Why You Should Be Serving Breakfast at your Slot Machine Establishment

You’ve probably heard it before: breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That’s probably more for health and wellness reasons, but it’s also an important meal for video gaming businesses. For a lot of slot machine establishments, morning isn’t thought of as a top priority to maximize revenue. However, it might be worth considering if you can locate the right customer base that is looking for entertainment in the A.M. hours. By advertising your breakfast and coffee options, you’ll be able to bring in more customers to play your slots.

Why serve it?

Morning can be a popular time for players to stop in to your business for many reasons. They might like to relax before heading in to work, they might be early risers and have some free time, or they might be retired and want to start off their day with slots. A large part of the market of A.M. slot machine players are third shift workers who are looking for a way to wind down after they finish work for the day. If your location is situated near a hospital, factory, or other large business that is open 24 hours a day, you may have third shift workers nearby looking for something to do in the early A.M. hours. Third shift hours vary, but these individuals will be ending their shift as early as 6:00 in the morning.

Whatever the reason may be, serving breakfast might entice players to come in and spend the morning with you and your crew. Who wouldn’t love a big win as the sun is rising?

First of all – check your hours.

Not all businesses can open in the early morning hours, especially if they’re open late into the evening. It’s certainly a big decision, but may be worth it if you can keep a slim work crew and entice enough players to hop on your slots in the morning.

Also, remember that the hours your VGTs can operate must coincide with the hours you are permitted to serve alcohol according to your liquor license.  It is possible that you may need a modification to your liquor license in order to accommodate those added hours.

Want to update your hours to earlier in the morning? If you’re an Accel customer, chat with your Relationship Manager.

What should you serve?

At the very least, coffee and tea should be served or available for your patrons. Buying a large coffee pot and brewing it yourself is an option, or you could buy a Keurig and customers can make a cup of whatever selections you provide. If you’re able, providing coffee on the house is a nice touch!

Foodwise, a simple option could be to have someone from your early morning crew purchase a dozen donuts on their way in to work and make them available to your players for free (again, only if this is economically feasible to you). Another easy option is to have bagels available for purchase (don’t forget the cream cheese!).

If you want to have more options, a sausage/bacon and egg sandwich would be a great place to start. Check out local bakeries for options – many places will even deliver each morning if you place a minimum order. You could even look into purchasing a griddle to make some simple breakfast options yourself.  In the event you do not currently make and serve food at your establishment, please make sure to check to see if there are additional licenses you'll need to legally do so (i.e. Food Handler’s License, etc.). 

For any of the above options, be sure to check with your municipality to make sure you’re compliant with the health code (your Relationship Manager can assist in this process).

If you already have a full-service kitchen, consider stepping up your game with brunch specials. Here are some ideas to build-your-own brunch buffet. Or try to get on the “Top 10 Weirdest Brunch Places” list. We love a themed brunch. Accel has also come up with some cool snacks to serve if you’re looking to go all out in the morning.

Market to the Early Risers 

Once you’ve decided exactly when you’ll be open and what you’ll be serving, you’ll need to let people know. Social media is a great place – start boosting ads to reach your demographic. You can also place an ad in your local paper to showcase your slot machines and attract those looking to play early morning.

We’d love to hear your breakfast success stories at your location – what have you done to attract an early morning crowd?