From Concept to Floor: How Casinos Choose Their Games

Each landbased casino has its own catalog of games, and the collection is unique for every casino. If you go to 2 different Caesars Casinos, the chances are that they will have a lot of the same games, but the collection will not be 100% identical. The difference there may be a handful of casino games, but we could give a more drastic example.

A gamer in Detroit, Michigan, can play at the MGM Grand Detroit, where there are 2,500 slots to pick from. But if they decide to leave, get into a car, and drive across Ambassador Bridge to get to Windsor, Canada, and play at Caesars Windsor, they may find a completely different set of games.

Venues have to choose casino games to suit their theme, size, and target demographic. It is not a simple decision, and casino owners must take heed to what games their visitors want most, and which new games will catch their attention. Again, not a simple task and the owners have to do their homework.

How Casino Games are Selecting: the Concept

Unlike online casinos, which can rack up thousands of games and just keep adding titles to their portfolio, casinos have a limited floor space. Some may have hundreds of square feet and can have only a small collection of games, whereas the biggest casinos in the US have 150,000+ square feet to fill up. This can easily house a good 2,000+ gaming machines, giving the owners a wide scope of options.

Choosing Games by Theme

All casino venues have their own themes, though some of them will put more time and effort into conveying them. Owners may decide to take a minimalistic approach. Selecting cheaper furnishings, simple decor and lighting, and to keep well within budget with their selection of games. But the bigger casino venues, such as those on the Vegas Strip or in Atlantic City, will go above and beyond to gather all the themed and feature-packed games possible.

Having a good variety of themed games is also vitally important. Much-beloved classics include Egyptian, ancient Mythology, nature, Asian, sci fi, and book-themed games. Branded games are another big hit, as are the classic games with fruits and jokers.

Looking for Hot or Trending Games

This is not as simple as it sounds. A casino can pick games that are hot right now, but they need to retain their popularity over a longer period of time. An online casino can simply make a category for Hot or Featured games. Come Christmas, Easter or Thanksgiving, they simply highlight festive games that gamers will gravitate towards during those holidays. But at land-based venues, casino owners cannot afford to keep changing their collection every month or so.

What Games Are Available and Affordable

Availability is going to have a big say in which games will be selected at any casino. The first step here is which gaming vendors have access to specific markets. A software provider may make games that are recognised in Canada but have not passed the legal jurisprudence in the US.

Another deciding factor is whether or not the casino owners have a partnership with a given software provider. A partnership will give the casino chain full access to a game vendor’s portfolio. Casino owners can also strike up deals with software providers, but the smaller establishments may not be able to avoid lots of games from renowned gaming studios. Another area where this is quite important – exclusive casino games. Bigger casinos can request exclusive games, which cannot be found elsewhere.

For example, Caesars has a long-standing partnership with Evolution Gaming – giving them a large pool of games to pick from. Similarly, BetMGM is partnered with Scientific Games. Both casino franchises are not lacking in gaming variety.

Preparing the Games for the Casino Floor

After a casino owner has assembled a list of the games they want on their casino floor, they need to go through a number of steps to make this happen. Buying the machines and transporting them to the physical site is the simplest part of the process. There are lots of other considerations to be taken into account.

Complying with Gaming Laws

Every country has its own gaming laws, and in the US, the legislation varies from state to state. This is also the case in Canada, with the different provinces, or in South Africa, across each of the municipalities. The casino games must comply with the laws of the land. The rules can cover just about everything, from what types of games are allowed to the payout percentages and the mechanics of the gameplay.

Information about games needs to be clearly displayed, the games must come from licensed and approved developers, and they cannot be tampered with. There may also be further regulations on how long each round lasts, minimum and maximum stakes, what types of side bets are allowed, and various others.

Testing the Games for Fairness

Casino gaming machines undergo rigorous testing from the developers and then from the casino proprietors, but that’s not enough. Independent auditors must test the games for fairness as well, to ensure the results are unbiased. Basically, before the casino game can be opened for public usage, it needs to be provably fair to play.

