JCM Global unveils multi-tasking machine that keeps slots players in their seats

A one-stop gambling slot machine that allows players to book a sports bet or print a tax form was unveiled Monday at the Global Gaming Expo.

JCM Global debuted the multitasking machine on the first day of G2E at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, showcasing a new technology that also has the capability to buy and redeem lottery tickets or enable real-time currency exchange, among other versatile uses — all without having players leave their seat.

“Why do we make people stand up and go across the room and find another room to go make a sports wager? Why do we send them off to go to the bingo hall? We make people do all these different things that people who like to play slot machines would like to do when they could do it from the same device,” said Tom Nieman, vice president of worldwide marketing at JCM global.

The technology, called Fuzion, is the combination of the bill validator and the back-end casino content management system, along with a printer that allows the slot machine to print out the same lottery ticket you would get at 7-Eleven or a gas station, or the same wager ticket you would get from a sports book.

“It looks like a regular slot machine. All of the newer games are all video based, so you’ve got a large video screen in the middle,” Nieman said.

The technology can also be used with older slot machines that do not have a video screen.

“You can take your smart phone, you tap it to the bill validator bezel, the plastic piece around the bill validator — and now your phone digitally plugs into the slot machine (via Bluetooth),” Nieman said. “Now you’re carrying around a screen on your mobile device and you can do all of the things that you would be able to do on the video screen attached to the newer machines.”

The screen shows games, as well as menu of options — such as the option to buy a lottery ticket or complete a 1099 tax form.

“Nothing is a bigger pain for these guys (casinos) when somebody hits that 1099 threshold that locks up a machine until an attendant and a key person come around, take the information, process it, go in the back room, get all your tax information, and then finally pays you off. That process alone can take 20 minutes — and in those 20 minutes, the machine isn’t playing and the player isn’t playing.”

Nieman said the Fuzion technology allows the tax form to appear on the screen to have the player complete. An attendant validates the player’s identification, and then the document is sent to the casino to be sent to the IRS. The player walks away with a receipt that the machine prints out, and the processing time has just been cut from 20 minutes to seven, Neiman estimated.

Nieman said he’s hoping that the Nevada Gaming Commission will be among the first to approve the new technology.

“Nevada has always lead the way when it comes to innovation like this. And the message that is coming down from the Nevada Gaming Commission today is ‘what do we need to do to keep the technology fresh,’ and this is the kind of thinking that I think they want, the operator wants, and—eventually, if it’s convenient for the player, the player wants it.”

Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @JournalistNikki on Twitter.