A clear example of similarity between the Orient and Occident, Pai Gow Poker is one of the most popular games in modern casinos and also in the casinos where online gaming is available!

The founding ancestor of Pai Gow Poker is the traditional Chinese game called exactly so -Pai Gow – the first game played with domino pieces thousands of years ago. Since then, it has changed and evolved to become an extremely popular poker variant, one enjoyed by millions of players. While in China classic Pai Gow still uses domino pieces, Pai Gow Poker uses a deck of cards and is played against a dealer.

The Chinese game

In the original game of Pai Gow (in Chinese “to make nine”), the dealer separates the domino pieces, organized into towers, in four equal groups and casts the dice to see which group of pieces goes to which participant. The stone towers were separated in military and civil units, represented by images. The cryptic and symbolic shape of the Chinese Pai Gow made it extremely difficult to learn for western people. Throughout the years, Pai Gow has evolved into different versions, even though each one of them has .

The American game

Pai Gow Poker is played with a deck of 52 cards and a joker. The players receive seven cards each, out of which they have to form two separate hands (a big hand – High Hand – with the biggest value, and a small hand – Low Hand) made of five, respectively two cards. The cards have the same values as in traditional poker. After the hands are formed, they are compared to the hands of the dealer. In case the hands have the same value, the game ends with equal score. If the player wins with a hand and loses with the other, the game ends with a “Push” and the stakes remain on the table.

The joker plays the role of Wild Card, for the completion of some hands (Straight, Flush and Straight Flush – getting the value of the missing card), or individually as Ace.

At a table (usually, the game is played at a blackjack table) up to six participants can play and they can just as well be beginners due to the relative simple rules of the game.

ONE OF THE most notorious and best bridge players in the world, Sharif has been writing for years a section about bridge in the Chicago Tribune. He is also author and coauthor of some books about bridge and his name made famous a computer bridge game. Initially issued as DOS version in 1992, Omar Sharif Bridge now also sells as Windows variant or for mobile platforms.

On the other hand, the gambling world remembers Sharif as being a regular client of the casinos in France, and during one of these visits in a casino he even assaulted an employee after losing some thousands of dollars on a single roulette bet. Recent history also records another incident starring the same Omar Sharif: in 2003 he attacked a police officer in a casino in the Parisian suburbs
after losing approximately £20,000, offence which cost him a fine worth £1,000 as well as a month in prison, luckily executed in suspension. Asked in 2006 whether he was still playing bridge, Omar Sharif declared he gad given up playing. “I stopped playing. I decided I no longer wanted to be slave to any passion, except for my work. I had way too many hobbies – bridge, horses, gambling… I want to lead a different kind of life, to spend more time with my family, because I haven’t been around them long enough”. A clever decision for the great actor, but one taken rather late in the opinion of critics and the media around the world, one that made considerable amounts of ink flow to write about his unorthodox hobbies and lifestyle.

LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON

Quite in a number of occasions, people said gambling had taken him so far, that he had to accept roles in bad movies to be able to pay his debts. In fact, the great actor admits that he is not at all pleased with the places life has taken him. “When I act in a bad movie, I get so depressed that my performance is even worse. I don’t even try to compensate with my performance”. With regard to gambling, he said “they had turned into something serious because I was getting bored. But I never liked it”. In fact, he rejects the accusations of the press according to which he is addicted to gambling. “I was never a player in the strong sense of the word. I only played when I was alone, when I had no friends, or when there was nobody to have dinner with” “Gambling creates this focused emotion. In a few seconds, you know if you are going to win or lose; it’s an intense feeling… People who play are more or less bored with their life. Gambling is a remedy against boredom” also states Sharif.

However, it seems his passion for gambling was no ordinary one, but rather a family inheritance, as his mother, Claire Shatoub, was also a legendary player in Cairo “My mother was a great player. She encouraged me to play because he wanted people to say that I resembled her, not my father. And when you start playing you have no respect for money. They’re just chips”. It’s been known that, throughout time, the actor lost considerable amounts in gambles and he was even forced to sell his house in France. “I have a strange relationship with money. I don’t mind not having it at all, but when I do, I obligatorily have to spend it” he said.

