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International Game Technology (IGT) has been manufacturing some of the most popular slot machines in the world for several decades. With more than 12,000 employees working in offices spread across approximately 100 countries, the company is able to handle every stage of their business in-house; from designing and manufacturing slot machines, to software development and product distribution.
International Game Technology PLC Announces Early Results And Increase Of Its Capped Tender Offer With Respect To Its 6.250% Senior Secured Notes Due 2022 And Completion Of Sale Of $750,000,000 5.25% Senior Secured Notes Due 2029; 15 Jun 2020 CA$3.2 Million in Life-Changing Jackpots Won on IGT Powerbucks® Wheel of Fortune® Slots in Three Days. Keep your players at their favorite machine and empower your staff to process fills and jackpots at the device. A staff member simply logs in to the Mobile FJP app on a Windows® 8-enabled tablet to take care of handpays, including W-2G processing, and fills directly at the machine, without having to travel back to a kiosk or terminal. It’s common for an IGT pokie machine such as Cleopatra Mega Jackpots to give a lower RTP on average (sub 93%) with an ever-increasing Jackpot. These design decisions originate from running multiple lottery schemes – the company uses 1:10000+ odds in their games and gives huge payouts to high-rollers willing to take risks. Dec 28, 2020 IGT’s Megabucks slots game is famous for paying the casino industry’s largest slots jackpots. In Nevada, the game’s jackpot meter re-sets at $10 million, the largest base progressive amount of any slots game in the U.S. This jackpot amount then grows as more people throughout the State play the game. The World’s largest Slot Jackpots.
Though IGT slot games are available at casinos in various countries around the globe, one of their largest markets is the United States. Iconic IGT games like Wheel of Fortune, Top Dollar, Cleopatra and Megabucks can be found inside of nearly every US casino, including many in Las Vegas. Some people have estimated that up to 75% of all electronic gaming machines in the United States are manufactured by IGT.
IGT Slot Machine Reviews
Wheel of Fortune
Types of IGT Slot Machines
IGT designs, manufactures and distributes two different types of slot machines. The company offers both video reel and classic “spinning reel” slots with over 400 game titles in total. While video slot machines use the latest gaming technology, their classic slots have stood the test of time and remain extremely popular in casinos to this day.
Classic Slots
All of IGT’s classic slot machines utilize old fashioned mechanical reels. There are currently over 100 different game titles in this category, and machines are available in either 3-reel or 5-reel varieties. Some of IGT’s most popular games fall under the classic slot machines category, with titles like Wheel of Fortune and Top Dollar, which both offer exciting bonus features.
Video Reel Slots
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There are more than 300 different IGT video slot machines available with 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 19 or 20 reels. While some newer titles were developed specifically to be used on video slots, IGT also adapted many of its existing games for these types of machines. IGT’s video slot machines generally have better graphics, are more interactive and have more unique in-game features.
Mobile Slot Games
As slot apps and casino apps have become more popular in the Apple and Google Play Stores, IGT has taken advantage of this trend by acquiring Double Down Casino. They now feature many popular IGT games as well as new slots on the Double Down Casino app. This not only lets players enjoy their favorite games while they’re away from the casino, but it also allows IGT to test out new games before releasing them inside of real casinos.
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IGT Progressive Jackpots
With thousands of their slot machines being spread across casinos in the United States and several other countries, IGT has taken advantage of this by offering progressive jackpots in over 20 different US markets. Many of their slot machines are linked to a progressive jackpot network which are each pooled together and build up over time as more people bet on machines in a network.
