7 February 2012

Special Edition
International Casino Exhibition 2012 - London Affiliate Conference - London

Dear Reader,

And here we go again - Casinomeister's annual ICE report. If reading about the nuances of London, trippy 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 2012 - London

Monday - Arrival:
Silent stars...

Photographic proof of the following events can be found here.

London - my cultural pilgrimage. The symbols of human endeavors, triumphs and misfortune are unyielding in this city. At every corner, there is something...albeit a street name, an alleyway, a neighborhood flattened during the blitz. Sometimes you have to know what to look for - you can be eyeing the escape route that the Beatles sprinted down - fleeing from screaming fans during "A Hard Day's Night" (Marylebone Tube Station), or it could be a glimpse of the same corner of the restaurant that Dickens spied upon while appealing to his muse. There are many nooks and crannies of this town that beg to be explored.

I am in London every year during the last week of January - it's not just the city, but the ICE that brings me here, and most recently, the LAC as well. This year was a bit amusing since my schedule was a near carbon copy of the year before, and the year before that - which I didn't mind since most of the things I do there are pleasurable.

One thing that I always enjoy is "movie night". That's the first night (Monday) since I'm not really meeting anyone yet, and it's just me who is in charge of the itinerary. I'm always at the same hotel in Trafalgar Square mainly because of its location smack dab in the middle of the city. And Leicester Square is a five minute walk away = movies and Chinese food.

The first film of the night was "The Artist" - it was absolutely brilliant, the best movie I have seen in a while that has many layers. It seemed to be a movie in a movie that spoke to itself with a lot of subtle humor and fantastic acting. It's a must see on the big screen, and you'll come away really appreciating the lost art of silent film making.

Film number two was Steven Spielberg's "The War Horse" - a homage to the men and animals that fought in World War I. The battle scenes were spectacular; the cinematography outstanding - the animals really have a strong presence - almost unimaginable what these beasts of burden went though - it was quite impressive. Where the film lost me was when the Germans spoke English with forced accents to one another - same with the French. I'm sure Mr. Spielberg relies on audiences' "suspension of disbelief" to get through these scenes, but it doesn't work for me. I would rather have the French speak French, the Germans speak German, which to me is much more convincing and pulls the audience (me) into the film. But that's me - some people have no patience to read subtitles. I do.

Tuesday - ICE Day One:
Meister Meeting and more...

Max Drayman the complaints manager at Casinomeister met up with me first thing in the morning and we grabbed an early sandwich at Pret a Manger by St. Martin-in-the-Fields. A great way to start a day - except I had forgotten my umbrella. But nevertheless, London isn't London if you don't get rained on.

Today's destination was the International Casino Exhibition being held for the last time at Earl's Court. Clarion Events really are proficient with the first day mass registrations or "I forgot my pass". You'd expect a massive queue of conference attendees impatiently waiting for assistance - but not so. There were really no lines - Clarion had a number of printing stations set up with roving employees directing pass-less people (like me) to the right place. I had my pass reprinted in about 30 seconds.

Onto the floor. The i-Gaming section was immense - as last year - and the mood was upbeat. Max and I walked the floor some, and made the observation that not much has changed since last year. Playtech still had a huge presence - Microgaming always has the bar (and a cloak room I might add). And most of the companies had the same spot as they had the year before - I guess in case you needed to find someone again, whomever was easy to find.

One interesting addition was the Affiliate Programs presence taking place upstairs. Income Access, GPWA, Stan James Plc., to name a few had a booth in the quiet ghostly realm of the upstairs balcony section. This was where the i-Gaming booths were located over a decade ago - the red-headed step-child of the gaming industry. Funny how the industry evolves. But I found it a little redundant to have an area which hosted affiliate programs when the LAC was only a couple of days away. I'm sure the booth dwellers thought the same thing.

Lunch was on the agenda. Max and I made it to the traditional pub next door: The Prince of Wales. Cod'n Chips'n two-beer-lunch, and talked about Casinomeister - and perhaps about you as well, my dear reader.

