Although it is, unfortunately, many years since I left full-time education, I still regard this time of year with a sort of "back to school" mentality. The summer holidays are over and thoughts turn to the shows, deadlines and meeting up with colleagues and customers. It has been a difficult year for most, but I feel we can congratulate ourselves on getting through it and look ahead with renewed confidence and optimism.

The Remote Gambling Association has expressed disappointment at the European Court of Justice's failure to find that Portugal had violated the freedoms of the internal market by creating an exclusive internet gambling monopoly. The Portuguese monopoly eliminates competition and limits consumer choice. Although the ECJ recognized that the monopoly was a restriction on the freedom of services, it ruled that the restriction may be justified in certain situations.

Funworld ag and Playsafe Holding AS' daughter company, Ecom Enterprise NV, has entered into an extended strategic alliance to launch Internet based poker terminals in the international market. The two companies will officially launch the new product range on their invitational kick-off event 21st and 22nd of October in Munich.

Cashino, the UK's fastest growing chain of Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs), celebrated its first birthday with a special cake cutting ceremony attended by the company's senior management team including CEO Nick Harding, AGC Managing Director Jonathon Hughes, Commercial Director Byron Evans and Finance Director Matthew Proctor. The photo shoot was held at the brand's flagship venue in Nuneaton, which was part of the first £25m acquisition completed by parent company Praesepe plc from HJM Caterers and E & J Hall Investments in summer 2008.

Wireless 2009, which included headline acts ,such as Dizzee Rascal, Paul Oakenfold and Alesha Dixon, saw the launch of NSM Music's first contactless payment jukebox. Working closely with event sponsors, Barclaycard, NSM successfully premiered the customised Icon jukebox in three high profile areas at the Hyde Park venue. Over forty acts had the chance to trial the impressive new Icon in the very busy Green Room at Wireless 2009,whilst the Press corps and the many VIPs were able to sample the jukebox in their own special areas.

John Clyde has joined Jolly Roger as UK and International Sales Manager. He has taken over responsibility for sales from Marshall Ashdown who left Jolly Roger for LAI Games in September.

Inspired Gaming Group has signed a deal with the Gala Bingo to supply an additional 3,600 bingo handheld devices. The ‘Bingo Wizard' terminals will be deployed in a significant number of Gala Bingo's 148 clubs from September 2009. This will take the total amount of electronic bingo terminals supplied by Inspired on the Gala Gaming Platform to over 6,800.

Nanoptix inc., manufacturer of the Paycheck^TM line of TITO printers and CashCode, a division of Crane Payment Systems, manufacturer of the One^TM line of bill validators and currency handling devices have introduced the OneCheck^TM solution.

Merkur Casino - the pan-European arcade operator of  the German Gauselmann Group - has opened an entertainment centre in the southern Spanish city of Malaga close to the airport.

Sound Leisure is throwing open its doors in October for two days of technical training and awareness (TTA). The Sound Leisure factory, based in Leeds, will host the open days on October 21/22 and customers are invited to take a tour of the premises and spend time in front of the latest products with trained Sound Leisure personnel.

BetStone (www.betstone.com), the server-based gaming pioneer, predicts that server-based gaming technology will continue to unlock Mexico's gaming potential and enable it to become one of the largest centres of gaming excellence globally.

Ten years after the foundation of JAPAN CASH MACHINE GERMANY GMBH, the European headquarters of JCM Global located in Düsseldorf (Germany) announced that with effect of September 1st 2009 the company name has been changed into "JCM EUROPE GmbH". The new name will be more clearly to convey that JCM in Germany is looking after the needs and belongings of the customers, manufacturers and end users throughout Europe. The new name underlines the scope of business of the company that goes far beyond the borders of Germany.

Billiard cloth manufacturer Milliken has responded to growing interest in pool and snooker in the Middle East by agreeing to distribute its products exclusively through Knight Shot, the region's leading wholesaler.

Praesepe plc, the UK's fastest growing Low Stake High Volume gaming operator, has completed its third acquisition with the purchase of Britain's most famous gaming landmark, The Crystal Rooms in London's Leicester Square. The purchase of the high profile site from United Leisure was completed for a nominal £1 ($1.65/€1.14) plus net liabilities totalling £3.3m ($5.45m/€3.75m). It brings the total number of Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs) in the Praesepe estate to 41 and provides the group with a flagship venue in central London.

As leading cash-handling supplier to the UK for over 20 years, Cummins Allison is aware of the ever-increasing need for cash counting equipment in an industry where there is a need to process large volumes of coin.

Embed, a leading provider of Debit Card and Point of Sale Systems for the amusement and family entertainment industry, has now opened a European office in the UK. The office has been established to better service Embed's growing list of clients in the European region and will be the fourth international office for Embed adding to existing facilities in Perth, Australia, Dallas, USA and Dubai, UAE.

Funworld introduces funwin, offering completely new commercial opportunities and perspectives to the traditional business model.

