Few table game devices attract the eye of casino customers like the roulette wheel.
The excitement they generate for players and curious onlookers ensures demand for companies such as Gaming Partners International SAS, which manufactures wheels in France and recently received special licensing from Nevada regulators to distribute equipment in Nevada.
The roulette wheel is such a visible component of the casino that it has become an icon of the industry. But an industry irony is that the largest wheel manufacturers aren't based in the United States, where gaming proliferates.
But with several new resorts due to open in Las Vegas in the years ahead, GPI, a manufacturer with local ties, approached regulators with problems that had to be solved with an unconventional conditional license.
Formerly known as Bourgogne et Grasset SAS, Beaune, France, GPI received a license that allows the company to produce and sell wheels on a licensed-as-they're-bought basis.
"It's a very restrictive license, not a full license," said Dennis Neilander, chairman of the state Gaming Control Board. "Every transaction they have must be previously approved by the board."
Casino operators like the excitement lively games such as roulette can generate.
Round and round the wheel goes with a single white marble orbiting in the opposite direction of the wheel. As the ball slowly loses speed in the upper ball track it gets tripped by eight, 12 or 14 solid stainless steel chromed ball stops.
As the ball dances over the red, black and green numbers ring and clatters onto the separators ring, there's a rush of excitement when the ball finally comes to rest in one of 38 slots.
Players are then paid based the outcome of the spin, either in low-rent odd-or-even or black-or-red bets or the high-odds single-number wager that pays 36-1 -- or something in between.
In addition to the excitement the spin generates, the roulette table attracts attention with its multicolored chips that are placed on the felt surface even as the ball is in motion. Some players bet single numbers, others play a broad field of combinations.
When a spin is over, the croupier gathers a rainbow of chips -- they're manufactured with 63 different colors -- routing them through a sorting machine on the most modern roulette tables.
In addition to tables and wheels, GPI and its competitors have developed radio frequency identification device technology -- microchips embedded in the plastic to help track, account, inventory, sort stacks of chips and discourage counterfeiting.
GPI entered the Nevada gaming scene when Bourgogne et Grasset (B&G) merged with two Las Vegas-based gaming supply companies, The Bud Jones Co. in 1999, and Paul-Son Gaming in 2002.
The Bud Jones Co., developed by Bernard "Bud" Jones, started as a dice manufacturer and branched into producing gaming chips. In the 1980s, Bud Jones developed injection-molded plastic gaming chips, which became industry standards for foiling counterfeiters and were popular with collectors when casinos started ordering elaborate themes and artwork on them.
Paul-Son, meanwhile, grew to become one of the United States' leading suppliers under the direction of Paul Endy Jr. Endy, who bought a bankrupt dice company and named his new company Paul-Son when his three sons joined the enterprise, built a production facility in San Luis, Mexico, and developed his own line of gaming chips.
Bud Jones and Paul-Son became the biggest competitors in the gaming supply industry and the companies were on parallel paths when B&G, one of the leading equipment distributors in Europe, entered the scene. Endy and Jones, both members of the Gaming Hall of Fame, died in 1999 and 2001, respectively, and left behind companies with solid reputations.
B&G, meanwhile, had its own gaming chip sales division, operating primarily in Europe and South Africa, and manufactured roulette wheels, which were far more popular in Europe than they were in North America. The company's biggest competitor now is London-based John Huxley Co. Virtually every wheel in the Las Vegas market was produced by either Huxley or B&G.
When the three companies merged and changed its name to GPI, the company suddenly had a network of global representatives, the roulette wheel manufacturing operation in France and table producers in Las Vegas.
But because the cost of seeking a standard manufacturers' license would exceed any revenue the GPI would generate in sales, the company had to approach state regulators for a solution.
"Roulette wheels are unique gaming devices," Neilander said. "The wheels are hand-crafted from wood and all the parts last a very long time and are not subject to a lot of replacement needs. They're not like a slot machine that is always changing fairly rapidly. These are pretty traditional."
GPI, which has about 120 Las Vegas employees headquartered in an unassuming warehouse building on Industrial Road, manufactures and ships wheels only after receiving an order.
"It takes about 30 days once we get the green light," said Laurent Gaubout, the group marketing manager for GPI in Las Vegas.
Wheels are precision manufactured with separators having tolerances within 0.02 millimeters. Gaubout said every wheel is tested by gaming regulators with 10,000 spins to assure compliance.
Gaubout would not disclose specific contract deals, but said most wheels cost casinos "a few thousand dollars" per unit.
Maintenance is minimal. The rotor -- the part that spins for at least six minutes when started at 25 revolutions per minute -- is machined from solid aluminum. It has to be removed once a month for cleaning.
The bearings that keep the wheel spinning are sealed and self-contained and never need oiling or cleaning.
While regulators acknowledged that they needed to establish a special license for GPI, there was some concern over setting a precedent with the approval.
Under terms of the license, GPI would only be allowed to distribute and service wheels within the state of Nevada and all wheels would require administrative approval from Neilander at least 30 days prior to the proposed delivery of the product to the customer.
In return, GPI would not have to submit the officers, shareholders and key employees of the company and its multiple subsidiaries to the state for suitability investigations.
"We knew we had to have some flexibility on this and the approach is similar to something that is in place in New Jersey," Neilander said.
|
