Loto-Quebec has chosen the date of the national holiday to open the doors of its newest casino Mont-Tremblant. The big opening took place on 24th of June, 13 years after the inauguration of the Lac-Leamy casino. The opening of this fourth casino in the province was welcomed by some, but there are also people claiming that there was no need for a new casino in Quebec.

If we look on the positive side, the new casino of Loto-Quebec could contribute to the economic development of the region. It can accommodate up to 1600 guests and create over 200 new jobs. 400 slot machines and 25 gaming tables are available on three floors.

The architectural design and the materials used meet the standards of sustainable development. From the outside, the building looks like a cottage and harmonizes with the wonderful background of Mont-Tremblant. The State company rejects the accusation that it increases the supply of gambling in Quebec. It indicates that the slot machines in Mont Tremblant are not added to those already installed in other casinos. These come from the gambling establishments in Montreal and Lac-Leamy where they were withdrawn from.

Moreover, the CEO of Mont-Tremblant Casino, Alain Bissonnette, said his institution would comply with responsible gaming policies.

On the other hand, the gambling expert Alain Dubois is concerned about gambling addiction and considers that the casino is a danger for the gamblers. According to the latest annual report of Loto-Quebec, the turnover of Loto Quebec increased by 2.3% over the last year.

Alain Dubois stresses that the target for the slot machines of the establishment is not represented by wealthy clients. Or, Loto-Quebec draws 90% of its revenues from slots.

In response, the company says that customers of the new casino will be different: 65% of visitors comes from outside Quebec. Moreover, the casino has an area dedicated entirely to high rollers, a room situated upstairs.

Loto-Quebec invested $ 66 million in the construction of the casino and hopes it would recover the investment after the first year of gaming operation.

After being awarded two Oscars that have crowned his legendary success in Titanic and The Departed, the American actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio will star in a movie about the online casinos. The idea of the movie was inspired by the success of international tournaments such as World Series of Poker or European Poker Tour and the growing attendance on the online casinos and poker rooms. The project was proposed to Paramount Studios and the filming will be made in Costa Rica.

Icing on the cake, the scenario of this new movie was entrusted to the well-known writers, Brian Koppelman and David Levien. The duo have already written the scenario for “Ocean’s Thriteen” and for the mythical “Rounders”, starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. This time, the principal character will be embodied by the handsome hero of Titanic, also big fan of poker. Such a role in the world of games is familiar to the actor. In the “Rounders”, launched in 1998, DiCaprio has already played a passionate of poker in land casinos.

As in USA online poker sites are still illegal and forbidden, the action will be set in Costa Rica, a harbour for many online gambling operators. As for the plot and the title of the movie, the star of “Departed” hasn’t disclosed any information.

With his participation at the WSOP beside his friend Tobey Maguire, he earned the respect of the best poker payers in the world. Not long ago, we could see him at a Lakers match, wearing a hat branded “Doyle’s Room”. DiCaprio and Doyle Brunson co-produced “The 11th Hour”, a documentary about the state of the environment and what we have to do to restore the ecosystem.

City of Dreams, an astonishing new resort developed on Cotai Strip in Macau, opened its doors on 1st June. It was a day of feast for Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., its powerful owner.

The new resort - a $2.1 billion project - aims to become the first gambling destination on the Cotai Strip, surpassing Las Vegas Sands’ Venetian Macau, the first entertainment center in Macau, owned by the billionaire Sheldon Anderson.

 City of Dreams brings together famous brands including Hard Rock, Grand Hyatt and Crown, in order to deliver exceptional entertainment and hotels of the highest quality. As co-chairman Lawrence Ho stated in a declaration, the City Center project is “crucial” to ensuring the progress of the strip. Ho claims that his entertainment center will cater to a community unhappy with the offer of Venetian resort: “If you are a younger, hipper, cooler crowd and you like to party or you like music, then the Hard Rock is our solution” Ho said, referring to the state-of-the-art hotel.

Nevertheless, the main attraction of the resort will be a casino measuring 420.000 square-feet and featuring approximately 520 gambling tables and 1.350 gaming machines.

