The Rimini show was surprisingly upbeat. It appeared to be a little bigger than last year and individual stands were also larger than in previous years. The reason why this seemed strange, is that many people should be running out of AWPs to sell and also to buy. Italy is once more in a period of transition. The Comma 6 machine is being phased out and manufacturers had to stop producing them back in December of last year. And yet, the final details of the Comma 6a are still being worked out.

This year was the occasion of the XXVI Andalucian Fair and for the third consecutive year it was held at the ‘Palacio de Congresos’ in Malaga after its first twenty-three years in Torremolinos. All the exhibition space was sold and the significant number of companies unable to exhibit has prompted its organizers to draw the conclusion that, not only the change of location was the right move, but also, given the present momentum in the Spanish market, it would be sensible to extend the space available next year. In the words of Juan Manuel Ortega, organizer of the event:

Asia's GEM 2007 took place in Manila, Philippines on March 21~23. The organiser of Asia's GEM 2007 held a Gaming and Investment Conference in the ballroom of Hyatt Hotel Casino, Manila.

In order to win over the development of gambling industry in Penghu, the mayor of Penghu County - Wang Qian Fa, the President of Penghu’s Legislative Yuan – Liu Chen Zhao Lin, and the legislator – Lin Bing Kun, accompanied the local representatives and the petition group to the Executive Yuan and the Legislative Yuan for the petition of their high intention of developing gambling industry in Penghu.

GTI EXPO has entered into a close alliance with Enada which sticks to a groundbreaking initiative by leading the overseas delegates in each country to the other and that also includes having booths to be set at the other party.

A recent decision by Russian Federation's 'Federal Agency of Physical Culture and Sports' has cleared the way for a new Russian poker boom. It's a long-awaited event for all gambling lovers: Poker tournaments have received the status of official sport competitions, according to PokerNews.com.

Orion Gaming is best known for its Twinstar casino slots and slant top machines. The impressive portfolio of games and the ongoing new releases has brought Orion Gaming to where it is today, a worthy casino slot manufacturer on a global scale. Orion Gaming has also been designing and manufacturing AWP machines for some ten years and is currently working on a new and exciting concept.

According to Axel F. Pawlas, CSO Merkur Gaming, the 19th Enada Spring in Rimini last month was a big success all down the line for Merkur Gaming. In addition to the unique Merkur Gaming product innovations the extension of the current gaming regulation “Comma 6“ for installing AWP machines until 15 September 2007 contributed decisively to this success.

When I was a schoolboy I was intrigued by the name of a popular music hall comedian called Nosmo King. I wondered which country could have produced a man with a name like Nosmo but it was some time before I realised his name formed the words “No Smoking”. Nosmo King made people laugh during days when, for many, laughs were few. His name I learned, was inspired by a notice on the wall of a theatre in which he appeared.

The speech given by the Director General of the AAMS Mr Giorgio Tino, at the opening of the meetings to celebrate AAMS’ 80 years is a thorough analysis of the Italian gaming market, and a careful reading of the present situation, leading to deep reflections.

In this era of downloaded music and iPods, a Nielsen SoundScan report reveals that CD sales dropped 20% in the first quarter of 2007. Sales of downloaded singles increased during the same period, though downloaded album sales declined by 10%.

ollowing the fanfare of the February introduction of the new $1 Presidential coins in Philadelphia, the U.S. Mint has acknowledged that is produced a number of flawed George Washington $1 coins.

In early March, Jukes Direct of southern California created a controversy when it announced a plan to sell downloading jukeboxes directly to locations. Both the operating and distributing segments of the industry were in an uproar.

The Videmur company and the Greek company Vlassis have joined forces to develop an AWP type machine called “Colorado”, which they have just presented. This machine differs from the others in the market since each game is developed over two 17’’ TFT screens, (one located in the upper panel and the other in the lower one), which have an exceptional quality of graphics.

McB, the company manufacturing machinery for bingo halls, has recently finished the installation in Andalucia of two further annexes for alternative games (B4). With the opening of these two annexes McB now has more than 10 facilities with special machines for Bingo halls.

The Spanish company is seeking to extend its international business by consolidating its presence in the U.S.A. Industrias Lorenzo Corporation (IL Co) announced the opening of their first distribution centre in the United States, conveniently located in Itasca, Illinois, as a subsidiary of the Industrias Lorenzo S.A. company, based in Barcelona, in Spain.

Last month Cirsa and Ladbrokes presented the new kinds of sporting bets to the operators of amusement arcades and bingo halls in the autonomous region of Madrid. With an investment of 30 million euros and a forecast, for the first year, of more than 150 betting points it will employ 150 people.

