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Atlantic City Casinos Cash in on Coinless Systems9 June 2003ATLANTIC CITY -- As reported by the Press of Atlantic City: “ Some 186 casinos in North America operate 99,000 slot machines that accept and dispense tickets instead of coins, and casino executives everywhere talk about ticket slots as if they're becoming standard equipment. “Yet here, in the world's second-largest casino market, only one casino company and 12 percent of the 38,000 slots use a ticket, or coinless, system. “Even Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, scheduled to open next month, has yet to receive approval to operate what would be the country's largest casino floor entirely devoid of coins. “The reason for the haves and have-nots is the casinos' choice of ticket systems. “Park Place Entertainment chose International Game Technology's EZ Pay and got a 20-month head start on its competitors. “…Today, 40 percent of the 11,300 slots at Bally's, Caesars and Hilton use EZ Pay. They plan to be entirely EZ Pay next year. “Borgata and the other casinos chose an Alliance Gaming Corp. system, which just now is nearing the end of testing by the DGE slot lab. “…The Trump casinos are in the process of choosing which ticket system to use while Borgata, Harrah's, Showboat, Resorts, Tropicana, and Sands plan to use an Alliance system. “…Whatever the system, ticket slots - also called coinless or cashless slots - are no fad. A Goldman Sachs survey of 149 casinos released in April found that 39 percent were using ticket slots, up from 8 percent two years earlier. “…Although slot managers like the labor savings associated with ticket slots, the technology has not cost anyone a job at the three Park Place casinos here, company spokesman Brian Cahill said…” |