Are slot machines the future of gaming?

Everyone assumes that slots will always be profitable. Casinos can't get enough of them.

However, most people on this forum hate them, or at the most, infrequently visit them.

I'd much rather sit and play cards, or handicap a race with my gambling time/money. Is there a possibility that this whole industry, which is pretty much based on slot machines, could deteriorate over time? At one time, people thought horse racing gambling would never due, and table games owned the casino.

Sorry if this is coming out disjointed, in my head I know what I'm trying to say. I guess to summarize "Will people ever get sick of slot machines?"

I find slot machines target the novice gambler. For someone who does not know how to properly play certain games, the table games can be intimidating. I experience this with my wife. She has no problem sitting at a slot machine and pushing a button, but she feels intimidated making decisions like should I hit or stand, or should I double or should I split. Also their is the "perceived risk" of putting as much as you have to at a table game. For someone that does not understand gambling math, all they look at is "should I play nickel slots or should I play blackjack at $10 per hand. While you would save more money long term playing blackjack at $10 a hand, it does little to change the "logic" of someone that doesn't fully grasp the edge in these games. What I typically find out is the simpler the game is to understand, the worse it is for you to play.

But to answer your question, I don't think slots will die anytime soon. I think there are enough people who don't understand the casino math or who are sufficiently intimidated by the table games to allow them to live on for a while, and quite frankly, we as a nation are getting dumber at math rather than smarter.

To the OP's point...I think the people on this board are by and large smarter gamblers than average. Thus the disdain for slots. To use a SAT type analogy. Slots are to gambling like light beer and Boone's Farm are to alcohol consumption. For beginners. Once people smarten up/get more experience they sometimes make better decisions as to their gaming dollars. At least I hope so.

In addition with the advent of more complex "video slots", and themed games. If anything slots seem more popular now than ever.
This is not to mention the management advantage of slots. They have predictable payouts, never take sick days, and are incapable of asking for a raise. So as casino management whats not to like. So no; I don't see them going away any time soon.

I guess I'm trying to think like 25 years down the road. Which is probably impossible to do. What will a casino look like in 25 years?

I think the general truth is less people are coming to the casino and also spending less money on slots than 5 years ago. It hasn't become super serious yet, because casinos have tightened the machines and reduced benefits to those who do play, but this cannot continue. I do think they are the future, because profits are easily seen with them and complaining is viewed to be ignorable or useless.

Yes, slot machines are the present and future for gambling in the U.S. I do anticipate that in 10 years the slot machines will be getting looser than they are today. With the proliferation of gambling coming, it will be very accessible to almost everyone shortly (regionally or online). The combination of players burning their bankrolls too quickly and the acquisition cost for casinos to get the players will force a more competitive marketplace.

Quote: FinsRule

I guess I'm trying to think like 25 years down the road. Which is probably impossible to do. What will a casino look like in 25 years?

Fewer casinos overall. More slots, electronic table games, and fancy looking bar/social areas that charge an arm and a leg for entry/drinks/etc.

And as others have said, slots are here to stay since they generally make way more money than any other casino entity. Many slot addicts have loss rates pushing $100/hr. $100/hr for 10 sq. ft. of space, what's not to love from the management perspective?

DRich, I hope you are right about slot returns because they have gradually decreased year after year.

Quote: FinsRule

I guess I'm trying to think like 25 years down the road. Which is probably impossible to do. What will a casino look like in 25 years?

TITO machines will be relegated to a corner or the second story of the Ditz. The main floor will be taken up by machines that access money from your smart-phone or tablet app. Or it will be empty because people will be playing slots in their rooms with their smart-phone or tablet apps. JoB VP will pay 4/7, BJ will pay 20/19, two-card poker with a progressive bet will be the runaway success in the ever-shrinking table game pit.

Casinos on the Strip will charge a "resort fee" which inlcudes a cocktail waitress and bottom-tier liquor for "free," access to the restrooms, Wi-Fi in the casino floor. Mostly this will be deduced from payouts, so most people won't even notice (don't ask!)

