Casinos Middelkerke and Blankenberge, situated on the Belgian coast and owned by leading UK operator Grosvenor Casinos, recently undertook a review of the slot machine estate in both venues and decided it was time to refresh and expand the mix of product.
Simon Beacham, head of electronic gaming for Grosvenor, commented: "Its now almost five years since we first installed machines in these venues. During that time, the player base and the overall popularity of machines has grown substantially and they have become a major profit generator. We felt it was time to undertake a full review of the product mix and both the layout and number of machines in order to further develop this market.
"A small number of additional machines had been added each year since 2004, including 24 Novomatic Novo Unity roulette terminals in August 2007, but we took the view that our customers would appreciate us providing more of the most popular machines, a wider selection of games and a new layout, to ensure that both smokers and non-smokers have access to their favourite games."
The review was undertaken in the first quarter of this year by Mark Beattie, electronic gaming development manager for Grosvenor, in co-operation with Johan de Prez, slots manager for both sites. The analysis clearly demonstrated that both venues needed substantially more video product and that Novomatic Super-V+ Gaminator machines were the most popular in this market.
Jens Halle, managing director of Novomatic, said: "We were delighted to receive an order for 70 new Super V+ Gaminator cabinets. With multi-denomination offering up to seven denominations, multi-language options as well as a well-balanced mix of high and low line games the Super-V+ Gaminator multigames have proved to be the most successful products on the market."
With an overall increase of 25 per cent in the number of sited machines (to 230) and new layouts in both venues, achieving the May 1 installation deadline demanded close co-operation from all those involved. Marnix Baes and his team at Gaming Support, the Belgian distributor for Novomatic, put in a great deal of hard work.