Funwin is the first games platform in the games machine industry to provide an easy opportunity to get into the powerfully growing and lucrative online games business for those who set it up. They are thus entering a new commercial activity line with a very high turnover and player potential.

Sega Amusement Europe and Sega Amusement USA will be the first territories to exhibit Sega's new Sonic Allstars range. The designs with their white livery and blue stars along with the iconic Sonic character will first be available on an Air Hockey table and Basketball machine.

London's new exhibition dedicated to the coin-op and amusement sectors the EAG Expo is 85% full.

Sixty-eight companies have already booked their stand space and will exhibit their own products and services.  In addition, they will also demonstrate the products of a further 45 companies for whom they are distributors or partners. With companies and products from as far a field as Australia, Belgium, France, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, The Netherlands, and USA, EAG is an international show.

There is a risk that the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, to be celebrated in 2011, is going to be a quiet affair, with many projects approved by the previous government being cancelled because of the lack of funds. Consideration has been give therefore to creating a nice instant lottery, such as scratch cards.

The world of poker is right now in a state of turmoil after the release of the news regarding the issue of a circular from the Interior Ministry in which Police officers are requested to pay particular attention to applications for the authorisation to stage poker tournaments. It is in fact the poker community that is releasing the text of the circular on the matter.

Sports betting in August recorded the highest (98.48%) monthly pay-out (i.e. the proportion of takings given back to players as prizes) in 2009. These are the most significant data arising from an analysis of the total bets recorded by the Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies.

Following four years of negotiations, the Council of the Government of the Autonomous Region of Madrid has finally approved the Amusement Machines and Arcades regulation that will govern this gaming activity for the next few years. The incorporation of the special electronic bingo machine, or B3, is one of its more significant innovations and was the one that generated the greatest controversy in all the discussions that have taken place during these years.

Aprenderpoker.net which is a leading online portal leader providing poker news and training in Spanish, is extending its offer each month with a new computer program that improves the learning process for its users and takes the game of poker to an ever widening and more diverse public. With this new application, the advance of online poker in Spain continues. For some days, the users have been able to find a free game among the training contents of the Web. This game will allow them to actually participate in the game of poker with the sole objective of amusing themselves, without running any kind of risk.

On 8th September in the press room of Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper the  agreement between the two organizations was announced. FC Barcelona is looking for new financial resources and to this end it has signed a sponsorship agreement with the British company Betfair, dedicated to betting over the Internet. The agreement includes publicity on fences and in various places around the Camp Nou, although at no time does it contemplate including the name of the English company on the team's dark red and blue shirts.

One Illinois county's officials have already voted unanimously to ban newly legalized video lottery terminals from unincorporated areas. The ban will exempt cities in DuPage County near Chicago, but several other counties may follow their lead.     

Following several contentious months and long debate, an August 26 vote approved the merger between the International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry (IALEI) and the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). The merger plan passed by an overwhelming majority- 83%- in favor of the proposal.

A new court ruling has delayed an earlier court's ruling in Ohio. For a brief period, operators were permitted to award noncash prizes valued above $10 for skill games. Following the new decision, operators are once again restricted to giving prizes worth $10 or less.

GeneralTouch, one of the global leading touch solution providers, combines high-performance LCD panels with GeneralTouch's unique Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) touch technology to create a new family of large-screen, wide-aspect open-frame LCD touchmonitors.

The Culture Department of Shandong Province recently issued the "opinions on the practice of improving the administration of amusement and province-wide entertainment venues" to the Culture Bureaus of all its cities.

There is good news for FEC owners - three new games from Belrare, Super Hot Skiing, Speed Flyer and Happy Balance Ball (in one and two-player versions). The games feature the revolutionary balancing mechanism and provide a healthy FEC concept - which enriches the mind with games and the body with physical exercise.

To promote China's animation and comic industry, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation of China announced on July 31 new taxation policies for supporting the animation and comics industry's development. 

GTI Asia China Expo was successfully held on September 3-6, at Liuhua Exhibition Center, located on the intersection of the four main roads in Yuexiu, Guangzhou, which is the most prosperous area in the city.  As a part of Guangzhou Fair Organizing Committee's expo projects, it received great support from both the authorities and the industry, presenting an extraordinary debut.

Institutional investors have predicted that IGS' second quarter revenue will hit a new quarter high, making it the highest profit earner in the Asian gaming sector. Chinesegamer and UserJoy were predicted to be the second and third most profitable respectively.

Penghu County's signature gathering process succeeded after five months.  Lan Chun-yi who submitted the referendum proposal, sent 3,853 copies of joint signature letters to the Penghu County Election Committee on July 31.The County Election Committee announced earlier that the referendum would be held on September 26.

SPAIN

The Spanish region of Valencia has informed the European Commission of its draft amendments to Decree 115/2006 on the rules for gaming machines. The new rules would adapt existing regulations to recently-modified gaming machines, in a response to constantly changing economic, social and technological innovations. The standstill period will last until 19 October 2009. Source: Euromat

Pool table operators and others who have been disappointed by the non-appearance of the much vaunted new range of Superleague pool tables have been asked to be patient for a little longer.

