TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

Because this year's G2E will be located on two floors at the Las Vegas Convention Center, game makers will have to make a more intense effort to draw attention from a thinner crowd density.

"It's unfortunate that it's on two floors this year," says Brooke Dunn, senior vice president for leading gaming table and card shuffler manufacturer Shuffle Master. "Whenever you have a physical barrier, you can't get the same concentration. It's like a mall. The big anchors are there and the opportunities for smaller companies [depend on location]. However, everyone will go to their area of interest ... G2E is a must show. If a company is not there, they're not in the business."

Organized by the American Gaming Association (AGA) and Reed Exhibitions, G2E hosts exhibitions of the latest and most innovative products and services related to the casino business as well as conferences by leading experts on the opportunities and challenges facing the gaming industry, provided for an audience of casino executives and managers, industry analysts, investors, government regulators and media, among others.

Aside from the two new categories, pavilions on security and surveillance, bingo and interactive gaming will be returning for this year's show.

This year's G2E had signed more than 700 vendors by last week, an increase of more than 6 percent from last year's 660 exhibitors. The show will occupy 255,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 17.4 percent rise from the 217,200 square feet used by the show last year.

By comparison, the first show in 2001 had 375 exhibitors on 133,330 square feet of floor space, meaning the trade show "by the industry and for the industry" has almost doubled in four years.

Gaming's explosive growth in places like China (Macau) and Russia, combined with opportunities for expansion or entry into the UK and Singapore, has brought about increased global representation at G2E. This year, 108 vendors from 23 countries will be exhibiting at the show, up a stupendous 56.5 percent from the 69 international exhibitors at the 2003 show.

The enlargement of G2E across the spectrum at this week's show has organizers forecasting a record gate as well. Anticipating 24,000-26,000 attendees, the expected turnout is a robust 14.5 percent increase on the high end over last year's crowd of 22,700 show visitors.

"Ask me about any number and it's higher than last year," says Judy Patterson, AGA executive director. "We have no bad news."

The multitude brightens the prospects while heightening the exertion of exhibitors. For example, game and systems manufacturer Aristocrat Technologies will have about 40 employees manning its booth in anticipation of a variety of questions from the array of visitors.

"We've got to treat different people differently in terms of what we're presenting," says Kent Young, Aristocrat's vice president of marketing. "We throw a lot of resources into the show. We have people to deal with customers (casino employees) analysts, compliance people and media people."

Aristocrat will feature 152 games at its booth along with its various systems, with highlights including the first 50-line video slots in the American market, a Zorro multi-site progressive and Pele's Legendary Goals on the company's Hyperlink series. The celebrated soccer star will be on hand to sign soccer balls.

The main feature at Aristocrat will be its low denomination slots, particularly the penny slots, which will comprise about 70 percent of its floor. According to Young, the G2E show allows companies to reinforce their market position to a mass gathering of customers and industry watchers.

"We get a chance to show our innovations and games," he says. "It really affects [customers'] perception. This year we are positioning ourselves as the premiere penny slot maker. A lot of competitors are entering the penny slot field but we're really ahead in that. Competitors are looking at what others are doing. That's why we don't show everything."

Despite the marketing opportunity, the show is about sales. While some direct sales are made at G2E, the hundreds of booths give presenters limited time to pitch. With 40 percent of Shuffle Master's marketing budget going toward G2E participation, the show generates about 20-30 leads per salesperson, according to Dunn.

"You get commitments but you don't get sales because you have to get regulatory approval [first], unlike a clothing show where you can say give me four thousand," he says. "It's really an introduction, showing them the product and what it can do. You develop an opportunity for a second meeting. When you think about it, [a customer] is not going to give me an hour, just fifteen minutes."

Shuffle Master will introduce 10 new products at the show, including Texas Holdem, Big Raise Holdem, 6 Card Poker and Hi-Lo Stud Poker table games as well as utility products such as shufflers MD-2, which reads cards as they are dealt, and Intelligent Shoe, along with the Easy Chipper, which sort up to 10 different colored chips.

Since some products are yet to be approved in different jurisdictions, Dunn says the trade show provides his company with important feedback from regulators on product features that would smooth the future process.

In addition, customers make suggestions for improvements based on practical application. For instance, Dunn noted that the company once modified its Continuous Shuffler for easy unloading after G2E attendees pointed out that the deficiency would hurt efficiency during shift changes.

"They think of how they are using it," he says "You get great feedback while still in development and that can have monstrous benefits."

Aside from the two new pavilions, this year's show will contain numerous other firsts. With more than 140 conference sessions dedicated to each pavilion, G2E 2004 will have four new conference tracks for design and décor, food and beverage, international issues and tribal governmental gaming.

In addition, the conference will add a new G2E Signature Series, a trio of roundtable talks with top industry executives and analysts on the future of gaming.

Moreover, with keynote events featuring a chef's competition hosted by Robin Leach, another on the burgeoning popularity of poker, and with movie megastar Clint Eastwood opening the show in conjunction with the introduction of the new Fistful of Dollars slot machine by WMS Industries, the trade show, like the industry itself, has become a media phenomenon.

Aside from traditional industry publications and local media, this year's show is scheduled to receive coverage from USA Today, Sports Illustrated and even The Tonight Show.

"The core function [of G2E] is business and there will be a tremendous amount of business [generated]," says Patterson. "But overall, the show is taking on an entertainment aspect. There is now a steady diet of Las Vegas on reality shows and regular programming. Media types are coming to do their homework."