Most people who watch TV are familiar with the high-stakes poker tournaments that take place annually in Las Vegas, such as the World Series of Poker. Not nearly as many, however, are aware of the big-money slot machine tournaments that are held at major Nevada casinos throughout the year. That’s primarily because it’s far more interesting to see poker players’ hands and study their strategies than it is to watch contestants continually press the “play” buttons on their machines. Then, too, these tournaments sometimes aren’t publicized.
Who’s Invited to Play?
Invitations for the most exclusive of the slot tournaments are sent only to high rollers and/or members of the casino’s players club who have attained a certain card level due to frequency of play/amount of money bet. Tournament guests usually arrive on Friday afternoon (Thursday if the tournament lasts through Saturday) for the welcoming festivities. General format is three rounds of play the next day and one or two on the following day.
Prizes are announced at an awards ceremony, which generally takes place at a brunch or special luncheon. These tournaments quite often have a theme – St. Patrick’s Day, Chinese New Year, Polynesian Paradise. The South Sea Island-themed tournament might feature a live band and Tahitian-style dancers at its welcome party, Polynesian decorations around the tournament slot machines and lavish island cuisine at the included meals.
Low End, Hi-Roller Tournaments
These tournaments almost always require sizeable entry fees, and prizes are big. At the lower end are tournaments with per player entry fee of $500 and 200 participants, which would offer a top prize of $40,000.00, with a quarter or more of the participants receiving some money back as prizes. Since a complimentary room, welcome festivities and awards ceremony are usually included in that entry fee, it’s obvious that the casinos do not intend these affairs to be money makers in themselves. What they do know is that participants (and their spouses/significant others) will in all probability play slot machines during some of the time they’re not involved in tournament play and that they will be eating meals, patronizing the gift shop, spa and other casino amenities.
Bigger Entry Fees, Bigger Prizes
Among the most expensive of the high roller slot tournaments are those sponsored by Hotel Bellagio in Las Vegas. Their 2010 “Million Dollar March” features four tournaments held on the same three days. Total prize money for the three tournaments is listed as $1.5 million. The most expensive tourney, limited to 20 players, requires a $25,000 buy-in. with a $400,000. first prize. The second costs $10,000 to enter (first prize of $200.000 and limited to 25 players. The third and fourth tourneys each have $5,000 entry fees. One of them is played with traditional slots, while the other involves video poker machines. The tournament schedule includes a Thursday check-in, Friday reception and first round of play for all tournaments and on Saturday, the final two rounds of tournament play.
Connie Emerson - Ever since I can remember, going places and seeing new sights has intrigued me. A robin drinking from a puddle after a springtime Paris ...
