Official launch this Friday
YouTuber and serial slot machine jackpot winner Brian Christopher has teamed up with the Plaza Hotel and Casino to launch a new, co-branded, on-site gaming area christened Brian Christopher Slots at Plaza. A ribbon-cutting event at 4:30pm on January 28 will mark the official opening of the 16-machine space at the Downtown Las Vegas casino.
Canada-born Christopher, whose LinkedIn page states he’s the world’s “leading social influencer for slot machines and casinos”, tweeted yesterday that the opening night at the Plaza will end with a jackpot.
The new installation at the Plaza includes some of Christopher’s favorite slots, such as Cleopatra II, Coyote Moon, Dollar Storm, Lock It Link Huff N’ Puff, and Lightning Zap. There will be a live stream from the new gaming area on launch night.
Plaza invests in growing trend
With YouTubers filming slot play becoming a growing trend on the internet, collaborating with one of the leading slot influencers broadens the Plaza’s online marketing reach. According to Christopher’s LinkedIn page, he posts daily videos to YouTube and Facebook to over 400,000 followers, which has earned him more than 200 million views over the last four-and-a-half years.
more than 200 million views over the last four-and-a-half years
“Social media has transformed the casino experience”, Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel said in a Wednesday news release. He added that the casino is excited about the partnership and that he’s certain guests will enjoy the new gaming space.
Jossel is no johnny-come-lately disciple of the growing YouTuber slot community. In May 2020, he told the Review Journal that the Plaza had seen “a spike in business and gained a stronger social media presence” after it embraced YouTubers and allowed them to film themselves at the casino.
Christopher’s appointment yesterday brings Jossel’s comments from last year full circle. Having the YouTube community “communicate that casinos are open, fun, and safe thanks to extra precautions and efforts is going to be important,” the CEO said last May.
Cosmopolitan also sees importance of YouTubers
Christopher previewed his new space at the Plaza via a YouTube live stream on Wednesday:
In the news release, the YouTuber shared his love of slots, stating that they are “exciting, enticing, fun, and, if you’re lucky, profitable.” He added that having his own room at the Plaza was “like having my own miniature casino.”
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’s vice president of slot operations, Kevin Sweet, also sees the importance of YouTube influencers like Christopher. Sweet said he’d been working with the YouTube slot community since 2016, encouraging them to capture slot play on film before COVID-19 closures hit.
It absolutely brought us new business”
“It absolutely brought us new business (when the casino was open),” Sweet said in May 2020, adding that guests would often ask the whereabouts of slots they spotted someone playing on YouTube.