OPAP deploys slot machines as planned

By Vangelis Mandravelis

OPAP gaming company is moving apace with the creation of its ?Play? network of gaming halls, which will focus its VideoLottery Terminals (VLTs), an electronic version of the slot machine.

Officials at the listed company say that around 4,000 buildings have already been put forward to house the new gaming halls, while hundreds of applications are pouring in for the management of Play halls through franchising. The deadline for these applications is today but OPAP officials say an extension of 10 to 15 days may be granted.

Among the professionals interested in running these licensed mini-casinos are many actual OPAP betting agents, with 500 of them already included in the first wave of applications submitted by December 31. This was despite calls by their union to torpedo the process, as unionists envisioned a different model of VLT development in Greece that is incompatible with what OPAP has decided ? OPAP did not want its slot machines in its betting agencies, while agents demanded the opposite.

OPAP intends to operate some 660 Play gaming halls with around 25 VLTs each, for a total of some 16,500 slot machines.OPAP has a license for 35,000 VLTs, but the remaining 18,500 will be undertaken by a series of subcontractors to be chosen later.