Exploring the G2E

I have been attending the G2E for the last several years and the show just keeps getting bigger each year. Even this year with the economic slowdown the show is as big as ever. I'm glad it is a three day event because there is no way I could see everything in one day. There are at least 1,000 slot machines and probably a hundred or more table games. I spent all day Tuesday trying some of the new slot games and a few new table games. There is still plenty more to see.

All of the major slot makers are there including: Aristrocrat, Ballys, IGT, WMS and a few of the smaller slot manufacturers. Each company has an area on the convention floor displaying their games. You can play the machines to get see how they look and check out the different features of each game. Most of the slot games have already been approved by the regulatory boards in many of the gaming jurisdictions and are ready for the casino floor. The majority of the games are the "penny" slot machines with 20 or more pay lines that allow the player to wager several dollars per spin. One game I saw had 250 pay lines. I asked the slot maker when they would stop adding lines and he told me it would only happen when the players stopped playing them.

The primary focus of the new games is entertainment and more pay lines means a higher hit frequency for the game. It does not matter that a "winning spin" can pay less than your initial wager. I think it is amazing that many players have accepted the fact that a spin that pays back less is a winning spin. Call me cynical but if I wager