IGT Slots put some of our favorite games into this home version including Lobstermania and DaVinci Diamonds.

Best home slots game — IGT Slots: Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania

IGT strikes gaming gold with this fun in-home slots game that includes such favorites as Cats, Carnival of Mystery (love this game at Caesars in Las Vegas,) Frog Princess and Stinkin’ Rich.  At less than $20, it’s a great deal for those who want to play, not pay!

Best Cross Body Bag for Women — Cole Haan Bailey Bag

Here’s the dilemma — as much as you (or the woman in your life) love toting around that jumbo purse/suit

case/carryall, it just isn’t very practical for a day at the casino.  Do you keep it on that sticky shelf between machines or clutch it to your body like you’re protecting the family jewels?  And, please, don’t even think of hanging it off the back of your chair!

Solution:  enter the Cross Body bag which — just as the name suggests — smartly and compactly sits across the chest holding valuables and necessities in neatly and stylishly.  We couldn’t believe the price on this beauty (less than half the regular price!) and it comes in a gorgeous shade of lipstick red as well.  This doesn’t have to go in her stocking…it can be her stocking! Love it.

Also, be sure to check out our extensive Gift Guide here.

Related posts:

1. Hit the jackpot with these unique gift ideas for slot machine players We posted ideas for buying gifts for poker and card...
2. Casino-themed holiday gifts to make them smile Looking for gifts for casino players?  We’ve got lots of...
3. Holiday Gifts for Casino Gaming Fans Do you need gifts for poker players?  Gifts for gamblers? ...

Poker Buddy scores with a double Royal Flush for a cool two grand.

P.B.:  “Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino is announcing their Alaskan cruise contest winners tonight.  Do you want to go out for it?”

Me:  “Not really…I’m kinda’ tired today.”

Three hours later —

Me:  “Okay, I got my second wind.  Let’s go out and see if we won a cruise.”

P.B.:  “Yeah, let’s go but I don’t want to play too much.”

Me:  “Nah, me neither.”

Two hours later –

See above photo!  Poker Buddy hits for $2000 on a quarter Triple Play DDB video poker game.  Dealt four to the Royal Flush, he pulls the queen twice for TWO Royals.  Cha-Ching!

Hmm, maybe we should not “want to play too much” more often?  (No cruise by the way.)

Got any stories you wanna’ share?  We’d love to hear them so tell us about your big wins in the comments section of this post.

Want to practice your video poker strategy for free online?  Just go to videopoker.com to play your favorite games on the ‘net’s largest non-wagering video poker site.

Related posts:

1. And It Feels Like the First Time…. Everyone who enjoys casino gambling can remember — always in...
2. Head to Harrah’s Ak-Chin for this Super Promo Just a quick Sunday “drive-by” post for players in the...
3. Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino Asks “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Someone will be a new millionaire on December 28th when...

Video poker machines wait for tourney players at Bally's in Las Vegas.

One of the benefits of joining a casino’s players club is getting invitations to free tournaments — slots, video poker, table games, even bingo — along with the free hotel stay and other perks that go with the invite.  (Of course, you have to have past play in the casino to receive these types of invites.)

In a previous post, I mentioned that our last trip to Las Vegas was planned around a video poker tournament that we played in at Bally’s Las Vegas.  The tournament consisted of two 10-minutes sessions (one per day for two days) and it is no exaggeration when I say neither of us could hit anything during the tournament play.  No four-of-a-kinds, no straight flushes and certainly no Royals.  We both held four to the Royal, three aces, three low cards, three high cards — you name it — and still couldn’t hit for anything.  Funny thing though, while playing “for real,” we both did pretty well.  All those hands we couldn’t hit on in the tourney, we did, in several instances, pull off in the casino.

I’m thinking about this because we’re playing later this week in another video poker tournament — this time here in Phoenix — and I’m hoping that our luck will have a change of heart and maybe one of us will end up “in the money” this time out.  But, as always, even if we don’t win it’s always fun to compete, meet and talk with other players and generally just go out and have a good time on the “house’s” dime.

