White’s tie to the old Wheel of Fortune television show ignited the industry 20 years ago, inspiring a brand of “Wheel of Fortune” slot machines that took over casino floors. “It almost doubled the velocity of money.”įor those in a mood for nostalgia, the gaming convention kicked off with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman presenting Vanna White with a key to the city.

“Machines today will get maybe 500 spins an hour or more, whereas in the old days, you were lucky to get 200 to 300 spins per hour,” Yoseloff said. Speed of spins also equates to more revenue. And having cash tied up for hours at at time in the bellies of machines on the floor - it could be millions of dollars at a time in the old days - is a big brake on profits. He said that, as with banks, casinos’ main product is cash. Mark Yoseloff, executive director of the Center for Gaming Innovation at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, said coin machines can’t keep up with the lifeblood that makes casinos run - something called “the velocity of money.”

“It’s become more and more difficult to find parts for them, but we have a few slots we can take parts from still.” “Those machines will be around as long as we can keep them working,” Fitzgerald said.

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