Jeff Jordan has had a multi-faceted career that has touched just about every aspect of the gaming industry. He started by managing slots for a number of high-profile properties before moving on to executive-level management for suppliers such as IGT, Bluberi and GameCo. Now, Jordan has launched SlotCycle, a revolutionary new platform for buying and selling used slots and casino equipment. Jordan spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros from his office in Las Vegas in March.
GGB: How did you come up with the idea for SlotCycle, and how does it work?
Jordan: I came up with it when I was working on a project. I was looking at a Greenfield casino, and a gentleman asked me what I would do, and I said, “I’d buy used slots given the low yields in the market.” So he wanted the budget, and we had to go out and look for used slots to develop that budget. It required calling a lot of people and really doing an investigative kind of buying. So I came up with this idea of having a marketplace where everybody could come as a community to buy and sell gaming equipment and make it a lot easier and more transparent about what’s available in the marketplace.
You’ve referred to it as the eBay of slot machines and gaming equipment. Is that accurate?
Yes, a bit, but we also developed a physical service. As we went out to the marketplace explaining what we had built with our software, we had lots of clients who said they loved the vision, but they’d like to see us step into their shoes as a seller on the platform. So we developed what we call White Glove Service, where we take in equipment on their behalf and turn around and sell it on the platform for them. So not only do we offer the platform, but we’re also eating our own cooking, so to speak, by selling on the platform.
So who are your customers now? Obviously there’s a lot of turnover in the slot machine business, with a lot of new machines coming out. What do they do with the old machines?
We’re fortunate that we have in excess of about 50 customers so far that have engaged us in various ways. Some of our bigger customers that were very early and instrumental in our development are here in Las Vegas casinos, such as Penn Entertainment and Maverick Gaming. We also have a tribal customer in Cache Creek in California. So we’re fortunate to have some early customers that were very instrumental in getting us off the ground and into operations.
What other services do you offer to your clients?
Typically in an engagement, we’ll pay for the transportation of the slot machines from a casino to our facility. Once they get to our facility, we’ll do some assessments of the inventory to see how complete or incomplete it is. Then we’ll work to figure out the best way to monetize that particular asset, whether that’s to sell its parts, or sell it as a whole game, and by the time we actually sell the game or the part, we’ve actually tested and certified that the equipment is working up to factory standards.
What are some of the accomplishments so far? Obviously, turning over the slot machines and getting more money for the clients, that’s a big accomplishment.
We’re about 20 months into operating, and we’re now operating in a 35,000-square-foot facility. So our team has a large footprint that we can use to leverage for different services and opportunities to service our clients. We’ve also launched our platform so that it’s actually functioning. We’ve got other sellers on the platform buying, and we’ve seen digital transactions where buyers and sellers are connecting to purchase things. We had one casino buy used casino furniture from another casino here recently on the platform. So we’re seeing different use cases develop as we grow. We also offer a feature we call the SlotCycle Wallet, and that’s where sellers of equipment can keep their money to buy other equipment on the platform and put it to use.
