Ggb Magazine Podcast

If you’ve been to G2E any of the last half-dozen years, you undoubtedly saw protests and demonstrations by the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, an organization dedicated to riding the world of the evils of second-hand smoke. Cynthia Hallet has been involved in the organization for more than 20 years and now serves as its CEO. She sat down with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at G2E in October to talk about how the pandemic has helped to spread the non-smoking message and why it’s now time to act.

In nearly six years as chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission, Jonodev Chaudhuri is credited with bringing some stability to the federal regulatory process overseeing tribal gaming. His emphasis on education and training brought a new level of professionalism to the tribal regulatory boards. Following his resignation, he became an ambassador for his tribe, the Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma, where he represents the tribes in ceremonies and negotiations. He recently founded Chaudhuri Law, which gives him the freedom to pick and choose his clients and dedicate his time to causes and issues that are close to his heart. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his home office in Washington D.C. in November.

The development of hardware in the slot machine industry is advancing at a rapid pace and IGT’s Peak family of cabinets are at the head of the class according to leading positions on industry performance reports. The first cabinet to launch was the PeakBarTop cabinet, which continues to be a success and recently debuted with sports betting content. Since then, IGT has launched five more Peak cabinets: PeakSlant49, PeakSlant 49 + Wheel for Wheel of Fortune games, then Dynasty Peak Terminal for ETG, followed by the PeakSlant32, and most recently the impressive Peak65, which just debuted last month at G2E. GGB Publisher Roger Gros sat down with Roger Pettersson, Sr. Director Core, PMM, Market Research, and Cindy Honey, IGT Senior Director Hardware Roadmap to talk about IGT’s Peak hardware family, what’s driving its success and what’s in store for the future.

For 16 years, the World Gaming Protection Conference was the place to be to learn about the latest issues and trends in casino security and surveillance. One of gaming’s most interesting events, the WGPC attracts security and surveillance executives from all jurisdictions, as well as casino officials who want to understand how to improve their operations. Willy and Jo Allison talk about how the pandemic impacted the show. In 2020, it was scheduled to be held just days after the casino industry shut down for the first time ever in Nevada, and 2021 was a wash as well. Now the 2022 show, scheduled for February 15-17 at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, has added multiple speakers and sessions, and now includes a full day of training for those in the security, surveillance and any other department responsible for risk management. They spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros last week from their temporary home in Mexico.

For more than a decade, John Pappas was the face of legalized online poker in the United States as he led the Poker Players Alliance during a period of the introduction of legal online gaming in the U.S. and a crackdown on sites like Full Tilt and PokerStars following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006. His positive message eventually accounted for 4 million members of the PPA who helped lobby states to legalize online gaming and poker. Today, he’s also helping to promote Idea Growth, an organization founded by attorney Jeff Ifrah to advocate legal online gaming. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at G2E in October. (To view a video of this podcast see below). GGB: You were involved in the legalization of online gaming, specifically online poker years ago. What was it like in those days? Pappas: I can remember going into meetings in those days and suggesting that the legalization of online gaming would be a good thing, and just being met with a chorus of “it’s no

Kent Young has a long history in gaming. He worked for Aristocrat Technologies for six years and later moved on to lead Aruze Gaming America for two years. In 2012 he founded his own company, Spin Games, and developed a remote gaming server for slot games online just as online gaming was starting to take off in the U.S. Earlier this year, Spin was acquired by Bragg Gaming Group, and will join a company expanding aggressively in the U.S. and around the world. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at G2E in October. https://youtu.be/AgYQ3G8Cuy4

Jonathan Michaels was hired by the American Gaming Association, a few years removed from the University of Maryland, to run the organization’s membership program in 2014. He left the AGA last year and was recently hired by Sightline Payments At Sightline, Michaels is responsible for three areas—government affairs, corporate communications and strategic development that he calls the “catch all bucket.” He says the years at the AGA prepared him for his new job because he interacted with high-level gaming executives, including his new bosses, co-CEOs Joe Pappano and Omer Sattar. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros on his inclusion in the Emerging Leaders 40 Under 40 Class of 2022 from his home office in Washington D.C. https://youtu.be/2NzacdIAPEI

Paul Steelman has had a great year. In October of last year, the Circa casino hotel in Downtown Las Vegas debuted, the first new project in Downtown in 20 years. And then in June, Resorts World Las Vegas opened on the Strip, the first new resort there in more than 10 years. Like Circa, Resorts World has broken new ground and promises to be the model for the integrated resort anywhere in the world for the next decade at least. Steelman talks about his collaboration with Genting Chairman KT Lim and how new technology played a role in the 10 year design process at Resorts World. He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at his Las Vegas office in October.

Like all companies in the gaming industry, Casino Cash Trac closed down during the pandemic. Kurt Williams, the company’s CEO, took the time to reorganize the company and decide how it fit into the burgeoning sports betting market. With a product that does an ongoing audit of transactions in and out of the cage to the tables and slots, Casino Cash Trac can also recognize every transaction at a sports book and at online gaming sites. In addition, casinos came back from the pandemic with streamlined procedures that fit well with the service provided by Casino Cash Trac. Williams spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros at G2E earlier this month.

President & CEO, Canadian Gaming Association

CEO and Co-Founder, Rush Street Interactive

Managing Partner, KPMG Las Vegas

Sr. VP and Chief Operating Officer, and Sr. VP of Global Product, International Game Technology

Founder, Acres Manufacturing Company

President, Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers

Event Director of G2E, Reed Exhibitions

Chief Executive Officer, Barstool Sports

Owner, DiSimone Gaming

President & CEO, Penn National Gaming

President & CEO, and Executive Vice President, Casino Operations & Chief Marketing Officer, Bally’s Corporation