6415 S Tenya Way
Suite 110
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Phone: 702.283.0309

Key Personnel

Tricia Lee - Sales

About Acres

Acres Manufacturing was founded by John Acres, the inventor of casino systems technology.

Since 1972, the Acres name has been synonymous with groundbreaking casino technology. In 1981, Acres started his first business, Electronic Data Technologies. EDT created a system that allowed casinos to track slot machine players by using loyalty cards, offering gamblers rewards based on how much they played.

He started his next business, called Mikohn, in 1986. Mikohn devised the modern progressive jackpot system in which slot machine jackpots increase over time, creating growing excitement for players. When Acres and his partner sold the company in 1989, Acres’ initial investment of $120,000 turned into $6 million.

His third company, Acres Gaming, invented a system in which slot machines awarded instant bonuses based on current or accumulated play. Acres Gaming took $17 million to reach consistent profitability; Acres sold it in 2003 for $143 million, and the casino industry has been at a technological standstill ever since.

Acres Manufacturing has revolutionized the casino industry again with Foundation Casino Management System.

Foundation is designed to reinvigorate an industry currently incapable of meeting modern consumer demands. Armed with a massive amount of real-time data, an adaptable credit meter on any game, and bonuses deployable to a player’s mobile device, casinos will be able to optimize every customer relationship and maximize long-term profitability.

Foundation has three main components.

1. GAMING MACHINE INTERFACE (GMI)

Foundation is universally compatible with any modern slot machine, the GMI gathers 100% of slot machine data in real-time and can change the credit meter on command. A built-in expansion port allows legacy systems to interface, allowing casinos to operate foundation with no loss of functionality to existing technology.

2. BRIDGE

The Bridge is the key to Foundation’s decentralized, ultra-reliable design. A single bridge connects up to 8 GMIs, allowing it command and control of up to 8 slot machines. A multitude of Bridges exist within the casino (# of slots / 8), each able to process millions of events each day. Casino data is safer and more secure than ever before. All data is encrypted and stores safely for up to 2 years in the event of power failure.

3. BLENDER

The Blender contains real-time data from every slot machine connected to Foundation. Here, external data sources can be interfaced, and credit meter commands can be sent to any game at any moment. Casinos possess unrestricted API access to their Blender environment and can siphon data into its own databases for storage. This structure enables casinos to own and control all of their slot data.

Cashless Casino

Cashless Casino makes going cashless incredibly easy for any casino, and allows players to buy in or cash out from any slot or table using the casino’s mobile app. Cashless Casino works on any slot machine running SAS 5.0 or greater, and is compatible with any casino management system, including those made by Aristocrat, IGT, Light & Wonder or Konami. Operators can choose their own payment processor, and Cashless Casino has working interfaces with all of the industry’s top payment systems. Similarly, operators can integrate Cashless Casino into their own new or existing mobile app. 

The solution is available on Acres’ Foundation platform, which can be installed within about 100 days.

DATA

Foundation reports any SAS meter change in real-time, giving casinos over 1000x more data than has ever been collected before. These metrics will reveal what really influences spend and loyalty decisions. Importantly, Foundation’s structure gives casinos all ownership and control over this data, allowing it to be interfaced to anything the casino wants.

 

Precision Bonusing

 

Precision Bonusing enables casinos to quickly create and deploy custom bonuses to any specific player or slot machine. With incredibly flexible configuration options and tight integration to the Acres Cashless Casino App, Precision Bonusing will dramatically enhance casino revenues by allowing casinos to influence any player at any time regardless of their physical location.”

Bonusing gives casino players exciting chances to win cash and prizes beyond the pay table offered by the player’s slot machine.  The concept of Bonusing was pioneered by Acres Gaming in the 1990s but has not been meaningfully developed since the company’s sale in 2004.  As a result, casinos today still rely on 25-year-old hardware to deploy the same bonuses that have been used for decades. 

FOUNDATION HARDWARE DELIVERS UNPRECEDENTED FLEXIBILITY

Real-time control of slot data and credit meters allow casinos to optimize each player experience for maximum profitability. And when interfaced to any other data source, casinos can service and thrill their players like never before. With Foundation, funds can be sent from a player’s bank account to any slot machine, an NFL touchdown can trigger a bonus and an unruly losing streak can be instantly mitigated in the interest of long-term loyalty.

FOUNDATION the future is now. 

For a personal presentaion contact Tricia Lee at tricia.lee@acresmanufacturing.com or visit   https://acresmanufacturing.com 

Acres Videos and Product Demos

Latest News

ZITRO’S MIGHTY HAMMER IS NOW LIVE IN THE CASINOS OF THE PRESTIGIOUS GRUPO CALIENTE

Grupo Caliente has expanded its already extensive game offering with 350 new Mighty Hammer machines in practically all its casinos. With the addition of this new and successful title, the number of Zitro machines in Caliente’s casinos throughout Mexico now exceeds 2.300 units.

Mighty Hammer has taken the Caliente casinos by storm, offering players an exciting and intense gaming experience. The response from users has been overwhelmingly positive, with Grupo Caliente highlighting the game’s exceptional performance in its gaming halls. According to the group, “The Mighty Hammer’s bonus feature’s intensity has captured the attention of our casino players, and with Zitro’s latest addition, we reaffirm our commitment to providing them the latest market offerings. All of this consolidates us as one of the most appealing entertainment options in Mexico, with a wide variety of options for all tastes and preferences”.

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For his part, Johnny Ortiz Viveiros, founder of Zitro, thanked Grupo Caliente for “including Mighty Hammer in its entertainment offer” and expressed his satisfaction “for the continued collaboration between both companies”. Together, both brands share the goal of always offering maximum innovation, and each of Zitro’s releases has become a fundamental piece of Caliente’s game selection”, concludes Johnny Viveiros Ortiz.

ACRES MANUFACTURING INTRODUCES NEW TICKET-BASED BONUSING SOLUTION ENABLED BY REVOLUTIONARY FOUNDATION™ TECHNOLOGY

LAS VEGASMarch 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres" or the "Company"), a leading casino loyalty and technology innovator, announced today the launch of TIBO (Ticket-In Bonus-Out), a groundbreaking new slot ticketing solution enabled by its next-generation Foundation™ technology. TIBO dispenses cashable tickets and bonuses directly to players via the slot machine's ticket dispenser. Acres will demonstrate its new TIBO solution at the upcoming Indian Gaming Tradeshow & Convention, to be held on March 27-30, 2023, in San Diego, California. Deployments are expected to begin in the third quarter of 2023.

TIBO is one of the first true evolutions of Ticket-In Ticket-Out ("TITO") technology, a solution that changed the industry when it debuted roughly 20 years ago and is now installed nearly universally in slot machines worldwide. The new TIBO offering from Acres takes TITO to the next level, performing core ticket issuance and redemption functions at slot machines, kiosks and cashier terminals while enhancing the player experience by delivering tangible, physical bonuses of value to the player. Players appreciate and value the power and excitement of a printed ticket and TIBO makes it easier for casino operators to bring bonuses to players' hands.

TIBO works on any slot machine, including those connected to casino management systems ("CMS") from Aristocrat, IGT, Konami and Light & Wonder, allowing casino operators to immediately deploy TIBO on their casino floors. While the legacy CMS continues to account for play and loyalty data, the combination of TIBO and Foundation takes over ticketing responsibilities to deliver exciting new bonus opportunities, which can be triggered by Foundation's real-time data stream. This new, seamless solution from Acres follows on the current success of Acres' Cashless Casino deployments which have now reached 31,000 games in 9 states. Over time, casinos will be able to migrate all CMS functionality to Foundation – including loyalty, bonusing, cashless, reporting and analytics – and remove the legacy CMS without disruption, resulting in meaningful annual hardware and maintenance savings that flow immediately to the bottom line.

"We are continuously looking for ways to innovate to bring new technology to casino floors. In much the same way we've pursued the burgeoning cashless opportunity, we created TIBO because consumer tastes have changed in the 20 plus years since TITO was released," said Noah Acres. "Modern consumers want gamified experiences triggered by real-time personal data and TIBO fulfills these desires by issuing targeted, data-driven bonuses through the slot machine's ticket printer."

Legacy TITO solutions cannot leverage real-time player data, can only print in response to the push of the cash out button on a slot machine and only issue tickets for the amount shown on the game's credit meter at the time of cash out. Acres' new TIBO solution leverages the real-time data stream provided by Foundation and benefits from access to game commands to print a ticket of any value at any moment, including a 'print ticket' pop-up in the casino operator's Cashless Casino app or even automatically if a trigger event occurs. Bonus tickets produced by TIBO and dispensed by the ticket printer can be redeemed for a multitude of value categories, including cash, free play, or merchandise.

Global Payments Sells Gaming Unit for $415 Million

Global Payments (NYSE: GPN) has agreed to sell its gaming solutions business to private equity firm Parthenon Capital Partners for $415 million, the payments company said Friday.

Like the company’s $1 billion sale of its Netspend consumer unit, the divestiture reflects the Atlanta-based firm’s efforts “to refine our portfolio toward our core, corporate customers and away from consumer-centric businesses,” Global Payments CEO Jeff Sloan said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

The company expects those two sales and its $4 billion acquisition of Evo Payments to streamline operations and “provide us with enhanced confidence in our growth and margin targets,” Sloan said. All three are expected to close by the end of March.

The company’s gaming business contributes “about $100 million a year or so,” Global Payments Chief Operating Officer Cameron Bready said during the call.

The sale to the private equity firm occurs as the gaming market soars. JPMorgan Chase has invested in Sightline, which provides digital payments for the gaming industry. Sightline projects the market to become a $150 billion industry within years.  

Global Payments’ revenue rose 2.7% in the fourth quarter, to $2.25 billion, according to a Friday news release. Net income climbed 19.1%, to $258.6 million. The company’s full-year net income plummeted, however, falling from $987.9 million in 2021 to $143.3 million in 2022.

Global Payments projects macroeconomic consistency this year, and expects Evo Payments to contribute $475 million in adjusted net revenue this year, once the acquisition closes, according to the earnings presentation. Much of Evo’s appeal lies in its exposure to high-growth markets around the globe, said Bready, also the company’s president.

Chief Financial Officer Josh Whipple said the company is forecasting profit margin expansion in the first quarter, contraction in the middle of the year as Evo is absorbed, and margin expansion in the fourth quarter, “as synergies ramp for our merchant business.”

Amid purchase and sale activity, Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller commented on the many “moving parts” at the company.

After all three closings expected this quarter occur, about 75% of the company’s revenue will come from its merchant business and 25% from issuer and B2B segments, Sloan said. “Three-quarters of calendar 2023 will reflect results of the businesses that we intend to manage well into the future,” Sloan said.

Private equity firm Searchlight Capital and Austin, Texas-based payments company Rev Worldwide agreed in August 2022 to buy the Netspend consumer portfolio for $1 billion.

