Page 24 - June 2016 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Slot Tournament Basics: FI un Competitive Play
f slots are your favorite casino game, you can get into the high-paced frenzy of competitive slot play almost any day of the week at Southern California casinos. With prizes that include free play and often big cash, slot tournaments provide a thrilling
level of competition where slot players can join together right on the casino oor in an exciting event. Casino slot tournament sta are cheer and party leaders who provide a fun experience encouraging players to tap-tap-tap the spin button at breakneck speed.
If you are a slot tournament novice, check out this month’s feature story on page 16 to learn about how even a newbie could be in the running for the Best Slot Tournament Player and represent a participating Southern California casino in the 2016 TournEvent of Champions®. And read our Tournaments page each month — in this issue it’s page 18 — for monthly featured casinos’ slot tournament news.
Slot Tournament Play
If you have never played in a slot tournament, you’re missing out on lots of thrills and a chance to win big. For the uninitiated, casino slot tournaments are played on a speci c group of slot machines, including the Everi TournEvent® system.
tournaments, o ering a variety of customizable options based on the number of players, mechanics of team advancement, rankings and tournament prize awards. Gone are the days when casinos had to take hours to determine session and overall tournament winners.
Slot tournaments are run at a speci c time, and are divided into sessions, with each session lasting a predetermined length of time, often in short increments, 3 to 5 minutes. Slot tournament machines automatically stop when the time has elapsed. e object of slot tournament play is to rack up as many points as possible in the allotted time. Usually, players can play only one time in a slot tournament, but there are sometimes exceptions.
Players compete in the 2015 TournEvent of Champions qualifying tournament at Valley View Casino & Hotel.
slot machines, the objective is to accrue as many points as possible. In a slot tournament, a player wants to accumulate more points than any of the other players. e slot machines are adjusted for play without money, therefore risk is limited only to the cost of the tournament entry fee, if any.
Many casinos run slot tournaments in which players club members can enter by earning a speci ed number of points within a speci c period of time. Or there are invitational tournaments for certain levels of players club members. Or there may be tournaments with a small entry free, often $20 or $30. ere are sometimes re-buy- ins for slot tournaments, as well.
What Are the Odds of Winning?
To determine the odds of winning in a slot tournament, you need two pieces of information: how many prizes are o ered and how many players are taking part in the tournament. For example, if there are 200 players in a tournament and there are prizes for the top 50 players,
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e TournEvent system provides players When all the players of a session are ready, the
a dynamic tournament experience. With the TournEvent system, casino operators can switch networked slot machines from live single-guest play to tournament play at the touch of a button, eliminating the hassle of machine moves, or need for separate tournament areas. TournEvent enables casino operators to create unique team slot
slot machines are activated and the frenzy of play begins. Players furiously tap the slot machine’s spin button for the entire length of the session. e top prize goes to the participant who has the highest point total for the entire event.
Slot tournaments are not like regular slot play. Instead of trying to win the most money from
Slot Tournament Do’s & Don’ts
Here are a few points to keep in mind when preparing to play in a slot tournament.
♦ Arrive at the tournament area before the required time.
♦ Turn off your cell phone before you start to play.
♦ Make sure you press the spin button as fast as possible.
♦ Play the maximum bet on every spin.
♦ Be sure nothing distracts you.
♦ Don’t waste time waiting for wins to count up. ♦ Don’t look around to see how other players
are doing.
♦ Don’t stop pressing the spin button until your
session time is up.
♦ Don’t play if you have an injury that prevents a
lot of button pressing. ♦ Don’t forget to have fun!
PAGE 24
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
JUNE 2016