LUCIAN, WINTER HOLIDAYS ARE NOW BEHIND US. ARE YOU STILL ENJOYING YOUR VACATION OR HAVE YOU ALREADY RESUMED YOUR
TRAINING FOR THE FIGHTS OF 2009?

Yes, yes, sure, I started training. For me time goes by very quickly. I almost had no break at all. I came back to the training gym on November 26th, when I returned from Romania. It was then that I took a vacation, about three weeks. I wanted to forget all bout boxing for a few days. I came after an intense training period, after a very tough fight from a physical and psychological points of view and I just felt the need for a period to recover and relax.

YOU WERE ALSO IN DUBAI, I THINK. HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE?

I was impressed by the buildings I saw there. Otherwise, I had fantastic weather which I took advantage of and went sunbathing. But, honestly, I see no place for me to live there. My heart stays in Romania. Dubai is indeed a developing city, its growth is staggering. An awesome city!

HOW IS THIS YEAR GOING TO BE? WHEN DOES THE FIGHTING BEGIN?

From what I could understand from my promoter who is also my coach, three fights are scheduled in 2009. The first at the end of February, beginning of March, the second in June and the last in the autumn, around September, October. In the first I get to defend my title, and then we’ll try, depending on the financial situation, to go for the unification. It’s not up to us, but to the organizers of the versions, whether they come to terms with each other. But the most important objective of mine is to defend my Belt.

WHICH IN YOUR OPINION IS CURRENTLY THE MOST IMPORTANT VERSION IN BOXING?

Currently, it doesn’t make much difference in which version you are world champion. Be it IBF, WBA, WBC or WBO. You’re a world champion, the first in the world and the organizations are all at about the same level.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE BEST?

Fantastic. But I alone know how much I have worked to get this far. When I first started the career as professional boxer, I planned to become a world champion. I achieved that only four years later and it was great. Now, you know what they say – it’s easier to become world champion than to maintain your position. All eyes are towards me and everybody wants to take my Belt away. For that reason now I have to work even harder, to prove that it wasn’t all just a fortunate episode.

SINCE YOU’VE MENTIONED THE EPISODE, WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ANDRADE? WE NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO TALK EVER SINCE…

And I am deeply sorry that the fight could not be broadcasted in Romania and that the TV stations didn’t pay for a world title fight. But over there, it caused a huge interest. The fight was transmitted in America and Canada and in the hall there were over 20,000 spectators watching. An extraordinary thing. It was a very de-
manding fight, physically. An-drade is a strong fighter. I hit, I was in control of the match, and I wasn’t even a bit nervous all throughout the fight. I had already won ten rounds out of eleven. I had a clear advantage. The coach told me: “Lucian, you won the fight; you just have to keep moving, to preserve your advantage!” And I find it hard to explain myself what exactly happened in those moments. When I heard 20,000 people shouting out my name, I played right into his game, I went off course from the match plan and that’s when he hit me. For him, KO was the only solution left. He thought “all or nothing” and he took a chance. And then you saw what happened, during the last 27 seconds. Thank God I had the strength and determination to get up from the floor. Great champions usually do. The gong sound came just in time and I won, no argue about it. As proof of that, the staff from Golden Boy, my opponent’s company, filed no contestation.

DID YOU CONSIDERED THEN TO WITHDRAW?

Not for a second. I’m young and in excellent shape. I feel very good. That was just a slip, an experience. It won’t happen again. It’s important that I remained a champion. The Belt is with me and now I’m focusing on the future.

ARE YOU ANY RICHER NOW, LUCIAN?

In terms of experience, yes. In terms of money, I can’t say that I am a rich person. The press wrote that I won fabulous sums. Not even close. I am neither rich, nor fully fulfilled. I still have lots to do.

We go on with our presentation about the conditions for obtaining the authorization, for organizing and exploitation of gambles and, in this issue of the magazine, we will present those cases which come in contradiction with the authorization of economical agents for the activity of gamble exploitation, as they are regulated through Government Resolution no. 251/1999.

Subsequent to analyzing the provisions of art.19 of the normative act, we found that some interdictions have been set up when considering the administrators and/or executive managers of the economical agent, while some others referred to the conditions for the development of the activity of exploiting gambles or to the background as a good tax-payer of the economic agent.

