More About Slot Machines

[kevin_standlee]

As I mentioned earlier, Lisa is unhappy that the casinos have mostly gone to non-coin slots, dispensing tickets that have to be redeemed from machines rather than paying coins that fall with a satisfactory clunk into the bucket. After breakfast this morning at the Silver Legacy, we were walking through the casino -- not very busy at 10 AM -- and she spotted a management-looking person. Buttonholing this assistant casino manager, she told him how disappointed she was with this switch, which most of the casinos seem to be making. He said they switched over last October.

She said that one of the main reasons she came to Reno was for the slots, but if they're all going coinless, she might as well just go to the Indian casinos back home.

The manager looked pained. "Ouch, that hurts," he said, as he admitted that other customers had been expressing similar complaints about the changes.

It's unlikely that these complaints will change the casinos' decisions. The case for coinless seems pretty obvious: less coin handling means fewer people handling the money, less mechanical hassle, and so forth. But Lisa says she wouldn't be surprised that the casinos will see a further drop in business as they convert themselves into something that you could do just as easily on the internet.

Comments

[johno.livejournal.com]

In Las Vegas we noticed that too.

There were a few $1 slots that still took silver dollars and dispensed them on a win (they might have $1 metal chips).

But most of the machines took and dispesned paper only. Some were mounted in the old coin slots (table top slots).

The Planet Hollywood Casino (formerly the Alladin) *proudly* proclaims itself to be coinless.

[cmdrsuzdal.livejournal.com]

The thing that struck me is how much free money the casinos must make on small amounts that people forget or can't be bothered to go cash.

[ladylaetitia.livejournal.com]

It isn't a wise move on their part - it cuts down on impulse gambling. Last time we were in Laughlin I wanted to kill time while my husband did soemthing about the dead battery in our car but none of the machines would take my cash and I wasn't in the mood to hunt someone down so I could play. Considering how long it took my husband to fix the battery they lost about $40 on me, not much but multiply it by others who won't bother if they can't immediately satsify the impulse and they are going to lose loads

[kevin-standlee.livejournal.com]

This is exactly Lisa's point. Last night, we had a short wait for dinner at the Nugget. Had they had machines that would accept Lisa's coins, she would have dropped some of them into the ones near the Oyster Bar. As it was, with only coinless machines that accepted only paper money and dispensed tickets, she didn't bother.

This is clearly a decision made by some corporate types who probably never actually gamble in a casino themselves, or else they are exclusively high-roller types, not impulsive, low-stakes casual gamblers.

Maybe they're making enough off of the influx of poker players to not have to worry about slot machine profits.

[debgeisler.livejournal.com]

I personally agree completely with Lisa on this one.

[howeird]

Totally agree with Lisa about the slots. I went up to Roseville to visit a friend and we had dinner at the Indian casino near there, and it was just too quiet. I played some of the electronic slots and won about $20, but it just felt lame getting a slip of paper instead of a bucket of nickels.

[smarier.livejournal.com]

I like the new ticket system when I am playing penny slots, but when I start playing video poker ($.25 or up) I much prefer using coins.