Welcome to Casino Life We start with a project at the heart of the  Northern Powerhouse – Victoria Gate in Leeds owned by GGV, where we chat to Patrick Noakes, Venue Director. With a passing nod to Westfield that also shares a position embedded with a major retail development, Victoria Gate looks as if it will experience similar success to its Stratford counterpart.
A hop, skip and jump next over to France and we talk to Eric Cavillon, General Manager, Casinos & Development, at Group Barrière. After growth during 2015 the Group took stock and sold off a number of properties in preparation for 2016 which has seen an energetic reassessment of the portfolio and the start of some refurbishment works. 2017 will follow this pattern and the company should be in buying mode at ICE.
And then to Malta where we talk to Mark Muscat, Administration Manager, Dragonara Casino Malta about their decision to switch their cash handling to Giesecke & Devrient.
Meanwhile, industry stalwart Nelson Rose takes a sanguine look at what the new US president is likely to mean to gambling in the States. To say that he predicts unpredictability would be an understatement.
Next up is Luke Ormerod of gaming-focused marketing agency Blueclaw who shares his insight into the most effective ways for casino operators to drive profit.
The almost annual question of whether poker is a game of chance or skill is addressed yet again by Carl Sampson and he, like us, probably thinks that someone should nail down the coffin on this issue once and for all. I always think of it as both. Its down to luck that I happen to be on a plane where both pilots eat the contaminated fish mid-Atlantic but, following an appeal by air hostesses for someone who has experience with flying WWII simulators, it's a matter of skill as to whether I can get that baby on the ground safely.
On that subject of safety I'm just back from Cairo a few days after visiting Caesars casinos there (see future issue) and my thoughts are with those affected by the recent bombings. This is probably all old news by the time you read this but it has an immediacy for me.
Giulio Coraggio, Head of the Gambling Law group at the law firm DLA Piper weighs in with more timely information on what the Italian market has in store... never a dull moment. Bob Ambrose gets out his crystal ball for 2017 whilst Victor Royer casts his eye over what was good and bad about G2E this year. Finally we close with Mark Wayman telling you why you're a loser and Paul McGee persuading you to not take such crap so seriously and be confident. Hooray!
From myself and all the team on the non-award-winning, yes-we-keep-publishing-whilst-others-give-in, no-we-don't-publish-your-old-news-stuff, Casino Life .... have a great 2017!
Glyn Thomas
Editor in Chief
glyn@ace123.com | 
