Buying & Renting Your Own VP Machines

[Count Room]

Has anyone here ever bought or rented their own IGT video poker machine? I heard somewhere that they cost only a few thousand dollars each (around $3-4 thousand, I think). Just on a few occasions have I actually seen a user-defined game parameter menu being used by a slot attendant. Years ago I observed an attendant use a "degaussing machine" (I think that's what she told me it was) where it even changed the background color of a Bally Gamemaker VP machine, or maybe it cleared the screen itself of static.

At a major Caesar's property I once saw a bank of machines with the full complement of ALL denomination levels active (except $100) at a casino bar being renovated, but not open to the public at the time. It had all the levels from 1c/5c/10c/25c/50c/$1/$2/$5/$10/$25...It looked like management was in the middle of trying to decide which denominations to make available at the bar at the time before opening the bar itself.

If I remember correctly I think this is how John Kane himself discovered that double-up software bug he used to make almost $500K on Game King machines (by thoroughly exploring a working copy of his own IGT Game King machine). If you recall Mr. Kane and his partner Andre Nestor were exonerated of federal fraud charges for the glitch they exploited.

Is it possible for the general public to buy and rent casino-quality IGT VP machines in Nevada?

If I really wanted to do so, could I take pictures of realistic-looking jackpots on such machines complete with a "JACKPOT CALL ATTENDANT" sign?

I know very little here, but this stuff piques my curiosity.

[Spock]

Degaussing was used on CRT, (Cathode Ray Tubes), monitors to realign the colors because they would build up magnetic fields over time. I'd guess few games, if any, are CRT anymore.

Lots of places sell games, including Game Kings like this one:

www.rockymountainslots.com

State laws on possessing them vary greatly, with some states prohibiting them entirely and others only allowing "vintage" games. The sites that sell them usually have information on that as well.

[Alan Mendelson]

I was told that IGT has an "outlet store" in Reno where they sell to Nevada residents. There are several stores in Vegas that sell used machines and it wouldn't surprise me if they could get you new machines as well. I think the law in Nevada is two machines per home.

In California the law is specific: machines must be 25 years old. I used to have a couple of old slots from the 1930s and 1940s. I have a client who has what is perhaps the single largest collection of antique working slots in the world, including the very first slot machine and counter top machines that determined if you won a piece of candy or a cigar. From one of those machines came the phrase "close, but no cigar."

Because I can't own a modern machine I am happy practicing video poker using VP software or just playing on a site with free games.

[Max A Million]

From one of those machines came the phrase "close, but no cigar."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is another tip from Alan Best Buys!

[Dan Druff]

I was told that IGT has an "outlet store" in Reno where they sell to Nevada residents. There are several stores in Vegas that sell used machines and it wouldn't surprise me if they could get you new machines as well. I think the law in Nevada is two machines per home.

In California the law is specific: machines must be 25 years old. I used to have a couple of old slots from the 1930s and 1940s. I have a client who has what is perhaps the single largest collection of antique working slots in the world, including the very first slot machine and counter top machines that determined if you won a piece of candy or a cigar. From one of those machines came the phrase "close, but no cigar."

Because I can't own a modern machine I am happy practicing video poker using VP software or just playing on a site with free games.

What would stop you from buying a more modern one in Nevada and bringing it in to California? Who would know?

[Alan Mendelson]

What would stop you from buying a more modern one in Nevada and bringing it in to California? Who would know?

Probably no one would know or even care. But why bother? Before computers and video poker software, if you wanted to play you either had a machine at home or went to a casino. Now, just turn on the home PC and go to a practice website or buy the software for $19.95. Why even bother with the machine?

Personally, I think home computers and modern software made owning slot machines unimportant (unless you are like my friend who has a museum-quality collection).

Computers are making a lot of things antiquated and out of date. For example -- coin collecting and stamp collecting. Do kids today collect coins and stamps? Heck no. They're too busy playing video games on computers -- and that will make today's computers the collectibles of tomorrow. And the coin and stamp collecting hobbies are literally dying out.

And the way things are going in casinos, soon hand-held tablets in casinos will make slot machines and video poker machines obsolete as well.

Bottom line: I have ZERO interest in owning a video poker machine.

[Count Room]

Alan: What's an MS-65 Bitcoin worth? Do you know?

(Yes, that's a deadpan humor question)

[regnis]

Illinois is 25 years or older also.

[Alan Mendelson]

Alan: What's an MS-65 Bitcoin worth? Do you know?

(Yes, that's a deadpan humor question)

That's funny. I am going to have to use that the next time I am at a coin show. I might phrase it this way: "Has PCGS slabbed any Bitcoin as MS-65 yet?"

[Rob.Singer]

The only machines I've ever seen for sale in that Reno store are old coin-droppers. You can also get them in LV and Laughlin. The 2008 "new" style machine I had did have an option to change the background color between blue, green, black, purple, and even white. I've never seen purple or white in operation in any casino.