Millennials are not much interested in slots. They play table games at about the same rate as older gamblers, but half as much on slots. They would be more interested if there were either a skill component, or more social aspect.
http://www.cleveland.com/casino/index.ssf/2016/09/millennials_not_interested_in.html
Here is a 2nd article with a more reasoned take.
http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/09/20/the-millennial-problem-the-problem-with-the-casino.aspx
Favorite quote from this, “The house advantage has been on the rise for two decades, such that the value of a gambling dollar has never been lower.”
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If you can manage to get a young person to lay down their cell phone for longer than a nano second they might actually get interested in gambling. To attract millennials maybe the casino should loosen up on their standards and let them use their cell phones while at the table. Millennials tend to be ultra trendy and I’m sure they don’t like hearing that they cannot use their cell phones while at the table. They want to take selfies right at the table. Then need to be distracted at the table in other to hold their interest in the game. Maybe the casino industry should come out with a freaking Facebook slot machine lmao! Or maybe a Twitter slot machine. That is something they can relate to.
Possibly if the country was experiencing an economic BOOM numbers among the younger generation wouldn’t be so bad and they would have more cash to go out and splurge.
As a millennial who likes to gamble – I see plenty who do gamble. But I don’t see many who play slots. I view slots as video games for old people.
The odds stuff has killed some of the games for me – I rarely play blackjack now.
I also think there is a large missed opportunity on sports betting. Look at DFS. Young people played it like crazy. If locals casinos could have sports books, you’d see a lot of young men in there. Just look at the books on a Sunday in Vegas – the age range is pretty wide.
Paul is 100 percent right on. Get sports betting nationwide and millennials will be in the casinos.
I don’t think millennials are gambling less, I think they’re just gambling smarter. They take things like house edge and strategies into account. Millennials are used to choosing from several sources to get the best deal on a product. Thirty years ago if you wanted to fly somewhere, you called an airline and paid whatever price they told you. Today, you go on Expedia, Priceline, or similar and search for the best deal. Casinos are no different. You walk in, find the game that will give you the best bang-for-your-buck and that is generally table games. Any book you read tells you that slots usually have the highest house advantage. Why would you want to pay more for something when you can walk a few more feet and get a better deal on a similar product (gambling)?
Casinos seem to be upset that young people are spending money in the bars and night clubs and not in the casinos. That’s like a gas station getting upset because a demographic is buying less gas but instead buying more hot dogs.
Las Vegas casinos are upset that younger people aren’t playing the same Kitty Glitter machines they can most likely find in a casino closer to home. Who cares? Instead of focusing on these skill-based slots using data based on nothing they should focus on providing products that people already like. People get older and their likes and dislikes change. I’m willing to bet that the same senior citizens you see today weren’t playing slots as much 30 years ago when they were much younger.
If a millennial wants to buy a bottle of vodka in your night club for $500, rejoice instead of wondering how to get that person out of the night club and in a seat at a slot machine.