Page 18 - May 2006 • Southern California Gaming Guide

a ergonomic design that makes playing as comfortable as it is good looking. e bank where I played in Nevada featured a snazzy signage package complete with a huge LCD screen that stopped me in my tracks; it de nitely de nes Powerball an impressive, eye-catching contender on any crowded slot oor.
ere are four Powerball slots: two video slot games and two reel-spinners or mechanical slots. Obviously, it’s easy to distinguish the two. One has a video monitor, the other shows the classic reel-spinning game—but with four instead of three reels. e video slots have some very engaging and fun bonus rounds with fun and exciting graphics and sound.
Video Slots: Powerball—MillionaireTM & Powerball—It’s America’s GameTM
e ve-reel video Powerball slots, Powerball— MillionaireTM and Powerball—It’s America’s GameTM (both named after the lottery game) can be either 15-line or 25-line, two-cent or ve-cent denomination games. Each slot version features two game-speci c bonus rounds, plus the Powerball Matrix Bonus.
In It’s America’s Game, ve “Power” bonus ball symbols on an active payline line trigger the “Power Bonus Feature” where the player makes selections that determine the bonus award. e “Scratch Ticket Bonus” lets the player choose stars on a video lottery ticket to reveal bonus credits and a multiplier amount in a multi- level bonus game. e multiplier amounts can be 1x–5x or a red Powerball, which advances the player to another level of the bonus that shows a large red button. When pressed, the button turns into a hopper showing several
When a “Fast Match” symbol appears on the 5th reel, balls rotate revealing numbers. If any of the numbers match the FastMatchnumbers,theplayerwinsthevalueofthematching number—and additional bonuses if 2 or 3 numbers match!
red lotto balls with various multipliers—from 5x–20x! One of the balls magni es to ll the entire hopper, and the player wins that multiplier.
In the Powerball—Millionaire slot, the “Millionaire Dream Bonus” is a virtual scratch ticket that awards the player with credits, three free tickets, or a ‘jackpot.” e
“Fast Match Feature”, a Fast Match symbol appearing on the 5th reel, has each ball on the symbol rotate to reveal a digit. If one of the numbers on the symbol matches one of the Fast Match numbers, the player wins the value of the matching ball from the reel. If 2 or 3 balls match, additional credits are awarded along with the matching ball values. If the player touches the Fast Match balls in the upper right corner, new ones appear.
Both video slot versions feature the “Powerball Matrix Bonus” spotlighting the game’s unique 3 x 3 gridwithitsmatrixofninelocalprogressiveawards.
e action here begins when three bonus symbols appear on an active payline; a eld of lottery balls lls the screen while, in the corner, a game board displays a grid of bonus prizes. e player selects balls—red, white or blue—and three local progressive categories—Grand, Super or Mega—until three balls match, awarding that progressive value. And here’s where it gets to be lots of fun: a revealed ball can turn into a cluster that allows the player to win more than one progressive award at a time or morph into a second array of colored balls, keeping the bonus round going until an award is won.
And, unlike the “wide-area” progressive, which requires a maximum coin wager to win, the local progressives can be won on any size bet, however, the larger the bet the larger the award.
In the Powerball Matrix Bonus, players select balls until three balls match, awarding up to 9 progressive jackpots, and then players select a Powerball, awarding additional credits or another trip to the Powerball Matrix Bonus!
Reel-Spinners: Double PowerballTM & Powerball—It’s America’s GameTM
e reel-spinning games, Powerball—It’s America’s GameTM and Double PowerballTM, are classic three reel slots with a fourth bonus reel and are available in three- coin 25-cent and two-credit $1 denominations. A bonus symbol on the third reel activates the fourth, which spins to display symbols that correspond to the jackpots on the 3 x 3 Powerball matrix. As with the video slots, symbols can indicate a single local area progressive jackpot or combinations of rows and colors including an award of all nine local area progressives at once.
Page 18 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE May 2006