ROLLING HILLS CASINO & RESORT TO DEPLOY ACRES' CASHLESS CASINO APPLICATION

LAS VEGAS and CORNING, Calif., Jan. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres" or the "Company"), a leading casino loyalty and technology innovator, announced today that Rolling Hills Casino & Resort in Corning, CA will deploy the Company's Cashless Casino technology application, a component of its Foundation™ platform. Acres expects Cashless Casino to go live at Rolling Hills Casino & Resort in the first half of 2023. With this latest deployment, Acres' modern technology solution for cashless gaming will be available in 10 states at a total of 22 casinos across nearly 31,000 slot machines.

"We always support the leaderships approach to deploying innovative technologies to provide our players with a great gaming entertainment experience, and Acres' Cashless Casino application furthers this focus," said Andrew "Dru" Alejandre, Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians Tribal Chairman. "The deployment of Cashless Casino on our gaming floor will allow us to further improve our guest experience by providing players with a seamless, easy-to-use cashless funding option."

"Cashless Casino will help us increase our engagement with players while also providing us with operating efficiencies," said Steve Neely Rolling Hills General Manager. "The easy and quick implementation timing for Cashless Casino was a key factor in our selection of this technology for our cashless gaming functionality, and we look forward to working with the Acres team to bring this new feature to our players in early 2023."

Acres' award-winning Cashless Casino application represents the industry's best-of-breed cashless gaming and loyalty solution. It works on any slot machine or table game and deployment is simple, with casinos only needing to provide a mobile app and select a payment processor. The app becomes the user interface, ensuring that branding is fully compatible with the rest of the operator's player-facing options. Players virtually "card in" via the app and start a rated play session. The payment processor provides for the free flow of player funds between their funding source and the slot machine. Behind the scenes, Cashless Casino provides all required audit reports and dispute resolution tools.

"We are excited that Rolling Hills Casino has selected Acres' Cashless Casino application to deliver cashless gaming's many benefits to their customers," said Noah Acres. "Powered by the evolutionary capabilities of our Foundation platform, Cashless Casino incorporates innovative player loyalty features which offer a key differentiator in the player experience, enabling casino operators to significantly improve their connection and engagement with their players. We've designed Cashless Casino to be easy and intuitive to roll out which will help the Rolling Hills Casino team to focus on player education and the gaming entertainment experience. Early deployments of cashless gaming powered by our Foundation platform have proven that by providing players with an engaging, entertaining, and seamless experience, casino operators benefit from increased play and visitation. We are confident that Cashless Casino will provide similar benefits to Rolling Hills Casino and their valued customers."

Acres invites all casino operators who are interested in the significant benefits of its Cashless Casino technology solution to view the Company's recently released position paper, available here.

About Acres

Acres is a leading casino loyalty and technology expert and the creator of Foundation™, the first-of-its-kind casino management system. Foundation provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. Acres was founded by John Acres, the inventor of casino systems technology. For more information on Acres and Foundation, visit acresmanufacturing.com.

Cashless Gaming Implementation

A Call to Action for Innovation to Drive Growth, Improve the Player Experience, and Increase Security

The lack of new technology adoption on the casino floor and the gaming industry’s reliance on decades old technologies have significantly hampered industry-wide revenue growth. In fact, on an inflation adjusted basis, aggregate slot and table revenue at commercial and tribal casinos in the United States was flat in 2021 compared to 2007, despite expansion into new jurisdictions and the addition of many new casinos.


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Using 2007 as a base year for this comparison is important because that year’s launch of the iPhone led to a cycle of accelerating technology innovation that transformed the way entire industries conduct business. Industries that have embraced new technology continue to flourish while those that have lagged are, at best, seeing a plateau in revenue.

The last impactful introduction of a new, modern technology for the casino industry was the advent of TITO (ticket-in-ticket-out) in the early 2000s. TITO provided a seamless user experience while offering operators quantifiable cost savings. Now, over 20 years since the introduction of TITO, it is time to bring to the casino floor new modern technologies that can replicate the success of TITO and help drive industry revenue growth, lower costs and enhance the player experience by catering to modern consumer preferences.

Given evolving customer preferences and the benefit of lower operating expenses, the implementation of a cashless casino environment is one of the gaming industry’s biggest opportunities. As casino operators evaluate cashless technology options, the two most important factors in this review are the player experience and the security of customer deposits. Cashless isn’t the wave of the future because it is already here. As such, technology providers must meet the needs of casino operators and the demands of their players by offering modern, flexible cashless gaming technologies that address the critical security and experience factors.

Unfortunately, evaluations of cashless gaming solutions are occurring in an environment where casino systems technology has not evolved for more than 20 years while nearly every other industry has quickly adapted.

The Right Modern Technology for Adopting Cashless Gaming on Casinos Today and for the Future

Casino guests opting to take advantage of a cashless environment must feel safe with their decision to deposit money, move it around the casino, and access it once they leave the property.

Large legacy casino systems suppliers have responded to the resounding consumer preference for cashless solutions by resurrecting legacy technology built around a Cashless Wagering Account (“CWA”), as evidenced by the products offered by IGT, Light & Wonder, Aristocrat and Konami. Each of these companies offer solutions that recycle decades-old CWA architecture. As reviewed below, this old CWA technology brings with it significant limitations that create critical issues, particularly as cashless volumes increase. Furthermore, the promotion of CWA-driven legacy technologies by some of the industry’s leading equipment suppliers represents another downside for casino operators as they require the casino to assume liability for all player deposits. To this end, casino operators offering online sports betting and/or iGaming are already concerned with having to secure sports wagering deposits and carry these deposits on their balance sheet and are looking for new ways to structure around this exposure.

The optimal cashless solution eliminates the CWA altogether. Acres’ Cashless Casino solution is a modern technology solution that effectively mitigates risk, operates more quickly, is more secure, and offers a more intuitive player experience. Importantly for casino operators, this cashless solution allows all player deposits to remain in the custody of either the financial services provider or the player at all times. Acres’ Cashless Casino enables a modern open-loop payment system: player deposits are sent to the game directly from the financial services provider’s custody and when a cash-out occurs, funds are instantly returned to the care of the financial services provider. This provides operators with an incredibly valuable benefit: they never need to secure player deposits.

Cashless Wagering Accounts Offered by Legacy Suppliers Carry Significant Risks

CWAs are a closed loop payment system feature from a bygone era first designed into the Acres Advantage (now called IGT Advantage) system in 1996. At that time, and until recently, the only prevalent “cashless” funding option for customers was using this CWA by visiting the cage to deposit cash into their account. Once leaving the cage, the player would take their loyalty card to the slot machine to access their funds.

Using a closed loop payment system means casinos provide players access solely to internal funding systems. While this was logical approach in the late 1990s and early 2000s, more than 25 years later this same technology is extremely outdated and irrelevant given the open loop technology environment that today is powering the vast majority of cashless transactions that consumers now favor, given they regularly access funds from a variety of external sources such as bank accounts or payment cards. Legacy providers’ reliance on the outdated CWA underscores a troubling fact: these providers have almost completely ignored development in their systems businesses for over 20 years.

In an attempt to address the limitations of the CWA technology architecture in the IGT, Light & Wonder, Aristocrat and Konami cashless systems, these providers have modified their solutions with an added step to enable the acceptance of transfers from external financial services providers. However, as detailed below, casinos implementing these systems are left with a clunky open loop + closed loop process that adds steps for the consumer and impairs their experience by limiting the use of CWA funds to gaming only. In addition, this hybrid approach continues to bring significant risks to the operator.

CWA Puts Player Deposit Liability in the Hands of Operators

In the CWA cashless system, once a CWA is funded, the casino becomes the custodian of player funds, making it a fiduciary responsible for all customer funds, including fraud and disputes. Additionally, in this scenario, the casino must carry all deposits on its balance sheet.

In an era of profligate hacking, phishing and other criminal schemes, the deployment of CWA architecture in the casino enterprise introduces a series of unnecessary risks to the operator’s day-to-day business.


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In the diagram above, the operator’s CWA maintained for the patron becomes the custodian of patron funds on deposit. As a result, the operator acts as a bank for the patron while it is in possession of those funds. This includes fiduciary and security obligations owed to the patron, as well as carrying these liabilities on the Operator’s balance sheets.

Let’s use the following example to demonstrate the risks CWA technology cashless solutions bring to the casino operator:

If casinos were responsible for limiting possession of TITO tickets to their rightful owners, they would then have to reimburse players who report a lost or stolen TITO ticket. Had casinos been required to pay the value of lost or stolen tickets from the outset of TITO, the technology likely would never have realized the near universal adoption it has today.

This is the exact scenario proposed by IGT, Light & Wonder, Aristocrat and Konami in their efforts to deploy CWA-based cashless gaming systems.

By implementing a CWA cashless architecture, a casino operator incurs significant risk and liability without requisite benefits to themselves OR the player.

The 2-Step Wallet: a Dr. Frankenstein Solution

Open-loop + closed-loop solutions offered by legacy systems providers also create a confusing and counterintuitive customer experience. Why? Because to sit down at a slot machine with their cashless account, players must first make two separate transactions.

First, a player must fund the financial services provider’s wallet. Importantly, while these funds sit in custody of the financial services provider, they cannot be transferred directly to the game of the player’s choice.

Second, to put their funds into action, the player must transfer them from the financial services provider wallet into the casino’s CWA account. This confusing extra step brings no benefits to the player or casino. The only beneficiary is the systems vendor, who gets to sell an add-on to their more than 25-year-old system.

CWA solutions also add friction to the purchase process in non-gaming transactions. If a player leaves their slot machine to go make a purchase in the gift shop, funds would have to be transferred yet again from the CWA back to the financial services provider’s wallet. Casinos deploying CWA technology will also have to train players to fund the wallet compatible with their desired purchase.

Acres is the Right Way to Implement Cashless
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The optimal cashless solution – Acres’ Cashless Casino – eliminates the CWA entirely, allowing for a simple, faster, more secure and more intuitive player experience.

Cashless Casino from Acres is a modern, open-loop payment system that eliminates the CWA and leaves player deposits outside the casino’s custody. As such, only one wallet is required – that of the financial services provider – and players can instantly use their funds for any gaming or non-gaming transaction. At the end of a player session, cashed out funds are instantly returned to the care of the financial services provider. Because these funds are always located in the financial services provider’s custody, the casino assumes no risk or liability to secure them. And the player benefits from a “clean” one-step offering.

Furthermore, because the Acres solution is not hampered by the added step of transferring funds staged in the CWA, any number of funding solutions can be integrated with the slot machine, including bonuses driven by the cashless funding process and/or funded by external sponsors. Messages and bonuses can be highly tailored to each player for maximum efficiency, driven by the Acres Foundation hardware’s unique ability to deliver 100% of machine data in real-time. Any reliance upon the outdated CWA infrastructure ensures cashless funding is merely another funding option of the same player experience, while Foundation and Cashless Casino are designed to fundamentally change the experience to attract new players.


Cashless Gaming as a Catalyst for Increasing Participation of Younger Demographic

The pandemic accelerated business and consumer adoption of funding technologies that enable contactless transactions which are convenient and secure. As such, transactions via online or mobile tools are a fast growing and increasingly preferred means for consumers to conduct retail and e-commerce transactions. In 2021, over 80% of all non-casino gaming consumer financial transactions were accomplished without cash. In addition, cashless technology has been universally adopted for online gambling in the U.S. and Europe, accounting for 100% of online gambling transactions.

