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During
the single decade of the 1980s,
slot machines went from being ancillary
casino offerings surrounding the
central attraction of table games
to the single offering responsible
for |
seven
of every 10 dollars in gaming revenue
the average casino rakes in. The reason
for this transformation was simple: The
jackpots got larger. The prospect of winning
big money on a game that required little
or no gambling knowledge to play was the
main cause of the phenomenon that led
to the machines outstripping the tables
as the top casino draw.
The
reason jackpots got larger was twofold:
First, the virtual reel system invented
by Inge Telnaus released the games from
the constraints of the physical reel.
Instead of 22 possible combinations
on each reel, which limited the amount
of money the casinos could offer as
jackpots while still making money on
the machine, the computerized slot machine
could have as many possible combinations
in the program as the programmer desired.
Odds of top jackpots became longer,
so larger jackpots could be offered.
Sure, they would hit with less frequency,
but they would still hit—and that possibility
brought the dream-seekers in by droves.
But
an even larger enticement also appeared
during the 1980s, one that prompted
countless thousands to give casinos
a try for the first time. In the mid
1980s, the nation’s most popular legal
game of chance was still, by far, the
state lottery. The possibility of a
life-changing lotto jackpot was the
most pervasive enticement for Middle
Americans to gamble, because it offered
something casinos, at the time, did
not: The prospect of instant wealth
from a simple act that required no skill.
It was March of 1986 when International
Game Technology introduced this style
of instant, life-changing jackpot to
the casino industry, in the form of
Megabucks, a game that linked slot machines
together (at the time, over phone lines
via modem technology), with all coins
played on machines in the network incrementing
a giant pari-mutuel jackpot. IGT seeded
each jackpot with its first guaranteed
million, and from there, the portion
of wagers took over, incrementing the
life-changing prize on an electronic
meter as slot players pumped in coins
incessantly while dreaming of a new
life of luxury.
Progressive
slot machines grew with the industry,
the giant, life-changing prizes eventually
being joined by smaller ones that hit
more frequently, with interesting bonus
features to fill the time while players
shot for the big payoff. Wide-area progressive
slots like Megabucks were augmented
by individual casinos with progressives
ranging from a single machine to several
banks of linked games.
Progressive
slots are now a way of life in the casino
industry, and from the smaller linked
prizes to the mega-million-dollar payoffs,
they are the subject of a continuous
quest for knowledge by players: Which
ones are the best to play? How is the
jackpot decided? Who is responsible
for the payoff? How much should I bet?
What are the odds? Is there a way to
tell when a progressive is about to
hit? Due to the multitude of questions
we receive about progressives, I thought
a progressive primer would be helpful.
In the next article I'll provide some
facts behind all the big-money dreams.
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