Konami Gaming’s President & Chief Executive Officer Steve Sutherland has received the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers’ (AGEM) 2024 Jens Halle Memorial Award during the official awards ceremony at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Las Vegas. He was selected for excellence in commercial gaming professionalism, as the embodiment of business success, attention to detail, evident humanity, willingness to “go the extra mile,” and long-lasting dedication to the health of the industry as a whole. Investing more than three decades of his career in the gaming supplier sector, Steve Sutherland is a central figure and longtime advocate in responsible gaming industry advancement.

“Throughout his entire career, Steve has been someone with an executive mindset who knows how to lead, manage, and operate a business at an extremely high level. He brought his knowledge from the technology industry into the gaming supplier sector and made a lasting impact on the companies he has led, all while helping mentor countless other commercial executives who now are themselves leaders of gaming supplier companies with global reach. He’s the real deal when it comes to our industry and epitomizes excellence in commercial gaming professionalism. Our supplier sector salutes Steve for all he continues to accomplish and happily presents this year’s Jens Halle award to him,” Bob Parente, chair of the board at AGEM, said.

The Jens Halle Memorial Award was established in 2015 by AGEM to acknowledge the lasting impact of longtime industry executive Jens Halle, following his unexpected passing. Steve Sutherland is the ninth honoree to receive this award since its inception. This recognition comes as Sutherland nears his 25th year at Konami Gaming, including seven years as president and chief executive officer.

“The dedication, acumen, and conscientiousness that Steve Sutherland brings to his role as head of Konami Gaming is a consistent positive force. It strengthens industry partnerships and relationships reaching across the globe, as well as within our organization. Speaking on behalf of countless individuals inspired by Steve’s enduring leadership, it is a great joy to recognize his prominent influence, success, and service, as AGEM’s 2024 Jens Halle Memorial Award recipient,” Tom Jingoli, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Konami Gaming, said.

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Konami Gaming Inc. and Xailient announced that SYNK Vision, the world’s only player facial recognition solution for Electronic Game Machines (EGM), has been expanded to provide instant recognition of casino players at table games. Konami will be demonstrating the solution at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas from October 8-10, 2024.

In 2023, the launch of SYNK Vision revolutionized player tracking and harm minimization by offering instant login capabilities for both carded (known) and optionally anonymous (unknown) players — eliminating the need for player loyalty cards, or other method of logging onto the player tracking system. Leveraging privacy-safe facial recognition technology from Xailient, Konami’s SYNK Vision addresses challenges such as identity fraud, duplicate player records, and gaps in player tracking data, even for anonymous users. By employing proprietary, secure facial recognition methods, SYNK Vision enables de-identified tracking of all players—whether carded or anonymous — closing loopholes in anti-money laundering procedures since all players are tracked and facilitating anonymous bonusing. Importantly, SYNK Vision is not limited to gaming environments; it can also recognize and reward players in non-gaming areas, offering a comprehensive solution that enhances the overall guest experience across various settings.

With the addition of SYNK Vision table games support, casinos can benefit from seamless player tracking at table games (both carded and refused name), for a consistent player experience across the property. SYNK Vision for tables uses smart cameras to detect players seated at the tables, integrating with the player ratings system to streamline operations and ensure accurate data entry. Artificial intelligence (AI) helps the casino staff by automating the tasks of player identification and player identity verification, removing opportunity for human error and speeding up the player experience from sit-down to buy-in.

“Table games staffs’ jobs keep getting harder, SYNK Vision returns the staff to their core role in customer service and entertainment faster. Staff enjoy interacting with players, but sometimes find the role of policing IDs, tracking AML an impediment to building rapport. This table game extension of SYNK Vision helps keep the fun,” said Tom Soukup, senior vice president & chief systems product officer at Konami Gaming Inc.

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Smart cameras process AI inside the camera itself, instead of transmitting video for processing in servers or the cloud, and can easily be installed into EGM or on tables. This decentralized approach processing, known as “Edge AI”, dramatically reduces the costs associated with AI systems because existing networks and servers do not need to be upgraded. This approach also improves security and privacy.

Lars Oleson, chief executive officer of Xailient, said: “Edge AI is a game changer. Casinos can roll out this technology without major infrastructure upgrades, reducing cost, risk, and hassle. The bottom line is we can affordably deliver enhanced customer experience without sacrificing customer privacy. Together, we are setting the stage for the next generation of gaming experiences.”

SYNK Vision emphasizes secure identity management and harm minimization, ensuring a safer, more responsible, and personalized casino experience.

“In the Asia Pacific market, and Australia, under new regulatory constraints in particular, players’ secure and unique identity becomes key to good operational governance of casinos. Whether to ensure identity linked to AML transactions or identity of players redeeming promotional activity, SYNK Vision exclusively provides casinos with best practice technological solutions,” said Gerard Crosby, senior vice president & chief games product officer at Konami Gaming and director of Konami Australia Pty Ltd.

Jay Bertch, senior vice president & chief commercial officer at Konami Gaming, said: “Cards have known friction points, but the anonymous (or unknown player) is likely far larger than we can measure. Consider the situation that a player left their card in their room and are meeting friends for dinner. Will they play while they wait? Or, since they aren’t earning points, do they distract themselves with their phone? SYNK Vision removes that impediment to customer experience by enabling the player to ‘card-in’ via facial recognition.”

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SYNK Vision is revolutionizing casino industry standards for harm minimization, secure identity management, and responsible gaming—realized through close strategic partnership between Konami Gaming and Xailient. SYNK Vision is testament to shared industry dedication to innovation and enhancing the overall casino experience.

G2E attendees are encouraged to visit booth #1256 at The Venetian Expo on October 8-10, 2024 to explore SYNK Vision and more Konami releases.

Casino Club announced the launch of Konami Gaming Inc. online slots to all five Argentine provinces served by its official online platform: Casino Club Online. As the largest casino company in Argentina, Casino Club has long delivered proven Konami slots to its land-based gaming destinations. Today players can also enjoy Konami favorites like Cobra Hearts, Lion Festival Boosted Celebration, and Volcanic Rock Fire Twin Fever with convenient access by online device. These games and more are featured on Casino Club Online through Konami Gaming’s owned remote gaming server (RGS), with HTML5 delivery across smartphones, tablets, and desktop devices.

“The launch of Konami slots on Casino Club Online further propels our entertainment offering, giving players a comprehensive destination for digital real-money gaming. Whether playing online or in-person, our guests have access to Konami slots that are recognized and celebrated around the world,” said Federico Rutt, gaming manager at Casino Club Online.

Nearly a dozen Konami slots are now live on Casino Club Online, as part of the initial launch. Players in the provinces of Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, La Pampa, and Misiones can enjoy real-money Konami slot gaming online through Casino Club’s dedicated digital casino. Additional Konami games are planned for future roll-out, including linked progressive jackpot games.

“We are excited to expand our longtime partnership with Casino Club through this successful launch to online patrons. Konami Gaming values the chance to serve Casino Club Online, and demonstrate ongoing commitment to introducing new and novel entertainment to this important online platform,” said Eduardo Aching, vice president of international gaming operations at Konami Gaming Inc.

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