Thus, with respect to the interdictions in the first category, the law sets forth that no license shall be granted for exploiting gambles in the situations when:

■ the administrator and/or executive manager has not reached the age of 23 years;

■ the administrators and executive managers of the economic agents requesting authorization have been convicted for the crimes of fraud, theft, fraudulent bankruptcy, forgery in documents and use of forgery, tax evasion, smuggling or for any other crime resulting in their loss of civil and political rights or if they have repeatedly been contraventionally sanctioned in relation with the failure to observe certain legal provisions referring to gambles;

■ the administrator and/or the executive manager is serving as a public clerk or occupies another position which is incompatible with the position of manager or administrator.

With regard to the interdictions referring to the conditions of carrying out the activity of gamble exploitation, this category includes the following situations:

■ the economic agent does not own a stable space or the space is improper for the respective activity, failing to comply with the provisions of G.R. no. 251/1999, as well as with the legal norms regarding the location, equipment, hygiene and sanitary conditions and the regulations regarding fire prevention and extinguishing;

■ the space owned is situated within premises related to education, culture, art, health, with social character, religious cults and the like, as well as in areas with heavy traffic: pedestrian passage ways, stations for common transportation, excessively congested areas.

Exceptionally, it is allowed to organize gambles in auxiliary, additional spaces annexed to cinemas, show halls, gyms, culture houses and the like, provided that there is a separate entrance for the players and that the other activities are not disturbed in any way.
For the protection of the underage population, considering their young age, the normative act stipulates explicitly that it is not authorized to operate machines with potential for winnings in confectionery shops, pastry shops, pizza parlors or other such public alimentation units where minors have access. The economic agent has as standard equipment improvised machines, installations, or devices or that present an advanced state of physical or moral wearing out;
Last but not least, the text stipulates that the license for the exploitation of gambles shall not be granted in the situation in which the economic agent is registered with overdue fiscal obligations to the state budget and to the state social security budget.
The text further explains this legal hypothesis, establishing that the following are not considered overdue fiscal obligations to the state budget and to the state social security budget:

■ the sums for which the economic agents have obtained from the Ministry of Finances or from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection payment facilities;

■ the sums established subsequent to controls carried out by specialized fiscal authorities and which are engaged in various stages of appeal or under trial;

■ the sums that are the object of a measure of suspension of activity, ruled by a court of law.

In the situation in which, after obtaining the license for the exploitation of gambles, any of the situations presented above occurs with regard to an organizer, the license shall be annulled.

The Romanian is Sorin Constantinescu, chairman of AOCR, an expert in the casino field. He has set foot in Vegas more than once. And for that precise reason he is the most suited person to tell us all about the “Gambling planet”.

I left for the States – I go there every year in this period to attend the casino exhibition – feeling a bit nervous. I wondered how Vegas looked like affected by the crisis. But before all I was happy I could find a direct flight Frankfurt-Las Vegas. This way you don’t get that much customs control. Any other place you get to America, they strip you from head to toe after making you wait in huge lines. In Vegas things are more relaxed. European style. They seem to understand that people come for fun, not terrorism.

BIG CROWD, SMALL RECESSION

I expected to see few people, burdened with concern and problems. Well, there was no sign of any recession. Nobody in that place showed any indication of feeling the effects of the crisis. It was even a bit more crowded than other times. All the tables in the 10-12 casinos I went in were full.

For instance, I wanted to book a room at Bellagio – where I found accommodation – for someone who hadn’t made reservations on time. But book what?! The hotel was extra-full; a hundred percent booked during week-time. I was very surprised because Bellagio is a very big hotel. The others were the same: full, full, full. Go figure! At the tables the stakes were high. I got it: Las Vegas did not feel any economical recession.

Whereas the casino games exhibition did! Very few people were around. The guys with the open stalls, whom I know quite well, didn’t manage to sell anything this year. The operators in the domain are on stand-by to see what goes on in the areas around America. But inside casinos, the atmosphere is cheerful, everything is ok and nobody seems scared by anything.

