“Our objective at Groupe JOA is to change the way people in France view casinos. We have 13% visitation from French consumers, and to grow we want to attract new customers,” commented Laurent Lassiaz, CEO of Groupe JOA.

Groupe JOA is definitely making changes to try and achieve growth. When I visited, I toured both its head office and its latest property, Casino de Montrond – you can read about that in the March issue of Casino Life. Montrond has some amazing features for a casino; it’s well worth visiting. And its décor is very bright and colourful…a design I found very pleasing and uplifting to experience.

Calculated Risks

Glyn Thomas talks to Armin Karu after Olympic Casinos wins the “Land-Based Casino Operator of the Year” Award at the ICE Totally Gaming Awards

You must be delighted with wining the Best Land-based Casino Operator of the Year Award?

Winning the Best Land-based Casino Operator of the Year award is a true recognition for the years of hard work done by the whole team of Olympic Entertainment Group. Last year showed that the right decisions and all our efforts made during the years of global economic crisis had given us a strong competitive advantage and comparing to the period before the recession, we have increased market shares in almost all of the countries where we operate. 2012 was also remarkable for entering the Italian market and breaking into the so-called Old European market where we now aim to gain even more foothold.

Chris Moore looks back at being a Lumpy

The job had been advertised in the Evening Standard newspaper. The interview had hinged on only two questions; did I have a criminal record and could I play football? A no and yes secured me a position as an unpaid trainee croupier at Charlie Chesters. I made my debut three weeks later on a freezing December night in 1973 on a weekly wage of twenty-two pounds fifty pence.

Peter White talks to Des Whitcher, Director of Gaming Development & Slots at Sun International

Sun International is Southern Africa’s undisputed casino leader with 376 tables and 10,770 slots across casinos in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, and Monticello in Chile.We spoke to Des Whitcher about the scale of the operation and the issues he faces in making sure Suns slots deliver.

Des, how did you start out in the gaming industry –and what has kept you there?