Voodoo captivates players in gaming room
The Duke of Wellington Hotel installed Pacific Gaming's Voodoo Magic gaming machine only three months ago, and are very pleased with its performance to date.
The first impression of Voodoo Magic is the sleek design of the cabinet, its sensational graphics and unique sound effects," said Peter Butterfield, owner (along with his wife Nonie) of the heritage listed hotel in Waterloo.
"When the feature starts with the sounds of the voodoo drums, it always turns heads in our gaming area. With the multiple mystery combination and free spins, the player seems enthralled with the game and revisits it again and again," he said.
Voodoo Magic is performing in the top 20% in terms of gaming machine turnover since installation in mid April.
The Butterfields purchased the hotel in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo just over two years ago, after Peter, who is a builder, upgraded its layout and facilities. The Duke of Wellington caters to locals within the surrounding areas of Waterloo, Redfern, Surry Hills and Alexandria offering games and gaming facilities. At the Duke, Peter and Nonie like the locals to feel welcome, so an unspoken greeting of, ‘come into my living room, have a drink, a chat and a few laughs and go home feeling good about yourself' is hopefully achieved.
In addition to the gaming room with 15 machines, the hotel offers TAB betting, a bottle shop, games room, and promotional nights with raffles, pool competitions, and meat trays.
"Even though it is getting tougher with taxes, we couldn't survive financially without poker machines, as it subsidises our other entertainment offerings and snacks to our loyal and regular patrons," Peter Butterfield explained to Hotelier.
"Unfortunately we only have 15 machines, but we have chosen them carefully and they are very popular with our players."

Ainsworth launches Ambassador Jackpot
Early June saw the launch of one of the newest and most innovative Ainsworth Game Technology products yet; the premium linked gaming package - Ambassador Jackpot. The special preview took place in the showroom at Ainsworth headquarters in Newington, Sydney.
With over 100 representatives from the gaming industry attending over the three day launch, the Ambassador Jackpot enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive reception.
Tailor-made to attract player attention and maximise wins for both the player and operator, the Ambassador Jackpot is offered as a complete package solution that can be added to new or existing, Bullionaire, Dollar Dazzler or The Stash Statewide Linked Jackpots.
Ainsworth Game Technology's chairman, Len Ainsworth believes the unique, sophisticated style of the Ambassador, partnered with the new look of the Ambassador Jackpot elements will prove to be a "winning combination".

Outstanding products for hoteliers at gaming show
Ainsworth Game Technology has vowed that AGE 2004 will be the grand showpiece for their ever growing - and ever evolving - product range.
With a commitment to the strategic growth of both their brand and product, the Australian Gaming Expo will be a launching pad for a variety of new linked and stand alone gaming machines ideal for hotel venues.
Ainsworth (www.ainsworth.com.au) will continue to position themselves as the premium gaming manufacturer, touting the tag line "Experience Excellence, Experience Ainsworth".
It's an apt play on words capturing the expanding Ainsworth product range - as well as the icon behind the brand - Len himself. After fifty years in the industry, Ainsworth still has the edge for producing exceptional, innovative product.
For hoteliers, it's the product - and performance - that counts. Whilst Sales Manager Cameron Louis would not disclose the latest innovations to be featured at the AGE, he assured Hotelier magazine that the market would not be disappointed.
"Hotels continue to be a focus for Ainsworth, and we intend to grow our market share within this area," explained Mr Louis.
"We've made a commitment to continue to produce strong performing products and to meet the needs of this key market segment. Whilst other manufacturers appear to be downsizing their hotel-focused operations, we are ramping up our efforts."
"Tailoring product to the customer's requirements is our key priority. I suggest Hoteliers visit Ainsworth at the AGE and see what we have to offer."
The AGE is held August 29-31 at Darling Harbour. The trade exhibition (www.austgamingexpo.com) includes more than 200 exhibits over 20,000m2 demonstrating a full product range of the latest in gaming equipment, technology and services.

New Super Roller game hits hotels
Pacific Gaming's Super Roller game, which has just been released to the hotel market, will be featured at the up and coming Australasian Gaming Expo in August.
This is the first $1 game available to NSW hotels, offering up to 36 times credits bet plus five free games. Any three or more scattered Roulette symbols trigger the Super Roulette feature.
In addition, the Rolling feature allows the player to win up to 12 times credits bet at anytime when the Dice appears on the third reel.
Pacific Gaming's stand at the AGE will showcase a number of other games for the hotel market. There is Tokyo Rose, Tropical Treasures, and two new games that will only be unveiled at the show.

