Megabucks Slot Game

About Megabucks Slot Machines

Megabucks Slots is a brand of linked progressive jackpot slot machines designed and distributed by International Game Technology. These games have a deceptively simple set-up. It is a 3-reel, $1-per-coin slots game. To activate the top payout, you'll need to bet three coins. Therefore, to qualify for the progressive, you need to make a $3 bet.

When the progressive hits, it resets automatically to $10 million. Anytime you step up to one of these gaming machines, it can produce a life-changing prize. This concept has been tremendously successful. Like the state and multi-state lotteries, gamblers are happy to feed the pot in exchange for a chance at a big progressive win.

Megabucks slot machines were placed in Las Vegas casinos for the first time in the mid-1990s. The first progressive jackpot on the slot machine was hit at the Gold Coast Casino on October 18, 1995. Over the years, the brand has had 46 progressive wins.

Megabucks Statistics

The house edge on Megabucks is just under 10%, which is high for a slot machine. When hit, the jackpot is usually around $15,000,000, though its highest point was $39,710,826.36.

The prize was triggered at the Excalibur casino on the Las Vegas Strip back in March of 2003. The odds of hitting the jackpot are 1 in 50,000,000.

Jackpot Hit Rate

The average number of progressives triggered in a year are 2 to 3, with most years containing two. Every year since 1995, the jackpot has been hit at least once. In 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, Megabucks had only one progressive winner. The year 2000 was the best year for winners, because Megabucks paid out 6 times in that year alone.

Players should remember they're likely to feed a lot of money into this gaming machine. Every 4 to 6 months, you can expect one player to receive a big payout. Brick-and-mortar gamblers should remember one other thing: Megabucks is networked throughout Nevada, but nowhere else. Unless you play at a casino in Nevada, you can't play this progressive.

Where Is Megabucks Found?

Inside Nevada, a total of 99 different gaming establishments have a Megabucks slot machine. This includes 67 casinos in Las Vegas, 10 casinos in Henderson, 10 casinos in Laughlin, 3 each in Primm and Mesquite, 5 casinos in North Las Vegas, and 1 casino in Jean. All 99 of the gaming machines are linked to one another.

Megabucks on the Las Vegas Strip

If you play Megabucks in any of the world famous Las Vegas Strip casinos, the game is likely to have a slightly different feel. IGT has produced special videos for their Megabucks EGMs in these casinos. For instance, as the Wynn Las Vegas, people who play Megabucks can see videos of Wynn Resorts founder and CEO, Steve Wynn, in between spins on the machine.

Almost all of the most famous casinos offer Megabucks Slots, such as the following for example.

Vegas Strip casinos which are a bit less iconic have Megabucks, including Circus Circus, Cosmopolitan, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, The Linq, Rio Suite Hotel & Casino, and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Off-the-Strip casinos in Las Vegas also are home to Megabucks gaming machines, including famous establishments like El Cortez, Stratosphere, Binion's, Green Valley Ranch Resort, The D Las Vegas, and Sam's Town all have the game.

Online Megabucks Slots

IGT Interactive (previously "Wagerworks") now has an online version of their popular Megabucks slot machine. This is a 5-reel, 60-payline gaming machine which can be found at most online and mobile casinos which use IGT software. Like the land-based version, it has a progressive jackpot.

To win the Online Megabucks jackpot, you'll need to place the 5-coin bet. The max bet on the game is 300 credits, which translates to $3 per spin for the penny players. The accumulated jackpot is a wide-area progressive, meaning the games of many slots players are linked to the same jackpot. This makes the pot grow faster.

Given the fact the land-based version is a 3-reel game and the Internet version is a 5-reel game, the two variants have much different game mechanics. The online version's jackpots are not as large. Gamblers might complain that IGT is capitalizing on the offline fame of this brand to lure online gamblers to a lesser game. The jackpots are still some of the best on the Internet. For that reason, they're in keeping with the Internet casino industry.

Online Graphics and Sounds

The graphics and sounds on IGT's online version of Megabucks Slots are nothing special. No one plays the live game for the dazzling graphics or smooth animations. They don't much care about the sounds or music, either. The online version replicates the same aesthetics of the land-based version, so there's no reason to complain.

Free Spins

Neither version of Megabucks has free spins. Once again, that is not the reason to play this game. Players forgive the lack of gaming features because of the high jackpots.

Bonus Game

No side bet or bonus game is offered on Megabucks. Again, those are frills offered by games with lower payouts.

Wilds and Scatter Symbols

Once again, Online Megabucks does not have a wild symbol or scatter symbol. It simply would not be the same game if the standard video slots features were added to virtual gaming machines with this brand of slots.

Plenty of interactive slot machines are produced by IGT Interactive, but this game reproduces the original game. It is a lesser form, because the jackpots are not as large as the land-based jackpots.

More References to Mega Bucks

People who search for the term "Megabucks" might be confused by the information. The name is used in several unrelated US lotteries. These include separate lotto drawings in Massachusetts, Oregon, and Wisconsin, as well as a Tri-State lottery game offered in partnership by Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. It doesn't stop there. Local Michigan television once had a Megabucks game show.

Even the world of professional wrestling used a similar term. The Mega Bucks tag team consisted of the late Andre the Giant and Ted DiBiase, also known as "The Millionaire Dollar Man". As the storyline went, in 1988 Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan for the WWF (WWE) world title.

In a clever and evil plot, Ted DiBiase offered to buy the title from Andre the Giant, who agreed. The WWF vacated the title, but decreed the two villains should form a tag team, Mega Bucks, to face the promotion's biggest heroes, Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. That ended as you might expect, with the heroes winning and the villains disbanding.

While you'll see references to them in online searches, none of those examples have anything to do with IGT's Megabucks Slots. Here is the official information on the game.