Gambling executives establish new Covid-19 consultancy

Veteran industry executives Perry Stasi and David Schugar have established a new consulting and compliance group to help operators keep players and staff safe as businesses reopen following the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) shutdown.

Assure-Bet will identify, qualify and deploy products and best practices designed to help keep people safe from viruses and contagions.

Stasi - chief executive of gaming machine limit technology provider Visual Limits LLC - and Schugar - president of equity betting supplier Equity Play - said they spent a number of months during the Covid-19 shutdown both researching and developing operational protocols for the gambling sector, with operators able to put these in place alongside their own protection measures.

Assure-Bet will refer to health protocol set as BIO-MICS, which stands for Bio-Integrity: Maximum Internal Control Standards.

“The protocols started off as ‘safety first; list of guidelines for the Table Games Dept. that evolved into a property-wide plan,” Stasi, who will serve as chief executive of the new group, said. “Our mindset began with the assumption that everyone in the casino could be Covid-19 positive and asymptomatic.

“Adopting this unique philosophy and trying to offset the associated bio-threats with firm guidelines, would serve as a strong confidence builder for both employees and customers returning to the new norms of the gaming industry.”

Schugar, who will take on the role of chief operating officer, added that Assure-Bet has also been scientifically evaluating virus-killing and sanitising devices, software programs and apps for employee safety that can incorporate testing.

Other initiatives include social distancing-ticket sales in entertainment venues and plastic products, which he said can enhance safety and add to customer service efforts.

“We consider several factors we feel will be important to operators, such as bio-integrity effectiveness, operational efficiencies, and mitigation of liability, and we will be announcing the endorsement of several products in the very near future,” Schugar said.

“Assure-Bet is, in some degree, a response to the lack of clearly defined bio-integrity standards between and within gaming jurisdictions.”

Stasi also said that such is the expected impact of Assure-Bet’s solutions could mean that gambling venues may not have to close down again in the instance of a further viral outbreak.

“The great thing about our strategy is if the industry adopts our philosophy and products, we expect casinos may not have to close down again because of an outbreak of any contagion in the future or perhaps a false alarm in the fall or if someone tests positive within their property,” he said.