SiGMA sat down with the Slot Tracker team to see how providing accurate slot data to your players benefits you as a casino, game developer or gambling authority
The words ‘tracking’ and ‘big data’ can be seen as contentious in many of the things we do day-to-day but to slot players the idea of tracking key slot data for free sounds like a godsend.
One tool that does that today is Slot Tracker. Acquired by Game Lounge Group in 2018, Slot Tracker automatically tracks players’ own RTP, hit rate, bonus frequency, P&L and more across 3,200+ slots and countless online casinos, all for free.
Now, if you work for an online casino, game provider or gambling body, you might be a little skeptical. Questions such as “What if my casino shows a low RTP value?”, “What if our latest video slot release shows a poor hit rate?” or “Will this tool really provide value to players?” might have popped into your head.
We sat down with the Slot Tracker team to answer these questions and get a sneak peek on what’s to come. So, spare just 10 minutes of your time for us to give you a little insight into how the tool works and why you should look to partner with this exciting brand.
How Slot Tracker works
The simplest way to understand how Slot Tracker works is to think of the typical betting spreadsheet that requires users to enter the amount bet, the amount won and the P&L on every spin, and then imagine that done on the game’s interface, automatically and in real-time instead. The tool itself comes in two parts – the extension and the console.
To start tracking slots, players will need to download Slot Tracker, install the extension on their browser and activate it. Then when players visit their favorite online casino and begin playing any one of the thousands of slots that are mapped on their system, they’ll automatically start tracking their spins.
This spin data is captured directly from the game provider and casino, and sent to the tool almost instantly. Once players have accumulated enough spins, they can head to the console for a comprehensive view of both their own personal data and see how their data compares to aggregate community statistics. This data is accessible to players at any time.
How Slot Tracker can benefit you as a business
It’s predicted that the global big data market will grow to $243.4billion by 2027, (businesswire.com, Dec 8, 2020). This will open up many new opportunities to businesses in terms of increasing customer satisfaction, tapping into innovation, and maximising profits.
Similarly, as Slot Tracker’s database of active players grows, their data on casino RTP, bonus frequency, win ratio and more will become increasingly reflective of the theoretical slot performance as reported by online casinos and game providers alike.
This positively impacts companies’ reputation by providing independent assurance that these video slots work and payout as promised. On top of that, businesses will have access to the aggregate performance of their video slots or casino – just as any Slot Tracker community member does – which would allow them to make data-driven decisions such as promoting a particularly hot slot that week.
Players stand to benefit from this data in a few ways too. Through their dashboard, they’re able to access a holistic view of their gambling spend, see which slots are paying out and those that haven’t hit a win in a while. In this way, they’ll be able to choose to play exactly where and what suits their risk-return profile while maintaining a view of their returns throughout.
Let’s take a closer look at how working with Slot Tracker could benefit you as an operator, game developer or gambling authority.
Casinos
Given that there are so many online casinos today, it can often be difficult to stand out unless you’re a household name. One way to prove yourself to potential and current customers alike is to align yourself with them and their interests. Instead of shying away from the fact that your players would like to track slots on your site, you could choose to embrace it and align your brand with a community that does just that. Let’s illustrate this using an example.
Say Casino A chooses to work with Slot Tracker and Casino B chooses not to. In collaboration with Slot Tracker, Casino A features the tool on their website as a white label and encourages their players to download the tracking tool. Once enough of their players are actively using the software, they could have upwards of 700K spins tracked with a 95% RTP or higher – a picture that’s quite reflective of the real house RTP over the long term.
On the other hand, if Casino B chooses not to encourage their players to use the tool, there could be a much lower uptake of the tool resulting in figures such as 721 spins tracked and a 75.83% RTP. While the number of spins would not be reflective of what Casino B really pays out, the Slot Tracker community would shy away from playing with Casino B due to these negative figures.
On this point, Mark Grech, Head of Gaming & Business Development, said, “We want Slot Tracker to be the most robust slot tracking tool available to players. The most straightforward way to do this is to get casinos, providers and gambling bodies onboard so that this goal is reached as seamlessly as possible.”
The more spins tracked on a particular casino using Slot Tracker, the more likely for the casino to be featured positively in terms of RTP, wins, hit rate, bonus frequency, average bonus.
