Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN MAR 2020 88 F orty years after first discovering the inner workings of a slot machine, the excitement hasn’t waned for Ken Jolly. “We go to work where other people go to play,” says Jolly. “That’s a fun way to say it. It’s an exciting industry. It’s dynamic and interesting to this day, and I still enjoy being a part of it.” These days Jolly, 61, is one of the most recognizable figures in the industry. Having started his career with Australian slot machine giant, Aristocrat, in 1989 before moving to Shuffle Master (SHFL) in 2010, Jolly was in the thick of the action when SHFL was acquired by Bally Technologies in 2013 and in turn when Bally was acquired by Scientific Games 12 months later – creating a genuine powerhouse on the global gaming scene. His experience on that front was timely: originally a technician before moving into sales and marketing soon afterwards, Jolly’s 31 years at Aristocrat comprised stints all around the world from Australia and New Zealand to the US and Europe. But it is Asia where Jolly has forged his legacy. “I spent a year in London in 2001, but it was around the time they were changing the [casino] law in Macau, and Aristocrat didn’t have an office in Asia,” Jolly explains of his first foray into the Asian market. “Thecompanywasbringingmachines fromAustralia, so they gave me the opportunity to go to Asia and open up an office. It was an amazing opportunity, and we took Aristocrat to nearly 60% market share of Macau as well as the rest of Asia. It was a hugely successful business.” It was also a steep learning curve for Jolly in a market that presented a series of unique challenges. “In Macau, prior to the introduction of concessions, there wasn’t a focus on slot machines in that market,” he recalls. “Therewere 800 or 900machines in the SJMnetwork, so one of the challenges was getting the message out there that slots would work in the market. It’s still not as big a market as other parts of the world, but it’s certainly growing and proving its worth, particularly on the mass side of the business.” Less challenging, Jolly says, was adapting to cultural differences and conducting business in unfamiliar surroundings. IN FOCUS