Lorian Stormhold's blog : More Space for Slot Machine Players
Slot machine areas in casinos are no longer cramped. Players now have more space to enjoy their games.
Modern casinos feature larger slot machines with big, bright screens. This change has been happening for about a decade, especially after COVID-19.
Casinos in Las Vegas are seeing that fewer, but more advanced slot machines are making more money than in the past. This week, at the Global Gaming Expo, casino leaders will see the latest games that could change the layout of casino floors again.
Mike Gatten from MGM Resorts says that new technology here are the findings lets players enjoy different games on one machine, meaning casinos can have fewer machines and use the extra space for other things.
Gatten explains that casinos look different now with taller machines and colorful screens. People also want more than just games, like places to eat and shows, which need space too. The new casino layouts make these amenities easy to find.
Numbers from Clark County show that even with fewer slot machines, casinos are making more money. In August, they made more from 88,375 machines than they did from 103,260 machines in August 2019.
Rahmi Chaghouri from Circa and two other casinos says that better slot machines let players bet more and play faster. This means they can win, but also lose, more quickly $1.1M slots jackpot.
Space Matters More Since COVID-19
Charlie Lombardo, a gaming consultant, believes the pandemic pushed casinos to change faster. Casinos had to remove some slot machines to make space for social distancing, creating more comfortable spaces.
Slot machine makers have noticed that players prefer not to sit too close to others. Nick Khin from IGT says his company thinks about how casinos will arrange their games to give players more personal space.
Electronic table games, which became popular during the pandemic, are another reason for the changes. These games let players sit farther apart than at a traditional table game Try BetFury's Revolutionary.
Focusing on Comfort
Even before the pandemic, some casinos were already setting up fewer slot machines to give players more room. Chaghouri says that people don't like to be crowded, just like no one likes the middle seat in a car.
The D Las Vegas reduced their slot machines by 150 six years ago and still saw good business. They found that having more machines isn't always better.
At MGM Resorts, they also prefer to space out the machines for comfort. Gatten says that if a middle machine isn't being used, they'll rearrange to a pod layout, so every player has an edge spot.
Chaghouri points out that taller machines can block views across the casino. By arranging machines in pods, it's easier for guests to see where they're going, like finding a restaurant or bathroom IGT: Helping Lotteries Globally.
Lombardo notes that this trend might be unique to Las Vegas. Casinos in other places might not have the luxury to reduce their number of machines.
Gatten believes MGM Resorts will continue with the more open casino floor layout, as the feedback from guests has been very positive.
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