Casinos for every pocket

In Vegas the best casinos are on Strip, the main street: Bellagio, Venetian, MGM Grand, New York. There is a very nice one that has opened just now – Palatio. And it really is a palace. All sorts of luxurious marvels, artesian fountains, marble, luxury at its highest. The owner from Wynn also plans to open another one, also on Strip.
But they are not the only ones having a successful business. In Vegas all the casinos are successful: the ones behind the Strip -Palms and Rio – and also the ones at the city exit, at the edge of the desert, on the freeway. They all have their clients. The advantage is that the prices are lower, going down as far to half as compared to those in downtown. There are also two casinos where only those working in the system play. Specially made for dealers. To get their money back…

Smiles and commerce

After all, it is a Disneyland for grown-ups. Everybody smiles in a commercial spirit. That is to say a lot and fake. But even so it is better than in our casinos where you go and people throw hostile looks at you. Personally, I prefer the fake smile thinking that “among two bad things, I choose the one which is less bad”. Many are irritated by this exaggerated politeness. Everybody jumps at you, they don’t let you breathe. Anywhere, in any casino, in any store, they wipe your shoes, sit you down, put on your shoes, serve you coffee, whatever you want. Everything is done to dazzle the eye and get the money out of your pocket.

Once, I went to buy a pair of shoes. I had no cash on me. “Where do you live?” asked the seller. “At Bellagio” I said. “What room?”. I told him the room and he reassured me he would send the shoes to the hotel. And they got there before I did. This is how you make money. Except for that, everything is much cheaper than in our country. The food is very cheap. You pay between 5 and 15 dollars and eat as much as you can. There’s no time limit. You can take all the time you need. Regarding clothes, the famous brands that we have are very cheap. In a store on Calea Victoriei I saw once a pair of boots that cost 2,000 Euros and the same boots cost here 1,000 dollars; a huge difference.

American entertainment

Most Las Vegas clients – 8090% – are American. They go there for fun in weekends. Just the way we go to Poiana Brasov or Mama-ia, they go to Vegas. For some it’s a family tradition. From Friday ’til Sunday, come what may, they get on the plane, fly two-three hours and land in Vegas. But the American is very calculated as opposed to the European. The man says: “I have 1,000 dollars for Vegas – 200 for the plane, 100 for food, 300 for the hotel, I have 400 dollars left to play”. Even if he has more money on the card and can withdraw at any time 5,000, 10,000 dollars, he won’t spend a dime more. The regular guy, when reaching a table, considers that money already lost. He doesn’t think to himself that he necessarily has to win and if he doesn’t he would borrow some more money from a neighbor or take a credit or who knows what else. He comes, has a good time and if he wins, he takes the money, goes home and buys his wife a present. Is this fun or what?!

MONICA TATOIU, YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH GOOD AND BAD. AND YOU HAVE A TREMENDOUS CAPACITY TO WORK. WHAT GIVES YOU THAT ENERGY?

My husband keeps asking himself that question and still hasn’t found an answer. Well, I am of Serbian origin. In fact, it’s a combination. Serbian after my father -who was named Radivoievici Hungarian – after his mother -ho was named Szegedi – while my mother’s name as a single girl was Costea and she has an American side – wherefrom the Judaic component – and another side coming from the Romanians in the Apuseni Mountains. Such a mixture is always bound to produce the energy of a Molotov cocktail.

I have a Slavic formation because I inherited the Radivoievici line. My grand-grandfather comes from Montenegro and he was a fearless fighter against the Ottoman occupation. I was a rebel from an early age. I ran away from home at four, I crossed the town of Timisoara by myself, walking for seven hours, to tell him that my parents no longer loved me. My brother had just been born. In the communist times, during party meetings, I stood up and asked why we had to applaud. And my problems were directly proportional with this sort of attitude. But this helped me very much when I left education behind to take up business. I run a firm, I run people with different identities, personalities and interests. To put them all in one place, to bring together this extraordinary energy and, especially, to make it produce
profit for both parties it’s no easy task and not everybody can do it.

You need strength…
…AND DIPLOMACY.

I only became a diplomat when I had my own golden treasure: my child. It was then that I started thinking of the consequences of my words. Before his birth, I had never considered the consequences of my words and “If I hadn’t been a teacher, a mathematician and a fierce fighter, I would have never succeeded. This is something you’re born with. I don’t think leaders are formed. It takes a certain profile and certain stubbornness and also a certain hunger, in the beginning”.
actions. I always did what I felt had to be done. Now, I think twice before doing something.

YOU HAVE A CLOSE RELATION WITH THE DIVINITY. DID THIS MOMENT CREATE IT OR JUST AMPLIFY IT?

