As reported by: Las Vegas Review Journal
As a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr. didn't have much to smile about from the outcome of last week's national midterm elections, where Republicans were swept out of power in both houses of Congress.

As president of the American Gaming Association, however, the results were to his liking.

The new congressional leadership that is expected to take over in January means the legalized gambling industry may find friends on both sides of the aisle. Educating members of Congress on gaming's primary issues won't be a major endeavor.

"You can go down the list and clearly, with regards to leadership in both houses, there are people who have knowledge about our industry and a fundamental understanding of how our industry works, and that's a positive," Fahrenkopf said Tuesday before the opening of the Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The American Gaming Association is one of the event's co-sponsors.

"That doesn't mean they'll vote for everything we want or against everything we don't want, but we have people there who are educated about the gaming industry," Fahrenkopf said.

The only president that the American Gaming Association has known in its 10-year run, Fahrenkopf was upbeat on a number of issues as the industry's largest trade show kicked off its three-day conference.

Fahrenkopf said more than 780 companies were participating in this year's show, up from 700 last year. The amount of exhibition space has increased to 322,000 square feet, from 278,000 in 2005.

He expects G2E's attendance to increase to more than 28,000 when the final registrations are tallied, up from 26,603 a year ago.


Article By: Las Vegas Review Journal