6 February 2009

Special Edition
International Casino Exhibition and CAP Awards 2009 - London

Dear Reader,

And here we go with Casinomeister's annual ICE report, and for the second annual CAP Awards. If reading about the tripiness of London, freaky people, bitchin' restaurants, and online gaming is your thing, then read on...

Reportingly yours,

Bryan
Can't read this newsletter in HTML? Click here (or copy and paste this link into your browser): http://www.casinomeister.com/newsletter.php#skip for the bitchin' online version.

ICE 2008 - London
Shoes required...

Monday - Day One:
Photographic proof of the events can be found here.

London - I love London. Seeped in history and swirling with characters of all shapes and colors. It's a metropolis of consumerism, stoney heritage, dark ancient alley ways, midnight city sweepers, and swanky restaurants. A perfect combination of everything. And I was back in Trafalgar square at my regular hotel.

I was planning to stay for a few days. The annual International Gaming Expo - which is known as the ICE for most old timers. This was my ninth annual visit; the first for me - Jan 2001. The plan was to hang around for the ICE, attend the CAP Awards dinner, then head to Bath Spa with a few webmaster buddies and chill for two days.

But first, it was the retirement dinner for Sue Schneider which was being held that evening on a boat.

I had some time to kill. I had arrived a bit too late to catch a movie, and subsequently - this would be the first trip to London without a film review. What a bummer since I really wanted to see "The Wrestler", "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", and "milk" amongst others. Too late - they had already started.

So I meandered down to the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square and pleasantly killed a couple of hours there. Van Gogh's "The Sunflowers" was mesmerizing. Seeing the museum lighting reflecting off of the paint strokes gave it a texture and presence that is impossible to experience via a print or replica. This is where the paint dried - and this is its essence. What a wonderful place to kill time.

Sue Schneider's farewell party was packed. We were on one of those Thames river party boats - taking a cruise up and down the river, partaking in jovial jocularities, and it was great seeing so many familiar faces of those who have been in the industry as long as Sue has. It was a great way to start a week.

The dinner turned out to be a roast - a roast of Sue. Mark Balestra (our MC) began with how he was unsure whether or not the dinner dress code was formal or informal, but seeing that Sue was wearing shoes proclaimed that the dinner was formal. We had a lot of laughs at her expense that night. Even so, it's going to be a shame seeing this fine lady go off to wherever e-gaming icons go when they retire. She'll definitely be missed.

And the boat food was surprisingly good.

From there, some of us wandered off to the Buddha Bar - a relatively cool club with a nice ambience. We hung out for awhile until it was time to head back to the hotel. For some wild-ass reason, I decided to take a short-cut through a small park (which was closed and securely locked up), hopped over a spiked fence, and ripped my pants in a really bad spot. The first and only casualty of the trip.

Voice from the past - ICE 2002
As tradition stands, I stayed in the same hotel as Spearmaster and we nearly had our fill of Sushi and Indian food. It was never enough. But I went there for the ICE. The International Casino Exhibition was small, but it was the people who mattered. The charming and spunky Julie Sidwell (Gambling Grumbles) and I had a wonderful gossipy (and professional) discussion of everything from the Golden Palace fiascoes to "Friends". I also had a nice talk with Vahe Baloulian from Casino-on-net, who has been instrumental in clearing up the very few grievances that I've received about his casino. It also turns out that he lives in the same town that I was born in. Small world isn't it? I met with the guys from Microgaming, the gals from Intercasino, and many others as well.
Tuesday - Day Two:
For the first time ever, it was a relatively short and painless queue to collect a badge for the exhibition hall. Once inside, it was clear that the exhibition was huge. The first item on the agenda was to hook up with Max Drayman, my high speed complaints and player grievance manager.

We found each other in the swirl of suits (Max and I don't wear suits) and made our way around the expo hall. We met up with several operators and affiliate managers while making our rounds. Even stopping by some of the booths to chit chat and make our acquaintance.

From there, it was lunch at the Prince of Wales pub (which is right around the corner from the West Brompton tube station). Fish and Chips - I love them. We had a nice chat about Casinomeister, the industry, the Pitch a Bitches, and perhaps a bit about you my dear reader. Our members are what makes Casinomeister what it is.

That evening it was the Meister Meeting at Waxy O'Conners - a pub in Leicester Square. This was an meeting of anyone associated with Casinomeister's forum, and it was a great night.

The venue was the tops. We had a moderately sized room on the bottom floor of the pub - perhaps there were thirty people there or so. It was mellow and intimate, and it is always great to meet up with the people you get to know on the forum. Zoozie, Grandmaster, KasinoKing, Greedygirl and all the moderators just to name a few. Heck, even Montel Williams showed up at the party, so you know it's got to be cool. We had a couple of musicians laid on - the fiddler and guitarist from Bible Code Sundays who played all my favorites. I had the Pogues "Streams of Whiskey" running through my head for the next few days. If you were there - please buy a CD from their website to show your appreciation.

