SAMI’S SMACKDOWN By Sami Becker
BREAKING THE SLOTS! The Technique—Slam Your Fist Down As Hard As You Can
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ometimes I wonder how the casino industry always manages to serve up something new, all the time, without fail. I’ve concluded it’s a mixture of the 24—7—365 atmosphere, and a few of the patrons. When I received this email with the attached picture [Editor’s Note: The photo was edited to protect the guilty], I could only shake my head. Dear Sami, I’ve disagreed with some of your articles in the past about the noise and the watchers and the smackers. I just thought “Who cares what other people are doing?” But now, I get what you have been saying for all these years. Now, I don’t like the noise. I don’t like when people watch me play slots. I don't like when people say “Oh! You are going to win big in this bonus!” before the bonus even starts! And I see what the smackers are doing to the slots. They are literally breaking them to bits! Check out this picture I took at [casino name removed]! I watched [a couple] hitting the slot so hard, they finally broke it! The noise was astounding. The entire bank of slots was shaking. A security guard was watching them the whole time and did nothing, until after the game broke. Then they asked them to leave, shut the game down and taped it up so no one could get hurt. [The couple] was raising their hands above their heads, making a fist, and slamming their fist down on the buttons. Plus, if they were in the bonus they would beat on both screens! The only reason I watched them is because of how they were behaving and the amount of noise they were making. It was totally unbelievable! Look, I’ve handled plexiglass, plastic, and sheet metal. Once it’s put in place, these materials are not easily damaged unless there is a significant amount of force being used. I guess enough power was used, by their hands!!! Jeff Pearson – Arizona (from email) Thanks for writing me Jeff! I appreciate your feedback and your loyalty as a reader.
34 Arizona Gaming Guide | September 2021 | azgamingguide.com
Areas in blue are edited for content. Yellow lines identify cracks in button panel.
I did not have a difficult time believing your story, but I went and looked at the carnage for myself just to reinforce, in my opinion, how bad the behavior has become by some casino patrons. And, obviously, how some casinos don’t care to do anything about it until after something happens. I hope the casino barred the guests and made them pay for the damage to the slot. Maybe that will get through to them. To me, this result is inexcusable on the part of the patrons and the casino. Does security really not comprehend what will happen with this type of behavior? Does security think other patrons will remain unaffected by the poor conduct of a few guests? Does security think patrons who are smacking a slot machine around will not result in damage to the slot? And, that someone won’t get hurt in the process? Seriously? This is what it’s come to? Patrons damaging games past the point of simple maintenance! Yikes! What’s next? $
