NEW SLOTS

Dragon Link Breathes Excitement Into Your Casino Adventure

By Aristocrat Gaming

Dragon Link™ is the biggest game in North America. Maybe you’ve played Dragon Link in California or Las Vegas and loved it, and now the good news is, the game is coming to Arizona, as close as your own favorite casino.

If you haven’t played Dragon Link yet, then prepare yourself for an all-new adventure in this game from Aristocrat Gaming™ .

Dragon Link has ten brilliant and colorful Asian-themed base games for you to enjoy, including player-favorite titles such as Autumn Moon, Golden Century, Happy & Prosperous, and Panda Magic.

Each game has its own exciting twist. For example, during the free games feature, Golden Century and Autumn Moon surprise you with “Mystery Symbols” that can lead to rich pays or even revealing multiple Hold & Spin trigger symbols. The Happy & Prosperous and Panda Magic games remove the “Royal Symbols,” which can result in significant numbers of stacked symbols for big wins or increasing the opportunity of receiving more Hold & Spin symbols. If you like the Hold & Spin feature in Lightning Link, you’ll love how Dragon Link adds a common trigger symbol making it easy for you to recognize the Hold & Spin trigger, regardless of which game you’re enjoying. Whichever base game you choose, Dragon Link’ s Progressives, Hold & Spin, and Lucky Chance features remain common across all titles.

You’ll be on the edge of your seat with every spin as you look for free spin scatters, wild stacks, and the Hold & Spin bonus. In the Hold & Spin bonuses, you can win multiple credit prizes, multiple bonus jackpots, and a Major and Grand progressive jackpot all in one bonus.

Dragon Link’ s grand jackpot is a linked progressive, while standalone jackpots give you a chance to win smaller-sized progressives more quickly and often.

Breathe dragon-sized excitement into your next casino gaming adventure with Aristocrat’s Dragon Link. Discover where to play at aristocratgaming.com/us/where-to-play. $

Glorious & Splendid Fortunes

By IGT

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acked with player-favorite features, IGT’s Fu Gui Hao Men Glorious Fortunes and Splendid Fortunes video slots deliver the next evolution of Asian-themed multi-level progressives.

A lively game with two vibrant art packages, Fu Gui Hao Men is an all-ways-to-win game with 3x5 reel play and perceived persistence pots in the top box. During the base game, a player is eligible for any of the jackpots or bonuses regardless of the number of credits wagered. The jackpot pick bonus can be mystery triggered when one of four colored wild symbols, corresponding to different pots and trigger events, land on the reels and can appear with a 2x multiplier to double the prize for one or more jackpots.

Following hold and respin mechanics, the Ingot bonus is triggered when both a gold and silver Ingot symbol appear on the reels and lock. Three additional spins are awarded with the potential to win credits and multipliers. Rounding out the play, the Fu Gui Hao Men’ s free games feature is activated when three scatter symbols land and every wild symbol presents the chance to trigger the jackpot bonus. Fu Gui Hao Men Glorious Fortunes and Splendid Fortunes is an 88-credit cost-to-cover game. For more information, visit IGT.com. $

The Price Is Right

By IGT

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his new slot brings the excitement of television’s longest-running game show to the casino floor with The Price is Right Come on Down! video slots on the large-format Peak65™ cabinet.

The wide-area progressive features exciting bonuses based on fan-favorite games in the popular show, including Cliff Hangers and the iconic Showcase Showdown wheel with up to a 95x multiplier and possibility of winning the WAP top award. Sure to have a massive presence, the 4x5 reel base game has a random Plinko wilds feature that can add three to seven wild symbols to the reels.

The bonus is triggered when two scattered bonus symbols land on reels one and three, along with a unique bonus symbol on reel five, which determines the bonus played. In the Cliff Hangers free spins bonus, the climber starts at 1x for the first spin and moves up the mountain with increasing multipliers. When the climber falls off the cliff, the player is awarded one last free spin at a 25x multiplier. In the Range Game bonus, a unique 3x9 reel interface appears, and the player selects a 3x3 win box in one of seven positions on the grid. The player gets three spins to land as many money balls as possible within the chosen win box with the opportunity for extra spins. With three jackpots to win, the 60-credit cost-to-cover game is complete with vibrant visuals and energetic licensed sounds from the show. For more information, visit IGT.com. $

ANOTHER HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS HAND?

Sometimes It’s Just Common Sense, Sometimes It Depends On The Game

Anytime I visit a casino there are always people playing video poker making some pretty questionable decisions on what cards to hold. So, I’d like to offer a tip on how to play the two hands below based on different games. I hope my advice helps you improve your play!

THE FIRST HAND

A♦ 3♦ K♥ 3♣ 9♠ I just saw someone play this hand holding the Ace, the King, and the 3s! Honestly, I’m not sure what to say about that. The hold is definitely “creative,” I’ll give you that. Does a video poker game give money for “creative?” I guess, in the unlikely event an Ace, a King, or a 3 come back!

JACKS OR BETTER

The best play is to hold the 3s for an ER of 0.824. The next best hold is the 3s and either the Ace, King, or 9 (!!!) for an ER of 0.675. The third place hold is the Ace and the King for an ER of 0.479.

DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS

Again, the best play is to hold the 3s. The next best play is to hold the 3s and the Ace, but the ER drops from 0.871 to 0.628. That’s a 28% decrease in ER!

TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS

Hold the 3s for an ER of 0.919! The next best hold is the 3s with the Ace for an ER of 0.772.

DEUCES WILD

Hold the 3s for an ER of 0.560. If you hold the 3s with either the Ace, King, or 9, the ER becomes a meager 0.339.

Making the hold I witnessed produces ERs of 0.383 (JoB), 0.255 (DD), 0.213 (TD) and 0.128 (Deuces), respectively. Those are some very low numbers!

THE SECOND HAND

A♦ K♥ A♣ K♦ 2♠ Hold the Aces? Hold the Kings? Hold both pairs? You can argue all sides of this one but, in the end, the numbers don’t lie. Depending on your favorite game we’ve listed below, read about the best hold.

JACKS OR BETTER

Hold both pairs for an ER of 2.596. Afterall, holding a Two Pair will pay you. And, you might get that Full House too! Holding both pairs and the 2 produces an ER of “only” 2.000, which makes sense. Jacks Or Better pays twice your bet back for Two Pair.

DOUBLE DOUBLE BONUS

Just hold the Aces! Because of the higher pay for Four Aces (with and without a kicker), the ER is 1.916. The ER for holding both pairs drops to 1.681.

TRIPLE DOUBLE BONUS

With this game, you are also holding the Aces for an ER of 2.073. The next best hold is the Aces and the kicker (the 2) for an ER of 1.883. If you hold both pairs, your ER is reduced even further to 1.6081.

DEUCES WILD

Hold all five cards for the Full House! Since a Full House pays three times your bet in Deuces Wild, the ER is 3.000. If you hold just the Aces and the 2, or just the Kings and the 2, the ER drops to 2.019.

Send us an email if you want to know how to hold a hand! Doesn't matter if it’s holds you are seeing other people make, or if you just want to be sure about your own holds.

Write us at Editor@AZGamingGuide.com, or send a letter to: Editor, AZ Gaming Guide, PO BOX 20636, Mesa, AZ, 85277. $

EXPLAINING THE NUMBERS

An Expected Return (ER) of 1.000 means on average, over the long run, you can expect to win back your bet of 1 credit.