News

Casinos up the self-service ante with more cashless slots

January 5, 2003

DETROIT -- Two Detroit casinos, Greektown and MGM Grand, have accelerated plans to roll out cashless machines --- which dispense winnings in the form of paper vouchers rather than coins or tokens -- after successful test runs.

According to a report in the Detroit News, MGM introduced 32 cashless slots in October and has since converted another 130 of its nickel, quarter, half-dollar and dollar machines.

By early 2004, at least half of MGM Grand Detroit's 2,700-slot floor will be cashless, said Jay Dee Clayton, MGM executive vice president of operations.

Meanwhile, Greektown converted 46 of its 700 nickel slot machines to cashless machines in August. Since Dec. 20, it has changed an additional 181 machines.

"I think we'll get to all the nickels this year, and possibly make inroads with the quarter machines," said Salvatore Semola, chief operating officer of Greektown, which has 2,550 slot machines.

Coinless slots appeal to casinos because they require less labor and infrastructure than coin machines. When a coin jams a slot or a machine runs out of coins, workers must fix the machine or manually pay out jackpots. Meanwhile, broken machines sit idle and patrons get antsy.

Hygiene-minded gamblers also favor cashless machines.

Casino Windsor, managed by publicly traded Park Place Entertainment, is also interested in cashless slots, however Ontario gambling regulators must approve before the machines can make the switch.

"We have in place at Windsor a significant number of the (cashless) machines -- 1,500 -- but they're not yet activated," said Robert Stewart, a spokesman for the 27-casino chain.

Early on, the cashless movement was met with scattered success. Casinos fretted that patrons who were sentimental over coin acoustics would reject a widespread rollout.

But the technology won a seal of approval in 2001 when Park Place announced it would install 15,000 coinless slots -- a quarter of its inventory -- before 2005 in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Park Place, which owns the Las Vegas mega-resort Caesars Palace and Paris Las Vegas resort hotel and casino, has delivered on its promise -- and then some.

"We've deployed more than 19,000" slot machines featuring International Game Technology's EZ Pay System, Stewart said, citing positive customer acceptance.

Less than half of those have been activated because of issues related to testing, regulations and software, but he said converting those into cashless machines is "as easy as flicking a couple of switches."

To start wagering, gamblers at MGM and Greektown insert legal tender or tokens. But, when a gambler cashes out, they receive paper vouchers.

To ease the transition, when the gambler prints the voucher the cashless slots at Greektown and MGM play sound effects simulating the clatter of coins.

The paper voucher then can be fed into slots with a similar setup or, when a gambler is finished, exchanged for currency at the casino's "cage," basically the casino's bank.

Greektown also has ordered seven machines in which a gambler can feed the ticket into an ATM-like device that dispenses legal tender. That way, the gambler can bypass dealing with the casino's cage, too.

Neither Greektown nor MGM Grand Detroit would quantify the operating efficiencies, in terms of higher revenues or less down time, that they are experiencing with the cashless slots.

According to the Detroit News report, both Greektown and MGM plan to market their cashless slots to gain a competitive advantage.

Greektown has sent direct mail to slot-club members, printed brochures titled "The Easiest Way to Play Slots" and has plans to eventually promote the technology on billboards.