At this year's Global Gaming Expo in September, professionals in the online gaming industry got their first glimpse at a technological advancement that promises to revolutionize the online gambling world.  The new technology, which introduces server-based casinos, will allow players to walk up to slot machines, insert a slot club card and start playing from a list of their favorite casino games. The server-based casinos will even print out a voucher for a free meal at one of the casino's restaurants if it is the player’s birthday.  Experts in the industry believe that the server-based casinos have what it takes to increase the appeal of slot machines in the same way that ticket in, ticket out technology did. In fact, so optimistic are professionals about the new technology that regulators are slowly advancing the rules and technical standards to equipment manufacturers and casino operators so that field trials can begin next year.

International Game Technology, from Reno, and its competitor Alliance Gaming of Las Vegas, are both major players in server-based games and are both excited about bringing this new technology to the market.  Neither, however, is talking much about how it will change a slot player's experience, as they don't want to tip the balance in favor of one of their competitors. Not surprisingly, the early stages of the trials will focus on how the technology can make the slots more profitable for operators.

"Today, if I have a slot floor with 2,000 machines and I want to make changes, I'd have to go to each and every one of them, open them up and change out the components," said Ed Rogic, the spokesman for International Game Technology.  "Not only does that take a lot of time, but the machines are down for that period of time."

In contrast, server-based games require almost no downtime because every machine is linked electronically to a central computer file server and changes can be made in the time it takes for a software download.

While Nevada regulators have taken a cautious approach to approving standards, it appears that final approvals will be adopted by early this year.  At that time, field trials will be conducted on a limited number of games and systems.  This will allow casino companies to determine just how much revenue will actually be generated by the technological advancements.  Analysts, predict that casino operators will be pleased with what they learn.

Posted on: January 6, 2006

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