Play Meter

From left: Bill Hall of TLC Novelty in Belle Chasse, La., Mort Ansky of U.S. Games, and Ellen Griesmeyer of Lapell Associates. After the manufacturer session, (l·r): H.A. Devlin of Kramer Mfg., Bobby Stephens and Jack Pruitt of Joker's Distributors in Metairie, La., and Phil Cornick of Kramer Mfg. Jon Hafezi of PARS Electronics (I) greets Scott Cannon and Mike Cannon of Lakeside Electronics in Madisonville, La. Jim Pietrangelo of Premier Technology and Bob Nims of AMA Distributors greet Lee Young of Lee Young Enterprises in Opelousas, La. he added, "The turnout certainly indicates that people who thought this was not a labor-intensive business are wrong.' ' Not all the attendees were experienced coin machine operators. Predictions are that a lot of people will be coming into the business and a lot of them will be going out. Service-oriented veterans of the industry know what is involved; newcomers may be in for a surprise. Manufacturer panel This highly competitive, emerging market brought 19 manufacturers of legal video poker games into the fray. They sat shoulder-toshoulder on the longest panel ever assembled. Several came from the audience to give a brief presentation about their company and the hopes for a successful venture in Louisiana. Bob Nims of AMA Distributors in Metairie, La., moderated the panel. Manufacturers included Phil Cornick of Kramer Mfg., Steve Holniker of Advent Technology, Horst Wedner of Dynamo, Bill Ward of Arachnid, Mort Ansky of U.S. Games, John Nicastro of WMS Gaming, Vincent Kyle of Big Ten Electronics, David Rubenstein of PLAY METER LAMOA·2 DECEMBER 1991 Merit Industries, Jim Jackson of Sigma Games, Jim Pietrangelo of Premier Technology, Mickey Wichinsky of Games of Nevada, Jerry Ritter of Video Lottery Consultants, Jon Hafezi of PARS Electronics, Jon Yarbrough of Video Gaming Technology, Tom Nieman of Bally Gaming, Bob McMonigle of International Game Technology, Tom Weigl of General Instrument Corp., Al Abert of Aristocrat, and Bill McNabola. McMonigle cautioned operators to look at all the options and understand the rules and regulations. "Beware of experts," he said. "The only experts are the people who put their money into the machines. A game will only prove itself once it gets on the floor . You're going to be dealing in a repeat business. There will be some tourists who play the games but mostly these will be local customers." Regarding the variety of games and pricing, he added, "You will see Cadillac prices and Nova prices. It's important to buy based on quality, reliability, and service. If a machine is down it won't make you any money." Hafezi said, "We're glad you were successful in passing this legislation that will pump new blood into this industry." Pietrangelo cleared up some confusion about the Premier name . Premier established a video gaming division earlier this year when it purchased SMS Mfg. ; its games are SMS units. Ritter suggested, " If you want to get the cobwebs out of your mind, go see other legal systems for yourself. Take the time and effort to contact coin operators in Montana, South Dakota, and Canada. You can benefit from their experiences." Rubenstein echoed the standingroom-only group's enthusiasm when he said, "It's a very exciting time for the operators in this state." A question and answer period followed and covered inquiries about the polling system (once a day if dial-up system), electronic transfer of funds (twice monthly), telephone lines to the machines (normal business lines), financing (usually through the distributor), and the number of manufacturers who can be licensed (there is no limit as long as all requirements are met). State police session Lt. Riley Blackwelder, head of the