The Aria Slot Tournament took place at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, United States, between April 26th and 27th, 2019. Entrance into the tournament cost $5,000 and it each participator entered two separate tournaments that consisted of three rounds of play on Friday, 26 April, and Saturday, 27 April. But it was cost-prohibitive and time-consuming to kick up the wagering limits for slot machines. During a few slot machine player special events, Aria executives 'flipped the switch' and changed out the payout levels and content for several banks of slot machines.' Here is the link to the whole article: LVRJ. ARIA Resort & Casino has announced the return of their live $10,000 no-limit hold’em High Roller tournaments. NetEnt Slots: Top 25 Slot Machines to Play in 2020. Winner of the Best.

I don't dispute that slot managers spend a great deal of time thinking about the kinds of slots and denom mixture to put on their floor. However, I don't think you can jump from that to say that they also would move the returns up and down like a yo-yo depending on the time of day and day of the week. I would indeed be interested in other evidence that they would/could do this.The evidence that they *can* is right there in the 5-year-old regulations on how they're allowed to do it. The systems haven't been implemented widely, but they will be. The question of whether they will is ultimately a business decision, but in any event being able to make on-demand slot floor changes gives an operator more flexibility than the current model.
I'm betting that regular floor-mix changes will be the norm in the next few years -- literally. I have patents in that space.

I don't dispute that slot managers spend a great deal of time thinking about the kinds of slots and denom mixture to put on their floor. However, I don't think you can jump from that to say that they also would move the returns up and down like a yo-yo depending on the time of day and day of the week. I would indeed be interested in other evidence that they would/could do this.

Bally's calls their products 'Bally's Central Command', and 'iVIEW'. It would be great if you could ask their reps at the G2E about the capability to tweak returns, and their perception if the expected revenue is worth the trouble.
The company literature promotes the amount of detailed information that will be available to the casino manager. Given the ability to easily tweak returns, and the quick feedback on results, it is logical to assume they will do it, if it will grow revenue. I'll keep looking for more info.I don't dispute that server-based slots will allow the slot manager to easily change the return of every slot on the casino floor. However, just because he can, doesn't mean he will abuse the ability and do so on a daily basis. If I do run across anybody who can shed light on this at the show next week I will be sure to ask. I already ask somebody I know at Barona, but have not received a reply.Here is a snippet from a LVRJ article on Aria's testbed rollout of IGT's system. Note that changes were made not just to, 'wagering limits', but to, 'payout levels' as well:

'On busy weekends and during special events, table-game wagering limits are raised and hotel room rates increase. But it was cost-prohibitive and time-consuming to kick up the wagering limits for slot machines.
During a few slot machine player special events, Aria executives 'flipped the switch' and changed out the payout levels and content for several banks of slot machines.'

Here is the link to the whole article: LVRJ

During a few slot machine player special events, Aria executives 'flipped the switch' and changed out the payout levels and content for several banks of slot machines.'

Good article. However, that doesn't disprove my assertion. This was just for several banks and was a 'special event.' They probably invited their valued slot players to play specifically designated machines for a promotion.

2. The conventional gaming device or client station must be in the idle mode with no errors or tilts, no play and no credits on the machine for at least 4 minutes. After this time, the conventional gaming device or client station must be disabled and rendered unplayable for at least 4 minutes. During the time the machine is disabled a message must be displayed on a video screen or other appropriate display device notifying the patron that the game configuration has been changed.

... Question though - has anyone seen or heard of someone who has seen that return change notification screen? If this was a common practice, with thousands of machines in a casino I'd think it would be easy to spot.

This raises the question (at least to me) as to what the notification actually says. The tech standards say they have to notify you that the 'configuration has been changed.' Whatever that implies. Would people necessarily know that meant they had bollixed the payouts?

Good article. However, that doesn't disprove my assertion. This was just for several banks and was a 'special event.' They probably invited their valued slot players to play specifically designated machines for a promotion.

Agreed. At the time the article was written, the system was freshly installed in only a few banks of machines. I don't think they knew what they had at the time (...or the Aria folks did a good job of playing dumb). I would be surprised if a system owner ever shared that they are indeed tweaking the returns. It would be a big hit to their image as 'player friendly'.

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Does anyone have a contact at 'Dateline NBC' or '60 Minutes'? This has all the earmarks of a great investigative piece.

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