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At the same time, the pandemic led to new, younger players visiting casinos for the first time and this cohort is critical to the casino industry’s ongoing success. These younger generations, under age 50, accounted for less than 20% of U.S. slot revenue in 2021. Having grown up with the advantages that technology innovations offer in their consumer transactions, the introduction of a seamless cashless gaming experience will be critical to foster their consistent engagement with casino floor offerings.

Yogonet Gaming News: Video Interview With Noah Acres

VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH NOAH ACRES

Acres: "Casinos often make choices based on tradition and we're moving to an era of data-driven decisions"

Ahead of this year's edition of G2E, Noah Acres of Acres Manufacturing Company told Yogonet that the casino loyalty and technology provider would be showcasing in Las Vegas "how the cashless casino experience should be." In a new exclusive video interview, the expert now reflects on the firm's participation at the major gambling event; discusses data and technology in the industry; and talks about recent partnerships, including Sightline and Maverick Gaming...

Watch the video here:
https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/11/02/64867-acres--34casinos-often-make-choices-based-on-tradition-and-we-39re-moving-to-an-era-of-datadriven-decisions-34

MAVERICK GAMING TO IMPLEMENT ACRES' ADVANCED CASINO MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND CASHLESS GAMING

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres" or the "Company"), a leading casino loyalty and technology developer, announced today that Maverick Gaming, a gaming and entertainment company headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, will implement Acres' CMS+ and Cashless Casino technology applications, both of which leverage the Company's Foundation™ platform. Acres expects both solutions to go live at Maverick Gaming properties in the first half of 2023, pending regulatory approval.

CMS+™, a new, modern casino management system ("CMS"), leverages Foundation hardware installed in an operator's slot machines to amplify player engagement as well as provide unprecedented efficiencies and cost savings in the management of their casino floor. Foundation provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. It also provides casinos with over 1,000x more data than any currently installed legacy CMS, giving operators dramatic new capabilities to analyze and influence player behavior. CMS+™ uses mobile phone technology to directly communicate with employees on the casino floor while artificial intelligence continuously sifts through the highly detailed real-time data gathered by Foundation to identify problems and deploy technicians to fix those problems, all without management intervention.

Acres' award-winning Cashless Casino application represents the industry's best-of-breed cashless gaming and loyalty solution. It works on any slot machine or table game and deployment is simple, with casinos only needing to select a payment processor and provide a mobile app. The app becomes the user interface, ensuring that branding is fully compatible with the rest of the operator's player-facing options. Players use the app to virtually "card in" and start a rated play session. During play, point balances accrue in real-time and players are incentivized to continue playing when a new tier status is approaching. The payment processor provides for the free flow of player funds between their funding source and the app's wallet. Behind the scenes, Foundation allows the player's funds, as well as accrued points which can be converted to free play, to move between the app's wallet and the game.

"We are excited that Maverick Gaming has placed their trust in the revolutionary capabilities provided by Foundation and selected our CMS+ and Cashless Casino apps for deployment. These solutions provide operators with easy to implement and use technology that helps them grow revenue and operate more efficiently, and we expect Maverick's properties to quickly benefit from CMS+ and Cashless Casino," said Noah Acres, of Acres Manufacturing Company. "The technology leap forward embedded in CMS+ will ensure that Maverick can increase their player loyalty by more effectively staying engaged with their best guests in real-time on the casino floor while also operating more efficiently. These attributes trump legacy systems as CMS+ further elevates an operator's ability to provide a superior gaming entertainment experience. In addition, players utilizing Cashless Casino at Maverick's properties will appreciate the engaging and seamless user experience it offers."

"Our team has rigorously evaluated a wide range of CMS and cashless technologies and found that Acres' CMS+ and Cashless Casino applications are an ideal fit with our casino floor operations," said Justin Beltram, COO of Maverick Gaming. "We are excited to get to work with the team from Acres to deploy their technology and look forward to delivering an elevated gaming entertainment experience to our guests as enabled by these new solutions."

Acres Partners with InfiGifts to Modernize Casino Gifting

Players Utilize Casino's Mobile App to Earn and Redeem Thousands of Gifts

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres"), a leading developer of casino loyalty and other technology solutions, today announced the addition of Casino Science's InfiGifts to its Foundation™ App Store.

InfiGifts is an app-based continuity gifting and promotion solution that allows players to select and claim gift rewards directly from their smartphone. The interface between the InfiGifts app and Acres 'Foundation™ platform, the industry's first and only solution capable of both processing real-time gaming data and conducting cashless transfers to any slot machine, enables the InfiGifts experience to include real-time gifting and to incorporate lucrative merchandise into bonusing that is built-in to the casino's cashless app.

Casinos utilize continuity gifting to offer non-gaming merchandise rewards to players as a means to enhance loyalty. Marketing studies show U.S-based casinos spend as much as $2 billion annually on these gift programs. Historically, continuity gifting has presented operational challenges including requiring casinos to spend heavily on inventory, storage and extra staffing on giveaway days. InfiGifts removes these burdens by allowing players to redeem a wide variety of gifts via the casino's mobile app, which results in the item being shipped directly to the player's mailing address.

The partnership with Acres allows InfiGifts to be offered to casinos without setup or operational costs. Casinos only pay for the price of each gift a player orders.

"Our partnership with InfiGifts allows us to offer incredible value to any casino that deploys Foundation." said Noah Acres, "The casino industry has a significant, demonstrated need to modernize and InfiGifts is helping to address this through their tremendous upgrade for the continuity gifting process."

"Integrating to Foundation is an important step for InfiGifts," said Azam Husain, CEO of Casino Science. "With direct and instant access to real-time play data, we can offer the right gift to the right player instantly via mobile app."

GAMING INDUSTRY INNOVATOR, Acres to Highlight REVENUE BUILDING AND COST EFFICIENCY Capabilities of Foundation™ Casino Management Technology at Global Gaming Expo 2022

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres"), a leading casino loyalty and technology developer, will feature the unique cashless, bonusing and data generation capabilities of its Foundation™ casino management technology and system at the 22nd annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E®), October 10-13, 2022. Acres' Foundation technology is the industry's first and only solution capable of both processing real-time gaming data and conducting cashless transfers to and from any slot machine or table game.

"The development and continued evolution of Foundation reflects our commitment to provide casino operators with a modern, easy to implement technology that delivers the power to grow revenue and operate more efficiently by engaging with players at a significantly higher level than ever before," said Noah Acres. "We're excited to demonstrate the many benefits enabled by our Foundation technology at G2E, such as our unique bonusing applications that provide casino operators with tools to build and strengthen player loyalty, including through personalized gaming entertainment experiences based on players' individual behaviors and preferences. We will also demonstrate how we've unlocked the code on cashless gaming to provide for an engaging and seamless user experience.

"For decades, gaming technology has stagnated, significantly impacting casino operators' ability to simultaneously grow revenue while reducing costs. Visitors to our booth at G2E will see clearly that Acres is at the forefront of revolutionizing casino gaming technology, and we expect to remain the industry's leading solutions provider as we partner with more operators seeking the benefits of our Foundation casino management technology and system."

Foundation provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. Foundation provides casinos with over 1,000x more data, giving operators dramatic new capabilities to analyze and influence player behavior. Through its standard APIs, any application approved by the casino can interface with Foundation to enable advanced data analytics, bonusing, cashless gaming and more.

Highlights of the unique capabilities of Foundation featured by Acres at G2E (Booth #: 4211) include:

Cashless Casino: Enabling Rapid, Seamless Integration of Cashless Technology


Awarded the Gold Medal for Best Interactive Product by the GGB Gaming & Technology Awards 2022, the Cashless Casino application allows casino operators to deploy the industry's best-of-breed cashless gaming and loyalty solution within 15 weeks of order. Acres will demonstrate how the Cashless Casino app blends cashless gaming with real-time data, bonusing and loyalty to provide the player experience of the future. Cashless Casino can be downloaded in Apple's App Store and on Google Play. Once downloaded, G2E attendees can use the app to play slots, tables and win bonuses at the Acres G2E booth.

Cashless Casino works on any slot machine or table game, including those connected to legacy casino management systems. These solutions continue to account for play and loyalty data, while Foundation processes the entire machine event stream in real-time. Over time, casinos can migrate all CMS functionality to Foundation without any disruptions.

Deploying Cashless Casino is simple, as casinos only need to pick a payment processor and provide a mobile app. Players use Cashless Casino use the mobile app to virtually "card in" and start a rated play session as point balances accrue in real-time and players are incentivized to continue playing when a new tier status approaches Foundation allows the player's funds, as well as accrued points which can be converted to free play, to move between the app's wallet and the game.

Tap N Win Bonus Application: Helping to Extend Player Loyalty Beyond the Casino Floor


Tap N Win is a one-of-a-kind bonus that allows casinos to bonus players anywhere they carry their app. Once unlocked, players simply tap their device to reveal their prize. Casinos can configure how the bonus is earned, what prizes are awarded and when they can be redeemed. Engaging content and bonuses like Tap N Win will help casinos create loyal customers even when players are away from the casino.

Double Jackpot Time Bonus: Providing Casino Operators with Control of Player Bonusing


The featured prize of Tap N Win is Double Jackpot Time, a first-of-its kind bonus application for the casino industry. When a player earns and pushes the Double Jackpot Time button on their mobile app during a live slot session, all pays on the slot machine are doubled for the length of time determined by the casino operator as an exciting Double Jackpot Time animation sequence is played simultaneously on the player's mobile app and on the display screen over the slot machine. The Foundation technology enables casino operators to customize bonuses such as Double Jackpot Time based on a myriad of factors arising from the real-time data collected by the system. In addition to casino operators having the ability to program their optimal length of the Double Jackpot Time bonus session, they can also personalize bonus sessions based on the play of each individual player and determine on which slot machines to offer the bonus rounds.

Optimal Poker Analyzer: Maximizing Return on Marketing Spend


Leveraging Foundation's ability to read 100% of slot machine data in real-time, Optimal Poker Analyzer empowers casinos to perform high-definition video poker analytics. Optimal Poker Analyzer identifies the optimal solution for any five-card combination dealt in a wide variety of video poker pay tables. When players never differ from optimal play, casinos can designate them as advantage players and modify their marketing offers, while marketing offers can be increased for high margin players who are more prone to frequent mistakes.

Acres Introduces Cashless Casino, a New Application that Enables Quick Implementation of Cashless Gaming Technology

Cashless Casino Leverages Acres' Foundation Technology to Accelerate Cashless Gaming Adoption

LAS VEGAS, July 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With a focus on driving an easier and quicker implementation of cashless gaming functionality, Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres") announced today the introduction of Cashless Casino, a new application that enables casino operators to deploy the industry's best-of-breed cashless gaming and loyalty solution within 15 weeks of order. Cashless Casino is powered by Acres' Foundation technology, the industry's only solution capable of processing both real-time gaming data and conducting cashless transfers to and from any slot machine or table game. Acres' efforts to innovate solutions that enable a more intuitive adoption of cashless gaming technology will help set the stage for the option of a completely cashless casino gaming floor within a few years which will eliminate cash handling expenses and drive a better overall player experience.

