I doubt anyone knows this, but I am currently in Reno, Nevada interviewing with International Gaming Technology (IGT). IGT currently owns about 60-70% of the global gaming market which is primarily slot machines.

You might wonder what Iwould do at a slot machine company. Believe it, or not, there is a great need for computer scientists and electrical engineers in the gaming industry. For decades slot machines have been primarily mechanical. Now, those mechancial parts are giving way to new digital technologies. Not only does this migration lead to a replacement of existing functionality, but the advent of networking technologies allows casinos to do some pretty amazing things to ensure that games get the best experience.

For example, when you receive a comp card from a casino, everything that you do is being tracked. What games you play, how often, and when - all of this data is being recorded. Besides this there are other possibilities. Take for example a situation in which a group of friends checks into a hotel for a weekend visit to the casino. The hotel can make a note of this and the slot machines can tell them when another is playing and ask them if they want to play one of the multiplayer games together, check out a show, or get a meal together, all without the player leaving the machine. Furthermore, players can order drinks/meals from a window in their machines.

These are just a few of the possibilities. The technology is quite new, making this a great industry to be in right now. With such a huge share of the market, IGT looks like it might be a good opportunity for me, if not for a potential career, then as an addition to my stock portfolio. It is amazing how many people come here to throw away their money. In fact IGT makes about $2 million each day just on airport slot machines. I’m a bit depressed; IGT gave us $20 to play games. We could either cash out or play games. I gave in and played. At one point I was up 20 cents, but eventually lost it all. Such a waste of $20; I could have used it to buy some IGT stock.

That’s IGT in a nutshell. I have been here since Thursday and will bly back to Boston on Saturday. Besides returning to the rediculously cold weather in Boston, I return to a boatload of work. I have 2 presentations, 2 problem sets, and 1 history paper to complete by Friday. I have no plans to sleep.