Calibrating the Machines for the Floor

Once the games and equipment are in the casino and fully tested, they need to be installed and calibrated. This means calibrating the volume and brightness of the machines, as well as testing their performance. If all the settings are gauged to perfection, the casino can officially launch them.

Maintenance and Keeping the Portfolio Fresh

Casino games need to be properly maintained to ensure they are still fully functional. This involves cleaning and regular checks for electronic gaming machines. It also involves reviewing how much the games are used, and the money they make. Casino owners may want to review their games every few months to see which ones make money and which ones people don’t play. They may want to freshen up their portfolio every few months, exchanging the games that don’t get much traffic, for ones with the potential to make good business.

But there is no exact science to this, as sometimes all it takes is to move a gaming machine or table into a more busy area. Or, placing it next to different types of games so that it stands out better.

Popular Casino Games

Most casino venues not only have a similar set of games, but they have a similar distribution of casino game types. Generally, the majority of games are slot machines, followed by table games, electronic table games, and then finally specialty games. Some casinos may break the mould with a focus on specialty games, or having more table games to pick from. Others may just house slots, but it all depends on what the operators want to focus on.

Slot Machines

The most popular games in physical casinos, slots don’t take up much space and can bring in lots of players. The fast-paced and simplistic nature of these games make them attractive to players of all ages and budgets. Slots also have the greatest diversity of features, bonus games, side bets, themes and variants.

Table Games

These classic games are often found near the middle of a casino floor. Tables can be made for players on a budget, or for high rollers who want buy-ins of $100+ per round. There are countless casino games to pick from, including games using cards, wheels, and dice. Blackjack, baccarat, roulette, poker, and craps draw the biggest crowds.

Electronic Table Games

Some players prefer to play classic casino games using machines. Instead of playing at a table, they will head to the video poker, roulette, poker and blackjack machines. These are not to be confused with slots. They are more akin to online table games, where you are playing blackjack (or any other table game) against the computer.

Specialty Games

A bit of an umbrella term, specialty games can be used to describe virtually any other game. From bingo halls to scratchcards, electronic keno to video lottery terminals, there are tonnes of specialty games out there. They may be more of a “niche” venture for most gamers, but having some “out of the ordinary” casino games can benefit a casino greatly. They can easily stand out from the competition with the addition of a bingo hall or 24/7 electronic Keno games.

Specialty can also mean more variants of popular games. Some venues may have dedicated rooms for Poker or high stakes games.

Best Casino Game Vendors

Big casino chains usually rely on renowned gaming studios to fill up their floor with quality games. They can usually offer bigger jackpot prizes, more innovative features in their games, and streamlined game mechanics for a smoother gaming experience. Here are some of the biggest game developer studios.

• Aristocrat
• Evolution Gaming
• Scientific Games
• IGT

These software providers continuously create pioneering games, experimenting with different combinations of features and extras. They also cover loads of different types of casino games, themed titles and game series.

Concluding How Casinos Choose Their Games

At the end of the day, casino owners are always aiming to satisfy their biggest demographic and look for ways to attract new players. Remote casinos or smaller operations will not have the same volume of games to compete with larger outfits. But they don’t necessarily need to compete with the quantity of games. Selecting games is a careful process. They can aim to add the most highly demanded games on the market, and also look for games with the potential to win a new client base. Exploring a niche, such as poker variants or bingo games, can give the casino the X factor it needs to stand out from its competitors.

Ultimately, there is an element of trial and error when choosing casino games. Proprietors have to make educated guesses and accept the fact that some games may fall short of expectations. However, it is all a part of business. Just as it is for gamers, who are trying their luck on different games. You may continuously lose on one gaming machine but hit a major jackpot on the next one, it is all about trying new things and daring to venture into the unknown.