Royal Ascot

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What happened to the machines in Turkey?

http://www.euroslot.com/ci/pages/issues/yr99/september/horse.tpl
Under starter's orders

horse-racing the casino way

Often referred to as the sport of kings, horse-racing can perhaps claim to be the king of gambling as it has the distinction of pulling in the biggest crowds in sporting history and of being the most popular form of gambling around.

It should come as no surprise then that horse-racing games have developed from a series of arcade machines, such as those made famous by the Whittaker Brothers, into the large multi-player machines found in gaming establishments today.

Sigma, Sega and Konami are the three main companies who have exploited the gamblers' love of horse racing and all have developed multi-player machines which use the latest technology to bring mini racetracks and thumb sized thoroughbreds to life. It's big business as well with these huge multi-players being installed in the slot parlours of casinos all over the world

Sigma made huge strides in the development of the game with the introduction of its Derby series of horse-racing machines. The demand to develop the existing machines was perhaps highest in Japan where horse-racing machines were already popular in arcades but the public was crying out for an improved version. With its finger very much on the pulse of its home market it was perhaps inevitable that Sigma would pioneer the developments in this particular field.

Kohei Okumura of the Japanese-based company explained the evolution. He said: "At Sigma we were driven by a desire to recreate the atmosphere of real horse-racing and bring it into the slot world. This basically involved two things, firstly making the game more realistic and secondly getting more players involved in each race. When you think that the first video game was developed in 1972 and the first Invader game was invented in 1978, it was quite a revolutionary step for us to introduce our first Derby machine, which was installed in Shinjuku, Japan in 1975."

Given the technology around at this time these games can now be viewed as perhaps a bit primitive. The tracks were oval and the moving horses generated excitement but the realism of the action and the betting systems were both restricted by the technology of the time.


The demand to develop the existing machines was perhaps highest in Japan... With its finger very much on the pulse of its home market it was perhaps inevitable that Sigma would pioneer the developments in this particular field.

Although it was Sigma which installed the first multi-player horse-racing machine, it was Sega's World Derby that raced off with the distinction of being the first horse-racing machine to use the free track system where the carrier is situated on the underneath of the track.

The idea of this system was to change the mechanical approach to the games already on the market, make the action a bit more realistic and so give the player more excitement. The company also adopted the method of using computer graphics with the game allowing manufacturers to translate what was happening on the track an output it on a projected television screen. This allowed the game to become more accessible to a wider audience with the introduction of up to 23 player stations.

"This had two main advantages," explained John Murphy, Managing Director of Sega Gaming Technology (Europe). "At any moment if any of the players can't see what is happening on the track then they can watch it on the screen but it really gives the whole area the feel that something exciting is happening and so draws a crowd to the machine."

A sophisticated sound system, which allows an announcer to start and finish the game as well as call out the results, makes the game even more appealing to players and observers alike giving it an interactive feel.

Sega's Royal Ascot was introduced in 1991 and was very popular in Japan. It was introduced into Istanbul and then later to Monte Carlo before gaining popularity throughout Portugal, Italy and then all over the world. It was the success of the Turkish market, which really put the company on the map until the Turkish government closed down all casinos a few years ago.

The game itself has 50 horses of which six are randomly selected to take part in the race. The race lasts for one and a half minutes with over 16 million potential outcomes, the results of which are of course generated randomly from within the machine's computer software

Players are given the option of placing a bet win or a quinella and are given odds for each horse, which change depending on how many times it has been selected and how it has performed.

"This is where a player gets a real buzz from Royal Ascot," adds John. "They know that they can have a big win as the machine doesn't use controlled software. The horses are placed on a process, which generates an exciting free style race with different leaders at different stages. After a certain amount of time the software will examine the percentage of the game, which for Royal Ascot is usually around 92 per cent, and will then recalculate the odds on certain horses to try and bring it back in line with the desired percentage. It's an interesting game from the player's perspective as it offers win odds of 99 to one and offers quinelle odds of 999 to one, which do come in quite frequently."

It is a testimony to the game that people actually watch the form of the horses and take notes on the outcome of the races as with real horse racing. It had also been known in at least one casino in Istanbul for casino operators to construct an amphitheatre around the game with a bookie offering lower stake levels to the crowd on the back tiers.

John's brother, Carlton, who is Sales Director for Sega in Europe, the Middle-East and Africa added: "It is very much a gambling game first and an amusement game second and I think this is what makes it so successful."

The two versions Royal Ascot and Royal Ascot Special are basically the same game with the same functions but have been wrapped in slightly different clothing. The can both go up to 23 players although the Special is slightly smaller with a slightly better sound system. The company is actually working on a new version, although Carlton admits that he is nervous to use the word 'improvement' as it is always difficult improving on a game which has proved to have such a winning formula.

