Slot machines have a single cash out button. Press it, and everything in the machine is returned to you, generally today as a ticket, but in rare situations it could be coins, and in a growing number of scenarios could be a deposit to your cashless gaming balance.
Why is that your only option? That’s the general idea behind today’s question:
My budget is $100. Lady Luck looks favorably upon me and I hit a $500 bonus round about 30 minutes in. I’d like to pocket that $500 and continue playing my favorite machine for as long as my original $100 lasts.
I could cash out, cash the ticket at a terminal, pocket $500, and hope that my favorite machine is still available when I get back. Or I could continuously monitor the balance on the machine to make sure I don’t dip into that $500. But that means my slot play is more “work” instead of mindless fun because I’m constantly monitoring my balance.
However, if I had the option to withdraw $500 from my balance (through a cash out voucher), I’m able to pocket the $500 and keep playing whatever amount is left from my original $100.
I’m sure the technology involved with programming this feature is not insurmountable. Why (or why not) would this be a feature a casino would make available?
Lucky Larry
The primary reason would simply be the dominos to fall to make this happen. It starts with casino regulations. Regulations around cashing out on machines date back to the coin hoppers when a credit meter was introduced, instead of coins always falling out on any win. With a credit meter, players could put money in, play as long as a balance was there, and choose to cash out the balance on that meter at any time, paying out the amount was on the meter.
The requirements of how that works, including the existence of a cash out button, was put into the regulations. As ticket in/ticket out (TITO) systems came around, those regulations were updated to factor in that format, and now with cashless gaming the ability to send your cash back into your balance.
But in all these scenarios the cash out mechanism was a single button, and an all or nothing approach. Introducing an option that you could withdraw part or all of your money would be new functionality. First, regulations would need to catch up to allow for this scenario. Then, the gaming systems (such as the operating systems that slots and other electronic games run on) would need to be updated to allow for the feature. Then, casinos would need to enable the functionality (as oftentimes these additional features are made available as options, not necessarily standard, especially when new).
As you point out, all of this is technically possible to do, but when you have dozens of regulatory jurisdictions (states, tribes, etc.), dozens of game makers, and hundreds of casinos, this would be far from a simple process to see such a scenario roll out. Imagine some game makers being quicker to roll it out and then you have some slots that offer it, others that don’t, etc. Imagine a casino company where this is allowed in one state they operate but not another, etc.
So then you go to more practical questions, such as how often would such a feature get used? Would having more steps to cashing out create frustrations (many players were initially confused when slots started asking “Yes/No” confirmation on cashing out as a second step). And are there other ways to do these things that already exist that could save a whole lot of time, money and energy to introduce the capability?
The reality is it hasn’t reached a critical point where such a feature has been in high demand, but never say never. The casino world isn’t the quickest moving when it comes to technology and functionality – it’s enough of an issue that Nevada’s regulatory head has been speaking to changes that will speed up the process in the future.
But for now, it’s one of those things that’s held back by “the way things have been done” and the rulebooks that govern it moreso than the ability to introduce it as a feature from a technology perspective. Until such time, watching out the meter or breaking down your ticket are likely your best bets for managing things.
Or you can do what some players do and add money more slowly (say, $20 at a time), and then cash out the big ticket and replace with another $20 bill, effectively splitting the difference. It’s not a perfect play down the $100 approach, but still locks in a gain while allowing you to take the win out and put the budget it. And at least then you aren’t forced to watch the meter so closely.
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