Many people are surprised that slot machines have been around for almost a century. Since the introduction of the first electromechanical machine in the 1960s, these one-armed bandits have been the most popular gambling choice on casino floors. They’ve held this position ever since. They are games that need little to no skill to engage in and have simple rule sets. Anyone who visits the premises of a gambling establishment is thus eligible to play the games offered there.

According to some estimates, there are approximately 200,000 of these items in Las Vegas alone. However, like with everything else, there is one that stands out among a sea of endless competitors. That is the IGT Megabucks slot machine. It was introduced to casinos in 1986 and has since left an indelible mark on the gaming industry, becoming the most well-known slot machine ever to be played on land.

IGT has been in business since 1975 and is one of the world’s largest makers of gaming equipment. This firm, which has been responsible for games such as The Dating Game, Joker’s Wild, Top Dollar, and many more renowned video poker machines, is currently managed by the Italian corporation De Agostini, which has a majority stake in it.

Megabucks, on the other hand, have made them the most millionaires. It is the crown jewel of their gaming collection. Continue reading to learn all you need to know about this game. Because IGT has not yet released a digital version, you will be unable to try it in the comfort of your own home. On the other hand, there is a list of online casinos that provide Megabucks alternatives.

Game parameters and requirements for Megabucks

To compete with the many state lotteries, IGT created the Megabucks progressive slot machine. This implies it’s linked to a network that connects hundreds of Megabucks machines distributed over more than 130 Nevada casinos. The primary goal of this network is to grow the base jackpot amount until someone is lucky enough to win it all. When this happens, the game’s potential winnings are reset to $10 million, which is known as the “seed amount” by those in the industry. It means that the Megabucks jackpot will never be less than this amount at any moment.

These machines may be found at almost all of Las Vegas’s premier venues. This means that it is offered in several places, including the MGM Grand, Plaza, Palms, Riviera, Venetian, Wynn, and Golden Nugget, among many others.

The Megabucks slot machine accepts one-dollar bets on both the three-reel and five-reel versions. To join in the game and have a chance at the life-changing prize, you must put in three coins or pay three dollars. The older versions of this game only have one pay line and three reels, however, the most recent ones include a touch screen and five reels. Each version of Megabucks employs a unique set of symbols. Some people employ fruit ones, while others use the tried-and-true formula of sevens, bars, and classics.

This one, like the great majority of progressive slot machines, offers an 88.6 percent return to player percentage. As a result, you should not expect to find winning combinations very frequently in the base game. The Megabucks slot machine is an all-or-nothing game. You play it in the hopes of winning the progressive jackpot.

The odds of you succeeding in that endeavor are close to fifty million to one, according to calculations. Even if Lady Luck is on your side, you should be aware that even if you win, you are unlikely to walk away from a casino with a bag full of millions of dollars. Every Megabucks progressive prize is awarded one at a time over twenty-five years. If you win the minimum jackpot sum, you will get $400,000 every year for the following twenty-five years.

Megabucks Alternatives

IGT has disseminated a large amount of Megabucks content under many titles during its thirty-five-year history. There are now nineteen of these games, with the great majority having three reels and one pay line each. Some of the most well-known games in this series include Double Diamond, Double Diamond Deluxe, Mega Volt Re-Spin, Wolf Run, Crystal Sevens, Red Hot Re-Spin, Platinum Pays, and Triple Ruby Riches. Red Hot Re-Spin, Platinum Pays, and Triple Ruby Riches are some of the other popular games.

Megabucks Progressive Jackpots

It is vital to remember that Megabucks is responsible for the top six slot jackpot victories in gambling history. This might be used to illustrate the magnitude of this slot’s importance to the gaming industry. The current record jackpot was won in March of 2003 at the Excalibur Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It was valued at $39 million. It was won by an unknown Las Vegas software engineer who, according to the report, was visiting family when he played the Megabucks slot machine and spent $100 before becoming a millionaire. The previous record was $34.9 million, set in 2000 at Las Vegas Desert Inn Casino and Hotel.

Megabucks has been responsible for the creation of approximately one hundred millionaires during its history. At this moment, it has given prize money totaling well over $500 million to its winners. The game at the Palms Casino Resort paid out $8 million in 2004, making it the year with the second-lowest outstanding payback in the preceding twenty years. This was before the minimum threshold of $10 million was imposed. Nowadays, the bulk of Megabucks jackpots ranges from ten to twenty million dollars.

Alternatives Available Online

Because there is no online version of the Megabucks slot machine, online casinos provide Mega Jackpots series games that are equivalent to the Megabucks slot machine. Cleopatra, Siberian Storm, Ocean Belles, Isle O’Plenty, Star Lanterns, Golden Goddess, and Wheel of Fortune on Air are among the games available. These games cannot yield jackpots comparable to those produced by true Megabucks machines, but they may nevertheless deliver payments of up to several hundred thousand dollars.

If you want to try your luck at earning a million dollars online, you should play Microgaming’s Mega Moolah slot game. This game provides payouts comparable to those given by Megabucks. The greatest substantial prize it has ever granted was a $23.6 million jackpot won by a Belgian player at Napoleon Sports & Casino in April 2021.

Hall of Gods is another online spinner that has a solid reputation for awarding millions of dollars, and it is produced by the Swedish firm NetEnt. According to statistics, the jackpot is awarded once every 28 weeks, and the average amount won is $6.7 million.

Some of these games may be difficult to discover because they are not available in all online casinos. Aztec’s Millions by Realtime Gaming is a well-known and popular progressive jackpot slot game that can be played online. Even though the design is currently regarded as rather outdated, the seed amount is one million dollars.

To summarize

Drop three dollars into a Megabucks machine and push the spin button if you find yourself in Las Vegas and want to see whether lady luck is on your side in the hopes of winning a reward that will dramatically alter your life in a matter of minutes. If all you want to do is have fun and make a few extra dollars, stay away from it and any other progressive slot machines.

This is because the chances of you winning a big amount of money when playing such games are quite slim. As a result, it is wise to play cautiously and with low expectations for the outcome. If you play at one of the online alternatives with lower maximum bet limitations, you may win millions of dollars on spins that cost less than a dollar. It is critical to explore all of your options before deciding on a game to play because it may be a better decision.