Megabucks is a Nevada state-wide slot jackpot network that is owned and run by the slot machine company, International Game Technology (IGT). Considered Nevada’s state lottery, Megabucks is extremely popular and has created quite a few millionaires in its 19-year history.
It is normally about two-thirds up from the bottom of the machine. Insert the Jackpot Reset Key into the keyhole. Turn the key ONLY ONE-QUARTER TURN TO THE RIGHT! This will reset the machine, and once you close the main slot machine door, you will be ready to resume play. IT IS ABSOLUTELY IMPERATIVE NOT TO TURN THE JACKPOT RESET KEY MULTIPLE TIMES!!! Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. Fits IGT S+ and IGT S2000 as shown (other IGT models as well). NOTE: these locks fit IGT SLOT MACHINES - not Pashislo machines with IGT logos on the glass. Includes Jackpot Reset Key #2341. IGT SLOT MACHINE - DOOR LOCK with KEYS and RESET KEY eBay.
Thanks to a wonderful marketing strategy, Megabucks continues to ignite a firestorm every time the jackpot reaches ‘megabuck’ status. It is also a slot machine that generates a ridiculous amount of gossip and urban legend circulating on the game and its winners.
However, if you look at the real truth behind IGT’s Megabucks, even with all the myths and legends dispelled, it will become apparent that this progressive slot is a poor place to spend your money.
How Does Megabucks Work?
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IGT’s Megabucks is a dollar coin slot machine that requires 3 coins or $3.00 to hit the jackpot. The jackpot is reset to a predetermined amount after every mega win. While the present reset amount is $10-million, there is chatter that this will be increasing to $11-million.
Megabucks is part of the company’s MegaJackpot slot system that connects about 750 machines in 136 Nevada casinos to one primary jackpot that builds from the base jackpot amount. International Game Technology owns the Megabucks machines and the casino gets a cut of the money that each machine wins from the players. It is common knowledge that IGT created Megabucks to compete with state lotteries.
Where Can You Play Megabucks?
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Nevada is the true home of Megabucks and is found in nearly all of the casinos on the strip. Unlike multi-state lotteries, this game does not cross state lines. IGT runs Megabucks jackpots in the states of California, New Jersey and Mississippi, as well as some Indian reservations.
I’ve had the opportunity to throw a few dollars in the Megabucks ring on a trip to Mississippi. I noticed the jackpot was much lower than I have seen in Las Vegas and while I did feel like, by some magic formula, my odds were better because the stakes were lower I did not win.
However, these don’t include as many venues as the Nevada edition and their jackpots are usually only a fraction of the original. Each state that offers Megabucks has a separate jackpot system with individual meters and winners. If a jackpot is won in one state, it does not affect the progressive jackpot in another.
Each Megabucks machine has its own random number and hence chooses its own outcomes. These outcomes are then reported to a central location. When the jackpot is hit on one machine, the central station sends out a message to the other machines, resetting their respective meters.
How About the Odds of Winning Megabucks?
Statistics about the true odds of winning the Megabucks jackpot remain sketchy at best.
It is certainly understandable why the betting for the Megabucks sometimes reaches chaotic proportions and has people crossing over the state line just to have a shot at winning so many millions.
But do winners really receive what the games advertise? Let’s take the example of a $35-million win. Initially, for that amount of money, winners get a check of $1.4 million. They then have between sixty and ninety days to decide whether they want to take their money in annual installments over twenty-five years or a lump sum of 60% of the money.
For a $35-million win, that would result in $21-million before taxes. Obviously, most winners choose the former and take the lump sum payment.
Whichever option the winner chooses, he or she still needs to take into account the taxes payable to the IRS. They are subject to the maximum tax rate of nearly 40%, with state taxes also needing to be taken into account. When all is said and done, the prize money dwindles somewhat miserably after Uncle Sam takes a bite.
Of course, nobody has ever refused the money all together & taken $0. So, I suppose most people wouldn’t scoff at $14 million or so.
Megabucks Curse
No slot machine in the history of the world has had close to as many urban legends, myths and stories surrounding the game of Megabucks.
Typically, these legends center around the unfortunate fate of Megabucks winners, which leads the masses to believe that winning the multi-million dollar jackpot will result in an ultimately unlucky death. While pretty much all of these stories have proven to be fabricated, Megabucks still has the obstinate reputation of being cursed.
Many believe that the genesis of the rumors hanging over Megabucks is based on the truly tragic story of a 37 year-old cocktail waitress named Cynthia Jay-Brennan. In 2000, Jay-Brennan, was the lucky winner of a $34.9-million Megabucks jackpot, played in the Desert Inn Casino in Vegas.
Less than 2 months after her win, Jay-Brennan was surprisingly involved in a car crash. Her sister was killed instantly and poor Cynthia, herself, was left a quadriplegic. The driver of the car that hit the pair was under the influence of alcohol and was eventually tried and sentenced to 28 years; however, this did not stop rumors flying that Megabucks was a cursed game to win.
The fact is that Jay-Brennan’s accident was not the first of these rumors, as they circulated well before the year 2000. However, since this event, stories continuously surface regarding the tragic fate of every winner of the latest Megajackpot win.
