Hybrid Gaming

Joe Blow played online casinos, but lost a lot money and then wasn't sure if he got cheated. Joe Blow hears about a new option.

He downloads the casino app for it. It's 1:30 am in Vegas on a Tuesday when he sends the app to the real land-based Golden Nugget Casino. He selects the option on the app to show him what slot machines are available on the floor. He is able to see progressive tallies and other pertinent information. He picks a machine at a progressive bank and it is confirmed that it is available.

Meanwhile at the Golden Nugget the actual selected machine blinks unavailable. It won't take money from the floor nor will the buttons work. But it begins playing as if by a ghost.

***So...

The idea is, Joe is playing an actual slot machine in Vegas, and is as protected by gaming regulations there as any actual floor gambler. He'll get all the same options as a real player. If the software is janky it is janky for real players.

Next benefit is for the land based casinos. Good chance all their machines on such a system will stay occupied even when there are not enough players in the casino to play them.

***btw, Joe Blow still lost all his money -- hey but that's the way it goes sometimes***

Thoughts?

Quote: rxwine

Joe Blow played online casinos, but lost a lot money and then wasn't sure if he got cheated. Joe Blow hears about a new option.

He downloads the casino app for it. It's 1:30 am in Vegas on a Tuesday when he sends the app to the real land-based Golden Nugget Casino. He selects the option on the app to show him what slot machines are available on the floor. He is able to see progressive tallies and other pertinent information. He picks a machine at a progressive bank and it is confirmed that it is available.

Meanwhile at the Golden Nugget the actual selected machine blinks unavailable. It won't take money from the floor nor will the buttons work. But it begins playing as if by a ghost.

***So...

The idea is, Joe is playing an actual slot machine in Vegas, and is as protected by gaming regulations there as any actual floor gambler. He'll get all the same options as a real player. If the software is janky it is janky for real players.

Next benefit is for the land based casinos. Good chance all their machines on such a system will stay occupied even when there are not enough players in the casino to play them.

***btw, Joe Blow still lost all his money -- hey but that's the way it goes sometimes***

Thoughts?

I can see some appeal if there was a live video stream or something. He would have to remain active or get booted off. People would be miffed if they were walking around a casino and half the machines were empty but not playable. They might need to keep it to a small section but that kinda defeats the purpose. That's why online casinos are so appealing to the casinos, unlimited machines.

I'm not sure how they get around the laws and get the different states to agree.

What makes an online-accessible machine "on the floor" different from one that's hidden away somewhere, other than the fact that the hidden one can't be played by somebody actually in the casino when nobody wants to play it online? It seems to me that there should be a way to have both. A machine that's popular enough to be played online 24/7 is taking up valuable floor space.

The idea has possibilities, but I would make one change; when someone is playing it online, anyone can walk up to the machine and start playing it, at which point the online player is either (a) transferred to an identical machine, or (b) if none are available, told that the machine is not available at that time. You don't want to turn the "walk-ins" away because their favorite machines are constantly in use by online players.

Also, I assume that doing this with anything close to full pay VP is out of the question, as otherwise the machine would be unavailable 24/7, in which case it might as well be in the back somewhere.

Quote: AxelWolf

]People would be miffed if they were walking around a casino and half the machines were empty but not playable.

I think if the system were automated, it could keep opening or closing machines to adjust for increased or decreased traffic. For instance if you only had 8 blazing 7s machines and 6 were already occupied by actual people it might not make the last two available to outside traffic. Whereas if it only detected 1 or two people playing and the overall traffic in the casino was slow it might let 4 or 5 be occupied by outside players. Those smart guys who write programming could work that out.

It's just software. Outside of licensing, it would cost the casino almost nothing to offer it online. The point is that it's a reputable brick and mortar casino, not an offshore unknown and perhaps untrustworthy entity.

The casino wouldn't have to lease a physical console from the distributor; just pay for x number of licenses per online slot title to provide a variety on their server.

I would guess the biggest hurdle would be to allow the game to be accessed across state lines. Next biggest problem would be validation and verification of wins. But overall, it's a cash cow waiting to be milked, if the US ever allows interstate gaming again.

The inroad could be OTB. They offer bets on displayed races in other states. But I think you still have to bet in person, whether by kiosk or teller on-site, rather than accessing via Internet or phone.

Quote: beachbumbabs

It's just software. Outside of licensing, it would cost the casino almost nothing to offer it online. The point is that it's a reputable brick and mortar casino, not an offshore unknown and perhaps untrustworthy entity.

It might sound crazy to do it the way I'm suggesting, except people sometimes need nudges with something familiar. Streaming video of a live machine you are actually playing may do that.

It's kind of like people play bingo at churches and are not really gambling??? Nudges.