Stargames and your SIA II requirements
After a relatively lengthy consultation process, the granting of Social Impact Assessment (SIA) II approvals in New South Wales now appear to be gaining momentum. The recent decision to award the first hotels additional gaming machines has resulted in a number of publicans studying the successful applications and visiting the various manufacturers in anticipation of possible increases to the number of machines on offer.
Peter Wilkins, hotel trade relationship manager at Stargames® told Hotelier, "In the last two or three months we have noticed a discernible increase in the amount of trade enquiries from the hotel sector, particularly in regard to the fulfilling of additional entitlements for various gaming floors."
SIA I approvals for a maximum of four additional machines up to the current cap of 30 have been proceeding well, and are proving to be reasonably easy to obtain. SIA II applications for machines in new hotels or larger numbers of machines for existing venues are still very difficult to gain approval by the LAB.
However, a few hotels have recently been successful in proving that the social and economic environment in the area would not be adversely affected, sparking interest within the industry.
A range of highly entertaining games from Stargames are on offer for hoteliers that are seeking innovative alternatives for their expanded gaming rooms.
"Many hoteliers don't realize that Stargames holds a cross licensing agreement with US gaming giant WMS Gaming®," said Peter Wilkins.
"This means that our game designers have access to an enormous resource pool spread over two companies and a number of countries. Also, WMS has an office located in Sydneys CBD so you can be assured that our games are developed specifically for the Australian market."
On top of established winning games such as Treasure Huntâ„¢, Neptunes Treasure and Stargames' traditionally successful one dollar range, a number of exciting new releases are just about to hit the market. For instance, The Thunderbirds is based on everyone's favourite childhood television show, and features a range of exciting bonus features. There are also new concept games like City of Gold and Pyramid of Kings.
In addition, this month (July) Stargames release their stylish new cabinet called the eStarâ„¢. This has taken all the flexibility and robust performance of the PC3 platform and repackaged it in a classy ergonomically designed cabinet.
The new games and e Star cabinet will both be featured at the Stargames stand at the Australasian Gaming Expo, in addition to demonstrations in their showrooms at their Milperra head office and city-based Ultimo.

All Aboard for a Swashbuckling Adventure
New to Aristocrat's Hyperlink® range, Money Train II™ will be unveiled at the Australasian Gaming Expo at the end of August, and will begin its global rollout in Queensland later this year.
Money Train II™ incorporates the latest dual-monitor technology into the prestigious Hyperlink® range, featuring a 19" LCD screen in the top box. The link comprises new 25-line and Reel Power™ base games with a totally new second-screen Hyperlink® feature. As well as the four Hyperlink® jackpot prizes, players have the opportunity to win a "bonus" prize during the Hyperlink® feature
Queensland gaming operators will also see the latest stand-alone games including
15 Lions , King of the Nile and Star Drifter. Other upcoming stand-alone games which will be displayed include Mystic Chief, Dolphin Treasure MKVI and Antony & Cleopatra.
According to Aristocrat, the star of the show will be Zorroâ„¢, which has been hugely popular in the New South Wales market. Zorroâ„¢ is a 2-level Stand Alone Progressive with its own unique base game. With the familiar "ante bet" found on other bonusing products from Aristocrat, Zorroâ„¢ has five interactive bonus features, utilises touch screen technology and comes complete with its own topper to make it stand out on your gaming floor.
An Aristocrat spokesperson told Hotelier that "Zorroâ„¢ is reporting strong performance figures across NSW and has been a huge hit with both players and operators".
Players Choiceâ„¢, effectively 12 games in the one cabinet, was released in June and will also be a highlight of Aristocrat's product range this year. It is proving to be another successful gaming product, particularly suited to hotels.
Two new products which will launched at this year's AGE include another upcoming addition to the Hyperlink® range, Pick a Box™, based on the classic Australian game show of the 1950's, and the XTreme Mystery Link™.
The XTreme Mystery Linkâ„¢, is a dual monitor product that features an 19" LCD screen in the top box that displays the incrementing jackpot meters along with a combination of exciting jackpot animation sequences and customized game attract modes.
In addition, visitors will be able to preview all the latest gaming products for the Victorian, South Australian and Northern Territory markets
Aristocrat will have the largest stand at the AGE, occupying an enormous 864 square metres. The exhibit will have a strong global feel, showcasing the latest technological developments including Aristocrat Technology Services and Aristocrat Systems products and services.

MaxGaming & AHA sign agreement for new Jackpot
Maxgaming and the NSW AHA have signed a joint agreement to market and develop a specific Statewide Linked Jackpot level of Stash for NSW hotels.
John Newson, Sales and Marketing Manager for maxgaming stated. "As it now stands maxgaming signed a contract with the AHA in mid-May, and we are now working through the project with a committee of their people to configure an AHA specific level and branding."
It is expected that the new Stash jackpot will offer both the excitement of participating with other players and watching the dollar levels increase via the jackpot meters, and a greater frequency of prizes for players.
On another note, the Surfside Hotel Group have successfully launched their individually themed and operated links through maxgaming over the past quarter. Known as "fraternal" links, the jackpots awarded are exclusive within the hotels that the group operates. Currently, the Surfside Hotel Group offers players the highest jackpot of $55,000 jackpot, which was recently won after only 10 days of installation at the Triple Ace Bar.
In addition, the Ryan Group has also reported positive results and customer satisfaction from their fraternal links, which are operating independently through their numerous hotels.
The Stash Statewide Linked Jackpot product operated by maxgaming continues to soar with an increase in turnover reported at 3.5 million to 7.4 million over the month of May.