By the way, I’ve been practicing my Double Double Bonus tournament-style “holds” at videopoker.com, a great site for free, non-wagering game play.

Related posts:

1. Video Poker Variations – New Games & Popular Favorites Keep Things Interesting As I’ve said before, when it comes to playing video...
2. We Need to Talk — Check Out These Forums for Slots and Video Poker Players I like to share places I find on the Internet...
3. Free Video Poker Classes with Bob Dancer If you are a video poker player like P.B. and...

Here is the comment Al posted about his favorite/first big casino hit: 

“In the late 80’s I was in the process of traveling from The Presidio of Monterey, CA to San Angelo, TX for advanced training. As a private in the army I didn’t have a lot of money. Bargain rooms, casino freebies and cheap buffets were the order of the day. I saw a big banner over “Slots-O-Fun” that advertised 75 cent Heinekens. That was exactly the kind of bargain I was looking for. Walking in I was handed a free painter’s cap and won a $5 chip on the slot pull. I also got a coupon book that offered a $5 match play for any table game. I had seen Blackjack and knew that the coupon made it a good bet, especially with their $5. My wife had saved about $10 in change and wanted to play slots, so I wandered around sipping my premium beer and eventually found a seat at a table.

I put down the coupon and the $5 chip, and was dealt two cards face up, but it wasn’t Blackjack, it was a game called Red Dog, which is essentially Casino Acey-Duecey. I got and Ace and a trey. The dealer told me to put down another $10. I didn’t understand at the time it was not only optional but a good idea, nonetheless it was $10 and that was a lot of money to me. (A bunch more 75 cent Heinekens!) Still, I dug into my pocket and pulled out the ten, putting it down. A face card fell, and instead of my one red chip I now had seven. (The $20 bet paid even money, less the $5 match coupon.) I put two red chips in my pocket to replace my beer money and bet two more. After a dozen or so more hands I had stashed another $40 in red chips and decided to put down a last $20 bet before cashing out.

The first card was a Queen. A good start, but I was really disappointed when a second Queen fell. I assumed that the hand was a push and was pondering just picking up my bet when the dealer turned another card, a third Queen. The rest of the table whooped and I was paid off at 11:1. JACKPOT! I took my $240 and went in search of my wife. She had just hit a $16 jackpot on a nickel machine. I showed her the handful of red and green chips I had, and I remember saying “Red and Green, just like Christmas.”

I only made about $800 a month and she made even less. But that night we had just short of $300 between us, we walked all the way down to Caesar’s Palace to have the prime rib buffet with homemade pasta. It was awesome and we even splurged on a cab to save us the walk back to our off strip hotel. I won’t comment on the rest of the night, but I will say I have very fond memories of my first big casino score.”

*(Each comment was assigned a number based on the order posted.  Those numbers were placed into the proverbial ”hat” and the winner was drawn.)

Related posts:

1. Win a Copy of the 2009 American Casino Guide in Our New “Hot Post” Contest! Beginning today and continuing for the next few weeks, you...
2. Reminder — Enter Our “Hot Post” Contest Today This Week’s Hot Post – “And It Feels Like the...
3. Perfect Gifts for Poker Players ***  Check out our current Gift Guide for the most...

Here’s the perfect gift for that would-be Steve Wynn or Sheldon Adelson on your holiday shopping list.

Yes, Casino Mogul really is a game.  Yes, you can actually buy it.  And, once again, yes, I really, really want this for Christmas.  (And here you thought I was going to try and sell you a half-finished Echelon.  Maybe next year.)

How do you play you ask?  Well, directly from the advertising copy on the box comes this riveting description: 

   “Build, design and manage your own casino!  (Hmm, I would think you would want to design it and then build it.  But, then, what the heck do I know since I’m not (yet) a casino mogul?) 

   “Hire and Fire Staff!”  (Oh yeah, that sounds like fun but better make sure they’re not union before you do it!)

   “Manage Your Clients!  Fleece Them (but keep them happy!”)  I didn’t make that up — it really says that on the box.  They must be talking to the people who run the real casinos.  Except for the happy part.

