Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter! |
Gaming News
Bally Gaming Forms New Table Games Division30 June 2005LAS VEGAS – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Bally Gaming and Systems, a business unit of Alliance Gaming Corp. (NYSE: AGI), announced today that it has created the Bally Table Management Systems (TMS) division to capitalize on its growing portfolio of table technology products. Bally TMS includes the technology formerly known as MindPlay and features touch-screen data ratings products (formerly known as eTABLE), card security (Bally MPBaccarat(TM), UCS intelligent card shoe), the state-of-the-art Bally MP21 system for automated tracking of player, bet and card information, which is patented and exclusive to Bally Gaming and Systems, and a chip manufacturing production line (MoneyPieces(TM) gaming chips). "The Bally Table Management Systems is the most comprehensive and accurate table-data package in the market today, covering everything from basic transaction management, chips and unique felts all the way up to the most complete and approved pit and player management systems," said Richard Haddrill, Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Gaming. "The new Bally TMS division reflects the growth of our table games portfolio and our position as the leader in this emerging market of intelligent table games." The Company also announced that Bally MP21 has received final formal approval from regulators in Nevada and Mississippi. The approvals are subject to certain conditions that ensure that the technology can't be used by casinos to acquire an advantage over players. A lawsuit in Nevada against Bally filed in October 2004 alleging that Bally MP21 disadvantages players has been dropped by the plaintiff. "Bally MP21 does not affect game play or change the house advantage of the game in any manner whatsoever," said Rich Soltys, the product's inventor and Senior Vice President of the Bally TMS division. "Our system is designed to accurately track play, allowing casinos to structure their comp programs with better precision. In addition, Bally MP21 provides game protection and features sophisticated tools to make objective evaluations of dealer performance." With Bally MP21, for the first time, accurate player tracking is available on table games in real time, as it has been on slot machines. Bally MP21 provides information on items such as time played at the game, actual amount wagered and win/loss amounts, which allows casinos to produce a Dynamic Comping(TM) model based on a player's true value. The Bally MP21 technology makes the rating and evaluation of a player accurate and therefore makes comping programs vastly more effective in targeting dollars to valued players. "The Bally TMS division is aggressively moving forward with our product line expansion," Soltys added. "We have established, market-tested and regulator-approved products. With more than four years of experience in the pit with Dynamic Comping, bet and card recognition and a suite of complementary products that is fully integrated and proven, we are a one-stop shop for our customers' needs." The ability to more reliably gauge player skill levels has proven to be especially valuable at the Company's Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Miss. "We've had the Bally TMS technology in place since November 2004 and the most impressive thing has been our ability to correctly reward the right players. Our comping is now very precisely targeted, something we could not do without MP21," said Senior Vice President and General Manager Curt Follmer. Follmer also said Rainbow has experienced 99 percent-plus uptime and bet-read accuracy while dramatically improving dealer performance and reducing the pit operation's dependency on the surveillance department. "And of course the players are very pleased that they are getting the proper credit for every bet they make. It's safe to say our direct-mail offers are now going to the right players," Follmer said. The Company also announced that on June 6, 2005, it filed a lawsuit against Shuffle Master, Inc., in the Western District of Washington (Seattle) where the Bally TMS division is located. The complaint alleges that Shuffle Master's "MD2 Shuffler" infringes Alliance Gaming's U.S. Patent No. 6,460,848 B1. The complaint requests damages and an injunction to prevent Shuffle Master from encroaching on Alliance's proprietary technology. The Complaint also alleges that Shuffle Master has breached a confidentiality agreement with the inventors of Alliance's proprietary gaming table monitoring technology, and that Shuffle Master misappropriated this confidential information in an attempt to compete with the Bally MP21 system. Las Vegas-based Bally Gaming and Systems, a business unit of Alliance Gaming Corp. (NYSE: AGI), designs, manufactures, operates and distributes advanced gaming devices and systems worldwide. Additional information on Bally Gaming and Systems can be found at www.BallyGaming.com or www.BallySystems.com. Alliance Gaming, a diversified gaming company with headquarters in Las Vegas, also owns and operates Rainbow Casino in Vicksburg, Miss. |