Someone will be going extra broke trying to build a hotel that focuses more on everyhting that's not gambling, while the Fountainbleu remains unfinished.

This is only in Vegas. Other places might be different.

The future just ain't what it used to be...

Slot machines are cheap, efficient, reliable and never cheat but gamblers can be fickle. One poker room went 100 percent electronic only to later have it all ripped out and live dealers brought back. I think electronic craps will eventually replace real craps because gamblers are those who now embrace computers and an Online Lifestyle. Fountain pens still exist but you will make more money designing an application for a tabloid than a new ink.

The social aspects of gaming will soon mean the manner in which groups of people share and interact with their slot machines.

Quote: FinsRule

Is there a possibility that this whole industry, which is pretty much based on slot machines, could deteriorate over time?

My biggest fear when it comes to gambling (other than busting out my bankroll) is that slots and electronic games will take over more and more casino space until there are no table games left.

From an AP perspective as well as just a recreational gambler perspective, that would be lame. I hate slots, hate electronic versions of tables games slightly less, and love actual table games. I guess if that ever happens, I will learn VP or something :/

I don't think table games will ever be pushed out the door, but I could see the table minimums going up and up. For instance, the crap rules you get at ALL $5 tables now and some $10 tables will migrate their way up to $25 tables.

Quote: FinsRule

What will a casino look like in 25 years?

Electronic table games. 3D interactive slots. Bonus rounds will initiate something like a flight simulator based on the game you're playing. The largest jackpots will come with an orgasm via needle in the spine.

Quote: FinsRule

I guess I'm trying to think like 25 years down the road. Which is probably impossible to do. What will a casino look like in 25 years?

I think the biggest problem 25 years from now is going to be online gaming. Table game players I think will still prefer casinos. I'm not so sure on a lot of slot players. Of course not all will give up live casinos, but if you take 20% of the slot players out there and remove them from casinos, how many casinos would go under?

25 years from now, the casino will not only look like Walmart, it will be at Walmart.

Personally, I'd love a casino that went all electronic!
Formerly, I used to play at a place that had a completely non-smoking room (glassed in room; which was separate from the main casino)
It had an "organic" roulette (full-sized machine with 8 seats and a full-size wheel with auto ball-dropper), it also had a big Video Blackjack machine (The kind with the "sexy" dealer) as well as slots/game-kings/etc, and it had it's OWN bar inside the room!
It was absolutely GREAT!
Eventually though, they took out the roulette machine...then the BJ machine...then they entirely made it just a "high limit" room with only $5+ slots...
I really wished some place in Reno had something like that...the closest is Atlantis, which has a "skywalk" that's non-smoking..however, since it's not "sealed off" smoke permeates it...

Even on the premise that they disapear, I doubt it will be table games that fill the slot. (heh, pun)

Something will. The Internet will play a bigger role everywhere I imagine.

Also, I predict more gimmicks to bring people to Vegas because of electronic gambing and competition.

Like a 10 story plinko game on the side of a building.

Quote: rxwine

Also, I predict more gimmicks to bring people to Vegas because of electronic gambing and competition.

Like a 10 story plinko game on the side of a building.

10 Story plinko? I would definitely play this once....twice if I liked it.

Quote: rxwine

Also, I predict more gimmicks to bring people to Vegas because of electronic gambing and competition.

Like a 10 story plinko game on the side of a building.

I'd go watch. Plinko is a terrible game.

But Vegas would do well to begin attracting other types of business. I know there are a few, including Bigelow Aerospace, but likley not enough to sustain a city that size if people stop going there to gamble. I suppose it would remain a good palce for conventions, but that market is highly competitive.

I assume it will last my time, mostly because I don't like the idea of looking for another place and I don't like gambling online.

Quote: rxwine

Also, I predict more gimmicks to bring people to Vegas because of electronic gambing and competition.

