As I mentioned in my 1995 Wedding Anniversary post, we didn't gamble that year.
My BFF suggested we meet in Las Vegas, Summer 1996 (she lives in Vancouver).
I subscribed to Anthony Curtis's newsletter "Las Vegas Advisor" where it said video poker was the game with the best odds (that wasn't a table game).
I bought a VP trainer to practice a few basic games on the pc.
My friend and I stayed at the Mirage when it was the coolest place to stay on the Strip plus "Vegas Vacation" was being filmed at the hotel. The only
part we saw filming was at 2am - Chevy Chase playing blackjack.
My friend and I used the LVA coupons and signed up for players cards, collected mugs, t-shirts and freeplay up and down the Strip and even the Gold Coast.
I remember getting the famous hotdog and beer for $1 at the Sands, across the street.
I only played .25 video poker and would cash out the coins each time I hit a four-of-a-kind. The casino's had lots of video poker machines but few being
played. The whole non-smoking section at the Mirage was pretty much all video poker.
Besides single-line video poker machines, there were reel slot machines but I never played those. I didn't see any video slots or even WOF reels until
my next visit with my husband in 1997. Then we started visiting three to four times a year and stayed at Monte Carlo until Paris opened. The casino's
all had their own signature $1 reel slot progressives which are mostly gone now. They were the most popular reel slots and paid frequently as the jackpots hit around $1000.
The ones at Monte Carlo were "Top Hats", MGM Grand had the "Lions Share" and "Majestic Lion" (still have those by the bank of elevators for the main tower),
Blazing 7's ruled a whole section at the Flamingo and Caesars Roman ones were by by the entrance to the Forum Shops with photo ops with Antony and Cleopatra:)
Paris had cute French bicycle themed and the baker collecting the baquettes progressive reel slots.
Those slots would usually be set up in a rectangle with a raised platform in the middle where they had cashiers that would cash out the dollar coins.
My husband liked to play the above between sessions of blackjack but I stuck with video poker.
During the mid-'90's the reel slots became more interesting with bonus features on top - that's when I started playing a few reels - my favorite was
the Horseshoe one with the cash cows (I can't remember the exact name) and it was usually in a bank with Big Bang Piggy, X Factor and the one I hated
Jackpot Party.
During the late '90's the nickel coin video slots were popping up everywhere and a couple of visits I played them alot - Reel "Em In was one of the first
but I never really liked the graphics. I liked playing Lucky Leprachaun (Welcome to Rainbow Land!), Little Green Men, Texas Tea and I Dream of Jeannie
but the downside was once you hit 1000 credits ($50), You had to wait for a hand-pay and constant filling of the nickel coin hoppers. They were all pretty much nine line machines.
The coolest nickel slot was "I Love Lucy" - when you got the chocolate bonus, it smelled like
chocolate! The only slot that emitted an odor, that I'm aware of. I played these at Bally's.
The first 15-line nickel machines I saw were the Cinema Classics with Humphrey Bogart (I liked that one) Marilyn Monroe, etc..and then Money Storm, etc..My husband was
addicted to the nickel "American Bandstand" video slot and would play those for hours.
The first "penny" video slot I saw was "The Beverly Hillbillies" early '00's, I think. I rarely played the video slots once they all turned to penny slots and
the TV show themed ones started disappearing.
That's the timeline I remember but some may be "off" a bit lol
