Much the way Ethernet changed PCs from stand-alone terminals to local networks and the broadband Internet changed everything else, the full-scale networking of the slot machine will reshape the largest profit stream in the casino business.
On a clear December afternoon, Roger Thomas was completing a four-month renovation of the high-limit slot-machine room at the Wynn Las Vegas resort.
Customers could buy Internet time on a card and check email on any number of computers, but most would play the slot machine-style games.
"Nowadays you come to town, you stick your little card in the slot machine next to some blue-haired lady smoking away and try to figure out how many points you need for a buffet, " says Poster.
And then magic struck-the online slot machine displayed three identical icons, each saying PAY MY BILLS. A window popped up announcing Wang as the grand-prize winner.
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Like a loose slot machine, the infinite scroll gives users fast access to variable rewards.
But if you're at CES this week, and feeling a little glum, just think of Adelson and plunk a few quarters in the nearest slot machine.
Facebook can addict us the way a slot machine might, with intermittent and unpredictable rewards.
In 2010, New York's inspector general examined his and other legislative leaders' role in giving a video slot machine contract for the Aqueduct racetrack to a consortium that was later disqualified.
If you're looking at something in Las Vegas that is shiny and aglow, either you're standing next to one of the Parliament-puffing sexagenarians forging a deep personal bond with a slot machine or you're at the International Consumer Electronics Show.
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The organization, Allied Veterans of the World, runs nearly 50 Internet parlors with computerized slot machine-style games, which are normally legal in Florida if most of the proceeds go to charity.
It seems to me the odds are better than playing a slot machine.
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Nearly all of us have played a slot machine, but ultimately, we figure out the rules and patterns and come to understand that the game is designed to take our money, so we move on.
Duncan was among 50 people arrested in a handful of states last week, and authorities said he was a leader in the organization accused of running nearly 50 gambling parlors offering computer slot machine-style games.
While IGT may have fallen behind in coming up with flashy new games, the company manages to keep its customers in line by dominating the back room with accounting software that keeps a real-time record of the money that's being won and lost on each slot machine.
Under Arizona law, they can sell their slot-machine rights to another tribe, and so receive a modest income from the Salt River Pima, who enjoy a better location near Phoenix.
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