These jackpots can range from as low as a few hundred thousand dollars all the way up to tens of millions of dollars depending on the denomination and type of game. The markets where IGT progressive jackpots are available are listed below:
IGT Progressive Jackpot Networks
- Arizona
- British Columbia
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Manitoba
- Michigan
- Mineesota
- Mississippi
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Within each of these markets, there are different games available. Among them, Wheel of Fortune and Megabucks generally have the largest progressive jackpots. While some of these games have different machines, denominations and variations, the core progressive jackpot slot titles are listed below:
Progressive Jackpot Games
- Megabucks
- MegaHits
- Money Madness
- Powerbucks
- Quarter Mania
- TV Hits
- Video Poker (Game King machines)
- Wheel of Fortune
History of International Game Technology
While today it’s a massive corporation with thousands of employees as well as offices and manufacturing facilities all over the world, International Game Technology came from humble beginnings. The company was started in 1975 by William Redd under the name “A-1 Supply”. The company didn’t change their name to International Game Technology (IGT) until 1981; right before they held an Initial Public Offering and went public on NASDAQ.
The company’s success in the gambling industry can mostly be attributed to their early video poker machines, which became immensely popular and helped IGT establish important relationships with many casinos in the United States. IGT released their first video poker machines in the early 1970s, when they were still operating under the name “A-1 Supply” – just a few years after the company was founded.
Over a decade after the company went public, in 1996, they developed and released the Wheel of Fortune slot machine which featured large progressive jackpots. This would be, and continues to be, one of their most popular slot games ever. Today the Wheel of Fortune slot machine is available inside of virtually every casino within the United States; from California and Las Vegas to New York.
2014 Acquisition by GTECH
In 2014 IGT and all of its assets were acquired by another gaming company, GTECH, for $6.4 billion. Up until 2015, GTECH was an Italian-based company who manufactured and distributed their own casino gaming equipment to European markets. After the large acquisition – realizing the value of the IGT name – GTECH decided to keep all games under IGT, and moved all GTECH products under the IGT brand as well. To accomplish this, both IGT and GTECH would now be controlled by a UK-based holding company; International Game Technology PLC.
Megabucks is a Nevada state-wide slot jackpot network that is owned and run by the slot machine company, International Game Technology (IGT). Considered Nevada’s state lottery, Megabucks is extremely popular and has created quite a few millionaires in its 19-year history.
Thanks to a wonderful marketing strategy, Megabucks continues to ignite a firestorm every time the jackpot reaches ‘megabuck’ status. It is also a slot machine that generates a ridiculous amount of gossip and urban legend circulating on the game and its winners.
However, if you look at the real truth behind IGT’s Megabucks, even with all the myths and legends dispelled, it will become apparent that this progressive slot is a poor place to spend your money.
How Does Megabucks Work?
IGT’s Megabucks is a dollar coin slot machine that requires 3 coins or $3.00 to hit the jackpot. The jackpot is reset to a predetermined amount after every mega win. While the present reset amount is $10-million, there is chatter that this will be increasing to $11-million.
Megabucks is part of the company’s MegaJackpot slot system that connects about 750 machines in 136 Nevada casinos to one primary jackpot that builds from the base jackpot amount. International Game Technology owns the Megabucks machines and the casino gets a cut of the money that each machine wins from the players. It is common knowledge that IGT created Megabucks to compete with state lotteries.
Where Can You Play Megabucks?
Nevada is the true home of Megabucks and is found in nearly all of the casinos on the strip. Unlike multi-state lotteries, this game does not cross state lines. IGT runs Megabucks jackpots in the states of California, New Jersey and Mississippi, as well as some Indian reservations.
I’ve had the opportunity to throw a few dollars in the Megabucks ring on a trip to Mississippi. I noticed the jackpot was much lower than I have seen in Las Vegas and while I did feel like, by some magic formula, my odds were better because the stakes were lower I did not win.
However, these don’t include as many venues as the Nevada edition and their jackpots are usually only a fraction of the original. Each state that offers Megabucks has a separate jackpot system with individual meters and winners. If a jackpot is won in one state, it does not affect the progressive jackpot in another.
Each Megabucks machine has its own random number and hence chooses its own outcomes. These outcomes are then reported to a central location. When the jackpot is hit on one machine, the central station sends out a message to the other machines, resetting their respective meters.
How About the Odds of Winning Megabucks?
Statistics about the true odds of winning the Megabucks jackpot remain sketchy at best.