The team also shared that some operators expressed concerns around the possibility that fraudulent players may seek to use Slot Tracker to enable bonus abuse. They explained that each individual player’s spin data and slot logs are transmitted using the latest secure technology and are protected with the highest level SSL certificates. These are then encrypted and held in a secure database. No player will ever have access to another player’s Slot Tracker data. They’ll only be able to see aggregate, community data.
Providers
It’s completely understandable that after months of developing a game’s design, mathematics, bonus features and more, you as a game provider would want your masterpiece to be shown in a positive light to die-hard fans and potential customers alike.
But instead of relying on game reviews and casino streamers alone, why not align yourself with a data-tracking tool that can affirm your RTP and bonus frequency claims with actual playing data from your customers?
By partnering directly with Slot Tracker and pushing the tool to your players, you’ll see a larger number of spins tracked and thus the data collected will show a far more factual picture of your slot’s RTP, hit rate, bonus frequency, average bonus, best win, base-to-bonus game win ratios, volatility index and wagering.
As their Account Manager, Aidan Tanti, reiterated “Our end goal is to track as many spins as possible, to verify to players what we in the industry know to be true of most game providers – that they’re releasing a genuine slot. In doing so, we’ll remove any doubts that players may have when it comes to statistics published by the game provider.”
That’s not all. As a game developer, you could also choose to work with Slot Tracker in sponsoring research into how exactly the tool tracks your video slot and its particular mechanics be it Megaways, cascading or otherwise. Additionally, you’ll be able to develop better reactive and data-driven marketing campaigns around video slots that are hot or those that haven’t paid out in a while much quicker and to better results.
Gambling bodies
Gambling authorities are a cornerstone of our industry that typically focus on two broad areas – governing the activities of online casinos and game providers and safeguarding players against the problems all too often associated with gambling.
Slot Tracker can fit itself neatly into both.
As we’ve already touched on, the more casinos and providers that work with Slot Tracker, the more rigorous the data they’re able to present to customers. This has a two-fold effect – legitimate online casinos that do not fabricate claims about winning on their site will have another third-party verified way of proving this while others who do not will show their red flags. The same goes for game providers. Aside from the third-party testing agencies and independent bodies that verify a game’s accuracy, players can feel confident in putting their money behind a game that shows positive data from actual players.
The first step to encouraging players to play responsibly is giving them the tools to do so. Slot Tracker consolidates players’ activity in an easy to use dashboard that gives them a clear view of their activity – their bets placed, the amount won and their overall profit and loss. In this way, players can keep in control of their spending and see what’s going out and back into their gambling budget. They can also make better informed decisions about which game to spend their money on next, based on their propensity for low or high volatility games and other markers of their profile as an online slots player.
What’s next for Slot Tracker
The Slot Tracker team shared ambitious plans for the second half of 2021 and onwards.
This past May, the team released a revamped version of their site and console. By adopting a new data infrastructure, they were able to heavily change how data is being stored and make the entire tool much faster. The site, extension and console got a whole new look that’s much more streamlined overall.
Mikele Schembri, the team’s Product Specialist, commented on how they’re continuously expanding on what the tool tracks, saying, “We’re looking into getting more providers to be tracked on Slot Tracker, and with the upcoming release of our mobile application, we’re aiming to have the majority of slot games tracked.”
They’re currently hard at work to increase the adoption of their tracking tool through various market-specific campaigns and social media efforts. A widget showing key data is also in the pipeline. The aim of this widget is to act as a vote of confidence for the slot, casino and game provider from the Slot Tracker community. This widget can be featured on any site and be localised for any market.
The team is also exploring gamification with the extension through tournaments and rewards based on the community’s achievements, say highest RTP or the biggest wins of the month. This would offer yet another place for casinos and game providers to feature any promotion or game they’d like to showcase.
Book a free chat with Slot Tracker today
It’s the perfect time to get in early and start working with Slot Tracker. Speak to them via the contact form on their website or reach out to the contacts below for more information. They’re eager to hear from you and explore the ways that Slot Tracker data can benefit you.
Mark Grech
Head of Gaming & Business Development
[email protected]
Aidan Tanti
Account Manager
[email protected]
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