It amplified it. My father was a counselor for the Bishopry of Ba-nat and I grew up in the parish house of His Holiness Corneanu. He was my spiritual mentor until I turned 12. My mother took me to Catholic Church on Christmas nights. I learned the concepts of respect, fear and reconciliation with God from the age of 10. And I also learned that nothing in this world is caused by hazard. There is no chaos and this was later confirmed in my PhD degree on “field theory”. But, being a woman and also a strong figure in a country where misogynism is just as strong, I felt the need of an outbreak. Why should the woman obey man? I fell in the extreme of the non-productive feminism, attitude which ceased when I turned 27, when I joined the church – at my third marriage. There was this priest at Visarion church from whom I understood for the first time the Christian message of the holy mystery of matrimony. The woman does not obey the man in the sense of a hierarchic subordination, like in a company or organization. The woman is under a relation of subordination just as the Church is in relation with Jesus. The woman is the one who has to transmit the values; she is the one to make things move forward, to see to the earthly side of the existence of the familial nucleus, as opposed to the man who is in charge of long run strategy issues. The man is much more pragmatic, he has no visceral thinking. The visceral element is related to survival. A man’s mind is organized with the focus on the survival of the species, not of the individual. The fact that I understood this truth, which became more obvious over the years, helped me build a family as it is supposed to be.

AND FROM HERE TO ORIFLAME ?

My father was a cardiologist and, at a certain point, told me
this: “You’re not supposed to expect for something to happen every day. When nothing happens, it’s an accumulation. It’s like when you ensure your long term living by saving in a bank. You have to think that it will happen in 10 years, not today or tomorrow. You have to keep investing and, when the quantitative accumulation reaches critical mass, it breaks out from the initial space, creating a bigger one. But you have to keep building, without thinking of immediate reward”. And this is precisely what happened. In 1995, when I returned from a scholarship in the USA – I had finished my second PhD degree on the instruction of the instructors – the good things my parents had built up turned in the favor of their child.

My father was the physician of the Jewish community in Timisoara. People were helped, then they had children, those children talked to one another and, the moment a position was vacant in Romania, somebody, somewhere in Paris, said “I know someone in Romania who has nothing to do with business but who can turn a shithole into a goldmine”. They let me handle $300,000, with me having a salary of just $100. Every time a contract was presented to me, I would think someone was trying to trick me. I was obsessed with the fear of being scammed.

If I hadn’t been a teacher, a mathematician and a fierce fighter, I would have never succeeded. This is something you’re born with. I don’t think leaders are formed. It takes a certain profile and certain stubbornness and also a certain hunger, in the beginning. My child will not do what I do because he has everything for granted, due to the situation.

WHICH ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS?

I wrote a book. For a busy person it’s very difficult to pull together. I stay in front of the TV in the evenings and I talk dirty to that screen. So I decided to write a book and so came to light “Noi contra noi”. It’s a book that represents me. Whenever I read it again, it makes me feel good because I shared my entire struggle in there and I wrote it such that those reading it can identify their own states and words within its pages. Beside my child, this book – I hope for it to have a sequel, if I manage to pull myself together in this winter holiday – is the greatest thing.

WOULD YOU CHALLENGE YOUR LUCK IN A CASINO?

I don’t like gambling. I only play bridge. But not for money. It’s a great game requiring memory, attention, and intuition. But not poker. In fact, I think it would be a good thing if someone invested in an area specially designed for various casinos and clubs destined for gambling. Like a sort of a local Las Vegas, for instance.

Each time when people talk of the great poker players of the world, it’s impossible to avoid the name of Stu Ungar. He is considered by many to be the greatest Hold’em player of all times.

As proof stand the prizes won throughout the years and also the records set. Ungar was three times champion of the world (with 5 WSOP bracelets), he won three major No Limit Hold’em championships (in which the buy-in was 5000$ or greater), even though he only participated in just 30 such competitions in his entire career. Besides, he is the only player in the world to have won both WSOP and the Super Bowl of Poker.

UNDER THE WING OF THE MAFIA

Ungar grew up in the southern part of Manhattan. His father, a known usurer in the neighborhood, owned a bar where people gambled, so that Stu learned as a young boy the secrets of poker and gin. As long as his father was alive, Stu was kept away to a certain extent from gambling and from the organized crime ruling the neighborhood.