"Early deployments of Foundation cashless gaming have proven that cashless players increase their play and visitation. As a result, casino operators are increasingly expressing wide-scale interest in deploying cashless gaming technology. However, implementing cashless gaming quickly becomes a burdensome, do-it-yourself project for operators, as they struggle through the limitations of decades-old legacy casino management systems ("CMS") technologies to integrate a payment processor and user interface while solving for dispute resolution and regulatory compliance," said Noah Acres. "These issues have dramatically slowed industry adaptation of cashless gaming. Cashless Casino addresses this challenge by making the rollout incredibly easy and intuitive, as it enables operators to focus on player education and the gaming entertainment experience. We can implement Cashless Casino within about 15 weeks of receiving an operator's order."

Cashless Casino works on any slot machine or table game, including those connected to casino management systems from Aristocrat, IGT, Konami and Light & Wonder. These legacy CMS solutions continue to account for play and loyalty data, while Foundation processes the entire machine event stream in real-time, resulting in over a thousand times more data being provided to the casino. Over time, casinos can migrate all CMS functionality to Foundation and remove the legacy CMS without any disruption to their loyalty, reporting or analytics programs, resulting in millions of dollars saved annually in hardware and maintenance fees.

Deploying Cashless Casino is simple, as casinos only need to pick a payment processor and provide a mobile app. The casino's app becomes the user interface, ensuring that branding is fully compatible with the rest of the operator's player-facing options. Players using Cashless Casino use the mobile app to virtually "card in" and start a rated play session. During play, point balances accrue in real-time and players are incentivized to continue playing when a new tier status is approaching. The payment processor of choice provides for the free flow of player funds between their funding source and the app's wallet. Behind the scenes, Foundation allows the player's funds, as well as accrued points which can be converted to free play, to move between the app's wallet and the game.

Casinos can select one or more payment providers, including Everi, Fabicash, Flexia, Koin, Sightline Payments and Trustly. An interface to Marker Trax, a casino marker solution, is also included. Furthermore, Cashless Casino satisfies all regulatory requirements by providing audit reports and dispute resolution tools and can serve as the required system of record.

"Cashless Casino allows gaming operators to position themselves for an entirely cashless future in which casinos transition away from physical player cards, kiosks, and direct mail," added Noah Acres. "These legacy technologies and practices are quickly being abandoned by other industries and by implementing Cashless Casino, operators can engage with their customers more easily in the mediums they prefer while also benefiting from operating efficiencies.

"Driving higher loyalty engagement is the core value proposition of our Foundation technology," concluded Noah Acres, "and incorporating innovative player loyalty features into Cashless Casino is a key differentiator in the player experience. Cashless Casino enables casino operators to significantly improve their connection and engagement with their players."

Acres to Debut Game-Changing Precision Bonusing™ Platform at NIGA 2022

Acres Will Demonstrate Three Custom Bonuses Including First-of-its-Kind Mobile App that Combines Bonusing, Cashless and Loyalty Capabilities

LAS VEGAS April 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres") announced today that the Company will debut its revolutionary Precision Bonusing™ platform during the Indian Gaming Trade Show & Convention ("NIGA"), to be held April 19-22, 2022, in Anaheim, CA (Booth #262). Acres will showcase three unique bonuses made possible by Precision Bonusing, each custom themed for the show's location in Orange County. Precision Bonusing provides casino operators the ability to offer players a personalized experience and all of its bonus applications can be quickly reskinned to match a casino's branding.

The demonstration of Acres' innovative Precision Bonusing platform will be headlined by Orange Blast, a first-of-its-kind mobile app that combines the features of a cashless wallet with bonusing and loyalty functionality. The Orange Blast bonus app is available for download in the App Store and on Google Play.

"Orange Blast is a casino player app that encompasses the full spectrum of the player's gaming entertainment experience," said Noah Acres of Acres Manufacturing. "The unique Orange Blast app creates a new way for casinos to drive player acquisition while also increasing visitation by providing players a gamified mobile app that responds to real-time gameplay. During casino play, the app manages the player experience by first funding the game and then by generating personalized messages, bonuses and loyalty rewards derived from real-time gaming data. Importantly, Precision Bonusing technology can be seamlessly integrated with sports betting and iGaming apps, allowing for a complete 360-degree view of the patron across all gaming platforms."

For those who visit the Acres booth at NIGA and download Orange Blast, the app will award players virtual oranges that can be sliced open to reveal a prize. Within the Orange Blast app, Players will find a mobile wallet with a number of value categories, including cash, free play and points. Orange Blast also includes a special wallet balance for Marker Trax™, an automated casino marker solution.  Players can use the app to transfer cash, free play or Marker Trax credit to the slot machine or table game of their choice. The app also includes a function for players to convert points to free play or other rewards.

"Casino technology has stagnated over the past 20 years while the player base has continued to age. We developed Precision Bonusing and the Orange Blast app with the goal of providing casino operators with flexible and intuitive technology solutions that can help them address the growing use of mobile technology among U.S. consumers, as the average adult is spending over four hours per day on their smart phone. As our predecessor companies have done for decades, our newest products will be important tools for casino operators in their efforts to grow their player base and revenues," added Noah Acres.

On-game bonuses will also be on display at NIGA. Juicy Jackpots is a multi-level mystery progressive with four static or progressive prize levels. Orange Spin is a prize wheel featuring a configurable number of segments. Importantly, all prize values and hit frequencies can be modified to suit a casino's needs. 

Acres Launches Precision Bonusing™ for its Foundation™ Casino Management System

Flexible Bonusing Platform and Easy Integration with Acres' Cashless Wallet Drives Casino Player Engagement and Revenue

LAS VEGAS, April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres"), a leading casino loyalty and technology developer, today announced the launch of Precision Bonusing™, a bonusing platform compatible with any slot machine connected to the Acres Foundation™ ("Foundation") casino management system. Foundation's market-leading technology uniquely allows casino operators to make any slot machine immediately cashless and bonusing compatible.

Precision Bonusing is a suite of bonus applications that utilize the Foundation™ system to connect to any slot machine. Each bonus application is highly configurable, allowing casino operators to adjust the bonus pay table, trigger events and even the theme and appearance of the player-facing bonus sequence.

"Precision Bonusing allows casinos to easily integrate their own branded content into exciting bonuses on the casino floor," said Noah Acres of Acres Manufacturing. "Our new bonusing application transcends outdated bonusing experiences by providing a fully customizable menu of rules and trigger events. Importantly, while legacy bonusing products deploy the same themes across multiple casinos, Precision Bonusing empowers casinos to differentiate themselves by integrating their unique brand identity into on-the-floor casino bonusing."

Precision Bonusing will debut at the Indian Gaming Trade Show and Convention (commonly referred to as NIGA) April 19-22, 2022, in Anaheim, CA. At the show, Acres will be demonstrating a multi-level progressive, a wheel bonus, and a first-of-its-kind mobile bonus that pays cash and non-monetary prizes directly to an app-based cashless wallet. Casinos can also create their own bonuses or implement bonuses offered at the Foundation App Store by Acres or through third party developers.

Bonusing increases casino excitement by giving players a chance to win cash and prizes beyond the pay table offered by the slot machine. The concept was pioneered by Acres Gaming in the 1990s but has not meaningfully evolved since the company's sale in 2004. As a result, casinos today still rely on the limits of 25-year-old systems hardware that permeates land-based casinos. With the introduction of Foundation™ and Precision Bonusing™ casinos can now deliver the types of real-time, data-driven, personalized experiences that tech companies have used to fuel their rapid growth.

Noah Acres added, "The lack of technological innovation is a key reason casino revenue growth has not kept pace with other tech-driven industries. Precision Bonusing enables casinos to reveal and send cash and other prizes to the player's mobile device, which is the platform of choice for the modern consumer. With the average US adult spending over four hours per day on a smartphone, Precision Bonusing's ability to interface a live gaming session to a player's mobile device empowers casinos to influence players wherever they go."

Acres Manufacturing Launches Foundation App Store

LAS VEGASFeb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Acres Manufacturing Company ("Acres"), a leading casino loyalty and technology developer, today announced the debut of the Foundation App Store, an open-to-all environment that allows any developer to provide applications for any slot machine or table game deploying Acres' Foundation™ casino management system technology. The Foundation App Store enables casino operators to seamlessly add the newest content from developers through an open API in an effort to quickly address evolving consumer interests.

With the open API, casinos only pay for the cost of the application, not for the interface. Currently, casinos may have to purchase the same interface for each application they want to buy. This obstacle prevents many casinos from installing new applications, thereby depriving them of incremental revenue and earnings.

Another significant difference with the Foundation App Store is that Acres allows any app, whether or not it competes with present or future Acres applications. Typically, fees are charged by legacy systems for any interface with competitive products.

At launch, the Foundation App Store includes 17 developers with applications tested and certified as Foundation Compatible by Acres. Initial applications encompass categories such as reporting, analytics, cashless gaming, bonusing and more.

"The Foundation App Store is a marketplace that enables casinos to select any application they want with the guarantee of security and compatibility," said Noah Acres of Acres Manufacturing. "We are allowing any developer to create content for the Foundation platform by providing our standard API documentation. This approach is beneficial to developers, casino operators and gaming customers as it will cultivate the newest technologies and content for consumers. We are confident the enhanced speed of deployment and broader variety of applications available on the platform will greatly enhance profits for casino operators."

Foundation™ is a first-of-its-kind casino management system that provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. Foundation™ provides casinos with over 1000x more data, giving casinos dramatic new capabilities to analyze and influence player behavior. Through its standard APIs, any application approved by the casino can interface with Foundation to enable advanced data analytics, bonusing, cashless gaming and more.

Legacy casino management systems have closed interfaces that prevent developers from contributing new content. Acres believes this business model has greatly slowed the growth of the industry by restricting casinos' ability to evolve their services to meet consumer demands, which the Company believes is a key contributor to the dramatic aging of the casino customer demographic.

Acres provides standard APIs to any developer that wants to create an application that interfaces to Foundation™. Applications are tested and certified prior to being listed on the Foundation App Store. Developers dictate their own pricing, and casinos are freed from the burden of paying interface fees to connect desired applications.

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For information, visit: https://acresmanufacturing.com/app-store/

 

Acres Manufacturing: Featured Cover Story in Global Gaming Business Magazine

John Acres wants to completely change the way casinos serve their slot customers.

He’s done it before. More than once.

Acres invented slot player tracking technology, sold by the company he founded in 1981, Electronic Data Technologies. (EDT was eventually acquired by IGT.) The existence today of player loyalty clubs that reward repeat play can be traced to this invention.

GGBcover_Feb.2022.jpg

John Acres and Noah Acres on the cover of Global Gaming Business Magazine

 

More innovations would come from Mikohn, which Acres and a partner founded in 1986. The innovator of the modern progressive jackpot system, Mikohn, created for an initial investment of $120,000, was sold for $6 million to Progressive Gaming International (the assets of which ultimately were acquired by IGT).

