What’s the most popular slot game? “Dragon Link?” “Wheel of Fortune?” “Dancing Drums?” “Buffalo Gold?” Maybe surprisingly, there’s a game that generates three times the revenue of all of those – and all other slots – combined: video poker. Granted, that’s somewhat misleading, since video poker revenues come from thousands of games rather than the strong individual performance (Win/Unit/Day) of a single theme. In the most recent Eilers-Fantini Game Quarterly Performance Database, which covers over 130,000 slots and 185 casinos in North America, a full 8% of all games surveyed were video poker. In Nevada, that number explodes to 27%.
Darnell Johnson, IGT’s Director of Video Poker Product Management, estimates that there are 96,000 video poker games north of the Rio Grande. These numbers are even more impressive when you consider that outside of Nevada, the games have a hit-or-miss following. The game is even popular without betting: IGT’s VideoPoker.com free play website has 440,125 registered users – and no cash wagering.
Of course, video reels are the dominant type, with 60% to 70% of the market (spinning reels are next, at around 20%.) But the game themes and mechanics vary widely with these types, especially when compared to the general similarity of video poker themes. When counting total revenue by theme, video poker is the absolute winner (sorry to James Bond, Vanna White and Madonna.)
For IGT, which virtually invented the video poker genre in the 1980s, it has meant market domination. Others have tried to penetrate their lock on the category, with little success. The only obstacle for IGT is that their older games perform so well, there is little reason to replace them. The biggest competitors to IGT’s latest G20 models are their own Game King models, which have been out for decades. Like the Energizer Bunny, they just keep going and going. By upgrading the processor board and installing LCD monitors, GKs come close to matching the features of the G20s.
There’s also the problem with hold percentages. The tightest odds available on video poker and video keno cabinets are several points below the odds of the best games I mentioned above. CFOs frown on adding games that are going to be at, or below, house W/U/D averages. The counterpoint is that there are few games that can match video poker on the popularity indexes of time on device, handle pulls, and coin in. Encouragingly, some of the latest models pioneered by Action Gaming on IGT cabinets, such as “Ultimate X,” have now achieved Win performance indexes of 2.0 or more.
But whenever there’s been a lack of competition, it opens the door for disruption. Kodak almost had the film market to themselves. Bell/AT&T dominated telephone sales. What mall was prepared for Amazon? So, despite multiple failed attempts by WMS, Bally and others to challenge Big Blue in the video poker arena, several competitors are again poised for another shot.
G20 bartop
It won’t be easy. The G20 (shown at right in a bartop version) is today’s undefeated champ in both upright and bar top configurations. Much is the same as their GK predecessors. However, the G20 bar top now comes with high-def displays, a slanted play deck, better defense against spilled drinks and an improved processor and motherboard that can handle all of the latest versions of the multi-game All-Star Pokers, Action Gaming themes and other variants that outside developers working with IGT have introduced. And, IGT’s Johnson says, “we’re working on a new generation that will be shown at G2E.” At this year’s NIGA conference, the company talked about a CrystalSlant product for poker. (It’s important, however, to note that G2E previews generally take a year or more to hit casino floors.)
When they do launch upgrades, it can be risky. IGT first updated its Game King poker machine with the then-popular AVP, or Advanced Video Platform. AVP had had some success as a video reel, but it struggled as a poker. Some players didn’t like the buttons; some didn’t like the screens. IGT had such negative feedback from the early AVP versions that they were forced to continue producing “new” old-style Game Kings to appease several corporate buyers. The current G20 version seemed to quiet the critics, but replacements have been modest, despite aggressive pricing, since the older Game Kings still work just fine.
Perhaps wisely, IGT’s potential challengers have selected a smaller battlefield and are marshalling their forces to attack on a narrow front of handhelds and, most importantly, bar tops. As of this writing, Interblock has launched a new bar top. Aristocrat says their new bar top will be released in late June or early July. They first previewed it at G2E 2018 and again last month at NIGA. Scientific Games is targeting a new model for late 2019. GameCo is releasing a model later this year and another in 2020, and Planet Bingo is now offering a Class Two video poker on their Bingo handsets that actually plays exactly like the standard C3 games. They’re all hoping to exploit any crack in IGT’s armor.
Operators are cheering them on, but also remaining cautious. According to Jay Fennel, VP of Gaming and Development of Golden Entertainment in Las Vegas, “I think IGT has owned the bar top market for too long. Disruption is good. We like to see competition.”
His statements carry some weight, since Golden is one of the country’s largest buyers of bar tops. They have over 4,000 units in Las Vegas and another 2,600 in the Reno area. As far as competition for IGT, he says, “We are very interested in what’s new, and we will stay close to all developments. We’ll be trialing them all.”
Aristocrat’s bartop
Perhaps the most buzz in this category at both G2E 2018 and the recent NIGA show in San Diego was from Aristocrat. The company has never had a successful poker game in the US, but they are one of the leaders in video reels. Apparently, they think they might make a dent in the video poker bar business by playing to their strength. IGT’s video games on the bar top (like “Super 8 Race” and “Cleopatra 9 Reel”) never really got much play even as uprights. You can’t say the same for Aristocrat’s “Buffalo.” It is the longest running theme to remain in the Top Ten of core games ever. As such, it will be featured on the new Aristocrat bar top.
