Background
Northern Cypriot casino plans comprehensive surveillance upgrade
Merit Royal Hotel & Casino, situated in Northern Cyprus, is one of Europe’s fastest growing luxury hotel and gaming destinations. The coastal resort is a popular destination for tourists looking to take advantage of the region’s climate, and stunning views over Zephyros Cove and the clear waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.
The Merit Royal offers an exciting gaming environment for guests, with spacious gaming rooms, a free buffet, and exclusive a la carte restaurants. The casino boasts the world’s largest roulette table (with a diameter of 20 metres), 250 of the latest slot machines, 63 live gaming tables as well as a number of luxurious VIP lounges.
With a high-stakes Texas Hold’em Poker tournament, organized by the globally recognized World Poker Tour (WPT), due to be hosted at the Merit Royal, the facility’s owners were eager to upgrade its ageing CCTV system.
Challenges
The ultimate cost-effective network solution to replace analogue
To enhance security in preparation for the poker tournament, as well as to ensure the safety of VIP guests, a video surveillance upgrade was required within weeks. The casino needed to have comprehensive coverage, not just to secure premises but to also protect against fraud and theft and ensure the safety of VIP guests as well as to fulfil legal requirements set by local regulators.
The casino also needed high-quality, real-time image capture to closely monitor gaming tables without latency, with the ability to identify card suits and chip denominations. Operators would need an intuitive interface to ensure gaming integrity while maintaining complete domain awareness of the casino floor to quickly respond to any critical events. The Merit Royal management team also wanted a scalable solution that would allow them to expand the system across the entire resort while keeping operating costs low.
Solution
End-to-end solution and mission critical performance
Casinos around the world already benefit from IDIS sister company Kortek’s advanced slot machine displays, so when Volga Elektronik was awarded the contract, the Merit Royal security team were impressed with the specification of a trusted and Korean-made, IDIS end-to-end solution.
To improve video coverage of gaming tables and the casino floor, Volga’s engineers installed DC-D4536RX 5MP dome cameras with motorized lenses, true WDR and IR up to 30 metres, delivering exceptional high-resolution images in varied lighting conditions.
Seamless DirectIP plug-and-play connection of the cameras, 24 PoE switches with 64-channel IR-310D network video recorders(NVRs), which come pre-installed with IDIS Solution Suite (ISS) VMS meant cybersecure, yet rapid and hassle-free installation for Volga’s engineers.
The IR-130D NVRs deliver high performance, 400Mbps reliable recording, utilising solid-state drives (SSDs), a 2U rack mount chassis, RAID 1, 5 and 10, and redundant power to provide the casino with the assurance of secure video retention without gaps in footage. To meet the large-scale storage requirements, the NVRs support H.265 combined with IDIS Intelligent Codec compression technology, to reduce bandwidth and storage by 60 percent compared to older systems.
ISS Expert provides control room staff with an easy-to-use VMS designed for mission-critical surveillance operations including administration, video wall monitoring, streaming, and recording services. The rich feature set allows operators to detect, verify, analyse, and rapidly respond to security and safety events and meet the requirements of regulatory gaming integrity.
Results and Benefits
Complete domain awareness and a low total cost of ownership
The end-to-end IDIS solution encourages honest and fair game play and provides operators with complete visual awareness of the gaming tables, casino floor, lounges, and other key areas. The safety of patrons is assured without cameras impacting on the decorative sculptures and architecture inside the casino, while the Merit Royal has increased operator efficiency and strengthened the protection of its profits, staff, and assets.
The intuitive user interface of ISS, flawless image capture, and high frame rate enables operators to identify card suits and pips to reduce stoppages and quickly resolve disputes, to ensure an enhanced VIP gaming experience.
Seamless plug-and-play connectivity ensured a rapid installation, completed in time for the high roller Texas Hold’em Poker tournament. With a transparent one-off license payment for ISS and no ongoing software or device connection fees, reduced storage costs, and easy and simple maintenance, the casino is benefiting from the IDIS promise of a low total cost of ownership.
The Merit Royal now plans to extend the system to cover the resort’s hotel and spacious outdoor areas featuring two swimming pools, gardens, and a private beach.
"Advanced IDIS video technology provides outstanding performance and exception image capture. Our security team can quickly resolve incidents, protect against theft and fraud, while enhancing our patron's experience and reputation as one of Europe's top gaming destinations. The resort can now benefit from a truly scalable and futureproof solution, with the assurance of low operating expenditure."
Malik Oğuz
Director of Security System, Merit Royal Hotel & Casino
