Gaming in Ireland is presently restricted to members' clubs but as talk of new regulations gathers pace, Simon Liddle discovers that the market is in favour of a new legislative framework.

Strictly speaking, casinos are illegal in Ireland. The situation remains a complex one, given that the Gaming and Lotteries Act dates back to 1956 and Irish people have been able to play certain casino-style games for decades. This particular area of gambling is a familiar shade of grey - much to the frustration of operators and suppliers alike.

Private members’ clubs have sprung up across the country over the years, exploiting loopholes within the law to offer a variety of slots and table games to their customers. Although such clubs continue to flourish, the uncertainty hanging over the industry acts as a deterrent to many potential players and a barrier to manufacturers uncertain of their legal footing.

Calls have repeatedly been made for the industry to either be better regulated or to be shut down completely. The latter option, given the number of businesses already involved in the industry and the revenue it generates, is unlikely to be pursued. However, it is also unlikely that the Irish government is willing to allow the industry to grow extensively.
The Fitzwilliam Card Club in the heart of Dublin offers live roulette, blackjack, punto banco and brag, as well as hosting tournaments in its dedicated 15-table poker room. The club attracts a broad membership base from among local residents and short-term visitors to the city. For all intents and purposes, it looks and feels like a casino but managing director David Hickson admits that members’ clubs operate in a "legal grey area", stating that the government has been moved to address the issue.

"The recent Regulating Gaming in Ireland - Report of the Casino Committee, published by the Department of Justice, highlighted the negative consequences of the current unregulated environment - including a lack of consumer protection, lost tax revenue and potential for abuse by criminal elements - and recommended a comprehensive updating of the legislative dealing with casino gaming in Ireland," he told InterGaming, noting that the Irish government is keen to act on the committee’s recommendations fairly quickly.

"We would anticipate that the Minister for Justice will announce plans to regulate casino gaming and slot machine sectors over the coming months, restricting licences to those operators who can show that they are fully compliant in all aspects of running a gaming establishment."

Hickson believes that rather than a dramatic transformation of the market, a new regulatory framework will more than likely crystalise the industry in its present form but without all the confusion.

"The size of the operation will be modest by international standards as the minister is keen to tighten regulation rather than to liberalise gaming," he continued. "While the door to a larger casino is not completely closed, we would anticipate that it would take a number of years before such a scenario is considered.

"I think that initially there may be a few new entrants to market, some will be successful as they take over from those who fail to meet the required standard of compliance. However, while the number of operators might look larger, in the long term, I think in reality there will not be that many more than there currently are. It is just that there will be a proper register of all operators going forward."

For now, the Irish market requires a degree of caution from manufacturers seeking to supply their equipment to its gaming operators. Although a number of established gaming companies already have a foothold in the market, many more are keeping an eye on how it continues to develop before taking the plunge. One such company is UK-based roulette specialist Cammegh, which recently exhibited at the annual Irish gaming show, AmEx.

"We’re very interested to see how legislation unfolds and what it means for suppliers and operators," sales and marketing director Andrew Cammegh told InterGaming. "I believe the term is ‘tolerated’ but the question is when is it going to become a little more structured?"

There is, he said, a market for automated roulette for which the company’s Slingshot 2 automated wheel would be "perfect." However, Cammegh is wary of jumping into a legal minefield.

"For us, the Irish show was about fact finding and, as with a lot of things, there are more questions than answers. It’s not just about gaming laws, but also liqueur licensing laws and how the two things will interact and impact on each other. A lot of things need to be straightened out."

Another company that chose to exhibit at this year’s AmEx show was TCS John Huxley, which showcased its touchscreen live card table AccuPlay RNG and MultiPlay, which combines a traditional roulette table with a full-sized electronic multiplayer betting surface. Marketing manager Tracy Cohen said there was speculation about future legislative changes among exhibitors and visitors to the show.

"There was talk at AmEx regarding a document being drafted in five or six weeks. However, when this might become law is unbeknown to all," she said. "It is thought that when the document is produced that it may favour casino and arcade operators rather than bookmakers, but this is purely conjecture at this time. We cannot underestimate the importance of the Jockey Club and they will endeavour to protect horse racing interests and the on-course market.

"TCS John Huxley will continue to do business in this region until we are told that it would contravene any regulations to do so."

Cohen said she believed that any changes made to the existing gaming laws were unlikely to see the market increase in size.

"We believe there will not necessarily be an increase, but an evolution," she remarked. "We may see an amalgamation of businesses with larger venues with tighter controls. It will be a different market, rather than a larger market."

Sweden-based Future Gaming Europe already supplies its eFloor casino management system, including slot accounting and cashless systems, to Irish operators and would welcome a move towards clearer regulation.

"We would be pleased to see this market regulated as the systems we provide are designed to handle the type of operation where strict rules apply, but whether this will happen is harder to predict," said the company’s Dejan Tomic. "There have been plenty of rumours in this direction but this has been the case in the past as well. One thing is clear, if and when legislation is passed, it will not be the end of it and many subsequent adjustments will have to be made in order for the regulation to be stable."