Next was Acres Gaming, and another transformative technology, bonusing, within the system known then as Acres Advantage, now the IGT Advantage casino management system, after the supplier’s 2003 acquisition of the Acres Gaming assets.

According to Acres, the ensuing 18 years saw slot system technology pretty much on pause. He has stressed to anyone who will listen that casinos are basing their loyalty programs on technology that was created in the 1990s.

“The best analogy I can give you is that today’s casinos are operated like Blockbuster video stores,” Acres says. “Everybody wakes up every morning, thinking about how to arrange the cassettes on the shelf, how many late fees they’re going to collect and where to put the licorice next to the checkout stand. And this is the age of Netflix. You’ve got to think about what the players you have want—but more importantly, what do the people who aren’t yet your players want? What do you have to give to get that new business?

“The casino management systems that people are using today are just too old and too weak to be able to do the things that today’s consumers expect. Our games are too simple. Our loyalty programs are too simple, too much oriented towards entitlements. We can’t make any rapid changes in our technology and our offerings. And so, our industry has run tired. Our costs are too high and our revenues are too low.”

Acres is addressing the challenges of modern loyalty systems as CEO of his latest company, Acres Manufacturing, along with son Noah Acres, the company’s chief operating officer. The company is currently preparing for an initial public offering that will occur in the coming weeks, proceeds to be used to expand the company and to maximize the benefits of the product Acres says will effectively address the problem of the antiquated CMS, a system called Foundation.

Foundation is not a traditional casino management system, but a technology that super-charges any existing system by collecting data directly from each slot machine—according to Acres, 1,000 times the data collected by a traditional CMS, a richness of data that frees slot officials to court, reward and retain players in ways they’ve never done before.

“The casino systems we have today are closed,” says Acres. “They’re proprietary. The system supplier refuses to allow you to share your own data with third-party vendors. With Foundation, just about all the data is shareable. And we think that revenues will rise because of that.”

Direct Data Access
“We call it a GMI, which stands for gaming machine interface,” explains Noah Acres. “You plug this directly into the slot machine and it extracts all of the SAS data in real time. Every single event, every meter that’s reported on the game, comes across this in real time. And we present it to the casino in the manner where they now control and own the data in the way that they want.

“This is really big in terms of learning player behaviors, and adjusting to player behaviors in real time. And this can can actually write credits directly back to the game.”

One of the advantages of this last fact is that Foundation is a perfect system addition for adding cashless functionality, as Penn National is currently doing using Foundation in combination with systems from both Everi and Scientific Games at some of its properties nationwide, using the Acres Wallet cashless module to transfer funds brought in from outside sources by the CMS and translate them instantly into credits on the player’s machine.

But it’s also perfect for rewarding bonuses that are precisely the right player perk at precisely the right time. John Acres notes that Foundation records not only how much people are wagering, but the manner in which they’re wagering. “We can record how long people pause between button presses—whether they started with $100 or $10, what their credit meter balance is,” he says. “We’ve got a very rich data set, and we have that data in real time.”

The other benefit is the freedom the operator has to use that data in a way not possible with traditional proprietary systems that control the disbursement of data and shut out other systems. “The data is free to the casino to use in any way they want,” says John Acres. “There are all kinds of third parties out there with lots of capability for analytics and decision-making that are unable to couple to the existing CMS systems in ways that can bring brand new capabilities, brand new profits to casinos if they can utilize this data.

“We’re providing the bridge through which they can access that casino data, as well as the building block upon which they can build cashless functionality.”

He adds that the ways of drilling down this data to benefit the player/operator relationship are practically endless. For instance, Foundation can merge data on the credit meter balance with the time between wagers—“whether or not you’re slowing down your wagers or speeding up, whether or not you’re increasing or decreasing your wagers,” John Acres says.

“With those hints, we can start to ascertain what your satisfaction level is. Are you becoming tired of the experience? Are you disengaging? And if we can time a bonus or a challenge to you at that exact moment of discouragement, when you would otherwise get up and leave, we can transform the gaming experience.”

“It’s more than just the segment of data that we gather,” adds Noah Acres. “It’s also the real-time nature of it. If I go to the casino today and I sit down and I play, the casino has no way of monitoring my experience in real time. Therefore they, they have no way of adjusting or modifying my experience.

“We collect everything in real time, giving the casino the ability to see if the player is having a good experience, a bad experience—perhaps, even, if an experience is going to jeopardize the person’s loyalty. (The operator) can then jump in and respond with either a bonus, a message or some type of incentive or personalized communication.”

It’s the kind of personalized experience to which customers—particularly younger customers—have become accustomed thanks to the internet. “The success of the internet cannot be ignored,” John Acres says. “The combined revenues of Facebook, Google and Netflix are 48,000 times bigger than 20 years ago. Gaming industry revenues have increased by a factor of 2, just barely keeping pace with inflation. Why is the rest of the world exploding while we’re thrilled to death to have a 20 percent increase in one year? It’s because of personalization, mobile interactions and social connectivity. These are all facets the gaming industry has ignored.”

He says Foundation and the technology coming behind it is all about “resetting expectations” among operators. “It’s about getting casinos to realize that it’s way better if we all take a smaller share of a giant pie than the majority share of a little tiny pie. That’s the difference between open and proprietary. Open has worked in every industry it has been brought to, and we’re really excited about bringing it to casinos.”

Changing the Game
Beyond changing the way casinos marshal all the data that could be at their fingertips, Acres Gaming is looking to change the slot experience to better fit the emerging younger player demographic.

“We’re stuck in the same basic game platform we’ve had in the 50 years since I’ve been in the business, which is basically spinning reels that spin and stop, and you win or you lose,” John Acres says. “Our next step beyond Foundation is what we call Coherence. That’s where we create an entirely new gaming machine.”

He says this new machine will have no bill acceptor or ticket printer, and will be built from scratch for cashless play only. “But it also will combine the loyalty information with the random number generator at the same time,” he says.

“So, when you sit down at the game in our vision of the future, you’re going to hold your palm up against the machine. It will recognize who you are, your funds will transfer, and the game that you see will change to match your personality.”

Acres says this will apply regardless of the casino you’re in, as long as it is equipped with Coherence. “You’ll go to any box anywhere in the casino, sit down, hold your palm in front of it, and you’ll see the game of your preference, the game that we believe is most likely to fit you.”

He adds that Coherence will fit the mobile, social media world in which today’s consumers exist, with opportunities for side wagers and other interactions with players you know, instant replays of your wins on social media, or even to identify someone across the casino who is winning and wager on their game.

“We believe that with those rich new opportunities, we can attract new players,” says John Acres. “A lot of those new players will be younger, but I know a lot of my friends find casino slot machines very boring as well. I think this will attract people across all demographics.”

Acres’ plan is to do no less than transform the casino experience. “If I walk into a casino today, it’s like reading an article that’s written in all caps with exclamation marks after every sentence,” says John Acres. “It’s just so overwhelming and confusing, and there’s no choreographic experience for the player. It’s flat. There needs to be this undulation, this roller-coaster ride of quiet and excitement and quiet and excitement.”

“And at the end of your budget,” adds Noah Acres, “at the end of your time in the casino, we want you to be satisfied. We want you to go home thinking about how fun it was to win that $100, and maybe not thinking about the $200 you spent to get there. That’s our goal. And we believe that to get there, we need this new platform, and then that platform needs to be open to everybody.”

“They did $600 billion in (sales through) the App Store this year,” says the elder Acres. “We can bring that to the casino. We can have all these bright people that are sitting at home with ideas express themselves on this new platform, and they’ll win or lose, they’ll succeed or fail based upon how well their content is accepted. Many will fail, but those who succeed will completely transform the experiences that we have.

“And keep in mind that if you want the old experience, you can still have it, because Foundation provides the bridge between the old games and the new games.”

While the grand plan is to change the experience, Foundation has the ability to maximize casino revenues in today’s industry, says Noah Acres.

“When you think about real-time rewards and real-time messaging,” he says, “to understand the scope and the potential here, imagine you’re a casino marketer. You know every player’s specific play history, you know how they’re faring on the game right now, and you also know how much money they have in their pocket, because you know the wallet balance on their mobile device.

“If you can know all that information, there’s a tremendous potential to deliver that person the right message at the right time, to get them to take the right action. It’s going generate more profit for the casino.”

Moving Forward
The means to generate that profit is still in its infancy as far as the Foundation technology, but John Acres says it will move forward as some of the industry’s more visionary operators see how it can change the casino ecosystem.

There has been pushback, including litigation involving some of the more traditional system providers. “The biggest issue isn’t so much pushback; it’s the inertia to change,” John Acres says. “There are many people that want to keep things the way that they were yesterday. They want to do, tomorrow, what they did last week.”

He says the more positive future for technology like Foundation will be realized by operators like Acres’ current partner Penn National Gaming. “Penn is an example of how a really visionary guy, (CEO) Jay Snowden, and a great team of people are adapting to change very quickly,” he says. “And other people are starting to see that example of what benefits change can bring. So we’re real excited about 2022 and 2023.

“We think that a whole new era is upon us. We think that we can double casino revenues. We think we can cut costs per dollar of revenue in half. We think that we can totally transform, in the next five years, the casino gaming industry.”

He adds that this does not mean Foundation is going to replace the traditional casino management systems; the technology can improve what already exists.

“Foundation is literally what its name implies—it is the bedrock upon which we build,” says Noah Acres. “It collects the data. Now we will create applications that replace every function of a CMS, but we also invite any third party to do a better job than what we do. We’re open to creativity.”

“But besides personalization for the players and creating a more challenging, interactive game,” adds John Acres, “the big challenge for casinos now is to move from the desktop era where the existing casino management systems are stuck—where a host or other casino person has to run into a back room and get onto a desktop computer to get information, and then go back out and please the player—to where that information is inherently presented on a mobile device to the person in the moment, not just something they have to dig out and think about.”

He adds that Foundation is capable of calculating the best course of action related to that information, and lay out the best actions for that host to take. “All of that information about the player is automatically ingested, automatically calculated,” he says, “and the things that that host or service person should do for the player are laid out for them on the smartphone. It tells them what to do next.”

For Acres Manufacturing, what to do next is to educate operators on the potential benefits of the Foundation technology and what will follow in the next few years. John Acres—who was inducted into the AGA Gaming Hall of Fame in 2016 and has, so far, 149 patents to his name—is relying on the partnership with his son Noah to move the technology forward.

“I can provide the experience of where the bottlenecks are going to be. From my experience with EDT and Mikohn and Acres Gaming, I’ve got some better insights as to what the stumbling blocks down the road might be and how we can work to avoid those before we ever get there,” John Acres says. “Noah, on the other hand, brings that new energy, that new look at things… I never participated in social media, so he’s dragging me kicking and screaming into it, but it’s natural for him.”

He’ll soon have a lot more help, as this year’s IPO—expected to raise as much as $60 million—will mean expansion for Acres Manufacturing. “We’re on track (with the IPO),” John Acres says. “We’re going to use the proceeds to build Coherence, and to further our patent portfolio, which we fully expect to quadruple over the next four or five years, and to hire great people—because technology is just what people use to create the player experience. We need people who will continue to evolve with that technology.

