[C O L U M N I S T ]
Don’t lose sight of
the beauty of slots
Mr Green’s new head of casino Andy Braithwaite urges operators
not to ignore a well-made slot in favour of flashy graphics
I have a confession to make:
I love slots, I play slots, I
invariably (wilfully and
willingly) lose money on
slots. What brought me to
this business was precisely that; if I was
going to lose so much money playing online
slots, I may as well make some money back
from that passion somehow.
Had I been a poker player in those days
I would have been viewed as some kind of
Steve McQueen figure among my peers
(despite the fact that I would be more likely
to be the introverted Maths geek from
school). As it was, I received quizzical,
almost pitying looks and was viewed as
less Steve McQueen and more the elderly
widow with an oversized cup full of pennies
pulling the one-armed bandits in the casino
smoking room. Mercifully for my street
cred, slots began to improve rapidly, and I
have converted almost every poker player I
have worked with to the joy of slots.
Obviously my direct intervention hasn’t
been necessary in every case. As online slot
mechanics improved and graphics became
more and more sophisticated it opened
I
them up to a whole new demographic.
Recently though, I am beginning to
worry that it’s all going too far. That we
are faced with a host of new slots that my
Granddad would probably have described
as “all fur coat and no knickers”. Those of
you less crude in their language than him
may make the observation that they had
become too concerned with how they look
and less about their substance.
What can developers learn?
A fellow casino manager (a big burly
Norwegian fella) recently confessed to me
that his all-time favourite slot was Kitty
Glitter. This is a game that graphically
consists of a host of cute looking cats
and cat bowls full of diamonds to trigger
the bonus game. It’s one of my all-time
favourites too. Time after time we have
spurned games filled with buxom ladies,
guns and fast cars for the excitement of
seeing Persian moggies line up in the Kitty
free spins round. What makes this game
great is the bonus game, the volatility, the
unpredictability and the potential for big
wins. Net Entertainment’s Dead or Alive is
I understand the importance that beautifullooking slots play in acquiring new customers,
but if we don’t manage to get them onto the more
mechanically and mathematically exciting games
then they won’t be playing in a year's time
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similar. It’s an old game, it has dated graphics
but a brief look at the Casinomeister forum
will show you just how much of a cult game
it is among hardcore slotters.
I’ve had a good look at Microgaming’s
Avalon 2. They’ve obviously put a lot into
it, and I really hope it’s as good as the
original, which in slot terms is a veritable
OAP having been released back in 2008.
Don’t get me wrong; there are some
amazing games being made currently and
I am still as big a fan of slots as I always
was, but we are at the tipping point. Nor
am I advocating that all slots should be
high variance.
I also understand the importance that
beautiful-looking slots play in acquiring
new customers, but if we don’t manage to
get them onto the more mechanically and
mathematically exciting games then they
won’t be playing in a year's time.
What does this mean for operators?
Firstly, make sure your casino manager
loves slots. Sadly, some don’t. A
casino manager with that passion will
understand the need to introduce their
players to a wide range of different games,
knowing that they’ll find their favourites.
They won’t simply put the cutest, newest,
flashiest games in promotions and all over
your valuable homepage.
They will also be best prepared to decide
which providers you should offer and in
which markets (tastes vary of course).
These days, when so many of us have
multiple providers, it means you get an
informed choice of what should work
without simply adding every single game
to your already bulging site, which comes
with the associated risk that the first few
slots a new player chooses are all poorly
designed and they never come back.
Do it right and you’ll end up with
increased revenues from happy players
– not just happy winners, but contented
losers too who have been thoroughly
entertained for t