This month, the sometimes uneasy relationship was put into the spotlight at both the IMA and the ATEI shows. Firstly, in Dusseldorf, Paul Gauselmann spoke of the German casino lobby having been instrumental in persuading the government to introduce a new amendment to the gaming law for AWPs, due to concerns over their similarities to casino slot machines. Then, at ATEI, once again there were grumbles about the amusement sector being sidelined upstairs while the gaming machines took pride of place on the ground floor.

The problem is that the two sectors overlap but they are not properly related at all. If anything they are like a step family. Comparisons between the two are inevitable but not helpful. Casino and coin-op are subject to widely differing rules and regulations and therefore like any brothers or sisters not allowed to do the same things, they will complain from time to time, “It’s just not fair!”

Stephanie Norbury

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