What's coming in 2011

By Mark Lasser

I spent last week in Las Vegas. Not to play. Not to eat at fancy restaurants. Not to see the sights. I was at the annual Global Gaming Expo, otherwise known as G2E, the largest showcase of casino products in the world. Imagine several convention hall spaces full of vendors hawking their latest and greatest products to the casino industry. Slot maker IGT’s booth alone seemed about the size of a football field running the entire length of one convention hall.

There were food vendors trying to get their Nathan’s hotdogs and Carne Asada into our snack bars and poker rooms. Candy makers and liquor distributors liberally poured tequila, wine and even XO cognac. Also exhibiting were some of the companies whose products we never see: large mechanical money sorters for the count room, security systems for the cashiers and chip washers. Yep, you read that right. Some casinos wash their chips so they don’t get all gucked up with dirt and grease from our nacho and beer covered paws. Now that I think about it, it does make sense. Some casinos chips are just gross and covered in black splotches of dirt. If you’ve ever played at Binions in Las Vegas you may have seen the worst.

Of course what is everyone really interested in? It’s not food or chip washers. It’s games. There are countless varieties of table games being invented every year, most of which are better for the casino than the player, but they do bring variety. Each new table game has to be reviewed and licensed in each gaming state separately. Once they clear Nevada laws, it’s an easier path to the rest of the country. I even saw a craps table game and one fun one called Ace crackers.

Bally Tech was showcasing a new Betty Boop game called Love Meter. The game features multiple screens, including a touch screen where betting buttons would normally be found. If you get the bonus round, the machine tells you to place your fingers on the screen and an old carnival style love meter tells you if you’re wild, passionate or shy, awarding coin bonuses depending on the results. They also have a new game called Hot Pick U-Spin Bonus Wheel, where you spin the prize wheel by dragging your fingers across the touch screen and where you select how big the prizes are that you’re spinning for. If you choose small prizes, you win more frequently than if you pick mega-prizes.

WMS had a cool slot machine based on “The Godfather” movies, and Atronic was showing off their new Deal or No Deal join-in game by having Howie Mandel appear in person.

IGT’s monster-sized booth had tons of new offerings, including 3-D slots where your winning combinations would leap off the screen at you. They also had video screens in the betting buttons that would change from betting and line increments to say Good Luck once the reels started spinning. Film and TV tie-ins remain popular with new machines, including a group-play feature for “American Idol” slots, a new “Ghostbusters” game and a video slot game based on the movie “The Hangover.” They even had Ken Jeong, the naked Asian man from the movie on hand to inaugurate the game at the show.

Mark B. Lasser is Denver writer and international poker player. He regularly plays in Colorado, Arizona, California, Missouri and Nevada. You can hear him talk about gambling and casinos every Friday at 5 p.m. on KEZW AM 1430. Readers can send questions and comments to him at ColoradoPokerMark@comcast.net.