Now that more states are legalizing sports betting, there's a need to cater to an increasing customer base across the country — and also cut down wait time at counters manned by less experienced ticket writers, taking wagers from less experienced bettors.
One way casinos are meeting the higher demand is through kiosks. Betting, or gaming kiosks, have been used overseas for years and are now making their way to the United States.
Betting kiosks aim to improve the customer experience by cutting down wait time. With multiple betting kiosks available, bettors will be able to place a wager whenever they please, instead of waiting in lines. Oh hell. And this will keep patrons happier and coming back for the experience.
Most kiosks offer the full suite of wagering options you'd expect online, both pre- and in-game, including parlays and prop bets. They are designed to offer an intuitive user experience with simple navigation and live odds, some of them with feeds from games alongside the betting menus.
Benefits of Betting Kiosks
- Easier access for customers to place wagers, shorter wait times
- Use cash, a voucher or the sportsbook's player account card that's prepaid with funds
- Kiosks can pay out winning tickets using above methods of funding
- Novice bettors may prefer to navigate through prompts on screen than write down/remember 'rotation numbers' with a teller
- Patrons can sit down at some kiosks and live bet while watching games
There are currently (at least) five companies that distribute betting kiosks: Kambi, SB Tech, SG Digital/Scientic Games, International Game Technology (IGT) and Stadium Technology Group.
Kambi
Tickets used to have a 30-day or 60-day expiration period. These days, it can take awhile longer to go through the process. Our sports-betting expert, Frank B, tells the following story. 'Many years ago, I left 11 tickets in a shirt pocket, forgot about them, and did laundry. Those 11 washed-away tickets amounted to over $5,000 worth of bets. Sportsbook & VLT Ticket Redemption Info. Featuring a large, dedicated sports betting venue with over 100 TVs, odds boards, comfortable seating areas, and a full bar and dining menu with all of your game. Sports betting is a huge industry. Some states have legalized certain activities in recent years, but many online betting sites and activities are still unlawful.
Kambi is currently working with DraftKings, SugarHouse and 888 Sport to provide betting kiosks.
Players can either feed cash into the kiosk or buy a voucher, which can be scanned at the terminal. They work on a session-based system so players can place numerous bets if they wish and print a ticket with their wagers/balance at the end of the session. These tickets can then be re-scanned to continue to play at a later time.
Your local sportsbook may give the option to use an account card for betting at home online (where permitted), and on the casino floor by using one card. Patrons scan the card at the terminal and get access to their balance, live wagers and account information. Wagers placed at the casino can then be managed at home, on a mobile device or desktop computer.
SB Tech
SBTech's kiosks make it simple for players to place wagers in a sports betting venue, receive a printed ticket and make withdrawals without the need for any assistance. The kiosks are already being used by SBTech's partners at venues including:
- Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, NJ
- Golden Nugget in Biloxi, MS
- Harlow's Casino Resort & Spa in Greenville, MS
- Riverwalk Casino Hotel in Vicksburg, MS
Players can be given the option to credit the kiosk with funds from their online account by swiping their membership card. This feature is dependent upon state regulations and is not currently permitted in New Jersey or Mississippi. The option may be available in the future or in new states.
International Game Technology (IGT)
IGT provides betting kiosks for FanDuel Sportsbook in New Jersey. They also debuted a smaller kiosk in Las Vegas that allows casinos and bars to deliver a sportsbook in a box to betting fans.
IGT's new CrystalBetting Terminal is the next generation of IGT kiosks, allowing bettors to make in-play wagers, and provide live betting options within land-based casino environments. With a private and personal 27' interactive touch screen, players can stream multiple sports events at the same time, while also placing individual bets, creating parlays, and interacting with in-play wagering options.
Players can personalize their viewing experience by selecting the events they wish to stream live. In addition to pre-game wagering, players are provided with extensive in-play and real-time wagering suggestions tailored to the events they're watching. Bettors can wager with cash directly at the terminal with no need to go to the counter.
Stadium Technology Group
Currently, Stadium Technology Group kiosks can be found at the Santa Ana Star Casino in New Mexico. They were recently approved by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The kiosks are expected to go live in Nevada and other states in the first quarter of 2019.
The kiosk accepts cash and voucher wagering along with loyalty cards and account deposits.
To place a wager, the patron selects a game and touches the ‘Build Your Bets' button. On the Build Your Bets screen, players can enter the desired bet amount and select a bet type, as well as choosing which of the previously selected games will be included in the wager.
At any time during the wagering process, the customer can touch the finish button to receive a voucher with their available balance.
SG Digital/ SciGames
Football Betting Tickets
The release of the first SG Digital kiosks are expected in mid-2019, with Caesars casinos being the company's initial operating partner.
SG Digital kiosks will provide an intuitive user interface instructions to guide bettors through the process of placing basic bets, such as straight bets and parlays.
The main page will allow bettors to sort by sport, and then listings of events in time order along with options to bet on the three main markets (spread, moneyline and totals). Customers will have multiple ways to search for the type of bet they wish to place including:
- Search by team or player name
- Search by Don Best Rotation ID
- The ability to scroll down through the sports event hierarchy through sport, league, event, markets and selections.
