Ask the Slot Expert: Here yesterday, gone today - Part 2

Last week I asked you to think about things that used to be on the casino floor but are not there today.

My example last week was the Cash/Credit button on some slot machines. Someone realized that slot players could play faster if machines didn't have to drop coins for a win and players didn't have to insert coins for each spin. Ecce credit meter.

When I first started playing slots, I had to remember to press the Cash/Credit button to ensure my winnings would go to the credit meter and not be paid with coins dropped into the coin tray.

Speaking of obsolete buttons, the early video slots from the Australian Invasion of the early 21st century were multi-coin/multi-line. They had one row of buttons to let you choose how many coins you wanted to play and another row to let you choose how many coins to play on each line.

I haven't seen a machine with both sets of buttons in a long time. I don't think any recently (within the last decade, or so) manufactured machine has them. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) Today you can choose denomination and how much you want to bet. You play the number of lines determined by the denomination.

You may find a machine with both rows of buttons, but I bet you it's an old machine.

I can think of two other things that are no longer on slot machines: side-mounted bill acceptors and side-mounted slot card readers. Thirty-something years ago, bill acceptors and slot clubs were new ideas. The hardware needed to support them had to be retro-fitted onto the machines. Today's machines, of course, have the hardware built into the cabinets.

The technology that has caused the most changes to the slot floor is undoubtedly TITO (ticket-in-ticket-out). Think of all the things associated with coin/token play that have disappeared:

• Slot attendants pushing around carts filled with rolls of coins and trays of tokens.
• Change redemption stations.
• Coin buckets.
• Token trays.

You've probably seen videos of kids trying to use a rotary phone or not knowing what a cassette or floppy disk is.

I'd like to get a group of young casino players together. Show them coin buckets and token trays and say that these used to be common on slot floors. Then see if they can tell me what they were used for.

If you would like to see more non-smoking areas on slot floors in Las Vegas, please sign my petition on change.org.

Send your slot and video poker questions to John Robison, Slot Expert™, at slotexpert@slotexpert.com.

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