I look at a lot of gaming statistics but I don’t remember seeing information for slot machines that provided specific information to what games were played the most. That changed last night when I learned that Wheel of Fortune was the most played slot machine last year. Megabucks and Michael Jackson were tied for second most played slot machines last year.
IGT, which makes Wheel of Fortune and Megabucks, led the fourth quarter in sales with survey participants purchasing 34 percent of their games from the Reno-based company. Bally, a Las Vegas manufacturer that makes the Michael Jackson game, was second with 16 percent of sales. WMS accounted for 9 percent in sales but was the leading company in leased games.
This makes perfect sense. Wheel of Fortune is the favorite slot machine of many people in the casino that have white or blue hair. I love Wheel of Fortune too…it’s one of the survivors of the reel slot machine era. I just want to SPIN!
The Michael Jackson slot machine really isn’t anything special but it’s new and has his popular music and it seems to hit a sweet spot with people in casinos. It’s a flashback for the person in their mid 30’s-40’s and retro for younger people. I played this game once…once.
Megabucks also comes as no surprise as one of the most played slot machines since it’s essentially Nevada’s lottery. Most people just want to win jackpots. Much like the Michael Jackson slot machines I’ve only played Megabucks once. These games are boring and have bad returns. That’s a combo I don’t like.
I’m expecting similar results in 2013. There’s a new Michael Jackson Cirque Du Soliel show coming soon and promotion for the show can only help the slot machine. Older people in the casino will likely hang on to their old favorite Wheel of Fortune reel slot machine while people will always be lured into Megabucks because they’re all living the dream.
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I have the best luck playing the one and five dollar reel slots. Their jackpots are always around $1,000 and pretty easy to get a handpay or two when I play them. My favs are the casino brand slots like Caesars or NYNY big apple slots and 10X pay, but I still have to throw some $ in the Sex/City slots or WoF just for fun. In the long run those penny and nickel slots just rob me blind.
GG, funny story. I was sitting (not playing…celebrating with a friend who won big) in the high limit room at Wynn in December with someone playing a $25 or $100 slot. I think every win was a hand pay. The slot attendent just stayed there since it wasn’t too busy.
I love to watch stuff like that. There are a few high limit rooms that have the $5 machines with the $10 or $15 max spin so if I have a couple of hundy that I can spare, I like to play slowly and watch the folks playing the high denom. machines. Every once in awhile I get lucky. One time it was at the Venetian on a $5 slot which was in the high limit area. I’m sure they could tell I was not the kind of customer that played the bigger denom. machines, but they treated me like I was a high roller and made a big deal of my $5,000 win. Classy.
That’s awesome! I’m the same way without the big win.