Montel and I discussed his new poker project, some of it is outlined here, and we talked a little about his new book: Living Well Emotionally: Living Well Emotionally: Break Through to a Life of Happiness, (he's on a book tour at the moment). He epitomizes "living well emotionally" - you can tell just speaking with him. And besides all the personal stuff, what he's going to be doing with and for poker is amazing. We have some exciting times ahead. Montel left, and we bid adieu with the anticipation of future rendezvous.

And the party wouldn't be a party without the generosity of Club World Casinos. Thanks guys! The members and I really appreciate this!

The Meister Meeting adjourned, and several of us commenced on a pub crawl through Soho. It was a blast which peaked out at a club above Ladbrokes where KasinoKing and I got the place hopping, dancing like crazy men (I'm a sucker for live bands). By the time the tequila shots came 'round, my inner clock said it was time to go. Which it was, so I brought my sweaty self back to the hotel. It was a successful and delightful day.

Photographic proof of the jovial jocularities here.

Voice from the past - ICE 2006
I had the pleasure in meeting "Caruso", one of the more outspoken members of Casinomeister's forum. We had met before last year at the ICE, but only briefly. This year we had a chance to talk for a while about a number of things.

He was just finished with speaking to both Playtech and Gambling Federation - two casino entities that have had their share of problems. He did a nice write-up which he posted in our forum here. Again, I was impressed on how this industry has gotten a number of players involved with trying to make things right. It's not just a money churning entity, it's an entertainment industry that can never forget its responsibility to the player community. "Caruso" is also a nice chap.

Wednesday - Day Three:
Max and I met for lunch with the iNetBet guys at la Launceston Place in Kensington. This was probably one of the best meals of the trip; the cuisine is modern British with a twist of pizzazz. Lunch went over well with a number of discussions about players, casino operations, Kodiak bears, and just about everything else under the sun.

After lunch it was back at the ICE to meet with the representatives of the BetMax Casino Group (BetMax, Vegaslucky, VegasMagic, and Slotfever). He is adamant to coming on board - and they may be ready. It's a low profile group that has had not many complaints. The ones that we had via PABs were taken care of some time ago. If any players have any outstanding issues with any of the casinos in this casino group, please let me know.

That evening - it was dinner action at J Sheekey's with the gents from 32Red. What an evening that was! I even learned a bit about wine (one of my shortcomings since I'm a Bierman) - buy up as many 2007 wines from the Rhône, and then drink it in five years or so. It was supposed to be their best year in ages. So I guess I'll give it a shot.

I had the Halibut, and told a number of my Alaskan fish tales - I have a lot of them.

Thursday - Day Four:
Began with lunch - Ristorante Semplice on Blenhiem St. was the place. The operator of Club World Casino was the host. He wanted Max to meet Tom, the casino manager, and get acquainted in person - vis-à-vis. And what better way to do this but over an Italian lunch.

Some of you may think that all we do at these conferences is eat. Well you're right.

Marvelous food, and when it was over we parted ways...Max went back home, and me...onward to the exhibition hall.

I could have sworn that the ICE closed at 1800. I got there at 1545, and everyone was packing up getting ready to go. "What the hell?" I thought. But I ran into the operator of Rushmore Casino and we had a chat - mostly about some of the fraudsters that have been getting nailed at his casinos. There were a number of accounts that were locked due to suspicious activity, and they are going through them one by one. If the account is legit, the player will be paid. If it's fraudulent, the player will be kicked to the curb. There are a handful of PABs at Casinomeister that fall under this category.

We headed to the Atlas, and chilled there for a while. It was pretty much packed with expo goers. It used to be the best keep secret of the ICE, but word got out a couple of years ago that this is a really cool place to hang out.

Voice from the past - ICE 2004

I don't come here to hang out in booths, I come to talk to people, to meet with them get to know them and their operations. My digital recorder, lost in my backpack and belonging to some thief right now, was to assist me in making some unprecedented interviews with figureheads of this industry…so I bought a new one, and put it to good use. You can listen to these interviews here.

Ed Ware, the operator of 32Red Casino, was my first guest and we met in a rustic pub just down the road from the ICE. Our conversation was very informative. He touched on his policies on how his casino handles problem gamblers (which is a hot topic in the UK), and his casino's relationship with US players. This is an operator truly dedicated to this industry and to his players. This is what operating a casino should be all about, and it's nice seeing this personified.


That night - CAP Awards:

As a lot of you may know, the administration of CAP and I don't see things eye to eye. And this is one of the reasons why I opted out on participating at CAP London this year. But I was invited to the CAP Awards, and I planned on going.

It was well attended - and it was a "Alice in Wonderland" themed event. Everyone was in relatively fine form, and there were a number of people I hadn't seen yet. We drank Champagne from teas cups. Nice touch.

The food was okay, and everyone said that the comedian sucked. But actually, I thought he was hilarious. And then onward with the awards.

Ian Sims came in first place for Best Online Casino Affiliate. He was sitting at our table and was slapped on the back a few times on the way up to receive this award. Good going Simmo!

As the CAP Awards came to a close and people began to wander off to the Taxi queue, it was sad to note that the recent CAP issues seemed to have been on a number of people's minds. I hope by next year, these issues will have been settled.

