Ggb Magazine Podcast

Derik Mooberry spent most of his career with Bally/Scientific Games/Light & Wonder, eventually leading the gaming division of Scientific Games. Six months ago, he was named president of Zitro USA, a company founded by Johnny Ortiz and led by corporate CEO Sebastian Salat. Mooberry is charged with spreading the word about the Zitro games in the United States. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the GGB offices in Boulder City, Nevada in June. (See video below). GGB: Those of us who cover gaming know what great games Zitro makes, but there are quite a few operators who didn’t get the memo. How are you going to change that? Mooberry: Yes, there are a lot of people who don’t know who we are. And now that we’re just entering the U.S. market, we need to emphasize that we’re a very well established international company with over 1,000 employees around the world. The company started back in 2007, and Johnny Ortiz has a tremendous passion for games and content and making great products that make customer

The Cordish Companies is a family business that stretches back for five generations. David Cordish is the chairman of the company that has been a pioneer of urban development in cities around the world. Ten years ago, Cordish got directly involved in gaming with the opening of Maryland LIVE!, one of the most successful casinos on the east coast. The company has since expanded into Pennsylvania and has grand plans for the future. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his offices in Baltimore in June.

Sports betting was legalized in Canada about six months ago and was recently launched in the country’s largest province, Ontario. Michael Lipton is one of Canada’s leading gaming attorney where he’s a senior partner in the Toronto office of Dickinson Wright. He explains how the legalization process went and how it will be implemented in the different provinces of Canada. In Ontario, dozens of sports betting sites and technology providers have been licensed but there are still a few areas where it’s uncertain what is legal and what is not or how it will be implemented. Lipton spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his home in Ontario in June.

Acres Manufacturing has made a splash since its launch two years ago. Founded by Gaming Hall of Fame member John Acres, the new company has updated the concept of loyalty programs—initially invented by Acres—with Foundation, a program that makes it easier to understand and apply player data. Now, its latest product, simply called Cashless Casino, allows operators to go cashless seamlessly. They only need to pick a payment processor and provide a mobile app. The casino’s app becomes the user interface, ensuring that branding is fully compatible with the rest of the operator’s player-facing options. The goal of all Acres products is higher loyalty engagement. Acres COO Noah Acres spoke with GGB Editor Frank Legato from Las Vegas late last week.

A recent restructuring of divisions of Aristocrat Technologies established three sections devoted to iGaming, social gaming and land-based gaming. Hector Fernandez was elevated to CEO of the gaming division at that time. He joined Aristocrat in 2018 as CFO for the Americas and EMEA after a long career in finance. With Aristocrat producing many of the most popular casino games, Fernandez could just steer the ship, but he understands that to stay on top, the company must continue to lead with innovation and compassion. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the company’s Las Vegas headquarters in May. (See video below). You’ve been president and now CEO of  Aristocrat Gaming for about two years now. What’s the most important thing you learned during that time here at Aristocrat? Hector Fernandez: It’s all about our people. At the end of the day, every single thing we’ve accomplished over the last two years is because of our people and their resilience. Their commitment to the business. Our commitment back

Virginia Valentine has led the Nevada Resort Association, which represents Nevada’s largest resort casinos since 2011. As the pandemic winds down, she reflects on how the industry has rebounded and what this rebound says about the future of gaming in the state. But there are still areas that have not recovered and Valentine discusses the challenges facing the industry going forward. She talks about the increasing importance of sports and sporting events to the town now that it’s home to several professional teams. She spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the NRA offices in the Summerlin section of Las Vegas in May.

Bluberi was a small Canadian slot manufacturer that specialized in Class II games when Andrew Burke was hired to take them to the next level. With expertise in game development, he immediately began working with Bluberi’s design teams to make a splash in the Class III market. With a background in Class II and experience at AGS as their vice president of slot products, Burke brings a vision and strategy to Bluberi where he hopes to build the company into a powerhouse along with a vastly experienced team he’s assembled. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the Bluberi headquarters in May.

