacy? Well, that may be compro- mised as AI learns everything about you. Remember when you talked to your wife about taking a trip to Las Vegas and suddenly travel deals to Vegas started popping up on your computer or smart phone? Yes, that is AI, and it’s one of the rea- sons Alexa or Siri don’t live in my house or my office. And AI doesn’t know if it’s acting on bad data until someone tells it that it’s bad. So humans don’t really know if the decisions that are suggested by AI are rational or not. The dangers of relying on AI for major decisions is clear. We’ve seen the chaos created with the hackers. The MGM and Caesars hacks of last year were just the latest, and most highly publicized, cyberattacks on casinos. Almost every casino has had to fend off these attacks. AI just gives hackers another tool to target casinos, online or off. If you’ve automated any of your systems so that humans don’t have a role in their implementation, you leave yourself wide open to hackers. I remember hearing the brilliant Andrew Cardno tell an audience at an Indian gaming con- ference that if you’ve opened any of your systems to the cloud or any outside source, you are going to be hacked. Obviously it’s not possible to run a business without connecting to some outside sys- tems, so how do you deal with it? One of the risks of AI, of course, is there is a very real potential that AI will become smarter than humans—that it will somehow turn on humanity. Remember Hal the computer in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey? Imagine trying to access the gaming history of one of your best play- ers and Hal tells you to back off, that he knows better. While this is something of a reach, this could happen. So let’s not allow AI to rule our world in gam- ing. Yes, there are some applications that may be advantageous, but let’s maintain the human touch with our shareholders, our employees and our cus- tomers. Artificial Stupidity BY ROGER GROS, PUBLISHER Global Gaming Business MARCH 2024 GGB THEAGENDA For brands that play to win. This may be the hospitality business, but you know the competition for players makes for a less-than-hospitable environment. So we’re in the trenches with our clients every day, fighting to outsmart, out-maneuver and outperform the pack. Contact chad@goodgiant.com to hear how we do it.6 Global Gaming Business MARCH 2024 What elseYa Got? P hoenix-based marketing firm LaneTerralever recently released a re- port titled “Casino Player Trends Report 2024: How Non-Gaming Activities Are Transforming Casinos,” which encompassed a total of 1,533 U.S. respondents aged 21-75. The demographics were split rela- tively evenly between Gen Z (ages 21-24), millennials (25-40), Gen X (41-56) and boomers (57-75). As the title suggests, the study focused on the increasing impor- tance of non-gaming amenities for younger generations, especially for local casinos—overall, 83.9 percent of millennials and 80.5 percent of Gen Z said that non-gaming offerings such as bars, restaurants, spas and entertainment have a big impact on their casino loyalty, as opposed to 76.1 percent of Gen X and 65.3 percent of boomers. The study also separated respondents by wealth, as those making more than $100,000 per year were placed in the “affluent” category and those making less were placed in the “non-affluent” category. Posed with the same question, 79.3 percent of “affluent”respon- dents indicated that non-gaming amenities were included in the deci- sion-making process, as opposed to 73.2 percent of “non-affluent” respondents. A full copy of the study can be found at laneterralever.com/reports. BYTHENUMBERS O n January 29, U.K.-based Flutter Entertainment— providers of the leading U.S. sportsbook FanDuel—offi- cially began its secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with plans to eventually make that its pri- mary listing instead of the London Stock Exchange. According to the data-focused newsletter Chartr, the com- pany’s quarterly revenues have grown significantly since Q1 of 2020 (around £1 billion) through Q4 of 2023 (over £2.5 bil- lion). Over that span, Flutter has essentially swapped its revenue share in the U.K./Ireland with that of the U.S.; in Q1 2020, the U.K./Ireland market accounted for 43 percent of its overall revenue, whereas the U.S. was just 12 percent. By Q4 2023, those percentages changed to 24 percent and 43 percent, re- spectively. Its Australian revenues have stayed mostly flat, and its international share has dropped by approximately 10 per- cent in favor of the U.S. Overall, the company has not reported less than £2 billion in quarterly revenue since Q3 of 2022. 