Eastside Cannery: Bring back classic slots

A few downtown properties (notably El Cortez) have retained over many of the old slots that operate with real coins. Eastside Cannery on the Boulder Strip is the first new casino to bring them dozens of the old machines and dedicate a room to them.

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Clang of real change
By F. ANDREW TAYLOR

People who have lived in Las Vegas more than a few years might hear a familiar sound when walking through the Eastside Cannery. Near the south end of the property the familiar "clang clang clunk clang clang" of actual coins falling in a genuine jackpot can be heard.

"I like both the new machines and these old ones," said Elaine Manning, who retired to Las Vegas in 1997 after 20 years in the Navy. "I like playing the old ones now and then, and I win on them. It's nice when all the quarters come falling out."

The Eastside Cannery opened up its Classic Slots room in March, and the property's vice president and general manager Marty Gross is pleased with how it is working out.

"We have over 50 machines in the room now, and their popularity has been a pleasant surprise," he said. "It's very full every day. I think just about every property in the valley has come in to check it out."

While several of the valley's gaming properties still have a few coin-operated slots here and there, Gross believes that the Eastside Cannery is the first to bring them back in quantity and dedicate a room to them.

The space the Classic Slots are in was originally intended to be a VIP room, but it was decided that, as the property catered to a local clientele, it made more sense to cater to what management felt the locals wanted.

The site was previously the home of the Nevada Palace. When that property was leveled and the Eastside Cannery went up in its place, some of the old coin-operated slots were left behind. Ten of them were set up near the casino cage. Gross noticed that they always seemed to be in use. That sparked the idea for a room dedicated to the classic coin-operated machines.

"The Boulder Strip is one of the most established sections of the valley with a very regular clientele," Gross said. "We thought it would give us something unique to set us apart from the other properties here."

Some of the machines being used are from the Nevada Palace. Others had to be rebuilt and repaired, and some were purchased. None are exactly antiques, but the technology has changed greatly in the last decade or two, and even a moderately old machine has an aura of nostalgia about it. The room even has its own dedicated change person, a rapidly vanishing occupation in the valley.

"I used to go to the Nevada Palace before they demolished it," Manning said. "It's great to play these old machines again. The only bad thing is dirty hands, but I can live with that."

The Classic Slot Room at the Eastside Cannery at 5255 Boulder Highway is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Contact Sunrise and Whitney View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 380-4532.

I guess your eally can't miss what you've never had.

Anyway, I've two questions:

1) do you have to feed coins into these slots to play them, or do they take bills and tickets as well (I suspect I'm mixing anachronisms here).

2) Do you suppose there is enough demand for coin-paying slots that they'll be mannufactured again?

Observation: most modern slots and VP machines make a coin-clanking sound when you cash out.

Quote: Nareed

I guess your eally can't miss what you've never had.

Anyway, I've two questions:

1) do you have to feed coins into these slots to play them, or do they take bills and tickets as well (I suspect I'm mixing anachronisms here).

2) Do you suppose there is enough demand for coin-paying slots that they'll be mannufactured again?

Observation: most modern slots and VP machines make a coin-clanking sound when you cash out.

1. When I started going to casinos in the mid 1990s, they took coins or bills but paid in coins only. This was useful for people who wanted to play a set number of coins then move to another machine. Drop $20, cash out, then you can run the whole $20 thru. What is left in credits you cash out.

2. Very doubtful. Coins take more labor and are very dirty, picking up oil from the machines and dirt from all the handling. Not to mention more possible theft. They went out for a reason.

Quote: Nareed

1) do you have to feed coins into these slots to play them, or do they take bills and tickets as well (I suspect I'm mixing anachronisms here).

This probably doesn't speak for all machines, but the coin slot/VP machines at the Fitz generally take bills, tickets, and coins.

Quote: Nareed

2) Do you suppose there is enough demand for coin-paying slots that they'll be mannufactured again?

Never say never, but I would guess "no". Coin slots are susceptible to shenanigans that TITO machines generally aren't, making the security aspect of TITO more important to casinos.

Quote: AZDuffman

2. Very doubtful. Coins take more labor and are very dirty, picking up oil from the machines and dirt from all the handling. Not to mention more possible theft. They went out for a reason.

While this sounds logical, it is a gross generalization.

Yeah, they went out for a reason. But, at least in this small scale test, they are coming back for a reason too.

If enough people want to play them, and the casinos decide that the added expense is worth it, the casinos will put them in. And if casinos want new machines that take and pay coins, slot manufacturers will build them.

The manufacturers might not build them before the casinos start asking, but once they start asking, they'll start building.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

While this sounds logical, it is a gross generalization.

Yeah, they went out for a reason. But, at least in this small scale test, they are coming back for a reason too.

If enough people want to play them, and the casinos decide that the added expense is worth it, the casinos will put them in. And if casinos want new machines that take and pay coins, slot manufacturers will build them.

