machine that can be utilised in many upstream applications.
Just think that an Operator’s view of a world is much like Google Maps zoomed out looking at the United States in its entirety. Really not much to see, just state boundaries and names. Te sad reality for land-based gaming right now is that this is the operator’s view of the world, and this is how they make all of their operating and marketing decisions. Casinos operators are a 24/7/365 retail industry segment and they’re basically flying blind.
We’re unlocking the view that provides real time traffic, terrain, and ability to zoom in on your house to see your car in your driveway. Our technologies unlock modern data capabilities for operators that their retail counterparts have been able to utilise for the past decade.
What has been the impact on the rollout of new cashless technologies for customers and consumers across the US?
I think the biggest positive impact is that it brings a familiar user experience for things we do in our everyday lives (i.e., downloading the Starbucks app, linking my Paypal account, and funding my Starbucks account in five minutes) into gaming. Why does gaming have to be any different? Following this same modern approach, a patron can fill out a little bit of info on your phone, transfer some money, and then be funding a slot machine in five minutes, all in a highly secure and frictionless motion.
Aside from improving the player experience, there are other benefits that modern cashless brings, like better RG controls, more personalisation in terms of offers, better safety (no longer is a patron carrying cash out of a casino), and no disruptions by having to go back they need to refill.
In what ways is gaming’s operating model holding the industry back from generating true data insights?
I think it’s a combination of a couple of things: 1) regulatory rules crafted after 1990s era technology that are too narrowly defined and don’t factor in cross vendor modularity of modern systems that deliver a business outcome; 2) high barriers to entry for new technology startups with great ideas; and 3) technology complacency with the established systems vendors where the revenue comes from gaming machines, not operational systems.
Acres’ Foundation is a completely open ecosystem. What are the technical challenges involved in creating a modern data stack on primitive data types?
Tere’s a lot of magic that goes into what we’ve built into Foundation to do it reliably and at mass scale, and that’s just at the plumbing layer – the hardware on the floor. I think that was the challenge. Fortunately for me, I don’t come from gaming. Once we get the data out of Foundation, we’ve got a completely modern, cloud native architecture that can be deployed on prem, in the cloud, or in a hybrid mode where local critical services run on property with other services running in the cloud. It’s been a lot of fun building this modern architecture over the past
P48 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
two years! It’s definitely something that hasn’t been done or seen in this industry.
What recent changes have been made to cashless codified statutes and laws? Why are some jurisdictions more eager to move forwards than others?
I think Missouri is a good model to follow. It’s simple and piggybacks off of the traditional cashless paradigm so modern and legacy can co- exist together. Tey also didn’t go crazy over-defining statutory and MIC language, which tend to be part of the natural process when regulatory updates occur. Look how easy they got from legacy to modern cashless:
1) Created a digital wallet - Te beauty of what they did is they created a “Digital Wallet” as a separate funding source that’s an alternative to the traditional wagering account (which follows how I described the digital wallet above). 11 CSR 45-1.090(4)(C).
2)Added digital wallet as a funds source to its cashless system - After Missouri established a “digital wallet,” it updated the “cashless system” definition to add digital wallet as an approved funding source for transfers to and from gaming devices alongside electronic promotional credits and wagering accounts. 11 CSR 45-1.090(3)(C). Kudos to Missouri for calling their cashless system exactly that, and not a cashless wagering system (see my rant below).
3) Added digital wallet transfers to WAT In/WAT Out Definitions to not break existing reporting - to close the reporting gap with this new funds category, they simply just updated the WAT In/Out definitions to include the value of cashable credits transferred by the digital wallet OR the wagering account! 11 CSR 45- 1.090(23)(B) “WAT In”, (C) “WAT Out”. Te CMS continues to pick up all of the WAT In/WAT Out meter movement just like it has for the last 20+ years. Te CMS continues to be the regulated and controlled reporting system of record. Te operator can utilize reporting it has available to it from its own internal reporting systems, financial services providers, and technology providers to reconcile transactional activity against the CMS accounting reports.
Tat’s it. Tat’s the formula. Another piece of beauty in the Missouri regulatory framework is that they do not define extremely rigid system boundaries and requirements in the regulatory language, like some other jurisdictions do. Tis has allowed it to embrace modern technology without making it overly complicated to do so. Te overly defined regs are adopted after 1990s style monolithic technical architectures that one system was the ruler of all and did everything for everyone, that’s not the case in modern systems. Tere could be 10s to 100s of modules written by multiple vendors delivering a single business outcome to an operator.
(“Cashless Wagering System” Rant: Cashless Wagering Systems are NOT wagering systems (at least in our tech stack)! Tis is such a loaded term that’s been a staple in the industry for 20- 30 years. Tis is my perspective from two years in this industry. We do NOT increment the coin- in or coin-out meters! Tere is no wagering
“Just think that an Operator’s view of a world is much like Google Maps zoomed out looking at the United States in the entirety. Really not much to see, just state boundaries and names. The sad reality for land based gaming right now is that this is the operator’s view of the world, and this is how they make all of their operating and marketing decisions. Casinos operators
are a 24/7/365 retail industry segment and they’re basically flying blind. We’re unlocking the view that provides real time traffic, terrain, and ability to zoom in on your house to see your car in your driveway.”
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