And my personal favorite right off the box “Become the Bugsy Siegel your parents always wanted you to be — run your own casino and make bucks!” (Well, you would have made bucks, Bugsy, if you had gotten out sometime before October.)

 The game is from Monte Cristo software and you can buy it here – Casino Mogul – for your own budding little gambling boss!  Just one of the items featured in our new gift guide. 

Related posts:

1. Gifts for Casino Fans, Poker Players & More *** Check out our current Gift Guide for the most...
2. JAQK Wines for Your Holiday & Poker Table In advance of the holidays, we’ve been combing the ‘net...
3. Casino lovers holiday gift ideas Every year we run some short posts giving our readers...

Planet Hollywood, video poker and a chocolate chip cookie…that works for me.

I get asked this question a lot — “When you go to Las Vegas, what and where do you play?”  As I’ve written in other posts, I am mostly a video poker player so I always look for my favorite games with the best pay tables.  On The Strip in Las Vegas, you can find me at Planet Hollywood where they have the games I like – Spin Poker™ and Super Times Pay™ plus the multi-game All-Star Poker™ machines – and the pay tables are reasonable for what I’m playing.  For several reasons, ”Planet Ho” just has a “vibe” that appeals to me.  I like the music and I really like the adjustable chairs.  The drink servers are friendly and pretty good about keeping me supplied with bottled water and the occasional glass of white wine.  Plus, when I’m ready to take a break and stretch my legs, there’s a warm chocolate chip cookie with my name on it at the Nestle Toll House Café in the connecting Miracle Mile Shops.
When I do play slots, I like the Hot Shot Progressive™ machines at Paris Las Vegas, Bally’s or MGM Grand while P.B. usually goes off in search of one of his favorites, Jackpot Party™.

If you’re looking for the games you like to play, Harrah’s has a nifty gadget on their website that allows you to find your favorite slot machine or video poker game at any of their casinos in Las Vegas or across the country.  Over at the IGT/Action Gaming site, videopoker.com, you can also do a search to find your favorite video poker variations and denominations at casinos throughout the U.S.

I’d love to know what and where you like to play in Vegas.

Related posts:

1. Video Poker Variations – New Games & Popular Favorites Keep Things Interesting As I’ve said before, when it comes to playing video...
2. Favorite Slot Machine, Hot Topics at “Slot Manager” Site The iconic Bally’s Blazing 7s machine and Vision Gaming‘s old-time...
3. Play FREE Slot Games Online Courtesy of Bally Some of the most popular slot games in casinos across...

It comes as no surprise that Blazing 7s™ from Ballys is a customer slots favorite.

The iconic Bally’s Blazing 7s machine and Vision Gaming‘s old-time favorite, Pot of Gold, were named as two of the games casino slots managers “can’t pull” off their floors due to customer popularity. This question – ”What old school slot or video poker games are so popular with players that you just can’t pull them off your floor?” — is asked and answered at the website belonging to popular industry-insider magazine, “Slot Manager.”

The site has lots of interesting information and categories including “Hot Topics” where you’ll find the question-and-answer forum, a “New Products & Games” section, and great articles and columns by industry pros.  Being mainly a video poker player, I was particularly interested in the article called “More of a Kind” by Craig Berosh outlining what’s to come and what’s popular in new VP games.

In the article, Berosh says this —  ”According to John Daley, director of video poker at International Game Technology, the video poker maker based in Reno has been finding success bringing to market games with bonuses that don’t affect base pay tables, where players fund the action by betting an extra coin.”  Think the popular Super Times Pay™ and the new Quick Quads™ — both from IGT’s Action Gaming.

Also currently at the site is a run-down on this week’s gaming convention in Las Vegas, G2E, where more than 30,000 gaming professionals will gather for a look at new products, seminars and more.  Check out the Global Gaming Expo article here.

And don’t forget, you can play some of your favorite video slots free from Bally’s here and free, non-gambling video poker at Action Gaming’s popular game site videopoker.com

Related posts:

1. Playing Las Vegas — Games and Places Planet Hollywood, video poker and a chocolate chip cookie…that works...
2. Video Poker Variations – New Games & Popular Favorites Keep Things Interesting As I’ve said before, when it comes to playing video...
3. “Favorite Slots” is a Hot Topic on TripAdvisor Las Vegas Forum For a spirited discussion on “favorite slot machines,” visit TripAdvisor...

