Page 6 - January 2010 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Bill Burton: About Gambling
AI Decade of Casino Changes
t seems as if each year goes by faster than the year before. Every year at this time, I like to take a few moments to re ect on the past year and look ahead to the future. While it is hard to believe that it is the end of 2009 already, it is even harder to believe that it was ten years
ago that we worried that the Y2K bug would cause a technology meltdown that would wreak havoc on our daily lives.
at never happened, but over that last ten years we have faced many challenging times. We have had ups and downs
both emotionally and
nancially, and we have
had to ride the wave
through the good and
the bad. I am an optimist
by nature and I honestly
believe that going through
the bad times only makes
me appreciate the good
times even more. Life can
be like a trip to the casino.
You have winning sessions
and losing sessions, and
the losing sessions make
the winning ones more
special. Even if times
seem bleak, we can all
nd something to be
thankful fo: our health,
family, friends or anything else we hold dear. I have a sign hanging on the wall in my o ce that reads:
“An optimist is a person who expects his dreams to come true, while a pessimist is one who expects his nightmares to.”
Some Interesting Changes
As I was getting ready to write this column, I looked back over some of the changes that took place in casinos over the last ten years, and thought it would be interesting to note some of them.
In the year 2000, very few people around the country had ever heard of the poker game Texas Hold ’em. Only 512 players were entered in the World Series of Poker® Main Event, and winner Chris Ferguson won $1.5
e only way to accommodate those players was to lower the denomination of the machine. At rst there was a switch to nickel denomination machines that allowed the play of maximum coins without going broke. However, slot makers kept adding lines and the number of coins that could be played, and by 2006 the penny machine started to take over.
Coinless machines also made it possible to o er multi-denomination games in the same slot machine.
You can switch from playing pennies or nickels to quarters or dollars without ever leaving your seat.
the Megabucks® game in Nevada reset to $7 million when it was hit. Now, it resets to $10 million each time. Million-dollar progressive jackpots are now even o ered on penny slot games, although in reality you have to play a few dollars worth of pennies to achieve the maximum bet required to qualify for the top prize.
million dollars for rst place. Several years later in 2006, there was a record number of 8,773 players in the Main Event, and winner Jamie “The biggest changes of the last Gold won a record $12
ten years at the casino have been to slot machines. The most widely accepted change in the casino industry has been the ticket-in/ticket-out system that replaced the need for coins in slot machines. The change came about faster than the replacement of vinyl records
million.
e biggest changes
e number of slot games o ering life-changing progressive jackpots has grown over the last few years. And these machines o er bigger jackpots. Prior to 2005,
with CDs.”
what antiquated now that the majority of slots have bill acceptors and payout
lost the opportunity to exercise our upper bodies by pulling the handle.
ese are just a few of the changes that came about in the casino in the last decade, and just as no one could have predicted everything that happened over the last ten years, no one can predict what the next decade will bring. It’s a sure bet is that there will be some new and innovative changes to the casino oor in the next few years, and I’m looking forward to enjoying my casino visits for many years to come.
I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and hope your dreams come true.
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes.. Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the author of 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets and Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available online at www.billburton.com. Burton is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps: www.thecrapsclub.com.
of the last ten years at
the casino have been to
slot machines. e most
widely accepted change
in the casino industry has
been the ticket-in/ticket-
out system that replaced
the need for coins in slot
machines. e change
came about faster than
the replacement of vinyl
records with CDs. e
term slot machine is some- disappeared from most new machines, and we have
When I started visiting casinos, all slot machines had handles that you pulled to spin the wheels.
is is why slot machines were called “one armed bandits.” Alas, over the last ten years these “arms” have
with a ticket (voucher) instead of coins.
Casinos and players both embraced the switch to
coinless machines immediately, and the technology made it possible for slot makers to o er new games that would not have been possible or practical if players had to use actual coins in the machines.
In the early years of this decade, video slot machines started gaining popularity as computer technology was incorporated into the slot machines. e technology allowed slot makers to add additional lines to slot games along with increasing the number of coins that could be played on each line. Many of the new games o er the option to play so many coins that sometimes it can be cost-prohibitive for the average person to play the maximum coins each spin.
Page 6
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
January 2010
About Gambling with Bill Burton