Slot Floor Sensations: Our Top Picks

When it comes to creating a perfect environment to entertain adults with a variety of wants and desires, casino resorts seem to have it figured out. From fantastic dining to the lavish luxuries like spas and cabanas, casinos offer their guests the best of the best to insure they are satisfied and keep coming back.

We caught up with some of our preferred properties to find out about their casino floors, the variety of games they have and why their guests like to play there.

Hollywood Casino Tunica & 1^st Jackpot (Tunica, Mississippi)

1-800-871-0711?HollywoodCasinoTunica.com

 

Casino Size:

• Hollywood: 55,000 square feet with 791 slot machines
• 1^st Jackpot: 46,500 square feet with 651 slot machines

 

Director of Casino Operations: Andrew Lindberg (20 years in the gaming industry)

 

Casino Layout Description: The casino layout for both Hollywood and 1^st Jackpot is open and airy, offering plenty of space between games and you’ll never feel crowded. We offer a great variety of newer and older style games so no matter what game you like to play, we have you covered.

 

Popular Machines: Over much of the last decade, Dragon Links has been the most popular game in the industry. With a great hold and spin feature, it offers fun and exciting gameplay with opportunities for big payouts.

 

Slot Machine Trends & Advancements: As the vendors would call it, perceived persistence is something that is utilized by a lot of manufacturers and has increasing popularity. This is when there are growing icons or characters that to give the impression that a bonus round is coming and build up excitement from spin to spin. This is an additional feature that creates excitement when attempting to launch into a bonus round.

 

I feel that there are a lot of exciting improvements coming to the gaming industry that will continue to enhance the players’ experience. Whether it is manufacturers partnering with industries like Aristocrat has done with the NFL or simply increasing interaction with the player. We are awaiting a new game that allows you to essentially play the game show Deal or no Deal. Once you launch the bonus round you will get to play the game as if you were on the show including picking cases and getting offers from the banker. This is an example of a new and exciting game we are adding to our casino floor.

 

Current Promotions: Slot Play Frenzy – Sundays, 11AM to 11PM, for every 100 points earned, swipe at a kiosk and win up to $2,500 in PENN Slot Play.

 

Mystery Scratch & Win – Mondays, 10AM to 10PM, earn 100 points and swipe at a kiosk to win up to $1,500 in PENN Slot Play

 

Wednesday & Thursday Kiosk Games – 10AM to 10PM, earn 100 points and swipe at a kiosk to win up to $2,000 in PENN Slot Play

 

Friday & Saturday Drawings – For every 10 points earned throughout the week, earn an entry; drawings from 7PM – 10PM; entry multipliers on Tues/Thurs/Fri/Sat, Grand Prize Drawings on February 24^th for appliances and electronics, Grand Prize Drawing on March 30^th for up to $12,000

Southland Casino Hotel (West Memphis, Arkansas)

1-800-467-6182?SouthlandCasino.com

 

Casino Size: 99,859 square feet with 2,240 machines

 

Casino Manager: Jim Wilson – 16 years with Southland and 28 years in the gaming industry.

 

Casino Layout Description: We have a floor that is approximately two football fields long and there are no columns, so our guests have an unimpeded view of the entire gaming floor. We have worked to group games into areas so our guests can find their favorite game easier. We have a Cashman area, a classic slot area, a video poker and keno area, a buffalo area, a dragon den, etc.

 

Popular Machines: Dragon Cash, Ultimate Fire Link, Buffalo Link, Dragon Link

 

Slot Machine Trends and Advancements: I think it is possible you will see AI integrated into slot machines of the future expanding how the machines play and the interaction the guests will have with the machines. It will be interesting to see how it develops. I also think the graphics will continue to evolve and more interactive games will grow as well with more multi line games instead of the old standard one line three-reel games. Players also like the ability to charge their phone at a slot machine and order a drink from the machine. So, the players’ convenience is important, and we will see more of that as well. The continued evolution of cashless gaming will also be interesting. It took a few years for guests to migrate from playing coins at the games to transition to paper tickets instead. There was a lot of pushbacks at first, however, guests are now all in with ticketing as they don’t have to carry buckets of coins with them anymore. It will be interesting to see how guests will transition to cashless games and go away from using currency.

 

Current Promotions: $100,000 Embrace the Madness Giveaway – Saturday March 9,16, 23 & 30 270 winners will win a share of $100,000 in cash and free play. Earn entries daily. One entry every 24 points. 5X entries on Wednesdays and Thursdays

 

$75,000 Break the Bank Giveaway – Fridays 6PM – 10:30PM – Brak the Bank to win $5,000 in cash. One Free Entry. If no one breaks the bank by 10PM, the money will roll over to the next Friday. Second chance drawing at 10:30PM and five guests win $2,000 in Free Play. Receive one entry for every 500 points earned day of promotion beginning at 10AM.

Ameristar Casino Vicksburg (Vicksburg, Mississippi)

1-601-638-1000?AmeristarVicksburg.com

 

Casino Size: 70,000 square feet with 950 slot machines

 

Slot Manager: Eric Taylor- 22 years in the gaming business and 14 years at Ameristar.

