BMM WHITEPAPER The past and future
A white paper looking at the past, present and future of the slot machine from bmm testlabs.
I
f you went into a bar in the late 1800s in or around New York City, it might have been called, The Burnt Rag, Milligan’s Hell, or even Chick Tricker’s Flea Bag. You could have had a punch made of hot rum, whiskey,
camphor, benzene and cocaine, and had a better than average chance of finding a gambling machine created by a New York-based company called Sittman and Pitt. The machine was basic but innovative for the time and allowed for a chance to win prizes like free cigars and drinks. The machine contained five drums carrying
50 cards, cost a nickel to play, and was based on the math and the concept of poker. Most establishments hosting one of these machines would literally discard two cards to tilt the odds in favour of the house, and none of these machines had a way to directly pay winners. The exact date is up for debate, but around this time an inventor named Charles Augustus Fey is credited with the next evolutionary step in slot machines – automatic payouts at the machine. He accomplished this by reducing the complexity of the five drums and 50 cards, to three reels and five symbols: spades, horseshoes, diamonds, hearts and the image of a liberty bell. This is what gave the machine the name Liberty Bell.
By most accounts, these two developments
were the opening chapters of the modern-day slot machine. Clearly, the story didn’t end there as there are few industries in which a single image is so iconic as the slot machine is to the casino industry.
Innovation and history
One of the most surprising aspects of the evolution of the slot machine is that so little changed for so long. Slot machines shrugged off or were passed over for real innovation from the
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We have been serving the gaming industry for over 37 years. Our experience, expertise and dedication in this fast-paced and evolving market ensures we always exceed client expectations.
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late 1900s till past the midway point of the 20th century. If you’re thinking to yourself that you could
have been sipping a beer from a can in air- conditioning, wearing flip-flops, while using an arc welder before you ever touched an electronic slot machine, you’re entirely correct. Until 1964 and Bally’s fully electromechanical slot machine called Money Honey, slot machines remained entirely mechanical: a lever was pulled, a spring sprung, reels reeled, stoppers stopped, kickers kicked and control cams cammed.
Slot machines today
Moving forward in development, players club cards and analytics entered the industry and redefined the concept of loyalty programs. Ticket in/ticket out (TITO) changed the sound of casinos and put a serious dent in the plastic bucket market. Video slot machines changed the look, feel and potential of games. Progressive jackpots transformed winning at a slot machine from a steak dinner or a new car, to a life- changing event. Server-based floors enable slot management
to reconfigure entire sections of a casino, or just one machine, from a work station or device depending on any number of factors. Today, the slot machine experience can be
extended from the casino floor to phones, devices and computers online. This not only stretched gaming for patrons but opened gaming to the masses who never set foot in a casino.
While these virtual slot machines might be
tough to count currently, according to Todd Eilers, Principal at Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, LLC, “Our research shows over 990,000 electronic gaming devices across the U.S and Canada markets coming out of Q2 2018. By 2020, the industry is projecting that number to exceed one million.” In terms of the nature of slot machine games, which fundamentally can be described as a chance only game expressing its math outcome through combinations of symbols on reels, a new class of games has emerged. These games can be thought of as interactive gaming machines where the player can interact in a broader way with the game than a simple press of a button to get a result. According to Marcus Yoder, Vice President,
Regulated Markets Business Development at Gamblit Gaming, LLC, “We have seen that the term “Skill-based game” is really not the right way to classify these games, as this description implies that the games base their outcomes predominately on the skill of the player. They most often don’t. In reality, the new games you are seeing
introduced would more aptly be described as Player Interactive EGMs. The amount of skill to play these interactive
games varies, but in no instance is skill the predominate determining factor. Gamblit games actually use RNG math in a traditional sense to generate the wagering outcome. Our games are just simply more interactive and we think fun to play, than a traditional slot machine.” Elaborating on this perspective, Yoder
Questions for the industry
The casino industry needs to question the stauts quo and consider the gap from the Liberty Bell to Money Honey. Tomorrow’s patron won’t be pleasantly surprised by innovation – they will expect it. • How far is the industry prepared to go to attract a new generation of patrons knowing that some steps, such as space dedicated to skill-based floors and non-smoking sections, will alienate existing slot patrons?
• If the casino floor can be extended beyond the property to people’s lives at work or home, where does it become invasive?
• Where will esports collide with, or align to casino slot floors?
• In a world of data breaches, how will casinos that gather immense data on patrons protect those 1s and 0s?
• Studies have shown that Millennials and Generation Z value companies and organizations that share altruistic values and contribute to causes that are important to them. How can casinos boost their philanthropic and environmental profile to attract these generations?
The next time you’re making your way through security at the airport, paying for an Uber ride, playing a video game with your kids, or ordering a pizza on your phone, consider the technology you see all around you and at your fingertips. Ask yourself, “What’s new and what’s old, but applied in a new way?”
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