Vietnam’s first integrated casino resort project

Corona Casino Phú Quóc officially opened on January 19 under the government’s Decree No. 03/2017/ND-CP as the first casino in Vietnamese territory able to welcome Vietnamese citizens. It is the first of three properties in Vietnam to be authorised by the government to allow economically- qualified locals to enter casinos, under a three-year trial scheme.

The casino is part of the Corona Resort & Casino Phú Quóc project which was built with an investment of nearly $1.1 billion for phase one and a total investment of around $2.2 billion. The casino management is in the trusted hands of Dutch casino management company Upffinity Gaming Management specializing in high-end casino operations.

The resort is located in the North of the so-called ‘Pearl Island’ Phú Quóc in the Gulf of Thailand, off the coast of Vietnam and Cambodia. Phú Quóc is the largest Vietnamese island and a popular holiday destination with beautiful sunbathed beaches and a calm sea. The country’s Government supports the local economy and tourism development of the island with measures like the demarcation as a visa-free zone and the development of the island’s international airport.

Visitors and guests of the Corona Resort & Casino Phu Quoc are offered a premium combination of luxury accommodation, entertainment and food offers. Besides the casino, the integrated resort comprises five-star hotels with over 5,000 rooms, numerous restaurants, bars and a spa. Further amenities are a waterpark, shopping mall, a 600-seat theatre, private karaoke rooms and a convention center plus access to a nearby 18-hole golf course and safari park. The unique concept of this ‘Paradise of Entertainment and Relaxation’ was designed to meet the highest standards and attract both, Vietnamese visitors as well as guests from abroad.

Diversified casino entertainment

The Corona Casino comprises a total area of 18,800 sqm across two floors with 1,000 slots from a range of manufacturers and 100 gaming tables, offering eight types of games such as Baccarat, Roulette, Black Jack, Sic-Bo and several forms of Poker as well as broad choice of Electronic Table Games (ETGs). The exclusive Sky Casino on the eighth floor of the resort provides a unique ambience and retreat with increased privacy for VIP guests who prefer to play live games and a premium selection of slots with a supreme view of the beach.
NOVOMATIC and Ainsworth represent some 35% of the entire slot floor, with a total of 200 state-ofthe- art slot machines and an ETG stadium based on NOVO LINE Novo Unity™ II as the centerpiece of the casino.

NOVOMATIC ETG stadium installation

The generously dimensioned ETG arena consists of 125 gaming positions, featuring the most popular live games on the sleek EXECUTIVE SL™ 1.24 terminals: All three, Baccarat, Roulette and Sic-Bo can be played in an electronic live version, while Roulette is also available as the fully automated NOVO Multi-Roulette™ variant. Providing a first-rate media solution for the venue, NOVOMATIC Media Technologies implemented an Absolute Vision™ system that controls more than 400 screen displays and monitors throughout the casino – as well as the larger-than-life 45 sqm LED video wall at the ETG stadium. This impressive custom-built signage solution provides maximum visibility live streams for the varied ETG offer, e.g.: Roulette wheel and card table camera broadcasts, game history and statistics display as well as any content that the casino would wish to display. Anything is possible via the user-friendly Absolute Vision™ display management system.

Video slots and myACP

The NOVOMATIC and Ainsworth slot machines include an assortment of popular and market-attuned content, with a selection of leading multigame mixes and games, set to excite tourists and local players alike: Impera-Line™ HD, Superia-Games Premium Editions, NOVO LINE™ Interactive Jackpot Editions and the Premium-V+ Gaminator® 7T game-mix join a variety of single game titles across a range of popular cabinets like the GAMINATOR Scorpion 2.24. Additionally Ainsworth’s A600® and A640® offer a market-specific choice and the latest single games and standalone progressives.

The Corona Casino’s entire estate of 1,000 slot machines from a range of leading manufacturers is also managed by the Octavian myACP casino management system. All cabinets are equipped with touch player tracking modules and hybrid readers for the casino’s player cards. The myACP implementation at the casino comprises modules for accounting and reporting, technical control and machine monitoring, progressives management, player tracking and TITO.

NOVOMATIC, supported by Asian distributor Jade Entertainment and Gaming, and Ainsworth teams as well as myACP and media technologies experts, carried out the installation in several phases.

Peter Keijzer, General Manager Corona Casino, said: “Casinos these days are not just about slots and tables anymore. We selected NOVOMATIC because of their expertise and we believe in helping companies discover new territories. Phú Quóc Vietnam is Asia but also has a lot of European customers, which is why Upffinity Management Company created a mix of slot and table products from all over the world. We had to build this casino in seven months so we needed fast and short communication lines – NOVOMATIC and Jade Gaming performed and executed. It’s that simple.”

Lawrence Levy, VP Global Sales NOVOMATIC, added: “We are delighted to provide a range of leading NOVOMATIC and Ainsworth gaming machines, as well as the casino management system and media solutions to the new Corona Casino. The Southeast Asia region is a strong area of growth for NOVOMATIC, and we are extremely excited to play a major role in the development of Vietnam.”