Issue #218
Special Report - ICE London
Dear Reader,
Yes, I'm back - and amazingly enough I survived the British beer and nearly a full week of restaurant food, and traveling the "tube". But it was cool, and to experience some of this "coolness" continue to scroll down...slowly.
Chillingly yours,
Bryan
In this issue:
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Pip - pip! Cheerio and all that!
I love London, and every year in January I find myself pilgramaging to this cool place - specifically to attend the International Casino Exhibition held in Earls Court - it's huge. Just about everyone you need to meet is there, and - and - jeeze, what a boring intro. Usually I jump right into the most eventful incident leading into the conference -- come to think of it, nothing really happened on the way there. It was an uneventful flight; the airport - nothing. The only thing that happened during my journey was that I got turned around coming out of the Paddington tube station and walked the wrong way for about five blocks.I had chosen a different hotel for this trip. I usually stay at the St. Giles with its extra-mini sized rooms smack dab in the middle of north Soho. It's an ocean of people there, tons of shopping at your finger tips, theaters, restaurants, brilliant action, but whenever I stay at the St. Giles I get nothing done since the hotel bar is usually flooded with half-crocked webmasters and affiliate managers. They act as a magnet to me - so this time I chose (along with Spearmaster) to stay far, far away.
It was a good move. Except on the first evening there, I was immediately and totally bored. So I found the hotel where Greedy Girl from Gonegambling was staying, and we went out for a healthy dose of Fish 'n Chips and flat British Beer at a local pub on Tottenham Court Road. What a nice place, and I lent her my ear as she explained the nightmarish experiences she was having with the hotel staff, her phone, and her room. I'm glad I had a cheap hotel; nothing really to disappoint me there.
First night was movie night. I saw "Aviator" and was impressed with how it really captured (apparently) the feel of Southern California in the 20s - 40s. And I had some real connections with the film since my grandfather was an Aeronautical engineer who worked on a number of Howard Hughs' projects. According to my mom, he didn't like Howard Hughes that much. She told me, "When Hughes was establishing a new company, he wanted my Dad to work for him and we would have moved to New Orleans. I was about thirteen. My father told me to answer the phone, and when the man said he was Howard Hughes I was to tell him that I did not know where my father was. It was scary." Way to go, grandpa! LOL
Anyway I digress, the following evening (Monday evening) was extremely interesting with a pub crawl beginning somewhere, and then I met up with the operators of iNetBet at the Sanderson Hotel and we headed to a wild restaurant Asia De Cuba. Mind blowing to say the least.
And much more than a dinner my dear reader, we talked about Tempting Tuesday, which will be exclusive promos given out every Tuesday only to Casinomeister members. Tomorrow's promo is an exclusive slots promo. Check this site out here: http://www.inetbet.com/cmtuesday.asp!!
So much for the shameless promotion. Oh well.
Tuesday was the first day of the ICE, which was as large as ever. I had a bit of angst that this year would mark another year of the I-Gaming section being treated like the red-headed step-child of the gaming industry. I was relieved to find that this was not true by any standpoint. It was a great turn-out and my overall feeling is that this industry has finally taken shape. I think a lot of this has to do with companies like Microgaming, Intercasino, and iGlobal Media's Party Poker entering the mainstream media and public eye. I spoke with Julian Graves, the Marketing and Commercial Director of the ATE/ICE, and he'd like to hear of any comments or suggestions from exhibitors or visitors. If you were there, I'd be happy to pass anything on.
Evening came quickly, and Ted Loh of Got2Bet, Ian Simms of Oggs.com, and I met Ed Ware of 32Red Casino
Wednesday proved to be quite exciting. Partnerlogic held a go-cart event at The Raceway where 15 of us were invited to try and kick each other's asses in two twenty minute races around the track. Well, at least I beat the girls who participated - and a couple of others. Maybe it was my big size that slowed me down a bit, because it seemed I held the pedal down to the medal, really. But nevertheless, we all had a blast thanks to everyone at Partnerlogic.
At awards ceremony, Søren Mirzai from the Danish portal Casinoportalen was the winner, and had his photo (along with the 2nd and 3rd place winners) with the babe-licious Jane Bently from Intercasino.co.uk
That evening, Ted Loh and I (yes, we did most everything together this trip - it was like we were married) chowed down on some yummy Turkish food with the operators of Trident Lounge
to be continued...
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Sushi reflections...