But, once he died, in 1968, Stu was taken under the “wing” of one of the Mafia leaders, Victor Romano, who grew to be his second father. This brought certain advantages, as Ungar himself admitted in an interview. He could play wherever he wanted, without fearing the revenge of those he defeated.

Ungar won his first gin tour at the age of 10. Shortly, he dropped out of school to dedicate all his time to gambling. He needed money in order to support his mother and sister.

At the age of 19 he was already notorious as one of the best players in New York. He went to Miami, because, as he said, he needed “more action”. Naturally, the next step was moving to Las Vegas, in 1977, where he met his future wife, Madelaine.

BANISHED FROM THE SYSTEM

He became so famous, that nobody would accept to play with him. So he turned to poker. In 1980 he signed up for WSOP which he won.

In an interview given to the television station ESPN afterwards, Stu said he had never played Texas Hold’em until that moment. Ungar became that year the youngest poker champion. He also kept his title in 1981. How? He seems to have had a fantastic memory, being able to remember all the cards laid on the table and on top of that he had an IQ level to envy. And because nobody could believe he had these abilities, the New Jersey Gambling Commission accused him of cheating. The case went to trial as Ungar did not accept to pay the 500$ fine for cheating that he had received, even though hiring an attorney and the travels to the courthouse cost him over 50,000$.

And even though he won the trial, keeping his name clean, he was no longer accepted in casinos because everyone feared him. In 1977, as he was almost broke, he convinced the managers of the Lady Luck casino to allow him to play blackjack, but with a maximum limit imposed. He stayed under these conditions for 6 months.

The effects of the agitation of his career also reverberated in his personal life. His adoptive son, in fact the child from his wife’s first marriage, committed suicide and Madeline filed a divorce in 1986.

Stu sought refuge in cocaine. In 1998 he was found dead in his hotel room. He had suffered a heart attack. Throughout his career, Stu had won over 30 million dollars playing poker, money which he spent mostly on drugs.

Admiral game parlors were among the first to populate the current urban landscape of Bucharest. Many people entered and had a few hours’ worth of fun. But what lays beyond the first impact we were told by Adrian Georgescu, administrator of Intertop Company, representing Novomatic in Romania.

THE TITLE OF ADMIRAL HAS LONG BEEN A PART OF THE DAILY SCENERY. BUT WHAT DOES THE ADMIRAL CASINO NETWORK REALLY MEAN, MR. ADRIAN GEORGESCU?

Admiral clubs represent first of all a high standard of quality from the point of view of the services and equipment. We are trying to make ourselves distinguished on the gambling market both through what we offer, respectively through gaming equipment produced by the company Novomatic AG, a world reputed company in this field, and through the high standards and the services that we provide in Admiral clubs. From the high quality and stylish interior designs to the fit-out of all the clubs with air conditioning, supervision and monitoring systems, bar, exchange office, guard and protection services offered by a specialized company and to the impeccable services provided by the company employees, all these are meant to offer our clients an optimum atmosphere, suited for spending the time off.

IS THIS A CONCEPT SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR ROMANIA?

Admiral brand offers the same standards both in Romania and in the other countries where the companies within the Novomatic group operate. Certainly, each country has its specificity and, even though the overall concept is unitary, it is adapted to the specific needs of the market.

IS THE NETWORK EQUIPPED ONLY WITH SLOT-MACHINES?

Within Admiral Clubs you have the possibility to try both electronic gambles like Multi Gaminator (Cool Fire I game platform), electronic roulette, and latest generation electronic games type Super V+ (Cool Fire II game platform), thus optimized to offer maximum satisfaction to our clients.

The most successful concepts of the group include: Lucky Lady’s Charm (deluxe), Dolphin’s Pearl (deluxe), American Poker II (deluxe), Sizzling Hot (deluxe), Book of Ra (deluxe), Queen of Hearts (deluxe).

Under the brand Admiral Sport Bets we offer our clients the possibility to place bets in Admiral Clubs both at a worldwide level and at national level, in Romania. Admiral Sport Bets is one of the brands which accept bets for the football league in Romania with a single match on the ticket, offering the chance to place live bets.