Lucky cherries...why not lucky lawyers or smoke monsters? (Photo courtesy of Lisa Brewster, http://sophistechate.com

I think being a slot machine inventor, game developer, whatever you want to call it, would be one of the coolest jobs on the planet.  I want to be the person who decides that the cherry gets to be the lucky fruit.  Sorry apples, pears and pomegranates…move back to the bowl because you just don’t cut it.  Triple diamonds, blazing 7′s, weird Slingo™ dude and even you, Monty Hall -  yep, you’re all in.  But “Chainsaws & Toasters®?”  What kind of weird nightmare did the person have before coming up with that game?

So, if that game made it through the vetting process, why not some of these?

Magic Ex-Wife -- Get five lawyers in a row to go to the bonus round where the machine takes all your credits and your dog.  Sorry, there’s no winning this one.

Deal or My Ex-Husband — Get three sheets of drywall and five unopened cans of paint in a row for your trip to the bonus round and the chance to finally finish that bathroom remodel.  Unfortunately, the reels just keep spinning and spinning and spinning….

Hamburger Heavens – Spin for burgers, shakes and fries for small wins or hit the big jackpot when five counter employees all show up in a row.  Yeah, like that would ever happen.

Lost, The Slot Machine – First you think you have to get five wrecked planes to line up but then that doesn’t pay off so you get four smoke monsters in a row and again nothing happens so you keep spinning until you get five disappearing islands scattered on the reels and then the machine jumps the shark and sinks into the casino floor.  For the bonus round, you spin then wait a really long time and come back in January to collect your winnings.

“24″ – Legend of Jack Bauer – Winning combinations include five nuclear bombs, three imploded buildings, six mangled cars, four long-suffering women, and twenty-seven instruments of torture.  In the bonus round, you get the chance to save Jack’s daughter, Kim, again and again and again until the machine finally explodes and you’re sent to a work camp in some un-named country.

Bail-Out Triple Double $700 Billion Mania – Just line up five banks in a row and you win General Motors.  No, really, you get the whole company.  That’s your prize.  No, you can’t spin again for the toaster.

Related posts:

1. There’s No Whining in Video Poker Recently, on a visit to a local Arizona casino, I had...
2. An In-Depth Read on How Slot Machines Work from Your Friends at Discovery From the “look what I came across searching the Web”...
3. The Lucky Bracelet and Other Myths When it comes to good luck charms, I’ve seen a...

Play free video poker games online at Action Gaming's videopoker.com website.

As I’ve said before, when it comes to playing video poker, the original Spin Poker™ and it’s 20-line sister, Spin Poker Deluxe™, are two of my favorite machines so I found this article by John Brokopp at Casino City Times interesting.   

Mr. Brokopp says  — “There is one video poker hybrid, however, that has stood the test of time: Spin Poker, an invention developed a number of years ago by (who else?), Action Gaming and IGT.

Spin Poker was the first game to successfully blend the components of traditional video poker with those of multi-line video slot play and create something that appealed to both dedicated video poker players and slot players.”  Read more here.

The machines in the casinos I play at here in Arizona are ALWAYS busy — sometimes even attracting a line of would-be players waiting for machines to open up — so I know this is one popular game!

No doubt hoping to repeat that success, Action Gaming and IGT have introduced a couple of new video poker games and you can play them — for free (no money, no wagering, just fun) — at their popular website videopoker.com  Check out new games “Big Times Draw Poker™” and “Quick Quads™” poker.  And, for some great info on strategy when playing Quick Quads™, here’s a recent article by VP pro Bob Dancer at Casino Gaming that you should read.

Related posts:

1. Playing Las Vegas — Games and Places Planet Hollywood, video poker and a chocolate chip cookie…that works...
2. Video Poker Tournaments A Perk for Players One of the benefits of joining a casino’s players club...
3. Favorite Slot Machine, Hot Topics at “Slot Manager” Site The iconic Bally’s Blazing 7s machine and Vision Gaming‘s old-time...