Like a 10 story plinko game on the side of a building.

Sam's Town Tunica did this as a promo already...lol It was probably more like 3 stories though, they only have two levels.

Quote: Gabes22

I don't think table games will ever be pushed out the door, but I could see the table minimums going up and up. For instance, the crap rules you get at ALL $5 tables now and some $10 tables will migrate their way up to $25 tables.

Honestly I would be okay with this...something tells me that inflation has outpaced average table minimums, so we're due for some increases. When I'm in Vegas I have very little desire to gamble at $5 limits at blackjack anyway...craps maybe, but I could deal with going up to $25 permanently (especially if this is in the future when I'm richer!).

Quote: AcesAndEights

Honestly I would be okay with this...something tells me that inflation has outpaced average table minimums, so we're due for some increases. When I'm in Vegas I have very little desire to gamble at $5 limits at blackjack anyway...craps maybe, but I could deal with going up to $25 permanently (especially if this is in the future when I'm richer!).

Yeah, if $10 tables exist in 25 years, I'd be impressed.

Quote: tringlomane

Yeah, if $10 tables exist in 25 years, I'd be impressed.

ElCo, at least in the wee hours.

Wanna bet? ;)

I actually think the opposite. I think in 25 years, casinos will emerge as one of the few places you can interact with other humans. I think 95 percent of the world's slot machines and VP machines and electronic table games will exist only online at the casino's web site. You can play them any time, wherever you are.

But the actual draw to the casino will be live table games, sort of with a retro feel, marketed as a Starbucks-like "third place" between work and home. In 25 years, so much of our interactions will be with screens and machines that there will be a huge demand for table games with real dealers and real other players.

Also, look at the fastest-growing gaming market in the world: Macau. Table games dominate there, and the Asian influence will continue to grow in America. I see plenty of 21-35 year old Asian players at my pai gow, baccarat, and poker tables. In 25 years, they will be the ones with the money and the casinos will increasingly cater to them.

I disagree with most of the Gabe22 comments. The slot player probably "understands math" as well as you or the next table player but does not want to be or need to be put down by condescending table game players that they should have or should not have played that last hand the way they did.

Many of us use our visits to a casino as our form of relaxation from our daily grind and the last thing we need is being told how to spend our own money.

Some of the new video slots are really neat. I like the Aladdin one with the genie and orb. I think it looks neat, I have never played though. This morning I saw an install of some Aristocrat machines, 3's company was removed for Sherlock Holmes. I have had lots of people who didn't know what they were doing making the most ridiculous plays lately. Some guy stood on A A , hit 14 against my 6 etc... He later said he did not think what my up card was mattered.

Quote: FinsRule

I guess I'm trying to think like 25 years down the road. Which is probably impossible to do. What will a casino look like in 25 years?

My vision, worth about what you paid for it:

* Some depends on whether the state and federal government will give in to the inevitable and legalize online gambling. I assume they will, though sports will still be on the outside looking in (at least in the U.S.).
* I think we'll have casinos in more cities and more slot machines/video poker games in locations other than casinos (bars, airports, restaurants, etc.). Whether there will be more casinos overall I can't say.
* Except for the racinos and a few other tracks, horse racing is doomed. And there will be fewer books that have the facilities to deal with them.
* There will be fewer poker rooms in the resort areas. They do make steady money, but they'd make a lot more in the same area with either a high limit area or penny slots. So expect some to close. The rooms that are left might get bigger, however.
* There will be more video/virtual versions of table games. People will be used to technology by then, and most of those who shun them will either be enfeebled or dead.
* There will be fewer "real" table games, and the ones that survive will be at higher limits.
* Casinos will be more specialized than they are now. This one might have an outstanding sports book, that one might be a low-roller's paradise, the other one might have (a few) extra craps tables.
* Slots will grow ever more sophisticated and the minimums will creep up. I figure your average "penny" slot will be a $1 or so minimum by then.