The payment industry has been evolving and PayNearMe had undoubtedly the most basic option when sports betting and iGaming were first legalized. In the early days of iGaming and mobile sports betting, at a time when credit or debit card transfers were difficult, where direct payments from banks were suspect, PayNearMe allowed players to head to a local shop or convenience store, deposit money in their account—for a fee—and go home and play. Leighton Webb, the vice president for iGaming and sports betting for PayNearMe, explains how his company has evolved and is now offering a full range of products and services for cashless transaction both online and inside betting locations. He explains how the PayNearMe strategy is to keep it simple for the player and profitable for the operator. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his home office in April.

David Lopez took over as president and CEO of AGS in 2014 and has led the company on an amazing growth trajectory. Previously the CEO of Global Cash Access and COO of ShuffleMaster, Lopez uses an unusual management style to get the best of his executives and employees. AGS table games and slot machines have created a wide variety of interest across the industry. This week, the company hosts its annual users conference at the Hard Rock casino in Hollywood, Florida, which is a unique event that educates customers not only on AGS products but more importantly on trends in the industry whether or not they are directly related to AGS. GGB Editor Frank Legato spoke with Lopez via Zoom from the AGS offices in Las Vegas in May.

As the founder of Ellis Island Casino Hotel in Las Vegas, Gary Ellis knows old-school gaming. He attracts players to just property, just off the Strip by the Vegas marketing tradition of cheap good food and a good gamble. But Ellis is also very tech savvy, and always wanted to be able to offer casino credit to players, but also to make sure they did use those funds for an interest-free loan. That’s where MarkerTrax was born and today it’s sweeping the industry. MarkerTrax is a simple tool that allows casinos to lend a limited bankroll to players but when it’s time to cash out, the player can only withdraw the amount they won. The system automatically settles the player’s marker before issuing the winnings. In partnership with Konami and other suppliers, MarkerTrax is available even in some jurisdictions where credit is not permitted. Ellis spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at Ellis Island Casino in Las Vegas in early May.

The Wheel of Fortune is probably the most iconic slot product ever made, and it certainly is the most successful. In the 25 years since it was introduced IGT’s Wheel of Fortune slots have awarded billions of dollars in jackpots. The game’s 25th anniversary celebration culminated in “Big Money Week” in early May on the TV program, which boasts 25 million weekly viewers. During the week, hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White highlighted several IGT WOF games as the centerpiece of each show. Jennifer Fales is IGT’s vice president of global licensing and a former 40 Under 40 honoree at GGB, and she explains the allure of the game and why it will continue to be one of the top casino games for years to come. She spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the IGT headquarters in Las Vegas in April.

Eldorado Resorts bought the Tropicana in Atlantic City in 2018, and it became part of Caesars Entertainment when Eldorado bought the gaming giant in 2020. Soon after that, Jacqueline Grace was named general manager of the property. A longtime executive with Caesars, Grace got her start in gaming as a President’s Associate in Atlantic City, a prestigious program at Harrah’s/Caesars that has produced many top leaders in the industry. She spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros via Zoom from her office in Atlantic City in May. (See video below). GGB: You’ve been at the Tropicana now for about two years. What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned during that time? Jacqueline Grace: My first two years at the Tropicana have been dynamic, to say the least. I started shortly after the Eldorado and Caesars merger, and smack in the midst of a pandemic. So there have been lots of complexities in addition to managing an already complex operation. We’ve been really busy on everything from integrating casino sys

When the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians went shopping for a Las Vegas casino to buy, it wasn’t long before they settled on the Palms, which had been closed for two years after a half-billion dollar renovation under the previous owners, Station Casinos. Latisha Casas, the chairwoman of the tribe’s gaming business arm, the San Manuel Gaming & Hospitality Authority, explains why the tribe decided to venture into commercial gaming and what they hope to achieve. Former MGM executive and now general manager of the Palms Cynthia Kiser-Murphey talks about the strategies to build the database, attract the loyal Southern California players of the tribe’s Yaamava’ casino and contribute to the Las Vegas community. They spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros just a day before the property reopened in the Hardwood Suite in late April.

