Vegas casinos muffling that jackpot jangle
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS — Casinos without the clatter of winnings dropping into slot-machine trays? Such silence may not be far off.
Associated Press
"Coinless" slots may seem an oxymoron, but the machines are gaining popularity among some players who prefer the convenience and cleanliness of a card or voucher.
Martin Pena of Albuquerque, N.M., turns toward a cashier behind him to redeem a voucher he won from a coinless slot machine at Bally's Casino and Resort in Las Vegas. "Coinless" slots are gaining in popularity among players who prefer the convenience and clean hands that a card or voucher provides. Users seem to prefer a quiet victory to the clatter of coins cascading into a winner's tray.
Gaming experts and other industry watchers say the trend toward quieter one-armed bandits will continue.
"Ultimately, we believe the casino slot floor will evolve into a completely cashless environment," said Jason Ader, an analyst with Bear Stearns & Co. in New York.
Stowe Shoemaker, an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, says coinless slots make good business sense.
"The longer the player waits for change, the less time they spend gambling, which means less revenue for the casino," said Shoemaker, who recently conducted focus groups on alternative payment systems in casinos across the United States and abroad.
But Shoemaker's research shows that Las Vegas tourists — there were 36 million last year — aren't enthusiastic about such a change because most of them enjoy the winning sounds of coins clinking into the metal hopper.
Others, Shoemaker's research shows, don't trust the new technology or fear they will lose the voucher more easily than they might misplace cash.
Those concerns aren't stopping the world's largest gambling company — Park Place Entertainment Corp. — from replacing some of its aging machines with coinless slots on the Las Vegas Strip and in Atlantic City, N.J.
The EZ Pay system is a package of various coinless technologies owned by a number of companies, marketed by Reno-based International Game Technology, the world's biggest slot machine manufacturer. IGT has shipped more than 20,000 such machines to 38 casinos around the world.
Though often referred to as "coinless," EZ Pay doesn't eliminate coins entirely. The system offers casinos the option of paying customers with a printed ticket. Customers can then take the ticket to a cashier for payment, or it can be inserted into the bill receptor of another slot machine to get coins.
"The operational efficiencies are obvious," said Tom Gallagher, Park Place's chief executive. "More important is our players' enjoyment as we reduce the interruptions and delays in filling coin hoppers."
Coast Resorts, which owns three casinos geared toward Las Vegas residents, has incorporated about 8,500 EZ Pay machines and is converting more, said Marcus Suan, vice president of slot operations.
"We are going to take our time because some of our players are set in their ways," he said. "But very few are complaining."
Slot machines are the most lucrative component of Nevada gaming, accounting for $6.2 billion in revenue last year. That was nearly two-thirds of total revenue, said Frank Streshley of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Nationwide, non-tribal casinos took in $19.4 billion in 2000.
Coinless slots debuted on the Las Vegas Strip in January, when Bally's converted 100 machines to ticket-printer systems for a 90-day trial. A subsequent survey showed they were readily accepted by customers.
"Their biggest complaint was they didn't have enough (of the EZ Pay machines)," said Ed Rogich, IGT's vice president of marketing.
Park Place announced last month that it would purchase 15,000 coinless slots from IGT over the next three years for its casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
"It's a confirmation of it's product viability," Ader said. "We think that once a large gaming company is accepting it, it's not long before other large gaming companies will follow."
