Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
symbols, and the different amounts it will pay if you're betting one, two, three,
four or five (or more) coins at once. The more coins you play in a single machine,
the more you increase your payoff should you hit the jackpot. Usually the increase
reflects the number of coins: If you play two coins you win twice as much, and if
you play five coins you win five times as much. But there are some machines that
will only pay the maximum if you are betting the maximum. Meaning, if you're
only playing one coin and you line up the symbols needed to get the jackpot, you
won't win the entire jackpot because you didn't play the number of credits
required to win. Take progressive slots, for example. These hold “linked” progres-
sive jackpots (such as Megabucks, Quartermania, Nevada Nickels, and Fabulous
Fifties), which allow the jackpot to build among a series of slot machines and can
pay in the millions. With these machines, you must play the maximum amount
of coins to win the jackpot. Progressive machines make fewer small payments over
time, so if you're a player who gets bored or frustrated when your credits aren't
constantly climbing, they're not a good bet for you. But if you don't care about
the process and you're just going for gold, progressive slots are the answer.
The bottom line: Choose a machine with a pay table that will pay the most
according to what you're willing to spend.
Note:
Beware of signs that advertise the machines pay “up to 97 percent.” Take
note of the words “up to,” and keep in mind that the 97% (if it indeed pays up
to it) is paid back over a period of time. And that period of time is bound to be
longer than it takes to sink $20.
Endless varieties
Slot machine varieties have grown about as quickly as jackpot appreciation. There
are those that still have reels, such as the well-known Triple 7 and fruit machines,
and there are the video slot machines. Before you play, note how many pay lines
each machine has. A pay line reveals where on the reels certain symbols must fall
in order to win. In the old days there was only one: If you lined up three symbols
across the screen you won. Now it's far more involved, with pay lines flowing
across multiple rows and going up, down, diagonal, and zigzagging, producing a
scene more elaborate than some subway maps. To further complicate matters, you
can bet multiple amounts on each pay line. Experts recommend that you do bet
on multiple pay lines if you have that option, but you should also remember that
betting 1 or 20 credits on each line won't affect your odds of winning.
Game technology has also expanded to become more interactive and amusing,
with such cartoon themes as Little Green Men,
The Addams Family,
Monopoly,
Wheel of Fortune, I Dream of Jeannie, The Beverly Hillbillies,
an Elvis machine that
plays various hit songs for each jackpot payout, and countless others. When the
proper combination lines up on the screen, a player is taken to a bonus round,
where he can touch the screen to select a character (or other different options) and
embark on a quick bonus game that's more complex and plot-driven than the
spinning reels. For example, in the bonus round to “Reel 'em In” you select a
character, who then sits on a boat, fishing. You also decide which fish the charac-
ter should go for, and the points earned depend on what the fish was worth. It's
a way of making a player really feel involved in their game.
