Paul Gauselmann continues to head German coin-operated vending and amusement machine industry

Exemplary regulations for protection of players and protection of minors in commercial gaming

Espelkamp/Berlin. The entrepreneur from East-Westphalia will continue to preside the industry association ‘Verband der Deutschen Automatenindustrie e.V. (VDAI)’ for the next two years. Some days ago he was unanimously reelected at the annual general meeting of the industry association in Berlin. For 26 years Paul Gauselmann has decisively characterized and shaped the policy of the industry. The VDAI combines producers and importers of music, amusement, vending, and services machines. Jürgen Stühmeyer, member of the Board of Gauselmann AG, was newly elected to the Board for the department music and amusement machines.

For Paul Gauselmann this confirms again the trust placed in his long-standing engagement for the interests of the German coin-operated vending and amusement machine industry with its 60,000 employees in all different segments of the industry. In view of the recent political debate about a treaty on gambling the president of the association clarified that in contrast to other gaming offers there are detailed regulations for commercial gaming in the framework of the trade and gaming regulations, which make any further regulations obsolete. Unlike gaming machines installed in the ‘gaming rooms’ of casinos, for which no legislation exists as to the number and the gaming systems, the valid gaming regulations in connection with the regulations for the protection of minors contain detailed provisions for the protection of players and minors as well as for preventing and fighting compulsive gaming behavior. According to Paul Gauselmann “the legal provisions that apply to us as commercial coin-operated vending and amusement machine industry go far beyond the preventive measures asked for in the treaty on gambling that affects the casinos.“

These preventive measures include but are not limited to:
– Telephone counseling in cooperation with the Federal Center for Health Education (BzgA) in Cologne,
– Relevant information posted on the front panes of all AWP machines,
– Installation of the machines in groups of two with a clear spatial separation and a maximum of 12 machines on a minimum surface of 144 sqm per licensed arcade,
– Intensive training of the arcade staff,
– No sale of alcoholic drinks in arcades,
– Relevant information flyers.

The industry strictly adheres to the provisions of the legislation for the protection of minors. Accordingly, young persons under 18 are not allowed in arcades. In contrast to the public gambling offer the legal requirements concerning stakes, wins and losses in the ‘small games for a little luck’ are very narrow and very strict.

As early as 1966 Paul Gauselmann, then an operator, gained first experience in association work. He became a member of the Board of the industry association ‘Deutscher Automaten-Verband e.V. (DAV)’ in North Rhine-Westphalia. After only four years he was elected chairman of the association in 1970. This was the very year when Paul Gauselmann also took the decisive step to become active in the German-wide work of the industry associations: He became vice-president of the association of German operators ’Zentralorganisation der Automatenunternehmer (ZOA)’, the predecessor of the ‘Bundesverbandes Automatenunternehmer e.V. (BA)’. Even early Paul Gauselmann recognized that nothing works without a lobby, because the legal context in the Länder and in all of Germany decisively decides the economic room for maneuver of this sector of industry. For Paul Gauselmann, successful entrepreneurial activities and active participation in the industry associations have never been opposites but two sides of the same coin.

Espelkamp, June 20, 2007

Please contact:
Robert Hess M.A., Director of Communications
Phone: +49(0)5772 / 49-282; fax: -289
E-Mail: RHess@gauselmann.de
Mobile: +49(0)171 / 9745720

Gauselmann on the Internet: www.gauselmann.de or -.com