Circus Circus’s revamp of the old Slots-A-Fun casino led to a recent media blitz, celebrating dozens of retro, mechanical reel, coin-dropping slot machines for their old-school clink-clink-clink ways. Meanwhile, the future-forward approach of “cashless” gambling is more quietly making transformative waves.
“Cashless” gambling is touted as the newest innovation in gambling. There’s a few different things to know.
First, there’s the ubiquitous TITO (ticket in/ticket out) system. Those are the coded pieces of paper that slot machines spit out in lieu of coins and dollars. Of course, TITOs typically start with actual bills going from your pocket into the machines, and end with insertion into kiosks on the casino floor where the tickets get re-configured into legal tender. So, at least semi-cashless to start!
Second, there’s the model employed at places like Resorts World and Boyd Gaming properties. This centers around a digital wallet that people pre-load with money that can digitally transfer funds to load up a machine, and then, if the gambler beats the odds and wins, can be transferred back into the wallet using a proprietary phone app.
Finally, we have a more hard-core approach that Ellis Island and some Station Casinos properties are trying, which adds an option for a vetted, evaluated credit application. If approved, this allows gamblers (again, through an app) to essentially get a digital “marker” or a credit advance (for a fee, of course). Gamblers can then access their funds directly from a slot machine with a players card and code until the authorized amount is either exhausted or winnings can be collected. Of course, if the gambler loses it all, they still have to pay back the marker!
In other words, gambling is getting easier and easier. Cashless gaming creates lower barriers and fewer trips to the ATM (not to mention physically cleaner hands).
It’s very important to note that March is Problem Gambling Awareness Month and the Nevada Gaming Commission periodically evaluates its rules to ensure the ease of the cashless revolution doesn’t give way to the trap of compulsion.
The National Problem Gambling Helpline is available around the clock by dialing 1-800-GAMBLER.
