Summary

In this episode, Nick & guest cohost, Michael Carruthers, speak with Jeff Jordan, Founder and CEO of SlotCycle. Join us for a deep dive on the secondhand equipment sector’s players, practices, and pitfalls, and how SlotCycle’s online marketplace and service portfolio are increasing transparency, efficiency, and value for buyers and sellers. Also in this episode, buying chairs for slot environments and resisting the temptation to replace slot systems. (Our apologies for the intermittent mic issues in this episode).

Transcript

Nick Hogan:

Good morning, Michael. How are things with you today?

Michael Carruthers:

Great, Nick. It’s great to be here. I appreciate the invite.

Nick Hogan:

Oh, you betcha. Great to have you back. Now we’re in the of vacation season here in mid-July, so any big vacation plans, or other plans this summer?

Michael Carruthers:

I’m working remote this week from Wisconsin. We’re celebrating my parents’ 50th anniversary, so my entire family is here, my siblings and their spouses. And then my wife and I are planning a trip to, we’re going to Hawaii at the end of August. So after that [inaudible 00:00:39] end of the fall.

Nick Hogan:

Okay. Cool. Cool. So let’s see, Michael. So since the last time we were together, let’s see. So this week we had more news coming out of New York City regarding the three casino licenses up for grabs. On Monday, the New York City Council voted 29 to 9 to reject the proposed land use changes that were needed to advance the Bally’s Corp proposal there in the East Bronx. So unless the mayor decides to veto the council’s vote, it appears that Bally will most likely withdraw their bid joining LVS and Win, which withdrew in, I think it was April and May respectively for those guys. So in terms of whose left, it looks like we have still seven groups. And as I run these down, I’m going to just limit my mentions to the gaming companies and not their various partners. So let’s see, I counted, it’s three that are proposing a Manhattan location, so that’s Caesars Rush Street and Mohegan.

Two for Queens. One is Sentinel Hard Rock, and then the second is a proposed expansion to Genting’s Resorts World New York. Then one proposed for Coney Island led by the Chickasaw. And then lastly in Yonkers, there’s a big upgrade proposed to the MGM Empire City. So three up for grabs, and most feel that the Genting and MGM bids are safe as each is presently up, operational and ready to start generating tax revenue. And as for the other five, we’ll see, I’ve heard quite a few positive rumblings about the Hard Rock and Chickasaw bids. And call it a personal bias on my part, Michael, but I feel that these Manhattan proposals are a little bit much conceptually, and I think about the logistical challenges of just building, let alone operating a multi-billion dollar casino resort in Manhattan. I don’t know about you, but to me it sounds like a lot of moving parts.

Michael Carruthers:

It will be interesting to see what happens when Chickasaw are a couple of years in.

Nick Hogan:

Yeah, yeah, for sure. It’s been one hell of a process there, but it does look like it’s starting to coalesce around some folks now. So good to see. Okay, so listener questions, we actually have two of them this week. Before I jump into this though, let me say that we’d love to tackle any questions that anybody listening may have. So if you have a question about what we’re presenting or something you’d like us to present, please drop us an email at reelcast@reelmetrics.com. Again, that’s R-E-E-L-C-A-S-T@reelmetrics.com. Our policy is to keep all questions anonymous. So please speak directly and don’t worry about us revealing your identity. This is not something we do. Okay, so the first question, Michael, comes from an operator in Midwest, saying, “Hi guys, I’m going to need to replace chairs on my slot floor next year. And I’m curious if you’ve done any studies about seating’s impact on performance. Also, do you have any general tips about picking chairs? Thank you.”

So good question. I do not have any data points to share on seating, but as an operator, Michael, I know that you have faced this a number of times. So what say you on the general tips side of things?

Michael Carruthers:

Yeah, it’s a great question. Anecdotally, comfort equates to more time on device,. If you’re comfortable in your chair, you’re going to sit there, you’re going to play longer. Where if it’s an uncomfortable chair, you’re not going to want to be there very long.

Nick Hogan:

Absolutely.

Michael Carruthers:

So the way we approach this, or I approach this, is I look at my minimum feature set that I want in a chair. I like pedestal bases. To me, they’re more stable. They don’t tip as easily as a four-legged chair. I like gas shocks, the auto returns. Some must-haves for me are protective edge molding and on the back. Start with that feature set that you want. Make sure it’s in the range that you want it [inaudible 00:05:05]. Put them in your [inaudible 00:05:17] with the guests sitting on play with them for a little while and get their feedback. They’re the ones that are going to be using these things long term, so getting their buy-in is very, very important.

Nick Hogan:

Now, Michael, do you as an operator operating multiple casinos, do you typically stick with just one vendor, or do you do a mix, or how does that work?

Michael Carruthers:

Yeah, we have a standard slot chair for our company that we use across all of our properties. Same colors, material, same feature set. So I can move chairs from property to property as we, same floors. We definitely have a standard that we use, and it’s been a great chair that they hold up well, they’re well priced, and the guests love them.

Nick Hogan:

Okay. All right, cool. All right. Thanks again to listener for that question. It’s a good one, and happy to hit that. The second one, Michael comes from an operator in the American South. And she asks, “Hello gentlemen, we have a slot system from one of the big three vendors and ongoing issues with it have us thinking about replacing it. But the