When you walk into any large land-based casino, you’re destined to see hundreds if not thousands of slot machines lined up across the gaming floor. Each machine accommodates one player, and offers one game. Online slots, however, deliver hundreds of titles to players on a single game screen (desktop, mobile, tablet, etc). So why is it live casino slots don’t offer the same?
There’s no question that we have the technology to incorporate more than one slots title into a single machine. Just look at all the modern wonders we have today. If I can use my TV remote to access a multitude of channels, plus additional program viewing apps like Netflix and Hulu, it stands to reason a slot maker can incorporate a menu into a machine to give players multiple gaming options.
Although I honestly can’t understand why this method hasn’t gone viral across the brick-and-mortar gambling industry, it’s nice to know one company is exploring the idea.
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Banyan Gaming, based out of Pompano Beach, Florida, is looking to innovate the live casino slots industry by giving operators – rather than players – the ability to switch out game titles without removing and installing whole new machines.
Last month, company President Jason Seelig said it’s beyond time to start innovating the slot machine industry. The last big innovation, he said, came with electronic ticket-in/ticket-out systems in 1999, eliminating the need for plastic cups and bags full of change to fill the hoppers.
“The industry needs new technology,” said Seelig. “It needs to move forward.”
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With that in mind, he and his father, Mac Seelig, began developing a “distributed gaming” system for live casino slots – one that kind of mimics the capabilities of online slots so far as the option to change a game title without changing the machine that loads it.
The process takes place from a centralized computer system, which communicates via server to all of the slot machines on the gaming floor. Not only would casinos be able to change out gaming titles to offer more of the games their players want, the central server would be able to keep track of what games players are using most, and deliver that data to the casinos.
This information could be invaluable, as operators would be able to quickly adapt to their players’ needs, eliminating unpopular titles and replacing them with the games their patrons want most.
According to Jason, “This isn’t really for the casinos.” He says the entire process was designed “for the players to have the experience they want to have at a slot machine. If they do, then chances are they’ll come back,” he explained.
But we all know that benefiting the players is an equal benefit for the casinos, as better gaming experiences and more frequent visitations from players translates directly to more revenue for operators.
Seelig said the technology for the “distributed gaming” systems already exists. It was just a matter of incorporating it into live casino slots.
“When you look at what smart TVs have done to advance the TV industry, that’s what we believe we can do to the slot machine,” said the head of Banyan Gaming. “Everything in our normal lives is now distributed technology. Today you have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime…”
He said the importance of new and developing technology is evident all around us. “Prior to 2007 nobody knew they needed an iPhone. Now they literally can’t live without it. It’s how you do banking, play games, take photos,” he said. “It’s such a personal device. You’re basically carrying a computer in your pocket.”
Banyan Gaming first displayed its new distributed gaming system at the 2015 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, and said that of the 120 live casino slots they offer, about 25 of them are already in use.
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