Attracting Slots Players to Live Casino Games

neilw

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Like a lot of affiliates and igaming webmasters, I attended ICE 2017 last week. Unlike most of them, I ignored the bright lights of the slots developers and headed for the Live Casino operators.

I learnt so much speaking to them about what is going on in the industry and what the trends are for this coming year. If you're interested you can read my full report
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One of the trends is the development of news games & side bets to enable casinos to cross-sell live casino games to Slot players or players that are nervous of playing live games.

Evolution for example have just released a Live Lucky Wheel, much like the ones you see in land-based casinos, with multipliers to give 1000x bet payouts.

Authentic Gaming are releasing a side bet for Roulette called Lucky Ball that will pay 100x your stake.

I'm interested to know whether these sorts of games would attract you to try live casino. If not, what would (if you know a live game that's not available that gives you the same kick as slots then name it), otherwise what sort of feture added to an existing game would.

Or are the developers just barking up the wrong tree?

I'm interested in any views, whatever they may be.
 
The developers may be overestimating the slot player's interest in live games. There is a very clear demarcation between slots and table games, live or not. If you look at those piss-awful bingo sites, they have slots as the side game - for a reason. That is because bingo is such a slow relatively non-stimulating game which requires no input from the player, unlike slots. Many a slot addict (if you read the Gamcare forum) has appeared because of initially playing them next to tedious bingo.

We have as an example going back to the 90's where bookmaker shops (before the vile intrusion of FOBTs) started running 'Superball' type of games to get punters betting between races, which on some days if only one meeting due to weather would only be every half hour for horses or 20 minutes for greyhounds. This is the fundamental reason for this proposition - increasing the casino take for any given time period.

In terms or cortex stimulation, slots are the most addictive form of gambling simply because they provide a near-instant result for the stake spent, unlike racing, bingo, card or lottery games. Casinos know this, so are focussing 'instant hit' roulette type games alongside slots obviously having witnessed the roaring success they have had in bookies where the addicts created by them provide far more gain than the old-style horse and dogs punter ever did.

Personally I think it's an overload on the slots player and a bad idea for responsible gambling as players will be able to partake in TWO 'instant buzz' activities at once. Then again, who cares if it makes big bucks?

Also take into consideration a slot player often stakes pennies and can play for hours with relatively little gain for the casino - that player will more likely raise stakes and chase on roulette/wheel games than slots.

So yes, I can see the reasoning behind it but as a slot player if I wanted to spin a stupid wheel I'd play table games and not slots. They are shepherding customers to where they think they will make more from them.
 
There'll always be the two or three types of gamblers, I don't think merging games is going to appeal to anyone, especially slot players. Live games are more social and interactive, and slots cater to those who want a quiet wind-down to their day.

With say Roulette, the potential winnings are capped and often in the sub- 10x range, so hypothetically speaking even a Live Lucky Wheel with 1000x wins isn't going to make me switch to live games in the long run. :cool:

Best to leave slots in their current format and offer punters a seamless experience in each category than try to invent Roulette Slots Poker and palm it off as a great idea.
 
There'll always be the two or three types of gamblers, I don't think merging games is going to appeal to anyone, especially slot players. Live games are more social and interactive, and slots cater to those who want a quiet wind-down to their day.

That's my feeling too. I play table games, it's what I like and I very rarely play the sides bets as I know they are better for the house and will decimate my bankroll pretty quickly if I don't hit a hand.

Playtech were one of the first to provide mini games while you play at the tables, but imagine that they only appeal to a small subset of players. If I was a slot player I wouldn't want to play a small screened version of a slot, as it takes the fund out of the immersive experience you get wehn playing fullscreen.

As Dunover says it looks more about squeezing more money out of players and increasing the reach than anything else.
 

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