The manufacturers might not build them before the casinos start asking, but once they start asking, they'll start building.

Generalizations and stereotypes are usually based on some kind of reality. Let me say I agree with you that casinos will follow the market. If people like the coin machines they will re-appear. However, I don't see the casinos putting them in and I don't see the younger generation clamoring for them after they came up on the ticket machines. Instead I see ladies trying out the coin machines for the first time and saying, "ewww, this money is so dirty!"

From the casinos end, bill-breaker ticket redemption machines don't steal from the hard count room; they don't take breaks, and they don't form unions. If they think (correctly?) that people don't care about 6:5 BJ, they won't put in coin machines to try somehting out.

Quote: AZDuffman

Generalizations and stereotypes are usually based on some kind of reality. Let me say I agree with you that casinos will follow the market. If people like the coin machines they will re-appear. However, I don't see the casinos putting them in and I don't see the younger generation clamoring for them after they came up on the ticket machines. Instead I see ladies trying out the coin machines for the first time and saying, "ewww, this money is so dirty!"

I have observed that STRIP casinos have increased their casino division workforce by only 8% more people since 1990, despite the huge increase in number of casinos and revenue since then.

I doubt that anyone will want to go to coins on a large scale. Not by re-manufacturing the machines. Coins are very labor intensive.

The only thing interesting about this article, is that this is the first casino I have heard of to gather a bunch of the old machines and put them in a new casino. The search for something new and different continues.

Quote: AZDuffman

From the casinos end, bill-breaker ticket redemption machines don't steal from the hard count room; they don't take breaks, and they don't form unions. If they think (correctly?) that people don't care about 6:5 BJ, they won't put in coin machines to try somehting out.

Speaking of the ticket redemption machines, how many times have you been in line to cash in your hard won Craps or BJ winnings (chips) while you have to wait for 6 (I hate to stereotype here) old women who have their 31 tickets for between $.72 and $3.67 that they need to cash at the cage. It's like 1. You can put them all in ANY machine and make it so you only have to cash ONE TICKET! 2. You don't have to go to the cage to cash them! But WE DO WITH CHIPS! I guess they are "scared of those new-fangled electronic ticket takers". /rantover

Quote: pacomartin

The only thing interesting about this article, is that this is the first casino I have heard of to gather a bunch of the old machines and put them in a new casino. The search for something new and different continues.

I don't know if you speaking of just LV casinos, but Resorts AC added $1 coin slots a little more than a year ago. The article written about it was basically a carbon copy of the one you posted. I believe it was briefly discussed here at the time, but I may be wrong and just be thinking about the comments that were posted on the article's website.

edit: found it.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-04-03-atlantic-city-real-coin-slot-machines_N.htm

Seeing as how the date below your name says member since Dec 16, 2009, I'm going to guess you didn't see it here. ;)

Quote: bluefire

Seeing as how the date below your name says member since Dec 16, 2009, I'm going to guess you didn't see it here. ;)

You are confusing the date when I signed up and first posted with the date that I first visited. Now that I think of it, I believe that it was posted a few months after the original article appeared.

IMHO real coins are going to be a minor sub-market. The cost of physically handling them and the cost of producing or repairing old machines is simply too high.

But it might be just enough of an attraction to keep some small casinos out of bankruptcy.

Quote: cclub79

You are confusing the date when I signed up and first posted with the date that I first visited. Now that I think of it, I believe that it was posted a few months after the original article appeared.

I disagree. Wizards join date is oct 19. You joined in december, meaning you didn't lurk that long before you joined.

Quote: pacomartin

IMHO real coins are going to be a minor sub-market. The cost of physically handling them and the cost of producing or repairing old machines is simply too high. But it might be just enough of an attraction to keep some small casinos out of bankruptcy.

There is a cost to installing poles in the Party Pits too. Casinos will always reach out to some segment they feel will be profitable for them. Real coin machines may bring some slot techs out of retirement too. Security problems, coin counting devices, ... sure there is a cost to it all, but Eastside Cannery created a special room for it and it seems to be working for them. Maybe they will even bring back Change Girls. There is not a single solitary thing the real coin machines can do that can't be simulated aurally by modern TITO machines, but if players will show up for Real Coin machines then the casinos will offer them. As strange as it seems to be a step backward its still the same old meeting-the-customers-needs.

Quote: FleaStiff

As strange as it seems to be a step backward its still the same old meeting-the-customers-needs.

I wouldn't call it a step backwards. It's just simply a different way of paying off players.

I agree it's a niche market. That's what it will remain if all the new slots are TITO. If, on the other hand, there were coin-paying versions of newer games, you may expand that market. This will happen only if there is demand for it. How to determine the demand without actually making new coin slots, though, is a tough question. Most likely slot mannufacturers would need to re-tool in order to produce new coin slots.

Mermaids.

BTW The people who set up the pinball hall of fame would have done better to set up a coin slots hall of fame instead. Hindsight retains its perfect 20/20 record, how about that?