It can be difficult in some areas to find schools that offer courses to become a slot machine technician. Casinos will often offer the training themselves. Slot techs should have a high-school degree or GED and will give preference to someone with vocational training in circuit boards or in a mechanical field. The training period is usually about one year, and at the end, a slot tech can expect to be making in the range of $14 an hour.
Las Vegas is the mecca for gamblers. There are casinos located throughout the city and even the local grocery store will have some slot machines. To meet the need for qualified people to repair and maintain these machines, local community colleges offer a program to become a slot machine technician. Courses include fabrication of the machines, wiring, circuit boards and other electronics, and general slot machine mechanics to fix gears, wheels and other internal devices.
Most of the schools that deal with courses in slot machine technology are located near areas with a lot of casinos, like Las Vegas or New Jersey. You can, however, find schools in other areas. One example is the the Sheridan Technical Center in Broward County, Florida, that offers you what they call a certificate as a gaming repair technician. There is a short version to teach you how to attend slot machines, which requires 90 contact hours to complete. You can also take the more technical course, which requires 270 contact hours to complete.
There are many places you can work as a slot machine repair person or technician. Not only casinos in places like Las Vegas or New Jersey will hire you, but in 2011 you can also find jobs on cruise ships or at one of the many casinos on Native American reservations across the country. In Utah, a slot machine technician will make in the range of $14 per hour. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a salary in the range of $27,000 per year.