“We want to make sure that Foundation and Coherence feed into that when that becomes the norm. We don’t want to be stuck in a world where the machines that we build today look an awful lot like the machines of 20 years ago. We’ve got to go where the rest of the world already is, or we’re just going to disappear.”

For now, Acres Manufacturing is working with Penn National to bring cashless game functionality to what eventually will be all of Penn’s properties. “I believe we’re installed on around 15,000 machines so far, and we’ll probably equip 20,000 machines this year and 100,000 next year,” John Acres says. “But you won’t see those big examples until we get a significant installed base, and until we get all the regulations in place.

“So, we’re still on the runway ready to take off. But you’ll see us in the air next year.”

~~~~~

This article was written by Frank Legato, Editor of Global Gaming Business Magazine

Focus on Acres: How Modern Casino Technology Can Double Revenues

To satisfy his own curiosity, John Acres recently compared the combined revenue from Google, Netflix and Facebook to gaming industry revenue between 1999 to 2019. Over that 20-year span, Acres found that the three tech giants increased revenue by a factor of 48,000. In comparison, gaming operators increase revenue by a factor of just 2.

The difference, according to the founder and CEO of the Las Vegas-based Acres Manufacturing, is that Google, Netflix and Facebook maximize their use of data, understand their customers and reach them primarily through mobile apps and mobile communications. In contrast, Acres reports, he can walk into some casinos and still find technology that was installed more than 20 years ago, all using only desktop computers...

“Mobile devices are not a meaningful part of the player experience,” he says. “The personalization we do is limited to the monthly mailers we send. We just have a tremendous opportunity to adapt technology, and while we might not be able to grow revenue by a factor of 48,000, I believe we can easily, easily double casinos revenues.”

A 2016 inductee to the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame, Acres began his career as a slot technician before becoming one of the industry’s most prolific innovators. Acres is responsible for innovations like progressive jackpots, free play and the first electronic loyalty system.

With Acres Manufacturing, he developed the company’s revolutionary product Foundation, technology that allows slot machines to connect to apps and produces real-time data, loyalty and cashless transaction through a single mobile interface.

But even as the gaming industry experiences unprecedented growth – according to the AGA, revenue for 2021 reached $44.15 billion at the end of October, surpassing the $43.65 billion generated in the record-setting 2019 —Acres thinks there’s money being left on the table.

The first step to achieve increased gaming industry growth is to recognize that change is necessary and that it won’t happen overnight.

“I think there’s a fear of change,” Acres says. “There is a fear of `what if I change the wrong thing?’ But you’re way better off to change now and start learning how to follow the data than to wait. I think to double revenue is going to be a five- or six-year journey, and it starts with a casino deciding that gathering information is their primary emphasis.”

That journey, he believes, starts with but is not limited to cashless payment systems. Cashless payments enable casino operators to cut operational costs. The federal government likes cashless because it removes the ills of money laundering through anonymous gambling.

“But also, we have a tremendous opportunity with cashless to do much deeper personalization, because we don’t even have to ask a player to use a card anymore when they move money onto the machine,” Acres says. “When they move money onto a machine, we know their identity. We can paint a much clearer picture of their desires and their behaviors and their histories than ever before, so cashless is more of a gateway than a destination.”

Acres thinks that even if only a small number of customers initially adopt cashless, having that option available provides gaming operators with a solid base of data, even if operators initially aren’t sure how to deploy such information.

“It’s incredibly important because you can always post-process that data and analyze it again,” he says.

While Foundation’s technology is similar to that employed by Netflix or Amazon when suggesting a movie or book that a customer may like based on prior selections, it covers newer and potentially more lucrative ground for gaming operators. The technology can not only recognize a player’s preferences, “but change their experience as they sit there,” Acres explains.

Instead of sending out monthly mailers with coupons for free play or food discounts, the technology recognizes players’ likes and dislikes, basing rewards on time of play and other factors. Players whose balances get low may be given more bonuses or other inducements.

“We have to surprise and delight those players at every turn, and that means showing them the games they know and love with one twist, and then another little twist,” he says, “and slowly migrate them to new experiences and new opportunities.”

Acres says reacting in real time to a player’s situation also can be applicable to sports betting and iGaming. But most gaming operators don’t have the necessary personnel and tools to deploy such technology; thus the need for systems like Foundation.

“The business of providing hospitality is huge, and people that must provide that and secure the systems are different than the people who must create and configure them,” he contends. “That’s part of the gap, that we as technology providers have not done enough to provide the assistance that casinos need. That’s one of the reasons we’re raising another $50 million so we can build a stronger team to provide those services.”

~~~~~

article by Rege Behe, CDC Gaming Reports

Acres: The Foundation App Store Provides a Marketplace for Casino Operators

Acres Manufacturing is unveiling the Foundation App Store, an ecosystem the company says will bring new ideas to the gaming industry by providing open and standard interfaces to third-party developers.

Foundation, the first-of-its-kind casino management system, provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. Armed with a massive amount of real-time data, an adaptable credit meter on any game, and bonuses deployable to a player’s mobile device, casinos can use it to optimize every customer relationship and maximize long-term profitability.

“The Foundation App Store is a marketplace where casinos can discover new applications with guaranteed security and compatibility within the Foundation environment,” said Noah Acres, of Acres Manufacturing. “Any developer can create content for the Foundation platform. The speed and variety of new applications available on the platform will greatly increase casino profits for years to come.”

Foundation is a hardware device that installs into the slot machine and extracts all real-time data from the games. It can also be programmed to change the credit meters on command on any slot machine. And through a new breakthrough technology the company calls SAS-sharing, Foundation can be installed with no performance loss from the legacy casino management system.

“We take 100% of the raw SAS data and put it into an environment that the casinos have complete control over,” Acres explained. “Casino operators become the sole decider of which third parties are able to access their data. Foundation collects over a thousand times more data than casinos have ever accessed before. Instead of locking this data away in a closed ecosystem, we provide open APIs to any developer who wants to produce an application. Now, instead of a legacy system provider refusing to interface or charging an expensive interface fee, casinos are in complete control.

Acres said his company doesn’t have a monopoly on good ideas and welcomes anybody who wants to develop an application for the casino industry.

“That will bring a whole new scale and velocity of new ideas to the industry,” he assured. “We are getting ready to announce its first group of platform partners that have successfully interfaced to Foundation. These are companies that have products that have already been successfully tested and certified for compatibility with Foundation.”

Acres said the goal is to let casinos know that there’s a lot that can be done with their data. Acres is now able to tell them they have working products ready to deliver them a return on investment.

“Once the Foundation hardware is installed, additional applications can be downloaded to the existing hardware. There is no additional physical installation process.”

Acres noted that it’s been difficult historically for companies to bring in new products to casinos, and his company wanted to make that easier. They want to help anyone who has an idea for an application.

“Closed interfaces have dramatically slowed our growth as an industry. I remember when you couldn’t get Microsoft Word on an Apple computer because Apple had a closed environment. Once Apple evolved and started working with outside developers, they quickly became the most valuable company in the world. Apple’s App Store played an enormous role in that growth. We expect similar growth in the casino industry once Foundation is widely deployed.”

Acres said the casino industry has long faced pushback from companies with management systems that monopolize access to casino data by restricting outsiders.

“If a casino wants an application from a third-party developer, the systems provider will typically refuse to allow that application to interface because they want to be the one and only provider. We are tearing those walls down,” he said. “The data belongs to the casino. It doesn’t belong to us. It’s not our place to say what products can or can’t connect to the data. It’s the casino’s prerogative.”

More than 20 companies will be part of the first release, covering everything from data analytics and payment processing to game content.

~~~~~

article by Buck Wargo, CDC Gaming Reports

Gaming Developer Acres Updates Decades-Old Player Loyalty Systems

John Acres created the gaming industry’s first player tracking system in the 1980s, giving casinos the ability to follow a customer’s slot machine wagering activity and reward the gambler with various incentives.

The problem, he said, is casinos are still using the same technology decades later.

“It was good in the 1990s, but somewhere around 2000, consumer expectations changed,” Acres said. “The younger generations would rather watch paint dry than play a slot machine.”

That statement might seem contradictory, given that casino revenues nationwide – commercial and tribal combined – grew nearly 125 percent between 1999 and 2019. However, Acres noted that only 16 percent of the growth came in the last five years.

He believes a failure to change with the times means money is being left on the table by the casino industry, especially as the use of cashless gaming and digital payments increases throughout casinos nationwide.

John Acres created the gaming industry’s first player tracking system in the 1980s, giving casinos the ability to follow a customer’s slot machine wagering activity and reward the gambler with various incentives.

The problem, he said, is casinos are still using the same technology decades later.

“It was good in the 1990s, but somewhere around 2000, consumer expectations changed,” Acres said. “The younger generations would rather watch paint dry than play a slot machine.”

That statement might seem contradictory, given that casino revenues nationwide – commercial and tribal combined – grew nearly 125 percent between 1999 and 2019. However, Acres noted that only 16 percent of the growth came in the last five years.

He believes a failure to change with the times means money is being left on the table by the casino industry, especially as the use of cashless gaming and digital payments increases throughout casinos nationwide.

He has now developed Foundation, a technology product being built at Las Vegas-based Acres Manufacturing’s small office and production facility off Tenaya Way and Sunset Road.

The technology is packaged in a red box that resembles a wireless router used for a home wi-fi set-up. It acts as a server collecting information from the games, tracking real-time player behavior and data that allows casinos to send personalized bonuses to players on their mobile devices.

The system reports data from every slot machine in a casino in real-time, using a smaller red box embedded inside the game that feeds the information back to the primary server. The property’s operator can change any slot machine’s credit meter on command, which would spool a reward to a player immediately.

Acres jokingly called his latest product “a friendly trojan horse,” as opposed to the negative connotation of that term referring to malware that can infect a computer system. His system allows casinos to tie into the growing use of cashless gaming, enabling a property to place rewards, bonuses and other incentives directly into a customer’s digital wagering account.

“The data we collect and the profiles that we collect allow us to know the players’ personality and that can be used anywhere in the property,” Acres said. “It’s up to the casinos to decide how they want to utilize that data.”

Last month, Acres launched Foundation with regional casino giant Penn National Gaming, which operates 43 casinos in 20 states, including M Resort in Henderson. Acres is working in partnership with Las Vegas-based Everi Holdings, which provides Penn with cashless gaming and digital payment technology.

In November, the companies took the system to Penn’s casinos in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The system will next go live at Penn’s Indiana casinos. Noah Acres, chief operating officer of his father’s company, said Penn plans to bring the product to all of the company’s casinos by next year, including M Resort.

“By the end of this month, we will have shipped 26,000 (of the Foundation devices) to them,” Noah Acres said. “Not all are in casinos yet. We’re just waiting for regulatory approvals in certain states. We're ready to go live once they get the green light.”

Evolving player loyalty technology

John Acres said customer loyalty programs have been utilized and expanded in the past throughout U.S. consumer markets, such as in the hotel and lodging industry and airlines.

UNLV gaming historian David Schwartz said casino player loyalty programs have needed to evolve beyond merely tracking play. At the outset, the “relatively novel systems” helped differentiate one casino from another.

“Now, with more competition for disposable income from a variety of sources, it makes sense that a program that could provide greater personalization would be valuable,” Schwartz said.

He noted that content providers have more information about their customers and that customers are used to personalization, such as suggested products for purchase or what shows to watch on streaming channels.

“Their expectations that a casino does the same are, from this perspective, understandable,” Schwartz said.

A lack of cooperation by technology providers has slowed casino operators from expanding their loyalty programs, John Acres said. Traditional casino technology providers “strive to extend their proprietary product life cycles and gain a larger share of the casino pie.”

He added that any third-party developers offering improvements are discouraged or prohibited by gaming equipment companies.

“Creativity and innovation are stifled,” John Acres said.

To prove his point, John Acres noted that traditional non-gaming technology companies saw revenues grow from $5 million in 1999 to $252 billion in 2019, an astronomical gain of 50,509 percent.

He said the Foundation platform is open to all third-party gaming technology companies. The advent of cashless gaming has seen cooperation among several operators. For example, five companies are involved in cashless gaming at Resorts World Las Vegas, and Boyd Gaming’s cashless launch is handled by Aristocrat Technologies and Sightline Payments.

“While cashless simplifies the player experience, the delivery of personalized bonuses and experiences will drive revenues upward and help casinos attract new players, even while better serving existing players,” John Acres said.

Everi Holdings Executive Vice President Darren Simmons said Penn National put the two companies together to launch its cashless gaming effort. He said the casino operator had specific goals, including growing its customer base by attracting a consumer that favors cashless and digital.

“Penn looked at what technology fits their needs, in terms of delivering to their players,” Simmons said. “Obviously, there is a lot of pieces to the puzzle that come together to sort of complete the picture between ourselves, Acres and Penn.”

Simmons said he’s enjoyed working with Acres.

“John is a visionary, and he has a lot of ideas about the player experience and bringing value to what an operator wants to deliver,” Simmons said.

‘A velocity of new ideas’

John Acres utilizes a prop to prove his point about advancing technology when he visits casino operators to discuss Foundation. He brings along his 1990s-era Motorola DynaTAC brick-style analog mobile phone. He places it on a table and tells prospective clients the technology inside the now obsolete phone is what they are using to operate customer loyalty programs in their casinos.

He said one CEO of a major casino operator brought in his chief technology officer to listen to the presentation, and that he agreed with Acres’ assessment.

Noah Acres said Foundation allows casinos to expose the data it collected to app developers, who can design different bonuses and rewards unique to that property.

“We're saying it's all your data and you have this channel and it’s proprietary to you,” Noah Acres said. “Nobody can ever take that away from you. In my opinion, that’s going to fuel the velocity of new ideas.”

As cashless gaming and digital payments become more prevalent in casinos, Noah Acres believes a tighter integration between traditional casinos, online casinos and sports betting will be preferred by customers.

Because Foundation delivers rewards directly to a customer’s mobile device, he said the technology could allow casino operators to tap into additional data sources outside of the casino.

“We could match up your sports bets or your play history from other casinos,” he said. “What the casinos want, especially the larger operators, want to have one app that is the entire user interface to their omnichannel presence.”

