Nevada gaming suppliers pursue international markets

Sharon Harris

Monday, Feb. 15, 1999 | 1:10 a.m.

LONDON -- A handful of Nevada gaming companies looking at international expansion displayed their equipment and services at the International Casino Exhibition (ICE) in London.

Three Las Vegas companies bought booth space at last month's show: Alliance Gaming, Casinovations and casino architect Paul Steelman.

Four more Nevada firms exhibited at their European distributors' stands: Innovative Gaming of Reno, JCM-America of Las Vegas, R T Plastic of Las Vegas and Spintek Gaming of Las Vegas.

For many, it was their first ICE expo as they sought to establish new sales territories and foreign contacts.

ICE is the second largest international gaming show after the World Gaming Congress in Las Vegas. It drew several thousand buyers from Western and Eastern Europe and a large contingent from South Africa.

Marvin Miller plans new business development for JCM-America, which manufactures bill acceptors. He came to London to investigate joint venture opportunities.

"I feel like a goodwill ambassador for Nevada. If we can increase international commercial relationships, it may bring new revenue and employment to Nevada," he said.

Steelman does business worldwide from his Las Vegas headquarters. His architecture and design company has created some of the world's most famous casinos.

"Everyone wants a piece of Las Vegas, so they come to us," Steelman said. "We also do lighting and graphics."

Africa, Europe and the Pacific Rim account for 25 percent of his business, but he expects to increase that to 35 percent this year. Two of Steelman's international projects are Caesars Gauteng in South Africa and Caesars Rio Tigre in Argentina.

Casinovations is a new Las Vegas enterprise, but its officers have decades of gaming experience. Chief Executive Steven Blad said he started Casinovations and brought on Senior Vice President Bill O'Hara. O'Hara, formerly with Shuffle Master, then reunited his former sales team.

Casinovations began manufacturing in 1998. It makes the SecureDrop slot accounting system, Random Ejector Shufflers and"Fun Pit" table games. Some of its products are on field trial in Malaysia and South Africa.

"I'm here to sell and network," said Blad. "People move all over the world. ICE is an easy way for me to catch up with them."

Spintek holds patents worldwide on its Accu-System coin hopper management technology. The company's Erik Batzloff foresees great potential in Europe.

"This show is the gateway to Europe. They have less security than in the United States. Accu-System will lessen the risk because it can count coins by computer. Calibrations detect the exact weight of the coins set for a specific amount," he said.

Innovative Gaming holds the exclusive worldwide license for High Definition Volumetric Display technology. It projects images outside the slot machine's glass.

President Barry Quick said he received good foreign response through his distributor, Casinos Supplies.