MGM Grand Is the 2nd Largest Casino on the Strip
Lion’s Share slot machine, which hasn’t paid a jackpot in twenty years, has become a legend-of-sorts in Las Vegas these days. While many players seek out the outdated 3-reel slot machine for a chance to win a jackpot they consider to be “due”, some in the industry doubt whether the machine is playing fairly at all.
The Lion’s Share has become an attraction at the MGM Grand casino on the Las Vegas Strip, but perhaps for the wrong reason. Many players look at the machine like 23 year old Justin Paulus of Chandler, Arizona, who told the Wall Street Journal, “I just have this feeling it’s going to hit soon.”
Positive Expectation Wagers
Gambling mathematicians know a better is no more (or less) likely to hit the jackpot now than they were on the first spin 20 years ago, but that was when the jackpot was half the size it is now. After having accumulated for twenty years, the payout on the progressive jackpot is now $2.3 million. That makes the machine one of the best bets in Las Vegas currently, because the standard $3 wager to activate the progressive is now a positive expectation game.
To those not familiar with gambling terminology, “positive expectation” means the payout is now larger than the average amount of money you would have to spend to win the jackpot. It’s gambling, of course, so “average amount” is the key term in that sentence. Positive expectation is about probability analysis and the risk/reward factor, but that assures nothing. The next spin could be a winner, or another twenty years could pass before someone wins. The odds of winning remain the same, if the payout is larger.
Over the years, countless gamblers have learned that the Lion’s Share jackpot is unpredictable. Tons of players have lost money in order for that one lucky slots gambler to go home lucky. Playing the game is a tradition to 64 year old Leif Anderson of Washington state, whose father used to play the machine back in the 1990’s. For the past ten years, Mr. Anderson has put money into the Lion’s Share, but with no real luck to show for it.
$5,000 Slot Sessions
A visitor from Calgary, 51 year old Ken Kuefler, brings $5,000 with him every time he comes to Las Vegas, and he plays no other machine but Lion’s Share Slots. Still, no jackpot prize has been won. Of course, not everyone goes away a loser. Winning sessions do happen, and decent-sized payouts happen from time to time. The most a player can win without hitting the progressive is $10,000, and that happens on occasion.
Despite those payouts, most players end up donating more money to the progressive pot than they get out of the machine. In fact, some analysts wonder if people haven’t donated a suspicious amount of cash to the jackpot, without a full and honest proposition of winning. Michael Shackleford, the famous Wizard of Odds, is one of them.
Michael Shackleford Says It’s Fishy
Michael Shackleford called the game “fishy” after an experience he had at the MGM Grand in January 2014. The actuary has worked for many of the leading land-based and online casino operations in the world and he is one of the most trusted names in gambling. Shackleford played a session at the machine in recent months and, after a time, he got up for some rest. Later, he returned to the area, where he claimed to have seen a member of the staff turning the machine off.
The standard reason to turn off a machine is to reset its odds. The management at the MGM Grand, on the other hand, claims the game has had the same odds for the past 15 years.
Play the $3 Game
For those who ever consider playing, let me give some basic slots advice. Play the $3 version of the game, because the top payouts are much better. If you play at the $1 or $2 denomination, the top jackpot won’t be activated, so you have no chance to win the big payouts. Even the top fixed jackpot is significantly lower: it jumps from $15 to a whopping $10,000. Veteran slot machine players will know the max bet is almost always the best way to go, even if it’s more expensive. Of course, playing a slot machine at $3 a spin can get expensive for many gamblers, since a spin takes a split second.
Players who do gamble on the Lions Share Slot Machine should remember that the odds are stacked against them. Enjoy winning, but don’t expect you’re going to be the special player to collect the jackpot. Also, you might have to wait to play, because the game has gotten somewhat famous in recent years. Be ready to wait in line.
