Each of them features bonus rounds and side games that have animations, video clips, music, competitions between other players, and, in some cases, even motion-activated seats. Wizard of Oz, The Walking Dead, Airplane! (“Don’t call me Shirley!”), S ex and the City, Michael Jackson, and The Hangover are just a few of the familiar titles you’ll see on casino floors. Pick a pop culture reference and there's probably a slot machine dedicated to it.

Themes and interactivity are the watchwords these days. Some machines have their own progressive jackpot, which can be slightly less stressful because you’re not competing with other players to win the top prize.

Progressive slots are groups of linked machines (sometimes spread over several casinos) where the jackpot gets bigger every few moments (just as lottery jackpots build up). Note: The payback goes up considerably if you bet the limit (from 2 to hundreds of coins on penny slots, for instance). Study each machine to learn what it does. Some will even pay if you get three blanks. Some will pay you something with just one symbol showing on most, the more combinations there are, the more opportunities for loot. The idea is still simple: Get 3 (or 4, or 10) cherries (clowns, sevens, dinosaurs, whatever) in a row, and you win something. Many don’t even have reels anymore but are entirely video screens, which offer a number of little extras that have nothing to do with actual play. Now they are all computerized and have buttons to push so you can avoid getting carpal tunnel syndrome from yanking the handle all night (though the handles are still there on some of them). It’s just a matter of time before the planes flying into Vegas feature slots that pop up as soon as you cross the state line.īut to keep up with the increasing competition, the plain old machine, where reels just spin, has become nearly obsolete. Some of these are at the airport, steps away from you as you deplane. There are more than 150,000 slot machines (not including video poker) in the county. The casinos make more from slots than from craps, blackjack, and roulette combined. Slots used to be stuck at the edges of the casino and could be counted on one hand, maybe two. Old-timers will tell you slots were invented to give wives something to do while their husbands gambled. What, you thought there was a trick to this?Īctually, there is a bit more to it. You put the coin in the slot and pull the handle.

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