Sequoyah Simermeyer, a member of the Coharie Indian Tribe of North Carolina, was appointed to the National Indian Gaming Commission in 2015 as an associate commissioner. In 2019, he was elevated by President Donald Trump to chairman and confirmed by the Senate. His term will expire in 2023. Prior to his role with NIGC, he worked as an advisor to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. He began his career with the National Congress of American Indians, a national intertribal organization focusing on the protection of tribal governments’ rights and status. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the Indian Gaming ’22 trade show and conference in Anaheim, California in April. GGB Podcast sponsored by IGT.com

Richard St. Jean is a veteran leader in the gaming industry, working for Caesars, Station Casinos, Penn National Gaming and now as the chief operating officer of the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa. He joined Morongo two years ago just prior to the pandemic and as the casino resort was being renovated. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros via Zoom from his offices in Morongo, joined by Simon Farmer, the property’s executive director of marketing. (See video below). GGB: Why don’t we go back to the time when you joined the property—you arrived about halfway through the renovation process, is that right? Richard St. Jean: Yes, I got here in Q4 of 2019. So, I’d say it was about 50 percent to 60 percent completed. The renovation of the existing casino space was materially under way, but we still had a long way to go. Did you have any influence in the design and the operations of the process at that time? In the main casino, I think the program was pretty much baked in. But as we get into the expanded area—

Tom O’Brien was named president of Aristocrat for the Americas and the EMEA region after spending two years as general manager of the company. O’Brien has a long history in gaming, starting as an operator in Atlantic City and later moving to the supplier side. In addition to Aristocrat, he has held senior roles at Interblock and Scientific Games. He discussed his new job with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the Aristocrat headquarters in Las Vegas in April. (See video below) Congrats on your new role as president of Aristocrat. Give us some idea of your responsibilities in this role. The roles and responsibilities have changed dramatically. As general manager, I was pretty much doing customer relations. I would visit the customers and talk to all the bigger customers we had. I’d take Hector (Fernandez) to introduce him because he was primarily new to the business. So now Hector moves to CEO of land-based gaming. I move into the president spot, and the responsibilities have changed. This is your second go-aroun

As major gaming companies cross the threshold between land-based and online gaming, with sports betting thrown in for good measure, they have to adjust their loyalty programs. At Penn National Gaming, Jennifer Weissman and Todd George are in charge of that effort. Being able to reward customers for all their play whether it’s in the casino, online or on the Barstool sports book app, Penn takes a holistic view of its customers and provides the service and recognition that is necessary to keep pace with this rapidly expanding technology. They spoke with GGB Editor Frank Legato via Zoom from their offices in Las Vegas for a story he wrote about the fast-changing world of loyalty programs in the May issue of GGB.

Sega Sammy is a Japanese company with divisions that include developing innovative video games and pachinko machines that serve the massive appetite for those games in Japan. The company has been trying to penetrate the slot machine industry for over a decade with fits and starts. Two years ago, Sega Sammy created a U.S. division, Sega Sammy Creation, to accelerate that effort and hired former IGT executive Scott Winzeler to run it. Winzeler explains how he’s been methodically approaching slot development in the U.S. and why tribal gaming and HHR racing machines are big parts of the plan. He met with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the Sega Sammy Creation office in Las Vegas in March.

One of the major changes in gaming in recent years has been the move to cashless transactions on the casino floor and elsewhere in the resort. Global Payments Gaming Solutions is one of the leaders in the field and President Christopher Justice explains why. The company’s VIP Mobility product allows players to fund their accounts, transfer money to slot machines or table games, or make any other purchase in a casino resort. The system is agnostic and can be used in almost any gaming situation, including online. It can also provide operators with information that will help them with AML processes and responsible gaming information. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at the Global Payment offices in Las Vegas in March.

Derek Stevens arrived in Las Vegas in 2006 when he and his brother purchased the Golden Gate casino at the entrance to Fremont Street. A few years later, they added the former Fitzgerald’s casino, now known as the “D” casino hotel. And just last year, Stevens opened the crown jewel of his properties, the first brand new casino on Fremont Street in more than 50 years, the Circa Resort Casino. Circa features the world’s largest sports book and a pool experience unlike anything in the world. GGB Publisher Roger Gros sat down with Stevens at his offices in Circa in February.