~~~~

Howard Stutz
Staff Reporter
The Nevada Independent

~~~~

 

Complete story with photos or audio play is available at: https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/gaming-developer-acres-updates-decades-old-player-loyalty-systems.

 

Noah Acres Discusses Cashless Technology in Global Gaming Business Magazine (GGB)

Acres’ Foundation casino management system provides a proprietary pathway to that credit meter, he says. “We connect directly the machine’s primary SAS port and have the ability to change the game’s credit meter on command. We consider ourselves the last piece of pipe that connects to the game. Our system can interface to any payment processor—Sightline, Everi, Marker Trax, Global Payments, etc.—and move money from the wallet to the game. We can even support multiple payment processors simultaneously," explains Noah Acres, chief operating officer of Acres Manufacturing.

In September, Acres Manufacturing launched the Acres Wallet, a single-interface solution that combines the cashless function with data gleaned from the loyalty function of the Foundation system. “In addition to a cash balance, the Acres Wallet can also hold all the player’s points, free play, updated line of credit or any other store of value relative to the gaming experience,” Acres says. “The Acres Wallet provides a thrilling peripheral experience during live play. Because the wallet is able to update in real time with every spin of the slot machine, points and credit meter balances are updated in real time. The casino can send in-app messages to the player relative to their play, and can even bonus players within the Acres Wallet.

“In addition to cashless, our wallet provides an entire experience. Real-time data allows in-app marketing and even features bonuses that can be linked to any game in the house.”

Read More

3C ”Technology" by Acres and Everi to be Installed at Penn National's Hollywood Casino Columbus

Following the debut of the mywallet app in other properties during the last two months, the company now intends to further incorporate cashless wagering in Toledo, Dayton and Youngstown by the end of October. The app, developed in conjunction with Everi Holdings and Acres Manufacturing, is reportedly the first in Ohio to allow guests to go cardless and cashless.

 

Hollywood Casino Columbus in Ohio is becoming the first gambling venue in the state to launch cashless gaming, as guests attending the Penn National Gaming-owned casino will no longer need to carry credit cards or cash in order to fund their operations.

Following the launch of this technology in other Penn National properties last month, the company now intends to incorporate cashless wagering at its Hollywood properties in Toledo, Dayton and Youngstown by the end of October, reports WBNS.

The company is utilizing the mywallet app and the mychoice rewards system, which gives access to “tier status, exclusive rewards, special offers and mycash balance” all in one place and instantly, according to the product’s description.

The technology promises users to go cashless and cardless and “get connected more easily than ever before,” directly into their favorite slots. Users may buy chips or cash out at a table game by employing the app.

Moreover, guests can move funds to and from their mywallet account to their bank account, and even set up mobile and email balance alerts. Penn National Gaming further promises that, for a limited time, “there are no transaction fees.”

The Real Time Rewards, the company’s new loyalty rewards program, allows eligible members to earn and redeem mycash, the loyalty currency of mychoice, “faster than ever before.”

Members can earn mycash at over 35 mychoice destinations nationwide, including the company’s sportsbook locations, online sports betting and real money/play in online casinos. The currency can be redeemed for free play, hotel stays, dining, online casino credits, retail shopping at mychoice destinations, and at the mychoicemall.com online marketplace.

Penn National's $120 million Hollywood Casino York opened in August with this cashless and technology in place, debuting it in the state. The cutting-edge “3C” technology -cardless, cashless and contactless- has been developed in partnership with Everi Holdings and Acres Manufacturing.

“This is a revolutionary enhancement for our industry,” commented Todd George, Executive Vice President of Operations for Penn National that month. “This technology further supports Penn National’s omnichannel business approach where we are providing the best experiences, whether people are playing with us at our properties or on our numerous online offerings.”

Acres Manufacturing Company Introduces Casino Bonus Triggered by Live Sporting Events

Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) introduced the PayAction™ Sports Bonus as part of its 2021 Global Gaming Expo lineup. The unique bonus uses a live sports data feed to trigger a bonus round on any slot machine connected to AMC’s Foundation™ casino management system.

“Foundation gives casinos unprecedented ability to connect slot machine behavior with live real-world events,” said Noah Acres of AMC. “Players are going to love the feeling of winning more just because their favorite team scored, and they’ll be willing to play more just to experience the thrill.”

The PayAction™ Sports Bonus works by interfacing a live sports data feed with any slot machine connected to the Foundation™ casino management system. When a goal, touchdown or other configured event occurs, all designated machines enter a bonus sequence that is automatically paid to the game’s credit meter.

“These machines will pay double whenever the Golden Knights score in an NHL game,” said Noah Acres, gesturing towards a bank of slot machines at AMC’s office during a recent Golden Knights preseason NHL game. When Vegas scored a goal early in the 2nd period, a loud goal horn sounded, and AMC’s slot machines entered a celebration mode indicating that all pays would be doubled for 90 seconds.

The company describes the bonus as highly configurable, with casinos able to select any team or player in any sport into the promotion. Any measurable statistic can be used to trigger the bonus and prizes can be paid to the game’s credit meter or to the Acres Wallet in either cashable or non-cashable credits. Eligibility can also be configured to ensure profitable operation of the bonus.

“We’re actively negotiating with sports franchises, athletes and brands interested in distributing their own branded jackpots,” said Noah Acres. “PayAction is just the latest example of how AMC is using Foundation to reinvent the player experience.”

About Acres Manufacturing Company
Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) is a leading casino loyalty and technology expert and the creator of Foundation™, the first-of-its-kind casino management system. Foundation provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. AMC was founded by John Acres, the inventor of casino systems technology. For more information on Acres Manufacturing Company and Foundation, visit acresmanufacturing.com.

John Acres Founder Acres Manufacturing by Roger Gros


John Acres

By  Tue, Sep 28, 2021

Founder, Acres Manufacturing Company

 

John Acres is already in the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame. He got there by inventing several breakthrough technologies that today are widely used in the industry, such as the first player tracking system, progressive jackpots, bonusing, and more. He sold his previous companies to major manufacturers, but now he’s back with another idea and founded Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) to promote Foundation, a system that reports data from every slot machine in real time and can change any slot machine’s credit meter on command, allowing executives to reward players immediately. AMC also has other products that make the way a casino interacts with customers easier and more transparent. Acres spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his offices in Las Vegas in July. See below for a Zoom podcast of this interview.

GGB: What makes the new company, Acres Manufacturing, different from EDT, Mikohn, Acres Gaming, and Acres 4.0?

John Acres: Well, it’s very different and very much the same. We’ve always been about creating fantastic experiences for players, that are simultaneously profitable for casinos. And there’s always opportunity to improve that, especially as technology improves. We’re technologists; we create hardware, and write software, that connects the equipment and the systems to the player, for the casino’s benefit. And as that technology changes, we come up with new opportunities.

There is a whole lot of data coming in through all the systems, and it’s difficult to know how to interpret that. How is your new Foundation system able to do that better than anything else in the past?

We started with the premise that it’s not enough to do a weekly email or a monthly email; we needed to know in real time what’s happening with that player. So existing systems were designed to measure your total play, and then report in descending order, by theoretical win, and call the top group the platinum, and the middle group the gold, and the bottom group the silver. And what we found in the age of Amazon and Google is that people expect a lot more personalization. We have opportunities to deliver bonuses in real time, but part of what we need to know is, “Are you almost out of money or do you have a lot of money left?” Because when we deliver a bonus, it’s very contingent upon that.

We also need to know if you are winning in the moment, or losing in the moment. If you just won $100, it’s probably not a very effective thing to give you another $10 in a bonus. On the other hand, if you’re down to three credits left, a $10 bonus might well be appreciated at that moment. So, we wanted to have this very careful timing of the delivery of what we call free play and things like that right now.

We know that there’s a lot of inefficiencies in how players are bonused. That seemed very reasonable 25 years ago, but that needs to be updated. And our system Foundation is designed to collect literally 100 times more information per game play, including the timing of each button pressed, if you pressed bet one or bet max. Are you starting with a $20 bill or a $100 bill? And to report all of that, within half a second of the time that it occurs.

Is Foundation designed to replace the legacy casino management systems?

Over time. But right now it’s meant to supplement. Foundation is first system that can be installed alongside another system.

    Let’s say the casino wants to implement cashless wagering. They can take Foundation and put it in, and keep everything that’s running on the existing system. Everything. And then have cashless on top. Then they can move one application at a time from the existing system, over to Foundation. And the other difference with Foundation is that the whole thing is designed with mobile in mind. All the other systems were designed in the desktop era. Our view of the world is that’s all going to be handled on a mobile device. We already have our Kai mobile dispatch system installed in almost 40 casinos around the country. So we’ve got a lot of experience with that; we know that it works.

How scalable is Foundation? Can you get it in a small Indian casino, versus a huge corporate entity?

The smallest installation that we could do reasonably is two machines, and the largest… well, there’s no limit. We’ve got sales going on with casinos with 4,000 to 5,000 machines, no problem. We’ve got sales going on with casinos that have 20 or 30 properties that are all connected.

A lot of the issues with the previous casino management systems have been training of the casino employees. How are you helping the casino employees to really understand how to use Foundation?

One of the first steps is to stop presenting raw data to the employee, and saying “make sense of this.” Instead, we have these intelligence agents embedded in our system, that will assign a problem to the nearest available qualified person to do that task. So, by turning it into specific directions, instead of a bunch of information from which they have to absorb, we get rid of a lot of that training problem.

