Owned vs Leased Machines and Scouting

[Short Coin CharlieParticipant]

This is not so much of a question as it is an extended response to a couple of other posts (on Spy vs Spy and Legend of the 2X 3X Phoenix).

I am no expert, but I am aware that casinos have a mix of machines that they rent/lease and those that they own. Excluding electricity and upkeep costs, a leased machine has to win a certain amount per day just for the casino to break even (i.e. to pay the rent), but for a machine the casino owns, it costs the casino nothing to have it on the floor.

When a leased machine stops being profitable, it is removed and usually replaced with something new. There is turnover among owned machines too, but there isn’t nearly as much (everything is taken out of service at some point). Some machines on casino floors are so old that they were made before TITO was adopted. The machine in the picture is a slot machine that <i>once had a coin slot where the quarter tokens used to go, </i>that slot was capped off and the machine converted to TITO.

In my experience, similar machines tend to be situated together (often for the same reason you don’t see a Porsche parked next to a Corolla). One section of the floor might have the newest, loudest, and biggest machines, with the older machines are off to the side somewhere.

• It is far more likely that a machine that’s co-branded (like with a celebrity or movie franchise) is leased than owned
• Anything with physical reels that spin and doesn’t have a bonus of some kind is almost certainly owned (and old)
• High limit rooms seem have a mix that’s heavier on owned machines (when compared to the rest of the floor)
• Games that APs are looking for are much more likely to be leased than owned
• Leased machines will only be around for as long as they’re profitable, which might only be for a few months to a year, but owned machines can be on the floor for decades in some cases

So what? I know what. Here is what:

Any casino you visit regularly, but not daily or weekly could have had some changes since the last time you visited. You’re going to want to scout the floor to make sure you pick up on any new games – and you’re less likely to find any changes in the sections where the same old (owned) machines have been sitting there for year after year. But if you <b>do</b> find something playable in those areas, that find could be good indefinitely. A examples, Legend of the 2X 3X Phoenix has been on the floor since around 2018, and Spy vs. Spy, if you can find one today, has probably been in existence for 20 years, I’m guessing. Both of these games are almost certainly owned by casinos that offer them today. So while you don’t want to waste your time routinely checking areas of the floor that have little turnover (because the machines are all owned), you also want to be sure there’s nothing good in those sections before you ignore them completely.

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[Ben RosenthalKeymaster]

Interesting thoughts to be sure. It’s a real shame that you correctly point out:

• Games that APs are looking for are much more likely to be leased than owned

In that way, if a casino wants to completely pull the plug on AP games, it’s not nearly the sacrifice it would be if this weren’t the case.

I guess it’s time for a Spy vs. Spy entry!

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• It is far more likely that a machine that’s co-branded (like with a celebrity or movie franchise) is leased than owned

The Madonna slot sure comes to mind. I haven’t seen that game in a few years at this point.

[Raymond SnellParticipant]

Cool post,  I have made the mistake of not mentally noting which are probably leased vs probably owned. The shops by me definitely keep the porches next to porches like you say.  I have wasted to much time scouting in the corolla section for sure.

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