One quick note: we've uploaded Max's full year compilation for 2011 of PABs. You can check out the summary here, and better yet - his comments here. This was one item of our lunch discussion; I'm sure you might find these interesting. And do I sense a bit of déjà vu? Sure thing, but we received our lunch much faster than last year.

Back at the ICE: We met up with Claire Wellard, who is one of the reps for Mybet. Mybet has been wanting to get on board at Casinomeister for about a year now, we finally got it together (we needed a rep in the forum), and they have been placed in the Baptism by Fire section here. Mybet is powered by award winning software Netent (Best Software Provider 2012) We talked a bit about the Casinomeister Philosophy of how to deal with players and affiliates. And I am comfortable that Mybet is on track and will do well at Casinomeister.

At this point it was getting late, and it was about time for the Meister Meeting. The annual Meister Meeting was held once again at Waxy O'Conners - and as usual, it was the best meet up of the trip. It's always a great experience meeting friends, old and new, acquaintances, business partners, fellow webmasters, and miscellaneous sorts who are members of our forum. The atmosphere is always mellow, ever flowing libations, jovial jocularities, food (the fried potatoes were to die for), and two band members of the local Bible Code Sundays - one of the best Irish Londoner bands. You should check out their site and buy one of their CDs. Great stuff.

Thanks to the folks at Club World Casinos for sponsoring this cherished event. It kicks off the week really well. Many thanks all around.

From there, about 19 of us went to the Golden Dragon, a bustling Chinese restaurant a block away in Chinatown. Excellent food and fast service. Just don't order the house wine - it's undrinkable. Other than that is was a fabulous (and rather inexpensive) meal.

As the evening wore on, we wore it well. We meandered to O'Neills, which I was informed that we go there every year - which could be true. They had a live band, which was surprising for a Tuesday night. And when O'Neills turned up the "go home" lights, we wandered down to the Casino at the Empire, where I had one of the most spellbinding and unforgettable conversations in my life. Unfortunately, the topic was nothing you'd want to hear in this newsletter.

Voice from the past - ICE 2008

That evening was probably one of the best evenings I've had in a long time. It was the Meister Meeting at the Atlas Pub - and actually the first official Casinomeister event. It was a total success - success equating a candle-lit mellow pub experience. We had the upstairs to ourselves - I would guess about 40 of us. There were a number of players, affiliate managers, casino managers and operators, webmasters, and a number of old-timers and friends. One thing we all had in common was the website: Casinomeister.

...When it was over, and the bill was paid, some of us drifted off to an Indian restaurant where one of the waiters was even wearing a turban, and I made a verbal faux pas by addressing our waiter as "dude" (California-speak being my mother-tongue). He got a kick out of that; Simmo, Greedygirl, KasinoKing, Webzcas, gave me no mercy.

Wednesday - ICE Day Two:
Back on the showroom floor - one of the first things on the agenda was to meet up with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission where they gave us an update on how things have gone this year. It was a very productive and interesting update, and Max has given his attention to this in his ICE update posted here. A must read for those of you who care about player protection in this industry.

One thing new is a player exclusion rule that is now in effect. If you have a gambling related issue and want to exclude yourself from a single KGC licensed casino, or all of them, you can fill out a form here. Once you exclude yourself from a KGC licensed casino, that's it. You are through playing there. The KGC has certainly stepped up to the plate of player protection and nailed a homer. Show me another licensing agency that does that.

And then lunch - the iNetBet guys have always been tops in conjuring up a good lunch spot. Dinner by Heston was this year's choice, and it was one of the best eating experiences - ever. Their menu includes dishes from dating back nearly 700 years - and with things like Egg and Bacon ice cream and snail porridge, you can't go wrong.

As always, it was a very interesting conversation - we discussed the player fraud rings that hammered these guys this past year - how the connections were made (which we knew already). And how they really received a beating in the forum because of this. It's always tough when players are complaining in public, but in private there is not much to complain about. Sour grapes come to mind - and hell, it's only natural that when one loses, one complains. All in all, it's clear these guys have it together.

