Hi Folks. I recently had a visit to the casino called "Casino Du Lac-Leamy" located in Hull (Quebec) in Canada (a $10 cab fair from Ottawa, Ontario). The place is nice ... high ceilings, etc. The selection of slot machines is a great representation on how "not" to outfit a successful slot floor. Being located in a French-speaking province, I'm sure there are some special requirements Quebec gaming officials have for slot manufacturers. That said, it's unclear exactly what the requirements are ... slots may have a french language display, but could have english graphics and english voice effects.

Here is a list of the no-no's from this casino:

Age of machines --- it's not a bad thing to have some vintage titles. There are some timeless classics. However, the number of single line IGT slots is quite staggering. It is litterally hundreds of 25-cent machines ... barely touched. What a waste of space. It's no wonder players would drive out to the Ottawa Carlson race track slots. How about the old 5-line , "Wheel of Fortune" machines from 10 years ago ... the one where you had to pump in more bills in order to get to the bonus round and solve the puzzle.

Major Manufacturers Not Represented --- There is not a single WMS Gaming, Atronic or Aristrocrat machine in the building. They are not represented at all. The combination of IGT, Bally and Konami take of the lions share of floor space. Surprisingly, there are machines by little known slot manufacturers like BLUBERI (a local Drummondville, Quebec company) and Spielo (now part of the same company as Atronic). In short, the Bluberi games were only 10% occupied. A bank of 10 "Cool Cat" machines had one or two players. While the graphics and animation were fine, the payouts were dismal ... and the bonus round was near impossible to acheive. Either ditch the unproven local product ... or bring up the standards. A small company should be offering greater innovation and new options in order to break into the big time. Bluberi seems content on cheap and tired ripoffs from the same tired conventions.

Part II to follow ...

/\/\/\/\ the Shamus /\/\/\/\