Thursday, the last day of the ICE proved to be an effective and very satisfying day for me. Spearmaster and I met with Amit Jain of the Virtual Casino group at length and gave him an ear to some of the future projects that Virtual is undertaking. It's been a difficult road for Virtual. A few years ago, they were known as one of the most notorious casino groups, in fact they had won the award for "Worst Casino Group" of 2001 at Casinomeister. But after meeting with operator Tej Kohli last year, he vowed to get Virtual back on track and to provide fair and proper treatment to the player; no more dodginess in other words. And so far, so good (comparatively speaking). This year I gave them credit for making some big improvements on this front; they were acknowledged in the Best and Worst of 2004 in the Player Improvement Awards section.Ted and I also me with iGlobal Gaming and had a discussion about some of the issues concerning their software, and how the rules are applied to their video poker. Looks like some progress was made, and I hope to report more about this soon.
I also met up with Paul Munro of Virgin Games
That evening proved to be very relaxing; took in some sushi at Yo!Sushi and the film Finding Neverland - finally a Johnny Depp film that doesn't characterize him as some tweaky eccentric. A really good film, and it was a "London" film. And I'm glad this evening was so relaxing because I sure needed my energy for the Microgaming event that was scheduled for the next day at the Isle of Man...
To be continued...
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The Isle of Man cometh...
The Isle of Man was a real surprise. I always pictured it as a big cold wet rock somewhere in the Irish Sea, populated by sheep and farm people. Well, I'm glad to report that I was wrong.It was a beautiful sunny day, and the rolling green hills reminded me of where I live in Germany, except there were no forests or mountains in the background. We were invited to the opening of Microgaming's new offices on the Isle of Man, and it was a first class venue all the way. There were around 150 guests (or so), to include many operators and others who have a relationship with Microgaming one way or another. They had a few of their kiosks on display. Simply put, these are slot machines that you can find in land based casinos. Thunderstruck and Spring Break were two of the slot selections available. Hallelujah! These should be hitting the land based casinos soon! New scoop on games "Aces &Eights" Video Poker is scheduled for sometime this month; a 50-hand and 100-hand Video Poker will be coming out in April. Plus - there are more "household name" slots on the horizon to rival Lara Croft's "Tomb Raider". This is something to anticipate. The further Microgaming goes with this, the more e-gaming is taken seriously by the common spectator. Credence and commitment is something that I think all of us favor, and we can find this in Microgaming operations.
That evening turned into another spectacular event. Microgaming had arranged for all 150 (or so) of us to be taken back to the Mount Murray Hotel and Country Club where the banquet room was set up in an Indian theme. There was a center stage complete with two musicians playing a Sitar (Indian stringed instrument) and Tabla (Indian drums - sort of like bongos but they can really sing). Guests were invited to splay themselves out amongst throw pillows and short cushiony stools which filled the room and surrounded the stage. Sandalwood incense filled the air, as well as music and mirth. There was an Indian lady giving head massages, and another giving tattoos that lasted for days. There was even a tarot card reader/palmist who was freaking a few people out on his skill to "read" into their futures and pasts. I avoided this guy for sure.
Then the dancers came out. Eight lovely Indian girls doing the "jive" to some contemporary Indian disco music. And then the big treat of the evening, an Indian Elvis came on stage and belted out a number of tunes. He thought he had it easy until he grabbed a woman from the audience to join him on stage singing "Suspicious Minds". She started dirty dancing with him and nearly gyrated him off the stage. Pretty hilarious.
The food came next, and it was nothing but the best - but what could you expect.
Later as the evening wore on. Michael Caselli and I had a dance-a-thon where I tried to show him the moves of the "freedom dance" (a throwback to my 60's upbringing in the SF Bay Area). I believe he got it, and a number of others did as well. The "freedom dance" was a real hit as I became a legend in my own mind. I also made the announcement that night that I have decided to stop cutting my hair. I hope to have a girly pony-tail like Michael Caselli by next fall. Please bear with me as it slowly blooms. The next few months may be a little awkward - I'm going to have a lot of bad hair days until it fully matures.
And then it was time to go, so much more to tell, but not enough room nor time to tell it. But believe you me, this industry has so much going for it, and so much to offer - from reaching into our deep pockets and helping victims of the tsunami to being committed to the safety and enjoyment of players of casino games, I'm a really happy camper.
Cheerio!
Photographic proof here: http://www.casinomeister.com/london2005.html
Complaints? Kudos? Please let me know.
Peace
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