Remember when one of the indelible sounds of a casino was the jingle-jangle of piles of coins pouring out of slot machines? That memory may not date you as much as you might think. The COVID-19 pandemic, and its attendant shortage of cash and coins, are sending casino operators scrambling to come up with enough coins for their remaining coin operated machines. It’s also pushing casinos to embrace cashless play options once and for all.
One of the odd side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a pronounced shortage of cash and coins for use by business. This very 2020 problem was brought on by the fact that more people than ever are ordering goods and services via the internet because they simply can’t leave their houses. So whatever stashes of coins and cash they’ve got are sitting in wallets and purses and not circulating. This fact has not gone unnoticed by either the Federal Reserve (in the US) or by the remaining casinos that still have coin-operated machines, including the El Cortez in Las Vegas and the Ocean Casino in Atlantic City.
At the Ocean Casino, they’re offering players who bring in coins an additional five dollars in free play. They’re also offering bonuses for wins that are made on those coin credits.
In Nevada, the coin shortage has led regulators to hasten the move to cashless play in Silver State casinos, according to a report on CalvinAyre.com. The casino coin crunch is just one more way that COVID-19 is drastically altering the world’s gambling industry.