It is certainly understandable why the betting for the Megabucks sometimes reaches chaotic proportions and has people crossing over the state line just to have a shot at winning so many millions.
But do winners really receive what the games advertise? Let’s take the example of a $35-million win. Initially, for that amount of money, winners get a check of $1.4 million. They then have between sixty and ninety days to decide whether they want to take their money in annual installments over twenty-five years or a lump sum of 60% of the money.
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For a $35-million win, that would result in $21-million before taxes. Obviously, most winners choose the former and take the lump sum payment.
Whichever option the winner chooses, he or she still needs to take into account the taxes payable to the IRS. They are subject to the maximum tax rate of nearly 40%, with state taxes also needing to be taken into account. When all is said and done, the prize money dwindles somewhat miserably after Uncle Sam takes a bite.
Of course, nobody has ever refused the money all together & taken $0. So, I suppose most people wouldn’t scoff at $14 million or so.
Megabucks Curse
No slot machine in the history of the world has had close to as many urban legends, myths and stories surrounding the game of Megabucks.
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Typically, these legends center around the unfortunate fate of Megabucks winners, which leads the masses to believe that winning the multi-million dollar jackpot will result in an ultimately unlucky death. While pretty much all of these stories have proven to be fabricated, Megabucks still has the obstinate reputation of being cursed.
Many believe that the genesis of the rumors hanging over Megabucks is based on the truly tragic story of a 37 year-old cocktail waitress named Cynthia Jay-Brennan. In 2000, Jay-Brennan, was the lucky winner of a $34.9-million Megabucks jackpot, played in the Desert Inn Casino in Vegas.
Less than 2 months after her win, Jay-Brennan was surprisingly involved in a car crash. Her sister was killed instantly and poor Cynthia, herself, was left a quadriplegic. The driver of the car that hit the pair was under the influence of alcohol and was eventually tried and sentenced to 28 years; however, this did not stop rumors flying that Megabucks was a cursed game to win.
The fact is that Jay-Brennan’s accident was not the first of these rumors, as they circulated well before the year 2000. However, since this event, stories continuously surface regarding the tragic fate of every winner of the latest Megajackpot win.
When another young man hit the jackpot in 2003, rumors spread like a virus of his untimely ‘death’ through various ends, including a fatal drug overdose in a casino hotel and in a gang fight as far away as Los Angeles. All these stories have, thus far, proven to be false and while the winner chose to remain anonymous, IGT has assured the public time and time again that the lucky young man is alive and well, and enjoying his new found wealth.
To date, none of these stories have come up as anything other than tall tales.
A rumor, which has not yet been dispelled, is one regarding the change in the Megabucks programming system. Some claim that IGT changed the programming of the system to make the jackpot hit less frequently but for more money. While IGT claims that they did not do anything of the sort, there are many experts in the gambling field who feel that some sort of change was made in the past.
Finally, a minor rumor that can be dispelled is one that says that the central station to which each jackpot machine reports chooses the winner. IGT assures its gambling public that each machine has its own RNG and thus every machine chooses its own outcome.
Conclusion
So, while you now understand that most stories flying around the industry regarding the curse of Megabucks are false, I cannot ignore the fact that this is simply a bad slot game to play for 2 reasons.
First is the house “hold”. Megabucks holds between 10% – 15% of every dollar played. Many slot machines in Nevada hold as little as 2% or 3%. The second reason that makes Megabucks a terrible play for the serious gambler is that you only receive 60% of your jackpot. There are many other progressive slots in your casino that pay big jackpots, but give you the whole thing.
When we strip Megabucks from all the pomp and glam that surrounds it, we find a middle of the road progressive slot game that doesn’t give you much for your money. And even if you do get incredibly lucky and win, you don’t exactly get the flashy numbers promised to you. Instead you will have to settle for a sum that is much more modest in nature, paid off to you over a period of 25 years. Final conclusion? Megabucks is not a mega hit. In fact, there are lots more fish in the proverbial gambling sea.