Taiwan-based gaming machine manufacturer Jumbo Technology has developed a far-flung presence across Asia with its stable of market-appropriate products

In focus at the Jumbo Technology stand at last month’s G2E Asia was its Long Dragon Baccarat product, voted “Best Multi-Terminal Innovation” in Inside Asian Gaming’s 2013 Supplier Awards.

Asians feed their passion for baccarat by indulging a belief in their ability to spot and exploit trends in the cards based on past results. Long Dragon Baccarat markets directly to this obsession with a multi-terminal platform that can link a player to up to eight active tables, each one set in a richly animated virtual environment brought vividly to life on a 47-inch widescreen. It even features a configurable “squeeze-card” function. The comfortable, forward-thinking player interface is bill validator and TITO-ready and includes a 15-inch touchscreen and extra-large play buttons (with an automatic “re-bet”). It also offers an optional side bet and a mystery jackpot. Taiwan-based Jumbo believes it has a winner in Long Dragon Baccarat and is tweaking the GLI-certified, SAS 6.0X-compatible platform for jurisdictions across the region.

“We put in a lot of effort into our research and development to study the behavior of players in Asian markets to determine what games they are looking for,” says Danny Too, Jumbo’s vice president of marketing. “Do they want more gaming elements, more fun elements, what sounds do they respond to on the machines? These kinds of small things are very important. Everybody has a product. It’s the small things that make a difference.”

Long Dragon Baccarat is already a familiar sight in Macau, with units at several Mocha Clubs venues and Sands China properties. As for its slot games, Jumbo has a decidedly modest presence in Macau, but possibly one of the widest footprints across the region of any manufacturer, with installations in the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and South Korea.

Mr Too is confident of Jumbo’s ability to serve markets throughout Southeast Asia both in terms of supplying market-appropriate product and offering aftersales support. “The distance from Taiwan to all these Southeast Asian countries is not far. Our people must definitely be there to not only make sure these products are working, but also work hand in hand with casinos on promotions to make the brand known in the market.”

With Jumbo’s far-flung installations throughout the continent, “We can showcase our products and let people know we are in the market,” says Mr Too. He adds that player preferences across Asia are largely similar, with Chinese themes in particular going down well among focus groups from Myanmar to South Korea The company recently installed a bank of its new mystery jackpot product, Lucky Lucky, in Poipet, Cambodia. Lucky Lucky and its base games—including Lucky Dragons, Lucky Phoenix, Lucky Qilin and Lucky Lion—“are all very Chinese-themed,” says Mr Too.

High-Profile Systems Win

Earlier this year, Jumbo’s strategic partner GAMA Technology scored a contract to supply systems covering 5,000 machines across all the properties operated by PAGCOR, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

GAMA specializes in developing bespoke casino management systems and sees its niche as providing a more cost-effective solution than the larger systems suppliers. Its services cover wide-area link management and Internet protocol-based networked jackpots and member data systems that can be shared across multiple locations.

GAMA says one of its specialties is integration of all cashier functions— including hand-pay, ticket-in-ticket-out and cashless transactions—via a single work station. In addition, GAMA offers promotion management in its suite of services, covering reward points, loyalty credits and lottery points. GAMA can also provide blacklist notification on undesirable clients.

Although the company is clearly pleased with the high-profile PAGCOR contract, it also represents “a challenge because the sites are scattered everywhere, so to consolidate it takes a lot of effort and manpower,” points out Mr Too. The installation is in progress and is scheduled for completion by the end Long Dragon Baccarat player terminal of the year.