Hot Shot Progressive by Bally Technologies is a smokin' fun game!

Some of the most popular slot games in casinos across the country come from Bally Technologies and now you can play them for FREE online on your personal computer.  Video slot games such as the extremely popular Hot Shot Progressive® as well as both Playboy® and S & H Green Stamps® can be downloaded from the Bally Technologies site and played for free whenever you want a little casino-style fun at home or on the road.  Follow the link that says “Click here to play for free.”

Not only can you enjoy fun casino-style action but your points stay on the game so you can track your luck visit-to-visit.  To keep your play even more interesting, there’s a “chat room” available while you play so you can connect with fellow players if you wish.

Also, when visiting Bally’s site be sure to check out the “Players Center“ section.  There you’ll find a Winners Gallery, current progressive Jackpot Totals, and a game-finder for locating your favorite Bally slot.  For instance, if you click on the Hot Shot Progressive logo, you’ll be taken to a page that lists — by state — the casinos that have that game available.  In Arizona, you’ll find this game at both Harrah’s Ak-Chin outside of Phoenix and the Desert Diamond casino near Tucson.

So if you’re between visits, have fun playing these “reel life” casino games!  Also, check out these fun DVD games at Amazon.com with favorites from Bally’s, WMS Gaming and more.  Specially-priced double-disc set Slots WMS Double Pack, or try these popular games — Slots From Bally Gaming.
More slots fun:

Related posts:

1. Free Casino-Style Games to Play Online Hi -  I have played these games (the Bally’s games...
2. Favorite Slot Machine, Hot Topics at “Slot Manager” Site The iconic Bally’s Blazing 7s machine and Vision Gaming‘s old-time...
3. Playing Las Vegas — Games and Places Planet Hollywood, video poker and a chocolate chip cookie…that works...

"Gold Fish" - a popular slot game from WMS Gaming.

For a spirited discussion on “favorite slot machines,” visit TripAdvisor and check out what people are talking about right now in regards to slot machines. This is one hot topic on TripAdvisor considering the original post asking Las Vegas visitors to name their favorite slots game is dated August 24^th and the replies keep coming – six pages of them so far.

I don’t play slots too often but always stop and check out any new games I see  – think eBay®, Deal or No Deal® – and any games that seem to have a lot of people gathered ‘round.

From the topic replies, it looks like “Gold Fish” from WMS gaming is a hot slot favorite.  I mention this one specifically because P.B. and I walked by a double bank of the machines several times during our last stay at Paris Las Vegas and not once was there a machine open.  People were even hanging around waiting for machines to open up so they could play.  Hmm, based on its popularity, maybe we’ll check it out again when we go to Vegas later this month.

The hot new "Wizard of Oz" slot machine from WMS Gaming.

We recently saw this new game at Harrah’s Ak-Chin near Phoenix  - “The Wizard of Oz” from WMS Gaming (for information, click on the game icon in this cool virtual gameroom.)  Check out the high-backed spaceship seating for this game.  Here’s what the manufacturer says about it on their website:   “The Wizard of Oz^TM is the newest theme in the revolutionary “Sensory Immersion Gaming” product category, where players hear, see, and feel the experience, thanks to real-time 3D animation and our innovative gaming chair that features the BOSE® 3Space^TM audio system and CPU-NXT®2 enhanced graphics.” Again, we didn’t get a chance to play since all the machines were taken but we will definitely play Wizard of Oz slots in the future – when we get the chance.

If you’re a slots player, I’d love to hear about your favorite game and where you play it.  Also, check out the thread on TripAdvisor and chime in with your recommendations.

Related posts:

1. Play Wizard of Oz Slots And More on The Strip in Las Vegas While this wasn’t a “game-finding” mission to Las Vegas, we...
2. Favorite Slot Machine, Hot Topics at “Slot Manager” Site The iconic Bally’s Blazing 7s machine and Vision Gaming‘s old-time...
3. Play FREE Slot Games Online Courtesy of Bally Some of the most popular slot games in casinos across...