G2E 2023 Day 3 - The Monroe Conference

I was asked to sum up my experience at this year’s G2E. I said it was the Marilyn Monroe conference.

It was certainly global, instantly recognizable, totally compelling and there were a lot of curves on show. Moreover, although appearing pretty straightforward, Marilyn Monroe had depth and complexity behind the fa?ade. And tragedy.

What’s also curious about Monroe is that despite playing many memorable roles in iconic films, to hand, I can’t remember the names any of the characters she played, she was always just Marilyn Monroe.

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G2E, for the first time in a while, the conference was truly global. I spent time with folk from The Philippines to Bulgaria, from London to Hong Kong.

The gaming industry reaches nearly every corner of the globe. An ace and a king – 21. Three cherries on a reel – Jackpot. Three Queens and two Jacks – Full House. Gaming is global and culturally recognizable. People love betting on games of chance or games of skill, investing part of their wealth in opportunities to take short-term risk.

In order to be successful, there has to be trust, the games have to be engaging and experience accessible.

On the floor the suppliers have built products that appeal. Simple, recognizable and using technology to engage. The age of big brand IP on slots has diminished somewhat – but Whitney Houston is the latest music icon to feature and will be on a casino floor soon..maybe. There were buffalos, wolves and wheels of fortune… but also lots of Asian themed slots, highlighting the casino expansion in the Far-East, and demand for slot products. But overall, they were pretty generic.

But the curves. Once a novelty, the curved screens were outdoing each other. It really was a Mansfield vs Monroe moment at this G2E.

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But in my view there wasn’t anything truly innovative that would be visible to the casual land based casino customer – rather the innovation was behind the scenes. Payment systems, digital wallets (which may translate to integration with slots, loyalty programs and customer experience at some point), online expansion and, again at some point, the holy grail of omni-channel platforms. The latter will assist the big boys, but put pressure on both individually owned and operated businesses and Tribal operators that are typically limited to distinct geographical regions.

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Again, another day of the horrors in the Middle East – and the spillover to other cities – I hope is not the precursor to something bigger. I spend my time looking for win-win situations. This is the definition of a lose- lose situation. Nobody wins. And those that give succor to Hamas and Islamist terrorists. Shame on you.

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Wanted to thank Michael Soll and (TIG) The Innovation Group for lunch – They are great guys and always have the most interesting people at their hosted event. And KPMG for their hospitality.

I was invited to dinner by the formidable Simon Thomas and his The Hippodrome Casino team, Downtown at Circa Resort & Casino . One of the great things about that property is that throughout the property it brings people together, whether talking about sports or chilling at one of the many bars.

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When talking about Marilyn Monroe, the word tragic is often used. The word Jewish is not, despite her adoption of the faith after her conversion to Judaism in 1956. Despite all that G2E offered, the tragedy going on in the Middle East was present all week – and will be for some time.