AP Features, February 5th, 2007
The clinking sounds of coins and tokens hitting the metal trays of slot machines at Connecticut's two casinos will be gone by the end of the year.
Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun are joining casinos across the country in changing to electronic ticketing systems for their slot machines.
Casino officials and gaming analysts say players and employees often find it difficult to handle coins. They say the ticket system will make play faster and easier, and provides another way to reward players with bonuses. It also frees up some floor space because casinos will be able to get rid of their coin redemption machines.
Mohegan Sun, in Uncasville, is using the new space to build four lounges with more slots.
To start play on the slots, players insert bills or tickets with credits. The slots will print out credited tickets when players cash out.
Foxwoods and Mohegan sun, which have a combined total of more than 13,000 slot machines, have already converted some of their slots and plan to finish changing all of them by the end of the year.
The ticket system was met with apprehension at first in Las Vegas.
"In the beginning, most people said, 'There's no way I want to do this,'" said Anthony Curtis, president of LasVegasAdvisor.com. "It's just a matter of them getting used to change. Almost everybody converts and says, 'Yes, this is better.'"
Suzanne Davidson of West Haven is a convert. She played one of Mohegan Sun's 3,000 coinless, low-denomination slot machines on a recent day.
"I didn't know that I was going to like it as well, but I do," she said.
Researchers who study gambling problems, however, say slots may become more addictive when the play is faster.
"I don't know if there's been any research on this, but the common belief among problem-gambling experts is that speed of play is linked to addictive potential," said Christopher Armentano, director of the state's Compulsive Gambling Treatment Program.
Frank Neborsky, vice president of slot operations at Mohegan Sun, disputes that claim, saying most gamblers are responsible and stick to their limits.
"If somebody has a problem, it doesn't matter if they're using coin or whether they're using Popsicle sticks," Neborsky said. "They're going to find a way to play."
Foxwoods officials say nearly all the casino's 7,200 slot machines will be coinless by the fall.
Slot machine tickets can be bought and redeemed at ATM-style kiosks at both casinos.
The ticket system helps cut costs because casinos can merge coin and cage departments and no longer need to keep large amounts of coins in their vaults, industry officials say.
"It's another little example of how the gaming industry is really becoming advanced and using technology and moving forward," said Mitchell Etess, Mohegan Sun's president and chief executive.
