G2E Preview - Part 5: IGT

This July the Italian gaming equipment company, GTECH, acquired London based IGT for $6.4 billion. Retaining the familiar name IGT, the new company, now officially called International Game Technology PLC after the merger, is sure to draw a large crowd at G2E this month. Look for them at Booth #2139 at the Sands Convention Center. Here’s some of what you can expect to see there.

IGT

igt.com

G2E Booth #2139

When they think of IGT, most people think of Wheel of Fortune. IGT launched the popular Wheel of Fortune slots in 1996. It is said to be the most successful slot of all time, making 1,000 millionaires and paying out over $3 billion in jackpots throughout its history. There are more than 200 variations of the game in more than 200 countries.

This August 30, a new millionaire was crowned at Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, known only at James M. The anonymous winner’s game, Wheel of Fortune Double Diamond, paid him $1,271,032. No wonder everybody wants to take a chance on the big wheel! The game that James M. won his million dollar prize on combined the popular Wheel with IGT’s long lasting signature game Double Diamonds. Double Diamonds was introduced by IGT in 1989, and it is the favorite of older gamers everywhere.

This year IGT’s will showcase its newest 3D combination of both of its winning concepts in  Wheel of Fortune Double Diamonds 3D.  No 3-D glasses are needed to play this game. The company is expanding its 3D series with two new titles: Wheel of Fortune Gold Spins Double Diamonds, and Wheel of Fortune New Orleans with Mardi Gras inspired game play.

Here’s something IGT has for you younger viewers. The company is continuing its tradition of bringing pop culture’s most touted licensed brands to the casino and convention floor. They are partnering with the number one brand in entertainment news to create TMZ Video Slots. I have to confess I didn’t know what TMZ was, but I’ve looked it up, and you can even watch it on YouTube if you like. TMZ has been a popular source of celebrity news for a decade. IGT claims this interactive theme will introduce never-before-seen gaming technology, putting players in the middle of one of TV’s most famous newsrooms and on tour to several hot Hollywood celebrity hangouts. 

IGT will also introduce Netflix’s most watched series with House of Cards Power and Money Video Slots and House of Cards Welcome to Washington . There are also some new Orange is the New Black and Avatar games to look for at G2E.  Ellen DeGeneres will have a new game too, Have a Little Fun. I hope you do,

Another cornerstone of IGT Success is Video Poker. I have a lengthy post you can link to published on May 19 titled Mega Progressive Video Poker if you are interested in the history of Video Poker and Bally’s big mistake giving away the game. At G2E you’ll want to see Ultimate X Poker Tournament Game in IGT’s dedicated in-booth tournament arena. The company will lead dynamic demonstrations  of its products under IGT’s premium tournament technology line, TournXtreme. If Video Poker is your game, be sure to stop by Booth #2139 and check it out.

Class II games and live and electronic table games (ETGs) from LT Game, a subsidiary of Paradise Entertainment, will also all have dedicated areas in IGT’s booth.

Desktop and mobile gaming are not being neglected by IGT. In addition to the new online poker, casino, sports betting, and bingo platforms, the company will demonstrate OnPremise, an integrated mobile technology solution that enables players to wager via a single mobile app anytime within set boundaries. Their Play-for-Fun solution allows players to play with virtual currency, positioning them for the expansion of the Real Money Gaming segment. IGT will be spotlighting its Double Down Casino. The future isn’t just coming. It’s here.

Still to come are Konami, Scientific Games, and Video King. Stay tuned for more G2E Previews.

Mega Progressive Video Poker

     In the mid-70s, in the infancy of personal computers, Si Redd, a gaming distributor for Ballys, had an idea for a new game that he pitched to the company executives in Chicago: Video Poker. They rejected his idea of an electronic version of draw poker, deciding they did not want to take a chance and branch out from slots to a whole new untested game. He convinced them to let him take the patent on video poker, probably one of the biggest mistakes Bally Gaming ever made, and as they say, the rest is history.

     Within months, Si had made a deal with Fortune Coin Company in Reno to form a new company known as Sircoma (Si Redds Coin Machines) and mass produce the new video poker machines for him. By 1981 the new game was the most popular new addition to casinos everywhere. Just a year later, the company went public with a name change instantly recognizable to casino players everywhere - IGT, International Game Technology. Soon the first video slot machines were introduced following the video poker machine’s success. Myriad variations of the popular game are found today on casino floors everywhere. 

     IGT is coming out with a bigger and better paying version of video poker this year: the Super Times Pay Poker Mega Progressive. This wide area progressive is designed for interstate links between New Jersey and Nevada, New Jersey and South Dakota, and the Native American link: Tribal Casinos. The game was initially rolled out March 28 and 29 of this year at the Golden Nuggets Casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. The unveiling included special events, merchandise giveaways, and free play at both places.

     When you play the poker progressive, you are playing three hands at once. An extra coin is required for each of the three hands to activate the multiplier feature so it takes 18 coins to be eligible for the big reward. That’s $4.50 a spin for the quarter machines, four times that much for the dollar ones.

     Jackpots start at $50,000 on 25-cent games and $200,000 on dollar machines. A royal flush, which usually pays $1,000 for a 25-cent game and $4,000 on a dollar machine without multipliers or progressives, can theoretically pay as much as $193,179 on quarters and $772,716 on dollars according to IGT and slot guru John Grochowski in CasinoCityTimes.

     Statistically, according to Mr. Grochowski, royals occur roughly once every 40,000 hands and the multiplier once every 15 hands. The multiplier can be 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, or 10 times the usual pay. One in 25 of these multipliers would be the times 10 multiplier. Payback, according to his article is between 91.7% and 92.4%. 

     So your chances aren’t really that good — but then neither are your chances to win the MegaBucks or the State Lottery. And still we try. The Southern California Gaming Guide says to look for the Super Times Poker Mega Progressive in a casino near you within the next six months.