As slot machines have evolved, one thing largely hasn’t – the giant spin button. Ever since the transition from the one-arm bandit era where you had to literally pull that handle, to the more modern days, the bigger-sized spin button has survived and persisted. Some slots now have two (one one each side), and even when a slot has a digital panel, a physical spin button persists.
But that means that pretty much all slots are perceptible to button slapping, a scourge on the ears and minds of so many slot players. Today’s question asks whether slot makers can solve for this:
Could slot manufacturers stop all the button slapping by making the button flush with the panel or even recessed so that the button would have to be depressed within the panel? There’s no way to slap a button that is not raised. Of course that would not stop screen slappers, but if the screens are broken, the casino is more likely to catch the culprit.
Karen P.
You’re probably right that changing the way the button’s set up would certainly discourage the practice. We’ve even recalled scenarios where casinos purposefully put a raised device around the “Service” button so players don’t hit it accidentally as much as they do without one, reducing the amount of slots to check (and making slot tech jobs easier – or needing less of them as the case probably was).
Here’s the problem – that’s a pretty drastic fix for the bulk of us who would then have to reach inside crevices and hit those buttons, and ergonomically that’s not going to be nearly as comfortable for longer sessions than the status quo.
Instead, slot makers will put the slot machine cabinets through their paces, to ensure they can take a beating – sometimes literally, in the case of equipment that will be offered up for slot tournaments.
So those buttons are battle tested for a lot of physical abuse. And when they do eventually wear out, they’ve also been set up to be easily swapped and/or fixed as needed to ensure a slot can stick around for an extended period on the floor.
The calculus for slot makers is simple – how much aggravation – and lost wagers – will machines see by changing the setup of the machines to stop button slapping, but irritate a lot of other players in the process?
Like many things in the slot industry, various things on a slot machine cabinet go through rounds of user testing (in this case, feedback from slot players) to see how people like various setups. The fact the physical spin button has survived in the same general concept for decades is a strong indication we as players like them, and are used to them.
Slot machine button slappers are certainly an annoyance for many, but the alternative would likely be a lot more so.
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