Skill-Based Slots in UK Online Casinos

Casinos, both land-based and online, have been in a bit of a conundrum lately – young people (or “millennials”, as the Americans are so fond of calling them) simply aren’t all that interested in gambling. They have their own things to put their disposable income into, be it mobile games, videogames in general, purchasing the latest technology, paying for online services, you name it. An average 20 year old’s idea of a fun time is definitely not to go to a casino, sign in and then carry a bunch of chips around while playing a bunch of games that haven’t been changed significantly since the French Revolution. Sure, I personally enjoyed blackjack in my 20s, but I was always a weirdo like that. The majority will simply find a game like that boring and unengaging. And don’t even get me started on online casinos… “I’m the cool kid in college because I play online casino games,” said no one ever. As fun as we, the older generation, find them, online casinos simply aren’t considered ‘cool’.

So that leaves us with a pretty big problem. We’ve got lots of players going out, for various reasons (death, bankruptcy, lack of interest, lack of time), but not enough players coming in. How do you fix this issue? One possible solution could be advertising, but considering the fact that daytime TV gambling ads recently took a big hit, that’s no longer a solution that’s as viable as it would’ve been last year. We have to think outside of the box. With the risk of sounding like an old guy, we need to discover what young people are interested in and implement it into our casinos if we want to stay relevant. And you wanna know the fun part? Someone already did just that. The solution has already been discovered, and is currently being implemented into several American casinos. That solution is skill-based slots.

A skill-based slot is basically exactly what it sounds like – you play the slot as usual, but either as a bonus feature or even a main feature you get the occasional game that requires the use of your skills rather than just pure luck. Imagine playing a racing-themed slot, and whenever you activate the bonus feature you get to play a very real, built-in racing game, with your performance in it determining how much cash you win. In Japan, most slots have huge skill-based elements, since gambling is illegal there and slots are usually grouped alongside arcade games in order to pass regulations (we can talk about that some other time), but in the West, skill-based slots face the opposite problem – they’re illegal. According to the legislations of most Western casino-playing countries (UK included), slots should depend entirely on luck, chance and probability rather than on any kind of skill from the player. So if you were hoping to visit @bestonlinecasinos.org.uk and play some good old skill-based slots like the Japanese, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.

But the thing is… There is some hope for the future. Four states in the US have recognized the fact that skill-based slots are their best bet at attracting the Millennials to casinos, so they’ve actually went ahead and legalized them. And considering the fact that the future President has a vested interest in seeing casinos succeed (because he owns a bunch of them), it’s entirely possible that we can see a whole bunch more states legalizing skill-based slots. And once it’s legal in the US, it’s bound to carry over to the UK and the rest of Europe eventually, especially if skill-based slots prove to be financially successful. It just makes sense.