Megabucks Slot Game

Author: GamblingSites.org | Last Updated: December 2023

Megabucks Slots might be the most famous slot machine in the
world. The rest is simple: it has the biggest progressive
jackpots. At one time, Megabucks Slots held 8 of the top 10
spots for the biggest slot machine jackpots in the history of
Las Vegas. All six of the Top 6 progressives ever hit on the Las
Vegas Strip were from Megabucks machines.

The Top 10 jackpots changes every year or so, but you can
expect most of the huge payouts are going to come from the
Megabucks slots machines somewhere in Nevada. The top prizes in
the past have ranged between $39 million and $17 million.

Gaming companies like to push the boundaries in order to get
attention and set themselves apart from the competition. In an
age where Powerball payouts exceed a billion dollars, you can
expect the progressive payouts to increase over time. When new
records are set, it’s a good bet they’ll be set by Megabucks
from IGT.

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About Megabucks Slot Machines

Megabucks Slots is a brand of linked progressive jackpot slot
machines designed and distributed by International Game
Technology. These games have a deceptively simple set-up. It is
a 3-reel, $1-per-coin slots game. To activate the top payout,
you’ll need to bet three coins. Therefore, to qualify for the
progressive, you need to make a $3 bet.

When the progressive hits, it resets automatically to $10
million. Anytime you step up to one of these gaming machines, it
can produce a life-changing prize. This concept has been
tremendously successful. Like the state and multi-state
lotteries, gamblers are happy to feed the pot in exchange for a
chance at a big progressive win.

Megabucks slot machines were placed in Las Vegas casinos for
the first time in the mid-1990s. The first progressive jackpot
on the slot machine was hit at the Gold Coast Casino on October
18, 1995. Over the years, the brand has had 46 progressive wins.

Megabucks Statistics

The house edge on Megabucks is just under 10%, which is high
for a slot machine. When hit, the jackpot is usually around
$15,000,000, though its highest point was $39,710,826.36.

The prize was triggered at the Excalibur casino on the Las
Vegas Strip back in March of 2003. The odds of hitting the
jackpot are 1 in 50,000,000.

Jackpot Hit Rate

The average number of progressives triggered in a year are 2
to 3, with most years containing two. Every year since 1995, the
jackpot has been hit at least once. In 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002,
2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, Megabucks had only one progressive
winner. The year 2000 was the best year for winners, because
Megabucks paid out 6 times in that year alone.

Players should remember they’re likely to feed a lot of money
into this gaming machine. Every 4 to 6 months, you can expect
one player to receive a big payout. Brick-and-mortar gamblers
should remember one other thing: Megabucks is networked
throughout Nevada, but nowhere else. Unless you play at a casino
in Nevada, you can’t play this progressive.

Where Is Megabucks Found?

Inside Nevada, a total of 99 different gaming establishments
have a Megabucks slot machine. This includes 67 casinos in Las
Vegas, 10 casinos in Henderson, 10 casinos in Laughlin, 3 each
in Primm and Mesquite, 5 casinos in North Las Vegas, and 1
casino in Jean. All 99 of the gaming machines are linked to one
another.

Megabucks on the Las Vegas Strip

If you play Megabucks in any of the world famous Las Vegas
Strip casinos, the game is likely to have a slightly different
feel. IGT has produced special videos for their Megabucks EGMs
in these casinos. For instance, as the Wynn Las Vegas, people
who play Megabucks can see videos of Wynn Resorts founder and
CEO, Steve Wynn, in between spins on the machine.

Almost all of the most famous casinos offer Megabucks Slots,
such as the following for example.

• Caesars Palace
• Bellagio
• MGM Grand
• Mandalay Bay
• Wynn Las Vegas
• Venetian Resort Hotel

Vegas Strip casinos which are a bit less iconic have
Megabucks, including Circus Circus, Cosmopolitan, Hard Rock
Hotel & Casino, Paris Las Vegas, The Linq, Rio Suite Hotel &
Casino, and the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Off-the-Strip casinos in Las Vegas also are home to Megabucks
gaming machines, including famous establishments like El Cortez,
Stratosphere, Binion’s, Green Valley Ranch Resort, The D Las
Vegas, and Sam’s Town all have the game.

