Recently emailed to me:

The World Gaming 98 exhibition in Las Vegas was a world class extravaganza. It seemed that no expense was spared to display and promote the next round of high tech slots and gambling equippment. The slot displays took up a large center area surrounded by vendors with everything from roulette tables to on line gaming software producers. A Marilyn Monroe look alike from the Imperial Palace Legends in concert met and chatted with passers by, I might add, a very classy look alike.

Since slots are my passion, my wife and I spent a lot of time wandering in the slot display area which was set up so you could play any and all slots free. The graphic art in slots has been taken to new levels in this round of technologically advanced machines. The feeling was one of a casino candyland where everything you ever wanted in a slot machine was presented for your enjoyment, and as I mentioned earlier, free. The object of course was the manufacturers presenting their products to the Casino gambling Industry and as you can imagine each one was trying to outdo the competition. Freebies included everything from Cigars to ice cream cones and from magazines to pens date books and the ever present tote bags. Coins and Casino tokens were among the freebie offerings. By the end of the day we had two tote bags filled with various items that became so heavy we were dragging them along the carpeted floor.

For the future you can look for more and better high tech machines with interactive themes. More and more the manufacturers are trying to involve the player in an easy to play user friendly interactive technology. You can also look for more and more proliferation of not only native Casino venues but also online casino activity. Gambling, I beleive, is the number one growth industry in North America if not the entire world.