Money Controls’ Chief Executive, Mike Innes, declared ICE “a big success for the company”, a comment based on both the number of visitors to its stand and their positive reaction.
The centrepiece of the stand was the Ardac Elite bill and ticket acceptor. Launched before last year’s show, Ardac Elite has now been extensively proven in the field and is enjoying unprecedented success with both OEMs and casino operators. So much so, that at the last count, there were over 30,000 units deployed worldwide.
Mike was particularly pleased with the welcome visitors gave to the new 4-way barcode reading option for Ardac Elite: “It’s frustrating, for customers and casino operators alike, when valid tickets are not accepted on first-time insertion; with this new option, whichever way a ticket is inserted Ardac Elite will read it.”
Mike regards a second new feature, the display on a PDA of a full-colour image of the last-note inserted, as equally important for casino operators: “With Ardac Elite, disputes can now be resolved in seconds, with no need to remove the cashbox: all floor staff need do is connect a PDA to the USB socket on the front of the Ardac Elite for instant proof of what note was inserted last.”
Last-note display and other advanced features are possible thanks to Ardac Elite’s unique image capture and data processing technology: a full-colour, whole image is taken of every bill and barcode ticket inserted.
“With first-time acceptance rates in excess of 97% for street grade notes and for barcode tickets, you can see why operators are delighted with Ardac Elite,” continued Mike. “On top of that, it has proven to be remarkably reliable and needs virtually no maintenance, maximising in-service availability.

Atronic International has announced the appointment of Shaun Wischnowsky as new Regional Sales Executive mainly for the company´s Eastern European customers. Based out of the company’s UK office, Shaun reports to Atronic International’s Sales Director, Stuart German and is responsible for sales activities in Belgium, Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland and Slovakia.

Relocating from New Zealand to the UK, Shaun comes to Atronic with several years’ sales experience under his belt where he was responsible for contracts, merchandising equipment and stock, and key accounts for large oil companies and grocery chains. He holds a Bachelors degree in Business, majoring in Marketing, gained from Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Shaun has had a whirlwind start to his position with visits to Germany, Austria and attending the recent G2E show in Las Vegas. Shaun comments:, “It was a great start for me to attend the Las Vegas Show where I got a superb exposure to what the casino industry is like. Now I’m keen to get in and meet my customers.”

Atronic International’s Sales Director, Stuart German said, “It gives me great pleasure to introduce and welcome Shaun aboard. I’m confident that he will quickly settle into his position and be an asset for the Atronic sales team. With the recent restructuring within Atronic, Shaun’s appointment helps to strengthen our sales team once again.”

At the annual IMA (International Trade Fair For Amusement And Vending Machines), Bally Wulff Entertainment presented new products featuring lots of new games, new technology and new design. This was a growing continuation of last year’s trend: analog reel machines are more and more replaced by versatile digital machines - first and foremost the so-called multigamers, which combine different games all in one machine, e.g. poker, roulette and more, including new varieties of AWP games.

»We succeeded straightaway in convincing and delighting our customers with our new products. The entirely positive response to these machines shows us that we meet the sophisticated  requirements of our customers,« summarizes CEO Axel Herr at the close of the four-day performance show in Düsseldorf.

The highlight of Bally Wulff’s performance in a Las Vegas-like casino environment were the impressive Royal Casino and Multi Casino machines, which were presented each on their own exclusive stage. The two multigamers offer lots of new features, not only new games but also new design: »All eight premium games on Royal Casino’s 32” touchscreen were received outstandingly well by the customers - Lamb Story, the amusing reel game, Roulette, Black Jack and the Strip Card poker game,« summarizes product manager Peter Nötzold. Apart from numerous lavish animations in the bonus games, Royal Casino is the first multigamer featuring - in the poker game Strip Card - real live video sequences.

Multi Casino also received a powerful response, convincing the players with 17 games on two 19” TFT monitors and a chrome casino cabinet: »The extended reel games 80 Days and Admiral Nelson were among the favourites at the IMA,« resumes product manager Jörg Neuberger. The fascinating world trip in the »all-around-the-world« bonus of 80 Days begins in England, just like in Jules Verne’s novel, and leads across Egypt, India, China, Japan and America. »Convincing the visitors of our new Multi Casino machine was an easy job for us,« Jörg Neuberger is happy to report.

