Going Mobile
by Marian Green
October 1, 2008
A handheld device called eDeck from Cantor Gaming displays a poker game. M Resort will open in spring 2009, offering Cantor Gaming’s advanced gaming technology.
Cantor Gaming taking innovative gaming technology to a new level
Cantor Gaming will provide cutting-edge
mobile gaming technology to the casino floor and to the race and sports book of
the $1 billion M Resort, slated for completion next spring on the far south end
of Las Vegas Boulevard.
While still subject to Nevada
regulator approval, the agreement between Cantor and the Las Vegas resort stipulates that Cantor will
be the exclusive provider of mobile gaming service to the M Resort and will
operate the M Resort’s race and sports book.
Cantor Gaming will deploy a server-based gaming system,
with full back-office infrastructure and an extensive portfolio of games. Mobile
gaming will permit the play of familiar casino-style games, such as slots,
blackjack, roulette, baccarat and poker, within the casino property, but away
from the confines of the traditional casino floor.
“We are excited to have entered into a long-term
partnership with the M Resort, Spa and Casino,” said Lee Amaitis, Cantor Gaming
president. “Cantor has long been committed to developing and delivering
state-of-the-art technology to enhance the gaming experience. We are looking
forward to bringing this advanced gaming technology to the M
Resort.”
Using Cantor Gaming’s advanced mobile gaming technology,
guests at the M Resort not only will be able to play on handheld devices in
designated areas throughout the resort but also will be able to bet in unique
ways in the resort’s race and sports book.
“We want to provide our guests with the best overall gaming
experience available. Cantor Gaming is an industry leader in the mobile gaming
market and shares in our commitment to provide guests with an unparalleled
gaming experience,” said Joseph A. Magliarditi, M Resort executive vice
president and chief operating officer.
“Their technology in
our opinion is leading edge, and their expertise on race and sports was
critical to us,” he said.
Offering more
The time is right to offer
new technology such as mobile gaming, he said. “Everyone’s more tech savvy than
they’ve ever been. Everyone has a PC in their home and [many] have a Blackberry
or an iPhone. People are less intimidated by these devices,” Magliarditi said
in an interview shortly after the Cantor announcement earlier this
year.
Cantor has some
interesting intellectual property, he added. “There are going to be even more
opportunities as far as games and the ways you can bet the games,” he
said.
Magliarditi also cited
Cantor’s unique games, including StatJack, a variation of blackjack, as
attractive features.
M Resort recognized
Cantor’s expertise in not only mobile gaming technology but also operating race
and sports books in the UK,
he said.
“A sports book is pretty much a sports book in
Las Vegas,”
Magliarditi said. “With this alliance with Cantor, we’ll be able to bring more
to the sports book experience and offer bettors more options. We think it’s
going to be a competitive advantage.”
“This is a considerable
step forward for the race and sports book vision for Nevada,” Amaitis said in an interview
following the M Resort announcement.
Bettors will have many
more options than before, he said.
“If I had the opportunity
to bet during the game, I think that would far extend the horizons of people
who want to gamble,” he said. “It’s a concept more of trading instead of
betting. You can trade out of the side you’re on. It keeps you
interested.”
Amaitis said he’s
confident gamblers will be interested in this type of
wagering.
“It’s just a matter of
time before that type of gambling takes over. Wagering is all about statistics
and data and numbers,” he said.
Cantor Gaming, an
affiliate of global financial services provider Cantor Fitzgerald, has been
offering such services as a licensed bookmaker in the UK for seven
years, he said.
“It’s all about providing
liquidity,” he said. “Just think of it as the window never closes. There are
going to be wagers available to you throughout the game.”
Adding sports wagers
provides another way for the casino operator to access their patrons, he
said.
Eventually, Amaitis
predicted, other operators will follow suit and change their business model. “I
believe people will look at us and say, ‘Why not?’”
Cantor Gaming was granted
the state’s first license as a manufacturer, distributor and operator of mobile
gaming systems by the Nevada Gaming Commission in May 2006.
Cantor was
instrumental in the adoption of Nevada
legislation permitting wireless gaming on handheld, mobile devices in public
areas of a resort casino. Its initial installation of its mobile game device
called eDeck is in the Venetian hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.
Will people play?
Amaitis said the field
trial at the Venetian was designed to show whether people would use the
devices.
“We’ve gotten a lot of
good feedback on it. It was more to see if people like the devices and want to
use the devices. Most people say they would use them again,” he said. “There
was a debate early on as to who would use the devices – slot players or table
players. We’ve see a pretty broad mix. It’s just about
choice.”
Cantor has focused on
ensuring good content for the devices. “Content is important. We have some very
cool games. We have some cool deals with content providers,” he
said.
Among the unique games it
offers on devices are Statjack, XtraOdds Baccarat and Bonus
Roulette.
“It’s all about allowing
people to do something different than what they can do at a table,” Amaitis
said.
For instance, Statjack,
invented by Cantor, “shows you how many cards are left in a deck.”
“It’s basically a card
counter’s dream. It’s got a minimal house edge, and it’s really about time at
the table. It’s all about being able to attract people to a game they think
they can win at,” Amaitis said.
The company also recently
acquired the assets of Michael “Mickey” Wichinsky’s family of
businesses. Cantor owns the
company’s comprehensive catalog of casino games, its intellectual property and
gaming expertise, and its full library of art, designs and
technology.
The acquisition provides Cantor Gaming with one of Nevada’s richest
portfolios of gaming content, developed over 50 years, the company
said.
Wichinsky
will remain as a consultant to the company as Cantor integrates and adapts
games and content from the Wichinsky catalog onto eDeck, Cantor’s mobile gaming
device.
Marian Green
greenm@bnpmedia.com
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