“Our dream for a new standard of entertainment in Macau has become a reality,” added Lawrence Ho, proud of the company’s great deed. In his statement, he made allusion at theirs competitors, “who have a very stretched balance sheet”, unlike Melco Crown Entertainment managers, who “have always managed the balance sheet very carefully.”

However, “City of Dreams” is likely to confront tough problems. The gambling market in Macau have been hit not only by the financial crisis, but also by the tight legal restrictions on Chinese visitors adopted last year. Gaming revenues have been falling since the beginning of the year and they are expected to fall over again.

Most of the online players have at least once asked the big question: against who are they really playing at online casinos? Against a machine, a human being or both of them?

It is true that some software offer unimaginable opportunities in regard to new technologies. In particular, the opportunity of interacting with live dealers when gambling online! This is the latest achievement of Playtech, a software company that has developed a revolutionary system for its casinos: live dealers, all filmed by web cams! Shortly, there are real dealers who manage some games on Casino Tropez - a casino run by Playetch. Beyond the mere technical performance, we must recognize that live dealers on Casino Tropez can reproduce almost identically the sensations that one can live in a land casino.

Casino Tropez is not the only operator having introduced this system. Using web cams and technology in “real time”, many operators employ professional dealers to run the game while playing online. Thus, depending on the game you have chosen, you can receive your cards directly from the dealer’s hand rather than seeing them on the screen. Obviously, the game is much more interactive!

In fact, it is not very difficult to develop such a system. But the difference is that the dealer is really part of the game and he is at your disposals.

Of course, games of this type are much slower than those managed entirely by the computer. But games with live dealers offer an attractive alternative for many players: they are now part of the options offered by a growing number of online casinos. As technology develops and improves constantly, we can even expect to see more, so that casinos increase the choice of games available on their sites.

After throwing a glance at Valencia and Dubai, the developers who intend to bring the Las Vegas in Europe, have finally made their choice in the desert of Los Monegros - the place selected for becoming home of Gran Scala City. Gran Scala, an extremely ambitious project, is at the moment only a glittering appearance in the northern Spain, but in the future it is announced as the greatest leisure resort in Europe, including a peerless gambling center, theme parks, a racecourse and many others leisure activities.

The Gran Scala project has made good progress today, but there are still challenges to take up. At this moment, when the boom of the gambling world is more than a story, even if affected by the global crisis, who could properly foresee the future of this Las Vegas or Macau clone in the European version? According to the initial proposal, this complex could be born in France, in Valencia or on the shores of the Persian Gulf in Dubai. Once the decision on the location had been taken, its promoters, members of the ILD consortium, in partnership with independent government of Aragon,  announced the effective implementation in 2012.

At the announcement moment, back in 2007, Sebastien Tranchant, the general manager of the ILD Consortium, also owner of the eponymous French society, advertised that this great leisure complex would consist of 32 casinos, 70 hotels, 232 restaurants, 500 shops, a racecourse, a golf course, 5 theme parks, museums and a convention center. In other words, a city in the city! Given the almost ideal weather and perfect location in the county of Aragon, “Gran Scala” hopes to attract at least 25 millions of tourists.

However, its location in the desert and its volume raises water and energy  issues. In addition, some residents of surrounding communities have expressed their concerns about the environmental and social impact of a project of this size and the Government of Aragon announced that a development plan would be map out and emphasis would be placed in the environmental field. Moreover, Gran Scala will create over 65.000 jobs in the region and this should, in essence, dispel people’s doubts.

Nevertheless, given the social responsibilities that this type of project requires, the 32 casinos in the Center will be under the rigorous rule of the Government of Aragon, having to obey a specific legal system. This will govern gambling matters and will define the type of games allowed.