"They have to be quite simple games though," says John. "If a player doesn't understand what a game is trying to tell him in the first minute or so of coming into contact with it, then that player will probably walk away and never come back. I think Royal Ascot does this very well it catches the players attention with the excitement of what is going on, keeps the attention as it is easy to play but then retains that attention as you do have to think about what you are doing. No Royal Ascot has ever been taken out of a casino and no operator has ever complained about its performance."

Since giving birth to the multi-player horse racing game, Sigma has been continuously looking to improve the performance, entertainment value and realism of its own simulated racing game and has released six main versions along with a few special editions.

The latest spectacular machine is the Derby MK-VI exp, which has attempted to take the realism to another level with the addition of diorama trees, lawns and fences along with advertising billboards where the casino can advertise special events. There are 10 horses in each field with three types of betting: win, quinella and bracket quinella. Operators have the option of selecting either long races of up to three minutes or short track races of around two minutes. Players can also take advantage of a horse number forecasting system to help them with their betting.

Sigma has a host of extras on this machine with five CCD cameras broadcasting the action on a 50 inch projection monitor accompanied by satellite surround sound to create what the company describes as 'a vivid sense of live presence'. The sales team happily describes the machine as 'even more entertaining than a day at the race track.'

Kohei says: "Markets have opened up for the mutli-player horse-racing game all over Asia, Europe, America and basically all over the world. Demand for the game is actually increasing, which is probably due to the fact that it is so exciting and attracts new players as well as experienced gamblers."

As these markets have opened up a further runner has joined the field with Konami Gaming coming up with its own designs and ideas with what should be popular on the multi-player horse-racing circuit.

Konami's GI Classic Winds and GI Classic games, which aren't available at the moment as the company continues its quest for a Nevada licence, were first released onto the market in the mid nineties after the company realised how popular the games were in Japan.

"Konami realised that outside Japan, there was quite a large untapped market for what was essentially a horse-racing gambling machine," explained Konami's Product Manager Graeme Noble. "We set out to try and bring a horse racing game to these areas. We included an entire year's racing in the software for our game and so over a period of time players could watch the form of a horse and predict how it was going to perform. GI actually means Group 1, which is the name given to races with the best horses such as with the Derby. The GI machine can place horses into the different groups, G1, G2 or G3 depending on their capabilities so it really is as close as we could possibly get to simulating real life horse racing."

The Konami games are also able to change many of the race conditions including the length, distance and direction of the race, as well as whether it follows an inner or outer track. As with the other latest multi-player games, the horses follow a free track system allowing them to change lane and speed throughout the race, the number of horses which run is also variable. The odds are adjusted in the same way as a fruit machine adjusts itself, depending on how the players are doing. If people are putting in a lot of money and not winning then the odds will improve across the board so that sooner or later the average pay out is kept to the level at which it has been set.

Players place their bets on touch screens and can follow the action on a series of small screens complimented with a 3D sound system with full race commentary. Players can also access a full history of the horses' performance which acts like a racing newspaper.

The technology involved in these horse racing machines makes them quite expensive and both the operators and the manufacturer needs to invest quite heavily in them. So isn't it something of a gamble for a casino manager to decide to buy one?

"There is an element of fear in the eye of most casino operators when they first receive the machines," says Carlton Murphy. "The machines are big, they take up the space of around 12 slot machines and can look quite daunting. If you're a slot machine manufacturer or operator you can take more of a risk. More people would be willing to give a slot machine a trial as it takes up little space and is easy to transport. We do understand the operators' concerns as when they invest in a horse-racing multi-player, it is probably one of the casino's biggest investments you'll make and if it fails it will cost you a lot of money. The bigger the investment, the bigger the gamble but Royal Ascot pays back very quickly and is a very successful machine. In the Italian Casinos it is well known for the Royal Ascot to have all 12 seats full from three in the afternoon to three in the morning. How can you argue with a machine, which is that popular? Casino managers are also sometimes put off by the technology involved but once we put a machine in, it works. It is a highly reliable product but like anything mechanical it will need some servicing which we will happily provide."

Horse-racing multi-players may be for gambling first and amusement later but there is no getting away from the fact that they are very entertaining with crowds screaming at the horses as they jostle for position and cheering as their horse comes in. You get the feeling from watching them that the players are so absorbed by the game that they have forgotten that the horses are only bits of plastic being randomly moved around by a computer in a casino. Whichever manufacturer you go to, the multi-player horse racing game is a very stimulating experience. Revenue which pleases the casino manager, payouts, which please the player and a level of excitement which would be hard to better at a real race ground. Casino managers worldwide are under starter's orders.