Impressions of G2E

The Scene

The Global Gaming Expo—an international gaming trade show and conference in its sixth year—was enormous this time around. Large, even by Las Vegas' standards; larger than nine out of 10 conventions held in this town; and the largest to date for the world's premier gaming expo, otherwise known as G2E. So big, in fact, that the three days during which the convention was held (November 14-16) were not enough for the 27,000-plus attendees to explore all the exhibits (more than 750), talk to all the industry trendsetters, eat all the free samples and drink all the free booze, attend all the conferences, take in the keynote speech (delivered with comedic salt by essayist Dave Barry), glance at the Playboy bunnies and meet the tens of thousands of men and women from around the world who help comprise the gaming world, rotating around Las Vegas at astronomical speeds.

And it endured for three straight days. The crowds shifted between the exhibits and the conferences, where more than 400 experts in fields such as slot technology, marketing, Internet gaming, design and décor and research, law and regulation offered presentations and answered questions. Native Americans comprised at least one-tenth of the expo, and they appeared the most assiduous during the conference sessions.

The diversity, the girls, the festive ambiance, the neon signs, the gaming tools and casino wear, the food and booze and the education in the ways to use it all to enhance entertainment and maximize profits: G2E is a perfect fit for Las Vegas.

The Man: An Interview with the Boss Gamer

Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., a UNR graduate and president/ CEO of the American Gaming Association, which plays host to G2E, is the type of man you'd want to know. That's because he, a lawyer by trade, has connections. Lots of them. Powerful ones, too, having been chairman of the Republican National Committee in the '80s and now co-chair of the commission on presidential debates. Moreover, as a board member of the Culinary Institute of America, and in his capacity with the AGA, he by nature has an unparalleled oversight of the industry on which our city is built.

The legality of online gaming appears to be an unresolved issue, especially in that the Department of Justice and some of the state courts don't seem to be in accordance. What is the status of Internet gaming as we speak?

It is a confusing issue. On December 6, our board will meet and we will push legislature to conduct an independent study on Internet gambling. What I can tell you right now is that a piece of legislation called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act just passed, which prevents U.S. banks and credit-card companies from processing payments to gambling websites, but it really doesn't impact us at all. I don't think attempts to enforce prohibition will last very long.

How does Internet gaming correlate with brick-and-mortar gaming, as we have here in Las Vegas?

They are not the same market. What people don't get online is the entertainment experience they get in a place like Las Vegas, with the shows and the food and the shops. If anything, online gambling just whets the appetite for many who come to Las Vegas.

The G2E Future Watch Survey, just released, concluded that technology will play a critical role in the future success of the gaming industry. And that point is reinforced at this year's expo—for example, with the handheld devices, dealer-less poker tables and other electronics that seem to reduce personal interactions. Where do you see this going?

I see a good mix of technology-based gaming and gaming that relies on personal interactions. There have been some tremendous innovations that have increased the capital gain of the operators—like the cash-in/cash-out tickets for the slot machines. And there has been a gradual movement toward technology because the new generation of players demands it. But there are a lot of players who like socializing with each other, who like to have fun with the dealers, and at the end of the day it's all about what the player wants.

Twenty years down the road, could gaming be a humanless experience altogether? It's possible, but not probable.

The Issues

Two primary questions—about Internet gaming and poker's endurance—occupied G2E attendees. The expert opinions:

Online gaming:

According to Frank Catania, one of America's leading attorneys on gaming issues: On October 13, President Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act of 2006, a bill that had managed to bypass the Senate's eyes when Bill Frist, a Republican Senator from Tennessee, acting on behalf of the religious right, attached it to another piece of legislation. While the sponsors of the bill have 270 days after its passage to put forth regulations, the gaming industry has been left even more perplexed by the laws governing online gaming in America. For good reason.

The law of the land has not yet been established on this topic. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that online gambling does not violate the Interstate Wire Act of 1961, the only piece of law applicable to this issue; but the Department of Justice has interpreted the language of the law in such a different manner that it has been working under the assumption that all forms of online gaming are illegal. And yet, there have been no prosecutorial cases with casino-like Internet gaming—only with online sports betting.

"This new piece of legislation, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act, does not change the Wire Act," says Catania. "Really, it means nothing." Right now, he added, everyone is just waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on the topic.

MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni says, "It's just a feel-good thing for the Christian right wing. The bottom line is that prohibiting it would be ineffective. Prohibition doesn't have the best record in this country. The only way they are going to control Internet gambling is by regulating it." In surveys, 80 percent of the American public consistently express disapproval of a ban on Internet gaming.

Poker: Doug Dalton, director of poker operations at Bellagio, replies to the question concerning the poker craze as if he's had to do it a thousand times before. "The Internet and television created a tremendous market for us, but games are different than crazes. People don't quit them."

