Page 25 - December 2012 • Southern California Gaming Guide

December 2012 Tribes in the News
MSorongo Band of Mission Indians Gives Thanksgiving Meals to Over 220,000
everal days before anksgiving, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians began distributing a record 10,000 “With Morongo’s generosity, our organization will be turkeys to provide more than 220,000 anksgiving dinners to children, families, seniors and veterans across able to provide anksgiving dinners — with all the Southern California. e 10,000-turkey donation is a new record for Morongo’s Annual Thanksgiving xings — to the families of more than 100 deployed
Outreach program that has provided almost 70,000 turkeys over the past 27 years to those in need. e program, which has grown over the years, had provided 9,000 turkeys annually for the past several years.
Marines based out of Camp Pendleton, and we couldn’t do it without the Tribe’s assistance,” said Steve Johnson of the Western Eagle Foundation, a Temecula food bank.
e groups used the turkeys donated by Morongo to prepare an estimated 220,000 anksgiving Day meals for seniors, veterans and families who wouldn’t otherwise get to enjoy a holiday dinner during the anksgiving season.
Groups submitted applications to the Morongo Tribe from January through April 2012 and were noti ed in June that they had been selected to receive turkeys in November.
to the jackpot. However, they are rarely hit, and there is not much interaction between the players because they are competing with each other for the big life-changing jackpot. Several leading slot makers have introduced slot games in which players compete against each other for the top jackpot within a bank of machines on the casino oor.
WMS Gaming made their Reel’em In!® game into a community shing derby with all players winning something, but with a single player winning the derby jackpot. IGT o ers players the chance to compete against each other in the Wheel of Fortune® Special EditionTM Super SpinTM game. ese are just a couple of the newer games where players actually compete against each other for the jackpot.
Popularity Grows
e popularity of community games has encouraged slot makers to develop even more creative games using their most popular technology. We are social creatures and most of us enjoy the company of others who share our interests. Playing together adds to the excitement of the games and makes our casino playing experience even more entertaining. If you visit the casino with friends, de nitely try some community slots. If you play by yourself, you may even meet some new friends with these games.
Until next time, remember: “Luck comes and goes... Knowledge Stays Forever.”
Bill Burton is the author of 1000 Best Casino Gambling Secrets and Get the Edge at Low Limit Texas Hold’em available online at billburton.com. Burton is also an instructor for Golden Touch Craps: thecrapsclub.com.
“People of all backgrounds and ages continue to struggle to get by in the face of the very di cult economic conditions that are gripping our region,” Morongo Tribal Councilman Tom Linton said. “At Morongo, we have always strived to help others, even as our own Tribe struggled to survive. Giving is a part of who we are, and we feel fortunate to be able to help others in need.”
In November, more than 100 Tribal members and volunteers helped distribute truckloads of frozen turkeys
to 113 non-pro t organizations from across Southern California including Cabazon, Banning, Riverside, San Bernardino, Redlands, Temecula, Pasadena and Los Angeles.
Non-pro t groups receiving turkeys include those from the Los Angeles Mission to area food pantries like Carol’s Kitchen, groups supporting homeless and struggling families, numerous chapters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and dozens of churches and ministries.
Bill Burton: About Gambling
CAommunity Slot Games Increase the Fun
few weeks ago, I was visiting Las Vegas. As I was walking through the casino, I noticed a group of people standing around a bank of slot machines and I suddenly heard a loud cheer. I was curious, so I made my way over to see what was going on. When I got closer, I saw that they were watching a large monitor on the wall
over a bank of WMS Reel ’em In! Greatest Catch® community slot machines. e large monitor displays the bonus round when it is activated, and spectators had gathered around just to watch. e players were talking to each other as they played. I decided to wait around for a few minutes to watch the next bonus round. As I was standing there, I started thinking about how much slot machines have changed over the last few years.
In the past, playing slots was always a solitary endeavor. It has been player versus the machine, and other than occasionally making conversation with a player seated next to you, there was not a lot of social interaction among slot players. Some players prefer the solitude, but others miss the camaraderie that can be found at gaming tables.
e reason many players avoid Table Games is because they feel the games are complicated to learn, and they do not want to become embarrassed if they make a mistake. So they settle for the simplicity of slot machines and the lonely existence of the slot player.
is started to change a few years ago with the introduction of community slot machines. ese let players share in bonus rounds on certain games that are networked together, using technology that was originally created for progressive slots that o er life-changing jackpots.
Networked Slots
Wide Area Progressive games such as Megabucks®,
Wheel of Fortune®, and others have been on casino oors for years. ese progressive slots located at di erent casinos across the country are linked together to create a single large jackpot that is eventually won by a single player. e technology used to link progressive machines
together has made it possible to design games that can link players together so they can share in a communal slot playing experience. ere are many community games on casino oors around the country, and they all feature some sort of bonus round in which all players participate, but there are two di erent types of community games.
Shared Jackpots
Some community slot games consist of a bank of machines that contain the same game. Each player plays on their own machine, but at random times there will be a bonus event in which all players take part. e event is usually shown on a separate screen connected to the slot bank. All players taking part in the bonus event share in the jackpot. e amount of money won by an individual player is based on the amount they bet per spin. WMS Gaming produced community games based on their popular MonopolyTM Big Event® and Press Your Luck® games several years ago, and has added over a dozen more. Most players like shared jackpots because when one player wins, everybody wins.
Single Winners
Progressive slot machines have always been like a community game because everyone playing contributes
DECEMBER 2012
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
PAGE 25