I wonder if casinos will start dropping lower denoms and slap minimum total bets on all the machines to combat inflation.
That's what economists call cost-push inflation. But the other side is demand-pull. If consumers have more dollars to spend, they'll tend to play higher limits which encourages the casino to raise its stakes on offer.
I find it helpful to consider extreme examples. Assume the gov decided to distribute 1-million-$ stimmy checks to all residents. I don't think they'd continue playing 25c single line. They'd be lined up in high limit, and the casino would adjust accordingly.
So far, Mohegan Sun has started to make the smallest allowable bet 2 quarters instead of one on its newer bartop machines at least one bar. Note they are 9\6 at least.
There are still positive plays today. In several denominations --- big and small --- in several locations around the country. Not as many as there were 30 years ago when I started, but there opportunities. While I live in Vegas, I play out of town quite a bit.
I have one right here in Ct, but only when they have Triple status points especially back to back days. If I catch both of them which would take me 6-8 hours of play and 6,000 or so coin in in each of the days, I would land a total of 200 bucks in free play plus the usual 20 or so per day I get. On 9/6 JOB, that gives me a nice little boost over 100 percent with perfect play. In very round numbers a 1.8 percent boost ( 220 divided by 12,000 ). Add that to my 99.54 return and I am up to 101.34. Again that’s with no mistakes including sticky buttons etc. And of course it’s long term.