Online Megabucks Slots

IGT Interactive (previously “Wagerworks”) now has an online
version of their popular Megabucks slot machine. This is a
5-reel, 60-payline gaming machine which can be found at most
online and mobile casinos which use IGT software. Like the
land-based version, it has a progressive jackpot.

To win the Online Megabucks jackpot, you’ll need to place the
5-coin bet. The max bet on the game is 300 credits, which
translates to $3 per spin for the penny players. The accumulated
jackpot is a wide-area progressive, meaning the games of many
slots players are linked to the same jackpot. This makes the pot
grow faster.

Given the fact the land-based version is a 3-reel game and
the Internet version is a 5-reel game, the two variants have
much different game mechanics. The online version’s jackpots are
not as large. Gamblers might complain that IGT is capitalizing
on the offline fame of this brand to lure online gamblers to a
lesser game. The jackpots are still some of the best on the
Internet. For that reason, they’re in keeping with the Internet
casino industry.

Online Graphics and Sounds

The graphics and sounds on IGT’s online version of Megabucks
Slots are nothing special. No one plays the live game for the
dazzling graphics or smooth animations. They don’t much care
about the sounds or music, either. The online version replicates
the same aesthetics of the land-based version, so there’s no
reason to complain.

Free Spins

Neither version of Megabucks has free spins. Once again, that
is not the reason to play this game. Players forgive the lack of
gaming features because of the high jackpots.

Bonus Game

No side bet or bonus game is offered on Megabucks. Again,
those are frills offered by games with lower payouts.

Wilds and Scatter Symbols

Once again, Online Megabucks does not have a wild symbol or
scatter symbol. It simply would not be the same game if the
standard video slots features were added to virtual gaming
machines with this brand of slots.

Plenty of interactive slot machines are produced by IGT
Interactive, but this game reproduces the original game. It is a
lesser form, because the jackpots are not as large as the
land-based jackpots.

More References to Mega Bucks

People who search for the term “Megabucks” might be confused
by the information. The name is used in several unrelated US
lotteries. These include separate lotto drawings in
Massachusetts, Oregon, and Wisconsin, as well as a Tri-State
lottery game offered in partnership by Maine, New Hampshire, and
Vermont. It doesn’t stop there. Local Michigan television once
had a Megabucks game show.

Even the world of professional wrestling used a similar term.
The Mega Bucks tag team consisted of the late Andre the Giant
and Ted DiBiase, also known as “The Millionaire Dollar Man”. As
the storyline went, in 1988 Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan
for the WWF (WWE) world title.

In a clever and evil plot, Ted DiBiase offered to buy the
title from Andre the Giant, who agreed. The WWF vacated the
title, but decreed the two villains should form a tag team, Mega
Bucks, to face the promotion’s biggest heroes, Hogan and “Macho
Man” Randy Savage. That ended as you might expect, with the
heroes winning and the villains disbanding.

While you’ll see references to them in online searches, none
of those examples have anything to do with IGT’s Megabucks
Slots. Here is the official information on the game.

Summary

Players have a decision to make with Megabucks Slots. They
can go for the huge progressive jackpot this game has, while
knowing it only pays out 2 to 3 times a year. Or they can play a
progressive slots game like Wheel of Fortune, which pays out
much smaller million-dollar jackpots perhaps 40 times a year.
For instance, Nevada-based Wheel of Fortune slot machines paid
out 41 times in 2015.

Megabucks progressives do not trigger as often as other
Nevada networked slots, such as Powerbucks, Money Madness, or
Quartermania. Those games have lower buy-in rates, but have
jackpot prizes that are a fraction of a Megabucks progressive
jackpot.

If you want to gamble on the biggest accumulated jackpot in
Las Vegas, there is no further discussion. Play Megabucks.