So, it sounds like Foundation has some applications for responsible gaming as well, right?

Yes, and you can also give players the opportunity to set their limit before they even arrive at the casino. Just like, “I only want to be able to transfer $80 from my bank account to the casino in one night.” The player can control his own spending at that time.

Acres Manufacturing Company Announces the Acres Wallet™

LAS VEGAS (PRWEB) 

Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) today announced the launch of the Acres Wallet™, a game changing mobile experience that blends cashless payments with real-time loyalty and bonusing in a live casino environment.

“The Acres Wallet allows the player’s mobile device to serve as an extension of any real-time gaming experience,” said Noah Acres of AMC. “Players can fund their play, earn and redeem points and experience thrilling mobile bonuses on their own device. The Acres Wallet represents the beginning of a new era in casino gaming, and we are proud to unveil it.”

The Acres Wallet™ interfaces with the company’s Foundation™ casino management system, which provides real-time gaming data and ability to change the slot machine’s credit meter on command. Casinos deploying the Acres Wallet™ can use it as a standalone mobile app or by importing elements of the Acres Wallet™ into the casino’s proprietary app.

“The Acres Wallet provides cashless transfers to any slot machine, table game or casino cage terminal,” said Noah Acres. In addition to cash, the wallet also stores free play, points, promotional vouchers or any other value category offered by the casino. “Our wallet automates the issuance and redemption of player incentives. Rewards can be issued directly to the player’s wallet, which can then be transferred to any live slot machine or table game.”

The Acres Wallet™ includes a new bonusing and loyalty platform that allows bonuses to be targeted, measured, and timed for deployment using advanced real-time player analytics. In addition, the bonusing platform can integrate any brand or personality into a casino bonus that integrates in real-time with any slot machine linked to Foundation. “We are working with brands, sports teams and influencers to offer their own bonuses, which can even become nationwide progressives offering huge prizes,” said Noah Acres.

About Acres Manufacturing Company

Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) is a leading casino loyalty and technology expert and the creator of Foundation™, the first-of-its-kind casino management system. Foundation provides casinos with real-time data from slot machines and a direct interface to the credit meter on any slot machine. AMC was founded by John Acres, the inventor of casino systems technology. For more information on Acres Manufacturing Company and Foundation, visit acresmanufacturing.com.

HOW MOBILE INTEGRATION WILL CHANGE THE CASINO INDUSTRY MOVING FORWARD

By John Acres

It’s an understatement to say that casinos have been slow to adapt to mobile technology. Consumers use smartphones to find a ride, order groceries and coordinate their business and social lives; however, stepping inside a casino, is almost like travelling back in time to 2005.

Want to play a game of blackjack or try your luck on your favorite slot machine? You’ll have to use cash. Loyalty rewards are only earned by using a physical player card, and the most common marketing offers are distributed via direct mail. Yes, snail mail.

Advancing technology

Acres Manufacturing was founded to address the gambling and gaming industry’s need for modernization. Focused on delivering high-fidelity mobile integration to casinos, Acres Manufacturing is rapidly revolutionizing operations and marketing, resulting in more profits for casinos and a more fulfilling experience for players.

Using technology, casinos will be able to facilitate cashless gaming across their entire operation. Instant marketing offers will be deployed to players via their smartphones, and casinos will be able to direct prizes or jackpots to be paid to the slot machine or to the mobile wallet. Physical player cards will be decommissioned, and your phone – using the casino’s mobile app or website – will become your interface to the entire brand, from casino games to shopping, entertainment, dining and more.

Existing casino technology – the systems that track player spending for accounting and loyalty – is outdated. Very little player data is actually collected, and nothing is analyzed in real-time. As a result, any sort of real-time marketing is practically impossible. In addition, the little data that is gathered is stored in proprietary databases that simply cannot interface with many other applications.

Data is key

Our technology, Foundation, was created with the belief that data is the lifeblood of a 21st century business. Foundation is able to track all play in real-time and provides casinos over a thousand times more data than they’ve ever accessed before. Foundation gives casinos complete ownership and control of this data, which can be easily integrated with any other data source. Using Foundation, casinos can apply advanced AI to model player behavior and deliver a precisely timed and measured incentive when one is needed to sustain a long-term relationship with the player.

The player experience will be fast, fun and above all, personalized to reflect each player’s unique preferences and history.

In today’s casinos, only high rollers get personalized service. Highly paid casino hosts and entire marketing departments are designed to build personal relationships to lure high-value players into the casino. Using Foundation’s immense dataset, casinos can quickly and cost effectively offer similar experiences to lower-level spenders, many of whom will develop into higher level players.

Advanced ML algorithms

Foundation will also change in-game dynamics. Just as Amazon knows it’s time to order new toothpaste, Foundation allows casinos to know when a player might need an extra incentive or reward to extend the relationship. When a player faces an unruly losing streak that could jeopardize the long-term relationship, Foundation can intervene by directing a well-timed jackpot or bonus to be paid to the player’s game or mobile wallet.

The linchpin required to gain mass acceptance of the new mobile interface is the convergence of both the loyalty and payment experience. With loyalty integrated, casinos can create and deploy incredibly powerful real-time incentives. Adding payments allows players to hold a mobile wallet balance that can buy in or cash out of any slot machine or table game. The combination of these two elements is key to removing layers of friction and extending the relationship beyond the four walls of the casino.

Casinos can even forge relationships with other businesses to make the money in their mobile wallet spendable elsewhere. We see a future where casinos can begin to replace credit card points with chances to win cash prizes or other rewards for each dollar spent at a partner retailer. Using this technology, we believe casinos can become some of the most important brands in the consumer economy.

ACRES’ TECHNOLOGY ENABLES CASHLESS GAMING AT PENN NATIONAL PROPERTIES

August 13, 2021

By 

 
Foundation casino management system interfaces with Everi’s digital wallet.

Acres Manufacturing Company (AMC) on Friday said its Foundation casino management system is enabling cashless gaming at Penn National Gaming, Inc.’s, new Hollywood Casino York in Pennsylvania.

Las Vegas-based AMC noted it previously installed Foundation at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course and the Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Pennsylvania.

Penn National said Foundation will continue to be deployed at its casinos, pending regulatory approvals.

The two parties said Foundation interfaces to Penn National’s mychoice wallet, which is powered by Everi Holdings, Inc.'s, digital CashClub Wallet, to transfer funds from player accounts to the game of their choice.The solution works on slot machines and table games throughout the casino floor.

In addition to cashless technology, AMC said Foundation provides a rich, real-time stream of player behavior data that is delivered through an open API that allows Penn National to understand and predict player behavior and preferences.

“We at Acres applaud Penn National’s efforts to constantly improve the player experience,” John Acres, founder of AMC, said in a statement. “Penn National’s technical team very quickly harnessed the power of Foundation to deliver cashless gaming.”

Todd George, executive vice president of operations at Penn National, added, “We are thankful for the hard work and collaboration with Acres and Everi in helping us deliver customer engagement technology. This partnership allows for our customers to safely and securely fund their favorite slots and table games cardless, cashless and contactless without the need to carry cash or go to an ATM.”

Acres Manufacturing Company is a provider of casino systems technology.

Penn National operates 43 properties across 20 states, providing retail and online gaming, live racing and sports betting entertainment. The company’s properties feature approximately 50,000 gaming machines, 1,300 table games and 8,800 hotel rooms, operating under brands such as Hollywood, Ameristar, and L'Auberge. Its wholly-owned interactive division, Penn Interactive, operates retail sports betting across the company's portfolio, as well as online social casino, bingo, and iCasino products.

 

Acres Manufacturing Company Launches Optimal Poker Analyzer

Acres Manufacturing Company Launches Optimal Poker Analyzer on the Heels of New Gaming Technology Called Foundation™

Software Application to Evaluate Every Hand of Poker, Maximizing Marketing to High-Margin Players

LAS VEGAS, July 13, 2021 – Acres Manufacturing today announced the launch of Optimal Poker Analyzer, a software application that allows casinos to maximize profit on video poker. The program applies advanced analytics from Acres Manufacturing’s newly launched Foundation™ casino management system to evaluate every decision made in video poker, enabling casinos to strategically optimize marketing and operations.

“Optimal Poker Analyzer shows the true value of every video poker player and ranks all players according to skill level and profitability,” said Noah Acres of Acres Manufacturing.  “Casinos can assign an individual marketing budget to each player, funded entirely by the value of the player’s errors.  With Optimal Poker Analyzer, casinos can specifically market to high value patrons with no risk of exposure to advantage players.”

Optimal Poker Analyzer works by interfacing to Acres Manufacturing’s Foundation casino management system, which provides granular data on every hand played. Accessing the actual card values as they’re dealt, Optimal Poker Analyzer instantly recognizes the optimal play strategy of each hand and grades the player’s actual in-hand decision as a deviation from the expected return of the optimal strategy.  

 Video poker is a staple in the casino industry, specifically in the high-frequency local markets like Nevada. Due to the skill factor involved, highly skilled players – known as advantage players – are able to achieve a positive expected return that causes casinos to lose money. These losses are increased when factoring marketing offers such as free play or other rewards that are designed to incentivize play. Many casinos have responded by adapting their video poker strategy by reducing the number of games and incentives offered.

 Approved for use in Nevada and other major jurisdictions, Optimal Poker Analyzer works on any game with Foundation installed and across all variants of video poker. Foundation does not require a floor-wide install.

For more details on Acres Manufacturing Group and Foundation™, please visit https://acresmanufacturing.com/