The "Players Card" system and the TITO system are completely separate from the mechanism that determines the wins on the slot machine. However, when this happens, when you try to cash out, you join the other 100 people in the casino who want to cash out at the same time. It usually takes between 2 to 3 hours to get a payout, even if it is just $2 -- so many people abandon their machines. The casino has been turning the machines off, and usually turns them back on sometime over night.

In the background, the machines that go down are all hooked up to the same servers. In Niagara, they have 2 parallel systems. Half of the machines run off one system, half run off the other. That's why approximately half of the machines are "hit" when there is a problem. Also, both sides experience the problem, so whatever causes this issue, it is not likely a volume issue (since the volume of traffic is already split) - however, it seems to happen when it is busy ... so this is a contributing factor.

Just imagine how much this is costing Fallsview. I have not been back in a few months ... anyone hear of this happening recently?

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