The stakes are higher – are you taking advantage?
18 February 2014
Great news for gaming machine players out there – and therefore for venues hosting them!
This year (since the 16th January 2014, in fact), changes to legislation have come into effect allowing an increase in maximum stakes and prizes for Category B4 machines (club machines)and an increase in maximum ticket price on Category B3A machines. It’s been a long time coming - this is the first increase in the top prize on a club machine for over 20 years.
As of now, Category B4 machines can offer a maximum prize of £400 (up from £250) for a stake of £2.
Category B3A machines can still offer a maximum prize of £500, but the maximum stake is now increased to £2 from £1.
We’re excited by this development, which will enable manufacturers to come up with some long overdue innovations in gaming machine designs. In fact, we’re already working on some exciting developments in our own portfolio of gaming machines, and saw some really interesting new ideas at EAG International and ICE, recently.
We think there’ll be a marked shift towards digital gaming machines, driven by the innovations in games designs that have taken place in licensed bookmakers over recent years. Whilst more traditional reel based machines will continue to be available, the new style digital gaming machines allow more flexibility.
We’re seeing advances in digital gaming machines: many now have a compendium featuring Casino-style games based on Poker and Roulette, as well as popular feature trail games and simple play ‘win or lose’ slots. The other big advantage of digital gaming machines is that new games can be downloaded remotely, enabling fresh game content to be played alongside old favourites.
We think the change in stakes and prizes will help persuade gamers to return from the bookies and come back to their local pubs and clubs. With such a big change, be sure you don’t miss out.