Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Slot Tournaments
Cordoned off at Downtown's Main Street Station (and in many other casinos)
is a group of zombie-eyed people, about the demographic of the Bingo-
playing set, staring at the screen of a slot machine and pounding the spin
button, over and over and over again. This is not institutional field trip
day—it's a slot tournament. And as silly as it looks (and sounds), it's sur-
prisingly fun.
For years, I dismissed the concept as just plain weird. Should the words
“slot” and “tournament” even be used together? Then I popped in one
afternoon to the Downtown casino just to try it. To see what it felt like,
competing against total strangers on a randomly selected machine to see
who could earn higher points by repeatedly pushing a button.
At the “Go!” command, a group of about 20 of us started playing, hit-
ting the button in rapid-fire motion, staring at the screen. This slot
machine is called “The Big Kahuna,” and everyone tries to line up three
surfer guys. Players watch as their credits go up and the 20-minute timer
goes down, switching from hitting “spin” with the left hand to the right
as they tire, eyeing their neighbors to see where they stand. The partici-
pants are competing against each other for the highest number of points.
Once I got the trinity of matching surfers, I knew I was in. My score
shot up quickly to 17,000, and with it, my confidence. It's sick, I know.
It's purely a game of luck—but one in which I got third place and quali-
fied for the finals.
“Beginner's luck,” someone suggested. And maybe they were right.
Because in the finals, I couldn't even make it over 7,000 points. I lost mis-
erably and was helpless to do anything about it.
That injection of confidence? Gone. The intention to play in the future?
Still there. My arm may be slightly sore from slapping a button for 40 min-
utes. But the mindless escape offered for only $10, and a shot at much
more? Totally worth it.
Main Street Station hosts daily tournaments at noon, 1, 2, and 3pm,
with the finalists from each tournament returning for the championship at
4pm. It's $10 to play if you have a Player's Gold slot-club card, or $15
without. And in this game, entry fees are divided among the top winners.
In others, casinos charge higher entry fees and award larger prizes. For a
list of slot tournaments go to www.vegas.com/gaming/tournaments.html.
hitting it again soon after, as many players mistakenly assume. The numbers that
determine the outcome are generated completely independently, so they're unaf-
fected by what that machine already has or hasn't delivered.
To be an informed player, be sure to read the pay table at the top of the
machine. This lets you know how much you can win from each combination of