When another young man hit the jackpot in 2003, rumors spread like a virus of his untimely ‘death’ through various ends, including a fatal drug overdose in a casino hotel and in a gang fight as far away as Los Angeles. All these stories have, thus far, proven to be false and while the winner chose to remain anonymous, IGT has assured the public time and time again that the lucky young man is alive and well, and enjoying his new found wealth.
To date, none of these stories have come up as anything other than tall tales.
A rumor, which has not yet been dispelled, is one regarding the change in the Megabucks programming system. Some claim that IGT changed the programming of the system to make the jackpot hit less frequently but for more money. While IGT claims that they did not do anything of the sort, there are many experts in the gambling field who feel that some sort of change was made in the past.
Finally, a minor rumor that can be dispelled is one that says that the central station to which each jackpot machine reports chooses the winner. IGT assures its gambling public that each machine has its own RNG and thus every machine chooses its own outcome.
Conclusion
So, while you now understand that most stories flying around the industry regarding the curse of Megabucks are false, I cannot ignore the fact that this is simply a bad slot game to play for 2 reasons.
First is the house “hold”. Megabucks holds between 10% – 15% of every dollar played. Many slot machines in Nevada hold as little as 2% or 3%. The second reason that makes Megabucks a terrible play for the serious gambler is that you only receive 60% of your jackpot. There are many other progressive slots in your casino that pay big jackpots, but give you the whole thing.
When we strip Megabucks from all the pomp and glam that surrounds it, we find a middle of the road progressive slot game that doesn’t give you much for your money. And even if you do get incredibly lucky and win, you don’t exactly get the flashy numbers promised to you. Instead you will have to settle for a sum that is much more modest in nature, paid off to you over a period of 25 years. Final conclusion? Megabucks is not a mega hit. In fact, there are lots more fish in the proverbial gambling sea.
VegasriderIncredibelle actually requires some skill, which leans towards the younger crowds. The reason why, it requires you to keep pressing the spin button as fast as you can while you use your other hand to swipe or press the coins or bells that mysteriously appears on your screen which is worth bonus points if you successfully swipe or hit them. You only have 1-2 seconds before they disappear. So the higher the percentage rate of hitting all the coins and bells that momentarily appear on the screen, the higher the score. I have managed to cash on every one of these tournaments since the conversion from the traditional slot machines. By no means I consider myself young, I’m well into my AARP.
But there is AP in this type of tournament. Your perception and reaction time is critical, which results in physically touching the bonuses that momentarily appear on the screens.
You only have 1-2 seconds before they disappear. So the higher the percentage rate of hitting all the coins and bells that momentarily appear on the screen, the higher the score. I have managed to cash on every one of these tournaments since the conversion from the traditional slot machines. By no means I consider myself young, I’m well into my AARP.
Maybe I'm wrong, but don't they like their AARP age customers? That doesn't bode well. Reflexes fade with age.
The last time I played I was given a code at the player's club after showing my card. So they knew who was playing. Could they now be choosing whose game they wanted to enhance? I don't know, but I didn't really trust it.
IGT has programmed certain types of slot machines so that it can be converted to slot tournaments. Once the tournament is over they can reset the machines to whatever game they want. In the past, the machines that were used were the old fashioned reels, the old red white and blue 777 reels which required zero skills.
Incredibelle actually requires some skill, which leans towards the younger crowds. The reason why, it requires you to keep pressing the spin button as fast as you can while you use your other hand to swipe or press the coins or bells that mysteriously appears on your screen which is worth bonus points if you successfully swipe or hit them. You only have 1-2 seconds before they disappear. So the higher the percentage rate of hitting all the coins and bells that momentarily appear on the screen, the higher the score. I have managed to cash on every one of these tournaments since the conversion from the traditional slot machines. By no means I consider myself young, I’m well into my AARP.
But there is AP in this type of tournament. Your perception and reaction time is critical, which results in physically touching the bonuses that momentarily appear on the screens.
That's a great post and is absolutely correct. I came in first place in one of these tournaments a few years back because this style had just come to that casino and I was one of the few people using both hands. I would come in the Top 10 in a few tournaments after that, but never came in first again, because it certainly didn't take too long for the slot tourney players to figure it out.
The converted machines in this case were Everi machines, though.
Maybe I'm wrong, but don't they like their AARP age customers? That doesn't bode well. Reflexes fade with age.
I imagine that there will be some older players complain that the tournament is too physical.
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Another AP, if you have played the game before and know how to play its a big advantage vs someone who is playing it for the 1st time. Like I mentioned, the previous machines required zero skil, you just press the reel button, some were playing two machines at the same time. Not possible with these new machines.This one is slightly skill based. Small balloons appear that you rapidly pop with your non-spinning hand. They appear for a set amount of time - most people pop 14-16 of them, my buddy and I pop 19-22 on average. The variance of playing is in getting that feature to come up 1-3 times and being good at it, if it doesn't come up you ain't advancing.
Tough to say about 'assigned' machines. In 2017 I did lose a qualifying round to a handicap person who only had use of 1 arm (true story). However I don't think assigned machines mean much. Sure if it's a 'marketing promotion' they can do whatever the hell they want. The programmer in me says, 'Just doing random = 1000% easier'.
But all the local VIP lounge losing players here will tell you 'they picked him (me) to win'. If we compared casino win/loss statements the casino would be picking them to win, not me....