John Daley, ATIs Senior Director of Global Games Product Management, says they should complete field trials in June and “will launch the bar top soon after with 18 games. We have all the standard pokers and three video reel titles: ‘Buffalo,’ ‘Buffalo Gold’ and ‘Wild Lepre Coins.’ On the main floor those three titles all produce strong wins.”
Slot analysts ReelMetrics, which analyzes a national data base of over 175,000 machines and 107 casinos, reported a blended performance index last month of 2.91 for the “Buffalo Gold” collection and 1.54 for the base “Buffalo.” What’s most impressive is that the latter title probably has the highest number of units anywhere in a single video reel theme. Importantly, it also has legs. ReelMetrics “Lifecycle Analysis” shows little decrease in the performance index for “Buffalo” since January of 2014.
Can a video reel work on a bar machine? Don’t bet against it. I asked multiple slot directors from across the country at NIGA about this, and they all wanted to test this new bar cabinet. When I asked why, the answer was always “Buffalo.”
The “bar keeper” button
That single theme could make the difference, but don’t sell the poker themes short either. Daley was IGT’s Director of Poker for many years, and it appears he incorporated everything that makes the IGT bar top great while also adding some new twists. Perhaps the most innovative feature is a bar keeper button (shown at right) on the back of the game. It glows blue until a player hits a certain threshold, either Coin-In or Dollars Wagered, then turns green. This is a visual indicator that a patron has hit the requirement for a “complimentary” beverage. This could be a strong selling point for a lot of operators – not ones in states like California, where comp alcohol is prohibited, or at the bar routes operated by Golden Entertainment, since Fennel notes that his company already has proprietary software that performs a similar notification function. But for everyone else, this bar keeper light could dramatically increase guest service while making bar comps more cost-effective.
Not everyone likes bar tops, video poker pro Bob Dancer for one. He thinks bartenders asking you about drinks is a distraction that he doesn’t need during his focused play sessions. He also has a gripe about the buttons and screen angles. When I asked him to list his complaints about these cabinets, the first thing he cited was the stickiness of buttons due to spilled drinks. “This should be easy enough to clean or fix that a bartender can do it,” he said, and in fact bartenders could do it now, but many don’t. Fennel said they’ve made daily button cleaning mandatory on their route contracts.
The more obvious solution would seem to be to eliminate buttons altogether and use a spill-proof video playdeck, which is already offered on many popular uprights. Daley was quick to say that ATI’s new cabinet would not have that option. “We’ll offer LCD and mechanical buttons only,” he said. “Video poker players need to feel the buttons in order to play fast.”
If the “Buffalo” theme from Aristocrat does mark a breakthrough for non-IGT bar top cabinets, surely Sci Games will be offering “Dancing Drums” and “88 Fortunes” when their version is released. That could be a weakness for IGT. They’ve been doing well recently with new themes like “Scarab” and “Ocean Magic,” but none of those are in a league with “Buffalo.”
The other manufacturers hoping for a foothold in the bar market are Interblock and GameCo. IB’s bar top cabinet, out now, is the first to offer a bar game that can interface with the casino’s existing ETGs. This will allow bar patrons to join the action on semi-live Roulette, BJ and other electronic table games throughout the casino.
GameCo’s bartop
GameCo is looking to begin offering their skill-based products in their new bar top cabinet later this year. “We think our style of skill-based games are well-suited to the social environment of bars,” CEO Blaine Graboyes says. He is particularly excited about their follow-on design, scheduled for release next year, which will allow for competitive play between players on nearby machines and supports a large common screen that will help build excitement for competitors and spectators. This is not as much of a long shot as you may assume; skill-based bar machines enjoyed quite a bit of success as non-betting entertainment products in bars for many years prior to the spread of gaming across the country (anyone remember playing Duck Hunt while maybe enjoying a few adult beverages with friends?) GameCo hopes to capitalize on that market while adding wagering.
Planet Bingo’s handheld machine
The one other product, which should have great appeal to Native American operators, is Planet Bingo’s Class Two video poker handheld game. The Palm Desert, CA-based bingo provider has made a recent breakthrough in technology: their C2 version of video poker plays exactly like the Class Three IGT game. Several companies have tried this before, but their bingo-based variants turned off traditional players with non-realistic poker play. This new version is spot on. Planet’s main target now is getting bingo players to wager their credits on video poker between bingo sessions. It probably won’t be long before someone decides to buy the technology and install it in a bar top or standalone cabinet. This could mean big savings of licenses and taxes throughout Indian country, which covers about half of US casinos.
With exclusive access to all the popular new poker variants such as “Ultimate X,” “Wheel Poker” and “Super Times Pay,” IGT remains the Goliath of the category. The smart money will stay with Big Blue for now. But you never know when a disruptive David might get lucky with a single stone…or maybe a single video-reel theme, a community skill contest, or a tax advantage.
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