PLEASE, TELL US MORE ABOUT THE AUSTRIAN COMPANY NOVOMATIC!

The NOVOMATIC group of companies was founded in year 1980 and is currently one of the largest groups in the international gambling industry, having affiliated companies in 19 countries. With over 75,000 articles of gaming equipment produced each year, the group exports high-tech gaming equipment in over 60 countries. As an operator, Novomatic group has over 85,000 gaming systems in over 750 casinos and gambling parlors, and, worldwide, the group has over 10,000 employees. Novomatic is a powerful group through the fact that it is both an operator on the gambling market and a producer of gambling equipment. The group’s turnover added up to over 2.1 billion Euros in 2007, with an export rate of 97%. Novomatic group is part of the first three largest companies in the world in the field of gambling and is ranked first in Europe.

WHAT IS THE NUMBER OF PARLORS THAT ADMIRAL HAS REACHED?

On the Romanian market, Novomatic group is represented both by S.C. Intertop S.R.L., as gamble organizer beginning with year 2000, and by S.C. Novo Invest Co S.R.L. company which handles the activity of leasing the gaming equipment of the Novomatic group, beginning with 2005. Both in Bucharest and countrywide, S.C. Intertop S.R.L. operates in over 50 gambling parlors under the ADMIRAL brand, exploiting over 2,000 articles of gaming equipment in own parlors, with over 400 employees.

WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE GROUP?

For the future, Novomatic group aims to consolidate its position as leader and producer of gambling equipment in Europe and to become the largest corporation in the world on the gambling market. In Romania, the group has invested until present day over 40 million Euros and plans to invest in the following year a further 25 million Euros, by procuring two market operators and by building a new head office right across from Otopeni Airport.

HOW DID YOU ENTER THIS BUSINESS, DIRECTOR?

As is to be expected from any manager who wants to know the business he manages, I started low and, along the years, I climbed through several stages.

Since 1990, when I first started working in the domain of gambling (for Novomatic group) I had the chance to work within the operational department in a gambling parlor, that is within the technical department, having as final destination the management team.

Beginning with 1996, I became the representative of the group, in different countries, and, since 1999, in Romania also.

ARE YOU A KEEN CASINO PLAYER OR JUST AN OCCASIONAL ONE?

Of course I am keen on gambling, but I spent that much time organizing gambling activities that I have no time left to be an active participant.

WHICH ARE YOUR HOBBIES, IN GENERAL?

Motors and cars are two of my hobbies, but the most important one is my family.

Because time is short and valuable, I try to spend as much quality time together with my wife and son.

DO YOU THINK OUR MAGAZINE IS AN ASSET FOR THIS MARKET?

Casino magazine is for the gambling market both a successful and a high-quality brand.

It is definitely an asset for us all.

There is probably no one throughout this planet not to have heard of Donald Trump. Equivalent to wealth and luxury, his name is a recommendation for one of the largest casinos in Atlantic City. Trump Taj Mahal.

Positioned on Boardwalk, New Jersey, the casino has more than 100 regular playing tables and 14 competition tables. With the 13 casinos featuring specific games, Trump’s Taj Mahal has become one of the most desired destinations in the area.

The Chairman Tower, the latest to be launched in the so called Trump city, made up of several office buildings and hotels is where the players of the casino can find accommodation.

The construction rises 36 floors up, has 782 hotel rooms which include 74 suites, out of which 8 as penthouse, and required an investment of 255 million dollars.

The rooms were designed and executed so as to combine utility and refinement. Hence, beside the fact that they are spacious and with high ceilings, with extremely modern bathrooms, each room is fitted with a 50” high-definition plasma screen, wireless Internet access, iPod station and several other facilities.

In addition to all these, there are three conference rooms, extremely spacious and fitted with the equipment necessary for conducting the most demanding business meetings. The interior design belongs to the Hirsch Bedner Associates agency in California, the choice of colors ranging between hues of brown, gold and red.

The casino is one to fit all the Trump buildings: grand, luxurious and spectacular. The last retrofitting cost no less than 100 million dollars and consisted in including in the casino space spanning over 150,000 square meters of new restaurants and entertainment spaces. Thus, there were inaugurated the first restaurants Il Mulino and Trattoria Il Mulino in Atlantic City, one of the most famous cuisine brands in Italy.

