German customers are being attracted into the Czech Republic by a wide variety of casinos. Phil Clegg looks at some of them...

There are around 135 casinos in the Czech Republic, but among the most remarkable of these are the venues in the west of the country on the border with Germany.

The one thing these casinos have in common is the fact that they all attract vast numbers of customers from across the border in Germany. They do this by offering unparalleled levels of customer service, including free meals, free drinks, free transport and free accommodation. Two buses a day come to the area from Munich alone.

There are two such venues in the small village of Rozvadov, a mere 500m from the border. The casinos bring so many Germans in that the village now has around 30 bars. The older of the two casinos, which has been there for 12 years, is beginning to look a little run-down, but the other, Kings Casino, is a fine example of a modern gaming facility.

The property’s surveillance system is ultra high-tech and even has sound to pick up what is being said on the gaming floor. The entry system features the latest technology and all entrants have to show their passports. The casino’s 100 slot machines are all supplied by Apex Gaming Technology of Austria. And that is another feature of the 30 or so casinos near the border - around 90 per cent of all the slot machines in these properties are Apex games.

The first floor of the Kings Casino houses eight luxury apartments that are offered free to high rollers. Its restaurant is very high quality and run by a chef with an excellent reputation – and when good clients have enjoyed their meal and an evening’s gaming, they will be driven home.

The custom-built, 15,000sq.ft property has been in existence for just three years, so owner Leon Tsoukernik has built up the business in a relatively short time. “It’s one of the best new casinos in the Czech Republic,” said Johannes Weissengruber, head of Apex Gaming Technology. “In the summer there are often parties outside and we move our machines outside to add to the atmosphere.”

Apex, which will introduce a jackpot system to the casino this month, is in effect operating its own machines at the venue by participating in the income. “That was an important step for us,” said Weissengruber. “It is great to get feedback from the end user. In fact, it is this very feedback that has enabled us to develop and strengthen our products. The most important aspect of participating in the income is that it really makes you focus on how the machines perform.”

Kings Casino also has 15 gaming tables and there is space at the back of the premises for expansion. “The future in this area belongs to big casinos,” said owner Tsoukernik. “Casinos like this one will become the norm.” The older venue in Rozvadov has just 30 slots and five tables.

“Apart from the Germans who make up the vast majority of our clientele, we also get people in from Prague, the Czech capital,” said Tsoukernik. “We provide a lot of complimentary items to customers in order to get them into the casino.”

He admits to being “very involved” in the running of the casino. “I am a gambler myself so I can recognise other gamblers and empathise with them,” he said. “The casino itself was a gamble. A lot of casinos in this area went bankrupt, so there was no guarantee of success. However, I came to realise that those ventures failed because they were run by people who really did not understand casinos.”

So are there any other reasons why Kings Casino succeeded while others failed? “First of all, this is the perfect location for a casino like this,” said Tsoukernik. “The other major element is the right staff. There are 100 members of staff here and they have all been trained the American way. They know how to provide the right kind of customer service and in turn we pay them well so they stay. They get the best pay in the Czech Republic, but they work for it.

“I focus on quality. Roulette or blackjack are the same wherever you go, so excellent service is the thing that will set a casino apart from all the rest. And we think our service is right up there at the level of Las Vegas. The profit we make goes back into improving our service even further.”

Tsoukernik is especially proud of the property’s 70-camera surveillance system. “We don’t just record what is required as a minimum by the Ministry of Finance  - we record absolutely everything,” he said. “The system can also be used as a service tool. A barman can click on a particular customer and see immediately if he qualifies for free drinks and what drinks he normally has.”

As well as internal security, the outside of the building is covered. “When someone broke into a car on our car park recently, the culprit was caught by using video evidence from our system,” said Tsoukernik. He is a great believer that security should be hidden and the 24 people involved pride themselves in being discreet.

“The entrance to the casino is very important to me,” he said. “I don’t want to put ‘heavies’ on the door - I want people to feel welcome. First impressions are key to the whole atmosphere.”

Tsoukernik thinks the next big thing will be poker. “In Germany, you can’t play poker for money, so this is an opportunity for us. We don’t have a lot of room in the casino for it at the moment, but in the past we have rented a large tent to accommodate poker tournaments and they have been successful.”

He decided to go with Apex slots from day one and has never looked back. “The machines are successful, so there is no need to look elsewhere.” Johannes Weissengruber believes this success is due to the eclectic mix of games. “We still have some reel machines as well as the newer models,” he said.

Apex’s Multi Magic platform is much in evidence. “We make sure there is a good mix of games on this,” said Weissengruber. “There is some poker, but there are also video versions of simple reel games. There are games with traditional format symbols and also some more complex games. In short, there is something for everybody in the one machine.”

The company has produced 20 new games this year and up to five graphics people can work on each one. All the games are rigorously tested and, if they don’t make the grade, they are shelved, although that is unusual.

“Our machines here operate on an average of 94 per cent payout,” said Weissengruber. “There is a minimum of 90 per cent and they can go up to 96 per cent at times. They even reach 98 per cent during very quiet periods or when they are first introduced to the casino. These figures are very high – the industry standard can be as low as 80 per cent. But we believe this is the best way to keep players playing in the long term.”

The biggest operator in this region is the Ingo Casino group, which operates eight of the 30 casinos on the Czech border with Germany. All the venues are very different, housed in various types of buildings and attracting varying types of clientele.

One of the two jewels in the Ingo Casino crown is the 12-year-old Casino Bellevue at Marienbad, an historic spa resort. Housed in a 150-year-old building in which the composers Chopin and Beethoven once lived, the venue has 30 slot machines, all Apex, and 14 live gaming tables.

There is a VIP lounge with a blackjack table and three poker tables. This is because, as well as German customers, the casino attracts high rollers from Russia who like to play poker. The casino frequently runs Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments. Recently 300 people took part in the Bavarian Cup.

The general manager of the Ingo Casino group, Hajo Sunder, told InterGaming: “About 99 per cent of our customers are from Germany, but we have some very good customers who come in from Russia. The weekend is the busy time - we often get up to 800 people in the casino. There are six hotels in Marienbad and often they can be full at this time.”

The casino is 40km from the German border, but the setting is remarkable. The spa town is beautiful and the building housing the casino provides a unique ambience. “For sheer ambience, this is our number one casino,” said Sunder. “Our use of the space and the elegance of the interior combine to create a stunning casino.” Casino Bellevue has a staff of 80.

There is a mix of old and new games from Apex, but Multi Magic is by far the leader in the popularity stakes. However, the older games still receive good play, according to Weissengruber. “We are really focused on this market as a whole. When we introduce new games, we put people in to explain them to the clientele. Again, income participation is the key to success.”

Probably taking the ultimate pride of place in the group’s stable is the magnificent example at another spa resort, Franzensbad. The Ingo Casino Franzensbad opened its doors in 2000 after the company had spent 18 months painstakingly renovating the historic building. Specialist craftsmen had to be brought in and the total cost of the renovation was D15m.

The ground floor of the building houses a bistro and a high-class restaurant. There is also an impressive concert room. The casino is on the first floor alongside an elegant specialist cocktail bar.

This German border casino region is home to a wide variety of properties, some small, some large, some old, some new, some prestigious, some not. But the common denominator is Apex gaming machines. The company has been in on the ground from the beginning and has made great strides with its income participation schemes.