IGT Installs 150th System
Tom Baker, IGT's Chairman of the Board, and Paulus Karskens, President of IGT's international operations, were among those on hand to celebrate the milestone installation.
"This just shows how ticket-in, ticket-out technology has swept our industry," Baker said. "Only two years ago, EZ Pay was considered by many to be 'experimental.' Now it is accepted as the state of the art not only in the U.S. but around the world."
The Argentina installation brings the worldwide number of gaming machines on an EZ Pay Ticket System to 114,000. Hipodromo Argentino de Palermo is the 150th property worldwide to embrace IGT EZ Pay ticket in, ticket out technology for at least part of its slot floor. In addition to several Canadian properties currently installed, an Estonian casino is slated to go live with tickets next month and another European property has signed a letter of intent, pending jurisdictional approvals.
EZ Pay technology combines ticket printers with traditional coin hopper pays to improve a gaming machine's cash out function for players. Casino operators can program a machine to pay a portion of the payout in coins and the balance as a ticket. The ticket can then be reinserted into an EZ Play machine; exchanged for cash at a cashier's station; cashed by casino floor attendants with wireless validation units; or held by the player and used at a later time. The system can also be programmed to pay out tickets only, using the coin hopper as a backup.
"Just as has happened in the U.S., we expect players in international jurisdictions to quickly adapt to ticket technology and, once they have enjoyed the convenience, they will come to expect it," Karskens said.
Casino operators in the United States report that EZ Pay reduces overhead, labor and other costs associated with operating a slot floor, and because it enhances a player's gaming experience, leads to increased earnings per machine.
