Light & Wonder ’ s Cash Spin can link different table games to the same progressive jackpot
Under CEO and President David Lopez , AGS certainly has been a pioneer in table-game progressives , and has launched innovative new felt games , side bets and even utility products in a table division that is only eight years old . In the realm of innovation in the pit , AGS is joined by longtime table suppliers like Light & Wonder , London-based end-to-end table supplier TCSJohnHuxley , side bet and system specialist Galaxy Gaming , and even fintech and slot supplier Everi , which recently launched its own proprietary table-game operating system .
Xtreme Progressives
But Bonus Spin Xtreme and its predecessor product from AGS , the STAX progressive system , serve as a microcosm of the way technology has increased revenues in the pit .
“ We have at this point two award-winning progressive platforms between STAX and Bonus Spin Xtreme ,” says John Hemberger , senior vice president of table products for AGS .
STAX offers five multi-level progressive jackpots , including a lifechanging top award , any of which can be won with an optional side bet . A Must-Hit pool , which displays the Mystery Must-Hit Progressive Declared Value to players , adds anticipation and excitement as the jackpot nears its threshold .
Bonus Spin Xtreme applies a unique trigger to each table game , allowing the two-level Bonus Spin wheel — a grand prize spin for the triggering player along with a secondary jackpot for each player at the table — even on games such as roulette and craps that never hosted progressives before , in addition to baccarat , sic bo , and poker , along with the traditional blackjack version .
As a third prize , Bonus Spin Xtreme incorporates the mystery musthit-by progressive ; when triggered , the system selects one of the players with the progressive bet down for that prize .
The system has been a smash hit , not only at the Palms , but everywhere it is utilized . It ’ s increased house hold , but players love it , too . The progressive jackpot on Bonus Spin Xtreme at the Borgata in Atlantic City had surpassed $ 1.2 million as of mid-March . The Borgata features 17 tables with the linked Bonus Spin Xtreme progressive jackpot on multiple table games including blackjack and Criss Cross Poker .
( That jackpot would be a record for Bonus Spin Xtreme , and the largest AGS progressive prize since a player at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in Florida hit a $ 1.2 million jackpot on AGS ’ Super 4 Progressive Jackpot .)
“ Interestingly enough , with Bonus Spin Xtreme , the idea started with
Jamie Abrahamson ( senior director of table game content ) prior to him being a part of our team internally at AGS ,” says Hemberger . “ That was something that he had seen with the original Bonus Spin product out in the field — single wheel , a single person spinning it .”
Abrahamson had been an independent inventor in the progressive table space , his Golden Tie group having worked with the former Scientific Games , which distributed his casino baccarat progressive . Shortly after AGS acquired the original Bonus Spin product from Aristocrat , Abrahamson worked with
AGS on potential improvements to the product .
“ Shortly thereafter , Jamie came on board to head up our content creation ,” Hemberger recalls . “ And , he ’ s been an integral part of the full development process of that product , continuing to add features and increasing the overall power that platform offers when it comes to linking a casino floor up to a single jackpot .”
Progressive Progress
The AGS systems are part of a growing market for table-game progressives . “ Trend-wise , there seem to be a lot of innovations around progressives ,” says Mike McKiski , senior vice president , global table games for Light & Wonder . “ You ’ ll see from our latest version of GM Atlas ( NXS Command II ), our progressives have been where a lot of the focus has been lately . I think players and customers are shifting their attention there .”
The GM Atlas platform comes with a “ packet ” of side-bet products operators can link to their table games . The tables now can be linked to a multi-game , multi-level progressive called Cash Spin .
Cash Spin uses individual game triggers to activate a three-jackpot progressive bonus , displaying a bonus wheel under the three jackpot meters . When a player hits the bonus trigger , the wheel spins to land on slices displaying dollar awards ranging from $ 175 to $ 875 , and three progressive jackpots , resetting at $ 2,000 , $ 20,000 and $ 50,000 .
Cash Spin also can link different table games to the same progressive jackpot . “ Traditionally , I have a blackjack progressive and I have a specialty game progressive ,” says McKiski . “ Now , they ’ re saying , I want one table game progressive . We can do that — we can link a blackjack game to a Three Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold ’ em game and account for the different volatilities in those games and for the different likelihoods in those jackpot triggers going off .”
The next step for Cash Spin and other progressives is linking jackpots between multiple properties .
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