Is your gaming floor working for you?
All clubs and pubs with electronic gaming machines (EGMs) or pokies, need to review their floor on a regular basis
All clubs and pubs with electronic gaming machines (EGMs) or pokies, need to review their floor on a regular basis to make sure they are working for them. The age of machines, placement on the floor, levels of privacy and rewards programs are all part of the review process.
So long as gaming is legal, and the core of many venues' profit, it is important to manage your gaming room to achieve its potential, whilst being cognisant of all harm minimisation strategies. As I have shared many times before, talk to your expert advisors (gaming company reps and gaming consultants) on your gaming, but there are a few basics we can all think about before we set the budget for the year. Your gaming budgets should include allowances (that you can afford) for -
X
Replacing old machines (old will be different ages by venue)
X
Upgrading games on existing machines
X
Replacing old furniture - chairs and machine bases
X
Refreshing the décor - a coat of paint or replacing carpet etc.
Old Machines
The age of replacement for machines varies venue to venue. For the larger venues with high turnover and good profits, machines might be replaced when they hit five (5) years of age. For smaller venues with lower turnover and profit, machines might be held for ten (10) or more years before they can afford to be replaced.
As a rule of thumb most successful venues aim to replace about
15 - 20 percent of their floor every year so that the whole floor is refreshed every five (5) to eight (8) years.
Really small venues, with less than 15 machines, might struggle to find the funds to replace any machines and are often caught with very old stock (20 years or older). There are strategies for working with your gaming company reps and larger clubs to assist you to refresh your floor at little or no cost. If you are in that category, call me for some assistance in connecting you to the right people.
One last point on old machines - my advice is to
do away with any old machines that still use
dollar coins
and have
old note acceptors that do not recognise the current plastic notes. You will reduce your stress and work level dramatically by just removing the coin hoppers and making a $5 note the minimum denomination to put into the machine. Alternately, if you have a ticket or card system, people can convert their coins to tickets or cards to start their play.
Upgrading Games
Often times your clients may have lost interest in your current suite of games, but the machine is still very serviceable, then consider the upgrade option. This can be a cost effect way of updating some of your floor, to improve turnover, without breaking the bank.
Look at the gaming data and talk to others in the industry, especially your gaming reps and technicians, to keep abreast of the latest in gaming, including which upgrades work and which ones don't. And remember to attend gaming expos, like the
Australasian Gaming Expo from
9 to 11 August 2022
at the Sydney International Convention Centre, which is an invaluable tool for networking and picking the brains of the many experts in gaming and the related supplies.
Replacing Old Furniture
Comfort is a key consideration for gamers and tired, worn and stained chairs (the key piece of gaming furniture) is not an enticing environment for your patrons. There will be many a debate about vinyl versus cloth seat covers, and this will depend on your location (climate can drive part of your decision) and your patrons habits (spilling drinks, food or other stuff onto the chairs).
Also, some chairs look great but are actually quite uncomfortable - the base cushion is too hard, too soft, too wide or not wide enough, the back angle is too straight or too reclined. So do some research and find the right one to suit the majority of your patrons (one size/type will never fit all...).
Chairs can be bought new, second hand or can be sourced at little or no cost (just the cost of transport) from the large clubs and pubs during a refurbishment. Many really wealthy clubs and pubs will renew their décor and items like chairs are usually already written off (fully depreciated) from their books. So they will often put them on a 'trading post' type website or Facebook page to clear them. 'Pick them up and they're yours' is often the opportunity for smaller clubs and pubs on tight budgets.
Refreshing the décor
Another simple review should be the décor of your gaming area(s). Whilst most gaming areas are lit with subdued lighting and have dark(ish) carpets, many will have dividers on row ends, faux vegetation creating barriers to lines of sight and layouts conducive to creating privacy for gamers. All these are important considerations and fresh paint and clean or new carpets can create a fresh feeling for a jaded area.
Again, where profits are good and accruals have created a fund to expend on this type of upgrade, then timing your refurbishment is probably the greatest consideration you will have. For those clubs and pubs with tighter budgets, good quality carpets can be sourced from auction houses, wealthy venue refurbishments (similar to the chairs) and even the manufacturers, who may have line overruns that they want to quit at lower than usual retail price.
Some venues can use a 'working bee'
approach to do the actual refresh, alternately, a club member or regular pub patron may be a tradie with the requisite skills to replace the carpet or paint the walls. Of course if you are doing the carpet (and need to move all the machines during the process) remember to review the positioning of your machines within the gaming room space.
Machines under air conditioning vents can be a challenge for occupancy (if it is too hot or too cold) and positioning under lights can be an issue with glare.
Bottom line - now is a great time to review your gaming, allocate some funds to the new financial year gaming budget and then utilise the AGE 2022 expo to inform your decisions and execute the plans over the following year.
For more information contact
Ron Browne
0414 633 423 or
ron@extrapreneurservices.com.au
