we're off to see the Wizard

Wizard of Oz Slot Machine
Four Queens
May 19, 2008

Las Vegas is definitely the place to go to play the newest slot machines. When I first discovered multi-line video slots it was there. They were 9 lines at 5¢ or 1¢ per line so a $20 bill went a long way towards entertaining me. Over the years the number of lines has increased from 9 to 30 or more with multiple amounts bet per line of 10 coins or more. Don't be fooled though as a penny machine can pay of big especially the progressives but at the same time you can still lose a lot of money in a slot machine. The thing about penny slot machines is psychologically you think it's only a penny a line but consider a 30 line machine bet at 10 pennies per line is $3 per spin and more if you play the optional bonus feature on some machines. To put that in perspective your $20 bill now gets you 6.67 spins or less than 5 minutes if you don't get any winning lines.

The multi-line video slots are set up so that certain spins trigger a bonus. Let's face it the only reason to play these machines is to get the bonus feature.

Each year we go to Las Vegas I discover a slot machine I really enjoy playing and by all means there is no point playing a slot machine unless you enjoy it. It started with Reel 'Em In then moved onto the Adam's Family, Monsters and I Dream of Genie. I never really got into Wheel of Fortune. A couple of year's ago my ultimate favourite was the Beverly Hillbilly slot machines followed by Goldfish (WMS Gaming). The Adam's Family slot machines are few and far between now as are the I Dream of Genie and Beverly Hillbilly machines. The Las Vegas Club still has a bank of Beverly Hillbilly slots but I'll bet by next year's trip they will be gone.

My favourite this year was the Wizard of Oz slot machines (WMS Gaming) that have sensory technology in the gaming chair seat (not pictured) and Bose speakers in the head rest and machine for surround sound! The gaming chair vibrates as well. To get a brief overview of this amazing slot machine click the link then watch the video. It is a 30 line penny machine with upto 10 times per line bet. There are a three main bonuses if you get the Emerald City symbol on reels 1, 3 and 5. Choose a symbol to get the Flying Monkey bonus, Emerald City bonus or a set amount of win. In the Flying Monkey bonus the monkeys fly in and turn various symbols to wild so the win can be substantial. In the Emerald City bonus you collect emeralds looking for the tin man, scarecrow, lion or Dorothy. If you click an emerald that uncovers one of these characters you then have to choose between 2 symbols. If you click the right one, once you get to the Emerald City an extra bonus will play in the top screen. However, if you are unlucky you will end up clicking an emerald that says Emerald City and go directly there . On that screen there will be five choices, one of which will be character granted. At worse you end up with a low bonus reward but if you find one or more characters along the way you can end up with a fairly nice reward. At the same time Glenda the good witch appears from time to time. The reels will giggle then a large sphere will float in from either side with Glenda inside. She turns some of the reels wild anywhere from 1 to 3 reels so you can get really nice payoffs this way.

Now what is really funny about this is I already posted how I was terrified of the Wizard of Oz movie as a child and I don't even think I've seen it as an adult in its entirety. Seriously those monkeys really did me in not to mention the wicked witch! Despite those this machine triggering some of those feelings especially the monkeys, I still really enjoyed this slot machine and played it daily during our trip. It was a good paying machine as well with my payouts being an average $60 profit per day. Not bad for a penny machine :)

I might just have to watch the Wizard of Oz now...

Garden Gnome
©2007