Lunch ended and we parted our ways - Max and I made it to the next spot, the Ship & Shovel pub by Charing Cross. Not only convenient to our hotel, it's a great pub. This is were Max and I met up with the folks from Sports InterAction and just chilled out for a while. We needed to catch our breath before meeting up with the 32Red guys that evening.

Rules, in Convent Garden, is the oldest restaurant in London established in 1798. Only three families have owned this place, and it's a true London landmark. We had been there four years ago and it hasn't changed much. In fact, it probably hasn't changed much in the past 100 years at all - except they have electric hand blow dryers in the bathroom. The evening faded into a blur of good wine, food, and company.

Voice from the past - ICE 2003
London has a lot of magic for me; mainly from it's history and it's writers. Dickens was always one of my favorites, and what a delight it was to have a magnificent lunch with PartnerLogic just around the corner from one of Dickens' homes. It was here that he wrote "A Christmas Carol", the story of Eberneezer Scrooge's Christmas ghosts. There is a graveyard across from the restaurant with headstones dating to the 18th century. Dickens probably saw these on his daily walks, and these stones perhaps found themselves intertwined in his stories. The restaurant was on Old Marleybone Road; Scrooge's partner was Marley. Cool stuff. And I digress once more.

Thursday - ICE Day Three:
That morning, I met the operator of Club World for breakfast, and we chatted a bit on some of the latest issues affecting Club World - specifically its customer service. One thing that has affected them is that they have grown a lot, and with this growth comes (yes, you guessed it) growing pains. There are training new staff so frankly, their customer service is being expanded. Training new staff is not as easy as one might think. Imagine a newbie CSR in a chat session with an advantage player who is hammering him with wagering and terms and conditions questions. Indoctrinating new staff takes time - but I am confident that as their player base grows, Club World will be able to meet our expectations.

The last day at ICE was a bittersweet one. It was the last time to be in Earl's Court since next year it's being moved to another venue. I've been going to Earls Court for over a decade, and I've witnessed how this industry has more or less exploded into what it is today. In January 2001, there were around 25 smallish booths that amassed the entire online gaming industry. Now it's the size of several football fields. Hell, you could land a Boeing 747 in Playtech's booth with room to spare.

But alas, what I'll be missing is what really matters - no more Atlas Pub. No more Prince of Wales. Unless I go way out of my way, I won't be in that part of town again.

For a full unabridged coverage of the ICE, please read infopowa's reports here.

Max and I made it down to the Grange Hotel where we met our lunch guests - Greedygirl from GoneGambling and Amit - the General Manager of the Virtual Casino Group. We ventured around the corner to The Centre Page where a tasty portion of Fish'n Chips was awaiting me. That of course and a few yummy Guinesses.

The topic was not about a request to be removed from the Rogue Section, but it was to get a grip on player complaints. At Casinomeister, we've had a long standing policy to not accept any complaints via the PAB service for casinos listed in our Rogue Section. The Virtual Casino Group has been in and out of the rogue pit for over a decade - and their present status is "in the pit." Max and I spoke at length with Amit, and we agreed to accept PABs for the Virtual Group - but only to be forwarded to Amit. The reasoning behind this is to assist players; not to give anyone any credence. We agreed that we'll play it by ear to see how it goes.

The evening came quick - and that evening was the iGB Affiliate Awards dinner - and Simmo! wore a tux - photographic proof here. There were about 500 of us attending. Besides the fabulous carnival dancers, the best thing was the free booze, the comedian (Miles Jupp) and of course there were the awards. I can't say too much about the food this year - it was quite disappointing. The main dish was supposed to be some meat concoction, but it looked (and tasted) like Alpo from a can. Good thing the wine distracted us all.

One special note - if you skip any part of the newsletter, don't skip this: attention was brought to forum member Chris Taylor whose one-year-old son is undergoing treatment for eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease. Chris and the staff members of the Great Ormond Street Hospital are raising funds, and planning to hike up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of this disease. I hope everyone reading this can donate something - big or small. It's for a great cause. More information here.

