Casino News Article of the Month: Highlights of Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas

News to start off the month of December deserves a reflection on the events at the Las Vegas Global Gaming Expo in November. G2E, as it is known to many casino industry professionals, brings together gambling companies from around the world, not to mention the players themselves. One of the highlights of this years expo was a player talkback session with casino executives and slot machine manufacturers. What the talkback amounted to, essentially, were players giving their two cents worth of complaints and suggestions while the execs quietly and patiently took notes. What made the session productive was the straightforward, no-nonsense suggestions of the players, speaking up about all of the things which angst and annoy all of us when gambling in brick 'n mortar casinos. The main complaints were about cheap comps, boring slot machines and receiving too many mailings with lackluster offerings and outdated promotions. For instance, one player said that he sees casinos advertise "new" slot machines which have actually been on the casino floor for several months prior. Another player said she spends more in gas to drive to the casino than the value of cheap, trinket comps the casino gives back to her for spending an evening of gambling. Another concern of players, which incidentally, was a frequented topic of discussion at G2E, are server based slot machines. Similar to those of online casinos, server based slot machines can be changed out and downloaded in a matter of seconds. Players will have more options in terms of new themes and games, which is a major plus. However, there is a serious concern that casino operators will seek to selectively change payouts on certain machines, which the server technology facilitates. This, the players say, is a major breach of trust, which may keep them from gambling at casinos offering server-based slot machines.