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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Life of a slot machine: produce or perish

By Bill Previtti
For the Journal
          Slot machines take up space on a casino floor just as canned foods and packaged groceries take up space on the tiled floor of your neighborhood supermarket, where the motto is, "Buy or die."
        Slot machines are like entertainers; they must perform and attract an audience of players. The more players in the audience pushing the slots' buttons, the more dollars the casino makes.
        If the slot machine does not attract a following, it's considered a "low performer" and the word gets around quickly. Players, and competing slot representatives, help to end the afflicted slot's shelf life, and as quick as a hiccup the low performer is out the door, heard from no more.
        Any veteran slot-sleuth can take you on a trip around a casino floor and quickly identify long-standing slots, machines that have stood the test of time. These are slots that survived dozens of slot transitions.
        You'll still find the old Red, White & Blues, The Triple 777s, Double and Triple Diamonds. And don't forget the $5 Playboys, still around, making the casino money and making more than enough players happy with regular payoffs. They're moderate to high performers. They continue to turn a profit for the casino and satisfy enough players to keep a presence on the gaming floor, even though some have been around for over 25 years.
        SANDIA RESORT & CASINO: A $5 Playboy Progressive was just what Johnny De Vargas of Española was looking for when he visited Sandia Resort & Casino last week. He pulled out of Sandia's parking lot loaded down with the $46,325 he'd won playing the Playboy.
        Sandia's new smoke-free slot room holds 226 slots; 129 are penny play. I tell you, the room reeks of fresh air.
        Sandia table games players are involved in the "$31,000 Howlin' October Giveaway." Ten times a day, every day this month, every hour from 3 p.m. to midnight a table games player wins $100 just for being there.
        SANTA ANA STAR CASINO: Santa Ana keeps on feeding players with bargain-basement prices on everything from pizza and pasta to soft pretzels and tacos, and cranking out winners on a regular basis.
        Among recent slot winners are Fernando Correa, Placitas, $5,000 from a $5 Double Classic; Gregg Lafferty, Rio Rancho, $10,000 playing a $1 Quik Hit; Belinda Clark, Elgin, Texas, $6,381 on a Penny Red Hot Jackpot; Doris Thompson, Rio Rancho, $5,778, also playing a penny machine, the one-cent Wild Jackpot; Julian Layman, Dulce, N.M., $6,155 working over a $1 Game King Video Poker game; Linda McVey, Phoenix, $8,880, from a two-cent Fort Knox game; Steve Montano, Santa Fe, $8,380 playing a $25 Pharoah's Fortune; and Peggy Jones of Williamsburg, N.M., $2,400 from a $5 Triple Double Stars.
        All casino junkies get hungry, and Santa Ana is bent on satisfying that hunger. It has a Snack Shack next to the poker room and close to the bar, offering an array of quick-bites like Coney Island hot dogs, tacos, soft pretzels and more for under $2.
        Over in The Feast buffet on Tuesdays, it's pizza and pasta, all you can enjoy for $6.95. And in the All Star Bar & Grill, they have a two-for-$19.95 offer that gets a couple an appetizer, two entrées, plus a shared dessert for $19.95.
        ROUTE 66 HOTEL & CASINO: Another old favorite promotion is Route 66 Hotel & Casino's "Progressive Drawings" event.
        Every other Tuesday evening at 7, the casino places 20 pods on display. Each of the pods holds a cash prize from $50 to at least $10,000. Route 66 players who've earned at least 125 gaming points get invited via snail mail to participate.