With the additional IMA novelties Nevada Casino, 18+ and FreeGames Bally Wulff Entertainment showcased an array of gaming innovations appealing to all kinds of players - in arcades and gastronomy alike.

Eurocoin Remains Gaming and Casino Market Distributor and Service Partner for Europe and Africa

TransAct Technologies Incorporated (Nasdaq: TACT), a leading producer of transaction-based printers for customers worldwide, today announced that it has extended its agreement for Eurocoin to serve as its exclusive distributor and service agent for the gaming and casino market in Europe and Africa. Under the agreement, Eurocoin will distribute TransAct’s line of gaming printers through January 31, 2010. 

Bart C. Shuldman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TransAct Technologies, commented, “Our international gaming sales continued to grow in 2007, fueled by the broad acceptance of our Epic 950® ticket printer in the Ticket In, Ticket Out market and the Epic 430 gaming printer, which targets off-premise gaming opportunities, such as Amusements with Prizes (AWP) and Skills with Prizes (SWP), Video Lottery Terminals (VLT), and Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT). Our long-term sales partner, Eurocoin, has expanded our global reach by building customer relationships and achieving record sales in Europe and Africa. Given the opportunity in these markets and all that we have achieved together, it is clearly in both companies’ best interests to extend our partnership.”

Colin Veitch, Director, Eurocoin, said, “Eurocoin is pleased to extend the ongoing relationship with our colleagues at TransAct and look forward to continuing growth and success in the forthcoming two years.  TransAct is an outstanding partner with the proven technology of the Epic 950 and Epic 430 printers.  Together we have worked to provide innovative solutions and exceptional support resulting in our leading position in the European and African gaming markets.”

Founded in 1973, Eurocoin is one of Europe's leading suppliers of products for the amusement and gaming industries. Eurocoin sells across Europe and Africa from its UK headquarters near London and sales offices throughout Europe and Africa.

The TAB-Awards were presented for the third year running on 23 January 2008 during the ATEI in London. An unforgettable evening for all the guests and winners.

Guests from over 30 countries took up TAB-Austria’s invitation to attend the annual TAB-Awards. After all, a festive atmosphere, good food, Austrian wines especially imported for the occasion and an extravagant show component are the ingredients which produce unforgettable evenings.

“Our partners are the sole focus of this party. It’s not about products, strategies or new developments. What counts is the fun and the celebration of joint successes”, explains Siegfried Dattl jr., Managing Director of TAB-Austria.

And the evening was indeed about FUN in capital letters. Over 100 invited guests, a successful reception and a fantastic TAB-Awards ceremony for the best of the best ensured a festive atmosphere.

“Commitment, creativity and continuity are the cornerstones which matter to us. They are the basis of the entire TAB-Group. Short-term approaches and so-called one hit wonders are not the values we stand for. Long-term success is our focus and we also assist our partners in achieving the same. With the TAB-Awards we have created an international platform for presenting these services to a wider public. This is where all of our partners get to meet one another”, is how Karin Scheidl, Marketing Manager, describes the idea behind the TAB-Awards.

Three companies were nominated in each category.
Ultimately it was Norditalia, Italy, who took home the TAB-Award for “Best Marketing”. Balo Ticaret, Turkey, secured the “Best Technical Performance” Award and “Best Overall Performance” went to C + P Automatenhandel, Switzerland, for the second time in a row. 

“Last year was dominated by Kiosk and Betting Terminals which is why our annual floating “Special Award” was presented in this segment this time”, explains Karin Scheidl. The special award went to a company considered to be a pioneer in Fixed Odds Betting and which has become a global player in the betting sector within a very short space of time: The Global Draw from England.

Following the presentation of the prizes with a total value of more than 22.500.00 Euros, Greg Bennis, the new lead singer with Hot Chocolate and successor to Errol Brown, provided the party atmosphere, getting the guests going with hits like “You Sexy Thing”, “Every one’s a Winner” and “It Started with a Kiss”.

Not only did he get everyone on the dance floor with the song “So You Win Again”, he also provided a preview of the TAB-Awards Party 2009.

The party went on into the early morning hours and anyone who was not able to be there this time can start looking forward to the 28 January 2009 because that’s when it will be time again for “And the award goes to...”.