Along with any legislative changes, adjustments to the current tax regime will also play a key role in whether the country’s gaming industry experiences further growth in the coming years. Once described as the Celtic Tiger, Ireland’s economy was among the worst hit during the recession, particularly as property prices fell so dramatically. Gaming operators did not escape the downturn, with some reporting a 30 per cent decrease in turnover last year. A government seeking to benefit from additional tax revenues to ease its financial difficulties will have to be careful not to stifle the industry.

David Shirley, business development manager at the Fitzwilliam Club, told InterGaming that the market continues to be hampered by lower consumer spending in the wake of the recession.

"The gaming sector, as with many other sectors in the entertainment industry, has been badly affected by the recent downturn in the economy," he remarked. "As individuals’ disposable income declines, so too does their appetite for discretionary expenditure items. While we have noticed a decline in footfall, the average spend is down by approximately 30 per cent across the business."

The outlook, however, may not be so bleak. Franz Plasser, sales manager at Austrian manufacturer Apex Gaming, which currently supplies a variety of games on its Dual Line Slim and slant-top cabinets to Irish venues, believes that the market will recover in time.

"Naturally the economic downturn, which was worse in Ireland than in many other countries, has affected the gaming business there," he said. "Nevertheless, the Irish place much emphasis on their quality of life and this includes entertainment and gaming. We are confident that the gaming business will grow again."

In addition to games such as Bars & Sevens and Legends of the Sphinx that are already supplied to the market, Apex is sure that its new Quikker electronic card game will prove to be a hit with Irish operators and players alike, demonstrating the market’s appetite for new gaming experiences.
"The feedback from the IGE London show concerning the new Quikker game was phenomenal," Plasser continued. "The Irish market can look forward to benefitting from this product in the near future."

Thomas Engstberger, sales manager at Amatic, which has had a presence in the Austrian gaming market for a number of years, said that the market is currently rather "saturated" and that operators are looking for "quality over quantity." In addition to its Roulette Grand Jeu Prestige and X3000 multigame slot, the company’s new CashMaster is being targeted at Irish operators utilising TITO and cashless systems.

"The new CashMaster will be very interesting for the Irish market with a host of change facilities," Engstberger said. "Furthermore, the new electronic roulette will shortly be released with widescreen touchscreens and a completely new wheel technology. Naturally the winning games that were released at the IGE show will be passed straight on to the Irish market."

Server-based gaming specialist BetStone, which offers a portfolio of more than 100 game titles, is headquartered in Dublin and it is from there that it coordinates its global operations, taking in the rest of Europe and the growing South American market. A spokesperson for the company explained that Ireland is an ideal base from which to develop its interests.

"BetStone is dedicated to growth in Ireland, having our headquarters based in Dublin," she said. "Recently we moved to larger premises in Dublin’s south side to better serve our customers from. With a number of divisions already operating from our Dublin offices we hope to expand this over the next year. Dublin provides the perfect base for BetStone, with access to creative talent and an excellent working environment."

The company also predicts that new regulations will facilitate future growth within the industry, likening the market to others in Europe where new forms of gaming are being permitted under the close scrutiny of the authorities.

"The Irish market is under review as regards regulation," she remarked. "In time this market may also open up as per the recent Italian market. It is expected that a number of larger casinos and new venues would open up in the Irish market if the current legislation in place were to change. This, along with other markets, will continue to be monitored as regulations change in countries worldwide."

One of the key issues touched upon by those who argue the case for greater transparency in the laws governing gambling in Ireland is the changing perception of casino gaming. Fitzwilliam Card Club’s Shirley echoes this point, arguing that gambling in its other forms is a wholly accepted pastime throughout the country. There is, he argues, a growing acceptance of casino-style gaming largely due to Irish tourists’ experience of casinos elsewhere.

"To those who are familiar with playing blackjack or roulette from their travels abroad, gaming is not the ‘black sheep’ of the gambling industry as it used to be," he explained.

In November, when InterGaming spoke to Brian O’Connell, the chief architect of a consortium of investors’ plans to develop a new racetrack, entertainment complex and casino in County Tipperary, he was keen to stress that although the proposed project is on a scale unseen elsewhere in Ireland, the plan is not to bring Las Vegas-style casinos to the country.

Instead, a casino is to form part of a larger entertainment offering alongside the more widely accepted gambling activity of horse betting. Whether the complex ever sees the light of day remains to be seen but such proposals acknowledge a favourable shift in attitude towards casino gaming. The government’s efforts to address the grey areas, meanwhile, may go some way to sway public opinion.

"A popular misconception is that going to a casino is ‘gambling’ but going to the racetrack is a ‘day out at the races’," Shirley said. "Hopefully regulation will bring about a modicum of mainstream acceptance for the casino gaming sector too."

First published in the April issue of InterGaming.