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Slot Payouts to Loosen for Marketing
Turning 'em loose
Slot payout rankings deal casinos new marketing card
By JEFF SIMPSON
GAMING WIRE
If you listen closely, you can hear the cogs grinding in casino marketing bosses' brains.
Newly released rankings of slot machine payout percentages, widely considered secretive or unavailable, show which Las Vegas casinos set their nickel machines with the best and worst payouts.
And that's why experts say the casino ad gurus will be soon be unleashing a media barrage, chock-full of the words "loose," "looser" and "loosest."
The expected marketing barrage is due to the work of Las Vegas gambling odds expert Michael Shackleford, who experts say has at least partially exposed one of the biggest secrets in Nevada casino business.
The former federal government actuary used specification sheets and sophisticated computer analysis to determine which payout setting casinos chose for some of the most popular nickel video reel machines, including International Game Technology's Wheel of Fortune and Austin Powers and WMS Industries' Reel 'em In.
George Maloof, whose 5-month-old Palms topped the rankings, said he was surprised by Shackleford's ability to figure the payouts.
"This is fantastic," Maloof said. "It's an independent survey, and we're in a favorable light, so of course we'll be using it in our marketing. We'll exploit it. We'd be foolish not to."
Palms gamblers received 93.4 cents back from every dollar wagered, with returns at a handful of other locals casinos and Strip grind joints clustered close to Maloof's top score.
When can Las Vegans expect the Palms to start touting its top spot in Shackleford's survey?
"We're working on how to use it right now," Maloof said recently. "It's true, and if we have it, why not promote it?"
The range between payout percentages at the top and bottom casinos was almost 7 percent, meaning that a bettor at The Venetian, the last-place casino, would expect to get back an average of 86.7 cents for every dollar played.
The Venetian's spokesman, Kurt Ouchida, did not return phone messages.
What makes Shackleford's survey so significant is that slot players haven't had the information before.
Table games bettors and video poker gamblers can easily find out just how much of an advantage the casino has over their games.
Computer simulations using known rules, pay tables and a 52-card deck make figuring those payouts relatively easy, and those results are widely published.
But gamblers who play reel slots, either the traditional mechanical models or the newer video versions, haven't known how much of an advantage those machines are set up to have.
Nevada gambling rules require that slot machines be set up to pay out at least 75 percent of the money bet.
Beyond that, unless a casino chooses to post a machine's payout percentage on the device, gamblers don't know how much reel slots are expected to hold, and casinos haven't been able to pitch loosely set slots as having better payouts than those at competing casinos.
And that's why experts think Shackleford's work will soon be touted on casino marquees, billboards, television commercials and newspaper ads.
Dale Hambleton, director of slots for the Rampart Casino at the Resort at Summerlin, said marketing executives are always looking for a way to set their casinos apart.
"Will we market these numbers?" asked Hambleton, whose property had the second-best payout return at 93.1 percent. "Of course, we will. Slot players never knew payouts for the video reels before this survey, so we'd be foolish not to advertise how we compare with casinos all over Las Vegas."
Slot marketing expert and Las Vegas advertising executive Ray Brown said using the survey is a no-brainer for the top-ranked properties.
"To be able to claim the best of something is a big advantage," Brown said. "Slot players know that the better the payout percentage, the longer they'll be able to play the machines. And time and again surveys tell us that the most important factor for players is the time spent at the device."
IGT Vice President of Marketing Ed Rogich agreed Shackleford's survey will become a marketing tool.
"If (casinos) want to use this as a marketing differentiation, they'll be able to," Rogich said.
Slot payout rankings deal casinos new marketing card
By JEFF SIMPSON
GAMING WIRE
If you listen closely, you can hear the cogs grinding in casino marketing bosses' brains.
Newly released rankings of slot machine payout percentages, widely considered secretive or unavailable, show which Las Vegas casinos set their nickel machines with the best and worst payouts.
And that's why experts say the casino ad gurus will be soon be unleashing a media barrage, chock-full of the words "loose," "looser" and "loosest."
The expected marketing barrage is due to the work of Las Vegas gambling odds expert Michael Shackleford, who experts say has at least partially exposed one of the biggest secrets in Nevada casino business.
The former federal government actuary used specification sheets and sophisticated computer analysis to determine which payout setting casinos chose for some of the most popular nickel video reel machines, including International Game Technology's Wheel of Fortune and Austin Powers and WMS Industries' Reel 'em In.
George Maloof, whose 5-month-old Palms topped the rankings, said he was surprised by Shackleford's ability to figure the payouts.
"This is fantastic," Maloof said. "It's an independent survey, and we're in a favorable light, so of course we'll be using it in our marketing. We'll exploit it. We'd be foolish not to."
Palms gamblers received 93.4 cents back from every dollar wagered, with returns at a handful of other locals casinos and Strip grind joints clustered close to Maloof's top score.
When can Las Vegans expect the Palms to start touting its top spot in Shackleford's survey?
"We're working on how to use it right now," Maloof said recently. "It's true, and if we have it, why not promote it?"
The range between payout percentages at the top and bottom casinos was almost 7 percent, meaning that a bettor at The Venetian, the last-place casino, would expect to get back an average of 86.7 cents for every dollar played.
The Venetian's spokesman, Kurt Ouchida, did not return phone messages.
What makes Shackleford's survey so significant is that slot players haven't had the information before.
Table games bettors and video poker gamblers can easily find out just how much of an advantage the casino has over their games.
Computer simulations using known rules, pay tables and a 52-card deck make figuring those payouts relatively easy, and those results are widely published.
But gamblers who play reel slots, either the traditional mechanical models or the newer video versions, haven't known how much of an advantage those machines are set up to have.
Nevada gambling rules require that slot machines be set up to pay out at least 75 percent of the money bet.
Beyond that, unless a casino chooses to post a machine's payout percentage on the device, gamblers don't know how much reel slots are expected to hold, and casinos haven't been able to pitch loosely set slots as having better payouts than those at competing casinos.
And that's why experts think Shackleford's work will soon be touted on casino marquees, billboards, television commercials and newspaper ads.
Dale Hambleton, director of slots for the Rampart Casino at the Resort at Summerlin, said marketing executives are always looking for a way to set their casinos apart.
"Will we market these numbers?" asked Hambleton, whose property had the second-best payout return at 93.1 percent. "Of course, we will. Slot players never knew payouts for the video reels before this survey, so we'd be foolish not to advertise how we compare with casinos all over Las Vegas."
Slot marketing expert and Las Vegas advertising executive Ray Brown said using the survey is a no-brainer for the top-ranked properties.
"To be able to claim the best of something is a big advantage," Brown said. "Slot players know that the better the payout percentage, the longer they'll be able to play the machines. And time and again surveys tell us that the most important factor for players is the time spent at the device."
IGT Vice President of Marketing Ed Rogich agreed Shackleford's survey will become a marketing tool.
"If (casinos) want to use this as a marketing differentiation, they'll be able to," Rogich said.