- Marketing will also provide shortcuts to go directly to selections of interest.
Kiosks will be funded by cash and vouchers. Soon after release, customers will be given the ability to bet using their online funds.
At least one of these company's kiosks will likely be coming to a sportsbook near you.
By its very definition, the impact of a pandemic is extremely pervasive.
Naturally, the most critical area it touches is individual health. But there's a virtually endless domino effect such a scenario has on countless aspects of everyday life. As we've seen over the last 24 hours, that certainly includes favorite pastimes. And the money some like to stake on them.
And while it's rightfully considered trivial to those dealing with life/death circumstances, there are potentially deep financial ramifications in the sports betting world as a result of the increasing amount of cancellations/suspensions of regular-season and tournament play.
Futures bettors left in limbo
With the immediate future of no less than the NBA regular season in question due to the coronavirus outbreak – as well as that of multiple major college basketball tournaments, including March Madness, the pause on the NHL season and the reported imminent postponement of the start of MLB campaign – the many bettors holding futures tickets for these events certainly can't help but wonder what happens to their open wagers.
TheLines.com reached out to several major sportsbooks Thursday regarding their plan of action for these contingencies. Unsurprisingly, on a day when the cavalcade of cancellations that began with the NBA's Wednesday night announcement of its suspension of play is still in full force, sportsbooks are still evaluating how they'll handle the situation.
Representatives from both FanDuel Sportsbook and PointsBet confirmed they were in wait-and-see mode and wouldn't yet speculate on what they consider truly unprecedented territory.
With the immediate future of no less than the NBA regular season in question due to the coronavirus outbreak – as well as that of multiple major college basketball tournaments, including March Madness, the pause on the NHL season and the reported imminent postponement of the start of MLB campaign – the many bettors holding futures tickets for these events certainly can't help but wonder what happens to their open wagers.
TheLines.com reached out to several major sportsbooks Thursday regarding their plan of action for these contingencies. Unsurprisingly, on a day when the cavalcade of cancellations that began with the NBA's Wednesday night announcement of its suspension of play is still in full force, sportsbooks are still evaluating how they'll handle the situation.
Representatives from both FanDuel Sportsbook and PointsBet confirmed they were in wait-and-see mode and wouldn't yet speculate on what they consider truly unprecedented territory.
Sports Betting Explained
DraftKings Sportsbook was also contacted for comment, which was pending at the time of this writing.
No direct precedent for coronavirus-related disruption
The most recent and perhaps closest comparative situation – albeit on a considerably smaller scale –could be last year's Alliance of American Football's (AAF) truncated inaugural season.
The AAF famously and abruptly suspended operations after eight weeks last season when majority owner Tom Dundon pulled the plug. Both FanDuel and PointsBet paid out any AAF Championship futures bets that had been placed on the Orlando Apollos, since Steve Spurrier's team had the league's best record at the time. Tickets on all other teams were refunded.
Las vegas spread lines. Needless to say, AAF handle is dwarfed by that regularly seen on the games run by leagues and conferences that have paused/canceled events over the last 24 hours. Therefore, such a solution is fiscally impossible.
Sportsbooks do have general guidelines for handling what could be considered a case of 'force majeure', defined, in part, as 'natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations.'
Sportsbooks could take a number of different routes
Typically, in the cases of cancellations of individual sporting events – or even a block of games such as those of the canceled NCAA tournaments – tickets, be they single-game or futures, are typically refunded since the event never transpires. The potential wiping out of a season also impacts futures bets, however, and doesn't necessarily offer as clear of a solution.
Take the case of over/under bets on regular-season win totals for paused leagues.
Over wagers on teams that already are locked into falling short of the projected win total even if a league resumed a full schedule of play could potentially be graded as losers immediately. However, given that futures wagers are typically contingent on a full league schedule being played, sportsbooks may simply have to wait to see what transpires, as a matter of following their own terms and conditions.
And, even in the unlikely event the NBA and NHL actually complete their entire regular-season schedules in delayed fashion, operators could still opt to refund what would have been losing tickets in a nod to customer goodwill.
Naturally, the same contingency could be in play for over/under futures tickets that are technically still 'alive'. While a truncated schedule would technically free sportsbooks from the obligation of paying out on an Under win total bet that hits in a shortened regular season, they may make the decision to deem such tickets winners.
It's also important to keep in mind that bettors may not necessarily see a uniform, across-the-board response from the increasing number of regulated sportsbooks. Each operator will undoubtedly utilize individual discretion on certain decisions, depending on how circumstances with each league/event plays out.
As the rapidly unfolding chain of events stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak show, measures and solutions at the local, state and federal levels are being arrived upon in spontaneous and continuously evolving fashion.
Sportsbooks are no different when dealing with the impact on their industry, but bettors should progressively gain additional clarity on their open tickets as sports leagues eventually announce their plans of action.
