Guaranteed Play Casino Slots Draw Skepticism

by Margaret Oliveira, News Staff Writer

December 13, 2007

If getting more gambling time out of your bankroll is a top priority, 'Guaranteed Play' slot and video poker machines may just be right up your alley. If you are more concerned about walking away from the machines whenever you get the fancy, however, guaranteed play slots are probably not your bag. The latter seems to be the majority sentiment of casino gamblers who are happy with the way things are.

According to a report in the Las Vegas Sun this week, guaranteed play slot and video poker machines are on the horizon. Some casino operators like Station Casinos, are already considering the new games, despite an initially discouraging reaction from players. Station Casinos introduced a limited number on the machines on their casino floors in Las Vegas, all the while gathering feedback from players. Station Casinos' Director of Corporate Slot Operations, Jay Fennel, said that despite much of the skeptical feedback, some players have taken kindly to guaranteed play machines.

Fennel says that most slots players want more time at the machines. Knowing that their chances of winning are not changed, but will always be largely in the casinos favor anyways, these players seem to enjoy to be comforted with the assurance they will get a guaranteed number of spins or hands at the machines. So, while the time factor is still dependent on how fast a player repeatedly hits the spin button, there will always be a guaranteed number of spins. At Station Casinos, this amounted to 75 poker hands for $20 or 200 hands for $40.

Not bad if you ask me, but some players are having a hard time getting over the stigma of seeing a negative balance on the credit meter. The way it works is that instead of showing how much money one has actually deposited, the guaranteed play machines show how much you've won or lost. And we all know that a negative value will likely present itself during a gambling session. This might just be the subconscious stigma that is affecting players. Station Casinos doesn't seem to be too worried about it just yet, because just like the Las Vegas Advisor Newsletter pointed out, most gamblers were apprehensive of paper ticket slot machines when they first hit the casino floor.

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