Titel New slot machine from IGT offers guaranteed playing time Autor/Erfasser externe Quelle

IGT has been testing the product at some local casinos 
(US).- A new video poker machine called "Guaranteed Play," ensures a certain amount of 
playing time, no matter how bad your luck. The device, which is expected to be offered 
in Las Vegas casinos within six months, allows players to buy a certain number of video 
poker hands up front for a set price.

This machine was conceived not in the back room of a casino or at a slot machine 
laboratory, but at inventor Jay Walker’s office in Stamford, Connecticut. For example, 
Walker’s games can offer 150 hands of "Jacks or Better" for us$ 20 and 400 hands for us$ 
40. Those hands could take 20 minutes to an hour to play. Games offer more or less hands 
for the money based on the type of video poker game and the odds that apply to that game.

The gambler should assume that he will lose his money - but that he will have enjoyed 
playing a guaranteed number of games in the meantime. "At the movies you know you’re 
getting about an hour and a half plus some popcorn," Walker said. "You don’t have that 
in a casino. We can assure customers that even before they leave their house, they know 
they’re going to be on a game for a while." 

The idea of paying for gambling the way consumers pay for dinner and a movie seems to 
remove the ancient allure of gambling, which involves taking risks and shedding 
inhibitions. Not so, according to Walker. "Human behavior is not rocket science," Walker 
said. "Consumers like packages. They like a bargain."

"Casinos want people to have a good time. I don’t have to win to have a good time. But 
if I lose my money quickly and have to leave, is that fun?" he said. The devices 
represent a breakthrough opportunity for casinos to cultivate new players, said Anthony 
Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor newsletter.

Casinos could offer a hotel guest attending a convention $20 of video poker with the 
assurance that most people would give it a shot, he said. Some players will end up 
buying more after trying out the games once or twice, he said. "I think people are 
looking for ways to justify activities they want to try but think they shouldn’t," 
Curtis said.

Walker began working with slot maker International Game Technology a few years ago to 
design the game. IGT also has a stake in Walker Digital Gaming, a Walker company that 
owns several hundred casino-related patents. IGT has been testing the machines at some 
local casinos.

For many players, the opportunity to gamble for a certain amount of time is more 
attractive than chasing the off chance that a smaller initial bet can last several 
hours - or yield a big jackpot. In focus group tests, players have said they like the 
ability to see where their money is going, said John Daley, IGT’s director of video 
poker.
Las Vegas Sun