Why Las Vegas Casinos Are Desperate for Quarters

20 years ago, it was common to walk into a Las Vegas casino and see numerous people with buckets of quarters. These gamblers would pump one quarter after another into slot machines.

Fast forward to today, though, and few Vegas casinos have any need for quarters. They feature slots that accept bills only.

Nevertheless, a small portion of Las Vegas casinos are now scrambling for quarters. They’ve been hit hard by a coin shortage and are experiencing struggles with their coin-operated slot machines as a result.

Below, you can read more on why most of Sin City originally distanced itself from coin-based slots. You can also see why the coin shortage is hitting certain casinos so badly.

Why Coin Operated Slot Machines Largely Disappeared

For decades, coin-based slot machines ruled Las Vegas casino floors. These games were the best options at the time.

However, coin-operated slots are inefficient in many ways. They require attendants to empty the hoppers that collect nickels, dimes, and quarters.

Additionally, people need to take leftover change to the bank and deposit it. Casinos are the ones who must pay for this extra manpower.

The gaming industry began looking for a solution to this problem. It found one through the ticket in, ticket out (TITO) system.

Unlike coin-operated machines, TITO doesn’t deal with change. Instead, it revolves around a system that’s based on tickets.

Real money gamblers who don’t have tickets simply insert bills into the acceptor. Assuming they have money left and want to stop playing, they can hit the cashout button.

This action results in a ticket being printed. Players can either take these tickets to the cage and cash them in or insert them into another machine.

The tickets needn’t be replaced nearly as frequently as change hoppers have to be emptied. Employees also don’t need to drive the tickets to the bank.

In short, TITO Machines don’t require as much maintenance. They quickly ran coin-based slots out of casinos as a result.

Some Casinos Still Rely on Coin Based Slots

Coin-operated machines certainly aren’t as efficient as the TITO machines. Nevertheless, they haven’t gone extinct quite yet.

Some Las Vegas casinos still offer these games for nostalgia purposes. They draw many older gamblers who’ve been playing coin-based slots their whole adult lives. And this is an important market of people to attract, because these gamblers tend to have more money on average than younger slots players. This is simply a marketing ploy that seems to be working well for the few casinos that still cater to the older slots players.

Of course, the same casinos also feature TITO games. However, they stand out by mixing in the coin-operated variety with modern slot machines.

Located in downtown Las Vegas, El Cortez offer has approximately 110 coin-based slots, which is more than any other casino. Skyline, which is based in nearby Henderson, features close to 90 of these machines.

Coin Shortage Impacts Certain Vegas Casinos

The pandemic caused many people to stop using coins as much due to fears over the virus. It also convinced some banks to stop handling coins, which also contributed to the change shortage.

Economies in the US and around the world are started to get back to normal. However, the coin shortage that began in 2020 hasn’t quite subsided.

Most casinos didn’t feel the sting of fewer coins circulating around. After all, the average gambling establishment deals in bills and tickets.

A small subset of casinos, however, are still suffering from the lack of change flowing around. The aforementioned El Cortez is especially in need of coins these days.

At one point in late 2020, management requested that an armored truck bring them $30,000 in nickels, dimes, quarters, 50-cent pieces and dollar pieces. They received $500 worth of change.

El Cortez is the longest-running hotel and casino in Sin City. It heavily appeals to visitors’ nostalgic side and uses coin-based slots to accomplish this goal.

The coin shortage has hit them harder than any casino. El Cortez, however, isn’t the only casino that’s hurting for quarters.

Gambling establishments everywhere from California to Michigan need change to operate their coin-based slots. These casinos require coins soon to avoid losing clientele that specifically visits them for classic machines.

Inventive Promotions Bring Coins In

Casinos can’t sit back and quietly wait for the coins to begin rolling in. Instead, they’re taking matters into their own hands with unique promotions.

Michigan’s Gun Lake Casino, for example, is offering $10 worth of free play to any gambler who brings in $50 worth of coins. Many gamblers playing slot machines in the Wayland, MI area have taken advantage of this deal.

The D Las Vegas operates an old Sigma Derby machine, which sees gamblers bet quarters on mechanical horses. It offers players hats when they bring in a pound of quarters to play with.

The hats read, “I helped save Sigma Derby.” Those who bring in three pounds of quarters also receive a t-shirt with the same phrase.

The D was able to shore up their quarters problem with this promotion, netting over 1,000 pounds’ worth. However, the casino is still finding dimes and nickels difficult to come by.

El Cortez isn’t necessarily running a promotion to encourage players to bring in change. It has, however, waved its standard 5% fees for counting and exchanging coins for bills. Now, visitors can bring in their spare change and get it counted free of charge.

Signs That the Coin Shortage Is Going to Let Up

The Federal Reserve believes that the coin shortage is attributed to bank branches and businesses closing to prevent the pandemic from spreading. In response to this problem, central banks have limited how many coins institutions could request so that the supply is evenly distributed.

However, the U.S. Mint has since began producing more coins than ever before. It typically averages around 1 billion coins produced each month.

The Mint has since boosted this amount to 1.6 billion. The increased monthly production of coins should eventually combat the shortage.

Additionally, banks and businesses have gradually opened up. The opening up of the economy should help improve the circulation of coins.

Even the Mint noted that the coin shortage was more due to a circulation problem rather than the sudden disappearance of coins.

Will Slot Machines Survive the Change Shortage?

Coin-based slot machines have been around since the late 1800s, when Charles Fey created the Liberty Bell. They reached their height in the 1970s, before video slots technology came about.

Video slot machines, meanwhile, began entering casinos in the 1970s. They didn’t take off at first, though, because they were rather rudimentary by today’s standards.

But by the 80s, video slots technology improved greatly. Gamblers started noticing and gravitating towards these advanced machines over other types of slots.

In the 90s, video slot games became the majority over coin-operated machines. They also rapidly gained popularity among casinos after the TITO system came about.

Coin-based machines have quickly reduced in number over the past few decades. As mentioned before, though, they’re hanging on due to their nostalgic qualities.

Casinos that feature these games are definitely making an effort to keep their coin-based games going. They’re running promotions and waving counting fees to encourage gamblers to bring in more quarters, dimes, and nickels.

That said, it looks like coin-fed slot machines will stick around for the foreseeable future. They appeal to a certain breed of player and continue bringing in visitors.

Conclusion

Coin-operated slot machines are relics compared to the modern video slots of today. Nevertheless, they continue finding spots on casino floors thanks to their classic feel.

However, casinos have experienced trouble keeping these machines running due to a coin shortage. They’ve resorted to offering promos just to bring more change in for these games.

Luckily, though, they may not have to go through such headaches any longer. The economy is opening back up and the U.S. Mint is producing more coins.

The net effect will be more quarters in circulation. Going further, casinos like the El Cortez and Skyline should be able to offer coin-based games for decades to come.