I’ve been talking about mechanical reel slots for awhile here on the site, and in particular the older school ones I can still play at my home casinos.
One thing that’s caught my attention is the variations that can sometimes crop up. For instance, Blazing 7s is traditionally a $1 denomination. $3 max bet game, with a progressive as the top jackpot. However, at one of my home casinos, I found a $2 max bet variation. $2 is a bit more in my wheelhouse for a max bet during a day trip, so I gave this one a go.
The pay table is basically the same as two credits on the 3 credit version, with the exception that the triple Blazing 7s symbol pays out 1000 credits vs. 500. This makes the top pay exactly 500x. Given the three-credit version has a similar top prize (the progressive will start at $1000), and doubles the other 7s pays, my guess is the two credit version is a bit tougher overall, but is offset by that lower per-bet cost.
Some players may not be fond of this option as it can’t handpay, whereas others may appreciate that limitation, depending on your goals.
The Blazing 7s pay table also specifically rewards a max bet, as you can’t unlock all the pays unless you play two credits. And on the three-credit version, you don’t unlock the progressive unless you play all three credits.
Of course, regardless of format, it’s always great to see the 7s drop. I put $100 in, and they came around pretty fast, so that cast a dilemma for me – do I keep playing or cash out doubled up?
In this case I chose to do the latter, but sometimes I’ll mentally reset and either allow myself a fresh $100 (meaning I’ll at least break even if I lose) to try to get them again. However, I was on a pretty good run that day and moved to another machine where I promptly won a nearly $600 progressive, so moving on worked out.
The reason for spending a bit of time talking about the mechanical reel slot variations, is sometimes it can be helpful to look around at more than just the logo. Sometimes you’ll find a variation on the pay table that’s more or less credits. Sometimes you’ll find a multi-line version vs. a single line. Sometimes you’ll find them in different denominations. Sometimes you’ll find all three differences mixed and matched.
Each of these will play a bit differently but a variation may be better for you or fall into your sweet spot, so it helps to pay attention as you browse the casino floor. I’ve seen two credit variations of Double Diamond at 50 cent denomination that therefor cost exactly $1.