And then there were the awards. You can check them out here.

Friday - LAC Day One:
Morning came early and it was the first full day of the London Affiliate Conference. My day was already booked with meanderings - but one of the special meanderings was happening in the afternoon - my panel discussion.

I was the moderator of a panel discussion "Inside the Player's Mind" where we talked about what players' concerns are and how well operators and affiliates are meeting those concerns. Not very well was the consensus. Greedygirl: expertise is with US players, marketing strategies, and Vegas casinos; KasinoKing: is an active affiliate and big time bonus player; Maxd: complaints manager and moderator at Casinomeister. These were the panelists.

We discussed the basic needs and expectations of players, which casino was getting it right - who was getting it wrong. We talked about player complaints and how these develop - what were the noticeable trends over the past year or so. Bonus players were discussed and how unwanted advantage players ought to be dealt with. Expectations were another thing - what do players expect from a casino, and where are players being let down. My sincere thanks go to the panelists and the iGB Affiliates for having us. I am a firm believer that casino operators and affiliates need to understand that they are here to provide a service to players - it's not the other way around.

I met with the rep from 10Bet Casino who is being put into the Baptism by Fire section. 10Bet is one of the first MGS powered casinos we've had in the BOF section for a while. So far, things look promising.

I really enjoyed myself wandering the exhibition hall, meeting old friends and new faces. I have to hand it to Alex Pratt and the team behind iGB Affiliates for really pulling off an excellent show. There was enough space around the exhibition hall to sit down and chit chat if need be, and it was very well attended - and to the casual observer, it seemed to be well organized.

That evening was marked by an excellent Chinese dinner at the Joy King Lau. It was probably some of the best Chinese food I had - and thanks to Max and his charming wife for the idea of a chill-out meal. Even though we talked mostly about the Coen Bros films, Paris, and the Great White North, the conversation kept slipping back to the Big Lebowski. What a brilliant film.

Saturday - LAC Day Two:

It was the Queens Park Rangers vs Chelsea and my first English football match. Mucho thanks to Nordicbet we were in the VIP stands at the half way point on the pitch. It was an interesting display of team spirit from both sides; I didn't know the Brits could boo so loud - quite entertaining. And surrounding the stadium were scores of riot police ready for an afternoon football brawl. I had to leave early to visit some book stores and make a meeting. It was a whirlwind of a day.

Back at the exhibition hall, the day wore on - and it was finally time to wrap things up. The best way to do this is with a meal. Simmo!, Martyn, Elliott, and I had an unforgettable meal at the Bengal Tiger a local Indian restaurant by St Paul's. We sat there for about four hours stuffed ourselves and chatted the evening away. Great food - great company. Thanks Ian!

And that's it. That was the trip more or less. Before I knew it, I was back at Heathrow doing the obligatory last minute shopping for the kids. And it wasn't until I was on the plane that it all began to sink in - what an amazing industry this is. A myriad of folk, of personalities, of business styles, and of interests. There are definitely people who have made this a gratifying and engrossing profession, and there are others who would be better off selling kitchen appliances.

And one last note (usually the most important one). It's because of you, my dear reader, that I go to these places and meet these people, and gather information, and ask your questions. It's for the readership and our members. I just hope I don't gain too much weight while doing it.

Voice from the past - ICE 2004
And this has got to be one of the weirdest jobs in the world; running Casinomeister - but I like it. I find it satisfying when I'm able to help some poor wayward player receive their winnings that they considered lost. I enjoy helping businesses stand out amongst their peers when they do good. And I am intrigued on how some "businesses" assume we are gullible sheep waiting to be herded into some sheppard's soup.

And I have learned that one must always keep their guard up, be it on a London bus, or at home investigating some errant online casino. There are snakes in the grass; I hope I can continue to cut a clear path.

Photographic proof of the events can be found here.

Complaints? Kudos? Please let me know.

Peace

Bryan Bailey
Webmeister
Casinomeister