TREATS FOR EVERYBODY

The private poker room is truly exclusive. Here, the sophisticated atmosphere is created by the dealers and waiters dressed in tuxedos waiting just a nod of your head to show up, by the crystal chandeliers illuminating the playing tables, the artesian fountains where the water droplets combine with the light and music shows which seem to flow out directly out of the walls due to the latest generation audio systems. But this confined space is only open for those players willing to place minimum bets of thousands of Euros. The cocktail room is also a pretty exclusive one, the evening costume and dress being mandatory for those who go there.

The others can find in the main rooms all sorts of games, to all tastes. First of all there are the 132 tables for blackjack, craps, roulette, Let It Ride, Pai Gow Poker, Pai Gow Tiles, Baccarat Pit, etc. Beside these there is also: Super Times Pay Poker, White Hot Aces Poker, Multi Strike Poker, Double Double Bonus Progressive, Progressive, Fort Knox Mystery Bonusing Progressive, Jackpot Party Multi- Level Progressive Link, Bankroll, Bingo Nights Progressive Link, Hot Shot 5 Level Progressive, Novelty, Wheel of Fortune Super Spin Reel, 5 Reel Triple Double Butterfly, Red Hot 7s, Break the Bank, 5 Reel Blazing 7s, African Treasure, Video Multi/Coin Line, 50 Lions, Mr. Cashman, Hot Hot Penny, Kahuna Kash, Wheel of Fortune Super Spin, Elvis Multi- Strike, 50 Lions, Deal or No Deal and Cash Express Hyperlink. The players who are only into poker have available 70 tables in the non-smoking space, one of the largest dedicated to this game in Atlantic City. One can bet for 7-Card Stud, Omaha and Texas Hold’em. The upper limit for 7-Card Stud is 1-3$, the lower one depends only on your wallet.

On average, each weekend, it reaches values between 300 and 600 dollars.

Ion Ionut, by his ring nickname Jo Jo Dan, proves with each match that he is ready to become the fifth Romanian world champion of professional boxing.

His last victory, in front of the Mexican Miguel Casillas – Ploiesti, December 19th 2008 – brought along the WBC Intercontinental title at the super-lightweight category and promoted him as one of the first seven fighters of this version.

Romanians have once again shown they are determined to make a difference in the world professional boxing. The event held at Ploiesti constituted yet another occasion to see in action some of the most promising representatives of the current generation.

Jo Jo Dan defeated the Mexican by KO in the 11th round after an intense fight in which he made his opponent meet the floor twice more. “I felt great because I was well prepared physically. Casillas was also very resistant to the punches but I proved I was better then him, more trained and in better shape”, declared Ion Ionut, exclusively for Casino magazine.

Thus, he obtained his 23rd victory in professional boxing out of the same number of fights (13 won by KO).

Ionut was born on August 9th 1981 in Giurgiu and was formed as a boxer at Dinamo sports club in Bucharest. The most important matches he sustained as a professional were against Paul Delgado (KO in the 12th round) and against the former world champion Raul Balbi (KO in the 3rd round). The Romanian fighter is trained by Pierre Bouchard at the Canadian club Interbox in Montreal.

Beside the match between Jo Jo Dan and Miguel Casillas, for the WBC Intercontinental title, super-lightweight category, the event in Ploiesti, called „The Invincibles 3” has other very important matches on the schedule.

For the Mediterranean WBS title, at the super-featherweight category, the Romanian Viorel Simion defeated the Hungarian Zolt Nagy. Bogdan Dinu defeated James Oscar Pratt Jr. by KO at the heavyweight category, Sorin “Pantera” Tanasie defeated the Spanish Juan Garcia Martin at the featherweight category and Lucian Bot defeated by KO the Hungarian Viktor Szalai at the heavyweight category.

The event was assisted by a few VIPs of the sporting world, among whom the world super middleweight category champion (IBF) Lucian Bute, the former world semi-lightweight champion (WBA), Leonard Doroftei, the president of the Professional Football League, Dumitru Dragomir and Viorel Paunescu, president of the Romanian Swimming Federation.

CASINO LIFE & BUSINESS MAGAZINE was, once more, a media partner within the gala “The Invincibles 3”, as official partner of the Romanian Boxing Federation.