Question of the Day - 15 April 2025

[Editor's Note: We put our business sleuth, David McKee, onto this one.]

If U1 Gaming goes out of business, it will have only itself to blame. Not only does the website date back to 2017, but nobody answers the phone there during business hours. We left three messages and didn't receive a call back. Then we searched the CDC Gaming website and out of more than 11,000 gaming-industry business stories posted over the past eight-plus years, not a single one on U1 Gaming came up.  

All of which is too bad, as you ask some fascinating questions that piqued our interest mightily.

To the extent to which the ancient U1 website can be relied on for up-to-date information, the company has/had 13 slot routes in Nevada, plus an unspecified number of Dotty’s clients. Their machines also graced Rampart Casino, Tuscany, El Cortez, Baldini’s, and Club Fortune. Slot routes in Montana serviced by U1 are too many to count, running into the hundreds.

As to why U1 has a limited presence in Nevada and none in such slot-rich states as Illinois and Louisiana is anybody’s guess. We suspect it’s due to a lack of ambition and resources, both of which are evident from U1’s dusty online presence. Maybe the Montana market keeps U1 too busy to expand.

Since only maverick casino operators like El Cortez owner Kenny Epstein use U1 machines, we suspect it has something to do with the paytables. U1 simply may be too player-friendly for its own good, at least where Nevada bosses are concerned.

What U1 looks like to us is a prime candidate for takeover, probably by a much larger and more aggressive competitor like Accel Entertainment. That proliferation of Montana slots would make a lucrative target, as would an increased presence in the Silver State. We’d hate to see a quaint operator like U1 get bought out, but its heart just doesn’t seem to be in the game these days.