The gambling establishments, from Las Vegas to Macau, are investing their money in the electronic chips that control the tables, in the poker chips, but also in the players. The suppliers are overcasting their sales to explode.
Two of the largest suppliers of equipment and tokens for US casinos, GPI and IOGC revealed their income for 2008. It generated the opportunity to observe a growing success for RFID solutions right in the middle of these institutions. There are already known the chips embedded in the chips given to the players, or the adoption of certain systems to monitor the abuse of the bartenders a little too generous who serve some doses of alcohol non regulatory, and are waiting to be rewarded with big tips. It seems that RFID (or Radio Frequency Identification, which is the technology that permits the identification of an object by means of a special label emitting some radio waves, attached or incorporated inside the object) takes more and more part of the investments the casinos make. Thus, the company GPI reveals that 40 percent of its revenue (about 9 million $) is from the sale of such chips to casinos worldwide. Half of its sales are still aimed at US facilities, and 40 percent reserved for the Macau market, the new Eldorado of games.
with significant growth figures, while these products accounted for less than 4 percents of the company’s sales in 2004, they now account for nearly one third of its commerce. “This force adoption of RFID products is a direct consequence of the increase in supply, its diversity, and offers more and more customized to ensure the security establishments of customers,”said Bodo Ischebeck, vice president of IOGC. The latter notes that customers are increasingly familiar with these technologies and now require real solutions for automated management of their game tables. It must be said that such systems greatly simplify the work of casino owners.
The electronic processors, installed on each table, are indeed able to read and recognize up to thousand RFID chips per second. This provides a visibility almost in real time of the situation at the game tables and of the players’ results. And, of course, the system can effectively fight against counterfeit or stolen chips. RFID allows indeed, among other things, the checking of tokens rather than one by one, in mass, through an analysis and automatic authentication. In addition, no need to manually count the earnings of players: their results are recorded automatically.

The one who has never set foot for the first time in a casino can not understand the feelings of loneliness of the neophyte facing the slot machines. The credit system, lines or rolls that can accumulate, how to optimize its token or play a community game, those are the things a beginner cannot perform.
“The graphics of the machines has evolved enormously”, admits Alain Fabre, director of the cassidain institution. He had already to navigate between red cherries, bells and other dollars. Now, the eye must zap between a multitude of information, while the bandit penguin is definitely relegated. “Not to mention the traditional arcade games, where the player is confronted with a machine and not with a human.”
The fear of ridicule, the nervous reaction of other experienced players, all this count too. Many surveys had reported the frustration of visitors, overwhelmed by the numbers marching on the giant screen or the cumulated bonuses. For three months, the Cassis Casino has acquired four “coaches” to assist the customer in the bending of the game, a method well known by the Barriere group.
Laurent Robin, a young 23 years old dealer, having started in Ruhl, Nice, was assistant for the clientele. He was volunteer to undergo a training for coaches. Recognizable by his yellow and violet T-shirt, the color of the demonstration terminal of the entrance, he walks quietly his gaze on the audience.
Nothing escapes him. “Clearly, we can observe the passive player that observes the machines but does not take the initiative. Anyone who wants to find out more, questions his neighbour. My role is to help him.”
At the end of the afternoons, the hall having over 270 slot machines is filled with people. Many regulars greet the coaches who guide them in one of the largest french parks of low budget machines (one can dream about winning, just like the lucky winner in July, with over 25.000 Euro on a single blow, with only one cent).
In the classic playrooms, a second poker table, the famous Texas Hold’em is filled with people. If a new player wants to embark on the green carpet, there is no need to prohibit him this pleasure. Even if the coach is not the dealer, the coach knows by heart the codes, and he will offer them with great pleasure.
“Each coach also receives training in prevention”, states Alain Fabre,in the context of the fight against addictive behaviour. “We have every interest to see customers coming for fun, without falling into addiction. “Laurence knows these customers whose attitude has changed. “They become very nervous, stressed; we observe them closely. We know that there, we must take action.” The guides must recognize the player who slips into that very bad mood because he has lost a major coup.”But it is rare, smiles Laurent. People in general are very sympathetic.”
At the table where four slot machines are connected online, the bonus is quite disoriented and each player takes advantage of this good fortune, congratulating each other. An impeccable row of emeralds falls. The player pockets 1200 Euro. Risky business…