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Computerizing Chance: The Digitization Of The Slot Machine (1960-1985), Cristina Turdean
Computerizing Chance: The Digitization Of The Slot Machine (1960-1985), Cristina Turdean
Occasional Papers
The digital slot machine entered the gambling floor in the mid-1970s and, within a decade, it became gamblers’ favorite and the main contributor to casinos’ gross revenue. This paper traces the main developments of this transition, particularly the role of the inventors, entrepreneurs, and the business context that made it possible. Decisively shaped by the culture of the casino floor and advancements in computer technology, the emergence of the microprocessor slot machine involved the gradual replacement of mechanical parts with digital components and created new opportunities for casino managers.
Containment And Virtualization Slot Technology And The Remaking Of The Casino Industry, Kah-Wee Lee
Containment And Virtualization Slot Technology And The Remaking Of The Casino Industry, Kah-Wee Lee
Occasional Papers
This paper examines how the casino industry was transformed by slot technology between 1950 and 1990. The criminalization of slot machines in the 1950s led to their massive evacuation into Las Vegas casinos. In this concentrated environment, slot machines revealed to casino operators an automated surveillance technology that could disassemble the player into streams of virtual data, not through any overt means, but through the very activity of play itself. Slot managers and gaming technologists found themselves empowered professionally as they experimented with ways to transform data into profits. From the 1970s to the 90s, this technological development effectively linked …