Vol. 9 • No. 42 • October 31, 2011 - Print This Issue
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Vol. 9 • No. 42 • October 31, 2011, Featured Articles, PODCASTS
GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS PODCAST: DoubleDown Interactive President Glenn Walcott
This week, the Global Gaming Business Podcast features an interview with Glenn Walcott, the president of DoubleDown Interactive, the leading play-for-free casino site feature on Facebook, talking about this social media phenomenon.
Download this Podcast Episode or Click Below to Play it.
Imagine online gaming customers who will pay you real money to play on your website but you don’t have to pay them if they win. That’s the situation with many applications linked to Facebook and other social networking sites. Glenn Walcott, the president of DoubleDown Interactive, one of the leading amusement play gaming applications, explains the motivation behind the players and how his company can help to promote land-based casinos via sponsorships or joint ventures. Walcott spoke with Global Gaming Business Publisher Roger Gros during the G2E conference and trade show earlier this month in Las Vegas.
More Featured Articles
WEEKLY FEATURE: Going, Going….
A House hearing on Rep. Joe Barton’s online poker bill demonstrates there are still some serious questions about the legitimacy of online gaming, raised by Rep. Mary Bono Mack (l.), and how it will impact the nation. While commercial casinos are rallying behind the issue, the nation’s Native American tribes are divided and many would rather see the issue delayed indefinitely.
New York’s Aqueduct Casino Opens
The first casino in New York City opened last week when Genting’s Resorts World at Aqueduct debuted with more than 2,000 slot machines. The racino will feature a total of 5,000 machines when phase two opens by the end of the year.
Fertitta Buys CyberArts
After being burned by an aborted partnership with Full Tilt Poker, Fertitta Interactive, controlled by the owners of Las Vegas’ Station Casinos, buys one of the leading companies producing and developing online casino sites. Company principal Lorenzo Fertitta (l.), says both organizations support federal regulation of online poker.
Flexible Tables?
Macau’s announced controls on table game growth following the removal of the hard cap that will expire in 2013 may be more flexible than originally thought. A Macau newspaper says the 10-year total could be parceled out early in that decade.
NIGA Speakers Call for Carcieri fix
A Carcieri “fix” that would get rid of a problem that is stuck in the throat of the Department of the Interior like a chicken bone is also a number one priority among Indian leaders, according to Cedric Cromwell, the chairman of the landless Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts (l.), and other speakers at a recent gathering of leaders from gaming tribes.
Jamaica Demands Rooms Before Gaming
Jamaica is moving ahead with its plans to create a casino resort industry. However, regulations stipulating 1,000 guest-ready hotel rooms before gaming can commence could give some investors pause.
Illinois Senators Try Another Expanded Gambling Bill
State senators are floating a scaled-down expanded gambling bill that keeps some provisions of the bill passed by the legislature in May, like allowing five new casinos, including one in Chicago, but eliminates others, such as slots at racetracks. Governor Pat Quinn (l.) said the new version does not fit his framework of what would be acceptable.
Union Label
Proposed settlement in Detroit is short-circuited when workers at MGM Detroit reject contract after the other two casinos approve it. And in Atlantic City, labor problems may be avoided as Caesars Entertainment reaches an agreement with Local 54, the Atlantic City branch of UNITE HERE, the culinary and hotel union, and its leader, Bob McDevitt (l.).
FANTINI’S FINANCE: Money From Manufacturers
Slot makers have been buffeted and shaken during the economic downturn. Casinos were not buying and slots machines were not being replaced. But with new technology and new jurisdictions, things have changed.