 

Casino Layout Description: Our casino floor is designed to maximize player comfort with most slots configured into three and four game pods to give players more space and enhance the feel of privacy. Gone are the big, long banks of games with players elbow to elbow the feeling like you are in a warehouse. With the fourth largest gaming floor in Mississippi, we have a lot of casino gaming space and can strategically put “defined spaces” and sections together. For example, we have a video penny area, a High Limit room, a video poker section, reel slot area, a “classic favorite” section, and most recently we added an Aristocrat Lounge featuring the latest and greatest themes from Aristocrat Gaming.

 

Slot Machine Trends and Advancements: We see players liking the new bonus features such as hold and spin’s, free games, random wins, multipliers, and more are being added for excitement and to allow guests to play longer. As far as advancements in the industry, our property is the first in the Central Mississippi Region to offer three C’s technology on the slot machines, meaning guests can play Cashless, Cardless, and Contactless. This technology eliminates the need for a guest to have a physical player’s card and physical cash. They can set up the PENN Play App and Wallet, skip the cashier lines and ATM fees, and make deposits and withdrawals with their phone right to the game they want to play. Innovative technology can cause some hesitation with folks, but we’ve seen that guests really like it once they understand how to use it. It was not long ago that many people did not even have an email, but now they have multiple ways to communicate in the palm of their hand, and casinos are finding ways to use those cell phones to give offers and bonuses and enhance the guest experience.

 

Current Promotions: March through May: Lucky Duck JEEP Giveaway: Fifteen winners will be drawn on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm to 10pm to play the Lucky Duck game for thousands in prizes and entries for the grand finale night when one lucky winner will drive away in a 2024 JEEP Wrangler!

Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort (D’Iberville, Mississippi – Biloxi Area)

1-888-752-9772?ScarletPearlCasino.com

 

Casino Size: 60,000 square feet with 826 machines

 

Slot Manager: James Elrod – 8 years at Scarlet Pearl

 

Casino Layout Description: We have an open layout that spreads our floor out to maximize the space. When we accommodated for covid regulations we added a lot of squares and rounds and our players liked the separation it provided for them.

 

Slot Machine Trends and Advancements: Our most popular games are Dragon cash, Lightning cash, Buffalo triple power, Timberwolf Triple Power and Buffalo. I think we will start seeing more high bet penny games with big bonuses as well as more video options for high bet and high denomination machines. Phone charging stations are on most machines, and they are offering more advanced lighting and graphics so those trends will continue as well.

Island Resort & Casino (Harris, Michigan)

1-800-682-6040?IslandResortandCasino.com

 

Casino Size: 50,000 square feet with 1,154 machines

 

Slot Director: Terry Carlson – 30 years at Island Resort

 

Casino Layout Description: The gaming floor at Island Resort is player friendly and accessible. We pride ourselves in keeping our floor up to date and fresh with the latest and greatest games and cabinets the gaming industry has to offer while still offering a wide selection of relic games. There is something for every type of player on our casino floor.

 

Slot Machine Trends and Advancements: Some of our customer favorites and strong performers are Lightning Link and Dragon Link by Aristocrat, Mystery of the Lamp by IGT, and Light and Wonders Ultimate Fire Link and Frankenstein. Some of the features that are popular are games with the hold and spin feature, perceived persistence and triple feature games such as Coin Combo by Light and Wonder, Shamrock Fortunes by AGS, Coin Trio by Aristocrat, and Egyptian Link by IGT. Players like games that offer many free spins such as China Shores Boosted Wins & Spins by Konami are also a customer favorite. Some of the advancements of slot machines that we have seen and like are the designs of the cabinets and the lighting features, cell phone charging port or wireless charging are both well received. Some of the trends that I see continuing are high quality graphics and animation that increase the entertainment value for the customer while playing. Adding unique bonus features and player interaction during game play is also becoming popular as well as cashless gaming, however, I do not think it is for everyone.

 

Current Promotions: Monthly Hot Seat Drawings including VIPs and Senior Days.

 

Top it Off Tuesday: Earn points and get free gas and Continuity promotions for free weekly gifts.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Sioux City, Iowa)

1-844-222-7625?HardRockCasinoSiouxCity.com

 

Casino Size: 45,000 square feet with 658 machines

 

Casino Layout: Guests have us great feedback on the layout, and we have provided more space for guests to play and space for their beverages and handbags. This has also increased the sightlines of the casino floor and really opened things up so people can view the memorabilia like Slash’s boots (from Guns and Roses) or Sammy Davis, Jr.’s pipes. We also have the table games pit running down the center of the gaming floor that features a ceiling with guitar frets. We are constantly updating the casino layout as we add new products throughout the year. We try to keep it fresh for our customers.

 

Slot Machine Trends and Advancements: It seems that slot machines and technology are ever changing but we continue to see Dragon link from Aristocrat remain a popular game on the gaming floor. I would say that we have been seeing a steady decline in video poker players over the last five years, and more slot players, so we tend to adjust the percentage accordingly.

 

Current Promotions:

Fridays in March: Money Booth Madness: Get in the booth and grab as much cash as you can. At each drawing time, five names will be selected to pick a mystery prize envelope that will determine which two winners will get a turn in the cash booth! All remaining winners will get $250 Free Slot Play.

 

Sundays in March: Lucky Loot: Swipe at a Rewards Center Kiosk between 7AM-10PM each Sunday to activate your point multiplier! Rock Star: 2X POINTS – Hall of Fame: 3X POINTS – Legend: 4X POINTS – Double Platinum: 5X POINTS. Promotional points will be added after the conclusion of the promotion.

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