Games Media has announced the appointment of a new member to the management team. Dean Standing joins Games Media as senior customer relationship manager, reporting to Ian Shreeve, director of sales. Standing joins Games Media from Gamestec, where he most recently held the position of regional business manager for the Western Region.

William Hill has thrown down the gauntlet to another European gaming monopoly. This time, the betting giant is tackling Greece, whose betting is run by OPAP, a company that last month arrested nine people for placing bets in internet cafes with overseas providers. William Hill has requested a licence to open betting shops in Greece, but fully expects this to be turned down.

In parallel with the Malaga fair, on the first day a formal dinner was held that served as the basis for the VI annual presentation of the prizes that the Interazar Group present to the most outstanding companies, professionals and legislators for their work throughout the previous year.

Inspired Gaming International has announced a partnership with Silver Heritage, one of the leading operators of terminals to licensed gaming premises in the Asia-Pacific region.

A Swedish MP has criticised the state gaming monopoly Svenska Spel for targeting poor players. Tomas Tobe, a moderate member of parliament commissioned a survey into the siting of Svenska Spel’s Jack Vegas gaming machines and found that there were over 50 in the deprived suburb of Botkyrka, while affluent Danderyd had none at all.

Heber Limited, designer and manufacturer of electronic control systems, continues to make excellent inroads into the expanding South American market. Heber will be visiting trade shows in addition to exhibiting at SAGSE 2007 in October.

Inspired Gaming Group has expanded its sales team with two strategic appointments. The company last month appointed Marc van Rooij as Director Northern Europe. Reporting to Anne de Kerckhove, Managing Director of Inspired Gaming International, van Rooij will be responsible for growing Inspired’s business in Northern and Eastern Europe and managing the delivery of products and services to clients in the region.

Unicum Group and SmartGames, two major Russian gaming suppliers, last month announced they have signed an agreement to merge, in a significant move to consolidate their strengths in gaming manufacturing in the domestic and international markets. The transaction was approved by the board of directors in March.

Sega Amusements Europe will shortly relocate into new headquarters. The UK based company has outgrown its existing Epsom office and has taken 25,000 sq ft of office, warehouse and showroom space in Chessington, Surrey.

Two neighbouring UK operations, Cosmic Video Amusements and Essex Leisure have amalgamated. Terry Farr, CEO of CVA explained the rationale for the deal. “Cosmic began its life almost 30 years ago as an operating company but over the years it has evolved significantly.

Meeron, the commercial arm of the National Bingo Game Association , has formed a joint venture company, Bingo Networks Alderney, with leading online gaming provider Virtue Fusion and is set to launch it’s first network.

The world of gaming is dynamic and asks for similar elasticity of the players in that market. As soon as the Italian legislation Comma 6a became effective, manufacturers wanted to enter the market and needed testing labs to get the necessary approvals.

At this year’s Enada Spring TAB-Austria exhibited its products together with its Italian distributor Norditalia Ricambi. Products exhibited included Silverball, the Max Fire digital jukebox and the digital pinball Virtual Pinball.

The appeal by Nova Productions against the judgment handed down in the High Court by the Honourable Mr Justice Kitchen last January has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Leisure Link has won the contract for the five year operation of Family Entertainment Centres (FECs) in the new BAA Heathrow Terminal 5.

Senior gaming product manager, Peter Swinden has resigned from his position within Gamestec and will be leaving for a new challenge outside the group.

“Gamestec would like to thank Peter for his significant contribution over many years. We wish him every success for the future.

Gary Drage, Managing Director of SAM Leisure, has announced that the company has undergone a major internal restructuring. In order to take the company forward and properly develop its potential, it has been necessary to dissolve the partnership under which it has traded for many years.

The Gala Coral Group, Europe’s largest integrated betting and gaming group recently held its annual awards dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Almost 1000 people attended this first fully integrated awards dinner which recognised the contribution of its own staff, customers and suppliers across Gala Coral Group’s four divisions, Gala Bingo, Gala Casino, Gala E-commerce and Coral.

Funworld was thrilled to be finally able to sell its products at the Rimini trade fair, following months of negotiations.

The AGM of the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA), held in early March, saw the election of a new Chairman for the association, with Tim Batstone taking over the position from David Cam. Batstone is Executive Chairman of H.B. Leisure, based in North Wales, where the company runs an attraction, in addition to supplying and running various games operations in leading theme and amusement parks throughout the UK, mainland Europe, the Middle East and South Africa.

Does this industry target the poor and underprivileged, or is this demographic simply more interested in playing our games? Swedish state-owned operator Svenska Spel was last month accused of exploiting the poor following a survey that was commissioned by a Moderate member of parliament called Tomas Tobe.