Pool  table manufacturers might find brighter times are ahead, according to Simply Pool's commercial director, Stan McKenna. He told Euroslot the late summer and the autumn were serious times for pool table manufacturers who needed to gear up for the new pool season. His own company had made sure it had adequate stocks of cloth and tables because, although it was difficult  to predict what might happen in the future, the general climate appeared to be a little more encouraging. He expected to sell more football tables by Christmas and had to make sure stocks were adeqiate.

Pool had reached such a height of popularity in the early 1980s that some of its better players decided to emulate some of the leading snooker players by turning professional. Despite a certain degree of opposition from those, including many leading members of the British Association of Pool Table operators who regarded pool mainly as a pub game, players started to forgo other forms of gainful employment in order to play pool for a living.

In Austria there is a state monopoly for Casinos and Lotteries. Only two private companies are privileged to hold respective monopoly concessions and operate aprx. 1800 machines without limits on stake and wins. An exemption of the Federal Gambling Law Monopoly allows private operators to operate gambling machines, if the maximum stake is € 0.50 and the maximum win does not  exceed € 20.- . There are no further requirements or details like game definitions, technical  or time limits, etc.

Bespoke Arcades has launched a range of arcade systems perfect for any pub or bar. Bespoke Arcades specialise in custom building arcade machines for usage in pubs, bars, hotels or shops.  Their custom-built cabinets are designed to play over 200 classic arcade games whilst retaining the sleek, stylish look of either a classic arcade cabinet or a cocktail arcade table.  They have multimedia functionality and are made with the highest quality components.

Go Ball-istic is the latest redemption release from the ICE stable, distributed exclusively throughout the UK and Ireland by Brent Sales.

Following an incredibly successful three-year run of the of  hunting game Big Buck Hunter Pro, which sold over 10,000 units, Betson Enterprises has announced another milestone with "Big Buck Safari". During the month of August Betson shipped its 5,000th standard 27" unit and its 500th deluxe 42" version of the PlayMechanix/Raw Thrills smash hit. "The demand for the Safari product is a clear indication that there is no slow down in the video hunting category," stated Bob Boals, Vice President of Betson Enterprises.

Avalue has launched an Atom-powered Z5xx embedded computing board, including XTX CPU module, 3.5-inch SBC, and Nano-ITX mainboard. Based on 45nm technology, Intel-named embedded Menlow platform features the two-chip platform which consists of an Atom^TM Z5xx processor and the SCH US15W chipset, delivering ultra small-footprint and extremely low power and thermal.

As this issue went to press, Merkur Gaming and Merkur Casino were about to present their combined expertise at a joint stand at the Forbes show in the Czech Republic on 23rd and 24th September.

In Hollywood Reels, from Ocean Amusement, the action is quick and exciting, because timing is everything on this two player coin-roll down redemption game.

Leading gaming machine provider The Global Draw, is getting all fruity with the release of its new B3 game for UK betting shops.

 Double Frootastic is a multi-stake, five reel-based title with ten potential win lines and a maximum payout of £500.

The next generation of ‘Smiley' validators has arrived. Developed in response to customer demand the NV10 is now USB capable. 

 A direct replacement for the popular NV10 bank note validator and developed in direct response to customer feedback, the NV10 USB incorporates USB connectivity and simpler programming , two key new features requested by NV10 customers.

European gaming is changing and new technologies are being adopted to maximise efficiency of machines and to accommodate changing legislation. In Eastern Europe, Eurocoin has been on hand to offer support, advice and a complete solution with its package of bar code scanners, TFT's and world class range of printers.

Candy Crane House from Smart Industries will prove to be irresistible to children of all ages. The cabinet features candy rope lights and an illuminated roof with a big lollipop on top. Candy Crane House is perfect as a "winner every time" crane. It fits through standard doorways with roof attached, and fits under standard 8' ceilings with lollipop topper added.

CYE has introduced a Vending Mode on its popular Stack 2 Win. This is ideal for countries that have regulations stating that vending machines should pay out a small prize before beginning a bonus game.

Crazy Golf makes a most vibrant pitch on the amusement/redemption fairway with the arrival in Europe of Chicago Gaming Company's PUTT! Championship Edition, distributed exclusively by Brent Sales/Namco Europe.

Aristocrat Technology is celebrating its first year in the Spanish street gaming market with a dual launch at the FER-Interazar show. The company will show two new Type B/B+ games: Queen of the Nile and Dolphin Treasure.

Allstar Vending is thrilled to launch Jonas Brothers Rub On Transfers for sticker and tattoo machines.

The multi-platinum-selling Jonas Brothers received their first Grammy Award nomination this year and have won a slew of awards from around the world, including an American Music Award and multiple Kids' Choice and Teen Choice awards. Their Disney Channel Original Series "JONAS" is currently airing on the Disney Channel, and the band will begin production on "Camp Rock 2," the follow-up to last summer's smash hit "Camp Rock."