Views from the Shore
By Brian Cahill
The Atlantic City Casino industry has likely touched you in one way or another. Perhaps, like me, they provided a great career opportunity, or maybe you are just someone who likes to spend a night out trying your luck on a slot machine to win a few bucks. While many play these machines, few know the ins and outs of how slot payouts and jackpots work.
To get the inside “View from the Shore” on slots, I spoke with Ted Herzchel, the Vice President of Casino Operations at Ocean Casino Resort. Ted’s been in the casino business for 32 years, with experience in Slot Operations in Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Indianapolis, and the Bahamas.
When a novice player walks into a casino, the lights, sounds and sheer amount of games can be overwhelming. With all of the options to choose from, I asked Ted how is someone supposed to know what to do or where to begin. He gave some great advice.
“Slot machines are generally categorized as being on the entertainment spectrum, featuring higher hit frequencies but smaller payouts, or the gambler spectrum, with fewer but bigger hits – more volatile. Most players will say that they want to experience time on device, so finding the machine that produces decent hit frequency with opportunities for decent sized jackpots is the ‘holy grail.’
“Right now, Aristocrat seems to have dialed in the recipe with Dragon Link, Lightning Link, Buffalo Link, and Dollar Storm. Konami has had a good run with All Aboard, as has Light & Wonder with their Ultimate Fire link machines. IGT’s Prosperity Link and Everi’s Cashnado are also proving to be very popular with our customers.
“Generally speaking, large jackpot games tend to feature a more volatile math model, with lower hit frequencies. The bigger jackpots are the byproduct of spin combinations that produce no hits or minimal return hits in exchange for hits that are substantial. Often times, large jackpot games feature a progressive jackpot, whereby a percentage of the customer’s bet becomes a contribution toward the jackpot award.
“System wide jackpots, or Wide Area Progressives as they are known in the business, allow casinos to payout larger than normal, life changing jackpots, whereby multiple casinos and even multiple states contribute to the jackpot payout, which is progressive in nature. The payout, which can range from several hundred thousand dollars to millions of dollars, is typically the obligation of the manufacturer of the machine, and comes in the form of an annuity or a lump sum payment. The majority of a casino’s jackpots are house funded, with jackpots typically ranging from $1,200 up to the low six figures. At Ocean Casino Resort, customers will find traditional Wide Area Progressive machines like IGT’s Wheel of Fortune, but also newer games like Aristocrat’s Dollar Storm, Tarzan, and Wild Wild Buffalo.”
Regardless of which game you decide to play, Ted recommends playing with your player card. He told me that one of the biggest myths in the slot world is that playing with a card allows the casino to see who is playing the machine and affect the payback accordingly. Ted stated that nothing could be further from the truth, and that playing with a card merely allows the player to receive credit and future incentives, including comps and free play, based on their play.
If you would like to try your luck at Ocean, and you are over 21, head over to the AC Boardwalk and check it out. To learn more about Ocean Casino Resort, visit oceanac.com
Brian Cahill is a former marketing director in the Atlantic City casino industry. He is on the Board of the Somers Point Business Association, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at Stockton University, and is a founding member of Somers Point-Community First, a local volunteer organization
