It may be Thanksgiving, but it’s still Thursday, so a new Vegas Seven has hit the streets with its usual Green Felt Journal adorning the local news section. This week, I look at the mayhem that was the Global Gaming Expo, with a focus on a smaller exhibitor:
The exhibitors are a diverse lot, as casino suppliers and potential casino suppliers go. For every heavyweight such as Global Cash Access or International Game Technology with a massive spread on the expo floor and private areas for salespeople and buyers to work out deals, there are smaller, almost mom-and-pop operations. The developer of Die Rich Craps, Ken Coleman, is one of them, demoing the game himself in his booth.The big exhibitors might be the heart of G2E, but the one- and two-person setups valiantly selling everything from chip-cleaning machines to name badges might be its soul.
This was a fun story to write. I didn’t want to just rehash the usual reportage about the slot giants or echo what was going on in the conference sessions, so I decided to look for a small booth that exemplified what the show is all about. After ten G2Es, I’ve got a good feel for that.
Just think about the hope and courage it takes to cram a booth into your luggage somewhere in Budapest and fly out to Las Vegas, with no guarantee of making a single sale. To me, that’s what the conference is all about.
And if you want a neat flash-based intro to Kabala 6 (which didn’t work so well on my laptop, but YMMV), check this out: http://www.numbersplay.com/kabala6/.