| The most recent figures I have, August for Indiana and July for Illinois, show Trump and Majestic Star with the highest paybacks for nickel players, each at 89.6 percent. None of the other area casinos reached 89 percent for the month. Trump also leads on quarter games, with 93.5 percent. The two Joliet casinos also surpassed 93 percent, with Empress at 93.4 and Harrah's Joliet at 93.1. Trump was the exception among Indiana casinos - after Trump, the four Illinois casinos outdid the other three from Indiana. Grand Victoria, targeting bigger players, was the only area casino to exceed 95 percent in dollar returns for the month, at 95.3 percent. Harrah's Joliet, Empress, Trump and Hollywood all exceeded 94 percent. So where's the best place to play slots? It depends on what you want. **Hollywood doesn't rank with the top two, but there are some decent games. Quarter multiple-hand machines have mid-level pay tables, dollar single-hand players can find 9-6 Double Double Bonus Poker (98.9 percent with expert play) and quarter players can find Multi Strike Poker games with 9-5 Jacks or Better (98.4), 8-6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (98.5), 8-5 Super Double Bonus (98.6) and other solid mid-level games. **That leaves the video poker players' Big Two - Majestic Star and Empress. Majestic Star has a solid collection of good games for nickel players on up. There's 9-6 Jacks or Better on nickel, quarter and dollar games - multiple-hand games for nickel players, and single-hand Game Kings for quarters and dollars. The Game Kings also have 9-7 Double Bonus Poker and other high-paying games. Quarter players also can find 9-6 Bonus Poker Deluxe (99.6 percent) and 8-5 Bonus Poker (99.2) on some machines. The high-payers, along with "Not So Ugly" Deuces, are on a higher percentage of dollar Game Kings. Empress can't match the quarter games but has the 99-percenters on its dollar Game Kings, along with 8-5 ACES Bonus Poker (99.3) - 8-5 Bonus Poker with an added $4,000 jackpot with four Aces in a specific order. Empress also has 9-6 Jacks or Better and "Not So Ugly" Deuces on dollar Triple Play/Five Plays and a bank of dollar single-hand 9-7 Double Bonus machines with a progressive jackpot. Empress' Multi Strike Pokers are multidenominational. Dollar players get 99-percent-plus games, including 9-6 Jacks or Better. BIG MOUTH BILLY BASS (Sigma): Perhaps the silliest pop-culture tie-in at the expo was this one, featuring the wise-cracking fish on a plaque you may have seen on TV and in department stores. Billy's at his best in the go fishing bonus, when the player must decide whether to release, stuff or eat the day's catch. Sigma also has a tie-in with the Professional Bull Riders in the rodeo-themed PBR. POPCORN (A.C. Coin): The popular Slotto concept is reworked in this reel-spinning game designed to look like an old-time popcorn wagon. Land the popcorn symbol on the reels, popping noises start and Slotto balls pop out of a metal tray in the glassed-in top box to reveal your bonus. GARFIELD: IT'S ALL ABOUT ME (Mikohn): A video slot features the cartoon cat and multiple bonus rounds. In one, called Target Practice, the player chooses a victim while Garfield holds a pie. The player is then asked a trivia question - with a wrong answer, the player collects a bonus; a right answer brings the bonus and a chance to spin a bonus wheel. That's typical of Mikohn, where skill or knowledge count on many of its games. CHICAGO (Shufflemaster): Let's wrap up this tour of G2E's new slot displays with a slice of home - if home is the Chicago of Prohibition days. The Making News bonus has the player pick from among four negatives to reveal screaming "Chicago Gazette" tabloid front pages with headlines that scream "Murder!" "Extortion!" or "Attempted Kidnapping!" while they reveal your bonus. Or you might go to Jailhouse Confessions, where just about everyone has an alibi. "Dynamite - is that dangerous?" Keep collecting until someone admits he's guilty. "All right, I did it. He had it coming." And then there's the Tap Dancing bonus. Pick the only juror to vote not guilty and the defendant tap dances out of court. Those items included not only the travel mug, but the pocket clock-stop watch-compass, a pen with the Atronic 10-year logo and logos of slot games such as Dancing Spirits, Gold Seekers and Mystery Mask, and the best key ring I've ever received at one of these conventions. It has a 2-inch-long silver base and a 2-inch-long clear plastic top. Press a button, and the plastic top lights up, changing colors from red to blue to green. **"Men In Black" lighted pendant, WMS Gaming, promoting the Men In Black slot machine. This one can be worn around the neck - the "necklace" is electrical wire in clear insulation, with magnets at each end. Touch the magnets together and the current lights a small blue bulb at the top of the 2-inch square Lucite pendant with the Men In Black logo. The appearance is that the transparent pendant is lit up an electric blue. |
Link 1 home link1 link2 link3 link4 link5 link6 link7 Link 2 Casino and other Advertisers |
||