A group of us found ourselves back in Soho - we were looking for the Maya Bar, but no one seemed to know where this was. So we ended up at the McDonald's in Leicester Square. I was famished, and as most of you probably know, I'm not a fan of processed junk food. But throwing caution to the wind, said what the hell and ordered a Quarter Pounder w/Cheese. My gawd, it was the worst burger I ever ate. I could barely get it down. I had better dehydrated burgers from my MREs back in the day. It was dry, tasteless, and it sucked. Never again.

Voice from the past - ICE 2004 Onward to Playtech's Tila Tequila's party for the launching of Tila Tequilla poker site. The party was held at Embassy Club London which at first seemed small (another dreaded wait at the bar for drinks) but surprisingly, this place was huge. Plenty of room to move around and chat. It was one of the better parties I've been to on these London tours. Kudos for the organizers, and yes Tila Tequila and her friends are hot.

Wait a moment. Who is this Tila Tequila and why is she so "big?" I kept asking certain individuals - the name kept turning my tongue into a knot - and I kept getting the same answer "She's hot!" "She has 1.6 million friends at Myspace.com - she's way more popular than Paris Hilton." "You're too old to know these things. It's not your generation." Well, the guy telling me this tried to make me feel old - but sorry, I'm pretty hip on what's up and what's not. So I went on to ask a number of people "Who is she?" and most people shrugged. Nevertheless, it was nice to see someone on cloud nine. Because that's where she was that night - on top of the world. It was a pleasantly vicarious experience.

The night wore on...and I slipped out into the darkness heading back to my room.

Friday - Day Five:

Simmo!, Spearmaster, Jetset, and I had planned to head to Bath Spa to meet up with our good friend Webzcas (who lives in those parts). We met up at the Novotel in Hammersmith. One thing I noticed was that the tile on the hotel's outdoor patio was all beat up. Not a good sign for a four star.

Inside, there were loads of people and I briefly met up with the casino rep for a new Asian casino that might be coming on board soon. Stay tuned for that one.

We left before the eventful drama had taken place, so we were some of the lucky ones. Stupid crap like that is really unnecessary, and I really surprised that it had gone that far. If you haven't a clue about what I'm talking about, you can read about it here.

Anyway, our main focus was just to have a break and spend time with close friends - which is exactly what we did. We took a train from Paddington Station to Bath Spa. It took about an hour and a half.

We met up with Webzcas, his wife, and more friends for a really cool meal at the Firehouse Rotisserie - Californian style no doubt. Some of us then started getting text messages about the fracas over at the CAP conference. This livened up the dinner conversation.


Saturday - Day Six:

Do you like cheddar cheese? Well the four of us headed to Cheddar via taxi to visit the Cheddar Caves. It's a must see if you're in the area. The audio tour is on of the best I've heard, and the caves have a lot of stories to listen to. It was really a memorable experience.

Back in Bath: Jetset and Spearmaster took a tour of the Roman baths (I've been there before), and I checked out the Abbey. Really a solemn place since the interior is lined with the gravestones and memoriums for hundreds of people. One I found peculiar was a stone that read: "Sacred to the Memory of James Bassett of the Parish of Lyncombe and Widcombe who died July 9th 1829. Aged 40 Years. Who in the Moment of Social Pleasure received a fall which soon deprived him of Life, and sent him (in Blessed hope) to another and better World....

Social Pleasure? I'm glad that his last moments were apparently pleasurable. I wonder what he was doing. And it ends, "to the reader, Think! in the Midst of life, we are in death." You can check this out here

Outside the Abbey, there were two acrobats performing in black g-strings and performing comical acts of public entertainment. The grand finalé was of them performing handstands with sparklers poking out from their butts. Photographic proof here.

The day ended with a fantastic dinner in an Italian restaurant - Martini Restaurant. It was packed with a line going out the door - for good reason.

The rest of the evening was spent chilling in our hotel lobby, drinking Baileys and beer. And it was clear that this business has taken me on a good road. I can count my blessings, some of them of having the opportunity to travel, see and do interesting things, and to have friends that are a pleasure to be with. I'm a pretty lucky guy.

And another year has passed - another conference chalked up on the wall. It's a wonderful job.

Voice from the past - ICE 2001
I've had a couple of weeks to contemplate my experiences of the Interactive Casino Exhibition and would have to say it was overall a satisfying experience, but it was too small. It was great seeing the faces behind the websites and emails I've been in contact with over the past couple of years, but the ICE could have been bigger. There were perhaps only about twenty-five booths; that was it. I was also surprised by how many "newbies" were in the business, people who have never visited the forums of Casinomeister, Winneronline, Got2bet, or other quality gaming information sites. This was scary. It goes to show that many of these vendors have not done their homework when it comes to finding out what is "really" happening in the online gaming world. It was the "oldtimers", people who have been in the business for a while, who knew about our sites, and consequently, understood the importance of sites like ours. This new budding industry has a lot to learn.
Complaints? Kudos? Please let me know.

Peace

Bryan Bailey
Webmeister
Casinomeister
me

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