One out of five American adults played poker last year, according to statistics provided by the American Gaming Association, and Americans spent $207 million in organized poker in Nevada and New Jersey that same year. The annual World Series of Poker hit record levels this year when 8,773 participants bought into the tournament for $10,000 each, and the winner received a grand prize of $12 million.

Jack McClelland, tournament director and poker room host at the Bellagio, says if anything dissipates it will only be the spotlights. He said, to him, the craze people speak of is the current rock-star aura about poker, and that indeed will probably pass soon enough. But the players aren't going anywhere.

Says Dalton, "Our customer base is so huge—starts from 12, goes up to 90—that I don't see any problems for a long, long time."

Looking Ahead Two years ago at G2E, no less a star attraction than Clint Eastwood was forced to compete for the attention of industry professionals with the formidably buxom Pamela Anderson, soccer legend Pelé and gadget-meister Ron Popeil.

In a few months, the director and star of Million Dollar Baby would be awarded Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture, but on this day in September, he was assigned the prosaic task of cutting the ribbon to open the convention. From there, he would venture forth to the WMS Gaming booth to pose for pictures while playing the prototype for the new slot machine, A Fistful of Dollars.

This much, at least, he had in common with Anderson, in town to promote the latest edition of Bally's Playboy Get Lucky Wheel; Pelé, the World Cup hero who inspired Aristocrat's Pelé Legendary Goals; and Popeil, the inventor and TV pitchman whose Showtime Rotisserie Oven had inspired IGT to create But Wait, There's More.

Before long, their visages would appear in casinos worldwide, alongside those of such dead megastars as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mantle, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and living luminaries Elizabeth Taylor, Drew Carey, Jeff Foxworthy, Regis Philbin, Alex Trebek, Vanna White, Pat Sajak, Dick Clark and Kenny Rogers. Also competing for the gambler's pennies, quarters and dollars were games licensed by the producers of Men in Black, Star Wars, The Terminator, Chicago, Animal House, Austin Powers and dozens of other TV shows and movies.

Such arrangements sound like no-brainers, but the licensing deals upon which they depend can be anything but simple ... or reliably lucrative. Betting on the come is risky in any business. If the game stinks, no amount of A-list prestige will prompt consumers to return.

By the time last year's show rolled into town, the licensing-and-branding sideshow had achieved critical mass, and Darwinian principles were sorting the winners from the losers. The celebrity gravy train was about to leave the station, and new trends would soon emerge from the primordial ooze to fill the void.

Consequently, G2E 2006 was almost devoid of the A-, B- and C-listers who caused gapers' blocks at the last several conventions. The most prominent celebrities, and that word is used advisedly, were Jimmie "J.J." Walker, country singers Collin Raye, Johnny Napp and Tobias Rene, and a pair of Playboy playmates.

Indeed, the biggest attraction on the floor of the LVCVA last week was the bevy of models hired to deal cards, craps and roulette at the ShuffleMaster booth. These nonprofessional croupiers not only were easy on the eye and generous of décolletage, but they also inspired one of the few tchotchkes—a "Class of 2007" calendar—worth taking home.

In addition to introducing automatic shufflers, roulette-chip sorters and an array of specialty table games, ShuffleMaster is a pioneer in creating technology that minimizes the need for human interaction with players. According to promotional material, its new Vegas Star multiplayer table game "combines an animated dealer with up to 16 individual betting stations" in the interest of "increasing game frequency and accommodating increased traffic without additional personnel."

Just as touch-screen roulette games found a home this past year in the casino environment, ShuffleMaster hoped to create excitement for its "fledgling" electronic craps concept. At G2E, a stick-model commanded the traditional table, around which could be found 20 touch LCD screens serving as betting mechanisms and chip calculators. While a living, breathing shooter rolled dice to set the point, everything else was controlled electronically.

Slot manufacturers may be cutting back on the use of celebrities and other pop-culture touchstones, but branded games aren't likely to disappear soon. WMS Gaming is up to its 32nd generation of Monopoly, while new variations of Hollywood Squares, Men in Black and Clint Eastwood-themed titles emerge with regularity. It will soon add a fully immersive 3-D Top Gun game, which imitates arcade-style entertainment.

Looking even further ahead, major exhibitors also extolled the virtues of wireless and server-based technologies.

Wireless devices ostensibly could be employed by casinos to allow players in one section of a property to make wagers in another—sports bets could be made by players in the poker room.

Server-based games allow casino personnel—perhaps even players—to change video games on the fly, simply by downloading proprietary software into a computer-based platform. This would allow unprecedented flexibility in positioning hardware, conducting tournaments and reacting quickly to the trends and whims of customers.

Too bad, if another celebrity slot bites the dust.