internationalcasinoreview News


The starting gun has not quite been fired yet but the Austrian minister responsible for gambling, Reinhold Lopatka, has laid out a preliminary timetable for the award of the 15 casino licences that will completely transform the landscape of the country’s gaming industry.


earlypaces AUSTRIA


The process for awarding the new licences in Austria will begin in June, accord- ing to the finance minister responsible Reinhold Lopatka. The final decisions on at least the first nine - six of those currently in operation, which come to an end in 2012, plus three new ones - plus a poker casino and a lottery licence will be made around the end of 2011 or early the fol- lowing year. “There are a lot of tricky aspects to consider,”


Lopatka said on December 10. “We also want to con- sider the pending European Court of Justice decision on lotteries.” The only thing that is


fixed, he said, is that the licences that are currently solely in the hands of Casinos Austria will not be auctioned off in the same way as they are in the UK, even if the state has to miss out on a windfall.


“In an auction the highest bidder would win out,


absolutely guarantee the highest levels of player pro- tection,” said Lopatka.


which does not


Bremen casinos under one roof WestSpiel have opened a new casino in the north German city- state of Bremen that brings its table games and slot machines under the same roof for the first time. The 1,000sq m venue represents an investment of circa E10m by the company. Casino director Thomas Schindler wants to attract in theregion of 100,000 visitors annually (up from 80,000 at the separate venues) and has relaxed the dress code somewhat in order to appeal to younger people.


EUROPE CENTRAL, EAST & CIS


June launch for Austrian tender process


Austrian state secretary for finance Reinhold Lopatka, who will be overseeing the bidding process


Dr Franz Wohlfahrt, general director of


Novomatic, has strongly welcomed the new gaming law in Austria


German


casinos ‘must offer table games’ says association


gamesupremacy GERMANY


The Association for Private Casinos in Germany (BupriS) has called for a new legal framework for licensing casinos.


Martin Reeckmann, chair- man of the association, said: “Whoever wants to offer casino games legally must not confine themselves to operating just slot machines or an internet site. A move away from table gaming is neither desirable nor politi- cally acceptable for the per- ception of the attractiveness of casinos. Therefore licences to operate casino games should only be awarded to gaming opera- tors who also offer the tradi- tional games.”


Each applicant will have


to pay E10,000 in docu- ment fees to enter the bidding process, and the licences themselves will cost E100,000 each. Under the rules laid


down by the European Commission, backed up by European Court of Justice, the tender process will have to be opened to the whole of the EU. However, in an amendment to the 2010 Gambling Act, the gov- ernment has stipulated that only those companies already in possession of a full casino licence else- where in the EU will be


allowed to take part. Dr Franz Wohlfahrt,


general director of Novo- matic, has been fulsome in his praise of the law. “It’s the greatest innovation in this sector for decades, one that has set down a mile- stone.”


The company is confi- dent that it will gain some of the licences to be offered and is prepared to invest at least E100m to create thou- sands of jobs in Austria in the next three to five years. Meanwhile, the difficult economic conditions con- tinue to bite at the existing 12 casinos. Casinos Austria


New casino approved for Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens


fairytaleend DENMARK


One of the oldest and most famous theme parks in the world, the Tivoli Gardens in the Danish capital Copen- hagen, is to get a casino after the Justice Depart- ment awarded a licence in mid-November. The casino is likely to be located in the Hans Chris- tian Andersen palace by the Copenhagen City Hall Square and should open early in 2012. The owners


want to create an interna- tional standard venue to include both tables and slot machines and a restaurant. The Danish government signalled back in February that it was looking to issue one or two more land-based casino licences. Tivoli Gardens applied and has been successful. It will be the eighth casino operating in Denmark. Lars Liebst, CEO of Tivoli,


said: “Denmark and there- fore Tivoli has experienced a significant decline in


8 January 2011 • europecentraleast&cisnews


foreign tourists in the past few years, the opposite of what has happened in other EU countries. Copen- hagen has a need for new, exciting and high quality offer that will help support its effort to become a metropolis in line with Europe’s other big cities. And for Tivoli, the casino gives us an opportunity to develop our business in keeping with the 100-year- old tradition of offering entertainment and games of all kinds.”


announced in December that it was shedding another 150 jobs from its 1,710-strong workforce as part of its restructuring pro- gramme. The company has already made 90 people redundant. Of the latest tranche, 26 have already accepted redundancy terms, with the remaining 126 to follow in the coming months. The company has stressed that the depar- tures are voluntary. When the award of the licences is decided, there will be many more redun- dancies, this time compul- sory.


He added: “Roulette and


card games like blackjack and poker characterise the essence of casinos, however, traditional games with their high standards of customer service and player protection is both labour- and cost- intensive. In order to main- tain this highly quality offer of regulated games, access to the modern gaming products and the internet must remain open. In addition, the classic casino games must be pro- tected against unmatchable cheaper offers made by those offering casino games without these table games.” Reeckmann concluded:


“In order to implement these regulatory requirements, the licences for casino games must be coupled with the active provision of table games. Casino operators who offer only slot machines or just internet games, should be excluded from licensing.”


The new Tivoli Casino is likely to be located in the Hans Christian Andersen palace on the edge of the pleasure gardens


The BupriS position has been welcomed and sup- ported by the main union rep- resenting casino workers, Ver.di, which wants to see greater respect and better pay especially for croupiers and dealers. No response is yet forthcoming from the rival casino representative of the German Casino Association (DSbV), which speaks exclu- sively for publicly owned casinos. The former industry association split along public- private lines in early 2010.


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