8 Global Gaming Business MARCH 2024 CALENDAR “TheyIt” 5QUESTIONS April 8-11: Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention , Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California. Produced by the Indian Gaming Association. For more information, visit indiangamingtradeshow.com. April 17-18: East Coast Gaming Congress , Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Produced by Spectrum Gaming Group, Cooper Leveson and PlayDoIt. For more information, visit eastcoastgamingcongress.com. May 7-9: SBC Summit North America , Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, New Jersey. Produced by SBC Events. For more information, visit sbcevents.com. May 21-23: CasinoBeats Summit 2024, InterContinental Malta, St. Julian’s, Malta. Produced by SBC Events. For more information, visit sbcevents.com. June 3-5: SiGMA Asia , SMX Convention Center, Manila, Philippines. Produced by SiGMA Group. For more information, visit sigma.world. June 18-20: Canadian Gaming Summit , Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada. Produced by SBC Events. For more information, visit sbcevents.com. August 12-14: Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association (OIGA) Conference and Tradeshow , Oklahoma City Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Produced by OIGA. For more information, visit oiga.org. W hen the San Manuel Tribe of California decided to buy the Palms in Las Vegas, the first tribally owned casino in town, tribal leaders turned to a woman who knows Las Vegas like the back of her hand, Cynthia Kiser Murphey. Murphey spent two decades with MGM Resorts, running the human re- sources and later becoming general manager of New York-New York. With a small database of California gamblers, the Palms has built a loyal following by focusing on service and culture. Murphey spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros in a suite in the Palms in January. To hear a podcast of this interview, visit GGBMagazine.com. What was the most difficult part of getting the Palms up and running after it had been closed for two years following the pandemic? Murphey:That time was very much a challenge. We were extremely blessed that over 50 percent of the Palms employees agreed to return. That was what was so extraordinary and a very positive surprise for our team. Palms has a very, very special place in people’s hearts and in the community. We’ve continued to maintain an impressive number of day-one team members. And that was really the biggest challenge— getting the people back was very important. How much of an advantage was it that this was a newly renovated property when you came in? Station Casinos had invested half a billion dollars into this property. Well, the beauty of this property is a gift to the guests, to our team members and to the community. It’s really a beautiful property. Our tribe, our company, is very committed to the people. And the first invest- ment the tribe made was to elevate the back of the house, the employee entrance, the lockers, the employee dining room and such. But like anything, a property that sits for two years has to be restarted. So we are very proud of this property and with the service we’re able to provide, because the property is the stage. You didn’t have a great database when you started. You had the database from the San Manuel casino, the Yaamava’ casino, but still you didn’t have a large Vegas database. How did you build that? The key difference with the Palms is that we are owned by the San Manuel. And the Yaamava’ database is extremely loyal, and it’s been growing for 35 years. So to bring in new customers, we engage them with Club Serrano. And that’s really what our team’s been working on. Just because we open our doors doesn’t mean the customers immediately come. You have to speak to them, you have to reach them. There’s a lot of messaging about Las Vegas out there so we have to find our pathway to reach not only new customers, but to really activate that Yaamava’ database, and we’ve done that. Tell us about the demographics of the Palms customer. When the Maloofs opened this property it had the great reputation for locals during the day, and the night and the weekends were visitors from out of town. We’re about 60 percent local. And clearly the lion’s share of the non-locals come through Club Serrano and California. We find that if we give them a good reason, whether it’s come down for a concert or mini-gam- ing promotions as well as great food, they will come. We also run a really fine gifting program, which is aimed at locals. So in the end, we get really high-quality people. It seems that the most important thing is most casino resorts is the culture. How did you put this culture together with the great culture San Manuel developed in California? I think it’s one culture. Our tribe, our owners are people first—very focused on people, whether it be the team members, the community, or the stakeholders. That’s refreshing for a lot of people. To work for a company that is all about the people, the humanity, the give-back philosophy. It sounds easy, but it takes some work to really build a culture where you engage your management team and your frontline team members and everybody to serve. 1 2 3 4 5 Cynthia Kiser Murphey © 2024 IGT. All other trademarks used herein are owned by IGT or its affiliates, may not be used without permission, and where indicated with a ®, are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. IGT is committed to socially responsible gaming. Our business solutions empower customers to choose parameters and practices that become the foundation of their Responsible Gaming programs. EILERS-FANTINI Central Game Performance Database – Data Through December ‘23 Learn more at igt.com/premiumprogressives HARD-HITTING PROGRESSIVES There’s a reason why these themes continue to boost floor performance. Prosperity Link and Mystery of the Lamp have game features that continually entertain and excite your players. Next >