G2E Las Vegas is less than a month away and companies around the world are preparing for the tradeshow. Ahead of the event, DRGT executives shared the global supplier’s plans to present its latest products and solutions at the major industry expo.
In this interview, Jurgen De Munck, DRGT CEO; Marco Herrera, Chief Executive Officer; Alfredo Moreno, Managing Director (MD), Mexico; and Alex Stiglich, (MD), Paraguay, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay; discuss in detail the company’s latest developments, as well as for the upcoming event.
Let’s start with your latest news: a new CEO, please tell me more
Jurgen De Munck: Well, I don’t think there’s much to add outside of what was shared earlier this month in respect of Marco’s appointment. We have really been fortunate with the growth we have seen within our DRGT systems, jackpot, and distribution business, which in turn has opened up casino operations opportunities.
We managed the slots divisions of 4 Belgian casinos (of which Casino Oostende was one) between 2008 and 2013, subsequently acquiring the license to operate Casino Dinant in 2014, and ultimately winning the license tender to fully operate Casino Oostende in August 2021. Since then, our Infiniti Casino Group has opened a casino in Acapulco, México, won the license to operate casino Grasse in France, and are currently busy developing further casinos in Mexico including one in the upmarket Mexico City suburb of Polanco.
Marco Herrera: Jurgen has been a busy man, hasn’t he? As I said when my appointment was announced, my core responsibility will be the ongoing growth of our DRGT business, while Jurgen focuses on growing our casino operations. To that end, I’m excited to be attending G2E this year, and connecting with one and all, from under the DRGT ‘banner’ at booth 4405.
Jurgen De Munck
Alfredo, following on from Jurgen, Mexico seems a key market for the group.
Alfredo Moreno: Without a doubt. Outside of the casino operations Jurgen mentioned, and in addition to our casino management system and jackpot technology, we are also APEX Gaming’s official distributor in Mexico. We now have around 1,000 APEX slots on revenue share across Mexico and intend doubling that by the middle of next year.
I understand that has resulted in new offices and a new warehouse.
Alfredo Moreno: Yes, quite right. We moved to new offices in Polanco in late August, they’re about a 5-minute walk from the new Infiniti Casino Polanco Jurgen referred to, and in addition to that we have also just acquired a new 1,000m² warehouse too. We have about 30 guys working out of the warehouse and our new (890m²) offices house our finance and admin staff, design and marketing guys, as well as our logistics, operations, and legal departments.
Jurgen De Munck: We have also now signed a further machine distribution agreement with BW, and we hope to start rolling these machines out shortly too. Our former locale was just getting too cramped, we had to find new premises. A nice problem to have, we can’t complain….and the location at Calle Julio Verne 29, Polanco IV Sección, is second to none.
Speaking of expansion; Alex I read about your recent full systems and cashless installation in Paraguay, congratulations.
Alex Stiglich: Thanks. We’re quite excited about the recent installation at Il Palazzo; Paraguay remains an emerging market for us all, so getting some traction there is extremely encouraging. The market is becoming quite competitive, and I do not doubt that our 8.8” drScreenUltra player tracking interface units, our cashless and cashier management system, and our player loyalty suite will assist Il Palazzo in taking their player experience to the proverbial ‘next level’. Add to that our media management solution and they really will be a formidable competitor in San Lorenzo.
Marco Herrera: The flexibility our drMediaManager solution provides operators is really quite special and as someone new to the company, I can highly recommend that operators pop by our booth 4405 to have a look first-hand. To be able to design, configure, and implement your own jackpots and jackpot themes, as well as schedule and deploy pics, videos, or streamed content to player interface units and casino digital signage from your office PC is quite something
Marco Herrera
Alex mentioned Cashless. Alfredo, you are testing your player App in Mexico at the moment, correct?
Alfredo Moreno: Correct. As I noted when we chatted last year, legislation in Mexico (and in other jurisdictions too) allows players to fund their player accounts and cash out directly to and from their personal bank accounts – much like any online gaming or sports betting transaction, now that is cashless isn’t it? To that end our drApp: a free (to-player) application available for Android or iOS that links a player via their Smart Phone to any slot machine on the casino floor. That too will be on show at G2E.
You launched your web-based business intelligence reporting last year too, I understand that’s been tweaked and there are now some map add-ons too as a further NextGen App?
Jurgen De Munck: Indeed! In addition to what in our view is an extremely user-friendly interface that continuously evolves as technology allows; we’ll also be showcasing our new drFloorManager in Vegas, where operators are now able to see, with a simple mouse hover, how specific machines are performing, who’s playing at them, and then use that data to not only track performance, but push notifications, reward players and see literally ‘what’s hot and what’s not’ on their casino floor all in real-time, or across configurable dates and times as they see fit.
Alex Stiglich: I concur; we’ve had a lot of interest in our new drReportsBI. Reports are often difficult to digest, whereas our NextGen solution is really ‘easy on the eye’ and extremely intuitive; it’s a great add-on to what already in my view are some of the best reporting modules available.
Alex Stiglich
Just before we end off, one cannot chat with DRGT without mentioning jackpots, can one?
Marco Herrera: You’re quite right. My background, outside of systems, also includes time in the slots and tables supply vertical, and I can promise you one thing: DRGT stands back for no one when it comes to their jackpot offering. Our system-driven jackpots form part of our casino management system (CMS) and as such operate ‘on top of’ existing slot machines and games.
Our patented drSMIB ‘mesh management’ network technology affords operators the ability to allocate, schedule, and configured standalone, local, and wide-area jackpots in any manner thinkable, and without the need to buy any form of jackpot controller; that sort of flexibility and operational efficiency is second to none.
Alfredo Moreno: Add to that the fact that we now are also able to supply best-of-breed LED signage, which will also be on display at G2E, and we really do offer an extremely compelling ‘all in’ jackpot solution: the jackpots themselves, the signage, the CMS to configure the jackpots, and the media management software to design and schedule them too.
Alfredo Moreno
Thanks, gentlemen, any final comments?
Jurgen De Munck: Perhaps just an add-on to Alfredo and Marco’s jackpot comments, and whilst not a jackpot per se’, what continues to gain significant momentum are our Reel Bonus Games. Configurable in the same ‘CMS-style’ manner as our jackpots, they too can be activated, themed, and presented as and when casino managers see fit; with a little ‘activation bucket’ that shows players as they get closer and closer to triggering the game.
Then once they have, the Reel Bonus Games can offer raffle tickets, loyalty points, F&B vouchers, Free Play, or cash as prize options. With the ability to theme them too, they really are a great promotional tool, and a fun addition around events or special times of the year like the Festive Season, Halloween, St. Patrick’s Day, and the like.