CR62-p30-SBG:SJC-Casino Review 25/11/07 01:42 Page 1
casinoreview
“Server based, server-assisted and downloadable are all terms applied In Latin America, Sona to blackjack, roulette,
to the downloading of game content from a central server. With server- Mobile’s server-based gaming baccarat and Pai Gow poker,
based gaming, we can download games to individual terminals, banks system a provider of secure and six versions of video
of terminals, areas and zones. Server-based gaming involves more
Sona
gaming software has been poker. In conjunction with
than the ability to download games. It allows an operator to manage adopted by Lima Uno at a Shuffle Master, the terminals
games remotely. Every time a bet is placed, evrything is audited at the
scores
race and sports book in Lima, also feature proprietary
terminal and central-server level. New games can be downloaded Peru. The Sona Gaming content, including Three Card
overnight or managed by software during operational hours.” System includes fixed Poker, Four Card Poker, and
Martin Britton, director, G kit terminals that provide access Ultimate Texas Hold ‘em.
SERVERBASEDGAMING
Time to
get real
Octavian’s Robert
Dykstra discusses
server-based gaming
and its implications
from a business
perspective.
callitwhatyouwill
THE BUSINESS OF SBG
Questions that any business
interested in server-based
gaming range from “What do
downloadable games really
mean for my business?”
through “Who do I turn to for
a balanced, expert view of
the business issues and the
right blend of expertise?” to
“How much investment is
required and how can you
maximise your return?”
Equally, potential opera-
tors of server-based games
need to know how they can
use the full potential of the
technology to tailor games
and services to the needs of
their players.
Dykstra believes that it is
essential to define what
Server-based virtually
downloadable games mean
for an operator’s gaming
business and to find a
partner sufficiently experi-
ready to serve
enced and flexible to be able
to provide the optimum tai-
lored solution for them.
He explained: “Some sup-
If the amount of time and money spent on testing new systems is any indication of how they will fare in
pliers concentrate on the the-
oretical ideal of
the future then the outlook for server-based gaming is a rosy one, believes Phil Martin. downloadable games, gloss-
ing over practical considera-
invested in research and basic form, downloadable, data. Secondly, there’s the content, denomination, tions. At Octavian we aim to
testing, slot machine manu- has been bandied about at fact that huge numbers of bonus payouts or promo- provide clients with a bal-
facturers are now virtually gaming exhibitions for current legacy machines tions, such as progressive anced view of the business
on the verge of bringing years, but only now is would need to be replaced jackpots or happy hours potential and business issues
server-based gaming to uptake looking anything – or retrofitted. Having just can be more easily intro- associated with implement-
casino floors. less than blunt. The tech- embraced the cashless con- duced, all from a central ing downloadable games.”
I say virtually, as systems nology is recognised by cepts of TITO or Smart Card, computer server rather Regarding the all-important
are now being tested live pretty much everybody on many boardrooms haven’t than requiring technicians consideration of infrastruc-
on the floor with pilots all sides of the industry as felt the need for another to perform the work manu- ture, Dykstra advocates the
taking place in Spain, South being the future of slot sudden upheaval or indeed ally out on the floor. Players use of an open architecture
America, the United States operation. Yet the sector injection of cash. But proba- get to play their favourite and a commitment to industry
and the United Kingdom, to has not felt the need to rush bly more than any other games on each and every standards to retain flexibility.
name but a few, and they head first into the new tech- reason, operators have been terminal with immediate “Single-supplier proprietary
dominated the offerings of nology. There are probably waiting for technology to access to a larger spectrum solutions will severely limit
the big slot manufacturers several reasons. Firstly, leg- reach such a level that of games and multi-denomi- choice,” he warned.
at this year’s and last year’s islation in many jurisdic- switching over to server- nation on any machine. And And Dykstra’s words of
Global Gaming Expo in Las tions has needed to be based would not be a regulators get access to advice? “The underlying
Vegas. The technology has remodelled to allow the gamble in any stretch of the better information with system must not dictate or
theeditor’sview certainly been well technology in. Its passage imagination. Several manu- which to regulate. Every- restrict the games operators
SERVER-BASED GAMING embraced by other gam- towards approval has had facturers now feel they are one’s a winner. There seems are able to offer to cus-
bling sectors, but casinos the added advantage that at that stage. to be no doubt in anyone’s tomers. Never forget that the
F
ollowing half a have so far opted to sit on a legislators love the trans- Everybody knows what mind - operator, manufac- customer comes first.
decade of develop- fence wide enough to parency of the server-based server-based can bring: ture or regulator, that server- Players want a blend of
ment and millions accommodate the collec- system as it offers full namely better slot manage- based is unquestionably the games and a variety of
of dollars, euros, tive derrieres of the indus- reporting and auditing and ment and flexibility. Slot future. The billion dollar cabinet types - uprights,
pounds and just try’s decision makers. allows for greater confi- managers would be able to question though is this; slant-tops, table-top and
about everything else Server-based in its most dence in the integrity of the change a machine’s game which system to go with? bar-based terminals.”
30 December 2007 serverbasedgaming
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