LAS VEGAS, Nevada — More changes could be coming to the "free drink" system in Las Vegas casinos.
There is special technology on table-top machines, such as video poker, that monitors when you earn a comped drink. Now, gamblers may see it on slot machines, too.
Ardent Progressive Systems and Games has already installed its technology on about 90 slot machines at The Riverside Resort in Laughlin.
It's considered a trial run for a couple months to see how it goes.
"The hope now is, the trial down in Laughlin will be successful and then we've got several properties that are waiting to see the results of that and possibly implementing it in the near future up here in Las Vegas," said Albert Tabola with Ardent Progressive Systems and Games.
The technology is a strip of LED lights that faces you while you play. Red means you're not ready for a drink. Green means you are ready for a drink. Yellow means you're getting close to qualifying for a drink. Orange means you're playing too slowly and falling off track.
"You will know as you play whether you qualify for a complimentary drink or not, as will the cocktail waitress," Tabola said.
Players do not have to play max bet to qualify for a drink. They ust need to consistently play.
"The qualification levels on there are very, very low so this should not affect anybody that plays for the most part, at all," he said. "Ideally, the only person that will be grumbling about this will be the person that wants to get that free drink before they go into a show by just sitting down at the machine and maybe playing a penny or wherever they can get away with."
Casinos in Las Vegas will be keeping an eye on the trial run in Laughlin right now before making a decision as to whether they should implement it on slot machines here in the city.
